Inside the moving train, Ur sat quietly with his eyes half-closed, rapidly recalling every bit of information he knew about the Kingdom of Kiyin.
After some inner conflict, he had finally decided to follow Jericho's trail into Kiyin.
Failing this mission would impact him. It would delay his promotion to a B-Class mage, slow down his income, and that was something Ur absolutely couldn't tolerate.
Even so, he couldn't shake off a deep sense of unease about this trip.
The Kingdom of Kiyin was nothing like the Kingdom of Fiore.
It was a nation plagued by constant war and chaos, and more importantly, it was aligned with the Dark Faction. Compared to the rough town of Stygog, Kiyin was even more unstable… and far more dangerous.
In countries affiliated with the Dark Faction, most mages were loyal followers of Zeref, known collectively as Dark Mages.
Across the continent, dark mages were generally a minority. Once someone turned to the dark path, they were immediately branded enemies by all official guilds and placed under permanent watch or bounty by the Magic Council.
Which is why, outside of these Dark Faction nations, it was rare to see dark mages at all.
Likewise, members of legitimate guilds rarely set foot in these places. And when they did, they were careful to hide their identities.
After all, not every dark mage practiced forbidden or destructive magic. So with careful preparation, hiding one's affiliation was entirely feasible.
But that wasn't the only thing setting Dark-aligned nations apart.
In most neutral or Light Faction countries, guilds cooperated with the state. That alliance was key to national security.
But in Dark Faction countries, the situation was reversed.
These nations were often controlled outright by dark guilds. In name, a country; in truth, a puppet state.
The Kiyin Kingdom was no exception.
According to Ur's intel, the strongest dark guild in the Kiyin Kingdom was rumored to be—
The Devil's Fang.
"Surely it can't be that coincidental…"
That particular piece of intel made Ur grimace slightly.
He had no intention of getting tangled up in a guild war. At his current level, he could hold his own against any mage below B-Class, but once things escalated beyond that...
It was a matter of life and death.
"No way Jericho would just happen to go somewhere as dangerous as Devil's Fang turf, right?"
It was a perfectly reasonable argument.
"Even if Kiyin isn't huge, it still has five to six million people. There's no reason Jericho would go specifically to that place."
And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was walking straight into a disaster.
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Despite its reputation, Kiyin wasn't far from Fiore.
The continent of Ishgar had many nations, but when it came to actual land area. Most were smaller than a single province from Ur's previous life.
After getting off at the nearest station to Kiyin, Ur stopped by a store to buy a black cloak that covered him from head to toe. Only then did he hop on a horse-drawn carriage headed toward the country.
Kiyin was a lot like Stygog in one key way: a pretty face would draw all the wrong attention.
If he wanted to move safely, he'd have to stay disguised.
Boys out on their own still need to protect themselves.
From what he'd learned from the waitress back at the Party Tavern, Jericho had likely come to Kiyin to fence the stolen artifact.
After all, only a Dark Faction country could provide the right channels for selling rare stolen treasures.
Which was why Ur's first stop upon entering Kiyin was the country's most economically developed city.
Starfish City.
Regardless of the country, commerce has always been essential for development. Even Dark Faction nations weren't exempt.
Though chaotic and dangerous, the potential profits here were enormous. For merchants, profit was everything—worth risking their lives for.
The sky over Starfish City was a dull gray. Ur couldn't tell if it was just bad weather today, or if the city always looked like this.
Along the way, in less than thirty minutes of walking its streets, Ur had already witnessed seven or eight fights break out in broad daylight. One of them almost turned into a murder scene.
And yet, no one seemed surprised by his full-body cloak. If anything, that kind of look was the norm around here.
As he passed through the streets, he caught all kinds of expressions in the eyes of the people—wary, curious, indifferent, hopeless.
But none held a trace of light or hope.
In war, it's always the ordinary people who suffer the most.
Ur visited every sizable shop he passed, making quiet inquiries each time.
It wasn't until the seventh or eighth shop that he finally struck gold.
"Moya City? An auction?"
Walking out of the store, Ur immediately hired a carriage and set out for Moya City.
Along the way, he kept muttering the city's name under his breath. "Moya City…"
It felt familiar, like he'd heard it somewhere before. But he couldn't place it.
An hour later, he stepped off the carriage and looked up to see, fluttering high above the city skyline—
The guild banner of Devil's Fang.
Ur fell into stunned silence.
For a long, long time, he just stood there, unmoving.