Fate

Two days had passed since the day Priscilla was healed. She hadn’t heard from either Ren or Tomoe ever since they left.

‘They probably haven’t found the culprit…’

But that time was enough to bring her back up on her feet just in time to receive the good news.

“Miss Priscilla! Miss Jeanne!” A familiar receptionist barged into the morning hall of the inn. Some customers looked at her in surprise before eventually returning to their own breakfast. “I have good news!”

“Miss Lucina?” Priscilla was sharing a meal with Rionara, who sat very close at her side. “What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“Good morning, Miss Lucina.”

Rionara bowed and the receptionist returned the gesture with her own. The young high elf was wearing adventurer clothes, consisting of a white raw cotton shirt, padded brown denim trousers, high leather boots and a belt that held her sheathed practice longsword.

Lucina approached the table with great excitement.

“Captain Rhys approved your promotion! You’ll officially be an Iron Rank adventurer!”

It took a while before it sank in. Priscilla could feel her heart beat faster as her body caught up to her mind.

“I see.” She said calmly—trying to hide her own nervousness. “Does that mean I can head straight to the dungeon after I get my plate?”

“Huh?” Lucina was taken aback by how serious the knight sounded. “Oh… yes, that’s right.” She pulled a marked iron plate from her pocket and left it on the table in front of her. “Here.”

Priscilla picked up the piece of metal. It was similar in shape to her copper plate, but it had a distinct feature the copper one didn’t have, a runic seal.

It seemed like the shape of a chrysanthemum flower.

“What is this rune for?”

She asked, which made the receptionist widen her eyes in surprise.

“You know about runes?”

‘My father was the one who invented their use.’

Were her thoughts, but obviously she couldn’t say it. Instead, Priscilla smiled as she placed both her hands on the table.

“I learned about them in Arcadia. The capital has a lot of different things that use runes.”

“I should have expected as much from someone well traveled as you, Miss Priscilla. Every iron plate and above has a rune that will emit a faint magic reaction if not in close proximity to a person’s mana gate.”

“...so that it’s easier to find the corpse.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Lucina eventually nodded.

“We had many incidents before and the families… they deserve to know what happened to them.”

Priscilla nodded twice and she could feel Rionara’s grasp tighten around her arm as she said.

“As one should.” The knight gently pried the hand holding her before standing up. “I will head to the blacksmith.” She glanced at the high elf. “Continue your training, you hear?”

Although there was sadness in her eyes, Rionara looked at her and nodded firmly.

“I will.”

The high elf watched her hero walk out of the inn together with Lucina—who turned briefly to give her a wave. Rionara waved back, but there was a tinge of sadness in her motions.

Karla saw her go back to staring at her breakfast for a while before she continued eating. Prompted the innkeeper to approach her and ask.

“Why don’t you follow her? You can at least go until the dungeon’s entrance.”

Rionara looked at her for a moment before returning her gaze to the bread on the wooden platter.

“I… I don’t want to burden Pris. She sacrificed a lot to be able to go into the dungeon—I don’t want to get in her way.”

“But what is it that you want to do then?”

She sat there quietly. Footsteps from outside as well as the gentle clinking of cutlery filled the air around her until she finally came with an answer.

“To stand beside her.”

Rionara felt strange. Everything that happened up until that moment felt like a hazy dream—or a nightmare, depending where her brain would take her through memory lane of the past few days.

She felt privileged to meet two Royal Knights, but at the same time, she was also unfortunate to be caught in a kidnapping which caused great pain and suffering to the person that once saved her.

She stood at the backyard of the inn. The dull longsword felt heavy in her hands as she raised it to face the pell made out of dirty cloth.

She stepped forward with her right foot as she swung the blade diagonally downwards. The weapon met the cloth and ricocheted off the post as if she hit solid steel—she could feel the painful vibrations in her arms.

“Ugh…” She stumbled half a step back. She still felt the numbness coursing through her hands and fingers. “Dammit…!”

