CHAPTER 22: THE 3 MUSKETEERS.

           “Shasha came back a few minutes ago, why is she not here yet?” Lucia asked as she casually played with her pure white hair.

           “Who told you that she is back? If she was back, I’m sure she would be here by now. You know how much she hates the mansion that her father built for her”. Melinda threw her a question in reply.

           “Who knows?” Lucia shrugged. “Maybe she suffered a setback”.

           “Pfft!” Melinda covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. “She suffered a setback doing what? Do you actually think that the castrated fool, Morales can resist?”

           Both ladies were in a large room that was decorated with beautiful flowers and other lady cravings. What stood out in the decoration was how a part of it took on a military tone.

           The room had 3 king-sized beds that hovered 2 meters above the floor. 3 chairs were placed at the forefront of the room, the room’s setting looked just like a secret coven of witches.      

           One of the chairs was more prominent and bigger than the others. It stood conspicuously in the middle, while the other 2 smaller chairs stood majestically at its 2 sides.

           This is Princess Melinda’s room, it also doubled as the gathering place of the 3 best friends. As it was built in the royal family compound, it was exceptionally luxurious.

           Lucia and Shasha, though they were the favorite heirs of their fathers, they never liked staying at their parent’s territory.

           When the 2 Dukes brought them during Melinda’s 5th royal birthday ceremony, since then, they became best friends. 5 years later, when they were 10 years of age, they left home to stay in the royal palace with Melinda.

           The 2 Dukes did not object. Their daughters being best friends with the most exceptional princess was an unexpected boon to them, they even actively encouraged them.

           Clang!!

           Both ladies suddenly stopped their conversation on hearing the sound of the door opening, they inclined their heads to see who it was though they already guessed it.

           Shasha walked into the room majestically, going straight to the 3 chairs that were arranged at the forefront of the room.

           “Your highness!” She bowed a bit in greeting.

           Melinda waved her hands to acknowledge her. “I thought that Lucia was joking, you really came back. What happened? Only the jade token can enable you to get back so swiftly”.

           Shasha curled her lips as she ascended the chair on the right. “It’s a complicated story, you guys probably won’t believe it”.

           The 2 ladies pricked their ears on hearing this.

           “Really? Tell us! Tell us!” Lucia quickly raised her hands and chanted.

           Seeing this, Shasha smiled.

           This was how they lived their lives, harmoniously. Though they always acted cold around others, they were the most cheerful ladies when they are together like this.

           Lucia that cheered and chanted like she was your everyday fangirl, was actually the most dangerous of the 3 technically. She is an agility-focused Pugilist with an outrageous Pugilist master as her teacher.

           Princess Melinda was an Esper, just like Shasha. After Shasha sat on her throne-like chair, the musketeer combination was complete.

           An iconic notable fact about the 3 best friends was that they each had different natural hair colors. Lucia’s is pure white, Melinda’s is grey, while Shasha’s is bright red.

           When the 3 of them go out together, the iconic hair color alone sends chills down the spines of their enemies.

           “Stop smiling like that, please tell us”. Lucia finally changed her strategy, feigning a crying face as she pleaded at her friend.

           Melinda also already started losing her patience, she gave Shasha a deep look which finally made the latter open her mouth.

           “Ok, this is what happened. Don’t question me later, I won’t answer, everything that I’m about to say is the truth”. She relented and narrated all her experiences in the dungeon.

           “…”

           Silence suddenly descended into the room after she finished her narration, the other 2 ladies had confused expressions on their faces after hearing everything.

           Shasha didn’t mind though, she just smirked on seeing their reactions. She knew that she would have never believed it if any of the 2 of them told her such a ridiculous truth.

           “Woah! Is this some made-up drama again?” Lucia suddenly asked while looking at her suspiciously.

           Shasha glared back at her but refused to open her mouth to answer. Lucia could only curl her mouth in frustration. What a best friend she had, always making her feel depressed.

           “Is this the truth?” Melinda finally opened her mouth; she had a rare serious expression on her face.

           As soon as she questioned, Shasha did not answer, she instead lifted her leather vest to let them see for themselves. The sharp cut that Morales left on her abdomen was still there, though countless times smaller now.

           “Hmm, that’s weird. How did he do it?” Melinda asked as she now placed her hands on her chin, her eyes glinting with curiosity.

           “I was as surprised as you are. The last time when we all did our talent check, he had an overall talent rank of F-, which meant that he would never breakthrough”. Shasha added.

           “Well, whatever he did, it doesn’t concern us. We have better priorities”. Melinda finally shook her head, her expression taking on its usual casual tone again.

           “Did something happen?” Shasha briefly caught her point.

           “Yeah, you won’t believe it Shasha. The court officials said that the bastard, Henry, is on the verge of getting another breakthrough. They said he just needs the right catalyst to push him”. Lucia jumped in and answered.

