"Excellent!" said the Vice Sect Leader, his loud baritone instantly cutting through the lingering shock of the crowd. "Then it is thoroughly settled. Let us depart immediately."
Even Ethan had not calculated that the old fox would move with such aggressive, unhinged velocity. Beside him, Mary and Louisa instantly exchanged a brief, slightly panicked glance; the sudden reality of uprooting their entire operational base in a matter of seconds was deeply overwhelming. Heidy, however, merely stood half a step behind Ethan, her face expressionless; to her newly ascended mind, it was only natural that the entire world would rapidly bend to accommodate her master's trajectory.
"With all due respect, Vice Leader," said Ethan, his calm voice dropping into a smooth, measured register. "I aggressively require a brief window of operational time to properly organize my assets, secure my personal ledger, and pack our essentials before we march."
