What did Aurielia just see?
I quickly move behind her. This time she took the front of the group instead of moving behind me and teasing, while holding her scythe. After all her teasing and joking, her behavior turned into a contrast of who I thought she is.
She leans over the exit of the room and looks down the hallway.
"I don't see anything. Stay close, sugar tits."
"Stop calling me that."
It was getting annoying.
"Heh, whatever you say."
I squint my eyes at her. She is still teasing me!
Karina is leaning close to me.
"If they eat you, throw me."
"If they eat me, I am using you to cut my way out."
We start to move through the hallway, dark as it is, and we make it to the next corner without seeing anything.
In my mind, I am trying to figure out what monster is. It is a level 30 Dungeon, so it could be anything from that perspective. The tileset is telling. But the problem is that not even the main boss bothered Aurelia and this thing is.
I need to take a better look at it to know what it is and what spells to use.
[You identified a translucent scroll!
It was a Scroll of Light!
You cannot gain XP because of a curse!
XP turned into Ego experience!
+90 XP from Appraisal]
I almost jumped when the notification appeared, but I got one of the scrolls checked.
It was a scroll of Light... trash. It only makes a light. It has its uses, but if I had used that while the boss was in front of me instead of the Summon Ally one, I would be dead right now.
Again, a gamble, a risky one. And I am glad I got a good result.
Aurelia stops in a corner and starts to sniff the air.
"That thing is lurking."
"What is that thing?"
"I am not sure... but it is something I had to run away from a while ago... and maybe that is the reason why there are barely any monsters here."
Okay, an unknown monster I have not seen... Great.
But nothing here should be capable of facing her. She took down a level 30 boss with one spell.
Yet, while I see her while we walk, she seems more serious than before.
We find a large room that seems to be some living quarters. Bunk beds made of metal are arranged in neat passages. The interesting aspect is that the whole place seems a bit too big.
The silence is heavy in the place; there are like 4 rows of beds. The mattresses are torn apart, destroyed beyond recognition. They cannot be used to sleep anymore.
We move around them looking for another exit.
Then I hear something hit one of the bunk beds.
It made it screech on the floor.
Aurelia prepared her weapon, brandishing her scythe with both her hands, inspecting our surroundings.
I pull out Bloodless.
We hear more steps.
I see something moving in the distance.
I brave it and try to follow it. I move with care to not be caught
Aurelia jumps between a row of bunk beds and runs towards it fast.
I see a human figure running.
"Stop right there!" I hear Aurelia yell.
"Eeeep!" I hear a yelp. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"
Wait, I recognize that voice!
I manage to run forward and get to the passage where Aurelia found someone.
Being held on the ground with the blade of Aurelia's scythe in front of her was someone I know already.
Katrina is here too!
She is on the floor, trying to get away from Aurelia, trying to crawl back from her.
"Ah! Kathrina!" I yell in response.
She looks back at me and observes me for a second. Then reacts and starts running towards me, stumbling to get on her feet.
"P-please, save meeee!" She yells.
"I said stop!" Aurelia gets ready to swing.
"Aurelia, stop, she is a friend!"
"Eh?" She looks at me in disbelief.
I notice she is not wearing her armor, only has her shorts, boots, and top I remember she had. No weapon, anything.
She runs towards me and hugs me by the waist and presses her head against my stomach, and falls to the ground.
"S-she wants to kill me, help!" She pleads and raises her head, placing her chin right in the middle of my chest.
"Ah, the weird Holy Warrior is safe," Karina says.
Karina, Kathrina... I notice this will get confusing fast.
"I met Kathrina right before I got cursed... she actually helped me arrive at the capital," I explain to Aurelia, who lowers her weapon. I turn my attention to Kathrina. "How did you get here?"
"I-I-" She stutters. "Ummm... when I was waiting for you at the Inn, suddenly some guards appeared, took me in, and then I woke up here!"
"What? Why would they...?"
It hit me.
I told them about her. I gave her description to the maid. Did they get her because of me? Then she is in this situation because of my fault!
"They probably got to you because of me..."
"Ah? Why?" She slowly stands up and looks at me, waiting for an answer.
I explain the situation to her. She is listening to me, and her expression shifts when I tell her how I was attacked by the princess when she was the one who invited me.
"And this girl got caught in the crossfire?" Aurelia asks.
"Yes, it's my fault." I sigh and look back at Kathrina, who is standing near me. "Sorry... if I had not told them about you, you would be safe. Did they do anything to you?"
"No. They just took my armor, weapons, and threw me here without any idea what happened. I was scared and confused!"
"Sorry..." I repeat. "Well, I am glad they did nothing else to you... We are looking for the exit."
"If it is with you, I am sure we will get out of this one!"
I smile at that vote of confidence.
We resume our search. Kathrina passes by Aurelia, and I notice how the Dragonkin Tyrant looks at her with suspicion.