CHAPTER 11: LAUGHTER & SUSPICION

"Well I understand the situation," Lishia said. "If Luna has personally brought you here then I have no reason to meddle in it."

"Thank you, Lishia," Luna chimed in.

"Oh come on, stop the formal act. It sounds weird," Lishia added, turning away from them and going back to looking at the papers on her desk.

"There you have it, you can stay here for as long as you want now," Luna said to Allen, a polite smile appearing on her face.

"Yes. You don’t know how grateful I am for this. I was in quite a bit of trouble and didn’t know where I was going to stay," Allen said, expressing his thanks and bowing.

"It’s fine, you helped me too so we’re even," Luna replied.

"By the way Allen, I have some boring stuff to talk about with Lishia. Basically reporting what happened in detail. If you want, you can go explore the camp a little."

"Get to know the people we have here, I’m sure you’ll make some good acquaintances," Luna added.

I see. So that’s how it is. Allen thought to himself, his expression neutral.

I had a guess that there was more to that attack and it wasn’t a simple assassination. After all, nobody in their right mind would take the risk of trying to assassinate a high-ranking military officer for nothing.

It would only make sense if they had plans to handle the outcomes of that. Since there’s no doubt that these "highlanders" or whatever are gonna get the blame for the attack without a second thought.

As he rationalized the thoughts in his mind, Allen responded to Luna with a polite smile.

"I think that would be great, I do want to see what this place is like. Hehe, this is my first time in a real military outpost after all," he replied.

Then he bowed once again to show his respect before quietly leaving the tent through the cloth entrance.

After Allen left, a thick silence filled the tent. For five long minutes, the only sound was the scratch of Lishia’s quill as she made notes on a report, her eyes flicking across the maps on her desk. Luna moved to a nearby table and sat down, her back straight and her hands resting on her lap, waiting patiently. Finally, Lishia spoke, her voice cutting through the quiet.

"So? What exactly happened?" Lishia asked, without turning to face Luna.

"There were assassins. Three of them, possibly more but I encountered only three. They attacked while I was taking a bath," she replied.

"The same ones that were monitoring you for the past few days?" Lishia questioned.

"Yes."

"I see. And? How does this gentleman you brought fit in all this?" she questioned further.

"Well, I had noticed the attackers and was engaging them, but he killed them in an instant before I could finish them off. He also took out one that had almost killed me when I had my guard down," Luna explained.

"What do you mean he killed them in an instant? Are you trying to say he’s faster than you?"

"No. I mean literally what I said. He killed them within a single second," Luna clarified.

Lishia didn’t respond for a few seconds, trying to make sense of whatever nonsense Luna was spouting.

"Wait..." the realization hit her soon. She put the papers down and turned to look at Luna dead in her eyes.

"Yeah, that’s what I mean. It was an instant death, and he used magic."

"Are you sure?" Lishia asked, a slight sense of concern appearing on her face.

Luna didn’t respond to that and just looked at her. There was no need for clarification. There was no way Luna Revoltstar could be tricked by cheap tricks.

Her perception powers were on an entirely different level.

"He also defended and stopped my sword with his bare hands," Luna added.

Lishia stared at Luna, a look of pure disbelief on her face. The words Luna was saying just weren’t adding up.

She could understand the instant death thing. There were skilled mages who were capable of doing things like that and she was aware of their existence.

Even if Allen looked too young to be one, at least she had some sort of logical reasoning to help her digest that fact.

This, on the other hand, was pure fantasy. It sounded like one.

How can someone stop a sword with their bare hands without getting them split into two? We were talking about her sword here. It was not a joking matter.

Lishia let out a sigh, pressing her forehead.

"I’m serious," Luna said.

"I know that. That’s exactly why I’m having such a hard time accepting this," Lishia replied. "If what you say is true then he’s a powerhouse, and depending on what his intentions are, this can end very badly for us."

"Since you have fought him and still brought him here, I presume you have made sure that he’s not an undercover agent?"

"Yeah, that much I am sure of," Luna replied.

The memory of his fist connecting with her face flashed through her mind. She inwardly scoffed. The minor details of her miscalculation weren’t important. Lishia only needed to know the outcome.

Lishia went quiet, lost in thought as she played with her hair.

"Do you have any idea where he is from? He said he’s from across the ocean, but that’s too vague," she asked after a while.

"Unfortunately, no. I tried asking him about it but... well, I decided I shouldn’t probe too much. We barely know each other after all," Luna replied.

"I see."

Internally, Lishia disagreed with her. If it were up to her, she would have tried to dig out all the information she could out of him regardless of whatever means she had to use. But after being with Luna for so long she knew Luna wasn’t like this, and trying to make her act that way would only backfire.

"Well, I guess we should leave it at that for now. If you’ve confirmed that he’s not a threat then I won’t worry too much about it," she said.

"Let’s get to the main point now. What do you think are the implications of this assassination attempt?" she asked, looking at Luna.

"I think there’s a high chance we might get into another battle," Luna said.

"Although their attempt to kill me failed so I don’t think it would be right now. But it would be better to expect something within two to three days."