It was then we heard a playful voice reach our ears while I wiped away the blood on my lips with my hand. it didn't come from the cell, nor from the guard. No, this voice sounded like it came from the corridor nearby.
"Haha, that was definitely a sight to see. Who knew a little kiddo like you could pack a punch like that?", A carefree-sounding voice said. It didn't come from any of us, nor did these words come from our mouths, that's for sure. The moment I heard this voice, our bodies started to tense up, only to see a shadow of a figure appear outside our cell. My eyes turned cold.
"Ennea.", I said, looking at her.
"Already on it.", Ennea replied, quickly reaching beneath her gown. A hidden dagger was revealed. She rarely used it, apart from the attack earlier on the guards. That was just a play I decided to do, like what Sherryl said. The real purpose behind that was to control them, making sure they wouldn't spot us before we left. But it seems that plan is now out the window, hearing this new voice.
But unlike before, Ennea further increased her speed, and vanished from sight. When it gets serious like this, her speed is no joke. As expected of an ex-assassin. It does wonder why she ends up as an archer of all things. Perhaps because of Gnosis? It allows her to locate targets much further away than normal people, and if you add a bow into that, it makes for quite a deadly sniper. She could have chosen an orbal rifle or something, but she went more old-fashioned with a bow of all things.
I saw Ennea quickly reappear behind the figure who suddenly halted their approach. She pointed her dagger right behind the person's back, causing the figure to point. The person felt something sharp against their back, becoming uncomfortable. This person seemed to be a boy.
"Hey man, that's not cool. If I was gonna attack you guys, I would have done so already.", The boy said. It was then I got a clearer picture of him. He seemed to be around thirteen years old, the same age as Ennea. Still feeling the dagger starting to dig in deeper, the boy raised his hands up in the air. He slowly walked our way.
"L-L-Lechter!?", I couldn't help but exclaim in shock, seeing this boy arrive before me. While he might seem like a thirteen year old boy now, he appeared as his older counterpart. Medium length and messy scarlet hair. He wore a dark violet and red suit with black dress pants, making the boy quite snazzy. I certainly wasn't expecting to see this guy here!
"You know this bimbo?", Van asked, seeing this boy arrive.
"Kind of...", I replied, still in disbelief to see a young Lechter standing before us.
"That was uncalled for, but I'll take it.", The scarlet-haired boy said, responding to Van. He still found it in him to chuckle, despite having a dagger pointed at his back. He was being too chill about this. But that's Lechter for you, I guess. "It does look like the Old Man was right. He said you'd likely know who I am, even though this is our first time meeting each other."
As Lechter said that with his arms still raised, he glanced my way. I thought the surprise ended with him, but we soon heard a second voice reach our ears. This voice was more firm than Lechter's voice.
"Haha, looks like I won this bet, Lechter.", A more firm voice said, revealing another figure slowly approaching from behind Lechter. This figure appeared more like the robed priests, but he was presently in disguise. flipping his hood over revealed what appeared to be a boy who was around eighteen years old. My eyes turned wide. Even more so than seeing Lechter. I saw a sword in his hand, which was quite bloody at this point. At the end of the blade was the actual guard who kept watch over the other nearby cells. With a plop, the hooded priest fell onto the ground beside Lechter, dead. The smell of blood tickled our nostrils. A rare smile appeared on the man's face.
"It has been quite a while, hasn't it, Young Duke? Six, or seven years I take it.", The man said, who had bright and lustrous blonde hair. He arrived at Lechter's side. Ennea was still armed and didn't move from her spot. And yet, her body was telling her that this man was dangerous. She remained quiet seeing this man stay calm, despite all of this happening around us. But my mind began to fizzle out, as I immediately recognized him, despite the passage of time.
"Is that really you, Lord Rufus...?", I uttered, still in shock. Sure enough, it really is him. Rufus Albarea, first son of Duke Albarea. On paper, at least. I'll go into his details later, as his family is quite the mess. His own family goes through an uprising during Cold Steel's story where new light is shone. Rufus's younger brother, Jusis Albarea, is the actual heir, while Rufus is a bastard son like me, and so on. To think he too would show up here!
I saw Rufus do his iconic smile at me, acting like he had planned everything from the start. It was set up in a way to where you'd hate Rufus's guts, only to see that he is quite an enjoyable character later on in the series. He got his redemption arc and all of that through the latest game I played, Reverie. Rufus laughed.
"Haha, why wouldn't it be me? I am the one and only Rufus Albarea after all. Were you expecting someone else, Young Duke?", Rufus asked me. This was the same noble I had encountered six years ago when His Imperial Majesty ascended the throne. I can't believe six years have passed since then. He was twelve then, but he's eighteen now.
"This place shouldn't even be accessible right now.", I said, retorting the two. Seeing them together, one thought came to mind. It was likely him who was behind this...
"I know right? But your Old Man really pulled some strings, allowing us to find this lodge. It took quite some effort to locate you, Young master~", Lechter said, half-teasingly. But he scratched his head. Doesn't he realize he's still held at gunpoint with a dagger behind his back? "Also would you mind pulling that dagger away, missy? I don't want it to leave a mark.", Lechter continued, looking at Ennea.
