Free Web NovelChapter 252: Journey to the Wu Region [2]
Silence... It was a silence that covered the whole trip of Lucas’s company. The sky started to turn orange and slowly become darker until the night hit the day. The stars flickered and the moon shone, providing enough light.
The company was about to stop and camp for the night. However, Lucas didn’t let the coachman stop as he sensed a presence nearby. His ears flinched in interest, then he looked at the path.
"Don’t stop, just continue."
The coachman was a hired one along with the coach they had rented. It took a huge sum of their money, but Lucas just didn’t have the interest to hasten for a moment. Even though he was not physically tired, he was mentally so. Thus, he decided to take a short rest with the coach.
However, because the situation was different at the time, even though he knew it would take them some time to notice the presence nearby, it was only a foreshadowing of what was to come.
"Are you sure, my Lord?"
"Yes."
At that short moment, the coachman followed Lucas’s order. Lucas’s command also brought confusion to Jake and Brian, as they hadn’t comprehended his intention. They knew that Lucas was utilizing the time wisely, but, even if there was a presence nearby, he might just ignore it.
But then, ignoring it immediately, they just didn’t question Lucas’s decision and started to see a small light of the fire as they approached the presence.
The presence was also on the road, which explained how Lucas was able to detect it without any difficulty. Jake also sensed it, but he composed himself and ignored it as well.
Brian was the only one who was clueless among them all since he was still the one who didn’t have any ability to detect faint presence.
When they arrived, the first thing they saw was a wrecked coach, corpses piled around the bonfire, and weapons strewn everywhere. In summary, it was a bloody sight that gave Brian shivers.
Looking at it nonchalantly, when the coach stopped, Lucas immediately went down. He didn’t put any intent into his walk, and his eyes were just focused on the two people around the fire.
When Lucas finally approached them, the two people shifted their eyes, agitated and alarmed, raised their weapons, and moved backward.
Lucas gave them a silent gaze and walked towards them with soft movement. "You don’t have to worry. We are just passing by, camping for the night."
"Who are you?" Beatrix asked.
Lucas looked at the two of them, sensing no threat from them. He then moved to sit next to them and sighed. "You are raising your weapons when you don’t even have the energy to fight. Just calm down."
Glassera looked at Beatrix, seeing no danger from Lucas. He shook his head at Beatrix, telling her to lower her blade and meet Lucas calmly. Beatrix later followed her, but she remained alert.
"What happened here?"
"As you can see, we were attacked by bandits."
"I see..."
Posing no certain expression, Lucas just sat beside them without making any attempt to pry into the previous situation. His eyes fell on the coachman near their destroyed coach and he let out a sigh.
It might be a pity, but Lucas had no intention of making it obvious. Even so, he had an idea in his head that would further his plan and the mission.
He gazed back at them and then filled his mouth with Qi. He decided to apply some spells and word techniques to his words, which he would gather.
"Are you going to the Wu Region? You can join us."
[Basic of Word Technique: Mental Manner]
For Lucas to have an easy negotiation with them or even just a conversation, he should make their stance favorable to him. In that case, he would need to use a mental manner of word technique with each word he released.
However, even though Lucas made sure that he got a favorable side of them, he didn’t push more energy into his words; instead, he was going soft with them to keep their will intact and safe.
Having their will secured would also be advantageous to him. It could not only be molded into a natural one, but the guilt would not attack him. For a brief moment, Lucas had devised an idea based on his karmic points where he would not injure anyone. As a result, even if it just harmed a person’s will, it may be judged to have killed the individual.
The karmic point he could get there would not be equivalent to killing one person, but just slightly below it. However, he was making sure not to garner more negative karmic points for his fate.
Even though he was not sure about fate and karma, which is a belief in this world, he was willing to absorb the idea to put him on an advantaged path.
But, one thing he was not sure about was the god of fate, who was The Author, and who was controlling his fate without his knowledge and also without any intervention in the original fate cycle of the world, to which karmic points were also applied.
The slight difference was still not visible to the overseer, but it was starting to cause some problems.
"That is nice of you. But, we still don’t know who you are." Beatrix snorted.
Lucas smiled, then just answered her question truly. "I am Lucas Wei, and my company there consists of three in total: an unnamed coachman, Jake, and Brian."
"I see. Where are you going, Lucas?"
This time around, Glassera asked the question. It seemed that Lucas’s nonchalant aura and behavior brought her curiosity about Lucas. And as Lucas was not showing any threat to them, Glassera opened her mind to Lucas’s presence.
On the other hand, Beatrix was hesitant to open up with Lucas since he was just a stranger who talked to them just a few seconds ago. It made no difference to her treatment of other strangers either.
"We are going to the Wu Region, as I stated earlier."
"What’s your business there?" freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"Nothing. Just going there. How about you?"
Glassera took a moment of silence as she contemplated the matter. At first, Lucas only watched her, and Beatrix also seemed fixated on the matter, blankly staring at the fire.
Afterward, Glassera started talking. "We are planning to join the White Lead."
"White Lead?"
What came into Lucas’s mind was Brian, who was still inside their coach. It seemed like White Lead was famous for some reason, and giving it a thought, he couldn’t ignore the importance of the mercenary group.
"Isn’t life tight? Why would you join White Lead when you can just live as a hunter and just hunt your food to survive? Do you wish to have an extravagant life by being at the White Lead?"
For the second time, Lucas implemented a word technique into his words.
[Basic of Word Technique: Mental Manner]
Glassera didn’t give a thought to her answer; she just talked honestly. "Life in the Quanzhi Province is not that easy. You have to be famous to get more money, and in the state of the continent right now with the war, it is the best time to stand and establish some reputation for ourselves. And that matter, we couldn’t get it in the Quanzhi Province since they were the most damaged during the war."
’I see... People were now fully aware of the war, but they still didn’t know about the legacy that their leaders were trying to achieve. However, what comes to my mind is that they might be thinking about world domination. And subjects don’t have the luxury of questioning the decisions of their leader, nor do they have any idea that they could question their leaders.’
’Independence from the government is not welcome in their minds. While they know that the government should treat them well, they don’t have the idea that they could rebel or fight for their rights.’
’Those who have power don’t even entertain that idea either. As long as they have the privilege or the leniency from the government because of their worth, they won’t care about those who are below them.’
’It may be a common belief among them that people seeking equality or even rights should work for it by demonstrating their power and worth. Without it, they should keep quiet to not annoy those who were higher than them.’
While Glassera was discussing their plans to join the White Lead, Lucas’s mind was racing with thoughts. However, he had no idea that Brian was listening behind them because he had just climbed down from the coach.
Lucas was good at sensing presence when he didn’t feel forced to keep his senses acute. There were moments when leniency may help him concentrate more because concentration didn’t stop with other thoughts and tasks; it always ended with focus.
Brian couldn’t help but question Glassera and Beatrix’s ideas in his mind. ’Why would they like to join White Lead?’
