After checking on Sylvia, Strax began to descend the stairs of his mansion, still a bit anxious about what was happening. After all, his training ti had been completely disregarded with the ergence of this problem. He was just curious about why sothing like this was heading toward the Duchy. If his father had asked him to prepare in six months, it ant one thing.
*"He already knew sothing like this was going to happen, but only later. In other words, sothing occurred. Knowing that old man… he wouldn't risk this place. It was an unforeseen event…"* he murmured as he descended the stairs, hearing laughter and soft conversations.
"Finally made it down, huh? Aren't you going to greet your lovely wives?!" Beatrice teased, shaking a bag full of colorful vials. "Shopping is tough, you know? You should have co to carry the bags!"
Samira, with a smile she couldn't hide, looked at Strax and raised one of the bags.
"What's wrong, Strax? When you make that face... it ans trouble ahead," she comnted, placing the bags on the floor.
"So things happened while you were away," he replied, trying not to alarm the concerns that were piling up. "We actually have a big problem, who am I kidding…" he said.
Cristine, who had been rummaging through the bags, paused and looked at him, her eyes showing worry.
"What happened?" The silver-haired woman asked, looking at him, awaiting clearer answers. Well, she was an assassin; she needed information about problems.
Strax took a deep breath, deciding that a superficial summary would suffice for now. It wasn't the ti to delve into the darker issues.
"We have a guest on the upper floor; she was poisoned by a horde of magical spiders. I'm trying to find a solution, but… it's not easy. It seems like the six months we had went to hell. So, start getting ready to fight," he said as he sat down on the stair step.
Samira grimaced, her expression shifting from lightheartedness to one of… "s-spiders?" she stamred.
Strax raised an eyebrow; he had already ntioned having to deal with spiders, so he didn't imdiately understand her reaction, but…
"Samira, do you happen to have a fear of—" "T-Those spiders are causing more trouble than we can imagine. We need to find out more about the poison. Are you sure everything is okay?" She cut him off before he could finish the question.
*'Don't tell she's afraid of spiders…'* Strax thought but didn't say it out loud, considering the reaction of the woman with orange hair.
*'Better not provoke her right now…'* he concluded before responding to her question.
"Well, it's not, but… I'll talk to Diana about this. I need to make sure about what's happening or not." Strax affird, trying to maintain his composure and not laugh at Samira's expression. "If anyone has information, it's her. Especially now that an entire group has died because of these spiders," he added.
Beatrice approached after putting the bags on the ground, placing her hand on Strax's arm, which was still resting on the stair.
"You're not alone in this; don't try to do everything by yourself. We'll help with whatever we can. What do you need us to do?" Beatrice asked with a gentle smile, as she had been making an extra effort to be helpful to him lately, even though she didn't have to.
"I'm not sure yet. I need information, maybe find those spiders or discover if there's an antidote." He hesitated for a mont, looking at each of them. "If we can find anything, you can join ," he said, smiling. He couldn't keep protecting them forever, especially with...
*'Sothing is starting to worry ... there's sothing very wrong with these won…'*
Cristine furrowed her brow, thoughtful. "What else do you know about the poison? Any idea how it can be treated?"
Strax shook his head. "Only that it's not a common poison. The healer already ntioned that these spiders have magical properties. The antidote might be difficult to find, so he suggested extracting the original venom from the spider."
Samira trembled slightly and then sighed, her expression worried… more for herself than for the woman upstairs.
"Then let's hurry. What we have isn't enough, but we can look for sothing that might help while you go see Diana. Who knows, we might find so information about the area or sothing like that?"
"That's a good idea, but the city is really big, and the surrounding area is even larger. The plots of land nearby are huge…" she murmured as she thought.
"A map… that's a good idea." Strax agreed. "If you can get that while I talk to Diana, the woman said it was in the forest north of Vorah, so it must be that forest beyond the mountains, or close to them."
Beatrice stood up beside him and looked at the others. "Co on, we've got work to do!" she said excitedly. "Let's see what we can find. Once we get a map, we'll need supplies and weapons. And maybe a bit of courage," she added, winking at Samira, who trembled slightly. Strax couldn't help but smile, even if it was a small one.
