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When Cain and Icarus finally arrived at Anorad Castle, where a warp gate was located, they couldn’t help but stare worriedly at each other.
“Is this going to be okay?”
“How would I know?”
“Stop being careless. Have you forgotten how much the ticket costs?”
“It’s far! Arcadia is far! At least a hundred gold!”
Icarus gave Cain a flabbergasted look. “How can you be so calm, knowing that?”
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“Well, if it’s not enough, the one with the money will compensate.”
“Are you trying to get back at me?”
“G-Gosh, do I look that petty to you?”
“No, you look like the world’s unluckiest man.”
Cain shrugged and said, “What should I do? We don’t have money, so we have to do something stupid to get by in this harsh world.”
“Ugh
”
The trio chattered on their way to the warp gate.
“I’m here to use the gate,” Iceline quietly announced.
A middle-aged man who seemed like he was acting as if he were a distinguished mage with his horn-rimmed glasses swept his gaze across Cain and Icarus. He seemed to be asking the two about what they were doing here.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“We’re young, and there are only three of us. We look like we work for the nobility.”
“We’re going to Arcadia,” Iceline continued, ignoring Cain and Icarus’s whispering. “Just the three of us—”
“Before that, I need to confirm your identities,” the middle-aged man bluntly interrupted.
“I knew mages were sassy, but don’t you think he’s being too much?”
“No, no, it’s fine
” Icarus said indifferently.
“Yes?” Cain tilted his head, seemingly confused.
At that, Icarus explained, “What do you think is the best and the quickest way for criminals to escape?”
“Ah!” Cain exclaimed as if he finally understood it.
Icarus snorted and said, “Ignorant.”
“Well, you didn’t have to say that, Young Lady.”
Iceline was rifling through her sleeves while they were speaking. Eventually, she managed to produce a golden plate.
“Is that a golden mercenary card?” Cain narrowed his eyes. The small sheet of gold was precisely stamped with the name ‘Selena.’ “I can’t believe I’d get to see a golden mercenary card, especially from a mage.”
The middle-aged man made a sidelong glance at the golden plate. “Please show your face.”
Iceline pulled down her hood in compliance with the middle-aged man’s demands.
“Oh?”
The face underneath belonged to a woman in her mid-twenties, blue-eyed, pale with freckles, and she had a somewhat pointed nose. If she had been an ordinary person, that would have been everything of note, but something about her gave off a strange vibe.
It was hard to pin down, but if one looked at her long enough, it would be strange if one wouldn’t notice it. Reipon’s perception-altering abilities could only do so much to hide someone’s real demeanor. Care and discipline had to cover for the rest.
“This is the first time
” Cain muttered in disbelief.
“Yes?” Cain tilted her head at Cain, who was staring at Iceline’s face in shock. He also looked like he was ready to cry.
“W-what’s up with that look? What do you mean the first time?”
“It’s my first time traveling with a woman my age!”
“Oh, my god.” Icarus stared agape at Cain. “Even at a time like this
”
Cain was staring at Iceline with sparkling eyes. Of course, he still had no idea about Iceline’s true identity.
“You’re a mage?” The middle-aged man eyed Iceline doubtfully.
“Yes, as you can see.”
“Mind telling me your status?” asked the middle-aged man.
Iceline’s expression contorted for a brief moment. The question was considered rude, even for knights
“Oh, right. I think I understand it now.”
“She’s definitely a mercenary,” whispered the middle-aged man under his breath.
Of course, the three of them heard him loud and clear.
“This guy is being an asshole.” Icarus rolled up her sleeves angrily.
“Are the people standing behind you mercenaries as well?” asked the middle-aged man.
Icarus abruptly straightened up and smiled brightly as he said, “No, we belong to the Sanders Family.”
“Ah, right! Baron Sanders
!” exclaimed the middle-aged man.
“Hey, Icarus, watch yourself! You know he’s a mage of the Magic Tower, so he definitely knows.”
“Oh! I almost did him wrong. Of course, a mage of the ‘Tower of Knowledge’ would know!”
Cain and Icarus were oddly in sync.
The middle-aged mage muttered, “Baron Sanders, a Baron
”
“Our master is great and famous!” exclaimed Cain.
“Mmhm.” Icarus nodded as well.
Eventually, the middle-aged man stopped thinking and spoke, “Do you have any cash on you?”
“...” Cain and Icarus’ stopped smiling.
The mage gave them a knowing look, and with a smile of his own, he said, “Well, I don’t know you since your faces aren’t on the wanted list. You said your destination is Arcadia? The warp will cost you 1,000 gold per person, for a total of 3,000 gold.”
