Chapter 127 127: Pawn
"We are getting closer to the territory of the Franc Clan. There\'s just one more town along the way to pass."
Atlas was sitting inside the carriage while Lilith gave him a briefing on how far they had reached and how much distance they still needed to cover.
Throughout their journey, they had covered most of the distance already. All that was left was a little more.
"Just one more day," Atlas muttered. "And then we would be there."
"Do we need to be careful in that town? If it\'s so close to the territory of the Franc Clan, it\'s highly likely that we can come across someone from the clan. Should we avoid that town? Lancaster was more concerned about the safety of the group.
So far, he didn\'t care how many towns they passed as that wasn\'t too concerning, but if they passed through this town, the next place was Franc Clan. If a Witch was there, it was going to make it too obvious what their Target was. A witch could alert the clan, which wasn\'t good for their plan.
"If that happens, we could lose the element of surprise," he further stated.
"That\'s true." Atlas also agreed with the assumption of Lancaster. This was something that even he had missed. "We can avoid that town then."
"No, we can\'t. If we avoid it, the distance will increase since there are no proper roads in that place, except the ones that pass through the town. We can ignore the town, but it\'ll double our distance to be covered. Moreover, the only other route is even worse. It\'ll make us stand out like a sore thumb."
Lilith was clear that they had no other alternative. If they didn\'t want to make things more troublesome for them, they needed to pass through that town.
"But what if we\'re seen?"
"Don\'t worry; we won\'t be seen." Lilith chimed in. "The chances of someone from the clan being there is close to none. And even if there is one, they would be there during the day. We would be passing through the town at night."
"And lastly, they are witches and not Wizards. They can\'t smell a Vampire\'s scent. There is no way for them to know who is traveling in the carriage. That\'s also why we switched the Carriages with that merchant. This one is less noticeable after all."
"So the chances of us being seen are close to none. And even if we are seen, so what? Who even recognizes us? Only Zhang recognizes us. Even if someone from his clan is in the town, we won\'t be raising any suspicions."
Lilith removed all the doubts of Lancaster, trying to solve his worries, showing that there was nothing to worry about.
At least until they reached the borders of the Franc Clan, there was no reason to be concerned.
"Moreover, even if the town is the last town before we get to the Franc Clan, the distance between the town and the Clan is over thirty kilometers. So you can rest easy. We would pass through the town."
"And if you\'re still concerned, I will make sure there isn\'t anyone from the Franc Clan in the town before we enter."
The sun had already set outside as the carriage closed in on the town. It stopped not too far from the town.
Lilith opened the door and flew closer to the town. After around twenty minutes, she returned. "I was right. There is no one in the town that we should be concerned about."
She entered the carriage after telling the carriage driver to continue.
As Lilith returned to the Carriage, she didn\'t realize that she was partially right. There was no one they needed to be concerned about in the town... For now.
While the carriage entered the town, on the other side of the town, three horses were dashing through the barren land, carrying two women and a man.
****
In a beautiful castle, a young man was sitting on a chair, seemingly lost in some deep thought. The man appeared to be in his early twenties. However, his real age was much more.
He was the Blood Council Member Ramiun, who had met Atlas before in his hometown.
After being rejected by the Blood Council, he had just returned to his own castle. Throughout the journey, he hadn\'t stopped thinking about ways to get access to Atlan.
"I can\'t wage a war on the Kingdom without the help of the Blood Council. It would be impossible to even hold back Razil. It would be suicidal. That means frontal assault is useless."
" I also can\'t sneak inside the castle. He would have wards all around his castle, and no way I\'m getting invited in."
"It\'s also impossible to get the help of one of his men since they are too loyal. No amount of greed can sway them, so their help is impossible too."
"To get Atlan, I would need to take out Razil somehow. As long as he\'s there, I can\'t get Atlan out. Lord Ramiel might be able to take him out, but if he is back, my plan would go down the drain. He won\'t let me become a Progenitor. No other Progenitor would let it happen if they find out what I plan, so even if I knew where to find Lord Ramiel, it would be foolish to ask him to help."
"Ignoring the Progenitors, there is only one person strong enough to take Razil out that I know about... But is it really right to wake him up? To make him listen to me is impossible. And if I wake him up, making him go back to sleep is just..."
"Do I really have no other choice but to lose my prized possession to get to my goal?"
"What do you think?" he asked, gazing back into the distance.
A young woman stood behind him like a statue. The Woman hadn\'t moved since the beginning.
"If you\'re talking about what I think you\'re talking about, then I would advise against it. Letting him roam free is like bringing a calamity on this World, especially after what happened last time," the woman said in an emotionless tone. "Moreover, if the Council finds out that you did it, they would come for your throat."
"They sure will." Ramiun rubbed his chin. "The Blood Council made too many sacrifices to catch him last time. If I made such a decision without informing them, they would really come for my throat."
"But only if they find out." The man smirked. "It doesn\'t have to be me who does it. I have someone in mind."