Alicia waited for them to disappear from her sight. And then started running in the opposite direction, where a small village next to Oston city was located.
Rowan said,
"Attack me right now, and I will go to the city asking for help. Make it look like it is from a beast."
The assassins agreed and attacked him with a claw. It looked quite lethal but manageable by a grown man. Rowan went in another direction and left the forest. The assassins started to walk towards the carriage, already celebrating an easy kill, but soon found that Alicia had run away from them.
They scattered all across the forest and tried to search for her. Only to find no one. They all gathered at a spot they had already discussed.
One of the assassins, who was their leader, spoke,
"Did we actually lose that brat!!! How can we fail such an important mission? His majesty will definitely make an example of us.... Give me something... How can we fix this?"
He only heard silence...
He shouted,
"TELL SOME IDEAS YOU FOOLS!! Not only did you all fail to find her, but now, keeping quiet, SPEAK UP!, Right now."
One of them spoke up,
"Master, let's just lie like the other assassins."
He replied,
"WHAT?"
The member spoke again,
"It's the best option. I mean, if Rowan's right, the other group has also lied and would get punished for that. Also, the Emperor hasn't asked for a body..."
"But he has asked for some proof."
"So, let us just get some pieces of her clothes. That should probably be enough."
The leader thought for a moment and agreed. They went to the carriage, cut a piece of cloth from a bunch of clothes and smeared some animal blood on it. They exited the forest and started to move towards the capital.
Alicia started to run towards the nearest village she found when she opened her eyes in the middle for a brief time. She walked and ran for almost a night until she found that village. She was hoping again and again that it would be fine from here on out. After all, the mole was found, and she successfully escaped the assassins. Now, she only needed to find a way to the Mage District and inform her family about her findings. But first, she needed rest, and she knew that she had to take it; otherwise, it would be hard to move forward. So, she decided to enter the village after a very long night.