Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

The fact that Rain had to guard a noblewoman wasn't a problem. He already knew that Lorene wasn't that hard to deal with… still, from the next day onward, he sure felt troubled while guarding her since she was mostly with Orcis, and they looked lovey-dovey all the time… that was irritating since he was on high alert and they were relaxing like nothing was wrong.

"I suppose I am not fit for this kind of job," Rain thought. "Let's focus on monster hunting from this day onward. It will be much less of a pain in the ass, but it will be good for my free spirit. There are some downsides, though."

The fact that Rain couldn't train his body was also a problem… while the weights still were keeping him in shape, he wasn't making much progress like usual. Still, for the first three days, things had been fairly easy for him, but after that, Lorene felt a bit stressed since that day, Orcis spent most of the time outside. He was a businessman, after all.

He couldn't just stay inside all day for ten days because Lorene was there.

"My lady, if you want to take a stroll outside, we can offer you some escorts," Julie said.

"I am thankful for the offer, but I don't want to take any chances," Lorene said. "I will be satisfied in leaving when there is no other choice, and we will have to prepare things for the ceremony."

Rain was in the corner of the room, just waiting silently for time to pass. Lorene was quite understanding that something might happen outside, and she felt like it was better just to wait and not give many chances to the enemies to make their move.

Although Julie was being jealous as hell, she still was doing her job well, and she wasn't being that offensive toward Lorene. She was completely respectful, actually… she was only showing her anger at Rain, even though he didn't say a single thing in three days.

"Do you sense anything odd outside?" Lorene asked.

"Too many presences to tell," Rain replied.

Rain's tracking spell didn't work to differentiate those who were stronger, so he couldn't tell if dangerous people were keeping an eye on the mansion… he felt like he had to improve that skill somehow, but he had no idea how…

Rain had some days to think about that, truly, nothing came to mind, and his peace of mind ended two days later when he heard that Lorene had to go to a tailor to take her measurements for her wedding dress.

"That is a thing here as well, huh?" Rain thought. "My knowledge about this world still is lacking… but it can't be helped since only nobles have ceremonies like this."

"What is the plan, Rain?" Lorene asked. "I have to leave in one hour."

"That is up to you and her," Rain said. "We can try to leave during the day incognito as servants, but we will probably be followed if the enemies are around. We can also leave like usual with some guards to scare the enemies off… that is up to you."

"What is the best option?" Lorene asked.

"It is hard to say. If we leave in a small group, we might get rid of a bunch of enemies, but then we will truly reveal who we are and cause a commotion. The enemies might try harder the next time," Rain explained. "If we leave with the guards, we can leave some doubts in their minds; I can keep some cards hidden."

In the end, it was a matter of preference for Lorene. If she felt comfortable in risking herself to lure the enemies or not… even if that worked, it could cause more problems than solved.

Julie felt a bit annoyed that she wasn't being consulted about that. Naturally, she didn't want to act like a sneaky thief and walk around like a peasant. She didn't train hard for years and reached that position to not have faith in her skills.

"... We will leave with the guards here since that will decrease the problems later," Lorene declared.

"Understood," Rain said.

"I will ready the guards, my Lady," Julie said and then bowed before she left for the garden.

"... What do you think of the guards here? Can they be trusted?" Lorene whispered after she approached.

"They look like plain guards who act like honor is everything; with that in mind, it would be foolish of them to take the enemy's side," Rain said. "I would assume that Orcis picked them to work for him since they have families and friends here as well… that would suffer for their failures or suspicious actions. So, no… I don't trust them; I would rather operate not counting on them."

"I guess I should have asked this earlier then…" Lorene said and then sighed.

"It is fine; if they try anything, they will die on the spot," Rain said while shrugging. "They are big and slow; they won't catch me by surprise."

The real problem was other factors… the guards might not do something, but they might let others do that. In any case, that kind of problem could easily be solved if the dressmaker were to come to them. Still, she was a busy person, and she was constantly making dresses for that kind of occasion…

Before long, the carriage that would take them to the dressmaker was waiting for them outside, so the group left the mansion. Rain wanted to sit on the top of the vehicle to have a better view of the surroundings, but Lorene told him to stay in the cabin with him. In the meantime, Julie was driving the vehicle, and ten guards followed them on horses.

Through the windows of the cabin, Rain could look around. Still, the vision was rather limited… such a well-guarded vehicle drew the attention of the people in the city, but Rain couldn't see all of them…