5. Rescue operation (1)

“Welp, Mal. Nice meeting ya. We’re quite busy here, so we’ll be heading out first.”

“Humm, that’s unfortunate. See you around then.”

We quickly excused ourselves and left the pub.

***

A few hours later, we were strolling through a forest, away from prying eyes.

“So, what’re we gonna do about this?”

Lyrael was lost in thought, biting her nails. She spoke, concern evident.

“That guy, Mal; I don’t think he was lying. We need to get Nyra out before he does something irrevocable to her.”

“Right. And we only have two days at best before he starts the torture.”

We went silent again.

Shit, this whole situation is my fault in the first place. I shouldn’t have been so stubborn and taken her with us, even if she wasn't needed for the plan.

I ran a hand down my face in self-reproach.

I don’t know what to do. The jail’s security’s too tight for us to recklessly charge in and get her out. And the next chance to somewhat safely invade her containment will be two months from now, when the Stone Cauldron lord’s entourage is sent out to fetch more vitality pill ingredients…

There’s no way Lyrael will go along with my plan when her sister’s in danger. Should I just abandon them both? I could probably steal the lord’s pill supply on my own if I get the timing right, even if it would be much harder alone.

I looked to the side, to see Lyrael’s expression.

She seems just as lost as I am.

Haah, no, what am I thinking?

The whole reason I decided to team up with them in the first place was because the two were the only friendly faces I know. If I leave my only companions again, how am I any better than the threadripper’s other scum?

To get the so-called ‘happy ending’ I’m striving towards, I need people by my side. Then, there’s only one way forward.

Having made up my mind, I tore the bandage off my eyes and untangled the bamboo hat, furling it into a second layer of protection over my broken arm.

“Ahh, that’s much better. Having to look at everything through energy perception was so annoying.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with content.

Lyrael, meanwhile, looked on the verge of tears.

“Why are you acting like that, you heartless man?! Nyra, she... she—”

“Now, now. Don’t call me heartless, that’s hurtful to my pure, innocent soul.”

I winked playfully, which only prompted a stronger reaction from her.

“If you don’t care about us, just say so! Since you’re going to act like that, I’ll go get her out alone.”

She grit her teeth and prepared to walk off without me, ready to do something extremely reckless.

“Wait.”

“What is it?!”

“We’ll get your sister out.”

“And how, pray tell, are you planning that? Going to wait for two whole months while she gets tortured? Tch, I’m leaving to save her myself.”

She tried to leave again, but I grabbed her by the arm. With a glare, she turned around and stared me in the eyes, any previous traces of fear she felt towards me long gone.

At that, I simply smiled.

“Schedule’s gonna be real tight. The whole plan goes out the window, really, but what could you do when there’s a damsel in distress waiting for her two amazing saviors? But... it can be done.”

Lyrael’s eyes lit up.

“You... You really have a plan to get her out?”

“That’s right, though I really don’t know how well it will work out. It’s gonna be a gamble, but if the stars align, we’ll be able to break into the prison in two days.”

Lyrael stayed quiet, her eyes begging me for an explanation.

“The plan is simple. Within the two days, you’ll have to snatch the pills on your own, while I recruit external forces. We’ll use the pills to strengthen ourselves and as a bribe to the group I’m planning to hire.”

She stood still for a moment, doing some sort of calculations on how to proceed, no doubt, and then stated with a determined look:

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“I’ll have the pills ready by tomorrow morning. Let’s meet back up in this exact spot then.”

“Haha, that’s the spirit. We’ll need the rest of tomorrow to assimilate the pill’s energy and get used to our new strength, plus plan out a detailed route for our break-in.”

“Sounds good. See you in the morning, then.”

“Yep. Good luck.”

She nodded and turned around.

It was time for me to do my part of the job as well, so, with one last farewell wave of a game, I went in the opposite direction.

My destination – the Black Lake Healer Syndicate.

***

In a large building on the outskirts of the Stone Cauldron city, an imposing man sat with his hands on a throne, clad entirely in black.

This was the headquarters of the Black Lake Healers, and the man sitting on the throne was their Syndicate master.

He sensed a strange commotion going on outside of the building long before his loyal informant approached him to notify him of the issue.

“Is this really something that requires my involvement? You should be able to handle any intrusion just fine on your own.”

“Apologies, my master, but this is a special case. The figure who showed up is demanding to meet you in person.”

“And you’re telling me you couldn’t send him off on your own?”

While the master’s voice was eerily calm, the pressure he emitted was anything but.

“I—I understand, master. I shall send him away.”

“No, I’ll go deal with him myself. After all, you wouldn’t have shown up if this was something insignificant. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, that is correct. Thank you for your benevolence, master. Allow me to escort you.”

“Good. Lead the way.”

***

Forty minutes ago.

