"Thank you so much for coming. My name is Lagurin, and I am indeed the one who made that request," the long, purple-haired man said as he stood up to bow to the group.
"So what's with the location? Was it really necessary for us to go out this far?" Core sat down to interrogate the man, ignoring his greeting and getting straight to the point.
The rest of the group sat dotted around the room, the only one remaining standing was Lance, who thought it would be too disrespectful to sit down.
"Yes… As you can see by the state of these buildings, they have been abandoned years ago. The reason for this is that they are not in range…" Lagurin uttered, stopping an unfinished sentence.
"In range of the cursed atmosphere in the city, I presume," Rein spoke out, which greatly surprised the man.
"So you already know… Truth be told, the commission description was purposefully misleading. The people of Aquifa do not revere anyone but Emperor Naar, that still holds true. The King I spoke of was none other than the one producing this artificial atmosphere. His name is King and he's a 7-year-old Siren," the man revealed to the group.
"So he's the one who's being attacked?" Reggie asked, to which Lagurin got on all fours and prostrated to the group, begging pleading at them.
"I'm sorry! That was a complete lie!" The man begged, to which Core softly laughed.
"I figured that was the case. So, explain yourself. What's with the overly deceptive message?" Core cross-examined him, the man sitting up straight and clearing his voice before beginning his explanation.
"7 years ago, King was born without a Spring. I was friends with his parents, they were two Sirens who I grew up with. His father, the then and current mayor of the city, deeply cherished the boy and wanted him to grow to be a royal guard member. His mother, however, thought that it would be too dangerous for the boy to become a royal guard, considering his lack of Spring.
Despite that minor difference of opinion, they were still a happy family. The baby Siren was growing healthy and strong, and he was an incredibly cheerful baby. I used to be the honorary uncle of the kid, taking care of him when the parents are spending their time away.
That was when it happened. The beginning of the war. His parents immediately sensed that something was wrong with the baby. He was no longer smiling, and he was almost always crying. They tried everything, but nothing would revert the baby's mood.
However, despite the war, they noticed that the mood of the entire city had somewhat increased. That was when they learned about the type of Spring it was. In turn for his own happiness, he would bring happiness to those around him.
The father's desires became twisted, and he saw business opportunities in the situation. He could boost the cities economy greatly by doing this, bringing in tourists, and taking advantage of the war to advertise the city as a place where you could forget about your worries, in this illusion of happiness at the cost of a kid's sanity.
Of course, his mother protested against the mayor's actions and fought against it, which eventually got her killed. Her death was ruled an accident, and a funeral was held in the following days.
Overflowing with greed, the mayor would abuse his child, lowering his sanity and happiness. As the child's despair grew, the stronger his Spring would get, filling the mayor's pockets evermore. Of course, none of the city knew about this, and they continued living in blissful ignorance. This continued, and I eventually learned about what was happening and immediately joined the municipal government, in hopes of getting closer to King.
Though, as a Springless Siren, I found that I was unable to do anything by myself. I opted for the Ranger guild, but I soon found out that the Aquifan Rangers were also on the mayor's payroll. I considered telling the guild receptionist, but I was afraid of word spreading around the town. I didn't have anyone to confide in for help, and I couldn't make guild commissions to anywhere outside of Aquifa, as it was against the rules of the guild. I was held at a standstill, and with the war raging on outside, I wasn't able to seek help in nearby cities, as most of them were occupied by Orthlys.
There was one last city beside us that wasn't occupied: Draconica. I learned about a magician there who could get rid of any Spring, though at an incredibly high price. I somehow needed to take King to Draconica.
That was when I heard about the program at Ranger Academy, where every year during the school term, they would accept commissions from all across the continent. Luckily, the process of submitting one was quite simple and I was able to send in my request. Of course, I still didn't know if it would be approved, but evidently, it has," Lagurin stopped talking for a long moment, leaving an absence of sound in the shabby room they resided in.
He took a deep breath and looked the group in the eyes, his hands shaking and his breath trembling as he closed his eyes and looked down again, bowing down to them, pleading through his shaken frame.
"Please, help King escape to the magician in Draconica. That's what his— no, that's what I wanted…" Lagurin sincerely requested, pouring his heart out for the group of young students in front of him.
"This… Is definitely not a B-rank request. This wouldn't even classify as S-rank. This would be a 10th prestige commission in the eyes of the guild. The hell were you thinking bringing students into this," Rein seriously scolded as he stood up from his seat against the window, watching the shadows of the buildings elongate as the sun moved across the sky.
"I-I sincerely apologize… I know that it is extremely selfish of me to do this, but I had no other options… I couldn't afford the S-rank cost, as I had to save money for the magician's fee…" The man continued bowing down in repentance, Rein beginning to laugh slowly to himself, which shortly turned into a hysterical, twisted laugh, making Lagurin stop in his actions.
"Don't apologize Lagurin. You did well. If it weren't for your actions, it never would have brought me here…" He menacingly smiled as he outstretched his hand to the prostrating man.
"We accept your request," he said to the man, whose eyes began glistening with tears, taking Rein's hand in acceptance.
"Any objections?" Core turned around to the rest of the group who also had stern looks of determination on their faces, all of them shaking their heads in refutation, communicating that they had no desire in abandoning the mission.
"We need to move fast though. We should try and fulfill our objective as soon as possible, to avoid any unwanted guests making their appearances," Rein suggested, to which they followed him.
As they entered the city again, the previously pleasant feeling they had now turned into sadness, filled with the desire to save the boy trapped in the jaws of materialism and greed.
"Hey, Rein. You're serious about this, right? Because I'm not playing around anymore. I will save that poor kid from these rotten adults," Lance's earnest eyes were filled with determination, his aura radiating pure heroic energy as he walked alongside the white-haired man, who was filled with hatred and vengeance.
"Yeah, I'm not gonna fuck this up," Rein spoke coldly, his gaze barren like an icy tundra, which quickly reverted back to normal.
"I'll be counting on your support in this, you ready Lance?"
"You bet I am."
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