To Silverfield IV

"To deal with those d*mned humans of course," the beastman leader answered Ammine. "I don't want to be caught off guard by them in a weakened state when they suddenly attack."

"I see. In that case, we will be leaving."

"I won't stop you. But before you go, may I ask for a request."

"What is it?"

"I don't know what it is that you will be doing in Silverfield, but if possible, I ask you to save my brothers and sisters."

"Are you really asking me to do this considering our past?"

The beastman lowered his head and bowed apologetically. "Forgive us for that. We were tricked by the humans. How about this, in exchange for you helping us, we will help you. If there is anything you want to know or need assistance with, we will do it for you," he proposed to Ammine.

Ammine looked over to Falte, asking for his thoughts on this deal. "It doesn't interfere with our mission too much. Plus, we can get additional information from the beastmen we save, so I'm fine with this."

"Okay then, you got yourself a deal," Ammine told the beastman.

"My thanks. To show my sincerity, I will tell you about the situation in Silverfield right now."

Ammine waved at the three behind her, gesturing for them to come to her.

"What is it?" Kies asked.

"He's going to tell us what's going on in Silverfield at the moment."

"Well isn't this a great start to our mission? I'm all ears." Falte looked at the beastman, waiting to hear what information he had to give.

"Wow... you all really look like humans. Can't say I like it, but it's scary how you look exactly like them. Well, everything, but smell I guess."

"Yes, that's my magic." Falte demonstrated it to the beastmen leader along with all the other beastmen who were watching them from a distance. He chanted a spell and Ammine transformed back into a human. "Now, back to what you were saying. What can you tell us?"

"Okay, so here's the thing," the beastman started. "I don't know how accurate this information is, but from what I have seen, a good portion of the army has the kingdom for whatever reason. The city is defenseless right now, so you guys can probably sneak in easily. That's how we were able to get out as well."

"We already know that. Is there anything else?" Falte asked. The demons were the ones responsible for that after all.

The beastman thought for a moment before saying, "There's a new king, but I don't know how helpful this information is to you."

"A new king huh? We haven't heard about that yet. Well, that's even better news for us. The kingdom should be unstable then."

"Not quite," the beastman said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The new king is competent, unlike the last king. He disposed of everyone who opposed him and changed all the policies that were harming the kingdom. I think I also heard that he was a military genius in addition to being a great leader."

"Hmm... Do you know who this person might be?" Falte turned to Kies.

"No. I don't know who that person is," he answered Falte.

"A shame."

The beastman looked at Kies with a strange expression for a few seconds before asking, "I know that you three are demons, but what is he?"

"Huh? You could tell?" Kies asked.

"Of course I can. These three have the same smell, meaning that they're all demons. But you on the other hand don't smell like them."

"What do I smell like then?"

"It's hard to describe. I don't think I ever met anyone else that smells like you," the beastman answered.

"Heh, I would be surprised if you did," Ammine said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's the last one of his kind."

"Last one of his kind... Yeah, I don't know. Anyway, what I told you is everything I know at the moment."

"I see. Then we'll be heading off then. We'll help your people if we get the chance to."

"Alright. Good luck in there. Oh, and before you go, I just remembered something important."

"And what is that?"

"While I was down in the prisons, I think I saw a demon imprisoned in one of the cells. She had injuries all over her body and was covered with blood."

"Where!?" Ammine suddenly grabbed the beastman by his shoulders which startled him and alarmed the other beastmen around them.

The beastman leader told them to calm down and then said, "You know the castle in the middle of the city? Well, it's under there."

"They said 'she,' right?"

"Yes."

"Then it must be Messa. Gah, d*mn it," Ammine cursed to herself. "We need to save her quickly. Will it be easy to get in?" she asked the beastman.

It's going to be extremely difficult for you guys to infiltrate it since it's surrounded by a moat and has people stationed all over the walls. But if you could, that would be great for me as well. A bunch of us are trapped down there along with the elves and dwarves and the rest of them."

"D*mn, we need to start moving then." Ammine threw on her hood and told the rest to do the same. "Let's go!"

"Silverfield is that way," the beastman pointed to his left, where the trees were densely clustered together. "I wish you luck on your mission."

"Wait, before we leave, I want to ask you something," Falte said to the beastman.

"I thought you were in a hurry to rescue your comrade, but what is it?"

"Where are you all planning to go from here?"

"That? We're staying here in this forest for the time being. We're waiting for as many to arrive before we eventually go."

"Do you have a specific destination?"

"Not for the time being. Why?" the beastman asked. He didn't understand why Falte was asking him those things. It had nothing to do with their mission, did it?

"It's nothing important. I was just curious. Okay, we can leave now," Falte turned back and said to Ammine who was on the verge of losing her patience.

Ammine didn't say anything back to him and immediately started moving. A few of the beastmen wished them luck on their mission as they walked past them after they heard that they would help save their brothers and sisters. They hurried through the forest and made it out of there in just a couple of minutes.

The moment they exited the forest, they saw giant walls stretched out in front of them. Jasyeu gleefully looked around at the place while the rest of them were checking all their equipment and supplies. They probably should've done so before they left the castle, but it was too late now. Well, it's better late than never.

Kies wasn't carrying much on him. The only thing of value he had was the moonstone that he received from defeating the Bone Whistler, and the dragon skin pouch, which he was carrying it in.

"Hey Ammine, did you happen to bring money since I forgot about it."

"Money? No one gave me any money before we departed."

"Oh boy... We're on a long-term scouting mission and we brought no money. Looks like we're going to have to figure out something about food, water, and shelter," Falte sighed. He double-checked everything he had in case he somehow missed something.

"Yeah, I don't have any either," he said after confirming everything that he had.

"Kies?" Ammine looked at Kies, hoping that he had some.

"I don't have any either."

"Ugh. Whatever," Ammine grunted. "Worst-case scenario, we can mug some humans for money."

"That probably isn't a good idea. We need to lay as low as possible. Doing something like that will attract attention and may potentially give us away," Falte said.

"Guess we'll figure something out once we're in. Oh and wear this," Ammine handed Kies a piece of cloth and told him to wear it on his mouth.

"Why?"

"People might recognize your face, so it's better if you cover yourself."

Kies tied the piece of cloth around his head. It went up to the top of his nose and covered the lower part of his face completely.

Ammine walked closer to the wall and looked up at it. It was pretty high. "Alright so, how do we sneak in?"

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