However

Anna.

Releasing Annas hand, Yelena raised her hand to her ears and removed one of her earrings.

Still crouching down, Yelena lifted Annas chin in order to lock eyes with her, and she placed the lone earring into the childs hand.

Is it okay if I ask you for a favor?

Ms. Angel?

Once I get back up, take this earring and head straight to the Dukes Castle.

While looking directly into Annas eyes, Yelena softly whispered, Once youre there, grab someone and ask them to deliver this earring to the Duke.

You can do this, right?

As soon as she asked thi, Anna nodded her head.

To convey how proud she was of her, Yelena patted Anna on the head.

Im counting on you.

Soon afterwards, she stood up and turned her back to Anna.

Anna seemed to hesitate for a few moments, but shortly afterwards Yelena heard the sound of her footsteps running off.

After spying Annas small figure cleverly blend into the crowds of people, Yelena frowned to herself.

Something stinks.

A smell was wafting towards her, quite an intense and foul odor.

Before long, Yelena spotted the source of the stench, and as soon as her eyes were turned in that direction, the man standing there took off his hood.

Even amongst the crowd of people, the mans voice carried to her clearly.

It has been a while, Your Grace.

Incan-!

Even before Yelena could respond, her attendant had already raised her voice out of fear.

But her words were cut off before she could finish.

At a gesture from Incan, one of his companions, who had been waiting nearby, stepped forward and struck the maid on the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.

This all happened so quickly that it seemed as if he was supporting a woman who had fainted out of shock at the news of monsters being sighted nearby.

Everyone.

As Yelena quickly turned to look at her attendant in concern, Incan spoke up, I believe that we both dont want to make a fuss in a crowded place like this.

We dont want to see the good people of this fief getting hurt after all. Since thats the case, Your Grace.

With the kindly-seeming smile that Yelena had seen on his face during their very first meeting, Incan asked her, I would like to be able to treat you as politely as possible, so wont you please cooperate?

While silently meeting Incans eyes, Yelena clenched her fists tightly.

***

Over here, Sir Knight. Over here!

At the location that the middle-aged woman had dragged Colin to, the town guards were indeed locked in fierce combat with several monsters.

Theres three trolls?

Trolls were a type of monster that was threatening due to its large size and strength, but they didnt live in groups, so it was rare to see more than one or two of them at a time.

Even as Colin was being puzzled by the situation, he had already drawn his sword from his belt and slashed at the throat of the nearest troll.

Colin had already been skilled enough to participate in the monster subjugations 8 years ago.

Although others might not be able to tell from his usual sloppy behavior, Colin was actually skilled enough to compete for the top spots amongst the Dukes knights.

In the blink of an eye, Colin took care of the three trolls and returned his sword to its sheath.

Honey! Jenny!

Mommy!

A middle-aged man and his child, who had been hiding behind the guards, tightly embraced the middle-aged woman.

A guard, who had watched in amazement as Colin killed the trolls, approached Colin and asked, Um youre Sir Colin, right? Thank you so much for coming. If you hadnt appeared to give us a hand, I dont know what might have happened

Colin stayed silent and instead stared at the bodies of the trolls strewn across the floor.

Its strange.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldnt find any reason for why three trolls had come together and left the depths of the mountains to suddenly appear in a place like this.

After all, theres no way that someone could have caught them and purposefully released them

Purposefully?

In an instant, his insides froze over, and Colin quickly looked for the woman who had led him here.

Excuse me.

Ah, Sir Knight. Thank you so-

What led you to come all the way to where I was to ask for help? There must have been other places you could have gone.

Colins location had been quite a distance away from the site where the monsters had appeared.

The middle-aged woman seemed hesitant at first, but she soon replied, Well, thats, someone told me while I was in the middle of frantically looking for help. They said that if I headed towards the central square, thered be a knight on the way, so all I needed to do was explain the situation as loudly as possible and ask him for help

After adding that she was so consumed by fear that she had just done what she was told to do, the middle-aged woman glanced up at Colin.

The blood had drained from Colins face.

Having realized what had happened, Colin hastily turned to the direction he had come from.

My Lady!

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