Catching Spies Was My Specialty

Agate Stone Plains, near Indigo Mountain Pass.

Indigo Mountain Pass and Indigo Steel Mountain were not together; their relationship was more like that between a mountain range and its highest peak. After entering the tip of the Southern Ridge Peninsula through Indigo Mountain Pass, one still had to travel some distance northwest to reach the territory controlled by the Avude Tribe, guardians of Indigo Steel Mountain.

In other words, the Dragon-Worshiping Cult's old nest in the Southern Ridge.

Because of the grain famine and the mountain folk rebellion, the number of trade caravans had noticeably decreased, and most passing travelers hurried along with anxious faces. But this was, after all, a transportation hub. A full regular force of five hundred soldiers was stationed here, equipped with a large number of Alchemical Cannons. Should they come under attack, the garrison fortresses on the surrounding mountainsides could dispatch another two companies.

The town around the pass looked small, but the buildings were packed remarkably densely. At a glance, inns and shops stood row upon row, scales upon scales.

Ian and Azure Tide had ridden in a carriage alongside a grain convoy from Nauman City.

This grain convoy was carrying Nauman City's food supplies for the Dragon-Worshiping Cult. It also included some Origin Matter supplements such as Magic Beast meat, as well as several intelligence-related letters. It should originally have been escorted by another Patrol Knight, but since Ian had business here, he took the assignment instead.

Lifting the carriage curtain, Ian looked outside. The area around Indigo Mountain Pass had always been a distribution center for vast quantities of goods. As he followed the grain convoy here, he had continuously calculated the Southern Ridge's food prices in his mind, only to discover that over the past month, they had barely fluctuated at