A Silent Vow

"You're going back to the mine?" Jinx blinks as they eat lunch.

"Yes. I guess he wants to look around himself. " Emelda comments.

"Can I come?" Rainer asks curiously.

"I..." Emelda frowns unsurely.

"I'll go along and watch over him." Varen offers.

"We wanna go too. You mentioned a castle that Master Raiden liked. Let us see." Jinx beams.

"Everyone wants to go huh? I guess it would be safer, but I warn you the road's too narrow for our carriage to go all the way through so we'll end up walking." Raiden tells them.

"I've been waiting for an excuse to wear those comfy shoes Emelda got me!" Jinx rushes out.

"Let's get you ready for an outing then," Varen tells Rainer.

"Okay." The boy smiles excitedly, following Varen.

"I'll go get the carriage ready." Bane decides heading out. Raiden peers at Emelda as she smiles lightly.

"They're as excited as you are." She comments.

"Seems so... We need to get them more help if we move to the castle... But..." He looks down with a frown.

"Worried about assassins?" She guesses.

"Yeah." He nods.

"I'm sure we can find some good servants on our own." She assures lightly.

"I hope so." He agrees before they head out to wait for the others.

Then everyone piles into the carriage, before heading to the south district to meet Tyran.

The man met them at the gates, blinking in surprise at the other faces. "They wanted to come along." Emelda shrugs sheepishly.

"That's fine." He assures, before giving a whistle. A servant comes from behind the manor, guiding what looks like a tall black wolf with red antlers and red eyes. Raiden and Emelda gasp, nudging each other.

"Where can we get one of those!?" Emelda asks excitedly. Tyran blinks and chuckles.

"There's a rancher that raises them north of the kingdom, near the mountains." He informs. "They're very calm creatures. And can hunt on their own if the need arises." He pets the creature thoughtfully. "They're called, Bàs."

"I want to pet..." Emelda shifts on her feet, restraining herself. He chuckles and beckons her forward, taking her hand to stroke the soft pelt.

"His name is Silence." He breathes as the creature peers at her. Silence sniffs at the mark on Emelda's arm before bowing its head and dropping to a knee. Emelda blinks at him in confusion as Tyran looks surprised.

"That's... Uncommon." He murmurs. "It's a show of respect to stronger beasts as to avoid conflict."

"Must know how you got that mark." Raiden grins as Silence stands back up.

"I think so too," Varen says from the carriage.

"Scary..." Rainer peeks out the window warily.

"You'll have to tell me that story... Now then, shall we be off?" Tyran rumbles as he sets a satchel over his shoulder carefully.

"Yes." She smiles.

As before they had to leave the carriage behind. Tyran dismounted to walk with the group for the rest of the way.

"Does it eat meat?" Rainer asks Tyran, peering at the Bàs and holding Emelda's hand.

"They do. But they seem to like insects more." Tyran informs.

"Really? I tried Hopicrus before. It was good." Rainer admits.

"That's Silence's favorite." Tyran comments thoughtfully. Emelda frowns slightly feeling queasy. Hopicrus were giant blue grasshoppers with beetle horns. "What's your name?"

"Rainer... It's nice to meet you, Lord Tyran." The boy dips his head.

"Nice to meet you, Rainer." He smiles lightly.

"Oh! I see a tower! Is that the castle?" Jinx asks excitedly, making everyone look over.

"Yeah. That's it." Raiden smiles a bit.

"That's the first Grand Duke's castle. He found it easier to keep the Wilds in check from within." Tyran tells them. "Of course, once he passed, there was no other brave enough to claim the castle."

"Explains why it's so well intact." Raiden comments, smiling more.

"Just means it was meant for you to claim," Emelda remarks.

"Oh? Is that why you all came? To check out the castle?" Tyran asks curiously.

"Yes. Raiden really liked it when we detoured to look at it. And he mentioned moving before we left home." Emelda tells him.

"I see... I will help if I can. I already have workers ready to clear the roads up, they can clear the road to your castle as well." He decides.

"Really?" Raiden huffs in surprise. Emelda glances at the demon, sensing his wariness at the offer.

"Yes. At the moment I am in charge of keeping the Wilds in check... It is a lot of work on my own. You living out here would be a great help I'm sure." Tyran answers.

"Makes sense. And the mine isn't far if you need more help with it at some point." Emelda nods.

"Another advantage." Tyran nods thoughtfully. Raiden didn't seem so sure.

Finally, they reach the mine, the others stopping to look at it in awe. Rainer picks up a little crystal. "This is pretty." He murmurs.

"You may have it." Tyran breathes before turning to Raiden and Emelda. "Now, lead the way, and tell us what took place here." He requests. Sharing a nod the pair lead the way, describing the first beast encounter.

"But... There's nothing here..." Rainer looks about as they reach the first cavern.

"A Corpse collector took them." Raiden answers. Tyran freezes at that.

"Pardon?" He breathes.

"Don't worry. We killed it." Emelda assures.

"Thank the gods..." He sighs.

