Bertrand the Crimson Mantis

Krilo looks at Enna beside her. The princess' eyes burst into tears. She tried her best to tightly cover her mouth and breathing circulation. Her sanity is at its limit.

Meanwhile Krilo is currently facing some choices. Either he wait here until the Voltingen troops go back upstairs or if the situation gets rough such as when they do a thorough inspection or …

"There are two of them left behind the barrel." With a scary low wicked voice, the masked hooded man pointed precisely at Krilo's general direction behind the lid.

Krilo rashly opened the lid on the other end of the barrel. Abandoning their stealth advantages over the enemy. He knows that they will be found out when the [Tracker] class is amongst their ranks.

The scary part is that the masked hooded man is probably in the higher tier of the [Rogue] class or maybe even higher than the sought often [Tracker].

Voltingen knighthood is a league on its own when it comes to the individual classes there. You must be at a higher level in your class to apply for the knighthood. Usually, a willing individual needs at least 7 years to get to a level 5 [Tracker] from the level 1 [Rogue].

But that is only the prerequisite to the lowest rank of the knighthood. The guys behind Krilo most likely in their 30s, their class might be a bit higher than 5. Krilo seems to forget the class after [Tracker].

The path in front of them reveals a cave with torches on each side of the wall. It is designed for emergency exit if something like this happens. The cellar pathway is a branch that connects to the main escape way of the orphanage's main building.

Krilo now wonders if the many people that hide in the main building have already escaped. 'Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel,' he tries to cheer himself up.

"Do you think they will outrun us?" asks Enna not far behind Krilo. He is surprised to see a support class can match up the speed of an offensive class like him.

"Their armor will slow them down, except the hooded man over there. He might be a higher class than [Tracker] that has enhanced speed ability," explained Krilo while at the same time gasping for air.

Krilo finally sees the stairway illuminated by the torches. He and Enna stormed, without a hint of stopping. A closed stone door greets them. Every ounce of Krilo's strength is used to budge the way out.

"Hurry!"shouted Enna. She follows Krilo pushing the door. They finally come out to the plains behind the orphanage. Only to be greeted by the dynamite cavalry pointing their halberd towards them.

"Shall we end this?" A white caped man in the middle dropped from his high horse. He removes his helmet, revealing a bald middle aged man with a wolf tattoo visible on his neck. The Coalition Commander Bertrand the Crimson Mantis from Voltingen himself, indirectly presenting himself accountable for this massacre.

"We know the coalition effort is useless against the beast, but why? Why do you bastard turn your back against us?!" shouted Krilo followed with the act of spitting at the commander's general direction.

Enna pulled Krilo's hand, she does not want to keep lowering their chance to escape. But Krilo knows that it is blood that they want when the knight mercilessly kills the children.

"I am afraid it is for the greater aspiration of our crimson lineage. We are terribly sorry for this." He bowed. The commander bowed?!

She gives the commander a sharp look. "What about my family? You did not touch them, did you?"

"We are terribly sorry to say this but …" He gestured to his men. Two similar sacks are presented next to him. Bertrand grabs the smaller one, revealing a decapitated head. The head belongs to Adam Regent.

Her leg is shaking, but she keeps showing her determination against the reds. "You will pay for this!" Her voice too is shaking.

I took a glance at the other big sack. Strands of dyed hair spilling out from the inside, a dye specifically belongs to a woman. Beatrice Regent. The rest of the sack's contents must be belongs to Enna's relatives.

"Hmph, I never liked you guys. Always there to stick with your incompetent king. Leeching with the commoner's hard earned money for the luxurious palace and whores." Krilo expresses his last middle finger to the realm's hierarchical system.

No one laughed. The commander instead took a deep breath. "I like your guts lad. I bet you choose the [Warrior] class just like most of us here. You know what, we will allow you and Regent's heir to run as fast as you can from here. You do the choosing which one will run first. The second runner will run after we said so. After that we will follow you both and … you should know the rest of it."

Enna looks at Krilo and smiles. "Let me be the second runner. I don't have anything left in this world. Thank you for everything, Krilo." She burst into tears whilst sobbing onto Krilo's chest. Her heart can no longer act strong in front of these predicament

"Yes you have. The Gewjory will take care of you. They are not as bad as they seem to be," said Krilo, trying to downplay the circumstances. "Meanwhile, I don't have anything left except the orphanage."

Enna did not object. She knows how cruel is the Gewjory more than Krilo's understanding. But she agrees anyway, knowing how Krilo can be so stubborn.

"Fine. I'll go first, but promise me you will survive too, okay?" She kissed his sweaty cheeks.

She runs into the forest. The direction she is heading is right into the neighboring Gewjory administrative region in the east. Region Spirodela administered to House Adelia, has a good relation with Enna's father.

"Now it's your turn lad," said The Crimson Mantis, making himself clear with the agreement.

Krilo runs to the other direction in the northwest.