Ice Princess kept looking at Shang with cold and hate-filled eyes.
'She seems to suspect something,' Shang thought.
Shang would have expected Ice Princess to argue about getting a partner, but her reaction had been a bit too strong.
Either she thought that Shang was supposed to keep watch over her, or she thought that Shang was supposed to kill her.
However, Shang was pretty certain that it wasn't the second possibility.
Ice Princess was too proud of her own power to think that anyone could possibly believe that an Early Archmage could defeat her.
"Fine," Ice Princess said after a while, looking back at the Keeper.
"Good," the Keeper said.
Then, she focused on Shang and transmitted the mission to him.
Target: Traveling Late Archmage.
Description: The target has the appearance of a young woman with greenish-grey hair and a butterfly tattoo on her right cheek.
Reward: Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals.
After inspecting the mission, Shang turned around and left without saying anything.
He didn't even ask anything of the Keeper.
Ice Princess kept eyeing Shang with a venomous glare, but she eventually followed.
The two of them came out of the branch, and Shang used his medals to get past the roots. He didn't want to show Ice Princess that he could just lift the roots.
Shang waited in the front until Ice Princess stepped past him.
He didn't say anything, but his intent was clear.
Ice Princess should go first.
At this point, Ice Princess stopped honoring White Ghost with her attention and decided to ignore him.
She took to the sky, and Shang simply followed her.
As soon as she took to the sky, she started to shoot forward with all her speed. Obviously, she either wanted to embarrass Shang or she directly intended to leave him behind.
Naturally, Shang couldn't keep up with her in the normal way. As long as he only used his World Connection to fly, he could equal the speed of a Mid Archmage but not the speed of a Late Archmage.
So, Shang had to use Ghost Step a couple of times. Ghost Step looked very similar to Mana Step, but it didn't cost as much Mana as usual. Additionally, the speed difference between the two wasn't that monumental.
Shang could keep up with Ice Princess like this.
Ice Princess acted like she ignored Shang, but she actually paid close attention.
When she saw that Shang had actually managed to keep up with her, a cold glimmer appeared in her eyes.
Shang noticed, but he couldn't tell what exactly she was thinking about.
The two of them traveled for several minutes. The mission target wasn't anywhere close to the branch. In fact, it was on the border of the Keeper's territory.
The two of them still received the locations of all the Ancestral Beasts in the surroundings, even when they had already exited the Keeper's Spirit Sense.
Shang still had no idea how the Temple of Blood actually managed to pinpoint the locations of all the Ancestral Beasts.
It took them nearly an hour to arrive at the location of their mission.
It was around 25,000 kilometers away from their branch, which meant it was outside the Keeper's Spirit Sense.
It was also around 25,000 kilometers away from the next closest branch. In a way, this location was the furthest place from any kind of branch.
In hindsight and by knowing that this mission was suspicious, Shang could see the red flags immediately.
However, if one didn't know that Ice Princess was most likely planning something, one wouldn't think much about it. After all, missions happened everywhere, and just like every place in this territory, there was a gatherer family close to this place.
This place wouldn't appear suspicious. It would be just another mission.
Additionally, it wasn't the agent choosing the mission but the Keeper choosing the agent for the mission. That would make such a mission even less suspicious.
Before they even stopped, Shang found their target.
In comparison to Ice Princess, his Spirit Sense had a range of 250 kilometers.
At the moment, the target was just sitting on a big boulder, far away from any big beasts.
Surprisingly, she was completely alone.
There was no member of any of the gatherer families close to her.
There were no cities or towns near her.
There also wasn't anything valuable near her.
There also wasn't any special kind of Concept being shown in her surroundings.
There was nothing.
This place was about as normal and unassuming as it could get.
But this also meant that there was actually no reason for the target to be here.
What was she doing?
There was only one answer.
She was waiting.
And since Shang already knew that this mission was quite suspicious, he could tell what she was waiting for.
She was waiting for Ice Princess.
'I see,' Shang thought. 'This is probably one of Ice Princess' friends, and she arrived to take her away.'
'If Ice Princess just came here on her own, everyone would grow suspicious, but if she were chosen as the perfect agent for this mission, she wouldn't evoke any suspicion. After all, it would be the Keeper choosing her.'
'Ice Princess may be incredibly arrogant, but she isn't stupid, and I'm pretty sure that she has taken every precaution to not appear suspicious.'
'Yet, the Keeper still found out.'
'I don't know how, but the Keeper still found out, and that's why I'm here.'
'Yet, I'm still a bit unsure.'
'I can imagine the Keeper thinking that I can kill a Late Archmage, but I'm not sure if she thinks that I can kill two Late Archmages.'
'Additionally, if I fail to take down the target and Ice Princess, the Temple of Blood's secrets will be unveiled, and one of those secrets would even be the location of the Territory Lord.'
'If the Natural Selection Company got hold of the Territory Lord's location, they could surround her location with their three Mage Lords. That would most definitely end in the Territory Lord's death.'
'Yet, instead of a Sweeper, she sent me.'
'Is she trusting me with her life?'
'Never.'
'So, there must be something else to her plan.'