"What's a Corpse Collector?" Rainer asks.

"A living nightmare." Emelda and Raiden say together.

"Indeed." Tyran agrees as they continue into the tunnel leading to where the frog creature had been. As they enter, they find it glowing even more than before.

"... There's worms now?" Emelda crouches to peer at the wiggling creatures with cute fluffy antennae like a rabbit.

"Seems the webbits came down to clean up the mess made here." Tyran hums.

"Raiden/I got eaten." Emelda and Raiden respond together.

"That definitely explains it." Jinx nods.

"Webbits... Are healers. The merchants sometimes sell them." Rainer reaches down and pets one. "They devour liquids." He breathes.

"Huh... They're cute." Emelda hesitantly touches one too.

"Hm? That looks like a fropede tongue." Tyran comments.

"Is that what it's called?" Emelda asks curiously.

"Yes. The pinchers at the end of its tongue can be used to make a certain weapon." He answers, crossing the way carefully to avoid the webbits. "There's usually orbs in the stomach, an old rock or rough gem to help digest food." He peers in.

"I pulled a big one out yesterday... Oh, we left it here." Raiden gasps rushing out.

"It's very big." Emelda chuckles as Tyran pulls out a handful of different colored orbs.

"Beautiful. Must be several different gems in here." Tyran eases them into a pile near the webbits for cleaning. "To the next area."

Emelda leads the way to the ore cavern where Raiden was with his orb. "Gods that's massive..." Tyran blinks at the orb. "You can keep that. The only ones that would be interested in such an orb would be the king or nobles."

"Yesss. I'm going to put it in the dragon skull!" Raiden grins.

"Of course." Bane chuckles.

"The walls are glowing..." Rainer murmurs.

"That's turqonium." Tyran nods looking at the walls. "Is there anything else past this point?"

"Only a hole into the abyss." Emelda assures." Tyran chuckles at that before starting to put down orange vials around the cavern.

"Return to the entrance. I will be there shortly." He tells them. Emelda and Raiden share a glance before leading the others to the entrance. They wait for a bit until Tyran joins them with an empty satchel. He then draws his sword, doing a motion with it before a flame appears at the tip. He tosses it into the mine with a fluid motion.

There's a loud boom and everything tremors before a cloud of dust bursts from the mine. Raiden waves his hand, clearing the dust around them. Tyran sheathes his sword, peering at Raiden and giving a nod.

"You..." The demon rushes back inside. Emelda blinks and follows him into the dusty cavern, the entrance to the ore cavern is gone.

"Good. The sigil held." Tyran joins them, looking at the blue mark now on the floor. Raiden and Emelda look at him stunned. "The king has no loyalty in me. And he never will." Tyran meets their gazes.

"You really..." Raiden looks to where the entrance was. "He really did it." He gasps to Emelda. She chuckles and smiles in return, pausing when the Demon suddenly hugs her.

"It's okay if you were uncertain. You've been betrayed enough." She murmurs.

"Still. I should trust your judgment more." He whispers pulling away. "Alright. With that out of the way. Who wants to see the castle?" He adds to the others.

"Me!" Bane, Jinx, and Rainer chime with raised hands.

"Can I accompany you?" Tyran inquires.

"Of course." Raiden grins.

"Then let's be off." Varen nods.

They reach the castle not long after that. This time there's a family of fluffy round creatures that look like giant chinchillas with tiger markings.

"What are those!? They're so cute!" Emelda gasps.

"Tiglas. They eat fruit." Varen informs. Emelda carefully approaches them, crouching to their level as they look at her curiously. One hops over and sniffs at her before hopping onto her back and looking around.

"Raiden... We're gonna need fruit trees..." She gushes not moving until the Tigla hops off her back.

"They are cute..." Rainer hides against Raiden's leg.

"Alright. Fruit trees sound useful anyway." Raiden chuckles before leading into the castle. Everyone else seems to separate to check out the castle on their own. Tyran staying with Emelda and Raiden.

"It's in need of a deep cleaning." Tyran comments.

"Yeah. It's going to take a while with the six of us." Raiden sighs.

"I'll lend you some servants. But you must keep them safe." Tyran offers.

"Shouldn't be a problem once the road's clear." Raiden nods with a big smile. "But we'll need more workers after that... How do you find loyal ones?"

"Hmm... There's always someone looking for a job or a way out of a bad situation... I believe anyone that approaches you that isn't from the central area should be safe." Tyran responds in thought. "Even servants that are treated poorly might be happy to join you."

"Alright... So we'll go through the peasant areas and try to recruit ones down on their luck." Raiden decides.

"We'll need willing knights to protect everyone too." Emelda agrees.

"... Oh, maybe some fellow Adventurers." Raiden smiles.

"I support that decision!" Bane calls from the next room making them chuckle.

"Sounds like we will all be busy for the time being." Tyran comments.

"Yeah... Let's get started today." Emelda looks at Raiden thoughtfully.

"I'll go help clear the roads. I trust you on this end." Raiden grins.

"Leave it to me."