The carriage brought them to the tea-scented village and stopped. It was a large and the only agricultural territory found in the warm lands. On paper, it belonged to the Fierce Sword Count, but it was being overseen by his subordinates and capable nephew, the golden-eyed lord.
The door to the carriage was pushed open, and several people stepped out of it, then looked around, taking in their surroundings.
They were on a single road that went up to a huge shrine. On either side of them were fields that were covered with rows of spiritual plants. Tea leaves could be harvested from them. These tea leaves were what Badulf circulated in the empire to strike it filthy rich after becoming Count.
A refreshing and calming scent wafted off of them, clouding the air and showcasing that they were ready for harvest.
Farmers could be seen working in the fields, cutting the plants and throwing them in the basket strapped to their backs.
Some stopped to look at them. Those not mesmerized by the handsomeness of Roy and the beauty of Delilah smiled and turned around and continued hacking at the spiritual plants. The others looked at them like they were animals in a zoo. This was some villagers’ first or second time seeing such perfection in a man and woman. They couldn’t help but look at them for a few moments longer. God knows when they would get to see such a fine-looking lad and lass again.
“This reminds me of the first time I came here with a fashionable new haircut. They treated me in a similar fashion. They couldn’t keep their eyes off me.” Arlo boosted.
Roy found it hard to believe his word.
Actually, he wasn’t lying.
The first time he came here with a bald head, they really couldn’t keep their eyes off of him as some mistook him for an ogre, and the others mistook him for a fierce bandit and were terrified of him. Arlo looked at the villagers plowing at the fields using different items. He remembered that those were the items they pointed at him threateningly while trembling, trying to shoo him away like a dog until he cleared up their misunderstanding. Lol!
He turned to the youngsters beside him. “This is the tea-scented village.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Maya held the beautiful scenery in her eyes like a cherished rune stone.
‘I want to retire to this place when I am old.’
“It has a calming feel to it.” Roy took a deep breath in, sniffing in the refreshing scent present in the air. As a result, his racing mind and heart calmed down, and he felt soothed.
He closed his eyes, letting the warmness of the sun embrace him and the refreshing scent caress him. But he only got to enjoy the feeling of a mother’s embrace for a few moments before the memories of this place being destroyed in the future flashed before his eyes. All these villagers would be brutally killed, and the warm lands destroyed.
His eyes immense snapped open, big droplets of sweat oozing out his forehead and sliding down to his nose and cheeks.
Amelia’s eyes never left him, and the second he started sweating and breathing irregularly, she patted his back, smothering him, and pulled out a handkerchief using the other hand.
“Let me wipe the sweat for you, master.”
Roy nodded.
Gently, she used it to wipe the sweat off his face.
“Thanks.” He said to Amelia.
A pleasant smile blossomed on her face.
‘The horned serpent was right. I can’t be too complacent after just defeating an aura beast. It’s nothing compared to the enemies I will face in the future.’
Roy curled his fingers into a fist and tightened it.
‘They all need to die.’
Julian did a circle of the carriage before coming beside Arlo. “Where to now?”
“You see that manor up there?” Arlo pointed at a manor above a cliff. “That’s where we need to get to.”
Behind the Temple was a mountain. The sun was just above it, illuminating it. On its widest cliff, a manor could be seen. It was black. Sunlight couldn’t touch it. It looked like a manor where a vampire would live.
Roy looked at it, and goosebumps rose on his skin as he felt he was being stared at by someone or something. ‘That’s creepy!’
“Whose manor is that?” Julian questioned the man who was scratching his bald head.
Arlo beamed proudly, “My son!”
Julian trembled like a frightened rabbit.
“Can I just stay and sleep in the carriage for the days we’re here?” He shot Arlo, a begging look like a puppy.
“No,” Arlo ruthlessly shot him down and stored the carriage in his inter-spatial ring.
Julian: ´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ ` He felt devastated and silently wept tears.
Roy nudged him, “Why are you afraid of meeting him?”
Julian looked at him in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you don’t know a thing about your cousin, the golden-eyed lord!”
“Hmm, I don’t,” Roy mercilessly told him.
“Your cousin is a monster that suppressed an entire generation just because!” Julian revealed.
“Come on; he is not that bad,” Arlo said as he walked towards the manor.
They followed after him.
“Tell me more about him,” Roy said to Julian.
The twins and Delilah also showed they were interested in knowing more about Arlo’s son.
“He was 16 years old when he participated in the adulthood ceremony. That was seven years ago. Do you know what he did? He blocked the way forward for every participant in the first test and tested them. Those who passed his test were able to take the second test. Those who passed the test of the exam invigilator but failed his were forced to leave. Almost 50% of participants in the same bracket as him were forced to disqualify.”
“In the second exam, the participants were supposed to survive getting hunted down by the examiners in a large terrain. Do you know what he did? He hunted down the examiners and gave them back to their families in exchange for gold and runic items! He ransomed them out to their families under the eyes of the emperor.”
“In the third exam, he…”
Julian listed out all the monstrous things the golden-eyed lord did in the adulthood ceremony and thereafter.