The Rose's Thorns

MEANWHILE, in the capital city of Sylphadim, a trio of adventurers made their way through the busy streets leading to the Guild’s Headquarters. The three of them comprised the all-female A-Rank adventuring party, The Rose’s Thorns, famous in the Kingdom for their beauty and combat prowess alike.

Amelia, the fallen paladin, walked with the solemn air of one who’d lost everything but her discipline. Cerys, an elven sorceress, carried herself with poise and grace. And Xana, the feline ranger, padded lightly beside them, her ears flicking as she scanned the crowd.

Each of them had enjoyed close ties to the Royal Family, though a twist of fate had turned the relationship sour. At the loss of their patron, they formed an adventuring party, and quickly rose through the ranks of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Now, at the behest of Princess Camila, they rushed early in the morning to report for an urgent request. The Thorns weren’t given any details, other than a notice of strict confidentiality. By the looks of it, only a handful of S and A-Rank adventuring parties had been summoned.

“Yo!” a fellow guild member greeted them as they walked. His name was Erwin, and he numbered among the kingdom’s elite S-Rank adventurers.

Clad in golden plate, and crowned with hair of the same hue, Erwin looked every bit the kingdom’s golden boy, with enough broken hearts behind him to prove it.

“Morning, Erwin,” greeted Xana. She was well aware the man had fancied Amelia years ago, but didn’t get anywhere with her. Following Amelia’s fall from grace with the Royal Family, she’d kept mostly everyone at arm’s length.

“Good morning, Lady Xana,” he replied courteously. “And to you as well, Ladies Cerys and Amelia.”

“We’re not Ladies,” Amelia refuted. Indeed, neither of them were nobility, so addressing them as such was inaccurate, even if only out of flattery.

“Now, now,” Cerys stepped in. “He’s being friendly. Right, Lord Erwin?”

“Touché!” he replied with a hand to his chest. “Apologies, that was unbecoming of me. I’d never been called Lord before, so I hadn’t experienced how strange it feels.”

“No offense taken,” Amelia replied, composing herself. “It’s not unheard of for an adventurer to earn a noble title. Lord Silvano is proof of it.”

“Hah!” laughed Erwin. “Oh, Amelia. I may be a member of Anathema, but comparing me to the Hero of Lightbringer? That’s a bit much!”

Anathema and Lightbringer — the two S-Rank adventuring parties of Sylphadim. Lightbringer had been disbanded decades ago, but even to this day, their exploits throughout the land were still the stuff of legends.

“That’s what you get for being promoted,” Xana mocked him, playfully sticking her tongue out. The Rose’s Thorns and Anathema had been in an unspoken rivalry to reach S-Rank first, but the latter had gotten ahead of them.

“I wouldn’t wish it to my worst enemies,” Erwin joked. “Do you have any idea how swamped with work we are? Every single mission we get is almost a deathtrap.”

Being the sole S-Rank adventuring party in the kingdom, Anathema were entrusted with only the most dangerous and delicate quests; the high-risk, high-reward ventures that lesser parties couldn’t be relied upon.

“And yet we’re also being summoned,” Amelia noted, as the Guild’s headquarters became visible in the distance. The fact that A-Rank parties like the Thorns were called at the same time as Anathema was not a good sign.

“That you are,” Erwin replied, his voice lowered as he grew serious. “Amelia, everyone… hear me out for a moment.”

The group stopped, relocating just off the street for better privacy.

“So,” Amelia addressed him. “What is it?”

“I’ve got a good idea of why we’ve been called,” Erwin explained. “I can’t give you the details myself, as Grandmaster Godwin will have a specific assignment for you. But what I can tell you is this: you’d better watch yourselves out there. Someone’s been running interference against Anathema lately, and they’re likely to target you as well.”

The Adventurer’s Guild, by the very nature of its line of work, had plenty of enemies. It wasn’t uncommon for adventuring parties to be sabotaged, or outright attacked by hostile groups. But for even Anathema to run into trouble? Things had to be bad this time around.

“It’s all your damn fault, Erwin,” Xana said with a sigh. “Half of the city’s men want you dead. Do you have any idea how many of their daughters you’ve made cry?”

