Once it was confirmed that Shade truly intended to bring only one person, the three Great Witches stopped discussing the matter and unanimously decided to let Vanessa accompany him. After all, she was Thirteenth Order.
Bella and Miss Olanord would naturally go along as well, while the sleeping Emilia was placed on Little Liana's back. Shade suspected Emilia often slept sprawled over the Little Unicorn's back, because the moment she was placed there, she wrapped her arms around the little creature's neck herself:
"Little Liana, why has your neck become uncomfortable?"
The little elf murmured softly in her sleep. Naturally, that was because of the armor.
Besides the Witches themselves, they selected six High-Ring Arcanist Followers to accompany them, most of whom had taken part in the underground operation just now. Siris, Margaret, and Miss Hailey Aurora remained in the city because their levels were too low. Shade had originally planned to leave Little Mia in their care, but later decided that the city was chaotic enough already and that he should not burden others further. So, he simply kept the cat with him.
The elves' representative, the Thirteenth Ring Warlock "Valley Lord," Mr. Elderon, would of course continue leading the elf team in escorting Emilia. Considering the needs of the city's Protection and the combat environment within the forest, The Church did not send the Construct Master this time. Instead, they sent the Nature Church's Nightmare Witch, Miss Maria Ingram, and Emerald Shadow Walker, Miss Gaiana Lis Brown.
The former, like Vanessa, had been affected by the changes in age, while the latter had only arrived in the woodland after that incident. Most of the local Thirteenth Rings were responsible for defending the city, so The Church was already stretching itself thin by pulling two Thirteenth Rings from the