Chapter 316 - Self Doubt

Char Char wore a deep scowl on her face as she trudged behind Corbin, following him up the path toward the estate. Master Reza walked next to Corbin, discussing their next moves in soft tones.

“Does your family keep any Exalted on staff?” Corbin asked.

“Exalted—“ Master Reza paused, looking confused about the terminology. “We do employ a security company through the City, though they typically just look after the estate gates. The Walled City is quite safe, as you can imagine.”

“You don’t have a personal retainer?” Corbin wondered.

“Not for the family, no.” Master Reza replied, “Most of our dealings are done here or in Noga City.”

“In that case, if we fail to find your father or other family members we should look for my guards.” Corbin said, “In the meantime, I’ll do my best to protect us.”

I’m an Exalted too! Char Char bristled at Corbin’s words. He didn’t even consider Char Char capable to help out even in these dire circumstances, despite her training and status as one of the Red Lion Security Company staff. Did he think she’d just been fooling around for the past two months under Firuzeh’s supervision?

Forget it, I’ll be the mature one. Char Char snuffed inwardly, keeping her attention on their surroundings. Firuzeh said sometimes you don’t like the client, but you still have to do your job. Corbin is my client, even if he doesn’t believe in me, and my job is to protect him.

Corbin’s off comment about her failure in the square stung deep, especially so because Char Char knew that it was true. She hadn’t taken her job or the dangers around it seriously, and the people around her had gotten hurt and nearly killed while saving her from Cecil’s attack.

“Ah—“ Char Char said with a start. Corbin and Master Reza turned to look at her as she said, “That mage from the square, he’s here.”

Corbin’s eyes squinted, “What do you mean, here?”

“I ran into him when I tried to leave the escape to find help.” Char Char said, ignoring the judgemental tone in Corbin’s voice.

“Where is he now?”

“I left him at the fork in the path up ahead. There was an invisible wall that he couldn’t pass. I heard a scream and ran to help, but he couldn’t follow…” Char Char said, pointing to where the path turned around a corner in the bamboo thicket, “I think he knows more about what’s going on here. He said there’s something happening in the estate, some trial for a Sun God—”

“Noga save me.” Corbin muttered under his breath, “You actually talked with him? That man tried to kill us!”

“He wasn’t aggressive today.” Char Char refuted, but hesitated as she realized how she sounded, “Look, I’m not stupid, I didn’t talk with him out of choice. Of course I know he’s dangerous—“

“Things don’t just happen by coincidence, Char Char. Haven’t you been getting lessons from Firuzeh? Hasn’t any of her words of caution sunk into your head? Or are you just dreaming and thinking it’s all still a game?”

“I don’t think it’s a game-“ Char Char tried to protest.

“Then—! You and Master Reza are going to stay here for a moment and let me handle this.” Corbin said, not letting her finish, “I’ll check the path ahead. You said you left him at the fork?”

Char Char’s eye twitched as she gritted her teeth, “Yes.”

Corbin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, “If I don’t come back, the two of you should take the long way around and try to make it to the gates.”

“But the gates are—“

“Char Char! Stop talking back and just listen to me for once!” Corbin snapped.

Char Char’s whole body trembled as it took all her willpower to bite her tongue. Tears of frustration budded at her eyes, her cheeks were hot and flushed.

“I’ll be right back.” Corbin ran his fingers along the brim of his top hat, adjusting the grip on his cane. He took off down the path with a deliberate, yet cautious pace. At the bend in the path up ahead he took his time to check the corner, then disappeared around it.

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A silence fell upon the pair as they stood awkwardly on the path, waiting for Corbin to return. Master Reza took the opportunity to lean his back against a thick bamboo trunk, occupying his attention with the wound on his arm. The bleeding seemed to have slowed for the moment, staunched by a strip of fabric that had been tied around his bicep in a makeshift tourniquet.

Char Char stared down the path with a death glare as she continued to shake uncontrollably. Her dislike for Corbin had never felt so raw and intense. The man had never respected her. He had always treated her like a child, telling her what to do, scolding her for stupid things. Everyone treated her like a hero for stopping the resurrection of the God of Life, but he alone was dismissive of her accomplishments.

The worst part was, Char Char was beginning to wonder if he was right.

