The blacklist alarm device is a task reward that Ina got when dealing with the troublemaking mercenary, Everitt. Whenever a customer on the blacklist tries to enter any of Ina's shops, she will receive a timely reminder.
Currently, there are only four people on the blacklist of the Dragon Flame Restaurant: the troublemaking mercenary Everitt and three Dragon Blood Sorcerers who provoked Ina.
All four were handed over to Mr. Wenter, an elder of the Mercenary Association, for bounty by Ina. In theory, they should either have been executed or sent to the prison in Neranka. So how could they have escaped in just a few months?
Ina immediately teleported to Neranka.
She saw the blacklisted customer, Stevenson, the man with the tattoo on his face among the Dragon Blood Sorcerers. Why was it only him, what about the other woman and the old man?
Stevenson also saw Ina and his first reaction was to run. But he couldn't outrun Ina, with a wave of her hand, a vine spell tied Stevenson up like a dumpling, he fell to the ground and couldn't move.
Ina turned and told Donne, "Go get Gavin."
Although Donne was surprised and didn't know why Ina suddenly tied up the customer. But seeing this person's reaction, the two of them not only knew each other but also probably had a grudge. Hearing Ina telling him to find the captain of the guard, Gavin, Donne understood at once, anything that requires Gavin's help, of course, means this man is an escaped prisoner from jail!
"Where are your two accomplices?" Ina didn't believe that only Stevenson had run out, his strength was the weakest among the three, and his personality was reckless, he couldn't have done this big thing.
Fortunately, the blacklist alarm device only provides alerts rather than direct expulsion, otherwise, Stevenson might have run away by the time Ina arrived.
While there have been escaped prisoners running to Ina's shop from the Neranka prison, according to Gavin's later explanation, that prisoner actually escaped on the way to the prison. And Donne, who had personally experienced it, also guaranteed that the prison's measures to prevent jailbreaks were very comprehensive, the guards were strict, it wouldn't be so easy for prisoners to escape.
Ina was prepared for Stevenson to remain silent and uncooperative. She was about to take some measures to pry open his mouth. Unexpectedly, Stevenson was silent for a moment, after some thinking, he suddenly realized that he had been played by the other two. He spoke angrily, "At the port! They are about to leave by boat!"
Half an hour ago, the three of them had gone through all sorts of hardships to escape from prison, according to the next plan, they were supposed to board a cargo ship that was about to set sail to leave Neranka. But Jim and Dorothy wanted to have some drinks to celebrate, but the ship was a cargo ship, without a dedicated wine room, and to prevent the crew from excessive drinking, no alcohol was provided on board.
Stevenson was a bit hesitant, but after being locked up for so long, he wanted to have a drink of beer to ease his craving. He suggested going to buy wine together, but Dorothy said that they would attract too much attention if they moved together, a burly man, a beautiful woman, and an old man are not a common combination and would easily attract the attention of the patrolling guards.
"Just buying a few drinks, it won't even take five minutes. The guards probably wouldn't think we'd be leaving by boat so soon, they might still be searching around the prison right now."
She coaxed Stevenson into finding a pub at the port. Before Stevenson entered, he glanced at the sign of the pub, seemed to see the words "Dragon Flame Restaurant" on it, and his heart gave a jolt. But he was already inside, and only saw a young clerk, who glanced at him casually and naturally directed him to the menu on the wall. He comforted himself, it's just a restaurant with such a common name that it's easy to duplicate.
But how unlucky he was! He met Ina again, really a narrow road for enemies.
What's worse, the moment he was tied up, he heard the horn of the cargo ship leaving the port. Jim and Dorothy told him the wrong boarding time and left him behind!
On the deck, Dorothy was looking at the shore. They didn't actually know if the Dragon Flame Restaurant at the port was owned by the same person they had met in the Mist Town before. But even if it wasn't, Stevenson, who went to buy beer, couldn't catch up with the ship. If he wasn't stupid, he should hide quietly on his own. If he's really unlucky, then he should accept his fate.
She was wearing a black veil, pretending to be a noble widow, while Jim next to her was respectful, slightly bowing his head when talking to Dorothy, a perfect butler's look. What could that big guy Stevenson pretend to be? A guard or a lover? With his stupid look and the large tattoo on his face that couldn't be removed, he would bring them trouble sooner or later.
Ina stepped out of the restaurant and looked at the cargo ship sailing deep into the sea. It wasn't that she couldn't catch up, but there was no need to make a fuss. Whether she flew onto the ship or used a large-scale spell on the shore that could hurt Dorothy and the other person, it would cause panic among the people on the ship. Then, who knows what kind of investigation she would face from the governor of Neranka.
She had already caught them once. Their escape was the responsibility of the guard team. The power gap was like a chasm, and these two people may not have the courage to retaliate against her. However, Ina thought for a while and still let out two red lights from her fingertips.
[Bloodline Mark]was not a spell, but a heritage magic that the dragon clan used to better control the position of their subordinates. If these two people weren't Dragon Blood Warlocks with thin dragon blood flowing in them, Ina wouldn't be able to use this magic on them.
Dorothy only felt a pain in the back of her hand. When she looked closely, she saw a vague shadow of a giant dragon emerging on her hand.
