Chapter 563: Is It That Serious?
"Are you sure this is wise, Young Lady?" Commander Basil asked for the third time.
Dashing down the increasingly dark and narrow alleyways of the southern residential district, approaching the most isolated and run-dun parts of Misty City, Eris was also beginning to worry she may have acted too hastily.
Before she could truly second-guess herself, though, Joseph, the man who had asked for her help, came to a stop at the end of a certain street and declared solemnly, "This is as close as I ever dared to get."
Glancing around, Eris could only see a bunch of two-story shacks, most of which were made of cheap wood and some old, crumbling bricks.
Figuring it was now too late to turn back, Eris pushed down her worries and focused, "Which building?"
Creeping forward slightly, Joseph leaned up against a nearby wall, poked his head out around the corner, and motioned towards a certain house about 100 metres down the alley.
Peeking around the corner as well, Eris stole a quick look at the house and discovered that it was a storefront of some kind, though the door and windows were all boarded up, making it look like it was abandoned.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" The young girl couldn’t help asking, as it didn’t look like anyone had been here in ages.
"This is definitely the right place, but..." Commander Basil replied in Joseph’s place, his brow furrowed deeply.
Turning to the young girl he was supposed to be protecting, Commander Basil smiled helplessly, "I don’t suppose I could convince you to remain here, Young Lady Eris?"
"Is it that serious?" Eris asked back.
Shaking his head, Commander Basil drew a pair of daggers from his belt, "The situation is... strange. I can sense the hostage’s Life Auras, but there don’t seem to be any enemies present."
Drawing her own sword with her left hand, and a small dagger with her right prosthetic, Eris declared, "If that’s the case, I’m definitely coming with you."
"Very well," Commander Basil had anticipated this response, so he just nodded, "Stay behind me."
With that, the pair dashed out from the alley and charged down the street, Commander Basil soon smashing through the door of the house all while keeping his senses peeled, just in case the enemy had set up some kind of trap or ambush.
Eris rushed in right after, maintaining a defensive stance; however, even after making such a dramatic entrance, nothing happened.
A few seconds later, Joseph caught up and began frantically looking around, trying to find his daughter; unfortunately, there was nothing and no one in sight.
"Follow me," Commander Basil ordered, advancing into the house and down a set of halls before arriving at a certain room filled with old bookshelves.
Grabbing the biggest of the shelves, the High-Rank Spirit Initiate pushed on it, causing it to rotate and reveal a hidden staircase.
Seeing this dark stairwell, Eris pulled a Spirit Lamp from her Space Bag and lit it up. Commander Basil might be able to see in the dark with the aid of his Soul Sense, but she certainly couldn’t.
The group of 3 descended about 2 stories before arriving at a sturdy wooden door with a big metal lock on it.
To an ordinary Mortal, this would have been an issue, but not to a Spirit Realm Cultivator.
Slashing apart the lock, Commander Basil proceeded to kick in the door, causing several muffled cries to ring out.
Sweeping the stone room in front of him for threats and finding none, Commander Basil stepped inside, followed by Eris, then a frantic Joseph who began desperately looking around until he caught sight of a specific little girl, "Kat!"
Dashing over, Joseph pick up his daughter and began untying the ropes which were binding her.
"Daddy!" The 6-or-7 years old girl cried out the moment her gag was removed.
"It’s alright, it’s alright, Daddy’s here now," Joseph did his best to comfort the crying girl, though his efforts weren’t having much effect judging by how loudly she was wailing.
Eris and Commander Basil also moved to start freeing these captives, though they maintained a certain degree of wariness, just in case.
There were 53 people locked in this basement. Most were children under the age of 12, but there were also a few older kids and even some adults, so it was entirely possible that someone here was actually an enemy spy.
Not that it would have mattered seeing how basically everyone here was a Body Tempering Realm Practitioner.
Starting with one of the few adult captives, a young woman probably in her mid 20’s, Eris ungagged her and comforted, "You’re safe now, don’t worry."
The young woman had tears of gratitude in her eyes as she sobbed softly, but still managed to nod in acknowledgement.
Eris would have liked to give this woman a moment to collect herself, but the situation didn’t allow for that, so she asked directly, "Do you know where the people who did this to you are right now?"
"No," the young woman shook her head, "They left a while ago and haven’t been back."
"Do you know how long ago?" Commander Basil inquired, trying to figure out just what was going on here.
"I-I’m sorry, but..." glancing around, the young woman hung her head low.
Obviously, it wasn’t easy to keep track of how much time had passed when you were trapped in a windowless room, unable to see the sun or moon.
None of the other adult captives in the room had any better idea of how long they’d been there for, or where the kidnappers who had brought them here were.
It was the same for the children, though that wasn’t much of a surprise.
10 minutes later, back on the surface, outside the house, Eris and the group of kidnapping victims were greeted by a contingent from the City Watch.
"Escort these people hom..." Eris started addressing the captain of the watch team, but was stopped by Commander Basil.
Meeting eyes with the middle-aged Spirit Initiate, Eris saw him shake his head and understood what he wanted to say.
She very much wished to simply let these poor people return to their lives, but she knew that that wasn’t possible right now.
Even if they didn’t know much, these people had been in contact with the evildoers behind this massive plot, so they would surely have some valuable information.
If they wanted to prevent more incidents like this one, they needed that information.
Letting out a sigh, Eris continued in a much more subdued tone, "Escort these people to the Rising Phoenix Guild’s headquarters."
"Should we not take them to the guard station?" The leader of the City Watch team asked.
"No," Eris flatly refused, "They’re not prisoners, they’re victims. I won’t have them thrown in cells like criminals."
The crowd, which mainly consisted of children, looked disappointed when they learned they weren’t free to leave, but hearing Eris stick up for them eased their worries somewhat.
"But..." the guard captain wasn’t quite convinced still, but he stopped objecting when Commander Basil signaled for him to follow Eris’ orders.
He wasn’t doing this to be kind, mind you; it was purely practical in his opinion.
53 kidnapping victims, which meant at least the same number of coerced family members. Trying to hold that many people in a guard station meant to house maybe 20 people at a time didn’t make sense.
The Rising Phoenix Guild was the largest, most secure building in the area, so sending everyone there just made sense in Commander Basil’s opinion.