Chapter 77: The Rock City, Allicok

By the end of October, in their pursuit of the wanted criminal Argus BartClarkefield from Thessalonica, the Galic Magic Association branch had lost over a dozen outstanding magicians. This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Icabod Weiss, the branch head.
Yes, the enemy was too strong—so strong that not a single one of his capable subordinates returned. Head Weiss wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but he could no longer continue the pursuit. As the branch head, he had to consider the lives of his subordinates…
“Still no news from the Royal Magicians?”
“Yes, sir. We haven’t received any support yet!”
“Huh, I knew it!” Sighing, Weiss, an outstanding magician of the empire and the 49-year-old branch head, put down his quill and frowned. “That bastard Jerry Belford is probably scheming to take Veston’s place right now and can’t be bothered with us for the time being…” He slammed the desk angrily and couldn’t help cursing.
“Sir,” came the sound of hurried footsteps as a magician rushed in. “Report! Tracks of Argus have been found in Allicok!”
“Allicok?” Weiss was stunned. Allicok was the ruling city of the Galic region, where the magic association branch was located. In other words, Argus had already arrived right under their noses.
“That bastard…”
“Sir, should we send someone to keep an eye on them?”
“Keep an eye on them? How?” Weiss sneered before sighing slightly, adjusting his emotions, and waving his hand. “Order everyone to evacuate the branch. We don’t need to get involved in Argus’ matter anymore!”
“Uh…” The magician seemed hesitant.
“That’s an order, Alton!”
“…Yes!” The magician named Alton nodded hesitantly and was about to leave when another magician rushed in, holding a magic letter. “Sir, this is a letter sent from Riox!”
Surprised, Weiss quickly stood up and walked over, reaching out eagerly. “Give it to me!”
“Yes!”
After taking the letter and opening it, Weiss glanced through it briefly. Then, the tension on his face gradually eased, and he nodded in relief. “Great!”

“What? The branch head?” asked Mage Alton in confusion.
Wade pointed to the magical letter in his hand and said with a smile, “Gret Kaines, the head of the Riox Academy and a great mage, has told us not to interfere any further. In a few days, this esteemed great mage will come to Galic along with a cardinal archbishop from the Church…”
“Great Mage Gret Kaines?” Alton’s face showed reverence and solemnity as he said joyfully, “Has this nobleman come all the way to Galic?”
“Hehe,” Wade smiled casually and nodded. “I knew that as soon as Wiston left, that jerk Jerry Belford would be unreliable, so I sent a letter to Riox… Great Mage Kaines is Wiston’s close friend. Although I’ve never met him, I’ve often heard Wiston speak highly of him—he’s a mage we can trust and respect. Since he’s willing to come to Galic personally, that’s even better… As for that cardinal archbishop…” He paused, tapped his forehead, walked back and forth in the office a few times, then said to Alton, “Keep an eye on Argus. I need accurate information about that guy—I don’t want to be unable to tell this nobleman where Argus is once he arrives. Just keep watching from a distance; prioritize protecting your own life!”
“Yes!” Alton saluted solemnly as a national mage and said seriously, “I’ll go!”
Wade glanced at Alton deeply, hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Just as the mage was about to leave, another member of the Galic Magic Association’s branch rushed in and reported, “Branch head, that Jean Connel has also arrived in Allicok!”
“Has this guy come too?” Wade walked back and forth in the room, thinking. “He’s also very powerful and has some unclear relationship with that Argus. But since he hasn’t hurt anyone, let’s avoid provoking him for now. Just keep watching. According to the intelligence, he’s alone and hasn’t reached any agreement with Argus yet, so for now, classify his threat level as level two…”
“Well,” the mage wore a strange expression and said awkwardly, “Branch head, Jean Connel isn’t alone right now…”
“Hm?” Wade instinctively turned his head and frowned. “Isn’t this guy always alone? Who else is with him?”

