CH 14

Reaching the village, he gazed at the villagers minding their own business. The village is quite small with a hundred or so people living in it. Before he can reach the gate, he was stopped by a guard. The man is wearing full plate armor with a helmet on with the sword hanging on his belt.

"What's your business in our small village?" the man asked while surveying both Catalinna and Lawrence. His commanding voice annoyed Lawrence which is weird as he has never felt this before. A woman's chuckle resounded just beside him as he turned around to find Catalinna staring at him confusedly. He sighed before gazing at the armored man.

"I am Lawrence von Aenir and this is Catalinna Ignis. We are tasked to monitor this village for its annual checking of the taxes" he lied with a straight face as Catalinna tried her hardest to make a poker face. It's usually the nobles that check the taxes of different villages and most of it is done by their son or daughter for the experience they gain. Usually, it is passed to the heir to do the checking of the tax.

"Hmm..but where is your escort? it should be quite a dangerous travel." the man asked with suspicion in his voice but Lawrence shrugged.

"I have no reason to answer your question. If you continue to block our way, it will mean that you and this village defy the king's wishes and I cannot have you doing that" Lawrence grinned with arrogance in his tone. His wicked smile like he's asking for a fight and his boasted pose symbolizes every arrogant young master that the man has seen before. With a sigh, he bowed and went back to his post. A sneer appeared from Lawrence's mouth as he gazed at the man.

Once inside, the villages raised their guard and bowed to their knees once they meet both of them. Fear is clear in their eyes but a forced smile appeared to hide their turbulent emotions. They brought their kids inside the houses while the others stopped working just to bow to both of them. Catalinna looked visibly disturbed by all of this but Lawrence coldly gazed around the village, scanning for any carriage. The mayor of the small village is a frail old man with a cane as he walks towards them. He bowed deeply as Lawrence gazed at the old man. Gazing at the frail old man bowing to him with difficulty, he asked.

"Where is the carriage heading to the Swordwin empire?"

"Young Master…they will arrive in a minute. About the taxes…because of the monster attacks last month. We weren't able to hunt as much as we were able to..Please give us more time" the old man begged as Lawrence glanced at the old man before walking around the village.

"Sure…but you better make the quota next time. I will not be as lenient if you still can't give me the tax" Lawrence replied as the old man raised his head with a smile.

"Of course young master!"

Just in time, a small wooden carriage arrives in the village carrying all sorts of supplies. The old man hurriedly went to the merchant and whispered something. The merchant glanced at both Lawrence and Catalinna before nodding at the old man. Seeing this, Lawrence went to them as the merchant bowed before smiling brightly.

"Young Master, I can bring you to the Empire if you want. Forgive me if I cant bring the luxurious carriage that my boss has. I just didn't expect that nobles would reach here" the merchant said with an apologetic tone.

"It's fine, me and my companions are in a hurry. I'll pay you 10 gold if you bring us to the empire" Lawrence replied as the merchant hurriedly nodded and started talking to the old man.

"Are you sure it's fine to act that we are the tax collectors?" Catalinna whispered as Lawrence nodded

"I'm already a hunted refugee. It doesn't matter" he replied before seeing the merchant walking towards them.

"Young Master Lawrence and Lady Catalinna. The carriage is ready"

"Let's go then" Lawrence said before entering the wooden carriage followed by Catalinna. The wooden carriage is heading towards the Swordwin Empire as he gazed at the surroundings with determination in his eyes. His annoyance and anger are greater than before as he can feel the moon goddess's control over him slowly starts to unravel.

'Just you fucking wait…' he cursed inwardly

Meanwhile in the Ice Monarch's palace. Jack can be seen bowing on his knees as the Ice Monarch gazed at him atop her frozen throne. A snarling beast made of ice encircles Jack who smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry mother, she was too determined. You know Catalinna..she can be too stubborn" he smiled as the ice monarch sighed in annoyance.

"Why is she following the successor of the silver moon? Did you ask her at least?"

