No Guardian
A chest with five hundred gold coins was too heavy for a small and lean elf. With the chest in her arms, Lucia ran as fast as she could through the dark alley. She ignored her steps. However, what surprised her was that there was nobody in the houses. It was as if the town was empty. Perhaps they were where it was brightly lit up with flames. Lucia found the bright flames suspicions., Lucia suddenly heard horse hooves on the street.
Lucia quickly hid her chest of gold coins by a corner of the wall, and then climbed onto a roof. She looked in the direction of the horse hooves. A group of people rode horses over to the direction of the bright zone. Lucia saw the leader, who was a fat man adorning red clothes. He was the bishop. Lucia disliked him right from the beginning. One, they worshipped different gods. Two, she hated fat people.
Behind the bishop was Angelina. She held her sword in her right hand and carried a triangular shield in her left hand as she walked up to the left hand side of the bishop. Angelina was one of the chapel’s knights as well as the bishop’s bodyguard. Lucia couldn’t understand Angelina. She was Veirya’s mother, yet she did many things in completely unlike Veirya. She was powerful as Veirya was, yet she rarely took to the field. She was usually in the rear. Lucia had never seen Angelina do anything.
Lucia frowned. She looked over in the direction of the forest, and then glanced back at the brightly lit area. She hesitated for a second then turned and headed toward the lord’s abode. Her initial plan was to circle around from the rear, but she stopped in her tracks. She plopped herself down on the roof and silently watched the group of horses. She peered at Angelina. She silently pondered to herself then decided to slowly stop.
“Sorry… sorry… I’m truly sorry… I might not be able to save you…” apologised Lucia, in her mind.
She had my best, but if she returned to him in that situation, she might only find his cold corpse. She was overwhelmed with despair and guilt; in fact, she wanted to cry, because he helped her and saved her, yet all she collected was his corpse. Nevertheless, Lucia knew she needed to continue forward even if she was filled with sorrow over the death of a human.
Lucia recalled the past; she recalled the last words Lin Dongqing said to her. He told her to protect Veirya and Leah and to hand the money to Veirya. Subsequently, Lucia was sure the bishop and Angelina were definitely up to something when they headed toward the bright area. From the time she began life as an adventurer, the chapel and Angelina always opposed Veirya. It was safe to assume the chapel was plotting something again.
Lucia’s analysis went as so: “Those people definitely have something to do with Veirya. I must protect Veirya and Lucia. I’m not sure if there’s an issue with the crowd, though. They might just be passing by.”
Lucia wasn’t sure if the group of people opposed Veirya. She calmed down and decided against attacking. Furthermore, she was aware of how fast and dangerous Angelina was in battle. If she failed to land a fatal blow in one shot, she might have no means of escaping.
Lucia took the bow off her back and loaded a few arrows onto the bowstring. She silently set up her bow then aimed at the bishop and Angelina’s head. Angelina suddenly spun around and raised her shield. She pulled the bishop into the cover provided by the shield, thereby giving him a fright and almost causing him to fall off his horse as a result. He ignored the warmth and softness on the back of his head. Shocked, yelled, “What’s wrong?!! What’s wrong?!! What happened?!”
Angelina subtly narrowed her eyes and gazed in the direction of the rooftop, but there was nothing to be seen. Finally, she lowered her shield. She turned around and calmly responded, “… No, nothing.”
Lucia lay down on the roof. She didn’t even dare to breathe. She did her absolute best to blend in with the roof by resembling something miscellaneous on the roof and lying still.
“Angelina lives up to her reputation. There’s probably only one person on the entire continent that has such supreme senses. I merely aimed at her head, yet she immediately realised there was somebody trying to shoot her down. She even managed to judge the direction perfectly. If I thoughtless shoot at her, I won’t achieve anything,
I have to find a good opportunity and fire when Angelina’s not prepared. I might not have to kill her, though, as Veirya, in truth, still cares a lot about her mother. I, therefore, shouldn’t kill Angelina. I just need to kill that bishop,” reasoned Lucia.
Lucia pledged a solemn oath to herself: “Don’t worry, Travor. Trust me; I swear to protect Veirya and Leah for you. Regardless of when and come what may, I’ll fulfil my promise to you forever. I’ll protect your daughter, who you care so much about, in addition to Veirya. I swear it. As an elf, I will never forget the debt of gratitude.”
Lucia quietly moved around on the rooftop and stalked the escort. Angelina kept her eyes on the rooftop through the corner of her eye the entire time. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that something or someone was following her up there; alas, as if she was looking at a crow, she couldn’t see anything in the darkness. Angelina didn’t feel anxious. She knew she wasn’t the one, but the assassin hiding in the darkness, who should’ve been anxious. The assassin was bound to eventually appear, and when they did, she wouldn’t need to search.
Both of them considered themselves the hunter and their target to be their prey.
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“Let go of me!! Let go of me! Help! Help! Sister Anna!! Sister Anna!” desperately cried Leah.
Leah struggled to try and break free of the grasp of the two men. She didn’t attempt to hide, for she never expected the people outside to capture her. She was yanked off her bed while she was in her dreams, and then dragged out to the courtyard.
She screamed and struggled. She looked at the townsfolk outside as well as Anna. She screamed as though she saw her saviour. She looked to Anna and prayed Anna would come to her rescue, and take her away from the men who showed up out of nowhere.
Anna spun around and looked at Leah. The men threw Leah into Anna’s arms. Frightened, Leah tightly hugged Anna. Anna quietly looked at Leah’s scared silly pretty face. She sighed and softly said, “Leah…”
“Sister Anna!! Who are these people?! Why do they want to capture Leah…? Papa… Why is Papa still not back..? Leah… Leah is so scared…” Leah buried her head in Anna’s chest and loudly wailed.
The men stomped and thundered: “Strip her! Let’s see if she’s a succubus or a human!! Show us, right now!”
“No! No! What are you doing?!! Sister Anna! Sister Anna!!”
“Sorry, Leah, but please prove yourself. If you are a human, take off your clothes, and let us see your belly button. If you’re not human but a succubus, then I’m very sorry, but I was once an adventurer; therefore, I won’t protect a demon!”
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