At that moment, Kuran thought of something and asked.
"So, why did you choose that isolated territory?"
"I do have the same doubt. Why didn't you choose a territory next to the capital city?" Helena also gave a curious look at him and asked. Meanwhile, Sara and Lily sat there, listening to their discussion with a close look.
In the meantime, Abium went silent for a few seconds and decided to tell the truth.
"Well, I don't want my territory to be under others' control in the future. So, Alastall woodland will be the perfect option to create an independent city near the seashore."
Everyone suddenly went silent as they heard Abium's answer.
"Independent territory, huh? I don't think the kingdom will agree to your demand, lad." Kuran narrowed his eyes while taking another sip.
"Everything is based on one's strength, Kuran. If I become a Second-Tier Mage in the future, I can make such demand pretty easily."
That dwarf nodded and soon realized they had already reached the southern gate.
"Get ready." He added.
Meanwhile, Abium also looked outside through the curtain gap and noticed they were moving closer to the exit gate.
After that, he released his spirit power, analyzed his surroundings, and spoke.
"For the next few minutes, both of you shouldn't make a sound and remain calm. I'll take care of the rest."
On the other hand, Sara nodded and held Lily's hand tightly.
"Good."
Smiling lightly, Abium calmly raised his hand and said.
"Mirage."
A second later, Sara and Lily started to turn transparent and soon disappeared from others' eyes.
Upon seeing this, Helena couldn't help but look at Abium in shock.
"Magic spell?"
But instead of responding, he leaned back on the seat and closed his eyes.
The carriage slowly stopped before the tall metallic gate a few moments later, followed by the coachman's anxious voice.
Soon, a knocking sound came from outside.
Abium slowly opened his eyes and asked coldly.
"What is it?"
"The Royal Knights wishes to verify the passengers' identity, My Lord." The coachman said in an anxious tone from the front.
"Wait for a second," Abium said as he raised his right leg and kicked open the carriage door.
Meanwhile, three people in silver armor stood a few feet away from the carriage door and looked inside to take a clear look at the passengers.
But as soon as they saw Abium's face, they all went stiff for a moment.
How could they not remember what had happened to the pitiful guy who blocked this newly titled elf during the Royal Banquet?
They instantly bent their waist a bit and bowed their heads in greeting.
After that, one of the Royal Knight took a step forward and spoke.
"Good morning, Lord Baron. We are here to check the passengers' identity."
"Go ahead." Abium didn't even look at the guy's face and waved his hand.
After getting the approval, the Royal Knight slowly moved his gaze towards the opposite empty seat, then towards Kuran, and soon frowned.
The inside of the carriage was full of the smell of alcohol. Kuran's extremely flushed face and this stretch made it very clear he had been drinking when entering the carriage.
'Why does such a noble-looking Elf keeps an alcoholic as his attendant?' Such thought crossed his mind.
Shaking his head, he asked for Kuran's and Helena's identification papers and checked them quietly.
After confirming no anomaly in the identification papers, the Royal Knight bowed his head and responded.
"Everything looks fine, Lord Baron."
Then, he moved toward the coachman and said a few words.
Creak! Click.
Soon, the door closed completely, and the carriage made its way through the gate and exited the capital.
After the carriage passed through the main gate and left the Royal Capital, Abium returned to his usual self and dismissed the 'Mirage' spell.
"You are safer now." He added.
Meanwhile, Lily, who was no longer invisible, nodded and started to smile.
...
Outside the Royal city, Southern Exit.
Ten black-hooded figures mounted on their horses outside the southern gate and silently watched Abium's luxurious carriage moving towards the east.
Once the carriage was out of their sight, a black-haired young man removed his black hood and took out a puppet raven from his backpack.
With a slight push on the puppet raven's mantle, he activated the rune circle and placed a scroll in its mouth. In the next second, the puppet raven rose to the sky while flapping its puppet wings and flew towards the east.
After confirming that the puppet raven had disappeared from his sight, he breathed out a sigh of relief and said calmly.
