Corruption

The clash of steel, screeches, the stench of death. It was all too familiar to Reinhardt, but it sickened him. The dark corridor was poorly lit by a handheld lantern that was left on the ground as the sound of bodies hit the floor.

“Two more on your left!”

Hearing the familiar female voice coming from behind—made the knight pivot on his left foot and swing the longsword low—cutting through one of the two skittish creatures that were already at arm's length.

Goblins, little green creatures the size of a child, vicious and bloodthirsty—the ones that grew within the dungeon seemed even more aggressive than their surface counterpart.

“Gyah!”

The other surviving one tried to leap at his shield with the gruesome dagger at the ready to stab him, but an arrow shot straight through its small frame as it fell limply on the stone tiled floor.

“All clear!”

One shout came from down the hallway they were in.

“We’re done!”

Reinhardt flicked his blade once to remove the excess purplish blood from his blade and then lifted his head and shouted.

“Clear!” Calm footsteps approached his left side and as he turned around he noticed his companion, Elaine, kneeling with a dagger already in hand. “Don’t you get tired of it?”

“I don’t get tired from getting paid.”

She swiftly tilted the dagger downwards and stabbed the goblin she had shot with her bow. The arrow head protruding out of the back of its chest made it a rough estimate as to where she had to cut.

With rough and forceful yanks of her blade, she carved out a purple crystal out of its carcass—it was no larger than her arrowhead and it was thinner than the shaft of said arrow.

Seeing the elf perform this five times without showing a hint of emotion in her face made Reinhardt shake his head.

“This is no job for someone like yourself, Elaine.”

“Someone has to do it.” She finished pocketing the last crystal into her belt pouch and started to clean her hand with a used rag she had produced from within that same pouch. “Or rather, I’d like to get paid.”

As she said those words, the knight looked at the bodies of their slain prey and slowly but surely, the crystalless carcasses started to crumble into dust—as if being absorbed by the dungeon in order to create more of those things.

“This just isn’t normal.” He kicked an arm of a goblin and before it crumbled into dust before it could even hit the ground. “These… things…”

“What is the difference?” Elaine shrugged. “Someone has to kill ‘em.”

The indifferent elf started to make her way back to the camp while still trying to get the slick blood out of her hands.

Reinhardt looked upwards at the unnatural night sky.

“Someone has to do it… huh?”

After contemplating for a bit, he decided to grab the lantern off the ground and head back as well. His armored footsteps were met in kind with other adventurers converging into the campsite.

Differently from the narrow halls, the campsite was located in a courtyard. Low bushes and foliage were growing in between the stone tiles—giving off a sensation of an ancient, forgotten civilization. The group was made out of eight adventurers, six of which had just returned from their exploration and one out of the two miners was taking care of preparing the food.

“It’s good to have you people with us.” A man wearing mining equipment raised his wooden tankard upwards. “Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

“Aye!”

“Cheers!”

Elaine had already taken her portion of the stew and was sitting at the edge of the campfire, facing sideways as a way to keep track of the hallways they just came out from. Reinhardt grabbed his portion and sat behind his companion to keep an eye out on the other entrances.

“Why did you say those things, Rein?”

Elaine asked after she took a spoonful of her stew before shifting her weight to the right side as she folded her left leg and leaned against the knight’s back.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“We’ve been doing this for years, yet now you mention it again—how unnatural this place is.”

“...” He stared at his stew before turning his head sideways and saying. “I guess I started to think too much again.”

“Is it because of that duelist?”

He lowered his head and sighed slowly as if he expected her to know the reason.

“She reminded me of my younger self.”

“Reckless and skilled then.”

“More of the former.” He spoke before tilting his head up to the starry sky. “Who would chase after a ten year old bounty in the name of justice?”

“Hmmm…” Elaine took another spoonful of the stew and then spoke. “You, for sure.”

“Hah… yeah, maybe…”

He tilted his head down and continued eating his stew. The quiet chatter and crackling of firewood made the dungeon feel calm in comparison to the earlier violence. But despite doing this many times before, Reinhardt just couldn’t help but feel like there was something wrong with that place.

He felt like something—someone, was watching them. Prodding, testing, evaluating them at every turn with monsters, traps and ambushes. It was enough to send shivers down his spine.

“But I have to admit.” Elaine said as she put her bowl of stew down and reached for the inner pocket of her gambeson before pulling out a silver pocket watch. “It’s very disorienting to stay down here for a long time. It’s already past six.”

