Chapter 103: Inside the tower
"What...What is going on?!"
Briella exclaimed in shock at the sight before her. The loud explosion alarmed Ivran and her. They hurried to here at once.
But the first thing they saw upon arrival was Althea standing with her spear pierced through the heart of the frail-looking girl they were supposed to be healing. It didn’t help that Hestia stood between them, wrapped in vines and dried smears of blood over her clothes and face.
Ivran didn’t say anything. He observed the surroundings in silence. As an old Knight, he had seen far more disturbing things. He left the ladies to recover from their shock.
Briella’s shrill voice pulled them out of their stunned state. Hestia retracted her vines and hugged Alice’s lifeless body. Althea gave it a jerk, pulling it smoothly, careful not to harm the woman’s body anymore.
They laid Alice on the floor, with care and respect. She attacked them but her last words...rather her tone and look sent shivers through them. It would be hard to explain to others. Only they knew how it had felt.
"She was being manipulated...I think. She attacked us," Hestia started to talk. The others leaned in. Even Althea didn’t know the specifics. She happened to be near when she saw Hestia struggling on the floor.
"It started when the old man from the slum rushed out of his son’s room to get a clerk..."
Hestia narrated how she met Old George, diagnosed Gorge, and finally the words and behavior of the young boy, recovering from his captivity. Althea helped her with the battle part of her story, especially the final moment.
"We are lucky you were there, Hestia," Briella said, sighing in relief. "If it had been someone like me, I would have knocked the boy out and taken his words truly like the ramblings of a boy on the verge of madness."
"I just trusted my gut on this. But the enemy has gone too far this time. They brainwashed her so much, she forgot her true self," Hestia said with gritted teeth.