"I believe we should stop here for the day," Elric declared. The day had been eventful. Peace talks between the two Kingdoms and even trade relations had gone decently well up to this point. Though the court had been in slight disarray after the strange light, they were able to eventually get back on topic.
'Finally,' Lina thought with a yawn. She wasn't directly involved with any of the topics discussed, so she had found herself particularly bored through the duration.
Giselle, being the princess, did have quite a few insights and things to add into the discussion.
"I think that is wise, your Majesty," Wes bowed. As everyone got ready to leave the court however, the doors to the throne room were shoved open, revealing a man holding a rolled piece of parchment.
Lina suddenly found herself curious when she noticed the official looking piece of paper. "Your Majesty," the messenger spoke as he stopped at the edge of the stairs. The King nodded, giving his approval for the man to continue.
"I bring word from General Hunt. His search and interrogations have been fruitful," the man handed the parchment to Elric, then quickly bowed and made his way back to his original position.
Swiftly removing the string around the document, Elric unraveled it and began to read over Hunt's report.
Once finished, Elric turned his gaze back to the messenger. "Tell General Hunt to bring me this 'Kenneth'. I wish to have a few words with him. Do not treat him like a criminal."
Hearing the name 'Kenneth', Lina perked up even more. The person she had run into said his name was Ken. She was more convinced now that it was him that had something to do with the Jackalope.
"Of course, your Majesty," with a final bow, the messenger made his way out of the courtroom.
"I hope you'll forgive me, but I need to speak with that person at some point. So there will likely have to be a short break in our conversation at some point," Elric announced.
"It is of no bother to us," Wes replied.
"Isn't your boyfriend's name Ken?" Giselle whispered with a smirk. "He's not my boyfriend!" Lina whisper-yelled back as her face reddened a little.
Giselle giggled at her friend. She was always easy to tease. "Whatever you say," the lion kin rolled her eyes playfully, "But that's him, right?"
Calming down a little, Lina replied, "I'm certain it's him. I'm going to try to look for him tonight. I plan on checking the area where the Jackalope appeared."
"I'm coming with you," Giselle stated. "But you have to have guards acc-" Lina tried to protest. The lion girl shook her head, "I want to see the city anyways, and I'd like to do so without being surrounded by guards. I'm also curious about this 'Ken'. I'd like to meet him. I'll be sure to bring my weapon and a cloak." The woman left no room for argument, causing Lina to sigh.
It wasn't as if Giselle and her were weak. On the contrary, they were both relatively strong. Giselle's aura manipulation mixed with her proficiency with a greatsword, she was on par with a B-rank adventurer.
Lina had an innate affinity for fire magic. Her large mana pool paired with rigorous training put her on the same level as her friend.
"I'll meet you in your room in an hour," Giselle smiled, "This should be fun." Lina sighed, hoping that their small adventure wouldn't be too eventful.
///
"There's a ghost!" Dex cried as he ran into the room Ken was currently in. Stirring from his sleep, Ken groaned as he sat up while rubbing his eyes. "Dex pleeaase go back to sleep," Ken pleaded groggily. This was the second time tonight Dex had woken Ken. He already had a very long day and he was sure tomorrow would be a long one as well.
He had gotten up earlier to investigate the 'ghost' Dex had claimed to see. Of course he had found no ghost, so he was hoping Dex would just go back to sleep this time.
"No really!" The white mouse exclaimed, "I really did see one! Come look!"
"Just go back to sleep for crying out loud!" Rex yelled in annoyance. The brown mouse was annoyed as well to have his slumber interrupted. "Come on Dex, we're all trying to sleep here." Fitz said as nicely as he could.
Dex ran up to the wrapped up blanket next to Ken's bed, grabbing both Rex and Fitz. "I'm not lying! I thought I heard something downstairs, so when I went to investigate, I saw it! The ghost was like a large shadow peering through the window next to the front door!"
Ken was suddenly very worried. Dex had never once claimed to see a ghost, only to ever hear one. While he didn't think it was a ghost, he did believe that it could be an actual person considering the day's events. Ken wasn't entirely sure who had seen his face, let alone if anyone had followed him or not.
Not thinking it would be a good idea to just go back to sleep, Ken stood and addressed the two creatures still laying atop the blanket. "Guys, I think someone might be snooping around here. We should go check just in case. If you see someone, let me know. Only use 'haste' and 'fireball' as an absolute last resort."
Rex started to protest until Fitz gave him a slight bonk on the head. "It's better to be safe than sorry," The rat calmly explained. "You could have just said so," Rex shot back. Fitz shrugged, getting up and starting his own search of the house. Dex shook as Ken picked him up and placed the mouse on his shoulder. "You can come with me," Ken said softly.
"Hey! What about me? I want a ride too!" Rex shook his fist at the young man. "You can search the backyard," Ken replied. Ignoring the complaints the one-eyed mouse kept throwing towards him, Ken began to slowly and methodically make his way down the stairs, trying his best to be quiet.
