Even though the Southern World was a vast world, making it hard to tread from one end to the other end, thanks to the ancient ship, the journey became much shorter. It had only been a day since the banquet ended and the ship was already halfway to the portal.
Throughout the time, Gabriel only observed the people in his surroundings, occasionally changing his position to not be caught.
During the night, when most of the people went to sleep, only he was standing on the deck, looking in the distant sky.
The night looked beautiful. The moon shone brightly, illuminating the ship. Gabriel couldn't help but feel a sense of peace wash over him, as he enjoyed the stillness of the night.
While Gabriel was lost in thoughts, he felt the door in the distance open. There was a presence of another person there.
Carefully, he disappeared once again to not be seen. Until he passed through the portal to the Northern World, he needed support from these people after all.
As the door opened, he once again noticed the girl called Ulesis come out. It was as if she wasn't able to sleep peacefully after what happened recently and came to get a fresh breath of air.
"Are you still not going to show yourself?" After a long period of silence, she finally spoke.
Gabriel frowned, but didn't respond. There was no way for the girl to see him when the others couldn't. However, he was taken aback when he saw that girl turn around, looking straight in his direction.
Her eyes shone in a mysterious light, as if she had some innate ability that allowed her to see through the use of magic.
Even when Gabriel was hiding, he still had to use the Dark Magic for that after all. However, since his magic was so subtle, even the General level beings would've had a hard time detecting him, that's why he was so surprised.
"How can you see me?" he stepped out of the shadow, frowning.
There was no killing intent in his eyes since he was sure that the girl came here alone. That meant she hadn't informed others. She also didn't appear stupid enough to reveal the fact that she could see him for no reason.
"Just call it an innate talent." The young woman commented, before continuing, "Anyhow, aren't you the person who accompanied the General's new disciple? Why are you on our ship?"
"Why do you think so?" Gabriel asked, stepping closer. However, he didn't answer directly.
"You're a criminal trying to escape from the Southern World?" The girl took a guess, revealing an intrigued glance.
According to her, as Gabriel was able to attend a General's Banquet, that meant the Clan he served wasn't insignificant. However, for some reason, he was escaping like a criminal, which made her intrigued.
It was only because of her curiosity that she came to talk to him. As for worrying about being attacked, she didn't think too much since she had the means to protect herself.
Gabriel didn't react much. It wasn't a lie to say that he was technically a criminal.
"Why are you telling me that you know? Aren't you scared that I'll kill you?" Gabriel asked, leaving only half a meter of distance between Ulesis and him.
Ulesis was silent for a short time, but in the end, she shook her head. "You would've already attacked me if you wanted to. Moreover, I'm not here to hurt you. Instead, I would like to make a deal with you."
"A deal?" Gabriel frowned, wondering if the girl was a little crazy. Even after knowing that he was a criminal, she thought it was a good idea to deal with him? If there was a real criminal instead of him, she would've already been killed.
"Did you see me the moment I entered the ship?" he asked. "In that case, you've been observing me throughout the day?"
Ulesis affirmed. It was only after she saw Gabriel not harming anyone on the ship, and just secretly accompanying them that she thought he wasn't a killer at least. Moreover, since he was hiding, it also gave her a false impression that he was weak and scared of her uncle, which made him hide.
"What deal?" Gabriel inquired. He didn't know anyone in the Northern World. So if it wasn't a bad deal, he was quite interested in it, since that meant he could get more information from the Stein Clan. Information was what he severely lacked at the moment after all.
"You're not very old. I can see that you're not even twenty years old, even though you disguise as a middle aged man. However, your skills of using a shadow aren't half bad. So the deal is simple. I want you to help me with something. And in exchange, I'll give you Asylum and protection in the Stein Clan."
Usually, people would've at least thought that there was a possibility of this guy being the person that all the Generals were looking for. However, she could see that he had no traces of Element of Death through the mana that he used. That meant he was not the god of death.
Moreover, since that person appeared to be abandoned by his clan, that was a perfect opportunity for her.
"And what is it that I need to help you with?" Gabriel frowned. There weren't many things that he could help with, after all, since he had no interest in showing his skills for others.
"The Garden of Shadows... I need your help in entering that place. I want you to work with me, and help me win."
Gabriel didn't know what the Garden of Shadows was. However, from the name, it appeared to have a link with the Element of Darkness.
"The Garden of Shadows is the place where the Founding Ancestor of the Stein Family resided." Noticing the confusion on Gabriel's face, the girl continued.
"You may not know, but the Stein Family once used to be the strongest in the Northern World. Our Founding Ancestor used to be the leader of the Upper Realm. However..."
For a brief moment, she paused. "That's when he appeared."
