The three arrived in front of the gates to a giant mansion. As they looked around, they could see that they weren't the only ones there. Other nice-looking carriages belonging to others nearby could be seen.
There was a cue of carriages a few carriages which were waiting in line for their turn and a single
They weren't the type of carriage used by merchants but similar to the luxurious one they had. It was the type of carriage used by nobles.
"...Getting a new carriage was a surprisingly smart idea..." Serena muttered in disbelief
"In the beginning you thought john was just wasting money." Ariel muttered with a smile
"... Thanks for reminding me." Said Serena slightly annoyed
They blended in perfectly with the other carriages, showing them that John had already foreseen something like this happening.
Once it was eventually their turn in the cue, they were asked for their identity or invitation letter.
"May I check the invitation letter?" The guard asked
Hearing this, Serena pulled out the letter which was given to John from her bag, before handing it to the guard.
After receiving it, the guard gave a look inside of the carriage to confirm something before whispering to the other guard next to him.
Serena and Ariel found it weird, but before they could say anything. The guard handed them the letter back through the carriage windows as he asked
"Is your fourth party member not with you?"
As they heard that they glanced at each other with as if asking each other how they should answer to that question, and if it was really safe to go inside.
But before they could say anything, Master Sylvia who was at the driver's seat, spoke up.
"He'll be here, shortly. Is there anything else?" She asked
Hearing this, the guards shook their heads before opening the gates and saying
"No, not at all, enjoy!"
Master Sylvia took that as her cue and the carriage began moving forward as the horses pulled at it through the gate.
As they passed through the area, they made sure to get a good look around.
A large private owned territory with a big mansion at the middle of it. There were many carriages stationed near the front of the mansion.
Once they were a certain distance away from the gate, Ariel glanced at Serena once more and Serena who saw this nodded
"So their aim for inviting us is john?" Ariel asked
"Possibly... Maybe they found out about 'that'..." Serena muttered...
Ariel didn't want to believe it but she knew better. Their aim was definitely John, now the question was. What did they want to do with him?
"Where... What... Who... The plan... Must bring back... The magician..." The man muttered as he suddenly woke up
He was in some sort of cell with his arms and legs bound by a chain. Torturing tools and saws.
He looked around and noticed a lady smiling as she grinded a sharp metal to on the grinder. The sound of it resonated throughout the silent hollow dimly lit room.
"Ah... You're awake now, that means we can finally start." Said the lady as she stopped using the grinder and slowly walked towards him with the tool on her hand
A tall slim build with a nice body. Her gaze underneath her pitch-black hair braided hair and glasses made him feel like they'd pierce right through him. On top of that, she had this sadistic grin formed under her black eyes.
"Hello, Adventurer John, we've managed to safely extract the information like you had asked" Said one of the guild's receptionist as she came out of the backroom with a smile.
She carried a bag of coins and secretly handed it to John as she looked around making sure that no one was watching.
Once John was about to ask what the bag was for, as if she had somehow read his mind, she replied.
"The bounty which was on him, he was being targeted by the guild for a while now, so the bounty accumulated on him may be to your liking." Said the lady
Hearing this, John grabbed on to the bag, before looking over at her one more time with the intention of asking something.
"And the de-"
John was interrupted by the girl who suddenly spoke over him
"The details are right here in this sheet of paper." She said with a smile
As John held on to the paper, he looked over at her once again. His perspective on guild receptionists had changed, and he now felt like he should be more careful and wary around them.
"Thank you." Said John as he turned to the entrance
Right when he was about to leave the lady asked one more question.
"There are 50 gold coins in that bag, are you sure you don't need to count them to make sure?"
"No, it's fine. I trust the guild, and you seem experienced in your job. I doubt you'd make any mistakes like that." Said John as he placed the bag into his dimensional ring
Hearing this, the lady gave him a smile before she bowed and said
"Thank you, and good luck on your next trip!"
As john left the guild, he could feel quite a bit of eyes gathered on him.
[Looks like the S-Rank thing is still a hot topic... Now I know why azure was so grateful...]
John looked over at the details written on the small piece of paper he had received before he muttered