“Already?”

“Yeah…” She closed the lid of her watch and pocketed it inside of her gambeson. “I think we should get some rest. We’ll be the vanguard again.”

Reinhardt finished his bowl and settled it on top of Elaine’s.

“Agreed.”

He turned his open palm to the side and as she placed her hand on top of his, he stood up while lifting her up.

Once she was standing, she looked at the rest of the group that were still drinking and said in a curt, brief tone.

“We’ll go rest.”

“Aye.”

“Rest up well.”

As the elf and knight started to head off into one of the tents—the others looked amongst themselves and the younger looking scout scratched the back of his head through his green hood.

“Man, I’m jealous of that guy.”

A chestnut haired swordswoman glared at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you see who he’s going to sleep with? That woman is an elven goddess.”

The woman shook her head as she was finishing applying oil to her sword.

“That’s why you are single.”

“Hah?!”

Elaine heard everything from inside of the tent and she rolled her eyes before turning to Reinhardt, who was already laying down with only the visor of his helmet up.

“Don’t you want to take it off?”

She asked with a smirk on her face as she put her bow and quiver near the entrance of the tent alongside his sword and shield.

“I can sleep just fine with it.”

“Eh, I can’t argue against that.” She settled her kettle helmet between a mound of assorted cloth and laid her head down while facing up. The tent’s ceiling was rather low and its fabric was thin from usage which made it almost see-through. “Rein. I’ve been thinking…”

“Yeah?”

“Wouldn’t Leona be able to lift your exile?”

“And pardon a known criminal? No, I won’t sully her good name.”

She sighed quietly.

“Rein, you are no criminal. You are the paladin of the Arcadian order of Royal Knights.”

“Former, paladin.” He corrected her. “And even if I were to return, Arcadia already has a new champion.”

Elaine turned her gaze to the side of the tent as she spoke.

“A man incapable of wielding magic is ill suited for being called a champion.”

“Elaine.”

“I know.” She paused for a while before sighing quietly. “Sorry.”

“Leona already improved the kingdom by leaps and bounds. Imposing something menial as lifting an exile is nothing short of dishonoring her rule as Queen.”

“I understand it Rein, but even so… you are the one who shouldn’t be living this kind of life.”

“The Lorraine family is nothing but a relic of the past.” He tilted his head to the side as he closed his eyes. “Let it die with me.”

“Rein…”

With a heavy heart, Elaine closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But even in the depths of her mind, she would still not have a restful slumber.

“Elaine, that shall be your name.” A male voice rang inside her mind. It was a stern, serious and uncaring voice. “You’ll train until you become a usable blade, a tool. One that does not ask, does not question, you’ll be the blade that culls any life that I point towards.”

Images of her small blood soaked hands flashed inside her mind in a continuous heartbeat. Each progressively more gruesome than the last, until she held a dagger with shaking hands while pointing it to a heavily armored knight—who declared himself with a proud and loud voice.

“My name is Maxwell Lorraine! What is your name, young one?”

She knew that was the end, her thin arms couldn’t possibly muster enough force to make her dagger pierce through the chainmail beneath that mountain of steel in front of her. She forced herself to hold her bladearm and prepared to lunge forward in a desperate last attempt to kill her target. But the towering knight proved to be someone far more skilled than her and with one fast and precise strike, he disarmed her.

He extended his sword and while holding her at blade point, asked.

“I ask once again, young one. What is your name?”

Elaine’s dark green eyes were empty—devoid of any feelings and yet she still couldn’t help but wonder why the enemy in front of her didn’t just end her life.

‘Ah… maybe this is how knights kill their foes…’

She thought. Hopelessness wasn’t a feeling she knew, just resignation as she opened her mouth.

“Elaine.”

Her eyes suddenly snapped open. Her quickened heartbeat slowly adjusted as she calmed herself down with steady breaths.

The tent was quiet. Reinhardt still slept beside her and the sound of crackling campfire was still going outside. She blinked a few times before forcing herself upright. The memories of her past lingered in her mind as she sighed quietly.

“Sir Maxwell…” She slowly turned her gaze to Reinhardt and then back to the tent’s entrance. “Your son sure got some troublesome traits from you.”

She grabbed the kettle helmet and gingerly made her way out of the tent to not wake him up. Once outside, she noticed the only other person awake was the miner of the previous night. He had made skewers with branches of the nearby bushes and was cooking sausages over the low flame while leaving the rather stale bread on the coals in order to soften it up.

