Jiying Kingdom

Inside a moving train!

Ul closed his eyes slightly, rapidly recalling intelligence about the Jiying Kingdom in his mind...

After some internal struggle!

Ul ultimately decided to head to the Jiying Kingdom to continue pursuing Jericho.

Failing the mission would have a significant impact on Ul at this stage—it would delay his progress toward becoming a B-class mage and also slow down his earning speed, something Ul simply could not tolerate...

That said, despite this decision, Ul still felt quite uneasy about this trip!

The Jiying Kingdom was nothing like the Kingdom of Fiore!

It was a country perpetually engulfed in war, and moreover, it belonged to the dark faction. In truth, the internal environment of this nation was even more chaotic and dangerous than the town of Stigug.

Most mages from dark-faction countries were followers of Zeref, known as Black Mages.

On the continent!

Black Mages were generally at a disadvantage, because once someone became a Black Mage, they became enemies of all legitimate guilds and were also wanted by the Magic Council!

So, aside from these dark-faction countries, sightings of Black Mages were rare elsewhere.

By the same token, members of legitimate guilds were rarely seen in these dark-faction countries. Even when someone occasionally took a mission there, they usually concealed their identity.

After all, not all Black Mages studied Black Magic; as long as one was careful, hiding one's identity was relatively easy!

Beyond that!

Dark-faction countries had one major distinguishing feature.

Generally, guilds in neutral and light-faction countries formed cooperative relationships with their host nations, because only that way could a country's security be maximized!

But dark-faction countries were different. They were often controlled by dark guilds. In other words, though these places were called countries, the real power holders within them were those dark guilds.

The Jiying Kingdom was no exception!

And according to the intelligence Ul had gathered, the most powerful dark guild in the Jiying Kingdom seemed to be... "Devil's Fang"!

"It can't be that much of a coincidence, right?"

Recalling this information, Ul couldn't help but mutter inwardly.

He had no desire to get involved in something as large-scale as a guild war right now. With his current strength, Ul could still mess around against opponents below B-class, but once they exceeded B-class level, it was no longer something he could casually meddle in—people died that way...

"It can't be that coincidental. After all, the Jiying Kingdom, though not huge, is still a country with five or six million people. There's no way Jericho would skip every other place and head straight for Devil's Fang's territory!" Ul reasoned to himself, offering some comfort.

But... for some reason!

Ul felt like this trip had a distinct air of asking for trouble.

The Jiying Kingdom wasn't very far from the Kingdom of Fiore!

Although there were many countries on the Ishgar Continent, if measured by land area, most of them were probably smaller than a province from Ul's previous life.

After getting off at the station closest to the Jiying Kingdom, Ul first found a shop, bought a black robe, and wrapped himself up completely before taking a carriage toward the kingdom...

The situation in the Jiying Kingdom was somewhat similar to that of Stigug Town!

Good-looking people easily attracted attention there, so to conceal his identity, Ul had to put on some disguise.

A guy out in the world still had to protect himself!

According to the information Ul had gathered from the waiter at Pati Tavern, Jericho's main purpose in coming to the Jiying Kingdom was most likely to fence stolen goods. After all, such precious stolen treasures could only be sold most easily in dark-faction countries.

So, upon entering the Jiying Kingdom, Ul's first stop was straight to the most commercially developed city in the country—"Starfish City"!

Commerce was an indispensable part of any country's development.

Even dark-faction countries were no exception!

Though the Jiying Kingdom was chaotic and dangerous, it also offered enormous profits to be made. And for merchants, profit was everything—even worth risking their lives for...

The sky over Starfish City was somewhat overcast. Ul wasn't sure if the weather was just bad today or if it was always like this here.

Walking along!

In less than half an hour, Ul had already witnessed seven or eight street brawls on the roads of Starfish City, one of which nearly turned deadly.

The locals of Starfish City showed no surprise at Ul's appearance, wrapped head to toe in a black robe.

Or rather!

This kind of outfit was the normal state of things here!

Ul saw all kinds of expressions in the eyes of passersby—vigilance, curiosity, indifference, despair... but never light or hope!

The ones truly hurt by war were always the ordinary people!

Ul walked along the streets of Starfish City, stepping into nearly every sizable shop he came across to ask around.

After about seven or eight stores, finally!

At last!

Ul learned the information he wanted from the owner of a certain shop.

"Moya City? An auction?"

After leaving the shop, Ul hailed a carriage and set off toward Moya City...

Along the way.

Ul kept muttering the name "Moya City" under his breath. He felt like he had heard the city's name somewhere before, but he just couldn't recall where...

Until over an hour later!

Ul stepped down from the carriage and stared at the "Devil's Fang" guild banner floating in the air not far ahead of him, sinking into a long, deep silence...