On The Run (part 1)

The Ardjestyn King's throne room.

The room where the king always meets his subordinates. It is where all the most important people of the kingdom gather, and it is where big decisions are made to decide the future of the kingdom.

One of the important decisions that they would be discussing, is currently being discussed.

Attending the discussion is the king himself, minus his family. The Pope and his people. The Archmage of Ardjestyn, a rank 3 hero. The Knight's Commander, Gilbert Bladeforce. And finally, the center of the discussion, the head of Ardjestyn's military, the General Knight, Grand-Duke Reithvord Ignicius.

"Do you understand… Reithvord?"

The king said with a cold tone while staring down at his closest subordinate. The man who leads all knights of the kingdom, Reithvord Ignicius.

Reithvord the general then lifted his head slightly to see his highness, and he spoke once more.

"Yes, your majesty.

I will make sure… to hunt them down. Rake Ignicius, who is no longer my son…

And the princess who carries the Tears of Guilt with her."

Hearing the declaration, the king grinned. He lifted his right hand up and swiped it in the air quickly.

"Then, you all may leave."

After the king allowed them to leave, everyone bowed one last time to the king and turned around to leave through the main door. Upon exiting, the king spoke one last time.

"I do not like failures… Reithvord. Especially when it is related to this.

Make sure… you bring the Tears of Guilt to me. No matter what."

Hearing that from the king, the general bowed slightly one last time before leaving the room. He left around the same time as the knight commander, who came as his aide.

The general notices the knight commander approaching, and the two begin walking side by side.

"I apologize… General. The Tears of Guilt was initially under my surveillance… but--"

"It was Rake's doing. It was not your fault, commander."

The general quickly said to the commander, and Gilbert nodded at his words. The general then walked faster because he was needed elsewhere, leaving Gilbert alone at the front door of the White Cathedral.

Gilbert turned his eyes upwards and gaze towards the rising sun, and he lifted his hair up from blocking his view. A wide grin formed on his tired face, revealing the contents of his mind.

"Too bad, Rake…

I will be toying with you even more."

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Ch. XIX - On The Run (Elice)

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It was rather crowded out there.

The knights are questioning a lot of people all at once. It's almost impossible not to notice them in the plaza since they are being very rowdy at it.

While watching them from the shadows, I whispered to Rake.

"Do you think they are looking for us?"

"… Definitely."

Rake answered confidently and turned around, leaving me at the entrance to the alley. I turned and followed him as well, and we both exited from another alley entrance.

We began walking on the open road once again, which makes me wonder why we are in the open again. But seeing how slow Rake is walking, it's almost like he is being very calm about it.

"The trick of staying hidden when you are on the run… is to keep it slow and walk."

"… The way you said it sounded like you stole it from a book."

"I know. I'm panicking right now."

Hearing that, I was surprised. 

I then began studying his posture, the way he walks, even how he is placing his hands on his pockets. From the looks of it, he truly is panicking.

His arms seemed shaky, and his shoulders looked much tenser than usual. I couldn't see it clearly due to his mask, but I can tell his eyes are looking left and right rapidly.

So this guy also has never been on the run before, huh…?

He is walking slowly, but I bet he is sweating waterfalls behind that mask. He has never been on the run before, so he must be stressed out for not wanting to be found.

Should I… take the lead? But I also have never been on the run before, so I'm no better than him.

This sucks. This whole situation sucks.

"We're here."

Rake stopped in front of a large building, and I studied the words that were written on top of the entrance.

"Adventurers?"

"They're people who are hired to do stuff--"

"I know what they are. But what are we going to do here?"

I stopped him quickly, and he slowly turned his gaze towards the entrance in silence.

"You'll know."

Dear lord… why is he being dramatically cryptic in this situation?

He entered through the front door, nearly bumping into a large guy. I followed behind him, and I can't help but notice the amount of eyes that landed on us upon entering.

Rake kept on walking until the receptionist desk, and we waited until the guy in front of us finished his business.

"Welcome, how can we help you?"

"I'd like to talk with the guild master."

"E-Excuse me…? But may I know of your identity?"

"Just know that I am someone very important. Will you be able to do that?"

"S-Sorry, but we don't--"

Rake then casually took out an item from his storage bracelet. It's a large bag full of coins, and I don't need to ask to know why he did it.

"O-Oh… ekhem. Apologies, the guild master is this way."

The receptionist lady took the bag of money with her and showed us the way. We climbed up the stairs, and arrived at a room with a sign saying 'Guild Master'.

