While Arthur was explaining his plan.
"Sigh… My legs are killing me!"
"... Why didn't you rest in Durank City?"
"Second brother, how can I rest when I might never see the City of Peace ever again?"
"You're acting like you're going to die…"
"With all this walking I truly might die!"
"That might be for the best!"
"Eldest brother, since when were you able to joke?"
Quan: "..."
"Anyway, do either of you know why the young miss hurried us back to the caravan?" Ren asked. He had been wondering for the past twenty minutes why they suddenly left Durank City.
"Maybe big bro Arthur refused the young miss's propo- mmmph Re- mmph stop!"
"Do you even think before speaking?" Ren asked before taking his hand off of his idiot brother's mouth.
"Second brother this time I did think before speaking."
"...Tch"
"Don't you know I love reading romance books?"
"And?"
"Princesses falling in love with their saviors is quite a common trope." Jiang said with fanatic enthusiasm.
Ren: "..."
Quan: "..."
Ren and Quan simultaneously turned to each other before nodding in acknowledgement that their idiot brother is going to be the death of them.
With twitching lips Arthur jumped off the carriage.
As he walked to the trio he wondered if he should deactivate Mana Sense from being active at all times.
Having infinite mana might not be a blessing…
Jiang, completely oblivious to Arthur's thoughts, saw him walking over, even forgetting the previous conversation as he asked, "Big bro Arthur, did you come to switch places with me?
Smiling bitterly, Arthur replied, "No, I came out to chat and to tell you guys that the reason why Scarlet hurried us back to the caravan is because she isn't feeling well."
Quan: "Arthur, do y"
Ren: "Is young miss"
Jiang: "How is young miss feeling now?"
Despite Quan and Ren not finishing their sentences Arthur understood what they meant.
As for Jiang, Arthur had long known that despite his silly antics during critical moments he can become quite serious.
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Scarlet must have eaten something bad at Moon Cafe." Arthur replied before jokingly saying "Or she ate too much haha. You guys should have seen how much she ate!"
"Young miss has always liked sweet foods." Quan said.
"It's good that young miss is okay"
"I had thought it was because big brother reje mmmph"
"Can't you continue to be serious?"
"No way, I don't want to be like our eldest brother!"
"..."
Rubbing his forehead, Arthur was starting to wonder if he should change the plan.
Quan noticed Arthur was hesitating to speak, "You two, stop!"
And as if his words held some magical power, both Ren and Jiang stopped their bickering.
Arthur was amazed at such a sight, after a brief "Thank you" he didn't say anything more.
Quan, Ren, and Jiang didn't understand why Arthur was acting weird until they heard a voice in their minds nearly startling them, if not for the voice being so familiar and the content of the words, they would have probably alerted everyone.
[Act normal.]
[I know you guys probably have many questions, but save them for now. First, I'm going to teach you guys how to speak telepathically.]
[It's quite simple, all you need to do is while using mana think of who you want to communicate with and speak in your mind.]
[Hello.] Quan said simply.
[Hello.[
[Can you hear me?] Ren asked.
[Yes!]
Noticing he hadn't gotten a voice transmission from Jiang he wondered if he failed only to realize that Ren who was walking beside him glaring at Jiang.
[To do a multi person voice transmission all you need to do is think of everyone that you wish to include.] Arthur said, realizing that only he had heard Quan and Ren's voice.
[Okay, now that you're all familiar with how to use voice transmission, let's get to the reason why I taught you.]
Noticing the seriousness of the matter about to be spoken, they listened carefully, even Jiang.
Finally getting their attention, Arthur first recounted the story he heard from Uncle Thomas about receiving trade offers from Marquess Baret from the Dragon Empire and Cardinal Joshua from the Holy Light Theocracy.
The hardships he had faced in the form of repeated bandit ambushes along the way to the Holy Light Capital.
The supposed ritual that took multiple days to finish before the trade with Cardinal Joshua, concluded.
The alleged smuggling arrest in Sampir before the trade with Marquess Baret was concluded.
Arthur then told them that the bandit ambushes were too coincidental.
How could they know which route Uncle Thomas was taking?
That was unless they had dozens of ambushes laid out.
[So you came to the conclusion that there must be a spy?] Quan said finally realizing why Arthur was being so secretive.
[Yes, even so it was only speculation, so since then I have been watching all the soldiers for suspicious movements; however, they all kept to themselves. It was in Durank City that I found out who the spy was.]
Grasping at what Arthur meant, Quan, Ren, and even Jiang understood who he was talking about.
Quan: [Jeffrey!]
Ren: [Jeffrey!]
Jiang: [Jeffrey!]
After they found out who he was referring to he told them what happened in Moon Cafe excluding his embarrassing feeding session…
[That bastard!] Quan said making Arthur raise an eyebrow, even the mature and steady oldest brother can be crude?
[Damn, to think that so many people had once looked up to him and yet no one realized!]
[To think that the only commoner who rose in military ranks was such scum. He actually dared to harm the young miss!]
The only commoner to rise in military ranks?
That statement from Jiang sounded way too fishy.
He decided to remember that for later, it's best to deal with one problem at a time.
So, Arthur told them the plan, making sure Jiang remembered every detail by making him restate the plan.
Now all Arthur has to do is wait for Leo's rest time to be up before filling him in and wait for the signal which he, Scarlet, Uncle Albert, and Uncle Thomas had decided on.
All the while Jeffrey was completely oblivious to his impending fall from grace.