The Hunt ✓

👑20| Missing

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Juggled in thoughts, his ears trace the voices lurking through the air. At each quick glance over the entrance, the piercing sounds that erupted in his ears makes him the more curious. With a bold expression taking over his will, he slowly makes his way through the walls.

His feet lead him to a dungeon after walking directly along the walls for some minutes. All the way, he spots not even a single guard around. But at the sight of several guards patrolling as he dives deeper, his curiosity grows more.

In this very dungeon, he has been to several times but has never heard these sounds and found only a particular field extremely guarded. For sure, there's more to it than it looked like.

When he throws his eyes around for the second time, his eyes locate three guards sitting over a table holding on to mugs. With a pot of wine popped up, one of them lowers his hand and picks it up laughing.

 "We've been watching over him for quite a while. We need a break. C'mon cheers!" Nodding at each other after a thought, the other soldier pours some wine into their mugs separately. As they rejoice over each gulp, he stands behind the walls waiting for the right chance to move.

He? Who have they been watching over for long?

He stumbles back against the wall as he sees a group of guards at the entrance throwing their cautious eyes around. A few begin patrolling from the back with their swords dangling by their side.

 Looking around carefully, he sees several guards inside too. His eyebrows raise at the tight security in this part of the dungeon.

The guards surround the whole yard pacing left and right continuously. With his lips curving into a puzzle, he steps back against the wall to the back and starts to walk into the dungeon. Staring at them cautiously, he moves forward when the guards move out for a break.

"I'm so hungry."

The others nod and glance around for a moment. "Let's take a break!" Saying this, a maid walks over with a tray in her hands. They move towards her quickly while looking at what she has in her hands.

"Speaking of which—we have noodles today!"

Loud shrill of joyful shouts escape their lips. They extend their hands for their share aggressively fighting against each other for a bigger share. Taking advantage of their distraction, he moves in from the entrance and stares at each division in the dungeon.

 While glaring around, he finds cracks lingering over the walls creating an impression of almost breaking down. The floor sweeps dust enough to cement the walls all over with a stench that makes one's nose jam.

Seeing a few silhouettes belonging to guards still around, he walks directly against the walls as he glances up each cell. He dodges their consistent gazes and dives deeper into the dungeon walls.

The hair on his neck becomes stiff when he sees a number of dead bodies and skeletons lying in all the cells he passes by from the entrance. Seeing the skeletons and some dead bodies, his eyes stop by a separate part of exception of one cell.

Immediately he steps forward, some rats squeal out of fear when they see him approaching their hideout. Carefully trying to see through the cell, his eyes fall on a shadow cast by someone sitting by the corner with his head looking down.

With smears of dried and drying blood over the bars, he looks down, tracing a line of drips of blood. Before he can release his lips to call out to the man, his shadow alerts a guard who just enters from the entrance.

"Someone's in here. Catch him!"  One of the guards alarms. While rushing to the cell room, his eyes turn back in shock and paces over the area in circles. When they get there, they find no one in the dungeon with the exception of them.