"It really is her!" Dorothy's tone was quite shocked.
Jim, who was beside her, couldn't escape either. He looked gloomily at the mark on his hand and said viciously, "She really won't let us go. Dragons hold grudges and will never allow the existence of Dragon Blood Warlocks to challenge their dignity."
Dorothy looked at him worriedly, "What should we do?"
"There aren't only us who are interested in dragon blood," Jim's murky eyes suddenly lit up, and his old face smiled, looking kind but slightly weird, "Where is the next stop of this cargo ship?"
Understanding Jim's implication, Dorothy dropped her eyes, looking at the sea that was no longer calm, and slowly said:
"Safi."
——
Inside the magnificent and luxurious castle, a servant approached softly and whispered into the butler's ear, "The Duke wishes to drink Frost Rose, but... the dragon blood is almost depleted."
After dragons disappeared from the Moro Continent, the Blood Clan had been living the life of gods for a while. When it comes to slaughtering hybrid beasts with dragon bloodlines, the Blood Clan are the predecessors of Dragon Blood Warlocks. A large amount of hybrid beast blood was sent to the castle of the Blood Clan to be made into various precious beverages. Frost Rose was one of them. It was made by mixing the blood of a frost-attribute twin-headed dragon with the fresh blood of a maiden. The two types of blood would not mix, and you would see a beautiful rose blooming slowly in the slightly blue-tinted liquid. That's how the name "Frost Rose" came about.
The twin-headed dragon is very close to a pure-blooded dragon, but after all, it is not. Duke Knox of Safi was quite curious about the blood of a pure-blooded dragon, but unfortunately, there was no chance.
However, if dragons were still living on the continent and saw that a race dared to collect dragon blood to satisfy their appetite, even if it only targeted hybrid beasts, they would probably appear furiously over these ants who dared to provoke them, spewing endless dragon flames, and wouldn't stop until the walls of the castle were glazed.
The dragon blood was running out. The butler frowned, that's right, with no pure-blooded dragons left, there were no more hybrid beasts to use. The Grand Duke would probably be upset upon hearing this news.
The butler waved his hand to let the servant leave. "I will inform the Grand Duke about this."
He walked up the stairs, stood at the door, brooding for a long time, took a deep breath, and finally gathered the courage to knock on that heavy door. "Your Grace."
The door automatically opened a crack.
The butler walked in before Duke Knox of Safi were boxes of dazzling jewels. He picked up a heavy ruby necklace, the pale fingers made the ruby as red as blood, and the golden-red pattern inside was brilliantly eerie.
Knox looked up at the butler, his eyes outshone the most magnificent ruby in the world. Both were dark-haired and crimson-eyed, but while Elvis was calm and self-contained with a hint of aloof arrogance, Knox was purely ominous.
The butler quickly lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze.
Knox spoke first, "Has Princess Vilanthe left?"
The butler replied respectfully, "Helena, the Dean of Star Academy, came to pick up Princess Vilanthe on behalf of Duke Elvys. They just arrived by ship today."
Safi had become a gathering place for the Blood Clan, and those who knew better would avoid it. But eternal life and power were always the targets human beings pursued relentlessly. Whether through deception or temptation, there were always those who, not knowing their limits, tried to reach the heavens in a single step. They would sneak into the Duchy of Safi, hoping to gain the favor of a Blood Clan noble, and thus become a powerful high-ranking vampire.
Therefore, Elvys strictly limited traffic between surrounding areas and Safi, with only a few ships allowed to dock at Safi's port. At the same time, without enough humans in the territory, buying some slaves from the Orland Empire was also a solution.
Elvys was aware of this but chose not to intervene. Even the Church of Light turned a blind eye to the White Dove Trading Company selling their own people. He had no grounds to object. But if one day the Orlan Empire used this as an excuse to attack Safi, Elvys would gladly pretend not to see.
Hearing the butler's words, Knox hummed in response. Princess Vilanthe thought she was hiding well, but in reality, her whereabouts were not a secret. There were those in the Church who knew, but the Church was in a time of power transition, and the Cardinals had different intentions. Some were happy to see complications in the royal succession, so the matter was suppressed.
"Anything else?" Seeing that the butler hadn't left, Knox put down the ruby necklace and picked up a pair of diamond earrings to examine.
"The raw materials for Frost Rose... are depleted." The butler carefully broke the news, noticing Knox's instantly darkened face, he hurriedly brought up another matter, "There were also two Dragon Blood Warlocks who arrived at the port today, they brought some interesting news."
After listening to the butler's account, Knox tossed the diamond earrings back into the box with an expression that was half-smiling, "A pure-blooded black dragon?"
"What a fine diversion," Knox's tone was cold, "They want me to face the black dragon, so they can sleep easy? It's a pity that the blood of these rats, even after processing, is foul, wasting that dragon blood."
"Then I'll go..." The butler was cut off by Knox before he could finish.
"I was wondering what to give to Lady Lowen for her birthday. I heard she likes ageless puppets, aren't Dragon Blood Warlocks good at this sort of thing? Send those two to Lady Lowen."
The butler nodded in agreement and was about to exit through the door when he heard a sentence come from inside the room.
"Have them come to my study before they leave."