The night was hazy, and the bright moon hung high in the sky.
Although this world lacked electricity, it possessed a mature Magic Lighting System that functioned similarly to the light bulbs on Blue Star.
Ian stood on the street, with Aetherinra and the other two women behind him.
Clearly, his plan had failed.
‘Do these three plan on following me until I get back to the Duke’s Mansion?’
Ian thought silently as he looked at the trio behind him.
They had just walked out of the snack shop, not because they were done talking, but because the shop was closing for the night.
This forced Ian to admire their stamina for conversation.
If he, an extrovert, were to chat with others, the conversation would likely reach an awkward silence after just a few sentences.
“Ian, you’ve finished what you needed to do, right? You can return to the Duke’s Mansion now,” Aetherinra said, stepping up to him.
Ian wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, he truly had no reason to remain in the city.
After all, he had previously claimed he was staying just to eat snacks.
He couldn’t exactly say he wanted more now, especially since he had eaten so many that he felt like he might throw up.
He couldn’t take another bite even if he tried.
However, he absolutely had to go outside the city to gather herbs today.
Lilian had only given him one week, and the refining process alone would take one day.
He couldn’t guarantee that his first attempt at alchemy would be a success, so leaving himself some extra time was the right call.
“Uh, I still have some important business to attend to. It… isn’t something you all should be involved in, so you should head back first,” Ian said with a cough.
“More business? Didn’t you just say that eating snacks was what you needed to do?”
Aetherinra frowned, pressing him further.
“Exactly what kind of business is it? Why can’t we be involved? Is it really something shameful?”
Just as Ian was being backed into a corner by Aetherinra’s questioning, he pulled a small card out of his pocket that he had prepared in advance.
“Now you understand, right? You really shouldn’t get involved in what I’m about to do.”
As she looked at the small card Ian held, Aetherinra’s face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple.
“Pervert! Lewd!”
Aetherinra naturally knew what that kind of card implied.
She hadn’t expected Ian to enter the city specifically for that kind of activity.
No wonder he had been so unwilling to state his purpose for coming into town.
“Young Lady, what are you doing?”
Iris asked, walking over after noticing something happening between Ian and Aetherinra.
“It’s nothing. Iris, return to the Duke’s Mansion with me first.”
“Is the Young Master not coming back with us?”
“Ian has things to do. We shouldn’t disturb him.”
After saying that, Aetherinra shot Ian a fierce glare.
Being stared at like that made Ian feel incredibly uncomfortable, as if he had actually been caught doing something wrong.
Although Aetherinra badly wanted to tell Iris what Ian was up to so she would realize he was just a failure whose head was filled with nothing but sex, she couldn’t bring herself to tell such things to the innocent and pure Iris.
She really couldn’t do it.
“Iris, go back with Aetherinra first. I’ll be back in a while.”
At this point, even though Iris had many doubts, she could only accept it since both the Young Master and Young Lady had spoken.
Once Aetherinra, Iris, and Veronica had left, Ian stretched his back comfortably.
He had finally gotten rid of them.
It was all thanks to the small card he had snatched from a tavern while passing by after leaving the snack shop.
Otherwise, this would have been very difficult to explain.
He skillfully changed into a set of black clothes, put on a mask, and began running toward the city gates.
What Ian didn’t know was that his every move was being monitored.
“Young Lady, your prediction was correct. Ian didn’t go to a tavern. Instead, he’s running toward the city gates.”
Veronica was currently following Ian, using a magic tool for long-distance communication to report to Aetherinra.
How could Aetherinra possibly believe Ian’s lame excuse?
Based on her understanding of him, was he really someone who cared about his reputation?
If that had truly been his goal, he probably would have told her before they even left.
There would be no need for such secrecy.
Sure enough, Ian wasn’t going to do anything of that sort.
He was heading for the gates.
‘Is he trying to flee the city to join the Demon Race?’
This was the only reason Aetherinra could think of for Ian leaving the city.
After all, the territory of the Demon Race wasn’t far from Far East City.
Thinking this, Aetherinra instructed Veronica to keep following him to see exactly what Ian’s objective was for sneaking out of the city.
—
A short while later, Ian finally reached a spot very close to the gates.
He hid behind a wall.
For some reason, during his journey, Ian felt as if something was following him.
However, he couldn’t find anything, so he ultimately attributed it to his own paranoia.
Looking at the gates which were just a stone’s throw away, Ian didn’t panic.
He knew the Guard Corps in their white armor would never let him walk out through the main entrance.
He had a way to slip out quietly without alerting the guards.
That was to use his **[God-given Skill]** — **[Night Stealth]**.
By moving through the shadows, he could easily sneak out.
This was the first time he felt his skill was actually useful.
But before he could activate the skill, a sudden change occurred at the gate.
A deafening roar echoed throughout all of Far East City.
Hearing the sound, Ian knew it was the alarm bell rung by the Guard Corps.
‘What happened? Was I exposed before I even did anything?’
‘But would they really make such a big scene just for one person trying to sneak out of the city?’
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
“Captain, Magic Beasts have appeared outside!”
“Magic Beasts? Why would they appear here?”
A middle-aged man on the city wall, wearing silver armor that distinguished him from the other guards, looked into the distance with a telescope.
He saw countless points of light rushing toward Far East City.
“Damn it, they really are Magic Beasts. And there are so many of them.”
“On guard! On guard! Archers, get ready! Fire as soon as the Magic Beasts enter range!”
“Yes, sir!”
Hearing the command, the surrounding Guard Corps members immediately grabbed their weapons and ran to their positions, standing ready.
However, while they were deploying, a massive wolf-type Magic Beast had already quietly reached the base of the wall.
With a single leap, it landed right on top of the battlements.
“Oh no! Stop it quickly! Don’t let it get near the archers!”
Several guards tried to close in upon receiving the order, only to be sent flying by the wolf beast’s tail.
“It’s no use! We can’t stop it!”
“Captain, what do we do?”
“Curse it! Stop it at any cost! If it reaches the archers, we’re finished!”
At the critical moment, a streak of **[Sword Qi]** tore through the air, kicking up clouds of thick smoke.
The Magic Beast didn’t have time to react before it was sliced in half by the energy.
“What’s going on? Why did smoke suddenly break out?”
The Captain of the Guard Corps had no idea what had happened on the field.
As the smoke cleared, a beautiful figure appeared on th
e wall. It was Veronica, who had followed Ian all this way.
Holding her sword, she pointed it toward the spot where Ian was hiding and demanded, “Is all of this your doing?”
…
Meanwhile, Ian, who was being pointed at by Veronica, stood there in a complete daze with three question marks effectively floating over his head.
‘Wait, what does this have to do with me? I didn’t do anything!’
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