An Englishman in Castle Aincrad

Floor 20 - Chapter 4 - A Cardinal Error

The atmosphere that surrounded the group as they were received on their return back to the clearing group was a strange one. On one hand, there was an air of jubilation to their return, and some members of various guilds began to almost clamber over each other to extoll the benefits they could offer, if the group were to join their guild - not even the larger ones, but some mid level guilds too, and one wasn't even a guild, but two people looking to form a guild themselves.

Whilst Jet took it in his stride, and had no doubts that most of the offers were made in good faith, he couldn't help but wonder how they'd have been treated after they joined them. Would they have kept treating them like VIPs, which he would've absolutely hated, or would they have just become a part of the guild, players who may have been stronger, but just people in their own rights, rather than objects attached to the swords, and now the reputation that they wielded?

All of it was hypothetical, mind you, as he wasn't planning to join any guild, and from the looks on the girls' faces, nor were they. Maybe forming a guild themselves could be a possibility one day, but not any time soon...

The other thing that was playing on his mind was just how calm everyone was about Sanya. He couldn't help but think that, considering the near riot that her mere presence had caused only a few hours earlier, the clearers seemed oddly calm about her presence... and that worried him.

''Now, whadda we do wit' ya?'' Kibaou came onto the subject that was the silver haired Russian elephant in the room, and the mood of jubilation seemed to almost immediately deflate. ''An' before any of ya smartarses say it, she stays alive and untortured!''

Much to anyone's surprise, Lind seemed to be the first person to defend Sanya, despite him having been her target. He did wonder if the blue haired knight had an ulterior motive, but exactly what that was, he really had no idea. ''Kibaou, despite her treachery... she was instrumental in our rescue, and she certainly isn't unskilled...''

Strea looked towards him with a look that told him exactly what his sister was thinking - ''She also can't be trusted either.'' - and for once, he would concede. Whilst it hadn't been Sanya's fault that they'd been led into a trap, there was certainly a question that still lingered around her, regarding her true loyalties...

''I cannot give an assessment on that, Lind, but she deliberately and knowingly sent you into a trap. I can't understand why you, of all people, would defend her...'' Diavel stated, an almost confused look being exchanged with Kibaou as he did so.

''She has shown remorse for her actions, and without her, a number of us would almost certainly be dead by now. I believe that counts some way towards her redemption, does it not?'' The mutterings from members of all three guilds seemed to be a pretty good indicator of the disconnect between their leaders and the people of the guilds...

''That may be so, but...'' As the leaders continued to argue their cases for and against her freedom, he looked out into the crowd. Most of them seemed focused on the matter at hand, but a few of them seemed to be leaving. The red haired woman from earlier, and a man in a leather mask were the two that seemed in the biggest hurry to get out of there, and he reminded himself that the woman had been instrumental in whipping up discontent earlier... whilst the man wore a mask that just screamed ''serial killer''. Or that he was a gimp, he supposed, but it was probably more likely to be the former than the latter...

He turned to Koharu, and whispered in her ear. ''Ko, you're in charge. I've got a hunch on something... I'll see you later.'' She gave him a concerned look, before sighing in resignation.

''Just be safe, please...'' She asked, almost pleading with him against doing something stupid...

''I'll try.'' He whispered back, before pushing his way through the throngs of people gathered in the town, whilst ducking down slightly. At 183cm, he did stand out above the crowd somewhat, and when you were tailing someone, that wasn't an ideal situation to find yourself in. Luckily for him, they either weren't expecting to be followed, or weren't paying attention to their surroundings.