"My state only gives me fewer business opportunities, not lower prices."
Sabine answered with a confident grin.
"You are annoying."
Isolde narrowed her eyes, releasing her frustration.
"I am beginning to regret not eliminating you."
"Yet you haven’t."
Sabine chuckled softly.
"Which means some part of you enjoys my company."
"The part of me sealed beneath seventeen layers of ancient magic wishes to destroy you."
"I knew there was a connection."
Isolde’s mouth twitched. Naomi rubbed her forehead. Lucian stared at the tied-up woman, at the information she could possibly offer, and he—
"Free her."
He shrugged.
She clearly knew more than any of them about the other candidates and it wasn’t like keeping her tied up would accomplish anything, not to mention, if someone saw them right now, they would most definitely get the wrong idea and as much as Lucian would enjoy that, right now, he needed to know more about this place and the people inside.
"You would release this shameless thief?"
Isolde turned towards him.
"You forgot attractive."
Sabine added.
"I did not. I intentionally rejected the word."
"Release her, O Keeper of the Seventeen Seals."
Lucian chuckled softly, still keeping an easy smile on his face.
Isolde stared at him. Lucian placed one hand on his chest.
"I seek your trust."
He spoke as dramatically as possible.
Naomi closed her eyes and facepalmed.
The worst part was that this worked on Isolde, her expression softened.
"Very well."
Then, she turned towards Sabine and—
"But know this, Sabine Rook."
She spoke as she raised her hand, the enchanted threads began glowing before they started loosening.
"You stand free only because two beings carrying powers beyond mortal comprehension have chosen mercy."
Lucian nodded beside her, completely agreeing with her words.
"We shall not offer it twice."
"Yes."
Sabine nodded as she landed on the ground, slipped, and barely regained her balance.
Naomi sighed at that. She could already imagine what a nightmare this little team of theirs was going to be.
Sabine, oblivious to what Naomi was thinking, rubbed her wrists, then looked down at herself.
"Clean release."
She commented.
"No marks."
Her eyes returned to Isolde.
"Do you take private commissions?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"Pity."
Isolde snorted as she took another sip from her flask.
"Now tell us what you know."
Lucian spoke, not wanting to derail the conversation any longer.
"Do we just stand here while we talk? They say walking energises one’s brain, it helps with memory."
Lucian and Isolde stared at each other for a moment.
"I shall not stay in one place for too long, or else the power sealed inside me might start corroding the place."
"That makes sense."
Lucian nodded.
"Let’s start walking."
He spoke as he extended his hand towards Naomi. Naomi smiled at that, she held Lucian’s hand. The other two women grinned at that, but Naomi ignored them.
"You know, if your other hand is free..."
Sabine spoke, appearing beside Lucian, however, before Lucian could say anything, Naomi glared at the Relic Hunter and Sabine—
"...on second thought, I’ll stick to the Great Witch."
"Keep away, I do not want you around."
Isolde glared at her.
"Huuh? Why is that?"
Sabine pouted.
"Information."
Lucian interrupted their conversation.
Sabine groaned at that.
"You already have yours, why not let me coax mine?"
"You are free to do whatever you want once you tell me what you know."
"Whatever."
Sabine sighed.
Then, she began telling them everything she knew, about the different candidates who came in, the ones she saw on her own, and the ones she only heard about while she was wandering around.
Sabine had actually made a notebook. She took it out of the small pouch hanging from her belt and showed it to the others. Lucian saw several pages filled with names, rough sketches, descriptions, suspected abilities, and small notes written beside each person.
Some entries were quite detailed, others only had a face and a few guesses, and as Lucian turned another page, one candidate had a small drawing beside his name that made him pause.
"Why did you draw horns on this man?
He’s a Hunter, he doesn’t have horns."
He asked curiously.
"He was rude."
"But he doesn’t have horns."
"He does in my book."
Sabine answered almost instantly, as if she had been waiting for him to ask that. At those words, it was actually Isolde who nodded approvingly.
"A respectable use of artistic authority."
Naomi sighed at that.
Lucian actually nodded in understanding.
’Horns would definitely suit him.’
He chuckled inwardly.
Then, he turned to the next page and started asking more questions.
He had to admit, the information Sabine had to offer was quite detailed. While she didn’t have information on every single candidate, she did know quite a bit about the important ones, a few actually had three to five pages’ worth of information.
"How vain."
After a while, Isolde shook her head in disappointment.
"To have such detailed information on mere mortals, but nothing regarding an entity who is single-handedly protecting the world from collapsing."
"That is true."
Sabine actually nodded at that.
"I couldn’t comprehend the limits of your power, I do not write what I do not understand."
"A wise decision."
Isolde was instantly satisfied.
Sabine nodded.
Yes, at this point, she too had learned how to deal with the Witch.
Lucian chuckled at that. The group continued moving and with Naomi leading them, the journey was like a walk in the park. Heck, after about fifteen minutes, they even found another Waymark inside a small chamber hidden behind a shifting wall.
A Waymark that wasn’t protected by a Trial Guardian.
Which, according to Sabine, was actually quite rare, since from what she had heard, every candidate who had a Waymark had taken it from a Guardian Beast protecting it.
Naomi truly was favoured.
And with this Waymark, the final circle on her arm was filled. With this, she could now officially meet Aevrienne once she reached the end of the maze and Sabine only looked at the woman with a ridiculous look on her face.
"The world is unfair."
"That it is."
Isolde nodded.
Lucian, on the other hand, only smiled.
He was very happy with the results.