“Uh… there are also six children aged twelve or thirteen, two boys and four girls…”
“Children?” Wade was instantly surprised and puzzled, saying with a mix of laughter and confusion, “Has that guy turned into a nanny? Bernie, find out where those children are from, what their relationship is with Connel, and whether they volunteered to follow Connel. Get all the information—names, registration records, temporary residence addresses—everything. Find it out for me…”
“Yes!” The magician named Bernie nodded.
“Alright, that’s it. You go and handle these matters first. Remember, Alton, Bernie, both Argus BartClarkefield and Jean Connel are dangerous people. Be careful not to clash with them, especially that Argus. This is Alikok—be careful not to put the city’s residents at risk. That count has always had a prejudice against us; don’t make him hate us any more…”
“Yes!”
Meanwhile, near the entrance of Alikok City, Jiang Zhe and his group were slowly driving their carriage into the city.
In their eyes, Alikok was less of a city and more of a frontier fortress—imposing green stone city walls, tall arrow towers, and archers who stood solemnly with bows in hand, watching everything outside. It truly was an important military city in the northeast.
Inside the city, the patrols of guards going back and forth added to the tension. In just over ten minutes, Jiang Zhe and his group had seen at least three groups.
It was said that Alikok had the best law and order in the Galic region—because it was a lordly city, with at least two thousand guards patrolling day and night, and tens of thousands of Galic troops stationed in the nearby barracks.
Thus, those mercenaries who despised imperial laws dared not cause trouble here, nor did thieves dare steal from others. After all, the lord of Galic, Old Count Everly O’Gill, treated criminals with the same severity as he did barbarians.
In addition to being a lordly city, Alikok was also a commercial hub—the final and most important stop for merchants on their journeys to the northeast. Tens of thousands of Galic troops, along with tens of thousands of Alikok residents, ensured that merchants could make huge profits here.
Though far less prosperous than the Sassan Empire’s capital, Alikok was indeed one of the few prosperous cities in the empire’s northeast—no, it was a prosperous fortress city.

“Wow!” Leisa leaned against the carriage window, looking at the streets in the city, and exclaimed in amazement, “Why are all the buildings here made of rock? It’s so strange…”
Seeing Leisa’s curiosity, Ravia, sitting next to her, explained softly, “It’s not hard to understand. Alikok is known as the ‘Rock City’ for a reason. It was originally built to defend against the barbarians from the north—a fortress built for war. At that time, the barbarians had a poor relationship with the empire and often crossed the Scardio Mountains to plunder food. So some residents of Galik asked to live in this fortress… The Alikok you see now is an expanded city from decades ago. It wasn’t this large initially; it grew because more and more people moved here, forcing the lord of Galik to expand the city… But even during expansion, the lord still built it according to fortress standards—houses, streets, and walls were all made of hard, fire-resistant bluestone, to prevent fires from being seen by the barbarians from the north. That’s why it’s called the ‘Rock City’…”
“Oh,” Leisa realized suddenly, then smiled at Ravia and said, “Aivi knows so much…”
“Not at all!” Ravia smiled faintly, looking at the city surrounded by rocks. She seemed to see her hometown, that city surrounded by heavy snow…
“Are all the buildings in the city made of stone?” Jiang Zhe asked curiously, looking out the window. “All of them?”
“Of course,” Ravia replied indifferently after glancing at the boy. “Not only buildings—there aren’t even any trees in the city…”
“Incredible…” Jiang Zhe gave a strange expression and said, “The other day in Hale Town, there were still many trees, right?”
“But this is Alikok!”
Jiang Zhe shrugged speechlessly. A city full of rocks really didn’t have much beauty to it. It couldn’t even compare to Vando, where the Riox Academy was located, let alone Hale Town just a few days ago… It truly was a fortress!
Glancing at Jiang Zhe, who kept staring out the window, Dia said with a mix of surprise and curiosity, “Aren’t you tired, Sos? I remember you being very sleepy, and you hardly rested the past couple of days…”

“I don’t know,” Jiang Zhe shrugged and said with a smile, “I don’t know why either, but I’ve been feeling much better lately. Before, I used to sleep about sixteen hours a day, but now… it seems I’ve returned to normal—seven or eight hours is enough!”
“Giggle,” Dia said gently with a soft laugh, “Isn’t that great? By the way, should we go find Scott right now?”
Jiang Zhe thought for a moment and said with a smile, “Weren’t we here precisely to find him…” But before he could finish, Ravia interrupted him.
“I think we’d better find a place to stay first and settle our luggage and carriage. It would be very rude to just show up like that!”
“Yes, Thors,” Lailira added, seemingly nervous, “Showing up with all that luggage and carriage to see Scott—what if his grandfather sees us? That would indeed be extremely rude… Who visits like that?”
“What should we do then?”
“As Avi said, let’s find a place to stay first, settle our luggage and carriage, and then go find Scott. We can come back later to get the luggage left here. That way, we won’t be rude…”
Jiang Zhe glanced at Lisa and Dia, seeing them nod in agreement, then shrugged and said, “Well, I don’t mind…”
Seeing Jiang Zhe say that, Ravia raised her hand and tapped on the partition behind her. Immediately, the carriage came to a stop. Allen, who was sitting in the driver’s seat at the front, came over and opened the door, asking curiously, “What’s wrong?”
Pointing at the girls sitting there, Jiang Zhe shrugged and said, “To avoid being rude, we’d better find an inn first to settle our luggage and carriage…”
“Is it that troublesome? Can’t we just go straight there?” Allen scratched his head helplessly and said, “Alright, alright, that bastard Scott!”
So, Jiang Zhe and the others found an inn, booked two rooms, and settled their luggage.
Half an hour later, the children and Connel headed toward the inner city, as the innkeeper had said that carriages were not allowed in the inner city.
“That bastard Scott! I’m going to punch him hard when I see him!” Allen grumbled as he walked down the street, carrying his trusty knight’s sword.
Behind him, the girls were clearly more interested in the shops along the street. Compared to Hale Town, there were far more goods here, and of course, many more interesting trinkets as well.

