The pommel made a heavy impact against the man’s temple, immediately disabling the nameless thug. Mila inwardly winced, fearing others would notice the sudden noise, but it was masked by Mortimer’s desperate howls.

Before the thug could collapse forward, Mila grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. The large log of a man tilted sideways but didn’t fall as she struggled to support the unwieldy body.

Mila’s move didn’t escape Isabel’s and Andrew’s eyes. They were accustomed to her spell somewhat and knew better than to leave her unchecked.

The same could not be said about everyone else in the room. Laum threatened everyone else again, making Mila wonder if someone outside would alert the guards of the disruption of peace.

After another moment of thought, Mila decided the guards would not interfere. With how cocky Laum was, the local law reinforcement was likely paid to ignore occasions like these.

With another push, Mila moved the knocked-out thug's body to lean against the wall behind them. She eyed her next victim. The cruel smile he sported made her eye twitch. Where exactly was he looking?

Oh, Mila has her suspicions where. After peeking at Isabel’s majestic poise herself, she moved again. There was no reason to allow these scums to see such a perfection. They did not deserve it.

Just as Mila reached the second target and readied her strike, she noticed the third man turn his head to speak with her current mark. She saw the moment he recognised something had gone wrong.

But before the man could alert anyone, Mila already had struck. The pommel of her dagger once again proved its usefulness. The blunt side was excellent at robbing someone's consciousness. She almost didn’t mind the third thug seeing her jump for the strike, as the man’s temple was a little too high for her small stature to reach.

This was why Mila preferred killing blows. Disabling someone much taller than her was a hassle. It wasn’t impossible, but she was aware of how silly it looked from the side. Mila could clearly imagine Andrew making remarks about it later.

While distracting herself with idle thoughts, Mila moved to her last target, leaving Laum to Isabel. She doubted Andrew would move unless there was actual danger to them. He was still too soft.

But to Mila’s surprise, Mr Crow acted without Andrew’s input. Just as the third thug opened his mouth and formed the first word, a loud, piercing song filled the room, staggering the remaining duo of enemies.

While Andrew sent a reproaching look at his bond, Isabel moved towards Laum, using her shield to bash his ugly face as a payback for the remarks.

Mila wished to harm the man herself, but she acknowledged Isabel had the first claim on the repulsive mug.

And just like that, Mila reached the third thug who had his mouth still hung open and just as a strangled sound left it, she once again did a slight jump, landing a precise blow.

Isabel had been too eager to punish Laum, as his upper body was blown backwards with too much force, making him bend backwards and hit the back of his head on the floor.

“Nice.” Mila gave a thumbs up. If Laum was lucky, Isabel’s merciful smack would make the man’s face more palpable. At least it couldn’t get any worse than it had been.

“You too.” Isabel returned, her eyes sliding down Mila’s body.

It made Mila shudder with uninvited pleasure. She didn’t know what to think about her girlfriend fancying the moments Mila acted with precise violence in mind. It certainly felt nice to be desired, but the implications…

Would all it take to have Isabel carry Mila to a room with a bed was beating up someone?

It was a fascinating idea. Mila raised her chin, locking her eyes with Isabel's brown while hiding her dagger back under her cloak. Perhaps it was an idea worth exploring.

“Stop that!” Andrew’s sudden groan interrupted the pleasant atmosphere. “You both are still in trouble for the earlier mess.” He pointed back at where Vatim and Mortimer were gaping at the show.

Andrew’s words, unfortunately, made Isabel’s attention shift. “Me too?” She took an issue with his words. “It was Mila’s fault.” She mercilessly threw Mila to the proverbial wolf. “Didn’t we already agree on this?”

“Oh, we sure did make her feel bad. Thanks for the help with that.” Andrew appreciated. “But you are not off the hook either.”

“Ah, shit.” Isabel glanced at Mortimer and Vatim, who were just starting to move. She didn’t have it in her to argue. “I just…” There was remorse in her voice.

“W-what was that?” Mortimer finally woke up from his stupor and pointed at the pile of bodies.

“They were a nuisance and left us with no other option than to act.” Mila moved back to the table, making sure to step on Laum’s fingers to break some of them. That’s what he got for suggesting doing anything to Isabel.

After remembering the uncouth remarks the man had made, Mila ground her heel on Laum’s palm for good measure. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. This certainly wasn’t healthy. Only when Mortimer started to speak again did she force herself to remove her heel.

“Oh, no, no, no… The boss will not be happy.” Mortimer fell to his knees and began to tremble. “He will be so not happy.”

At least they had moved forward from Mila’s fuck up. She thoughtfully studied the frail man. The whole situation was probably hell for him.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Does it matter?” Andrew piped in. “What some guy think? Can’t we just give these guys to the guards and be done with it?”

“We can’t do that!” Mortimer glared at Andrew. “They’ll arrest us instead!”

So, Mila’s conjecture had been correct. The local law reinforcement was in on the mess. She knew Hanna had been paying off the guards in Ocheon as well. It appeared this was a common problem in this Kingdom.

“What? That’s just stupid. They wouldn’t do that.” Andrew argued, not quite getting the situation.

“They will,” Mila answered before Mortimer could. “How deep does the corruption run?” She asked the place owner while sitting down with Isabel joining her.

