Chapter 155 - The True Beginning (18)

Shirley was befuddled: she didn't know what was currently happening, but she was hesitant to ask. She looked at the people around her, but they seemed just as puzzled as herself.

The only one who could solve her puzzlement was the person in front of her. However, judging by how the person behaved, getting any answer from her seemed pretty impossible.

The person in question, Iliana, was sitting on the other side of the carriage while tuning out the rest of the world. How could she ask that Iliana something, and expect an answer?

This way, Shirley kept her silence.

Minutes passed, and none of them spoke to each other. It was as if they had made a prior agreement to not bother Iliana with their chatting noise.

Basil had always done the same thing whenever he didn't want to be bothered; they couldn't help the unconscious reaction. The two's habit was uncannily similar.

However soon, they realized, in the end, Iliana wasn't Basil. Of course, it still doesn't mean they dare to disturb her.

"Why are we going to Randalvine?"

Well, at least, most of them didn't dare to.

Iliana opened one of her eyes, then looked at the speaker, Shirley. "Are you expecting me to know that?" She quirked her eyebrow.

Shirley frowned. "As the person in charge, shouldn't you know?"

"What do you mean by the person in charge?" Iliana waved her hand lightly. "I fetch you as what Basil has requested me to; it is not an official occasion."

"Well, at least you can tell me what is really happening." Shirley looked at Danzel and Clarissa. "The others are also puzzled, by the way they look."

Iliana shrugged nonchalantly. "All of us are riding in the same boat. I don't know of the reason why Basil suddenly requested me to fetch you up either." Right after that, she closed her eyes, and resumed Carving her next Magic Circle.

Shirley turned her head to Danzel in puzzlement. "Is she telling the truth?"

"Yes." Danzel nodded. "We have been notified by Basil that someone would fetch us a few days prior, but he never told us the reason."

Shirley hummed to herself. "Hmmm... Brother didn't notify me about this ... I wonder."

"Well, considering Basil's personality, he must have done it for a reason," Clarissa responded.

Blinking her eyes in surprise, Shirley turned to Clarissa. "Y-Yeah, I guess."

She was slightly taken aback Clarissa addressed Basil by his name. As far as she remembered, Clarissa had never done that, after all.

Shirley wasn't alone in this matter; Danzel was equally puzzled. Although he knew Clarissa had addressed Basil by his name in the past, he just didn't expect Clarissa would do it again now.

The person in question, Clarissa was aware of the puzzled gaze everyone was giving her. However, she didn't pay much attention to it.

No one would figure it out, but she had decided to be a genuinely independent woman.

Although she couldn't train herself to be a Knight right away—she hadn't met Basil—she could start her journey to be an independent woman with a small step. That was, to stop calling Basil "Brother" to suggest herself to never depend on him anymore.

It was trivial, but it was a big deal for her.

"Kuhum!" Danzel cleared his throat, attracting the two girls' attention. "I think we can just do one thing for Basil, that is, to believe in him. I am sure we will understand his reason for doing this soon."

The two girls nodded their head in agreement at Danzel's word, and stopped talking since. The ride was mostly silent, but some talk was still initiated from time to time.

By the time they realized it, a day passed; they had arrived at Randalvine. Iliana took them to the closest hotel to Randalvine Magic Institute, and settled them in.

When everything was done, she left them there with a message: "You can enjoy the city, but don't roam too far away."

The three understood the purpose of her message, but they didn't know what to do next. They had been suddenly fetched, and now they were dumped in one of the hotels in Randalvine.

Although they believed in Basil, they couldn't just accept the fact they had to stay there for an indefinite time for an unknown reason!

Fortunately for them, when two days had passed, they finally understood the reason why Basil had requested someone to take them there.

Needless to say, they didn't know how to react.

...

The King's Palace, Randalvine.

The throne room was currently filled with all of the Kingdom's officials.

Dukes and Staffs alike were gathered there waiting for one person. The highest authority holder of Braxtein Kingdom, their Lord, King Anthony Lionheart Braxtein.

They were gathered here at the call of their King to discuss about the report they had received a night prior. This was an important moment, as the content of the report was something everyone anticipated, albeit for a different reason.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The King's counselor knocked the ground with his staff three times, and everyone straightened themselves upon hearing it.