The memory of seeing Priscilla strike the training post with that same sword was still fresh in her mind and yet, she couldn’t replicate it unless the knight was there to help her.

She clenched her teeth together as she forced her body to stiffen. She stepped forward again and raised the blade above her shoulder line.

An image of Priscilla bringing the sword down—her hips twisting slightly—flashed through her mind. She tried to copy the swing.

The result was worse. The impact kicked back violently, tearing the blade from her hands.

“Argh!”

The metal clattered against the dirt. Her hands were tingling from pain. It was like they were on fire. But seeing the sword laid bare on the ground felt insulting. Not to her, but to the time Priscilla spent showing her the ropes.

Despite the pain, frustration, and sadness, she still moved her shaken body to pick it up. Once in her hand again, she stood in front of the pell.

“...”

She raised the sword again, but instead of swinging it down trying to imitate the knight—she slowly replicated her movements while trying to be mindful of her own alien body.

A slow and deliberate swing of the blade started to show where the failure was as it reached the side of the post in a controlled arc. The edge was ever so slightly angled when it reached her target.

She saw it and took a deep breath before readjusting her stance and her grip on the hilt. With the blade ready to slash onto its target, she brought her arm back and swung at it.

Without any intent to harm it, the blade bit into the cloth lightly.

Seeing the result firsthand made her smile bitterly to herself.

“Finally…”

Meanwhile, Priscilla was just finishing getting her new iron plate marked at Geralt’s shop.

“Careful in there ye hear?” The blacksmith warned her while shaking the hammer at her. “That place is filled to the brim with ‘em nasties. Ye want to bring at least another one with ye.”

“You know I work alone, Geralt.”

“Aye, I know ye prowess firsthand.” He shook his hammer twice at her. “Not many can avoid these when I am the one throwin’ ‘em.”

He handled her plate with a reinforced cord, which she swapped for her copper plate. It rested atop of her breast with an uneasy sensation.

“Well then. I’ll be heading off.”

“Ah, Lass, a moment before ye go.”

She was about to leave the shop but Geralt pulled a satchel bag from beneath the counter and placed it on top of it.

“‘Ere. Bring it to the guild. They’ll give ye sum supplies.”

“Supplies?”

“Aye, unless ye plan to eat monster meat, I suggest ye to bring yer own food.”

She grabbed the satchel and turned around in her hand as she muttered.

“Food huh…? How long do people usually stay down there?”

“I dunno. Good ol’ Geralt’s just a blacksmith. If ye need advice for dungeonin’ ye better ask the lil’ squirt’s- ahem, young lass Rio’s friend fer it. Reinhar’t fella or something was his name.”

“Reinhardt.”

“Aye, nuts ‘n bolts, same thing.” He shrugged with a dismissing motion of his hand. “The thing is, go prepared to face the worst and come out ‘live to bring sum coin to ol’ Geralt eh?”

“Tch, you sound like one of those damn merchants.” She opened the door and with the ringing bell she said. “See you later, Geralt.”

“Aye, be careful out there.”

She stepped outside. The city continued as normal as if the fight in the slums days prior had never happened.

‘Rhys must have covered it up…’

She was walking to the guild as she heard a distant townscrier shouting.

“Hear ye! Hear ye! Innkeeper Ivan put in shackles! Proof of corruption found in ledgers! Hear ye! Hear ye!”

‘Ivan…?’ She slowed her pace just enough to hear the townscrier shout the same piece of news. ‘Was that the owner of the inn?’

She let out a short discreet chuckle.

“If truly is that disgusting man then it serves him right.”

Without wasting any more of her precious time, she walked into the guild. Some adventurers stared at her, but after seeing the plate dangling from her neck, they simply turned back to what they were doing.

Priscilla brought the satchel to the counter where Lucina was and just as the receptionist finished registering another adventurer—the knight appeared.

“Oh, welcome back, Miss Priscilla.” She looked briefly at the plate and then back to her. “I see you’ve already changed it.”