“I-I don’t know.” Mortimer couldn’t answer. “Deep. I don’t think there is a clean guard in the city left.”

That didn’t sound good. “And the army?” Mila tried. “Or the local temple?”

These suggestions made Mortimer pause. “I don’t know. I-I am not familiar with either.” He nervously twitched.

All of this was troublesome. Mila could not see anything good coming from staying here.

In the end, the best solution was to get the information they needed and leave before more trouble found them. Mila looked at Andrew and Isabel, signalling them to move on with the question of where the Keepers of the Truth had their little hiding hole.

Both of them nodded, and Andrew spoke.

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

Mila did a double take. That wasn’t what they needed now. “Andrew, we don’t have time for this.” They had spoken about this before.

And from Andrew’s pained expression, he knew they didn’t. “Mila, I know you didn’t want to tell us. Maybe you simply can’t, so we didn’t ask, but…” He delayed. “How long… How long do you think they both could last.”

“It depends.” Mila avoided giving a straight answer. “Not long. I do not find the topic to be suitable for the current location.”

“It’s been two weeks,” Andrew mumbled. “I know we have to hurry. But…” He looked at…

Mila followed Andrew’s gaze. He wasn’t looking at Mortimer. No, Andrew was looking at Vatim.

“We can’t help them all, Andrew.” Mila was direct. How had she missed it? With how softhearted Andrew was, there was no way he could stay indifferent when faced with a crying child. “For us, Tiff’s and Kefo’s lives are-” She stopped. It was probably not the wisest idea to compare the value of lives.

“We don’t have to help them all, Mila!” Andrew raised his voice. “And I am not planning on us staying and starting a charity. It was just a question.”

Right. Just a question. Mila didn’t quite believe it. Still, the words were already spoken. She glared at Andrew one last time. “This result is not better than if you had let me speak.”

“Debatable.” Andrew disagreed.

“You both are scaring them.” Isabel stopped them from arguing.

At the least, they could agree on that. Mortimer and Vatim were looking at them in fear. The violence they had shown had quieted them both.

“We just need information.” Andrew sounded tired. “Come on, you both. There is no need to sit on the floor. This is your house.”

Unexpectedly, Mortimer showed his backbone once again. “There is no need for Vatim to leave his room.” He stopped the boy with a wave of his hand. “I’ll talk with you. Just leave the boy alone.”

These words showed Mortimer was not a simple coward. Mila could appreciate someone standing up for what they believed in. Even if it was misguided, as in this case.

“We are not here to hurt you,” Mila informed.

These words were a mistake. As the word ‘hurt’ left Mila’s mouth, Vatim recoiled in fear, and Mortimer quickly stepped between them, covering the line of sight with his body. “D-don’t y-you dare!”

This was ridiculous. Mila turned to Isabel, looking for help.

“Come here.” Isabel had returned to the table and sat. She moved the chair a bit back, freed her lap and invited Mila.

This wasn’t quite what Mila had wanted, but she wouldn’t turn down the chance to cuddle. While on the road, there had been very few chances for them to be intimate.

Mila resolutely moved from her seat to sit on her girl’s lap, letting Isabel wrap her hands around her waist and rest her chin on Mila’s shoulder.

“Okay!” Andrew drew the attention back to him. “I guess this was inevitable. These two will be busy for a while, so we can have our talk. Vatim can stay where he is, but we do need to talk with you, Mortimer. But-” He looked where the boy was and addressed him. “But if you need something, don’t be afraid to ask.”

While Mila wanted to ask why Andrew thought they would be busy, she decided not to and simply enjoyed Isabel’s breath tickling her ear. She caressed her girl’s clasped hands as they massaged her stomach.

“T-that won’t be necessary.” Mortimer moved closer to them, clearly wondering where he had gone wrong in his life. His demeanour kept switching from subservient and cowardly to standowish and brave. “S-so?”

Andrew cleared his throat, letting the bird on his shoulder let out a series of chirps. “As Mr Crow was saying,” He began. “We are here to ask for help.”

Isabel’s lips brushed against Mila’s ear, making her heart beat faster. “Hmm?” She hummed a question and leaned back, pressing herself into her girl’s chest.

“I don’t know,” Isabel whispered. The soft voice shook Mila’s body. She pressed her lips against the tinier girl’s earlobe again.

“As I was saying,” Andrew raised his voice.

“You don’t know?” Mila whispered back, enjoying the softness pressing into her back. “But I insist. Please do explain.”

Andrew coughed.

“I-I mean,” Isabel sounded embarrassed. “You looked kind of tasty?”

“We arrived here to-,” Andrew’s voice grew louder.

“Just looked tasty?” Mila turned her head to press her cheek against Isabel’s lips. “And I don’t anymore?”

“-to learn where our friends-”

“You do.” Isabel took a deep breath. Her embrace grew tighter. She started to lightly kiss Mila’s cheek.

“-I don’t know where-”

“You are free to take a taste,” Mila suggested daringly.

“-please, we understand-”

“I-” Isabel hesitated. “I don’t think I should.”

“-no, really, I don’t, and-”

“Then can I taste you?” Mila turned more to meet Isabel’s heated gaze. “You look absolutely addicting.”

“-our friends. There has to-”

Isabel’s breathing hitched. Her lips trembled, and her body grew hotter. Mila moved her head closer to her girl’s face.