"Anna? Oi, what happened? Who did this to you?" Noel kept asking Anna while carrying her to his bed.
On the one hand, all kinds of worries crept into his heart. On the other hand, he didn't have time to think about it.
While he was carrying Anna to the bed, Anna seemed to be able to open her mouth before passing out. However, she was so weak that she could only utter two words. "Don't… Go…"
These two words startled Noel. Noel hurriedly put her on the bed while looking at her body.
He had to close her wounds first, but he had to meet with the rest of the group. At the same time, her message caused a lot of thoughts to appear in his mind.
"What do you mean by "don't go,' Anna? What happened to you?" Noel gritted his teeth before realizing she had passed out. Her breath was stable, but weak.
"Kh." Noel gritted his teeth. He could be late, but if he was too late in treating Anna, she would seriously die.
"I need to treat her." Noel decided to focus on treating her first. He opened his bag and took out a few rolls of bandages. He also came down to bring a basin filled with water.
But there was a problem. Anna's body was covered with injuries. He knew that if he had to treat all her wounds, he had to strip her. As a noblewoman, it was a big taboo. If such a scandal ever spread, her reputation would be ruined. And since the rumor would lead back to him, if she ever got engaged with someone else, both families would surely point their swords at him.
That was why helping her alone carried a huge risk.
"It's still better than dying." Noel clicked his tongue, steeling his resolve. He hurriedly extended his hands, preparing to take off her clothes.
However, someone suddenly banged on his door while shouting, "Iadre. You are late. Are you still inside? We have to go now! The rest are already waiting."
Noel was surprised, but his lips couldn't help but curve downward. He didn't hesitate to open the door, finding Stella outside. Since she was the one who watched him for the last few days and she was one of the fastest among them, she returned to the inn to bring Noel.
And this was enough for him.
Stella was completely confused, but Noel immediately pointed at Anna, who was lying down on the bed. "Stella. Help me!"
"What are you doing?" Stella wanted to get angry, thinking Noel was late because he was playing with a woman. But when she took another look at the woman, she was full of injuries, and her appearance was familiar to her. "Huh? Isn't that Anna Stargaze?"
"We don't have too much time. Please help me treat her. It will be bad if I'm the one who treats her." Noel hurriedly dragged her to Anna while picking up a cloth so that he could cover his eyes.
Of course, Noel had to leave the room in this scenario. But he had to make sure Stella didn't kill Anna, considering only Rose knew about the entire matter related to Anna. In addition, Anna's words and situation might cause the mission to shift in a whole new direction.
Stella was confused. She looked at Anna while gritting her teeth, remembering the anguish she felt when she knew Anna had killed Noel. She wanted to refuse, but she decided to see the bigger picture by asking, "Are you two friends?"
"Yes. She is important to me." Noel nodded without hesitation.
After listening to it, she grabbed the cloth and put it in the water, ready to wipe her wound.
"I'm sorry, but I have to remain here. I have a few things to say."
"I surely want to listen to it. But before that, you should have an explanation as to why you're going to be late, right?"
"Yeah. First of all, Anna has been cooperating with me. We had information about the secret passage of the Count Family that is linked to the mountain. So Anna went there to find the passage's whereabouts since it might be useful for another escape route. I didn't tell you and the others because we still haven't found it yet."
"In any case, before Anna passed out, she told me not to go. I didn't understand what she meant, but it seemed that the mission would be extremely dangerous." Noel expressed his concern.
On the one hand, he wanted to stop and reassess the situation. On the other hand, Stella said, "If this is our mission, then yes, we can postpone it to reassess the situation. But this is a joint mission. Even if you trust Anna, the others don't know about her. Do you think you can stop the others from going?"
Noel couldn't say anything, fully knowing that it was impossible to stop the mission. He thought for a moment and said, "I know that. However, I don't know Anna's exact strength, but she should be at the same level as me… when I'm using both of my elements."
"Yet, despite this kind of strength, she is injured to this extent. Of course, I'm thinking about the possibility of another Spirit Grandmaster, but she is already aware of the joint operation as well as the Spirit Grandmasters we have. But even with all that information, she still asked me not to go."
Stella fell silent. She could understand the concern. However, it was impossible to stop the mission, especially with only Anna's warning.
Stella sighed. "Even so, I don't think we can stop everyone from going."
"I know. That's why I'm thinking about what I should do right now." Noel bit his lips. He knew that the mission couldn't be stopped, so he had to make a careful plan if they wanted to enter the enemy's territory.
It might be because she was also a woman and a bit skeptical of Anna that Stella noticed something. She couldn't help but ask, "Why did she tell you not to go?"