"The special force… those fckers causing trouble again…" Mera sighed while gulping down some whisky, "But if branding them saved your butt, then I think it's fine. However, next time I'd like to be informed about things like this."
Ashton had just finished narrating a false tale yet again. His improved intelligence definitely seemed to be doing wonders for him. This time it was a tale about how the special force was looking for suspicious people who could have relations with the resistance.
Since Ashton was a mutt, he was their prime suspect. The suspicion on him was also reinforced by the fact that he was present in the same group as Lucas who was killed during the test. Thus he had to shake them off his tail so he branded Duncan and Daniella as his slaves.
Obviously, Mera did not have any reason not to believe him so she let the matter go for now. But she made it clear he knew this was the first and the last time she would let something like that fly.
In the meantime, Ashton was busy healing Duncan and Daniella who were still in a somewhat rough headspace. Thankfully, despite being a bitch, Mera had been careful where her whips landed. Thus, the couple only had a bunch of shallow wounds which would get recovered easily with potions.
"What do you mean again?" Ashton inquired.
"Looks like you weren't informed about it then," Mera put the glass down, "the director has been missing for a couple of weeks now and I suspect this… special force might have a hand in it."
As soon as Mera said that, Ashton's mind began racing. The special force had indeed been on the director's tail, looking for an opportunity to take her down for good. But that wasn't all… if she was missing for two weeks then who the hell issued the dungeon trip he had just been to?
"That can't be possible. I just yesterday I received a request through the guild for me." Ashton pointed out the obvious discrepancy, "If she had been missing for a couple of weeks, then how did she do that?"
"Show me the requested mission details first." Mera almost spat out a mouthful of alcohol as she began reading the details, "You fcking accepted this quest? Are you out of your mind!?"
"It would be surprising if I could think properly after all the 'training' you put me through…" Ashton shrugged his shoulders, "But why did you say so?"
"Because that place is a fcking Killzone! Do you have any idea how many people have died out there? At least a 100!"
"You might wanna add one more there. But that aside, what do you think about it? Could she had possibly made this request?"
The mistress got lost in her thoughts for a moment. Usually, when someone had to make a request for a certain adventurer, the one requesting the services would have to be physically present in the guild to do so. But if it was someone having VIP status, they could make the request remotely.
Thus to answer Ashton's question, yes, she could have done so. But why would she put Ashton in a dangerous situation like that? It didn't make any sense, after all, she had sworn to protect him.
On top of that, Mera couldn't think of a reason why the director would need histeria flowers all of a sudden. Even if she needed some, she could have simply had it imported like the rest of them and considering she had good relations with the kings of different kingdoms, she would not have had any troubles with it either.
All in all, the request and her disappearance, both reeked of some conspiracy. A plan to either have Ashton eliminated or have something terrible happen to him.
"But who could possibly have a reason to- Donovan… it has to be him." Mera shattered the glass in her hand as she was reminded of Donovan's betrayal, "That bastard has the motive to do something like that, but he doesn't have the authority or the brain to do it all by himself. Someone must be helping him… but who?"
Mera was feeling like she was stuck in a maze. As soon as she solved one problem, another one appeared right in front of her. Usually, she would have guessed it to be Jonathan, but she knew Ashton was just as precious to him as he was to her. Therefore, it couldn't have been him or anyone of his ministers.
"I guess we can find who they are." Ashton mumbled before throwing a bandage towards Mera, "You might not like this plan, but it's the only way to lure them out of their hiding place."
"Go on."
"We can assume they sent me there in hopes of getting rid of me at the hands of the night creatures. But what if they failed? They are no fools. They will have proper contingencies in place to kill me in case the night creatures failed to do so."
Ashton continued, "You see, the reward of completing the request is quite… peculiar. They didn't offer me material things, instead, they opted for information regarding something they knew I wouldn't turn down. I have a feeling that the meeting is their contingency plan."
"There's no way, I'll allow you to do something like that. It's too risky. We should think about-" Mera was in the middle of completing what she was saying but Ashton interrupted her.
"It's risky, that's why it'll work. After all, they don't know that we know about their plans. It's the best possible chance for us to outsmart them and get rid of them simultaneously. Just think about it."
Mera sighed heavily, but she could see what Ashton was trying to do. He wanted to surprise the attacker by reversing their own plan on them. It was a bold and risky manoeuvre, but it was probably the only way to lure those bastards out of their shadows.
"Fine. We'll go with your plan. But I'm coming with you.. No questions asked."