Noel and the others stood in the middle of the desert, staring at the town in the distance. If their map was correct, the town was supposed to be the Ricoral City that Noel planned to visit.
Just like the previous town, it didn't have any city walls to avoid building up the heat inside. Noel could see a lot of people entering the city, making him wonder if there was an event or something.
"Since we have to visit the city…" Noel pondered for a moment. This problem had been causing him some headaches. On the one hand, he wanted to bring these two kids with him. On the other hand, if the authority asked for their ownership, he would be in trouble.
Of course, having asked like that was not really that common. But the fact that he was a foreigner would create some problems for their country if Noel managed to smuggle a few people out.
Previously, he indeed didn't think it through. So, he wondered what he should do.
"Master. Sandra and I will be fine. We'll be waiting for you here." Tristan came to him, understanding his worries.
Noel couldn't answer him immediately. After all, there was a chance that these two would run away, not because they didn't want to be his slaves or anything, but because they were chased by people or demons.
"It's not that I don't trust you. It's just…" Noel sighed.
"Are you afraid of demons or humans that might chase after them?" Dimitri asked.
"Yeah. I will probably enter this city by myself. I'm planning to gather some intelligence about some phenomena that might be related to what I'm searching for. If it's outside the city, we'll go there together. If it's not, then I'll tell you about my plan."
"Understood. I'll take care of the kids." Dimitri agreed with Noel's arrangement. Although it made him a bit uneasy, this was a necessary move.
Before leaving, Noel turned to Tristan. "I'll probably be gone for one or two days. You must not be slacking in runes. I'll test your knowledge when I'm back."
"Yes, Master. I won't disappoint you."
Noel waved his hand before heading to the city.
As soon as he reached the city, he noticed the difference between this one and the first city he visited.
This place was bustling with people even though it was located in the middle of the kingdom, where the condition was the most extreme.
However, Noel noticed that there were a lot of strong people in this place.
"Hmm?" Noel frowned before seeing a stall.
"Welcome." The middle-aged employee smiled and asked, "Do you want one?"
"I'll take one skewer." Noel raised a finger while still looking around.
"Alright." The middle-aged man began cooking the meat while asking, "It's the first time I've seen you around here. Are you a foreigner?"
"Yeah. I'm visiting this country for sightseeing." Noel nodded.
"Is that so? Welcome." The middle-aged man smiled.
"Is there anything good around this place?" Noel asked.
"If you are planning to visit those places, then I can recommend you three places. The first one is the inn five blocks away from here. It's quite a grand inn, but the price is lower compared to the others of the same level. If you love to see something magical, you would definitely have to go to the waterfall."
"Waterfall? There is something like that here?" Noel was surprised, wondering how much water they needed to reach that point in the middle of the desert. He thought this was the place where the thing he was searching for was located.
Unfortunately, he had to get disappointed as the vendor replied, "No, no. Even though I said it was a waterfall, it's actually not water."
"A waterfall but not water?"
"Yes. Instead of water falling from above, it's sand. I don't know how it works, but that's definitely a magical sight to see."
"Is that so? That must be an interesting place. I feel like there are a lot of tourists in this place. Are they also visiting that place?"
"That's true. It seems that the city is busier than I imagined. But I think they are visiting a different place."
"A different place? Do you mean the third place you're going to mention?"
"Not at all. The third place is the oasis at the heart of the city. It's a beautiful sight where you can relax." The vendor paused for a moment. "I heard that the protector of the city is assembling a lot of people for the sake of exploring a certain place. I am not entirely sure, but if you want to know more, you might want to head to the city center or the palace where the protector resides. The recruitment should be around there as well."
"I see." Noel wasn't sure if this place was the one. But he was planning to visit the recruitment to know more about it.
"Here you go." He handed two skewers with a smile.
"Eh? I ordered only one though."
"Service from the house. I hope that you have a good memory of this country."
Noel certainly didn't expect this. Even though the city had some food problems because of the harsh condition, the people were extremely kind. If this was Muivell Kingdom, he was afraid that the people wouldn't be like this. They might even price their items slightly higher, thinking that the foreigner wouldn't visit their place again. On the other hand, he realized that they were doing things like this to create a good memory of the country, making Noel want to visit this place again.
It was only Noel this time, but if a lot of tourists experienced this, they would gain a lot of people, which would increase the economy.
Noel couldn't help but smile and hand him the money. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
He started heading inside the city, wondering about the inn that the vendor thought was good. At the same time, he could feel a lot of experts. Even though they were trying hard to hide their aura, their body naturally released it.
'This is getting serious. I think I have found at least fifty Spirit Practitioners and twenty Spirit Wielders, and two Spirit Masters just by walking to the inn.' Noel was surprised, believing that this place must be dangerous and mystical for all these people to visit it.
Noel glanced at the building on the opposite side of the street. It was a three-story building. While it did have a similar design to the rest of the buildings in the city, he saw the plaque and a lot of expensive decorations from outside.
Since he didn't know much about the city, he chose to follow the recommendation and visited this inn.
The first floor was actually a restaurant, while the second and third floors were the real inn.
"Welcome. Are you a guest that plans to try the recruitment as well?" An employee came to him. But she soon stopped after seeing Noel's features to be different from the people in this kingdom. "Ah, I apologize. Are you a foreigner? Do you need a room? Let me guide you to the receptionist."
Noel remained calm and followed the woman. When he took a glimpse of the restaurant, he noticed there were two groups filled with experts. The first group was led by a middle-aged man who seemed to be a Spirit Master. The second group was composed of all young men at Spirit Wielder Level.
"I am a bit curious about this recruitment. Is there anything special about it?" Noel asked. "There are a lot of visitors in this inn with that intention, right?"
"Yes, Sir. The recruitment lasts for a month and a lot of experts from other cities visit this place. It's said that there is a chance that a second oasis is about to be born, so the protector is holding recruitment to secure the place."
"When did the recruitment start?"
"If you are interested, you are very lucky, Sir. It's said that the recruitment is going to close in two days."
"Oh? Where is the recruitment by the way? Since I'm curious, I thought about visiting that place." Noel asked.
"If you intend to attend the recruitment, then the inn would have to ask you to sign a document. After all, the inn won't know about your condition after exploring that place, so the inn has to either remove your items from your room or other things to continue operating."
"I see." It was understandable. It would be a problem if he didn't return and just left his items in his room after all.
"Yeah. I don't mind. So, can you answer my question?"
"Ah. I apologize. If you're talking about the recruitment building, it's located near the oasis. There are a lot of guards around the oasis, so if you just ask one of them, they can guide you to that place."
Noel noted it in his mind. Unbeknownst to him, these two days of waiting would lead to a huge problem for him.
After all, there were approximately fifty people entering the country at high speed.
The one leading them was a muscular man and an old lady.
"Hahaha. We've finally entered this kingdom."
"Don't go rampage and cause more problems to the organization. We'll be tracing him from here on and capturing him in an isolated space. That number one assassin should be with him, so you can fight him and rampage all you want. I'll handle that kid."
"Alright. Since I can get a bout with that guy, I will follow your arrangement."
"Let's continue." The woman raised her hand as the entire group disappeared from the area.
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