Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control? Chapter 136 – Blink

Chapter 136 – Blink

Anlesa left the city on the first cart out that was headed for the Nevald Kingdom. The issue was that it took an hour after the talk with the children for it to leave. Maybe it was possible to catch up if they left imdiately, but at this mont, it seed impossible.

[Where are we headed first?] (Eva)

The only person who knew the paths around the kingdom was Luna. Syrus and Eva had seen a map of the kingdom before, but experiencing the land was much more valuable than reading a simple map a while ago.

[First, we will cross the border, then split and hide for a disguise change.] Luna announced. [Then will go from Neveath to Jilldale to Jordan, around the forest, and through Brittilecreak to reach Kelopan.]

Luna knew the path that was fastest and most practical.

[The reason we are dodging the capital?] (Syrus)

They had a look at the map recently, so Syrus knew the way through the capital was faster.

[The tunnels in and out of the capital are under stricter control; you need proper identification to go through those, which we lack.] (Luna)

[Would teleporting past work?] (Eva)

[Potentially, but my teleportation training is still lacking; I’m not sure how far I can go, not to ntion the cost of it.] (Luna)

[We don’t know the current structure of the exits either, so it might not be possible. Let’s stick with your approach, Luna.] (Syrus)

They wished they could take the fastest approach, but realistically, that was impossible. Their targets had faster vehicles, a head start, and the credentials to take whatever path they needed.

So as long as the information was true, they at least held the knowledge of where they would end up.

Crossing the border was an easy feat, as there were no guards stationed at it. Borderlines were usually vague enough between the top of Cancole and the Nevald Kingdom that you only found the guards stationed at the nearest city or town.

[They are going to be trapped for a while…] (Eva)

Eva’s worry grew; she couldn’t imagine the pain those children could be going through.

[I an, yeah. So, if we can’t save them as quickly as possible, then we can at least ensure nothing goes wrong with bringing them ho.] (Syrus)

[But…] Eva fumbled her words. She was just worried, plain and simple.

[At least they are together; there should be no reason to split them apart until they at least reach the centre church. Plus, they should get at least good treatnt if they want to–try and fail–to indoctrinate the children.] (Syrus)

[Unless sothing goes awry again.] Luna had minimal hope. She was trying to force it, but her mind just belied the worst. Whether that be malice or another reason, she could see them throwing the children they didn’t need to the wolves before even making it to the central church.

[You are being too negative. Even if they only wanted to convert one of the children, murdering the others wouldn’t help raise a happy recruit.] (Syrus)

[I’ve seen so who had that hatred crushed.] (Luna)

[I don’t think that is fair to say in this scenario.] (Syrus)

Luna sighed. [You are right.]

[But. For the sa reason, if they let it slip, they knew the church was responsible for the death of their parents.] (Luna)

Luna didn’t say the rest and let the words sit in the air.

[Even if one of the worst results has happened to play out, then all we can do is make sure we burn everything to the ground.] (Syrus)

Anlesa didn’t continue that line of conversation for a while.

Later on, Eva asked. [Why did they take away the children so quickly? It… doesn’t seem like the correct decision at all.]

Objectively, straight-up kidnapping was the worst option to pick. Buying the children or convincing them to co with them would be a better option. But sohow, they choose the worst option for their current situation.

[I guess they were desperate? Potentially too eager could be the reason as well.] (Syrus)

[Their failures at Arisea Station would’ve been a huge blow.] Luna added. [At the bare minimum, it would’ve been a multi-mouth planning operation and many weeks of setup had to go into it, and what they got in return was a slightly damaged city.] (Luna)

[So… It’s our fault?] (Eva)

[That is the very wrong way to think about it.] Syrus slapped back. [I think I told the wrong person about being too negative.]

[Luna, back up on this. Or do you want to deal with a sad Eva again.] Syrus decided to use this opportunity to have Luna’s mind focus on sothing productive. Helping Eva.

[What Syrus said is correct; calling it our fault is a lie, a mistruth, an incorrect statent. Even if we weren’t there, I’d say the city would still be alive, but that possibility isn’t why I said it wouldn’t be our fault. It’s not our fault simply because it is not. They chose an action, and they will pay the price for it.] (Luna)

So of Luna’s reasoning went over Syrus’ head, but she thought it worked.

Days later, they arrived in the city of Jordan. It was a larger city that contained a decent-sized mining industry. The stop here was going to be longer than their previous one, as their body had been reaching its limit.

