Chapter 82 I Go Through It.

  “It’s still cold.” Isaac grumbled. Even with the black cotton gloves he had acquired and the shadow-wolf cloak, the chill was still a little much. It was not so much as to threaten him with hypothermia or frostbite but it was still cold enough to send a shiver through his body at regular intervals. “And what is with this naming scheme? Are these metals organized by weight or something?” Isaac’s flat scowl could have mellowed out the stormy seas as he realized exactly how correct his random complaint had been.

  “Indeed.” Lenna agreed. “Metals by weight in one direction and timber by weight in the other.”

  “They couldn’t just number them?” Isaac wondered irritably.

  Lenna shook her head. “No. It wouldn’t do for a new human city to be like all of the ones that came before it.” She replied sarcastically. “Is this it?” She questioned and gestured towards one of the large row homes to their right. “I can hardly see. The snow is too bright. My lenses are almost entirely opaque.”

  Isaac squinted at the building number. The paint was chipped and looked like it had been worn down by the relentless seaside weather. “No, it’s one hundred twenty one.” He told her and continued down to the next house.

  The home of the Guard Captain was just like any of the other high end row homes on the richer side of the city. It was easily big enough for a family of four, with one live-in servant, but would be about the size that a family of nine would want if they were middle class. There were tracks leading away from the building through the snow. The tracks were partially covered in snow which meant that the person that made them must’ve braved the snow while it was still falling.

  Lenna walked up to the door and used the iron knocker. They waited for a moment until some movement could be heard from the inside. A moment later, a flickering lantern’s light could be seen through the translucent glass windows on either side of the single door. Covers were removed from a few glowing stones in the entryway before the door was pulled open slightly. A young woman peeked through the gap at the imposing knight that radiated warmth and the figure draped in furs as dark as the new moon. Both of them were standing on top of the snow as if it was as solid as stone.

  “I-is there something I can help you with?” She asked the strange duo that had braved the sudden snowstorm to come to her master’s home.

  “Yes.” Lenna spoke softly but her deep voice, muffled through her helmet, only served to spook the young woman further as she literally jumped. “For now, let us step out of the cold.” She continued in hopes that the younger woman would get used to her voice quickly.

  The servant hesitantly replied to Lenna: “I-I don’t know if I should do that. Who are you?”

  “Gods,” Isaac began but was cut off by a screech in surprise from the young woman. “it is so much warmer in here.” He said from a half a dozen feet behind her and started rubbing his hands together to help warm them up.

  “Dear, what level are you?” Lenna questioned the servant as she took a step into the doorway. The younger woman unconsciously took a step away from her and then found herself between Isaac and Lenna. “Because unless you are an ancient dragon pretending to be a servant girl, or a demigod doing the same, then not only do you have nothing to fear from us, but you also are not strong enough to warrant any violence.” Lenna took another step into the entryway and closed the door behind her.

  “I-I shouldn’t let anyone inside. Those were my master’s orders. If he finds out… please, you must leave.” The young woman pleaded with Lenna.

  “So he is not home then?” Isaac surmised. “Was he here with a woman before it started to snow?”

  “Huh? What? W-why do you want to know?” The young woman questioned.

  Isaac sighed. “Listen, just tell us if there was a woman here with you and where he went… so… we…” Isaac’s voice gradually fell off as he noticed bruising around the young woman’s neck and her bruised cheekbone. “Lenna, I will leave her in your care.”

  There was something about the way that Isaac had pawned the young woman entirely off onto Lenna that required her immediate attention and her full focus. Lenna approached the younger woman and grabbed her by the chin firmly but not hard enough to hurt her. “What did he do to you?” Lenna questioned her. Isaac was already gone.

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  “I-I don’t know what you mean.” The young woman replied.

  Lenna let go of her chin and took off her own helmet. As she closed her eyes to get the helmet up over her head she felt a sudden sense of danger. She stepped backwards and slammed her helmet downwards. There was a yelp in pain as her helmet came down onto the younger woman’s hands and a small knife clattered to the ground. “What would that have gotten you?” Lenna wondered, utterly dumbfounded.

  The young woman paled even further. “I-I don’t know.” She replied with terrified eyes that seemed to be looking for an escape in any and every direction.

  “Explain.” Lenna told her firmly. “Tell me everything. How did you end up here? What has he done to you?” She took a step towards the young and frayed woman. With a firm but gentle hand Lenna grabbed her shoulder. “If I must protect you from him, I will. Just explain it all to me.”

  —

  “Ugh.” Isaac grunted in disgust at the smells that assaulted his nose as soon as he opened the door to the master bedroom. “At least clean up after yourself… he probably made that poor servant do it. Sick bastard.”

  The master bedroom looked more like a sex dungeon than anything else. There wasn’t even a usable bed in sight. In all likelihood, the Guard Captain used one of the secondary bedrooms as his sleeping quarters as the master bedroom was clearly entirely occupied.