The bottom of the stairs had a full view of the front wall where the two windows and the front door resided. Once in sight, Ken noticed that there was no ominous shadow lurking outside of either window.
Rex passed by Ken and started making his way to the back of the home. As the grumbling mouse passed by however, Ken suddenly realized something was wrong. Both windows on either side of the door were open. He always made sure to leave the windows closed at night.
Suddenly a soft whisper reached Ken's ears, "I swear that he came here! I made sure to keep a strict eye on him after that rabbit disappeared."
"Captain Stone made it very clear to leave no trace of us here. I do not wish to find out that we killed the wrong person later on. Failure is not an option. We are unable to bathe the streets in blood trying to find the Inheritor. I hope you are not wrong," A second, deeper voice replied.
"Filthy rats!" The first voice whisper yelled as two small silhouettes quickly ran past the two men on the bottom floor.
'Oh fuck me,' was all Ken could think. He needed to do something fast.
The soft sound of footsteps was approaching his position on the stairs, and he was sure that trying to face whoever these people head on was not a good option. Doing his best to still remain silent, Ken began to slowly walk backwards up the stairs.
Just as he made it to the top, he could see the top of someone's head beginning their own slow ascent. Most, if not all of the rats were currently asleep in the varying bedrooms scattered throughout the second story.
His instincts were telling him to run, but he couldn't just leave behind his furry friends. Finally turning to Rex and Fitz, who had been waiting patiently at the top of the steps, he quickly devised a plan. Both mice quickly nodded and spread out as Ken took Dex to the furthest room.
Giving his two companions time to complete their task, Ken waited in silence. "Are we going to be okay?" Dex asked with a shaky voice. "We'll be fine buddy," Ken lied. He didn't know who these men were, and was worried that the king might have sent someone to kill him. While he didn't believe General Hunt had lied, he thought that maybe he just wasn't in the loop. Either way, the situation wasn't good at the moment.
The two figures continued their slow sweep through the upstairs bedrooms, obviously not finding anyone.
Just as they were making their way back into the hallway, Ken yelled at the top of his lungs, "Fireball!" A soccer ball sized flame appeared in his hand, only staying there for a moment before shooting towards the nearest figure.
A cacophony of voices erupted as rows of rats lined throughout the doorways and the hallway repeated Ken's own words. Dozens of slightly smaller balls of flames began filling the corridor, illuminating the long room in bright light.
Ken noticed the two intruders both wore black, long cloaks. They definitely had the assassin look, but Ken didn't have time to dwell on that.
The two assassins were both stunned momentarily, obviously caught off guard from the sudden volley of flames. While most seemed to hit the intended targets, some of the attacks had missed, hitting the wooden walls and ceiling and instantly setting the wood aflame.
"Watch out!" One of the men cried out as an azure color shield appeared in front of him, stopping a few of the fireballs. A similar shield appeared in front of the other man, blocking even more of the attacks coming from the opposite direction.
'Fuck they didn't even have to caste out loud!' Ken panicked. Phraseless casting was something that seasoned adventurers and fighters could do. But he was neither of those. "Fireball!" Ken repeated, causing the rats and two mice to do the same.
Ken could feel his mana already nearly drained, and he still needed to make his escape. "Run! Go to meeting point #2!" He shouted, hoping that the others could hear him. The two men seemed preoccupied with avoiding the spells and the quickly spreading flames around them. Smoke was rapidly replacing the oxygen in the air, and Ken was finding it very hard to breathe.
Deciding on his exit point, Ken sent an elbow through the nearest window, sending shards of glass out into the backyard. "Hold on!" He yelled as he grabbed the bottom of the window frame, slicing his hands up in the process.
Wincing, he vaulted himself over the ledge and into the much cooler night air. Smoke bellowed out into the sky and the flames began to light up the area outside of the home, sticking out like a beacon.
"Hmph," Ken grunted as he hit the ground hard, trying to lessen the impact with a roll. Coming to a stop, he looked back towards the house just as the two men jumped out of another window into the backyard with him. They skillfully landed with ease and stood, eyeing him with hate in their eyes.
The large fire was already making its way to the outside of the structure, and Ken thought he could hear the sound of shouts in the distance. He wasn't sure if he should try to run, fight, or buy time. Hell, he didn't know if he really could do anything in his predicament.
Ken chuckled dryly to himself. Who would have thought you could die twice in one day. As the two men came closer, two blurs appeared in front of him, blocking the two men from advancing any further. Ken strained to see who the two newcomers were, eventually noticing a blonde woman, with a lion-like tail swishing behind her slowly.
Next to her in a defensive stance, stood an oddly familiar looking girl with red fox ears and a matching tail. Ken pursed his lips as he finally realized he was currently looking at the back of that very annoying fox girl. Though it seemed like they were on his side about to face off with his attackers, the plan to run away became a lot more enticing.