Souta rubbed his chin. That fruit was a super rare grade and clearly the owner of that fruit was the Icy Veil Lady. She seemed intelligent as she didn't attack them immediately.
If Souta was in her position, he would have launched at the invaders with murderous intent.
Well, it was only a super rare grade so he could leave it to this monster. It would be a different matter if the said fruit was the legendary grade.
He only came here because he was curious about this place. The environment of this land was good enough for a super rare grade to appear. In a few years, a legendary might appear here.
"Okay," Souta said to the Icy Veil lady.
Eilish glanced at him and asked, "Are we going to leave just like that?"
"Yeah, it's not that this monster has done anything wrong to us. In fact, we are trespassing on her territory. I'm just curious about this place." Souta answered her with a shrug.
"Oh, I forgot that you're a monster," Eilish said.
Souta smiled and shook his head.
Souta and Eilish turned around and they walked away slowly.
The Icy Veil Lady stared at their backs until they completely disappeared. She then breathes a sigh of relief. If they decided to attack, she was sure that she was the one who would be lying on the floor. Her instinct was screaming at her the moment Souta stepped foot in her territory. Even though both of them were in the fourth stage, she felt that Souta was a league above her.
Souta and Eilish returned and met Princess Dreimi's group.
"Can I ask what you saw there?" Princess Dreimi asked carefully while watching Souta's expression.
Souta smiled and said, "Nothing, it's just a bunch of ice. The only difference is that place is suitable for people that have ice elements. They will improve faster in that kind of environment."
"I see..." Princess Dreimi nodded.
"But you shouldn't approach that place without enough strength. It's extremely dangerous. You will be frozen to death." Souta warned her.
The group continued their journey.
One hour later...
The group found themselves surrounded by a group of people. It wasn't ordinary people since these people were wearing high-quality armor. There's no doubt that they were soldiers.
Souta and Eilish looked around. They observed the situation first and counted the number of people in their minds.
Baldur and Heimer brandished their weapons as they stared at the soldiers around them. Both of them were experienced fighters so they weren't afraid of battles.
"We're still inside the Cryo Forest so why are the soldiers of the republic here in this land?" Baldur asked in a strong tone.
There's no way that he wouldn't recognize the soldiers of the neighboring country of the Arsen Kingdom.
The man who looked like the captain of the soldiers said, "You should know that this place is off limits. You have to follow us or else we will force you."
"Off limits...!! Since when?!" Baldur opened his eyes widely. He didn't even know this information.
"The Red-Claw Bandits declared war on us. Various factions are getting restless and it seems that a huge war will break out soon." The captain said.
"Red-Claw Bandits...?" Baldur and Heimer narrowed their eyes.
Red-Claw Bandits was no ordinary bandit group. They were strong enough to threaten a country. They ruled the other side of the Cryo Forest, adjacent to the republic's territory. The Arsen Kingdom was on the other side forming a triangle with the Cryo Forest between them.
The captain seemed like he didn't recognize any of them so he continued, "The Messenger of God descended on Arsen Kingdom. It's fine since the Church is always neutral. It wouldn't affect the power struggle in this land as long as no one disturbs the Messenger of God."
"So what are you trying to say?" Baldur has a bad feeling about this.
"A war will occur. Red-Claw Bandits declared war on us and we're forbidding anyone from approaching our land. If you're going to our land then we should verify your identity first." The captain explained.
Baldur looked at Heimer. The identity of their group was sensitive. One was the Captain of the Royal Guard, the second was the Captain of the Holy knight, and the third one was a princess of a country. The last two were both from the Divine World.
"Don't worry, we won't harm you as long as you follow us or perhaps you want to tell me who you are?" The captain said.
Souta waved his hand and said, "We're just a group of travelers. It seems that we arrived at a bad time."
"You still have to follow us. We don't want any chances of the enemy entering our ground." The captain said.
"Okay," Souta nodded as he looked at Eilish and the rest.
The soldiers of the republic guided the group outside of the Cryo Forest.
As soon as they left the forest, Souta realized that the republic was treating that bandit group seriously. Hundreds of soldiers were stationed around the walls of the republic. Even the gate was closed. Only the soldiers could enter and exit the city.
The soldiers placed the group in a prison.
"Wait here, the Battalion Commander is coming here." The captain said to them before he left.
"Battalion Commander?!" Baldur opened his eyes widely. "This is bad... Any of those Battalion Commander would recognize me and the princess!"
He met those Battalion Commanders on the battlefield in the past. There's no way that they wouldn't recognize him, the Captain of the Royal Guard of Arsen Kingdom.
"Should we escape?" Heimer asked.
Souta wasn't listening to them. He simply lay down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. He was thinking about the Icy Veil Lady from before.
The power level of this world was the same as before. There was a dangerous fourth-stage monster living in this land. From his point of view, it would take half of the army of a country like Arsen Kingdom to subjugate that monster.
It was still the same back then...
The Republic was in a war against a powerful bandit group called Red Claw. From the looks of it, the other part of the continent wasn't peaceful at all.
Souta returned to his senses. He glanced at Eilish and the others before he said, "Let's go. We're going to escape."
"I understand..." Heimer nodded.
Souta stood up and stretched his arms.
"I'll handle the rest," Eilish said before she stood up from her seat.
Souta nodded. He knew that he could leave things like this to her.
Princess Dreimi and Baldur didn't know what they were planning. Their role was to guide Souta and Eilish to the Devil Sea. Since they were already inside the republic, they would just go through this land to the other side. They didn't need to go around and take a longer route for their journey.
Eilish tapped her toe on the floor and a magic circle formed beneath their feet.
Ohm!!
A white light engulfed everything in the room.
When the captain returned to the prison with the Battalion Commander, Souta and the rest were already gone.
"How? They are still here?" The captain muttered in confusion.
He didn't know how Souta and the rest managed to escape the prison without anyone noticing.
The Battalion Commander stared in front of the cell. After a few seconds, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "There's a lingering mana here so they probably use some kind of spell to escape."
...
Souta and the rest arrived in a dark alley.
They were still inside the republic's city.
The group decided to stealthily explore the city first before they left. From what they saw, the republic wouldn't hold back in confronting the Red Claw Bandits. They would try to destroy them with overwhelming strength.
But... It's not easy since the leader of the Red Claw Bandits was a top expert. He was called Bandit King by numerous people and was said to be the strongest bandit alive. He could rival the experts of the powerful countries.
Even Heimer and Baldur were sure that they weren't a match against the Bandit King.
"Aside from the republic and the Red Claw Bandits, are there any other organizations or countries that are showing aggressive actions?" Souta asked.
"Hmm..." Princess Dreimi rubbed her chin as she recalled the information she received in the past. "I think there are three countries... The Dawn Break Tower, Sydfri Kingdom, and Crimco Empire."
"Crimco Empire... That one is a powerful country. It tried to bring the church within its grasp three years ago, luckily, we've managed to defend ourselves." Heimer told them about his experience with Crimco Empire.
"As for the Dawn Break Tower, they are trying to expand their land. The Sydfri Kingdom was affected so they fought back. Two weeks ago, they used a large-scale summoning spell to contract a hero from another world." Princess Dreimi said.
