Chapter 2500 Red Sword Daus <TOC> Chapter 2502 Underground Market
Translator: SumTLMan
Guman Kingdom, at the border.
The night, shrouded in dense clouds, turned the boundless forest into a pitch-black expanse.
Suddenly, a flicker of light darted across the dark forest’s sky, quickly plummeting deep into its depths.
As the light vanished, a vast array of flames emerged in the distance, rapidly converging towards the point where the light had fallen.
At the site of the fallen light, a girl covered in dust, with her hair in disarray and her glasses shattered like a spiderweb, groaned as she climbed out of a large pit in the ground.
“Another problem… Is it an issue with this flying broom, or is it my handling?”
The girl gazed at the huge crater her fall had created, and the broom standing upright within it, feeling a wave of helplessness. She deeply missed her Tricolor Deer… If the deer were here, she wouldn’t have fallen mid-flight.
Indeed, this girl was Aubrey, who had parted ways with Angel less than two days ago.
Despite her complaints, the flying broom had cost Aubrey a considerable sum, so she jumped back into the pit to retrieve it.
Just as she picked up the broom, Aubrey heard noises not too far away.
Aubrey’s face turned pale suddenly, as if she had realized something. In her mental space, she quickly assembled a model for a magic trick, then pressed one hand to the ground, and a hexagram summoning circle flashed beneath her.
The summoning circle emitted a bright light, and soon after, a vibrant green parrot with a crown-like growth on its head appeared from the circle.
“Eh, I clearly summoned the Farsight Falcon, why did a Crowned Parrot come out? Is there something wrong with my summoning circle?” Aubrey murmured to herself, but quickly, she cast aside her cluttered thoughts, indifferent to whether it was the falcon or parrot.
“Lend me your eyes, fly high!” Aubrey extended her hand towards the Crowned Parrot, which gave her a very human-like disdainful glance, having not formed even a basic contract with Aubrey.
Aubrey, somewhat anxiously, reached out her hand again, but the parrot simply flew upwards.
“I can assist you, but I do not wish to form a contract.” The Crowned Parrot accepted Aubrey’s request to share its vision, yet no contract was formed.
“Why? It’s just a basic contract, lasting less than a day,” Aubrey asked, puzzled.
The parrot soared into the sky, and a voice tinged with mild scorn echoed in Aubrey’s ears: “Because you are too weak.”
The words of the Crowned Parrot struck Aubrey’s heart painfully.
However, she soon recovered. As one of the three worst summoners in the Savage Grottoes, being scorned by her own summoned creatures was nothing new to her.
Aubrey, though her spirit was tough enough to temporarily ignore the taunting of summoned creatures, still felt a hint of grievance and longed even more for the Tricolor Deer. The Tricolor Deer never mocked her; it was like a sister to her. If it hadn’t been for the severe injuries it sustained when she had last lent it out, she wouldn’t have let it return to its original world.
As Aubrey pined for the Tricolor Deer, the Crowned Parrot had already soared into the sky, sharing its vision with Aubrey, allowing her to clearly see what the parrot saw.
While the Crowned Parrot’s vision was not as powerful as that of a Farsight Falcon, it was nearly as acute.
Using its keen sight, Aubrey could clearly see a flicker of flames rapidly approaching her current location about two to three kilometers away.
The Crowned Parrot, with its small body and the cover of the dark weather, flew closer to the source of the light.
Now, Aubrey could see the situation more clearly. The so-called flames were not a forest fire, but rather individuals in red robes carrying torches.
These red-robed individuals bore a crest depicting a crown and scepter intertwined, symbolizing… the Royal Knights of the Guman Kingdom.
From the direction they were heading, there was no doubt, they were coming for Aubrey.
“Old Boro was right, those people are like wolves drawn by the scent of blood, they’ve indeed followed!” Aubrey regretted meeting with Old Boro… if only she hadn’t met him, she might have had hope.
Aubrey was conflicted, but now was not the time to dwell on this.
Although the individual strength of the Guman Kingdom’s Royal Knights was not superior to hers, from the viewpoint of the Crowned Parrot, it was clear that they were not just one or two men, but at least a team of twenty. What could she do to confront them?
Moreover, they were already very close to her, and she needed to quickly escape this place.
