Under the gentle strumming, Eina's eyes began to flicker. Finally lulling her into a peaceful slumber.
Although Elena had already understood this piece, she continued to play, a tender gaze falling on the young and beautiful girl sitting opposite.
As the two of them grew up, they received more attention from the other prostitutes. Which proved to be a double edged sword. Although they could receive some assistance in gaining access to the information gathering portion of the brothel, but it also made them a target for the other head candidates.
It could be that the madam seemed happy to watch all sides fighting, or she was busy with other things, so she had mostly stayed out of it. Which naturally led to countless attempts to ruin their reputations, and even attempts at their lives.
The reason why Eina was so uncharacteristically tired was exactly the latter reason. The batch of girls above them were two years older, which made the head candidate sixteen. Seeing her seventeenth year approaching, knowing that her debut was imminent, she knew that Eina and Elena were the people that the madam had paid the most attention to.
Unwilling to accept her fate, she wanted to get rid of her strongest rivals, so she privately found the help of one of the noble guests that had shown interest in her.
Naturally all things come at a cost, so a promise of a private encounter when the job was complete was agreed upon. After all, even if she can't become the next madam of the brothel, perhaps she can fool the nobleman into taking her home as a concubine, where she could try to live a semi peaceful life.
The nobleman in question was quite a well known profligate. As the nephew of the general stationed in the southern border, not only did he not show any signs of inheriting his mother's, natal families virtuous character. He instead focused on partaking in drinking, gambling and prostitution.
His mother, being born into a generals family, naturally understood discipline and some strategy, was obviously unhappy with his actions, but after all he was her son, so she could only turn a blind eye to it. Worried that her son would offend someone he shouldn't, and with his weak and untrained body, be unable to escape, so she asked her eldest brother for some people to protect him.
The general in charge of the southern border was truly a man of righteousness, but he had one notable flaw. He was extremely pampering towards the female members of his family. Their family had always been harsh on the men, training them from young to fight on the battlefield, while the girls were free to follow their own interests.
Which meant that although he didn't agree with how his nephew acted, but when his sister asked him for help. How dare he say no? At least his nephew hadn't done anything illegal. Never forcing innocent women, nor did he kill wantonly. So the general sent some guards to his sister, that would hide in the darkness and make sure to protect his nephew when necessary.
This all led back to the reason Eina had been so tired. The head candidate had given a map of the backyard of the brothel to the nobleman, who in turn handed it to the guards that were protecting him. And although they felt that they shouldn't be doing such immoral things, after trying to report his actions to the young man's mother, she who had been busy helping her husband deal with the various affairs caused by the turmoil in the court waved them away without hearing them out, saying that he can make his own decisions.
This oversight would naturally lead to a much worse consequence for them. That consequence being Eina, who for the longest time had to bottle up her murderous intentions.
The head candidate had other plans to cooperate with the guards sent by the nobleman. She used her spy that she had managed to plant in Eina and Elena's kitchen as an inconspicuous helper to drug their meal. If the attack failed, then at least the poison would take effect.
She also gathered up the eunuchs that she had bribed, to attack the courtyard, before burning it.
Such an attempt cannot go unnoticed, Eina with her now extremely high senses, could smell the problem coming from the meals. And heard the movements coming from the distance. The two had been expecting that head candidate to do something, so Eina told Elena that the time had come.
Elena's control of the servants showed its ability at this moment. After dragging out the spy from the kitchen. Elena had her beaten to death in the courtyard, while ordering the eunuchs that belonged to them, to ambush the ones that were coming towards them.
The guards sent by the nobleman however, were the most difficult. These men had all participated in extremely dangerous missions for decades. They lived life on the edge of a blade, much like Eina.
If it wasn't for the difference in martial arts training, as well as Eina's own experimentally enhanced abilities, she might not have left this battle unscathed.
The six guards sent had never underestimated an opponent, plus they were able to fight with a tacitness only forged through countless life and death situations.
Eina didn't allow Elena to join the fight, even if her martial arts were not weak. Her experience was almost zero. Against these people that she considered on par with her, she would never allow Elena to take that risk.
The assassination attempt lasted until the early hours of the morning. The eunuchs sent by the head candidate ran into the ambush set up by Elena, which resulted in a bloodbath. The maids in the courtyard had sealed off all the pathways leading towards the courtyard, to block out any prying eyes that might have sensed something amiss.
Eina had managed to draw the six guards away from the brothel, into the city and finally free from worry of exposure, where she could use her unrestricted strength.
The guards thought they had seen through the abilities of the woman opposite them. Obviously they could see her pulling them away from the brothel. But they all thought that she might have help somewhere in the city.
When they reached the rooftops of the main street in the business district, they no longer held back, wanting to end this fight as quickly as possible.
Eina had the same idea. The patrolling government soldiers heard the sounds of weapons clanging and rushed towards the business district, but by the time they had arrived only six bodies were found in various parts of the street. Which obviously caused quite the commotion for the inhabitants of the city.
After Elena had the corpses of the eunuchs burned, as well as the area cleaned up. She waited for Eina to return.
Although the longer she waited, the more worried she became, but she trusted Eina's ability. And knew that she was not so helpless.
Luckily the waiting paid off, and Eina returned to the courtyard. After taking a bath in Elena's room, she then sat down on the soft couch to listen to Elena's strumming of the qin.