Chapter 50: Ready to Set Out
Translator: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh
Seeing their master get hit, the bodyguards pounced on Niya and surrounded her with fierce looks. Christian and his companions stepped onto the battlefield as fast as they could, standing behind Niya and looking coldly at their enemies. They had not started the fight yet, but they were sending out magic surges. The bodyguards were shocked for a second. They stood still while the onlookers ran away from the battlefield. Onlookers kept looking back as they ran to see what was going on. Even common people knew they could easily get caught in the crossfire and needed to keep their distance from the battle.
The nobleman got up clumsily from the floor. Before he had a chance to wipe the blood off his mouth, he yelled, "Fight! All of you! What are you standing there for?"
The bodyguards looked at each other, shuffling along toward Niya. If it up were to them, they would not confront mages glowing with magic surges. They were at the edge of the battle and had to obey orders, otherwise they would lose their jobs, and even their families would be punished.
"Hold on!" a well-dressed middle-aged man in armor walked in and yelled.
"Uncle!" The nobleman looked very happy when he saw the man walk in.
"You, shut your mouth!" the middle-aged man said coldly. He looked at Niya for a while and then said, "Miss, you look like you are well educated. Isn’t it beneath you to fight with a nobleman on the street? Is this how your parents raised you?"
"Ptooey! Why don’t you ask what he did first? This bastard harassed women in public in broad daylight. He deserved to be beaten up!" Niya reprimanded.
"Bullsh*t! I was just saying ‘hello’ to them, and it was none of your business. Uncle, they are bad guys. Arrest them!" the nobleman yelled. He acted nothing like a nobleman. In fact, he could only show the manners of a noble person on certain occasions. When it was beyond his limits, he would just show his real colors.
"No matter what you say, hitting others is not right. Miss, I hope you can apologize," the middle-aged man said.
"You wish! I will beat the crap out of him if I see him again!" Niya did not even flinch.
"F*ck you..." The nobleman inched forward, ready to fight Niya, but he was pulled back by the middle-aged man.
Niya could not hold in her anger when she heard him swearing. She pulled out her sword backhanded, positioning for a fight. If he dared to swear again, she would fight him.
That middle-aged man sighed. "Let’s go."
"Why? Uncle! Why are we leaving?"
"Go," the middle-aged man yelled.
It was obvious that the middle-aged man was a man in high position, enjoying prestige and respect from others. After his yell, the nobleman did not dare to say anything, and the bodyguards hurried to put their weapons away as well.
The middle-aged man gave Niya a long glance and dragged the nobleman away without a word.
It was humiliating to be hit on the street in front of civilians. The nobleman had to swallow his pride, but it was easy to tell how pissed he was. He walked away, but kept looking back at Niya as if he wanted to eat her alive.
Niya had so much pride in herself that she did not think the nobleman was anybody important. In Sacred City, she had seen all kinds of people. Nobody had ever put her in any awkward situations. Niya was used to others deferring to her. Even during the escape, she was expecting others to treat her the same way.
Niya walked to the two sisters and smiled. "Girls, you should go home now. Next time when you come out, you should have some companions. Do not wander around by yourselves."
The older sister smiled bitterly at Niya. The younger sister politely said, "Thank you, sister. You are so nice."
"Haha, you have a sweet tongue." Niya seemed very happy.
"Thank you," the older sister quickly thanked Niya and dragged her sister away, running beyond the battlefield.
"Sister, my house is not far from here. Come and visit us!" the younger sister looked around and yelled out loud.
The older sister covered her sister’s mouth with her hand, scolding her quietly. The younger one did not want to listen to her sister and said loudly, "I want to be a swordswoman like that big sister."
"Stop it! Do not even think about it!" The older sister ran out of the crowd with her sister.
As a regular onlooker in the crowd, Anfey watched the whole thing without interruption. However, Anfey saw something others did not see. The middle-aged man’s nervous and happy looks did not escape Anfey’s eyes.
"Sante, go tell Riska to watch those two girls carefully. Hurry!"
"Yes, sir," Sante answered. He walked back to the main street.
