Shield Hero x Some Random Dude

Escape

Now outside of the dungeon, Burchard finds himself following éclair through the halls of the eerily quiet castle which causes him to ask in a whisper, "this place is deserted. Where are the guards?"

While guiding from the front, Éclair whispers back, "I assume everyone has been rerouted to the holy heroes ceremony, we can use this to our advantage."

As he continues to follow Éclair, he couldn't help but find it strange how she seemed to know exactly where she was going, enough for him to ask, "you're familiar with this castle aren't you?"

Hearing this causes her to pause in her step then without looking back, replies, "yes I am, I was knighted here not to long ago."

Surprised by the response and realizing something, he says, "so I'm guessing you aren't a murderous psychopath?"

She couldn't help but sigh disheartedly at this then while continuing to walk, she responds, "if you ask the people that put me in that cell, they would agree with that horrible notion."

Now feeling bad for what he called her, he says, "sorry for calling you that, I didn't know."

Seeming to brush this off, she simply responds, "you have nothing to apologize for, I understand why you wouldn't trust me."

He wanted to apologize further but before he could, she comes to a stop near a turn in the hallway. Confused as to what was going on, he stops behind her and whispers to her, what's up?"

After staying there silently for a moment and without warning, she basically tackles him into a nearby room. Now inside the room, Éclair quickly closes the door then looks back at him while whispering, "someone is coming, remain...."

She stops talking as she becomes confused to see him sprawled out on the floor which causes her to ask, "what happened to you?"

As he slowly sits up, he looks back at her with annoyance while replying, "I'm pretty sure you happened to me."

She knew what he meant but simply scoffs at him then looks back at the door while whispering, "I'm not sure why you're blaming me, you should be ready for anything."

Even more annoyed by what she had to say, he continues to glare at her while whispering, "seriously? You tackled me, how was I supposed to...."

He wasn't able to finish his sentence as she shushes him then whispers, "be quiet. Someone's coming."

Though he was still annoyed by her attitude, he remains silent and decides to listen intently as he hears a muffled but still understandable voice on the other side of the door saying, "as expected your grace, the court mages had no problem summoning all four of the legendary heroes but I must ask, if you hate him so much then why did you summon the shield hero?"

"It's quite simple really, if we didn't summon him than another country could summon him instead. That could not be allowed."

"That makes perfect sense your grace, but might I ask what plans you might have for him?"

"Malty will be taking care of him, all she needs from me is to play along when needed."

With the voices slowly disappearing down the hall, Burchard couldn't help but be confused by what he heard while thinking, "he has a problem with a cardinal hero? But they were all just summoned here. How's that possible?"

While pondering this, he sees Éclair with a hand on her chin and thinking out loud, "Aultcray is up to something. The queen will want to know of this immediately."

Confused by what she said and realizing that she definitely knew a lot more then he does causes him to ask, "What's going on?"

Seemingly taken out of her thought and remembering that he was present causes her to look over at him while replying, "there is too much to explain, and not enough time too explain it."

She looks back at the door while continuing, "for now we must escape this castle."

After listening to the hallway for another moment, she slowly opens the door and seeing that it is empty causes her to look back at him while whispering, "let's move."

After a few more minutes of sneaking through the halls, they come up to another closed door and as she checks the door handle, she seems surprised while saying, "why isn't this locked?"

As she starts to open the door, he asks, "is this the way out?"

While opening the door, she shakes her head and replies, "no, but this will be our last stop before we leave."

Unsure of what could possibly be more important than leaving, he doesn't have to wait long when he piers into the room and what he sees makes him go wide eyed while muttering, "g-gold, there's so much gold."

He was amazed by the room filled with piles of gold coins that were practically reaching the roof though he was quickly taken out of his trance by Éclair who walks past him while saying, "we'll need money to buy the provisions needed for the coming journey."

She grabs two of the small pouches hanging on the wall and starts filling them with coins while continuing, "as long as we take what we need, they shouldn't notice the missing coins."

Shocked by what she was saying, he walks into the room while saying, "we're stealing them? We can't do that, that's illegal!"

Unfazed by what he was saying, she continued filling the pouches while responding, "and so is breaking out of prison. If you're so against such illegal things, then you should go back to your cell."

Realizing that she had a point, he could only sigh in defeat then says, "I see your point."

As she turns towards him, she throws one of the pouches to him while saying, "glad you understand, now take this."

Unprepared for the throw, he juggles the surprisingly heavy pouch while backing out of the room until finally getting a hold of it. Annoyed by the throw, he was gonna say something but before he could, she closes the door then walks past him while saying, "alright, let's get out of here."

As he follows behind, he couldn't help but whisper under his breath, "jeez she's bossy."

To his surprise/ horror, she comes to a stop and looks back at him with a cold gaze while whispering, "you really want me to leave you here don't you."

With a chill running down his spine, he couldn't help but gulp hard then responds, "no ma'am."

She continues to glare at him until finally turning back and starts walking while whispering, "then be quiet and follow me."

A bit scared to even make a peep, he quickly nods his head and starts following.