Faced with the massive stone fort, it was clear that I would have to come up with a plan. Unfortunately, reconnaissance was out of the question, since I didn’t want to be forced to stay in there for any longer than absolutely necessary. The longer I stuck around, the higher the chance that one of the abyss watcher’s generals would notice something stalking through the castle.

Thankfully, I could make out its layout from a distance and my goal, the tallest tower, was only connected to a few other buildings by outdoor walkways. With some luck, there wouldn’t be any generals nearby. I was betting on roughly two to three tier 5’s being present in the entire fort at the moment, and there were quite a few larger clusters of buildings that were bound to act as their residences.

That left tier 4 classers and below as guards to the package. I couldn’t really fight tier 4s yet since my stats were too low, but I was confident I could sneak past them.

With all this information kept in mind, I moved on to the first step of my plan...

-scene transition-

I headed to a large rocky ridge that put me as close as possible to the tower, and leaped into the sky. If my judgement had been correct, [Ghost apparition] would just barely allow me to reappear on top of its slanted, pyramid-shaped roof. Sure enough, as I turned tangible I found myself where I had intended to teleport. Unfortunately, I immediately started to slide down the roof, so I pulled out a dagger and stook it in between some loose tiles which halted my descent and gave me a few moments to breathe and recover from the sudden panic. Any excess noise could alert the guards down below.

And indeed, far below me, I could see an army of torches heading back and forth, patrolling the various buildings of the compound on every level, even the roofs. This reminded me of the fact that there was no time to hesitate.

The package was located mere meters away, inside the windowless tower. Thankfully, my apparition worked off of distance rather than sightlines, so I could get in easily, even if I had no clue what awaited me inside.

Without further ado, I apparated inside of the tower in hopes of securing the package and heading to step two of my plan.

My body turned black and then translucent, slowly shimmering from one place to the other. Once I appeared inside of the tower, I suddenly found myself inside of a strangely decorated room. The first thing I noticed was the smell. The rancid smell assaulted my senses in a way I hadn’t expected, and it took a moment for me to focus again.

It was dark inside, with only a single ram-shack wooden table and an old bed filled with straw. There were no light sources, but thankfully I didn’t need them. In one of the corners, there was a steel hatch that led further down the tower. Next to it, there laid a metal plate that must have held some food at one point and a bucket that served as a... toilet. Its contents were spilling out, and that was the source of the smell, no doubt. Gross...

Hastily, I looked around in search of the package. The dry man had said that I would know it once I saw it, but this room was as empty as could be. Apart from the bed and table, there was a distinctive lack of objects, let alone something that the dry man might value.

Hold on...

I turned back around and took another look at the bed, only to find out that someone was actually occupying it! Thankfully, I hadn’t woken them up yet. I approached the bed slowly, and found a small girl, no older than 10, sleeping with rhythmic breaths. She was wearing an old torn rag that didn’t look like it had ever been a proper piece of clothing, and her cheeks were sunken. If it weren’t for her long lashes and hair, I couldn’t have guessed the child’s biological sex at all, that was how malnourished and unhealthy she looked.

There was something reminiscent about the girl’s face, though... She reminded me of...

“No. No, absolutely not. Just no. Fuck...” I muttered to myself.

She looked like the dry man, only a small female version of him. Was she his daughter? Had I just been told to rescue the princess from the tallest tower?

This made the whole situation a lot more tricky. Plan A was basically already a bust, since I couldn’t apparate away with her as I could have with a normal package.

“Shit...” I whispered angrily.

That meant that I was down to plan B... Furthermore, the girl was a liability. Escape could only happen by stealthily leaving the fort, which I wasn’t trained for. If that didn’t work... plan C would have to save our asses.

For a moment, I debated simply leaving the way I had come. Maybe there was a way to escape the dry man’s pursuit... But that would mean abandoning the chalice and whatever reward the dry man had promised me. Furthermore, I had already come this far... giving up now, leaving this small girl to her fate... I couldn’t do it. If this had been Amber, locked up in a dark tower, all alone since young...

If not for the dry man’s sake, then at least for the girl’s sake...

I sighed. My heart had already overpowered my reason at this point. If there were ever a time to be a brave idiot rather than a cunning coward, that time was now. If I didn’t make it, hopefully, someone would have the balls to do the same for my sister one day...

With my mind made up and my courage steeled, I gently shook the rotting bed, in hopes of waking the girl. She stirred awake after a while, and rubbed her eyes, as if that would help her see in this darkness.

“Wha...?” she muttered in a small voice.

I shushed her.

“I’m here to save you. The dry man sent me.”

Her eyes went wide as her mind caught up to what was happening. For the first time in who knew how long, someone had entered her tower. On top of that, the person was claiming to be sent by her father... Even for an adult, that would be a lot to take in. Surprisingly, she quickly recovered from the surprise and smile wide.

Then, she responded by whispering excitedly.

“My father sent you? Are you bringing me to him?”

Surprised by her sudden enthusiasm, I hastily nodded in the affirmative.

“Yes, I am. Please grab your belongings. We leave in two minutes.” I replied stoically. I needed the girl to listen to me attentively if we planned on getting out of here alive, so I tried to sound as authoritative as I could.

She jumped out of her bed and stumbled on her way over to the table, unable to contain her excitement. I rushed over to help, but she had already gotten up before I got to her. Then, she ran over to the old little table and started pushing it over to the hatch. Her strength must have failed her, because the thing wouldn’t budge.

“Why are you pushing the table, girl?” I asked quietly.

She looked over with a bright smile that seemed far too genuine for a girl held captive.

“You said to grab my belongings!” she proclaimed happily.

I sighed. Maybe this girl had been in here for longer than I had expected. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time. I went over with my spatial pouch and stored both the bed and the little table, which lacked a chair, for some reason, but left the steel plate and... ‘toilet’.

“I’ll carry your belongings. Here, wear this.” I said, pulling a nondescript hooded black robe out of my pouch and cutting off the end with my sword. I then put it on her, and saw that it ended just beneath her ankles, as I had intended.

“We have to go down the tower. Wait for me to check the next room and kill any guards we come across.” I continued calmly.

“Oh, but there won’t be any people in the tower right now!” she said a little too loudly, so much so that I shushed her out of instinct. She covered her mouth and her eyes went wide in fear, but thankfully nobody had heard. Once I had processed her words, however, I couldn’t help but consider her information.

“What do you mean? How do you know that?” I asked.

“I can hear em’ when they stand guard.” She said in her high-pitched voice. “They never show up around this time. They go gamble, even though they’re not allowed, said joe.” She said conspiratorially.

“Right... Who’s Joe?” I responded contemplatively. Guards slacking off was universal, I supposed. This time, it just so happened to play to my benefit.

“Dunno. One of the people that give me food?” she asked, as if I knew the answer.

I sighed. Had the girl only been able to listen in on their conversations as entertainment since she got here?

“Say, little girl... what’s your name?” I couldn’t just keep calling her ‘girl’, after all.

“Maria. What’s yours?” She replied happily. The way her sunken cheeks rose sent a pang to my heart, since it reminded me of the way amber smiled. Since when was I the type to feel empathy? Was my mental palace working a little too well?

I pushed this thought out of my mind and carried on.

“My name is Arthur. Then, Maria... What else do you know about the people that live here?”

“Oh, a whole bunch of stuff! They’re always talking when they’re nearby!” she spoke with a small, hesitant smile. She was far too trusting, in my opinion. Too innocent. Unfortunately, I had to take advantage of that innocence to find out what I could.

“Is that so? Why don’t you share that stuff with me...”