Chapter 38: Setting Out
Translator: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh
"You see, I wasn’t able to take all of them. There’s too much stuff." Niya glanced at the seemingly-ordinary dimensional ring on Anfey’s hand. "I need your help."
Niya’s dimensional ring was not comparable to Anfey’s, instead being several levels lower. It was not that Saul did not want to buy his daughter a nice dimensional ring, but that Niya liked to make trouble. One time she had even hid Yolanthe’s scepter in her dimensional ring and taken it home. Yolanthe was furious and sent out a troop of palace guards to surround the whole palace, searching it inch by inch. Back then, Niya was only 13 years old. Saul confiscated Niya’s dimensional ring afterwards and replaced it with a weak one with very limited space. Niya had always been jealous of Anfey’ ring.
"Here… Who has come here before?" Anfey took a deep breath.
"You are the second one besides me."
"Have you told anyone else yet?"
"Do you think I’m that dumb?" Niya asked, rhetorically.
Anfey relaxed a bit. He looked at the items and couldn’t help guessing that this was the reason that drew Prince Wester and his men to Saul’s house. Between the choice of trying to win an archmage over to his side or taking said archmage’s magic treasures, the prince was more likely to choose the latter.
Most likely, someone else knew about the treasures here. If that was the case, Anfey wouldn’t dare to take anything away, or he would suffer endless assassination attempts. If someone wanted the treasure so badly that they weren’t even afraid of an archmage, they must have made the decision to take down anyone in their way, and Anfey didn’t want to get in their way.
Nothing was more important than one’s life. Hope was meaningless if one was dead, and things could only be reclaimed if one was alive. Anfey always thought things through before he took action.
"Let’s start. Don’t let them wait too long."
"Huh…" Niya nodded, still unsure about her own decision. Niya had panicked and turned to whoever she could find. No one other than Niya could understand how valuable these items were; she had to take all of them with her. Anfey was her only choice, because he had not only saved her but also had a top-tier dimensional ring. This was a gamble. It was an even more serious gamble than whom she would marry. If a woman married the wrong man or gambled her life on the wrong man, that would only ruin her own life. If she bet wrong on Anfey, half of Saul’s lifetime efforts would be ruined. She would spend the rest of her life in regret. However, Niya had no other choice than to give it a try.
Anfey filled his dimensional ring with almost everything in the secret chamber. Anything left was kept in a few cases Niya had found. After they returned to the living room, everybody had gathered there, waiting for him. On the way back, he asked a stupid question, "Why didn’t the professor keep everything in his dimensional ring?" His subconscious was thinking, "Why did he make a secret chamber? Wasn’t a dimensional ring the safest way to carry everything with him?"
"The space within a dimensional ring is limited. When my father went to find Yagor, he didn’t bring anything in the chamber with him," Niya said flatly.
It took a second for Anfey to understand what Niya meant. Saul’s dimensional ring was never empty. He was a nice old man most of the time, but if there was a bloody fight, endless magic tools would come out of his dimensional ring. Saul did not find what was in the secret chamber useful in battle.
"Anfey, where were you?" Christian hurriedly walked toward Anfey.
"We went to pack up the professor’s stuff." Anfey smiled. "Zubin, Riska, the two of you go to the professor’s bedroom. There are two big suitcases, the same size as this one. Go get them quickly." Anfey put down the big suitcase as he was talking. He was not a person that liked to give orders. Setting an example was a good habit of his. Although Anfey had not realized what this habit would bring him, it would show as time went on.
Zubin and Riska nodded and walked out with big strides.
"Is everyone ready?" Anfey asked.
"Yes, anytime."
"Huh… right. Do you have money with you?" Anfey suddenly remembered that money was an important thing, especially to people on the run. Money was going to be essential to them.
"Money? I have a couple of gold coins with me," Christian said.
Anfey couldn’t help but roll his eyes. What could a couple of gold coins do? That would only last them two days!
"Niya, how much money do you have in the house?"
"I don’t know."
