They flew for a while before they dipped down towards the deserted part of city.
The next part of the journey would be completely by foot and thus they began to walk southward, fortunately with the war ongoing, they didn't meet any patrols and most people moving around were shifty eyes like them.
Because it would soon be day, they decided to run the rest of the way to make sure they entered the mountains before day and the search for them becoming intense.
And that was what they did.
The distance between the city and the mountains was covered by heavy patch of forest and they used that for their cover and with that, they managed to enter into the cool embrace of the mountains as the sun appeared.
Vacuse breath a sigh of relief.
At least now, they aren't in the open like they were before, but they didn't rest as they traverse the rocky ground eastward. They walk over large mountains, climbing the trails that was nothing more than a little smooth part of the mountain.
"We are going to reach one of the entrance soon." Lady Slave said.
She had explained a bit more about the mountains.
There are hollow tunnels and Cavern in the mountains that led from one mountain to the other. The way she explained it, the mountains are like rat houses with each one linking to the other throughout the whole mountains.
Once they entered, they would likely not see the sun again for a long time. And it was one of the reasons why clearing the bandits out of the Hiding Mountains was nearly impossible unless they want to destroy the hundreds of mountains in the area.
"What do you mean you don't have any gold? Red eyes slave, you mean you don't have any gold in your ring? We are going to need to hire a guide to take us through. Of course we can try to go alone but that'll be stupid and would take a lot of time. Or we might not even reach there at all."
His finance was something he really didn't keep a tight eye on, sadly. He let his captain manage things like that besides, he really didn't have much use for it in the Western Region where he could get what he wanted with a single wave of his hand.
All he knew was that his allocation—the one given by his father—was being used to fund his little projects like his spy network and his assassins.
He sighed. "How can we make money in there?"
"Well...we can register as hunters and join a gang. Any monsters we kill in their territories would be bought by them. Must be and they would be the one to set the price."
Vacuse sighed again. "They're going to set ridiculous prices and rip us off right? It doesn't matter, I want to get this over with as soon as possible. So let's do as you say. I'll put it in your care."
They soon reached one of the entrance and even before they got close, Vacuse could feel eyes on him, scanning him but he didn't care since he was hiding his power.
His void creature was back in the void and the dragon construct in the right. Even the pressure he usually give off was clamped shut and hidden. For the most part he appeared like an ordinary person....and blind.
If there was one thing that made it possible for them to be tracked it would be his red eyes and so he had covered it with a strip band if cloth around his eyes.
The thing was, he could still see even with band covering his eyes but still, his hand was on Lady Slave's shoulder and he allowed her to lead him.
"Wait! Don't come close, who are you and what do you want!"
The voice shouted just before they got closer to the cave entrance.
Lady Slave paused. "We are travelers and we would like to pass through the mountains. We need safe passage through your gang territory!"
As unwritten rules, nobody cared about other's identity as long as they could pay.
"Are you just a traveler?"
"We are hunters too. We would like to hunt for the passage money as well as to hire a guide!" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on noᴠelfire.net
"Hiring a guide isn't our business but you can always hunt here....as long as you sell it to us. And pay our passage fee. You are welcome!"
With that out of the way, things became smoother. Vacuse and Lady Slave entered into the cave and they were immediately led to the hunter's division of the gang.
Everywhere Vacuse looked there are people walking around and minding their business. If not for the roof and the lights hung around everywhere, he would have thought he was in a small village.
And the tunnels and cave chambers are extremely large so that smaller caves and tunnels could be made. Indeed, Vacuse was impressed.
"What level of monsters can you fight? That way we'll led you to the section where you can hunt from."
Lady Slave had explained that the mountains was like a giant dungeon with the humans trying to carve out foothold. The monsters are far more than the humans in the mountains but they aren't unified and were separated by different mountains.
That was the reason why each gangs accept hunters from outside to hunt In their territories. It was all to keep the monsters population in each territories in check.
"Circle two? Even that blind one?"
"Oh, he's just tagging along."
"Then take this, your permit. Know that you can only use it for one week and the fees would be deducted from the kills you make before you can be given any profits at all."
Lady Slave agreed to all their demands without raising any issues.
And after that they went to the guides.
Guides and gangs are not the same at all. Guides are not controlled by the gangs, they are are independent organizations that work in different territories and pay tax to the gangs.
"Let's find a gang and let's clear this shit." Lady Slave muttered.