Kidnapping?

In the middle of the night, Angela quietly sneaked into Ariel's room. "Ariel, should we still go out even if Mother is not there anymore?"

"Yes, it will be best to not change our behavior. Besides, I like going outside, it is nice to feel the real wind and to fly freely," answered Ariel with a smile. "Oh, but it's true that you are busy with studying, it is fine if you stay there to learn, I can go out with Alice."

"No no, I would like to come... I can use this opportunity to look at the herbs in their natural environment and bring back some for some tests."

Ariel remembered what Five told her earlier and answered, "sure, you should come with us then. We can also help you gather some! If we work together, you will have more herbs. In the future, we can also help you gather the material you need. Don't hesitate to ask us."

"Thank you. Shall we leave then? We usually go out at about that time..." said Angela. She was glad that her sister proposed her help.

"Sure, do you know where is Alice?"

"I think she is with Ivan... Playing in the common room," answered Angela.

"Good, let's go then!" happily said Ariel as she pulled her sister toward the common room.

As the two harpies approached the common room, they heard loud shouts coming from the open door; "No.... You must be cheating! How is it possible to get 21 four times in a row..."

"How am I cheating? Are you not looking at my hands when I'm shuffling the deck? You are just a sore loser. Hurry up and call me mistress! Remember that you owe me 100 DP."

As Ariel and Angela entered the common room, the first thing they saw was Alice happily showing a pair of cards to Ivan. They immediately understood that they were playing Blackjack; a game that Five recently taught them to relieve them of their boredom. The harpies naturally understood the situation; Alice cheated.

There was a reason the two harpies avoided playing cards with Alice; it was because she was skillful and easily learned sleight of hands. When Five introduced the harpies to cards; he tried to show them some magic tricks involving sleight of hands and misdirection but unfortunately, the harpies' sharp eyes could effortlessly track the cards and they easily busted him out.

However, Alice became very interested in those small tricks and asked Five to teach her. In just a few tries, the harpy easily replicated Five's moves which sent the latter into despair. All the tricks he spent years mastering, to increase his own dexterity, were mastered by the young harpy in just a few minutes. How could he not feel dejected but in the end, he could only praise the harpy and teach her more.

As a result, Alice acquired a few skills in the handling of cards and since then, no one else wanted to play with her as she would simply cheat. Now that an innocent clueless target appeared, how could she let this opportunity go?

As for Ivan, he could not find the words to answer Alice. It was now obvious to him that the game was rigged but he had no proof. What a great way to start his stay at the dungeon.

As a nocturnal creature, he had just woken up when Alice pulled him into the common room to play a game. He still remembered what his new mistress said while behaving sweetly, "Ivan, let me introduce you to one of the traditional games of the dungeon. It is said to come from Master's world and requires not only skill but good strategy! It's call Blackjack!"

As he heard Alice excitedly explain the rules to him, Ivan was naturally intrigued and decided to give it a try. He was always open to new things and definitely would not say no to some distractions as he had no task assigned to him yet. But before they actually started playing, Alice added, "While it is very entertaining, we usually add a layer of thrill by betting! Master said that we would all receive 100 DP per day and to heighten the experience and fully embrace the game, we should also place some bets."

At that time, Ivan was completely oblivious of the mischievous Alice's plans and now, he was regretting his decision. "I cannot accept this! Let's go see the master, he will decide. Besides, I am not even sure if I'll be receiving 100 DP"

"Huh? Going back on your bets? We can't just disturb master for some trivial things like that. I am your mistress, do you not trust me? Master treats all of us equally so you should also be allocated some DP! Hmmp, such as disobedient servant..."

As they heard Alice explain with a righteous expression, Angela and Ariel did not know whether to laugh or cry. They nevertheless stepped forward to save Ivan. "Alice, that's enough. Come, let's go outside, it's time for our nightly expedition."

"Oh?" asked Alice with a surprised expression, "Are we still going out? Mother is not here for the week."

Angela nodded while Ariel explained, "Yes, it would be better to keep the same schedule to avoid raising suspicions. Also, it would be good to get some training and help Angela gather some herbs. While Master agreed to buy anything Angela needs, it would be best if we take care of the things we are able to."

Although she would have preferred to stay at home and continue to tease Ivan, Alice understood the situation and immediately agreed, "Sure, let's go then. My wings are itching."

"Um, here are some pieces of cloth... We can use them as bags to gather the herbs..." with her quiet voice, Angela showed 3 pink pieces of cloth and explained their use.

"Oh, good idea Angela!"

"Then, let's go, we should not lose time."

Seeing the 3 harpies quietly discussed as if they were hiding some secrets, Ivan became curious about where they were going. He could only hear a few words but he understood that they were planning to go out. As he saw the pink cloth, he could not help but exclaim, "Where are you all going? Where is my piece of cloth?" He expectedly looked at the pieces of cloth in Angela's hands as his eyes flashed with a trace of envy.

By doing so, the Nosferatu immediately received Alice's glare, "None of your business. We are going to play. You should stay here and guard the floor!"

"You are going outside the dungeon, right? I would also like to go out and see the neighbourhood! Can I come with you?" asked Ivan.

Alice crossed her arms and maintained a firm expression. The nightly expeditions were something special for the harpies; she was not willing to have a stranger accompany them. "No! You are not allowed to go out. Only us, harpies can! You need to ask master for his permission first."

Ivan was clearly reluctant to be left alone and persisted. "But didn't you just say that master treats us all equally? I should also be allowed to go out, right?"

"Yes, but you still need to ask him. Besides, I am your mistress and I order you to stay there to guard the dungeon since I won't be there." Alice was speaking as she suddenly got an idea, "Stay there and protect the dungeon, in one week, I'll let you come with us."

