- Veena -
She watched as Sir Ralph called his people and got the man in custody.
"Keep him bound and unless I personally come here, don't release him… I repeat again, don't release him no matter who comes. Don't let anyone enter the room and don't let anyone meet him. Do you understand that?" He questioned but it was more of an order.
The Knights on the receiving end of the order nodded like little chickens eating grains. "Yes Sir." They captured the man and locked him inside an empty room and locked themselves in.
"Don't worry, Miss Veena. I will make sure to get to the bottom of this matter. To dare attack someone under the watch of the Knights of Greenfrost. It seems people have been underestimating us too much." Sir Ralph said through gritted teeth.
"Sir… my companion… Rose… she was taken away. I cannot contact her. She could be in danger. Please, we need to save her." she requested.
"What! Where did you last see her? In fact, what exactly happened? Explain as we go there." He asked.
She nodded and quickly ran to the place where she had seen Rose the last time. Sir Ralph followed her while she explained the situation to him.
"This is where the other person took her away and I last saw her around fifteen minutes ago."
"Fifteen minutes. That's… I see. I will immediately organise a search party for her. Do you have any ideas why someone would do this? Any enemies? Someone you doubt? Anything could be helpful." He asked while calling for the other members of the Knight's Academy.
"We don't exactly know many people in the town… and the ones we know are all friends. We haven't had much contact with others except those related to the Knight's Academy." She listed out.
"Then why would someone do this?" Sir Ralph asked, looking in thought himself.
Out of nowhere she got a message on the guild chat.
"Veena, Rose? Are you two alright?"
It was Arthas' message.
Did he see the message on the Guild Chat?
No, he should be entering… the match right about now… and suddenly everything clicked together.
So it was that… they were targeting him.
"Veena? Rose?" He asked again.
"I am fine, Arthas. Rose is… I will find her. What happened on your side?" She asked quickly to understand the situation and verify her doubts.
"Some guy at the entrance of the tunnel told me to lose the match against the Mad Brawler or my companions will face the consequences. Are you two alright?" He asked.
"Is something the matter?" Sir Ralph asked.
"Someone just threatened Arthas to throw the match or we would face the consequences." She replied.
"What! Who?!" The man almost roared.
"It was someone at the entrance of the tunnel where Arthas entered from." She replied. The man immediately ordered a group of Knights to capture the one at the entrance quickly.
"Miss Veena. Tell Arthas to hold on. I will find the girl in the next half an hour, even if I have to tear this damn stadium down to the ground. She will not be hard to find, I give you this word on behalf of all Knights of Greenfrost."
She nodded.
"Veena?"
"...you concentrate on the match. Fight and hold that guy for as long as you can. Just hold on." She replied quickly.
Sir Ralph quickly ordered the Knights on what to do. He then took out his badge and passed it onto one of the Knights. "Take this and gather every single free member of the Knight's Academy and organise a search party for the girl and let one group go and take the person guarding the tunnel which Knight Arthas passed through for investigation."
The Knight quickly nodded and ran while the rest spread out and began the search for Rose in the nearby areas.
Meanwhile Sir Ralph himself guided her towards the VIP Rooms and directly knocked on the door before opening it and entering.
Several people there looked in their direction but Sir Ralph took the lead and directly went to the man sitting at the head of the group, the former Marquis of Greenfrost.
"My Lord, around fifteen minutes ago, I encountered an attempted kidnapping in this very building."
The man to his credit didn't show much expression and just frowned and said only one word. "Explain."
Sir Ralph explained the circumstance quickly. "...and it is reported that the person guarding the tunnel threatened Knight Arthas to lose this match or the lives of his companions would not be guaranteed."
The Marquis' frown deepened while several other people were downright outraged.
"What audacity! Who do these people think they are?"
"Old Ralph, where is the guy who attempted the kidnapping?Let's break the information out of him."
Veena kept quiet and listened to their talks while taking a look out of the balcony towards the stage… the match between the Brawler and Arthas was continuing.
Arthas was holding back the heavy assault of the man almost double his size, continuously holding back and not being able to give it his all.
The Marquis raised a hand and the entire room was silenced.
