A Father's Treasure. Begin: Rescue and Capture

The owner of the Betris Restaurant, Polo, is from a humble background, who built his restaurant from his mother's small diner.She saw the potential in him. His desire to make meals that would leave people satisfied and his drive to invent new dishes.
Polo promised her that he would make sure that their small diner would become successful someday.
Years passed, Polo got married to a customer who frequented his small diner. They had a daughter named Betris and her grandparents doted on her a lot. She is a very cheerful girl. Blooming with energy.
The three of them run the small diner together.
She was even their poster girl from the age of four. She greets the customer, serves their food–if it's a light order, and heals those who see her smile.
It was the best years of his life. He felt fulfilled and content.
However, fate is a cruel mistress. When Betris turned seven, her mother contracted an incurable disease and died four months later.
His small diner closed for months. Dust gathered, cobwebs took over every corner of his diner. His once lively and warm place is now replaced with deafening silence and cold pans.
But of course, that did not last long.
It took him time but he realized that there's a reason to keep on going, so he stood up and moved forward.
All for his daughter.
Everything to make her life better and to make sure that her smile would not fade in this cruel world.
So, Polo persevered.
His diner became a small restaurant, he hired more staff, made new recipes while keeping the old ones, attracted more customers, and made his restaurant bloom within a couple of years.
With the consent from his mother, he changed the restaurant’s name.
This was how the Betris Restaurant started.
But of course, fame and success comes with envy and jealousy from the bad side of the masses.
Especially from those who are close to him.
Right now, Betris is 20 years old and is currently working as an Adventurer’s guild receptionist. She sometimes gets home late when an emergency quest pops up.
And such a day is today.
“Are you saying that you have an idea who might have instigated this kidnapping?” asked Cryvyl, patting Polo’s back.
Because of this emergency, they had decided to close up early.
So right now, the only people present other than the trio and Polo are the five chefs and ten waitresses.
“Yes… He was a childhood friend of mine. I just never thought he'd stoop this low…”
“I see,” Cryvyl stood up. “Hero, what would you like to do?” He turned to Felra.
“Whatever your decision is, we will follow,” added Yulya. “But should you decide to help them, know that I will be your blade until the end.”
True.
Both of them would respect whatever decision Felra makes. They both know that he does not have any crime-fighting experience thanks to him growing up in a peaceful village that knows little to nothing about what's going on in the world–even about the Evil Dragon Lord. Except for a few.
Felra also knew that. However, as lazy as he might be, he's not stupid. He knows that once he decides to not help and just go on with his day they would be very disappointed. Even if they try not to show it.
I mean… This has nothing to do with me…
Such was Felra's first thought. I mean, who cares about what they think of him anyway?
Definitely not Felra.
But, what about their opinions of Nava?
The person who showed him around and introduced him to the town as the new hero which in turn became part of hus memories.
The person who made it bearable to be away from his family by making sure that he could exchange letters with them on a weekly basis.
The person who hears and grants his requests for more comfort. Well, some of them.
And the very first person, besides his family, who he actually cares for.
Huh… To think I actually care this much about her…
Or so he thought, not realizing that he has a smile on his face.
Those who saw it were very much happy. They already knew what his answer would be.
Felra sighed. “I got it. We will help them. That's also pretty much your job too, right?” He turned to Yulya.
“Haha. It sure is!” Yulya chuckled.
“Thank you very much, Hero!” Polo cried. And so did his staff.
Cryvyl patted Felra's head. “I knew I could count on you.”
“Stop it,” he swatted Cryvyl’s hand. “It's not like I'll do it for free.”
An “Eh?” came from one of the surprised waitresses.
“What do you mean…?” Asked Polo, worriedly.
“It's nothing serious. Once we resolve this…” Felra grinned. One that does not fit someone who has a title of a Hero.
They all waited with bated breath.
And he…
“I want my next meal free!”
“““…”””
…made it intense for nothing.
“I-Is that really all you need?” Somehow, Polo's chest became lighter.
