Eislyn got out of the river and eyed the area to see new people with the same white uniform as the Morin Kinkel person; they were carrying things out from the laboratory. The commotion made by Eislyn and the rest wasn't subtle and had caught their attention, but they resumed their work normally. They obviously belonged to an official guild based on their professionalism and attire.
She took a closer look at their attire, there was a prominent symbol of a flower on the chest area which she had seen multiple times in the past. That emblem, as expected, belonged to Trance Association—the largest organisation in Aglia.
Sir Romero must have called them here; could he also be a member of Trance Association?
"Don't tell me the artificial demonic beasts injured you?" Sir Romero raised a question.
"Thanks for finally being concerned about me. Nah, I just went overboard. Didn't I succeed in running away from a pack of them? It's a wonder how I'm still alive," she exclaimed as she squeezed the water out of her hair with her hands.
"You ran away from all ten of them?!" Morin, who stayed quiet, opened his mouth again, and it was because he was shocked by her words. She looked so frail, yet she got away from artificial demonic beasts much larger and more powerful than her? Finding out that she survived was amazing.
Eislyn turned to Morin and waved her hand dismissively at him. "Ah, well, it's all thanks to Sir Romero. I ran to him for help, and he burned them all down before they could get me."
It was the correct decision to leave it to him. As expected of my child.
"Please wait a second," Jaeke spoke, seemingly forgetting that he had previously sworn to remain silent due to the fear of dying at the hands of a certain someone. "Does that mean you were the one who discovered the laboratory?"
"Yes?" Eislyn whipped her head towards Sir Romero and quickly understood the situation. That unreliable face of his. She knew that look!
From her reaction, Jaeke calmly took out his notepad and wrote something.
[Failed to provide complete information to the investigation squad.]
Sir Romero didn't need to take a peek to know what that garbage man had noted. It wasn't as if he intentionally hid it; he just forgot about her momentarily. He would have told him once he recalled it, anyway.
"Since the person who discovered it is awake now, she can tell you what you need to know. Isn't it better that way? You are able to get the primary source."
Don't throw your responsibility onto me!
Eislyn wanted to roll her eyes, but because all of the attention was on her now, she resigned and narrated the same story she did to Sir Romero.
"Is that how it was? You really are lucky! If you didn't run to Sir Romero in time, you wouldn't have made it," Morin said, fully invested in the story.
It seemed like they bought her story like Sir Romero. As expected, she was a fantastic actress.
"Yes, you're right! He's my knight in shining armour!" Eislyn wiped away her nonexistent tears with her fingers.
"Sir Romero is even more amazing than the rumours! I'm glad I joined Trance Association!" There were practically stars shining in Morin's worshipping eyes. Those were equivalent to the eyes of a fan idolising their favourite superstar.
Eislyn didn't know when he suddenly turned into a fan of Sir Romero, but whatever it was, it was working in her favour.
Unlike Morin, Jaeke continued to ask questions. "Due to his mistake of arresting you, he's taking the responsibility to get you to the city?"
"Uh-huh. His mistake caused me quite an emotional damage, you see."
"...Alright, I understand everything now. Thank you for your cooperation."
"It was nothing! I hope I was helpful." Eislyn smiled but then sneezed right after. It seemed like she would catch a cold soon if she didn't change into dry clothes.
Sniffing her runny nose, she looked helplessly at Jaeke. "Do you perhaps have spare clothes, Sir Jaeke?"
"Oh my, forgive my rudeness. I was so into my work that I didn't consider your condition." Jaeke panicked, or at least that was how Eislyn interpreted it. It was hard to tell from his passive voice.
She watched him take out a pouch and pull a neatly folded outfit from it. That pouch was a bag with a dimensional pocket inside it. Despite its small and convenient size, it was a magic item with ample storage. The price of the smallest size of a pocket dimension started from a thousand silver or one gold, but it could only fit one small object at a time.
The one Jaeke possessed must be worth a hefty sum; he took out a change of clothes of all things he could store as the leader of an investigation squad, he must have more stuff in there.
"Sorry, I only have these clothes with me. You can wear the upper garment and use the belt. It'll be like a dress."
Eislyn didn't mind it, so long as she didn't need to keep wearing her wet clothes. She happily accepted the clothes and went to find a hiding spot to get changed. It was a plain white long-sleeved shirt, but on her, it turned into a white dress instead; she used the black belt and strapped it around her waist to cinch it. The clothes were clean and didn't smell as bad as the owner. It was questionable why he stayed dirty when he had clean clothes at hand.
Her wet clothes were placed on top of the bushes where the sun was hitting to dry them, as she didn't want to discard them yet. The comfort of wearing a loose-fitting shirt and sweatpants, no one in this world could understand how she felt. Luckily, it was a sunny day and not a cold day. She would retrieve them before she left this place with Sir Romero.
There seemed to be a rustling noise from a few bushes away, but it was swift and brief. Although she took a second look at the direction of the sound, she didn't hear it again and dismissed it as either the wind or a small animal.