"We should go now," Anfey said flatly. "Zubin, are you familiar with Lagan City?"
"Yes."
"Who is that middle-aged man?"
"I do not know."
Anfey smiled. "Before I became a student of the professor, I was just a civilian and never had anything to do with these noblemen. Can you find a map of Lagan City?"
"Yes… there are maps for sale." Zubin nodded. "To better assist business people, the commercial union sells maps. However, their maps only mark the locations of different markets and commercial centers. They are simple; there’s no other stuff on the map."
"It’s better than nothing, Zubin. You go get a map and walk around every city gate. Wait for me in the hotel when you are done."
"Sure, do you want me to go now?"
"Yes." Anfey nodded.
Zubin left quickly. Anfey looked at Christian, who was keeping his distance. "Sante, let’s go. We have a lot of stuff to buy."
Anfey had bought a lot of stuff on the way. Luckily, they had many gold coins. Sante’s dimensional ring could not hold any more stuff, so they had to wrap the rest up in a big piece of cloth for Sante to carry over his shoulder like a bag. Feller and Blavi also went over to help, otherwise it would be too much for Sante to carry. For some reason, Anfey turned down Christian’s help. When Blavi passed by, Anfey asked him to warn Christian that anyone in the second group would not be allowed to talk with anyone else.
It was already dark by the time Anfey had finally satisfied his desire for shopping. Anfey returned to the hotel. When he had just stepped onto the second floor, he saw Zubin looking out with a worried look.
Anfey heaved a short sigh. He knew he had guessed right when he saw Zubin so nervous.
"Feller, give me your stuff." Anfey took the bag from Feller’s shoulders. Anfey said quietly, "Go and tell Christian and Riska to come to my room quietly. Tell them not to be seen by anyone."
"Yes." Feller winked.
"Anfey, something seemed wrong. Two city gates were closed earlier and the checkpoint was strict as well. I intentionally walked around the river, and I found guards everywhere around the ferry! We should have left immediately!" Zubin said worriedly when Anfey walked into the room.
"Did you buy the map?" Anfey asked.
"Here." Zubin took out the map and immediately said, "Anfey, do you know what I am talking about? We cannot leave now. If we were able to leave, we should have left this afternoon." Anfey opened the map as he talked.
"Why can’t we leave?" Anfey asked in shock.
"If my guess was right, only the second group got their attention. Christian only had four people in his team, which looked fishy to our enemy. If we leave the city without crowds of people covering us, we will be easily identified. They will surely be able to know where we are from. Before we entered the city, I saw the areas near Lagan City were flat. If the guards send out cavalry, we will be in big trouble. Isn’t it more dangerous to stay?"
"Not really, Zubin, trust me. I would never risk anyone’s life for this." Anfey thought for a moment and smiled. "There is another reason to stay, and that is to let everybody see the real world!"
"Ok... I will follow your orders." Zubin hesitated for a second and nodded.
Anfey looked down at the maps. After a while, Christian and Riska both walked into Anfey’s room. Riska also brought a person with him. That person had interrogated Anfey two days ago, but Anfey had refuted him at every step. They waited for Anfey without interrupting him.
"Everyone is here." Anfey looked up, massaging between his eyebrows. "I will go out with Christian and Zubin in a while. We have something to do, so Blavi and Riska stay and take care of this place. You have to be really careful. If something happens, you run to this place to meet us." Anfey pointed to the map.
Blavi and Riska looked closely at the map and did not respond.
"Anfey, where are we going?" Christian asked.
"You will know when you get there," Anfey said flatly. "The ones staying here should get as much rest as possible, because we have to be on the road the whole night."
"Ok." Christian shrugged.
"Riska, Sante, and Sanga stay, and the rest go and get ready. We are leaving soon."
"Do I need to stay?" Sanga asked, worriedly. He thought he had offended Anfey and had no chance in this legion. In fact, he would be more than happy if Anfey did not cause any trouble for him. Unexpectedly, Anfey specifically asked him to stay. It went without saying that anyone staying would have the chance to discuss important issues.
"Yes." Anfey smiled.