Aubrey felt a surge of panic and bit her lip, deciding to cast a Catwalk trick on herself and dash into the pitch-dark forest.
The Catwalk trick, a first level trick, endowed the summoner with the agility and mobility of a cat, significantly enhancing speed and making movements silent and traceless, like walking on snow without leaving footprints.
There was an advanced version of this trick, the Leopard Walk trick, a third level trick that increased speed even further, comparable to some wind elemental apprentices.
Unfortunately, Aubrey had not yet mastered the Leopard Walk trick and could only rely on the Catwalk trick to navigate through the forest.
In a fluid motion, Aubrey leaped onto a large tree branch, then swiftly used it as a springboard to transform into a fleeting shadow that landed on another tree.
The dense forest gave the Catwalk trick a significant advantage, being silent and maximizing the cat-like agility.
As Aubrey moved quickly from tree to tree, her speed, although slower than the flying broom, was far more covert, and the scents typically spread were tightly contained by the Catwalk trick.
Aubrey was confident that as long as the pursuers relied on scent tracking, she would definitely escape them using the Catwalk trick.
Aubrey was swiftly moving through the treetops when a familiar sound suddenly rang beside her ear.
“Are those people with torches here to chase you?”
Aubrey turned her head and was surprised to see that, unbeknownst to her, the Crowned Parrot had flown back and was now by her side.
“Haven’t you returned to the original world yet?” Aubrey asked in astonishment.
The Crowned Parrot replied irritably: “I haven’t signed a contract with you. I can return whenever I want!”
This statement was just a casual remark for the Crowned Parrot. Creatures like it, summoned by summoners and without a signed contract, cannot replenish their energy and are rejected by the World Will, resulting in increased energy depletion. It wouldn’t be long before they would naturally return to their original world.
Aubrey knew this but didn’t expose the parrot; instead, she sincerely said: “Then you can enjoy yourself in the Southern Region, but it’s best not to linger in the Guman Kingdom. You could go east to the peaceful and beautiful Arelle Principality.”
The Crowned Parrot felt a strange emotion upon hearing Aubrey’s serious travel recommendations. Although this summoner seemed weak, she was quite reasonable.
However, now was not the time to discuss sightseeing. The Crowned Parrot seriously said: “You haven’t answered my question. Are those people after you?”
Aubrey nodded.
“Then you need to run fast. They have several hounds that can sense energy fluctuations. They are closely on your trail, and the distance is getting shorter.”
Aubrey was startled; she had optimistically thought that the pursuers were tracking her through scents, not realizing they were using energy-tracking hounds.
Avoiding these hounds was simple: not using the Catwalk trick and concealing her scents would suffice. But without the Catwalk trick, how could she compete with them using just her legs?
In her anxious moment, the Crowned Parrot suddenly flapped its wings, and a blue energy aura wrapped around Aubrey’s feet.
With the infusion of the blue energy, Aubrey felt her speed surge tremendously! It was almost comparable to the Leopard Walk trick, perhaps even faster.
“Is this wind energy?” Aubrey exclaimed in surprise.
The Crowned Parrot, somewhat exhausted, replied: “Anyone who’s not blind can see that this is wind energy.”
Aubrey, full of gratitude, said: “This is just in time, thank you so much.”
The Crowned Parrot waved its wings: “If you really want to thank me, let me rest on you. I used a wind spell and am a bit tired.”
Naturally, Aubrey didn’t hesitate and nodded immediately.
The Crowned Parrot’s eyes sparkled, and it jumped onto Aubrey’s messy hair as if sitting in a high seat, commanding its servant below: “Alright, I’m settled, now hurry up.”
Although Aubrey felt a bit awkward, she was inherently a kind-hearted and pure person. Without overthinking, she nodded and sped forward like the wind.
The wind energy combined with the agility of the Catwalk trick was a perfect match.
Aubrey had never experienced such speed in her life——not as a passenger, but through her own physical exertion.
After about fifteen minutes of running, Aubrey, somewhat out of breath, said: “I ran so fast, they must have been left far behind, right?”
The Crowned Parrot yawned and looked back: “You’ve definitely put more distance between them than before, but if you stop now, they could catch up in no more than half an hour.”
