The barbarian wiped some debris off his shoulder before looking at Sol.
"So you’re the rookie that escaped but snuck back in. Hahaha! Never heard of such a thing before, but I respect the guts it took to do that."
Mia scanned the room and saw the two bodies on the ground.
"Woah, what happened here?"
Sol wasn’t sure what to say as a lot happened. For now, he just answered vaguely.
"They were trying to brainwash me with a [Mind Shaper] and, well, this is the aftermath."
Mia then poked the bald man’s body, checking for any reaction. "Is this the [Mind Shaper]? Why didn’t you tell us?"
Sol was too ashamed to say he simply forgot in the moment as he had too many thoughts at that moment.
"Well… As you can see, he was already taken care of."
The barbarian patted him on the back. "Good work! Now where is the girl that got kidnapped as well?"
Mia responded, "If you came in the normal way, you would have seen other cells in the hallway."
"Oh really? In that case…"
The barbarian prepared his axe to break through the wall next to him, but Mia stopped him just in time.
"Wait! What if she is right behind the wall? You’re gonna crush her!"
"Oh shit, you’re right. My bad."
’Wait, so he didn’t know I was far enough from the wall before he burst through?’
The trio left the passageway, and they opened the door to the adjacent cell. Inside, they saw the young woman with brown hair and light orange tips in broken, dirty clothes. She stared back at the group, frightened at who these people were.
Mia, being more sensitive than her large brutish friend, approached slowly and eased her worries.
"Hi there. We are adventurers here to rescue you, you’re safe now."
Rebecca was at first wary of these unknown individuals but after being comforted by Mia and handed some spare clothes she had in her spatial ring, the young woman trusted them. She hugged the catkin, and she let herself cry as she released all the pent-up stress and anxiety she had accumulated over the past week. Sol and the berserker stood near the entrance, both looking at one of the walls as if it was one of the most interesting things in the world.
Once Rebecca managed to calm down and stand up, the group then moved towards the exit. On the way there, Sol saw the collapsed subordinates all over the place. It seemed none of them managed to get away in time as they were being rounded up by another catkin with a bow and a human witch that levitated the bodies with some weird magic.
The barbarian waved at his two party members, "Yo! We found ’em."
The witch levitated 3 more people to where they were grouping them all up and gave a small wave.
"Nice work, Loraline should be in the study."
The barbarian, Rebecca, and Sol headed to the study as Mia was pulled into helping with moving the people by her brother.
Inside Cane’s study, the trio found Loraline sitting behind the desk as if she owned the place. Cane himself was tied down to a chair with a missing arm. He was given treatment to prevent bleeding and a basic potion to restore his health to safe levels. Although it wasn’t well known, Cane was a strong A-Ranker. Even so, he didn’t hold a candle against Loraline who showed no wounds or even dents in her armor.
Just as there is a gap in power between early B-Rankers and late B-Rankers, it is even more noticeable with A-Rankers. So even if they are in the same rank, some A-Rankers could easily defeat multiple other A-Rankers. The main reason is that there was no higher rank, at least no higher rank officially acknowledged by the Adventurers Guild. Sol didn’t know why that was the case, but he once read from guild archives that it had something to do with qualitative change.
Loraline welcomed the group. "Welcome, as you can see we are just wrapping up. Could you tell me where you placed the memory crystal?"
Cane knew of his diary being stolen but upon hearing of a memory crystal his eyes shot open. At first Sol didn’t react as Loraline didn’t call out his name and he found it weird that she didn’t but assumed she had a reason for it.
Sol nodded and pointed above the shelf, "Of course, up there, Guildmaster."
Rebecca, hearing this, was confused as she thought they were both captives held in the cells, but she refrained from asking as she believed it was some plan orchestrated by the Guildmaster.
Loraline reached over the shelf and grabbed the memory crystal. Cane’s face paled as he didn’t know for how long it’s been up there and with that in addition to the diary he knew he was done for.
He could only beg for mercy, "Please, Miss Loraline, let me go. I promise I can be a great asset to you. My connections to not only the underground scene in Kerman but also the three nearby nations must surely be of use to someone of your status."
Loraline continued to examine the memory crystal, verifying if it was in working condition, and without looking back spoke.
"I have no need for anything material, just the names. But as it happens, I already have that, don’t I?"
Picking up on her cue, Sol took out the diary from his spatial ring and handed it over to Loraline. It was now that he understood she was deliberately avoiding saying his name. Sol assumed it was because of the deal he made with her to hide his involvement and he was correct.
Showing the book in a subtle but taunting manner infuriated Cane. He had built up his underground empire for years, all for it to be taken down in a single day.
With her stoic expression, Loraline added, "Fear not. You won’t rot in prison alone. I’ll make sure all who protected you will join you as well."
The Guildmaster then turned her focus to the two rookies, "This isn’t an appropriate place to talk, let’s head back to the guild."