“Yeah. I was told you gave supplies.” After putting it on top of the table, she asked. “How long do people usually stay there?”

“Usually a day or two, if exploring the first floor.” The receptionist said as she went to the back and soon returned with an assortment of supplies. “That being said, for your first expedition you should go for a maximum of half a day to get used to the dungeon.”

There were some supplies placed on top of the counter. A couple of square hardtacks, beef jerky, raisins, and a hard block of cheese. That assortment of goods were awfully familiar to Priscilla.

“I see. Is there a limit to how much I can take from these?”

“This is your supply allowance for the month.”

Looking at the amount, the knight could tell it would only last two days at best, four if she rationed.

“I see. So anything else has to come from my own pockets, I’m assuming?” Lucina nodded. “Very well.”

After carefully storing her allotted supplies in the satchel, she tied it with her sword belt and started to head out of the guild, but the receptionist’s voice came from behind her before she could step outside.

“Be careful out there, Miss Priscilla!”

The knight adjusted her white coat and started heading towards the eastern part of the city. The walk there was calm aside from a few merchants trying to sell her mining and harvesting equipment for the dungeon. To which she hastefully avoided any other merchant that seemed to be eyeing her from a distance in order to keep moving.

When she got within eyeshot of the standing monolith, it finally hit her.

‘This is it.’ She swallowed hard. ‘My father must be down there somewhere…’

Her hurried footsteps carried her to the entrance of the monolith and just like the day she came to look around—there were guards standing near the entrance.

“Halt.” One of the guards holding a halberd stopped her in her tracks. “What business do you have in the dungeon?”

“I’ve come here to practice.” She held out the sheathed rapier from its belt as she continued. “This is my first expedition, I wanted to get a feel for the dungeon.”

After showing the iron plate to the guard, he looked at the other one standing behind him and with a quiet nod, both of them decided to let her pass.

“Just be warned, we close the doors after some time to avoid letting the monsters come into the city.” He grabbed one side of the monolith’s black marble door and dragged across the ground. “Since you’re going solo, you need to come back before sundown.” He reached for a wooden box that was placed near the makeshift tent and pulled a dull looking pocket watch. “This is a guild sanctioned equipment, do not break it or lose it, otherwise you’ll have to pay for it.”

“Unless you die down there.”

The other guy snickered. Priscilla glared at him for a brief moment before returning her attention to the guard in front of her.

“Is there anything else I need to worry about?” She grabbed the watch from his hand and placed it inside her jacket. “Like a light source or anything?”

“Oh, right… you’re new to this.” He returned to the box and grabbed an oil lantern. “Here, there’s enough for about four hours.”

Before she could grab the equipment, the guard extended his open palm to her.

“The rental fee for this is a silver coin.”

Priscilla raised an eyebrow.

“Yet I don’t pay for the watch?”

“I doubt a green adventurer could afford it. Hell, even my paycheck doesn’t cover it.” He tapped on the lantern he held. “But the oil in this thing has a cost that you can probably pay.”

Priscilla was a bit irked by his attitude, but the logic made sense regardless as she flicked a silver coin his way and he handed her the lantern.

“You can use the entire reserve, just bring it back in one piece.”

“Right, thank you.”

She hooked the lantern against the right side of her belt and walked past the two guards. They kept staring at her back as she climbed the stone stairs to the dungeon below.

“What a cutie like her is doing in a dungeon?” The guard that joked before looked at his comrade with a suspicious expression. “She’d be much better off working in a bar or something.”

“I don’t know. She seemed well versed with the rapier she was carrying.”

“Really? Huh…”

Priscilla’s footsteps were filled with apprehension. It was one thing being close to the dungeon, it was a completely different, otherworldly sensation being inside of it. Just climbing the staircase down was setting off all sorts of warnings throughout her body.

The air felt heavy, suffocating. The walls were damp with moisture, yet no mold was seen. Flickering torches inside the stone walls illuminated the way below, making her question why the guard sold her a lantern.

