Volume 2 Chapter 62: Miss Feathered Serpent Has Victory in Hand
'He really is a Feranmut!'
Even though he had expected it, when Dario heard Garde personally confirm it, he couldn't help but grip the scripture box at his waist.
It was said that the explosives inside the scripture box could kill any enemy on this continent — but that was under the premise that the enemy was "human."
A Feranmut clearly no longer fit within the category of "human."
Later, when Garde mentioned wanting to help reform Iberia, Dario's first instinct was to refuse, because he didn't trust Garde.
Secondly, he wasn't sure what Garde meant by being "good at fighting" — how strong was that, exactly?
Even among Feranmuts, there were varying levels of strength.
And the Inquisition had no reliable method for gauging the strength of a Feranmut.
Becoming a leader was never easy.
Especially if you wanted to be a good leader, to protect the people under your rule, to save them from suffering.
Every decision you made could determine the life or death of countless people.
'Can I shoulder this responsibility?'
Every time, Dario would ask himself this.
'What is the right thing for me to do?'
He realized he had fallen into the same dilemma his mentor once faced.
"I don't need your answer now," Garde said. "You can contact me anytime. This offer remains valid until we truly come face-to-face with the Seaborn."
Until Iberia made its decision, Garde would stick to his original plan — continue his journey in Columbia to become stronger.
After all, the main goal of this trip was already accomplished:
Finding and securing Ishar'mla.
All methods ultimately served the purpose. Every method carried risks. Only by continuously growing stronger could he mitigate and eliminate the risks brought by those methods.
After the Seaborn and the Church of the Deep had withdrawn, the next day, Garde set off on his journey back to Columbia with Ishar'mla and the little Seaborn.
Along the way, he even extended an invitation to Sideroca, asking if she was willing to come work for Rhine Lab.
Garde was starting to think he should form his own makeshift team.
No matter how strong a person was, their power alone was limited.
He needed to make some changes.
Maybe... he should return to Acahualla first and secure his position as Great Chief?
He decided to write a letter.
He didn't have time to go back himself right now, so he'd have Gavial handle taking over the Great Chief position.
Violence could solve many problems, but he still wasn't violent enough yet.
Thus, he would use violence — within the bounds of the rules — to accumulate capital as fast as possible, so he could better protect the people around him.
Having made up his mind, he planned to pull Kristen down from the CEO position once he got back and replace her with Saria.
Of course, it's provided he could convince Saria first.
The crocodile man racked his brains hard, then, irritated, kicked a large roadside boulder, shattering the man-sized rock into pieces.
Sure enough, thinking about all these messy things was such a pain!
Sideroca accepted Garde's job offer.
Wasn't that obvious?
What mercenary could refuse an invitation from a rapidly rising major corporation?
Besides, Sideroca had become a mercenary just to leave her hometown — that trade city obsessed only with profit.
Even if, after leaving, she just went from one trade city to another, she still wanted to see a broader world.
Behind them, Dario and his student continued to follow; they hadn't left.
"Teacher, are we going to keep following them?"
Irene asked in a low voice, glancing at Ishar'mla and the little Seaborn behind Garde, a trace of worry apparent in her eyes.
"Could there be a trap ahead?"
"Even if we know there's a trap waiting," her teacher replied, "as Inquisitors, we still have no choice but to walk into it."
Dario wasn't a man of many words, but when facing his student, he still patiently shared his life experiences.
"I can't tell whether they're friend or foe. Only time can prove that... Fortunately, we still have some time," Dario said.
He couldn't answer Garde's offer — even though he was a High Inquisitor, he was still just a High Inquisitor.
However, he could use his own eyes to observe, to analyze what kind of person — or rather, what kind of Feranmut — Garde really was.
And when he returned to Iberia, he could present his observations to his mentor and let them make the decision.
"Sometimes we need to rely appropriately on our elders. We can have our own opinions, but we mustn't ignore the fact that they have far more life experience than we do."
The group trekked across the wilderness for an entire week.
If Garde had been traveling alone, he probably would've made it back to Trimounts in half a day.
But with a group in tow, his pace was heavily slowed.
On the seventh day, they entered a slightly larger mobile city.
Inside, Garde found a branch of a Columbian bank and went in to withdraw some money.
The end result? He found out that his bank account had been frozen!
Fortunately, Dario and Irene were carrying a decent amount of travel funds.
They used the money to buy a sand rover, which finally sped up their journey.
By the time they reached the third mobile city they could spot on the horizon, they were already within arm's reach of Columbian territory.
Now, Dario had to decide whether to keep following Garde into Columbia or to turn back.
But Dario noticed that as soon as they entered the town, someone started watching them.
"Irene, stay alert tonight," Dario warned.
"Got it, Teacher!"
Hearing her teacher's words, the somewhat bored Irene immediately snapped to attention.
The group rented three rooms at a roadside inn, with Dario in one room, Irene and Sideroca sharing another, Ishar'mla and the little Seaborn... naturally staying with Garde.
But don't get the wrong idea — Garde didn't do anything.
The soundproofing at the inn was terrible; there was no way he would risk that in such a place.
Besides, it seemed Ishar'mla had already gathered enough "seeds" and wasn't as ravenous as before.
Most of the time, she would just space out, rub her belly, or tend to the little Seaborn's hair.
To an outsider, Ishar'mla and the little Seaborn could easily pass for sisters.
Not mother and daughter though, since Ishar'mla just looked too young, not at all like someone who is old enough to have children the size of the little Seaborn.
However, just when Garde thought tonight would pass peacefully, the long-delayed malice finally descended upon him.
At some unknown point, the entire inn had become deserted.
Layers of earth and rock began rising up from the ground, trying to encase the entire building like wrapping a dumpling.
"Garde, don't say I didn't warn you," a mature-looking Liberi woman said with a triumphant smile as she appeared in Garde's room.
"Right now, all of Columbia's agents are hunting for you. If you don't run now, it'll be too late."
She clearly could have tipped him off much earlier, but had deliberately waited until the very last second.
She had it all planned out: if Garde begged her for help later, well, she might just be kind enough to show him a way out.
After all, now that the entire Columbian intelligence network was out to get him, and Garde had waltzed right into their trap, no one but her could save him.
No matter how powerful an individual was, they couldn't fight an entire nation.
Even if Garde was incredibly strong, escaping alone would come at a hefty price.
However, when Ho'olheyak laid eyes on the scene unfolding on Garde's bed, the smile that had been tugging at her lips vanished instantly.
She saw a white-haired, red-eyed girl straddling Garde, clutching her lower belly and frowning.
"Hunter," Ishar'mla said seriously, ignoring Ho'olheyak's presence behind her.
"The seeds in my belly have run out."
She stared at Garde intently.
"Hunter, please mate with me again!"
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