The lady went in first to have a talk with the guild master. And once she was done, she walked out right after to fetch us.

"The guild master is now ready."

Rake nodded at the lady, and walked past her into the room. I followed behind him and also entered.

"Welcome! I see you are a humble customer. Dropping cashes like these in broad daylight, how can I help you?"

The guild master is… one unethical individual. His top is nowhere to be seen, revealing the curves of his muscles and tattoos all over his body. He is quite thin as well, so you can also see his chest bones when he curls his body forward.

The room smelled a lot like alcohol, and it seemed like he was not in the right mind to communicate, A.K.A. Drunk mode.

But Rake didn't mind it. He just casually sat down at the dirty sofa and stared straight into the eyes of the drunk man.

I was expecting him to take this situation seriously, but I wasn't expecting the words that came out of his mouth.

"I will get straight to the point. You are no drunk man, and you are not stupid. I have to ask you to stop acting dumb in front of me, because what I am about to say is serious business."

Rake suddenly said coldly, which confuses me very much.

This guy is not a drunk addict? He is drinking alcohol right now, though??

But after Rake said that, the expression of the guild master turned sour immediately. He calmly placed the glass of alcohol down, and stared straight to Rake's mask sharply.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The guild master said after a complete 180 turn on his personality. His voice became so heavy, and he no longer moves around weirdly.

T-That surprised me… It's like he just changed souls into someone else…

"I want to request a favor. S class."

"You know S class favors are… well, expensive."

"Don't underestimate me."

Rake then lifted his hand, and he took out a large bag of money. It was so big that it's probably much larger than my entire body curled.

H-How rich is this guy!? He can easily buy a mansion with that much money!!

"I see… interesting. And I assume this conversation is to be kept a secret?"

"Everything… must be kept secret."

"I understand. Please, continue."

Rake is… being so professional about this. I am surprised, he who has never been on the run before, is actually doing the talking rather nicely. An antisocial who probably doesn't have many friends, is talking business so calmly.

I am… amazed.

"I want two people, male and female. All they have to do is to wear a robe, similar to mine and hers. They need to act hidden, as if they are on the run."

Rake explained while pointing at his robe and mine, and the guild master nodded while studying our appearances.

"Two runaway actors… Understood. What else?"

"Yes. They must take the knights' attention away from Lionade, and take them to Clouren."

Clouren? Is that another town's name?

Upon hearing the name, even the guild master looked confused. But the reason for his confusion seemed to be different from mine.

"Why Clouren, specifically?"

"It's close."

The short but clear answer made him chuckle.

"… Fair point. Just two runaway actors… do they need to wear a mask like you do?"

"No, but I request their appearances to be customized."

"What do you want them to look like?"

The guild master asked, and Rake began explaining thoroughly.

"First, the male must have blonde hair. He should be tall, and this one is optional but he needs to be able to use light magic.

Second, the female. All you have to do is find a black haired female and have them wear a fake horn on their foreheads."

… Too much information, if you ask me.

Hearing those descriptions, the guild master began pondering.

"Hmm, one male resembling you and one female resembling the ethelen lady. All right."

The guild master reconfirmed, but his words caused Rake to be taken quite aback. Rake went completely silent, and his eyes were wide. Noticing this, the guild master chuckled.

"What, you think I don't know who you are? I'm the damn guild master, you know?"

"Right… I forgot about that."

Of course, he would know. You just told him exactly what we are, dumbass.

The guild master laughed loudly from how stupid Rake is, and he turned to me so suddenly. I can feel danger when I look into his eyes, because I know this person is nothing simple. But he is smiling simply at me, so I guess he isn't an enemy… for now.

"To think the man who destroyed the ethelens… is helping an ethelen. Even by betraying his entire kingdom like that. I really like to know… 

Why are you doing all this?"

This time, the question came from someone else but me. Which means, Rake has no choice but to answer. 

I am also waiting for an answer, so I listened sharply as well. But Rake suddenly stood up, and immediately changed the topic.

"Make sure the two actors don't die during the run to Clouren. If they die, things might get complicated for me."

Rake said after he stood up, and it's clear to both of us that he doesn't want to answer that question.

The guild master looked quite annoyed by it, and he kept on turning his gaze at me. Meanwhile, Rake is already walking towards the door to exit.

"If possible… find the actors by today."

"That won't be possible, hero. You know how adventurers work."

"Tsk."

Rake then proceeded to leave the room and I followed behind him. We both then exited the building, and Rake continued to walk.