Jiang Zhe, on the other hand, was staring at the rocky streets beneath his feet. As Lavia had said, all the streets in the city were paved with neatly arranged bluestone, a sight rarely seen in the empire—after all, given the size of the city, such a project was incredibly massive.

As the children continued walking, Connel suddenly stopped and glanced alertly behind him, his nose, with a sense of smell far beyond ordinary people’s, sniffed a few times. Seizing Connel’s reaction, Lavia deliberately fell a few steps behind and asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”

Connel calmly scanned the crowded streets behind them and frowned, saying, “We’re being followed!”

“Followed?” Lavia was stunned. She closed her eyes and tried to sense anything with her mental power, but nothing unusual was detected. After staring at the streets behind her for a while, she shook her head and said, “There’s nothing strange!”

“Is that so?” Connel nodded, unsurely saying, “Maybe I’m just mistaken…”

Glancing at Jiang Zhe, who was walking ahead chatting with Dia, Lavia hesitated and said, “Should we call Thos? His mental power is much stronger than mine…” But despite saying that, her expression showed she wasn’t very willing.

“Hey!” Looking at Lavia and the slight disappointment in her eyes, Connel gently patted her head and leaned down with a grin, “Want me to go teach that annoying brat a lesson?”

Lavia rolled her eyes at Connel and continued walking, humming softly.

“Hey!” Glancing at Lavia’s retreating figure, Connel smiled cheerfully before turning back to scan the streets again, frowning slightly before walking over to the children.

Had Argus made him too cautious? Connel muttered to himself.

Unbeknownst to him, in an alley about thirty yards away, two men wearing loose cloaks were casually wiping the sweat from their foreheads. One of them let out a long sigh, pulled down his cloak covering his head, and said helplessly, “Phew! This guy is way too alert. At this distance, there’s no way we can eavesdrop on their conversation!” His face clearly belonged to Bernie, a mage from the Galic Magic Association’s branch.

“Hey, Bernie,” the other mage said, patting his companion’s shoulder and frowning, “Is that red-haired girl a mage?”

“Did you feel it too?” Bernie smiled faintly and whispered, “I was too careless. I thought they were just ordinary kids around Connel… Thankfully her mental power isn’t strong; otherwise, she would have detected us. There’s no other choice but to follow from a distance—Sigh, why can’t I learn to block mental powers!”
Glancing at Bernie speechlessly, his companion took out a small booklet, wrote a few lines on it using shorthand magic, then said in a low voice, “Judging from those kids’ expressions, it doesn’t seem like they’re being coerced by Jean Connel—What should we do now?”
“Let’s watch a bit longer,” said Mage Bernie, frowning as he gazed at the other end of the street. “We just need to keep an eye on Connel and note the time and place where he meets Argus. There’s no need to interfere with anything else. Hmm… I can’t figure out why those kids are with that man. We should find an opportunity to investigate—Come on, let’s follow them!”
“Hmm!”
Meanwhile, Jiang Zhe and the others had arrived at the inner city walls. The guards there, seeing that they were just kids, paid them little attention. They glanced at Connel briefly before letting them pass. Still, they warned Connel before he left, advising him not to cause trouble. After all, Connel’s appearance right now was extremely eye-catching—whether it was his strong physique or his beast-like fur, he certainly didn’t look like an ordinary person…
Compared to the bustle and prosperity of the outer city, the inner city was much less lively. Most of it consisted of weapon workshops, and aside from guards, only mercenaries came and went.
To be honest, Allicok didn’t have strict controls on weapons. Theoretically, anyone could buy weapons here, even those of military standard, except for selling them to the barbarians in the north.
After all, Galic’s military pay had always been a source of hardship for the Saxon nobles. With no other choice, Galic’s officers would trade weapons privately to supplement their pay. Selling to mercenaries was just a small part of it; they also sold them to some small vassal states in the north that had good relations with Galic. Over the past decade or so, although the barbarians had stopped at Allicok, some of their tribes still continued to harass the northern regions of the empire. After all, the barbarians also needed food. With weapons, those small states might not be able to defeat the invading barbarians, but at least they could resist long enough for Galic’s army to arrive in support.

This kind of private trade, although violating the Empire’s arms control regulations, could at least ease Galkic’s financial burden. Both the old Earl Efray O’Gill and the King of Saxon knew about it, but for various reasons, they turned a blind eye—after all, Galkic’s finances were just as dire as those of the Empire.

