167 Rescue mission (4)

"Who the hell are you?" exclaimed Anita with a startled expression. Fortunately, no one could hear her due to Anna's ability.

"Calm down-"

"Calm down. You suddenly appear out of nowhere and ask me to calm down? Answer me! Who are you and what do you want with me?" Anita asked with narrowed eyes as she stared at Anna.

"I'm here to rescue you, so calm down," Anna said with her eye twitching in irritation due to Anita's scream.

"Huh? Rescue me?"

"Yes, I'm here with your father," Anna disclosed.

"What? My dad is here? Where?" Anita asked with widened eyes, more in worry than elation.

"He is outside. Come with me; I will lead you to him," Anna said with a small smile.

The instant she heard that Anna was here to rescue her, the hope that had disappeared from Anita's eyes when she had given up on her life reappeared brighter than ever. However, it was just for a moment because due to her skeptical personality, there was no way she would believe what Anna said just like that. It might be a plan drafted by those assholes of kidnappers. She might not know what the goal was in all of this, but she would certainly find it out!

"My father can't afford your services," she said after she thought things through.

"No, he definitely can't," Anna agreed.

"So, there's no way that he could have sent you to rescue me," Anita stated with a cautious look on her face.

"I never said he was the one that sent me here," Anna clarified.

"Huh? But you just said-"

"I said that I'm here to rescue you and that your father is waiting for us outside. I never said that he was the one who ordered me to come save you."

"Then who sent you?"

"Alexander Eswald, my...master," Anna answered.

"Eswald, hmm, where did I hear this name?" Anita placed her finger on her chin as she thought.

"He is-"

"Ah, I now remember!" Anita exclaimed, then added, "Eswald, that's the family name of the noble who promised my father that he would help him if he ever had a problem."

From the moment she could think, Anita had been hearing the story of the noble that had promised her father to help him should he have a problem. This story was one that Cedrix always used as an example to show his daughter that good deeds were never lost and encouraged her to help others.

Even though she always felt that her father's thought process was naive, she still listened to him. So, the name 'Eswald' rang a bell in her head the instant she heard it.

Anna nodded in confirmation, "Yes, my master is the son of the man who made the promise to your father."

Anita nodded in understanding.

"Now that you understand, let's go. We shouldn't waste time here."

"How would we escape? There are guards— in fact, how did you enter in the first place?" Anita wondered.

"Later. For now, we should really go," Anna urged her.

Anita nodded, then immediately shook her head, "Sorry, but I can't go alone and abandon my friend."

Anna raised a brow in surprise; she wasn't aware that Anita got kidnapped with a friend.

Anita, noticing the confusion in Anna's gaze, explained, "she's a nun I encountered here, and she's been great to me since we met. I can't just escape and leave her."

Hearing her explanation, Anna fell silent, thinking about what she should do. In the end, she sighed and nodded, "alright, we'll take her with us. Where is she?"

"Umm... about that..." Anita scratched her head awkwardly.

"What is it?" Anna asked with furrowed brows.

"Well, a few days ago, she and her two acolytes were taken to that chamber," Anita pointed behind Anna.

Following the direction she was pointing to, Anna saw the room she was talking about, which was the same room she had heard the scream coming from.

"Sorry, but we can't do anything for her," Anna said in a serious tone as she looked back at Anita.

"But—"

"No, I was willing to help your friend because you asked me to help her, but I won't go out of my way to risk my life and my mission to help her," said with her usual cold expression.

"Then I won't come with you!" Anita stated.

Of course, she was just bluffing. Even though she had become friends with Mina and liked the adorable nun, she wouldn't risk her freedom, or in the worst-case scenario, her life, just to save someone else. She wasn't that foolish. The problem was that Anna didn't know this.

For Anna, Anita was one of those people with a hero complex, someone willing to risk her life for others. Understanding that individuals with such traits were typically stubborn, Anna believed no amount of convincing would sway Anita. Thus, instead of wasting time, Anna decided to take drastic measures.

Raising her hand, prepared to knock Anita unconscious, Anna suddenly froze. A split second later, she raised her head, staring into the boundless darkness visible in the mountain.

Step Step

Anna's gaze turned wary as she heard footsteps approaching from that direction. Retrieving her daggers, she tensely followed the approaching sounds.

Two men soon emerged from the darkness.

One man had a taut body and was clad in a white tank top paired with long black pants. He sported a bald head and a serious expression, but the combination with his large eyes gave him a more comical appearance than a stern one.

The other man, however, had a lithe body, with fiery orange locks cascading down, and black eyes. Unlike the man walking next to him, who was dressed like a thug, this one was finely attired in luxurious orange and black garments. His tunic carried a regal orange hue adorned with intricate black embroidery, complemented by a pair of well-fitted trousers blending both colors seamlessly. In any case, he looked like a noble who wasn't supposed to be here.

As the two men approached, just a few meters from the captives who still looked downward despite hearing someone approaching, Anna noticed an unconscious woman's body on the bald man's shoulders. The woman had the same fiery hair color as the finely dressed man.

'Isn't it-' Anna halted abruptly when the man with orange hair suddenly stopped walking and glanced in their direction with a frown on his face.

"Don't worry, he can't see us," Anna reassured Anita, who had tensed up when the man glanced in their direction.

Feeling that his friend had stopped, the bald man also halted and glanced at him. "What is it? Something wrong?"

"Huh? Ah, no, it's just that I feel like someone is staring at me."

Following his gaze, the bald man stared directly in Anna's direction.

Anita tensed up again under the bald man's stare, her heart beating wildly and beads of sweat forming on her forehead, but Anna remained calm. She knew they couldn't see her; after all, those two men were either at level 3 or 4, and there's no way they could see through her ability to hide herself.

As she expected, after several seconds of staring in their direction, the bald man shrugged and turned to his friend. "There's no one there; it's in your head."

"Yeah... it must be that," the man with orange hair nodded and then resumed walking.

'Scary,' Anita thought as she released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Meanwhile, Anna was observing the unconscious girl on the bald man's shoulder with furrowed brows, 'it's her, right?'

The men passed the rows of captives and walked to the door where the scream kept coming from. Just as the bald man was about to open the door, the noble man stopped again and looked back.

He swept his gaze all over the captives and then asked, "Wasn't there supposed to be a Virax?"

****

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