“This really is my sword,” Weibai said helplessly.
Facing a City-State Guard, he had nothing else to say.
After all, the other party represented the actual official power of the state; he couldn’t exactly win them over with moral arguments.
“A person like you would carry a sword of this quality?”
The guard asked with a face full of suspicion, staring intently into Weibai’s eyes.
“It’s a family heirloom. Is that a problem?”
Weibai explained.
He wasn’t lying; the Glorious Throne really had been given to him by his mother.
“Hmm?”
The guard remained suspicious, clearly not fully believing Weibai’s words.
Just as Weibai thought the man was going to continue making things difficult for him, the guard simply waved his hand.
“Go on in. Just don’t go around flaunting that sword everywhere.”
Weibai gave the guard a very surprised look.
The man appeared incredibly exhausted, yet his movements during the inspection had been efficient.
Once the check was finished, he stood straight and tall, as if he were on high alert at any moment.
“You’re not going to check any further?”
Weibai asked, feeling somewhat confused.
Hadn’t the guard’s tone just now clearly suggested he wanted to harass him? Why had his attitude changed in an instant?
“No need. Since it’s a family heirloom, just pack it away,” the guard said, then waved his hand impatiently.
“Hurry up. There are others behind you waiting for inspection.”
“Oh, alright then.”
Weibai didn’t press the matter.
He quickly wrapped the sword and secured it onto his back once more.
“Go on in, you lot.”
Weibai wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but the guard’s tone seemed somewhat dejected.
This shouldn’t be the tone of a City-State Guard; rather, he sounded like a soldier who had just retreated from the front lines.
However, Weibai had no desire to worry about the reason behind the guard’s shift in mood.
He followed the others into the city.
Only after entering Labia City did Weibai feel it — an atmosphere completely different from Karven City.
A sense of decadence permeated the air.
The expressions on the faces of the citizens and the City-State Guards were polar opposites.
On one side were the happy smiles of the citizens, and on the other were the lifeless faces of the guards.
‘Isn’t there supposed to be a Bandit Plague lately? Why does Labia City look like it hasn’t been affected much at all?’
Weibai looked at the scene before him, feeling surprised.
Reasonably speaking, with such a severe Bandit Plague, Labia City should have been a scene of misery.
Instead, what appeared before his eyes was a vision of prosperity.
It felt far too jarring.
With those thoughts in mind, Weibai followed the coachman to the Labia City station.
Usually, a station was an excellent place if one wanted to understand the conditions surrounding a city.
These coachmen and merchant caravans traveled everywhere; they always saw more than the residents who stayed within the city walls.
The coachman responsible for driving them parked the carriage.
After waiting for the group to exit the cabin, he headed into the station to eat.
Weibai wasn’t responsible for the coachman’s three meals.
They carried their own food to satisfy their needs during the journey.
Having eaten dry rations for the entire trip, the coachman was finally able to eat fresh food at the station, which was no easy feat.
Weibai watched the coachman’s retreating figure and then looked at his companions in the Adventurer Party.
When his gaze swept over Taurani, she was winking at him.
Instantly, Weibai felt a shiver run through his body as bad memories rushed back into his mind.
Without hesitation, he turned around and headed straight for the interior of the station.
What did the Bandit Plague here have to do with him?
Since he had already left Karven City, he was currently in the clear.
He could go wherever he wanted.
Once the heat in Karven City died down, he would go back to find Mida.
Couldn’t he just live a stable life like before?
For now, he needed to get away from this little Blood Demon immediately.
The further, the better.
“Hey! Francis, where are you going?”
Seeing that Weibai had run off immediately after making eye contact with her, Taurani felt a bit annoyed.
‘This Little Elf has been throwing a fit the whole way. Why hasn’t he cooled off yet?!’
‘Is he really that stubborn?’
However, she wasn’t about to let the Little Elf leave her just like that.
She hadn’t finished uncovering the secrets on his body yet.
At the very least, she wouldn’t stop until her curiosity was satisfied.
“You guys go find an inn first. I’m going to go check on Francis,” Taurani said to her companions before immediately rushing off to find Weibai.
“Little Tao, Brother Francis was only traveling with us because we were headed the same way. Now that he’s reached his destination, he probably has his own business to attend to,” Grey advised kindly.
