Preparing for a rescue

Emilia stood motionless, eyes fixed on the wooden door as it clicked shut behind the so-called prince and his companion. For a while, she barely moved an inch, allowing herself moment of silence to gather the thoughts and emotions that surged within her.

This was just supposed to be another normal forgettable night, working as Rachel, an alias she went by these days since her brother was long pronounced dead. She had long lost almost every glimmer of hope that he was alive, succumb I told the the harsh reality of life.

But then he came.

A black-haired boy with radiant-golden eyes with and the stupid audacity to dare call himself a prince.

He'd stepped into her room like someone who shared her pain. But unlike her, he was someone who backed away from his ideals just because of 'reality'.

He reminded her of something she thought she'd buried a long time ago.

Hope.

A small smile tugged at her lips, her eyes still focused on the door before her. "Thank you… Prince Damian," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Her eyes drifted to the window, from where moonlight spilled into the room like silver silk. The curtains danced gently with the wind in a mesmerizing display.

Emilia stepped closer, her hands brushing the frame as she looked out into the night. From there she could see the distant rooftops, bathed in the soft lunar glow. In her mind, a familiar figure loomed within, one she couldn't ever forget as she whispered his name into the winds.

"Ren..."

• • •

"Hey stop clinging so much Lyra."

"I- I can't help it..."

"Honestly, you can be really pathetic sometimes you know."

"Hmmm... Shut up!..." Lyra yelled softly, pinching Damian tightly, prompting a small yelp from the victim as they continued their trek down the district, their arms locked firmly together by Lyra who refused to let go till they left this 'accursed place'.

During the entire chat with Emilia, she had completely forgotten that they were still in a part of the red light district, only jolting back to her senses once they left the brothel's doors.

"Alright, just stick close to me so you won't get lost okay?" he advised softly.

They had left the brothel shortly after discussing some things with Emilia, some of which still lingered strongly in his mind. For a short moment, his thoughts drifted far away from the alluring sights of the pleasure district as he opened his palm to reveal a peculiar looking pendant.

"Here, take this..." Emilia's voice began, resounding softly in his thoughts as he remembered the events from just before they left.

"It's Ren's..." She paused. "His party gave it to him when he joined newly, it's kind of like the emblem of their team. I don't know if it will help, but I think it's best you held on to it...."

He stared silently at the pendant, as he marvelled at its design. It looked a little larger than a coin, other than that, it had a rather peculiar wolf engraving on either sides, giving a certain gloomy vibe.

As he studied the pendant, he barely even noticed his surroundings until Lyra called out to him cheerfully.

"Yayy were finally out of there!" She exclaimed in joy.

"Yeah, yeah," he shrugged, pocketing the pendant for now with a warm smile. "Let's go back for now, it's been one heck of a night."

"Sure."

• • •

The dazzling bright sun light peeking into the office cast it's warm rays onto a mountain of carefully organized paperwork that surrounded the desk of the diligent royal butler as he continued organizing the documents before him, at least until a familiar voice called out to him from the door.

"Winston?..." Damian called out curiously, casting a glance towards the piles of documents to the side.

"Oh it's you young master."

"Is there something wrong?" Damian inquired. "There seems to be a lot more paper work in here than usual."

"I see your eyes are quite sharp for a child." Praised Winston. "You see Damian, there is in fact a problem."

"Hmmm."

"I'm afraid it has to everything do with the birth of the new 'super dungeon'"

"Due to the rumors of its spawn, his majesty had already sent a significant amount of soldiers out into the other cities." Winston sighed. "And as a result,"

"Crimes are getting more and more frequent due to lack of adequate sequrity right?"

"Yes, right again I suppose... And according to these reports, it's not just street thugs and other minor inconveniences, they're organized groups, people that aren't scared to hunt a place like the capital.

"Organized groups huh..." Damian muttered quiely. "That's right! Do you know what this is?..."

He pulled out the wolf pendant from his pocket and showed it to Winston in hopes that he might have some other knowledge that would be useful as well.

"This inscription... Could it be... The Black hounds."

Damian's eyes lit up excitedly as it seemed luck was on his side today.

"They're a rather mysterious gang, how did you even get this?..."

"Doesn't matter, I already know all those stuff about them, I just need to know where to find them... They kidnapped a friend of mine and I wanna get him back, and to do that, I need your help–."

Winston pondered for a moment, "Alright then, I'll tell you what I know... I have no idea on where they are or how to find them, but I do know something that might interest you..." Winston smirked, barely looking away from his work for even a second to grab a piece of paper before him.

"What is it?"

"Information that might prove useful to your cause."

"..."

"From the reports in we received, the Black Hounds are using the pathetic state of the nation to turn into professional thieves and bandits lurking in the shadows."

"I don't get it..."

"Exactly as I've said, they're thieves now, they steal and leave, not even bothering to cause unnecessary deaths among civilians."

'That's odd... I don't recall them ever...'

"Wait Winston!" He blurted out, do you have a list of any important things they might've stolen?"

"I suppose we do here..." He handed Damian a piece of paper. "Other than gold and some artifacts, they also got their hands on these rare items as well."

He gestured towards the back of the paper as Damian read the contents inwardly.

'A corrupted Goliath's core, Mana fluid,...'

Damian's eyes widened in surprise as he continued reading through the parchment.

'No way, They're...'