“That’s crazy!” Icarus exclaimed in disbelief.
“How can you say that? It’s not much when you consider that you could travel across the entire continent with that money.”
“Are we being scammed?” Cain squinted at the mage, whose expression rapidly darkened. In spite of their insular habits and mids, mages were quite proud of their identity.
“How dare you
 And you claim that your master is famous?”
“That’s not—”
“You said Baron Sanders, right? I don’t need to look him up. Since his attendants are acting like this, then he must be a mercenary.”
“...!”
Cain’s expression crumpled as he listened to the mage’s words. Joshua’s name carried an undeniable weight across the entire continent, but the mage had good reason for being so inflexible.
Avalon, after all, did not hold really hold mages in high regard, and mages were solely in control of the warp gates. The Avalon Empire merely collected taxes on its operations throughout its lands.
In this arrangement, the Avalon Empire was the only one that would suffer if the arrangement was broken. Like a golden goose, the warp gates generated tremendous wealth with minimal intervention. If the Magic Tower decided to shut down the warp gates throughout Avalon, then Avalon would lose a ton of money.
Therefore, warp gates were staffed by the mages of the Magic Tower from top to bottom.
“Fire, go forth and pierce my enemies—Rune Flare!”
A red spear manifested in mid-air.
“A
 Class 4 Mage
” Icarus was astonished. She couldn’t imagine why such a mage was managing a warp gate in the middle of nowhere when there were less than a thousand Class 4 Mages throughout the entire continent.
“Um
” Cain seemed confused.
“Leave,” the middle-aged man demanded. “If you make this worse, I will file a formal complaint to the Imperial Family.”
While Icarus and Cain were frozen, Iceline finally stepped forward.
“You said 3,000 gold?” Iceline dropped three heavy leather pouches in front of the middle-aged man. “Open them yourself and check. There are ten 100-gold pieces in each pouch.”
The middle-aged man remained quiet for a while. Eventually, he said, “The price just changed. You wasted my time, so it’s now 1,500 gold for each of you.”
“You crazy
!” Cain couldn’t help but exclaim.
However, the middle-aged man simply smiled at Cain and said, “Stand down. The additional gold pieces are to make up for the damage your insulting words had inflicted on me.”
“I’m going to make you stand down
!” Cain exploded. He reached out for his sword and was about to draw it when a cold breeze swept past him.
“Freeze. Let the cold wind bless the ground: Ice Field!”
Both men jumped in shock as the ground beneath their feet was frozen solid. The spell that emerged from Iceline’s palms was a tremendously powerful 5th Circle SPell. The middle-aged man was stupefied at the sight of it.
“In that case, then I will have you pay for ignoring and calling us mere mercenaries.” Iceline flashed an icy smile at the middle-aged man.
She wasn’t going to let herself lose money because she had a future she wanted to build with Joshua, and it was an expensive future to build. “I am Selena, a deputy director of the Mercenary Guild. I will file an official complaint to the Magic Tower about this.”
The middle-aged man took a deep breath. He couldn’t help but wonder if a deputy director was actually capable of filing an official complaint with the Mercenary Guild’s name, but the middle-aged man wasn’t willing to bet on the opposite.
“Hold on, please!” the middle-aged man hurriedly exclaimed. “I-I was wrong! I m-mean it! I’m really, really sorry!”
The middle-aged man bowed at a ninety-degree angle and dispelled his Rune Flare.
“Shouldn’t you also apologize to them?”
The middle-aged man visibly shivered and flinched.
“What? Does it hurt your pride?”
“N-No, not at all.” The middle-aged man bowed to Icarus and Cain as he broke out into a cold sweat before saying, “I apologize.”
“Ah
 Whatever, it’s done,” Cain replied.
Icarus angrily elbowed him, but Cain simply smiled and nodded.
“Is that all?” Iceline prompted.
“Yes?”
“You need to make up for your damages as well.”
“Err
 what do you mean?”
“Give me a hundred gold per person. And the warp will be complimentary, of course.”
“Y-you crazy
!” the middle-aged man reacted in exactly the same way as Cain had reacted earlier.
At the sight, Iceline’s smile widened. “Is there a problem?”
“N-No!” Tears welled up in the middle-aged man’s eyes. “I’ll get right into it!”
“Wow, she’s so cool.” Cain gasped.
“I agree
” Icarus remarked.
Cain and Icarus couldn’t help but congratulate Iceline for her small victory. Iceline had always been fighting for her future on her own, so this was her first time receiving compliments for a victory she had done herself.
Hearing Cain and Icarus’ words, Iceline’s chin was subtly raised higher a bit higher from before.