Wait... Something's off.

As you and Rei got out of Dolgomi's shop, you noticed Douma completely alone, and neither Lady Kogai nor Lady Melda were in sight, which was strange, as you were sure they were with Douma the moment you entered the forge. Without giving you the time to ask though, Douma says.

"The Ladies t-told me that they w-were going to get yo-your rewards."

"That's... strange, actually." You say, as you didn't really see either of the Ladies do something like that, and you weren't the only one in that situation, because Douma nodded, and Rei said.

"Really strange... I hope they're not hiding something from us..."

"Yeah, me too... Let's go to the Waypoint and try to find them, I guess." You reply, before the three of you start walking, your minds confused as to why the Ladies suddenly left your party behind. It was strange, and you really didn't like that.

You didn't walk for long before stumbling on the two Ladies who, when they saw you, quickly motioned you to follow them, without a word, their faces full of worry, which didn't help your confusion at all, but since they looked genuinely worried for you and your party, you decided you could trust them this time, and motioned for your party, without a noise, to follow them, as you did so.

The Ladies lead you to a dark alleyway, with no one in sight, before turning around to face you and your party, as Lady Melda said, her voice low.

"This is bad, Adam. For some reason, the royal guards were searching for you... And we don't think that it is for your own good." She says, before Lady Kogai adds. "They seemed like they wanted to bring you in front of the queen for some reason, and we think it may be because of you saving Atsura before coming here."

Hearing that shocked you, as you didn't ever speak about this with anyone other than the Ladies or Douma, so who could know that ? It was a question you didn't have the answer to, but you couldn't focus on it now.

"So what can we do ?" You ask. "If they are searching for me, I can't stay in the city, or they'll find me at some point."

"Or they'll find us, you wanted to say ?" Playfully asks Rei, showing her determination to help you.

"And don't f-forget about me..." Then says Douma.

"Okay, so I'll try again : We can't stay in the city if they are searching for me, it will be too dangerous for us, and I don't want anything to happen to the girls." I finally say, before adding, with a look at said girls. "Here, happy now ?"

"Yeah !" Exclaims both Rei and Douma, the former with her tail wagging.

The Ladies sighed, a bit amused by your small argument, before Lady Melda finally says.

"We have a manor, northwest from there, at the bottom of the Thundering Range. We can go there, as it is only fours days of walk from Molsis too, but about two weeks from here.The choice is yours now, either you go there with us, or you try to find a place to hide alone."

Whatever you think about that, you can't deny that their offer of helping you to hide is tempting, and you can see that it reflects a genuine desire to help you, but even with that, you are the leader of your party, and you care about Rei and Douma, so you ask.

"Can we be sure that it is not a trap ? Even though you didn't betray us for now, we can never be sure that it won't happen." You say to the Ladies, surprising them, Rei and Douma all at once, as the four of them thought that you woul accept without problem, but Lady Kogai then sighed, and said.

"You're right to ask this, Adam, but we are not here to stab you in the back. We know that you didn't know who Atsura was when you freed him, and for us, you don't have to be judged for that. We offer you a way to escape this judgement." She says, before leaning and whispering to my ear. "And frankly, you're a far better companion than most of the other questers here, but that's between us."

Hearing this, which was highly unexpected, made you laugh, confusing Rei, Douma and even Lady Melda, who didn't hear what Lady Kogai said.

"Okay, I see. We can accept that, in that case."

You finally say, keeping a smile on your face.