Another ten days had passed, and Vicente had returned to his home kingdom, having left the desert between the Kenyth Empire and the Seidel Kingdom a few days ago and made his way through the strongest area of the kingdom.
The Diamond Province was the richest and most powerful region in the entire kingdom, home to the capital city, Grandis, a city as large as Oldbarrow and Spiritbell.
Grandis was a coastal city in the south of the province, a relatively distant place from the border Vicente had recently crossed.
Even at his current speed, it would take him another 14 days to reach Grandis if he just stopped to rest and meditate.
But the capital was not only a prominent and influential place in Vicente's eyes, but it was also the shortest way to Saltstar City, considering the area where he had entered the kingdom. So he planned to pass through Grandis and get to know the city better.
In particular, he had an old agreement with someone who lived in Grandis that he wanted to fulfill as soon as possible so that he wouldn't owe that person anything.
He was traveling along the main road leading to the capital, following a relatively safe route.
The roads of the kingdom were places where there were no landlords. They all belonged to the kingdom, so you wouldn't run into any beasts or magicians who would attack you for trespassing where you weren't supposed to. Of course, this was no guarantee of safety, but it was less dangerous to travel on roads than through forests.
Flying at a low altitude under Onyx, Vicente hadn't encountered any problems so far, and he was currently flying about 30 meters above the ground, over the dirt road that led to the capital, and past the city that was currently in his sight.
"Chilldale," Vicente muttered as he looked at the city in front of him, a place that was similar to Saltstar City in its size.
"Do you know this place, master?" Onyx asked as he looked at the city before him with his long-range vision.
"I've never been to this area. But I've heard rumors about a certain family of soldiers from the kingdom of this city." Vicente commented, remembering a conversation he'd had with Livia Norris a while back about a Fuller family of Chilldale.
'Are you going to go after them?' Torne asked, aware that Livia had cast doubt on Vicente's parentage when she first spoke to the young man.
'I'll play a bait. If nothing comes of it, we'll continue on our way. My father is dead, and I have no interest in assembling my father's family.' Vicente commented.
He was a person who valued blood ties, but that didn't make him blindly believe that relatives should help each other and were necessarily trustworthy. Vicente liked the idea of having a large family and people he could count on. But he had this desire to know his and his sisters' origins for more selfish reasons. If something happened to him, he wanted Nina and even Lauren to have people or a place to go in a tragic situation.
The Fuller family he was developing served that purpose, but Vicente wasn't arrogant enough to think that there was no possibility that his house might fall down one day. If it did, he sincerely wanted an alternative plan for his sisters.
Knowing the origins of his father and mother was especially useful for that!
So he and Onyx would land near Chilldalle before heading inland to look for a possible connection between Andrew and the local House Fuller.
Beasts of Onyx's level could easily reduce their body size by 30% to 50%, so even though he was a big bird, he entered the city alongside Vicente on one of his master's shoulders.
At the same time, even though Onyx was a Dark Path beast, he wouldn't be a problem for Vicente. It wasn't only Dark Path magicians who possessed such beasts. It wasn't uncommon to see Light Path magicians with creatures similar to Onyx.
It was very common to enslave creatures that were defeated in battle rather than simply killing them.
Relationships between light and dark beings were usually not mutually beneficial, and one side would always lose out in such relationships. But masters were unlikely to lose anything, so cases of beasts and masters from different paths were not uncommon.
Even so, when Vicente entered Chilldale with a 4th-stage beast, several people who could sense some of the bird's power couldn't help but look at him.
Unlike Vicente, who could completely hide his cultivation, Onyx couldn't hide the part of his power that was related to his physical strength. And because of this essence of his, it was impossible for him to hide from the local Mages and Sovereigns completely.
Chilldale was a strong and important city, so several people had 3rd and 4th stage cultivation there. In the blink of an eye, several local experts would notice that Vicente was passing through.
'A lot of people are watching you, master.' Torne warned him.
'I know. That's to be expected.' Vicente walked on until he reached the center of the city, where there were several headquarters of powerful organizations from the kingdom and the continent.
He found the Chilldale Blacksmiths' Association, which he didn't hesitate to enter with Onyx.
"This friend, how can I help you? Are you looking for a blacksmith to help you?" Someone from the post immediately approached Vicente with a smile on her face.
Seeing this blonde woman who exuded a powerful aura and was clearly a blacksmith, Vice greeted her and said. "No, I make my own artifacts. I'm here in search of some materials and information."
"Oh? Are you a blacksmith?" She asked with interest, not expecting this young man to actually be a colleague.
She thought he was a wealthy and influential young master who had come to do business. Yet, the situation was quite different from what she had assumed.
"Hmm, I work at the forge in my spare time." Vicente smiled.
"Which association do you belong to, friend?" She asked with interest.
"Saltstar City."
"I wouldn't expect to find someone like you in that place." She said as she looked at Vicente's beast, clearly considering this creature to be the most powerful one there. "Well, if you're a blacksmith connected to our state, I'll be happy to help you. What exactly do you need?" She asked as she motioned for Vicente to follow in her footsteps.
Vicente quickly handed over a list of materials for late 3rd and early 4th-stage blacksmiths. "I need these resources. I know I won't be able to get them in Saltstar City, so if you could help me collect them and send them to the association office in that city, I'd be grateful."
Looking at the paper he handed her, the woman frowned, seeing a large amount of resources that were hard to come by even in this area.
"That's a lot of stuff, my friend. Do you work for all the experts in Saltstar City?" She smiled as she considered the amount of each item Vicente wanted. "Hell, there's stuff here that can be used to make artifacts for Sovereigns."
Vicente smiled as he looked at the bird on one of his shoulders. "It doesn't matter what it's worth. I'll pay for anything. Just help me gather these resources, and I'll owe you a favor."
"Oh?" She looked at him before entering his office in the building, a comfortable place with various medals and trophies she had collected over the years.
"What else do you want?" She smiled at Vicente. "Information?"
"Hmm, I have a matter I'd like to take up with House Fuller. Can you tell me where this family's headquarters are in Chilldale?"
