Plan Rolled. Bells Tolled

The rescue and infiltration continued deep into the night.

While Hannah was confronting the three in the basement. Cryvyl was searching all ten rooms on the second floor without being noticed by any guards. Compared to the floor below, there were more than twice the guards here. Twenty-four people in total, thirteen are sleeping.

It seems like the people sleeping were also the ones acting as the staff for this store.

Seeing that none of the rooms contained Betris, he moved to the third floor.

When he climbed up the stairs, he was greeted by a short, tightly guarded hallway that leads to a single large room.

From what he can see, there are thirty armed guards filling the hallway. And unlike the second floor, this floor does not seem to have any wooden beams on the ceiling that he can use to travel without being noticed.

My [Smell Seek] is leading me to that room but…

“There's too many guards to sneak in. Nothing to hang on to too…”

Cryvyl thought for a moment.

“Okay. Change of plans.”

He decided to go back to the first floor and meet with Hannah.

*

Cryvyl stealthily climbed down the stairs and met Hannah who was about to head up too.

“Cryvyl? Did you find Betris?” Hannah asked.

“Something like that.”

Cryvyl filled Hannah on what's on the second and third floor.

“I see. It would be impossible for us to go past them without a fight huh…”

“Yeah. By the way, what happened in the basement?”

“Ah, that's…”

Hannah ran Cryvyl through about what happened in the basement. The sight she saw, the three currently decaying villains, and that she brought them to Christie for treatment.

“That's horrible…”

“Sorry. I should've kept at least one of them alive to get information, but…”

“Don't worry about that,” Cryvyl patted her head. “There are thirty or so guards that we can interrogate above,” he pointed at the ceiling.

“You're right,” Hannah smiled.

“Good. Here's what we will do…”

Cryvyl explained his plan for the third floor.

“This might work. I'll go ahead and relay it to everyone. It seems like they're done with their part outside too.”

“Sounds good. Meet me at the back of the store.”

As they were about to leave, a man suddenly went down from the second floor saying, “You bastards! You were tasked to update us every thirty minutes. Are you all sleeping again–!?” and spotted the two of them.

Before he could make another sound, Hannah threw a small pebble size pellet inside his mouth. Upon contact, it immediately expanded, blocking his airways, making him unable to speak.

The man's body almost fell down the stairs and would have made a loud enough sound to alert everyone above had Cryvyl not fetched him.

However, the man's knee hits the rail of the stairs.

“What’s up? Something happened?”

Another man's voice echoed from the second floor.

Hannah signaled to Cryvyl to hush and leave it to her.

“Ah-Aaah…,” slowly, Hannah's voice changed to the very same man that Cryvyl is currently tying up.

“Nothing! Just hit my hand on this goddamn railing.”

“Hahaha! Idiot!”

“Shut up! I'm gonna take a dump.”

“Knock yourself out.”

He is indeed knocked out.

With that settled, Cryvyl bound him together with the four and Hannah went to where Felra and the rest were.

*

After Hannah briefed Felra and the rest, she immediately went to the back of the store.

Felra and the rest are currently standing in front of the said store.

He's at the very back of Yulya and the rest with Vin in front of him, standing tall with his large tower shield.

They're starting… I really wish I wouldn't have to go in there, Felra hoped.

The general store is currently being encircled by the knights and few adventures.

The security at the back was especially thick. There's also the three female adventurers that Nira was talking to earlier.

And no matter where you look, there isn't even a single civilian present. Even the stalls are nowhere to be seen. Nearby houses were also emptied out.

This was done thanks to the help of the local knights and the hostesses from the night club. They were able to have the citizens evacuate the vicinity in case the fight reached outside.

The guards inside the store are all confused, unable to understand what was happening.

“Why are there knights outside!?”

“That Yulya is also there!”

“The Hero is with them!”

As they were panicking, a loud explosion at the rooftop of the store erupted, blasting a hole on the roof.

The very signal they were waiting for.

The first to storm inside were a few knights. No matter how big the store is, fighting inside would be too risky for them. They do not need to fight too hard as their only duty is to lure them outside.

As they were fighting below, Cryvyl and Hannah successfully infiltrated through the roof.

The way they landed was calculated. When they got in, they were in between the two seemingly skilled men.

“What the-!?”

“...Hm?”

Cryvyl was facing the two while Hannah was facing the bound and gagged unconscious Betris laying in bed. Without looking behind her, she quickly swooped Betris, used Cryvyl’s back as a boost and jumped straight back up to the roof.

