Renee whined. She felt the mud on her leather boots begin to harden as she walked. The dirt that came along with the mud covered her dry skin making her face contort with annoyance.

Rod didn't seem to be fazed at the amount of mud that acc.u.mulated on his legs as he continued to walk across the forest. He brushed off some stray branches as he spoke.

"That man in red most likely told the emperor not to give us one. He probably thought that we'll use it to run away after pretending to search for awhile. Well, he's not wrong."

Rod laughed lightly as he proceeded to walk along with the group until the dense trees slowly thinned out. And at the end of the forest, they saw the village they've been looking for.

"Why are we even going to this small little village? If we're planning to escape, why not go to a smaller country?"

Rod grabbed a small white damp cloth in his sling bag which he used to clean his muddy legs. Then, halfway through his cleaning, he answered her.

"This village near Eldora Academy is after all the nearest to the border. This is probably the farthest we can go from the royal capital. We already somewhat 'searched' all the parts that were near to the capital so if we start another search in this town, we can make it seem as though we're still searching in other parts of Anemoly that are near the borders. And then, after a few days of pretending to search, we can run away undetected to Edseria where that guy won't find us. We can always pa.s.s through the Poisoned path like last time. It didn't do us any harm last time so I bet it wouldn't affect us much the second time we pa.s.s through it as well."

After Rod thoroughly cleaned his legs, he gave two other damp cloths to Nol and Renee for them to follow suit. Nol followed obediently while Renee hesitated for a full moment.

"What if he's got people spying on us? What makes you think that that really handsome guy wouldn't chase after us once we try to escape?"

Despite her serious tone, Renee couldn't help but giggle at the end.

Oh, how she wished he'd chase her…

She'd never been so hung up on a guy before but she knew that her type had always been handsome men who were strong and confident. Hence, she dated quite a lot of adventurers back then. But she'd usually immediately break up with them whenever they ever lose in a fight. After all, she wouldn't want to have a loser as a partner. And just as she was about to lose all hope to find her ideal man, the man in red suddenly appeared with all his regal aura.

He was truly a powerful man! Both in ability and in his connections as well. After all, how many people can make the Emperor bow to them?!

She's never even heard of such a thing happening until she saw it herself!

With that kind of power, he's the best candidate she could ever find to make her experience the best life of luxury. And so, with that, she's not going to let the moment slide.

She's going to get him to fall for her whether he likes it or not.

Rod noticed the greedy glint in Renee's eyes and he couldn't help but huff in ridicule.

He knew what was going on in her head. He'd been with her for so long that it'd be impossible for him not to get it. She's planning on using men again for her own selfish desires. She was so lost into her own thoughts that Rod knew that answering her question was just pointless. But the blatant curious stare of Nol made Rod still answer.

"I've checked nearly a hundred times and I can confidently say that we're not being followed. Back when we were in the capital, Anemolia, I made a few tests to see if someone was following us or keeping an eye on us but all resulted to negative. And besides, the moment that guy knows we bailed, we'd probably be days away from him. That'll give us enough time to hide in Edseria."

Nol slightly nodded in silent understanding as he continued to wordlessly walk. Rod began to lead his team to the entrance of the village but they were slightly startled by the bright eye-catching lights at the gates. The brightness made their eyes, which already adjusted to the darkness of the night, squint heavily.

"What… Are they in the middle of their festival now?"

Renee s.h.i.+elded her sensitive eyes from the light as she asked Rod grumpily.

Rod and Nol both blinked a few times before rubbing their eyes gently. Then, looking back at the gate again, Rod nodded.

"Either a festival or some sort of event. These lanterns are usually held up to signify celebrations. So, we might have to hurry. In situations like these, the inns are usually full. Let's just hope we can have at least one room to comfortably stay in for now."

Rod began to speed up his walking as he tried to look for the signage of an Inn. Renee and Nol dutifully followed suit as they too searched for the same signage.

And when they finally entered an Inn, they hurriedly rented two rooms to stay the night in. Rod also took advantage of them booking a room to ask the innkeeper about the current event.

After properly settling in their rooms, Renee entered Rod and Nol's room as they started to plan what to do next.

"So the whole town's not exactly celebrating something but more like they're just honoring the yearly event that's held in that prestigious Eldora Academy. Something about the students going out of their campus to have fun before a tournament. Well, it doesn't really concern us much."

Then, a loud sound suddenly erupted within him and Rod bursted out laughing.

"Well, just as what my stomach had said, I guess the only thing we could do is to have something to eat. So, let's find some tasty food and relax for now. And we'll start the searching tomorrow."