After making use of the gap between the patrols and the flickering shadows to sneak by undetected, Ackster reached the wall, which he took two steps on to reach the top of and climb over. He was a little worried that he would cause enough of a disturbance to make the guards look back. Thankfully, he landed on the opposite side of the wall without alerting anyone.
The estate was surrounded by a thin strip of trees to protect it against the activity of the city. And after crossing over the wall, Ackster had more than enough cover to remain undiscovered until he reached the cobbled road of the city. And when he stepped foot on the streets, the only thing he had to do now was to follow the main road until he reached the outskirts of the city.
After that, the third and largest hurdle of his escape would have to be crossed. He had to leave the city.
The city walls were a lot larger and more impregnable than the mostly ornamental defenses around the Phileam estate. Ackster wouldn't be able to climb over them, especially not without being detected.
That meant the only way Ackster could leave the city was one of the gates. And since his target was in the forest north of the city, he had to pass through the northern gate.
It was peacetime at the moment, so even if monsters lurked outside the city, the gate would still be partially open to allow travelers and merchants to pass through as long as they could verify their identity.
As the first son of one of the city's noble Houses, Ackster could certainly verify his identity and use it to try and pass through the gate. But even without MIkahil Phileam telling them, the guards would know of Ackster's upcoming battle with The Hero. Ackster leaving the city in the middle of the night could only mean one thing. He was trying to escape. That was something the guards certainly couldn't allow.
And Ackster hadn't brought enough money to bribe them. Even if he did bribe them, he was going to come back later and would most likely leave the next night as well. It would be pointless in the end since they would still report him even if they took his money.
No. Ackster had to leave through the city gates undetected, and he had to come back undetected. The easiest way would be if he could find a merchant or traveler with a carriage he could stow away in. But that would be incredibly unreliable.
However, he only had to leave through the gates without them detecting his identity. If he could pose as someone else, there wouldn't be a problem. It was just that he hadn't had enough time to forge an identity and sneak through the gate. Not to mention how his blue hair and blue eyes were quite eye-catching and notorious within the city.
Fortunately, as was the case with every city, there were people who practically didn't have identities and went ignored by society, the homeless. If Ackster pretended to be a homeless person leaving the city to try and look for food or some materials to sell, the guards probably wouldn't stop him.
Now, he just had to disguise himself on the way toward the gate.
Thankfully, since he didn't know the way, Ackster had a lot of time finding sleeping homeless people and giving them a few of the coins he took from his room in exchange for some of their spare clothes. Ackster made sure that he hid his face and hair while he talked to them, but he still gave them a generous amount of money so that they would stay silent about him.
Ackster found a place close to the gate where he stashed his regular clothes before changing into his disguise. He used mud to dirty his hair and face, which would hopefully hide the blue of his hair and eyes. Ackster did his best to make sure that he would look like someone out of luck, not like someone pretending to be a mudball.
After looking at his reflection in the water of a nearby fountain and scraping off some excess, Ackster decided that it should be enough and headed toward the gate. There were a few other people who moved toward it just like him. But they all made sure there was plenty of distance between themselves and Ackster. And it wasn't because they recognized him. If they had, they wouldn't be satisfied with only being several meters away. They would actively be trying to escape Ackster.
Ackster was a little proud that he had successfully managed to fool at least some of the people in town. But it was also likely that it was due to the darkness of the night. And that they didn't expect to see Ackster out and about in the middle of the night while as dirty as someone who hadn't taken a shower in one year and five days.
But the guards would probably be a little more thorough in their inspection. And the gate was properly lit, unlike the mostly empty streets of the city.
After a few silent minutes of walking, Ackster arrived in front of the city gate. Unlike what he expected, since it was the middle of the night, there was a small queue of people passing through the gate. But considering that the night was still relatively young, maybe it wasn't so weird to see people leave through the gate.
Ackster hoped that the guards would want to get through the queue quickly and wouldn't spend a lot of time on him.
With that hope, Ackster joined the queue. But out of consideration for his fellow travelers, he made sure to keep a few meters between himself and the people in front of and behind him. The gap was a little too conspicuous for his liking. But it would help him sell his disguise as a desperate homeless person simply leaving the city on a nightly errand.