"An Elven party...?!" Mermes stroked his chin. "Mmm, let's see here… I've seen a human party, some dwarven merchants, a few beastfolk—oh, right, I remember! I've seen an orc party lurking near a group of dwarves—"
"But have you seen an Elven party?" Maria interrupted, repeating her question with a dangerous smile.
Startled by her cold stare, beads of sweat formed on Mermes' forehead. He pondered for a moment before stammering, "Ah—yes! I've seen one at the Capital! Their arrival caused a huge commotion. They were moving in great numbers— even had a few scouts with them. I wondered where they were headed… So they were coming here?"
"Yes." Maria nodded but didn't offer any further explanation. Instead, she asked, "When do you think they'll reach Valkeries?"
"With those numbers? Not anytime soon. Even with great scouts, perhaps another ten days?"
"Mm." Maria pondered, then looked up at him. "That's all. You should restock your supplies and resume your mission, Mermes. I'm counting on you."
"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted, nodded to Jan, and grinned. "Take care, Hero! We'll meet again!"
Jan nodded back. Once Mermes left, silence settled between him and Maria.
She exhaled a long sigh, then smiled faintly. "Good thing you caught the signal, Jan."
"The shoulder squeeze?" Jan smiled bitterly.
"Yeah. Sorry about that." Maria chuckled softly. "Although you probably know by now why I did that. He's loyal, yes—but he can't hold his tongue. I was worried he might leak something about Aeris just making small talk."
"Yeah, I agree." Jan nodded, then finally asked the question that brought him here. "So, did you get anything useful from that earless elf?"
Maria's expression turned solemn. "They're mercenaries."
"Mercenaries?!" Jan's eyes widened. "Who's paying them?"
She shook her head. "They don't know. The order came through a letter—half the payment up front, along with Aeris' description and exact location. The rest was promised after the hit."
"And you're sure he wasn't just lying?"
Maria shook her head again. "Arcus might look friendly, but when it comes to interrogation, he has his ways. That elf was tough—yes—but Arcus broke him little by little until he begged to die."
A shiver ran down Jan's spine. Maybe he should reconsider Arcus' invitation after all...
He quickly shook the thought away. "Still—"
"I know what you're about to say, Jan." Maria rubbed her forehead. "It bothers me too. The benefactor—how did they know Aeris was in Valkeries?"
"Saveth?" Jan asked.
"It can't be him," Maria said, dismissing the idea almost immediately. "If he wanted her dead, she would've been a corpse in that bag."
Jan narrowed his eyes. "You already have someone in mind, don't you?"
Maria smirked faintly. "This stays between us."
Jan nodded firmly.
She glanced around, then leaned closer and whispered, "I don't know for sure who—but I suspect the hit came from someone in Sylvalis."
Jan's eyes widened. He snapped toward her, whispering hoarsely, "Sylvalis?! How did you reach that conclusion?!"
"Think about it," Maria said. "Saveth kidnapped Aeris and teleported straight to Valkeries. Until we retrieved her and opened that bag in the church, no one—not even Sylvalis—knew where she was. But then we sent that blessed message to inform them she was here… and suddenly, mercenaries show up at our doorstep."
Realization dawned on Jan. "Makes sense... That's why you asked about the Elven party."
"Exactly." Maria nodded. "We don't know who's targeting Aeris, and we can't throw accusations around without proof. We might be wrong—but we should be ready. Within the next ten days, she might get targeted again. We can't relax until we hand her safely to the escort party."
"Can we even trust the escort party?"
"Her uncle himself is coming with them. That alone shows how important Aeris is to him—and how little he trusts the people under him. For the princess regent to leave the capital and escort her personally... that says a lot."
Jan sighed. "Now I'm worried."
"I'm worried too." Maria clenched her fists. "We can't leave anything to chance. I'll increase security, and from now on, one of us must always stay by her side to ensure her safety."
Jan nodded, then asked, "Maybe we should tell her?"
Maria shook her head. "I thought about it, but we shouldn't. Accusing Sylvalis without solid proof might not sit well with her. Besides, she's been through enough already. She was kidnapped, she got sick, and now her own people might want her dead? We can't let that hurt her as well."
Jan caught the faint tremor in her voice; even Maria sounded uncertain this time.
"You're right," Jan said quietly. "The most important thing now is keeping her safe and stable. But Sophia…"
"I'll handle her," Maria interrupted. "She's always blunt, but this time she needs to restrain herself. When she finishes her shift, tell her to meet me at the council hall."
Jan grinned. "Doubt she'll make it out of the guild today—she's pulling a double shift."
Maria chuckled. "You won another bet, didn't you?"
"Something like that," Jan said proudly.
"So, what are you planning to do?" she asked, then immediately answered her own question. "Let me guess—you're going to read some books."
"Oh yes~" Jan said with mock amusement.
Maria chuckled. "I don't know how you find joy in reading while we're going through all this."
"Reading's what's getting me through all this," Jan corrected with a faint grin. "Besides, I want to try something I learned this morning—you could call it training, too."
"Oh?" Maria raised an eyebrow, intrigued.