I couldn't help but sigh seeing this play out, and nodded my head.
"It's alright, Ennea. These two are friends. Or I can assume as such?", I asked, looking at Lechter and Rufus.
"You can, for now. I do not know when reinforcements within this place will arrive, but our primary objective is securing you, Young Duke. Did you really think Father wouldn't prioritize your safety while you were absent during these few years? It does sound like you have a plan since you were taken to one of these lodges. We simply decided it was time to act.", Rufus said, explaining his part. "And drop the Lord business. If anything, it is us who should be addressing you as Young Master. Or Young Duke, if you'd prefer."
"So all of this really ties back to him. And cut it out with the Young Master nonsense. You are hereby banned from saying that word in front of me.", I retorted. And yet, Lechter's eyes showed surprise as he heard that.
"Oh right, you guys mentioned something about an operation. Were you in the know, Rufus? This clearly wasn't provided in our report. You simply said 'Go here, the Young Master is there!', and so we did. I didn't think we'd enter the DG Cult of all places!", Lechter retorted, seeing Rufus still calm on the matter.
...Is that really how it went down? And granted, it's going to take some time getting used to having Rufus address Father as 'Father'. He sees Giliath as his own Father now. Not the acting Duke Albarea anymore. Seeing him address Father that way, Rufus's events have already likely transpired. It would make sense, considering I'm seeing him here in these caves.
Sadly, Lechter still felt something sharp against his back, even though I said it was fine earlier. Ennea's gaze was still serious. Lechter frowned as he continued to speak while looking at us.
"Sheesh how protective can you be?", Lechter continued, and continued to look around, spotting me, Sherryl, Tio, and Van further inside the cell. "You sure befriended a weird lot, didn't you, Young Master?"
"I told you saying that word is banned.", I retorted again, only to cause Lechter to smile back at me.
"But to me, you will always be Young Master~", Lechter happily replied. How could he continue to crack jokes like this? His life is being threatened as we speak!
I couldn't help but sigh. An annoyed look also appeared in Sherryl's eyes seeing this conversation lead nowhere.
"I don't know why, but I'm already getting annoyed just hearing this guy speak. Can I punch him, Big Brother?", Sherryl asked.
Hearing that, Lechter felt his blood run cold. Color visibly drained from his face. He witnessed me getting punched by Sherryl firsthand, so it's understandable he'd react like this.
"I do not want to die today, thank you very much.", Lechter retorted again.
"Long story short, you are here to secure our path out, right?", I asked, getting to the bottom of this.
"That's the gist of it. We waited to see how it would play out. It looks like you were about to break out on your own, so perhaps our assistance wasn't needed. It sounds like you have a destination in mind as well?", Rufus asked, gaining interest on the matter. Hearing that, I nodded. I signed Ennea. She scoffed, but punched Lechter's back, making him tumble forward. He caught his steps, so he didn't fall down. Ennea hid her dagger again and returned to my side.
"We do. What I have in mind hasn't been accomplished yet. Judging from your reaction and all, it looks like Father knows I am still alive.", I said, causing Lechter and Rufus to nod their heads.
"Not once did Father doubt you perished six years ago. He saw the determination in your eyes, Young Duke. He simply allowed you to act as you wanted. Thanks to that, he could shift his attention to the goals he wanted to achieve. And well, here we are. This idiot here is Lechter, and I'm Rufus, both members of the Ironbloods. We serve Chancellor Osborne directly, so by extension, we now serve you.", Rufus said, and gave me a polite salute, as did Lechter. He explained his side of the story. Father really is assigning me his Ironbloods, huh? I'm not against it. I quite like each member of them, even though the other ones haven't joined yet. That will happen in the coming future. If I call, a girl named Claire Rieveldt should be next.
"Chancellor Osborne...?", Van questioned. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"
"Chancellor Giliath Osborne who oversees all governmental affairs of Erebonia. My Father. Long story short, he sent his servants to come look for me. This changes our plan of breaking out of here by ourselves.", I said, answering Van.
"...Your identity is getting crazier by the moment.", Van replied, cursing again.
"Haha, well the original plan was to part ways with the Young Duke. But with the destination you have in mind, we can go along with you, Young Duke. That is, if you'll be so kind as to explain where you want to head next.", Rufus asked me.
"What Rufus said. So where are we heading, Mini Boss Man?", Lechter said, casually placing his hands behind his back. He really is carefree about this, isn't he? I almost stumbled over hearing Lechter ask that.
"Don't ever call me that again either, Lechter.", I retorted him, before continuing to speak. "As for our destination, I hope you all like the ocean. Well, it isn't a true ocean like what surrounds our countries. It's the Northern Sea. We'll be going to Messeldam Port!", I declared. Everyone looked at me in surprise. Well, except Tio that is. She just looked at me with a blank look in her eyes.
That's right. I am not waiting around for two more years just so Renne's tragedy can take place. Why wait when I can head there now? Messeldam Port is situated all the way north in Calvard, right near its border that connects to Ored. Within the Northern Sea was a privately-owned small resort island.
Paradise!
It took the name quite literally!