"I have good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"
Jude skillfully slid down from a Phoebe tree and shook the wood chips and leaves off his cloak before speaking.
"Uh...the good news?"
"The good news is that your Guardian Knight has already captured your castle for you."
"Really?" Ireya was overjoyed upon hearing this and was about to head home when Jude stopped her, "Aren't you going to listen to the bad news?"
"What's the bad news?"
"He and your castle are surrounded," Half-Face said. "There are about two to three hundred fully armed soldiers outside the city, mostly infantry, with a small number of archers, and probably seventeen or eighteen riders, though I haven't found any siege equipment yet."
Miss Rabbit felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her from head to toe.
"The enemy, where did they come from? Did you see the emblem on their flag, which family does it belong to?"
"I saw it clearly, it's the Arias family's rabbit flag," Jude said.
"My stepmother," Ireya could hardly believe it, "has she gone mad? To secretly mobilize troops and besiege the family castle."
"Whether she's mad or not I don't know, but what I do know is that just the two of us and a dog trying to fight against those three hundred people outside the city is definitely crazy."
After scouting the enemy, Half-Face was also ready to beat a retreat, "I've already brought you home, please pay me my fee, the rest has nothing to do with me."
"How can it have nothing to do with you, our prior agreement was that you deliver me inside the castle, and I haven't even seen the castle gates yet."
Miss Rabbit reminded him, "Our oath is protected by Saturday, and I told you from the morning that I carry no money, all my money is inside the castle, you don't want to have come for nothing, right?"
"I could also hand you over to your stepmother. I believe she would be glad to settle the debts I'm owed on behalf of her daughter," Jude muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing," Jude changed the subject, "When is Merlin coming back? He's been gone for two days, and it's about to get dark soon. It's not going to be easy for him to find us in the forest then."
"Don't worry, he has Saturday's guidance. No matter where we hide, he'll be able to find us easily."
"Aren't you a devotee of the Silver Moon Goddess? Why do you have more faith in Saturday than in your own goddess?"
Upon hearing Jude's words, Ireya was startled and after a moment, she found an excuse for herself, "It's not that I have faith in Saturday, I have faith in the Ancient Spirit of the Arias family. Merlin told me it was the Ancient Spirit that guided him to my side."
"I often tell women that it's love that brought us together, but in reality, it's their eye-catching bosoms," Jude shrugged.
"Didn't you say you already believed in the existence of Saturday?"
"I did say that, and before that night, I simply didn't believe in all that supernatural stuff. I don't know how you nobles living in castles surrounded by servants perceive the world."
"In the eyes of a rough man like me who wanders everywhere making a living, it's just crap. Good people, bad people, believers, non-believers—I've seen and chopped them all, and there is no difference when my ax falls, whether you believe in Julius, Pisya, or Diogenes. Believe me, they can't save you."
"If the gods really existed, how could they allow a scoundrel like me to wreak havoc everywhere? Every priest in the temples claims their god is all-powerful, yet how many have actually had the fortune to witness a miracle?"
"That's why I've always only believed in those shiny little things that jingle in your purse. At least they're pure and don't lie."
"Of course, Merlin and his Saturday are different. You've seen his capabilities with your own eyes, heard how that distant unknown being responded to him. That guy has something real."
Half-Face shifted the topic, "But that's also why you should be wary of him."
"Why?"
"People always have a reason for getting close to someone. I approach you for money, Merlin approaches you for his own reasons." Jude had Black Beauty keep watch, while he found a spot under the tree to sit and rest.
Worried about being discovered by soldiers outside, the two did not light a fire that night.
As the sun set into the valley, Jude's face also gradually disappeared into the darkness, but his voice lingered.
"A Foreign God who had never before set foot on the Bratis Continent, getting involved with your Arias family's ancestor's spirit... don't you find it strange that these two are connected?"
"You mean to say that the ancestor's spirit and Saturday have no connection at all, and Merlin said so just to make me believe him?" Ireya was struck.
"I didn't say that," Half-Face took off his new boots, clearing the stones and dirt inside, "I only mean that if I were you, I'd keep my eyes wide open. After all, this is a mad and dangerous world."
Miss Rabbit recalled her previous conversations with Li Yu, and her expression grew complex.
"I always thought you were just a crude, reckless brawler who only recognizes money and nothing else. You're much smarter than you appear."
"You're right. I was the one who first told him about the ancestor's spirit, and at that time, Merlin seemed to know nothing about it… But when we met the second time, he changed his story, saying it was the Arias family's ancestor's spirit that guided him to meet me."
Jude chuckled, "I wouldn't have lived till today with just an ax."
Ireya sighed, glancing at the necklace she wore, which remained silent within.
The girl thought, the family was now at a critical juncture, as scoundrels were about to usurp control. Why weren't the ancestors showing any urgency?
Not finding a way to help their legitimate successor.
This made Miss Rabbit somewhat disheartened, and even a dreadful thought emerged in her mind—could it be that the Arias family's ancestors favored Blanco over her?
Jude took some food from the luggage on the horse, shared it with Ireya and Black Beauty, and then said no more, while the girl, worried about the surrounded castle and reflecting on Jude's earlier words, lost any interest in speaking and just sat blankly on a stump.
She didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly a familiar voice rang out, "Have we arrived?"