Unsealing Emptiness

So Blaze had asked him to give them a ride, and in return, they would not only provide him protection but also give him the travel fees.

The merchant had been suspicious of Blaze, but the Mercenary badge made him let go of all his doubts.

It was only his luck that a Silver Rank Mercenary would not only give him protection but also pay for the travel.

His cart was of decent size. The merchant had some goods to sell, but the cart still had enough space for three to four people in it.

Ozul and Raven hoped in the back with Blaze, and they started on their journey.

If Blaze had not looked for the merchant, that man would have had to buy Mercenary services for his safety since there were all kinds of dangers on the path.

.....

Bandits and forest Beasts were just one of the examples of the dangers when people traveled to other cities.

As expected, some bandits attacked them during the journey. However, Blaze and Raven took care of them while Ozul decided to take his long-awaited naps.

The recent events had affected the living ways of the Magical Beasts around these areas, so there weren’t any high-rank Beasts that bothered them.

Rank-4 to Rank-6 Beast had their peace disturbed by the Eclipse’s Order, and the even higher ranking Beasts only lived in specific places.

The forests around the cities weren’t so deep, so the probability of them housing a Rank-7 or higher Beast was close to null.

It was unlucky for the merchant that it had suddenly started raining because he would have to stop at small settlements on the way and check the cart for any possible leakage that could lead to ruining the goods.

Half a day later, the trio was standing in front of a road that split into two ways. Behind them was the village where the merchant had found some bronze rank Mercenaries for help.

They had to split up from here, while Blaze could not find any Merchant cart or any caravan passing by that he could try to negotiate with. So the trio would have to travel on feet from here on out.

This situation made Ozul pissed since he would have to say goodbye to his precious nap.

Blaze had to take all the responsibility again, amusing Raven, who giggled silently on the sidelines.

Only when Ozul turned around after glaring at Blaze did she again put on the serious face as if nothing happened. Unknown to her, Ozul could sense all emotions-how could her amusement be hidden from him?

“It is also your fault Raven. Since you are in charge of all the money, it was your duty to buy a cart for us.”-

Now it was Blaze’s turn to show his teeth while taunting Raven.

“What are you, children?”- Ozul said while his eyes almost twitched at their immature behavior. He completely ignored the fact that he never told anyone to buy some carriage either.

So for the next half of the journey, the trio had to walk on feet. An average human would find it odd for the trio to walk all the way to the City, but Ozul had mostly done that for all his missions before, so he didn’t think much about it.

Raven was the same while Blaze followed everything that Ozul did.

At some point, the rain had stopped, but the dark clouds remained. Ozul did not run because he was starting to enjoy the rain, so when it ended, he also began to increase the pace.

Around noon, they could already notice the growing number of people on the road. And a little while later, Ozul saw the buildings in the distance.

Some small Kingdoms might have required them to build massive walls around their Kingdoms or the Capital cities; however, a significant power such as the Silverbird Kingdom did not need this useless measure of defense.

When the monarch of the Kingdom was a Rank-9 Mage, no one under Rank-9 would even dare to cause trouble in that territory.

And if some Rank-9 Mages were making a move themselves, then no matter how big of a wall there was, it wouldn’t be able to withstand the might from the sheer power.

The Capital City of Silverbird Kingdom was, of course, one of the most flourishing cities around the mainland.

You would find all kinds of delicacy, clothing, entertainment, and other shops that would blow people’s minds.

The Royal Palace stood out the most in the Capital City. No other restaurant or any different entertainment structure even came near the brilliance of the Palace.

Ozul started slowing his pace until he was just walking again while Raven and Blaze finally had the time to breathe.

Anyone could hear their panting to catch the breath, but Ozul chose to ignore it and kept walking.

For the first time ever, Ozul showed some interest in his surroundings and took his time to glance at the tall structures.

Raven and Blaze, though, could only see the lights since it was already pretty dark, and not everyone had Ozul’s vision.

After walking for about an hour, the trio was walking between those same buildings, which did not seem so magnificent anymore.

If anyone else were to know about the trio’s thoughts, they would be fuming in anger because people from all around the continent would come to see these building’s grandeur, and they were already bored of it!?

However, Ozul and the duo did not care about some stupid brilliance of human-made structures.

Ozul also noticed a slight increase in the density of Mana just when they had entered the City. And the even more surprising part was that it increased the more close they went towards the Palace!

Of course, they were still kilometers away from the Palace, but Ozul had sharp senses-Especially now since it was night time.

Probably, for this reason, the closer they got to the Palace, the more expensive shops or restaurants they passed by. Even the houses and other structures were better, the closer they were to the middle of the City.

Since it was already about night time, Raven quickly found a decent hotel near the area. It also had suitable prices, but the trio had more than enough money to rent the whole hotel, so Raven didn’t care about the rates.

An old lady sat behind the counter and gave them a sweet smile before asking;

“Welcome, young lads.”

“We want to rest for the day, how much?”

Raven skipped all the pleasantries and asked about the price.

“For 1 night, you will have to give 1 Silver Coin if you all are going to share a room.”- The old lady explained.

Raven took out a Silver Coin and gave it to the old lady while the latter gave her a key and said;

“Your room is no.39 on the second floor. Have a good stay~.”

Raven took the key and nodded before the trio went upstairs to their room. Since Ozul already wanted to sleep, he dropped on one of the three beds and instantly fell asleep.

The duo followed right after because they were even more exhausted than Ozul.