“Oh? Good morning, Lass.” He stopped for a moment and chuckled to himself. “Or is it, good evening instead?”

With a familiar rhythm, Elaine pulled out her pocketwatch and checked.

“It’s three, I think it’s morning.”

Not that she was sure of it, the uncanny night sky remained the same as before she went to sleep.

“Good morning it is then.” He turned his attention back to the sausages. “I’ll have your share ready in a minute.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Nah, thank you for protecting our asses.”

She sat in front of the tent and tilted her head to the side as she muttered under her breath.

“I’m just doing my job.”

In a few minutes, the other adventurers also started to come out of the tents. The young scout was visibly drained while the swordswoman, who came out of the same tent, seemed refreshed.

“Yawn… oh? We have sausages for breakfast.”

The woman elbowed the young man, who almost fell on his side.

“Ow…”

“Come on, straighten your back!”

She smacked his back which made him arc up in a jolt of pain.

“Gah!”

‘So noisy…’

Elaine picked her bow from inside the tent and reached for a pouch outside. From within, she got a sealed ceramic pot and opened it.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

The swordswoman approached her while asking about the vessel on her lap.

“Waxing my bow.” Elaine answered as she took part of the yellow paste from the pot and started to rub it along the bowstring. “It’s similar to oiling a blade.”

“Ah? I didn’t know bows had to be maintained like that.”

“The more arrows I can fire out of it, the better.”

“I’m more impressed that you can be accurate in this place. The darkness feels surreal down here.”

“I’ve got enough training.”

“Breakfast’s ready!” The miner shouted. “Come get your stale bread as well.”

The swordswoman spoke before quickly turning around.

“Well, let’s grab some food.”

She left Elaine to finish the maintenance on her bow when Reinhardt came out of the tent already holding his shield on his left hand and sheathed sword on the right. The usual noise of his armor made the elf turn to him with a faint smile.

“Ah, good morning, Rein.”

“Good morning.” He took a brief look around. “Is everything alright?”

She nodded.

“Yep. You can have breakfast first, I need to finish waxing my bow.”

“Sure.”

He adjusted the sheathed weapon on his belt and shield on a sling around his shoulder before heading near the campfire to grab two lunches. They were made with two sliced breads and a sausage in between. It was a rather dry and tasteless meal, but it was better than going on an empty belly.

With a quiet clatter of his armor, Reinhardt returned to sit beside Elaine and held one of the makeshift sandwiches near her mouth. She tilted her head slightly in the direction of the meal and took a bite out of it, all the while not taking her eyes off the task of waxing her bowstring.

In one bite, he ate half of his breakfast.

‘I wonder if she is a squire from Arcadia.’ He munched it slowly while thinking about his most recent meeting with Priscilla. ‘To have such a strong devotion to see things right… if she truly is from the capital then maybe…’

He couldn’t help but wonder about his homeland. Arcadia as he knew—was anything but perfect. The crowning of a new, younger, queen made the kingdom unstable in the beginning of her reign, but the Arcadia of today is widely known for its technological and magical advancements.

Livelihood quality increased while crime had decreased by equal leaps and bounds.

Reinhardt swallowed his food but it felt like a dry lump of food going down his throat.

‘No… ruining a kingdom’s image for one single person isn’t what a knight should strive for.’ He took a second—and also last bite out of his meal, crunching the food down in a rather unfeeling fashion. ‘I’m…’

“Rein.”

Elaine’s soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts and as he turned to the elf, she had her mouth half open as if requesting to be fed.

“Ah, sorry.”

He approached the food and she took another bite out of it. Unlike him, she ate in smaller portions and chewed thoroughly before swallowing.

“Thanks.” She replied shortly and continued to talk while applying the finishing touches to her weapon. “Were you thinking about the duelist again?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“You seem a bit lost in thought.” She tilted her head again and opened her mouth. “Ish unsushual fer you to be distractshed.”

“Eat or speak, Elaine. Don’t do both at the same time.”

She took a while to chew and swallow her food.

“I said, it’s unusual for you to be distracted.”

“Perish the thought. I was thinking how we’ll head back.”

“Missing the surface as well huh?” Elaine took another bite and chuckled to herself. “I donsh’t parthicularly like dis plashe either.”

“Eat or speak.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

After finishing her meal, the elf stood up and placed the bow against the tent as she stretched her arms out. Reinhardt also did the same before turning to the miner.

“We’ll be heading out.”

