Blaze sensed the person entering and started ransacking his room. He already knew the person from the perfume.
"Do you have a thing for sneaking into a customer's room?" Blaze said as he sat up slowly. His voice made the perpetrator jump in shock.
"You are still as vigilant as ever, young noble."
"We meet again, and I think you haven't learned your lesson," Blaze said calmly, but it gave her chills.
Of course, it's the brothel manager and the previous receptionist at the Traveler's Caravan.
"I just came to say hi," Caroline said with a smile.
"Do you have a thing for the receptionist job? Or is the brothel paying more?" Blaze asked. It was already morning, so he didn't mind having a conversation with her.
"I owed a person who would have killed me if I stayed in the Tower Empire. Besides, I have important information for you," she said and threw a scroll at him. Blaze caught the scroll and opened it. His eyes abruptly narrowed into a dangerous slit as he saw the content of the scroll.
Caroline smiled as she spoke, "That's you, isn't it? One month after you left the Empire, the King released a wanted poster with your likeness, offering a reward of a hundred thousand gold coins for information on your whereabouts, and a million gold coins for your head. If someone brings you in alive, they'll receive a staggering 1.5 million gold coins. With that much money at stake, it's no wonder that bounty hunters are combing the land for you. You're like a walking treasure trove."
"You want to capture me?" Blaze asked with a playful smile hanging on his lips as he twirled the scroll in his hand. After the reaction Blaze showed when he first saw the drawing for the first time, he knew denying was pointless.
'I guess I still need an all-around training session to get back to my peak and stop displaying facial reactions,' Blaze thought.
"Young noble, you got me wrong. I just want to tell you to be careful. Although your face has changed a little and the drawing only resembles you by ten percent, those bounty hunters wouldn't care. They will kill you without mercy," Caroline said and sat down on a chair. Her straight, black hair shook slightly, with her tight, short gown revealing her thigh. She had her cleavage slightly exposed due to the deep v-neck design of the gown. Although she's not as curvy as Aphrodite, her shape is above average.
"She's right. Even if a picture resembles you by two percent, bounty hunters will still kill you," Aphrodite added from the shadows.
"How did you recognize me?" Blaze asked because he was sure of his disguise.
"It's strange," Caroline remarked, "but the moment you entered the room, I felt like I'd been transported back in time. Your eyes and the way you carry yourself are just as captivating as they were the first time we met."
"Deja vu I guess," Blaze muttered under his breath before suddenly asking, "What's your element affinity and Mage rank?"
"My element is lightning, and I'm merely a solid core Awakened mage," Caroline said with a bitter, unbeknownst to her, it stopped a fight.
Blaze was planning to kill and silence her for good, but the city guards and her power would make things complicated. From her element and rank, killing her within two to five seconds without causing a loud disturbance in the town is impossible with his current power.
Knowing that he might fail to kill her, he had already considered the possible outcomes. If he were captured by the soldiers, he would likely face severe punishment, and he would be expelled from the school. If she managed to kill him, his life would be forfeited. And if she managed to escape, she could reveal his location to the bounty hunters, putting his life at risk.
"What's your name?" Blaze asked.
"Caroline Parker."
"I want you to go buy fifty throwing knives arranged in a portable holder, two sets of body armor, a good sword, and a book that contains detailed information about the Dragon Empire nobles, land, history, and power structure. Can you do that?"
Caroline chuckled wryly. "I hope you're not here to murder another Prince," she quipped, taking note of Blaze's cool and distant demeanor.
"Prince?" Blaze questioned in confusion.
"You mean you didn't know?" Caroline's eyes widened in surprise. "The king put out a wanted poster for you not long after you left the Empire. There's a rumor going around that it's because you killed the Prince, which is why you're being hunted."
Caroline's explanation brought back memories for Blaze. He remembered the soldier he had killed by cleaving his head from his neck, not realizing the man was a Prince in disguise. As a pragmatic person, Blaze had seized the opportunity to strike the weakest target, which happened to be the Prince who was caught off guard.
