Chapter 13: Chapter 12: Breaking Into Orphanage.
Ben and the others didn't go to the orphanage directly; they stopped outside of the forest that connects to the village. They landed in a secluded place. Ileana cast a spell to see if there was anyone near them.
"Now, guys, take off your robes and dress like commoners. We should keep our identities secret," Selena instructed Ben, Mary, and Annie.
"OK, sister," Ben said. He took off his robe and placed it in his backpack.
Seeing Ben not moving from his place, all three ladies looked at him intensely.
"Is there something on my face?" Ben asked, touching his face to check.
"Turn around," Annie ordered Ben with a cold tone.
"Ben, turn around. We need to change our clothes," Selena explained. It was something new to her because it was her first mission with a man.
"Sure." Ben, like a kind gentleman, turned to the other side.
'Shit, I should have bought a black cooler if it exists here to avoid being caught peeping... Oh god, please help me.' Ben started to pray to his god to help him be, um, lucky enough to avoid being caught in awkward situations.
After nearly an hour...
'What are they doing? Are they still changing clothes? Should I take a look?' Ben lightly turned his head casually to get a hold of the situation.
"Don't turn back," there was a killing intent directed at him.
"No... no, it's just a fly."
Whistle... whistle... whistle...
Ben turned his head immediately upon hearing the threatening voice, while blaming the non-existent fly.
"No, you can turn back," Selena permitted Ben to turn back.
When Ben looked at them, his mouth opened wide. Instead of looking impressed, he was looking at them with a deadpan expression.
Except for Mary, the other two were wearing dresses that did not look like common attire from any direction.
"Is this the attire of the common village people?" Ben asked them with an irritated face. He was made to stand still in one direction for an hour and this is what happened.
"What? We just put on some makeup to avoid being recognized," Selena narrowed her eyes.
While Annie was comparing the dresses Mary and Ben were wearing with the ones she and Selena had on.
Due to Ben's insistence, Selena, with a pout, took off her accessories and some of the excessive makeup.
All four of them started to walk out of the forest and moved towards the village.
When they entered the village, many villagers looked very sad. There were dark circles under their eyes, indicating a lack of sleep.
Seeing this scene, Selena gave an order that they needed to split up to gather information about anything suspicious.
Ben, Mary, and Annie nodded and went in separate directions. Ben walked towards an old grandma who was selling some old small artifacts in a small stall.
When the old woman noticed that Ben was approaching her, she looked at Ben up and down, analyzing him.
"Cough... cough..."
"Grandma, what are these things you are selling?" Ben, with a warm smile, looked at the small artifacts like an interested customer to start the conversation.
Seeing Ben was interested in her shop's artifacts, she started to explain with a wide smile.
"Kid, you have good eyes. These artifacts are very rare, but don't worry about the cost. It's your lucky day, so I will give you a discount of 60%. Every artifact you pick will be just 500 Yul."
The kind grandma immediately went to business and started explaining about the artifacts she sells.
Seeing this, Ben's mouth twitched.
"Cough... cough..."
"Grandma, I am new to this village. Can you tell me about this village?" Ben stated his purpose to the grandma while offering her some money.
"Sure, kid." The grandma took the money from him and placed it in her purse, then started explaining.
"This is a good village. You can settle here. It's a peaceful village, but it was before they arrived." The grandma's face suddenly became gloomy.
"Who arrived?" Ben asked with a confused look on his face.
"They call themselves bandits, but we never saw them do anything else here. But every night we hear the screams of kids. After that, they disappear without a trace from the village."
The grandma started to explain how the kids in the village and the kids in the orphanage started to disappear at night.
Ben nodded his head in satisfaction. He got the information he needed while eyeing the sad grandma.
Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization.
'Wait... wait, isn't the Wizard King known for testing recruits in disguise, often as an old lady? Hehe~'
Ben's mouth slowly started to form a smirk.
"Grandma, don't worry. I won't tell Marx about you skipping work. I don't need much, just give me this barrier charm ring." Ben, with a knowing look, winked at the grandma with a wide smile.
