The Author's POV

"There's nothing here."

Smallsnake shouted as he stabbed the head of one of the wolves on the ground.

"I've also got nothing."

"Nothing here too."

Disappointment flashed Ava and Hein's faces as they also found nothing on the corpses of the wolves.

"Nothing on my side as well."

Leopold also added.

"..."

Looking at them from a distance, sitting on a rock and leaning forward, I fell in thought.

With over thirty wolves dying at my hands, everyone was now trying to see if they could find a core.

The process was relatively slow and tedious; however, the rewards more than made up for it as each core was precious.

Unfortunately, lady luck was not on our side as no one found anything.

This was a given, though.

The chances of finding a core were the same as winning the lottery. Miniscule.

"Huaam."

When I struggled to hold my yawn back, someone sat down next to me and tapped on my shoulder.

"What do we do now?"

Without the need to look back, I could tell who it was by his voice.

It was Smallsnake.

Still sitting on the rock, I turned my head and looked up at smallsnake.

His expression was severe, and with his hand on his chin, he had a pensive look on his face.

"If the chip has indeed started tracking our moves, we should probably not waste time here."

Smallsnake suddenly turned his head and looked at me.

"I think we should stop wasting time over here, and we should get going. According to my estimates, if they send someone to track you, within a week or month, they'll soon catch up to us."

Listening to Smallsnake and patting my pants, I silently stood up.

Scratching the side of my neck and staring towards the direction of where Dromeda city was, my brows furrowed tightly.

"You're not necessarily wrong."

"...Yes, that's why I'm suggesting for us to immediately go right now. The more distance we cover, the harder it is for them to find us."

Closing my eyes slightly, for the next few seconds, I didn't speak.

Then, opening my mouth, I said.

"We proceed at our own pace."

"What?!"

His eyes widened. Standing up, he walked to me.

"Did you hear what I just said?"

"...I heard what you said loud and clear."

"Then why did you say that we should go at our own pace?"

"Haa.."

Without answering Smallsnake, I brushed my hair to the side and let out a troubled sigh.

What Smallsnake said wasn't necessarily wrong.

Now that the tracking device was on, the Monolith and possibly even the Union would start hunting me.

On a good note, we weren't in the human domain, which made it harder for them to track me down directly.

Even then, it would only delay their search by at most a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

Still.

Putting my sword back into my dimensional space, I turned my head and looked towards the distance.

"We're going to continue going at our own pace."

My current goal was to travel to the dwarven domain.

The road was a treacherous one. One that was riddled with dangers.

Not only did I have to watch out for dangerous beasts, but I also had to watch out for demons.

Although not exactly close, the demon domain was not that far.

prudently was the best way to

Plus.

eyes,

should we be the hunted when we can just as well be

"h..huh?"

if they could track

supposed to be

***

the same

day's

that was quietly driving through the busy streets of Ashton city, Amanda

"Au.."

Amanda found that her eyelids were becoming heavier

She was tired.

working

ten minutes, her assistant, Maxwell, opened

we're almost

"Mhm."

Amanda faintly nodded.

onto her right cheek, Amanda tried to wake herself up. Right now, she

looking at Maxwell, Amanda

long till we

"We're already here."

replied with a

the car soon stopped in front of a familiar building that Amanda had seen

driver seat, Maxwell moved towards Amanda's side and suavely opened

"Youg miss."

"Thank you."

got out

stunning. Holding onto a small black handbag in her right hand, Amanda walked towards

past, wherever she walked, she attracted the gazes of

the stares and walked towards the building entrance where a relatively older

was the

"Good Evening."

Amanda greeted.

familiar figure, the care lady

It's you

"Mhm."

smiled at

got along

making small talk with each

bring you to

lady soon walked into the building, exchanging subtle pleasantries

seen you last

managed to fit

wonderful. Nola will be

Nola, she would instantly brighten up and throw herself in

scene had become a common occurrence at the

ladies together looked as though

age, you don't look older than twenty.

"...I hope so."

smile appeared

to work less; however, Amanda couldn't afford to take it easy with her responsibilities increasing each

absence have slowly started circulating the

but she knew that she didn't have much

forced to push herself even harder than

why she couldn't pick up

felt guilty about this hence why she cleared up her schedule today

"We're here."

through the corridors of the building, the care lady and Amanda soon arrived before a particular classroom where a young girl with glossy black hair and deep blue eyes was patiently waiting

and wearing a white and blue one-piece dress, the young girl

is here for

the moment Nola spotted Amanda, her complexion instantly became brighter

"Sister!"

"Nola."

Amanda extended her hands. Soon Nola jumped into her arms and hooked her arms around her

"Sister!"

to see

"Um!"

Nola back, Amanda lifted her head and looked at the

has Nola been

two with a smile, the care

that gentleman came to pick her

"Gentleman?"

Amanda titled her head.

to pick Nola up not too long ago.

supposed to pick Nola up on that day, but she had to cancel a week prior due to

came, Nola seemed to

"...Is that so?"

"Yes."

The care lady replied.

asked. Her

have made Nola so much more

may ask, how did he

"The gentleman?"

"Yes."

he looked to be in his forties or something? He seemed to be someone who worked for Nola's parents. So I'm guessing he must be an employee?

"I see."

the care lady's words, the edges of Amanda's lips

idea who the individual was, as long as

was in