Encounter

When Leyvin opened his eyes, he noticed that he was in a dark room. He couldn't moved his body, and his mana refused to circulate as he willed.

The bindings that wrapped around his body felt piercingly cold, and hard as they made dangling noises every time he struggled.

'Where am I? If I remember, I was called by the Royalties of Selvenia...'

He racked hi head as he thought, but a voice from affront interrupted his thoughts.

"Well. It seems he's awake."

The voice sounded fairly young, as it wasn't as deep as the men in their 20s. Leyvin's expressions tensed as the voice seemed familiar.

The next moment, a click resounded in his mind as memories gushed forth, reminding him of his current plight.

Leyvin instinctively struggled as he had realized he was captured. However, the bindings around his body were a lot stronger than what he was capable of, and failed to break the chains.

Leyvin looked at the man who sat on a chair opposite to him. "Heretic! Release me this instant!" Leyvin shouted in demand.

One of the young man's brows raised. "No can do. Unless you confess how you found Carlos' presence here." He suggested.

Leyvin smirked. "Do you think I'll talk to a heretic? Just kill me instead." He insisted with a firm tone.

The young man sighed. "I see. So we have no choice, huh?"

The young man then took out a drill. The hand driven one. And then started to approach Leyvin. Leyvin's expression tensed even further, as he stuttered.

"Wh-What do you intend to do?! Get that blasted thing away from me!!" He asked. Fear evident in his tone.

"We lost all the knives we had from your sudden assault. Miraculously, this drill managed to survive. So I'll drill your brain to death." He explained, and then added.

"Don't worry. Drills are nice."

"They're not nice at all! These things bore hole onto whatever they're pushed into!! They're plagues!"

Leyvin's face twisted as he tried to back away from the young man. For all the things to not break, why did it have to be a drill?! He was not good with drills at all!

"G-Get that blasted thing away from me! I'm begging you! Stop!!" Leyvin pleaded, but he was denied.

"Sorry but I don't have time to waste. If you won't talk, then die."

Leyvin's struggles increased in intensity everytime the drill neared. Not noticing the other young man who stood behind him who he would have recognized as Carlos, he was already on the brink of screaming.

Meanwhile, Carlos who watched the exchange, wore a deadpan expression. At first, he doubted what Lancell needed to do with a drill in hand, but now he was enlightened.

'This' why he asked for a hand drill?' he thought.

However, the sketchy method for interrogation aside, it seemed it was quite effective as when Lancell positioned the drill on Leyvin's forehead, he screamed.

"W-Wait, stop!! I'll tell you! I'll tell you so please get this things away from me!!"

Lancell smiled as his eyes narrowed. As for Carlos, he only sighed.

This was one of the most ridiculous interrogations he ever witnessed.

◇◇◇

When Lancell left the room, Arthur was sitting on a chair outside. When she noticed that Lancell had exited, she glanced at him and asked. "So? How'd it go?"

Lancell glanced back, and sighed. "I learned some unexpected info." He spoke and gave a shrug.

Arthur's brows raised. "And?"

"It seems he was summoned by the Royalties."

This time, Arthur frowned. "That shouldn't be. No one in the Royal Family cares about Heroes. Other than Aria, that is."

Lancell heaved another sigh. "And it was exactly Aria who called for him." He explained.

Arthur suddenly got confused as a question popped into her head. "How'd she know Carlos? They shouldn't even have met yet." She asked.

Lancell shook her head at her question, and stated. "That probably wasn't her intention. She must've had her own pure reasons, but things escalated in a strange way."

Arthur wanted to reason back, but her mouth only gaped as she couldn't deny his statement. She only gave a wry smile and spoke. "I-I see...haha..."

And so, the day ended as they went to lodge in a nearby inn.

◇◇◇

The next day.

The Lancell, Arthur, and Carlos all woke up nearly the same time, as they prepared to set out for the day.

They had already released Leyvin as he didn't seem to be a bad guy, on the condition that he tell no one about Carlos' whereabouts. Which he gladly accepted.

"By the way, Lancell." Arthur suddenly called out. "The Wave's in less than two weeks isn't it? Are we prepared enough?" She then asked.

"Yeah, we should probably be fine. In the worst case, we could just hide and absorb the cores we gather, and then come backs stronger." Lancell explained.

Arthur hummed in contemplation, and then pointed to Carlos. "What about this guy?"

"We don't have any materials for him to work on, but he'll be busy during the Wave."

Carlos, who didn't know what exactly they were talking about, inquired. "The hell...?"

Lancell and Arthur then remembered that this guy didn't know about it yet. Arthur then gave him a brief glance, and explained. "Oh. It's just almost time for monsters to spawn in large numbers again. That's what."

Carlos' mouth gaped at the unexpected information as he tried to ask for more details, but Lancell grabbed him as they hid in a corner. Arthur too, hid somewhere for some reason.

"What the...?" Carlos was surprised by the sudden grab, but managed to restrain his voice in time.

Lancell peeked from the corner with a vigilant expression. "Shit. As expected."

"We' in deep shit?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah. Heroes in town. I sense four of them." Lancell elaborated.

He then took of his robe and gave it to Carlos. "Listen up. You go follow Arthur as I stall them, got it?"

Carlos nodded as Lancell signalled to Arthur. Arthur also nodded, and prepared to move out.

Lancell then went out from the corner, as he discreetly moved to a spot where Arthur and Carlos wouldn't easily get spotted of they start running, and then revealed himself.

The Heroes saw Lancell and immediately materialized their Divine Weapons.

"So? Anything I can help you with?" Lancell asked as he materialized Arkenvalle.

And so, a fight soon broke out.