Chapter 152 - Train Us
The room was silent. Apart from the quiet swirling sound of Ed's spell, no one uttered a word. The stone dungeon, all mossy and old, void of voice after what Lance said.
"H-He's still probably in there, waiting for us," Lance muttered. "Let's go inside."
"I'll go in first," Frederick leaped in front of the door from where he stood. He took a deep breath and pushed the wooden door open, discovering nothing but an empty chamber. "Nothing's here."
"They must've moved him somewhere." Luck entered the room, whistling to spread his magic around to see if he can get any clue. "You sure this was the right door?"
Lance nodded and walked inside, "I saw him myself. And when he raised his finger to his lips, not letting me utter a word. He was in here. Pentos' guild master was in here."
"I could feel a very faint presence inside," Beatriz said. She was closing her eyes and feeling the small leftover energy the previous prisoner of the chamber had. "A man with long white hair, but he's not old. His skin wasn't wrinkly and he didn't even look old."
"You can see him?" Elliot asked. "But how?"
"I sacrificed my offensive magic to further deepen my sight," Beatriz replied. "It was a Restricted Technique called Trade."
A Trade is a variety of a Condition. Though, the main difference for the two was that a Condition can be reversed, a Trade can not. A variety of Trades exists among the Adventurers and a lot of them had wished they never did it, thus earning it a title called 'Restricted Technique'.
Beatriz had to let go of all her attack potential and converted them to her visions. This allowed her to see through time itself.
"There are many things that Malice did to this man," Beatriz said. "Torture was one of them. Guards would often come here and whip him, torture him with nails, electric and flame magic, even drown him to a point of almost dying."
"And he couldn't fight back because he was held with the Magic Suppression Gems," Lance sighed. "You could see that they were afraid of him. One MSG would decrease the magic by at least 70%, he had six tied on to his neck."
"The thing is," Beatriz shook her head slowly, as though she was looking intently at something in her closed eyes. "Even after the six Magic Suppression Gems, he was still exuding power. Comparable to a Fine-ranked Adventurer. Why he didn't fight back, that is the question."
"We all have our reasons," Frederick said and pushed everyone out of the room. "Wherever he is, I hope he's safe. That's what we should be saying. It's too late to find him now. Maybe he's in another kingdom."
Beatriz opened her eyes and looked at Frederick, noticing something from the man. When the red-haired man narrowed her eyes at her, she looked away and walked to Ed who was with Arm, putting out all the gems.
"I'm almost done," Ed informed. "What'd you guys had? A clue or something?"
"No," Elliot sighed in disappointment. "I thought I was going to meet a man who was a member of Pentos. I'm sad."
"Though, why were you here back then, Lance?" Connor found himself asking. "If you saw the man from Pentos being dragged in that room, you must've either been here the whole time or you followed them."
"Well, I saw them," Lance started, shrugging. "I was the Guards took Sinth and dragged them in the dungeons at night. Using my veil, I followed them inside and voila, here we are."
"What's suspicious to me though is that why the Guards took the Guild Master away," Elliot said. "Pentos weren't criminally persecuted back then. It's a wonder why they had to take him."
"I don't know whether I should be telling you this but there was a rumour regarding Sinth, the Guild Master," Luck said. "There was a rumour that he killed someone."
Ed almost let go of his magic because of the news. He instantly regained his composure and nullified all the other gems.
"Wait," Ed said. "Let me just finish this."
Not long after, the bright red light from the gems died down. The crystal gems had all turned to coal, Frederick sending tiny flare waves to detect any more gems but saw none.
"We're clear," Frederick said. "Let's head on out. We have to go back and rescue the injured."
When everyone else turned to Luck to finish what he was saying, he shrugged and smirked, "Boss' orders. We have to hurry up and help rescue everyone. Though, I'm pretty sure the guild members had got it covered."
"So, like what happened then?" Elliot asked, feeding his curiousity.
