Chapter 242: A crowned liar.

Zyra bumped her shoulder against Hunter’s and gave him a subtle glance. "Nothing here and Tessi had said the town was called Twigs something."

Hunter didn’t waste a second. He turned to Tobias. "Thanks for your time, crown keeper. We’ll be taking our leave now. Indeed, our friends are not here." He figured there was no point wasting time in the wrong location.

"Wait_ you are done!? That fast? You did not even check anywhere are you sure that you are looking for your friends or spying on something else." Tobias asked suspiciously.

Hunter scoffed and looked at the man. "You said they are not here; we have checked and confirmed your words. We don’t want to waste more time here on an empty chase." He paused, "You would not be in the know of a place called Twigs..."

"Twigs blue crossing?" Tobias cut in

Zyra and Hunter exchanged a gaze. "Where can we find it?"

"You think that these soul maidens are there?" Tobias asked.

"Hunter shrugged, "They could, we don’t know. We are searching every major settlement in the Wild lands and it is our next stop." ℯℯ𝑙.

Tobias nodded. They didn’t seem to be suspicious now that they were open about their next destination. "In that case, my men can take you there. But, I expect you to pay us heavily for taking you there." Tobias said.

Zyra waved her hand, "That will not be necessary, just tell us where this town is. We were caught in the flood and lost our belongings. We can’t afford your services. And honestly, you would only slow us down as we will be traveling by beast."

Tobias smiled_ a fake, greasy smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "It’s 40 kilometers east of here. Let me not waste any more of your time. Safe travels then."

As soon as Zyra and Hunter crossed the main gates and headed toward the tree line, Tobias’s smile vanished. He flicked his wrist at four of his top mercenaries. "Follow them. Keep your distance, kill them in the woods, and bring me those bags with the beasts inside."

Outside the town, the air was quiet. Zyra and Hunter walked casually toward the thick forest, looking like two unsuspecting tourists.

Zyra felt a light vibration on her wrist. She glanced down at her Link Band. Hunter had sent a text, commanding his link band mentally.

Hunter: Four tails behind us. On foot. Leaving town now.

Zyra: What’s the plan? Fight or run?

Hunter: Let’s let Spice have some fun.

They stepped into the dense shade of the tall trees, deliberately walking deeper into the quiet woods. Behind them, the four mercenary trackers silently slipped into the forest, sneaking from tree to tree, their daggers drawn.

"Where did they go?" one of Tobias’ trackers whispered, peering through the thick foliage. "They were just right here_"

Above them, hiding in the high canopy, Spice, poked her tiny head out from the leaves. With a cute little hiss, Spice opened her mouth and sprayed a fine, poisonous mist down onto the four men.

The mist rained over their heads like heavy morning dew.

"W-what is this?" one man gasped, wiping his face.

Instantly, his eyes went wildly out of focus. "Hey_ why are there three of you? Why is the sky green?!"

"My hands feel like jelly!" another whined, stumbling around in circles and swinging his sword at thin air. "Get the giant red mushrooms off me!"

While the four mercenaries were completely disoriented, bumping into trees and arguing with invisible beasts, Hunter casually stepped out from behind an oak tree.

"You guys really picked the wrong day to follow us," Hunter sighed, rolling his shoulders.

Zyra leaned against a nearby trunk, grinning. "Spice, good job sweetie."

The snake hissed proudly, sliding down Zyra’s arm to rest on her shoulder.

Hunter moved like a ghost. He stepped up behind the first dizzy tracker, grabbed his head and twisted it. There was a crack just before the man slumped into the moss mat.

"Hey, where did Bob go?" the second man giggled slurring, staring at the sky.

Hunter appeared behind him next. Crack. Down went the second. Zyra walked over to the third man, who was currently trying to hug a prickly bush thinking it was his mother. She flicked her wrist and Spice bit him.

The last man blinked, his vision clearing just enough to see his three comrades lying motionlessly on the grass. The color drained from his face.

"Y-you guys_ you’re monsters!" he squeaked, dropping his sword and turning to run.

Hunter didn’t even chase him. He simply reached into his pocket, pulled out one of his blades and threw it out. It hit the man square in the back, sending him skidding face-first into the dirt.

Silence returned to the forest as soon as the scuffle ended. Zyra dusted off her sleeves and looked back toward the direction of Hollomgad. "Well, that was a complete waste of an hour."

Hunter chuckled, shaking his head as he retrieved his dagger. "It was not, We knew the maidens were not in there but at least we know of the town and that the ruler, Tobias is an idiot."

Zyra wiped a smudge of mud from her cheek and looked at Hunter. "I do not think that he gave us the right directions," Zyra muttered. She shook her head. Living in the Wild Lands had taught her one crucial lesson: trust was expensive, and taking a stranger’s word was a quick way to get buried.

Beauty, Zyra called out silently. Is there actually a town forty kilometers from here?

[Initiating long-distance scan...]

A few seconds passed before Beauty’s cheerful yet robotic chime echoed in her head.

[Scan complete. Host, forty kilometers in that direction is a high-density territory. Specifically, a den infested with Flame-Spit Lions. Zero human settlements detected.]

Zyra let out a dry laugh and folded the map. "Yeah, just as I thought. That crowned idiot tried to set us up."

Hunter scoffed, resting a hand on the back of his riffle as a dark grin crossed his face. "So Tobias was trying to send us straight into a beast’s mouth, huh? Man really thought some wild lions would do his dirty work."

"Too bad for him, we have Beauty" Zyra said, tossing the useless map onto the soggy ground.

Before they could decide on their next move, a clear, crisp chime rang inside Zyra’s head again.

[Ding! Host, long-range radar has picked up another settlement. It is located just 10 kilometers northeast from your current position.]

Zyra turned to Hunter, a spark of hope flickering in her eyes. "Beauty just found a real settlement. It’s only ten kilometers away from here."

Hunter stretched his arms, his neck popping softly in the damp forest air. He looked toward the northeast, a sharp smile returning to his face.

"Ten kilometers? That’s practically in our backyard," Hunter said, nodding. "Come on, let’s go check it out. Maybe this time we’ll actually find this Twigs blue crossing.