Weeping Ghost Grounds
“My Lord! I’ve captured that old man!”
Along with Baelin’s voice, there was a low thud as if someone was being tossed to the ground.
“Alright. Let’s go see your little brother!”
Leylin laughed and left first, with James and Jenny trailing behind him.
Outside the carriage, Baelin was holding a large steel sword, his clothes tattered, thus revealing his firm muscles, and his skin also seemed to be glistening. He was staring at the old man in black clothing.
The old man still had the brand of a black skull on his face. This was naturally Rhodes, who had just escaped.
If one talked about strength, this level 3 acolyte wouldn’t be so easily taken down by Baelin, a Grand Knight. However, Leylin had first done something to Rhodes’ body, and Rhodes himself had lost confidence after seeing how terrifying Leylin was. This was how he had been able to be captured by Baelin and brought here.
“My lord, how should we deal with him?”
Baelin swung his large sword at Rhodes, an evil grin on his face.
However, knowing Baelin, he was simply intimidating Rhodes.
Seeing his brother who had chosen to embark on the wrong path, James’ expression was complicated, a few times he opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut up. After all, Leylin was the one in charge here. Besides, Rhodes had been caught by Leylin’s disciple, so he did not have the authority to deal with his brother.
“You- You can’t kill me!” Rhodes gasped, body seemingly tied up by an invisible rope. Blood rushed up to his face, leaving him flushed.
“Oh? And why is that?” Leylin asked with a smile.
“I- I’m part of the Argus family! If you kill me, Master Siegfried won’t let you off,” Rhodes answered while struggling.
“Dream on!” Before he even finished speaking, he was interrupted by Jenny.
The young girl’s face was filled with contempt, “You’re just the conferred title of a subject in the family. Even if you’re a level 3 acolyte, who do you think Master Siegfried would choose to listen to, an official Magus or an acolyte?”
These words were like a sharp arrow, directly piercing into Rhodes’ heart and causing him to turn pale.
As long as these conferred subjects did not possess any land, to put things nicely, they could be said to be subjects of the family. In reality, they were high-grade servants of the Argus Family, and this was also Rhodes’ position.
In addition, even Siegfried would not offend a Magus of the same ranking over an acolyte.
“I’m afraid in Grandpa Siegfried’s heart even if my uncles or even father were to offend a lord Magus, he would send them over to the Magus as an apology!”
The girl looked at Rhodes who seemed to have lost his spine and had no intentions of taking revenge, and instead took pity on him.
Siegfried was a very distant relative of theirs. His family tree had probably branched away seven to eight generations ago.
Whether it was Jenny’s father, her uncles, or anybody in the family who would take control of the Argus Family, it didn’t matter who it was as long as they had the blood of the Argus Family!
Losing one of the families, who was a hindrance, would not really be a large issue for Siegfried.
“Only after gaining enough strength is it possible for Magi to make connections with each other!”
Jenny clenched her fists tightly, her desire for power intensifying.
“One day, I will advance to become an official Magus!”
In that moment, Baelin seemed to see boundless starlight shining from Jenny’s eyes.
“How about him? What should we do?” Baelin scratched his head. Seeing James who seemed to want to say something, he was getting a headache.
“Let him go!” Leylin suddenly exclaimed.
“My lord!” James was evidently pleasantly surprised and half-knelt, “I thank my lord for his benevolence on behalf of my useless brother!”
It was obvious that he still thought highly of his biological younger brother. However, the one calling the shots here was Leylin. Without fully understanding Leylin’s intentions, he did not dare say a word for fear it would cause Miss Jenny trouble.
Now that Leylin was letting Rhodes go, gratefulness could be seen in his eyes.
“Since Lord Leylin has spoken, I have no objections,” Jenny spoke up, though James smiled wryly in his heart.
This tone meant she was furious with him. However, for his brother, he persevered.
*Xiu Xiu!*
An invisible rope was pulled on by Leylin, and Rhodes was made to stand up.
“Leave. Don’t let me see you again!”
Baelin pushed Rhodes and pretended to be threatening him by gesturing with his sword.
Rhodes totally ignored Baelin’s threats and glanced at his brother James, a complication expression on his face, and quickly left.
