Master Of Astral Summoner-Chapter 151: The Vanishing Woman

Without thinking twice, Shaan immediately pushed his cargo cart out of the long line. Everyone standing behind him could only stare in stunned silence, watching a move completely beyond their expectations. They all surely thought Shaan had gone mad for daring to choose a different route, yet none of them dared to confront him directly.

’Come on, Shaan. You can do it.’

With all his strength, he slowly pushed his cart down the stairs in front of him, one by one. He managed to get down one step, then two, and so on, until he had successfully descended half of the stairs.

’See? This method actually works.’ Shaan smiled in satisfaction. ’Now I just need to get down the rest of these steps, and I’ll reach the town square faster than everyone else.’

However, as he tried to go down the remaining stairs, he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings. His feet didn’t land properly on the steps, causing him to lose his balance and fall.

’Thud!’

"Ow!" Shaan groaned in pain. "I never expected that to—"

Shaan’s face immediately turned pale when he saw his cart tilted toward the ground. All the goods spilled across the floor, and worse still, one stack of boxes rolled rapidly down the stairs.

"This is bad. I have to get that box as quickly as possible."

Shaan forced himself to stand, but pain shot through his twisted ankle. He kept pushing his body to move, yet the pain only grew sharper with every second until it sent him crashing down for the second time. Damn it. Choosing this route turned out to be a terrible mistake.

"Argh! I have to do this," Shaan muttered in frustration. "I have to—hey, watch out!"

Shaan shouted, trying to warn a woman standing below. Thankfully, she heard his voice, but it already felt too late. The box had closed the distance, and she had almost no chance to escape its path.

’Crash!’

The wooden box slammed into the ground and shattered into pieces. Decorative ornaments spilled everywhere, turning the scene into complete chaos.

"Oh, damn it. Damn it." Shaan grumbled irritably. "What about the woman who—"

Shaan fell silent. Goosebumps rose across his skin, and his face drained of color as if he had seen a ghost. The woman had vanished. Strange. No Daemonist should have escaped from such close range—especially not a woman, who would normally struggle against a sudden attack like that.

’Strange. Where did the woman —’ 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The moment someone called his name, Shaan’s entire body froze. He felt certain—certain—that he had not seen anyone behind him while he made his way down the stairs. And yet... a voice now came from behind him.

’Who exactly is—’

When Shaan turned around, his mouth fell open. His whole body went limp when he saw that the figure was the woman who had been in front of him earlier.

"B-but, how is that possible..."

"Yo, calm down. I’m not a ghost." The woman smiled, revealing her dimples. "Wait a second... I think I’ve met you before."

Hearing the woman’s words, Shaan immediately furrowed his brow. To be honest, during his time here, he had never seen a woman (perhaps around the same age as Dr. Marshal) with short brown hair and an eye patch over one eye that made her look like a pirate.

’Strange, who is this woman actually?’

"Yo, I remember now." The woman patted Shaan’s shoulder enthusiastically. "Shaan. Your name is Shaan, right?"

’Huh?’ Shaan was silent for a moment, hearing the woman’s words. ’B-but how could she know that?’

"Hello? Are you listening to me?" The woman snapped her fingers repeatedly in front of his face. "I need an answer."

"Ah—y-yes. I hear you. Sorry about that." Shaan nodded his head. "That’s right. My name is Shaan, but how did you know my name?"

"The trial. I was there and saw your heroic actions," said the woman. "Oh, yes, my name is Jeshina."

"Yashina?"

Jeshina shook her head quickly. "Nope. Jeshina is not Yashina. The names sound similar, but they’re not the same."

"W-wait a second." Shaan scratched his head, trying to process her words. "I still don’t understand. If you were really at the trial, why didn’t I see you there at all?"

"That just means you didn’t pay much attention to your surroundings." Jeshina laughed freely. "Well, whatever. The lighting in that place was terrible anyway."

’Agreed. I totally agree with her.’ Shaan nodded to himself. ’The courtroom lighting really was awful.’

"Yo, what are you doing here?"

"I tried to find a shortcut to the town square." Shaan let out a long sigh. "But my guess turned out wrong, and I almost got you hurt. I’m sorry."

"Ah, no, no, kiddo. You’re wrong." Jeshina smiled. "Your voice actually saved me. I’m the one who should be thanking you."

"Oh... okay." Shaan scratched his head, his face still confused. "B-but how did you manage to avoid that box?"

"Well, I just moved my body a little." She shrugged. "That’s all."

’She only moved her body a little?’ Shaan shook his head. ’That doesn’t make any sense. How could she move just a bit and suddenly end up behind me that fast?’

"Kiddo, it seems you’re having trouble," Jeshina said slowly, reaching out her hand. "Let me help you."

"Ah, thank you." Shaan took her hand and slowly got to his feet. "You’re really helping me a lot."

"You’re welcome, kiddo. I’m glad I can help." Jeshina smiled. "Oh, it looks like everything from your cart has spilled everywhere. I’ll help you gather them, too."

"Ah, no—no. That’s not necessary." Shaan tried to stop Jeshina as she moved forward. "I can still—ow!"

"Your foot is badly sprained, kiddo." Jeshina patted Shaan on the shoulder. "Just sit there, and I’ll collect these boxes."

"Bu-but..."

"Never mind, just sit quietly and don’t bother me, kiddo."

Shaan was silent for a moment. "O-okay. I understand."

While Jeshina placed the boxes back into the cart, Shaan could only sit there in a daze. He felt deeply awkward. He had just met Jeshina, yet she had already helped him so much by gathering the scattered boxes around his cart.

’I have to repay Miss Jeshina’s kindness someday. I promise.’

"Yo, kiddo. All the boxes are back in the cart," Jeshina said. "How do you feel now?"

"Much better. Thank you very much, Miss Jeshina."

"Good. Now we should hurry to the town square. Everyone must be waiting for these boxes," she said as she gently pushed the cart forward. Come on, Shaan. Time to move.

They pushed the cart together down the remaining steps until they reached the bottom of the stairs. After that, they carefully picked up the remaining accessories scattered across the ground, then continued pushing the cart toward the town square.

"Hey, we’re here." Jeshina smiled contentedly. "Pretty good teamwork—"

"Miss. Jeshina!" shouted a man in uniform, running towards them. "Miss Jeshina, what are you doing here? The faction leaders are about to start their second meeting, and you’re the only one who hasn’t arrived yet."

"Huh?" Shaan rounded his eyes, his face tensing up. ’So, Miss Jeshina is the faction leader?’ Shaan slapped his forehead. ’This is crazy. This is crazy. I had no idea about that.’

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Madam Jeshina nodded calmly. "Alright then, Shaan. Goodbye. I hope we meet again sometime."

Jeshina walked away with the officer and soon disappeared from Shaan’s sight. Shaan stood frozen in place. His lips pressed tightly together, as if words refused to come out, after he realized that Madam Jeshina led one of the factions. No wonder she possessed such sharp reflexes and agile movements.

’I can’t help but wonder just how strong Miss Jeshina really is.’