“Boss! The girl got away!”

“You're loud… I saw that, I'm not blind.”

“What do we do?”

“Let them be.”

“By why!?”

“We were only paid to kidnap and look after her, not to chase her when she escaped,” the exasperated-looking guy sighed, exhaling the smoke from his cigarette.

“Oh! You're right!”

Cryvyl is not saying anything and is just watching them go on, but the weary-looking guy noticed him.

“Oh… My bad. I almost forgot you were there.”

“Hahaha! For someone so big, you sure can erase your presence!”

“Well, I was thinking of avoiding a direct fight.”

“Hmm, I don't think that's possible. You see,” he paused, he dropped and stubbed out his cigarette under his boots. “We have to kill anyone who enters this room, as per our contract.”

Without any further explanation, the young, energetic guy lunged out to Cryvyl, swinging his right hand, aimed at his abdomen.

Cryvyl only stood there silently, waiting for his punch to hit.

And when it did, the sound of his fist hitting Cryvyl's stomach echoed throughout the room.

Cryvyl only sighed and the young man stepped back with his hand trembling.

“That huuuuurts! That really hurts! It's like I just punched a boulder!”

“...What are you doing, idiot? You have a sword. Use that,” he mentioned as he casually reached on a drawer and took out his brass knuckles.

“You’re right!”

Cryvyl was just… standing, waiting for them to come at him.

“You look awfully calm.”

Cryvyl offered nothing but a smile.

Without hesitation, the two of them pounced on him at the same time.

Their coordination is good, sure. Because Cryvyl is big, they're trying to restrict his movements with their simultaneous attacks. And because they're inside of a room, Cryvyl has limited space until he's backed into a corner.

Or so they hoped.

What they didn't know was that they picked the wrong elf to fight in close quarters.

Cryvyl coolly parried and evaded their punches, kicks, slashes, and thrusts without as much as moving an inch. Not even bothering to counter them.

As it went on, the two grew frustrated and tired.

The young man decided to make a heavy horizontal slash aimed at his neck but Cryvyl evaded it by leaning his head back.

The young man crouched and behind him, the worn-out-looking guy had one of his legs raised up high, thinking of swinging it back down to Cryvyl’s head.

The kick had a lot of force behind it. Even if a knight tried to block it with their arms, it would inevitably break.

But much to his surprise, his foot was effortlessly caught. Instantly, Cryvyl extended his free right hand between his two legs and set his fingers for a flick.

When the fatigued-looking guy saw it, his whole body shivered, and before he knew it…

…his bells were tolled.

The drained-looking guy's body crumpled on the ground and his energy was depleted.

“Boss!” the young man cried.

Enraged, he recklessly swung his sword at Cryvyl, not caring about whether he damages his surroundings or not.

Cryvyl's expression changed.

The eerie aloofness disappeared from his face and was replaced with his usual calm and little playful expression.

“Oh? It looks like they are done outside,” he casually swatted away all of his attacks and when he saw an opening, he delivered a straight that went directly to his face, knocking away his consciousness along with few of his teeth.

And like what he did with the others, he tied them up and brought them outside.

*

Outside, the people that were guarding the store were all captured, including the ones on the third floor.

Felra recounted what happened to Cryvyl.

Right after the knights stormed in, each and every guard inside ignored the explosion that occurred inside the room, thinking that the two skilled mercenaries would have it sorted out.

Instead, they all pooled downstairs and backed up their allies. Though almost half of them tried to escape at the back. Obviously, they were all caught when the knights and adventurers ambushed them.

When the numbers inside the store dwindled, a couple of adventurers from Betris Restaurant and the nearby knights swarmed into the store. Of course, it included Nira and Yulya. Christie and Vin stayed outside with Felra.

“At the end, I didn't do anything other than stand here.”

Thankfully, he thought.

“Haha! Don't say that. I'm sure your presence here helped improve their morale,” reassured Cryvyl.

Not like he has something to reassure Felra. He doesn't mind not doing anything and still gets the problem resolved.

“Cryvyl is right. Being with a Hero in a mission or request is a chance that no one will pass up. Believe in yourself, Hero!” encouraged Hannah.

“...Thanks…”

Somehow, I feel guilty…

Felra is weak when someone is genuinely concerned for him. Then again, it's not like he could've done anything else other than being here.

Cheer up, Hero! You can't do anything else for now.

The knights took all of the felons to the nearest prison and locked them up for the night. They will all be questioned once the sun rises.

With that, the incident is a wrap for now and they all headed back to Betris Restaurant.