After Alani had withdrawn and safely collected her items from the Depository, the three headed back to their rooms. More precisely, they returned to the pocket dimension created by Henry. The room they rented was no more than a mere disguise.

Henry had originally intended to roam the streets but the awful smell completely deterred him. He thought the modern world was bad but in a world where baths were considered a luxury, the stench was just as bad. If not, he could say it was even worse.

The smell got worse and worse the more crowded the place was. It had been bearable at the beginning but when they came across the area where most of the hunters gathered, the tavern and brothel district, Henry could no longer endure. The aromatic oil the wenches used was, ironically, making it worse for Henry.

The smell didn’t get better in the smithery district. The sweat of the hardworking blacksmiths was nauseating, to say the least, and that was not taking the stench of the perusing hunters into account. It was then that Henry decided that it was better to just return to their rooms.

Henry made a mental note of finding a way to inhibit his extreme sense of smell. If this went on, the places he could venture into would be severely limited.

****

As planned, they stayed in the town for only one night. As expected, the princess had sent a maid over to convince Henry for one last time. However, to the maid’s confusion, Henry was nowhere to be found as she knew only that Henry had rented a room for the night but not about Henry’s pocket dimension.

Once dawn broke with the first ray of light, Henry and her women left the town while the darkness of the night still lingered. They made doubly sure they weren’t followed. It was easy to tell whether they were followed thanks to Henry’s senses but shaking their tail off was another task.

“We’re being followed,” said Rayne as they walked down the lonely path that cut right through the dense forest to the north of the town.

Henry and the girls were the only ones on this particular path as the roads were unpaved and it was a trail that led into the territories of the most ferocious monsters but still incomparable to the monsters residing in Ulrum.

The only ones who would take this path were the seasoned hunters who had business with those monsters. Other than that peculiar occasion, the path was devoid of any guests for most times. Henry was an exception, of course, as his sheer presence was a deterrent to the monsters.

As such, Henry could only surmise the ones walking behind their trail were indeed following them. He was impressed that Rayne managed to spot them when she did not have heightened senses like he did. He wondered to himself just how she managed to.

Hearing Rayne’s words, Alani spun around to look, but she was stopped by Henry.

“Are we truly being followed?” Alani asked.

Henry nodded. “It would seem so.”

“How many?”

“Three,” Rayne answered.

“Five, actually,” Henry corrected her.

Rayne tutted.

“But who could be following us? The princess’ spies?”

“Far from it,” Henry answered. “Our stalkers smelled rotten, like someone who has not taken a bath for… months. I don’t believe soldiers that served the royalty would be deprived of such luxuries.”

“Then who could it be?” Alani mused. “Have we already garnered the interest of some unknown party? It’s too fast, right?”

“We have already made an enemy,” Rayne pointed out. “That filth who tried to lay his hands on you— what was his name again?”

“Roarke?”

“Ah, Roarke. It could be him.”

“It is him,” Henry confirmed. “Or rather, him and his friends, or at least I assume they’re his friends.”

“Roarke doesn’t have friends,” Alani scoffed. “At best, only drinking companions. I can only assume they are sellswords. He’s not above that level of pettiness.”

Rayne snickered. “I’m itching to know how the battle prowess of humans fare against mine. Mayhaps this is my chance?”

“Control yourself, Rayne. We’re not here to— no. Actually, I don’t think anyone will miss him if he disappears from the face of the world, do you, Alani?”

She shook her head with a hesitant look. “I don’t think anyone will miss him but… we can’t just do that.”

“Why not?”

“It’s against the law, that’s why. We will be hanged if we’re found out.”

Rayne smirked. “So, it will be fine if no one finds out.”

“What?” Alani blurted out. “No, that’s not fine. How could you talk about killing other people so easily?”

“Have you never killed anyone before?”

“Bandits and thieves, yes, but another fellow hunter? No, I have not.”

“But you are aware that he’s worse than just thieves and bandits now, don’t you? Why do you think he’s stalking us with a bunch of hired thugs? To beg for your forgiveness? To make amends?”

“Of course, not. But we can’t just—”

“Alani,” Henry called out firmly.

She immediately fell silent.

“These people don’t deserve your consideration and your sentiment towards people like him will only get you killed. I can smell his anger and bloodlust. He’s not hesitating and neither should you be.”

“...I understand, Henry. It’s just that… we laughed together. We drank together. We fought together. We were… friends, albeit quite briefly, but we were friends.”

“That is the past. Now, close your heart to it. Do not dwell on it. Our path ahead is treacherous, Alani. This kind of threat will be nothing compared to what we will face. I need you to focus. We can’t afford to be swayed by our heart.”

Alani nodded.

“Good.” Henry smiled. “Now, I remember you saying there are ruins ahead.”

“There are.”

“How much further are those ruins?”

“Around an hour.”

“That’s far enough. If they follow us until that point, we will confront them.”

“If they don’t?” Rayne asked.

“Then it will be their lucky day. They get to live.”

Rayne grinned. “If it comes to a confrontation, how should I… limit myself, master?”

“You don’t need to limit yourself.”

“Oh, it will be my tremendous pleasure.”