After walking for another ten minutes and passing through a large open field, Jiang Zhe and the others finally saw a building that resembled a castle—it was actually a small fortress. Inside this castle lived not only the lord of Galkic but also some local military officers. In addition, there were five thousand Galkic soldiers stationed there to handle emergencies.

Compared to the outer and inner cities, the defenses here were even stricter. At a glance, there were rows of arrow towers and watchtowers, with countless archers holding their bows and watching everything around them solemnly. Coupled with the guards patrolling back and forth, it was practically a replica of a military camp.

Before Jiang Zhe and the others could get any closer, a group of guards stepped forward, holding spears pointed at them. The leading officer frowned and asked, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” He glanced at the children in front of him, his tone becoming slightly softer, and he said in a deep voice, “You’re not from Allicok, are you? Otherwise, you should know this isn’t a place for you. Go back!” As he spoke, he kept a wary eye on Connel.

Raising his hands and stepping forward a few steps, Allen said with a smile, “Hey?”

The captain glanced at the child in confusion. The captain nodded and frowned, “Yes—and so what?”

“May I ask if this is Earl Efray O’Gill?”

The captain nodded skeptically and frowned, “What exactly do you want, child?”

“Well,” Allen said with a chuckle, “we’re looking for a friend of ours named Scott O’Neill. Is he here?”

“O’Gill?” The captain seemed stunned. He looked at Allen doubtfully and asked, “The young earl is your friend? Are you sure you’re not lying to me?”

“Wow, the young earl,” Allen shrugged and said with a smile, “Could you please tell him? When he gets here, he’ll know if I’m lying or not!”

The captain thought for a moment, then nodded at a soldier beside him. Immediately, the soldier rushed toward the castle-like building.

Glancing at the soldier’s back, Allen turned to Jiang Zhe beside him with a smile and said, “Hey, buddy, do you think Scott will be surprised when he sees us?”
“Maybe!”
Before long, two people came out of the fortress-like castle. The one in front was clearly Scott, dressed in a proper black noble outfit with a white shirt underneath and a black tie at the collar. Following behind him was an old man in his sixties, with completely gray hair, wearing a black butler’s uniform. His sharp eyes resembled those of an eagle, and his straight posture and serious expression clearly indicated he used to be a soldier.
“Your Lordship,” the captain said, saluting Scott, “I’m sorry to disturb you. These people say they are your friends…”
Scott turned to look at Allen, who was smiling, along with Jiang Zhe and the others, showing some surprise and joy. “Allen? Thors? How did you guys…?”
Just then, a cough came from nearby.
Hearing that cough, Scott’s smile vanished instantly. He nodded at the captain and said in a deep voice, “They are indeed my friends!”
“Oh!” The captain breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, leading the soldiers away.
“Hey, that outfit looks pretty cool!” Allen couldn’t help but walk over, putting his arm around Scott’s shoulder and smiling. “I mean, buddy, aren’t you surprised to see us?” As he spoke, he glanced at Scott, who gave him a strong eye signal. Confused, Allen asked, “What’s wrong with your eye?”
Before he could finish speaking, the old man who acted like a butler reached out and quietly removed Allen’s right hand from Scott’s shoulder. With politeness and authority, he said, “Since they are the young master’s friends, we must not be too rude. Please follow me…” Then he turned to Scott and said, “The two tutors who teach you horsemanship and swordsmanship are waiting for you, young master. Permit me to say, keeping them waiting too long is extremely rude!”
Scott glanced at the old man awkwardly, nodded, and said, “I understand!” Then, helplessly, he gave Allen and Jiang Zhe a look before sullenly returning to the castle.
What the hell was that? Allen looked at Jiang Zhe in confusion, who just shrugged.

“Please follow me!” The old butler glanced intently at the group before him, then stretched out his hand and said, “I will report this matter to the master. For now, please go inside the castle and rest…” With that, he turned and headed toward the castle.
“Um… wait!” Allen hurriedly called out to the old butler.
The old butler turned around, frowned at Allen, and said in a deep voice, “My name is Nadin Black. I used to be a Gallic soldier, and now I am the butler of the O’Gill family. You may call me Nadin. Is there something you’d like to ask?”
“Yes, Mr. Black,” Allen said with an awkward smile, pointing at the castle and stammering, “Um, Scott…”
Seemingly guessing Allen’s thoughts, the old butler, Nadin Black, gave a somewhat forced smile and said in a deep voice, “That is the young master’s daily routine, as ordered by the master. If you want to talk to him…” He took something out of his pocket, glanced at it, and said, “There are still two hours and 25 minutes left, but we need to make up for the time lost earlier. So, it’s two hours and 31 minutes left—I think you’ll be able to see him again before dinner! Now, please follow me!” With that, Old Black turned and headed toward the castle.
Oh my god…
Allen stared blankly at Old Black, then gave Jiang Zhe a subtle nod with a strange expression on his face.