Elvia stood at the entrance of the Adventurer's Guild.
She listened to several rookie adventurers fervently discussing the story of that "Legendary mage."
Her mouth twitched.
A Legendary mage? Supporting a younger brother by working as a commoner sister?
And a refugee at that?
Elvia's expression grew more and more warped.
Although she wasn't a mage herself, as a princess with real power in the Carter royal family, she knew all too well what a Legendary mage represented.
That wasn't something a commoner could support; even the royal family couldn't afford one.
The Carter Royal Capital had once supported a Legendary mage.
Alexis, a High-tier Legendary fire mage.
Two years ago, when he left the Carter Royal Capital and resigned from his title, the royal family didn't even say a word to try and make him stay.
It wasn't that they didn't want to; they literally couldn't afford to keep him anymore.
A single magic experiment could evaporate a hundred million gold coins.
According to Alexis himself, he was only ten trials away from a breakthrough.
The Carter royal family believed him.
Then they were swindled by that old man into supporting fifty-eight whole trials.
He showed absolutely no sign of a breakthrough.
Thinking of this, Elvia's eyes suddenly lit up.
She remembered that after Alexis left the Carter Royal Capital, he seemed to have returned to the City of a Thousand Towers.
If he still remembered the sentiment of the Carter royal family supporting his magic experiments for two years...
If he remembered that half the national treasury had been poured into him...
Perhaps he could offer her some protection.
Elvia stuffed the silver coins she had worked so hard to earn into her pocket and turned to run toward the city gate.
This was indeed a very good way out for someone in her current predicament.
In fact, she had been looking for Lin Gui for the past five days, but that guy had been off fooling around somewhere unknown, and she hadn't seen so much as a shadow of him.
Strange as it was, she felt like she heard news about Lin Gui everywhere, but when she actually needed to find him, he was nowhere to be found.
Upon reaching the city gate, Elvia froze.
The post office entrance was packed with people; the queue stretched from the door to the foot of the city wall, turned a corner, and continued for quite a distance.
She stood on her tiptoes to look inside, but there was a sea of black hair; it was impossible to squeeze in.
Elvia cleared her throat, straightened her back, and began to walk forward.
That unapproachable aura she had cultivated in the Carter Royal Capital was instantly released.
Her gaze was cold, her chin slightly raised, and her pace steady, every step hitting a rhythmic beat.
Before, in Caran City, she had used this trick to clear the path at the post office.
Sure enough, the people around her noticed that aura and instinctively stepped back to either side.
An old woman who had just moved aside looked up at her.
Then she froze.
Although the woman before her was strikingly beautiful, she was wearing clothes that didn't match her appearance at all.
Worn adventurer's leather armor, dusty and gray, with the knees rubbed white.
An ordinary iron sword hung at her waist, its scabbard covered in scratches.
Her boots were also old, with the uppers fraying.
She looked exactly like a destitute, bottom-tier adventurer.
The fear on the old woman's face vanished instantly. She shot Elvia a glare and stepped back into her original position.
The people nearby also snapped out of it and looked her up and down.
They simultaneously rolled their eyes and returned to the queue.
Elvia's face turned bright red.
She almost lost her temper.
These people wouldn't have even been worthy of looking at her before!
But the next second, she thought of Lin Gui's expressionless face.
She thought of how he would look at her with disdain.
She took a deep breath and obediently walked to the back of the line to wait.
It was easy to take it out on these people, but it would be hard to explain to Lin Gui.
She was still counting on Lin Gui to take her to the City of a Thousand Towers to seek refuge with Count Alexis.
The queue moved slowly.
The people in front submitted their letters, paid, and registered one by one, with everyone asking questions and dragging things out for ages.
Elvia's legs went numb from standing. She stood from early morning until the sun was high, and from the sun being high until afternoon.
Finally, she moved to the doorway.
Through the door frame, she saw Lin Gui sitting behind the counter, greeting customers with a smile.
That smile was incredibly fake, clearly a facade.
Elvia moved her gaze from Lin Gui and landed on the map on the display board by the door.
She knew Lin Gui's delivery route passed through the City of a Thousand Towers this time, but she hadn't looked closely at the specific path.
Now, she saw it clearly.
A route outlined with hemp rope on the map.
Starting from Dragonbone City, passing through the Southern Tundra, Whitecliff City, Wind-Whisper Canyon, Watchtower Keep...
And then it plunged directly into the Withered Wood Wasteland.
Elvia's eyes widened.
The Withered Wood Wasteland? A Forbidden Zone?
She continued looking down.
After coming out of the Withered Wood Wasteland, there was Withered Wood Town, and then it plunged into the eastern part of the Withered Wood Wasteland?
Then Serpent-Spine Ridge, Coppergate City, Twilight Woods, and Aspen Keep.
The Cursed Swamp?!
Green-Shade Court???
The Bone Highlands?!
The City of a Thousand Towers.
Crimson Terrace, Twin Springs Oasis, Ashstone Plains, Yellow Sand Court.
The Ash Rift?!
Sandthorn Hills.
The Red Clay Desert?!
Elvia's mind went blank.
What the hell kind of route was this?
She had managed transportation affairs in the Carter Royal Capital before.
She was more than familiar with the transport routes heading north from the Carter Royal Capital, through Broken Bone Pass, and on to the City of a Thousand Towers.
That route was very long, but every section was carefully selected to avoid all known dangerous Forbidden Zones.
It was done to ensure absolute safety during transport.
But what about Lin Gui's route?
Not only did it not avoid Forbidden Zones, it seemed to step on every single Forbidden Zone along the path.
The Withered Wood Wasteland, the Cursed Swamp, the Bone Highlands, the Ash Rift, and the Red Clay Desert.
Each was more dangerous and more lethal than the last.
If Lin Gui were doing this for time, wanting a high-risk but fast route, it still didn't make sense.
This route was not the shortest path at all.
Elvia could draw several routes shorter than this one that could even avoid a few Forbidden Zones.
Yet Lin Gui had specifically chosen this one.
It was long, dangerous, and roundabout. It was completely incoherent.
Elvia stared at the city-states strung together by the hemp rope on the map.
Her brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
Whitecliff City, Wind-Whisper Canyon, Watchtower Keep, Withered Wood Town, Coppergate City, Aspen Keep, Green-Shade Court, Yellow Sand Court...
She had heard of some of these city-states, and some she had no impression of at all.
But there seemed to be some kind of connection between them.
A connection she couldn't quite put into words.
Just as Elvia was lost in thought staring at the map, someone behind her gave her a shove.
"Move it, it's your turn."
Elvia snapped out of it and realized there was no one in front of her anymore.
She turned her head toward the counter.
Lin Gui was staring at her.
The smile he had used to greet the previous customers vanished without a trace from his face.
It was replaced by the dead fish eyes she knew all too well.
Rate on N.U.
