Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

As his men prepared for a battle, the lord of the land fell ill. The maids and other servants tried to help him for a while, and although some of the soldiers could heal, the others wouldn't let the healers leave in case the enemies began pouring in the moment they left. Trapping them within their ranks in the basement, the men who were supposed to protect the duke were the ones putting his life at risk. Instead of trying to convince them or waiting around for some miracle, the head of the maids rushed out of the mansion with hopes of getting a healer from the adventurer's guilt.

On her way, she stumbled into Raven and his party while they were headed for the mansion. Noticing the white grab on the priestess instantly, she grabbed her by the hand and begged them to follow her to her lord's house. A window of opportunity, the poison Mercedes had split into the lord's drink, it helped them get into the mansion as guests instead of having to sneak around or ask for permission.

"H-how is he? He's gonna live, yes?" Asked the maid standing beside Erika while the priestess healed Duke Viscount.

Sensing the poison inside the man as she continued to heal him, Erika placed her hand on Viscount's chest and shared Elenaria's blessing with him. The effect of the poison retreated in just a few seconds and the symptoms were washed away by the priestess' healing. Once she felt content with the result, Erika pulled her hand off of Viscount and looked to the maid.

"He'll be fine, I got rid of the poison that was affecting him." The maid left a sigh of relief the moment she heard those words, but then with clasped hands, she fell to her knees and began praying to her god.

However, seeing how it was she who healed the man, Erika reached for the woman's hands, clasped them between her grips and with a gentle look in her eyes, she offered.

"Offer your prayer to Athenia, the goddess of life and the goddess I serve…" Lost for a moment, the woman looked blankly into the priestess's eyes, but a moment passed with Erika not letting go of her hands, she gulped and offered the prayer to the gods she'd told to serve.

Witnessing it all, Raven stood opposite the two, his eyes wandering over the woman's disheveled clothes. Dirt and soil marked every patch of her clothes, and yet she was meant to be this mansion's headmaid? The sight made him wonder just how noble of a man this Viscount was and if he was even worthy of their mercy.

"Back there…" Speaking up with his eyes turning to the waking lord, Raven got everyone's attention on him. "In the corridor, I heard a woman desperately groaning in pain."

Slowly turning his head back to the maid, a raging look was flashing across his face. Shuddering at the look, the maid pulled her hands away from Erika, and through fear alone, she blurted the truth in answer.

"I-its a demi-human girl! S-some merchant, she was following some merchant my lord had business with so they captured her!"

Hearing that, Amedith kicked himself straight off the walls and quickly walked up close to the kneeling woman. Casting a harrowing look down at her, he gripped his fist tight and demanded.

"And what did they do to her?"

"T-they hurt her! T-that's it! N-nothing el-else! No-not yet!"

The last part was some relief to the party, for they had already seen far too much savagery not too ago at that lighthouse in Lantherem. Thankfully, the spirit wasn't accompanying them or else who knows maybe she would've lashed out at this helpless woman before the duke even woke up.

"W-wha…what the hells…?" With a raspy voice, the lord of the land spoke up, his eyes wandering all around with no real purpose. Weakened by the poison, he could make little sense of the situation, and thus deciding to give the man some time to get to his senses, the party allowed some time to pass while the maids fed him something to get his energy back.

Sitting inside an adjacent room in the meantime, Raven wondered how things were going with Regalia and Liliyana–both of whom were probably more welcomed by the demi humans and beasts than someone human like him or essentially the rest of their party. Even Mel and Aria would've drawn suspicion and by having Liliyana Regalia at least had a healer in case they had to escape from that death trap.

"You think everything's gonna be okay there?" Amedith asked with a look of pure worry.

Making a calming gesture with his hand, Raven assured him that everything would be fine. The others were concerned as well, but most of them were worried about the soldiers most likely guarding the tunnels from which the revolutionaries were about to come out.

"Should we free the girl they have trapped?" Mel proposed, and everyone's gaze turned back to Raven

"Not yet," lifting his head, he looked back at her. "I wanna see if that man is reasonable enough to let her go and trust in general or do we need to get rid of too somehow."

Although his plan was to gain the favor of the queen, doing so without the backing of a duke would prove mighty difficult, especially if said duke was killed by them and their only offering was a merchant that was aiding the demihumans and the beastmen. A quagmire really, but one he was willing to step into since doing the right thing was what the rest of the party wanted.

"What about the others in this mansion, we're killing them too?" Amedith asked, not too comfortable with that idea. Stay tuned to empire

"We might have to," Aria whispered, but their eyes remained on their leader.

Fingers intertwined and sitting hunched over, Raven held his words even though everyone already knew what would be his response.

'I'm no hero of justice, I'm gonna do what's necessary and not what's right…' Reminding his pledge to Athenia, Raven held those words close for it was the only way he and his party would remain alive through his journey. And that thought brought to another question, one that had haunted him since last night. 'I need an army…'

The thought of ensnaring said queen with his charm along with her soldiers to adhere to his command, was more than inviting, but it would make him the furthest thing from a savior, from a hero. Even so, having a kingdom dedicated to training an army that could fight against horrors–that dream had to be realized one way or the other, and now the only question remained, will he do it through negotiation or sheer abuse of power?

Note: The Queen And False Heroes Reveal This Week, any last-minute suggestions for the characters are still welcome!