Pillar of Yita

Nulman was noncommittal, just as the other party said, a few little mice posed no threat to Bain Fortress and could only cause trouble for these Arcanists at most. He was more worried about whether his people had any losses and had to come forward to absolve himself of responsibility, no matter how the outcome turned out, it was no longer his concern.

He withdrew his gaze, his previous words actually had a double meaning, but it was a pity that the other party didn’t catch on. If Ebene were here, watching his subordinates taking on so much, who knows what he would think. ”Still too young,” Nulman shook his head and moved forward, ”If it were that old cunning fox, he would definitely find ways to drag me into the mud as well.”

Fortunately, the other party wasn’t here at the moment.

Affia stood behind the two, in the shadows beneath the doorway, her face slightly pale as she lowered her head and looked at her toe, fearing the two might notice her abnormality—as she had visited the dungeon not too long ago. Although she truly hadn’t released Fang Hong, at this moment, how could she explain?

Her inner self seemed like a lone canoe on the verge of capsizing under the fierce storm, shivering at the thought of what to do once this matter was over, knowing Lord Ebene would surely notice, she felt so uneasy she was about to cry.

At that moment Nulman walked to her side and stopped.

Affia was frightened, thinking the other had spotted her anomaly, her face drained of all color, but Nulman merely stopped, nodding slightly to her like a greeting before continuing forward.

Affia steadied herself, remembering that His Excellency the Governor always greeted her this way, though she didn’t understand why, she hadn’t thought much of it, just felt he was courteous and gentlemanly, and had a favorable impression of him. But now in such a state of panic, she couldn’t figure anything out.

Once the governor left, the middle-aged Arcanist turned to her:

”Affia, go rest for now.”

”Lord Ebene mentioned you shouldn’t get involved in this business, you don’t need to concern yourself with it.”

Affia lowered her head, mumbling a response.

The middle-aged Arcanist noticed something amiss, asking with some concern: ”What’s wrong, Affia?”

”No, nothing...”

”Truly nothing, if you feel unwell, it’s best to find Lady Emma.”

Unprecedentedly lying, Affia’s heart nearly leapt from her chest: ”No, no, it’s just the weather makes me uneasy.”

”Normal reaction,” but the Arcanist didn’t doubt her: ”Since you were born, you haven’t seen such a sandstorm; I did once when I was young. If you’re uneasy, you should go and rest.”

Affia finally let out a sigh of relief, hurriedly nodding.

...

”How’s the situation?”

Fang Hong took the monocular telescope from Miss Priestess, looking ahead. Before seizing the fortress area, he deployed a small team from the Shield of Lufu on a scouting mission in this direction to observe the situation around the Inner Court. This scouting group was led by Miss Hailai Priestess, who volunteered for the role, and the previous news about abnormal mobilizations of guards around the Inner Court came from here.

Their current location was atop a tower along the outer wall, merely tens of meters away from the direction of the Inner Court’s gate. Although visibility was poor due to the sandstorm, the firelight from the Inner Court allowed them to barely make out the guards patrolling.

This location was also scouted earlier by Fang Hong, having had a formed plan, allowing him to select a place suitable for observing the Inner Court before entering. It wasn’t just for this one time; this spot simply offered the best vision. In case of unexpected circumstances, they had several alternative positions prepared.

Since the options were noted in his notebook earlier, Hailai and her group easily found the place without needing Fang Hong to guide them.

Naturally, even though it was merely fifty meters away, under this sandstorm, Fang Hong relied less on his Clockwork Fairy to scout, fearing it would be blocked and fall due to the sand clogging movable parts before it flew ten meters. So instead, he chose the more primitive observation method—the telescope.

This monocular telescope was something he had rummaged from the previous warehouse, presumably Xiangzi’s personal item, having seen the other use it once or twice before.

Through the somewhat murky lens, Fang Hong saw the situation there.

Miss Priestess had described the abnormal mobilization as actually being a strengthening of defenses around the Inner Court. Previously, there were only a few patrolling guards, but now there were at least two extra squads. They hadn’t ventured into the outskirts of the fortress, seemingly only enhancing the Inner Court’s defenses. Seeing this, Fang Hong pondered briefly and deduced the reason.

It seemed the other party should be aware of some anomaly in the outer area, possibly having a special, non-magical means of communication with the outer sector, yet this means might transmit limited information, unable to ascertain what transpired here.

In other words, the other party might realize the outer area was unreachable, but couldn’t confirm why it became unreachable. Thus, to be safe, they first deployed forces to blockade this area but hadn’t hastily tread within.