           “You mean he’s already at the boundary dividing the Grade D realm?” Shasha was fairly shocked.

           “Yes”. Melinda calmly answered.

           “You have to see how the court officials were heaping praise on him, such disgusting words did I witness today”. Lucia quickly commented again, blabbering on.

           Shasha ignored her friend. “That means his competing strength just increased a notch, some of the nobles who decided to remain neutral may decide to ally with him now”.

           Melinda nodded. “That’s why I said that we have other priorities”.

           “Then I need to tell my father, we have to act fast. Nobody else but you is worthy of the throne, everyone knows that”.

           “You’re right”. Lucia chimed in while raising a clenched fist.

           “I’ll leave everything to you both. Inform the Dukes, they’ll know how urgent the situation is”. Melinda spoke again after keeping quiet for about a minute.

           “And, Lucia, that dungeon is located in your father’s jurisdiction. Morales probably went to a town or city close by, I want you to mobilize some forces to finish him there”.

           “He should never get back to the palace. Though his incompetent mother cannot do anything, it’s still better to kill him now than to let him develop”.

           “Aye, Princess. Leave it to me, Morales is a dead prince”. Lucia patted her chest.

           “Good. Ok, which story did you say you will tell us when Shasha gets back? You can start now”.

           “Yes! It’s the legendary story of the beauty and the beast. You can’t believe it…” Lucia started blabbering on excitedly.

           …

           Grey tip town is a town under the jurisdiction of the Baron, Lord Drake. Tom arrived in this town a day ago, he was among the slaves that abandoned Morales after receiving their loot.

           He never thought that Morales would give them the loot despite them deciding not to follow him to do his batman mission. To him, Morales was the most stupid commoner that he had ever met.

           As soon as he laid his hands on the loot, to prevent any complications from arising, he fled from the scene deeper into the forest immediately.

           Though his impulsive action made him fall under the mercy of some beasts that attacked him, he was still able to escape to safety in the end.

           He lived in the nearby Marsh Mallows town, but he decided to come here first to trade his loot in exchange for money. As a commoner, there were little things he could do with the loot, but money could be used by virtually everyone.

           When he got to this town, he went to look for the rats around first. These guys controlled the underworld and knew virtually every information about their base town.

           After paying some money that he stole on the way, the naïve rats finally opened up and told him where he could exchange his loot for money.

           Since morning, he had been negotiating with the buyers, and they finally reached an agreement.

           Where he was told to wait was a fairly deserted region, so that few eyes could see their transaction.

           Thinking of the fact that he would get rich by a few hundred Beiger dollars soon, he could not stop his hormones from getting overly excited. His fingers and legs shook subconsciously as he danced to a piece of unsung music.

           To the current him, musicians should go to hell. His head was the musician, his legs were the instrument, and his hands were the controller of the music beat.

Zoom!!

He jumped slightly in shock as a black jeep with tinted glasses suddenly drove to his front, before parking slightly to his side. Seeing this, he felt his excitement reach a new crescendo.

The front door glass of the car suddenly wound down a little, a hand extended from inside before making a sign.

He quickly made the sign back. This was the secret communication code that he agreed with the buyers to verify each other’s identity.

As soon as he verified, 2 black-clothed men came out from the car to meet him. He felt intimidated a little by their stature, but he emboldened himself and led them to where he hid the loot.

Seeing the big bag, one of the black-clothed men went forward to inspect the goods. This continued for 2 minutes, after which he stood up and nodded at his companion.

Before Tom could understand what was happening, a black veil quickly covered his head, obstructing his sight as he was quickly yanked away by the 2 burly men into the waiting car.

The car’s ignition quickly started as the expert driver drove away.

…

Blink!!

After an indeterminate time that Tom felt was about 2 hours, he finally saw the light of day again. He was strapped to a chair in a white room that looked, high class.

Seeing this, he became panicked.

“Please release me, I have nothing else. Take the goods, take everything, please that’s all I have”. He started crying immediately as snorts and tears filled his face, he was really a professional.  

A man entered the room as soon as he started, making him heave a sigh of relief inwardly.

“Please, take everything and leave me alone”. He repeated while still crying.

“How did you escape from the mining base?” The man asked coldly like he did not hear what Tom just said.

“Wh…, what, you said?” Tom stammered in shock.

“Shut up and tell me how you escaped”. The man unleashed a resounding slap to his cheeks, making all his hair stand on end and his brain to become hyperactive.

“It’s Morales! It’s Morales, please spare me!” He blurted out immediately, the slap seemed to have short-circuited his brain.

“Tell me everything”.

“Ok, please don’t hit me, I will tell you…” He relayed every detail about the escape for the next 10 minutes.

“Good”. The man nodded, satisfied.

Tom gulped. “Can…, can I be released now?”

“Yes, I will release you”. The man brought a compact pistol from the side of his waist. Before Tom could scream, he put pressure on the gun.

Bam!!

Tom was dead.