"One week? Why do I need to wait for a whole week?" Ivan blinked his eyes as he tried to understand the reasons for Alice's request. Was this another one of her tricks?

"Don't ask any questions. How can you treat your mistress like that? I said one week, if you are not satisfied, go complain to Master then!"

"Arg... Fine, I will wait for one week and then I'll see..." said Ivan. He was curious about the harpies' motives but he understood that he could not disturb Five for such as small matter. However, when he saw Alice's mischievous smile, he could not help but feel like he had just fallen into one of her traps.

...

As the three harpies flew out of the dungeon, Ariel asked, "I understand why you don't want him to come with us but why ask him to wait for a week?"

"Oh? Isn't it obvious, Mother will be back in one week. Then, I can ask Mother to teach that guy a lesson! How can he be so disobedient, he is supposed to be my servant but he never listens and spent the entire day sleeping! Hmmp, he needs to be disciplined!"

Ariel and Angela let out a sigh as they heard her explanation. They chose to drop the matter as they had previously decided to not interfere between Alice and Ivan. They did not want to admit it but they knew that Alice could be overwhelming sometimes and deep inside, they were quite happy that the target of her bullying had now shifted to Ivan.

As they gained some altitude, the 3 harpies flew in 3 different directions to maximize their efficiency in gathering herbs. Only Angela had some knowledge of herbs but she simply told her sisters to grab whatever they could; she would just sort them out when they would get back.

...

A few hours later, Angela was now starting to feel tired but she was quite satisfied with tonight's harvest. Her 'bag' was already full and more importantly, she was able to easily recognize most of the plants she gathered. Angela was delighted to see that she did not spend the entire day memorizing the different herbs for nothing.

'I should start flying back, I am quite far from the dungeon already...' said the harpy to herself.

After searching for herbs for hours, the silver-haired harpy had slowly moved away from the dungeon. Fortunately, Angela was already level 27 and could easily deal with the beasts of the forest even if they were buffed during the night. Only if she was attacked by a boss or surrounded by a pack of beasts would she be in danger but then, she could simply fly away to safety as none of the monsters of the forest had the ability to fly.

Angela quickly checked that her 'bag' was safely attached at her side and started to fly toward the dungeon. She was already starting to think about what elixir she could brew when she suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Intrigued, Angela chose to follow her instinct and lowered her altitude. Since she was already there, she decided to have a look at what was causing that strange feeling; it could possibly be something harmful to the dungeon and in that case, it would be best if she could get a glimpse at the possible threat.

"Crackk"

Angela quickly reached the top of the tree as she heard the cracking of a branch and footsteps of someone running. She quietly peeked through the foliage as she observed the scene. Immediately, Angela's eyes went wide open.

On the ground, Angela saw a cute little human child running away for her life. Behind the little girl, a pack of ferocious Forest Tigers was closely chasing after her. Angela was confused, what was a young human girl doing alone in the forest at night? And even worse, what did she do to anger such a large pack of Forest Tigers?

However, despite all the questions, Angela could not bear the sight of the young child being shredded apart by the Forest Tigers. She was usually a shy person but as she saw the innocent child in mortal danger, her motherly instinct kicked in; Angela did not hesitate and deployed her wings.

...

A few meters away from Angela, the old shaman of the Black Iron Tribe was quietly observing his granddaughter's performance. Tonight was Mira's first task as a Shaman Apprentice; she needed to collect 10 different varieties of herbs. The Shaman was very satisfied with her performance; the night was almost over but Mira had already collected 9 different varieties of herbs.

Just a few moments ago, she had actually stumbled upon the tenth herb she needed to complete her task but before she was able to collect it, the pack of Forest Tigers emerged from the forest. The beasts were angry at the little intruder and mercilessly chased the girl away.

The old shaman watched the scene but was not anxious even as his granddaughter was facing more than 10 Forest Tigers. He watched as Mira chose to immediately run away and was chased by the beasts. He was quietly following them when suddenly, he noticed a slim shadow diving toward Mira.

Seeing an unexpected scenario, the old man immediately panicked and wanted to warn Mira but it was too late. He was just too far from Mira to do anything and the shadow was simply too fast. He could only watch as a winged person grabbed Mira's petite body in a princess carry before disappearing in the air.

"Mira!!!"

He quickly pushed away the bushes and rushed to the spot where Mira was standing before being grabbed by the shadow. Behind him, the Forest Tigers were maliciously starting to surround him but the old shaman did not care about them.

"I don't have time to play with you! If it was not for you, my granddaughter would not have been caught up in this mess!" The shaman angrily shouted as he tossed 2 small vials toward the beasts. His eyes were cold as he scanned the sky, searching for the shadow.

The vials exploded on the ground, a think green gas was released in the middle of the pack and immediately, the Forest Tigers started to pitifully weep and cough. Their eyes were full of tears as they were retreating, not daring to approach the shaman.

The latter was completely ignoring the ferocious beasts and instead was looking at the sky. In the distance, he finally caught sight of the black shadow. His eyes were immediately filled with fury.

"Vile creature! How dare you kidnap my granddaughter under my eyes!"

The shaman was shouting but he was not expecting the kidnapper to hear him. Now knowing which direction to take, the shaman activated 3 spells on himself in quick succession.

[Haste]

[Vector Acceleration]

[Physical Boost]

The next second, the old man broke into a sprint in the same direction the shadow was flying to. Despite his old age, the old man's speed was more than enough to leave any Forest Tiger in the dust.

The pack of Forest Tigers stared in fear at the empty spot. Their instinct was clearly warning them, that human was not someone to be trifled with.