Seven days ago.
After leaving the small Naga hill, Abium's carriage didn't stop anywhere and moved in the eastern direction without any obstacle. Only farmlands and villages appeared along the way. Although they met a few adventures and peddlers' carriages from time to time, none of them even tried to get near them due to the noble symbol carved on the carriage doors.
As they moved closer to the east, the temperature also began to fall rapidly. The reason for that was the presence of a large mountain range separating the Alastall woodland from the kingdom.
It's called the Frozen Mountain Range. This mountain range played a significant role in influencing the Peral kingdom's climate condition and had been a great benefit to the surrounding lands.
By the mountains' high altitude, length, and direction, they effectively intercepted the summer monsoons coming from the Southern Sea and Devil Sea and caused precipitation in the form of rainfall to Alastall Woodland and the Peral Kingdom's eastern territories.
Multiple rivers originated from this mountain range. But only two rivers flew through the Alastall woodlands, while other rivers directly entered the Wadel kingdom from the northeast side.
As he was thinking about the geography of his territory, the carriage arrived at a local town. This town was under the Royal Family's control. They chose to stay there for a day while Abium continued to do his experiment on creating magic array circles. Unlike previous times, he didn't make any ruckus and quietly did his work.
After Abium successfully created the magic array circles, he thought of moving toward the next step.
'The next step is to create a magic rune circle.' His expression turned serious.
'I have to construct a spell model inside the array circle using magic stone. In the Rune book, Ubius explained that it would take lesser time to construct a spell model in magic array circles than in one's mind.' Abium started constructing a spell model in the magic array with an understanding nod. At the same time, they also resumed their journey.
Unlike before, Abium didn't cause any trouble for others. His experience in constructing spell mode made his job easier.
By the end of the 6th-day travel, he finally constructed a zero-tier red orb spell model in the small magic array.
Sparks appeared on the scroll, startling others in the carriage.
Soon, the rune characters flickered slowly and glowed in a reddish color. A moment later, the magic stone hidden in the spell scroll became visible to Abium's eyes and started to release pure fire-elemental energy into the spell model.
A few seconds later, the magic stone slowly vanished into thin air, leaving a unique spell model imprint on the scroll.
'That's it?' A smile appeared on his face. Then, he rolled down the scroll and stored it inside his space ring.
'I need more practice to create these magic spell scrolls.' Without minding others' wary look, he moved his hand towards the silk curtain and lifted it a little to see outside.
'I think we already arrived near to Aldgate town.' His gaze sharpened.
"Orson, Stop the carriage at the next town." He ordered.
"Yes, my lord." Everyone gave him a puzzled look, but he shrugged his shoulders.
The Aldgate town was under Duke Adhemar's control. It would only take one to two hours to reach there from their current location.
But everyone's puzzlement was that they came across many cities and villages on their way, but Abium strictly told Orson not to stop!
Alas, his current action caused others to raise their eyebrows.
...
At that moment, a black-haired young warrior stood on a tree branch and gazed at the carriage through a strange visual scope magic object from a far distance.
"They are heading towards Aldgate Town." Muttering, he stored the artifact in his space ring and started climbing down from the tall tree.
He was none other than Watson.
Soon, he landed on the ground and noticed multiple warriors were standing a few meters away from him with cold weapons in their hands. They wore black hoods and covered their faces with black masks.
"Shall we make our move?" Rainier asked while glancing at Watson.
"Not in the duke's territory. Let's prepare a warm welcome for him near his land." Watson shook his head firmly and replied.
"What about the mage you mentioned earlier?" Rainier's eyes narrowed. Although Count Tibal ordered him to accompany Watson, he was annoyed by this guy's attitude. Rainier knew that this guy was hiding more information from him, but all he could do now was grit his teeth and obeyed his order.
Meanwhile, Watson wore a thoughtful look on his face and spoke.
"Lord Murius already asked apprentice mage Bilet to lend a hand for us. So you don't have to worry about failure."
Rainier cold snorted at Watson's reply and sighed helplessly. He didn't trust the unknown mage at all.
"Let's go!"