“Tsk.”

She clicked her tongue as the staircase seemed to not end. The more she pressed forward, the more the world seemed to distort and shift until she suddenly noticed the bottom of the stairs.

The uneven slabs of rock for steps gave place to paved stone beneath her feet and unlike her expectation of a dungeon inside the earth—the ceiling was nowhere in sight. Instead, her gaze was met with a dark uncanny sky. Small bright dots sprinkled randomly across the dark expanse made a poor imitation for a clear starry sky.

“What the…”

As she walked forward, she noticed a strange darkness in that place. It wasn’t like being outside at night, it was as if she was inside a closed room with zero light. The creeping blackness could hide all sorts of dangers she couldn’t see.

She unhooked the lantern off her belt and used a nearby torch to light it up. With it, she was able to at least see past her nose and into the edges of the darkness.

Corridors of stone split into three main paths from where she stood. Left, front and right.

She steadied herself before calmly kneeling down and placing her ear against the floor. A trick she learned with her fellow Royal Knight Phoebe.

‘Nothing…’

Normally in an enclosed space, any footstep or sound would travel rather quickly through the ground and yet there was nothing. She could only hear her faint heartbeat echo from her chest.

She swallowed the saliva in her mouth before taking a deep breath. She unsheathed her rapier with her right hand and raised her left close to her chest.

After exhaling slowly, she decided to move forward.

The soles of her leather boots clattered quietly against the paved stone. The walls were just high enough that it would be difficult to climb them, but she could see that there was more to the dungeon than just those straight walls of stone.

A few more minutes passed and the corridor started to look less like a hallway and more like a courtyard as she noticed some wear on the floor below her feet. Some blocks were missing from the ground and the dirt below them had small patches of grass growing from within.

“Grass?” She knelt and pulled a piece of the leafy green with her left hand. As soon as she did, however, it lost its green sheen and started to crumble to dust. “What… is this?”

The sound of granules of sand falling from her hand onto the ground made her feel uneasy as she stood up. Looking around, she noticed a spot in the middle of the courtyard that was burned with soot.

“A campfire? Do people sleep in this place?”

She stood up and looked around. One of the walls had fallen over a bush that ended up growing from the middle of the rubble. Upon closer inspection, Priscilla noticed part of said wall covering a black smooth stone behind it. The rock was pitch black with some distinct white veins cutting through the middle of it. A pickaxe was embedded into it.

“Hmm… so they probably mined it, but left in a hurry?”

She was about to touch it when she heard something echo from the hallway behind her. She quickly turned around with a mote of fire swirling atop of her left palm and her rapier in front of her body.

‘I didn’t hear it clearly, but something made that noise…’

She carefully moved along the corridor with her back against the wall. She was straining her eyes in order to see past the darkness, but nothing caught her attention after walking enough of a distance into the gnawing blackness.

Since she was already close to a wall—she placed her right ear against it, but this time, she could clearly hear a rhythmic tap against the stone as if something was walking barefeet towards her.

Her legs tensed as she held her rapier ready to lunge forward. From the edge of the darkness, a small green figure emerged from the shadows with a crude wooden club in hand. A goblin.

She didn’t even flinch, instead she lunged forward—surprising even the green menace as it wasn’t expecting the knight to have so much reach. The metallic tip sunk into the goblin’s neck and before it could make any sound, Priscilla pulled the blade back only to slash its throat again, almost decapitating the small monster in a matter of seconds.

It fell backwards, thrashing as both its hands clutched its neck as if trying to keep its purple blood inside its body. Movement eventually stopped with a few spurts of humours on the floor. It was dead.

“Hmm…” She carefully approached it and tapped it twice with her blade before kicking it over. “Same anatomy perhaps… Hmm, interesting.”

She stopped for a moment and pulled the pocket watch. It was almost noon. She pocketed it again and took a calm, deep breath.

A single goblin after an hour of exploring felt strange. If the dungeon truly remained this empty, any decently geared adventurer could come down here and mine resources without worrying about being ambushed two to one.

