A- am I gonna get murdered?
After receiving the letter from the princess, I rushed back to the Alchemists’ Guild to force my way inside and finally reunite with Ririna. The pompous asshole from before was shocked when he saw Bea’s signature on the letter. He had no choice but to let
in now. Serves him right.
But instead of taking
directly to Ririna, he made
wait in so kind of room, saying he needed to prepare. From the looks of it, this must be a room to receive guests. There are two couches facing each other with a low table between them in the center of the room. The curtains, the carpets, and everything else looked really luxurious. The way it’s set up is probably to impress guests, hence why I thought it was room to receive them. I’m impressed, at least. The room had plenty of windows, with the biggest one having a really intricate design and a perfect view into the street down below.
Still, where the hell is Ririna? That guy told
to wait here, but it’s been almost half an hour and Ririna’s still not here. He is fetching her, right? I don’t get it. To make matters worse, I’ve been hearing footsteps outside like crazy the whole ti. I’m getting nervous. I’m not gonna get killed, am I?
“I should have had Carol co with …” She asked if she was supposed to co along on the way here. I said I was only coming here to talk with Ririna. There was no need for her to co, but she could tag along if she wanted. But she didn’t. She went back to the hotel. And now I’m regretting it… “*Sigh…*”
At that mont, the door finally opened. The man was back with a woman behind him. It’s… not Ririna. What the hell?
The two of them calmly entered the room and sat down on the couch in front of . Is that his wife or sothing? They sat right next to each other, and the man laid back comfortably. One of his arms on the armrest, and the other wrapped around the woman’s shoulder. Why? What’s he trying to do here? Show off? Is the jewelry not enough for you? Ugh… Rich n sure love showing off their won, don’t they?
Although… That’s kinda nice… I’m jealous now! I want a cute girl to wrap my arm around too! Not that the woman he’s with is particularly cute. Carol’s infinitely cuter. Sigh… I really should have brought her with … Then again, she’d probably try to bite
if I tried to do that to her…
“Ahem! Greetings, visitor. Welco to the Alchemists’ Guild.” Once he had settled into his seat, the man finally spoke up. Strange, though. Here’s now, but the commotion outside still hasn’t stopped. There are footsteps on the other side of the door, and I can even hear them on the floor above and below. The Alchemists’ Guild must be really busy… “My na is Philip Wealworth, and I’m the head of the Alchemists’ Guild branch in Ebrilyon.”
Branch? Is that how guilds work? Do they have a headquarters or sothing? “It’s nice to et you. I’m Iroha Shinohara.”
Unlike before, the man was now focused on the conversation. His dismissive attitude was gone, and he seed a bit nervous. I guess the letter really rattled him. “So? What business do you have with us today?”
“It’s what I’ve said before. I want to et Ririna.”
“Ri- Ririna… And why do you want to et with her? If you need our services, there are plenty of other alchemists who can take on your request.”
This asshole really wasn’t listening last ti, was he? “It’s not a request… Ririna is a friend of mine. I just wanna talk to her. She’s the one who told
to co here if I ever wanted to see her.”
Philip doesn’t imdiately respond. He taps his finger repeatedly on his armrest then glances to the side. Oh, a clock… He was looking at the clock in the wall… “I’m afraid I have so bad news for you.” He looks down with a solemn look. “There’s no easy way to say this, but Ririna passed away recently. She suffered an unfortunate accident and is no longer with us.”
“…” Pa- passed… away…?
…
H- he’s sweating… On his forehead… It’s a lie…? It’s like Bea said. The higher-ups of the Alchemists’ Guild are liars. Right… Ahahaha… I was so shocked by what he said that I couldn’t even see how obvious it was. Am I an idiot or sothing?
Whew… I’m glad I didn’t imdiately freak out… But what do I say now? I don’t really have any evidence, so I can’t just claim he’s lying. From his attitude and Bea’s warning, I’m pretty sure it is a lie. But without any evidence, I can’t pin him down.
Why is he lying about Ririna? Is he trying to prevent
from eting with her? Why? Could it be that she really is dead, but they’re the ones who killed her? And now he’s trying to hide it? Ughh… I hope I’m wrong about that part… “She died in an accident, huh? Can you tell
what happened?”
“Well… Unfortunately, we don’t know the details yet. We’re still trying to find out exactly what happened. We’re not ready to share any information with the public until everything is known.”
Huh… With that response, I think the idea of them having murdered Ririna is wrong. If it was a murder disguised as an accident, he’d probably want to give so kind of information that would match the accident set-up. Like, if she was stabbed, he’d probably say she fell on a shard of glass or sothing. Then, when the information ca out that she died because of a stab wound, I’d imdiately think it was the glass. Either way, I think the fact that Ririna’s dead is a lie. Sothing happened to her, and they don’t want
seeing her.
