Hal left the hotel, a not-so-little-anymore black-furred wolf cub trailing behind him, its tail wagging happily as if free of all worries.
It wasn’t immediately after he left the accommodations establishment, but it also didn’t take long for him to notice that he was being followed, just as he expected.
He was certain that the bastards had no idea if he was actually Joker.
Their plan was simply to abuse their money and manpower, tailing everyone who resembled the celebrated young arcanist to slowly uncover his identity.
Some factions might even resort to forceful methods.
’Haah...this would be quite the long game...’ Hal inwardly sighed.
The system inventory would allow him to significantly lessen their suspicions.
However, he wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to completely stop following him around.
’No matter...as long as I can delay them from using forceful methods...’
He will inevitably grow stronger as time passes.
Besides, if he made it to the Arcana Primis Cup and won the entire thing, they would be forced to drop their suspicions of him being Joker, since it was publicly acknowledged as impossible to be a genius in both combat and artifact crafting.
Of course, that would only be replaced by a different set of troubles for being a rising young combat wizard.
The empire probably wouldn’t sit back and watch by then, though, so he wouldn’t be alone like he was today.
He just had to make it through the tough times of being a backgroundless young man.
By the time Hal arrived at the gates of Azmarin City, there were more than ten people on him.
Perhaps some were from the same faction.
Hal’s heart was slightly racing as he left the city, unsure if he would survive if they suddenly ganged up on him.
Fortunately, even after ten minutes had passed, they simply continued following him—some boldly from the pedestrian road, while others suddenly vanished, likely trailing him from the shadows.
He was expecting them to make their move before he arrived at the Donkey Exchange Terminal near the town an hour away from Azmarin by foot.
To his surprise, by the time he arrived at the terminal and purchased a ticket to Calaren—a city one day away from Aeloria—the people trailing him were gone.
Hal knew they were simply lurking somewhere, though.
He didn’t believe they would give up that soon.
’Whatever...let them play their games...’ he mused as he sat on his seat.
This would be a week-long trip with many stopovers, which meant there were plenty of chances for those in the shadows to make their move.
However, Hal knew that as long as he stayed close to the driver and the other passengers, there would be witnesses, and he could limit the methods the bastards could use.
They wouldn’t be able to brute-force their way into capturing him, at the very least.
The transport soon left the terminal.
Nothing happened in the first two days, allowing Hal a rather peaceful trip, though he could never fully relax his vigilance.
Perhaps this was what the bastards were hoping for all this time.
Three more days passed and nothing still happened.
The donkey cart was getting closer and closer to Calaren City.
Hal’s resolve to never ease up was slowly eroded, and before he even noticed, he was already slacking a bit.
It was then that something chaotic happened.
Fangs and claws emerged from the shadows of the nearby forest as three E-ranked Zephyr Leopards charged toward the cart, hungry for blood.
The passengers panicked.
How could they not, when even the E-ranked wizard assigned to defend the cart wasn’t looking too good?
Hal, on the other hand, merely narrowed his eyes.
He could kill these beasts if he wanted to, with the difficulty varying depending on which spells he used.
Hal hesitated, believing that acting while he was still being followed wouldn’t be wise.
That brief hesitation led him straight into the bastards’ trap.
Before he could make a move, more than ten men emerged from the shadows to "save" the cart.
Six of them "struggled" to fend off the leopards, while the others took advantage of the chaos to separate the passengers. Using the urgency of the moment, they convinced people to leave with them and flee the scene.
Of course, one of the men approached Hal.
That was when he realized that this was a plot of one of the factions following him.
’Tch, so that’s why they disappeared for a few days, huh?’
"Come, little brother, I’ll take you somewhere safe," offered a decently built but rather short man in his early thirties.
Hal didn’t immediately break all pretenses.
"Don’t worry about me, big brother. Just save the others. I can handle myself."
"I see you’ve been onto us this whole time," he replied with a cold tone. "Unfortunately, you’re coming with us whether you like it or not. Worry not, we’re not here to take your life. We just want to discuss something with you. I recommend you take the painless path."
Hal’s gaze turned icy as he quickly jumped back to put some distance between himself and the man, gritting his teeth.
"Where will you escape to? Even the driver left with one of us. If you’re planning to run away on foot, don’t even think about it. We have Manatech Hoverboards." the man added, smirking.
"We’re all E-ranked wizards here, and the leader and vice leader of our operation are both D-ranked. Do you get what I’m saying, young man?"
Hal wasn’t stupid, so he immediately understood what the short man was implying.
Then, a bark sounded below Hal.
Little Loki stood protectively in front of his master, ready to fight the short man.
Hal gritted his teeth.
Despite all his preparations, he still had to fight them in the end?
He should’ve just gone with them right away and hidden the fact that he could take care of himself...
He would’ve had a better chance of fooling them or catching them off guard that way.
"Tch, fine then, but stay a few meters away, and don’t touch me."
In the end, he could only attempt to talk it out with them first.