A 2 meter tall man, wearing a silver full-body armor, entered the guild by blasting through the door with a kick of his feet as if he owned the place, well thinking about it he kind of did actually but back to the point. Followed suit by twenty imperial guard, his altess the 6th prince Nielon Mac-Lorren had arrived.

Now, let me take a moment to explain the situation. Remember the guy that ran out of the guild as I arrived, the one I didn’t notice before. Well, that guy was a subordinate of the human empire directly under command of his highness the prince. As he saw me, he of course warned his altesse, giving him information about my location. The guy Baasan was talking about earlier, the one that looked for me, was no other than his altesse the prince.

I readied the two daggers I used as weapon, unsheeting them, and took a combat stance as I was greeted. I had no chance to hide given I was at the center of a huge clearing, right at the middle of the guild that is usually filled to the brim with adventurers.

“Long time no see my dear Aila” -Nielon

His altesse had spoke with a loud voice, smiling to his ear due to the happiness of finally finding me. The kind of smile predators make when they have finally cornered their prey. I quickly scanned my surrounding, looking for a chance to escape. And, while I did that, the prince approached slowly, making loud metallic noises at each of his steps.

“You see, I had been searching for you for quite a long time, more than one year if my memories are correct” -Nielon

As he said that, he lightly grabbed my jaw from below, touching my chin with the palm of his right hand, and turned my face toward him, bringing my eyes at half an arm length of his disgusting face. I offered no resistance of course, as hurting his highness the prince would get me nothing less than death sentence, there would be no trial and I would be killed on the spot. And, as I thought the guy had no concept of personal space, I enquired about his presence for the sake of formalities, I already knew why he was here.

“And what might his highness want from a commoner like me” - Aila

“Don’t be so cold, after all I personally came to greet you myself, afraid you would run away from me again” -Nielon

“...” -Aila

“Now, reunions asides, you know perfectly well what I want, or maybe I should refresh your memories ?” - Nileon

As he said that, he put force on his finger, crushing my jaw with enormous strength. Preventing me to answer him without injuring myself.

“I want you to hand over the researches of your father” -Nielon

I glared at him with hateful eyes, hinting him at time that I was unable to speak by lowering my eyes quickly, until he understood he had put too much strength in his fingers. He then quickly withdrawn most of the strength allowing me to answer.

“I have no such thing in my possession I’m afraid. Besides what would your highness do with research deemed as heretical by your highness’s father, the emperor.” -Aila

“I will burn them of course, as a citizen of the empire, I cannot allow such heresy to remain in this world” -Nielon

Some bystanders nodded at the blatant lie of the prince, whispering in low voices, but I knew he wanted them for himself at any cost. Even if I had them in my possession, I wouldn’t have handed them over to such a guy.

“Now, would you please hand them over” -Nielon

“As I said, I’m afraid I can’t, I don’t have anything from my parents left in my possession.” -Aila

“Ooh ?... And why should I believe the words of traitors ?” - Nielon

“I … I already proved my loyalty to the empire.” -Aila

“Your loyalty ? Humpf, you only proved that you had enough will to live to execute both your parents on the public square, there are no such concept as loyalty in the hearts of heretics” - Nielon

I lowered my head as bad memories surged up. I kept silent, I didn’t want to listen. Had he be anyone else, I would have sent them flying to vent off penned up emotions and distract myself for depression.

“I can still remember the way they pleaded for your life, I am sure they suffered greatly while they were beheaded by their own flesh and blood”-Nielon

Around me bystanders were grinning, whispering awful rumors about my parents and the horrible way they died. Right now, I only wanted to hide, to crawl in my bed and never, ever, get out. I hated the empire that made my life into a neverending hell. I despised the bystanders who watched, enjoying every last bit of it like some entertaining show. And finally, I loathed myself for staying alive after doing such thing, slitting their throats as they smiled at me, telling me “Everything is gonna be alright” and “Remember that we love you”. Fortunately I didn’t cry, as I had ran out of tears long ago. I only starred with empty eyes at the man in front of me, shutting myself from the awful reality of the world I lived in. He turned his head, looking at the guards.

“Take her into custody, I will interrogate her myself” -Nielon

The guards nodded and answered with a “Yes sir” as a few bystanders cheered with a happy expression. The prince faced me again, bringing my head closer to his face before whispering.

“I will make sure to thoroughly enjoy you, my dear Aila” - Nielon

I didn’t resist as I was slowly giving up on life. There was no point in resisting, everything I could do at this point would be futile, be it fighting a hopeless batle with the royal guards or fleeing out off the city, only to be stranded in the wild without provision.

Soon, I would be tortured and violated in the royal jails by his highness himself then, I would die, perhaps executed on a public square like my parents, all for the great pleasure of the citizens of Dailya. But as his highness Nileon released me from his hand to hand me over to the guards, a man entered the guild, blasting through the door with a distorted expression. Without even bothering to look at the situation, he quickly shooted, making sure to be heard by every single adventurer in the guild over the loud background noise of whispers.

“Call all adventurers in town, fenrirs have been seen lurking on the 4th floor !!!”

Hearing that, I gasped as I came back to my senses.

“Vornir !” - Aila

While everyone was shocked from the news, I separated myself from the guards, storming through the place with my daggers and sparring no expenses of my mana. Cutting through anything that stood in my way, I rushed for the clerk office behind the counter, aiming for some windows that couldn’t be found in the hall of the guild. Then, covering myself in mana layers, I jumped through with all my might. After landing, I quickly ran in some dark alleyway, not even noticing that I was covered in shards of broken glass. If I could lose my pursuers, I still had a chance to save Vornir, to save the last hope that kept me alive.

As I escaped through the city, I faintly heard a loud voice from far away

“Take her alive at all cost !” -Nielon

I got a few project to do for university and I won't have much time to write for a while. I'm probably gonna drop the chapter rate to once a week --'

Anyway, hope you will enjoy the chapter and that you will keep reading in the future.