Restitution 2

Just as Eyna was trying to stand up and move to her desk, a hand gripped her wrist.

"Pull… the rod… out" An ailing voice commanded. Eyna being surprised tried to retrieve her freedom. However, the iron grip of the injured women didn't seem to weaken.

"You do know that this would be counterproductive? This action could prove to be fatal," Eyna reminded the stranger patiently.

"No… do it." Eyna's unexpected patient stayed with her decision.

Eyna found herself in a predicament. Doing what the woman said could possibly lead to the intruder's death, coming back to the case of having a dead body in her office.

The problem was the unexpected difference in physical power. Eyna had no way of escaping the grip without using violence. However, just by holding Eyna's wrist, the intruder made Eyna not underestimate the self-defense ability of the other party. Building up this much strength while being injured was not something any normal person could do.

Furthermore, right now, she didn't seem hostile towards Eyna.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Eyna said while using her free hand to grip onto the iron rod. She took a deep breath and before she could regret her decision, she pulled with one swift motion the rod out of the body.

Eyna didn't hear a cry in pain or another auditory sound but she felt that the hand gripping her tightened even more up, the moment she pulled the foreign object out.

Then, her wrist was released. Eyna used her regained freedom to rub her wrist which was aching in pain.

When she turned her awareness back to the intruder, Eyna noticed that the woman had disappeared without a trace, which let her almost think that all of this had been a hallucination or some sort of surreal dream.

However, then she figured out the reason why the other party had vanished.

Just as Eyna wanted to search her surroundings to relocate the intruder, her ears suddenly perceived a high-pitched sound.

Eyna sighted. It had long been too many sighs for one day. Still hoping of her premonition being wrong she turned her attention to the window. However, her hopes and dreams were shattered as soon as she detected the divine being's distinctive sound coming from outside the building. The angel entered through the window and hovered motionlessly in front of Eyna.

"It is truly a pleasure to have my lowly self found in the presence of a divine existence such as thee. If I may receive the humble permission to ask: How can a puny human like my lowly self be of any assistance to such an almighty and all-powerful being?"

Eyna initiated the conversation with a courteous bow while using as many prettified words as possible.

For one short moment, the angel seemed to be confused by her lowly, but fearless attitude towards him. However, the angel quickly regained his composure and ordered in a haughty tone.

"We are in search of a specific person that has committed a sin. If a human has received any type of related information he is obligated to convey them to us."

Eyna's eyebrow nearly visibly twitched. It was evident that the person the angel had spoken of was the woman Eyna just had helped.

However, Eyna couldn't have imagined the intruder to be prosecuted by a divine race. This was getting more and more dangerous.

While holding up a neutral thoughtful expression on her face, as if she was trying to remember if she had seen the person the angel had spoken of, her mind was quickly evaluating the best course of action.

If Eyna had known the women's involvement with the angels she would have immediately left her alone with her injuries. However, now she had already helped this person to a certain extent, which automatically made her an accomplice of the intruder's crime.

The angel's code of law strictly abided by the holy scripture created by god. Their judgment was without any grey-zones, either you were guilty or not. Right now, it was difficult to tell if she could escape punishment if her direct involvement ever got out.

The thing that made her even more uncertain was that there should have been more than enough indications in this room that would raise suspicion.

A small pool of blood would probably be found below her feet and a red-tinted metal bar should be placed behind her. Even if she was trying to hide these pieces of evidence by standing in front of them, the angel ought to notice them no matter what, as their perception was much higher than any human.

But the angel, whose race acted normally very direct, hadn't pointed these things out yet. Something seemed wrong.

Eyna steeled her resolve and answered his command.

"It saddens my lowly self to say, but my inferior existence isn't able to contribute to the greater cause. My insignificant self hasn't seen such a despicable person who would dare to oppose the greatest heavenly rein. This, I swear in the name of the divine court," Eyna stated a blatant lie. When thinking back to what she had just said, it may have come across as a little bit too humble.

She could feel the angel's gaze staring right through her. A few seconds passed in complete silence. Eyna held her head low, hoping to hide her agitated expression.

"We will take our leave."

When the atmosphere became nearly unbearable, the angel said goodbye and vanished as fast as he had appeared.

・・・

Eyna breathed out exhaustedly. She didn't know how long she had held her breath, but her body was vehemently crying for new air. Only after her lungs filled a few times with the fresh cold air, her heart rate dropped again and she could bring her thoughts into order.

"Why did you keep your mouth shut?" A voice coming from her right-hand side asked.

Eyna almost jumped away frightened.

'Ah, yes. I almost forgot the other person in this room.' She just now remembered the injured women still hiding somewhere in the office.

"Why haven't you sold me out to the angel?" The female voice asked again. Eyna turned her head to the source and answered.

"Well, angels always tend to overreact to some minor disputes."

It was true that angels prosecuted each crime equally, independent of the gravity of the situation. Stealing an apple and killing another human had no difference to them. One had to be brought to justice.

This meant that a living human was in their eyes not more worth than any of the apples on the market, which was the sad reality of a mortal race being subordinated by the divine.

Of course, Eyna didn't know what crime the intruder had committed, but it was statistically much more probable that it wasn't a grave one. Now, that Eyna had been pulled into the same boat as the women, it wasn't a good idea to antagonize the women, in particular, if this boat was moments before sinking.

"Minor dispute… That's one way of saying it." The woman seemed to have left her hiding place and was standing a few meters away from Eyna.

It somehow made Eyna shudder after hearing the intruder's response. 'Maybe she really did kill someone?'

"I think it's best if you would leave now. I don't really like being involved in crimes if I can prevent it," Eyna said, hoping to cut ties with the troublemaker as soon as possible.

She didn't hear an answer so she assumed that the woman had nodded. Eyna headed to her desk, taking her white stick and getting ready to leave the scene as soon as possible.

She needed to use her connections to remove any of the bloodstains in her office, which the angel somehow hadn't noticed.

"Wait, are you possibly blind?" The unknown woman asked while watching Eyna's actions. She suddenly seemed to be enlightened.

Just as Eyna wanted to reply, she heard the old voice of her butler from behind the door.

"Young Miss, are you in there?" He asked calmly and opened the door without waiting for a reply from the inside.

Eyna heard the typical clicker of the gas lamp being switched on and the three people were staring motionlessly at each other. Well, except for the visually disabled person.

There was a long silence. Eyna wished more than ever to regain her sight to be able to know what the current situation looked like.

'Did Agares notice the bloodstains? Or the gaping wound in the stranger's abdomen? The strangeness of a not blind person talking with me in the dark?'

Eyna's head was filled with many questions. It was Agares who broke the silence at last.

"Young Miss, you are aware that the other person in this room is a demon?"

"..."

"..."

"... huh?"