Aftermath

The next few days seemed to pass by in a haze. Hearing the commotion, other guards came in to witness the gruesome scene. Mia holed herself up in her office, crying to herself over being powerless to protect one of her men. A few guardsmen cleared out the interrogation room, while Mia’s second in command and the rest of my party heard my report on what had transpired, both in the manor, and the interrogation room.

We came to the conclusion that Jenkins had likely fallen victim to some sort of mind controlling spell, likely done by this “Black Ring” or whatever he said. From what we could piece together, it seemed likely it was a group of dark mages Tyven belonged to, and whether because of his capture or some act of “defying the black ring” as Jenkins has put it, they likely had him killed before we could learn more.

We returned to the guild, bringing Ophelia with us, and gave our report to Anna, who was gracious enough to let us stay the night in one of the guild’s back rooms, free of charge. The next morning, the pink haired girl finally awoke.

“Then...brother, father...they’re both dead? And none of that was a dream, was it?” she asked, tears in her eyes.

“You mean to say you were conscious while under Tyven’s control?” asked Alice.

“Well, yes and no. It was like...watching a play...I could see and hear, but no matter how much I wanted to...I could never change the script...” she said.

“I’m so sorry,” said Flora.

“...and mother?” asked Ophelia.

“Well, she’s in the hands of the most knowledgeable mages in the country, so, however small, there’s still a chance she may recover herself,” said Sofia.

“I see...” Ophelia said, chuckling to herself slightly. “...I’m sorry...this all feels like some cruel joke...”

“To have such cruelty visited upon you, only to be left with nothing...it truly seems like such,” said Lucille sadly. I sighed.

“What do you intend to do now?” I asked, flat out.

“What I intend to do?” said Ophelia, mumbling to herself. She hung her head low.

“Do you intend to give up? To wallow in despair until you finally decide to end it all?” I asked bluntly. She looked stunned, meeting my stern gaze.

“Flynn!” exclaimed Alice. The others looked just as surprised as Ophelia.

“Or do you intend to reclaim the life which was unjustly stolen from you?” I asked.

“...reclaim my life...?” she muttered.

“Should you choose to stand on your own two feet, and take back your future, there is a path I can offer you,” I said.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Join the guild. Join me and my party. Whether you desire **** against those who set your brother on his dark path, a cure for your mother, or simply a way to continue living, I can provide you with the tools to forge that path alongside us,” I said, boldly, extending a hand to her.

“A path forward...towards what I desire?” she said, her tears flowing freely as she took hold of my hand. “T-thank you...so much.”

Ophelia would register with the guild later that day, becoming our newest party member, her class designated as a “Spellsword”. Apparently, her brother’s magical affinity ran in the family. The girls would help her get settled in, familiarizing her with the city, the guild, as well as helping her get a new pair of clothes and equipment.

Meanwhile, I chose to spend my time helping the guard clean up the aftermath of the previous day. In the days to come, new details about Tyven’s doings came to light.

Apparently, his main source of income was by using his dark magic to create Thralls to sell to various underworld figures, though his records were encoded so as not to reveal the identities of his buyers. As slavery was illegal in Regnica, the wealthy and influential would pay top dollar for thralls which would fill the gap left by their slaves, all while being far safer than illegally owning a ****. After all, a thrall can’t admit they’re being **** against their will.

It seemed that the Gascoine kid was funding some factions that desired to legalize slavery once more, as his house was formerly the **** industry’s top provider. Naturally, the legalization of slavery would spell an end to Tyven’s thrall business, with it being far cheaper to buy and break a **** than to employ a dark mage’s services.

So, Tyven had a few key figures in those pro-slavery factions killed, to send a message. Nobody seemed to care much about the deaths of a few former slavers, so their deaths went largely uninvestigated. When the message failed to deter Gascoine, Tyven killed him too, in a brutal fashion, both to end his financial backing as well as to send a message to any potential future backers.

With most of the loose ends tied up, we returned to a semblance of normalcy. Mia and the rest of the guard thanked us for our help, giving us our payment. Niko received her pardon, rejecting an offer to join the party before returning to the slums, promising to keep her ear to the ground for any information on the Black Ring. Whether she intended to uphold her promise to Mia was still yet to be seen.

And so, we found ourselves sat at the guild once more, searching for a job.

“What should we be looking for?” asked Ophelia.

“Something with a lower difficulty rating, something suitable for your first quest,” I said, searching the notice board.

“How about this?” asked Sofia, directing me to a 2 star quest.

“A slime extermination quest. Nope. Denied. Done with that,” I said, rejecting the idea outright.

“Huh? Why not? One of those was our first quest together, remember,” she said.

“And we almost died!” I exclaimed, sighing as the little firebrand chuckled.

“How about a merchant escort quest?” asked Flora.

“Don’t day the words ‘escort quest’ to me again,” I groaned, my PTSD from days of bad NPC AI in RPGs acting up again.

“We could always do an herb gathering quest,” said Alice, pointing to a 1 star quest.

“Ehh...maybe, I’m hoping for something with a bit of combat involved,” I said.

“Flynn,” said Lucille, her tone deadly serious.

“Yeah?” I asked, looking over at the quest sheet in her hands. I could make out the words ‘Aedon’ and ‘Valestia’ on the sheet.

“I need your help,” she said.