“Why do you want me to take them?” Kane frowned.
“I can’t have them taking the ring when they inevitably treat my wounds,” Rui replied. “And I need a reason to justify why I didn’t drink my healing potion despite such wounds when I return back to the main branch office of Deacon Industries.”
“Ah, that makes sense, yeah,” Kane nodded. “What about the assassins though, once you leave the dungeon, won’t you be targeted by them since they’d be on the lookout for the survivors who left? The moment you appear, they’ll be on your back to finish the job. Same with the other survivors too.”
“No,” Rui shook his head. “Their goal was not to kill all the Voidhunter Martial Squires discreetly and covertly, as much as it appears to be so. They also can’t kill once we leave the dungeon, it would make them liable and turn the law against them, and everything that comes with it. They were dispatched because someone doesn’t want the Voidhunters doing what they were going to do. Someone who has a strong vested interest in preventing the Voider from being caught. They want to discourage other Martial Squires from joining the Voidhunters after word of a targeted attack on the Voidhunters on their very first operation is spread, in addition to stopping the attack itself. Once the four survivors, including myself, inevitably blame the obvious data leak on Deacon Industries and break away from our contract. Nobody will want to join the Voidhunters. Chairman Deacon will have to work ten times harder for the same result. That is the desired outcome that ‘he’ probably wanted.”
“He?” Kane tilted his head.
“The one who planned the attack, of course,” Rui replied. “Guildmaster Bradt has every interest and incentive to foil all of Chairman Deacon’s efforts to catch, interrogate and kill me. He is the only one who has the intelligence-gathering ability to learn of the Voidhunter operation today, while also calling twenty-four Martial Squires, including a grade-ten Martial Squire, on short notice. There is almost nobody else who has the ability and the motives to pull that off.”
“Mhm, yep. That’s what I was thinking too,” Kane nodded earnestly, lying through his teeth. He felt too embarrassed to admit that he hadn’t even considered that the guildmaster was responsible, hell, he hadn’t even thought about it. In his mind, there was no way to figure such things out in the middle of a battle, obviously.
But apparently, this was not a restriction that affected Rui at all.
“Makes it all the more solid if we both came to the same conclusion independently,” Rui remarked as he handed his belt and ring to Kane. “Alright, I’ve bled enough. Time to go, bye-bye.”
He quickly exited the tunnel, with a pained and exhausted expression as he panted out loud, while Kane disappeared into thin air before leaving the dungeon.
Rui landed on the ground, walking slowly and unsteadily as if he no longer had the strength to sky-walk. He ignored the concerned and odd looks he got as he traveled to the main branch of Deacon Industries. The blood loss was bad, but he had carefully made sure that he wouldn’t be over-taxing his healing factor, but at the same time he needed to make sure that his wounds didn’t heal either. It took a precise understanding of how good his healing was to make sure to inflict the optimal wounds.
STEP STEP STEP
He reached the front gate of the main branch of the Deacon Industries. The guards immediately pulled out a communication device.
“This is Squire Delmin reporting from the front gate. A masked Squire wearing attire matching one of the Voidhunters has just appeared before the front gates severely injured and bleeding,” He hastily reported, listening to the replied instruction before nodding and heading forward to give Rui a hand.
“Hey, you made it, the master has promised that you’ll be given the best treatment available, so don’t worry,” He put one of Rui’s arms over his shoulder before sky-walking carrying Rui along with him inside where he was quickly given emergency treatment and supplied all kinds of potions for an absolutely optimal recovery without any flaw on even a cellular level.
Rui rested in a medical room, relaxing peacefully, pretending to be asleep for several hours before finally getting up, acting all groggy.
“Urghh…” He rubbed his eyes, shaking his head slightly as if to orient himself properly.
“Squire Quarrier, you’ve been asleep for quite some time,” A nurse nearby told him. “How are you feeling?”
“…Where am I?” He frowned as if having a hard time remembering.
“You arrived at the main branch of Deacon Industries on the verge of collapsing, having lost a lot of blood. You must have been dizzy with the blood loss, causing you to not remember it all that well.”
“I see…” Rui murmured. “…What about Chairman Deacon? I strongly wish to have an extensive discussion with him.”
“The Chairman has invited you already, having heard of your awakening already,” She replied as she accessed a communication device. “You have been thoroughly treated and healed, and have made a full recovery, so don’t worry about your health.”
Rui nodded when a woman entered the medical room.
It was Chairman Deacon’s secretary. “Squire Quarrier, Chairman Deacon has invited you for a dialogue with the other survivors.”
“Other survivors…?” He frowned. “How many died?”
𝒪𝒱xt.𝑐𝓞𝗆
“All but four,” She replied straightforwardly.
His eyes widened. “You’re telling me that out of all the sixteen Voidhunters that left for the dungeon, only four, including myself, survived?!”
“That’s correct, Squire Quarrier,” She replied impassively. “Chairman Deacon is willing to accommodate you at any time, given your previous health condition. If you want to postpone the mee-“
“No,” Rui shook his head as he got off his bed. “I wish to speak to him immediately.”
A steely look of determination rose on his face as the secretary bowed before escorting him to Chairman Deacon’s office.
(‘I’m not a bad actor, even if I do say so myself,’) He mused inwardly.