Chapter 94: The Exiles

“They are late.” Freya frowned as the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky. The convoy that brought the exiles was supposed to arrive at dawn, but all we could see in the harbor was empty sea. As Freya anxiously looked for any sign of the ferry that brought her father, I dispatched some of my clones out into the Darklands, trying to find some more Anathema.

Meanwhile, Felicia and I browsed my class and skills.

“Did you notice Freya was raising her stats when she went up against that assassin-type Anathema?” I asked her, wondering how to get such a skill.

“It’s in the Enhancement Grimoire. The grimoire will be available when your Dark Slayer class reaches level 15.”

“Does that mean Freya has the Dark Slayer class as well?”

“Dark Slayer class is certainly not as unique as the Grimoire from a Dark Magical Girl. I do not know whether Freya has the Dark Slayer class or not, but the Enhancement Grimoire itself is not exclusive to the Dark Slayer class.”

I continued browsing the vault for grimoires and skills. It was only when the sun was almost set that the convoy arrived.

“Quick, let’s hide,” Freya said to my clone.

Yes. I am sitting nicely inside my boxable house while Freya scouted outside anxiously. I dispelled all of my clones as the boat carrying the exiles arrived at the harbor. We moved out of the harbor—almost a kilometer away—to prevent any Guardian from detecting our mana.

“You can’t drop us in the Darklands! Are you here to kill us?” one exile was having a mental breakdown as a Guardian Command official threw them out of the boat. A red and blue Guardian stood guard from a little distance away.

Thankfully, they hadn’t noticed my mana eyes.

“Repent in hell, cowards! Repent for your foolishness that cost thousands of lives!” the official spat as he flung him away.

“We already apologized for our mistakes! Can’t you find it in your heart to forgive us? My daughter is a Magical Girl. Can’t you imagine how saddened she will be if her only father were to perish here in the Darklands?”

“That’s Francesca’s dad,” Felicia pointed toward one of the crying men.

He is not as remarkable as when I remembered him at the trial. Well, it’s probably because they were crying their hearts out in despair.

“When will they leave?” Freya tapped her foot on the asphalt as she anxiously waited for the boat to leave. The Guardians, who hadn’t spoken a word until now, frowned, as there was no Anathema nearby.

“Should we wait until an Anathema devours these exiles, or should we leave?” the official smirked. I was disgusted at their open hostility. But if I think hard about it, they might have lost a relative in the NewLake and NewHill incidents. Their hostility was understandable.

“You are a Guardian from Enra, right? You should understand. All of this was just a mistake!” Freya’s father pleaded with the two Guardians that escorted the official.

“A lot of my friends were in the incident. If only you would have heard the evacuation orders, they would have been saved. You might have been my boss once, but I don’t want to forgive you,” the Guardian spat.

Oh yeah, there was an evacuation order before the attack. In fact, I was there, in NewSoil, evacuating those civilians.

I sighed at the venomous words the official and Guardians spat on them. Humans are scary. I don’t think I want to bear that responsibility. This much hatred. It was unbearable. I wonder if I should continue being Shirayuki’s contracted Magical Girl with Shining and the others. I would rather do a solo mission than handle these abuses. At least, I don’t have to be responsible for other’s lives.

“Should I mute the voice?” Felicia asked when she saw me wincing as I heard those venomous words. I shook my head.

“No. It’s fine. Let’s include that in the report.” I sighed.

“Done.”

“They finally left!” Freya was about to leap to her father, only to be stopped by her familiar. “Twinklebell…”

A fairy spawned beside Freya, explaining the situation. “We should wait until the boat is out of sight. If they catch you, General Armstrong, who helped you, will not go out unscathed.”

“Ugh… but what if my father leaves and an anathema that we missed gets the jump on them…”

“It won’t happen. There are no usurpation zones here, and we kept watch from out here, right?”

I realized Twinklebell was just trying to comfort her. She should know that in the Darklands, usurpation might happen anywhere, anytime. Yet she didn’t say it. I looked toward Felicia, wondering whether she had ever mixed some lie in the words spoken to me.

“Have you ever lied, Felicia?”

“We familiars also manage your psychological health. We are completely on your side, so instead of following every word our host says, we go a step further. Twinklebell knew what Freya wanted, and she chose the best option. If she told her the truth, Freya might have jumped the gun and foiled everything she had worked hard for.”

“Thank you for your honesty.” I sighed. I should not have asked.

As soon as the boat was out of sight, Freya didn’t waste any time leaping from our hiding spot to her father. The group was frightened at first when they saw a figure heading their way, but they were relieved when they found it was Freya.

“Freya!” Her father hugged her as she leaped into him. “As expected of my daughter. So, did you convince the Guardian Command to release us?”

“Erm… no. I couldn’t ask the Guardian Command to change their decision. But thanks to Yuri and Lily, I secured a place of refuge in one of Shirayuki’s oil rigs.”

