I wouldn't expect them to hear what I had to say. Those men, without any fear for what would befall them, continued to aim their guns at me and Sofeea.
"Wait! Those uniforms . . ." A bald man pointed his right index finger at me. "They are the Lutalo Aegis Squad."
"Really?" said the burly man, still aiming his gun at me.
"Yes, I'm sure."
Sofeea looked at me and I nodded. "Go for it, Sofeea."
She held out her right palm at those people. A second later, bright green Aegis crystals emerged from it. "I'm sure this is enough proof that we are from Lutalo. Both of us are Aegis Users. I'm sure you people know those who have this ability, and what they can do."
The burly man's eyes widened. Slowly, he and his friends put down their guns and held out their hands in the air. "Forgive us, Lutalo. We should've figured it out since you two managed to walk past the barrier."
'Huh, what barrier?' I thought.
Sofeea continued, "If you guys can wait for my superiors to arrive down here, then I will be truly grateful."
"Certainly. The People's Light welcomes you all," said the burly man.
"So, you guys are expecting us?" I asked.
"Yes. Yes, we are."
About ten minutes later, Hope, Caesar, and the rest popped out of the entrance. Of course, they were stunned by the scenery when they stepped inside.
After that, it didn't take long for Caesar and the burly man to get acquainted somehow, one way or another. It was kind of a miracle that those two could get so friendly with each other.
"We'll be your guide to the leader's place if you don't mind," said the burly man.
"Of course, of course! Show us the way to Evgeny. We came here because we want to talk to him anyway," said Caesar. "Though, if you guys try anything funny, I might have to hang your heads back at Neo Africa."
The burly man and his friends shivered after he said that. "W-We won't. After all, to make an enemy of Lutalo would be a foolish decision."
"Yeah. You don't want to make Ava angry," said Hope with a grin.
"Uh huh. I can be quite scary when I get angry," I admitted.
The burly man didn't seem to doubt my words as he proceeded to walk in front of us. His friends followed suit, along with our groups far behind them.
"I'm assuming Kian did not meet any of these guys when he escaped into here," I whispered to Hope.
"Yeah, he avoided them somehow. There's also the fact that Kian was playing with us back then. He deceived us."
"But why?" I said. "It doesn't make any sense. Then, that Aegis User named Liam who escaped before seemed to play a part in this whole scheme."
"Hmm. He and Kian were up to something. I'm just glad we managed to reveal his identity before anything could happen."
"Uh huh."
As we walked, the civilians that wandered across the streets stopped their tracks. Their jaw dropped at the sight of us. Some of them even shed tears and bowed when we walked past them.
"Hmm." Lily looked at me. "Those civilians who we rescued were threatened by Kian, I suppose."
"Yeah, that was pretty much the case," I said. "Also, that Kian guy lied about the civilians here. It's the opposite of what he said."
"He was quite an actor," muttered Beatrice.
"Yeah."
Caesar turned to both of us. "What are you two ladies talking about? Fill me in too."
Beatrice bit her lip and darted her eyes away from him. It appeared that she didn't like Caesar. I mean, the last time those two were seen together was back at the Mansel Island's military base, where Caesar moped the floor with Beatrice.
Though, if the Freya rebel group really wanted to work together with Gheele, Beatrice herself needed to get over that wall of hers.
"Speaking of which," I looked at Caesar, "where's Gheele? He's not back yet?"
"Hmm? Ah, he wants to spread his Aegis particles all over Germany, Italy, and Sweden, if I remember correctly," said Caesar.
"Oh . . . He did mention that. It's kind of weird not having him in the group."
Sofeea turned to me. "Master Gheele would always participate in any missions the Lutalo was assigned with. Though, this was one of the few exceptions."
I nodded slowly.
The burly man and his friend halted all of a sudden, forcing us behind them to stop as well.
"What is it?" asked Jessica and Inghild.
The rest of us took a peek at a woman who blocked our path.
"Hey! Shoo shoo!" said Caesar.
The burly man glared at him. "You dare disrespects the second-in-command of The People's Light?!"
Caesar was startled by that man's sudden change in tone. He then waved frantically at him and that woman.
"Gomenasai," said Caesar.
