The Person Who Shouldn't Have Appeared

The two spoke at the same time, only to stop at the same time. From deep within the black fog, untouched by the Red Butterflies, came a jumble of footsteps. Someone was approaching.

The Black Skirt Girl's expression immediately turned ugly. For a moment, Shade thought she might level the entire village.

"Someone has come to disturb us."

She was about to command those seemingly harmless Red Butterflies to swarm over, but Shade grabbed her hand in time and stopped her:

"Let's see who it is first."

The Black Skirt Girl suppressed her anger and forced a smile as she nodded.

"Very well, sir."

She raised her left hand slightly, and the previously scattered Red Butterflies all gathered around them. Though they did not settle on them, they still enveloped the pair.

"I heard that while surrounded by these red butterflies, other people cannot see us or hear what we say."

The Black Skirt Girl did not forget to explain.

Shade actually wanted to know whether Mia, whom he had strapped to his back, would pounce on the butterflies if he let her out now. Come to think of it, he was not even sure whether Little Mia had ever seen a butterfly.

Three people emerged from the black fog, though a closer look revealed there were actually four. The village woman in her forties or fifties appeared to have fainted and was being carried on someone's back.

All three walking figures were Ring Arcanists, and all three were men. The leader was a mustached middle-aged man in his forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a neat formal suit. If he had not been carrying a human skull lantern, using the fire within the skull to disperse the black fog, he would have looked more like a senior scholar at a