Anastasia's jaw dropped as she heard the man talk.
If there was one thing she did not expect to meet in today's excursion, the revolutionary army was undoubtedly at the top of the list.
Slava Federov had a confident look in his eyes. They were unwavering, but kind, tender yet with a hint of toughness, as if his life wasn't all that easy.
For a second, it seemed like his gaze met Anastasia's, but she couldn't be quite sure about it. Even if he did, it would only be natural to be intrigued by the odd color of her eyes.
The man continued to talk, but Anastasia's mind was not in a state to hear anything Slava was saying. The only thing on her mind right now was that there truly was a revolutionary order.
She had never heard of them in her 17 years of existence. Not even once.
Just where do these guys come from? There's no way. I would've at least heard of them at least once!
Maybe it's because I don't spend enough time with the high-class? Even though I truly despise them, I have to admit these guys have more interesting talks than the people down here.
Unfortunately, I think I'll pass on noble banquets after what happened last time...
Anastasia looked around to see the looks of others. Were they interested? Shocked? Revolted?
Her eyes wandered through the crowd, and from what she could tell, most people seemed confused either by the weird sequence of events or because they, too, lacked knowledge about such a group.
Well, it doesn't really matter; these guys are probably just for show. I honestly doubt this guy would be crazy enough to try to defy the Emperor.
But if they really are the real deal...
"..."
Time flew by quickly, Anastasia was stuck inside her thoughts, and she did nothing but look at the man on the stage.
Slava looked at a sheet of paper, his eyes going all the way down until there was no text left. He folded the paper in half and turned towards his two companions. He mouthed something to them, but their answers were negative.
"Well, I think that sums it up. If nobody has any questions, then my fellows and I will stop bothering you on this marvelous day." The man waited for a few seconds, looking through the crowd for anyone to speak up, but no one did.
"Good! In case we don't see each other, merry Saint-Prostev!" His smile looked genuine and warm, full of kindness and good intentions.
He left the stage and returned to talking with the two other revolutionaries. It seemed like the man was clearly the highest-ranked one in the trio. Not that the others were low-rank, but he was clearly a step above.
Kiril and Rodion came to Anastasia.
"Rodion and I are going back, are you coming too?" Kiril asked Anastasia.
"I don't want to work, though."
The answer was so ridiculous that it created a profound silence between the two.
He could not believe what he had just heard; it must've been a mishearing.
"You don't want to work..?"
"Yeah, are you deaf?" Anastasia was loud and clear on this one. There was no reason for her to come back. Coming back would just mean working, and if there was one thing Anastasia hated, that was working for no reason.
Kiril caressed his brow while trying to take in the words of his colleague
"Sigh... Sure..." He and Rodion walked back with slight disappointment in their colleague.
Well, I'm not a noble for no reason. Being lazy is a part of our identity.
Anastasia noticed the three revolutionaries leaving in the corner of her eye; they went into a small alley just beside the larch tree.
It's true that I don't want to work right now, but the real reason why I'm not going back is that I want to go somewhere else.
Let's follow them.
Anastasia waited a bit to put a certain distance between themselves. She didn't know just how long the alley was, but she hoped she could still see them from the back.
She entered by the same point they did, and indeed, the three revolutionaries were there, a bit further away than her.
She marched behind them with a certain discretion; her technique was clearly not that of a beginner.
Thanks for all those infiltration missions, Ivan.
She secretly praised the ageless man in her heart. He was probably the sole reason for her aptitudes in combat and infiltration, even though he never actually trained her.
She could still remember the first time Ivan had sent her on a mission. It was such a failure that Ivan himself had to intervene.
I'm still ashamed to this day...
Soon, the trio made a turn on a street she had never visited.
She quickened the pace once again and hid behind a building so as not to be seen, just to observe their next turn in case they made it too soon.
Fortunately, she arrived in time, and she was able to see the three of them entering a small building, slightly bigger than the Svobotsa Print Shop.
She waited for a while, in case they came back and it was only a false destination. She waited until there was almost no doubt that this was the correct place.
She walked up to the building and looked at it for a while.
The building was like a bar of some sort, but it was much too old to attract people, probably for good reasons.
It was a two-story building, the windows on the second floor had a direct view over the whole district in front of it, as the building was much taller than the ones on the other side.
It was a more population-oriented district than the one behind, where it was mostly about shops and small businesses. The more prestigious ones were in the noble districts.
Anastasia read the name above the single door.
"SWORD OF EGARD"
Anastasia actually chuckled reading the name.
That's pretty original.
You can't just use the name "Revolutionary", so you use a reference instead, a pretty good one at that.
Egard was an old legend of the south of Sentria, a myth that had now faded in history.
The most ancient keeper of freedom, huh?
She took a deep breath and walked into the building.