Lia frowned when she saw her servant pausing for a long time. She had realized his mind worked faster than anyone else, but why was he taking so much time now? She had asked him for a way out only because she didn't know what to do, and she felt utterly helpless, but she had faith in this servant of hers. She knew he could find something that could save them both. "Oi servant, what're you thinking about? I'm asking you something!"
Zion snapped back to reality and glanced at her. Now that he thought about it, this girl had been acting suspiciously since the start. Why did she have unprecedented faith in him? A frown crossed his forehead, and he couldn't help but ask, "Why are you doing this? Just go and do your thing while you can still escape. I'm not being heroic here but presenting a rather important issue. Why do you have to be so stubborn enough to save me, a human? Have you gone crazy or what?"
Lia looked at him as if her human servant, whom she considered brilliant, suddenly turned into a foolish slave. She raised her hand and hit the back of his head. "Fool. Do you think I'm like those hypocrites?"
His hands caressed the back of his head as he looked at her with a complicated gaze. After coming to this world, he understood one thing: No matter what you do, humans are always the bad guys, but how the heck did Lia turn out to be like this? She was also a dhampir princess who lived in the palace before the black-cloaked man destroyed everything.
But why did she start to care for a human? When did she become so powerful that even Princess Edda was surprised back then in the Vanne kingdom? How did Lia's personality become so dark? Being a princess, she should be proud and stubborn, but how did he turn into a bloodthirsty woman who could charge among enemies without thinking twice?
His eyes narrowed, and he changed the topic. Since his current situation was critical, he would put this matter aside for now and focus on escaping.
At present, he and Lia were already here, and he was deeply injured. And no matter how powerful Lia was, she could definitely not overpower a crowd of soldiers when her powers were exhausted. She had taught him all morning and even healed him many times. He was sure that she was on the verge of losing consciousness. He could already see a layer of sweat on her forehead, and she took deep breaths as if she had just run a marathon.
Just a small walk made her so tired. She wasn't in good shape, so fighting back wasn't an option. That left them with only one choice:
"We should surrender."
"Huh?" Lia didn't think he would suggest something like this. She instantly glared at him and refuted. "Why? Do you think I've died and can't fight anymore?! I still have energy!"
"Save it." Zion rolled his eyes at her words and continued. "Your chest is heaving as if you have just exhausted your breath; your clothes are covered with sweat, and it smells pretty bad. I know you're in no shape of fighting back, so better listen to me on this."
"I smell BAD?!" Lia exploded. Even though she never acted like a girl anymore, it didn't mean this human servant could go and tell her that she smelled terrible! She had the pride of a girl, and no one should say to her that her body was leaking a foul odor! She glared at her servant fiercely. "Take that back. Right now!"
Zion ignored her and said, "I'm not saying we should accept that we killed those children, but we should go out without our weapons in front of those soldiers, and let them take us away. I'll make sure we both escape the prison before they could torture out a fake confession from us."
When Zion talked about something serious, Lia had to suppress her anger and nodded stiffly while still glaring at him. She understood the situation too well. They didn't have enough time to bother themselves with such arguments, but why the heck did he have to comment on her bodily scent?!
After that, they both silently decided to leave. Lia put down her weapon and even took out the hidden weapon from all parts of her body and put it down at the innermost part of the cave.
Zion was stunned seeing that. "Just when did you hide those weapons inside your clothes…." He didn't even want to imagine what it would have felt like to be poked by those weapons against her skin at all times.
Lia waved her hand and said coolly, "Let's go. You said we should surrender, right?"
He nodded. "But we don't have to admit that we are murderers no matter what."
After they exchanged a few more words of how to remain cautious, they walked out solemnly.
Outside the cave, just when the soldiers were about to enter, they heard the sound of footsteps coming from the darkness. The chief soldier frowned and gripped his sword tightly. Just then, they saw two people walking out with severe expressions on their faces. One of them was wrapped in a cloth that showed traces of green-colored herbs being applied to the skin, while another looked like a harmless little girl who seemed as if she couldn't even afford to buy herself good clothes.
But the chief soldier knew better. He had heard how the human behind her had managed to escape the crowd of civilians twice! It should mean that the master of this human must be even more dangerous! They had seen how she left the restaurant in such a mess back then. How could they leave these suspects out there? Even though the soldiers didn't have any evidence, the elves really didn't want to doubt their people.
It was better to make someone else their scapegoat and force the dhampir girl and a human to take responsibility for the crime. And it wasn't as if the elves even considered the fact that the dhampir and her servant hadn't committed the crime. The feeling of patriotism came to them naturally, so in their hearts, the human who was found wandering around the street late at night had already become the criminal who had killed almost hundreds of kids.
Just as the chief soldier saw the two people coming out from the cave, he looked at them with eyes full of hatred. Then he ordered his subordinates. "Capture them!"