Chapter 721 - Different Place Different Culture
"Thank you." Alex nodded.
"Do you have another question?" The Village Chief asked.
"How about the other influences? What are they called?"
"All of them are Kingdom. Zealous in the east, Evvy in the north, Lush in the west, and we are under Plide of the south."
Alex contemplated for a moment and shook his head. He thought some questions were too specific, and there was no way the old man would know, considering he didn"t know much. "I will go to the capital city first. Thank you for answering my questions."
"If you can, don"t kill anyone and leave this area. I am sure that you are far stronger than me…" The Village Chief sighed before handing Alex a letter.
"I understand," Alex a.s.sured him once again before unlocking the seal of his cultivation. He then looked at Fabio and nodded. "Let"s go."
They both then went outside the village without anyone noticing and regrouped with Firia.
"Why do you come back this early?" Firia furrowed her eyebrows. If everything went according to the plan, Alex would only call her a few hours later.
Alex shook his head and smiled. "The plan just went too well. The Village Chief answered all my questions. Although I don"t know whether we can believe him or not, we can a.s.sume they are the truth. Using this a.s.sumption, we will try to move along with our original plan. If there is any hole in the information we will get in the future, we know that one of them must be lying."
"I see." Firia looked down while thinking. "In that case, should we call back Nelson?"
"No. I have another mission for Nelson and probably for him alone. We will wait until he finishes his mission." Alex nodded, tossed the recommendation letter to Inventory and called Nelson. "Nelson! Take out the recommendation letter, go to the Earl, and ask him for another letter to the capital city. If he asks anything, just say that you won"t bring him and the letter came from his father. And your ident.i.ty is a challenger."
"Understood," Nelson replied and stated. "The Earl is a 2-Star Martial Monarch, so he is pretty strong."
"Do you have a problem?"
"No." Nelson answered instantly and disappeared, sneaking inside the earl mansion.
Inside the study room, the door was pushed open as a male walked inside with the recommendation letter.
"Who are you?!"
"A challenger." Nelson simply asked before giving the letter to him.
The Earl glanced at the letter and realized it was coming from his father. He rose from his seat and looked at Nelson mysteriously.
"Don"t think anything weird. I only want information." Nelson said coldly, leaking his Spiritual Energy.
"!!!" Feeling the difference in Spiritual Energy, the Earl finally calmed down and realized he couldn"t see Nelson"s cultivation stage. There was only one meaning. Nelson was far stronger than him. "Alright. Considering my father gives you the recommendation letter, I will answer your questions."
"Firstly, I want a recommendation that can link me to the people in the capital."
"That can be done. I have it with me right now." He wanted to go on this journey, so he already prepared and hoped to have a challenger appear in his territory. That was why he could simply take out the letter and tossed it to Nelson.
Nelson checked the validity of the letter and nodded. "I have received the letter. On to my questions. First, I want to know the safest way to the capital city, the map of this place, and the way to partic.i.p.ate in the fight against the monsters."
"I understand." The Earl didn"t think anything and answered his question one by one. "First, I will give you this map first. Our Kingdom is located in the east of this place while our position is the far east of that place. In other words, this place is in the perimeter of this huge cave.
"If you want to go to the capital city, I can guide you according to this red line." He pointed his finger at a red line on the map. "There are no monsters or whatsoever, and you won"t even meet any settlement around.
"As for how to partic.i.p.ate in the fight, the fact that you are a challenger yourself is already proof for them to let you join. There are three ways to join the war. First, you can join me as my retainer. I will then let you meet the king and talk about this yourself. Second, you can partic.i.p.ate as the second party… There are some mercenaries inviting people to fight against the Monsters, and they are under the direct order of the king himself. However, you won"t be related to the royal family.
"Lastly, you can go alone without anyone helping you… Maybe you can meet the king after presenting the letter in your hand. It"s proof that the king asked to give if we encounter any challengers. However, the fact that they are coming from the royal family, you need to be extra careful because sometimes the ones who get the letters might be the princes and princesses.
"If they get you, they might pull some strings to get you on their side. There might be even some back dealing and stuff." The Earl finished his explanation.
Nelson thought for a moment and asked another question. "What is mercenary?"
"They are an independent group that can roam around the area. They are trusted by the Mercenary Guild in all places. Well, there are some advantages and disadvantages of becoming a part of the mercenary camp. That"s why the first option is the safest one." Like how the Village Chief knew it, the Earl indeed wanted to go to the battle and received some inheritances.
Nelson recalled Alex"s intention and smiled. "I am grateful for the recommendation letter, but I will choose the fourth option."
"The fourth option?" The Earl narrowed his eyes, not knowing what he had in his mind.
"Create my own mercenary group…" Nelson smirked evilly.
"What?! Do you think you can do it? There are many people wanting to create a mercenary group, but all of them failed because they are not strong enough to build one. They need to pa.s.s many challenges and trials from the guild itself before they approve your guild."
Nelson looked at him coldly, not saying anything.
