"Our guards haven't returned yet!" Hearing this, Kaoru immediately got up and looked down through the glass window. Sure enough, the guards were still missing.
Yesterday, her guards and their friends followed the two wealthy guests who had come to their exchange house. Usually, the guards would return to work by the next morning, and even if they were late for work for some reason, they would send someone to work in their place.
Their absence could only mean one thing.
And Kaoru and her maid had long known how strong her guards were, especially together as a unit. Kaoru had secretly observed them fight together. Together, they are a very serious force that shouldn't be underestimated.
"So Aditya and Laura came to my exchange house?" Now, she was almost 80% certain that this was the case.
"They said they were from the Hephaestus Kingdom." Looking back, Kaoru felt that this was the biggest hint about their identity. At the same time, she cannot be blamed. After all, every single day, hundreds, if not thousands, of travellers came from the Istarin Empire and Nations that are close to it.
Kaoru was already keeping a close eye on every traveller who came from the Istarin Empire.
"Send our people to look into this matter," Kaoru asked her maid.
As soon as her maid left, her superior contacted her again.
[Kaoru, we have news.]
Hearing this, Kaoru straightened her back. Deep down, she already had a hunch that she knew exactly what he was going to say.
[It was a group of 13 members who attacked the Dragon Monarch and Laura.] Hearing this, Kaoru knew that they were her guards.
[And it seems their leader is famous in your region. His name is.....]
[John Palmer] Kaoru said the name before he could.
[It seems you have heard about him.] - The person on the other side thought that since this bandit group was quite famous in this region, it was normal for someone like her to know about them and the name of their leader.
[These guys used to work as the Exchange House's Guards. For years, they secretly targeted wealthy people who came to my exchange house. A few of their member would secretly follow the wealthy people, and as soon as they went out of the city, their group would strike.]
[Yesterday, I had two visitors from the Hephaestus Kingdom. It was an ordinary-looking man and a slightly beautiful woman. But they were really rich. So my guards secretly followed them outside of the city and never came back.]
[So you met them in their disguise form?] This was good news. Through her, they could now look for Aditya and Laura even though they were in disguise.
[Did they say anything about where they are going?]
[No! I tried to know more about them, but neither of them gave me any useful information.] - Kaoru.
[It's Alright!]
[You remember their faces, right? I will send someone to draw sketches of their faces, and we can give them to our members to look for them.]
[Understood!]
[Also, Kaoru, now that we have something, your work starts from here on. I want you to start looking for him. If you find anything, then don't hesitate to communicate with me. This is a really important mission.]
Once their communication ended, Kaoru told her maid that she had to leave for a short while. Once again, Kaoru returned to the basement and took some other items as well. Within an hour, she started travelling in the direction of Velmoor City.
This was a place that she really wished to avoid. Not because she was afraid of the man who was looking for revenge, but because she wanted to avoid this problem if possible. Besides, she had a strong sense of hatred towards the man's family whom she killed in that city.
"But there is a high possibility that Aditya and Laura might have gone there." After Velmoor City was close to the area where her guards were found dead.
As for the death of her guards, Laura did not care. They kept them as guards because they served as a source of entertainment. Seeing them trying so hard to hide their identities amused her.
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Scene Change____
Unaware that their identities had already been exposed, Aditya and Laura continued their journey eastward.
"So, are we going to Eaglebend City or Stoneford City?" Laura asked.
"We are going to Stoneford City."
"But Eaglebend City is closer to our current location." Velmoor City and Eaglebend City were almost on a straight path from each other. However, to reach Stoneford City, they would need to walk in a South-East direction, and that would require an additional 47 km.
"Our final destination is Mount Soulripper."
"But to reach Mount Soulripper, we have to cross the dangerous Mana Mirage desert."
"It's a place that doesn't even spare strong cultivators like us."
"This place is so dangerous and deadly that the moment a normal human or a mortal steps into this desert within the first five seconds, they die. To cross such a dangerous place to reach our destination, we have to make preparations. And the best place to stop before heading into the Mana Mirage is Stoneford City, which is one of the nearest cities to Mana Mirage."
In the tunnel world, Teleportation from city to city or from City to town did not work. Otherwise, everyone would have teleported from one part of the tunnel to another side of the tunnel and crossed the entire Tunnel World within a few minutes to reach the Main Continent.
