Chapter 423: Envoy of Nerosal

Chapter 423: Envoy of Nerosal

The air was crisp when Dallion left Nerosal. The sun had yet to rise, making it the perfect time to leave the capital unseen. The guards were vaguely aware of his task, so they let him out without issue. From there on, it was a long trip to the area of the crackling sighting.

You could have stayed a bit longer, the armadil shield said. At least enough to say goodbye.

To a degree, Dallion agreed. Faint traces of guilt lingered that he had left while the gorgon was asleep. Technically, she had the habit of doing just that, especially after a night of fun. However, shed mostly go to assist with guard errands, not leave the city for a hunt.Th.ê most uptodate novels are published on n(0)velbj)n(.)co/m

She did that the first time we were together, Dallion replied. Besides, no one can sneak out without Eury letting them.

Lets hope youre right.

From the scant information Dallion had managed to obtain, the first request for help had come from a small village called Vadle. The place was quite insignificant, located close to the border with the wilderness. Similar to Dherma, it was technically part of the county, although lacked any threat of strategic significance to the point that itlike the other villages in the areawas left to its own accord. The only thing different was that unlike Dallions own village, it hadnt self-isolated itself, at least to the point that it would take the destruction of an avian crackling to send someone to a larger city for help.

Thinking back, Dallion still wasnt certain whether the former village chief of Dherma had known about the chainling or not. Without a doubt, the mess had been a big enough deal to get the Archduke of the province involved.

As he walked, Dallion instinctively touched the new pendant hanging from his neck. While he had obtained the power to bless it into an emblem, he had preferred to wait a bit until he knew more on the matter. A visit to a temple of the Order was going to be necessary, after all. Hopefully, there would be one in the area where he was going. After everything that had happened with the Vermillion rings, Dallion didnt trust the members of the Order in Nerosal.

Nox, will you be able to sense the avian if its close? Dallion asked.

Mrow? the crackling replied. In the realms, he could pretty much guarantee it. The real world was a different matter entirely.

Try your best.

It was going to be at least a day until Dallion had to worry about that, anyway. The creatures of the wilderness didnt like being close to citiesthe bigger the settlement, the further away they kept from it, and at present Nerosal shared the spot for largest city in the province. From what Dallion had found out, there were less than a dozen of equal size and only three larger, including the capital of the province itself.

Time flowed on. The sun appeared on the horizon, marking the official start of the day. Morning began, giving way to noon, then evening. And all the time, Dalion kept walking. He wasnt particularly fast, but managed to maintain a constant pace, making him in effect more efficient than nearly all creaturesall non-magical ones, at least. At his present rate, it was looking like hed reach Vadle in three days, which was much faster than doing so by horse.

Come to think about it, that was the reason Dame Vesuvia was the only one on horseback during the chainling hunt. The horse was nothing more than a status symbol. With all the soldiers being double-digits or possibly seers, it was more efficient to have them walk, even if the volunteers like Dallion brought the pace down significantly.

By evening, Dallion stopped to take a quick break and have a bite. As far as he could sense, there werent any dangerous creatures in the vicinity, but even so, Dallion didnt make a fire. From what Eury had told him, the creatures that were cautious of fire werent a threat, anyway. It was the rest that he had to worry about and provoking them by making himself obvious was best avoided.

Easy for you to say, Dallion thought. He still only had a travelers emblem. Normally that would be enough to provide protection, but now that he had joined the ranks of the initiates, the Moons werent going to intervene if he ventured into somethings domain.

That doesnt make sense.

When dealing with creatures of the wilderness, little makes sense. All you have to go by are the things they leave behind.

Dallion couldnt disagree more. Everything Eury and the other had taught him had to do with predicting the behavior of wilderness creatures. While initially illogical, all of them had their own patternmostly a reaction to stimuli. Nil, however, continued to insist that as long as there wasnt a well-defined logical explanation, their behavior could be nothing but chaotic. Listening to him was like listening to an academic that knew everything about the world, despite never setting a foot outside of his home.

I guess well find out soon enough. Dallion walked on in the direction of the smoke.

After another few hours of walking, the village came into view. It was a small thing, composed of some fifty structures all huddled behind a shoulder-high wall of stones. The condition of the wall suggested that an awakened had taken care of it. As he got closer, however, Dallion saw that the wall was the only thing that remained maintained. Several of the other structures, including the village mill, were in a considerably worse state. It didnt take any detective work to tell that the focus was on keeping the town secure than anything else.

I guess we know why they complained about the avian, Dallion said to himself.

Going to the village reminded him of the way Dame Vesuvia had entered his own village. The difference was that the dame was an official envoy and had the troops to prove it. On his part, Dallion had the skills of an initiate, which was good enough.

Out of habit, Dallion split into instances as he approached the village gate. Normally, villages of this size didnt have dedicated guards. The fact that there were several people at the gate, not to mention something that, based on the roughly made lookout tower, suggested that there had been a number of unpleasant instances lately.

Theres no need for that, a small woman at the gate said.

At first glance, she looked quite unimpressive, wearing the standard village clothes: simple leather boots, beige trousers, a simple blouse covered by a thick fur coat, and most of all not a single weapon to be seen. Thanks to Dallions high perception, though, he could see that she was an awakened. While crude in design, the clothes were flawless and made of fine cotton.

Double digit? Dallion asked.

Enough to be noticed, the woman replied. Dallion could feel suspicion oozing from her. Banra, first awakened of Vadle.

Dal, he introduced himself. Ive come from Nerosal regarding your avian issue.

The city actually sent someone? Barna sounded surprised. Wonders never cease. Maybe that whole mess was useful after all.

Dallion didnt say a word. Clearly, the Stars attempt to destroy the city had become known throughout the empire. At least the woman didnt recognize him.

Maybe it was. Dallion nodded. So, whats the issue with the avian.

Well, thats the thing. The woman sighed. Its not just one.