The sun, which had ruled the Silvermist sky since noon, was now beginning to tilt far toward the west, as if surrendering to the fate of time’s rotation. The sun painted the horizon with an incredibly beautiful stroke of a cosmic brush: a gradient of a burning golden-orange at the edge of the horizon, which slowly faded and melted into a deep violet-purple in the upper sky. The warm evening light and the remnants of its rays projected very long, distorted shadows from the wooden stalls onto the stone surface of the market street. Along with that visual change, the night wind carrying a chill from the northern mountains began to blow gently, slithering slyly behind the clothes of anyone who was caught off guard.

The market, which from morning until noon had been the center of the hustle and bustle and the economic heartbeat of the city, was slowly beginning to lose its energy. The crowd shrank at a constant rhythm. Local merchants were busy tidying up the remnants of their merchandise, lowering canvas canopies, and locking iron storage boxes. The sound of bargaining that had previously dominated the air had now completely changed into the monotonous creaking of wooden cart wheels heading home, as well as the increasingly sparse and hurried footsteps of pedestrians eager to reach the warmth of their respective homes.

Seeing that the market conditions were no longer productive, Sylvia, Stacia, and Alicia also began to move to pack up their merchandise. With a group dynamic and cooperation they had grown well-accustomed to over months of undercover work, the three girls worked with incredible speed, yet maintained high meticulousness so that no quality goods were damaged. Burlap sacks containing the remnants of exotic spices were tied back very tightly with hemp ropes to keep their aroma from wafting away in vain. Unsold rolls of wool fabric were taken down from the display poles and rolled back to their original shapes with neat precision. Wrought iron and ceramic kitchen utensils were arranged by size and stacked inside straw-lined woven baskets, while unsold fresh fruits were put back into wooden crates lined with damp cloth to keep them shiny.

Throughout the pack-up process, the golden cat maintained its majestic position. It sat on a small wooden table that had intentionally not been cleared yet, supervising every movement of the three girls with its bright amber eyes. Its gaze was incredibly vigilant, turning left and right as if it were a personal bodyguard tasked with ensuring no intruder took advantage of this busy moment to steal something.

After all logistics and inventory of merchandise were completely loaded into the spacious compartment of the carriage, Alicia and Stacia were the first to hop up into the passenger carriage. The moment her body touched the interior of the carriage, Stacia, who by nature deeply loved comfort, immediately lay her slender body down on the long couch upholstered in soft velvet. She stretched her muscles for a moment while letting out an adorable little yawn, a sign that the remnants of her sleepiness had not entirely vanished. On the other hand, Alicia chose to sit more upright on the opposite seat. The silver-haired girl pulled out a small silver pocket mirror and began to rearrange a few strands of her silver hair that were slightly messy due to the gust of the market wind earlier this evening.

Meanwhile, Sylvia hopped up onto the high driver’s seat at the front of the carriage as usual. Her movement was incredibly light, almost silent, showcasing the perfect motor control of a top-tier hunter. She held the iron-lined leather reins in both hands casually, letting her body lean against the back of the ironwood seat. It did not take long for the golden cat to catch up; with one graceful and accurate vertical leap, the creature landed on the empty seat beside Sylvia, wrapping its thick tail around its paws in a very neat sitting position.

"We’ll return to the inn first," Sylvia said in a low, quiet tone, yet the vibration of her voice was clearly heard by her two companions inside the carriage.

As she spoke, she flicked the reins in her hands with a light, controlled vibration. The two zombie horses standing tall in front of the carriage instantly responded to the instruction. They moved their sturdy legs, walking forward with a very stable, synchronized, and powerful stride. Their sturdy merchant carriage creaked softly as it began to move across the stone road surface, which was already starting to empty of pedestrians. The large wooden wheels coated with magical rubber emitted a distinctive low rumbled sound with a constant rhythm: clack... clack... clack.... Along the street corridors of Silvermist city, the lights of oil torches and magical wall lamps began to be lit one by one by the city officials, casting a reddish-yellow glow that illuminated the city as it slowly prepared to welcome the arrival of the cold night.

