Pillar of Yita

”Wait, are you going to leave this place with us?”

”No, no,” Affia quickly waved her hand when Fang Hong misunderstood her: ”I mean, you can take me hostage to go there, and I will cooperate with you.”

The room went quiet for a moment.

Fang Hong was slightly stunned and said with confusion, ”But why would you do that, Miss Afeifa?”

Affia nodded gently, her expression becoming serious, ”I want to help you leave, but, but I’m afraid... And you probably intend the same, with my cooperation it will be much easier, and I won’t be in as much danger.”

Fang Hong couldn’t help but glance at her again, surprised that she had thought it through so much. He asked, ”But aren’t you worried that we might be your enemies?”

Upon hearing this, Affia’s eyes dimmed, and she shook her head, ”I believe Mr. Ade is not a bad person.”

Fang Hong looked at her with unexpected surprise, not understanding where her confidence came from. To be honest, this was only their second meeting, and could she really come to such a conclusion just because she witnessed his combat in Fanric? Even he wouldn’t be that naive. Suddenly, a thought struck him; perhaps she knew what the Arcanists were up to, and that’s why she felt guilty?

Curious, he asked, ”Miss Afeifa, do you know why your people brought us here?”

In the darkness, Affia shuddered and quickly shook her head. ”Mr. Ade, please don’t ask, I can’t tell you.”

Fang Hong had to give up, but he roughly had his suspicions.

The conversation was conducted in low voices, separated by a door, so Bain Knight outside naturally couldn’t hear it. However, after a while, the knight outside asked again, ”Have you all made up your minds?”

Fang Hong took a deep breath, clearing his mind of previous considerations, as the plan had reached its most critical step. His primary concern was how to escape this dead end—not anything else. He spoke calmly and deliberately, ”Take us to the ’Dawood’ ship. We will hand over Miss Afeifa to you before boarding the airship—”

The two knights seemed pre-instructed, and after hearing his request, they appeared very silent, responding only, ”We will report truthfully to His Excellency the Governor, but we can’t be certain about specifics.”

But Fang Hong firmly replied, ”There’s no room for negotiation.”

The two knights nodded slightly and then turned to leave.

Outside the room, once the knights delivered the message, it evidently sparked another round of debate.

”Absolutely not,” the Arcanists immediately shook their heads. ”Aside from whether they genuinely intend to release her, the sandstorm on the rooftop is so severe; who can guarantee Miss Afeifa’s safety up there?”

”Very perceptive, then please convince the opposite party.”

”Then at the very least, we should demand they release her before entering the rooftop.”

Nulman looked mockingly at the opponent, causing the Arcanist to feel somewhat guilty, awkwardly saying, ”Miss Afeifa is in their hands, would we really do anything to them? It’s only for Miss Afeifa’s safety—”

But this ”one-sided story” seemed hardly convincing, causing the speaker’s voice to dwindle down to barely audible.

Someone muttered, ”But clearly, the other side won’t think so.”

At this moment, Nulman suddenly spoke up, ”It’s not that we won’t actually do anything.”

The statement shocked everyone, making them look at His Excellency the Governor with surprised uncertainty. After all, it was him who initially opposed, so why the self-contradictory statement now?

Nulman looked a bit speechless at these Arcanists who were empty-headed, only understanding spells and astrology, and sighed. ”Miss Afeifa’s identity is too important; how can her safety be solely dependent on whether the other side will keep their promise? In my view, no criminal is trustworthy, and we must act considering the worst-case scenario.”

”But...” the Arcanists exchanged puzzled glances, wondering, are those people really criminals?

In truth, they were merely adventurers serving the Tansnier Port Authority, but were wrongfully brought to this place. When it comes to criminals, it’s not certain who they might be, even if they were under the Grand Princess’s orders, it was just to investigate the incident from over ten years ago, hardly criminal activity, right?

A middle-aged Arcanist next finally spoke up, ”His Excellency the Governor is right. Regardless of their considerations, we need to be prepared ourselves. If possible, we should even try to keep those people here as well—not everything should go their way, of course, all this is under the premise of ensuring Miss Afeifa’s safety.”

”But they may not agree to our demands.”

Having said this, the Arcanists suddenly froze—had the positions reversed?

The middle-aged Arcanist replied, ”We can think of a compromise.”

And so, this compromise was quickly presented to Fang Hong.

”They want to cast a protection spell on Miss Afeifa?”

”To shield against the wind and sand on the rooftop?”

Fang Hong heard this and couldn’t help but laugh; are they treating him like a three-year-old?

He immediately shook his head and once again firmly rejected their request. What a joke, how could he allow them close to Affia, especially the Arcanists? In this world, there are too many strange spells; who knows if they actually cast a protection spell?

Even the savages on the Kuisu Plains know not to let a mage speak, let alone them?