“Sister, welcome. The elder will see you soon.”
“Hmm.” Replies the cloaked woman while calmly making her through the staff doors and down the cellars.
~Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak.~
The wooden floors creaked with every step the woman took. And soon, she was already standing before the room designated to her.
Catchack!
The lady leading her to the room opened the door, allowing her to step in.
“Sister, this is where you’ll be staying.”
“Hmmm.” The cloaked woman responded.
With that, the one escorting her stepped out of the room and left her to herself.
But suddenly, the woman just stood tall and mighty, quickly fell to the ground and started breathing heavily.
Woooh~~ Woooh~ Woooh~
She curled on the wooden floors as she trembled and held her belly tightly.
Dammit! The fatal wound on her belly had opened up again.
That’s right. She had been travelling with so much pain, which was one of the reasons why she wasted time leaving the wagon earlier on.
It was only because she had been trying to pull herself together, as well as check on her injuries before moving around in the manner she did.
After all, she had walked around the city, jumped over fences when needed and did several feats to ensure that she wasn’t followed.
The wound unravelled, and pain quickly slapped her body as though she were stabbed in the gut.
The woman’s entire cheeks began trembling while gritting her teeth in pain.
Breathe in, breathe out.
She quickly tried to control herself.
And while in this mode, she began dragging her body towards the desks and bed at the very end of the room.
Where is it? Where is it?
The woman scanned the locker on the desk before checking under or at the back of the beds for any medical supplies.
Rooms assigned for members should have medical supplies in them. Unless one’s injuries were too life-threatening, members were all expected to care for themselves since it was part of their training. Calling for help over an injury of this nature, though fatal, was also a disgraceful thing.
Hence, the last began searching wildly for any supplies available.
And sure enough, there was one hidden within a box underneath her bed.
Success!
In one swift motion, she opened the box, reached for the first few items her eyes identified first and began treating herself once more.
As a professional, she was up for the task.
.
5…. 10…. 12… 30 whole minutes passed by in the twinkle of an eye.
And now, the woman in question had taken care of all injuries on her body.
But still, she dared not sleep… Not after the other lady told her of her next mission.
For her, every command or order was a mission.
And so, now, she had to wait for the elders’ summons and dared not slump or take a quick nap.
She calmly placed the medicine box back to its original position and sat on the bed like a statue. Tall and sturdy.
Sure enough. As if the elders were psychic, in just under 2 minutes, there was a knock on the door.
~Knock. Knock.
“Enter.” The woman said, allowing whoever was outside to step into the room.
And no surprise, it was the same person who showed her around.
“The elders will see you now.”
“Hmmm.”
Like so, the duo left the room, walked via the dimly lit hallway before entering another room that looked as though it were a storage room.
The room was massive, with all sorts of barrels and supplies within it.
But again, at the very end of the room, there seemed to be another door there. The door was left open to deter others from going into it.
Humans were easy to fool.
With the door half-opened, one can see that the tiny room was filled with nothing but raggedy old cleaning supplies. It was a small janitor closet that many, including several thieves, would shrug and pay no attention to.
Maybe if the doors were closed, they would be curious.
But with the door halfway opened and its contents exposed, no thief would bother with it.
Instead, they would be trying to steal all the rum and goods around them.
.
~Din. Din. Din. Din. Din. Din.~~
The floors here didn’t creak, as though they were newer and well-maintained than those above. The revelation might make one both confused and shocked. But the better the floors, the stealthier they could move.
Whatever was down here was their secret, and they took extra precautions to ensure that it remained hidden.
The duo walked straight past everything within the room, making their way towards the tiny janitor closet instead.
“Authority insufficient. Please stand back and turn around.”
“Yes.” The woman replied while doing as she was told.
It was clear that her authority wasn’t enough to know how to unlock or open the secret passage within the closet.
Different materials make different sounds.
But unfortunately, even if she wanted to listen in and guess the sounds echoed out, she still couldn’t.
Why? Because the person who escorted her maneuvered things around as though she were a ghost.
And in not more than 5 seconds, the secret door opened up.
“Please… After you.”
“Hmmm…”
The woman stealthily passed over a few cleaning supplies and took her first step into the secret room.
And after the lady behind her entered, she closed the secret portal, and from there, the duo continued their journey.
In a far distance, a torch was already lit across the hallway, showing them the way.
And once they got to the end, they walked down a stairway, going deeper below.
There was no question about it. The floor they were heading to should be the most treasured in the tavern.
And the more they descended, the more high-maintained the floors were.
.
The duo walked past another hallway with several doors along its walls.
Until finally, they reached the very end of the hallway, standing before a large iron door.
“Number 5. The elders will see you now.”