I showed up at the headquarters of the Black Lake Healers’ Syndicate. It was an intimidating building, not a soul in sight despite its grandeur.

Of course, that’s not to say there’s nobody here. They’re a sneaky bunch. I’m sure I’m being observed from all directions by their assault squad right now. One wrong move and I’ll be cut down before I even realize what happened.

This Syndicate is notorious for their brutal methods and their lack of affiliation with anyone. Of course, that’s only as long as someone with enough money doesn’t come over. For the right price, they’ll do any job that involves killing a target or a few.

They’re composed almost entirely of healers, and they got their notoriety from their absolute disregard for safety. The unique techniques they practice allow them to heal each other from almost any bodily wound, and in a large enough group, they become nearly immortal, throwing their bodies at any enemies unfortunate enough to become their target.

Since their healing techniques are considered dark arts, they’re technically not even allowed to exist and should be executed on sight, however due to their usefulness as an unstoppable combat force, they’ve simply been pretend-exiled out from the main city.

Even a self-proclaimed righteous man like the Stone Cauldron lord, the ‘little prince’ as I call him, can’t disregard their utility, hence why they’ve been left alone.

And here I am, heading straight into the lion’s den.

Haha, what a turn of events. Back in the day, you couldn’t force me to come here, and yet here I am, walking towards their headquarters of my own accord.

I walked up to the main gate, preparing to grab onto the iron door knockers.

“Halt! State your business.”

Seemingly out of nowhere, a man clad in black showed up.

Damn, I couldn’t even feel his presence until he showed himself right in front of me.

I looked him in the eyes with a wide smile, unintentionally showing my teeth.

“Chill out, sir. I’m here with a good job offer for you folks. One I’m sure you couldn’t pass up.”

“The pay?”

Not even bothering to ask me how or who I want to take down, he went straight to business.

Confident bunch, aren’t they? Can’t blame ’em, though. It’s true that there’s almost nobody on the entire continent that they couldn’t take down with enough bodies.

I raised my intact hand at the man, causing him to subtly get into a combat stance, and held out four fingers.

“I’ll pay you with up to four first-grade vitality pills, depending on how well you do the job.”

The man’s eyes shot wide open, the shock evident.

He quickly regained his composure, though.

“This looks like a high-octane operation. I shall summon the branch’s headman.”

With those words, he vanished as quickly as he appeared, leaving only a pool of what looked like pitch-black water behind.

Right, these guys have several branches around the city. It’s just that this one has their master in it, though only a select few know about that.

In fact, as far as their branches went, this one was built to be on a smaller scale, probably to make people think the master doesn’t reside here.

Connections with royalty really pay off, huh?

As I was mulling over what my next words were going to be, the iron gates in front of me creaked open.

“Sir.”

“Ah, shit! Scared my ass off. Yeah, what’s up?”

The man that showed up so abruptly as to give me a scare ran me over with a peculiar look, and spoke.

“Follow me, I shall lead you to our branch manager’s reception room.”

We didn’t share a single word on our way there. When we reached our destination, a modest two-floor house on the side of the main building, the man signed himself off and told me to proceed into the house.

I knuckled on the door, and after getting no response, decided to help myself in.

Woah.

The inside of the house was deceptively large. Must’ve been some kind of sorcery to expand the space within.

Looking around, the first floor seemed to not have anyone present, so I went upstairs.

There, another man, clad in black much like the guard who greeted me, was sitting down, as if waiting for me to enter.

His room was brightly lit, as if the darkness these practitioners thrive in was completely unnecessary for someone of his level.

Judging by the light gray embroidery on his mantle, he seems to be of a higher rank.

With those thoughts, I sat down on the chair in front of him, a cup of water already prepared for me.

Before proceeding with the greetings, I picked it up and downed the whole thing in one go.

“Aren’t you a brazen one? What if the water was poisoned?”

The man asked with curiosity.

“Ah, I know you guys wouldn’t bother with stuff like that. Taking down someone of my level should be easy enough for you lot, even without resorting to pointless poisons.”

The man smiled at my words. I noted his reaction, determining that I acted correctly. Doing anything that could get me on their bad side would spell doom.

That said, what I was about to ask of him could throw my good impression out of the window.

“So, who is it you’re looking to take down that you’re offering such a steep pay?”

“It’s nothing much, really. Just gotta get a girl, a friend of mine, out of the royal detention center. Maybe have you kill the people muddling with my business along the way.”

I said lightheartedly with a wave of my hand.

The reaction of the man was anything but lighthearted, though.

“Where, did you say, you're trying to get into?”

His mood shifted drastically, but, ignoring his changed demeanor, I casually repeated myself.

“Did you not hear me correctly? That’s alright. I said I need to break into the royal detention center, that famous prison.”

At my words, spoken with a smile, a wave of pressure flooded the room.

Oh. I’ve screwed up again.