Arc#3 Interlude: Meanwhile, Elsewhere... (2) (Patreon)

(Author's Note: Uh, the chapter that I posted early, was supposed to be the advanced chapter for Sunday, May 7. But when I really thought about it, I intended to post the two interludes at basically the same time, so doesn't that mean I should also post these two interludes at the same time in Patreon too...?

So yeah. Here you go. Enjoy...?

Also, I've lost trust in Patreon's scheduling function, so I'll post this here even though the chapter on RR/SH isn't up yet.)

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It was foggy.

And it was also very creepy.

There were monsters too.

That was the extent of Vianna's thoughts about her surroundings. It was a relatively simple opinion of the Outlands, but most would agree that it was an apt description.

"Are you sure the distress signal was truly activated?" Vianna turned her head to the side, gazing at an armored female knight. "They're not dead yet? Even though they're this far away from the portal...?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And you're certain that they'd gone missing months ago?"

The knight nodded. "We're quite certain. Lately, there have been strange rifts that lead to other places somewhere in these lands. Perhaps one of our people accidentally got caught in one and got transported to a place that was too far away for the tracking amulets to work. Then they had to carefully make their way back bit by bit... and they only just arrived somewhere in range. And that's why the distress signal came from this far away... although these are just my theories."

The queen shrugged. "What else do we have to go off of? It'll do for now. As usual, make sure to have your trackers turned on so we don't lose each other in this blasted fog. And don't fly."

""Yes, Your Majesty.""

Vianna spared a glance at the thirty-something ascendants she'd brought with her on this rescue mission. It wouldn't be the first time they'd worked together, so she was certain that they knew what they were doing. Her warnings weren't actually warnings, as they were just a means to alert them that she would be giving out more specific orders.

'They're all good girls, just a bit too... weird.'

She hadn't intentionally made it that way, but somehow, every single one of the knights on her current squad was female. Also, all of them seemed to like her a little too much for some reason. They'd always be the first to volunteer as an entourage whenever she went into the Outlands. They acted so servile and affectionate to her, that she unconsciously spoke to them as if they were younger than her — even though every single one of these women was at least two hundred years older.

Still, they were nice and capable. Vianna liked working with them.

Actually, there were a lot more than just the ones here. But the others had all coincidentally been sent somewhere else or had other important duties they couldn't abandon.

'Maybe I should just put them all in one knight order that directly answers to me...? Rodin will likely agree if I ask.'

Internally deciding to do that after they make it back home, Vianna cleared her throat before giving out more orders. "Spread out and search for signs of our little wayward explorer. If she's dead, it would be nice to have a corpse to bring back. And if she's alive, stuff a pill down her throat. Once she's secured, we get the hell out of here as fast as we can."

""Yes! Your Majesty!""

"Stop shouting."

""Yes, Your Majesty...""

"Good, now get going, girls."

With that out of the way, Vianna waved them off and started her own search.

'Now, where should I start...'

There were already thirty knights combing through the area. For safety reasons, they couldn't go too far from each other, which considerably limited their searching capability. After all, it would be foolish to risk the lives of all the rescuers for a person they weren't even sure was still alive.

'I guess I'll try to sniff her out.'

In these accursed lands, where even an Ascendant's sight was hindered, Vianna had an edge over her human subordinates. As a warbeast, she naturally had superior senses than the others here.

'It'll be hard because of the smell, though...'

After taking one sniff of the surrounding air, Vianna's nose wrinkled in disgust. She clenched her fist, trying to endure the wretched scent filling her lungs.  For the poor knight who was either dead or very close to being dead, she had to endure.

Fortunately for her, she wouldn't have to continue doing it for long. Since another knight had found something.

After receiving the signal, Vianna and the others rushed toward the location to find a hole in the ground. The knight who'd sent the signal had probably proceeded inside.

'Fool. You should've waited until after everyone else arrived...'

She would just have to admonish the foolish girl later. Though Vianna understood that she was likely just worried about the possible survivor.

"Did the rest of you have any trouble?" Vianna swept her gaze across the other girls.

The knights looked toward shared gazes before a representative spoke for the whole. "We did not meet with any difficulties, Your Highness. In fact, we didn't encounter anything."

