Chapter 46: Escape
Translator: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh
Bang, bang, there were some knocks on the door.
"Who?"
"It’s me, Zubin."
"Come on in." Anfey got up and kept doing what he had been doing.
Zubin looked around before he pushed the door open and entered, closing the door tightly afterward. "I feel, Anfey, that something isn’t right."
"Oh, what’s the matter?" Anfey stood up and smiled.
"That guy named Jesse is very good at speaking. He has already ingratiated himself with the others within just one day. He always talks with people and laughs with them, and people are less alerted around him." Zubin laughed bitterly. "Anfey, you should do something about it. You can’t allow it to happen this way."
"I know." Anfey nodded.
"Anfey, how come you aren’t doing anything about this? Did you forget our identities?" Zubin became anxious.
"Riska really sucks, as does Miss Niya. I guess they already know our identities, and they already know we are students of the Great Magician Saul. I was trying to wink at him, but he saw nothing. I couldn’t talk any more and had to come to you!!"
"Oh, did Riska and Niya say anything about what we did in the Sacred City? En… Zubin, be quieter while talking."
"Not yet, although Riska is careless, he is not so stupid as to expose our identities. He said we were here to practice," Zubin said quietly, shaking his head. "He is pretty good at speaking; Riska and Niya were played tricks on and had many secrets seduced out. He would know nothing if I hadn’t sent him to do things on the deck!"
"Very naive lies. Can’t experienced magicians be thieves? Riska and Niya are treating him like a kid."
"Since you already know this, aren’t you nervous?" Zubin asked quietly. "They will surely sell us out once they arrive at Lagan. Lagan is a very busy harbor and has its own delivery system. People from the Sacred City would surely stop us if we were sold out before we get to Forest Clarm.
"Do you think it’s useful for me to speak to them?" Anfey asked.
"But you can’t just stand there and do nothing about it. Don’t forget you are the team leader!"
"How do you know that I did nothing?"
"…" Zubin looked at Anfey, surprised.
"Come over and listen this." Anfey shook the silver bottle in his hand.
This was a stethoscope Anfey had made by connecting two wine bottles using a gold wire.
"What’s this used for?"
"Do you know why I choose this room to rest?" Anfey asked a new question instead of responding to Zubin’s question.
"I have no idea."
"There is a warehouse beneath this room; although the soundproofing of the floor isn’t good, you can hear them unless they talk quietly." Anfey laughed out. He put one end of the stethoscope near Zubin’s ear and attached the other end to the floor.
"You’ve been listening to them!" Zubin said after listening a bit.
"Zubin, please get all free people here, we need to have a discussion." Anfey nodded to Zubin.
"Okay." Zubin answered and walked outside.
"Wait a second." Anfey stopped Zubin and whispered to him for a while, and Zubin’s facial expression changed from amazement to anger to confusion to helplessness.
"Now you can go." Anfey patted Zubin.
Not much later, the majority of them had been called in, except for some that were monitoring the businessmen and sailors. They only encountered one dangerous moment where they were helped out by some "Good Person." At this moment, the destination was just right in front of them, and everyone was relaxed, especially Niya, who had put on some makeup. She didn’t have any mood for makeup in the beginning when they had started escaping.
"Anfey, what’s the matter?" Christian asked.
"We will be in Lagan tomorrow, I need to discuss something afterward with you guys," Anfey said. "Don’t think we are safe now. Honestly, we won’t be safe even when we are in Forest Clarm!"
"Something afterward? Anfey, what we need to do?" Christian said.
"After arriving at Lagan, we can’t stop by the harbor; we must find some remote area where no one can see us. Then we must destroy all the evidence, including the boat!"
"Destroy the boat? What about the people on the boat?" Riska asked, surprised.
"I am your team leader. It’s my duty to keep everyone safe. Nothing has to do with my business except this." Everyone was silent now as they understood that destroying the boat was not the purpose; the purpose was to eliminate all the evidence. Everyone now remembered how crude Anfey’s sword skills were after he demonstrated in Saul’s house. What Anfey wanted to do was clear enough without guessing.
