One Last System

"You are a bait."

This one sentence was enough to make Mia freeze. 

She couldn't care less about being in danger herself. If she was a coward like this, she would never bother to challenge the system that governed the sect. 

But being a bait, who would pull Arthur into trouble?

Mia tightened her hands. 

"Excuse me?" Mia finally uttered through her tightened lips. 

'I can't do shit about it now,' she thought, suddenly realizing just how naive her earlier thinking was. 'Why did I stop cultivating? Who cares what the sect will think? Because I stalled my own growth, now I'm as powerless to do anything as I always was!' she thought, heavily blaming herself for her earlier, cautious decision. 

"A new royal was born in the Kanarian empire to the east. It happened roughly a hundred years ago," Andrea suddenly rejoined the discussion, changing the topic just like she did many times before. "Since he couldn't hold a candle to the royals that established Kanaria, he cooperated with them.

"In the end, his group infiltrated the Tuxi sect, aiming to first weaken it and then turn its lands into their own playground," Andrea added, finally connecting all the dots that she brought up at the beginning of their meeting. 

"Both You and Arthur struggled so much because of them sabotaging the sect," Ackhart added. "It was never aimed specifically at you two. You guys just ended up as victims of their schemes."

Once again, the room turned silent as Mia took her time to process all of this information. 

After a few moments, the girl finally raised her eyes and looked at Andrea with a cold glint behind her pupils. 

"Let me ask you one last time," she stated, crossing her arms on her chest as she rested deeply in her chair. "That bait thingy...?" Mia muttered, refusing to elaborate any further. 

'Since they kept on limiting the information they told me and expecting me to figure it out on my own, they won't be able to say anything if I do the same,' she thought, staring down at the two of her conversation partners. 

Mia wouldn't dare to act like that just a few minutes before. But now, the situation changed. 

Since Ackhart claimed that she was bait, all she had to do was just leave the city! Once she would do so, Arthur would lose his reason for coming to the outerpost, destroying whatever plan Ackhart hatched!

"Arthur discovered the scheme," Ackhart explained, telling something that he already brought up. "He didn't appear to realize the full scale of the problem, but this doesn't change anything," the man added, tightening his hands. 

"And?" Mia asked. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it wasn't all there was to the topic. 

Ackhart turned silent, refusing to answer the girl right away. He first took a deep breath before taking yet another moment to sort his thoughts out. 

"Sangakarts hope to silence him before he kicks up a fuss about this entire matter," Andrea explained, freeing Ackhart from the burden of doing so.

"And what about me being a bait?" Mia asked, raising her eyebrow. "How is that, in any way or form, necessary?" she inquired. 

"I proposed this solution during the Sangakart meeting myself," Ackhart spoke up as he stood up and lowered his head. "This was the only way to stop them from attacking Arthur while he is on his way here," he explained, only to bite down on his lips. "As much as it pains me, we don't have the resources to track Arthur down to protect him. Only in the cities, the royal power is respected enough to keep him safe."

Once again, Mia turned silent. Not because she was stunned by the reveal, but because she needed to process it and carefully choose her next words. 

Only after some time passed did the girl raise her eyes at her counterparts. 

"Okay, the bait thing, I understand," she stated before releasing a deep sigh. 

This meeting already managed to tire her out more than an entire day of hard training.

"But can you finally tell me why did you protect me?" she asked, sharpening the look in her eyes. 

She asked this question despite already knowing the answer. 

'Since they want to protect Arthur, it means his potential cooperation is of massive value to them,' Mia thought, clenching her teeth. 

All her hard training was aimed at freeing Arthur from the burden of taking care of her. And right when she reached the point she believed would turn her into a worthy partner for him, Mia learned that she was still nothing but a handicap for her master. 

"It's pretty simple," Ackhart shrugged his shoulders. "There are exactly three reasons why I did so," he said before raising three fingers on his hand. 

"First, I saw a lot of potential in you. While the formation I made for you is insane, its benefits alone would never allow you to grow so quickly," he stated, bringing the first of his raised fingers down. 

"Secondly, I'm indebted to Arthur for showing me an entirely new world of formations," he said with a faint smile, bringing down another of his fingers. "And yes, the master that I mentioned all the way back, during our first meeting..." Ackhart shook his head.

There was no need for him to finish this sentence. 

'Well, I figured out as much,' Mia thought, stopping a small smirk from appearing on her face. 'This world might be big, but only he is capable of bringing revolutionary changes seemingly out of his ass,' she thought, her mood lifting up the second she thought about her man. 

"And lastly, the thing that you likely are not going to like," Ackhart mentioned, the look of his face souring. 

Yet, despite announcing the third point, he ended up shaking his head only to end up lowering it, refusing to elaborate on the point he brought himself. 

"We consider him the likeliest candidate to reach the royal rank in the near future," Andrea explained Ackhart's third point. "Our Royals are unable to deal with Sangakarts. Doing so would expose them to the attack of other established royal groups," she stated. 

"So you want to help Arthur raise to the royal rank to pit him against this organization you spoke off?" Mia asked, a faint smile taking over her lips. 

"That's right," Andrea nodded her head before throwing the girl a slightly annoyed look. "And to answer your initial question of today," she took a deep breath," do you think he would ever cooperate with us if we just stood by and watch you, his beloved girlfriend, get raped?"

Mia blushed when she was referred to as Arthur's girlfriend. Just hearing those words was enough to make her smile... But it wasn't the reason for the faint smile appearing on her lips. 

Mia stood up and paced around the room, taking her sweet time to think over what she should say next. Then, after a few moments, she stopped right behind her chair only to rest her arms on it and lean forward, gracing Andrea and Ackhart with a charming smile. 

"You guys got one thing wrong," Mia stated, the corners of her lips raising even further. "One thing that you are oh so wrong about," she added before releasing a small giggle. 

"And what might that be?" Ackhart asked, pulling his eyebrows together. 

"It's the same mistake that I made myself," Mia replied, shaking her head. 

'To think I believed I could ever catch up to him,' she thought to herself, giggling over how naive she was. Then, she raised her eyes back at her interlocutors. 

"A day will come when I will explain it," Mia finally said, perfectly aware of how interested the other parties were in secret she just announced. "For now, though, I have a request."

"What that might be?" Andrea squinted her eyes, clearly expecting Mia to request something big.

"Oh, it's simple and easy; there is no need for you to make such a face," she stated, releasing yet another chuckle. "I just want you to help me write some letters that you will pass to Arthur the second he appears in the city," Mia explained. 

'I will never tell you what your mistake was,' she thought to herself, her lips rising even higher. 'Only with time, you will learn just how much did you underestimate him!'