This period of unease continued to fester. Jessica continued to try and find a way out. After a while, with the two of them left alone as things were being done around them. Completely leaving them to their own devices. Saleh felt Jessica’s unease.

A testament to the level of stress this moment was bringing her. She couldn’t hide her thoughts, no matter how much she tried. Slowly, Saleh started to ignore his own issues as he went over everything that had happened.

Jessica could see Saleh repetitively look at Helga. Not able to understand what he was thinking until she paid more attention to his entire being. By this point, she was able to recognize that she was doing a terrible job keeping her cool.

Saleh was not particularly more interested in Helga, however, there was one other person that was always in her vicinity. As a legendary figure, it wouldn’t be strange to draw many glances. Throughout the history of Mercury City, very few elders were as open, as she had become, to the public.

Therefore, Jessica understood he too had come to terms with knowing they were in a particular situation. Without trying to draw much attention, he yawned before he closed his eyes to meditate.

Erasing traces of a battle were not simple or easy. They were not overly difficult, depending on the setting and the people involved. Generally it took a strenuous period of time. Being this close to the Blue Wolf Tribe, it was clear they didn’t want to leave any traces.

What was unknown was for this to keep their activities completely hidden, or simply trying to stop any information from making it to the traitor inside the Blue Wolf Tribe.

With time on their hands, Jessica also closed her eyes and started to meditate to gather the mana she had lost. At the moment, there was no signs anything would happen before the traces were cleaned up. Around so many people, there wasn’t anything they could do. At best, being in good condition was the only thing she could do.

Having trouble concentrating, it didn’t take much to pull Jessica from her very unstable meditation. Clapping her hands, Cassie brought the two’s attention onto herself.

Smiling at the two of them, “We are done cleaning up, we will be heading back. Come on, my guards.” Emphasizing guards, in a playful manner. It was unknown what she was thinking.

Moving in the distance, they found the previous carriage waiting for them. It was unknown what happen to the snow wolf. In its place was a second snow wolf, it was minutely smaller. Only by a small margin.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Having spent so much time with it on their journey, it was possible to see subtle differences. That was if you ignored the clear condescending in its eyes as it looked at Jessica and Saleh. This snow wolf was Grade C.

A coachman had been added in the driver's seat. Cassie didn’t pause as she was the first to enter the carriage, leaving the door open. Obviously, indicating for them to enter. The coachman was wearing a hood heading their features.

After standing still for a moment, they could feel the gaze watching them closely. A strong sense of danger could be felt, indicating that if they tried to run, they would act. Without much choice, Saleh moved first. Jessica didn’t hesitate and followed him in.

With Cassie on one side, they sat together on the opposite side. Once the door was closed, the outside was sealed off as the isolation was activated.

An awkward silence followed as Cassie closed her eyes. A bit of tension was filling the air. Not knowing what to do, the two couldn’t bring themselves to say anything. Mana was still radiating off Cassie. This was still a pressure, though she wasn’t actively using it, causing the pressure to be manageable.

This silence continued for what seemed like hours. In reality, at most an hour had passed. Throughout that time, Cassie’s smile deepened as her dimples appeared, not opening her eyes once. Since no expression could be seen from her eyes, it caused the smile to lose that teasing effect. Making Jessica feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.

It wasn’t possible to feel the movement of the carriage when the isolation was active. This was different from the sound, so while they couldn’t feel anything. It became clear that Cassie had removed it. Causing them to feel the carriage coming to a stop.

By this point an almost creepy exaggerated smile was painted on Cassie’s face with her eyes close. The silence was deafening as Jessica felt her heart pounding in her chest. This moment prolonged itself for eons, with no change in site, causing her to feel sweat dripping down her back.

Being pushed to the edge, Jessica physically jumped when the door opened. Being unable to control herself from pulling out her daggers. Feeling Saleh’s hand on top of hers caused her to pause as she looked outside.

Everblood was standing outside with the red mask covering his face. As if expecting him to lower the mask to show a monster, Jessica only relaxed when he spoke, “Come.”

With her heart beating, she was shaking slightly. Saleh was the first to move as Jessica felt a bit stiff. Making matters worse was that Cassie holding her side laughing uncontrollably, grasping for breath, “Ah, Jessica you’re just too fun.”

As her nerves were slowly unwinding, she finally started to come to terms with the terrible joke. However, she was fine with it, so long as it was really just a joke.

Even if being put in a situation, she could do nothing about, was a sick joke. So long as it was just a joke, she would just ignore it. She didn’t really have any other choice.

As her foot reached the step, with one more step she would completely exit the carriage. The outside felt heavenly…

And yet, the situation wasn’t over. From inside the carriage, Jessica heard a voice causing her to stop, “You should stay. As you will regret leaving, more than you would by staying.”