Dago looked around, taking in the small tavern steeped in the atmosphere of the streets.
The entire place was built in a rough red oak style.
The mottled wall behind the bar was covered with all manner of bizarre wizard hats, as though they were trophies being flaunted.
Beneath a flickering wall lamp in the western corner, two figures wrapped in gray robes huddled together and whispered. The air carried the suspicious scent of potions, as if they were conducting some shady black-market deal.
All kinds of wizards could be seen throughout the tavern.
There were First Circle, Second Circle, and even Third Circle existences here. Most looked travel-worn, their eyes filled with wariness.
"This is White Pine Town, an ungoverned place where all sorts gather."
Bald Jason lowered his voice as he introduced the place to Dago.
In truth, Dago had confirmed that the moment he saw the tavern's sign upon entering.
In the tragic lie fabricated by that girl born evil, White Pine Town had supposedly been brutally "bathed in blood" by Jason.
Now, it seemed that lie had been flimsy after all.
"White Pine Town..."
Dago took out the broad map of the Middle Continent that Jason had traded to him earlier and spread it flat across the table.
After carefully comparing it, he discovered that their current location lay at the far western edge of the Emerald Court.
But this place was already a chaotic, ownerless land, not part of the tightly controlled territory of the Emerald Empire.
If they continued westward and crossed several mountain ranges, they would be very close to Fate Pendulum, one of the three great wizard empires of the Central Continent.
"Where are you headed next?"
Jason took a sip of plain water and looked up at Dago.
Dago put away