Anfey already knew he asked the wrong person the moment the he raised the question. Of course, Niya’s answer immediately proved that. Anfey smiled bitterly. "You all wait here. I’m going to look around."
"I have some money," one student responded.
Anfey turned around to look. It was Feller. Zubin and Feller were the quiet ones among the students, but in different ways. Zubin was cool and quiet, while Feller was timid and quiet. If Feller was in the Mage Academy, he would probably be bullied, but not at Saul’s house.
"How much do you have?"
"Um… a lot."
"How much is a lot?" Anfey felt helpless.
"A lot is a lot…"
"Didn’t you fill your dimensional ring?" Sante yelled. "Did you fill your dimensional ring with just the money and leave no space for your other stuff?"
Feller blushed right away. Anfey noticed that Feller’s body had gotten a lot bigger than before, but it looked very weak. He seemed to wobble a little. Anfey went over and patted on the bulging part of his waist, and continuous clangs arose. Christian and his fellows all burst into laughter. It was supposed to be a dangerous time when everyone was serious, but they couldn’t hold it in at that moment.
"You did very well." Anfey gave Feller a compliment, defying everyone’s expectations. "Any more?"
"Yes, a lot more." Feller’s eyes brightened.
"Take three people with you to pack. Only take gold coins, leave the rest alone."
Feller looked around, not sure whom he could call. He had never given orders to anyone before.
"Christian, can you help him?"
"Yes. Sante, and you, come with me." Christian picked two people.
Soon, Zubin and Riska each held a big suitcase. Christian turned around and ordered someone to walk two horses and follow him. Magic was a career that would burn a hole in the pocket. Saul exchanged almost all of his money for magic items, but there were some savings in the chamber. However, due to the physical weakness of a mage, it was not possible to carry them back with bare hands.
After everyone was settled, under normal circumstances, there was supposed to be a "Troop Inspection Ceremony" and some encouragement before they set out. However, to a group of escapees, most things were unnecessary. Anfey gave them a briefing and assigned each one with a temporary duty. Saul took three students to the frontier and there were 14 students left, besides Anfey. Of course, he had already struck Troick off the student list. Anfey, Niya, Christian, Riska, Zubin, and the unconscious Blavi, the six of them were riding Saul’s carriage, which was the largest one among all the carriages. The rest of the nine people were divided into three groups, riding in three different carriages.
After getting into the carriage, the first thing Anfey did was to feel Blavi’s forehead. Anfey found some herbs and, from them, made some pills which could help with blood circulation. The situation with Blavi was a little different. It was hard to predict what was going to happen to him since it was a mage’s body that suffered a hard kick from a swordsman. In a couple of hours, if Blavi didn’t have a fever, he should be fine. If he had a fever, it might be because his intestines were damaged and had gotten infected. Neither herbal medicine nor the current situation would effectively kill this type of bacteria. Even Anfey would not be able to help him.
"Anfey, where are we going?" Christian asked.
"I will tell you once we get out of the city. Which city gate has the laxest security?" Anfey knew nothing about Sacred City.
"All of them are the same."
"Go to the west gate, but… who here knows how to drive a carriage?" Anfey just thought of this problem. If everybody was in the carriage, who was going to drive it? If they were in BMW or Porsche, he would be the one to drive, but he had no idea how to drive a carriage.
"I will drive," Niya said.
"Miss, it’s a matter of life and death." Anfey smiled bitterly.
"I can do it," Niya insisted.
"Anfey, don’t worry. Miss Niya is a swordswoman, and she is good at riding a horse too," Riska said.
Good at it? Like her way with a sword? Anfey looked toward Christian in doubt. Christian nodded at him.
"Ok, Niya, be careful," Anfey said. Actually, Anfey felt Niya’s behavior had been satisfactory. At least she had been controlling her temper so far. If she threw a fit, he had to manage it with firm control. Anfey didn’t think too much about why Niya had been so good. How could Niya throw a temper tantrum when she knew Saul’s possessions were all in Anfey’s hands?