Soon, all of them hopped on their horses and stealthily followed after the carriage while maintaining some distance.
...
It was around noon.
A luxurious carriage drove from the western woods and soon stopped in front of the Aldgate town's northern entrance. After a simple glance, the gatekeepers understood that the carriage belonged to a noble and opened the wooden gate hastily. The winged-sun symbolized carriage then entered the small town and moved towards the residential area where most of the inns were located.
"Go to Indra's inn," As the carriage moved into the town, Abium opened the door a little and said coldly.
"Yes, My Lord."
Responding, Orson quickly whipped the horses, drove the carriage towards the Commoners' Street, and soon stopped at an old Inn's entrance. A bow symbol was drawn at the Inn's door, causing Helena to frown slightly.
"It looks too old." She said as she opened the carriage door from inside and stepped out.
"Are we going to stay in this Inn? Why does it looks so old, or should I say dirty?" Kuran complained of dissatisfaction.
"Do you want Red-spiced wine or the best Inn?" Abium responded with a question, causing Kuran's eyes to widen.
"Oh, will it taste good?" Asking, Kuran opened the carriage door and stepped down from the carriage.
"Well, I heard that this Inn is famous for it," Abium added calmly and followed after him.
Meanwhile, Helena, Sara, and Lily also stepped down from the carriage and looked at the Inn. It was an old two-storied building. Although the owner had placed many ornamental plants and vines to make the Inn look beautiful, the damaged walls and windows showed that the building was too old to stay.
"I hope no storm comes tonight. I don't want to get buried alive." Helena grumbled inwardly, moved towards the front, and told Orson to park the carriage in the backside.
On the other hand, Kuran snorted coldly and added.
"It's not like you are a mere mortal, lass. Such a thing won't even leave a heavy wound on you."
Without waiting for Helena's angry rebuttal, he stepped forward and walked towards the entrance gate.
"I'm gonna put some poison in that dwarf's wine." Helena glared at him from behind and followed after him slowly.
Abium and others also moved forward and arrived near the entrance in seconds.
Everyone entered Indra's Inn and soon saw a girl with forest green hair greeting them with a warm smile.
'Leeta.' Abium identified the green-haired girl instantly and smiled at her.
She had emerald green eyes, a heart-shaped face, olive skin, a shadow nose bridge, and short eyebrows.
"Book five separate rooms for a day." Abium quickly paid two gold coins to her and stood there with some hesitation. Leeta noticed his hesitation and asked in a soft tone.
"Is there anything else you would like, sir?" Abium glanced around his surroundings and then spoke.
"I want to meet, Mr. Viper."
At first, Leeta nodded. But abruptly, her expression froze. Within a second, she broke into cold sweats and stared at Abium nervously. Her action caused others to stare at Abium in confusion.
"S-Sir, I-I don't know what you are talking about." She stuttered in panic and backed away from the counter table. As Abium was about to say something, he felt a slight pain in his neck.
At that moment, a cold black dagger appeared at Abium's neck!
The dagger tip made a small wound on his neck, causing a few drops of blood to drop on the floor.
Helena and others instantly unsheathed their weapons and stared at the pitch-black dark hole that appeared next to Abium's neck with wide eyes.
The next moment, everyone in the reception hall felt darkness surrounding the whole hall, leaving no trace of light behind.
Although Abium was a bit nervous inside, he kept his poker face and stared at the shining dagger in the darkness.
"Why do you want to meet me, kid? How did you know my name? Don't think I won't kill you just because you are a noble. Now, tell me?" A calm yet chilling atmosphere appeared all over their surroundings.
But without any fear in Abium's eyes, he quietly raised his hand and conjured a ball of fire.
A second later, the darkness faded, leaving a single human-like shadow behind.
Slowly, it formed into a middle-aged man with long gray hair and scarlet lizard-like eyes. He wore a blue overcoat, which fell from his shoulder to halfway down his legs, and large black boots. He had a round face, the same olive skin as his daughter, and a few wrinkles appeared on his face.
Like a snake, his simple glance toward others sent shivers down everyone's spine.
'Viper!' A smile crept on Abium's face.