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C1503 Oddity

The old man breathed heavily, a concentrated look in his eyes. He seemed to be trying very hard to recover so that he could attack again. But, something about the coldness in Leonel's eyes seemed to tell him that he would be prepared for this. In fact, he seemed to feel that Leonel was untouchable.

The burly man roared. Limping on one leg, he dove at Leonel, brandishing his spear with one arm. But, just as he was about to skewer Leonel through, his spear burst into a rain of ash.

Losing his spear and without hitting the target he thought he would, the burly man fell forward, hitting the ground cheek first and skidding to a stop at Leonel's feet.

When the old man saw this, his eyes opened as wide as saucers. Under the astonished gazes of the hunter squadron and the few who had come out of the village after hearing the commotion, the old man fell to his knees.

"Esteemed nobleman, esteemed nobleman! Please forgive my ignorance!"

He kowtowed as hard as he could, his forehead smashing into the ground repeatedly. Despite the fact that this location was mostly soft soil, the old man was so vehement that his forehead eventually split into a bloody wound.

Leonel's eyes narrowed. Was this reaction because of his Spear Domain? Or was it something else?

If Leonel didn't know better, he would think that he had somehow stumbled into the tribulation of his Spear Domain Heirloom. He had found it very weird these past few days that he hadn't run into anyone from the Void Palace.

Usually, when one entered a Sub Dimensional Zone, you were all taken to the very same place. When Leonel and Aina entered the Paris Zone, they appeared in a village together. When Leonel entered the Camelot Zone with the Slayer Legion, the only reason he had been able to go off on his own was that he entered first and then used his self-created Craft to hide underground when the others appeared.

Regardless of the situation, everyone who entered together always appeared together. It simply didn't make any sense that Leonel was on his own like this. So, he had assumed that something else went wrong.

Maybe his Spear Domain Heirloom was triggered again, moving his tribulation up even further. It felt possible since everyone he ran into seemed to use a spear as well.

But, Leonel wasn't willing to conclude this. For one, the spear was an innately common weapon to begin with, especially in a more primitive setting like this one. People liked to call the sword the first weapon, but the truth was that the first weapon, if not the rock, was most definitely the spear.

Plus, there was also the matter of the sheer number of individuals that had entered. Leonel couldn't ignore the fact that the basic functions of this Zone had been ruined by the oddity of their appearance within it.

"Stop," Leonel said coolly, speaking their language as though he had always been able to do this.

It was only when Leonel said this that the old man paused. But, even then, the latter didn't raise his head, not daring to look up for fear of what might happen next.

"What is your name?" Leonel asked.

"My name is Farlee, nobleman."

Leonel narrowed his eyes. He just wanted to test the bottom line of these people and also ensure that he had grasped their language as well as he thought he had.

"Where is this place, Farlee? I've lost my way. Where is the fastest route back?"

Leonel wasn't specific with his words on purpose. Any ignorance on his part, if shown in too great a quantity, might result in this situation going south. Before then, Leonel had to make sure he secured as much information as possible.

It made sense for a so-called "nobleman" like him to not know this place. It was a small village, nearby a stream of water, in the middle of a forest. It was doubtful that a person of high standing would know this place like the back of their hand.

"Sir, Slale City is two days' journey southeast of here. Trith City is a day and a half's journey northwest of here. And Cing City is three days' journey west of here."

Farlee did his best to recall everything and gave all the information he knew of, not holding back. Since Leonel wasn't specific, he just told him everything, hoping one of these cities was Leonel's own. He couldn't help but hold his breath when he saw Leonel's lack of a response.

Inwardly, Leonel was frowning. This wasn't because of the information, he had no reason not to trust it. Rather, it was that this little village seemed too weird.

Southeast, northwest, and even west itself. This village was entirely surrounded by cities, so why did these people choose to stay here it was a bit odd. It wasn't like traveling was the issue, these weren't particularly long journeys in the grand scheme of things. Also, danger shouldn't have been a problem either.

After following the hunter squad around, it was easy for Leonel to make these sort of deductions. The population of beasts wasn't ridiculously high. In fact, their village didn't even have heavy defenses, there wasn't even a wall around them.

​ So it was relatively safe, the distance wasn't too far, there were several cities to choose from, and yet they all chose to remain here?

It wasn't that Leonel didn't believe that some would prefer to live in a more rural area, but when he thought about the split sort of reaction he received… one seething with hatred and the other worshipful as though he was a deity descended from the skies, his brows couldn't help but furrow.

Leonel shook his head.

"Give me some spices and I'll be on my way."

Farlee kowtowed again and did as Leonel asked, almost handing over way too much.

After casually helping the burly man heal, Leonel turned toward the direction of Trith City, the closest of the three, and vanished.

To be continued