(A/N: GUYS, THIS IS Chapter 44! DO NOT READ IT BEFORE Chapter 42 AND 43 T_T. THE PREVIOUS ChapterS ARE POSTED BEFORE THIS!! SKIP THESE, READ THOSE AND COME BACK HERE AGAIN)!!!!

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"Ladies and Gentlemen! Please close your eyes for the grand reveal of Calder’s master plan’s!"

A man in white ’suit’ walked through the forest with his chest held high, much less being judged by two people standing a few meters away from him.

Calder even had a stick in his hand, which was uneven and ugly. It was torn off from a random tree.

"What is he up to now?"

Emperal couldn’t help but massage his temples, feeling a headache rising. But Vara? She seemed to be amused.

"Common don’t say it like that, he is at least making the journey more amusing"

Vara chuckled, hearing this Emperal sighed.

"Well, as long as you are in a good mood"

Of course, he spoke that inwardly.

Looking ahead, they saw Calder pulling something from behind, it was covered in a large cloth. It was moving towards them...on its own. Because there was no way Calder was the one applying pressure.

Coming near them, Calder finally stopped. His smile was as bright as the sun shining above their head, he seemed proud of what he had just done.

"Please let this be a surprise, I ask this elegant lady to not use any of her powerful senses to probe this little baby inside"

Vara smirked when she heard that, "Don’t worry mister joker, my senses are always focused on things that belong to...me"

Hearing her words, Calder was speechless and turned his head towards Emperal, who seemed to be fighting with himself to control his expression.

"These two bastards!"

Quickly calming himself down, Calder once again smiled.

"Alright, I will do the grand reveal now!"

With a smirk, he stretched out his hand and pulled the curtains.

Whoosh!

The moment the curtains came off, both Emperal and Vara’s lips stretched in an ’O’ shape. Emperal couldn’t believe his eyes.

Standing in front of them was...a carriage! A large one at that, but that wasn’t the thing that surprised them the most. It was the beasts used to pull the carriage!

The earlier three men and a...bullhorse.

Yes, a bullhorse.

It was a beast known for its incredible strength and speed, it had the muscular structure and distribution of horse and the strength of the bull. With two large horns pointing forward. It was a bizarre product of two beasts.

It was a surreal sight, but its cultivation was rather low.

Stage Three Verth Seeker, probably the reason Calder could capture these.

It was hissing continuously, with literally smoke coming out of its nose.

"Eeek!! Y-You evil bastards!"

One of the captured men couldn’t help but cry in despair when he saw his situation. Perhaps it would’ve been better if they were the ones pulling the carriage, but no! This rotten bastard had to put a beast beside them, just to make them run to their death.

Clap Clap!

"Calder, oh Calder. Today you have outdone yourself. Truly"

Emperal clapped and gave a thumbs-up, though he inwardly wondered how did they make a carriage so fast, they literally had gone just for six hours.

"Mhm, not bad" Vara also nodded her head, a smile bloomed on her face. "Hehe, perhaps I can sit together with Emperal"

She almost wished to give a huge reward for Calder, but considering she was still in her hide. She refrained.

"Hehe, Thank you boss! This lowly servant has finally proved his high class intelligence!"

"...Ok, let’s go now"

Emperal waved his hand, signalling for both of them to move. Which Vara happily agreed to and followed Emperal.

Emperal and Vara got inside the room, just as Calder was climbing up. He felt two burning and confused stares.

"Huh?"

"Who will drive the carriage?"

"Who will drive the carriage?"

Both Emperal and Vara spoke at the same time, surprising each other.

"W-What? Y-you guys want me to drive!?"

"...Yea? Isn’t this your carriage?" Emperal asked with a ’confused’ expression, mirroring Vara’s.

"Oh, so now this is my carriage huh! What a greedy and selfish bunch! I should have listened to my mother and stayed back in the village, you mainland people are all selfish!"

Calder cried and pointed a finger at the two selfish people, to which the both just shrugged off.

Having no choice, he clenched his fists and walked towards the Driver’s seat. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Get going you bastards!!"

WHIP!!

"Ahh!! You asshole!!"

...

The carriage went on full day before finally halting, the bullhorse and beastmen were thoroughly exhausted.

Emperal of course provided them plenty of food, after all it would take more than a week to reach the Phoenix Empire.

Sitting beside him was Vara, she was...a bit too close to him. Not just now, even during the entire journey.

"Say Vara. Can you tell me more about the Phoenix Empire? I know the basics, but still you can start from the beginning"

Emperal spoke, offering a glass of water to her. Vara looked at him for a few seconds, before nodding with a smile.

"You have asked the right person" She chuckled, her black hair and brown eyes shone for a moment, before returning to normal.

"The Empire of these Majestic birds is called—Solmere. It really is an beautiful country and house many types of beasts, including the ones of the coast"

Emperal nodded, this much he knew. Despite having not left the capital in his teenage years, he used to read everything in Vraelyn’s books or notes.

"Solmere, although has less land and territory than the Dragons and Titans. It is the most prosperous in terms of wealth, trade and others. Not to mention the number of ruins and inheritances it has hidden. The resources there are enough to make the Dragons and Titans go green with envy"

Emperal finally raised his brow when he heard the word, ’Ruins and Inheritances’. But, he didn’t interrupt her.

"But still, the Dragons and Titans dare not attack the Phoenix. Do you...know why?"

Vara suddenly asked him a question, a question which genuinely caught him off guard. He stared at the shining eyes of Vara. And his manly instinct tingled.

"This woman...she is desperate for my praises"

Emperal concluded, taking a breath he spoke.

"The Phoenix Empress..."

Vara’s smile widened unnaturally when she heard that. Moving closer to his ears, she whispered in a hush voice.

"Bingo"