Noel still hid the fact that Anna was still investigating the possibility of another escape route. Since the information was reliable, he had high expectations, but it wasn't guaranteed. So, it was better to hide the information for the time being. It would cause a lot of friction with the Arbiter if they used that secret passage, considering they might have dug a tunnel to connect it.
Paul listened to their advice. Stella and Jonathan also expressed their own concerns, but they weren't that important. At the very least, Paul decided to bring the topic up in the discussion tomorrow.
Last but not least, Paul said, "Alright. I have considered all your opinions. And I will discuss it with the other leaders tomorrow. For the time being, we should begin our preparation for creating the escape route."
"I can understand Iadre's concerns and the possibility of hidden dangers. So, I have decided we will proceed with two more escape routes. However, I can't allow you to go out at once since it will be suspicious."
"For now, Jonathan, Ben, and Zion shall be proceeding with the construction of the bridge. Stella and Noel will be preparing for the platform, but they haven't built it yet. It won't be hard to build them, so I want you to procure the materials first. The other three will build it after they are finished with the bridge."
"Are three days enough?" Paul asked the trio.
"Well, this is only an emergency bridge. So, there's no need to be that sturdy. All we want is to let some people cross it." Ben thought for a moment. "Three days should be enough. Though, we might barely complete it. So, I'm going to apologize in advance if I can't return to the city on the day of the operation."
"Alright. We can regroup there in the worst case." Paul then glanced at Stella and Noel but didn't say anything.
There was a reason he wanted Stella to accompany Noel. He wanted to keep Noel in check for a good reason. He didn't want Noel to take a huge risk after all. And since Stella always took care of Noel strictly, Noel shouldn't be able to do something big.
Noel also didn't have any objections since there was no reason to reject it. Stella would probably misunderstand the situation if a woman entered his room to give him some information, but it wasn't that big of a deal.
After the agreement, the group was dismissed. Noel was creating some alternative plans in his room most of the time.
Meanwhile, Anna was ready to check on the secret passage. She had covered her face and hair completely. If anyone could find anything about her, they would only see a pair of purple eyes and the fact that she was a woman. Other than that, they wouldn't be able to find anything about her.
Since the secret passage led from the mansion in the center of the city to the other side of the mountain, she had to loop around the mountain, which would take at least half a day just to reach the location. She also had to find traces of the entrance, which would take days.
Hence, Anna had to begin as quickly as possible.
After making enough preparation, Anna left the city in the dark and headed to the mountain.
She crossed the mountain and began to search for any clues. The mountain was covered in thick and tall trees, making it look darker than a normal forest.
Still, Anna had an objective to reach here, and since the brothel's manager had narrowed her search range, she wanted to make sure she found it within two days.
Unbeknownst to her, a great danger was about to befall her.
…
In the next three days, Noel formulated several alternative plans. He should be able to react to any kind of situation in his imagination.
So he was quite confident in tackling this mission. Of course, he still remained careful, unlike on the previous mission.
"Iadre. We're going to meet the other group in front of the river in about two hours. So, get ready; we will leave the city in twenty minutes." Stella, who accompanied him in the last few days, informed him from the outside.
"Alright," Noel replied to her. He didn't rise from his seat just yet as he checked all his luggage and plans to make sure nothing was missing.
It took him about fifteen minutes, so he should leave the inn and head downstairs to the gate as quickly as possible.
However, Anna's sudden appearance startled Noel, who was about to leave his room.
'Alright. I'm ready. I should go now…' Noel thought. He rose from his seat and opened his door.
Surprisingly, there was a figure standing in front of his door, about to knock on the door. Just seeing the pair of her eyes, Noel knew this person was Anna.
He could see numerous wounds on her body. They were superficial and not life-threatening. In fact, they wouldn't even leave a scar on her body.
However, the amount of blood that had flowed out of her body should be quite huge. If this continued, she would die from blood loss.
"Anna?" Noel gasped. On the one hand, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Anna was never in this state before. On the other hand, a deep uneasiness was creeping inside of him.
Anna's body suddenly fell onto him. Noel caught her, but because he was still dumbfounded, he ended up tripping and falling to the floor.
Because of her injury, he instinctively caught her gently to make sure she didn't get any more injuries.
"Anna? What happened?" Noel tried to call her while trying to think about what he should do. He wanted to carry her to the bed and treat her wounds, but Anna seemed to be trying to tell him something. Even though her eyes were shut and her body was exhausted, Anna was trying to warn him about something.
