She Confronts the Merchant

"Phew! That was close!" Robin sat on the edge of her her bed. Then a thought came to her: was that the only device? Robin picked up the two halves of the destroyed device and rushed over to Jasmine's room.

Jasmine opened the door, sleepily. "What is it?" She asked, eyes barely able to remain open.

"I found it." Robin told her.

"Found what?" Jasmine asked.

"I found the device you were looking for. quick let me in!" Robin said, in a hurry. Jasmine let Robin in when she understood what Robin had said. Robin glanced at Skye, and Skye nodded, quickly exploring the room for any signs of a foreign object. He shook his head.

"Robin, what's this all about?" Jasmine asked, curious.

Robin sighed in relief. Thank goodness. If Jasmine had been captured, then Robin wouldn't know how to free anyone. She set the severed halves of the device on the side table in the room.

"This should be it. I found it in my room." Robin explained. "Well, Skye found it. I noticed someone had been inside while I was out, so I asked Skye to check it out for me. Near scared me to death when he triggered it."

"What! Skye are you oka-" She paused. "Wait, if Skye triggered it, then how come there's no slave crest?"

"If there was one, where would it be?" Robin asked, out of curiosity.

"On the back of the head near the base of the neck." Jasmine answered, bending over to look at Skye. "You really don't have one, though?"

"No. He doesn't." Robin agreed. "We got lucky. Hikaru, the sword, severed it before it could finish the job."

"We?" Jasmine asked, looking sharply at Robin.

"It almost got me, too." Robin admitted.

"This is why you're so reckless!" Jasmine glared. "You couldn't have gone to get one of us, could you? You had to just go it alone!" She looked angry, but Robin could tell that she was more worried than anything else.

Robin pulled down the back of her collar. "Look. See? I'm completely fine. I also wasn't alone. Skye was there with me." She pointed out.

"A cat is not enough when it comes to something like this!" Jasmine reprimanded.

"Flying cat!" Skye growled.

"Flying cat." Robin passed on the correction.

"Whatever!" Jasmine pinched the skin between her eyebrows wearily and sighed. "Look, just... don't be so reckless again, okay? Now get out and let me sleep!" With that, Jasmine shoved Robin and Skye out of her room, and closed the door practically on their heels.

Robin, however, seemed to be going from one tense situation to another. Because right outside Jasmine's room, she ran into a very surprised Christian. Turns out, his room stood across from Jasmine's room, and he had just awoken. Both of them stood there for a long awkward moment before Robin suddenly blinked. A thought flashed through her head that this was just the sort of situation that you would find in a manga.

"Um... I'm back?" She put forward.

Christian scowled darkly. Then he grabbed Robin's arm and dragged her into his room. Once they were behind a closed door, he released her. "What were you doing in my Cousin's room alone?" He asked in a rather scary voice. Robin remembered that a man and a woman being alone together in a room, especially a bedroom, was considered scandalous. Not to mention the fact that Christian liked Robin. He was probably furious.

"Speak!" Christian looked oddly terrifying when angry. At the very least, Robin's heart was racing faster than a rabbit. She felt even more guilty for causing yet another misunderstanding with him.

"First off, calm down. We weren't alone." Robin raised her hands trying to reassure him.

"Oh yeah? Who was in there with you? I saw that Chelsea was clearly at the end of the hallway with Liam." Christian took a step closer, closing the distance between them.

"S-skye was with me." Robin replied, taking a step back.

"The cat doesn't count!" Christian growled.

"Flying cat!" Skye hissed, annoyed.

"Flying cat." Robin corrected automatically, feeling like she had made a big mistake. "And Secondly, I was just dropping something off, okay?

"Then why is your collar messed up?" Christian asked coldly

"Because we found a device in my room, but Skye accidentally triggered it. Turns out it was the slavery crest device-." Robin began, but was interrupted by Christian.

"What!? Are you okay!?" Christian grabbed her by the shoulders, instantly morphing from a cold fury into one of worry and concern.

"I'm fine. the device was destroyed before it could complete its task." Robin brushed his hands away. "So what I was doing was trying to reassure Jasmine that I hadn't gotten...you know..." Robin pointed to the back of her neck. "Apparently a successful capture has the crest around that spot."

Christian sighed with relief, then became angry again. "And you didn't come get us, why?" He asked angrily, grabbing her by her collar. This person seemed bent upon infuriating him to no end. Why hadn't he called him to help?

"Skye touched it before I could warn him not to." Robin instantly passed the buck onto Skye. "Apparently that was all it took to trigger it. If I had had more time, then obviously I wouldn't have gone near it alone. I ran to Jasmine first, just in case there were more of these devices, because Jasmine knows how to remove the slave crest."

Christian thought for a moment, before letting Robin go, and patting his shoulder. "I'll let you off this time. But don't let me see you in Jasmine's room ever again!"

"I know. I know." Robin said to placate him, glancing sidelong at Skye. "Cats don't count, apparently...not even flying cats. I'll be more careful next time."

"There shouldn't be a next time." Christian growled. Before he hurried off to check on the other rooms, he wanted Robin's word. He stared at her, waiting in front of the door.

"Got it. no next time." Robin's head bobbed up and down like a bobblehead. Christian opened the bedroom door, allowing Robin and Skye to leave.

Robin watched Christian head down the hallway to check on the others. Then she yawned wearily. Misunderstandings were exhausting.

"Well...that was sure exciting, but I really need some sleep now." She returned to her room with Skye in tow, and had him watch the door while she finally went to sleep as the townspeople began to awaken.

No one else in Robin's group had encountered such a thing, so the morning passed unhindered until about just before noon. The merchant approached Robin's room, which was now being guarded by two of the knights who had rested well the night before. The guards stopped him.

"Halt! No one is allowed to enter this room unless the person inside allows it." Sir Raymond announced.

"Do you even know who I am!?" The merchant spluttered.

"No. But frankly, I don't care." Raymond replied. "As the Hero, who enjoys both rights and rank above even our own king, only he has the authority to rescind or replace his own orders. If you give me a name, I can pass on a message upon his awakening."

The merchant roared with a loud voice. "Hero! Ha! I've never seen someone who sleeps for so long being called a hero! What was he doing out so late last night, huh? Hero? More like a bandit."

"And how did you know that I was outside last night, merchant?" A stern voice came from behind the two guards. Robin, fully dressed and masked, had opened the door.

"You really should take care of who you decide to bark at, you know. Or do I look like a ripe persimmon?" Robin's stern impression had quite the impact on the merchant.

"You...you..." the merchant stammered in absolute surprise. A successfully marked slave wouldn't be able to even move without their master's permission.

"Me, what?" Robin asked. "I asked you a question, and still haven't heard your answer. How did you know that I wasn't in?" There had been no alarm from Gerard or Elise, so the merchant himself hadn't moved. It seemed like this merchant truly did have an accomplice helping him out.

"You tried to visit yesterday, and I was out? Perhaps I was in another person's room, when you came. But, if so, then why did you say that I had gone out?" Robin asked in a perfectly reasonable tone. The merchant began to sweat. He had plotted against the hero, and failed.