Or at least, was what she thought. The next three encounters were gradually becoming more and more arduous to fight. Two, then four, then six goblins. Worse still, their equipment kept improving as well. What once took only a few precise strikes now dragged into small-scale skirmish.

“Ha… ha… ha…”

Priscilla was panting while trying to gather her breath from the latest fight. The watch read one in the afternoon and she didn’t make much progress after her first fight.

“I shouldn’t push my luck.”

She pocketed the tool and started heading back. Green bodies littered the corridor with pools of purple blood as she walked past them.

The edges of her jacket’s white sleeve had a few spots of purple, as did her blade. She was about to clean her sword with a piece of disposable cloth she had in her pocket, but the sound of footsteps coming from the courtyard room made her stop and raise her weapon again.

‘Another group of them…?’

She leaned her left ear against the wall, but the footsteps were heavier and in numbers as well. A mote of fire swirled on her left hand as she carefully inched forward with measured steps. But unlike what she was expecting, there was another firelight coming from the previous room.

As she carefully made her way towards it, she heard a male voice.

“Who’s there? Are you an adventurer?”

She hesitated for a bit before eventually raising her voice.

“Yeah, are you?”

There were a few seconds before another voice, this time of a woman, replied.

“We’re also adventurers.”

“I see. Can I trust you?”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” The male voice responded. “Being in this place is hard enough as it is, we don’t want to fight another fellow human if we can help it.”

“Alright.” Priscilla readied her left hand just in case as she stepped towards the courtyard. “I’m just going to go on my way then.”

She stepped out of the corridor and was met with a rather familiar face.

“Miss Priscilla?” A fully armored knight spoke from behind his helmet. “Is that you?”

“Sir Reinhardt?” Priscilla then noticed an elf standing with her bow ready and an arrow loosely prepared against the string of her bow. “Miss Elaine.”

“Oh, hello there.” Once she saw it was Priscilla, her right hand relaxed the bowstring. “It’s rather rare to see someone else in here at this hour.”

“It’s good to see you again.” Reinhardt offered a quiet bow. He had the usual sword and shield with him, the only exception was the bag he carried on his back. “May I ask what you’re doing here?”

“Exploring.” She extinguished the mote of fire and started to clean the sword with the cloth she had prepared. “What about you two?”

“Mining and hunting.”

He spoke casually as he settled the bag on the floor and grabbed the pickaxe that was embedded into the previously seen smooth black stone.

“Hunting?” Priscilla asked with a puzzled expression on her face. “Does the guild pay for monster parts?”

“Not parts per se.” Elaine approached her while eyeing her from head to toe. “Did you fight recently?”

“Yeah, just now.” She answered while taking half a step back. “Why?”

“Did you extract their crystals?”

“Crystals?”

Her reply was all Elaine needed. The elf looked over her shoulder and asked her partner.

“Can I go take a look?”

“Yeah, we cleared the area beforehand, it should be fine.”

“Take a look at what?”

Priscilla watched as Elaine went through the way she had come without a light source, prompt the royal knight to follow her with the lantern.

“I don’t really need a light source.” She spoke while walking ahead before turning her head slightly to the side and pointing at her eyes. “These can see just fine in the darkness.”

After a few minutes of walking, Elaine stopped by the first goblin the royal knight had slain. The smell of rot was beginning to spread. Despite that, the elf drew a knife from her belt sheath and stabbed the monster in the middle of the chest.

The act took Priscilla by surprise as she was about to ask why in the world she would do such a thing, but by the time that it took her brain to register what was happening—Elaine had already removed the monster’s purple crystal. As she did so, the body and puddle of blood started to crumble to dust before being absorbed by the dungeon.

“Here.” Elaine said as she tossed the arrow-head sized crystal at Priscilla. “You can sell these at the guild for a few coins.”

“Huh…” The royal knight inspected it by turning its sides around but it just looked like a crystal. “What do they use these for?”

