PORTAL TO ANOTHER WORLD

58.Time to head out.

You leave the house and head straight to Catherine's place. When you enter the throne room she seems a bit surprised but still greets you with a smile.

Catherine: "Why are you here [y/n]?"

[y/n]: "Ummmm....the expedition? You didn't forget about it did you?

Catherine: "Of course not!"

She laughs nervously.

[y/n]: "You did forget..."

Catherine: "A queen would never...ever..."

She notices your gaze and sighs with defeat.

Catherine: "I can't remember everything you know, there's so many things to keep track of."

It's fair, not only does she have to manage things here alone with Lily and maybe Maria and Amelia but she also teaches children at school when she has some free time but even there she works on some papers. It's still odd though, she doesn't really forget about the missions that she planned but these expeditions were planned by both of you, you let it go since she did mention that she was tired.

Catherine: "Anyway!"

She jumps out of her seat and walks to the table where a map was placed, you step next to her and look at the map. It seemed like it was a normal map until she placed her hands on it, then it turned into a map with a 3d view. She moved the map a little to the right, the city was no longer visible but two outposts popped into your view. She then zoomed in a little closer to the outpost in the north and drew a circle below it.

Catherine: "This is the last area I want you to check out, there will be a few more of these expeditions but I'll send someone that has the required skill for it. Now the outpost in the North hasn't responded for a few days, I've sent out a few people to check up on them but they haven't come back yet nor sent a message of some sort."

[Y/n]: "Any ideas on who would want to attack us?"

She turns to you.

Catherine: "I doubt that guessing will do us any good, besides I remember you saying that you have an idea on who it could be."

You think for a second trying to remember when you said that but no matter how hard you try you can't remember and decide to just play along.

[Y/n]: "It was an idea, so it's still a maybe."

Catherine: "You seemed pretty sure that it could be whoever you had in mind, oh well. I'll get a few warriors to go with you, they'll be waiting for you at the gate."

You thank Catherine and then leave the throne room. When you get outside you start to think about who to take with you.

Ellen and Jane seem like a good choice but you have a feeling that they're gonna be taken to the next expedition so you decide to let them rest, Lily is probably helping out Catherine, Elinor and Fortune are out of the question right now, Mya and Faith are both training and after what happened yesterday you're not sure if it's good to take them with you. The only ones that are left are Melanie, Sarah, Grace, Isabella, Joyce, Ariana, Helen and Rachel. You decide to spare ten minutes to try and find atleast one of them before going to the gate.

You ran past Lily who was helping some people carry boxes into the house, you also ran past various shops where you saw Ellen and Jane buying clothes. You checked back at the house, then at the Inn and other places where you thought that they could be, but of course sometimes when you need someone you just can't find them.

Eventually when you think that ten minutes have past, you give up on looking for them and go back to the gate where you find Helen and Rachel chatting with the five warriors that were waiting for you. When they see you coming their way, they wave to you.

[Y/n]: "Hopefully you guys didn't wait too long."

Your eyes focus on the five girls that you'll be working with.

Harpy (Archer): "Nah, don't worry about it."

There were two dragon girls, one was carrying a sword with a shield and the other one had two swords sheaved behind her back. Your group also has two harpies, one is carrying a spear like lance while the other one has a bow, and the last one on your team is a neko who is carrying a small dagger on her hip, you assume that she's either an assassin or a healer.

Rachel: "We heard that you will be going on an expedition, so we asked Catherine to join you and she gave us permission."

Helen: "Well he is going into an unknown area with a small group like that, I doubt that he'll mind if we join right?"

[Y/n]: "I'd be happy to have you around."

Helen: "You would?"

She seemed a bit surprised.

[Y/n]: "Yeah, you two have skills that might come in handy."

Helen: "I see."

You haven't spent that much time with Helen but you can tell that she's a bit unsure if you have truly accepted her or their kind after all that's happened. Instead of saying anything about it, you decide to pat her on the head. For a split second your eyes met and you gave her a reassuring smile but she quickly looked down as her cheeks started to turn red. For a second you stand there patting her in an awkward silence until Rachel starts speaking.

Rachel: "Is that it?"

You remove your hand from Helens head and turn to Rachel.

Rachel: "I mean, is nobody else gonna join you?"

[Y/n]: "No, most of them are busy, that's why it took me a bit to get here but I'm glad that you two were here."

You feel the five girls glaring at you.

[Y/n]: "What? It's not like I don't trust you, I would just rather work with people that I know or have seen how they fight so I can adapt to them and help them out if I know their weakness."

The guards look at one another and nod.

Dragon (Warrior): "We're ready to head out."

You suddenly get the feeling that you gave them information that you shouldn't have given away so simply.

[Y/n]: "Let's go then."

You walk past the gates and one of the dragon warriors takes out a map and walks a few steps ahead of you swaying her hips a little more than she should.
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