Pillar of Yita

At the moment he stepped out of the room, Fang Hong’s tension also reached its peak. Outside, the Bain Knights had cleared a path for them under Nulman’s instructions, but in this narrow passage, both sides were destined not to be too far apart, making it the best opportunity for the other side to make a move.

Everyone watched each other’s movements vigilantly, and Fang Hong placed his sword against Affia’s neck, ordering them to form a line without obstructing each other, to prevent any small actions from behind. The other side followed as instructed, and His Excellency the Governor stood at the back of the line, silently watching them pass by.

This was Fang Hong’s first time encountering the master of Bain face-to-face, rather than observing through the Clockwork Fairy. The other party’s calm and solemn gaze left a deep impression on him.

But as the team slowly moved forward, they smoothly passed through the narrow passage without any action from the other side, allowing Fang Hong to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

”The way to the rooftop is in this direction,” Count Nulman said expressionlessly, his hand clutching the pendant on his chest, a Golden Kingfisher, the emblem of the Aimoyiben Family, ”I can find someone to take you there.”

Fang Hong’s gaze naturally followed the movement of the other’s hand and calmly pointed it out: ”Please lower your hand.”

Count Nulman lifted his eyelids to glance at him, his expression neutral and silent, but followed the instruction to lower his hand.

Seeing this, Fang Hong didn’t bother whether he was overly anxious, but in this situation, being a bit anxious was understandable. He recalled the other’s proposal and realized they indeed didn’t know the way to the rooftop, as Affia was merely a guest here.

Though there might be a trick, he still had to agree. However, Fang Hong wouldn’t agree entirely; with a shift in thought, he replied, ”Alright, but the choice must be ours.”

Count Nulman didn’t raise an eyelid. ”Alright.”

Fang Hong thought for a moment and felt he had come up with a foolproof plan, replying, ”Then let it be your daughter, let Miss Lavali lead us.”

He had learned early on that she was just a typical noble lady, hardly more combat-capable than Affia, so even if there were any plans, it would be hard for someone like her to execute them.

Furthermore, this was a kind of indirect hostage situation, meant to make His Excellency the Governor hesitant.

Count Nulman’s brow slightly raised, but the nearby Arcanists immediately eyed him eagerly, leading him to close his eyes again and simply nod. He spoke quietly, ”Go fetch Lady Rand and Miss Lavali.”

The Bain Knights promptly followed this order.

During the waiting time, Gita suddenly turned around and whispered, ”Brother Ade.”

Fang Hong vigilantly scanned around before responding, ”What’s the matter?”

”I sensed a faint Ether disturbance just now.”

Before leaving the room, Fang Hong had instructed her, Xiangzi, and Luo Yu to use Detection Magic to observe their surroundings. It was a shared ability among all Spellcasters, and though the current bad weather was severely disturbed and twisted by the sandstorm outside, being prepared was better than being clueless about the surroundings.

Unexpectedly, it worked, allowing Gita to detect a slight anomaly.

”When?”

”Just when the Governor had some movement in his hand.”

”Are you saying the pendant on his chest is a Magic Ornament?”

A warning bell sounded in Fang Hong’s mind.

But Gita shook her head: ”It’s not like that, Brother Ade. The Ether disturbance didn’t come from His Excellency the Governor.”

”What?” Fang Hong was taken aback and lowered his voice even more: ”Then from whom?”

Gita shook her head again: ”I didn’t see clearly either. At that moment when you instructed the Governor to lower his hand, all our eyes were focused on him; the Ether disturbance came from another direction, but when I looked in that direction, there was no longer any movement.”

This made Fang Hong feel it was troublesome.

The other side did have some small actions, but this was within his expectations. However, what made him uneasy now was that he didn’t know what the small actions were.

As for this slight Ether disturbance only being detected by Gita, while Luo Yu and Xiangzi had no reaction, it was to be expected. Among Elementalists, Magic Guided Conductors, and Natural Historians, the latter two professions were the most sensitive to changes in Ether, but Xiangzi was only a novice, and Natural Historians were particularly skilled at deciphering Spells.

In fact, Miss Tata noticed it too, but she was only sensitive to Ether as a Dragon Soul, and her grasp of the information was not as detailed as Miss Natural Historian.

Fang Hong glanced in the direction of the Bain people, and perhaps due to paranoia, the more he looked, the more suspicious it appeared, feeling there was some conspiracy. Something seemed off, but as he carefully observed, the Bain Knights stood neatly against the walls on both sides, motionless.

Moreover, at this moment, the distance between the two parties was considerable, about ten meters apart, lined up at the ends of the corridor, giving the impression that they posed no threat, unless they entirely disregarded the hostage’s safety.

Time ticked by.

It seemed like an eternity, yet it didn’t take long, as Lady Rand and the earl’s lady weren’t far, and both arrived promptly.