The black lines formed on the grandma's face.
'Do you think you can fool me with your poor acting, Wizard King Julius?' Ben folded his hands with a confident demeanor.
"Hey, kid."
'Here it comes.' Ben opened his eyes.
"@#@%%#$@@" She started to scream angrily, chasing Ben away from her stall.
"Don't come here! Who do you think you are, huh? Don't let me see your face again or I will curse you." The old lady drove Ben out of the stall.
'Did I make a mistake?' Ben, who was nearly thrown out of the stall, shook his head with a sigh.
Ben walked towards a particular tree where the group planned to meet once they collected information.
After some time, Mary arrived at the spot, followed by Annie and Selena.
"Did you guys get any leads?" Selena asked Ben and Mary. She had already asked Annie who she met along the way.
"It seems someone is kidnapping kids at night," Mary explained what she had gathered from her conversations.
"There seems to be a group of bandits that visited the village. From that day onwards, the disappearances of the kids started..." Ben explained the information he had collected.
"OK, then let's enter the orphanage stealthily at night, to avoid putting the kids in the orphanage in danger," Selena stated her plan to enter the orphanage without being caught by the bandits, to protect the children.
All four of them went to the lodge in the village and booked three rooms: Selena in one, Annie and Mary in another, and Ben in the last.
Time passed, and the sky started to turn dark as the sun set.
At midnight...
Ben wore his Magic Knight robe, exited his room, and walked downstairs. Mary, Selena, and Annie were already waiting for him.
They moved towards the orphanage. There was no movement in the village because it was midnight, and everyone was probably already asleep.
When they arrived near the orphanage, they noticed that the lights were still on, even at this late hour.
Mary opened her grimoire.
"Ice magic: invisible cloak," Mary chanted her spell.
A thin layer of cloaks covered all four of them, rendering them invisible.
They started to move towards one of the windows where it looked like a light was turned off in a particular room.
When they entered the room, they saw orphanage kids sleeping on the ground. By their looks, they seemed malnourished, as if they hadn't eaten for days.
"Mary, you are responsible for protecting the kids here," Selena gave her order to Mary to stay in the room and protect the children.
"Ben, you stay outside of the room, leaving some distance. Take action if needed," Selena instructed Ben to keep an eye on the surroundings outside the room.
Ben didn't complain. He nodded his head and walked towards one of the corners. He could take out the bandits by himself, but he needed to work with his squad to get their approval.
Annie and Selena walked towards the ground floor.
When they reached the floor, they saw an iron door that was closed tightly. To open the door, they needed to use an attack spell, which would alert the bandits.
Suddenly, both of them heard the sound of someone walking towards them. They didn't make any movements because they were now invisible.
A group of five walked towards the iron door and opened it with a key. They started walking inside.
"Do you think today the artifact will be full?" one of the short, bald men asked a man wearing an eye patch.
"I don't think so. It still needs three to four sacrifices, I guess," the man shook his head while answering the bald man.
Seeing the chance, both Selena and Annie moved inside the room without being caught.
When they entered, Selena's face turned serious because she could smell a strong scent of blood in the room.
When the fire was lit inside the room for light, Annie and Selena were shocked to see many corpses of kids inside the room, piled like a small mountain.
Seeing this, both Selena and Annie didn't hesitate and started to attack the five bandits with their spells.
Two bald men and the man with the eye patch escaped from the sudden attack, but the other three were severely injured.
"Who is there?" the man with the eye patch screamed in anger, looking at his subordinates who were killed by someone.
Mana in the invisible cloak finished, and both Selena and Annie became visible to the eyes of the bandits.
Looking at the women before them, the man with the eye patch was going to taunt them.
"What are you bea..."
"Magic Knights from the Blue Rose," the bald man screamed in horror, looking at the Magic Knight robes on both ladies.
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(Author's POV)
Thanks for reading the chapter! please give a review and power stone!!!
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