"Such a big reaction, he's a bit petty."
Lyle felt a bit of a headache; he really hadn't expected Gagaran's departure to cause such a massive impact.
It wasn't surprising that the Blood Emperor could guess Gagaran's sudden departure was related to him.
Even with the smoke and mirrors—specifically having Gagaran wait until he had completely left the Empire before requesting to leave the Empire's Colosseum as a cover—
It was impossible to completely remove himself from the situation.
The Blood Emperor was a smart man, so being suspected was expected. Lyle just hadn't anticipated that the Blood Emperor would be so certain and issue a wanted notice for him directly.
"It seems the Blood Emperor is very angry." Lyle chuckled inwardly. It would be much more troublesome to travel to the Empire with a normal identity in the future.
However...
With the Empire's wanted notice out...
His fame in the Kingdom was likely quite high now. After all, the saying "one man's enemy is another man's hero" applied even in another world.
He could infer quite a lot from the excited expressions of the city guards before him.
Lyle's eyes flickered. After thanking the city guards, he led the Emerald Leaf Witch and Enri through the city gates.
Inside E-Rantel.
Prosperity remained. Even in this cold winter weather, there were still many pedestrians on the streets.
With the war between the Empire and the Kingdom over, the border city of E-Rantel naturally resumed its normal commercial activities.
Lyle learned from the city guards that although the Kingdom still hadn't gained any advantage in this war, the losses weren't as severe as in previous years.
This was closely related to the departure of the Empire's symbol, the Martial King Gagaran, as well as Leinas, the "Rose of the Kingdom."
That's right!
Leinas was now extremely famous in the Kingdom, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Kingdom's nobles. "Rose of the Kingdom" was now Leinas' title.
On the wide road.
In the cracks of the gray floor tiles, slender, hardened, grayish-black snowflakes remained. The pedestrians on the street looked at the man-sized, fierce-looking Ghost Hound.
Faces showed looks of fear, and some children even burst into tears, their mouths quickly covered by their parents, not daring to look in Lyle's direction.
A large Demonic Beast that looked fully grown, like the Ghost Hound, was a rare sight even in a border city like E-Rantel, which was near the Great Forest of Tob.
Lyle walked at the very front and raised his hand to pat the Ghost Hound's sturdy forelimb: "Don't look around, you're scaring the children."
After saying that.
Lyle showed an apologetic expression toward the children, which immediately prompted their parents to bow repeatedly.
"Awoo~"
The Ghost Hound wagged its tail and looked away.
Enri observed the surroundings with eyes full of curiosity. Her gaze occasionally fell on the back of Lyle, who was wearing priest robes and looking very gentle; her brown eyes couldn't help but linger for a few extra moments.
Then she carefully glanced at the cold Emerald Leaf Witch and lowered her head.
The Master is both gentle and powerful.
Even though Miss Emerald Leaf doesn't like to talk, she is also an incredible person.
Only she... knows nothing.
Wrapped in heavy, old clothes, Enri tucked her chin into her collar, her eyes somewhat vacant.
To this day, she still didn't know what the "talent" the Master spoke of regarding her was.
"Enri," a gentle voice sounded.
"Present!"
Enri quickly looked up and spoke.
"No need to be so tense. Here," Lyle chuckled, pulling a coin pouch from his robes and tossing it over.
Enri raised her arms to catch it. Feeling the hard, circular objects inside the pouch, she immediately realized it contained coins.
Through the opening of the pouch in her hand, a flash of golden light flickered.
It was gold coins!
Enri's heart jolted, and her hand tightened around the pouch. In her village, she had only ever seen what silver coins looked like; this was her first time seeing gold coins.
"There are 20 gold coins here. Take them and buy supplies for the next leg of our journey. While you're at it, change out of those clothes you're wearing."
Lyle spoke softly.
"Ah!"
Enri's rough palm tightened around the pouch again as she let out a cry of surprise.
20 gold coins—she had never seen so much money. After selling the wheat and herbs harvested each year in their village, the money they could produce was only about 3,000 copper coins.