"Anfey, there are dozens of lives on the boat! And they did no harm to us," Riska said hesitantly.
"How do you know…?" Zubin was trying to argue, and Anfey kicked him under the table.
"Anfey, there are still over dozens of miles between Forest Clarm and Lagan, we could still get into Forest Clarm before the chasers arrive if we act quickly, even if people on this boat sell us out. Considering the people on this boat are friendly to us, isn’t it overreacting if we destroy the boat?" Blavi said.
Anfey fell into silence. No matter where they came from, whether ordinary people or nobles, there was one thing that they shared with each other: their lives were peaceful without life-or-death moments. Although they had some small conflicts among themselves, those were just childlike games, and they didn’t really care who won or lost. They led a content life, and that’s why they opposed such suggestions.
"Christian, what’s your opinion?" Anfey looked at Christian.
"Why don’t we compromise?" Christian suggested. "I could bind them. Only a dozen miles until we will be in Forest Clarm. Anfey, what do you think? They can’t have a negative impact on us."
"That’s fine. Since everyone here is against my opinion, then we will just do as Christian just said." Anfey nodded.
Christian was surprised that Anfey was convinced so easily. It was reasonable to think Anfey wasn’t the type of person who could be easily convinced, considering Anfey was a rational and calm person.
"Does anyone have any ideas or want to say anything?" Anfey asked slowly.
Everybody shook their heads; they all thought Anfey’s way was too cruel and merciless, while Christian’s way could be acceptable.
"That’s it. We will be in Lagan tomorrow. Have a good rest today and be well prepared for tomorrow!"
Everyone else was leaving Anfey’s room except for Zubin. Zubin closed the door when everyone else left and spoke to Anfey, "Anfey, didn’t you hear about the warrant that Jesse mentioned and how our identities were exposed? How could you let everyone here have other opinions?"
"Let’s do it my way, Zubin. I trust you, that’s why I have no reservations about you, and I hope you are worthy of my trust."
"Anfey…"
"Please go!"
Zubin looked Anfey deeply and then left without a word.
※※※
It was dark again. It was one of the do-nots for sailor to sail at night. Inland rivers were different from the ocean; there were so many invisible obstacles. Accidents could happen at any time if you were a little bit careless. But Anfey and the others were all amenable to sailing during the night.
The owner of this business boat was busy with all sorts of things. In Christian’s eyes, Jesse was a good person. If Jesse wanted to plot against them, he could have sailed the boat to a shallow place and gotten the boat stuck somewhere, causing everyone trouble. Instead, Jesse was very serious about sailing and hoped to sail to Lagan soon, just like everyone else.
Due to Jesse’s responsible attitude, everyone trusted him, and even Christian lost his alertness regarding Jesse after he talked with Anfey.
The dining room was usually dim but was very crowded today. Hundreds of candles were lit, and every corner was lit up. Everyone would go on with their own roads after tomorrow. Honest Jesse got to know this news from other, more honest students. That’s why he held this farewell party.
Jesse was very good at speech, even better than Christian and all the others combined. He would go with Christian’s team and experience more of the outside world, leaving his business, if only he had no family to support. Christian didn’t think Jesse’s idea was serious, but some of his students did, so the party’s atmosphere was even more like that of a farewell party.
"Christian, where is your leader? I haven’t seen him for a while." Jesse stood up shakily; he had drank enough already.
"Er… Oh, who saw Anfey?" Christian asked.
"Anfey got off the boat already…" Zubin replied. "He said he had to do something and will meet us in Lagan."
"How could he do this without even telling us?!" Christian was surprised.
"No worries, we will be at Lagan tomorrow morning, what’s there to worry about?" Jesse moved his hand and laughed.
Christian put the wine glass down heavily on the table and could drink no more. He knew very well about their own business. Anfey was the only one who was able to bring everybody out of here. Christian felt lost. If Niya knew this, she would faint right away. She would think Anfey took all of her father’s treasure away.
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