After half an hour of back-and-forth, Bella and Wern finally decided on the best course of action. They had taken into account Lowminer presence, proximity to other Lowminer suppliers, travel timeframe and distance.
“Cardinal Steel supply route it is then.” Wern sat back, sighing tiredly.
Bella nodded. “This is definitely the best choice all things considered. How soon we can leave?”
Wern considered her question for a second. “The next supply dispatch is in an hour so.”
“That’s perfect!” Bella’s eyes lit up.
“I suggest waiting for a bit.” Rui interjected. “You can hire a few more Martial Apprentice bodyguards to protect you during the journey.” The mission range limit prevented him from joining her anyway, so Rui didn’t have to worry about sharing credit, he would get paid his share regardless.
Bella nodded. “That’s a good idea.” She turned to Wern. “Can you help me with the mission funds Uncle? I’ll repay you after I consolidate my position.”
Wern smiled warmly. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll be travelling by yourself after all. I wouldn’t want to repeat you getting almost caught by Lowminer gangs without a bodyguard in a dingy little inn like last time. I care for you too much.” He said affectionately.
Bella laughed as she dove to hug Wern. “I love you so much uncle! Thank you.”
“Oh careful! I’m an old man you know.” Earning more laughter from Bella.
Rui couldn’t help but smile at the warm scene.
Yet, suddenly, he felt an ominous chill.
(‘Wait a minute.’) His face froze as he shuddered as though he’d seen a ghost.
“Hm.” Bella noticed. “What’s wrong?”
Rui’s face grew pale as he turned to Wern, sizing him up.
“What’s wrong, young man?” Wern asked with sharp eyes.
“How do you know…?” Rui gulped before continuing. “How do you know Bella was almost caught by the Lowminer gang in an inn before she met me?”
“Hm? Oh that.” Wern replied a little too quickly. “Bella mentioned that at the start.”
“Not she did not.” Rui firmly denied. “She only mentioned the number of times we’d been attacked. She did not mention any other details.”
Bella had already caught on to Rui’s drift. She turned towards Wern, with horror and terror in her eyes.
“Calm down.” Wern raised his hands. “News of the fifteen men beat up by a Martial Artist has spread.”
Rui glared at him. “That doesn’t explain how you knew they were Lowminer gangs, and that they were after Bella.”
Wern glared back, his façade crumbling by the second, before facing her. “Bella! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’ve known you since you were an infan-“
SLAP
A thundering slap resounded through the room as Bella swung with everything. Tears streamed down Bella’s pained face. “Why?”
Wern had toppled over from the force. “Why? WHY?” He laughed contemptuously. “Because this company is EVERYTHING to me. You think I’m going to sacrifice my life’s work for the daughter of the man who caused all this mess?” He spat. “I TOLD Karl to not mess with Lowminers. That he’d die for it. Did he listen to me? NO. Now look at the mess he got me in!”
Rui’s face scrunched in confusion. “Mess?”
“He means the Lowminers.” Bella whispered softly.
“The Wern Company has always associated with Hier Industries. When Karl died, I thought it was too late for me. But they offered me a sweet deal.”
Rui understood. “To cooperate with them for the capture of Bella.”
“Among other things.”
As a company that had large amount of control over supply routes and chains all over Hajin and between Hajin and Laxus, Wern was in a position that was of great utility to the Lowminers. Even if the Lowminers didn’t predict that Bella trusted Wern enough to directly and straightforwardly to him, Wern was still quite useful to them.
“Do they know we’re here?” Rui asked urgently.
“…”
“I said…” Rui grabbed him and used Vital Pressure to inflict excruciating pain.
“AAAAAAGHH”
“…Do they know we’re here?”
“I sent them a message when you arrived via a communication device they gave me, they told me to stall for a bit over half an hour” Wern grinned despite the pain. “That was half an hour ago.”
Rui’s eyes flew wide open. He knocked Wern out with a well-placed chop to the neck. “Fuck!” Rui cursed. He grabbed Bella. “We need to go! NOW.”
He lifted her and sprinted out the office, running at top speed.
“What should we do now! Why haven’t they done anything to us yet if they knew we were here all this time?”
“Because sending ordinary men after you will likely lead to failure because of me.” Rui deduced. “If they send a bunch of untrained gang grunts after you, chances are we’ll escape, all they will have done is alert us and given us a chance to escape and lose track of us yet again. Sending ordinary people is mostly pointless, the reason they haven’t launched an attack yet is because…” Rui gritted his teeth.
“Because?”
“Because they’re sending a Martial Artist. That’s the only explanation that makes sense.” Rui explained with a pained face. “The Martial Artist must have been a district away if Wern was told to stall us for only half an hour. He or she is already in this town somewhere.”
Rui grimaced as he ran away at top speed. He needed to put as much distance as he possibly could between their previous location and them. He took obscure roots and stayed away from crowds where they would draw attention for their speed.
“The best thing we need to do now is to hide unti-!”
WHOOSH
Rui ducked sharply, protectively covering Bella from any harm as they skidded away. He had, almost instinctively, sensed and avoided something coming at them with tremendous force through only the sound of the attack furiously cutting through air.
He got up just in time to throw up a guard to yet another incoming attack.
THWACK
Rui grimaced as he muffed the impact with Acute Edge and Elastic Shift. However, he didn’t stop there. He immediately moved with the strike as he grasped his opponent’s arm with all four limbs, aiming to use Binding Lash to dislocate or even break his opponent’s arm.
But alas, to no avail. The most dangerous part of Binding Lash was well-avoided as his opponent cleanly maneuvered to counter it. However, Rui still managed to drag their attacker to the ground, forcing the battle to enter ground-grappling.
Rui didn’t even turn to Bella, his face pale with effort. “GO. RUN. NOW.”
Bella got up and ran away without hesitation as Rui turned to look his opponent in the eye.
“You’re not going anywhere.” He declared.