Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 96 - The Price of Generosity

"Next person who moves is gonna lose their head."

The mercenaries stiffened, the fear in their eyes almost palpable in the cavern's darkened interior. The only source of light was the lantern that Viviane carried, its warm yellow flame almost alien in contrast to her cold and rocky surroundings.

Medrauta calmly rested her sword on her shoulder, the blade gleaming in the dark as she stepped toward the mercenaries. Slowly and deliberately, she scanned each of their faces until her gaze settled on the person she was looking for. "One-Eyed Jack, yeah? I was told that you saw two foreigners pass by this tunnel."

"Y-Yeah, that's me..."

Around an hour prior to their encounter with this ragtag group of mercenaries in the tunnels under Orinth, Viviane and Medrauta had busied themselves with picking their way through the debris that littered Orinth's streets.

Thoroughly unkempt and abandoned, Orinth was a ghost town. Of course, there were a few destitute occupants in the otherwise empty buildings that they passed by, but their journey had mostly been silent.

"It's honestly kinda depressing..." Viviane had said, turning to Medrauta.

"Hm? What is?"

"This. Everything." Viviane said, gesturing at their surroundings. A few of the buildings had collapsed long ago, and the structures still standing next to them looked like they were about to do the same, preparing to spill their stone and wood innards across the ground. "Even just by looking, I can tell that Orinth used to be a town full of life, but now it's... this."

Medrauta pursed her lips. "Yeah... Guess it is kinda depressing, huh? There used to be a bit more life aboveground when I was a kid, but looking at it now, Orinth is pretty much dead, huh? Well, above ground, that is."

The knight had no doubt that the underground tunnels were rife with life, especially the unsavory kind. Rats, criminals, fugitives, and just about everything else an upstanding citizen wanted to avoid. Despite that, Medrauta and Viviane didn't have the luxury of steering clear from the place.

Viviane nodded glumly as the two of them continued their journey through the streets. While it looked as if they were simply meandering around in the streets, Medrauta swept her gaze around, looking for an entrance to the underground.

Serving as the home for those who wished to avoid scrutiny, the tunnel network's various entrances weren't exactly public knowledge. In fact, they were rather well-hidden, allowing those who dwelt in its innards to survive and thrive for over a decade. True to the network's clandestine nature, even Medrauta's keen vision failed to uncover any secret entrances.

"We're gonna need to speed this up before it gets dark," Medrauta murmured.

"...Maybe we could ask around?" Viviane suggested.

"Ask around where?"

Viviane gestured wordlessly to a man sitting in the shadow of a nearby building. The worn-down structure was already half-collapsed, leaving its interior wide open to the elements. The rotting surface of its wooden support beams made it obvious that the still-standing portion of the building was well on its way to join the rest of its corpse, but it still hung on desperately for now.

"...I wouldn't recommend randomly approaching people in Orinth, Viviane." Medrauta warned. Although she was sure that she could protect Viviane in case anything actually happened, she still wanted to avoid any potential risks. Due to being the festering cesspool of criminal activity in Revelo duchy, the nature of Orinth's inhabitants were largely unpredictable.

While most of them were simple criminals, fugitives, or even vagrants, the danger that one of them may be a rogue or exiled knight still existed. Should Medrauta encounter such an adversary, they would prove much more dangerous than just a regular bandit, meaning she was forced to approach every encounter with the utmost caution.