After taking a moment to rest and recover, they set off again. After traveling for a while, they finally saw the border city of this country: Ironwall.
Why was it called Ironwall? Not because its walls were made of iron, but because from the day it was built until now, it had never been conquered.
"This city really feels different," Shanks said from outside the walls. If the four of them entered now, they would definitely be discovered.
"Of course," Bai Chuan replied. "This city has been through dozens of wars, big and small. Those walls must have been soaked in the blood of countless civilians."
Standing beneath that wall, anyone would feel small.
They found a relatively hidden spot outside the city and waited until nightfall. They'd decided to fly over at night to avoid drawing attention.
Bai Chuan had no intention of getting riddled with arrows in broad daylight.
Night came quickly. The air was cool and pleasant, a light breeze drifting by. The delicate moon hung in the pitch-black sky, spilling clean white light across the world.
The night was quiet. Only the occasional cries of small animals rose and fell, trying to catch their attention.
Inside Ironwall, there was none of the lively evening bustle other cities had. There were only soldiers with focus so intense it was almost frightening.
Their eyes stared straight ahead, determined not to miss even the slightest hint of movement.
"This country's politics might be a mess, but their soldiers are top-tier," Bai Chuan said, a little impressed as he watched the meticulous men on the wall.
"It seems like they have some kind of strict system for soldiers," Kather Lin said. "They don't dare relax at all. If they're caught slacking, the punishment probably isn't light."
"So that's how it is." Bai Chuan nodded in agreement. With someone constantly pushing from behind, people could perform at their best. But if one day the one holding the whip disappeared, their attitude would loosen fast, maybe to the point of being worse than other countries' troops.
"Let's move."
"Mm." The three of them nodded.
Bai Chuan picked Kather Lin up. It wasn't to take advantage of her. It was so she'd feel safe in the air and wouldn't start screaming.
As for Shanks and Buggy, the two of them grabbed onto their clothes. With their personalities, they shouldn't be the type to show fear.
But Bai Chuan was destined to overestimate Buggy.
They needed to fly over the entire city, so the trip would take a while. To avoid being spotted, Bai Chuan flew extremely high this time.
At first, Buggy was fine. After all, Bai Chuan had carried him flying plenty of times. But as they climbed higher and higher, Buggy's heart started hammering faster and faster. And because it was night, when he looked down it was nothing but pitch-black emptiness. He had no idea how high they were.
He hugged Bai Chuan's leg with a death grip.
Seeing Buggy like that, Bai Chuan couldn't help wanting to tease him. He suddenly dropped a short distance, as if he'd lost his power.
Buggy let out a scream on the spot, so sharp it felt like it could be heard for hundreds of miles.
Luckily, Shanks reacted fast and clamped a hand over Buggy's mouth. Bai Chuan didn't dare joke anymore either. He steadied himself and returned to normal flight.
He'd been startled too, honestly.
"Hey, did you hear a scream just now? Sounded pretty miserable," a soldier on the wall asked the man beside him.
"Nope. You sure you didn't imagine it?"
"Maybe I did." Since his companion hadn't heard anything, it was probably just his own ears playing tricks on him.
"I'm telling you, you've been working too hard these past few days," the other soldier said. "Your body's giving out. Once you're off duty, go sleep. Stop wasting your energy on women's bellies."
"Yeah… looks like I really do need a day off." He lifted his head and thought he saw a shooting star, flickering as it drifted across overhead, then vanishing.
"Am I really that drained?" he muttered, sinking into deep self-doubt.
After some time passed, and with Bai Chuan no longer messing around on purpose, Buggy finally calmed down.
"Buggy, the way you looked earlier was pathetic," Shanks immediately started in with his venom the moment he had the chance.
"Hmph. Don't talk about me," Buggy shot back. "Weren't you scared too? Like I don't know you."
"At least I didn't scream."
"That's because I screamed first and distracted you," Buggy insisted. "Otherwise, you would've screamed for sure."
Buggy was convinced Shanks would definitely scream, but not from fear. From excitement.
Bai Chuan kept a faint smile as he listened to the two clowns bicker. On a boring trip through the air, hearing something entertaining was actually pretty nice.
"How about you just fly me straight back to my kingdom's royal capital?" Kather Lin suggested softly.
Bai Chuan had no idea whether she'd fallen for the feeling of flying or for the warmth of his arms, but she said it anyway.
"No." Bai Chuan rejected her without hesitation, not even thinking.
"Why?" Kather Lin puffed out her cheeks, refusing to accept it and not understanding either.
"No reason. I just don't want to fly."
"Hmph. You're really willful." Kather Lin turned her head away, planning to throw a little tantrum, but the only person who would suffer from her little mood was herself.
"Hey, why aren't you going down yet?" she said after a while. "We should've already flown past the border of the Golen Kingdom."
She could tell they'd been flying for a long time. The border should've been behind them ages ago.
"I'm planning to fly straight to your country," Bai Chuan said.
"Huh? What do you mean? Didn't you say you wouldn't fly straight to our royal capital?"
"I did," Bai Chuan said. "But I never said I wouldn't fly straight to your country. I'm just bored. I want to finish this ridiculous mission faster."
"What do you mean, bored?" Kather Lin's tone sharpened. "Are you saying being with me is too boring? Fine, then. Put me down right now. I'll go back on my own."
"Are you just making trouble for no reason?" Bai Chuan's voice suddenly turned cold.
"Making trouble for no reason? How am I making trouble?" Kather Lin snapped back. "You said you were bored. How does that turn into me being unreasonable?"
"So what, you want to take what you got and then pretend nothing happened?" Bai Chuan said. "I'm getting paid for this mission. If I put you down now, who am I supposed to collect my reward from?"
After hearing that, Kather Lin stopped talking.
Just then, from below them came sudden booming sounds.
Bang, bang, bang!
Gunfire. Cannon fire. People shouting.
"What the heck, what the heck, what's happening?" Buggy, who'd only just quieted down, immediately came alive again.
/-\
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