"Ummm… the funny thing about it is, i forgot" she sighed once more as she massaged her temple

"What did you do? Can you tell me?"

"I fought Lawrence and he didn't fight back, another thing is. He only used a light disk and there wasn't any silver moon cult following him or protecting him. I was honestly about to kill him if he wasn't able to stop my attack" he shrugged

"It is indeed true. Oh well, i hope Leonard wouldn't head to the black syndicate to create trouble. We need to get ready for next year" the ice monarch commented as Jack tilted his head.

"Next year? What would happen?"

"I'll die" she replied casually

"Huh?! What do you mean mother?"

"Maybe it's my fate. Oh well, you have to be strong enough to become the next ice monarch"

"No mother…what do you mean you will die?" Jack worriedly asked as her mother didn't even glance at him

"Ask your sister" she smiled as Jack nodded with his eyes full of determination before vanishing.

Heading down the wooden carriage after giving the 10 gold to the merchant, Lawrence went to a nearby forest while Catalinna stayed beside him as he ingested the appearance-changing potion. His red-haired changed to an aging gray hair while a mustache appeared. His well-defined face and pale skin color changed to a more tanned and quite bony face. He looked like an old butler that works for a noble family as his demeanor changed completely. He gazed at Catalinna before kissing her hands with a smile.

"Lady Catalinna, I am at your service"

"No need to be such a creep. So you want to act as my butler?"

"Yes, I have a quite average face that can blend in the crowd. It should be easier to move around without getting caught. It will only last for 48 hours so we need to move fast. " Lawrence touched his mustache and his face before nodding to himself in satisfaction.

"I have to get a phoenix's feather and the potion of the dead river. With those, we can combine it with a rebirth potion and finally finish it." he informed

"Phoenix's feather is hard to find. Luckily, they have a supplier of that feather that is regularly put in the auction. Still, it's too expensive for us to buy. The potion of the dead river is a banned product that can only be found on the black market." she replied

The phoenix feather can be found from a phoenix. The feather then is put into eternal ice to allow it to solidify since the phoenix is just a bird made of fire. This allows alchemists to use it for their potions as it contains the medicinal benefit of the phoenix such as life extension, intense healing, and fire boaster. The elixir and higher health potion both have phoenix feathers inside in them. Even the phoenix feather can be used for metallurgy for weapons that boost someone's fire attack and artifacts that can contain fire boosting capabilities for both fire mages and fire warriors.

While the potion of the dead river is made from collecting the liquid secreted from a thousand dead corpses. During wars or an event that has a lot of deaths, typically reaching a thousand. A river of black blood will suddenly appear in the middle of the battle or massacre and it will flow continuously until it creates a river surrounding the corpses. No one can explain why this is but it is theorized to be the god of death absorbing souls and throwing away the sins. This is the major reason why the middle continent is almost uninhabitable, all rivers are made of black blood. There are literally swamps everywhere with only black blood inside. The smell of it is horrid and putrid just like the smell of congested corpses. Weirdly enough, it only affects the environment and not any living beings.

Someone can swim in a pool of black blood and they will get out safely. Of course, no matter how much someone washes their body, the residual smell will stay. It can't be affected by any magical attacks using mana, or weapon attacks using an aura. It can be only cleaned by water coming from holy places such as the pool of birth, the world's tree, the river of two ancestors, and the molten mountain. These holy places can be found in each continent controlled by different races.

It is used for necromancy and dark magic as a catalyst. A lot of black markets have a supply of these potions inside a special bottle that can block the smell of the liquid. It can improve the body of a lich, skeletons, and other undead as it is perfect for a necromancer, create deadly curses and poisons, and for rituals and sacrifices of different cults.

Gazing at the large wall that is covered with magical spells and runes that can even be seen from a kilometer away. It can even block an attack coming from a 7-star mage with how magically protected and powerful the wall is. Lawrence and Catalinna can be seen heading to the guard post. A golden knight stopped them in their tracks as he slams the end of the spear in the ground creating a small trembling in the ground.

