The travel was somewhat dreary while somewhat reassuring. Having escaped the kingdom's base meant relief for both Lazarus and Xerel. But they weren't safe just yet, they needed to reach the Crimson River before they could truly say that they are safe.
"Puhaaa! The moon is quite bright and beautiful tonight."
Antoinette merrily said as she opened the window of the carriage to enjoy the breeze and moonlight.
"Get your head inside young lady! You're acting quite brash for a maiden! What if the duke sees you like this?"
Count Hanes said, pulling Antoinette back in the carriage.
"Just let me enjoy this father. The night is young and..."
Antoinette bit her lip and she quivered between her legs as she was suddenly brimmed with dirty thoughts.
"It's okay your highness, we're still far from the kingdom. Let the young miss have her fun."
Jude reassured the count as he winked at Antoinette.
"Sigh~ what can I do with this uncle-niece tandem. Fine, but put your head back inside after a few minutes, your hair will be messy."
"Thank you, Father."
Antoinette continued to enjoy the view as she focused on the moon and averted to the soldiers marching from behind the carriage.
'There's that peculiar soldier that was looking at me before I entered the carriage. I couldn't see clearly because of his helmet but I wonder if he's good-looking, but even if he's not, as long as he's packing down there, I could enjoy myself with him before we can arrive at the kingdom.'
Antoinette thought to herself as he stared at the soldier marching from behind.
"I think the young miss is looking at me."
Using [Mana Communication], Xerel and Lazarus were able to converse with each other silently.
"She probably thinks that you're weak. Royals usually like to observe weak soldiers and have to thought in their head on how they should crush and pity them."
"That's just absurd! Do royals usually think like that to weak soldiers?"
"Yes, most of them. They look down not only on soldiers but every commoner or non-royalty. They see them as nothing more but ants that can easily be stomped and destroyed. The Hanes family are well-respected royalties as they both love the people and do not discriminate against non-royalty but they are a family of greed since they can't be satisfied with their power. Right now, I'm sure that they're going to propose a political marriage with the son of Duke Willem to earn their trust and increase their influential power. This marriage will most likely work considering that the young miss is one of the most beautiful maidens in the empire and known to be innocent and delicate like a tulip in a mossy garden."
'Innocent my ass... she's looking at me like she wants to tie me down on the ground and pleasure herself with my body, well not that I wouldn't mind but still, my moral would be tainted.'
Xerel said to himself as he clicked his tongue. Antoinette went back inside the carriage and stopped looking at Xerel.
A few minutes passed, they arrived at an arched stone bridge that was 200 meters long.
"We've arrived at the Crimson River. Are you ready to jump?"
"Wait! I can sense someone. About 20 people is guarding the bridge and a hundred more below the river. I think they know that you'd plan on escaping by the river. What should we do now?"
"Shit! Okay, okay... a few hours from now, we will be camping on the roadside, we should be able to escape by taking the route to Para Woods, no one should dare to enter those woods at night so that's the only way we can escape without being chased."
"Well I don't have a choice but to listen to your words so let's blend in for now."
The carriage moved towards the bridge as the guards had their full attention on everyone in and out of the carriage.
After reaching the middle of the bridge, the carriage was briefly stopped by a knight.
"What's the matter sir Herudith? Why did you stop us?"
Jude Fallon asked the knight named Herudith who was wearing black armor and gold lining on the edges. He wielded a claymore that was locked on his waist.
"We're currently undergoing an inspection as we suspect that the culprit might escape through the Crimson river."
"Jumping in the Crimson River is literal suicide. The culprit would die even if he escaped your grasp."
"But this is no normal culprit, he is an ex-knight who was the previous right hand of the emperor but betrayed the empire and went on hiding. We'll simply be inspecting the soldiers accompanying your journey and after that, you'll be able to leave."
Herudith started checking each soldier one by one. He removed their helmet and checked the face if the one in the sketch he was holding matched. He also checked for their Mana output if the one written in the description matches.
Thoroughly inspecting each soldier, he finished checking all of the soldiers in the front. He started checking the back. Xerel and Lazarus were positioned in the furthest line.
"This guy is bad news!"
"What do you mean?"
"He is a Knight who has the Mana sensitivity of a wizard. He can sense any mana from a kilometer away with sharp accuracy. He's considered the Magic Swordsman since he can both display expert-level swordsmanship and magical capabilities. Although he is still a rookie, he has been consistently climbing up the rankings these past months."
"Does that mean we'll get caught?"
"I'm not sure, you've been using Mana concealment on me but he hasn't detected it. It must mean your magic capabilities is far superior than his."
"Huhuhu~ you don't need to brag, I'm only the Disciple of a Sorcerer Supreme~"
"Even still, he's gonna check my face, there's no point of manipulating my mana when he could already tell my identity."
"Don't worry, I got a plan."
The situation was grave and Herudith was finished checking the other soldiers, the next one he was going to inspect was Lazarus.
"Gulp!"