“What? Are you expecting me to work as a clerk? Moreover, for Shirayuki?”

“Dad, just until the heat recedes…” Freya said.

To be honest, this situation differs from my father. I don’t think Freya’s father will ever be accepted into Sanctuary City anymore after what he did. If even Guardians, who were known for their benevolence, hated him, the people would be even more so.

Through the forum, I also knew the previous exiles were still getting some hatred from the families of those who perished due to their mistake.

“Well, I guess that’s it. Damn that Lexus. He was so cunning. He should be here together with us, yet he skipped the blame just because he didn’t answer a phone call? What an excuse!” Freya’s father cursed. The exiles behind him nodded their heads.

“That Ling Shi too. Traitor!”

“He is not sorry at all, is he?” I asked Felicia through telepathy.

“I am not sure what you mean by sorry. But he seemed agitated by his punishment,” Felicia cleverly avoided the topic.

Oh yeah, I am still on the clock. This will be written in the report later, so Felicia can’t influence me.

“So, is this Black Lily? Great! Good job, Freya. If we get Black Lily, who approved the previous exiles for an exemption, we too can repeal this exilement!” Freya’s father looked over at me as I walked slowly toward Freya.

“Are you here to help us?” the exiles cheered as if I were their savior. It made me sick.

CEOs and shareholders are an ambitious bunch. So, it was understandable that they still desired to rise again to the top. But to me, they are delusional. I guess my father was still better than them. I wonder if this kind of behavior, similar to my mother, was the norm.

“No. I am here just to escort Freya,” I answered, hiding my true feelings. I certainly hope my trained façade could fool these guys.

“I see. Sorry. I just assumed…” Sensing my disdain, they took a step away from me.

“Don’t be so distant, Lily,” Freya said.

“Hm? Something is there?” I sensed a distortion as I scanned my surroundings with my X-ray. At the far end of the sea, there was a distortion. It was just a flicker. If this was human-made goods, I would attribute it to equipment failure, but this is a Zenith’s magical technology. There shouldn’t be any flickering.

“Felicia, did you sense that?”

“Hm? What?”

“There was a flicker there for a second.”

“There is nothing there, Lily.”

“I see. Did you check the recordings?”

“Yes. I checked the recording, and through your X-ray and infrared, I found nothing abnormal. Hm?” Felicia reported, but she tilted her head in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“There was a mana signal from one of your mana eyes in the middle of the ocean there. It’s supposed to be impossible.”

“Mana eyes?”

“Yeah. It was the one we attached to Lexus,” Felicia said.

Suddenly, my blood ran cold. Lexus was here? Why?

“Where is he? Why was he here?” I asked Felicia.

“He is still a bit of a distance away, but the signal came from there. It should be visible, but for some reason, it isn’t. That means he was camouflaged. And it’s a lot stronger than what Slifer used, since we can’t see him even after using our X-ray and infrared eyes.”

“Connect me to the mana eyes on Lexus.”

“Connecting to your mana eyes now will strengthen the mana emitted by the mana eyes. Doing that will risk the mana eyes being discovered. Do you want to do it?”

“…No… It needs to be hidden. Wait, will it really be discovered?”

“Dunno, nya… We have no idea who our stalker is. I don’t even know whether it’s already been found right now,” Felicia answered honestly. She then continued,

“I simply stated the difference between inactive mana eyes and active ones. The signal strength for inactive mana eyes is so faint that it might blend with stagnant mana in the air, or even Guardians’ natural mana emission. But when a link is formed, even Freya should be able to tell with her skills that something was connected to you.”

“I thought our mana eyes were hidden.”

“It should be. Only someone with specialized magical detection should be able to detect it. But magical detection is common for high-ranking Guardians, as it also helps in finding Anathema. When you level up, I suggest buying a mana encryption skill to mask the signal being emitted by your mana eyes. Then it is an arms race from there—how well the mask works and how strong the detection is. Will you go for this specialization build?”

“I am not a spy…” I groaned. However, her offer was certainly enticing. “Remind me again after I open the next weapon vault.”

“What’s wrong, Lily?” Freya, who was happy to meet her father, came over to me, looking concerned. She saw how my face seemed troubled.

“This is bad. Someone is there.” I pointed out at the horizon. “It’s Lexus.”

“Hm? Where? I didn’t see anything. Twinklebell?”

“Our mana radar returns a nil. There is nothing there, Freya and Lily.”

“Don’t be so paranoid. Let’s go to the oil rig. I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary.”

“…No. We will stay the night here, a bit in the distance. We will not go out,” I said. I have the boat. They couldn’t go anywhere until I said so.

“Lily?”

I then went back to a warehouse while looking at the setting sun, ignoring her plea. I hope I made the right decision this time.