Chapter 477: Mysterious Attackers
"Three, all of the same quality as yours, Master," Lucas admitted freely, seeing no point in trying to hide things now that he and his partner in crime had been exposed.
"Hah, that girl certainly has a big appetite," Celestina chuckled, shaking her head, "Well, I can’t say I blame her. She definitely needs these things the most."
Of all the powerful female Spirit Initiates in Misty City, Allina Crest was by far the most well endowed.
Celestina wasn’t small by any stretch of the imagination in that department, but compared to Allina, her pair looked more like hills, rather than mountains.
Allina often complained about this, in fact, and it wouldn’t have surprised Celestina if Lucas had been on the receiving end of such grumblings once or twice, which was probably where he got the idea to bribe her into helping him.
"She must have also helped you with the sewing, yes?" Celestina figured.
"En," Lucas nodded, "Isaac and Felicity are talented designers, and the workers here are all very dedicated, but trying to sew together High-Rank 2 Spirit Grade fabric is still a bit beyond their abilities."
"That makes sense," Celestina nodded.
"So... does that mean we should thank Big Sister Allina too?" Eris chimed in.
"Or punish her," Christina followed up, unable to believe that her mother’s good friend, a woman she treated as both an aunt and an older sister, had sneakily done that to her.
"Well, I think we can let it slide this time," Celestina shrugged, "After all, she didn’t have any malicious intent, and the gift turned out amazingly.
Exchanging a glance, Eris and Christina nodded, not really feeling upset.
"Besides, if we get mad at her, we’d have to get mad at this one too," Celestina ruffled Lucas’ hair even harder while watching in amusement as he squirmed.
After having her fun, Celestina decided to ask her always forward-thinking First Disciple, "Do you have business plans for these yet?"
"I do," Lucas confirmed, not feeling the slightest bit of shame as he declared, "I’m sure you all understand how... useful these new undergarments are. They’re sure to sell well. As for the dresses..."
"Say no more," Celestina waved her hand.
"En," Christina agreed, "Some of the more conservative nobles may object, but the fashion-conscious women of the capital, like my mothers, will surely go crazy for them, and once that happens, you won’t be able to keep up with the demand, even if you set the price ridiculously high."
"That’s the idea," Lucas grinned, "Which is why I hope you 3 will do a good job modeling for me when the time come..."
*WHACK!*
.....
It definitely wasn’t Lucas’ original intention to use his Junior Sister’s 16th birthday as an advertising event for the new fashion brand he was trying to launch, but he also was of the mind that when life presents you an opportunity, why waste it?
For his ’practical’ mindset, Lucas only received a light smack upside the head, a rather lenient punishment compared to the beating he had taken earlier.
Finished what they had come here to do, Lucas and the rest of the crew were about to leave when all-of-sudden, someone burst through the tailor shop’s front door.
It was an out of breath runner from the Raging River Legion, clearly here to deliver a message to Celestina.
Recognizing this, the previously smiling, joking woman instantly shifted into a serious mood and ordered, "Report."
"General, it’s..." the runner began, before noticing that Celestina wasn’t alone.
Lucas, Christina, and Eris were one thing, they were the General’s Disciples, so there were very few secrets they weren’t already privy to, Isaac and Felicity, however, were just ordinary civilians.
Seemingly understanding this, the two tailors quickly excused themselves, moving to the changing room where they planned to collect the new dresses and accessories and mark them for some small adjustments.
As for their new underwear... Celestina and the girls had actually asked if they could just keep wearing them, and since Felicity couldn’t find a reason for them not to, that was what they were doing right now.
The moment the pair were gone, the runner continued, "There’s been another incident, General."
"Survivors?" Celestina asked pointedly, though she was fairly certain she knew the answer.
"None," the young solider replied solemnly.
"What about our response team?" Celestina followed up.
Frowning, the runner reported, "Same as always, by the time they arrived, there was no sign of the attackers."
"Understood," Celestina nodded, "Conduct a full investigation. I want the results on my desk by tomorrow at noon."
"Yes, General!" The messenger saluted before dashing off.
"Master?" Eris asked what was going on, in not so many words.
Lucas and Christina were also looking at her curiously, wondering what had happened.
Over the past few months, Celestina would sometimes disappear from Misty City, along with several other powerful masters from the Balfour Family Guard and the Raging River Legion. There had also been a noticeable increase in the number of patrols both inside the city and being sent out by air and by river.
Clearly, something was going on.
At first, the trio of children thought it might have something to do with the planned smuggling crackdown or the potential war with the Darr Kingdom, but given what they’d just heard, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Sure enough, Celestina let out a sigh and explained, "Around the beginning of March, we began receiving reports about villages up and down the coast of the kingdom being attacks by mysterious raiders."
"Isn’t that..." Christina began, but hesitated, feeling a bit off-put by even saying such tragic events were ’normal’.
Celestina, understanding what her Third Disciple was trying to say, nodded, then shook her head, "Bandits and pirates aren’t all that uncommon, but these attackers were... different. Instead of only caring about plunder, these raiders were far more bloodthirsty. It was almost like killing civilians was their primary objective, rather than stealing from them."
"What’s more... as far as we can tell, no one from any of the villages was taken alive," Celestina followed up, her brow furrowing deeply, "Men, women, young, old... everyone, without exception, was killed."