Complicit

Seirai is extremely nervous when she sees Victoria there, worried about why she has shown up, knowing that Victoria is unaware of Ray being a god.

'Shit! She Doesn't know about Kaine! We have been talking about him a lot though... shit!' Seirai

thinks.

"Seirai? Is everything okay?" Grantal asks.

"Oh! Yes, sorry I know who Victoria is, she caught me off guard."Seirai replies.

"Well, this makes my responsibility easier. As I said before, I need you to take her on a couple of missions, show her how everything works. Whether or not she gets any of the rewards is up to you. Now if you would please leave, I have many things I need to attend to." Grantal says as he gestures to the door.

The trio leaves and begins to look at each other awkwardly.

"H-hello... I didn't know you all worked here. You are adventurers?" Victoria asks to break the silence.

"Yep! Well, we need to complete some quests, so come on!" Modri says excitedly.

They walk up to the quest board and begin to look at the possible quests. After a bit, they pick one.

"Why that one? It seems a bit difficult" Victoria asks.

"Simple, this mentions a specific crime ring we encountered recently, they had kidnapped some people, so we might as well get rid of them now. Don't worry, we are stronger than you may think." Seirai smiles as they leave to go complete their quest.

*****

After walking for a couple of hours, they find a casino which is less than reputable.

"Alright, I suggest keeping back, we can't be as violent as we were last time Modri." Seirai says.

"Why not??" Modri complains

"Because there are definitely innocent people in there who will get dragged into our fight." Seirai says.

Victoria watches without saying much, studying them.

"Okay... So, what do we do instead?" Modri asks.

"Well... Our job is to prove that this is a crime ring, so if we had someone who, let's say, could walk through the earth. We may be able to get evidence without any violence." Seirai suggests.

"Okay!" Modri says as he begins to walk through the earth heading towards the casino. After several minutes he comes back and says,

"I found evidence... But they have people in there as well..."

"Damn, guess we can't be as kind, alright let's go." Seirai walks up to the casino. Seeing a couple of bouncers on the outside of the door.

"Oi! Where do you think you are going miss?" One of them says, but with no hesitation, Seirai punches him in the jaw, cracking it immediately.

As the other guard attempts to grab her, Modri slams his head into the ground, as they keep moving.

'What?!' Victoria is shocked by this sight as she follows behind them.

As they keep moving, Modri dashes around knocking out anyone with a weapon who seems aggressive, being careful not to kill.

After a bit they get to another large room in the back, seeing the wall lined with magical seals keeping sound from coming out.

There are dozens of people chained up with blindfolds on, but there are more thugs hanging about who try to charge at the trio, but as expected, Modri quickly ends them.

As the thugs see this, one of them sprints out of the building, while the others defend his escape.

"Modri, fetch." Seirai says as she swings her sword, incinerating the people who didn't run.

Modri gives chase, sprinting after the person, but every now and then he changes appearance using some form of illusion magic. Modri tries to keep track of him but ends up losing him.

"Damn!" Modri shouts in frustration as he leaps off the roof.

Back in the casino, Seirai and Victoria are freeing the people, while interrogating one of the people kept alive.

"Now, what is your purpose for kidnapping all of these people?" Seirai says as she points her sword at him.

"Money, what other reason is there?" The man says with feigned confidence.

"Who were you going to sell them to?" Seirai asks.

"Wylan Holtrix, the leader of a raider group." The man responds.

"What is a raider group?" Victoria asks.

"Pretty much organized bandits that raid larger areas and tend to add many people to their ranks. Now where is their base?" Seirai asks.

"South of the city, in a cave, it runs quite deep and is massive. Now I told you what you want, can I leave?" He asks with a shaky voice.

"Why should I let you live, your group has torn people from their homes to sell them into slavery." Seirai asks with a dark expression.

"I-I didn't do the kidnapping! I was just a guard!" The man pleads.

"Ah! Sorry, I thought you were an evil seller of lives." Seirai replies, without changing her expression.

The man sighs in relief, until Seirai says, "Instead you were complicit in this, happy to profit off it. Then to plead your case, you tried to take the high road. You aren't innocent, you chose to allow this, and actively helped them."

With one swift move, the man's heart is pierced, sending his soul to the underworld.

Victoria gasps in shock and horror, as she sees this, nervous of how to respond.

"Sorry you had to see that; I despise people like them. Now come along, let's go find Modri." Seirai says as she walks out.

Victoria follows, trying not to look at the body.

*****

The trio return after Modri explains that the person ran. They claim their reward.

"Alright. Victoria, would you like to come over?" Modri asks.

'Shiiiiiiiiiit!!!' Seirai's eye twitches.

"Umm... Sure!" Victoria responds.

They head back to the cliff, with Seirai sweating bullets, nervous about what could happen.

When they walk into the compound. Victoria is stunned by the growth of the area, with multiple buildings, including a big frame for one.

Lily and Effren run up, as Modri blushes.

Victoria notices this and asks. "Who are these two?"

"Oh! Right, this is Lily and Effren, they were two homeless kids we found on a quest so we brought them with us to our little haven up here." Seirai responds.

Ray walks out of the big building, and when Lily and Effren see him, they begin to shout, "Lo-!"

Before they can finish, Modri shouts, "Big Bro!" While glancing at the others.

While Victoria is distracted, Seirai quickly brings the other two away to quickly explain the situation.

Victoria walks up and greets Ray awkwardly. 'Elyra doesn't want me talking to him...'

"Are you okay Victoria?" Ray asks.

"Ah! Y-yeah... Can we talk?" Victoria says as she gestures to the building, and they both walk in.

"So, what do you need to talk about?" Ray questions.

"Well... My sponsor suggested something to me, she told me not to talk to you, because that would ruin my reputation..." Victoria mutters.

"Is that what you would like?" Ray replies.

"No! I just don't know how to convince her of that..."

"No worries! How about this, you bring her here so that I can talk to her, so she can understand me better. Anyways, it is getting late, so I think you should stay here for the night." Ray responds.

"Okay. Is there a guest room?" Victoria asks.

"No, but there is a guest house out there." Ray points, and as she walks away, he has a very dark expression.

'This prejudice is beginning to really annoy me...'