Novel Full Chapter 356 - Options
Zaos had to think fast, they were approaching the exit of the town, and they couldn't turn around without looking suspicious. Using Sleep wasn't a good idea. Guards tend to talk with each other about what happens when they are on guard duty, even more so when the job is boring when they reunite to drink. Making the same thing happen two times in a row certainly will put that entire region on alert.
"Just pass by them. It will be fine even if they inspect the wagon," Aleni said. "They don't have the presence of guards who are on alert."
Zaos had no idea what Aleni meant by that, but in the end, he didn't have any other option aside from trusting her. She suddenly moved to below the carriage alongside Milliendra… hiding there was stupid, but somehow, Zaos felt their presence disappearing.
"Halt!" A tall guard armed with a spear said when he saw the color of Zaos's hair and eyes.
As expected, they were really looking for people with that kind of appearance. However, they didn't look particularly tense. They checked the interior of the wagon and didn't find anything. For some reason, they didn't check the top or below the wagon.
"You may proceed," the guard said.
Zaos nodded and then began to drive. After a while, Aleni and Milliendra returned to the wagon as if nothing had happened.
"What did you do?" Zaos asked.
"I am forbidden from explaining my techniques," Aleni replied.
"You still follow the orders of those who stole your sight?" Zaos frowned.
"I don't have any choice," Aleni replied. "For all intentions and purposes, Ameria was my master, but even couldn't force me to do everything."
"They used some magic on you to prevent the knowledge of the organization from spreading?" Zaos asked.
Aleni nodded. That made sense… Still, while Zaos found some spells on the book that could do that, he had never heard of it before. To think that someone else aside from the followers of the demon god would have such knowledge…
While Zaos was thinking about that, Milliendra suddenly began to cry. That was weird. She just had breakfast two hours ago. In a hurry, Aleni passed her to Zaos. While he wasn't exactly a master at calming her down, Zaos could make things easier with magic. As for Aleni, putting aside Milliendra's power to drain mana, she didn't even try to hold her a single time. She always used the basket and avoided physical contact.
"All right, all right, be good…" Zaos said. "Look, my best funny face!"
Zaos was trying those really hard, but he had yet to manage to make Milliendra laugh. Milliendra kept crying for a while, and Zaos wished that there was a spell to check the condition of other living beings. There was a spell called Appraisal, but it didn't work the same way he wanted… Zaos suddenly had an idea and then put the horses' reins on his leg and then began to move Milliendra above his head.
"So high, so high!" Zaos said.
Milliendra calmed down a little bit, but her reaction seemed a bit off. That was weird. Zaos was so confident that it would make her laugh…
"Hmm, it seems you will be a serious kid…" Zaos said. "Completely different from those two…"
Zaos avoided as much as possible dwelling on the past, but in that situation, it seemed like he would have to do that many times. He will have to find a way to free Milliendra from that curse; it was the only thing he could do in order to make all that worth in the end. Taking away a kid from a father when he just lost his wife was something that would destroy most people…
"Aleni, I already planned a few things without consulting you, but I want to listen to your opinion," Zaos said. "Do you have any idea how we should proceed now?"
"Aside from the fact that moving by boat, we can fool any pursuers with more ease, I have nothing to say," Aleni replied. "I don't know much about the outside world aside from the things I was forced to learn about Sairus kingdom."
"You don't know anything about the place you come from?" Zaos asked.
"It is a hidden base. It is all that I know," Aleni replied.
So much secrecy… still, Zaos could understand why. Anyone with half of a brain might consider that those who buy the assassins might try to use them to track the organization's base. Attacking it would be a pretty good way to get rid of problems down the road.
"Even if you don't or haven't studied it, you probably heard a few things here and there," Zaos said. "While you were guarding Ameria, didn't you hear her mentioning any place that seemed useful for us?"
While Zaos was planning to use a boat to leave the country, he obviously wouldn't go to Vezar. After the events four years ago, both nations got close, and they would work together to find Zaos. That was why he was planning a little test to see if the Captain smuggler would help him or not. If he wouldn't, it wouldn't surprise Zaos. After all, who would help someone who was being blamed for killing the princess and kidnapping her daughter? Any sane person would stay away from him. Besides, it was too much to ask that a smuggler would have the honor to keep his word. That being said, it was the only way for Zaos to leave the country without making a scene.
"From what I heard, the best place to hide would be in the mercenaries' country," Aleni said. "While we wouldn't have much peace, any information from us wouldn't reach the kingdom."
That made sense, but Zaos didn't want to raise Milliendra in such a place.. Zaos would work hard, but it was pretty obvious that she would have a hard life for a few years, and there was no point in making it harder.