"One more reason we're heading to Stoneford City is that if you travel straight from there, you'll reach Brightmoor City, which is the only city inside the Mana Mirage Desert and the official entrance to Mount Soulripper. The direct route between the two isn't too dangerous, but taking any other path means running into more magic beasts and obstacles."
"But if we take other routes, we will waste too much time, and also, the other routes are significantly more dangerous."
Aditya took Laura's right palm and held it after he was done explaining.
Seeing her puzzled look, he explained.
"Walking is too slow. At this rate, it will take us weeks to reach Stoneford City." Due to her condition, Laura cannot fly efficiently. And even if she did fly, she won't have the energy to do anything else. So this is why, till now, they avoided flying.
"I will carry you to Stoneford City."
Before she could react, she found herself 1000 meters above the ground. The next moment, Aditya and Laura kept teleporting.
Aditya kept using Crimson Wrap Flash to teleport them forward. Each time he teleported, they covered around 1000 meters. He avoided teleporting more than 1000 meters, as Laura might not be able to handle the toll of continuous long teleportation.
Unlike normal teleportation that everyone experienced when standing inside the teleportation Array, Aditya's version of teleportation was more raw. And anyone other than him felt the strain of continuous teleportation on their bodies and minds.
To Laura, everything felt like a blur.
In her weakened state, her stats have also temporarily dropped. After 20 seconds of this, she started to feel super dizzy.
Fortunately, Aditya noticed this and stopped.
'Laura is becoming weaker.' If this were Prime Laura, then she easily could have handled the strain of that many continuous teleportations. In fact, Aditya wouldn't have needed to limit the distance of each teleportation to 1000 meters in the first place. Meaning, in less than 10 jumps, they might have already reached their destination.
Aditya did not push her because, if she felt weak and unwell, and at that time, they were ambushed, then she would be defenceless.
"I feel like I am going to vomit." Hearing this, Aditya immediately stopped and landed on the ground.
After resting for a while, Laura recovered. Though her face still looked pale, she was still glaring at him.
"This is all your fault."
"You could have slowed down and given me at least 5 to 10 seconds of rest between each teleportation. But no, you had to hurry." Hearing this, Aditya felt guilty.
'She is weaker than I thought. I had overestimated her current strength.'
"Alright! I am sorry! But if we hadn't left that place when we did, there's a good chance someone from that organisation would have shown up. I'm sure my use of Crimson Lightning and Crimson Flame didn't go unnoticed; it must have drawn attention to that area." Seeing his sincere face, all grievances in her heart disappeared. She couldn't stay mad at him. Whether he realised it or not, she liked him.
Liking someone and being with someone were totally different. Laura herself admitted that she had feelings for the Dragon Monarch, but she didn't want to share her man with anyone. And this is what prevented her from chasing him.
"Forget it!" She waved her hand and tried to stand up.
But her legs gave out, and she started falling forward. Instead of falling, her face touched his chest. His arms stopped at her waist.
"I won't use teleportation anymore. We will fly the rest of the journey." It's not like Aditya's flying speed was slow, and it has been a while since he flew. This might sound strange, but ever since he received his teleportation ability, he has been using it every time.
Why fly when he can just teleport to his destination? This was much quicker and efficient.
Aditya lifted Laura in his arms and jumped high.
As his strong, thick Dragon wings emerged from his back after creating two holes, his flying speed immediately increased.
"Hold tight! And if you feel uncomfortable, then tell me. I will slow down." Laura wrapped her arms around his neck.
As he kept flying, his attention was ahead. Aditya looked lost in his thoughts.
He was planning their future moves.
At that moment, Laura was staring at his face. This was the first time she was staring at his face from this close.
The more she stared at him, the more handsome he appeared in her eyes.
From the beginning, he showed no dissatisfaction. Even when she burdened him with her problem, he was more than willing to help her. Aditya has no idea just how much this means to her.
After a while, when he looked down, he found her staring at his face in a daze.
"Am I that handsome?" Aditya couldn't help but ask with a grin.
But Laura just shook her head with a small smile before burying her face in his chest and hugging him even tighter.
'Just for this journey, he is mine and mine only.'
Aditya stared at her for a few seconds before increasing his speed.
Soon, they arrived in Stoneford City. Matching its name, the area around the whole city had countless boulders. There were boulders of all sizes around the city. And even the City wall was made from Stone.
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