Chapter 614: On Their Way

Amon lay lazily on a thick layer of dry grass spread across the wooden bed of a horse-drawn cart, his hands resting comfortably behind his head as he stared up at the endless blue sky.

Soft white clouds drifted slowly across the heavens, carried by the gentle afternoon breeze.

The cart moved at a slow pace, its wooden wheels creaking with every turn as two horses pulled it along the quiet countryside road.

At the front sat an old farmer, holding the reins loosely in his hands as he guided the horses toward his destination.

The road itself was nothing more than a simple earthen path, far different from the paved and cobblestone streets of the cities.

On both sides stretched vast fields covered in lush green grass. Scattered trees stood here and there, their branches swaying gently in the wind. The rustling of leaves mixed with the rhythmic clopping of the horses’ hooves, creating an unexpectedly peaceful atmosphere.

Amon took a slow breath. "This is nice," he muttered lazily.

Beside him, Arnold was also lying on the dry grass, staring silently at the sky.

"I guess it is."

For a while, neither of them said anything.

The peaceful scenery almost made Amon forget why they were traveling in the first place.

The two of them were currently on their way to a village in the southern region of the Valmoria Kingdom.

And Amon was beginning to hate this pattern. First, there had been Mistvale Town and bloodshed. Then Eriye Village, where he had ended up fighting Alaric. And now another village.

Leonera Village.

’Why the hell do I keep ending up in villages?’

Amon stared at the sky with a slightly annoyed expression.

Just like Eriye, Leonera was far enough from the major cities that there was no convenient means of transportation available to them.

They had therefore used a teleportation gateway to travel to Eldermere City, the closest major city to Leonera.

From there, they had walked for several kilometers. Fortunately, they eventually spotted this horse-drawn cart traveling in the same direction.

After a brief conversation, the farmer had kindly allowed them to ride along with him for free.

Which was how the two academy students had ended up lying on a farmer’s cart full of dry grass.

Amon sighed. "Why is it always another village?" he complained. "Why can’t we ever get sent somewhere normal? A city, perhaps? Somewhere where I don’t have to worry about ending up in another death battle."

Arnold glanced at him. "Sigh... How exactly do you expect me to answer that?"

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Do you really expect every battle you involved in to happen inside a huge city? Maybe inside some grand castle? Or perhaps on top of some enormous mountain?"

"Well, no..." Amon admitted.

He turned his head toward Arnold. "But this is definitely getting repetitive."

Arnold clicked his tongue. "Whatever we’re trying to find isn’t something that would hide itself in the middle of a huge city surrounded by powerful individuals."

Amon thought about that for a moment. "Fair enough."

He couldn’t really argue with that logic. The countryside slowly passed around them as the cart continued along the dirt road.

Amon eventually fell silent. His thoughts returned to the reason they were traveling toward Leonera in the first place.

Arnold had received another mission from his System months ago and it needed Amon’s help. And, as usual, the mission was annoyingly vague.

According to the System, they needed to investigate Leonera Village and eliminate the evil residing there.

That was it. Not even a clue about what kind of evil they were supposed to deal with.

Amon had wanted to curse the System until his throat hurt.

When he had questioned it about why it couldn’t simply tell them what they were supposed to kill, the System had given an answer that only made him more irritated.

They needed to learn how to discover the truth and solve problems on their own.

Apparently, the System wasn’t going to hand them every answer.

Amon had been furious at first.

But Arnold had eventually calmed him down by explaining that even the System didn’t possess complete information about everything.

That reminded Amon, the System simply delivered missions assigned by its creator. It wasn’t some omniscient being capable of knowing every secret in the world.

Amon still wasn’t particularly satisfied with that excuse. But there wasn’t much he could do about it.

"Well..." Amon finally broke the silence. "What do you think it might be?"

Arnold remained silent for a moment. "I have no idea."

He turned his gaze toward the distant horizon. "All we can do is wait until we reach the village. Maybe we’ll be able to discover something through observation."

Amon sighed. "That’s what I was afraid you’d say."

He shifted slightly, making himself more comfortable on the dry grass. "So we’re basically walking into another mystery without knowing what we’re looking for."

"Pretty much." Arnold replied.

"Wonderful."

Arnold glanced at him. "You just sound excited."

"I’m thrilled brother... thrilled for facing unknown."

Amon’s completely deadpan expression made Arnold chuckle.

The cart continued forward beneath the peaceful blue sky, carrying the two young men closer to Leonera Village.

Neither of them knew what awaited them there. But whatever evil had taken root in that quiet village.

They were about to find out soon.

After a while, the village finally came into view.

Amon and Arnold sat up and looked ahead. The sight before them was completely different from Eriye Village, which Amon had visited before. Leonera Village was much larger and far more developed, with numerous buildings and a surprisingly large population.

There were people walking around, they could see from afar.

"Uncle, is that Leonera Village?" Amon asked the farmer who was giving them a ride.

"Yes, young man. That’s Leonera Village," the man replied, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

"So, we’re finally here," Arnold muttered.

"Yes, we are," Amon replied not knowing what awaited there.