"Listen up. Our job is to follow that carriage. We will take action only after we get a reply from Lord Murius or mister Bilet. Got it?" Except for a single warrior, all those hooded figures nodded.
"Why do we have to wait for the unknown mage's reply, Watson? Can't we deal with them by ourselves? Or, are you afraid that we would lose against that elf?" A guy around 6 feet tall with broad shoulders asked with a deep tone while removing the hood.
He wore silver knight armor, black leather shoes, brown pants, and a shirt. He had thin silver-grey hair, which almost touched his nape, barely visible eyebrows, and round silvery eyes. He was the same silver knight that Abium's group faced at the auction house entrance.
"Sir Rainier, that mage is just a backup force," Watson said with a hint of annoyance and started riding his horse towards the east.
…
Meanwhile, Abium's carriage took a slight turn and moved towards the eastern direction at a fast speed. As the carriage entered the gloomy path surrounded by woods, Abium took out the rune book from his space ring and slowly placed it on his lap to read.
While others were chatting in whispers, he lowered his head and concentrated his full attention on the rune book. Its outer cover was a sheepskin, but numerous rune letters carved on it gave off some mysterious feeling. In the center, a triangle-shaped symbol was engraved that gave this book a unique presence.
He slowly moved his right hand and placed it on that triangle symbol.
Spark!
A small electric current came out from that symbol and alerted everyone inside that carriage.
"E-Eh?" "W-Wha-"
Slowly, a red light emerged from that unique triangle and entered Abium's mind. A series of basic information about a magic array circle entered Abium's mind in the next second.
"What was that?!" Helena asked in a bewildered tone. Meanwhile, Camilla flew in front of the book while flapping her tiny wings and stared at that shining triangle with her glittering emerald eyes.
"Camilla, come here. Don't disturb him." Helena quickly recovered from the shock and grabbed her sister before she could do any rash actions. Only then did everyone notice that Abium was already entered into a half-sleep state.
At that moment, Abium stared blankly at the rune book and started to analyze the basic information about the magic array circles in detail.
"Magic Array Circle creation: Mages use many materials for creating a magic array circle. Most of the mages would prefer to use chalk for inscribing the magic array on the floor, which they can get everywhere. As for inscribing the magic array in the scrolls, they had to use a quill pen to draw the rune letters and circles."
'What is the magic array circle?' He thought in puzzlement, and soon another set of information appeared in his mind.
"Magic array circles are like connectors, which are used to create magic spells models outside one's mind. Mages can create those magic array circles anywhere, like in normal scrolls or magic towers walls. And once they create spell models in those magic array circles, it will transform into a magic rune circle."
'So, it is almost impossible to create a magic spell model without the help of a magic array circle, huh?' Abium nodded his head thoughtfully and glanced at the following information.
"There are no restrictions to create magic array circles. You can create these magic array circles anywhere. As long as you have enough materials, you can create a magic rune circle on the normal floor." He skimmed through the information and frowned.
'The main problem is mana. Once you activate the spell model in the magic array circle, it will use a large amount of mana as fuel to cast the spell. If the mana dries out, the array circle will break along with the spell model.'
As he further read the book, he understood why it was essential to know more about the magic array circle. He didn't mind others' gazes and continued to read the book patiently without using Eidetic Memory. By the time he finished reading the book, it was already the second day.
Abium slowly closed the book and noticed that all of them were sitting with a tired look.
"Finished reading the book?" Kuran slowly turned his head and asked as he noticed Abium was storing the book in his spatial ring.
After all, they had been discussing various topics during their travel, but he didn't even listen to their words and entirely focused on reading.
"Yes." Abium quietly nodded, moved his hand towards the silk curtain, and looked outside.
'It's already evening, huh? Hmm, I see a small hill far ahead. Naga hill? We are still in the Royal Family's territory.' Muttering, he opened the door from inside and spoke to the coachman.
"Stop the carriage near the Naga Hill. It's the only place you can get water resources around the surroundings."
"Yes, My Lord." The coachman spoke from the front and continued to drive the carriage towards the small hill.