The Martial Unity

"Damn it!" A curse echoed through the room.

Had Feron Lowminer known the Hier girl was as slippery as she was, he would have been much more careful than he already was. But he didn't, and here he was.

He had a bad feeling in his gut when he heard that Bella Hier was not at her personal home, and that she had hastily departed once she had learnt of her father's death. It was odd behaviour, what kind of daughter hastily ran away from home without announcing her destination after learning of her father's death?

Why wasn't there a period of mourning? Rather than grief, her behavior indicated fear.

All this strongly suggested that she had already figured out her predicament, and had taken pre-emptive measures to protect herself.

And she had surpassed his expectations, she managed to escape immediate capture and had remained hidden well enough and long enough to hire a Martial Apprentice from the Martial Union, remarkably raising the difficulty of her capture.

Martial Apprentices could not be defeated by ordinary men, not without a huge numeric advantage, and even then, it would require truly remarkable and advantageous circumstances to succeed.

"Only Martial Artists can defeat Martial Artists..." Feron grunted, before glancing at a dark figure at the corner of the room. "Isn't that right, Azazel?"

The shadowy figure nodded mildly, not saying a word.

"Remain on standby, if and when the girl slips up, I expect you to finish the job." Feron coldly stated. "Kill her and the pesky Martial Apprentice."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Rui tied up his hair tightly, preventing even a strand of his unique hair from slipping and out. Protecting his identity had become an even greater deal now that he knew he was dealing with powerful third parties with whom he had a strong conflict of interest. He was not going to take any chances, a single blunder may very well come back to bite him in the ass.

His ears pricked as he heard some noises come from the other room.

('Bella?') He turned with a puzzled look as he was about to open the bathroom, when he froze.

('She's crying.') He realized, as he heard her muffled sobs.

An awkward expression crawled onto his face. He wasn't sure what to do, he wasn't close to her, he didn't know her whatsoever, he was here to complete a job and would leave once his time was up, regardless of her situation.

Furthermore, he had never consoled anyone before, on anything, especially a teenager. Let alone on something as heavy as their father's death.

He shook his head, deciding to avoid it. He made a big fuss as he was about to open the door, making a lot of noise with something or the other, giving her enough of a forewarning that he was about to come out, allowing her to hastily clean herself up.

"Are you ready?" He asked, pretending as if he knew nothing. She nodded with a steeled expression; an expression Rui inwardly sighed at.

('Seems like she's pulled herself together, that's a good sign.')

Rui had left the core of the planning to her, if her emotional state was too unreliable, he might decide to take matters into his own hand.

"Once we get to the next district, we'll have to change our clothes once again, just to be safe." She told him.

Rui nodded. "The next district is district fourteen, I believe?"

Bella nodded. "District fourteen is a disproportionately commercial compared to other outer districts of Hajin, there's a huge influx and outflux of traders, merchants, suppliers, transporters and consumers. The two of us won't stand out in anyway, and as long as we keep our heads low, the Lowminers should find it almost impossible to track us."

Rui glanced at her in thought. "You mentioned your connection to the director of a small-scale goods transportation company. Where is he situated?"

"In district twenty-three, a district in the outermost layer of the town of Hajin."

"Can you trust him?" Rui asked cautiously.

She nodded in response. "I've known him my entire life, my father and him went way back having known each other for decades."

Rui shrugged mildly, if she thought he was trustworthy, then he could only follow her lead.

"What about our means of transport?"

"We'll have to travel by foot until we meet with the director of the I mentioned, after that we can probably get some transportation."

"You think you can make it that far in a few days?" Rui asked.

"I have no choice but to." She sighed, putting an end to their conversation. The two of them made some final preparations.

Rui was actually wearing his Martial Uniform under his disguise for protection, while concealing the mask within his baggy clothes. The disguise hindered his movement just a little, but that little cost of mobility was worth the benefits. It would be much more of a pain if the Lowminers managed to track them because of reports of a travelling Martial Apprentice with a woman with concealed hair.

Their next goal was two districts away, both of them had agreed to not bother with longer breaks within transit and take shorter breaks and longer stretches in their journey.

Once they began, it had taken them almost an hour and a half at a brisk walking pace to reach the next district. Bella had grown far more exhausted than she had anticipated. Having lived a lifestyle that rarely required her to push herself to her physical limits.

Eventually she grew so tired that she almost collapsed, and required Rui to carry her once more. He then had to take a roundabout route through district fourteen so that they would avoid drawing attention in the densely populated district.

"Aren't you exhausted?" She panted lightly as she held on to him. "You came all the way from the Academy on foot prior."

Rui glanced at her with a slight grin. "That's the best part of being an Apprentice, it takes a lot of for us to get tired!"