He yawned and straightened his back, leaning against the stone. He got up and twisted his bones. Only after a series of cracking sounds did he feel much better.
Last night was exciting, but Glace didn't give him a good look. He didn't have the face to squeeze in the carriage with two women in the middle of the night. When he came out, he found a rock that was half the height of a man and leaned against it for half the night.
As a low-rank Knecht, he wasn't afraid of catching a cold overnight, except for the fact that the rock was a little annoying.
Smoke rose from the campsite in the morning.
He took his share, as well as his sister's and Glace's. Glace seemed to be really angry, and he needed to coax her a little.
As expected, when he knocked on the carriage door, Glace didn't give him a good look. She took the breakfast and closed the door without saying a word. Through the gap between the door and the door, Locke saw Kristin looking at him shyly. He blushed and coughed lightly, then went to deliver breakfast to Suzanne and the others.
As the Melmos Forest gradually disappeared from their sight, the feeling of being watched gradually faded.
"The wizards of Klarman have finally withdrawn their surveillance," sighed a blue-robed caster who stood at the end of the procession.
Locke happened to be close to him and heard him. What was a 'wizard'? Was he also a caster? Although he was curious, he didn't ask.
He only knew that the caster was called Nolan. He was rather eccentric and Locke had never had the chance to get close to him.
The procession continued forward and the surrounding scenery gradually changed. For the next two days, the dense forest became sparser and the height of the weeds on the roadside decreased until the ground became bare.
"Are we in the next country?" Locke asked his adjutant while wiping the sweat off his forehead.
Klarman was famous for its jungles and grasslands. He hadn't heard of the Gobi Desert, so they were obviously in the next country.
Bond took out the map and looked at it for a while. "Yes, we've arrived in Ridson. Next, we'll have to cross the Ridson Desert."
Locke was speechless. They actually had to cross a desert?
"There should be an oasis up ahead," said Bond as he pointed at the map.
"Alright, let the procession continue forward. We'll rest when we reach the oasis," ordered Locke.
Inside Romm's carriage, Angelina and Cage sat quietly at the side.
"I can't follow you for the rest of the journey," said Romm.
His mission was to escort Angelina through Klarman. Now that they were far away from Klarman's border, there was no point for him to follow them anymore.
"Alright," replied Angelina. She was the most powerful person in the entire procession, apart from Romm.
"You have to protect Princess Angelina well for the rest of the journey," Romm said to Cage solemnly.
"Yes, I won't let a single hair fall on the princess!" Cage stood up straight and promised.
In the entire convoy, only Romm and Angelina knew that he was the strongest person in the entire convoy after Romm. There were no more than five peak-level Knechts in Faustian.
Even the powerful Magician Nolan would be killed before he could even activate his magic shield in time if he were to get close to him.
Casters could only show their strength when they were at a distance. Generally, there weren't many casters who had the time to fight with knights at close range.
After instructing Cage about the matters to take note of, Lom waited for the viscount to leave before speaking to Angelina.
"Take good care of these scales." Romm didn't move, but a pile of purple scales suddenly appeared on the ground.
Knight Romm was also someone who had spatial equipment, and it seemed to be of a very high grade. At the very least, this carriage was a valuable spatial item.
"Alright." Angelina held a black pearl hanging from her neck, shone it at the purple scales, and absorbed them into the pearl.
The black pearl was considered a national treasure of Faustian. The king had specially prepared it for Angelina.
In fact, Angelina also had a spatial ring on her finger. It was a farewell gift from her teacher, Grandmaster Crimia. Of course, the space inside wasn't as big as the black pearl.
More than two hundred high-ranked major monsters' scales added up to a considerable volume. Only this black pearl could contain them.
Seeing that Angelina had stored the scales, Romm continued, "There are two hundred and ten pieces in total. Two hundred are for Garcia and you can keep the other ten. They'll be very helpful in hatching the scorpiondrake."
"Thank you, Grandpa Romm!" Angelina bowed. Romm had probably gotten them from the scorpiondrake himself.
"Alright, be careful on your way." Romm was very optimistic about Angelina's growth.
A few hours later, Locke stood next to Angelina and watched Romm fly into the sky and disappear in the direction of Faustian.
"I really envy people who can fly." Locke sighed.
"As long as you become a Ritter, you can fly too!" Angelina giggled.
Locke didn't respond to this topic. Ritter? Haha, he wasn't even close to becoming a mid-rank Knecht.
As if she could guess what Locke was thinking, Angelina waved her hand and said generously, "Don't worry, when I become a high-rank Lehrling and learn the flying spell, I'll take you flying!"
Locke wrinkled his nose and didn't take it seriously. Angelina was only a beginner-rank Lehrling, so she was even worse than him.
The Ridson Desert really lived up to its name. It had been three days since Locke and the others entered the desert. At first, they could still see a few oases, but as time went by, the desert gradually turned into a desert. There was almost no living thing. Fortunately, the envoy's guides were experienced and had each of them carry a lot of water with them.
Under the scorching sun, Locke gnawed on a roasted lizard that a smart kid had brought over. The lizard was the size of an arm, and it had been lying down somewhere to cool off. When it was discovered by the soldiers, they didn't even bother to roast it. They just skinned it, rolled it in the sand, and poured water on it to wash away the sand and blood. It could be eaten right away, and it tasted delicious.
It looked a little bloody, but Locke didn't care. Instead, he ate it with relish.
"Big Brother, where's the next oasis?" Kristin was wearing a hat made of withered grass. Her petite face didn't tan under the high temperature. Instead, it was slightly pale and she was sweating profusely.
Locke threw away the roasted lizard, rubbed his hands, and walked over to pick Kristin up. The little girl had suffered for the past few days. It was fine if it was cold since they had enough clothes and a campfire, but there was nothing they could do about the heat. Locke couldn't conjure wind and ice water out of thin air, could he?
Locke had long taken off his armour. Wearing chainmail at this time was tantamount to suicide.
Speaking of which, it had been almost a week since they entered Ridson's sphere of influence, but they hadn't seen a single person yet. Logically speaking, when an army of hundreds of people entered their territory, they should have sent someone to keep an eye on them. At the very least, they should have sent a few scouts.
After discussing it with the squad jarls, Locke realised that they had already sent people over.
Covering his eyes with his palms, Locke looked up at the sky. Under the scorching sun, a few birds that looked like vultures and eagles were circling above the convoy.
Ridson was a tribal kingdom that relied on herding and gathering for a living. Its population was mainly active in the eastern part of the kingdom because there were many oases and grasslands there.
The place that Locke and the others were passing through belonged to the western part of Ridson. The continuous desert and Gobi made the natives of Ridson reluctant to stay there for long.
Domesticating wild beasts was their forte. Every bird in the desert could be their informant. In addition to flying beasts, they were also good at commanding beasts on the ground.
The wolves that came and went without a trace were what they relied on to dominate the Ridson Desert.
Ridson had always been at odds with Karaman in the south. As the saying went, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Although Faustian hadn't established diplomatic relations with Ridson, they had maintained a good relationship for the past two years.
The sky gradually darkened and night was finally coming. Everyone in the envoy group took a breather. The evening was the most anticipated time of the week, but no one would relax because the night was equally tough.
In addition to the bone-chilling cold, the beasts in the desert also began to hunt at night.
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