Lazarus swallowed his dry saliva as his body stiffened. Herudith started checking his body proportion and his eyebrow rose having to realize that his body matched with the culprit. Soon he started checking his Mana output. His eyes were shunned in blue and his expressions showed a questioned remark.
"..?"
His Mana output didn't connect with the description of the culprit but he still thoroughly checked it. There was nothing odd about his Mana output so he was about to check his face.
As he was slowly removing the helm, Lazarus' faces profusely sweat. His beard was slowly being revealed and half of his face could now be seen.
"Xerel what are you doing!? I'm gonna get caught!"
"Now!"
Using [Mana Manipulation] Xerel changed the Mana output of the nearby soldier on standby by the gate. This quickly made Herudith avert his gaze at the soldier and as he locked his eyes on him keenly, he briefly stopped his motion of removing the helm from Lazarus.
"You.."
As he said this, using his telekinesis, Xerel controlled the soldier's armor and flung him down the bridge as he crashed and fell on the violent river.
Splash!
"It's the culprit! Get him!"
Herudith didn't hesitate to jump and dive down the river as the other guards did so too. The mages on standby cast their spells to help with the swimming capabilities of the pursuing guards and buffed Herudith but because of the strong stream of water, the soldier concealed as Lazarus was moving farther and having no sheer strength to resist the telekinesis, he simply flowed with the heavy current.
**********
"What is all the commotion? Let us go!"
Count Hanes annoyingly said and Jude abided as he called his men to move the horses.
"Phew~ I thought I was a goner. How did you do that?"
Lazarus said in awe as he exhaled in a sigh of relief.
"Oh nothing~ just superior magic, you know huhuhu~"
Xerel boastfully spoke. The feeling of impressing someone was new to him. Although he wasn't arrogant, it was fine to show off some bravado here and there.
The carriage resumed its march and finally escaped the bridge. After an hour's run, the carriage stopped at an open field near a forest to rest for the night.
The soldiers set up the camp for the Count and his daughter while Knight Jude went off to hunt boars in the forest. A soldier prepared the ingredients to cook and others started a campfire.
Other soldiers including Xerel and Lazarus were on guard for any monsters that may be lurking in the forest.
"Now that we've left the bridge, where is this Para Woods that you're talking about?"
"It's deep through that forest. Para Woods is quite peaceful in the morning but is a dangerous place at night."
Lazarus pointed at the forest nearby. The two started chatting with each other and Xerel was able to get a lot of information from Lazarus.
This was the Eastern Continent. It is made up of 7 kingdoms: Labason to the east, Liloy to the west, Ipil to the south, Cocob to the north, Galas to the northwest, Bayang to the southwest, and Gulayon to the southeast. Labason, Liloy, Ipil, Bayang, Gulayon are under the Gutalac Empire while Cocob and Galas are independent territories.
The Northeastern part of the continent is a bordered territory since it's an unhabitable land due to the abundance of monsters and is also the location of the Netherlands. Only high-ranking adventurers, hunter expedition, knights and guilds, and other powerful people are allowed to enter the Netherlands.
There is currently 100 unified rankings for knights and this past year, a lot of rising stars had shown up including the first female knight that was able to reach the 20th rank, a fisherman who despite showing up just 4 months ago was rapidly climbing the rankings and is now placed at 47th rank. There is also a mysterious knight from the Galas Kingdom that defeated a duke using a brass sword and although the rumor was quite exaggerated to be considered the truth, the civilians had seen sightings of this mysterious knight defeating strong monsters up in the northern mountains.
The evidence was also backed up considering that the duke who was held as 1st ranked in hand-to-hand combat and 8th in the knight ranking not showing up for three weeks now and is believed to be in a half-dead state. This made the mysterious knight a debate on what place he should be in the ranking but considering the reputation and influence of the 1st digit knights, they weren't fond of ranking an unknown man against powerful knights unless they want a death wish.
*************
Their plan of passing through the Crimson River to enter the Netherlands had gone haywire so they had to proceed to plan B which was less dangerous but a very long journey.
After entering the Para Woods, they needed to cross the borders of the Liloy Kingdom unscathed so they can escape the empire and enter the Galas Kingdom. After entering the Galas kingdom, they have to cross another border to reach the Cocob kingdom then to the border that bounds both the kingdom and Netherlands so they can arrive at their destination.
"If we encounter only a few problems along the way, we'll be able to reach the Netherlands in a month but if we frequently pass through obstacles, then we'll probably reach 3 months."
"Damn, that's kinda time-consuming. Oh well, as long as I get stronger on the way, I won't complain."
Xerel said as he shrugged his shoulder. A few minutes passed, the food was ready. The count and his daughter were prioritized with the supper and were given quite the luxurious service that Xerel couldn't help but be jealous of.
'They remind me so much of powerful hunters back on Earth. They get preferential treatment while we undeserving people are treated like trash. That's why I have to be stronger if I want to live a life of luxury.'
