"You're leaving the sea for the Southern Continent?"
Beside the Red Haired Woman, where repairs were in full swing, Helene asked in surprise. She wore casual clothes.
Angel, her hood concealing the looks that had grown even more striking after her advancement, nodded gently and replied:
"We need to lie low. The Church of Storms doesn't have much influence on the Southern Continent. The Rose School may be based there, but they'll focus their search on the Rorsted Archipelago, perhaps even the North Continent. They won't expect us to head south."
In fact, it was a complete lie. Angel and Klein had bought tickets under false names for a ship bound for West Baylun Berens Harbor via Midway Island, but the tickets were only a decoy to draw their pursuers' attention.
Of course, Angel was deceiving Helene to mislead anyone who came looking for them later and cover for herself and Klein.
"Once the ship's repaired, carry on with your smuggling as planned. The military and the Church won't restrict you much because they'll want to watch you and use you as bait. They might even cooperate to some extent. You can let slip where we're headed, then take advantage of their deliberate leniency to make plenty of money and pay off what you owe me."
Angel laid out her plan to Helene. She figured the Church and the military would soon press Helene for answers and learn where she had gone. Better to use that to shield Helene from the fallout of this incident.
Helene gave a wry smile. She turned her disguised, round face toward the Red Haired Woman and watched as workers dismantled its mainmast in preparation for a complete overhaul. Silently, she calculated how long it would take to earn back the repair costs.
At Angel's