Finally catching up to a frustrated Javelin, Midas and Uteli looked up to a huge wooden fence, a rectangle that surrounded the perimeter of a grand storage house with a rounded roof. At seemingly every corner of the fence were watchtowers—one guard was stationed under their pointed grass roofs, looking over the street ahead of them as two open gates led through the fence, fit for carriages that belonged to salesmen who stored their goods here.
The youth dragged himself in between the strip of moss and trees that spanned the longer edge of the perimeter, walking along seemingly never-ending logs that were put up as a defense against intruders like them. The plan of arriving here in the morning had failed—the sun shone directly onto their heads once they halted right in front of the storage house. Uteli dimly surprised Midas as she clung to the bark of one of the surrounding trees, grabbing its branches to eventually find an elevated position, only able to look over the fence while standing straight on top of the tree, surrounded by its leafage.
Able to peek over, Uteli laid her eyes on a barren wooden ground—spanning the elongated building in the center, from which carriages seemingly could enter from the front and exit through its back—as paths led out of the other side as well. Between the surrounding walls and the building were empty crates and stacks of building material scattered—loosely grouped together to allow passing-by guards to patrol around the place, some of whom were mostly busy chatting to one another, however, seemingly unbothered.
Among those who wore thick leather with green stitching and wooden bark as armor, tiny packs of water kingdom knights also roamed around—confirming the fact that goods planned to be sold at the upcoming festival will be sold here, since the whole region around it will most likely be guarded by the same troops that are stationed here for the security of any noble that participates in any of the auctions. Among piles of opened crates and plant fiber pots that lay scattered and unused around the slim space between the building and wall, a door that seemingly led underneath the building shot into the eye of Uteli, making her swiftly hang down from the branch, dropping down again.
"I know a way to get inside...!"
Hearing the girl behind him mutter almost excitedly, Midas noticed a slim opening between the logs used for the fence—too tight for him to squeeze through. Simply nodding over to Uteli approvingly, the youth slipped his fingers through the bandage covering his right arm, managing to press the sun shard out of the slot of his rune before sticking the plant stone inside of it. The exchange didn't cause any change, even though the sight of the green stone slotted into his hand was something to get used to as the youth caused it to glow, feeding some of his mana into it.
The log that left a slim place between the other next to it began to slowly tilt over towards the youth's direction—the thought of someone possibly hearing how it would fall on the ground made Midas's eyes quickly widen as his left hand had to push against the tilting log. Seeing the youth struggle as the green glimmer of his right hand faded, Uteli made haste to also grab onto the log—both of them slowly sunk to their knees, trying their best to make it sink as slowly as possible.
"That door might lead underneath the building..."
"Make sure to watch out for the guards on the towers—I think they have bows on them... Plus, there's another who walks through here..."
Crouching behind a discarded wooden crate, the youth looked towards a double door built into the wooden ground—still a few steps away from them. Unable to see in which direction the heads of the distant figures that were posted onto the towers to his left and right looked, Midas skipped from the box towards a stack of large grass blades, nearly cut to the same length, thick enough to hide the youth from the passing-by guard, who eventually turned his back to him, clearly paying more attention to his lunch.
Having to somehow get rid of the guard who stood between the youth and the double door, Uteli threw a stick she had ripped off from one of the trees to the left of the man, who was turned away from them, making him walk towards the light sound of it hitting the ground, opening up the way for them for a split moment, in which the three of them hastily dashed towards the doors, opening one to jump down the stairs that lay underneath. Javelin followed last, tripping onto his face as he stumbled down the stairs, something Uteli couldn't laugh about as she was busy shutting the door again.
"We made it..."
"We didn't... where do we go from here...?" We somehow need to get to the surface again. I was told the goods used for trades and auctioning were stored on the upper floor of the ceiling and directly transported towards the carriages that are halted underneath to get them."
Javelin shut down the relieving mood of Uteli as he quickly got up from the ground, wasting no time to halt at a corner that led deeper into the wooden tunnels that were lit up with tinier species of the same glowing fruit Midas had already seen inside the trunk—lighting up their path with dim, yellow light. Halting in front of them, Javelin's stern gaze made clear that guards were stationed at the other end of the hall—most likely able to see them once they took a turn or headed straight ahead.
Biting his lower lip, Midas turned as the door they just took to get underneath the building was being opened up again, making him raise his head up towards the ceiling, right in between them a fruit that illuminated the way. Wasting no time, Midas drew his sickle, slashing the fruit above him—before the dim light of the opened-up door reached down to only illuminate the staircase, blinding the vision of the guard that entered. His hair covered somewhat in the liquid that is stored in the glowing fruit's body, Midas turned towards Javelin, throwing his sickle to slash another glowing fruit that lay ahead of the crossing, allowing them to avoid being seen in the darkness.
Hearing dim footsteps while halting their chatter at the sudden void of light in the tunnel, the guards clung to their spears, unable to see much of the unlit corridor. The guard at the staircase turned away again, not bothered enough to check if the darkness in the pathway ahead of him was usual. Pulling his rusty sickle out of the solid wooden floor, Midas nodded towards a door that led out of the ground—able to see dim light from the holes that were drilled into it shine into the darkness, they skipped through.
