‘Why is his energy weakening?’ Moving through the metal hallway, Esme’s eyes traced the thin blue lines along which her legs were moving.
But the issue was that those lines, which had been as thick as an inch in radius, were now decreasing to a thin thread.
“What happened, sister? Are you searching for someone?” Mae asked in a teasing tone, aware of those golden pupils frequently scanning the area while Sam moved along, his hands folded behind his head, completely carefree.
“No,” Esme replied hollowly, not convincing either of the twins, as they knew she was searching for a very familiar individual.
“If you want, I can predict for you,” Sam interrupted, aware that his predictions, though they took time, were long-ranged, unlike Mae’s, which only worked within a fixed short distance.
Esme halted, causing Sam to bump into her before retreating and lifting his gaze to meet hers.
“Do it now,” she said in a firm tone, looking down at him.
“Why?” Sam scoffed, realizing it was his chance to make some money just like Mae.
The opportunity was clear.
He would ask for gold coins in exchange for using his ability and become as rich as Mae, who had platinum coins on her.
“How much?” Esme inquired, looking down at him with her arms folded, her eyes fixed on Sam with a slight raised eyebrow gesturing someone else.
“Hm, it will be three gold—BAM!—Kughh!” Before Sam could finish, a punch from Mae to his gut instantly caused his face to contort before he coiled over, falling straight to his knees.
Thud
“Uughh!” He cried out while both ladies looked down on him, Esme handing one gold coin to Mae.
“And with this, I saved two gold coins,” Esme said, handing over the one gold coin to Mae, having accomplished her task with only one spent.
She then turned to look towards the mansion from the glass space inside the battleship, adding, “Do the work, Mae.”
Sam, gritting his teeth and realizing that he wasn’t going to get anything and would need to work for free, looked at both of them with a trembling voice, saying, “Y…you…all are trait—BAM!”
.
.
.
.
.
“So, he is on the third ship, is that correct?” Esme confirmed the location of Ryuk to the boy carrying injuries: a swollen mouth, one eye darkened by a bruise, and one hand gripping the elbow of the other.
“Y…es,” Sam replied, his eyes downward, not wanting to talk to these people, the meanest of all.
“He he he he.”
A broken giggle from beside him reached his already ringing senses, causing a visible redness to flush over his face from the beatings. He murmured, “I should just run away.”
“Here,” Mae, seeing her brother getting too worked up, offered him a copper coin.
‘Huh?’ Sam looked at the coin with a visible glimmer in his eyes, clenching it and finally feeling somewhat good.
He knew how impossible it was for Mae to give someone money.
Though the major reason was that he couldn’t do anything, so something was better than nothing.
“You both stop here,” Esme gestured for the twins to stop as her eyes fell on the four black-cloaked guards standing, already aware of their arrival.
Esme herself approached them.
swoosh
Her golden pupils revealed a passing glint as her exterior was covered by an unknown invisible layer, forming without disturbing the mana in the surroundings, causing none of the individuals to notice any anomaly.
“Where is he?” Esme asked one of the men, looking at him with cold eyes, her expression hidden behind the facade of her illusion.
Though exhausted, when it comes to meeting someone precious, caring for one’s body comes later.
‘….’ The cloaked man gazed at the woman in front of him, his eyes narrowing due to noticing something unusual. Yet, even after careful analysis, his mana sensitivity seemed unable to detect what exactly it was. He replied, “I don’t understand, exactly who?”
Already following Regina’s orders, they remained calm and composed, not giving away any answers.
They were instructed to let her rest for a day.
Having been fooled once and witnessed her strength in yesterday’s battle, all of the battalion members held respect for her yet also followed their orders.
They could guess that her body was weakest in terms of strength, but her ability seemed to possess capabilities of numbing their senses.
For veterans, the first thing that is important is their senses.
So, he tried to see through her while covering his own body in a layer to protect from any mental attack from her.
“I see, so he is on the third ship,” Esme stated firmly with a composed demeanor, her sharp eyes as if seeing through the man’s mind. She already felt that due to the dense layer of mana around him, her ability wasn’t working.
‘?!’
Man’s eyes slightly widened before relaxing.
He calmed down, glancing towards his comrades, who nodded, realizing their power was still not working on his woman.
Of course, it was a misunderstanding.
Seeing the dense layer of mana around these people, combined with her exhausted state, Esme’s ability wasn’t able to influence them, leading her to act as if her ability had worked.
“Miss, I would suggest you not go there,” one of them informed her with a calm tone, his protective mana layer disappearing. It was clear her ability still worked, and maintaining this phase was inefficient.
Gathering mana around one’s skin for long periods causes it to resonate with the outside natural mana, leading to its dissolution and requiring a continuous flow of mana to maintain it.
Though their reservoirs were enormous due to their strength, as veterans, they valued each resource and always tried to save as much mana as possible for emergencies.
“Miss, you see—Commander has ordered us not to let you leave this place.” The man felt his mind numbing the moment he wanted to suggest Esme rest instead of going outside, but right now, he wasn’t able to recall those things and said the truth.
“And why is that?” Esme inquired. Unnoticed by them, a thin layer of illusion had surrounded their conversation, making the other three see only an argument.
“Because your health wasn’t fine.” The man’s eyebrows furrowed, feeling there was no need for him to say these things.
“Hm, what is he doing?” Esme again inquired, tilting her head, causing a visible shine to pass through her golden pupils.
“Liege’s strength is suppressed by Lady Drishti, and he is in a battle with your grandfather,” the man informed her without noticing the subtle widening of the woman’s eyes due to the presence of the illusion.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ Esme’s pupils widened with a slight tremble, trying to understand the reasons for such a situation. She could guess it was some training exercise.
But the issue lay in the fact that she knew her grandfather’s personality.
“Follow me, you two. We are leaving.” Esme turned towards the twins, calling them.
They swiftly joined her before all of them left under the noses of the four cloaked figures, who had already guessed something was amiss, but it was already too late.
