East Kingdom

Half a month later.

At the gates of a city somewhere along the border of the Kingdom of Ister, a figure completely shrouded in a gray-black robe appeared. The gray robe was covered in all kinds of stains, and the figure's tender face was coated in dust as well. Only a pair of large purple eyes remained bright.

"Minghao, we've finally arrived!"

Sally looked at the crowds entering and leaving the gates in the distance. A hint of excitement appeared on her dusty little face. Half a month earlier, after they had figured out the purpose of Arnold, the hidden employer behind Lester's team's mission,

Sally packed up her things the next day and took Lu Minghao to the village one last time. After bidding farewell at Grandma Oran's grave, she followed the map found on Lester's team and began making her way toward the Kingdom of Ister.

During that time, Lu Minghao had also used the connection with his Servant Race granted by his Gluttony talent to summon the devil ray, which had been given the Original Sin of Gluttony, back from the Underground Water Vein. He tied the monster that Lester's team had become to the devil ray and ordered it never to eat again.

That way, the monster that had once been Lester's team could only watch the devil ray eat every day. Yet because of Lu Minghao's command, it could do nothing but watch as food appeared and disappeared again and again, unable to swallow any of it, eternally tormented by endless hunger and appetite.

Afterward, Sally carried Lu Minghao and asked Kenny, the Village Chief, for the correct direction. Following the map's guidance, she left the village and continued toward the Kingdom of Ister. Along the way, however, she had to prevent anyone from discovering her identity.

Sally put on a gray-black robe and placed Lu Minghao atop her little head, carrying him forward the entire way. She did take a wrong turn a few times, but fortunately, after asking passing adventurers for directions, she had eventually stumbled her way here.

Over the course of half a month, the abundant nourishment provided by the many monsters along the way finally gave Sally's frail, emaciated body a hint of flesh. In just half a month, she had grown from not even 1.3 meters tall to 1.4 meters. From the outside, she at least looked like a girl of thirteen or fourteen. A cause for celebration, a cause for celebration.

Aside from the changes in her appearance, the abundant nourishment had also awakened a trace of Sally's previously dormant Oni Clan bloodline. A pair of small, adorable Ghost Horns had sprouted from her forehead, and her physical abilities had improved considerably. At the very least, ordinary villagers no longer stood a chance of resisting her.

It was only thanks to the enhanced physique granted by the trace of awakened Oni Clan bloodline that Sally had been able to bring Lu Minghao from the Kingdom of Blumert, located beside the Jura Great Forest, across the territories of several Western Nations and reach the Kingdom of Ister in just half a month.

"Sally, let's enter the city first and find out which part of the Kingdom of Ister this is. Also, locate the battlefield and the place where that noble named Adeno is staying."

The hood of the gray-black robe lifted slightly. Lu Minghao poked part of himself out and examined the area ahead. Adventurers were constantly entering and leaving through the city gate in the distance. The amount of magicules in their bodies was clearly much greater than that of Lester's team, and each of them bore injuries to some extent. Their auras also carried a hint of killing intent.

Clearly, these adventurers were much stronger than Lester's team had been. After all, compared to the relatively peaceful state of the Kingdom of Blumert, the Kingdom of Ister had been in a constant state of war for years, making its adventurers far more formidable.

Of course, this was only natural. Adventurers would accept war-related missions for money, while adventurers who were not strong enough had long since died on the battlefield. Those who survived could not be weak.

Even the weak had sufficient means to save their own lives.

"Let's go, Sally."

The next second, the gray-black hood was lowered again. Sally pulled up her collar to cover most of her face, then headed toward the city entrance. Along the way, the adventurers, merchants, and commoners she passed would all instinctively keep a safe distance from the lone Sally.

This was also a distinctive feature of the Kingdom of Ister. Years of constant warfare had caused many people to develop Battlefield Syndrome. Sometimes, they would instinctively attack whenever they saw a stranger. Because of this, everyone in the kingdom would instinctively keep their distance from unfamiliar people.

After all, no one knew whether the person who had been laughing and joking with you a moment ago would suddenly pull out a knife the next moment, eyes bloodshot and screaming madly as they stabbed at you several times. And a knife was still considered manageable. The real fear was running into a mage who could turn you into a half-cooked lump of meat with a single fireball.

"Stop. Who are you, where are you from, and what's your purpose in coming here?"

At the city gate, two soldiers clad in black armor stopped Sally. One of them stepped forward and examined Sally, who was completely shrouded in a gray-black robe, with only a pair of purple eyes exposed. He questioned her expressionlessly.

They had seen far too many people who concealed their appearances and identities. Some were criminals who had fled from other kingdoms, while others were lone adventurers or merchants. Thus, they did not demand that Sally remove her black robe and merely conducted a routine interrogation.

Of course, this treatment only applied in border cities. For outsiders who wished to travel into the kingdom's interior, things were far less easy. Moreover, because of the years of war, many of the Kingdom of Ister's powerful figures and soldiers were concentrated in its major border cities. If someone like Sally, whose identity was concealed, dared to cause trouble in the city,

they would be killed or arrested within minutes. Trouble-makers who survived would either be sent to the mines to dig until they died if they were weak, or forced to sign a contract and then thrown into the war as expendable cannon fodder if they were only moderately capable.

"Ilina, an adventurer from the Kingdom of Blumert. I've come to participate in a war mission."

Sally slightly raised her head and glanced at the soldier from the Kingdom of Ister. She took a card from her pocket and handed it over. It bore the words "Adventurer Ilina, Lesser Adventurer," and listed her registration location as a town in the Kingdom of Blumert called Leicester.

This was what Sally used to conceal her true identity. The adventurer's card had been obtained from an adventurer party on the way to the Kingdom of Ister. At the time, Sally had killed several Lesser Demons called Golden Ring Snakes using her own strength. While she was cooking, she had encountered an adventurer party.

Because she had been cooking, Sally had not only taken off her robe but also washed her face. Thanks to the nourishment that had helped her body develop, her frail frame had become cute, with a hint of girlhood about it. Combined with her tender face, she gave people the illusion that she was utterly innocent.

After confirming that Sally was alone, several adventurers could not help but develop improper thoughts. In the end, the entire five-person adventurer party came to rest inside Lu Minghao's body, and everything they carried became spoils of war.

As for the adventurer's card Sally had given the soldiers, it belonged to one of the unlucky members of that party. Because the name sounded somewhat feminine, Lu Minghao had decided it might be useful and had told Sally to keep it.

"No problem. Welcome to the Kingdom of Ister, Adventurer Ilina."

A few seconds later, the soldier returned the identity card to Sally. The Kingdom of Ister welcomed adventurers who came to participate in war missions. After all, they could obtain fairly capable cannon fodder by spending a little money. Who wouldn't like that?