Dimmly pushing one half of the wooden double door up, the youth saw himself surrounded by stacked-up crates stored into wooden shelves double the size of the regular bookshelf he saw at the library of the university. In between them, he was able to make out the leather boots of multiple Water Kingdom knights, slowly stepping through the rows of shelves. Two lanes fit for carriages lead through the middle of the giant house, and one ride now halted onto it, a salesman stepping out of it, covered in a sharp suit colored in a deep shade of blue.
Keeping his hip against a crate, Midas glanced between the slim spaces of the shelves that were lined up into rows at both halves of the building and was able to see a knight passing by, just ahead of him a wooden ladder that led up into the roof of the house. Keeping his old blade out, the youth signaled Uteli and Javelin to stay behind—slowly closing the distance to the unknowing knight, pulling on the color of the plating that wrapped around his chest and back, pulling him down to the height of the youth with his right hand, and swiftly cutting his throat with the sickle in his left before his body was able to regain balance.
Wasting no time to look at the bleeding-out guard, Midas kept him lying on the floor, biting his pain as his right hand clutched onto the ladder, closely followed by Uteli, who made Midas pull her axe up before eventually entering the roof as well. Javelin followed quietly, eyeing down the salesman beneath him as he chatted with another knight. Hoping for the best, the youth walked onto a slim strip of wood that led over the wide opening built into the floor they passed through. Four crates sat on tiny wooden platforms held up by thick rope—the gears built onto the ceiling suggested that they could be lowered, being brought down to the parked ride beneath.
Hastily sticking the sickle into his belt, Midas tried to open up one of the four crates facing them, unable to do so with his bare fingers, making Javelin lift open the lid by slotting his dagger under it, making the two of them peek into it to see finely detailed pottery, plates, and cups colored in glistening white and slim blue lines. Clenching his teeth, Javelin pried open another with his short blade—only to lay eyes on a dated-looking weapon, a short blade with a gold-infused handle, neatly placed on a white cushion.
"I would like to retrieve the medicine that is going to be auctioned for the upcoming festival to celebrate the peak of the third of growth—if that's possible."
"Of course. I will get it for you, sir."
Shooting a glare at Javelin, Midas watched him crack open another lid, seeing his eyes widen at the glass jar of bluish-grey powder, its size only barely bigger than the flask of gold Alma had placed onto his dusted counter. Eagerly expanding his arm to grasp it, Javelin was forced to watch the crate sink down abruptly, making him lean down completely, trying his best to get a hold of it. Unable to get it, he flashed his teeth as he watched the crate halt onto the floor beneath him, unable to stop himself from falling down as half of his body already leaned over into the opening.
Widening his eyes at what came from above, the salesman hid promptly behind the knight, who wasted no time drawing his blade to point it at the desert youth that just dropped from above with the crate. Unfazed and blinded by frustration at coming so close, Javelin put his arm into the crate, directly heading out of one of the entrances, making one of the guards announce the presence of an intruder.
Midas's face grew alarmed, his eyes widening at the sight of Javelin being encircled by guards before one of them kicked him down onto the wooden floor, pinning his struggling body to lay under the water kingdom knight's knee. Grasping the wrist of Uteli, who blindly headed for the ladder to free her friend, the youth saw her turn her head rapidly towards him—her eyes just as wide and stressed as his own, tightly grasping the handle of her axe. Seeing her like this, the youth only shook his head—his blank stare eventually looking down at a struggling Javelin, who now was surrounded by five Water Kingdom guards.
"We need to help him...!" Please, Midas..."
"No. We won't make any difference against their numbers... don't forget about the guards on the towers...!"
Visibly clenching his teeth together, the youth was forced to lower his trembling tone—seeing Uteli in front of him blankly watch down through the opening to see Javelin's hands being tied together, guided by three knights that promptly sat themselves into their carriage. Javelin didn't say much after being kneed down; Midas only saw how his head turned to his side to roughly glance in their direction—his voice toning up in a loud groan every time he was forced by the man behind him to walk faster towards the ride, which eventually took off.
"There are more of them...!" Up in the ceiling!"
"They killed one of the men!"
Seeing the salesman now directly point up at him, Midas rattled Utelis' body hastily, glancing over her swollen eyes more directly as her braided strands shook around due to his movement. Having to think fast, Midas blindly grabbed Utelis's wrist and her axe, jumping down onto the ride, their bodies tearing up the blue cloth spanned over the carriage, making them fall into the inside of it. Not wanting to risk their freedom for the powder, as the crate wasn't brought into the carriage yet, the youth dragged his limbs forward to tug at the leather straps of the Fahin that pulled the ride.
Seeing the Fahin snicker as the leather slapped against it, the salesman shouted, expanding his arm out as he was unable to catch up to his stolen ride. Blindly staring forward, Midas forced himself to forget his aching knees, dragging himself onto the driver's seat to make the Fahin sprint through the compound as fast as possible. Heading out from the back, going the other direction of the knights that took Javelin, Midas flinched as two arrows flew through the tight space of the simplistic ride, tearing more holes through its cloth.
Simply riding forward, unable to control the panicking Fahin, the youth looked back onto the storage house—the sight of Uteli blankly staring through the ride with trembling lips, holding onto her heavy axe, made clear his failure. Seeing himself at fault, the youth moved his body fully onto the stool, his knees aching from the impact of falling into the carriage—not wanting to slow down in any way until they were greatly distanced from the storage house, even though both of them had no nerve to now think about where they would head towards.