An hour had passed since they entered the briefing room and it felt like a lifetime to Liora. Everywhere she looked all she could see were stern faces, some deeply engrossed on the papers on their desk while others glared back with judgement filled eyes. Once in a while they would murmur amongst themselves. They were inaudible but in her head she could piece together what majority of them were thinking.
" Why is she going on missions? Is she even allowed to? "
" I doubt it. But even so with her on the mission the results were to be expected. Look at the diminishing report they have. Hardly even a lead to the culprits. "
" And who's that boy she's with? Is he even a guild member? "
" He's just some runt Trojn picked and added to the mission. His presence here is questionable and even he knows it. Look at that dead look in his eyes, why is even here? "
Their demeaning conversations were endless in her mind. They each wore a proud smug on their faces, contempt with their current holding in the guild. She knew this too well. How it felt to be above everyone else. What it felt like to be proud of your blood heritage. How others looked when seen at their vantage point. A noble by blood and pride. It was all too familiar to forget because… she was one of them.
" Now that everyone's here, I'd like to commence the report on the recovery mission in Wisree forest. On the papers handed to you are the details of the intended purpose of the mission. "
Standing at the apex of the room was Lothor. There were giant glass windows behind him that let in an adequate amount of light into the room casting his faint shadow onto the empty chair in front of him. In his hands was a piece of paper which he coursed through with his one eye. He seemed tired, with lazily hidden eye bags arching bellow his one good eye. The other eye was hazily covered by the eye patch, something she had never seen him without, as though he was in a hurry. Seated on a chair to his side was Trojn, the guy who had decided to send her on this mission and was the guy currently taking all the fault for his decision.
There was an empty sit to Trojn's side. It must have belonged to one of the holding nobles of Laptove. But Liora didn't care much about that. New hidden details about their mission sprung more and more out of the cover they had been previously led to believe and that was what irked her skin the most.
" …Following the event that occurred two years ago, where a group of rebels tried to capture Laptove and over throw the then guild, a mission was established to try and uncover where the group had managed to escape to. Investigations were done and as a result a single area was pinpointed to be the most likely refuge point. "
" Thus a small group of unawares guild members was chosen to confirm these speculations. They consisted of, Sen, Liora Vane and Hayden Dymstro. Two of them stand before us now. "
The suppressed murmurs finally took flight.
" Did you catch those ruffians. " one of the cranky noble asked giving Liora a sharp glare.
" The runaways were apprehended but… there have been developments. " Lothor answered.
The room they were in was quite spacious. Apart from the oval like wooden table set across the room and the beautifully sculpted wooden sits they each sat on there was generally not much in the tension filled room. Across the room were large colorless thin curtains that covered the giant windows, which were enough to light up the whole room. Hanging on the ceiling was a large gold plated chandelier. Its candle holders had been replaced with some dark obsidian colored crystals.
Directly below the chandelier was a small raised platform. It had wooden railings arching around its circular shape. Standing at the middle of it were Sen and Liora. They each wore different faces. Sen looked dazed, he heard what they were saying but his expression remained the same, distant. Liora frowned. Her fist were fully clenched as she tugged down her robe as she tried to hold down her bubbling anger.
" What developments? " one of the seated nobles beckoned.
Lothor gave a passing glance to Trojn. He then turned back to the seated and continued.
" According to the search the rescue did they found more people than were expected… A village of a hundred was found in Wisree forest. They were physically unharmed but their memories were— obscured. "
" Obscured?! "
" Yes. There was a weird trace of arcane energy found in the brains of most of the male villagers. It was unique because of the way it shifted and by what they found it was manipulated in someway resulting into a mind control function. They rest of villagers had the same trace but was still raw and less refined. "
" Mind control! Through arcane, is that even possible? "
" The research team is still in the forest trying to find out more. "
" Also there was another important detail that came across when the villagers were being question. " Lothor said. The attention in the room seemed to shift towards him.
"…"
"None of the villagers were among the rioters from two years ago. "
" What?!"
" How is this so? "
" Who are they then, huh? "
" The majority of them were just refugees or runaways from other towns and those who had come to Laptove for a safe haven… " the room was quiet. Lothor's eyes ran across the room looking at the faces on the gathered nobles. He sighed on seeing their oblivious faces.
" Members of the lower class. They were commoners. " he added.
" Tch!"
" Off course it had to be them, "
" Commoners?"
" Quiet please," Lothor beckoned.
" The rioters from two years back mainly consisted the remaining families from Salur and the homeless who lived in Laptove then. But amongst the hundred we found in the village, there was not a single one. "
The room fell silent. The nobles seemed troubled, some barely looked past the table.
" So where are they? " one of the nobles asked. This seemed to relight the spark behind their voices.
" And when are you going to find them? Isn't your job? " another asked ignorantly.
" We assure you the guild is doing its best to find them… "
" Well the guild is not doing enough! " one of the nobles snapped.
" Your job was to capture those no good commoners and bring them in. Our parents thought you could do it but it seems not. "
" We promise—"
" We don't need your promises, we need results, something you are obviously not getting. But it's not a surprise if your guild has a defect and a non imperial runt in it. "
The noble's words were like lightning, sharp and brief. Liora couldn't bare another second of being at the center of the firing range like she was. She wanted to retort back to the sleazy and entitled nobles but for a reason she couldn't place, she couldn't. Every time another demeaning comment was made, she found herself just on the verge of an outburst only to be pulled back by a lingering feeling.
A feeling that had weighed down on her since she was found back in her dark corner back in the village. A detail that she was trying her hardest to forget ever since she saw Sen's empty look back at the village gates. And the knowing that Sen stood besides her and yet he said nothing, that distant look cementing on his face.
" Tell me… " amidst the chaos a sudden low and slow voice said. The bickering nobles gradually came to a halt as the voice continued.
" … all of you, why do you care so much. "
" Who do think you are talking back at us?! "
" I just want to know… Why you all seem so passionate about finding these people. " the voice said as it raised its hollow eyes.
Across the room, seated on his chair, Trojn watched in silence. He watched as Sen's hollow eyes slowly rose and how the gathered nobles retreated back to their sits in search for a new retort against the posed question. He watched as the chaotic atmosphere settle under the overlying pressure of Sen's gaze. A gaze he had hoped to see long before all of this started, back when Sen first arrived to the guild. Back when he saw his prospect first arrive at the door of the guild in shackles. Trojn could only but smirk as Sen placed the final nail on the coffin.
" I just… I just need a reason. "