No matter how much this young girl liked Brother Francis, she couldn’t keep pestering him.
What if she actually made him angry?
If Brother Francis really decided to walk away for good, no matter how indignant they felt, there wouldn’t be anything they could do about it.
The bridge would be burned.
“It’s fine, Uncle Grey.”
Taurani gave Grey a placid smile and then dove into the crowds of the station.
“Nini!”
Seeing Taurani acting so impulsively, Jiu couldn’t help but want to go up and stop her.
Throughout the journey, she had been observing Weibai’s reactions toward Taurani and had almost certainly concluded that the man was a scumbag.
Even if Taurani liked Francis, he was just an irresponsible scumbag; Taurani shouldn’t be so impulsive as to chase after him.
Did she really intend to follow Francis for the rest of her life? Was it really worth following a scumbag like that?
As a companion, Jiu could not accept Taurani’s decision.
With that thought, Jiu prepared to rush into the station to pull Taurani back out.
“Enough, Jiu. Let her go,” Rom said emotionlessly.
“She’ll probably give up once she finds him. Grey already tried to advise her; it’s not our fault for not warning her.”
“Besides, her strength is above ours. Francis probably won’t do anything to her. At most, he’ll use some harsh words, which might actually wake her up.”
Rom also had strong opinions about Taurani’s behavior toward Francis.
He believed that Francis had used some kind of trick to make the petite and cute Taurani stick to him like she was possessed.
Before this, Taurani had always possessed a placid and distant temperament.
She always kept everyone at a distance, making her seem difficult to approach.
Yet after meeting Weibai, Taurani had become a different person, clinging to him in every way possible as if she wished she could spend 24 hours a day with him.
“Tsk!”
Seeing that her companions were stopping her, Jiu glared resentfully at the station before turning around to leave with the others.
—
Weibai wove through the crowd, constantly searching for places where people might congregate.
After some searching, he finally found an eatery.
Many people were sitting there; it looked like a place where he could obtain some useful information.
It was a small snack stall.
The owner was making pancakes, and the tempting aroma wafted over with the owner’s movements.
“Boss, one pancake, please,” Weibai said as he walked up to the owner and observed his movements.
“Coming right up!”
The owner agreed readily.
He took out a piece of dough and, with a few slaps and pats, turned it into a thin sheet.
“Sir, would you like any side toppings?”
The owner asked Weibai while he worked.
“Add an egg.”
Weibai looked at the various toppings on the stall and pointed to an egg.
“You got it! That will be 5 copper coins.”
With a series of *clinks*, Weibai placed 5 copper coins on the stall.
After paying, Weibai didn’t continue waiting at the stall.
He walked over to the travelers who were sitting on chairs and eating pancakes.
He didn’t intentionally approach anyone; he simply walked past them as if by accident, listening carefully for any potential keywords.
“Hey, the price of Magic Crystal Ore has gone up lately. What’s your purchase price over there?”
“What? 5 silver coins a piece? Why did you raise it so high? Can you even sell them?”
“They’re selling that well?! If I had known, I would have raised my prices that high too.”
Bypassing the conversation of a mineral merchant, Weibai continued to wander, intentionally heading toward areas where more people were gathered.
Finally, as he passed a square table, he heard the information he wanted.
Two travelers were eating pancakes at the table, discussing things.
“Did you know? The Bandit Plague in Labia City has been getting worse these past few days.”
“Aren’t Earl Kevin’s guards around? With those soldiers there, we don’t need to worry about such things. If something happens, they’ll be the ones on the front lines.”
“No, no, you don’t understand. How can the Earl’s guards compare to the Kingdom army? They can barely hold Labia City; how can they solve the Bandit Plague?”
“Is the Bandit Plague really that bad? Even the guards can’t solve it? But looking at it now, isn’t Labia City still quite prosperous?”
“Well, I heard those bandits even got ahold of —”
Just as Weibai was focusing his attention, wanting to hear more, the owner interrupted his train of thought.
“Hey! Customer, your pancake is ready!”
The owner came up to Weibai and shoved the pancake into his hand.
He chuckled and patted Weibai on the shoulder.
“Young man, try my cooking. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”