Chapter 184
She was notified the moment the barrier on the mountain was attacked. Since she was the one who had set up the barrier, even minute changes to it were felt by her.
The subtle shift in the air alerted her like a whisper of danger.
Seeing someone attack the mountain in her absence made her immediately return from whatever she was doing.
Her return was swift and purposeful, the urgency clear in her every movement.
In fact, she had gone to fetch Bella back from her training. The individuals beside her were the ones who had been responsible for helping Bella with her element.
Their presence brought a reassuring strength to the situation.
She knew something was up since Sigfor had not informed her of anything. Her instincts, honed by years of experience, told her that this was more than a simple disturbance.
It was most definitely a planned attack targeting the heirs of the major clans in her absence.
The audacity of such a maneuver was not lost on her; it spoke of desperation or bold overconfidence.
“Where are the kids?” one of the figures asked in a deep voice as he headed towards the dorms. His voice carried a note of concern, echoing the tension in the air.
“Hmm, I sense Sigfor’s espera. I will go to him.”
“Teacher…”
Suddenly, a girl with platinum blonde hair jumped down and approached Alison, who had her eyes closed, searching the mountains.
“Found them,” Alison whispered to herself and vanished from her previous spot, appearing in front of a strange sight.
Her brows furrowed as she observed the kids sleeping peacefully before her, arranged in a neat row—as if placed intentionally.
The eerie calmness unsettled her, as if they were part of a larger puzzle yet to be solved.
She made a hand gesture to see if it was an illusion or trap but found none.
She walked up to them, and before she could say anything, Oliver suddenly jumped up, startling her.
His abrupt movement was a stark contrast to the serene setting.
“Whoa! Where am I!? Huh! Teacher Alison, what are you doing here?”
He looked at Alison with confused eyes and asked cluelessly.
“Before that…” Alison took a deep breath and asked him, “What are you all doing here? What exactly happened?” Her tone was gentle but firm, seeking the truth amidst the chaos.
“…Ah, about that…”
Oliver recounted his experiences quickly, naturally omitting the scene where he exorcised the heretics on his own.
“…And then a man with a white faceless mask suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I thought he was also going to attack us, but instead, he knocked all of us out. The last thing I saw was him and the heretics being hostile to one another.”
He paused and watched Alison’s reaction keenly. She had a deep frown on her face as she pondered his words.
Her mind raced, connecting dots that didn’t quite align.
She couldn’t understand how the situation had turned out.
The layers of the mystery seemed to deepen with each revelation.
A group of heretics decided to target the kids and were then intercepted by an unknown man.
Something was odd about this whole thing that she couldn’t quite comprehend.
The pieces were scattered, and the picture remained incomplete.
How could so many people infiltrate through her barrier?
The breach was not just physical but also a blow to her pride.
“Well, good job. Because of my negligence, you kids had to suffer.” Her words were tinged with regret, a silent vow to do better.
She patted Oliver’s head and smiled, while the latter smiled wryly.
“Oliver!”
He suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned to look behind him, only to see the girl who was the most sensible among all the kids.
“Bella!? You’re back?”
He waved at her as she came running up to him.
“What happened? Why are Evelyn and the others lying down?”
She looked worriedly at her sister and the others and went up to them.
Oliver also followed behind, briefing her about the situation that occurred some time ago.
“What… so much happened?”
Bella looked sad as she gently stroked Evelyn’s hair, retrieving a green shining liquid in a vial and starting to pour it into Evelyn’s mouth.
“Oliver, help your friends. Here.”
Alison handed him a few more tubes of healing potion as she went back to gather more details and investigate. She would have to prepare a proper explanation for the clans too.
She believed it might be possible that the person who rescued the kids and dealt with the heretics was someone from the five major clans sent undercover to protect them.
The thought of a guardian in disguise was both reassuring and intriguing.
‘Still, if it’s someone skilled enough to remain undetected by me, then it should be possible for the masked man to be strong enough to deal with the heretics alone.’
She wondered what would happen now that this had transpired.
The Unholy Sun Sect could now be considered as good as gone once she informed the clans about their deep involvement in this matter related to their heirs.
She hoped they would clarify things more properly.
For now, she needed to see Sigfor and discuss this with him.
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“Alphonso, you okay?”
Oliver asked as he helped him drink the potion. Alphonso slowly opened his eyes and sat up against the grass.
“I-I… what happened to the heretics?” he asked, looking around hurriedly.
“Calm down, they have all been dealt with. Teacher Alison has returned with reinforcements too.”
His words were a balm to Alphonso’s frayed nerves.
He didn’t explain about the masked man and other details but simply told a few things to temporarily keep him calm from asking more questions.
The color, which had drained from his face earlier, slowly returned as he accepted the news with a heavy heart. He could still vividly recall the scene of torture in his mind.
Oliver noted this and decided to later ask Alison to send Alphonso for some psychiatric therapy. No matter what, for a child to go through so much, it was understandable that their minds would still be unstable.
“Rest well. I’ll go wake the others.”
He then woke up Daniel, who started coughing violently.
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