"There wasn't more details apart from that," Luck said, pursing his lips as though he was trying to remember something. "Well, there was one thing, but again, this is just one of the hundreds of rumours circulating the kingdom."
"Which is?" all the boys chorused, leaning over and trying to get the information from the tall man.
Luck sighed, realizing he didn't have any escape in this. "They said that he killed one of the guild members."
–
It didn't take long before they arrived at the surface and as expected, every citizen was already evacuated and the injured are healed. Judge Benjamin had also united with his daughter and went to the ruined Court in shame.
He took his mallet on the floor, taking a deep breath. "I, as the Judge of the Royal Court of Avancia. With the power bestowed upon me by the King, and the Almighty, hereby dismiss the allegations against Georgina Hoot. She is, therefore, free from any criminal liability."
With one slamming of his mallet, the crowd cheered, Forest Folks cried in happiness and Madam Hoot stood there, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Madam Hoot," Lance called and hugged the woman. "I am so sorry, Madam Hoot."
The day ended up happier than everyone thought. The Vassals were gone, Madam Hoot was free, and everyone is safe. When they thought things were ending, they didn't realize that it was just blooming for another beginning.
"I guess we're late," Lilith pouted as she watched the people below. She was standing on top of a building, Johnson sitting on the roof beside her.
"But we've been here for quite a while," Johnson said. "It was your idea not to help them."
"That was because I was here to confirm a suspicion," Lilith said, narrowing her eyes and spotting a distinctive red hair with a harlequin jacket.
Johnson realized what she was staring at and chuckled. "Your suspicion, which is?"
"How strong he is, the Guild Master of Azure Scorch Guild," Lilith said. "I've heard from my credible sources that he was part of a large crime that had happened."
This took Johnson's interest and he sat properly, looking at Frederick. "You mean about Pentos?"
"It is about Pentos. About the true identity of their members," Lilith sat beside Johnson. "There was a flame user among them. A Mage capable of turning an entire mountain into ash and turning an entire lake's water into air."
"And he wasn't the strongest member of Pentos, right? Damn powerful people," Johnson tsked. "I couldn't even flatten a hill without using up all my mana."
"Pentos is not a guild that earned the highest rank in the kingdom for nothing."
They turned their heads to the voice that spoke behind them. They relaxed when it was a woman that they were familiar of.
"You even came here," Lilith said and nodded slightly. "The fight was over and we have won."
"I know that," the woman chuckled and sat beside them. "It's just nerve-wracking how we couldn't celebrate knowing Hell had made their move. It won't take long before this entire Realm would turn into a field of blood and death."
"Elizabeth," Johnson hummed. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Since you're the Rank One Adventurer, you're as strong as us. The Healer who can deal damage as much as she can heal. What a title. It's quite long too."
Elizabeth chuckled and gently pushed Johnson's chest. "You flatter me too much."
"Though, we need to get even stronger," Johnson said.
Lilith nodded, "Indeed. Much, much stronger."
The days passed by and the repair of the kingdom was finished. It took only four days to rebuild the establishments considering every Adventurer was required to attend.
Elliot had just finished rebuilding a bakery with a few others when his sleeve was pulled, making him topple.
"What's the big idea– oh," he stopped when he saw that it was only Florencia. "W-Why are you here?"
Florencia turned, gesturing her hand to someone who was hiding in an alley. When that person didn't come, she dragged him towards Elliot and crossed her arms.
Elliot's eyebrows met after seeing the person with her, "V-Viper?"
"In the flesh," Florencia retorted. "Well, I have a proposal for you."
"Proposal?" Elliot asked.
She nodded and clapped her hands, instantly, both of them bowed.
"Please train us!" the two chorused. "Please, train us, Elliot. We saw you fight and we want to fight like you."
Elliot froze at the scene, his other friends laughing at him at the back. The two looked dead serious, eyes slightly shining with hope.
He took a few steps back and shook his head.
"W-What?!"