Oh…? He’s looking at the clock again. Is he waiting for sothing? Is he in a rush? Oh well, I don’t think I’m gonna get anymore out of him, so I’m done here. I slowly got up from the couch. If Ririna’s here sowhere, once I tell Bea how he lied, she should be able to storm in here and find Ririna for … He has no idea how over it is for him.
“Please wait! Don’t leave yet.” Philip interrupted
just as I was getting up. “You work for the princess, correct? Why hasn’t our guild’s latest request been approved yet?”
Is he an idiot? I guess he wouldn’t know my relationship with her just from
having a piece of paper. “I don’t know.” Back on the couch, I answer. “ and the princess a-” Are friends… Flanne seed worried about others’ perceptions of Bea, so I can’t say that out loud. “a- are working together, yes… B- but I’m only a helper. I don’t know anything about requests and things like that.”
“Is that so…” The man looks down in a disappointed manner, but at the sa ti, I catch a glimpse of a smile on his face. Why would he be smiling? He didn’t say anything else, and the room was dead silent.
Wait… Dead silent? What happened to the footsteps outside? They’ve stopped… They completely stopped
*SHATTER!* The next second, all the windows of the room broke and the door slamd open. Multiple n with hoods over their heads sward into the room from every entrance.
“KYAAAAH!” The woman who was with Philip scread, and they both ducked. Crawling between the intruders’ legs, both of them headed imdiately for the door. What’s going on he-
*Clash!* I didn’t have ti to think. One of the n swung a short sword at . I barely managed to draw my katana in ti to block. They’re after ! Guess we’re doing thi- “Grrr!” A sharp sting on my back. Before I could counterattack, soone else attacked
from behind. My clothes protected
from the worst, but this won’t do. I can’t fight like this. They have
surrounded! I have to get out of here!
I desperately blocked attacks coming from every direction, but so still hit . This is an ergency situation. I have so extra MP, so I can imbue my blocks with so magic using Parrying Strike. I need all the help I can get if I’m going to get out of here alive.
The following series of the enemies’ attacks got parried with extra power. *Snap!* I even broke so of their blades! I managed to weaken their encirclent and headed straight for the door. I used Agility Burst, then Heart Piercer. I wasn’t trying to get anyone with that, I just wanted to get out. The attack itself wasn’t that good. I was in a rush and couldn’t really move properly. Two enemies managed to get in the way and block, but the impact was so strong that they got knocked back and hit the wall. That’s my opening!
I ran out of the room straight for the stairs down. Hooded figures fighting with short swords… That’s the sa as the ones who tried to kidnap Bea… Am I fighting more demons then? If they’re here, then this is proof the Alchemists’ Guild is working with the demons! Oh, Philip…. Just you wait until Bea hears about this… You’re gonna regret not letting
see Ririna when I asked!
I got to the stairs, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. There was a group of four climbing up the stairs with weapons in hand. I guess I gotta make my way past them…? “I got you!” I felt soone swiftly catch up to
from behind. “How?” I turned around just in ti to block the attack.
Agility Burst! I jumped while our swords were locked, and I flipped over the man. I pushed him down the stairs, hoping to create a gap for
to leave.
But that didn’t work.
The group climbing up efficiently leaned to the sides, letting their comrade fall straight down. Their eyes were focused on , and their resolve was unshaken. Scary… Can’t believe how cold they are! I need to find another way out of here!
Can’t go downstairs, can’t go back to the room… The only way left is up! I turned my back on the stairs and ran in the opposite direction. After a turn down the hallway, I found another set of stairs. This ti, one that goes up. That’s good… That’s exactly where I wanna go… They weren’t expecting
to co this way. As proof, there was only one demon guarding these stairs.
“Out of my way!” I didn’t stop for a second and ran straight at him while swinging.
“Woah?!” Good, I made it through to the top floor. Now… Where was it…? I ran along the hallway, kicking down doors, and looking for the large window into the alley I found earlier.
“Oh! There it is!” The bedroom with the window. Ti to get out of here! I jumped out through the window, grabbed onto the wall of the building next to the guild, and climbed up to the rooftop.
“Where did she go? Why’s the window broken?” I heard the pursuers’ confused voices from behind. I didn’t have ti to turn around and ran without looking back. “Sh- she’s on the roof! She escaped through the window!”
“After her! Don’t let her get away!” Damn, they’re persistent! At least I got a nice head start!
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