"The safest option is coming with me. I can even introduce you to the king, and they will surely help you enter the inheritance palace a few months later."
"That"s enough." Nelson suddenly appeared beside him, pointing his sword at the Earl"s neck. "I have promised your father not to bring you there. However, if you are going to threaten me or something, I won"t hesitate to slice your throat no matter the consequence."
Before the Earl could say anything, Nelson already disappeared. Although he wanted to ask a few more questions, it wasn"t possible because the Earl was too obsessed with the inheritance trial.
Nelson immediately returned through teleportation, of course, by using the card. Alex summoned him back right in front of him.
"I am sorry, Young Master. I am not capable of extracting more information from him. He is a bit too obsessed, so I have no choice other than retreat. If we can rush toward the capital now, we should be able to best him and finish all our preparation before anything could happen. The map is over there, and the route seems to have no human settlement and is rare with humans, so I think we can follow the path." Nelson apologized.
"Thank you. That"s plenty." Alex nodded. For someone like him, the path he prepared must come from careful consideration as to not let someone spot him because the challenger could be s.n.a.t.c.hed by other people. That was why Alex could trust this map. "Besides, we need to check the monsters soon to see whether we should summon everyone or not."
"Alex, do you think we can separate for a while? You can go to the capital and search for information while we are heading to the battlefield to see if they give us EXPs and Gacha Tickets?" Firia asked, volunteering herself to be part of this.
"Who do you think I am?" Alex smiled and created a small symbol on his hand. Before she could say anything, Alex already teleported them. He looked at her and said. "I am a s.p.a.ce Element Array Master. Traveling all these distances is easy for me, so don"t think about risking your life."
"I am sorry." Firia closed her eyes and smiled.
"Anyway, I want Nelson to investigate the royal family as soon as we have arrived there. If possible, search for some clues about what they want to offer if we are willing to cooperate with them." Alex paused for a moment. "Firia and I will try to create a Mercenary Guild. Considering the answer that he has given us, we can take advantage of this status to partic.i.p.ate in the battle legally. At the very least, they won"t confuse us with the enemies. Leoz will be our bodyguard."
"Understood." Nelson and Leoz nodded their head while Fabio already disappeared after being called back to the surface.
Alex then teleported them again according to the route before they arrived in the capital city. Considering they needed to go through those guards, he decided to sneak inside the capital city with his Spatial Gate.
Firia put on her veil, covering all her face. Meanwhile, Nelson already disappeared, going on his mission.
Before Alex could say anything, Nelson already contacted him.
"Young Master. I have found the Mercenary Guild. It"s not that far from you… If you see the castle, just follow the route, and you will find the building on your right."
"Understood. Thank you." Alex glanced at the two and nodded. "Let"s go."
The trio then walked toward the castle and found the building almost immediately. No wonder Nelson contacted them that soon.
They entered the building and searched where they could register themselves.
"There it is, Alex." Firia found it and pointed her finger toward the counter.
Alex"s eyes followed her direction and saw a counter with three people inside it. This scene reminded him of the time when he wanted to register as an adventurer.
He nodded to Firia and walked toward the counter. Out of the three, he simply chose the one that served no one at the moment.
"Welcome. How can I help you?" The receptionist bowed her head and smiled.
"I want to create a Mercenary Group. Is that possible?" Alex asked.
Suddenly, the receptionist"s face turned annoyed. "This again? Do you think because the land is going to be swarmed by monsters, they can simply use the Mercenary Group to be their backer?"
Alex furrowed his eyebrows, ignoring her nasty mouth. "I heard that I only need to pa.s.s some tests… So, what is the requirement to create a Mercenary Guild?"
"Look at you… You are too young to do this! You are just going to die as soon as you enter the battlefield." She snorted.
Alex started to get annoyed. Firia was waiting for him to take care of the business. She had seen everything in Alex"s memory from the system, and she realized how annoying it was when you tried to be humble but got looked down instead.
"Do you think we should just go back and fight them alone? It"s not like we really need to be a mercenary group, right?" Firia asked.
"True enough. I am just thinking of fighting them legally, but it was never an option." Alex shrugged and turned around. Suddenly, a guy walked toward them. "What is this? A little brat wants to play mercenary?"
Alex became more and more annoyed as time pa.s.sed. He was wondering what the heck was wrong with this place. He somehow thought that the royalty to be as bad as these people, especially after recalling the Village Chief saying to not trust anyone in the capital city.
"We are leaving." Alex ignored the guy. He wasn"t a hot-blooded person anyway. Even the receptionist, a mere Martial King, and this guy, a 2-Star Martial Monarch, he thought nothing and just wanted to leave.
"Still… If you are going out there, it will be such a waste for a beauty like this…" The guy suddenly looked at Firia"s b.o.o.b.s vulgarly.
"Why is this always happening?" Alex sighed while Leoz grabbed the guy"s hand as he couldn"t control his rage anymore. He released his 5-Star Martial Saint aura and looked at the guy. "That"s it. I can"t endure this humiliation anymore!"