Kadyn looked out of the carriage window at the gurgling Tonton River — that was obscured in fog in the distance, only shadows of river and mountains and forest could be seen — as the caravan passed the bridge. Kadyn's face was filled with unexplainable emotions at this moment.

This was the place where he first opened his eyes in this wonderful yet scary world. He stared below the bridge and saw anglers fishing and laughing and enjoying themselves. He sighed and his attention returned towards the bridge that was made of iron, and concrete, and woods, and ropes. The bridge made noises as the wagons passed one by one.

"Such a beautiful scene," Zelie exclaimed as she peered into the distance. "I didn't know that one could admire such compelling scenery from this bridge."

"Oh, I've seen it so many times that I don't see any beauty in it anymore," Elora replied with a flat tone.

Zelie rolled her eyes at her and continued to peer in the distance. Kadyn eyed the girl and asked after some hesitation. "Patriarch Irable, is he interested in you or something?"

Zelie's expression froze and she turned her attention towards Kadyn, peering and scowling at him. "Where that stupid idea came into your head?" She rolled her eyes. "Do you think if he had such thoughts towards me that my father would let him live in Avibria City peacefully?"

"True," Kadyn nodded. Indeed, Barret would have beaten him half to death if not to death — if he had done something like that. After all, the man was similar in age to Barret, he would never tolerate such a thing. Then he asked. "But why was he looking at you in such a ...strange manner outside the city?"

"That's because I've rejected his marriage proposal."

"Didn't you just say…"

"He wanted his son to marry me!" She scoffed when she saw his smirking face.

"Oh," he nodded and fell silent. Zelie glanced at him briefly and continued her gossip with Elora. Not bothering with him.

The carriages passed the bridge in the meantime and reached the cobbled and broken path. Full of pits and puddles. The trees stood tall on either side, rustling and waving and disappearing behind as the wheels of the wagon rolled over the uneven and bouncy ground.

After two hours later the forest vanished and a plain grassland appeared. The name was Exclusive Terrain. In the distance, Kadyn spotted a herd of elk. Not far away there was a group of bulls. Then his gaze fell over the pack of jackals, gawking at the elk as if waiting for the right time to attack.

As Kadyn stared outside the window, at the Exclusive Terrain in front of him, inside the Avibria City a shout rumbled in the Branch of Magic Association. "That unruly brat!" Barret clenched his teeth furiously and shattered the table in front of him.

Elder Jyn glanced at him and shook his head. "Kadyn isn't as simple as he appears. He would protect her."

"I'm not worried about bandits, but that guy is a snake. Zelie had humiliated him cruelly last time. He would not let the matter rest easily. He was just waiting for the right time. But I never gave him that chance. However, what better chance he could get than this time? Though Kadyn might be powerful, I don't think he is powerful enough to fight with him."

Barret grumbled in frustration. "Furthermore, later he could say that it was the doing of bandits. We won't be able to do anything to him. Though he isn't as powerful as Mayor Palius, he has good relations with many powerful people. I thought I could help Kadyn this time but who would have thought I would hit the axe on my own foot by doing it."

Elder Jyn thought for a moment and then smiled. "Don't worry. Hot Rod is also Rank 1 Magus. If Patriarch Irabel tried something wicked he would be hitting an iron plate." Though he said that his face was also grave. Hot Rod might not be his match.

"We would have captured him as well when we did the Mayor," Barret said regretfully. He never thought that something like this would happen so he cared little about the Irable Family. However, who would have thought that stupid daughter would enter the bill of a snake willingly?

"If you aren't at ease then why don't you go yourself?" Potioneer Yel said from the side. "They have a large caravan so their speed won't be that fast. Maybe you will be able to catch them in time."

Barret didn't reply and turned towards Elder Jyn. The old man smiled and said. "Don't look at me. If you want, then go."

——

The sun had reached its destination and turned yellow from blinding white and then orange and then crimson red. It was about to sink in between the mountain peaks and fade from the eyes of masses when the carriages stopped.

Kadyn walked out of the wagon with two ladies on his heels and looked ahead of him in confusion. Then came Khrom and Hot Rod. "Why did we stop?" asked Hot Rod. "We can still travel more than a few miles before dusk."

At this moment Patriarch Irabel walked towards their group. Kadyn peered in his direction and saw a beautiful girl around the age of twenty beside him. She had black curly hair and big almond eyes. She wore a red dress and her waist was slim while her chest was full that showed a long cut at the centre, revealing two half, white, bouncy balls. A wonderful sight to behold. She looked like a complete seductress. But her eyes were filled with disdain and her face had a cold expression. That ruined the charming sight completely.

Kadyn shook his head and then he examined the other silhouette: he was a handsome young man, around twenty-two or twenty-three years old. He had long hair similar to Patriarch Irabel and there was a warm, confident smile on his face. He was tall and of a strong build, he walked with a steady and slow pace.

"There is a clearing ahead of us, we can spend a night there," Patriarch said.

"Alright then," Kadyn said. "We'll stay there."

"Perfect," Patriarch Irabel laughed. Then he introduced two people beside him. "This is my son, Grym." The boy nodded at Kadyn and others with a gentle smile, but his gaze was fixed at Zelie all this time, occasionally his gaze would fall on Elora. A cold light appeared inside Kadyn's eyes, but he controlled his anger. Then he peeked at Zelie and saw her face had turned ugly. "She is my daughter, Hayla." At Patriarch Irable's voice, the girl just looked at everyone and didn't nod and neither spoke anything.

"Haha, she is a shy girl." Patriarch Irabel laughed awkwardly when she remained silent.

Kadyn and everyone else looked at the deep cleavage and their lips twitched. If you want to find an excuse then find something that is believable. Shy? Even ghosts won't believe such a blatant lie.

"Alright!" Patriarch Irabel clapped and went on. "Let's go to the camping place. As for the food, we've already sent our people to hunt for games."

Kadyn climbed the carriage with Elora and Zelie. However, when Zelie was about to enter Grym said from behind. "Do you want to travel with us, Zelie?"

She stopped and peered back at the boy and then spat disdainfully. "No!" and climbed the carriage.

Kadyn stared at her furious face and grinned. 'He doesn't look so bad."

Zelie glared at him and snorted. "What do you know? He is the biggest pervert in Avibria City. Though Mayor Palius was also a disgusting man he still cared a lot about his image. But this bastard Grym, he had done uncountable treacherous things."

"If they are so bad, why did your father send me with them? What kind of rice is he cooking inside his head? What would I do if that pervert's eyes fell on my cute little Elora?" Elora rolled her eyes when she heard her exaggerated tone.

Though Kadyn's tone was sarcastic he meant what he said. He had already sensed many kinds of impure emotions from Grym and Hayla. Patriarch was a Rank 1 Magus so he could not tell his emotions. But he could guess that nothing good was inside his head either.

"Though the Irabel family is similarly rotten to the core as Palius, they are great businessmen. Furthermore, we will just travel with them so we can ensure our safety in case the bandits attack us. However, after reaching the Capital we will go our separate ways." She scoffed when Kadyn blamed her father. "That's why my father let you join their caravan."

"Anyways I would prefer to travel alone instead of travelling with them," Kadyn said.

"Do you think I want to travel with them?"

Before he could reply the carriage stopped. "Alright, we are here." He said to the two ladies and walked out of the wagon.