However, their journey toward the Silver Moon Inn to enjoy a night’s rest did not last long, and did not go according to the initial plan. Just as their carriage had moved a few hundred meters away from the outer market area, crossing a wide alleyway that connected to the noble district, an anomaly occurred. From around the street corner, a group of soldiers in official Silvermist city infantry uniforms, complete with chainmail and long spears, appeared in an orderly formation. They immediately cut across the path and blocked the path of Sylvia’s merchant carriage. Even though their actions interrupted the journey, the attitude shown by the soldiers was highly polite and full of caution, an indication that they knew exactly who the existences inside this carriage were.

A middle-aged man acting as the leader of the group, a lieutenant with a silver wolf-head badge pinned to his chest, stepped forward one step. He raised his right hand openly, giving a respectful signal to stop.

"Forgive us if our presence disrupts your journey, Ladies," the lieutenant said, suppressing his voice to sound as formal as possible. "I bring a direct message from the highest authority of this city. Lord Harlan specifically requests and invites the three of you to come to his official residence right now."

Sylvia pulled the reins in her hands with a single smooth tug, causing the two zombie horses in front of her to stop instantly without letting out even the slightest neigh, an abnormal animal control that caused the lieutenant to gulp in tension. Sylvia’s cold, dark-red eyes stared directly at the lieutenant from atop the driver’s seat. Her face remained flat, showing no excess emotion such as surprise, fear, or flattery. To a ruler like her, a summons from a human territory ruler at the level of a Lord was merely a small, somewhat annoying interruption.

"Understood. Lead the way," Sylvia replied flatly and briefly.

Inside the passenger carriage, Stacia parted the window cloth curtain slightly, peeking outside with one of her ash-gray eyebrows raised high. The corner of her lips curled into a cynical smile, while a thin darkness aura characteristic of her Fallen Angel identity fluctuated briefly in the air. Across from her, Alicia only gave a thin smile laden with political meaning. The two of them did not voice any objections or protests; they knew this was part of the formal procedure after the handover of the dimensional rift map yesterday.

The merchant carriage then changed direction, following the guidance of the row of soldiers who walked on the left and right sides of the carriage as an honor guard. Their destination was diverted toward the center of the administrative district, where Lord Harlan’s residence stood grandly. It was a massive mansion in a classic Gothic architectural style, surrounded by a three-meter-high black iron fence with sharp spear tips, and a stretch of winter flower gardens meticulously maintained by professional gardeners.

Upon arriving at the front courtyard of the grand mansion, which was illuminated by dozens of magical crystal lamps, their carriage stopped. Instead of being invited into the warm main hall like esteemed guests or city heroes, they were instead greeted by a middle-aged man dressed in a neat black suit with white gloves. He was Lord Harlan’s personal head butler.

However, the welcome given by this man was far from warm or full of gratitude. The head butler remained standing straight outside the iron gate, did not open the gate door, and had absolutely no intention of inviting the three girls to step down from the carriage to enter the mansion. His posture radiated the covert arrogance typical of a great noble’s servant, and his movements looked very rushed, as if he were wasting his precious time attending to an unimportant matter.

"Lord Harlan is currently very busy with the administration of the military base and preparations for the arrival of the imperial envoy," the head butler said in a flat, dry, and rather condescending tone, as if he were speaking to a group of low-class traveling merchants begging for compensation. "His Lordship does not have time to hold a formal audience with you. So, speak quickly: what reward or material compensation do you want from the city treasury as final compensation for the dimensional rift topographic map you submitted yesterday? State the amount, and I will settle it right now."

The atmosphere around the mansion’s gate courtyard instantly turned incredibly tense and heavy. The cold evening air suddenly felt frozen. Stacia, who had been listening from behind the carriage curtain, immediately knitted her brows sharply. Her naturally arrogant nature that tolerated no insults was instantly ignited. The pitch-black aura characteristic of her Fallen Angel identity vibrated violently inside the carriage, nearly exploding outward to turn that oblivious head butler to ashes.