"Let's talk about business." Blaze's mind shifted gears from thoughts of the Prince to more pressing matters. "How much will it cost to get everything I asked for?"
"A hundred gold coins for quality products. However, Isle Town is not a standard town. The civilians are mostly farmers," Caroline said with a smile. Blaze noticed she had matured after their short separation.
Blaze counted 120 gold coins and gave them to her.
"I'm afraid I must excuse myself for the next two hours to buy what you asked for, young noble," Caroline said, with a polite bow. "I will be back as soon as possible."
Blaze stared at her back as she walked towards the door before he climbed out of the bed to go bathe. He suddenly remembered something."Right! Send food to the boy who followed me."
Caroline nodded before leaving.
The day passed uneventfully, with Blaze reluctantly keeping Robin inside the brothel to prevent him from wandering off. To make matters worse, Robin talked incessantly about trivial and irrelevant things, making Blaze feel like burying him in a hole.
—
As night fell, Blaze and Robin slipped out of town, their bags slung over their shoulders. They made their way towards the forest to start their raid operation.
"Where is the location?"
"Saudin Road. We just walk twenty kilometers from here," Robin replied.
Blaze nodded and walked at a quick pace. After they got into the forest, far away from the sight of the town, they changed their garments.
They wore a black long-sleeve shirt, trousers, and a pair of knee-high boots before wearing their armor on it. It was a black armor that was covered with some unknown inscriptions. The armor had only a body plate and a black plate. Isle Town lacks a standard blacksmith shop. Blaze gave Robin the sword and took the throwing knives in wooden pads.
Blaze had a total of 50 knives, organized into two wooden pads with 25 knives in each. He attached one pad to the left side of his belt and the other to the right side, using clamps to secure them in place. This ensured that the knives were always within easy reach whenever he needed them.
Blaze finally wore a black mask, which he made during the day. Robin did the same.
"When we are approximately three kilometers from the Saudin road, you wait," Blaze said.
Blaze and Robin then moved at an inhuman speed after they changed their clothes.
"We're three kilometers from Saudin Road," Robin said after he stopped running.
"Hide in a tree," Blaze said before vanishing under the cover of night, leaving Robin behind.
Robin sighed in frustration. "It was my plan, and now I'm being left behind. Who's leading our raiding team?" he muttered to himself, but still followed Blaze's instructions and climbed a tall tree. After waiting for two hours, he grew bored and pulled out a scroll – the same one that contained the information about the smuggling operation and its location.
Robin unrolled the scroll and unleashed a bolt of purple lightning, illuminating the inside of the tree and revealing the contents of the scroll. As the lightning faded, Robin was left in shock by what he saw. He summoned another bolt of lightning and focused intently on the scroll, determined to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. The sight before him made his breath catch in his throat.
"Fuck me! Blaze is robbing the wrong route. It's fucking Saudon Road! The fucking opposite way!" Robin cursed vulgarly at his error. If Blaze encounters a power mage, he's finished.
Without hesitation, he jumped off the tree and ran toward Blaze's location.
Robin just hoped Blaze wasn't dead.
As Robin finally arrived at the location, a bone-chilling sight made his heart race. Ice shards, icicles, leaves, and tree branches were scattered all around as if the place had been recently attacked by an unknown force. Even Saudin Road, known for its safety, felt like a death trap.
Robin looked around frantically, his eyes darting from one place to another, searching for any signs of life. All he could see was a dead horse and carriage, and a blood-stained path leading into the woods. Fear and panic seized him, making his breathing shallow and erratic.
But he couldn't let his fears get the best of him. He mustered up all his courage and walked forward, his heart pounding in his chest. Suddenly, he saw something that made his blood run cold. A person lay on the ground, a half-meter icicle impaled in their chest. As he got closer, he realized with horror that it was Blaze.