Chapter 1598: Finally Left, but with a Tag
The siblings Veronica, Vaughn, and the rest of them had long been prepared to leave, so when Bleumrick lifted the block, they were ready to go at a moment’s notice.
They already had their items in their spaces, and the non-essentials had long been placed in their carriages. Their change of clothing was in small handcarries, so there was no need to recover anything after everything had been packed.
It was just that as they climbed up their carriage, they heard a voice that tired them out as soon as they heard it.
"Wait!" she called, voice laced with hurriedness.
The pink-haired siblings flinched, and they turned to look at Estra and forced smiles on their faces.
They really didn’t know what to do with this one.
They didn’t really dislike her per se as they hadn’t really experienced what was said about her reputation—repeatedly mentioned by Liaoroa.
However, after so many days, her just hanging around them so often that they couldn’t plan properly was exhausting.
They really couldn’t wait to get away from her!
Sadly, it wouldn’t be easy. They just made empty promises as they stared at the girl, who looked sad and betrayed when they saw them leaving.
"We will visit often," Veronica said.
"Vaungh too?"
Vaungh looked awkward, but nodded.
Estra brightened. She was quite beautiful—if only she didn’t exhaust people.
Unexpectedly, she went to Vaungh and gave him a tight hug. "I’ll miss you," she said before parting with a red face, finally letting them go.
...
Vaughn had to endure the teasing stares well after the carriage lunged forward.
He rubbed the middle of his forehead. "Please stop. I really don’t think it’s good to tease. It’ll give the other false hope."
"Whoa there, Casanova," Veronica asked (she learned the term from Alterran popular literature). "You really didn’t feel anything?"
Vaughn heaved a deep breath. "No."
Veronica shrugged. She knew all-too well that feelings couldn’t be forced, and she didn’t want Estra as a sister-in-law either.
Anyway, now, their carriage was heading Northwest, which was the direction of Hubble Town, though they would actually be going North to Alterra after a while.
If anyone from Bleulle asked if they arrived, their father could just tell them they were there, and they were so shocked by what happened in Bleulle that they couldn’t interact with anyone for a while, and they could only be absent from every social function in the Town.
Vaungh decided to take a look at Alterra for a bit, too, which made Veronica shine in excitement.
The more he chatted with his sister, the more he heard about Alterra, and the more and more curious he became about it.
He thought that since he was the heir of a Town, he should see a bit more of the world. This was what his sister told him.
She said that he should learn and understand some concepts that could help the people and the growth of the territory, and then apply them back home.
No doubt they had been worried about his quietness and general dislike of going outside too much. They must be jumping for joy that he was willingly being taken to another territory.
Even when he was studying in Holt City with relatives, he barely went out aside from going to the academy.
It couldn’t be helped, he was from a Town and he had to study amidst City nobles who were much stronger than him. He was a bit introverted already, so he really didn’t adjust well.
Sean looked at them. "Don’t let down your guard," he said. "Although we had been given a few bottles of Improved Beast repelling potions, they could only work until a certain level."
They were fairly sure the strong monsters in their path had been cleared by the Golds and Sir Gregor already, but it was better safe than sorry.
"Until we haven’t left the scope of Bleulle’s influence, assume we can encounter level 40s at any time."
The ones from Hubble Town were more serious. They were a few level 30 guards from Hubble Town. Vaughn’s main guard was Level 40, but the rest of them were mid 20s.
Going to a City, the Lord naturally made his heir bring most of their strongmen. Maybe one Level 40 was manageable, but those tended to move in small clusters, so they really kept their guard up to the maximum level during the first several hours of travel, which was exhausting in and of itself.
Fortunately, what they feared did not happen. Thanks to the Repellants, the trip was relatively peaceful except for some mobs they encountered along the way. However, as they traveled, they noticed something different.
Sean looked behind the carriage, narrowing his eyes. "What is it?"
A moment of silence passed. Sean continued to look, waiting for something. "Nothing." he shook his head when there were no anomalies witnessed.
Later, they would find out it was absolutely not ’nothing’.
After about a day or so of travel, after leaving the scope of the City, their group decided to camp. They found a clearing near the road and set up a few bonfires there to have a simple barbecue.
The Beast Repelling potion had lost its effect now, so they had to deal with the occasional mob, but since they were outside the City’s main area of influence, the monsters were relatively manageable. There were still people guarding at a distance, though, and their food was just delivered to them.
They started camping and resting. At this time, the only Alterran product they had left was a few sauces.
"My last drop..." Veronica said, looking painfully at the last piece of meat she’d enjoy with the sauce.
Still, other than the feeling of regret, their camp was relatively peaceful. However, after about half an hour, it was broken by a scream, and this was followed by the ground rumbling in their direction.
"Kyaaaa!"
They had already stood up, their weapons up, as they stared at the source of the sound. Soon, a mob of level 20 monsters became visible, and they seemed to be chasing a woman!
Seeing a lone woman in the middle of nowhere was already something unusual, let alone that they could recognize who it was!
They gaped, couldn’t believe their eyes.
"Estra?!"