"Merciful Gaia, please bestow your blessing, shield them with holy light…" Stella clasped her hands around the sacred idol, sitting by a small bed, chanting a Divine Magic blessing spell.
A soft white glow gently danced over the frail bodies of Ureirika and Kuuderika. As the holy magic took effect, the two suffering little girls clung to each other and drifted into sleep. Their tightly pressed lips relaxed, and a faint flush of color crept back into their pale faces.
Stella let out a sigh, her beautiful light brown eyes tinged with sorrow. She grabbed a wool blanket, draped it over the twin girls, and gently tucked in the corners.
"How are they?" EeDechi asked from her chair as Stella finished up. "All healed up, right?"
EeDechi was a natural at Arcane Magic—she'd even mastered a high-level group healing spell before—but this Divine Magic stuff, soothing people's spirits with blessings? She didn't have a damn clue and could only watch Stella handle it solo.
Stella fidgeted with the idol in her hands, unease in her voice. "Their physical wounds are healed, and I patched up some internal damage too. But the mental torment they've been through runs too deep. I can't fully ease the scars in their hearts. It'd take a higher-tier Divine Magic blessing spell to completely banish the shadows in their minds."
She hung her head, a flicker of self-blame crossing her face. "I'm still too weak."
"It's fine, you've already done a hell of a job. Thanks to you, their spirits are holding steady. We'll get a chance to fix them up down the road."
Those encouraging words didn't come from EeDechi, of course—Sean was the one patting Stella's shoulder to cheer her up.
Barrett, slouched in a cushy chair, watched the scene, rocking back and forth out of sheer boredom.
As a grizzled adventurer who'd been in the game for nearly twenty years, he'd seen plenty of shit that'd piss off gods and men alike. Right now, his only worry was whether the empire's law dogs would come knocking.
They were holed up on the second floor of an inn in the capital, renting four connected single rooms.
Sean had coughed up the gold coins for the stay. After ditching the blazing Julina's Forbidden Paradise, Barrett had sweet-talked EeDechi into covering her face. Then, under the cover of night, he'd carried the twin girls into the inn with EeDechi in tow—pretty sure no one had clocked them.
"This world's so damn dark! How can they even lay hands on kids this young?" EeDechi shot up from her chair, storming out the door with a pissed-off growl.
"That's just how the world is—pitch black," Barrett said with a shrug. "It's legal business, Captain. Next time you play bandit, cover your damn face. You go hacking folks up and torching places but leave witnesses? You're begging for a wanted poster. And then we'll all get dragged into your mess."
"Watch your mouth, young man. How the hell am I a bandit? What did I even steal?" EeDechi shot back, raising her voice.
Barrett jerked his chin toward the two little girls curled up asleep on the bed. "Didn't you snatch a couple of kids?"
The twin girls on the bed were out cold, huddled together like kittens. Their golden hair tangled into a messy pile, and their tiny bodies rose and fell softly with each breath—pitiful and cute as hell.
EeDechi let out a cold snort. "In a feudal society with underdeveloped productivity, the existence of the sex industry does have some degree of rationality, but forcing minors of this age into prostitution is absolutely illegal!"
"What are productivity and feudal society?" Sean and Stella asked curiously. The Captain's explanation, though somewhat unclear, seemed very intriguing to them.
Barrett, who'd been tagging along with EeDechi the longest, could catch a few bits. He shook his head. "It ain't illegal. Five months back, the empire rewrote the laws. Now any female—old, young, whatever—can sell. No age limit. Don't believe me? Ask Stella. She's from the empire. Is it true or what?"
Stella nodded. "Yeah, it's legit. Ever since the empire became a vassal of the Sorcerer Kingdom, the emperor's been loosening the reins on a ton of industries."
Hearing that, EeDechi's face turned to ice. "Looks like I need to have a little chat with Baharuth's emperor—teach him some life lessons from an elder. Where's his place at?" she asked, turning to Barrett.
Barrett pointed out the window. "Right in the middle of the capital, that castle under the tallest spire—that's the palace."
EeDeChi looked out. It was late as hell, but a hazy glow of magical lights in the night sky outlined a towering shape. She'd seen that big, square spire during the day, figuring it was just some landmark. Never thought the emperor's palace was parked right beneath it.
She marched to the window, planting a foot on the sill like she was about to jump. Sean darted over and grabbed her, his face tight with panic. "Captain, what the hell are you doing?!"
EeDechi shook off his grip. "Going to see the emperor, obviously."
Barrett, who'd just pointed the way, lunged over and latched onto her too. "Captain, cool it! You're gonna stir up a shitstorm like this! Save it for later…"
In the middle of their tug-of-war, Ureirika and Kuuderika stirred awake on the bed, roused by the noise.
One of the girls stared at the arguing trio, her frail body trembling. With a sob, she whimpered, "Sister… sister…" The other girl's eyes stayed blank, just clinging tight to her sibling.
Seeing the twins awake, EeDechi dropped the window-jumping plan. She leaned toward the two little girls bundled in the blanket, forcing a gentle look on her face. "Hey, don't be scared. Big sister's here. No one's gonna hurt you. I'll take you home, okay? What're your parents' names? Where do they live?"
The little girl burst into a loud "wah" of tears. "We don't wanna go home! Don't find our parents! We want our sister…"
Stella stepped forward, bending down to gently hold the little girl's thin shoulders, soothing her with soft words.
…
EeDechi, Barrett, and Sean waited outside the room. A few minutes later, Stella pushed the door open, her face clouded with worry, and stepped out quietly before closing it behind her.
The four of them had already agreed to send the twin girls back to their parents' home—after all, they couldn't drag a couple of kids along on their adventures. All they needed was to figure out where the girls' family lived. But judging by Stella's expression, things weren't going smoothly.
"They don't want to go home. Said their parents treated them like crap, but their big sister was good to them. They want to find her—their real sister. Oh, and she's an adventurer too," Stella explained in a nutshell.
It made sense. Only shitty, deadbeat parents would let their daughters end up in a brothel. Hell, maybe they were the ones who sold the twins off.
"Then let's track down their sister fast. If she's an adventurer, we just hit up the Adventurer's Guild and dig through the records. We're an adventurer crew, not a damn orphanage. Can't be hauling these dead weights on missions," Barrett said, blunt as ever.
EeDechi shot him a death glare that made his skin crawl.
But she had to admit, Barrett's rough words hit the nail on the head. They had a lot of tough fights ahead.
"But," Stella sighed, "their sister's Arche Eeb Rile Furt from the Four Counselors team. She took a job a while back and hasn't come back. Seems she went missing while exploring the Great Tomb of Nazarick on the empire's border."