Chapter 751: Odds
Eness winced on the ground, landing on her tailbone heavily. A sharp ache tore through her spine and she let out a small whimper, rolling over to her side.
The passersby looked over in shock and hesitation.
Most wouldn't recognize the faces of Colonels by look alone, but they would recognize their uniforms. The Colonel had only appeared for a short time, but the style of his pauldrons and the bright red of the emblem on his lapel told them everything they needed to know.
There were only a hundred Colonels in the entire city. Their standing didn't need to be discussed; it was inherently known and understood.
But even so... for the life of them, they couldn't understand why they had targeted a woman like this.
Fear gripped their hearts and many just didn't want to get involved, but when they saw the tears brimming in Eness' eyes and how she couldn't seem to move on her own anymore, their hearts won out.
A pair of young men double-checked the door before rushing forward, slowly helping Eness to her feet.
"Eness? Eness!"
A familiar middle-aged woman pushed her way through the crowd. She was none other than the very customer that had been at the counter when Sylas arrived that day-Darla.
She was dressed not too dissimilarly from Eness herself. Clearly, she had had a similar idea, but was a step late.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Darla's question came out in rapid fire.
Click.
The doors to the military office opened and a man stepped out. It wasn't the Colonel, but everyone was already walking on tenterhooks.
"Clear out the area. This isn't a place you all can lag around in. I'll give you three minutes. If not, I'll charge you all for inciting a public disturbance."
Eness' lip trembled and she lowered her head.
With the help of the two young men and Darla, she managed to slowly waddle away.
A cold light flashed in the man's eyes, but he didn't say anything more, just sweeping a gaze through the rest before he turned and vanished into the building once more.
**
Plinli frowned, looking at the report. What were the odds of this?
Those that needed reports of military exploits were almost non-existent. The history of the city was so limited that this had only happened a handful of times, and most often it was just for the sake of court orders to sort out wrongdoing.
But when Plinli read this report, he could only shake his head. Eness hadn't directly asked for the report. Apparently, she just wanted it to try and figure out who her son was.
However, how were they supposed to produce a report for a fake mission only held as a facade?
Everyone on that mission had died because General Broussard wasn't meant to be a participant in the first place. They didn't want anyone who knew this to spill the beans ahead of time.
It should probably be fine, but Plinli was getting an uneasy feeling.
He stood to his feet, pacing back and forth as Lucirius strolled in.
"Is it done?" Plinli looked toward his younger cousin.
"Yes."
"Cleanly?"
"They were just normal witnesses. The situation by the gate is tightly managed, so the in- flow and out-flow is well documented. We know who they were, who they're affiliated with, and what they did after entering the city. Anyone who was there has been dealt with aside from the two Generals."
Plinli bit at his lip, his mind whirring, but he was unable to figure out where he might have gone wrong. Was he just overthinking it?
"Kill the Generals too."
Lucirius' brows shot up. "... Are you sure? That's a huge loss."
"I'm sure. No chances. Once this is finished, we won't need them anyway. No need to take the risk."
"Alright." Lucirius said evenly.
"Kill the widow and the few that helped her today too. She wouldn't have told the others her story, but she might have told them."
Lucirius nodded, not thinking much of it.
**
"... I'm sorry, everyone. I think I've broken something, I can't move very well." Eness said softly.
Because of how slow Eness was moving and how they had to basically carry her, it had taken over two hours just to get back to their little community. It would probably take another 15 minutes at least before they could make it to her home.
She felt terrible taking up so much of their day, but even worse about what the future held. Maybe one of her Elixirs could help, but she would definitely be bedridden for at least two or more weeks.
If that happened, she wouldn't be able to refine anything. She had no idea how she would survive these coming days.
The two young men shook their heads. Who could blame Eness for what happened?
Darla had tried to question her about what happened, but Eness remained completely tight- lipped. The widow might not be a seasoned veteran of politics, but she had enough life experience to know that she had accidentally stepped over a line she didn't know existed.
If she told others about it, it would just drag them into her mess.
Who knew... maybe she would be going off to see her husband very soon.
If not for the fact these three insisted on escorting her back, she would have already shooed them away. Unfortunately, she really didn't have the strength to be more demanding.
"Eness?"
"Eness? What happened?"
As they entered their little community, a place where not much happened on the daily basis,
there was an overturning of shocked exclamations.
Many rushed out to see what happened, but they were stonewalled by Darla.
"Make way, make way! Get the doctor over here!"
They gave way to Darla's barking orders.
Soon, they had helped Eness back to her little shop and into her apartment on the floor above.
However, as the group of four entered the room, they froze as they found a masked man standing there, waiting for them.