"Halt! Who are you and what are your purposes?" the golden knight commanded

"I am Catalinna Ignis, from the Ignis Family of the Kingdom of Rebia. My purpose is a simple visit in the capital" she informed as the golden knight's visor of his helmet emits a red glow before nodding. Lawrence also stayed beside her with a polite smile like an old butler following her lady. The red glow in the visor of the knight is the spell, eyes of truth which can detect if someone is lying. If the target is weaker than the user of the spell, they can detect it accurately. Every helmet of a golden knight that is routinely guarding the gate is enchanted with this spell to stop impersonators of high-ranking officials and nobles to pass through the golden knight.

"You may pass but i warn you, do not create any trouble" the golden knight stopped blocking the small gate where the nobles can enter beside the large metal gate where a large line of carriage and common people can be seen entering and exiting the capital with the normal guards stopping each one for the proper identification and purposes. The capital can't have criminals entering the glorious heart of the human continent although it doesn't stop the black market and other atrocities that are happening inside the capital.

'The poisonous capital and the hypocritical empire. Such nickname is quite accurate' Lawrence inwardly chuckled as they pass through the gate to be greeted with luxurious houses and the bustling feel of a city with people coming from different walks of life. After walking inside to the market of the capital. Different kinds of foods, items, and souvenirs can be found. Checking for anything interesting to buy, Lawrence hoped that something unexpected can be found that would be cheap and helpful to him just like the novel where the main character finds an artifact that only he can identify the usefulness of it and decides to buy it. With a sigh, he didn't find anything remotely useful as he saw Catalinna inside the luxurious restaurant ordering sumptuous meals from a waiter.

Entering the restaurant, he sat in the chair facing Catalinna who ignored him and continued on ordering.

"What are you doing here? Go now." she said while she looked at Lawrence confusedly as he passed her a paper containing words in English as she reads it with her eyes.

"What? You can do your stuff while I explore the capital. It's quite amazing to be honest if we ignore the dark side of it" she smiled as Lawrence sighed before heading outside the restaurant.

'Damn woman, I thought she would at least help a little. She was just following me because she felt bored. Aghhh, I should start looking for the black market first. Where is the black market?' he looked around for a bit before thinking hard to remember where is the black market in the capital. He is sure that there is a black market here but he doesn't know where. Without a single clue, he went to the outskirts of the capital. After walking randomly for an hour, he headed to a dark alley before being stopped by a drunken man sitting on the floor wasted in alcohol.

"Hey! Don't….go there! YOU shouldn't …you'll…regret…it" the man slumped to the cold floor before snoring. Heading deeper into the dark alley. He only found a wall but he didn't stop walking before passing through a fog-like area and stepping to the black market. It was like a normal market but inside a room with chandeliers fixed on the ceiling providing light. Everyone is wearing a mask as he touched his face to find a mask attached to his face already. It's like a villain's house party with a dark interior and everyone is wearing a mask and luxurious clothing from red gowns to black suits. Shadowed figures can be seen putting their artifacts and goods on tables as the buyers walked around gazing at each one. The masked people are the buyers while the shadowed figures are the sellers. Privacy is the most important part to continue business inside the black market.

One of the rules of the black market is no fighting inside and absolutely no stealing. Each transaction is private and no one can ask where the artifact comes from and how the seller got it. Looking around, he found some cursed artifacts but no relics in sight. Banned materials such as drugs and aphrodisiacs can be seen in tables with questionable items that Lawrence wants no part of. On one of the tables, he noticed a potion of the dead river together with bundles of hair and a cursed armor screeching at the passerby. The shadowed figure is sitting on the floor with its head facing down. No wonder its table isn't popular, who would want the bundle of hair and a cursed armor while the asking price for the potion is too high. He looked around before calming himself.

'Fuck it, the black syndicate is already hunting me. Why should the black market matter besides i'm using an appearance-changing potion. I can do this' his eyes burned with determination before grabbing the potion and turning invisible.