"Stop spouting words that I don't know," complained Hope.
The burly man and his friends dispersed to let the dark-skinned woman through.
She was quite tall. I would say her height was about 175 cm. Her ponytail hair was dyed yellow, paired with her gleaming, golden eyes. She wore a fairly loose, blue dress that covered her neck to her feet.
She had a slender body, and from the looks of it, she was probably in her 40s.
"Klaus, Klaus!" said Caesar to an earpiece in his left ear. "Klaus, you there?"
"Yes, I'm here. Why are you revealing your earpiece to them?!" said Klaus.
"That doesn't matter right now. Do you know who is the second-in-command of The People's Light?"
"I don't know. I'm assuming you are talking to him or her right now."
Caesar clicked his tongue. "It's a she, Klaus."
Jessica's Aegis Tracker in her palm responded to that dark-skinned woman. "She's an Aegis User too."
"What?" Caesar looked at Jessica.
"Um." Hope coughed. "The woman you are talking about is just right in front of us. Don't you have any shame, Caesar?"
"Shame? I'm sure you know I'm the most shameless person you have met," said Caesar as he held his head high.
I found myself caressing my forehead. "Ugh."
That dark-skinned woman giggled at Caesar's demeanor. "Forgive me for not introducing myself. I'm the second-in-command of The People's Light. You can call me Jessie."
Everyone went silent in an instant.
She smiled at us, and I knew that she was a nice person just from looking at her. I mean, she silenced everyone without thinking about it.
"I'm Ava!" I said.
"I'm--
"Hope. Hope Domitius," interjected Jessie. "You were a part of our group not too long ago."
Hope looked down after she said that.
The rest of us introduced ourselves to her. Jessie nodded in the end, somewhat satisfied that she got to know everyone.
"Now, let me take you guys to Evgeny. He and the other members of The People's Light have been waiting for Lutalo to arrive," Jessie said.
The burly man and his friends then vanished into the other side of the street, leaving us in Jessie's care. She proceeded to take the role of our guide and led us to a huge white mansion at the far end of the city.
"Wow," I mumbled.
It looked like a typical rich mansion nonetheless, though when we went inside, there were portraits all over the walls. Each one of those portraits had Jessie in it, with a blond man beside her and a baby in her arms. I assumed the man was her husband.
One peculiar thing I noticed was that each of the portraits was the same.
"Um, this feels weird," said Hope.
"Yeah . . ." Even Caesar didn't have anything to say about the portraits.
We arrived at the spacious lobby, with only a wide staircase leading upwards to fill our vision. There was nothing else there aside from the marble floor and of course, the strange portraits of Jessie and her family.
"Evgeny!" shouted Jessie. She clapped her hands a few times.
A tall, grey-haired man emerged from the staircase in front of us as he walked down. Every step he took sent echoes upon echoes throughout the lobby.
Evgeny was wearing a black formal suit along with a dark blue necktie. He was quite old, though Ulii was by far older than him by any means. Once he was at the foot of the staircase, he looked at Jessie.
"This is our leader, Evgeny," said Jessie as she gestured at him. "I'm sure this is the first time Evgeny ever showed himself to outsiders."
Beatrice nodded. "I have only heard about him, but aside from that, I knew next to nothing."
Jessie looked at Hope and smiled.
He frowned. "Yes?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. It's been quite a while since I last saw your face."
"Huh? I'm pretty sure I've never met any members of The People's Light in Russia," said Hope.
"Freya told me everything about you," Jessie said.
"Oh . . . Um, how is she?"
"She's fine and well. Why don't you ask how I'm doing?"
"Uh, what? I don't know you. My apologies, I know I'm forgetful, but I will never forget someone as important as you." Hope lowered his head a little bit.
"Ah . . . That's a shame." Jessie looked down at the marble floor, somewhat disappointed by Hope's statement.
Seeing that, Hope walked over to her.
"I'm pretty sure I've never met you," he repeated.
Jessie smiled and put a hand on Hope's cheek.
"Huh?!" Beatrice and Jennifer said at the same time.
Hope's eyes turned sad all of a sudden just from Jessie's touch. He put his hand over Jessie's and stared directly into her eyes.
"Who . . . Are you?" said Hope.