“What did you even do?”
Kael, who easily crossed the gates because of a certain someone’s help, couldn’t help but question.
“Why did that guard suddenly start attacking the other guard out of nowhere?”
“Because of his wife.”
Vitaria answered with a playful smile on her face.
“What?”
“His wife and the other guard were close, or at least that is what he believed. So I just showed him what he believed.”
“And how did you know about it in the first place?”
“I just do~”
Vitaria answered, her eyes shining mysteriously.
‘So is this her version of Dragon Knowledge? The Fox Knowledge?’
Kael wondered in his head as he stared at his daughter, who was still laughing playfully, clearly enjoying the fact that she finally got to play around like she wanted to.
“So was his wife actually close to the other guard?”
Kael questioned curiously, since the tea was right in front of him, why not drink it?
“How would I know?”
Vitaria, however, shrugged.
“…”
Kael shook his head in silence, disappointed.
“I can find out if we meet the wife.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Show her something that would make her admit it. I can ‘kill’ her, take her to the afterlife and tell her to confess her sins.”
Vitaria’seyes shined.
“That will be fun~
Fufufu~”
Vitaria laughed again.
“What if she lies?”
Kael questioned again. Since he also had his daughter’s power because of his newly gained ability, he wanted to learn more.
“It all depends on how you play things out~
You need to make it so she won’t lie.”
Vitaria answered, acting like a true master. Kael could swear she was trying to rub her non-existent beard like some old cultivator.
The little thing looked absolutely adorable.
“Don’t worry, Father. I will teach you everything. Then together, we will fool everyone and watch them as they do silly things.
It is very fun~
Fufufu~”
The Fox assured.
Kael smiled at that.
“I will be looking forward to it.”
“Me too~”
The Fox laughed as she made herself comfortable on her father’s shoulder, refusing to leave.
Kael continued to run. He didn’t have much time, the place he wanted to go was quite far. By usual means, it would take about a week to get there, and since he was on foot, it might take longer.
‘Father…’
Suddenly, Imperia, who had been staring at the map inside the Sanctuary, called out. She could sense what her father was thinking about, so she decided to help.
‘We need to get to the red mark, correct?’
She questioned.
“Yes.”
Kael nodded.
‘Isn’t the path you are taking too long? You seem to be avoiding forests.’
“I am.”
‘But are you not in a hurry?’
“Forest is a dangerous place. I cannot take any unnecessary risks.”
After his brief training with Veylara, Kael knew about the forest quite a lot. It was usually better to avoid them if it is possible.
‘You do not have to listen to that Human.’
Suddenly, Imperia spoke up.
“What…?”
Kael frowned, then suddenly, a portal formed above his head, and Imperia walked out without his permission.
‘You can… do that?’
Kael blinked in surprise.
Usually, no bond can leave the Sanctuary without the Tamer’s permission, unless the Tamer’s very life was in danger. Even Igni was no exception to this rule.
But…
Imperia seemed different.
This was obviously no emergency, yet here she was, resting on Kael’s head without any worries in the world. Heck, she even brought out the large map with her little body and placed it in front of Kael’s face.
Kael held the map and she landed on it, then she pointed at a path—no, it was more of a straight line—a line passing right through multiple forests.
“If we follow this path, we can get there in two days.”
Imperia spoke confidently.
“Ria, this path is too dangerous, I need to choose a sa—”
“Trust me, Father.”
Imperia spoke as she looked at her father with her big eyes.
“…”
Kael stayed silent for a moment, still unsure.
“Follow my lead for the next 4 hours. If you still feel it is too dangerous, you can follow the previous path. How about it?”
“…alright.”
Kael nodded.
It was too difficult for him to say no to these little girls anyway. Imperia smiled as she once again jumped on top of Kael’s head.
“Continue moving according to the new path.”
She instructed as she then closed her eyes.
Kael did as he was told.
He was still close to the Capital, so it was relatively safe. He had also used this chance to increase his pace. He had been constantly spamming [Draconic Surge], cooldown after cooldown.
It was also a way to train his speed and stamina, something that was working out splendidly.
In just an hour, he had traveled about 400 kilometers and was quite far from the Capital. Till now, his and Imperia’s paths were relatively similar, but with the Capital’s influence decreasing as he went further, more and more uncleared lands and forests had started appearing.
This was the time Kael usually would have taken the normally used, long paths, but according to Imperia’s instructions, he was supposed to walk right into a forest.
“Trust me, Father.”
Sensing his emotions, Imperia, who was lying on his head with her eyes closed, spoke lazily. Kael nodded and walked into the forest, his speed slowed down to a considerable degree. He had started walking slowly and looking around carefully.
If he continued with this pace, the path Imperia took might even take a month. This was also the reason everyone used the normal path. For now, however, Kael didn’t complain. Just as his daughter proposed, he would do what she said for the next three hours, and if he felt like this wasn’t working, he would return to his original path.
Now, will this be more time-consuming than directly following his original path?
Yes, but Kael trusted his daughter. If Ria was this confident, then that was all he needed to follow her instructions.
Kael was a very trusting and proud father.
With a proud nod, Kael continued walking for about 5 more minutes, then suddenly,
“Father.”
Imperia called out.
“Hmm?”
“Camp here for about 10 minutes.”
“What…?”