"Mobilise the security teams you trust. Search every bit of the stadium."
"Yes Sir."
As they were going to leave, someone spoke again.
"Father… are you sure this is a good decision?" The one who had interfered was a man with slicked back black hair and sharp eyes.
The people in the place stopped and looked at the man who continued. "We don't even know everything about this matter. There are so many inconsistencies in their words. First of all, she said that she and the other girl were separated. Why would they do that if they wanted to take both of them captives?"
"The other girl carried a slave mark." Sir Ralph replied.
"So, you are telling me that all this mess, dispatching the heads of the top most organisation of Greenfrost… everything, all for a slave? I find it hard to believe that someone would throw a match away for a slave. And how did you even know about the person in the tunnel entrance threatening Knight Arthas when you are here?" He asked, turning towards her.
"Our guild has an ability to communicate with their members through any distance as long as they are conscious. If you want, you can verify this at any time." She started making the other side quiet. "As for the matter of a slave, Rose was originally our companion. She and several other girls were captured by pirates after the town where they lived was attacked. It was only through coincidence that we encountered them when their group was being sold at Sabaody Archipelago. It was at a great price that Arthas was able to buy her back."
"Hmph, just a slave. What great price could it take?" The man snorted and Veena looked at him with a blank look.
"A Logia Type Devil Fruit. Arthas exchanged a Logia Type Devil Fruit to buy Rose and the group of nine girls with her."
"What?!"
Hmm, as expected the name of a Logia type Devil Fruit shook the whole room. Even Sir Ralph was looking at her in awe so she continued.
"If you doubt this, you can easily verify all this by simply asking around. Arthas is not the type of man who would give up on a companion no matter who. Damon Artwick, a Mafia Boss tried to interfere in his acquisition of Rose and Arthas took down the man's entire empire in a matter of hours. He is still serving as a gatekeeper of the Fairy Tail Guild as a slave. Will this much information be enough for you to proceed?" She asked.
The man's eyes widened slightly and then he narrowed his eyes. "Is that a threat?" He said in a low voice.
"It is… for the ones who are involved in the kidnapping." She replied in an even tone.
A look of anger passed by his face but before the matter could escalate any more, the Marquis slammed his hand on the armrest of the chair.
"Enough. Be quiet." He ordered and then looked at her. "You said you can communicate with the members of your Guild, right?"
She nodded.
"Prove it. Tell the boy to swing his sword in a great circle three times right now." He ordered her.
She nodded and communicated with Arthas. "Trust me. Swing your sword in a great circle three times. Quickly."
"What?"
"Swing your sword in a great circle three times." She urged.
They looked at the stage and Arthas parried a blow from his opponent and made a distance and quickly raised his sword, swinging it in a great circle three times.
"Was that enough?" He asked through the chat.
She looked at the Marquis.
"Search for the girl. Ralph, take Gerald, Conrad and Rowan with you and dispatch every single person available. Search for the girl. Surround the stadium. Let no one leave or enter until the girl is found."
It was then that the other man sitting beside the Marquis, Uther the Lightbringer if she remembered the name correctly, spoke for the first time.
Was it based on Uther Pendragon from their world?
Veena could feel that the man was strong. Obviously she couldn't see his level or skills. She didn't have any such appraisal type of skills yet.
It was just a feeling… The man… he gave her a feeling similar to some of the exceptionally strong Ultimate Class beings she had fought during the war. She wasn't sure if she could fight someone at his level even if she were to regain all her power… at least not without significant harm.
She had only heard of one exorcist in the Vatican who had this kind of strength and that was Vasco Strada… then again, from the feeling she was getting, perhaps this man was someone beyond even that… comparable to the first Arthur Pendragon himself…
He looked at a figure in the corner of the room and spoke. "Accompany them. Every bit of help might make a difference between life and death."
The figure nodded and then left the room.
Uther looked at her and smiled. "Please take a seat my Lady. Don't worry. Your companion will be safe."
She gave him a slight bow and took a seat and all of them looked at the fight on the stage. Arthas was still holding the Mad Brawler on the bay but he was suffering damage due to continuously being in defense.
She just hoped Rose was found quickly.