“O, oi,” Erwin blinked with surprise. “That isn’t my fault, you know?”

“Not denying, it, huh?” Xana replied impishly. “Even though you already have Mirabelle. She’ll run her sword through you one day... Gah!”

Xana eked out in pain at the end, thanks to Cerys digging her elbow into her ribs. She didn’t mind her friend teasing Erwin, but bringing up Mirabelle next to Amelia was a delicate matter, due to family affairs.

“So,” Amelia addressed him, pressed to change topics. “What kind of interference have you been running into?”

“Mostly diversions and traps for now,” Erwin replied. “They’ve been subtle, but it’s clear someone is after us. We haven’t found any leads about their identity, and it seems they’re still shy about striking directly. Against other parties, though… if my suspicions are right, then I’m afraid they might try to pull an ambush on them.”

Though Erwin didn’t mean to allude to it, by necessity, he had to imply that the Thorns were vulnerable to attack as a weaker party. Thus, they needed precautions, even if he had to tarnish his relationship with them to warn them.

“So you’re saying they might try it out on us next,” Cerys summarized, reading between the lines. “Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with them?”

Erwin shook his head.

“I haven’t fought this enemy yet, so I can’t give you any pointers,” he lamented. “But what I can propose to you is a joint operation. If you take the mission from Erwin and let Anathema secretly tail you, we might get the jump on our mystery foes.”

Amelia raised an eyebrow at the proposal.

“Without the Guild’s knowledge, I take it?” she asked. It was unusual for Erwin to discuss such a delicate matter with them outside the Guild, alone. Normally, it would be up to Grandmaster Godwin, the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild, to lead such efforts.

Yet Erwin seemed to imply he didn’t want Godwin to be in the know at all.

“That is correct,” Erwin replied, activating a short range concealment barrier. “We in Anathema have reason to believe the Guild has a mole problem.”

In other words, traitors.

The high-level missions taken by an S-Rank party like Anathema were strictly confidential, yet their plans had been apparently leaked on multiple occasions. So to Erwin and his comrades, it only made sense that a high ranking operative in the Guild had been compromised.

“Have you informed Her Highness of this?” Amelia followed up. Her relationship with Princess Camila may be estranged, but she remained her loyal subject, no matter the incidents of the past.

“I have,” Erwin confirmed. “She and Lord Silvano are in the know, and it was Princess Camila who suggested Anathema should act under operational silence… even from the Guild.”

So the moles won’t be able to leak anything if the Guild has nothing to leak.

It was a sensible plan, but…

“I’ll have to decline,” Amelia turned him down. “Princess Camila summoned you to fulfill a quest, didn’t she? If Her Highness needs you, I cannot accept your help. Only if she’s spared you from duty could I consider it.”

Her pride as a paladin wouldn’t allow it. She might no longer form part of the Order of the Silver Shield, but she wouldn’t dare to overrule the Princess’ interests for the sake of her personal safety.

Even if danger lurked beyond the horizon, the Thorns were still an A-Rank party. Amelia and her comrades were perfectly capable of handling themselves, without the need for Anathema to babysit them.

“But Amelia,” Erwin tried to insist, only for Amelia to deny him with her hand.

“No buts, Erwin,” she said firmly. “I will not be an impediment for Her Highness. If she needs your blade, then you will offer it to her. Not to me, not to anyone else.”

The veteran adventurer knew Amelia all too well. Nothing he could say to her by now would make her budge.

“I understand,” he conceded. “But if you do run into danger, don’t you dare throw your lives away. This goes for all of you, are we clear?”

“Yes, Pops~” Xana replied nonchalantly.

“We appreciate the warning,” Cerys thanked him.

“We’ll be fine,” Amelia assured him. “But thank you for your words, Erwin. Drinks are on us the next time we meet.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” he replied, concealing the turmoil in his heart. Despite the Thorns’ reassurance, Erwin couldn’t shake off the bad feeling churning in his gut. He felt like he’d been under surveillance for a while, and for good reason.

High above in the sky, an invisible scrying orb quietly spied on the capital city, with particular interest on the girls Erwin was talking to. Unbeknownst to him, or to anyone else, one of the most powerful entities in the world of Krysterios had taken notice of them.