"Your Majesty Anthony Lionheart Braxtein has arrived!"

The waited person, Anthony entered the throne room. He was wearing a majestic golden trimmed attire, complete with the crown on his head.

His eyes were cold, and his chest were puffed in pride; his regality was apparent. Upon sitting himself in his throne, he gazed at the crowd filling the room arrogantly.

"Greet Your Majesty Anthony Lionheart Braxtein!" The King's counselor announced.

Everyone put their two fingers above their heart, and bowed their head. "Your Majesty!" They shouted in unison.

Anthony's eyes seemed unchanging at their gesture. However if one were to look closely, a satisfaction could be seen in his eyes.

"Good day, everyone," he greeted the crowd disinterestedly. "As you have read in the report my personal messenger has delivered you, I will address the matter directly."

Although the people had already read said report, their heart still couldn't help beating loudly; their hearts beat so loud, their ears were filled with the beating sound.

Hearing the matter directly from their King gave them a different mood.

"There is a possibility the 22nd Obelisk, the Obelisk of Astaroth will experience an Outbreak soon. We will face something that hasn't happened for 2000 years."

At his word, silence seemed to engulf the world. The people couldn't even hear their loudly beating hearts anymore. Their eyes were focused on Anthony, as their minds were repeating Anthony's word.

"The estimated time of the Outbreak is one month. Within that time, we will concentrate our army in BA-22."

Anthony looked around to see the people's reaction. Some were full of anticipation, some were full of hesitance, and some were full of eagerness.

"Regarding the disappearance of BA-22's Monster population, our investigation team has found out that the Monsters have, in fact, conducted a massive migration. Unfortunately, our investigation team doesn't know where they head to."

The people sighed in relief and annoyance. They were relieved the Monsters wouldn't hold any role in the upcoming Outbreak, but they were annoyed that they didn't know where the Monsters were migrating to.

"Although we do not know where the Monsters migrate themselves to, we have at least known their reason."

Everyone nodded their head in agreement. Monsters were territorial: the weaker ones would never dare to enter the territory of the stronger ones.

Therefore, as there would be an Outbreak, the Monsters of BA-22 migrated themselves to avoid the stronger Monsters coming from inside the Obelisk.

"Because of that, we can prepare ourselves in advance." Anthony smirked. "And to remind us of the beginning of our victory, I name this phenomenon Exodus."

Everyone nodded their head with a smirk, before clapping their hands loudly. They had never thought the day where they were grateful of the Monsters' behavior would come.

However, here they were, on the brink of victory due to the information they got from the behavior of the Monsters.

Fate is a strange thing indeed.

Unfortunately for them, they were not in the know of the truth.

...

A day after the meeting of the Kingdom's higher-ups, exactly two days after Basil's family had arrived at Randalvine, Exodus became public.

Everyone was bewildered upon hearing the news, and fear naturally rose up among the people. Sadly, this was only the case for the people of Randalvine.

Everyone whose region they were living in was far away from the capital hadn't heard of the information yet, due to Anthony's decision to not cause any more uproar than necessary.

Of course, it had sparked some debate. Many of the officials had agreed although Exodus was nothing but a sudden Monster mass migration, it was something everyone needed to know immediately.

There was still a possibility they migrated to a region dense with people, and the people needed to be notified of this.

However, Anthony had thought differently. Since such a massive migration had occured, the Monsters must traveled in horde; a horde of that caliber would never go unnoticed.

Since they didn't see any horde approaching any region, the possibility of the Monsters migrating to a region of dense population was miniscule.

The logic was sound, and the officials couldn't help agreeing. Still, Anthony had ordered everyone living close to BA-22 to temporarily move out to Fortescher County that was 50 kilometers away from BA-22.

Knowing that they didn't need to move that far away, the people living close to BA-22 had agreed immediately to head to Fortescher County.

Although they loved their life dearly, they still didn't want to move far away from their home. Anthony knew about it, and that was his reason to temporarily move them there.

Three days passed, and the Royal Army started filling the outskirts of BA-22; some of them had even set to the Obelisk, which was just 10 kilometers away from the outskirts of BA-22.

Everyone was anticipating the upcoming event.