After completely looting the bandits, we quickly moved towards the area of the cave where the captives were located. I have kept an eye on them using Huginn, it seemed that the blonde girl had fallen asleep after some time of asking the crow to kill her, she seemed more devastated than the rest, even though I am sure that she is the noble in question.
According to that man, she wasn't touched, so her reactions might only be based in what she had seen done to her servants. I suppose wishing for her death would be a bit exaggerated if she didn't experienced their pain by herself… But well, whatever.
I threw a splash of cold water into her face, quickly waking her up.
She cried loudly, moving her arms and legs until she stepped back and then locked her eyes on me and Eleanora.
"W-Who are you?!" She cried.
"We are Adventurers." I said.
"Indeed." Eleanora added.
"A-Adventurers…? R-Really? This is not a dream?!" She cried, her eyes seemed desperate, but I could notice some light back to them.
"It certainly is not a dream." I said.
"We have taken out most of the bandits in this hideout, after interrogating them, we killed them all." Eleanora said. "According to what we learned, you're a noble, right?"
"Y-Yes I am!" The girl cried, getting into her knees. "M-My name is… Frederica Eastbern, I am the daughter of the Merchant Guild's Guild Master… I was… I don't know how long I've been here… Maybe like a week… or perhaps two weeks…" She cried, quickly calming herself down.
"I see." I said. "So you're a big shot, and the daughter of the Merchant no less…"
"T-That's right…" She sighed.
"Alright, Frederica, we'll free you. Do you think you can walk? We are at the bottom of the Canyon, the way up will take a long time."
"I-I don't know, my legs feel so weak…" She sighed.
"Hmph, as spoiled as a noble I guess." Eleanora sighed.
"Well now, let's just put her in our shadows alongside these people… Who are they, by the way?" I wondered, pointing at the people sleeping around her.
"A-Ah… Those are… my servants, my three maidservants and my two manservants." She sighed. "My manservants were tortured for information… while my maidservants have… been defiled by those absolute monsters…" Frederica began to cry, recalling what she had seen.
"Ah… I am so glad you're here… It has been such a long hell… I don't know how much they have suffered… Please, bring them to safety, they're probably going to die soon…"
"Got it, don't worry." I said. "As long as there's enough compensation, we Adventurers will do anything."
"C-Compensation… Of course! Anything…" She said.
"That's what I like to hear." I nodded.
"How are we bringing them out then?" Eleanora wondered.
"Put them inside your Shadows, your Shadow Sneak should be high level enough, right?" I wondered.
Eleanora expanded her shadows, after we cut down the metallic chains, we put them all inside.
"W-Wha… What's going on?! Heeelp!" Frederica began to panic.
"Calm down, this is a Skill that stores people inside shadows, you'll be safe." I said.
"A Skill… Okay…" She sighed, quickly accepting her fate.
With that done, we moved outside of the cave and then flew using Tier 2 Wind Magic out of the Canyon, barely making it, as my MP was almost empty by now.
"What should we do now? We can't possibly bring her to her home yet, it is in the capital." Eleanora said.
"I know, we'll go to the Adventurer Guild first, they'll know what to do… For now, we should convince Frederica to give us credits. If we leave her in the adventurer guild and then leave, it is possible she might just forget about us altogether." I said. I was being more cautious than before, but you're never too cautious in this life.
As we brought out Frederica, she seemed confused.
"Ah… We are out? The forest… It is all so dark…" She sighed.
"For now we'll go back to the village where we came from." I said. "Frederica, can you walk?"
"N-Not really… I am too tired, and my legs hurt…" She complained. Despite trying to act humbly, she was being very cocky. She looked to be around my age, if not a year older.
"I'll carry you then…" I sighed.
Maybe carrying her would earn me more bonus points of gratification so she can compensate me better later.
I grabbed Frederica and carried her with my arms. She was surprisingly light, like a feather.
"You're very light, more than I thought." I sighed. "Let's go then."
Frederica was surprised, raising her eyebrows as she blushed.
"Y-You're so strong…!" She said. "W-What is your name?"
"Name's… My name is Blake." I said. "In the Adventurer Guild I am known by another name, don't adress me as Blake there, if possible."
"O-Okay Blake…" She said with a smile.
"Name's Eleanora. But they call me Elearose." Said Eleanora.
"You two are a strange pair…" She said. "Is Blake your son, Lady Elearose?"
Eleanora was surprised over such an assumption, as if she was being called old, mostly because she was in her True Form that made her resemble a young adult woman.
"No, Elearose is my… aunt. We are not actually related but she's someone important." I said.
"I-I see… Were you the owner of that crow from before?" Frederica wondered.
"Yes, it is one of my spirits…" I said.
"Oooh…" Frederica seemed surprised.
I had to keep some things a secret, however, my name wasn't that much of a problem to give to her. Eventually, when the adventurer guild is finished handling her and we met once more without the guild staff around, I'll reveal her my true identity and that of Eleanora as my spirit.
I am mostly keeping my true identity a secret due to the adventurer guild, after all, if they know of Eleanora's true identity as a spirit, they'll probably punish us or completely take away her adventurer license and kick us out.
As we continued moving across the forest, Frederica continued asking anything she wanted. She was very annoying, but I guess that's how young ladies often are…