Hearing that she hadn’t completely lost them, Aubrey continued to push forward with all her might.
A while later, Aubrey heard a lazy voice from above: “Oh, I forgot to tell you, my wind energy can last another two hours, so you better shake them off within that time.”
“Two hours?” Aubrey asked: “Do you think I can lose them?”
The Crowned Parrot replied: “If they are persistent, probably not. Do you think they will be persistent in chasing you?”
“I don’t know, but it seems I have offended the eldest princess of the Guman Kingdom…”
The Crowned Parrot stroked its forehead with a wing: “Then you might as well be heading to your demise.”
Although it didn’t know the extent of the eldest princess’s power, being royal meant the matter would be difficult to resolve.
Aubrey felt like crying: “What should I do then? Maybe I should find a burrow to hide in.”
“That’s one way, but are you alone? Don’t you have any friends or a mentor you could ask for help?”
The Crowned Parrot had once been summoned by a summoner and was somewhat familiar with the affairs of the Wizarding World.
Aubrey murmured: “I have friends and a mentor… but they are so far from here, even using the wind energy combined with Catwalk trick, it would take a whole day and night to reach them.”
The Crowned Parrot then suggested: “If you have no one else to turn to, find a beautiful spot and bury yourself there.”
“Why a beautiful place?”
“If you manage to escape, that’s one thing. But if not, that place will be your grave, and it’s better to die in a beautiful place than an ugly one.”
Aubrey’s face turned even paler after hearing this.
However, the Crowned Parrot’s mention of ‘if you have no one else to turn to’ sparked a thought in Aubrey.
Someone she had just parted ways with yesterday.
The Super Dimensional Wizard!
“Let me think, this is the border of the Guman Kingdom, not far from Laxum Duchy; I could make it there in half an hour. But the place he was headed, the Sandworm Market, is very far from the border of Laxum Duchy; it’s absolutely impossible to reach the Sandworm Market within an hour and a half.”
Just as Aubrey’s hope was ignited, it was instantly extinguished.
Was there really no way out?
Just when Aubrey was in despair, an image surfaced in her mind——
The day before parting from Angel, Angel called out to her and extended a finger towards her, the tip sparkling briefly before vanishing into her forehead.
Unconsciously, Aubrey touched her forehead, where Lord Pat had left something. Could it be activated in a dream?
Aubrey remembered reading a rumor in a gossip-filled wizard magazine that wizards can actually sense their own released powers, the closer the proximity, the stronger the sense.
Could Lord Pat sense it if she activated the mysterious spell in her forehead?
Aubrey didn’t know, but it might be her only chance.
With this thought, Aubrey suddenly turned, setting her sights on the Laxum Duchy!
“What? You’ve found a way?” The Crowned Parrot asked, seeing Aubrey’s resolute expression.
Aubrey calmly replied: “I’m heading to the Laxum Duchy, a land of deserts. I think burying myself in the desert might actually offer a better chance of evasion than hiding in the forests.”
The Crowned Parrot was speechlessly silent, thinking Aubrey had a plan, but it turned out she only intended to dig a hole to evade pursuit.
Such a method, however, had a very low chance of success. Should the enemy conduct a sweeping search, finding her was inevitable, at best delaying the inevitable.
The Crowned Parrot sighed silently to itself.
Initially, it thought this girl was quite promising, potentially worthy of becoming its servant. But now, that was no longer feasible.
A dead person can’t be a servant.
Still, the Crowned Parrot found Aubrey rather agreeable to the eye, so it didn’t plan to immediately return to its original world; it decided to witness this servant’s death firsthand.
It considered this the final act of care a master could offer a servant.
Of course, Aubrey was unaware of the Crowned Parrot’s musings. If she knew, she likely… likely… wouldn’t care at all.
That’s just the way Aubrey was.
Angel had embedded the truth about Guina into Aubrey’s forehead through the Nightmare Illusion Dream, curious to see what choice Aubrey would make upon learning the truth and whether it would alter her inherently submissive character.
Otherwise, with Aubrey’s current disposition, fitting into the existing mainstream of the Wizarding World and living peacefully would be challenging.
Chapter 2500 Red Sword Daus <TOC> Chapter 2502 Underground Market