The ride started off very smoothly. The caravan moved slowly for the comfort of Liu Feng, but he ordered them to reach a town to rest, lest they get robbed in the dead of night. They rode fast without rest until they reached the nearest town. The problem with the capital city was that it was too big a monopoly for other towns to exist, so the nearest town was thirty miles out. They booked the biggest inn clean, and rested. Liu Feng, ofcourse, got a first class suite, but he wasn't interested in sleeping anytime soon.
He looked out at the vast expanse, and then at the streets. There were fewer people than in the capital, but that was expected. He had ordered the caravan to be secretive about their identities, so it was not a hassle to move around without being undetected. Liu Feng detested huge crowds near him, and he wanted to avoid alerting any enemies of the Kingdom of his movements. Liu Man already arranged for a body dupe in the castle, and no one would know that Liu Feng would be attending the castle as the prince. He would be a distant cousin bearing the same name as a coincidence.
Liu Feng meditated the entire night. He was a magic freak and practised whenever he got the time. It was as if he was preparing for misfortune to strike. Years of training had honed his senses, and he was a mage of extraordinary prowess, by even the ancient era's standards, much less now.
The next morning, the caravan set to the road again. This time, they were planning to go the entire way in one shot, so the aravan bulged up in supplies, and they looked like a merchant caravan.
"Careful guards. There are multiple bandit groups in the area. If they catch wind of a caravan, they will attack. You must be in tip top condition", the Captain of Guards ordered. In the carriage, Liu Feng sat with Nicholas Graim. Nicholas sat on the other side with his hands on his sword the whole time. He was alert, ready to fight. Liu Feng lay down on the couch, but he was actually trying to sense the mana in the air. One of the benefits of mages was that if they were trained enough, they could use mana to sense the area around them, and see if there were any enemies.
Liu Feng planned to use mana to detect if there were any enemies for the whole trip. He was very cautious, as any misslip in this trip would be a blemish in his record. Imagine that, failing in his first mission! But he had to keep a calm and cool exterior to put a front for his subordinates.
"Being royalty is really hard. I am feeling the same pressure as I did as a CEO!", He thought to himself. Then, he felt the mana change slightly on the right side of the road, where stood a forest. It seemed that someone was using the forest as a cover. He called out the captain of the guards,
"Lincoln, it seems we have company. Best take care of it now, or things will escalate if he goes back to his camp."
"Of course your Highness, I mean my lord.". Lincoln looked around, making sure no one heard his mistake. Then he suddenly charged at the right side of the road without any warning, and caught a man who was recording the number of men in the caravan. He raised his sword to behead them when Liu Feng called out,
"I am in a good mood today. No blood shed right now. Bring him with us to Dilheim, and lock him in the dungeons. We could always use some free labour."
"Of Course my lord. Your wish is my command.". Lincoln tied up the spy and brought him along.