“I don’t think confronting them in the ruins would be ideal,” said Alani.

“Why so?”

“That place is like a maze. A big maze. I have heard stories about how a good number of hunters have gone into that maze and never made it back out.”

“A maze?” Rayne sneered with confidence. “That’s nothing compared to finding your way in a snowstorm. Besides, we have Henry here. I trust that some simple maze would not be enough to deter his dragon senses.”

“Just how big is the maze?”

“I think it’s better that you see it for yourself.”

****

The ruins were the remnants of an ancient temple. The faith of the temple was one that was lost to the flow of time. No one knew what god was once worshipped on this very sacred ground but the leftover sanctity had attracted the curiosity of many monsters.

Or so that was what Alani had been told by the more seasoned hunters. And now she was relaying the same story to Henry and Rayne as they planned their ambush.

The ruins were larger than Henry had imagined. It was nearly as big as the town of Gretten. The ruins were even bigger if one took the completely deteriorated parts into consideration.

The three had reached the ruins just a few minutes before an hour. The remnant pieces of various structures that comprised the ruins were gigantic. Due to the peculiar way it degraded and the encroachment of nature, the ruins were a maze.

Without a means to keep track of direction, one could easily get lost in them. Fortunately for the three, it was not an issue for Henry or Rayne. Henry had many ways to find his way in this pseudo maze, his acute sense of smell, for one. Rayne was a gifted and competent warrior and hunter in her own right. She had navigated through mazes that were much more complicated than this.

“I will admit, this is larger than I thought,” Rayne said as they trekked across the maze-like ruins.

Henry looked out at a pillar that cast a huge shadow over them. There were many other pillars much like this one. “I think this place was more than just a temple. It appears to be a city in and of itself, a sacred one.”

“Actually, this is the first time I’m seeing this place myself…” Alani said as she took in the imposing and magnificent sight of the ruins. “The stories were understating the scale of this place. I mean, this place is even bigger than Gretten.”

Henry took a whiff of the air. “There are monsters lurking in here. Keep your wits about you.”

“Good.” Rayne chuckled. “Our friends on our tail will pay for their persistence. I’m quite surprised they would follow us this far, even into the ruins. He really wants to see you dead.”

“Well… I did bed his lover…”

“What a weakling,” Rayne scoffed. “If he had the might and guts, he should have bedded you along with his lover.”

Henry stopped in his tracks and cocked his gaze towards Rayne.

The sudden shift in Henry’s mood made Rayne freeze in her steps. Her smirk disappeared. Despite being born in a cold climate, she couldn’t help but feel a sharp chill when faced with Henry’s displeasure.

“Even if it’s just a thought, do not entertain it in my presence.”

Rayne nodded.

Before Henry could reprimand Rayne further, something else caught his attention. “What the hell?” he muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Alani asked. “What do you sense?”

“A threat. A big one. It’s—”

“Ugh!” Rayne groaned, suddenly. She even grimaced. “What’s that awful stench?”

Alani caught the smell too and her face contorted with disgust. “This… This smells like rotten blood.”

“This is strange,” Henry mused. “This foul-smelling creature appears to be keeping its distance from us.”

“Where is it?” Rayne asked while covering her nose.

Henry pointed to his right. He was not covering his nose as it was futile for him.

Rayne looked in the direction Henry was pointing. “I don’t see anything.”

“It’s intelligent. It’s not just some simple-minded beast.”

“What do we do about it?”

“Hmm… before that, we have other things to take care of first.”

“Ah, them.”

Right on cue, Roarke and his band of hired thugs appeared from a turn behind them. Out of the five, Roarker was the only one who wasn’t topless. The other four wore only trousers and left their torso bare to the elements.

“Is this them?” asked the bald-head thug who had an axe, as large as him, strapped to his back.

Roarked nodded with a sneer. “Yes, it’s them.”

The thugs broke into a chuckle as they leered at the two girls.

“You’re right. They certainly are quite beautiful. I like the dark one. I will be taking her.”

“She looks like she can bite your cock right off if you try her. Better go for the safer one.”

“Hmph, coward. Her resistance is what makes this fun.”

Hearing all those slurs thrown at his two women, Henry remained calm and composed but only the surface.

“Roarke,” Alani growled. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Giving you what you deserved,” Roarke snarled. “Because of you, I have been labelled a cuck by everyone, you bitch!”

“You did it to yourself, Roarke. If it wasn’t me, it would have been somebody else. You shouldn’t have lied to her if you—”

“Silence!” Roarked roared. “Enough excuses! You will meet your end here! This is what you get for taking what’s mine and ruining my good name.”

“Good name? Are you fucking serious?”

“Enough from you! There’s no point in running now. This man here is the infamous—”

Roarke was sent flying away into a pillar before he could finish the introduction.

“The weak always do love their own voice,” Rayne said, reeling her fist that she had thrown and sent Roarke flying. No one but Henry saw her move in front of Roarke until she sent him flying.

The remaining four thugs stared at Rayne, dumbfounded. Rayne stared back at them, grinning.

“I sincerely hope the four of you won’t disappoint,” Rayne said and lunged at them.