“Beats me. They pay a lot for bigger ones, but bigger ones usually mean bigger trouble as well.” She stood up and flicked the slick blood off her hands. “Say, did you kill more? From the amount of blood I saw on your sword, you must have killed at least five more.”

“Can you tell?”

“I hunt these things for a living.” She chuckled. “So, where are they?”

“Further.”

Priscilla led Elaine to where she had slain the group of goblins.

There was a small mound of corpses stacked on the side of the corridor. The elf looked around before grabbing the legs of each goblin and tying them together with a rope she pulled out of her satchel.

“Let’s bring these back, I don’t really want to leave Rein alone for too long.”

“Sounds fine to me.”

Though individually weak, ten goblins were more than just a nuisance. They also were the nastier type—wielding wooden branches tied together with vines as armor while also using bigger clubs.

“But I have to say.” Elaine started to talk as she hauled the bodies with the rope against her shoulder—dragging them through the paved floor. “For a solo adventurer, you did quite a lot of work.”

“Not as much as I would have liked.”

“Huh? As in what? Thirteen goblins is a lot for one person alone, you know.”

Priscilla shook her head.

“My objective is to go to the fourth floor.”

That made the elf flinch as she stopped dragging the bodies.

“Wait, fourth floor?”

“Yes.”

“You do realize it’s where the bull-man resides, right?”

“I’m aware of it.”

“Yet you still want to go down there?”

She nodded. Her eyes had a confident gaze in them.

“I need to go there.”

“Huh…” Elaine resumed dragging the bodies as she muttered under her breath. “I don’t know why anyone would go down there by themselves.”

After bringing the goblins back to the courtyard, Elaine started processing them while Reinhardt was still mining the black marble out of the wall. In the meantime, Priscilla was taking a break sitting on a dilapidated wall with her sword still in her hand.

“Fourth floor huh?” Reinhardt spoke as he hit part of the stone with the pickaxe. “Are you looking for someone?”

“Mhm.” Priscilla muttered with sadness in her tone. “My father said he would come to this dungeon. My only clue is that he must still be down there somewhere.”

“The fourth floor… I don’t mean to be rude but-”

Elaine’s speech was cut short by Reinhardt.

“Elaine.”

“I’m just stating the truth. Not many can survive in the dungeon without proper meals and rest, let alone going solo.”

“I’m quite aware of it. I spoke with Miss Lucina for a while about the dungeon, but even so, I must go there. I need to see it for myself.”

Elaine sighed as she finished carving the last goblin. Her hands were soaked with the slick purple blood. After shaking most of it off, she grabbed a piece of cloth she had ready and started to rub it against her hand.

“That is all well and good, but have you realized how deadly this place is? One wrong step and it’s the grave you’ll be heading towards. Or worse.”

“Elaine, I’m sure Miss Priscilla is well aware of the risks, otherwise she wouldn’t be telling us in the first place.”

“I know but-” She turned at the royal knight with frowned brows. “You are from Arcadia, aren’t you?”

“Huh? Yes, why do you-”

“I want to ask something about your Queen.”

That made Reinhardt stop mid swing and raise his voice.

“Elaine!”

“No, Rein, this has to end!” The elf shouted not with anger, but with determination in her voice. “You were a Paladin for goddess’ sake! If your Queen can’t do so much as to pardon you, what is the point of living this lie?!”

“Enough!” He shouted. “You will not speak of this any further!” His hand clenched around pickaxe’s handle so tightly, his fingers were becoming white. “The Lorraines are a stain to Arcadia’s past! I will not have it happen again!”

“Lorraine…?” Priscilla muttered under her breath before she eventually looked at his eyes with a sense of recognition. “Are you, Reinhardt Lorraine?”

Tension hung in the air. He wanted to run away, bury his past and never turn back to that name. But Priscilla’s serious gaze told him otherwise. He didn’t feel judgement, he felt recognition.

“I… I am. Former Paladin of the Royal Guard—Reinhardt Lorraine.”