Soul Nexus. Volume 1: Before Dawn

20

Lidia: 『 Shun, are you sure this is the way? 』

Shun: 『 Mmm..., kind of. 』

Lidia: 『 What kind of answer is that? 』

Shun: 『 Don't worry, we just have to move North. Plus, it's not very far either. 』

Shun and Max had devised a plan to evacuate the workers from the castle and take them to the frontier for shelter. However, things got out of control due to the intrusion of the gray soldiers into the workers' residential, forcing them to split up and improvise a way to save everyone in the area.

Because this, Shun found us by mere coincidence and rescued us in time from a soldier who was close to capturing me and murdering Mrs. Aarden. Now, with his help, he was guiding us towards the intersection of roads to the North, where he would meet Max and the other workers.

We had avoided using the conventional path to avoid attracting attention, so we snuck through the middle of the dense forest, behind the castle, not knowing if we were really on the right track, we were just walking forward without taking detours. We got our feet wet as we crossed the river and our walk became slow due to fatigue. The maids looked quite exhausted and Shun would hide it, the multiple scratches on his arms and legs indicated that he had been fighting for a long time.

Meanwhile, I continued to question myself about the secrets that my father was hiding, starting with that underground passage that he had prepared: Could it really be an-escape route? If so, then why was there also an alternate path that led to the dungeon and why exactly to that place?

Lidia: 『 Hey, Shun. About what I told you... 』

Shun: 『 The dungeon's secret path? 』

Lidia: 『 Yes. Doesn't that seem strange to you? 』

Shun: 『 Not so much, actually. I imagined something like that was in the castle. In fact, it's probably the same in others... But... 』

Lidia: 『 But? 』

Shun: 『 ... Nothing important. We are almost there. 』

It was as if he evaded the question, he remained silent and thoughtful about what he said. It seemed like something was bothering him about the topic, something that didn't add up very well.

Shun suddenly stopped next to a tree that caught his attention, he inspected the base of its trunk and touched the wet earth with his fingers. All the maids looked at him strangely and curious, trying to guess what he was doing.

Eva: 『 *Mutter* What do you suppose he's doing? 』

Marta: 『 *Mutter* Maybe he's examining the terrain. 』

Gossip Maid: 『 *Mutter* Isn't that a little odd? 』

Jessica: 『 *Mutters* Well, he's always been a little odd. 』

Eva: 『 *Mutters* But that makes him more interesting. 』

Nosy Maid: 『 *Mutter* Besides, he and his brother are quite handsome. 』

Eva: 『 *Mutter* Right? 』

For some reason, hearing their murmurs generated constant irritation and annoyance in me. It was incredible they could talk like that after everything that happened. However, I knew that shouldn't be something I should be interested in, but I didn't understand why something so insignificant and unimportant made me so angry.

Jessica: 『 *Mutter* Again? 』

Marta: 『 *Mutter* What is he doing? 』

Veronica: 『 Son, what's happening−? 』