Entering the city as a pale, brown-haired girl, Eva adjusted their features so they were smaller and had softer features than normal.

To Syrus’ imnse pain, they had to ditch her blade. It got too suspicious carrying around the blade that large.

Hunters were around the Nevald Kingdom, but they were less common, and as such, being one in a place like this created more of a chance to stand out. The size of Syrus’ blade was also out of the norm, so they got rid of it in the forest where they created their disguise. It had been buried, and if it was lucky enough not to have been dug up by soone or sothing, they had the chance to get back the sword.

Their current disguise appeared to be no different from a traveller or a well-packed resident of a city out on a long shopping trip.

Compared to Cancole, the Nevald Kingdom was greener but also certainly more rocky. It had more small mountains, mostly not connected into mountain ranges, and a couple of large ravines.

The weather was warr, not extrely so, but it was definitely noticeable if you spent a decent amount of ti in Arisea Station. For the residents of Cancole, it was likely hard to notice a consistent difference.

[Let’s find a place quickly…] (Luna)

[Already on it.] (Syrus)

Their body was already exhausted. They had spent the last few days jumping from cart to cart without stopping, and if there was no cart, they walked. Finally, the tiredness caught up, and they needed to sleep. Since they were in a city, they chose to sleep in a safe room and in a comfortable bed to recover energy.

With a room and food, Anlesa quickly went to sleep in a small room on the second story of a small building. Room locked, curtains across, she went to sleep in her original form.

Dong!

“What’s going on?” Anlesa pulled herself out of bed and shifted into their disguise. She opened the blinds to the window and noticed the commotion outside.

Ding!

Dong!

Guards were running about, and a large bell echoed throughout the night.

[Looks like a robbery happened, but looks like they were noticed midway through the job.] (Syrus)

[What makes you say–] (Eva)

[Look.] Syrus moved their line of sight to focus on the target down a side street they could barely see into. [They are about to run into the main street.]

The figure, covered from head to toe in a blue cloth that obscured their features, jumped into the main street where nurous guards were standing.

In a blink, the figure was gone

[Oh look, another Space user.] (Syrus)

[That would’ve taken a lot out of them…] (Luna)

Luna knew teleportation with Space was expensive. It was likely the individual wouldn’t be able to do that more than a couple of tis.

Anlesa was about to turn away to fall asleep, as Syrus felt no need to watch the series of events. Sleep was vital. However, Eva and Luna wished to watch.

One.

Two.

Three.

Six.

Seven.

The thief teleported up and down the buildings and in and out of the streets. With a large brown sack tied to their back, they nearly appeared to be a dancing ghost in the night.

[Wait, is that the Blinker?] Eva asked.

[Blinker, oh, you an that thief ntioned on the news board a while back. Yeah, I do. You think this person is them?] (Syrus)

[Well… teleporting does take a huge drain, but this person has done it at least seven tis. That is nearly our max.] (Eva)

Luna didn’t join in the discussion as her eyes were firmly planted

It appeared that the only reason the thief hadn’t escaped yet was that they seed to be toying with the guards. But there was sothing strange—multiple things strange–with the person teleportations, sothing that only got clearer by the second.

[...They aren’t losing montum.] (Luna)

It was the last teleport that sold it. The thief ran and jumped, only to appear midair over a roof, but they were still moving before they touched the ground. Montum couldn’t be kept when teleporting; that was the rule, but sohow, a second core rule of teleporting was ignored.

The first was the cost.

Nine.

Twelve.

Fifteen.

The figure teleported around the city as if it were nothing. Anlesa could only teleport nine tis due to their large mana pool.

[Luna, don’t you agree, it’s amazing seeing the Blinker in the flesh?] Eva was jumping up and down like a child. Watching the chaos outside, unlike the violent sses she was forced to deal with recently, this appeared to be a cody play. With guards tripping into each other and carefully tid dodges from the would-be thief.

[From… What I knew, The Blinker has been around for at least fifty years. I don’t know the age or gender of this person… but they are clearly not the sa as the one I knew of.] (Luna)

[...So they are a different person… maybe a second generation?] Syrus beca intrigued and understood Luna’s feelings of envy, desire, and hope.

[Hmm? Why is that important?] Eva knew that the fact that there were two Blinkers was important, but she felt she was missing sothing that was understood by Syrus and Luna.

[As long as it is not a second attribute that is causing these rule-breaking miracles–] (Syrus)

[Then I can learn it.] Luna said, her mind hungry for the knowledge.