Eislyn

05: Don't Mind Me, I'm Not Here

The group of restrained people forced to sit on the ground consisted of two young girls, guards, and a coachman. The one who stood out the most was the sea green-haired girl with her elegant light dress.

She must be a noblewoman...

Eislyn was peering over the hill, lying and watching as the situation unfolded. Right now, a group of black-clothed men had captured the noblewoman and her people, but they didn't seem like assassins. They didn't act like one with how they were executing their scheme. If they were assassins, they would have already killed their targets, but these people took them as captives. However, they didn't seem to be bandits, either.

"Hey, Boss. Are you sure they got the message?" one of the black-clothed men asked doubtfully.

"Of course. It's a communication scroll linked to House Tatian," a man answered, who turned out to be the group leader.

"Yes, but will they follow our conditions and give us what we want?" another inquired.

"That's why we need to keep an eye on them. They will have no choice but to follow because we have the precious daughter of House Tatian."

"Yeah, okay, but what if-"

"Shut up! Stop asking so many useless questions and follow the plan as instructed! If we fail, we die!" the leader scolded them, seemingly irritated by the endless doubts from his members.

From what Eislyn had witnessed, they appeared to be a regular criminal group that was after something from House Tatian. To get what they wanted, they attacked the carriage the daughter of Tatian was in.

What made her confused was their choice of location. There were trees along the road, and in such a place full of openings, they only stood and encircled their hostages in the middle of the path.

Weren't they afraid to get ambushed by the enemies?

If it were her, she would have brought the hostages to a place she knew well enough to know where to escape after getting what she wanted. But in their case, if House Tatian had any common sense, they would surround them behind the trees and wait for an opening to seize them before the lady could get hurt. She doubted that there were more black-clothed men hidden.

Oh. I get it now, Eislyn thought upon realisation. They're one of those irrelevant villains.

She didn't know what their demands were, but she hoped it was something worthwhile to make up for their tiny brains. Now that she knew, she could smell their death not too far away, and she found them kind of pitiful.

On the other hand, there was House Tatian.

Going off from her memory, they were a large business-focused household that handled mainly magic scrolls in Aglia, the Empire of Butterfly, ranging from low to high levels. That was another thing that bothered her; if that lady was the daughter of House Tatian, how did she get caught so easily? Her strength shouldn't be that weak, and her safeguard was too low; they should have at least a couple of high-level scrolls with them.

Eislyn couldn't see their faces and read their emotions with their backs facing her.

Well, she would just watch for now.

She didn't intend to intervene as she didn't know if her magic was still with her; she wasn't confident enough and didn't know the strength of these men. Though she wanted to be a hero and save the lady, her plan was filled with holes. It was better to watch how House Tatian would deal with the situation.

"Look, Boss, they're here!"

"It was about time." The leader smiled and raised his dagger. "You guys get ready and follow accordingly. We can't afford to make a mistake!"