Chapter 640 - Opportunity (9)

"Get up. You still haven't met the target yet," I kicked Ethan.

"Just one more minute, I need a break for one minute," Ethan coughed.

"I told you we should recruit more workers," Charles didn't pity him.

This stunt was planned in advance. We had to find a way to convince Alex to let me recruit more workers. Unfortunately, the new herbs appeared faster than we could collect them, wasting them in the process. I continued to kick Ethan while he hid his barrier. I had a lot of piled stress from failing all my attempts, making this a perfect time to vent my emotions. I had to admit Ethan's acting was better than mine, his face appearing like he was actually getting beaten up.

"Why are you watching? Get back to work," I kicked Charles next.

I ignored Luke looking stunned from my actions. I was using Charles and Ethan as an example of what happened to slow workers. Charles rolled on the grass several times, eventually slammed against the mansion wall from one of my more powerful kicks. I was impressed by his groans and the illusion of fake bruises he created. When I snuck a peek at Alex's face, his mouth wouldn't close, meaning he actually believed this play.

"Does Rika usually treat you this way?" Luke turned to them.

"This was why I told you we need more workers," Ethan wiped some fake blood off his lips.

"How could you let her treat you this way?" Alex offered them a handkerchief.

"Everyone is used to it. Nobody complains since she treats everyone equally," Charles crawled on the ground.

I mouthed to them that they were overdoing it. At this rate, either Luke or Alex would notice something suspicious was going on. Since Charles got the hint, he switched to pretend he was groaning from the pain. Unexpectedly, Ethan was a better actor than Charles, quickly scrambling back to his position to collect more herbs like he feared me. When I shot a look to Charles to get to the planned position, he limped to join Ethan.

"Let's have a talk Rika," Luke coldly faced me.

"You can't treat your friends like this," he fell for our acting.

"What are you saying? They were the ones who couldn't reach the target," I icily stared at him.

"Rika would be more lenient towards us if we had more workers," Ethan hinted.

"I don't have any herbs to work with since they were slow. You know that I have no choice," I tried to reason.

"Rika is right, let's continue to pick more herbs," Charles attempted to gain their pity.

"If only we had Oliver with us," he mumbled.

"We can increase our pace," Luke shot an apologetic look at Alex.

My face almost crumbled, my thoughts of them giving into Charles and Ethan shattering. Ethan appeared like he was actually going to faint from their decision. Meanwhile, Charles was shocked, seeing how unwilling they were to bring more people into the mansion grounds. When Alex nodded his head, going with Luke's proposal, I could see them giving up on our plan. Unfortunately, there weren't many chances to contact them, having Luke and Alex with them. I turned to hide my disappointment, walking back to the time-space room.

My ears perked when Charles exploded at them, surprising both Luke and Alex. He had entirely abandoned acting like he was injured. This made Ethan get rid of the illusions, joining Charles.

"Why don't you think about us? Although you can increase your pace, I can't. Do you know how exhausted I feel after coming from an event?" Charles yelled at them.

"Weren't you injured?" Alex got mad.

"Do you think we had a choice? Why can't you trust Oliver?" Ethan shouted.

"You planned this with Rika!" Alex discovered.

"So what if we did?" Charles didn't feel any guilt.

"Do you think any of us want these worthless pieces of grass? They have to be imitations!" He witnessed my failed attempts.

"They're real," Ethan tapped Charles' shoulder.

"It's just that they're useless," he was sick of the herbs.

"In exchange, we can give you more herbs," Luke tried to disband the fight.

"I don't want those useless strands of grass! Don't even bother to offer me those disposable potions," Charles refused.

"I want Oliver here," he wanted more workers.

"Do you think it's easy for us to collect those herbs? This place will quickly become another target!" Alex didn't trust Oili.

"You two are the outsiders here. Oliver and I have been close with Rika since elementary school," Ethan forgot Alex was the owner.

"How are you so close with her anyways? We're her family," Alex wanted to know our relationship.

"We've been through life and death together. It's nothing compared to your relationship with her," Charles supported Ethan.

"Please give us the details," Luke instantly turned cold.

"I have the right to know as her partner," he added.

"There's nothing inside the contract that forces me to tell you. It's common knowledge inside our circle and we don't let just anyone join," Ethan was equally icy.

"Oliver is trustworthy," he pushed his candidate to them.

"I'm asking Rika," Luke left them.

This was bad. My initial relationship with Ethan and Oili came from hiding from the teachers and security guards patrolling the area during the night.. I turned my invisibility spell on and began to run away.