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Captain's POV
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A few hours before the ambush

"They aren't here." (Kana)

"They aren't. We sent up 3 flares and they haven't come." (Etsu)

"Something happened for sure. I bet it was that damn kid's fault." (Astrid)

"Hey, don't blame him just because you don't like him. And anyway, he's only a couple years younger than you and Airi, why are you calling him a kid?" (Etsu)

"Quit it." (Captain)

The table goes quiet in an instant.

Right now, we're in the bar of the Inn that we stayed at.

After sending up 3 glares to signal everyone to return, all of us but Airi and Ryu are here.

"It's been around 13 hours since we all left. They wouldn't have been gathering information that entire time, so something has happened." (Captain)

"Ok, around 13 hours. Say, where did Airi and Ryu go to again?" (Etsu)

"Ryu went to the slums at the North gate. Airi went to the West gate." (Captain)

"So it was most likely something to do with the slums?" (Astrid)

"It's the most suspicious right now." (Etsu)

"Haah, honestly, he's such a pain." (Astrid)

"For now, what did you get from the areas you went to?" (Captain)

"I went to the East Gate, the main one, and got almost nothing, but there were people sneaking around." (Kana)

"I went to the middle of the town~. Everyone looked like dolls, but I heard some people whispering in a bar about some noble wanting slaves." (Astrid)

"I went to the South side, the noble area, and I also heard about a noble wanting slaves, I think he was a Viscount." (Etsu)

"Hmm, so nothing certain." (Captain)

I sit silently for a few minutes, thinking of what to do.

"Alright, we're going to the slums." (Captain)

"Ehh, why?" (Astrid)

"Airi most likely left some sort of message if she got a hold of a lead." (Etsu)

"It's likely she did, but we need to hurry, something's going to happen." (Kana)

"What makes you say that?" (Captain)

"Hmm, intuition, probably." (Kana)

"Intuition?" (Astrid)

"Don't doubt the Elves' foresight, Astrid" (Etsu)

"Alright, but we need to go, if you have so much trust in Kana's intuition." (Astrid)

"Let's go, then." (Captain)

Lifting ourselves from our chairs, we walk out of the Inn and enter into a full sprint towards the northern area of Alzibria, the slums.

Considering our speed, we make it there in less than 5 minutes, and we decide to start searching.

"We aren't splitting up, stay together as a group." (Captain)

Stating my order, we gather together, with 1 or 2 metres between us and we proceed through the slums.

"Stay cautious, we don't know what took them." (Etsu)

We take very few alleys as we walk through the slums, afraid of being split up in the labyrinth-like streets.

All the roads seem to look the same, the same decaying buildings, the same litter scattered across the floor, the same corpses scattered around the side of the street.

I always knew the slums were bad, but I've never seen them this bad. It may have something to do with the mind control spell, but I can't make conclusions yet.

Around 20 minutes seem to pass before we come to a vivid change in the scenery.

Instead of more slightly broken houses, rubble and corpses, we're greeted with a large open space, with a sole hut in the centre, surrounded by the remains of the buildings that used to be here.

As we step further into the wreckage, our caution heightens, unaware of anyone that could be watching us.

We make it to the hut quickly, and enter only to see rubbish on the floor and shelves all around the inside.

I could only guess that the last person who entered had been looking for something.

"Captain, out here." (Kana)

"Hm? What?" (Captain)

"Over there," She points towards the edge of the space, "someone's lying, unconscious maybe."

"Alright, let's go." (Captain)

We waste no time reaching the man who was unconscious, and we try to wake him, but fail.

"Ah, over here, on the floor." (Astrid)

"What is it?" (Captain)

"A message, I think?" (Astrid)

"Let's see, 'Heading to the Colosseum, Noble District, found R'" (Etsu)

"Airi." (Kana)

"Most likely. But we find a lead, so let's follow it." (Captain)

Looking at where we were on the map, we have to cross the entire town to reach the Noble District, and that would take us around an hour.

"No time to waste." (Captain)

And we set off from there, trying to run most of the way to the south side of Alzibria.

Reaching the eccentric gates to the Noble District, we catch our breaths, having ran for around 50 minutes with little breaks in between.

Just before us lays a large, golden gate that serves as the entrance to the rich side of Alzibria.

With little care given to the gate, we walk under it and find ourselves in an area that seems like another world compared to the slums.

The streets are spotless, with little more than tufts of weed growing by the side of buildings. The area seems like it'd be lit up well at night, considering the abundance of street lamps the are organised at the side.

But we don't have time to gaze at the scenery, and we start searching around the town for the Colosseum.

Within the hour, we find it. The bustle inside could be hear from streets away, and the smell of alcohol only get stronger as you get closer.

Pushing open the door, I look around the bar.

All nobles. There's not a single normal townsperson here.

It ranges through all ranks, too. On one side of the room, a Viscount could be seen drinking with a Count, while on the other, a Baron could be seen buttering up a Marquis.

In the corner of the bar, I could see 4 men who looked to be bodyguards sprawled out on the floor.

But in the view I had, I didn't see Airi or Ryu, so I turned around and left.

"Not here, they must have ran off." (Captain)

"Where to? Unless they didn't have a set destination?" (Etsu)

"Which would mean they were chasing someone?" (Kana)

"...R." (Captain)

"Let's find them then." (Etsu)

We set off again, in search of Airi and Ryu.

It's only when we hear the clattering of metal on the ground do we slow down.

"Captain." (Kana)

"I think we found them. Etsu." (Captain)

"Alright. Give me a second or two." (Etsu)

Finishing his sentence, he disappears before us, almost sinking into his own shadow before reappearing.

"It's them. There's archers on the roof, about 15 to 20 of them. There seem to be assassins covering R, and Airi is unconscious." (Etsu)

"Good. Take control." (Captain)

"Got it. Captain, Kana, you two take care of the ones on the roof, each do one side. Astrid, bind R with chain summoning. I'll stop the assassins." (Etsu)

"Let's go!" (Captain)

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Author Notes
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It's another chapter!

I did say in the last chapter (I think) that I wasn't going to write about how they found them, but I thought that it seemed a bit too convenient for them to show up without an explanation, so here it is.

But it's around this point where I'm thinking that I need to start ending this arc soon. And of course with those thoughts, I also need to plan how I want the ending to go.