16 Close, Yet So Far

Roughly an hour ago, at the headquarters of the guild Valiant Blades.

Sophia tossed and turned in her sleep, her nightwear tangling with the sheets. The moonlight filtered through the window along with a cool, gentle breeze. 

But nature couldn't bring solace to her mind as beads of sweat formed across her face, and she found herself trapped in a nightmare.

In her nightmare, she saw Adrian being tortured by several masked men. Sophia rushed to help him, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reach Adrian as she kept calling her for help. 

By the time she got to him, it was already too late. Adrian's eyes were void of life as he stared at her. Sophia reached for his face, cradling it, but before she could do anything, Adrian's corpse came alive, pushing her aside. 

Adrian's corpse told a lot to her, but Sophia couldn't make out what he was saying until she realised Adrian blamed her for his death. Sophia tried apologising for leaving him behind and going on the subjugation quest. 

Still, Adrian had none of it and pushed her into a pit before leaving her alone in the darkness. 

"Never reach out to me again," Adrian warned her before everything disappeared.

***

"ADRIAN!"

Sophia woke up with a start, gasping for breath. Disoriented and still confused between the nightmare and reality, Sophia reached for Adrian, her hand grasping empty air. 

She frantically looked around, only to realise she had been living a nightmare. Drenched in sweat, she looked outside the window, hoping to see Adrian sitting in his favourite spot, but she knew he wouldn't be there. 

"Where are you... Adrian?" Sophia sighed as she walked up to the massive window and gazed outside. 

Despite what anyone told her, she knew Adrian better than anyone and that he wouldn't abandon his team... and her. Something had to have happened to him, but even then, Sophia didn't want to admit that he could be dead like her dream suggested. 

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, trying to shake off the lingering horror of the dream. The silence in the room was broken only by the winds outside.

As Sophia regained her composure, she noticed her phone vibrating incessantly on the nightstand. She decided to ignore it. Between subjugations and looking for Adrian, she was drained both physically and emotionally and didn't want any more trouble.

However, just as she was about to turn off the device, Sophia remembered something Adrian used to say. 

"We should always take a moment to lend a hand to those in need," Sophia chuckled as the memory flashed through her mind. "For you never know how a small act of kindness might change the course of someone's fate."

Remembering Adrian brought some peace to Sophia's heart as she picked up the phone to answer and saw a barrage of missed calls. 

'The church is calling me at this hour? It must be something serious... Wait! Did they find Adrian?'

Excited by the thought, Sophia hastily called the church. However, it didn't seem like the goddess was answering her prayers. 

"An Irregular dungeon has spawned?" she asked, and the voice confirmed. "Shit-! I mean, may the goddess have mercy. But since when did the church undertake the task of cleaning irregular dungeons? Isn't the army supposed to deal with this mess?"

The voice from the other side replied, and Sophia continued, "The Army is dealing with another breakout far north? I see... We'll be there shortly. Please ensure no one enters the dungeon in our absence. What? Someone is already inside?"

***

Back to the present, inside the dungeon.

'Sophia!?' 

Adrian was bewildered and surprised to see her in the dungeon. But she wasn't alone. Vincent and Clara, neither of whom liked Adrian, were with her. Other than them, the lady Adrian and 'saved' was there with them.

Adrian had expected the army to show up as usual, but seeing his teammates relieved him. But that warm feeling was short-lived as he realised that they could be a part of the ploy that got him killed. 

While he was confident that Sophia wouldn't hurt him, the same couldn't be said about Vincent and Clara, who despised his and Sophia's relationship. 

It was no secret to Adrian that Vincent liked Sophia and would indirectly press her to leave him. However, he couldn't get why Clara would want the same. 

Either way, Adrian, camouflaged against the walls, shook his head. As much as he wanted to meet Sophia and tell her about everything, he knew it was not the time for it. Especially when two of his potential killers were around her. 

"Are you sure that man was here?" Clara asked the mage, who had a blanket wrapped around her while she guided the party.

"Y-Yes! When the Minotaur attacked us, h-he appeared out of nowhere to save us," the mage replied.

Even though she was shaken by the things that had unfolded in the dungeon, she was more worried about her saviour. It was rare for someone to be that kind to a stranger. Hence, Adrian was suspicious of whether she had an ulterior motive. 

"Stop asking stupid questions, Clara," Vincent rolled his eyes. "We already got information from the guard. A Plunderer had entered the dungeon under the guise of a porter. We will have answers as long as we catch the man."

"Stop treating the guy as a criminal," Sophia sighed, walking ahead. "Whether the man was a plunderer or not doesn't change the fact that he helped two strangers. Yes, he did commit the crime of entering the dungeon without a permit, but he's also a hero."

"A dead hero, that is," Clara chuckled but stopped when she saw something in the corner. "Wait... is that the Minotaur?"

Everyone's eyes followed Clara's gaze, and sure enough, they did find the dungeon boss... dead. Vincent immediately went into investigation mode, staring at the monster's corpse.

"Looks like it was quite a fight," he mumbled after noticing the knives embedded into the creature's eyes. "Whoever that Plunderer was, he wasn't a porter, that's for sure."

"Agreed," Clara said, pointing at the arrows sticking out of the corpse. "An Archer who also uses knives?"

"Take the weapons and send them to the forensics," Sophia chimed in, casting magic to pull out the knives and arrows without destroying the evidence. 

"Good thinking," Vincent praised Sophia. "If there are fingerprints on there, then we can find the Plunderer and deal with them. Let's see if we can find something else to help the case."

However, Sophia wasn't listening to anyone. Instead, she turned around, staring at the wall behind her. There wasn't anything there, but it felt like someone was watching her. 

That thought should have creeped her out, but she felt calm and peaceful for some reason. Sophia slowly raised her hand and began walking towards the spot where Adrian was standing.

Adrian thought of moving away but realised doing so wasn't the brightest move as it might mess with his camo skill. Instead, he got as close to the wall as he could, holding his breath. 

'No... no, like this,' Adrian thought and closed his eyes as Sophia's hand was about to touch his face. 

"Sophia! Come check this out!" Vincent called for her, pointing at the strangling marks etched on the Minotaur's neck. 

"Coming!" Sophia mumbled, turning away after taking a final look at the walls. 

Watching Sophia walk away raised a weird feeling in Adrian's heart. Looks like a part of him wanted to reveal the truth that he was alive and hold her, and watching her leave made Adrian experience a pang of sadness.

However, Adrian knew there was no time to waste as he slowly walked out of there while his former teammates were busy analysing the Minotaur's corpse.