The Brash Young Fool Who Exposed the Unspoken Rules

While Qiyana and the Radical Faction were talking, trying to establish a working relationship, a caravan set out from Ixaocan and headed north toward Parosa.

Officially, it was a jewelry-trading caravan.

The jewelry industry was highly developed in Ixtal. Besides being used as adornments, many beautiful gemstones could also be processed and refined into something akin to energy cores.

Although the rainforest's gemstone output was lower than Shurima's, Ixtal was a sizable country, and its gemstone industry was substantial in its own right.

So it was quite common for caravans staffed by high-ranking elementalists to travel between the north and south, trading in gemstones.

But unlike ordinary jewelry caravans, this one wasn't driving a caravan of llama-drawn wagons. Every member rode an Elemental Drake instead. There was only one word for it: extravagant.

Elemental Drakes were strictly regulated in Ixtal. They weren't allowed to be parked in the farmlands outside the cities, and bringing one into a city required paying a hefty entrance fee. Karya could afford it, but most merchants weren't willing to pay.

Even when a caravan was trading in a high-profit commodity like jewelry, having every merchant and high-ranking elementalist ride an Elemental Drake was still rather excessive.

After all, besides the cities, Ixtal's jungle was dotted with scattered settlements. They had considerable consumer potential, but Elemental Drakes tended to skip them, which did little to help sell gemstones.

Judging by their behavior, then, this caravan seemed to have other aims besides trading.

And in fact, trading wasn't their real purpose.

The merchants and high-ranking elementalist guards riding the Elemental Drakes carried more than just gemstones. They also had a large quantity of goods whose export was strictly restricted.

Most numerous of all was the Black Stone produced in the Forbidden Zone!

Riding on the back