“What are you talking about? The food here is great. And it would be much better if it was free!” So he strongly declared. “There's nothing better than free food!”
“Huh…” Polo felt relieved though, he had no idea what to say.
“...Well, there you have it, owner,” Cryvyl sat down. “Can you tell us everything you know about the suspect?”
With that, they all got seated and Polo relayed all the information that he knew about the supposed childhood friend who took his daughter.
*
The information they got:
The mentioned childhood friend is named Ismael. He was once a struggling honest merchant, but is now a member of the infamous Dark Guild.
The Dark Guild is known for their human, elves, and dwarves trafficking. Apparently, these three races fetch a high price for devils, their main clientele.
The Adventurer's Guild has been pursuing them for a long time now and caught a lot of their members and Betris contributed a lot to their arrests.
This, the Dark Guild did not like.
Which is to say, there are other people involved other than Ismael.
From what Polo told them. Betris has her own guards that guard her from the shadow. They had fought the kidnappers but were overwhelmed due to sheer numbers. But one of the guards managed to inform Polo via an Owl Messenger about what happened.
It all happened at the east of the marketplace, the road that connects the east gate to Adventurer's Guild to marketplace.
Right now, the three, along with four Gold Rank adventurers are heading there using the same carriage they used.
The adventurers are a party consisting of one mage, one thief, one shielder, and one swordsman.
Felra suggested to Cryvyl to use his [Smell Seek] wind magic to try and track Betris using her handkerchief.
And now, they are on their way to where Cryvyl's magic is leading them.
“I feel like her clothes would be better,” is what Felra suggested.
But Cryvyl declined stating, “I would look like a pervert sniffing a young girl's clothes so I'll pass on that. Thank you.”
Well, Felra is just thinking from an efficient point of view.
“You remember our plan, right, Hero?” Yulya asked.
“I do… But I still don't get how I am even needed there…”
“Your appearance there would be the strongest point of this mission.”
Their plan is as follows:
The thief named Hannah, and Cryvyl will sneak in and scout how many enemies are present or if there are any other people that are being held captive.
Once done, they will go straight to where Betris is being held.
They will then rescue her and the others–if there are–without the suspects knowing.
Once she was successfully rescued. They will then all barge in and deal with everyone involved.
Felra will go as a scare tactic, to make them think that the royal palace is also going after the Dark Guild.
“Does anyone have any objections to this plan?” asked Cryvyl.
None of them voiced an issue.
“Great. We will go with this.”
“Although I have no objections, this plan sounds naive,” says the shielder, Vin, the leader of the adventurer's party. “But maybe, this could work. Leave the Hero's protection to me!”
Looks dependable! Felra is a little relieved someone like him was joining.
“Mmm. We will leave the Hero to you. Focus on protecting him while we deal with those ruffians,” added the swordsman, Nira.
“You have my thanks for joining us on this,” thanked Yulya.
“Yeah, having extra hands helps us a lot,” added Cryvyl.
“But of course. Betris Restaurant is the one that took care of us when we arrived at Diesda broke. They hired us as temporary staff and provided free boarding,” recounted the mage, Christie. “There's no way we will just stand idly and do nothing.”
“Christie is right. Because of the owner of Betris Restaurant, we were able to save up and start our dream of becoming an adventurer.” Hannah sounds really grateful to Polo.
Truth to be told, they weren't the only adventurers that wanted to help Polo.
No, every adventurer and Knights that were present wanted to take part on their rescue mission. But having too many people go at once would make their movements limited.
Hence, they settled on the knights guarding the restaurant for tonight while the other adventurers will come as a back up.
All of them are ready.
Felra is still wondering how his simple celebratory feast turned into this.
Cryvyl is preparing his magic spells that would help him sneak in even with his burly body.
Yulya is enchanting his sword.
The four adventures were also doing maintenance on their weapons and discussing the plan one last time.
And the rest of the adventurers are eagerly waiting for an owl messenger, signaling that their help is needed.
All that's left is to begin…
Mission: Rescue and Capture.