That night, Erwin was carried back to Fort Breeze by Lanyon's men. The three women all strongly advised him to wait until the morning before returning to Fort Breeze. After all, the mountain path consisting of several hundred steps was no joke, and if any mishaps were to occur with him in such terrible physical condition, the consequences could be catastrophic. However, Erwin insisted on traveling back to Fort Breeze right away as he had to keep it a secret that the leader of the Universal Church Freedom Church had suffered severe injuries. They had only recently conquered Newfando, so this was a very sensitive time, and he had tread with caution.

With Theresa and Onean accompanying him, Christine naturally wasn't concerned for his safety, so she returned to the Ubiquitous Firm.

The building housing the largest of the Ubiquitous Firm branches in Newfando had been completely renovated after being purchased by Christine. The second floor had luxurious guest halls and bedrooms, which were naturally reserved for the firm's most esteemed clients. Of course, Christine normally lived on the second floor as well. Given her relationship with Erwin, she could've easily moved into Fort Breeze, but seeing as Erwin was trying to make it appear as if he were completely uninvolved with the Ubiquitous Firm, it was necessary for them to keep some distance between them. Outsiders were only aware that she was friends with Erwin, but weren't aware of just how close they were. The full extent of their relationship had to be kept secret from everyone, including Lia and his people.

As Christine trudged wearily up the stairs to the second floor, the lights were still on. As it turned out, her father was quite concerned, seeing as it was very late and her daughter still hadn't returned. Hence, he was unwilling to go to bed and was waiting for her in the corridor.

"Why are you back so late?" Christine's father with a concerned look on his face as he caught sight of her pale complexion. "Did something happen?"

Christine shook her head in response with a weary smile.

Her father still wanted to say something, but decided against it in the end and heaved a faint sigh. "Young Mistress, didn't we agree that you were going to try and meet him as little as possible from now on? Why are you still getting yourself so heavily involved with him?"

Christine sat down onto the sofa and hung her head in silence for a short while, then replied, "From the moment Brother Erwin saved my life, I made up my mind to follow him. How could I refrain from seeing him?"

Christine's "father" could only relent at the sight of the stubborn and dejected look on Christine's face.

"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be saying anything, but look at what you've gotten yourself into, Young Mistress. We are already at Newfando, which is just a few days' travel away from the Delair Dukedom. If that person learns your identity, the consequences will be catastrophic!" The concern on the man's face deepened even further as he spoke.

The light was casting a shadow onto half of Christine's face, but the warmth and affection on the other half of her face were plain to see. In this moment, she seemed jaded far beyond her years as she murmured in a self-deprecating voice, "I risked my life just to escape, yet now, fate has taken me back here. Perhaps it was all meant to be."

"Young Mistress, you are the only next of kin that Master has left. We can't afford to take these risks and potentially have you lose your life just for a man!"

"What am I supposed to do then? Do I continue to go on the run for the rest of my life?" Christine asked as she turned to her "father".

The man had no response to her question.

"Ever since I was eight years old, I've been constantly living on the run. I was just a little girl, yet I was forced to become a traveling merchant without a home. I don't want to whine about the hardships involved to anyone, nor have I felt like this is not a good lifestyle."

Tears began to well up in the man's eyes upon hearing this. "It's all my fault for being so useless. I wish I could've taken better care of you, Young Mistress."

"Don't say that, Uncle Cheward," Christine consoled in a gentle voice. "You've already done everything you can. If you hadn't risked your life to protect me, I would've already been killed by that woman. I'm only able to stand here today because of what you did for me."

"I know you wouldn't put the blame on me, but I just can't live with myself. Master asked me to look after you, but I've done such a terrible job," Cheward sighed as tears began to flow down his face.

"Father didn't care if I lived or died," Christine said with a cold expression. "If he really cared, he would've never married that woman."

Cheward wanted to defend his deceased master, but he knew that doing so would evoke more ire from Christine, so he refrained from speaking in the end.

"In the past, I didn't feel like there was anything wrong with living as a traveling merchant, and I was quite happy with such a lifestyle, but ever since I met him, I feel like everything in my world has changed." Whenever she thought of the man who had saved her from the dark prison that was the airship cabin, her heart would be filled with warmth and affection.

"He is like my entire world, and all I want is to stay by his side and protect him." Christine's eyes were filled with loving warmth as she spoke.

Cheward knew that there was no persuading Christine, and he could only heave a resigned sigh.

...

Inside a nondescript house in Newfando.

Several days had already passed since the last assassination attempt on Erwin.

Renjay's left arm was wrapped in a thick layer of bandages and a makeshift cast formed by several wooden boards.

Meanwhile, his disciple, the little girl by the name of Stinkbag, was pacing back and forth in the room in an agitated manner.

"Will you settle down for just one second?" Renjay snapped in an exasperated voice.

Stinkbag wanted to issue a barbed retort, but she couldn't bear to do so with her master in such a sorry state, and she sat down in the end.

"I have some things that I have to tell you," Renjay said in a serious voice.

