The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 398 - Something Else

          After escaping the capital with many others, Zaos, Aleni, and Milliendra hurried to the country's east coast. To make sure they would travel as fast as possible, Zaos made some magic items for the horses. With those, they could move twice as fast. While Zaos still didn't find a way to restore their stamina, he made some saddles that could activate the effect of High Regeneration and that prevented wounds. Thanks to all that, they managed to keep moving even at night and only stopped to sleep.

              One week after that, they reached a port town on the western side of the kingdom… even though the trip was supposed to take two weeks.

"Daddy, are we going to live in the wagon now?" Milliendra asked.

"Hahaha, of course not," Zaos said. "We need to find a good place to live, so we will travel for a while. But we won't travel day and night anymore."

              Although that port town was pretty small and didn't have any magic tools to make things easier for everyone, it sure had a lot of people there. People trying to hire ships to leave the kingdom. Rumors spread around that the king of the Sairus kingdom wasn't going to do anything drastic. Still, most people didn't believe that since he used mana assassins along with the war.

"Finding a ship with a cabin just for us will be hard, even if we have some extra money…" Zaos rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I will deal with that," Aleni said.

              I will deal with that... it doesn't seem like the proper way to solve the problem. Still, Zaos decided to leave that question in Aleni's hands. Meanwhile, Zaos decided to move around the town and see what else he could hear about the war. It seemed that the princes had fallen a few days ago, so it was clear that there was no longer a royal family in that country, and Zaos was half to blame for that.

            After a couple of minutes, Aleni returned, and apparently, she had found a ship and a Captain who agreed to rent a cabin for them for free. That was obviously a lie, so when pressed for a proper explanation, Aleni revealed that she had borrowed some money from the nobles who were trying to leave the port as well… Zaos sighed when he heard that. He was trying to live an honest life despite the many lives she had taken, but it seemed that his only ally had no scruples in stealing money from others. She probably felt that it was fine, or her conscience didn't bother her since she didn't take any lives in many years.

              Since Zaos wouldn't have to spend his money, he decided to make some investments. In one of the shops of the port town, he found some plants being sold. He recognized the one Tyra cultivated to make mana potions and decided to buy some… Hopefully, they will survive the trip.

"Where are we going now?" Aleni asked.

"I was thinking that the mercenaries' country would be a good option," Zaos replied.

"... I thought that you had a brain, but it seems that I overestimated you," Alenie said after several moments of silence.

"Just think about it, the Sairus kingdom has become the greatest force in the world now," Zaos said. "Without the royal family the common folk won't have any reason to rebel, who will they put on the throne if they rebel? Who will unite them to rebel?"

"Go straight to the point…" Aleni said.

"What I mean is, now they have the power to pretty much invade any country," Zaos said. "They have good soldiers, good commanders, and now access to magic weapons. We will need a place where assassins won't find us easily and any army will have a hard time invading it."

"Maybe I forgot to mention this, but the organization that trained me is from that country," Aleni said. "They know that country much better than any mercenary family."

"Hmmm… that is definitely a problem," Zaos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Then, how about this: we invade and… deal with all the people involved in the formation of assassins. That way, we free the world from a powerful group of low lives and Dalyor loses the only ones who can find us."

"You make it sound so easy…" Aleni said, but then she began to think about it.

            If the leaders of the organization die, then most of the assassins will become free. Zaos and Aleni won't have to kill them, she will have her revenge, and she won't have to kill those who are in the same position she had been before. Thus, she won't won't have to feel guilty.

"From what I heard, the mercenaries there think that power is everything," Zaos said. "So, if we play smart, we can build our own mercenary group and use them to manipulate Intel and prevent ourselves from being found again."

            Zaos obviously needed to consider several steps and plan them with caution, but the overall idea wasn't so bad. Besides, it was evident that the mercenaries' country would be the last place someone would look for Zaos and Milliendra.

"... Do you really think it will be safe for Millie to live in such a place?" Aleni asked.

"We will make it safe," Zaos declared. "We will create a real home for her, so that no one will try to take it from us. The other mercenaries group doesn't act like this, but we will be sure to always make the possible fights happen far away from us… we might even use the former assassins if you wish to give them a new life."

            Aleni was shocked. For the first time, she noticed that Zaos really considered her a friend. He did say that they would make things happen together for Milliendra's sake, after all.. That made  her feel happy, just as much when Ameria recognized her as a friend. Still, it seemed that Aleni felt something more, but she couldn't actually recognize what that feeling was…