Ultear and Aubrey work together to investigate the small village. They stealthily sneak inside without being notice. Even with the Silver Wolf's and Black Moon Fox's noses wasn't able to sniff Aubrey and Ultear's scent at all.
What did they do? They rub dirt, grass and certain flowers in their body to cover their scent.
Inside the village, there were a total of seven small cottages, two laboratories and a one mini castle. It look extravagant even if the whole castle was made from monsters and beasts bones. With the dark, cloudy sky, the castle looks gloomy.
"What should we do, Commander?" Aubrey ask after they share the information they gather. Aubrey sneak inside the laboratories and Ultear search every nook and cranny of the seven cottages to look for information and of course, Kurtis. But she couldn't find him. Even his shadow wasn't seen in any of those cottages.
"The cottages were just sleeping quarters. There were also food stored in two of those cottages. The only place we haven't enter is that castle." They both glance at the gloomy castle.
"Maybe some of the missing knights you're talking about are inside that place. Do we act now or should we go back to the camp to plan first?" Aubrey ask.
"No. We don't have time to go back and plan things out. Have you forgotten what you said about those two laboratories?"
"Yes. The laboratories were filled with monsters and beasts put inside a glass tube or was tied in a metal bed and there were human wearing white coats doing something to them. A lot of wires and tubes were injected in the monster's and beast's bodies. The whole place was filled with screams and shrieks of terror. It was a terrible sight. Chills run down my spine and I felt like I was inside a torture chamber." Aubrey exaggeratedly exclaim with hand gesture.
"How did you even know it was like one? Have you ever been to a torture chamber before?"
"Uhh...I don't know if you're gonna believe me but if I have stepped foot inside a torture chamber or not, then, I guess I have stepped into one. Anyway, let's leave that aside for now. Let's focus our attention to the main goal here. What are we going to do now after gaining all these shocking informations?"
It's true. It was shocking indeed. Humans experimenting monsters and beasts in order to control them. It was a dreadful news. And if Ultear haven't experienced first hand how strong and horrendous those monsters and beasts had become, she wouldn't even believe that such things can be achieve. The monsters and beasts evolved due to the multiple experiments done to them.
Though, the subjects of their experiments were monsters and beasts, still, their actions were still inhumane.
"But...those villagers, their clothes look familiar. I think I've seen it somewhere but I can't remember where." Ultear stated as she fall in a deep thought thinking where she saw those weird clothes. Long sleeves turtle neck with sleeveless robes, belts and brais pants all made from gingham fabric. Their boots were made from an animal skin.
"Ahh!" Ultear snap out. "The Calumbias Clan!"
"Huh? The what?" Aubrey ask, confuse. It's the first time she heard about the Calumbias Clan Ultear said. She haven't heard about them before. Never.
"The Calumbias Clan were composed of the three great Tribes of the North. Caes Tribe, Lumina Tribe and Albias Tribe. They're the tribes of Hunters, Blacksmiths and Pharmacist. They once rule the North before Betania Kingdom expanded it's territory and decided to make the North part of it's domain. I never know they still exist up until to this day. There were no records of them since a hundred year ago." Ultear explain.
Before Betania Kingdom reached its current fame, prestige and power, they were just some small nation. But when they get hold of the extensive land in the North, which was the Calumbias Clan territory, Betania Kingdom rose to become one of the greatest Kingdom in the whole continent. Betania Kingdom defeated the Three Great Tribes of the North. The whole continent was shaken when the scale of power tilted towards Betania Kingdom.
"Wow, you sure know a lot." Aubrey was impress with Ultear's knowledge. Her opinion of Ultear improve for a bit.
"I have history class and these were discussed.", Ultear shrug as if it was just nothing.
"Ah...I see..."
They discuss their plan for another minute after bringing together all the informations they have. They then devise a plan that's not too complicated yet not simple either. Sneaking inside the castle won't be easy but how much more avoiding the sensitive noses of the monsters and beasts? Truly, these are a feat of its own. And both women achieve it with perfection. Their movements were like those of an agile, flexible cats. Even with Aubrey's handicap, she still can match Ultear's movements.
They use simple signs to communicate with each other because they don't want to create even a slightest noise. The castle was empty and silent inside. You won't even think that someone live there but when Ultear and Aubrey went further inside, they discover multiple doors leading to different place. There's this one door that leads to an underground tunnel.
The tunnel leads to an underground laboratory and prison cells. There they found Kurtis lying unconscious to the filthy, cold ground.
"Kurtis!" Ultear hysterically cry out as she lean into the metal bars. She is worried with Kurtis condition.
There were a total of five prison cells and each cell's hold two or three people. The moment they saw Ultear and Aubrey, they started calling unto them to let them out.
"It's lock. We don't have keys." Aubrey pointed out after seeing Ultear's reaction.
"No need."
Aubrey was dumbfounded when Ultear bended the metal bars using nothing but her barehands. She made the metal bars looks like some fragile, delicate and feeble papers.