"What? This lowly human... he dares to speak to us like that? What does he take us for?!" hissed Stacia in a voice filled with pure killing intent.

Seeing the situation nearly spiraling out of control, Alicia, with her quick reflexes, immediately reached out and firmly held Stacia’s arm, channeling calming magic energy through her touch. She looked at Stacia with a very calm yet firm gaze, giving a small shake of her head.

"Calm down, Stacia. Don’t let your emotions ruin our undercover plan that has come this far. Let Sylvia handle this foolish creature," Alicia whispered with a tone full of hidden authority.

Meanwhile, on the front driver’s seat, Sylvia remained sitting silently without shifting her position even a fraction. She showed no physical anger, did not shout, and did not reply to the head butler’s arrogant words with insults. However, slowly but surely, Sylvia raised her face, which was covered by the shadow of her gray hoodie hood, directing her pair of dark-red eyes that resembled pools of fresh blood straight into the eyes of the head butler.

That gaze did not contain burning anger at all, but it was precisely the absence of emotion that made it terrifying beyond human comprehension. It was the kind of look possessed by Death itself, a gaze that was empty, soulless, absolute, and carried a wave of primordial pressure from the deepest ruler of darkness, Queen Nocturne.

The invisible pressure slammed into the head butler’s mind like a giant sledgehammer. Within seconds, all the arrogance that had previously clung to the head butler’s face collapsed without a trace. His face instantly turned pale white, as white as a corpse. A large amount of cold sweat immediately poured profusely from the pores of his forehead, soaking his stiff shirt collar. Every muscle in his body trembled violently, and the joints of his knees suddenly went weak, losing their strength, forcing him to hold tightly onto the iron pillar of the gate so he wouldn’t instantly collapse onto the ground.

The high-level intimidation aura that Sylvia released micro-maged caused the head butler’s throat to choke up completely. The air around him seemed to vanish, leaving him gasping like a fish out of water. When he finally managed to gather the remaining shards of his courage to speak, his voice sounded extremely shaky, hoarse, and filled with a fear that gripped his very existence.

"P-Please forgive my insolence, Milady... M-Mithril... How many grams... or kilograms of Mithril metal do you want from our warehouse?" the man asked with his body bowing deeply, no longer daring to look into Sylvia’s eyes.

"50 kilograms of pure mithril metal from the dimensional rift mining yields," Sylvia answered in an incredibly flat, calm tone, yet it possessed an echoing weight of authority undeniable by any law of nature.

The head butler nodded very quickly and repeatedly, much like a chicken pecking at rice on the ground. He turned around with a very panicked and hurried movement, even tripping over his own feet due to the overwhelming fear still gripping his nervous system.

It did not take long, only about three minutes filled with an eerie silence before the head butler returned along with four other armored servants who were panting heavily. They carried two large burlap sacks that were very heavy. Once the sacks were placed in front of the carriage and opened slightly, the silver glow characteristic of raw Mithril magical metal with standard purity immediately reflected the torchlight.

Sylvia did not climb down from her seat. She merely waved her right hand horizontally in the air with a lazy motion. A small spatial fluctuation occurred again; in the blink of an eye, the two large sacks containing dozens of kilograms of that precious metal instantly vanished from sight, sucked inside and neatly stored within the vacuum of her system storage space.

Without uttering a single word of thanks or farewell, Sylvia snapped the reins firmly. The two zombie horses in front of her immediately turned around in a synchronized movement, leading their merchant carriage to turn back, leaving the courtyard of Lord Harlan’s residence, which was now filled with servants still trembling in fear.

However, the direction of their carriage this time was no longer toward the Silver Moon Inn. As their carriage began to approach the main crossroads leading to the grand gate of Silvermist city which was currently already being half-closed by the night gate guards Sylvia tilted her head back slightly, speaking in a quiet yet firm tone to her two companions inside the carriage.

"The plan has changed. We won’t be staying overnight here tonight. It’s time to move to another city right now," Sylvia said.

From inside the warm carriage compartment, Stacia and Alicia gave a synchronized nod of agreement.

