"Why are you giving me this now?" Helena asked in confusion while others also shifted their gaze towards him.
All of them were puzzled by his sudden action!
"Before the Grand Nobles' Gathering starts, I'm planning on returning to the Royal Capital in secret. This letter is an invitation from the crown prince. He invited me to attend the upcoming Grand Nobles' Gathering on June 28th." He paused for a moment and then spoke in a solemn tone.
"But I have a vague feeling that something big is going on in the Royal Capital. So, I will go ahead in secret and investigate on my own. In the meantime, Helena will be the one who would officially go to Dewsummit City in my stead." Abium started to explain and asked Helena with seriousness.
"Can you manage on your own?"
"I can do that. But will there be any danger during the trip?" She asked while furrowing her eyebrows.
"You and Uncle Claude are the only ones who will be going to the Capital, so there might be some fools trying to attack the carriage. But I don't think they will seriously threaten you." He let out a chuckle and quietly shifted his gaze toward others.
"In the meantime, you guys should focus on strengthening the town's defense and protecting the town from monsters and pirates. I think the Drake Pirate group might attack the town while I'm away and try to recapture their territory."
"I agree." Viper nodded his head and soon asked,
"What about Baron Harry?"
"I will take care of him when I move to the capital." Abium's reply made everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"Also, if someone named Nicolaus, Fennelis, or Umi comes here, tell them that I went to Dewsummit City. Also, tell them I will hide my identity and stay in the slums." Abium's words confused them, but nobody asked any more questions. After that, the discussion ended, and everyone dispersed from the reception hall, leaving Abium alone.
After some time, Abium also stood up from his seat, returned to his room, and started creating spell scrolls for Helena.
'I don't think anyone will come after my head during Helena's trip to the Capital. But it's better to be safer than sorry. With the spell scrolls I'm about to create, Helena's strength will increase twofold. As long as no Official-Tier Mage attacks the carriage, she won't be in any life-threatening situation.' He muttered solemnly and then thought of the enemies he had to take care of.
'I must find a way to get rid of Viscount Gauvain, Count Tibal, and the necromancers. Unlike the puny Baron Harry, all of them will be a great threat to the Peral Kingdom's future. As for that secretive hooded guy, I'm currently no match for him. Well, he hasn't done anything bad to me yet. So, he is more likely in the neutral position.' Shaking his head, he sat on the wooden chair and decided to start the work.
For the next four days, Abium stayed in his room and created 20 zero-tier spell scrolls!
He created five [Fire Orb] spell scrolls, five [Blink] spell scrolls, five [Dark Bind] spell scrolls, and another five [Blazing Shield] spell scrolls!
He also added the random teleportation spell scroll he took from the assassins during the Dusk Gate Incident and placed everything inside a leather bag.
'If I had some extra time, I would've created a low-tier spatial ring for her. But I don't want to waste my time here.' He sighed inwardly and shifted his gaze towards the east.
At that moment, the sun rose from the eastern sky and brightened his face.
'It's time to go.' Abium quickly turned around and walked out of his room.
Soon, he went downstairs, found Helena in the kitchen room, and gave her the spell scrolls. After that, he informed others about his departure and stealthily left around the afternoon.
Although some goblins and wild wolves attacked him, he took care of them quietly and continued his journey.
It was already dark when he reached the abandoned tunnel's entrance.
He then took a step forward and started walking into the underground tunnel.
After an hour of walking, he reached the other side and soon heard guards' voices mixed with laughter.
At that moment, Abium noticed a wooden house built near the tunnel entrance and widened his eyes.
'It seems they are planning to create a permanent check post here.' He was surprised by Baron Harry's bold move.
'He must have thought that this would be a good idea to earn money in the future. There are many resources in Alastall territory, and the only way to export them is through this tunnel and sea route. But the problem is that the Peral Kingdom forbids the export of minerals to other kingdoms.'
'Even if I manage to get permission from the royal family, I will only get 50 percent share from the profit while the remaining 50 will go to the royal treasury. Moreover, exporting materials through this tunnel will also become a problem under the 'Law of Artistortic Equality.' Unlike the old nobles, the current generation of nobles has the power to place merchandise and transport taxes on anyone who enters their domain. Although nobles rarely collect heavy taxes in fear of backlash from the Merchant guild, some idiots would go to any length to take revenge. In a sense, I can tell that Baron Harry became a thorn in my leg… If I want to export minerals or food products to other territories, I have to pay him a large amount of tax money. The same goes for the merchants and adventurers coming to my land. Quite a nasty plan indeed.' He praised the person who told this idea to Baron Harry.
'Also, many adventurers will come to my land in the future to explore the deep forest. But if Baron bullies them in the name of tax collection, no one would be willing to take the risk of offending a noble and come to Amaryllis Town. Haa, we just cleared some outer areas, and there are still many unexplored areas there to clean up. Without the adventurers' help, it would take forever to make that land prosper.' Abium sighed heavily and went near the check post while listening to the soldiers' conversation.
"Rody, did you hear anything about Page and Glover?" A muscular 30-year-old soldier asked while lighting the cigar using a nearby magic lamp.
"Nah, I heard they escaped with Baron of Alastall's money. Why did you suddenly become curious about them, Mason?" Another short warrior asked while taking out his cigar.
"Do you really believe that bullshit made-up story? You know they are not that type of person, right? I heard from Hanna that Lord Randolph arrested them and locked them in the dungeon." The muscular warrior Mason said with a frown.
"Who told this news to your wife?" Suddenly, Rody turned his face solemnly and asked in a suppressing tone. When he noticed Rody's intention, Mason also lowered his voice and replied.
"She heard it from one of her friends who is working in the Lord's mansion."
"Ugh, when you return home tomorrow, tell Hanna to not say a word about this matter to anyone. Warn her to not make contact with that maid for the next few days." Rody's tone turned more and more serious as he spoke.
"O-Okay, I will warn her." Mason was quite baffled by Rody's serious tone and nodded.
Suddenly, Mason frowned and looked at the newly built wooden house's entrance.
"What happened?" Rody also turned his head and asked in puzzlement.
"Thank Mother Nature! It's just some shadow. I thought some ghost was standing there before." Manson said in a startled tone while Rody started to laugh.
Meanwhile, Abium stood a few meters away from the wooden house and sighed deeply. A second later, his figure blended into the darkness and reappeared a few ten meters away from the check post.
After that, his figure moved towards the west, where Moondale town was.
Within an hour, Abium arrived in front of the eastern gate and looked at the stone wall. He saw many soldiers standing on the wall while lighting up the fire torches and appeared on high alert.
Abium narrowed his eyes and then shook his head as he observed their strength. A second later, his figure turned blurry and disappeared from there.
A few minutes later, in the Commoners' Borough, a hooded figure covered with a red-colored mask entered the cabbage Inn and booked a room for a single person.
It was none other than Abium. He knew a simple clue of him being here would cause danger to his territory and thought of completely hiding his identity.
'Moreover, I don't want to provoke the academic mages. Except for teacher Zivior, most mages are still suspicious of me. They wouldn't involve themselves if I harm this rural Baron, but I must avoid taking any risks.' He sighed under his red mask and went to his room on the second floor.