  Isaac spent as little time in the room as he had to. He noticed that some of the fluids were still wet and that the wine bottles and glasses were still open and half filled. “They must’ve left in a hurry.” He said to himself and then left.

  The next bedroom looked decently normal. There was an armor stand that was empty, a large wardrobe, and a large bed that was in almost perfect shape save for a location where it looked like someone had sat down on it for a time. Isaac nodded to himself as he realized that he had been right about where the man actually slept and then he quickly checked all of the other rooms in the house for any signs of someone else being there. The rest of the house looked entirely normal, almost too normal, like it was all there just to create an illusion of high moral character. There were even books of philosophy and military tactics set out next to a reading chair by the fireplace that was struggling to stay lit.

  Isaac sighed to himself. “I just don’t get it.” He thought aloud with only the flickering shadows to hear him. He sighed again and then joined back up with Lenna and the young woman.

  Lenna was resting her hand on the woman’s shoulder as the younger woman sobbed. Lenna’s eyes caught the movement of Isaac’s entrance and then their eyes met. Her gaze was all Isaac needed in order to know for certain what kinds of things the Guard Captain had done to the poor servant girl. She looked to be about his age but she was small, very small. She barely came up to his shoulder height and he was certain that under her untold number of layers of fabric that she was as thin as a board.

  “When will he be back?” Isaac asked aloud to whoever would reply.

  “She doesn’t know.” Lenna replied. “She was just supposed to keep the fire going until he got back.”

  “It’s about to die.” Isaac replied. The young woman shot back up to her feet and then almost bowled over Isaac on her way to save the fire. It was clear that whatever fear that the Guard Captain had ingrained into her was so deep that she hadn’t even realized what kind of person she had just shoved passed. Once she was gone, Isaac turned back to Lenna. “That bad?”

  Lenna nodded. “Yes.” She told him. “She should be in a convent with the nuns of Halya instead of in this wretched place.”

  “I just don’t understand it.” Isaac told her. “He obviously had someone to do whatever weird kinky things he liked to do with. If she somehow wasn’t enough, there were always whores and the like, why force himself on this girl?”

  “Some people like the feeling of total dominance. From what I’ve seen, it is not the same feeling as when someone willingly subjects themselves to it.” Lenna explained. “I have seen a torturer lose all of their pleasure from torturing someone because the person seemed to be enjoying it. I think it is like that.”

  Isaac shook his head. “I can find enjoyment from bullying certain kinds of people from time to time. I can even understand the pleasant feelings that can come from forcing pain upon those that have wronged you, or even those adjacent to those people to an extent, but some things are just outside of what I can truly understand.” He sighed. “What are we going to do with her?”

  “We will have to leave her here.” Lenna replied. “We need to go after the Guard Captain. Apparently he was carrying the Store Manager because she wasn’t wearing winter shoes. Nera said that they were going to the woman’s house before they went anywhere else. After that, she has no idea.”

  Isaac nodded in understanding. “Okay. Let’s go.” Isaac told her.

  Lenna nodded. “Just give me a moment.” She told her husband and then walked into the sitting room where the servant, Nera, was tending to the fire. She was down on the ground blowing on the flames to help them light the fresh pieces of wood that she piled on it. “Nera, we need to go.” Lenna told the younger woman and knelt down next to her. “Once the snow has melted enough for you to leave, go to a church of Halya and tell them that you are there to seek refuge. Do you understand?”

  “B-but he’ll come for me.” Nera stammered and sat back up to look into Lenna’s eyes. Nera’s own eyes were puffy from crying but still just as manically terrified as when Isaac had teleported into the house.

  Lenna shook her head. “No.” She replied. “He will never even come home if I have anything to say about it.”

  “But he is the Guard Captain!” Nera shouted. “No one can escape him and no one can touch him.”

  Lenna rose to her full height as her aura’s flames began to flicker across her armor and skin. She looked down at the much smaller woman, trembling with cold and fear. “I am Lady Lenna V’Nova, a servant of Lua, the Lady Hellfire, wife of the Lord of Darkness itself, and finally, a double platinum adventurer. I do not escape from anything, I go through it.” She declared and then turned on her heel and marched out without another word.

  “That was a pretty good one-liner.” Isaac complimented his wife as she put on her helmet. “You definitely need to use that one more.” He continued as he got the door for her. His voice dropped and got as smooth as he could make it. “I do not escape from anything, I go through it.” He said with a grin.

  “Shut up.” Lenna told him and then immediately sank into the snow with her first step. She scowled at Isaac. Isaac raised his hands as if she had asked him a question but he hadn’t the slightest idea what the answer could be. “Come on, Isaac, we need to hurry.”

  Isaac’s humor and theatrics instantly faded. “Yes.” He agreed and coated her boots in shadows again. He lifted her up so she was standing on top of the snow once more. He only had one more thing to say before they both took off in a run after the tracks left in the snow: “Let’s go.”