Enri did a quick conversion in her head; it wasn't even 18 gold coins. This small bag of coins in front of her was already equivalent to a whole village's income for a year.
"I don't need new clothes, what I'm wearing now is already very good," Enri reacted, speaking with a bit of panic.
She also really wanted to ask if she could handle such a task—having so much money handed to her and being told to buy supplies.
This was her first time in the border city of E-Rantel; she wasn't familiar with it at all.
"Your constitution is a bit too frail. We still have to travel, and if you catch a cold and get sick, it will delay our schedule quite a bit."
"Compared to the money needed if you get sick, I believe the price of buying a few pieces of clothing is much cheaper." Having said this, Lyle continued:
"Little Black will pull the carriage and follow you to load the supplies. Emerald Leaf will also accompany you, though she doesn't understand these matters well, so you will need to take the lead."
Hearing these words.
Enri instead felt a bit less tense and nervous. Her cheeks tightened as she nodded vigorously: "I will do it well."
Her life in the village had been like time standing still.
Every day when the sun appeared, she had to start getting busy drawing water, because that was women's work, then help with farm work or gather firewood at the edge of the forest.
Repetitive and dull!
Enri had wondered a long time ago how long these unchanging days would last. As a young girl, she was always full of expectations and special fantasies about the future.
And now.
Enri felt herself filled with motivation.
"The things I told you to buy earlier, have Enri help you purchase them." Lyle turned his head and spoke to the Emerald Leaf Witch.
"Yes, Master."
The Emerald Leaf Witch glanced at Enri, who held no interest for her, and nodded respectfully.
She knew that her Master had her follow this weak human to protect her.
After Enri and the Ghost Hound left, Lyle entered a nearby inn and booked three rooms.
*Click*!
The door closed.
Lyle briefly assessed the environment of the room in the inn. He wasn't short on money now, so he hadn't looked for a small inn to stay in like usual.
"The matter of the Empire's wanted notice was a bit unexpected, and the plan needs to be adjusted slightly, but overall it's a good thing."
Lyle walked into the room, found a chair to sit in, and leaned against the backrest with a thoughtful expression on his face.
His plan this time was to increase his fame; now, half of it had been completed inadvertently.
That's right!
Lyle currently intended to move himself to the front stage—of course, this "front stage" was a deliberately thrown-out identity.
Genius Alchemist + faith system Magic Caster!
Using this identity to indirectly complete some arrangements. "Fame" was sometimes much more useful than crude combat.
It was also easier to reveal some false information, so that the future descent of the "Great Tomb of Nazarick" would shift some of its attention away from him.
"The Blood Emperor did bring some minor trouble. As expected, it's not suitable to have contact with such a smart person."
Lyle chuckled and shook his head. He had a general idea for his next actions.
Although this might look like a waste of time, to Lyle, who had mastered Teleportation magic, it was only a waste of time on the surface.
Secretly, it was enough for him to accomplish many things.
"Heh, no rush. However, I need to think carefully about the 'Class' aspect."
Lyle's gaze became somewhat deep. He raised his hand, snapped his fingers, and chanted in a low voice:
"Greater Teleportation!"
*Whoosh*!
The space within the room distorted slightly.
Lyle's figure had already vanished. As his vision shifted, scorching heat waves and orange-red light filled his eyes.
The central area of the Lava Zone.
There was no need to worry about the group of Dwarf Smiths stationed on the outskirts for now. Under the leadership of the Gray Dwarf Minister of Forging, a Rune Smith Great Master—
All the Dwarf Smiths had become his apprentices, wholeheartedly learning Rune Technology, plus the Lizardman treasure, The Urn of Endless Wine.
That group of Dwarf Smiths was already too happy to think of home.
Ignoring the terrifying temperature of the central zone.
With a wave of his hand, Lyle took out a coarse Rock more than two people high from his Inventory.
This was a Rock with a hollow in the center, which was currently filled with a large amount of bright red blood.
Dragon blood!
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