"I completely agree with your decision, Sylvia," chimed Stacia, who was now sitting upright, crossing her arms in front of her chest with a bored expression. "This city of Silvermist is already too noisy and crowded with ridiculous gossip about us. Wherever we go, people’s eyes are always spying. It makes me very uncomfortable to move freely."

Alicia curled a thin, elegant smile, her eyes sparkling with great curiosity. "So, our wise leader... which direction is our next journey headed?"

Hearing that question, Stacia, who by nature had a dynamic personality, instantly looked very excited. She leaned her body forward with eyes sparkling with ambition.

"Let’s go straight to the territory of the Earth Human Empire! Specifically to the capital city of their grand empire! I once read a document stating that it is the center of human civilization and the most prosperous on this continent. It must be extremely wealthy there, the trade volume is incredibly massive, great for our vending activities and most importantly, there are many high-level giant dungeon complexes around it that remain uncleared. It’s absolutely perfect for continuing our leveling process and soul gathering!"

Sylvia fell silent for a few seconds, processing all the geographical data and tactical advantages mentioned by Stacia inside her head. After weighing that the imperial capital indeed offered a larger stage for their movements, she gave a firm nod of agreement.

"Very well, the decision is made. Our next destination: The Capital of the Earth Human Empire," Sylvia said finally.

She then lowered her head slightly, staring directly at the back of the necks of the two zombie horses that were walking steadily. Through the soul bond network connecting their consciousness, Sylvia sent a detailed mental instruction.

"The two of you hear my command, do you not? Change our travel route, operational target: The Capital of the Earth Human Empire."

Receiving a direct order from their supreme ruler, the two zombie horses simultaneously raised their sturdy heads high into the air. Their pair of blood-red eyes, which had been dim, instantly lit up with an intensity of light far brighter and burning within the darkness of the night. The two of them let out a very loud, long neigh filled with vibrating magical energy an expression of absolute obedience and animalistic enthusiasm to leave this small city and explore a new territory.

Hiiiieeeeghhh!

The gate guards of Silvermist city who saw the merchant carriage speeding toward them at high speed did not dare to conduct any interrogation or detention. They hurriedly reopened the iron gate barriers wide, letting the mysterious carriage dash out across the city limits just as the night began to fall completely, enveloping the earth.

The light from the oil torches lined up along the gate walls of Silvermist city slowly began to shrink, dim, and finally faded completely in the distance behind them. Their position had now been replaced by the darkness of the very wide intercity main highway, which stretched out beneath a night sky canopy filled with billions of stars twinkling beautifully like scattered diamonds.

Sylvia sat on the driver’s seat in a very calm posture, the leather reins held casually and loosely in her hands because the two zombie horses already knew exactly where to step without needing to be directed manually anymore. Beside her, the golden cat curled up very comfortably again, hiding its face beneath its neatly coiled tail on the seat, enjoying the soothing, rhythmic vibrations of the carriage.

Inside the rear carriage compartment, the faint voices of Stacia and Alicia could be heard, still engaged in light conversation filled with laughter, discussing the estimated travel time and what culinary delights they absolutely had to try upon arriving at the imperial capital later.

Inside her system storage space, the 50 kilograms of Mithril metal they had just obtained from Lord Harlan was neatly stored. Sylvia had briefly scanned the material mentally, but she could only let out a low, disdainful snort. By human standards, that amount was an extraordinary fortune; but in Sylvia’s eyes, the atomic structure purity of this outer world’s Mithril was highly ordinary, even bordering on crude compared to the quality of high-grade pure Mithril mass-produced by the magical blacksmiths inside her own Nocturne Kingdom. This metal was merely a small bonus, an insignificant souvenir from their brief journey in Silvermist city.

The dewy night wind blew refreshingly, caressing Sylvia’s face and bringing the distinct aroma of pine forest leaves and the scent of wet earth from the wild grasslands on the left and right sides of the highway. Their merchant carriage continued to speed forward at a very stable pace, cutting through the darkness of the night toward the heart of the Earth Human Empire’s defenses, leaving Silvermist city further isolated behind them.