Stinkbag turned to him with a surprised expression upon hearing this. Never had her master spoken to her in this tone of voice before. Normally, she was either being mocked and insulted, or kicked and punched, and she had never seen her master act so serious before.

Thus, she unconsciously sat up straighter as she listened carefully to what her master was about to say next.

"You've been with me for a long time now. Thinking back, it's been over a decade since I picked you up from that butcher's family," Renjay said as a reminiscent look appeared in his eyes. "Time really does fly. It feels like only yesterday when I first saw you. I've never told you about your past, have I?"

"What is there to tell me about? I'm just a little orphan who was picked up from the side of the road by that butcher, aren't I?" Stinkbag asked with a self-deprecating expression.

A faint smile appeared in Renjay's voice upon hearing this. "You're not just an orphan with unknown parents. The reality is that you are a love child to the Delair Dukedom's Duke Silon."

"So?" Stinkbag's expression didn't change in the slightest upon hearing this, as if what her master was telling her had nothing to do with her.

Renjay was rather taken aback by Stinkbag's nonchalant response, and a hint of sympathy welled up in his heart.

"Duke Silon was an old friend of mine, and he entrusted you to me right before he passed away. After arriving in the town of Judgment, I had to ask around for quite some time before I discovered that your mother had already passed away, and that she had left you to live with that butcher."

To this day, Renjay still couldn't forget the first time he met Stinkbag. At the time, she was only five or six years old, and she was living in a pen with a bunch of sheep and cattle.

Her hair was so matted and clumpy that the individual strands could barely be made out, and she was extremely thin and malnourished, with clothes that were in hanging off her in tatters. She smelled no different from the livestock that she was being kept with, and there was a shackle around her neck that kept her confined to the pen. She didn't even look like a human at all.

"I've never met my mother, but everyone told me that I grew up in a cattle pen." Stinkbag's mind wandered back to the memories of her childhood as she spoke. She thought of all of the nasty remarks that had been directed toward her by those in the town of Judgment. Those words had felt like a series of daggers that had stabbed into her heart, but those wounds slowly healed to form hard scars, only to be slashed open again. After the process was repeated countless times, her heart became as hard as a stone, and she was no longer hurt by the words of others.

"Don't listen to their nonsense!" For some reason, Renjay was getting a little worked up after hearing this.

"What are you trying to accomplish by telling me all of this?" Stinkbag asked as she cast her gaze toward her master.

Renjay thought back to just how fearsome the silver-haired woman accompanying Erwin had been, and he couldn't help but shudder internally as he sighed, "I'm worried that if I were to die someday, you would never find out who you are."

"If you're so scared of dying, then let's leave that Erwin alone. It's not like we can't survive without the reward for killing him," Stinkbag said as her brows furrowed slightly. Even though she was disguising it very well, this was one of the few times in her life where she was expressing concern for her master.

"Do you think I took on this job for the reward?" Renjay asked as a wry smile appeared on his face. "Do you know who it is that sent me after Erwin?"

"Who?" Stinkbag asked with a puzzled expression.

"It was Duchess Silon."

Stinkbag didn't understand the significance of this statement. She naturally didn't have the mental capacity to understand why Duchess Silon would try to kill Erwin, and of course, she had also failed to read between the lines to see what her master was implying.

Renjay shook his head with a resigned expression. His disciple's shockingly low intelligence had always been a cause for concern to him, and he couldn't help but wonder how she was going to survive in this world if he were to die someday.

"The important thing isn't who she wants me to kill. What we have to worry about is that if I don't agree to do her bidding, she's going to send someone to kill you," Renjay explained.

Stinkbag fell silent upon hearing this.

"Sanfesa is not a woman to be messed with. She's always been aware of your existence, but you pose no threat to her as an illegitimate child to Duke Silon, and that's the only reason why she hasn't come after you. Not too long ago, she approached me and told me that she would leave you alone if I can kill Erwin."

Only now did Stinkbag realize why her master was so determined to assassinate Erwin.

"The problem is that he has many powerful figures around him. In the wake of this failed assassination attempt, it's going to be very difficult to get another opportunity as good as this one. Even if we do manage to kill him, there's a very good chance that both of us will lose our lives as well," Renjay said with a grim expression. "I'm just an old man who's already lived enough anyway, but you still have your best years ahead of you. Having said that, if I die, then that woman most likely won't be inclined to come after you anymore, either."

Stinkbag remained silent upon hearing this, and only after a long while did she suggest, "How about we run away?"

"Run away?" Renjay almost burst into laughter at the naive idea. "Where can we go? You don't know how terrifying those people are. There's nowhere we can go that will keep us safe from them."

"So we can't assassinate Erwin, nor can we run away. What can we do then?" Stinkbag asked with a frustrated expression.

"Have you seen those declarations of freedom plastered all over the city? Seeing those things has given me an interesting idea. Perhaps it's time to stand up against the hand of fate instead of running away," Renjay said with a thoughtful expression.