<h4>Chapter 271: Where Are They</h4>


    It took no time for them to return to the fortress since they were still on the edge of the area around the fortress. As the gate opened Donny Looked back at the faces of their people topare them to the faces that the other team had when they wereing back from their first mission.


    Like he expected they didn''t look as happy as the other team did but they really just seemed confused. He was confused about what happened as well and he was sure the ones who had seen it first hand had told the others and since they hadn''t seen it they were trying to picture it in their minds.


    Turning to Keel Donny asked. "Are we heading to themand room again or are we going to do this where everyone can hear what''s going on?" Keel shrugged and said. "It''s up to Rigbis. He hasn''t called us up yet though so it''s probably going to be here."


    Donny was happy that he probably wouldn''t have to repeat everything that was said in the private meeting to their people. After a minute of just standing there Donny finally saw Rigbis and all the people that followed him arounde into the room. "So what happened exactly? Anyone who saw it feel free to answer."


    Hearing that Rigbis wanted to hear it from someone who saw it, Donny pointed at one of the people that had been in the basement and asked. "Who found them first?" Seeing them point to another person Donny went over and said. "Tell Commander Rigbis what happened."


    Donny had stepped in because he knew it would take a while for someone to step up to talk to Rigbis if they left it up to them. No one liked that much pressure and most people would avoid it until they were called upon. "Well we had finished clearing the building and were going to see what was going on downstairs since we hadn''t heard from the people that went down there and they were already trapped when we found them so I don''t really know anything more than anyone else who saw it."


    Hearing the first person who saw them didn''t have any extra information Donny looked back at Rigbis who was already talking to one of the people that was always with him. After a while of this Rigbis said. "I''ll be sending a small team to investigate in a few hours after we can confirm it''s safe to go back out. You two follow us"


    Hearing that Rigbis wanted them to follow him they did as they had been told and quickly joined the group that was following him around. Once they were back in themand room Donny saw a new face and wondered who they were. Looking at their clothes some more Donny quickly put together that they were probably from the Temple and was happy to know the Temple was still involved in this.


    It was kind of hard to tell what was going on in the other parts of town so he had started to think that they had lost contact with the Templepletely. "Alright go ahead and start. Everyone who needs to be here is." Hearing that they had held whatever was going on for them, Donny felt slightly important for a brief second before he realized it was just because it was easier if they only had to do this once.


    "We got into contact with someone who told us that help will be here in around three days. Once they are here they will begin with destroying the barrier so whatever the Demon Worshipers are nning now has a time limit. We are going around to all the known groups of survivors and warning them that the amount of danger might ramp up in the next few days."


    Donny was sure everyone was relieved like he was that they might be getting out in a few days even with the caveat of there possibly being more activity from the Demon Worshipers. Whatever this was had been going on for long enough that he was starting to get used to it and that was worrying to him. "Where is the helping from?" Hearing Rigbis still had questions Donny refocused onto what the man from the Temple was saying. "The Holy Domain. We don''t have too much information on who they''re sending but they seem to be good enough to at least free us so what more can we ask for."


    Donny wasn''t surprised that at least a few groups from the Holy Domain were willing to send help against the Demon Worshipers but he had really expected them to say the Earth Domain were who was sending people first since they were so close and so many people from the Earth Domain lived here.


    "Alright, thank you for taking the risk toe here and tell us." After Rigbis said this to the person from the Temple he turned to the other people in the room which included him and said. "We will be staying inside for the next few days until the barrier is down. I want everyone to focus on defense so tell everyone who volunteered to go out and fight that they will now be staying here in the fortress."


    Hearing that the missions outside had been canceled before he had even got to kill a single thing, Donny told himself that all he had to do was wait for a few days. A massive fight should break out as soon as the barrier was down since they would still have to kill every enemy that was still inside the city for this to truly be over.


    Feeling someone hitting his shoulder lightly Donny looked up to see Keel trying to get his attention. "Come on." It seemed the meeting was over and that they had been dismissed to go and tell their teams what would be happening. As they were walking out of the room Donny remembered what they had talked about in the meeting right before this one.


    "Will Rigbis still send someone to investigate the thing that we found?" Donny really wanted to know what the purpose of that trap was and if they had to wait days to find out anything it would be a real shame. "He probably hasn''t made up his mind on that yet, he''ll tell us once he does." Hearing there wasn''t a real answer to his question Donny guessed he would just have to add this to the list of things he had to wait on.


    ...


    "Alright this is around where they should be." Letting Hin down Lake pointed towards the closest rock and said. "Go ahead and take a break while I try to see if they''re close." Casting Fly Lake rose into the air and started to look around for any obvious groups that could be who he was looking for.


    Not seeing anyone, Lake sunk back to the ground and said. "If they''re around they''re moving while hidden. He could easily find them using Detector so he wasn''t worried about that part but he knew there could be a problem if he found them since they would most likely attack if he startled them.


    He needed to find a way to make them realize they weren''t dangerous before they realized they had been found. Thinking his face would probably be the best way to get this done since a few of the people that would be in the group should have been at the meeting that he was at with Lucas Lake took off his helmet and put it into his bag.


    With this he hoped they would know that he was there to help and not try to kill him or Hin as soon as the two groups saw each other. "Are you ready to go?" It had been around the same amount of time as their other breaks they had taken on the way here so he was sure Hin was ready to move again. "Will I be walking from now on?"


    Lake nodded and said. "Yeah me carrying you is over unless we figure out that they aren''t anywhere close to us." Hin seemed really happy as she stood up and they started to walk on the road. "So you said you work for the Fighters guild and the Alchemist guild, which did you join first?"


    Lake was fine with talking since it would help pass the time so he answered in a way that Lucas would like. "The Alchemist guild but since they''re neutral I had to join the Fighters guild to be able to fight the Demon Worshipers." Lake made it sound like he had heroic intentions when he had joined the fighters guild with the hope that it would get back to the Temple Head of the Metal Temple.


    "So are you an Alchemist?" Lake nodded and said. "Yeah but I don''t particrly enjoy it." Lake really preferred being outside even if it came with increased danger. "I''ve heard that it can be really tedious and that it takes a curtain type of person to brew potions all day but I''ve also heard it''s one of the easiest ways to make a fortune so most people are willing to suffer through it for the money."


    "Yeah that''s probably true but there are other ways to make a living." Lake had made more money killing bandits and stealing than he had making potions so he really didn''t think boring himself to death was worth the possibility of making the gold he needed slightly faster. If he was already an expert maybe he would have made a different decision but it would probably take him years to read all the books that were in the beginner library of the Alchemist guild.