Chapter 243: Caught up
Even though he did his best to not leave a trail, his tendrils snapped a few branches while he moved forward among the thicket. He made sure not to let any of the branches. .h.i.t his companion, though. As he quickly moved through the trees like a monkey, he kept looking out for the people chasing them.
The pursuers had just crossed the spot where Leo and the girl had jumped off, which gave him a sense of relief. However, the relief slowly morphed into guilt. The people chasing were now after Damian and Jennifer, who would be defenseless against them.
If Leo had shown his true power, then he could have saved the lives of all those people. However, to keep it hidden, he had to stay silent and let them ride off to their deaths. His expression of guilt was plastered all over his face, garnering the attention of the girl.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked with her soft voice.
He slowed down a little while turning to face her. His eyes were ambushed by the sight of hers.
"Sorry?" He asked, confused.
"You look sad, so I a.s.sumed that the pursuers were already here." She explained.
Leo raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"You are very attentive," he commented. "No, nothing is wrong for now. I just thought about everyone who willing acted as bait for both of us to-"
He stopped talking, realizing that he was projecting his guilt onto her.
"For us to escape? You shouldn"t be blaming yourself. Rather, you should be blaming me. If it wasn"t for me, then a lot of people would have their lives."
Leo"s eyes were still looking into hers, finding more guilt than he had. He looked away and started looking for places to take shelter. His aura was starting to empty out and they were already a mile away from the road.
There was a very small chance that anyone would catch up to them in a short amount of time. He wanted to take a break to recover his aura before leaving again.
His eyes drifted around before landing on a tree in the distance. It was an abnormality among the forest, towering over the rest. As he got closer, its size became more apparent.
Leo gently landed on the ground, letting the girl down from his grip. She stumbled forward a step before regaining her footing. freew eb
"Are you alright?" Leo asked. She nodded in response.
"We are going to stay here for a few hours before moving again," he explained his plan to her.
"Why are we moving in the night?" She asked him. "Isn"t it more dangerous?"
"It is, but we don"t have a choice. I don"t think that the people chasing us will stop till they capture you, so we can"t give up our nights." Leo said. "If you want though, we can rest for the night."
"No, it"s fine. I appreciate that you are doing so much for me, but it makes me curious. Why do you care at all about this?" She asked him.
Leo shrugged. "Money is generally a good answer, right?"
"Not for you, someone who is one of the best students at Eldridge Academy. Your worth is a lot more than the few million Starcoins you were offered, right?"
Leo chuckled. "Don"t worry so much about why I am doing what I am doing. I took the job, so I have to finish it."
"Is it to get away from the people in the academy?"
Her response made him shudder. She was eerily right about why he chose this job. He didn"t know how she came to that conclusion, but he quickly put up a guard against her.
"What makes you think that?" He asked her. After seeing her pondering face, he decided not to dwell on the topic. "Never mind. We are now here."
The girl looked up and saw the huge tree in front of her. The trunk alone was 3 meters thick, making her look skinnier than she was in front of it. She looked up to see a dense collection of branches, none letting the sun past them.
"So, I never really got your name," Leo said.
"It"s Mira," the girl said.
"Well Mira, I have to recover my aura. To do that, I will be meditating on the tree. Meanwhile, you should rest here on the ground. If there is any danger, I will be there," Leo said.
He took out a set of sheets and a pillow and set it on the ground. He didn"t have a full tent with him because he never expected to be in the situation he was in. Once he set them on the ground, he jumped up onto the tree.
His nimble body glided from branch to branch until he picked one hidden deep inside. He sat on it and spread out his perception, making sure the entire area was safe. As he did that, he noticed what Mira was doing.
She set down the sheets without any complaints and put down the pillow on the ground. After that, she immediately went to sleep as he said without any issue.
Apart from her, there wasn"t anything of significance to him. The strongest monster around them was a 1st Circle Magical Beast. Once he had this information, he closed his eyes and started recovering his aura.
Two miles away from them, Damian and Jennifer were galloping on their horses. They had already traveled a huge distance, but they didn"t hold any hope. Behind them, the silhouettes of the 4 hors.e.m.e.n chasing after them were getting closer.
Both Damian and Jennifer knew that it was the end for them. However, they hoped that Leo would do his job. It wouldn"t change their fate, but it would make their deaths meaningful.
As they rode forward, an arrow wedged into the flesh of the horse that Jennifer was on. It neighed loudly and lost its footing. The horse and its rider both tumbled to the ground, skidding to a halt.
Damian looked back at his fallen guard and quickly halted his horse. It skid to a stop a dozen meters away from Jennifer. As he got off, the other two horses that didn"t have any men on them kept riding on.
Once he was off the horse, he patted it and whispered something to it. The minute he did, it raced forward, leaving behind its owner. Damian walked to Jennifer who was just getting up.
They both looked in the direction of their pursuers and saw that they didn"t have any more time. The four horses skid to a stop right in front of the two.
Just looking at the horses made Damian lose any will to look up. Each horse was a Pseudo-1st Circle Magical Beast that towered over him. The particular breed in front of him was known to be a little slower and had a lot more stamina.
But it was also a lot more aggressive, making it extremely hard to tame. Yet the horses in front of him were the most well-behaved horses he had seen, which said something about their owners.
"So, you somehow managed to trick us again," the person in the front spoke, making chills go across the bodies of them both.