Chương 26: Rescue Team
"M-my King! What are you doing here!?" Braum's face was full of surprise as he saw a pegasus landing near his convoy of rescuers.
It was the next morning, the time when the entire rescue team would depart to find the missing elven girl. Since everyone did not have any intel on how many enemies there are or the level of risks involved; adding the fact that this is going to be Vathria's first encounter with the humans of this world, this rescue operation is a mid-scale one with the cooperation between Vathrian's royal army, Vathrian's intelligence, and Elven tribe's warriors.
The crew consisted of 30 Vathrian knights (excluding Braum), 10 intelligence officers (who are not visible in the party), and 20 elven warriors. This was the highest possible number they could have in such mid-scale operation since if they brought too many, the enemies would notice their existence more quickly and they might start escaping the region. There was also an additional 5 servants dedicated to serving Detective Grant Holmes.
The rescue team was about to leave the elven territory when a pegasus landed near them, revealing King Adrian.
"Seeing the city development every day had gotten a bit stale for me. I want to join the fun here." King Adrian replied to the flabergasted Braum.
"B-but you entrusted me with this mission? This mission is too unsafe for you, my king!" Braum responded.
King Adrian waved his hand. "I did. It's not like I don't trust you. It's just that I have thought about it for a while and I feel like with the blood oath and my promise with the elves, it is my personal responsibility at this moment to bring that girl back." King Adrian said back.
Braum still had a blank look to his face. "But my King...why are you alone? Where are your royal guards?" He asked again.
"Oh. I kind of left them in the castle. I said to them I was going for a short ride with Starlight here." King Adrian patted his rare pure white pegasus named Starlight. The pegasus neighed in approval.
Braum sighed. "Those incompetent guards...You! You're off the mission. Tell the guards in the castle that the King is safe with us and to have security around the city be tightened with the King's absence!" Braum ordered one of the knights to go back and inform the city.
"Let's go then." King Adrian said while smiling.
--
The rescue team headed off to rescue the elven girl. Detective Robert Bedford was at the front of the group looking for the tracks while drinking the finest royal wine.
"Ah...this is really good," Robert said. He did not even use glass, opting to just drink it straight out of the bottle.
"So you're the infamous Bedford the drunk detective, huh." King Adrian said while making a cheeky smile. King Adrian was riding his pegasus near the front of the group alongside Robert.
"In the flesh, Your Majesty," Robert said while making a salute. His form was perfect but one could tell he was saluting the King sarcastically.
"You do that to any of my late siblings and they'll have you beheaded in a second. But don't worry, I don't like formalities too much anyway." King Adrian said and laughed.
"I knew you were that type of person, Your Majesty," Robert replied with a large grin and continued his search of tracks.
--
While King Adrian was riding his pegasus, one elven warrior approached him.
"You're the king." That elf said.
King Adrian looked down in surprise. "Wait...you're the brother of the missing girl?" He asked.
"Amier." The elf muttered. Amier was the brother who witnessed his sister being kidnapped by the humans.
"I...." King Adrian did not know what to say. The reason King Adrian was so hesitant and passed the responsibility to Braum was that he saw the sights of Amier's cries.
"I have heard from the other humans. You are worried about us elves and truly want to help us. I have seen that in the serious manner in which you are taking this rescue operation of my sister. I can't say I trust you humans....but I respect what you're doing now." Amier said.
King Adrian was silent for a while before conviction started to show on his face. "We will bring back your sister. Under my rule in this land, the elves will be safe." King Adrian replied firmly.
Amier frowned. "I did not say I acknowledge your occupation of this land...but I still hope you find my sister. And if this is some sort of trap you are leading us to...I will personally kill you myself." Amier said and walked back to his elven crew.
King Adrian looked at Amier as he was walking away in silence. His mind was racing at all sorts of possibilities that could happen in this operation. If anything goes wrong, the elven girl might get killed and the young king did not know if he could live on with such guilt.
--
"Grant. Any idea where we could be heading?" Braum asked while walking.
"Wait." Grant closed his eye and went silent for a few seconds. "According to the agents, we're going in the direction of the mountains in the east. I also had some agents ride a pegasus but they couldn't see any form of a camp or base for kilometers ahead. They could be hiding somewhere that couldn't be seen from above." Grant said.
Suddenly, Robert muttered to the whole group. "Stop," Robert said while raising his right arm in a fist. His voice was a bit more serious than usual. His face was not his normal arrogant one as well.
"It's close." Robert muttered. "You said your agents couldn't detect them from the air, right?" Robert said while pointing at Grant.
'He could hear me?' Grant thought. Grant spoke to Braum with a low voice only they could hear.
Braum was the one to reply. "Yes. It seems wherever their base is...it's not somewhere open. Have you got a clue on where it is?" He asked.
Robert started explaining. "Yes. Exactly. I stopped us here so they wouldn't detect us coming. I feel a concentration of their ether inside a small, enclosed space. And if you said it's not somwhere visible from high up...."
"They're in a cave." King Adrian finished Robert's sentence.
"Exactly. You elves. Do you know of the cave near here?" Robert turned to the elven party.
"Yes...we do know of its location but we have not explored inside yet since we did not feel the need to in the past." One elven warrior replied.
"I suggest we make a temporary base here, scout the area, and then finally rescue the girl. Going in directly would be a death trap...in my opinion." Robert said.
"You're surprisingly capable huh, Robert." King Adrian replied.
"Only when there's booze." Robert answered with an ugly grin.
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