Xerel couldn't help but sigh~. The first batch of soldiers were the first ones to eat who were the ones who did the cooking and other labor while the second batch was the ones on guard.
After the first batch was done eating, it was the 2nd batch's turn to eat. Xerel went to get his bowl and spoon and as he opened the pot, there was only a meager left of food from the filled to the brimming pot. He stared at the soldiers who had eaten most of the food with an angry look.
"What you gonna do huh?"
The soldier said as he pushed Xerel back with a lofty smirk on his face. Xerel gripped his spoon and was ready to stab it in the arrogant soldier's eyes but Lazarus promptly stopped him.
"Let's not fight okay, if sir Knight hears the ruckus not only one will be punished but all of us. Just leave."
"Tch! You're dead once we arrive."
The soldier gestures a threat to Xerel as he and his other companions leave to standby and be on guard.
"Don't mind them, and even if you fight that man, you'll be beaten up."
"You're looking down on me man."
"It's fine, you already showed me what you're capable of doing so you can probably beat him but you have to conceal that magical ability of yours. A soldier is known to fight with his physical strength and agility and only mages can do magic, if they found out that you're a mage, sir Jude Fallon would personally cut your head off since you'd be branded as a spy."
"Fine~ I understand your point."
Xerel couldn't help but shrug the rage off his head as he placed some food on his plate. He didn't grab a lot of food since he wanted to share some with the other soldiers.
He removed his helmet and started to eat.
'Bleugh! This shit is bland. I'd rather eat a fuck ton of instant noodles than this dung food, but the food is food, let's not waste it.'
Xerel forced himself to eat the food but those around him were savoring the food like it was some Michelin star-rated cuisine.
'These guys don't know what good food tastes like. I still can't believe how people from medieval times manage to survive with such flavorless food.'
Xerel couldn't finish his food due to its bland taste and gave the rest to the soldier who had the least amount to show his kindness but his shown kindness was not taken thankfully, in fact, what Xerel did make them see him as nothing more but a pushover.
'This kid will not survive long.'
'I pity such a young man, he would be easily manipulated by other people.'
'Kindness won't take you anywhere kid, without wealth and power, you'll simply rot and die suffering alone.'
He couldn't tell what they were talking about him so Xerel simply sat back at the log seat and wait for others to finish. While he waited, Antoinette had suddenly appeared.
"Young miss...what can we do for you?"
"Just tell us anything miss, we'll do it."
The soldiers quickly stood up to greet Antoinette as they blushed at his innocent looks and natural charm. The only one who did not react like the majority was Lazarus who was completely dead inside and was focused on eating and Xerel who had mixed emotions.
Ting~
[Antoinette Hanes
Rank: Bronze Royalty
Level: 21
HP: 5,900/5,900
State: Very Horny, In Heat]
'Damn, this girl needs some action ASAP. Although I'd love to be her meat toy, she looks underage for God's sake. Although she has some breasts but having to learn a lot from my younger sister, she's probably 15 to 16 years old. I'm already 18 this month and touching her could probably lead me to Jail for sexual assault and child molester. I'm not a pedophile for fuck sake!'
Although Xerel was a virgin, he wasn't going to give his virginity to a person he doesn't know or even love and most definitely not to an underage person. It was against his morals as a young and healthy man with a great mindset.
'Wow, he's very handsome considering that he's very thin and I heard that big muscular guys hold the small penis, while thin guys have big ones, I bet he's big down there and I won't mind giving my first to a pacific islander, it would very exotic and erotic. Like having a premium once in a year delicacy.'
Antoinette said to herself as he breathe heavily thinking about the sexual fantasies on her head as she got very wet under there that the fluid was dripping in her legs. She lock her hips and held her abdomen as her face blushed like a tomato.
"What's wrong young miss?"
"Hah...I need someone to accompany me...I need to pee."
Antoinette said as she quivered showing that she was in a hurry to do the no.1.
"What about sir Knight, Jude? He should accompany you."
"N-no... he's currently busy talking to father."
"Then I'll accompany you, young miss."
"No, I will do it."
"No, I will!"
The soldiers started quarreling with each other but her eyes were locked into Xerel who was simply standing there.
"You, please come with me~"
"M-me?"
"Yes!"
Her pupils formed a heart shape as she grab Xerel's hand and ran to the forest. Xerel couldn't remove her tight grasp due to the high difference in their level of strength so he could only hope to end it quickly.
'Fuck! I'll have to say goodbye to my virginity this way! I was hoping to spend it on a girl I'll love and who's older than me, I won't even mind a MILF just not a cougar. Lazarus, please help me!'
Xerel could only scream in silence as his morale was starting to degrade. He could choose to fight her but it would definitely blow their disguise and increase the chances of fatality so Xerel was ready to sacrifice his pride even if it cost his virginity.
"Hah.... what's your name?"
"Xe-xerel.."
"Xerel..what a beautiful name...hah..hah...Xerel, please make love with me♥"