"Don't do that to her, poor thing… My Samira isn't afraid of anything!" he joked, making a scene. "Alright. Let's hurry. I'll talk to Diana, and as soon as I have more information, we'll regroup."
"Exactly, and rember that we're in this together. Don't let the weight of responsibility overwhelm you," Beatrice added, her expression determined.
"Thank you," he murmured, before standing up and adjusting his posture. "Ti to take action."
..
..
..
Strax did as usual and rode to his family mansion on his companion mare, Apocalypse.
As he arrived at the mansion, Strax sensed a strange tension in the air. He pushed the door open and entered, only to be greeted by an unsettling silence. The atmosphere was too calm, almost as if the house was holding its breath.
He made his way toward Diana's office, but his senses began to thrum, warning him that sothing was wrong.
Suddenly, he heard muffled screams, followed by the clanging of tal. The sound was coming from Diana's office.
"What the hell is going on?" With a surge of adrenaline, Strax dashed toward the noise, which grew louder with every second, amplified by the sounds of swords clashing and shouts of rage.
When he finally burst through the door, a shocking scene unfolded before his eyes. Diana was being attacked by Vêronica, his older sister, who seed hell-bent on delivering a fatal blow. Vêronica's gaze was filled with a ferocity Strax had never seen before. The blade of Vêronica's sword glinted in the light, and Diana was backed against the table, her own two blades lying on the floor. The office was a wreck, with cuts and gashes marking the walls, table, and floor.
Diana locked eyes with Strax before she smiled and…
Without a second thought, Strax tapped into all his speed and appeared directly between his sister and the deadly blade, his bare hands ready to halt the attack. The impact was instant. Vêronica's sword halted abruptly upon hitting Strax's flesh, slicing his hand, but he felt no pain—he only gripped her blade with his bare hands.
"What the hell are you doing?" Strax demanded, his eyes fixed on Vêronica, as the pressure of the blade forced his hand to close around it. "I hope you can explain this well. Because this doesn't look like a training session, sister." He said, pushing against the blade.
*She's much stronger than I am... what happened to her in the anti?* he questioned himself as he saw Vêronica's expression shift from blind fury to a mix of surprise and disbelief.
She stepped back a few paces, still holding the sword, realizing that her intended attack had been thwarted.
"What are you doing here?" she questioned, her voice trembling slightly. "What are you doing? Why are you stopping ?! Don't you understand? She's a traitor! She sold our sister!"
"Traitor?" Strax echoed, confusion and anger sharpening in his gaze. He shot a aningful look at Diana, who was still in shock but was slowly rising, trying to comprehend the situation. "You're attacking the second-in-command! What the hell happened? You're not this irrational, Veronica." He said.
Vêronica yanked the sword away with a swift motion, causing Strax to feel pain shoot through his hand. He glanced at the wound but didn't have ti to care. He needed to understand what was happening.
"Get out of the way; I can't let her do this!" Vêronica insisted, her fury returning. "You don't understand, Strax! She's offering our sister as a sacrifice to keep this damn family socially stable!" She continued accusingly.
"Are you talking about Xenovia?" Strax asked, and Vêronica's expression imdiately hardened. "You already knew?..." she murmured, "You of all people... Are you telling you let the sister you love be sold to so damn prince?" she continued.
*She... really cares about Xenovia? I thought I was the only one who valued her without fear...*
"I already knew; our father told personally. That's why I'm going to kill that damn prince. Not our 'stepmother'; she has nothing to do with this. If you want to bla soone, bla our father."
"W-what?" Veronica stamred.
Diana, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke up.
"If you weren't so damn reckless and actually listened to , maybe you'd understand what happened, but you didn't even give a chance to explain." Diana said, looking at Veronica. "We're already plotting a plan to get her out of there and take out so important people." Diana said, causing Veronica's face to contort in disbelief.
"Stop being a child, and learn to listen first and act later."
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