Aislin, of course, had no idea how conflicted her teacher and senior fellow disciple were.
Even the junior fellow disciples who were on bad terms with her had sensed that something was slightly off, but she herself remained completely oblivious.
After all, as far as she was concerned, everything she was doing now came from her heart.
Aislin genuinely thought the people bringing up the rear were rather annoying. What right did a bunch of Outer-Ring Mages who acknowledged neither her nor her teacher as their masters have to delay their journey?
She had completely forgotten that these people were following them precisely because Rute wanted them to.
Did they really want to go to Sia Tower that badly?
Being eager to set out did not mean they needed to march at full speed the whole way... on the contrary, the slower, the better.
It was only because Rute, as the Black Mystery Tower's foremost tower master in the public eye, had to take responsibility for clearing the way that they were in the first group.
Yet Aislin, who should have understood and wholeheartedly agreed with this... these people had even been placed in the order she had originally arranged... now saw them as a burden rather than an asset.
That utterly natural shift in her attitude, which she herself failed to notice, had actually frightened quite a few of her junior fellow disciples.
However, once both Rute and Oliva remained silent, everyone else naturally fell quiet as well.
Hill had noticed the somewhat unusual atmosphere in the procession, too.
Nor had he overlooked the venomous look Aislin cast toward the rear.
He could not help frowning. Turning to Russell, he said, "Bring me the list of Outer-Ring Mages following our group."
Russell opened a drawer in the low cabinet