He was still in the middle of eating his breakfast, but with a simple raise of his hand he replied with his mouth still full.

“Aye.”

The knight turned to his companion, who was armed and ready.

“Let’s move.”

“Got it.”

He grabbed the lit lantern and hooked its handle into the belt before drawing his longsword out of its sheathe. The sound of steel echoed in the campsite as his metallic footsteps grew further away with each step.

Both the scout and swordswoman shouted from behind them in unison.

“Be careful out there!”

Elaine matched her pace with his as to keep herself within arm’s length of the knight. While she was familiar with hand to hand combat, most of her training involved different ways to assassinate people, not monsters.

Reinhardt on the other hand, was familiar with many methods to dispatch monsters and people alike. As a paladin, his role used to be protecting the king or leading his armies. As such, he was trained under a variety of martial arts.

The narrow stone corridors were eerily quiet. The sky above them continued to be an uncanny blackness with bright dots peppering it as if trying to replicate the night sky, but it felt too surreal. The lack of breeze and natural light made that place uncomfortable to stay in.

“Rein.”

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking, maybe we could hire that duelist to our party.”

“Huh?” He stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder to her. “Why are you suggesting such a thing?”

“Think about it. You could ask questions about Arcadia and we’ll also get a decent party member.”

“...” He turned around and clenched his sword tightly as he continued moving forward. “Let’s talk more about this once we’re out of here.”

“Fair enough.”

She followed closely, but from his footsteps alone, she could feel there was something bothering him.

‘It’s always like that when we talk about Arcadia…’

Elaine felt a bit helpless inside. She knew just how much it meant for him to attain the title of Paladin. He was the chosen knight amongst men, his skills with the blade and the blessing of the goddess of light made him the perfect sword and shield for a ruler.

‘And yet…’

She looked at his frame from the back. A lost soul in a dungeon mired in violence and perversion. A corrupted existence.

‘You are the one who shouldn’t be chained to a place like this…’

They continued their expedition in silence, the dangling equipment and the clattering of Reinhardt’s armor was all the sound that filled the stone halls of that uncomfortable place. Death was a possibility when exploring the dungeons, but another danger that lurked beneath all the promises of riches was the deterioration of the mind.

The sensation of dread was almost palpable. Each footstep they took, the more a cold sensation started to spread from their stomachs, it was like being constant on the edge of a panic attack. Though they were both trained to keep their emotions from getting the best of them, it was still a very unpleasant sensation.

Elaine shifted her arms, trying to adjust the gambeson that felt a bit uncomfortable on her shoulders. On a similar note, Reinhardt lifted his kite shield to have a firmer grasp on its handle.

He always kept his shield raised just above his waist line in case they were ambushed, but the corridors felt strangely empty.

“I know we are making our way back but…” Elaine glanced behind her back as she spoke. “This seems unusual.”

“You tell me.” He swallowed dry. “I still can’t get used to this…” At that moment the elf stopped. Noticing this, Reinhardt also stopped and asked without turning his head. “What did you hear?”

“Something big is coming this way.” She quickly kneeled down and placed her right ear against the stone floor. She could hear loud thumping noises fast approaching. “Get ready!”

The knight lowered his stance and raised his shield in front of his body while tightening his grasp around the longsword’s hilt. Elaine stood up—nocked an arrow against the bowstring and placed three extra arrows, one between each finger of her left hand before taking about two steps back. Unlike Reinhardt, she could see just fine in the darkness.

As the thumps grew loud enough for the knight to hear, she shouted.

“Hobgoblin!”

Reinhardt steeled himself as he first saw a massive leg come out of the darkness into his lantern’s light. The rest was all down to instinct.

A massive wooden club came into a downwards swing that was meant to flatten him—but thanks to Elaine’s warning, he knew what to expect. The wooden weapon hit the angled shield with a loud clank as it was redirected to the ground on his left. With a quick motion of his arm, he jabbed the longsword into the towering dark green skinned monster’s side in order to get its attention.

“Rooooar!”

It let out an ear piercing roar that echoed throughout the entire hall. Reinhardt was momentarily stunned by the loud noise, but at least he was now sure that he had gotten its attention.

The hobgoblin lifted his club into an upwards swing that scratched the side of the knight’s shield while also knocking him a bit to the side. It was then that Elaine saw an opening and in quick succession, fired three arrows on different parts of the monster’s right arm. One near the shoulder, one near the elbow and the last arrow splintered upon hitting its forearm.

“Grrrr!”

