The pair was not happy with what was going on in this village. They knew that something was wrong with this village for sure, but they did not know what the feeling of this 'wrong' feeling was.
"Let us find Shimi and Himeko first. I am sure that they will be able to shed more light on what is going on."
Master Hana seemed to be counting on the fact that both Shimi and Himeko were half-elves and they would be better suited for such a place.
And maybe, the elves would be more suited to trust them than outsiders like the Grandmaster or even Master Hana.
But somehow, Keith was not as optimistic as Master Hana was. He had seen the way Shimi had flinched and seen this place in the bad light. There was no way she was treated right in this place.
His brain also hurt when he looked at the village. Something about the streets was beginning to look familiar to him.
The more he focused, the more Keith was able to figure it out. He was sure that there was a memory his brain was trying to remember but was not able to.
'Ugh, let us try and not think about it. My head feels like it is splitting apart because of the headache I am getting. I should not think a lot about it.'
Keith shook his head to get the useless thoughts out of his head. There was no use thinking about things that could not help him right now.
"Alright, let us go and find the other two. I do not know about Shimi, but I do know where Himeko is. I heard the news about the elf princess a little while ago. I am sure they were talking about Himeko."
Keith nodded and decided to follow Master Hana's guidance. He was sure that she had a plan in place already.
Master Hana's eyes widened as soon as she noticed the Grandmaster's trust in her. She had not expected to be trusted this much and her insides swelled with pride and joy.
This trust, she was not going to let it down ever.
"Hmm, so first, we need to head toward the school building. From what I heard; the elf princess was finally allowed to join her age mates in the main school. She was kept hidden until now because of her poor health."
Master Hana had managed to discover a lot of gossip in a short amount of time. It was a combination of her wisdom and her skills of sneaking around.
Her puppet magic also helped a lot. Even now, the person under her control was moving around while gathering information for Master Hana. it was a convenient skill to have.
"So, we have Himeko's Location? Let us go and retrieve her now. I am sure she knows where Shimi is being kept."
Keith had an idea where Shimi was being kept as well. There was only one place where these elves could have kept someone like Shimi - their dungeons.
But Keith desperately wanted to be wrong. And he also did not want to be the one to say where Shimi was. It was a weird position he was currently in.
That was why he needed Himeko to tell them where Shimi was. He did not want to be the bringer of bad news.
"Hmm, got it. But I do not think we will be allowed to meet the young princess normally. We will have to put some effort behind our actions now."
As soon as Master Hana had finished speaking, Keith wanted to take a step back. He suddenly had a bad feeling about Master Hana's plan.
...........
'This plan is not safe. I should have stopped Master Hana when she purposed this plan. Why did I agree to go with her plans anyway?'
Keith lamented as he was forced to follow Master Hana. Master Hana's happy expression showed how much she was enjoying this situation.
Currently, they were both covered in the traditional elf dress which hid their faces and their bodies. It was impossible to tell who was beneath these clothes.
The plan was simple - pretend to be the princess's escort and make sure they get alone time with her. It was a highly effective plan for the pair.
"Here they come. I just need to do this and we shall be good to go."
Master Hana roasted her fingers in a weirdly sexual way. The elf guards in front of them tensed up and then collapsed on the ground. Her blue eyes had a dazed expression and there was a questionable wetness beneath her.
Keith decided not to question what Master Hana had done to the poor elf to reduce her to this state. He did not want to get an erotic explanation after all.
"Hmm, this should work. This worker is almost the same figure as me. I will come back with a figure that suits the grandmaster as well soon."
Keith could not even find it in himself to protest what Hana was doing. His mind was warning him not to go against Hana and her powers. Especially after what he had just witnessed.
He waited for Master Hana to come back with her chosen prey. And she was back soon. The elf that followed Master Hana was jacked and the figure was bulky enough to pass off as Keith's.
He watched as Master Hana made the female faint with her fingers and the gesture for the grandmaster to come near.
"We got lucky. These two were assigned pairs and we are scheduled to serve the princess this evening. We will have a 15-minute window where we will be alone with Himeko."
Master Hana assured Keith. He did not know when she got the time to look around for the schedule but he was glad to have her as his partner now.
She was taking care of most of the work for him and she was also an asset.
.........…
"Princess Himeko, is everything to your liking? Would you like us to change something for you?"
Himeko's current attendant asked her and she looked up with a jolt. She had not realized that someone else was in the room with her.
"No, there is no need. Kindly leave me alone for now."
The worried expression of her attendant was familiar and Himeko tried hard not to let it get to her. This all was not real so she did not need to become attached to these people.
Himeko might be young but she knew that her villagers were dead. And those who died could not come back.
"Princess, please do not be late for the evening party you need to attend. Your mother wants to accompany you."
Himeko tensed up as soon as she heard the term 'mother.' Her relationship with her mother was complicated. And her feelings were even more twisted after she met her half-sister.
"Alright, I will come and meet her."
The servant sighed in relief as soon as she had that assurance. Himeko tried not to get disappointed when the servant left her alone.
This place is giving her goosebumps. It was all too like her past. Even the people behaved the same - trying to take care of her and look good in her eyes so that they can catch her mother's eyes
Some things just never changed.
Himeko wanted to run away from this palace but she knew she would be caught as soon as she tried to. She needed help and company that would allow her to escape. She needed to find the company she had before she arrived in this place.
'Master Hana. I need to contact her and let her know where I am. But, how am I going to be able to do that? My servants and escorts just never leave me alone.'
Well, there was one such time Himeko could use to run away. And it was when her escorts changed during the evening. There was a few minutes' window that allowed her to make her escape.
So, banking on this time frame, Himeko got ready to run away. She waited for the time to approach with an eager eye. Her escorts would leave their posts any second now.
But all her hopes and dreams were crushed when the second pair of escorts arrived before the first pair had even left.
It was a disaster for her plan and Himeko felt like crying.
So much hope and dream she had piled up, and for what? It was so disappointing for her. She instantly collapsed and tears hit her eyes.
"Oi, are you going to cry now? You will not be able to run away if you make a lot of noise."
Master Hana's familiar voice caused Himeko to look up. She watched as the escort moved her mask away, only for Master Hana's face to snap into existence.
"Hey kid, it is time to run away. We just need to get out the last companion and we are free to leave this place."
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