The Rise of Lancaster
Chapter 4: First Day on the Job
Disclaimer: I do not own The Sacred Blacksmith or any of the characters involved except Lancaster and Custom Demon Swords
"You're sure this is a good idea?" Aria asked as she tugged at the half apron wrapped around her waist.
Lancaster nodded, "Yes. I think it works for everyone, you'll have something to keep you occupied every day, and I'll be able to get some work done,"
The pair were standing outside the local fast food diner, Aria was wearing its uniform consisting of a white and red striped shirt and black pants with a simple black half apron tied off on her waist, her long flowing hair had been pulled back.
"Are you sure you don't need me back at the church? What if Tearniv finds out about you and attacks?" She asked.
"Lilian will be there, and I don't think I'd be able to wield both of you effectively,"
"But what if Tearniv attacks here?"
Lancaster looked around at the throngs of people dining at the outside tables and the line that stretched out the front door of the store.
"I doubt it, not with this many civilians around."
Aria nodded, his points made sense, but it didn't make her feelings of anxiety go away.
"Alright, first day on the job, make a good first impression. I'll swing by in a few hours to see how you're doing," Lancaster said with a smile as he bade farewell.
After he was gone Aria groaned in despair, her arms hanging limply by her sides.
"New girl!" A voice shouted at her, which made her jump to attention.
"Coming!"
Lancaster strolled back to his home and when he arrived found Lilian was sleeping in her room. He nodded to himself as he quietly closed the door and set about his work. Over the next few hours he cleaned the church from end to end and when he was finally done he sat down at his father's computer and booted it up, diving into his research on Tearniv Inc.
He was surprised to find that the business was actually very secretive about what they did. On all the websites he could find they only mentioned the company did "research of a large variety", which made sense as a cover up story. He sighed as he looked down at the clock and realized that he had spent the last hour searching and had found nothing. He slumped his head on the desk and just sat there, he almost didn't hear Lilian approach until her shoes were ringing on the flagstones just inside the doors. He looked up as she stopped in the doorway to knock.
"Come in," he said as she paused, her hand hovering an inch from the door.
She nodded and strolled forward, taking a seat in one of the two chairs located opposite the desk.
"Find anything useful?" She asked.
She could tell by the look on his face that he hadn't, but she wanted to be sure.
He shook his head. "No, the closest thing I could find was that they do 'research' and even then it was pretty vague,"
She nodded. "Have you tried to find locations of other demon swords outside Tearniv?" She asked.
He shook his head, "I'm not even sure how I would begin looking,"
"Can't you just ask it?" She asked, pointing to the computer.
Lancaster looked at her in confusion for a moment before realization dawned on him. "You don't know how this works do you?" He asked.
She hesitated, then shook her head. "No, I've never had the chance to use one,"
"Well, you can't just type whatever you want into it… well, I mean you can, but it won't always turn up what you're looking for. Here, let me show you,"
Lancaster sat back down and began to type away at the computer, and after a moment he spun the monitor around to show Lilian.
She scooted the chair forward to allow herself a better look and then frowned at the results.
"What's this… 'Dungeons and Dragons'?" She asked pointing at one of the articles that had come up.
"See, that's what I'm talking about. I asked it to look for any mentions of a 'Demon Sword' and it gave me a bunch of articles about games that include Demon Swords as possible weapons… nothing about what we're looking for," He explained.
"I see… so then, what do we do now?"
Lancaster turned the monitor around and closed the window. "I'm going to go get Aria from work. You can come along if you'd like," He said as he stood up.
She shook her head. "I'm alright, I'm still fairly tired from yesterday's outing. I'll await your return here."
"Suit yourself," Lancaster gave a shrug as he walked over to the door and grabbed his jacket.
"I'll be back in an hour,"
She nodded and watched as he walked out the door. After a moment she stood up and walked out of the room, hitting the lights on the way out. Lancaster had made it clear to her and Aria to turn off the lights when they'd left a room. She wandered the halls of the church for a while before eventually settling down in the kitchen with a snack. She was enjoying her small meal when a noise drew her attention: Footsteps.
It was far too early for Lancaster to have returned, and she knew that no one else came to the church today. She immediately went on alert, diving towards the light switch she flicked them off and then ducked down behind the fridge, hoping that whoever was there wouldn't have seen her.
The footsteps got louder, and louder, and then she saw a figure walk past the kitchen towards the main section of the church. It was a large man, with a shaved head and dark glasses and wearing a suit. He looked intimidating enough and the fact that she knew he was from Tearniv and looking for her didn't make things any better. That last thought made her sink back into her hiding spot even more.
He stopped, almost like he'd heard something. Lilian froze and stared at him, hoping that he hadn't heard her slight movement. After a minute he seemed to have convinced himself he'd only thought he'd heard something and moved on. Lilian mentally sighed out a relief before getting up to go hide in her room, but as she did she felt an iron-vice grip wrap itself around her wrist. She looked up in shock to see another man, different from the first, had grabbed her.
"Nice to see you again Miss Lilian," He said with a smile.
"Let me go!" She shouted as she tried to smash her fist into his chest.
"I don't think so, you're coming with us," he said as he began to walk out of the kitchen, dragging Lilian behind him as a flailing mass of limbs.
She continually tried to attack him and shouted for help, but to no avail. She was drug out of the church and thrown into the backseat of a car. The doors locked and she, with no clue how they worked, couldn't get them to open. The two men sat down in the front of the car, a pane of glass separating them from Lilian.
"Sit still Miss Lilian, we'll be home shortly," The man who'd grabbed her said over his shoulder, his voice muffled by the glass.
She pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. "I was home…" she said sadly.