Chapter 149 - 149 The mission under a mission (Part 2)

149 The mission under a mission (Part 2)

“What did you just say? Tell me you were not lying right now.”

Henry looks at the girl with a bit of a threat in his tone. Justice need to step between them, and tried to calm his friend. “Relax, Henry, let miss Anne explain everything before you make more assumptions.”

“Fine! I just hate when someone gave us some false hope, that’s all.” Said Henry, who thankfully walk away from Justice and Anne.

Justice took the chance to ask Anne with no one surrounding the two of them, “Were you certain? Tell me, Anne, are you sure?” His face was full of concern for her.

“Look, all I was trying to say, was that I have a breakthrough about this new variant…” She then look around the area, “I need to tell you something, I got some news from the man hospital just now, could we probably go to your tent?”

Intrigue by her information, Justice nodded his head, “Of course, we could talk in my tent…” He took glanced at Henry before he whispered to Anne, “You should probably know, Henry will be there as well.”

“Don’t worry, It’s going to be fine, but perhaps, you could also call for Vale?” Anne asked Justice innocently, and the crown prince begin to have some sort of jealousy towards his friend.

“You… asking for Vale? Why?” Asked Justice to her.

“We are going to need a magi to protect us on the journey, don’t you think?” Said the healer, giving him some points.

.....

Flustered by her innocent answer, Justice grew quieter and chose not to meddle in his embarrassing display of jealousy. He called for Henry and asked the knight to call for Vale. The three of them go to Justice’s tent in silence, because no one wanted to do some small talk.

Inside the tent, there’s a small drawer, a large bed with a curtain for privacy, there’s a desk with so many documents, and three single sofas with a table and a small stove. It was a cozy tent, but not with all the fancy or luxurious add-ons.

“Let me brew some caftea, Vale will probably take some time to be here,” Justice said to both of them, his hand already holding into a teapot.

“He was sleeping, of course. It will take a while.” Henry agreed with Justice, something that only a close friend knows.

Vale indeed came after half an hour passed. Anne, Justice, and Henry kept it civil between them by not talking to each other for the whole half an hour they were waiting. When the primary captain of the magi walking inside the tent, the looks on the three of them were full of relief.

“My apologies. I was fast asleep.” Said Vale with a smile on his face, he looks at Anne and tried to ask her directly, “I’ve heard Anne. Did you get some sleep? I left you before your shift, so…”

Anne intercepted his sentence. The glaring eyes of two other men already gave her a red flag. “Oh, no! I am fine, I got some sleep, thank you, Vale.”

“Could we just begin with your story already?” Henry was already annoyed, after seeing how intimate Vale interacted with Anne.

Anne took a deep breath, already used to the rudeness Henry displayed on her, “Last night, I asked my familiar to… Uhm… assessing one patient that I just gave permission to get a test… Little that I know, I got another piece of news, most of the critical patients having another high fever, sadly three of them are dead.”

“F*ck! This is not good news.” Muttered Justice, he asked Anne another question. “But there must be a breakthrough that makes you want to go outside of the encampment. I mean, you probably realize something amiss, right?”

“Yes, but I need to confirm my suspicion first, and to do that, I need to go to the valley where the first victim gets infected.” She looked around, and tried to explain to them of how crucial this step is, “I know this could be dangerous, but, please believe me, this is the only way, I need to confirm it, well, me and Hector.”

“Hector?” The three gentlemen raised their eyebrows, demanding Anne to explain another man’s name.

Rolling her eyes to the three gentlemen, Anne told them about who Hector is, “He was my teammate, an alchemist. He will be the one that conducts any test of all of my founding later on.”

“Oh, your teammate I see, it was funny to see that you have so many men on your team.” Henry tried to mock her, but Anne stayed quiet this time, there is a more pressing matter than having a fight with Henry.

Justice took a stand and goes to his desk. “I’ll make the assignment paper now.” He glances at the other three with his piercing red eyes. “Well, what are you doing here? Pack your things. We are going together.”

“Wait? You’re going with us as well?” Asked Anne, a bit flustered by Justice’s decision.

“Yes, I… I need to make sure this mission will be successful.” He answered Anne with a warm smile on his face, although there was another reason for his involvement. Henry and Vale still refused to make amends. Justice needs to be there to be the in-between person.

“How far this place is?” Henry asked his friend, who already know that he will go with them.

Justice put the glassmap on the table. “Not that far, only three hours’ walk from here, but the terrain is what concerns me.”

Vale stared at the glassmap and saw the detailed picture of the area. “Oh, Gods! It is on a cliff? How come?”

“The water source was inside a cave, pure water. The guard got bit by the moskeetos after he was bathing inside the cave.” Said Justice, while he put everything that he need inside his pocket.

“Wait, the guard got bitten after he took a bath inside the cave?” Asked Anne so suddenly.

“Uhm… According to the report that I have got, yes.” Justice gave her the confirmation.

“No… I need more tangible proof…” muttered Anne. The three gentlemen were curious by her sudden question. She looks at Justice, ignoring their curiosity. “Let us meet at the gate in ten minutes. We must go as soon as possible.”

Anne, who’s having thought about another thing, left Vale, Justice, and Henry in a hurry. The three of them just look into each other and let out a sigh. For them, this journey is going to become an interesting one indeed. Whether or not they were ready for it.