While Abruie was sprinting desperately toward the Duchy of Laxum, Angel, on the other side, had already followed Dox out of Sandworm Market.
Looking at the boundless yellow sands around them, Angel asked doubtfully, "Didn't you just say Kael was in Sandworm Market?"
Expressionless, Dox said, "According to Mesomia's regulations, every Wizard Market in the entire Duchy of Laxum takes the market itself as its center, and everything within a hundred miles is considered part of the market."
Angel: "...So as long as Kael is within a hundred miles, he counts as being in Sandworm Market?"
"Yes."
Angel: "..."
Seeing Angel rendered speechless, Dox suddenly changed tack. "That was only the official explanation. No one who truly resides in Sandworm Market would consider this endless desert part of the market. Besides, I had no reason to play word games with you. Kael really is in Sandworm Market—it's just that the Sandworm Market he's in is a black market secretly controlled by the Nomel Family, not far from Sandworm Market itself."
As Dox spoke, he suddenly stopped. "We're here. This is the entrance to the black market."
Before Dox stood an enormous boulder. Beside it grew a fairly healthy columnar cactus, crowned by a vivid scarlet flower.
Angel looked back. This place truly was not far from Sandworm Market—roughly two hundred meters away in a straight line. From here, he could still see the densely packed buildings of Sandworm Market in the distance.
"So all that stuff you told me at the beginning about a hundred-mile radius was actually nonsense?" Angel asked.
Dox said, "No, no, no. I was merely enlightening you. When I previously said, 'Kael is in Sandworm Market,' that statement was correct whether understood broadly or narrowly."
Angel: "...But it was still nonsense."
Watching Angel deliver that deadpan