She’d bungled her way through so many dire situations, situations which she had gotten herself into by charging head first into danger. She’d simply wanted to do the right thing, but she hadn’t ever considered the consequences of her actions. In the darkness of the storage closet in Plunes she’d had plenty of time to reflect on her mistakes, and vowed to be different.

But nothing had changed, had it?

She was still frustratingly useless, wasn’t she?

She turned away from Master Reza as she felt tears run down her cheek.

Corbin even considers Master Reza more competent than me right now. Char Char’s thoughts burned within her. Even though he’s not Exalted, even though he couldn’t even protect himself from his own servants. Even though he screamed like a girl that time.

The man’s emotions were clear to Char Char in her sixth sense. He was worried, but all things considered he was calm. Unlike Char Char, who couldn’t even hold her tears in check.

Wait— He was calm?

Shouldn’t he be panicking, shouldn’t he be terrified? Shouldn’t he feel overwhelmed by so many unnatural things happening around him?

He’d mentioned the “lines” in the estate’s architecture so casually, were they supposed to believe that he knew about them but at the same time didn’t know how they worked? He was the master of the house, surely he would know about the ‘teleportation’ mechanism, right?

A dark cloud of suspicion began to form in Char Char’s mind as she considered all these inconsistencies. Her tears stopped flowing, her breathing became calm.

He was the master of the house, his servants were acting strange. There was the distinct possibility that he was the mastermind of all this. His wound was deep but it wasn’t life threatening. Perhaps it was just a ploy to gain their trust—

Char Char fought the urge to turn around and look at Master Reza.

Corbin was completely clueless about this possibility. In fact he was planning everything in detail with the man, not hiding anything. Corbin was worried about Char Char’s interactions with Cecil, but he didn’t consider the possibility that their enemy was amongst them.

There won’t be a chance to talk to Corbin in secret and tell these things to him… He surely won’t let Master Reza be alone just to talk to me. Char Char frowned. No, he wouldn’t even listen to me to begin with, he thinks I’m a stupid useless child.

But if I let things go on like this, we’ll just be walking straight into a trap.

Char Char couldn’t think of a way to warn Corbin without tipping Master Reza off about her suspicions. She clenched her hands, unable to decide what to do.

~

A short while later Corbin returned from around the corner, a concerned expression on his face.

He hadn’t found anyone at the fork in the path. The surroundings were peaceful, the eastern entrance gate was within clear site from the fork and similarly quiet and empty.

His first thought was to doubt Char Char’s words— Not her statement that she had talked with the blond mage, but rather that he had been unable to follow. He suspected that the blond mage could be one of the masterminds of the situation and was trying to dupe Char Char somehow.

If he convinced the naive Char Char that he couldn’t follow her, she wouldn’t suspect it if he was right behind her, watching. Perhaps the mage actually had his eyes on them the whole time, waiting to pounce.

At least, that was Corbin’s initial thought.

However when he tried to proceed a bit further up the path he found himself stopped by an invisible wall. No matter what he did he couldn’t pass through it.

The dirt in the path on the other side of the wall was disturbed in a way that suggested that a person had tried to force their way past that invisible line.

If he assumed that the teleportation and the invisible wall were part of some defensive Exalted arrangements that had been built into the estate, it was also reasonable to suggest that an outsider like the mage would be inhibited by them.

The mage may still be a mastermind, he may even have ways to pass through the walls, but those were only unconfirmed possibilities.

Therefore at the very least Char Char’s recollection had been accurate. It was highly possible that the estate really was empty— perhaps each area in the complex transported the occupants to different parts of the estate. There were folk stories of houses with these kinds of mystical arrangements, though they had long been forgotten, at least in NianXing under Lord Noga’s rule.

And somehow I have to get Char Char and Reza out of here safely. Corbin sighed inwardly. I just wanted to be a peaceful business man, why am I getting dragged into these kinds of things?

Why did Sansen task me with this job? There were so many other more competent people he could have chosen.

Even as he lamented inwardly, he knew why he was here.

A heavily feeling of responsibility weighed down on him as he found Master Reza waiting patiently for him while leaning against a bamboo. The merchant’s face was pale from exhaustion and pain, but he smiled with relief as Corbin rounded the corner.

The problem was, he was alone.

“Where’s Char Char?” Corbin asked immediately.

The merchant looked around with a confused look, “She was right here, only a moment ago.”

Corbin was stunned, a look of incredulity on his face as he wondered.

Why me?