Clearly not liking the elf’s harassment—it winded up its arm in order to throw the club in her direction, but Reinhardt quickly interrupted its motion with a quick upwards slash that carved halfway through the inner part of its forearm.

“Rooooooar!”

While he had successfully stopped it from harming Elaine, the towering monster swung its left arm horizontally with full force which caught Reinhardt between his own shield and the stone wall behind his back.

“Oof!”

He could feel his body rock forward from the impact, but he used the close proximity to lock the hobgoblin’s arm with his left and drive the longsword halfway into its forearm.

The knight’s head was left exposed and the monstrosity was about to bring the club down on him, but Elaine’s marksmanship proved once again to be effective as she shot an arrow right through its throat which made the oversized beast gasp for air.

That small window of opportunity was enough for Reinhardt to grab the mid-section of his blade and twist it like a lever. It let out another disgruntled roar as air passed through the arrow wound in its neck.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

The knight yelled as he yanked the sword out of the twisted arm and purplish blood splatter all over his armor. The club came down at him once again but since he had no space to redirect the strike, he clinched the monster as he drove the longsword into its chest with the same half-swording technique.

Of course, its muscular build and thick bones didn’t allow the blade to go that deep, but the impact of the knight’s full weight was enough to frighten the creature just enough for Elaine to line up the perfect shot. As she let go of the arrow, it pierced straight into the creature’s neck.

The creature stumbled backwards which allowed Reinhardt to create some distance. As he backed off with his shield raised, the elf approached his back with an arrow loosely ready on the bowstring, but it didn’t seem necessary for them to continue fighting as the hobgoblin started to pant heavily as it fell on its knees, trying to breathe and claw at its thoroughly ruined throat.

It sluggishly tried to swing its club around aimlessly but after a few more seconds it fell face first into the stone floor in a dry thud.

“Phew…”

Reinhardt let out a tired sigh as he relaxed his stance. His body was throbbing from the pain and adrenaline while Elaine was storing the arrows she had ready on her left hand back into the quiver.

After a short while, they could hear hurried footsteps behind them as the swordswoman, scout and a few other adventurers came running with the two miners behind them.

“We heard a commotion what…” The swordswoman stopped midway through her speech as she noticed a large dark green frame lying on the ground in a puddle of purple viscous blood. “Woah…”

“What?” The scout looked at her with a raised eyebrow until he followed her gaze to the fallen hobgoblin. “Aah! What the-! Did you two kill this thing by yourselves?!”

“Do you see anybody else here?” Elaine asked sarcastically as she handed her bow to Reinhardt and pulled out a dagger from her belt sheath. “Stay on guard, there could be other monsters lurking nearby.”

The elf unceremoniously headed over the fallen monstrosity and started to carve the left side of its back. After breaking some bones from the ribcage with the miners’ help, she cut through muscle and sinew until she managed to yank out a magic crystal the size of a closed fist from its chest. It was a hefty prize for slaying a beast of that size.

Just as fast as they removed the gem from its chest, the monstrous body started to crumble to dust until the only thing left was its former wooden club.

“Well that’ll certainly cover a lot of expenses.” The older miner chuckled sourly. “Shame you don’t get to keep it.”

Elaine shrugged off and tossed it to the miner before cleaning her hand with an old rag she pulled out from her pouch. The blood stained her skin but at least the sticky texture was gone.

“She’s really tough as nails…” The scout murmured to the swordswoman. “I don’t think I’d have the stomach to dissect that thing.”

“That’s the ‘elf goddess’ for ya.”

She elbowed him jokingly.

As they squabbled amongst themselves, Reinhardt—who was leaning heavily against the wall, was approached by Elaine.

“Thank you for holding my bow.” She grabbed it from his hand, but before turning around, she asked with a tinge of worry in her voice. “How hurt are you?”

“I’ll… walk it off.” He tried to lift his left arm but the pulsating pain and heat from his forearm made it difficult for him to keep his shield up. “Argh…”

“Don’t try to tough it out. Stay with me at the back since they are all here now.”

He nodded.

The journey back was rather uneventful. Their group encountered the wandering goblin or two, but they were easily dispatched with the effort of the other adventurers. It wasn’t long until they managed to get back to the stone staircase leading out of the dungeon. The long set of stairs was illuminated by the faint morning sunlight. It gave a sense of hope and relief for all of them.

With tired, heavy footsteps, they made their way out of the dungeon, the dark monolith stood uncaring as they exited it.

