Alex raised his hand slowly, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he finally settled into the chair Magistrate Sai had more or less thrust him into.
"Oh, Mr. Hartwell, there is no need to burden yourself with such heavy guilt. I would never just stand by and watch her in danger."
He paused for a mont. "Coming back to my disappearance at the warehouse, I apologize for the trouble that it may have caused.
However, the situation at that ti required an imdiate response. I didn’t have the luxury of ti to explain what was happening or wait for a search party to find her."
Miss Evelyn, who had remained silent throughout the exchange, couldn’t help herself from asking.
"But where did you go, Brother Alex? And how did you manage to find Lucy when even our combined search parties could not locate the bandits’ new hideout, and how were you so sure that you would find her by yourself?"
All eyes turned to Alex, waiting for his answer.
Alex leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression calm. There was no way he was going to say that he hired a commando for the rescue.
"I have my ways, and you already know it was not my first ti tracking the hideout of the bandits," he started. "So, when I found out about Lucy’s kidnapping, I imdiately began to search for her."
"Alex, it’s not like I don’t trust you, but how exactly were you able to succeed this ti?" Magistrate Sai asked, obviously curious.
"We had dozens of people searching those mountains for three days, and not a single thing was found, not a hint of anything out of the way, and you’re able to locate the girl and save her in one day.... that is simply incredible.
"Simple. A bit of luck and the right equipnt," Alex said simply, and then stopped, not continuing further.
Magistrate Sai’s eyebrows narrowed slightly, but he remained silent. His expression implied he had plenty of additional questions; he just decided not to pose them at the mont.
"The key issue," Alex went on, pushing the discussion onward, "is the fact that Lucy is now with us. The bandits’ plan to make her a hostage has failed, and they now understand the taste of our strength."
Mr. Hartwell knew very well it was his ti to step up and steer the conversation, as he knew Alex didn’t want to reveal the specific details.
"Speaking of bandits, I have already taken asures to prevent them from regrouping to launch another attack."
"What steps?" asked Magistrate Sai, his focus turning away from Alex.
"Before I ca here, I had already instructed Jacob and so of our guards to go and find out the location of the cave and confirm the situation there, based on what Alex has described their hideout location.
Although, it is highly unlikely to find the bandits..... they might have already fled, which I strongly suspect they have. But it is still necessary to properly destroy that location so that it can’t be used again."
"That is good thinking," Magistrate Sai said approvingly. "The last thing we need is for them to strike again when we have lowered our guard."
"But even if they have fled, I think we need to properly search for them. We don’t know when they will regroup and attack. We can’t take chances," Miss Evelyn said.
"They will not be in any condition to attack any ti soon after I have given them a slap on their faces. They will think twice before attempting anything else," Alex replied.
Magistrate Sai asked, "What makes you so certain they will not simply attack again imdiately? After the last attack on them... they are clearly desperate; and desperate n tend to be unpredictable."
Alex explained. "Think about it from their perspective. They set what they thought was a perfect trap.
First, they took a hostage, made their demands, and waited in what they believed was a secure location.
Then, without warning, soone infiltrated their cave in the middle of the night and rescued the hostage without leaving a trace. Right now, they are probably terrified, wondering what kind of force they have provoked."
"So you believe fear will keep them away?" Mr. Hartwell asked.
"For a ti, yes," Alex confird. "But we will need to think of asures so that it will not happen again."
"Well," Mr. Hartwell said, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over the room, "I am certainly relieved to hear that the imdiate threat has passed. That gives us ti to increase security around the estate and take proper precautions."
"Indeed," Magistrate Sai agreed, though his expression suggested his mind was still working through everything that had been discussed. "I will ensure that additional patrols are assigned to this district."
He then turned to Alex. "Well, we have covered the essential matters for now. Alex, you must be exhausted from your ordeal. Please, take so ti to rest and recover."
Magistrate Sai also rose from his chair, smoothing his official robes as he prepared to take his leave.
"I should return to my office and file reports about this situation. If any new information cos to light about the bandits’ whereabouts, please inform imdiately."
"Of course, Magistrate Sai," Mr. Hartwell said respectfully.
After Magistrate Sai departed, the study felt sohow larger and quieter despite still having four people present.
Miss Evelyn remained in her chair by the window, her maids standing silently behind her, but her eyes were still fixed on Alex with that intense, unreadable expression.
Mr. Hartwell looked between them, his experienced rchant’s instincts clearly sensing the undercurrents between them.
"Well then," Mr. Hartwell said after a mont of awkward silence clearly wanted to fled from this place of right and wrong, "I should go check on Lucy and see how she is feeling. Miss Evelyn, please make yourself at ho. You know you are always welco here."
"Thank you, Mr. Hartwell," Evelyn replied.
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