Eislyn went back to the group, and upon seeing Sir Romero, she remembered that he used fire magic and had the idea of asking him to dry her clothes. However, after recollecting the horribly burned artificial demonic beasts, she immediately discarded the thought. She wasn't going to take the risk. Those were her favourite sweatpants.
Sir Romero furrowed his brows slightly at Eislyn, who looked displeased at him when she returned. He really had no idea what was running into that head of hers.
Don't mind, she's just crazy, he thought to himself.
"If you don't mind telling us, what's your business in the capital city?" Morin asked curiously. After all, she was only a child, what kind of reason did she have to go so far to get there?
Sir Romero already knew, therefore, she didn't care if more people got to know about it. It wasn't like it was a secret, and there was no harm to it.
Eislyn proudly revealed her reason, "I'm going to be a student of Peritia Academy!"
"....." There was a soundless surprise between Jaeke and Morin. Their faces were expressionless and for a moment, it looked like they were frozen in time.
It took a minute for Morin to come back to his senses and form words.
"But the minimum age to be able to enrol is sixteen years old."
"That's right." Eislyn nodded; there was an age limit where the academy wouldn't accept enrollments under sixteen or over twenty years old. It was a strange rule, but it was a long-standing rule established by the founder.
"That.... Aren't you a little too young to enrol?" Morin hesitated and didn't want to disappoint an excited child with so much hope, so he tried to reassure her. "But don't let it get to you. Just wait a few more years and you will definitely get in!"
At those words, Sir Romero finally remembered there was such a rule and scanned Eislyn from head to toe. She was really short, her height barely reaching his chest, her face was small and her body was weak with a poor constitution where her stamina and health seemed to be below average. Taking account of all that....
She looked to be fourteen at most—
"I'm eighteen years old, though?" Eislyn was confused and the smile that stayed on her face started to falter when she realised they misunderstood her age.
"—what...?"
"Oh, my?"
"Eighteen?!"
She felt like the longer she looked at Morin, the more she could see his jaw falling to the ground. Jaeke, on the other hand, had his hand over his mouth as if he had just discovered a big secret, but his face was still on the default. What was stranger was Sir Romero's reaction. Why was he making that kind of face? A face that appeared to have received a major blow.
"That's one way of calling me a kid." Eislyn spitted out with an overly friendly tone. "I know I look young for my age. Many tend to envy my youthfulness. At least I don't look like I'm about to die from old age anytime soon, unlike some people."
"....." That last part was definitely directed at them.
Morin realised his mistake and clumsily apologised. "S-Sorry. I acted too rudely, it wasn't my intention.... I was just honestly shocked." His eyes were wet and though tears never fell, the expression looked like that of a sad hamster.
"Wow, if this isn't a surprising revelation! I didn't think you were the same age as our dear Azzy." Jaeke clapped with awe and sighed enviously. "Ah, the beauty of youth~"
What was he even saying? Forget that. Sir Romero was only eighteen years old? Eislyn couldn't believe it. It was her turn to scan back at him. She never thought to take a closer look at his face before and now that she did, his face did bear signs of his age, especially when he didn't frown. Overlooking his cold and glaring look, he had flawless soft skin, void of scars, wrinkles and beard, his lashes were long and his brows rather soft. If he cut his hair shorter and showed his forehead, he would surely look younger. Even with his current appearance, he was fairly handsome and sturdy, and his height should be around 190 cm, making him look more overbearing and mature.
She wondered if he could shave some of his height and transfer it to her, who had a height of only 145 cm....
Whilst Jaeke and Morin had already moved on, Eislyn and Sir Romero had yet to fully accept the reality of being in the same age group.
Since the artificial demonic beast experiment was a big deal, Jaeke, as the leader of the investigation squad, had to concentrate on the laboratory and couldn't entertain them any longer. After knowing that Sir Romero would soon depart, Jaeke threw himself at him to hug him goodbye but was unloved again. He already felt sick of hugging the ground.
The way he acted and the way he talked was the complete opposite. Eislyn thought he was unique and was curious about what he looked like underneath all that dirt.
Morin, the water mage investigator, simply sent them off with a smile and a bow. "Safe travels. I hope to see you again soon."
Quietly watching the other party leave the forest, Morin spoke again, "Leader."
His tone was slightly off, and Jaeke took notice of it. "What's wrong?"
"I feel like she's not a normal person...."
He didn't need to say more for Jaeke to get the hint he was trying to relay.
"She never once questioned us, neither about the investigation nor the laboratory and the experiment," Jaeke pointed out.
"She could be in a state of shock. Water was dumped on her to regain her consciousness, and then she was greeted by strangers."
"If that was the case, she was too calm. Even when she found out she had a nosebleed and lost consciousness. Besides, weren't we having a normal conversation just now?"
"I wonder what identity the person Sir Romero brought with him has. Even if we report it to him, I'm sure Sir Romero is already aware."
Jaeke rubbed his chin in contemplation for a bit. "It's all just speculation in the end. Our mission this time is to investigate the laboratory. We only need to focus on that. We don't have the time to be curious about irrelevant parties. If fate allows us, we will meet her again."
"Yes, Leader."
What was more important was finding the researcher behind this illegal experiment.
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