“Good work out there.” One of the guards by the entrance greeted them. “Did anyone-”

“Nope. None died.”

The older miner answered even before he could finish his question.

“Okay, good.”

The same guard then returned to his seat under the tent set up against the side of the monolith.

Reinhardt was avoiding raising his left arm but he still had his longsword out until he made about halfway through the district and only then he sheathed it.

The older miner looked at both of them and smiled quietly as he said.

“If you two want to go home, I’ll leave your share in the guild for you to grab later.”

Elaine nodded shortly and replied.

“Sounds good. We’ll see you another day.”

“Aye, ‘twas good working with you two.”

With that, the group split into two. The miners and adventurers carrying the camp supplies headed off to the central square while Reinhardt and Elaine headed off to the slums.

Their homestead was a plain barn refurbished into a house. The adobe walls weren’t exactly beautiful but that wasn’t why they were there in the first place.

Elaine grabbed the side of the twig door and pushed it inward before stepping through the doorway. The inside was as one would expect, dark, filled with dust from the dry crackling adobe walls and with a few insects scuttling around the beaten dirt floor.

The two adventurers made their way inside—tired, and battered, Reinhardt moved to the room they were renting off from Geralt and started to slowly shed his armor. As he did so, Elaine sat in the kitchen room as she put her bow and quiver full of arrows on top of the counter.

“Do you need help?”

She asked from the other room which prompted him to answer.

“I would appreciate a hand.”

Without wasting time, she walked into the bedroom and started to help him unbuckle all the belts and leather straps that held his steel plate together. It was a lengthy process—one that was also not painless.

“Argh.”

He grunted upon removing his left arm’s gauntlet. His entire forearm that held the shield was bruised and swollen. Elaine frowned her brows and reprimanded him with a stern tone.

“And you were trying to tough it out.”

“Well… it’s not as bad when you’re in the middle of fighting.” He raised his gauntlet clad right hand and started to chant. “O graceful goddess of light, bestow your mercy upon this child, Heal.”

As he finished his prayer, a gentle golden hue started to glow from his hand and soothe the bruised limb. Slowly but surely, the redness and swelling were decreasing steadily, taking about a minute to completely disappear. Although visually much better, Reinhardt could still feel a lingering throbbing from his forearm.

Seeing such a miracle be performed made Elaine smile bittersweetly as she spoke softly.

“This kind of makes me wish I was taught lessons from the church.”

“You never had the chance.” He replied while removing the strap from his right gauntlet. “Besides, don’t you excel in close combat? It’s more than enough for the battlefield.”

“On the battlefield.” She emphasized. “But not when we go to the dungeon on a daily basis.”

She settled his chestplate on the side of the mount of hay that served as their beds. As He removed the last bits of his armor, it revealed a trained fit body full of old scars of previous battles.

He laid down on the hay pile and closed his eyes. His whole body was aching from the expedition to the dungeon which made him easily fall asleep.

“Rein, do you want to eat anything…”

Elaine entered the room and her voice trailed off as she noticed him snoring with his arms wide open. His worn green shirt had a few holes which made the elf wonder just how long he had been using the same clothing.

She smiled as she headed off to the adjacent room that had a bathtub in order to warm up some water for herself.

“Rest well, my lord.”

As she was about to light the fire under the makeshift bathtub, the twig door slammed open. She instinctively reached for her dagger and as soon as she peeked around the doorway to the kitchen, she noticed a familiar figure standing by the entrance.

A shirtless tanned man holding a hammer panted heavily as he cleaned his bleeding forehead with the back of his hand. Elaine widened her eyes as she uttered in surprise.

“Geralt? What happened?”

“Lass… where’s yer companion?!”

He took a rushed deep breath as if trying to get the words out as fast as he could, but nothing came out as he was out of breath. Elaine heard shuffling behind her before Reinhardt leaned over her by the doorway.

“What happened, Geralt?”

The knight asked as the blacksmith just recovered from his running exhaustion.

“That fencer lass, she’s in trouble… one of ‘em thugs got da lil’ girl.”

“Do you know where they took her?”

“Nay… I… I just know ‘twas to the slums…”

“Okay.” Reinhardt nodded as he went to grab his sword and shield. Without wasting any time, he shouted from the bedroom while he was adjusting the bare minimum gear on his belt. “Go to the city barracks and let the captain know what happened!”

“Aye! I’m on it, lad!”

Geralt broke out into a sprint as he left the barn. Elaine looked at the knight and sighed before grabbing her bow and quiver.