The next day.
Old Hunter had finished preparing everything at the manor, instructing the servants to load all the luggage onto the crimson-azure ox-steed carriages.
The so-called crimson-azure ox-steeds were a new species created by crossbreeding cold iron oxen with fiery horses. They possessed the endurance of a cold iron ox and the speed of a fiery horse, and they were exceptionally loyal.
Even when tired or hungry, they would only let out a low roar and never resisted. As long as their masters fed them anything at all, they would be content and never go on strike.
They were a very popular mount among the nobility.
“Young Master, everything is ready,” Old Hunter informed Leon.
Leon nodded and boarded the carriage with Alicia. The carriage slowly rolled forward, heading toward the ruins of the Holy Light Cathedral.
Bishop Miles and a group of priests were already waiting for him there.
Since they were all heading to the Imperial Capital, Leon thought they could look out for one another on the road, so he had arranged to travel with Bishop Miles.
However... while he called it looking out for each other, Leon was essentially clinging to Miles's coattails.
After all, once the traitorous nobles and vampires had blown up the Holy Light Cathedral, they had vanished without a trace, like rats scurrying into a sewer.
Despite the warriors of the Lionheart Warband searching the entire city, they still couldn't find any sign of them.
Leon didn't think they would have the leisure to come looking for trouble with him while they were fugitives wanted by the entire nation, but it never hurt to be cautious.
Arriving at the ruins of the Holy Light Cathedral, Leon stepped out of the carriage and exchanged pleasantries with Miles for a while.
Then, without further hesitation, the group set off toward Solainem's west gate.
Leon pushed open the glass window of the carriage and looked out at the streets of Solainem, but the more he looked, the more he felt something was off.
Why were there so many people?
The closer they got to the west gate, the more residents of Solainem appeared along the way, and their gazes held a meaning that Leon couldn't quite decipher.
Leon's eyes suddenly narrowed. Was there an ambush?
“Careful, there might be a problem...”
He spoke to Alicia and Old Hunter inside the carriage, but before his voice could fade, the noisy sound of galloping hooves rang out from behind.
The sound of hooves rapidly approached Leon's carriage. Leon immediately became alert, gripping his priest's scepter and preparing to activate a divine spell, only to hear a familiar, booming voice.
“Priest Leon!”
Leon leaned his head out of the carriage and saw it was Ryan and the members of the town guard, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Captain Ryan, what are you doing here?” Leon asked.
“Look at you, talking like that. With the friendship between us, you're leaving Solainem—could I really not come to see you off?”
Ryan spoke with a tone that said, 'We're brothers, why the formality?'
A send-off?
Hearing this, Leon looked at the increasing number of Solainem residents around them and finally realized.
Right, the news that he and Bishop Miles were leaving Solainem must have spread. It was indeed possible for the townspeople to come and see them off.
Thinking of this, Leon patted his own cheeks.
“I almost had a PTSD flare-up!”
He had become a bit hypersensitive because of that Sage King’s methods. Seeing a crowd gathering in the city, his first reaction was that something had gone wrong again, and his second was that the trouble was likely the Sage King’s doing.
Now that he heard Ryan was here to see him off, the tension on Leon's face finally relaxed.
Ryan continued, “Priest Leon, now that everyone knows you're a young master from a ducal family, we figured you wouldn't be interested in any gifts we could prepare, so we didn't bring anything special this time.”
Leon glanced at him. “Didn't bring a parting gift? Could it be because you spent all your money at the Red Pavilion and couldn't scrape together anything decent?”
“Haha!” Ryan's face showed the embarrassment of being found out, and he gave a dry laugh. “Buying some common, mass-produced goods to give to a young master of a ducal family like you... it's tacky! Far too tacky!”
“The point isn't those vulgar, practical gifts; what matters is my sincere intent to see you off!”
He suddenly lowered his voice, saying with a bit of pride, “Don't worry, I’ve specially arranged for quite a few people at the west gate to see you off. The spectacle will be top-notch! I’ll make sure you return to the Imperial Capital in style, with enough to brag about for a good while!”
Leon couldn't help but smile at this, thinking that Ryan’s so-called parting gift was essentially the 'Face-Face Fruit.'
At that moment, Ryan gave a signal to the guard members behind him.
The guards all urged their horses forward, forming a neat escort on both sides of Leon's carriage.
The two guards at the very front raised two banners they had produced from somewhere and began to wave them vigorously in the wind.
Leon looked closely and saw that the pattern embroidered on the banners was the crest of the Douglas family—two vibrant violets crossed like swords.
The guards moved forward, waving the banners the whole way. The eye-catching and ostentatious display acted like a magnet, drawing the gazes of every resident along the path.
Even the priests of the Sacred Light Church traveling with them were completely captivated by the spectacle.
The scene was indeed quite impressive.
“How about it? Didn't let you down, did I?” Ryan followed beside the carriage, winking at Leon.
Leon nodded and said with a laugh, “I’m officially naming you the Face Commissioner!”
Face Commissioner?
Ryan didn't understand what it meant, assuming it was some specific terminology used among nobles, likely something similar to that 'Pure Love Warrior' term.
The procession made its way down the street leading to the west gate.
Just as they turned a corner, they saw that the sides of the road ahead were already packed with the people of Solainem. There were so many that it seemed as if the entire city’s population had gathered there.
Looking at the scene that could only be described as a sea of people, Leon's eyes widened in surprise. “You arranged for this many people?”
However, as Ryan looked at the surging crowd, he was also stunned. “I might have a bit of face in this city... but not enough to call out this many people...”
Just then, seeing the convoy slowly approaching, someone in the crowd was the first to shout:
“They’re here!”
The voice was like a stone thrown into a lake, instantly triggering ripples of echoes.
The residents of Solainem on both sides of the street began to speak up one after another, their gazes all shifting toward the prominent carriage.
“Look! That one with black hair and black eyes, with the aura of an Imperial Prince—that’s Priest Leon!”
“Over there is His Excellency Bishop Miles! He was the one who presided over the mass at the cathedral last time!”
“Priest Leon—!”
The shouts were scattered at first, but they quickly merged into a fervent wave of sound.
Some people stood on their tiptoes to wave at the window, some gently pushed their children forward, and many wore genuine smiles and expressions of gratitude on their faces.
Though there were no lavish gifts or formal ceremonies, the gazes and calls echoing through the streets were the most direct and sincere of send-offs.
They might not have been able to explain the details of that disaster, but they all remembered who had lit the Light Prayer to gather the residents fleeing blindly through the gray mist, and who had taken the initiative to go to the Viscount's manor, risking his life to repair the Gray Mist Barrier.
They might not have spoken with Leon before, but they were willing to stop for him now and see him on his way.
The gazes and cheers of the crowd surrounded the slowly moving convoy like a warm current, passing clearly through the glass window and into Leon's ears.
As Leon looked at the vivid, sincere faces on both sides of the street, a feeling called 'stability' couldn't help but rise in his heart.
Rate on N.U.