All this time, he did not dare to take a glance in Leylin’s direction.
Leylin laughed. This was just a level 3 acolyte who was basically like an ant in his eyes. It didn’t matter to him whether Rhodes was killed or released.
However, since this could earn him a good impression, why not?
He believed that he needed to return to the side of people who abide the law and were kind. Even if he didn’t feel this way at all in his heart, it was necessary to display that image on the outside.
When associating with a Magus who was a stranger to them, a good reputation would lower many people’s guards.
For instance, right now, James and Jenny’s eyes no longer showed the prudence and cautiousness they originally had. Now, there was more admiration and respect towards him.
……
Rhodes was extremely intelligent. After knowing Leylin’s status as an official Magus, he wisely chose not to bother them with their journey any longer.
Just like this, the undisturbed journey went past many towns, allowing Leylin and Baelin to learn more about this place.
Twilight Zone was not a peaceful area, and places, where the sun stone and light were not able to reach, were filled with many darkness type creatures. Moreover, apart from humans, there were many other intelligent species which inhabited such areas.
Along the way, Leylin met several handsome looking mice-men the size of human kids that rode large spiders as their steeds. They seemed to be a type of elf. According to Jenny, these were dark elves that even had a kingdom in the areas where light did not reach. The might of their species was about the same as humans.
Of course, the creatures which were the greatest threat to Leylin and their party were those lurking in the shadows.
Without flames or the sun stone to dispel the darkness, these creatures would swarm forward like mosquitoes, devouring unaware travellers to bits.
Hence, to travel in Twilight Zone, apart from having enough fire starter items or sunstones, power was a necessity. Otherwise, the only outcome was having regrets after becoming feces in the desolate field.
Of course, all of these proved no threat in front of Leylin, an official Magus.
Even if it was a horde of the most brutal creatures, they were just cute little pets in front of him, which could be broken apart easily.
Reverence filled Jenny and James’ eyes as they looked as Leylin, who had closed his eyes for meditation.
Leylin had lent a hand several times along the journey. But just this power was the corner of the iceberg that Leylin possessed, it was enough to leave Jenny and James in utter shock and reverence.
All those times when he struck had might exceed the guardian of the Argus Family—Siegfried!
However, just at this moment, the horse carriage which had been moving stopped.
“Lord Leylin! Jenny and Sir James! In front of us is the Weeping Ghost Grounds, should we make a detour?”
Baelin opened the door and in one of his hand, he held a broken piece of the map.
On the map, the area that they were about to reach was the Weeping Ghost Grounds. It was circled in red, with several splatters of red ink that made it seem like spilled blood.
“We’re going to the eastern capital, and the fastest way is through the Weeping Ghost Grounds! This will save us a good half of the total time. If we’re making a detour, we must head north to the Geri Basin, and then through the Sicily Valley. This will cost us a lot of time…”
James explained to Leylin.
“So then, what special dangers are there in the Weeping Ghost Grounds?” Leylin asked as his interest was piqued.
From James speech, it seemed like he had also approved of this route. Of course, all this was only possible if Leylin was with them.
“The Weeping Ghost Grounds is a very famous forbidden area in the whole of the Twilight Zone. It is said that two powerful Magi had a battle here, hence causing many mysterious types of phenomenon and power lurking within, which are still present up till now…”
James was extremely solemn. “History has it that the Weeping Ghost Grounds has gobbled up many adventurers who doubted the myth. Mercenaries, Knights, acolytes and once even an army of ten thousand!”
“According to myths, one official Magus had once managed to pass through the Weeping Ghost Grounds. According to his description, there seemed to be many spirit bodies within the area. These spirit bodies were filled with malicious intents. Once someone were to enter the area, they would be relentlessly chased after.
Spirit bodies huh? That really brings back memories!
Leylin grinned. He had dived deeper into his research of spirit bodies. There were not many Magi who were more competent than him in this field. It could be said that the least of his fears was a spirit body.
Furthermore, since a Magus had already successfully passed through this area, then it would most likely not be very dangerous.
“We’ll head through the Weeping Ghost Grounds then! I wish to see the traces of previous generation Magi!’
Leylin laughed as he spoke.
As for James and Jenny, glee was written all over their faces.