"Asta huh? Well nice to meet you, and thank you again for helping us. We really appreciate it!" The woman had no reason to do this other than the fact Amuné was one of her own, but then that was all the reason they needed. "Right, we should get moving as soon as we can, before they get too far away. Which means sir...? Do you know where their hideout is?" Ethan sure hoped so, otherwise they were wandering blindly for a little while longer.

The guard nodded his head before glancing around to get his bearings. "Let me see... They've been spotted about four streets over fairly often, coming and going from some unknown building there. We haven't quite singled out which one it is yet, but we know the general area. I'm sure if we went around and looked we'd stumble upon it." The guards had to have explicit permission from the mayor to do anything, but with these children outside of the man's command they were free to come and go as they pleased, and he would be there to make sure they didn't do anything drastic. "I should warn you though, there's been more than one man we've had reports of, several in fact. It could mean there's quite a few slavers waiting for us and I doubt they're going to hand over their cargo if we ask nicely."

"It won't be our first time dealing with some bad people, don't worry. Everything will turn out just fine," Ethan said confidently, smiling as he prepared himself to get moving along. When something cool and damp brushed against his ankle he jumped slightly and looked back, puzzled to see Asta's pet sniffing at him. Just what kind of animal was that? He'd never seen anything like it, and if he weren't so uncertain about it he'd probably give it a petting. "O-Oh, she [i]won't[/i] attack me? Well then I guess it's a good thing she likes me!" he laughed, thanking his lucky stars he hadn't inadvertently done anything to earn the animal's ire. 

"Yes yes, everyone loves you. Now if we're done could we get moving? We're wasting time, and if you know where to go," Nymira said as she looked to the guard, "We should get to work. Please, lead the way if you could."

"Of course." If they could successfully find these men then it would solve a huge string of crimes and kidnappings, a lot was riding on their victory today. Taking the children along with him he led them further up the road and over to the next, getting some strange looks from passerby and fellow guards alike; a Ydran woman, two animals, a Dimuran and two Muran boys, it was as motley a group as one could have. Fortunately no one would get in their way as they crossed street after street, at last reaching the neighborhood that should be housing their base of operations. Before bringing the group any further along he stopped at the mouth of the road and held up a hand to signal for them to stop.

"Before we go on I must make something perfectly clear to you all. I'm willing to help, but know that we are technically doing something illegal. If we succeed and we save your friend then I'm sure no one will mind. If things should go south though there's little I can do to get you out of trouble, I'll be in trouble as well but I accept that. If it means bringing these men in then I'm willing to risk my career for it. Are you still willing to go through with this, knowing all of that?"

That wasn't even a question, of course they were willing to do it. Amuné was in trouble and they had to rescue her, there was no backing out even if someone was having second thoughts. When no voices of dissent were heard Ethan inhaled silently through his nose before putting on a smile, nodding to the guard before looking past him down the road. So she was down there somewhere, in one of those buildings or another one nearby. He didn't care how many men might be waiting or who might be among them, they were going to save Amuné no matter what came up. 

"It may be best we split up then into pairs, search the buildings and then report back to the others if you find something," Nymira spoke aloud, figuring that was their best course of action. She already had pairs in mind as well, and she doubted there would be any complaints. "Geoffrey and Zander, you two should work together, since you know each other so well. Ethan, why not work with the guard? Even if you find it I want to make sure you can actually find your way back to us. And take Wyth with you," she added, glancing at Cecil then before frowning, "And take Cecil as well, since you're unarmed. I'll work with Asta."