Vianna clicked her tongue as a foreboding feeling started blooming at the back of her mind.

On their journey here, they also met very few nightmare spawns. At first, they chalked it up to good fortune. But the good luck continued for three days.

There was no such thing as being that fortunate.

And with the current situation, even Vianna could figure it out.

'We were lured here...'

Whoever or whatever it was that planned all this, Vianna didn't know. She also didn't have the time or patience to try to find out.

So in the end, she decided to continue the rescue mission. In any case, they were in too deep to back out now.

"Attention." Vianna walked right up to the edge of the hole before voicing her orders. "If something happens, leave us and run as fast as you can. I still have one of the old man's bells, so I can at least escape with the few people that are down there. Understood?"

The knights hesitated for a moment before they saluted. "Understood, Your Highness."

The queen noticed that the girls were obviously less energetic about following her orders. This made her crack a smile, but time was of the essence so she had to get this over with.

"Well, I'll be going now."

With a wave of her hand, Vianna flew down the hole. Letting gravity do its thing would take far too long, so she directly sped downwards with her innate ability to fly.

'So annoying. I wanna go home...'

After this, she resolved to pamper herself by indulging in her husband and son.

#####

It didn't take long for the queen of Aizen to reach the bottom of the hole. There wasn't a hint of light in the chasm at the very depths of the tunnel, but Vianna's senses made that fact irrelevant. With her beautiful golden eyes, she scanned the surroundings.

"Eh?"

What immediately caught her attention was that her senses could spread out much wider than when she was above. The Outlands' signature trait of hindering even an ascendent's perception was seemingly invalidated in this deep, dark cave.

"Hmm?" Vianna narrowed her eyes as she suspiciously eyed the walls and floor. Since Vianna's sharp senses were no longer hampered, she could immediately perceive everything around her. "This place..."

The walls were smoothed out and had what seemed to be drawings carved all around them. As for the floor, it wasn't uneven like pretty much every other cave in the world. And although few, Vianna could still make out what used to be furniture and a hearth.

'Did that girl do all this and bring all of these out...?'

Vianna momentarily mused about the possibility that this was all because of their little lost lamb. However, the thought died in her head just as it was born.

'These are too old...'

She couldn't possibly know the exact time frame, but judging from how old and worn out the remnants of furniture were, Vianna could guess that it had been at least a decade since these items were left here to rot.

'Then who...?'

Who left them there?

Vianna's poor head was starting to hurt. She wasn't some brainless moron, but at the same time, she was self-aware that using her brain wasn't her strong point — no matter how Donovan insisted that she must sharpen her mind.

'I'll just bring all of this information to Rodin and let him think about all the complicated things and their complicated meanings.'

That would be after she'd had her fill of her husband's affection, however.

"Your Highness!" A knight at the other end of the large cavern raised her arm and waved at Vianna before lifting an unconscious woman onto her shoulder. "I've found our stray comrade! And there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her!"

Vianna almost wanted to heave a sigh of relief but decided to steel her expression instead. They could celebrate later. The current situation was far too strange, so lingering any longer wasn't wise.

And furthermore, the back of her neck tingled.

'Something's watching us...'

If nothing else, she was very confident in her intuition.

"We're leaving." Vianna's tone brook no argument. "Now."

Sensing the queen's seriousness, the knight nodded. "Yes, Your Highness!"

With that, the two of them zoomed up the tunnel as fast as they could.

Feeling slightly worried, Vianna spared a glance at the unconscious knight. There were no visible injuries, and it didn't feel like there was something wrong with her.

'I'll ask Rein to take a look once we arrive...'

But it never hurt to be extra careful. That's what the Sword Star always told her back when she was still a reckless warmonger — which, now that she thought about it, wasn't that long ago.

The moment Vianna emerged from the tunnel, she quickly scanned her surroundings, making sure that all of the knights were present. Once she was certain, a round silver bell attached to a red string appeared in the warbeast woman's hand.

Jingle!

With a single shake of her hand, the pleasant sound of tinkling metal echoed outwards. And a fraction of the time it took for one to blink, the rescue team and their rescuee were nowhere to be seen.

Not even a trace of their scents remained.