Chapter 118: The Execution

"That… isn't that princess Sofia!?"

"I think I recognize the one beside him as well…"

"Isn't he a Gold Rank adventurer?"

"Azurite Paladin! It's the Azurite Paladin!"

"What are they doing here? Could it be…"

"Are they here to join the New Golden Pavilion!?"

Princess Sofia and Azurite Paladin were currently in front of a tower with golden ornaments all over it.

They were being surrounded by both guards and civilians. The civilians had excited expressions on their faces, the guards, however, were about to drown in their own sweat.

Several thoughts were racing in their mind. Should they unsheathe their weapons and point it at the two? They weren't advised the visitors will be coming today. And to find the Princess in front of their doorstep, what were they supposed to do!?

"We came to meet with your… Matriarch"

Finally, after a grueling minute, Princess Sofia spoke her intent.

"T...this", the guard on the front stuttered, "B-but… The Matriarch…"

"Your Matriarch said they will only talk to us if we submit", Princess Sofia said softly, "That is what we came here for, to discuss about our terms"

"O-okay… please wait here", the guard said as he entered the tower, his feet still shaking.

"Okay. Here's the plan", 9 hours earlier before Princess Sofia and Azurite Paladin stepped on the doorsteps of the New Golden Pavilion, Azurite Paladin laid down their plan, "I and Princess Sofia will distract the people from the New Golden Pavilion. We will do our best to hold them off. Fight if we need to"

Azurite Paladin then looked at Emi and the quiet Elf, "The two of you will pretend to be our attendants", he said, "You will slip in once we have all the attention"

"Wait… I am included in the rescue?", Emi gasped.

"Yes"

"But I am only a bronze rank adventurer!?"

"We are aware of this. Miss Antoinette has told us all about you, Swift Cat", Azurite Paladin continued, "You are probably the most suited for this job. Plus, we need your son to be quiet once we have him, being in his mother's arms will assure that"

Hearing Azurite Paladin's reasoning, Emi nodded her head resolutely. This works well. At the very least, she could confirm her son's safety herself.

"Let's go", back to the present, Emi and the Elf were currently sneaking their way through the crowd of people. Princess Sofia and Azurite Paladin's sudden appearance truly did get all the crowd's attention.

The two of them easily slipped past by the guards and the busy crowd. They swiftly ran to the side of the tower, hidden from the eyes of the people.

"...Since when was this here", Emi could not help but comment as she looked up at the top end of the tower. The New Golden Pavilion's base was about 69km away from the city of Burgerstatter.

How this secluded village with a massive structure sitting on it was able to hide from their eyes, it was almost a wonder.

After making sure that no one was there, they then climbed over a window, successfully infiltrating the tower.

"Now… your son should be on the 6th floor", the elf whispered.

"Are we sure no one will be guarding the door?", Emi squinted her eyes.

"Should be", the elf replied, "A few minutes from now, it would be the King's spy guarding the door"

"He will chat with the guard the was previously guarding the door, that is when we will rescue your son"

Emi was confused at this part of the plan first, why not just slip when the spy is already guarding the door? But Azurite Paladin explained to them that they do not want any suspicions to be drawn on the spy. If the baby was to be rescued while the spy was the one guarding the door, the New Golden Pavilion might start questioning him.

With that, the two quietly made their way to the upper floors, swiftly avoiding all the guards that were roaming in the halls.

"Wait… So, what will I be doing?", back to when they were still discussing the plan, Viel could not help but feel left out.

"Since some people from the New Golden Pavilion knows what you look like", Azurite Paladin placed his hand on his chin, "You will be guarding the horses"

"Eh!?"

"You have the most important job out of all of us", Azurite Paladin continued, "If anything comes up, you will be our reinforcement"

Viel squinted his eyes for a little while before finally nodding.

"As for our exit, Emi's group will leave the way they came in. For Princess Sofia and I… we won't know until we get there"

"C-can I add something to the plan?", Emi leaned forward, "If something does happen… please prioritize my son"

She then kneeled on the floor, "...please"

"Emi…", Antoinette could not help but close her eyes.

*yawn*, back to the present, Viel was currently laying on the driver's seat of the coach they arrived in.

[Rain: X-ray Vision]

"Ugh. Why is it so blurry", Viel groaned in frustration as he looked at the tower, "Why are you so useless, Mr. Voice?"

[Jack: Soul Search]

[Target is 117 Meters from your position, Viel]

"Oh wow, thank you Mr. Voice. You should be called Mr. Obvious instead!", Viel once again groaned, "This is why I am not using you much anymore. So useless, so useless"

"There… the guard should be leaving any second now"

Back to Emi's group. The two of them were now on the 6th floor… and were grappled on the ceiling. A few seconds passed, and finally, the man guarding the door left after a long yawn. And as soon as he turned left on the hallway, Emi and the elf heard someone greeting him.

"Let's go", the elf said as he dropped to the ground and quietly ran towards the door.

Emi followed, making slight glances towards the hallway's intersections.

"The intel was right, the door is locked", the elf said whispered as soon as Emi arrived in front of the door.

Emi furrowed her eyebrows, "Move", she said as she grabbed something from her pouch and checked the lock.

"Shit… this is sealed by a rune", Emi clicked her tongue as she tightly gripped the lockpick that was in her hand, "I can't pick this lock"

"What?", the elf could not help but gulp, "What do we do now? The spy did not tell us it was sealed"

Emi sighed as she shook her head, "I knew this was too easy", she then turned towards the direction of where the previous guard was with a serious expression, "I will be right back...

...I will go and get us a key"

"Are you crazy?"

The key was currently in the waist of the previous guard. If they were to go unnoticed, they needed to return the key before the spy can finish their lengthy conversation.

This was, for the lack of a better word, risky.

But before the elf could finish telling how Emi how crazy the idea was, Emi was already on the corner of the hall.

Emi slightly leaned her head to look at the two guards that were chatting with each other. The one nearer to her was the guard before, so it should be alright for the other guard to see her, as he was the King's spy.

And so, while crouching forward, she placed a finger on her mouth, signaling to the spy to be quiet.

The spy stiffened as soon as he saw Emi.

"Hm? What's wrong?", the other guard quickly noticed this, as he started to turn his head behind him.

"N-nothing!", but before the guard could do so, the spy grabbed his face back towards him.

"..."

The two stared awkwardly at each other, with the spy sneaking glances towards Emi, who was an inch away from the key that was hanged on the guard's waist.

"I...I have a wife, you know", said the guard as he slapped the spy's hand away from his face.

"N-no! That's not what I intended", the spy awkwardly chuckled, "And we're both men, what are you even saying"

"Good. As long as you know", the guard said.

The spy could not help but sigh, but not because of the guard's words, but because Emi finally got the keys.

"How is your wife by the-"

"Wait!"

Before the spy could finish his words, the guard looked at him with a serious expression. Have they been found out!? The spy looked behind the guard, Emi was no longer there. Could it be he noticed his keys were gone!?

The spy slowly creeped his hand towards his sword, but before he could unsheathe it, the guard spoke again.

"But...if you want to try… maybe after your shift is done?", the guard said as he blushed to the side.

"...What?"

"I got the key"

The elf could finally breathe again when she saw Emi coming back in one piece and not with a dozen guards behind her.

Emi did not even pause as she quickly unlocked the door. Surprisingly, the room was quite immaculate. There were cabinets full of toys on the side, lots of pillows were scattered inside the room.

But Emi did not take notice of these things, the only thing that she could see was the crib that was in the middle of the room.

"...my Zachary", she whispered as she got near the crib.

But it was empty.

"!!!"

"It's a trap!"