Chapter 372 - Walking Around
"I apologize for my late welcome, Fourth Princess and young master Victory. I need to take care of a lot of stuff before." said the man.
Hearing this, Jayna didn't reply and kept her cold face as usual. Unlike when she is with Angus, Jayna is actually famous for having a cold expression and an unapproachable attitude. Sometimes everyone wonders how Angus managed to thaw her cold personality.
"No problem, Count Stillshot." replied Angus while scrutinizing the man's behavior.
"Ahh.. Please just call me Count Hick or Uncle Hick. Anyway, why don't we enter my manor first." said Count Hick.
Seeing this, Angus immediately knows that the count seems to be in a hurry to enter his manor, be it from his talk and gesture. At this moment, Angus gets notified by Jayna through their bond to leave this matter to him.
Throughout the years of knowing Jayna, Angus finds that his girlfriend is actually very cold towards others. She will never talk to others unless it is absolutely necessary. This behavior becomes more extreme after she merges further with Fire Phoenix.
Jayna may not notice this, but she slowly starts to think of the others as something lower than her. This is not because she is underestimating others or becoming more arrogant. But, it is because of her pride as Fire Phoenix.
As the primordial beast, Fire Phoenix has the right to become prideful towards others. Fortunately, this prideful behavior has not affected her way of fighting, as it could become a significant weakness for her.
"Sure. Please lead the way." replied Angus.
The count couldn't help but look at the expressionless Jayna, waiting for an answer, but after a moment of silent reply, he decided to lead them to his manor. Usually, the highest rank noble is the one that makes the decision. In Angus's group, the one with the highest noble rank is Jayna.
Hence, Count Hick finds it is quite weird for Angus to be the one to reply and make the decision. Still, he didn't think much and led them to enter his manor as soon as possible. At the entrance of the manor, there are a few magician standbys.
As if it is a regular occurrence, the magician immediately casts a cleaning and sterilization spell on all of them. Seeing this, Angus only looks at them silently and lets them do their work. Then, the Count guided them to the dining hall.
"Although it is a little bit early, how about we have some meal while discussing our business." said Count Hick.
"Sure. No problem." said Angus.
As soon as Angus said that, "Yeyy.. Food!!" yelled Anna excitedly before running to the dining table.
Anna immediately takes a seat before starting to eat without waiting for the others. The Count couldn't help but be surprised at Anna's brazen manner. However, Angus and Jayna didn't say anything like it is a common occurrence before sitting on their own seat.
After calming his mind, "Ehem.. Pardon me, Fourth Princess and Young master Victory. But, could you elaborate on your purpose in coming to Sunset City? I only hear that you will be coming here from the capital" asked Count Hick directly.
"Hmm… We want to explore Sunset City. You know Sunset City is a famous tourist spot in the Heart Kingdom, especially its beautiful beach." said Angus.
"Err.. B-But.." said Count Hick.
Before the count continued his sentence, "Another one, please!!" yelled Anna as she had already emptied all the food on the table.
"Ahh.. Yeah.. Locus, please bring more food." ordered Count Hick to his butler.
"Ehem.. I think you should postpone your exploration and stay here first." said Count Hick to Jayna.
However, Jayna completely ignores the Count and takes care of Anna by wiping her mouth like a good mother.
"Ehh.. Is there a problem?" asked Angus.
"Well, you may hear this, but the epidemic is more dangerous than we thought. So, I think you should be here until the situation stabilizes." said Count Hick.
"Hee.. Dangerous?? Can you elaborate more? Why is it dangerous?" asked Angus.
"Err.. I am sorry, young master Victory. It is a classified matter. I hope you can understand." replied Count Hick while starting to sweat.
"Classified, huh?? Is it also classified from royalty such as the Fourth Princess?" said Angus.
"Erm.. No, I am sorry." said Count Hick while getting more sweat.
"Then, please explain to us how dangerous is this epidemic that could plague almost three-quarters of the whole city? If I am not wrong, the epidemic should only have infected less than half of the sunset city population a few days ago." said Angus while smirking.
At this point, Count Hick realizes that he is being played by Angus from the start.
"Err.. I am sorry, young master Victory, Fourth Princess. The truth is the epidemic is very dangerous and somehow keeps mutating. Moreover, it could infect people through the air." replied Count Hick hurriedly.
"Hee.. a mutated airborne disease. Certainly, it is a very problematic plague. No wonder you already evacuated your family from here." said Angus.
"W-What do you mean, young master Victory?" asked Count Hick.
"Well, Sunset city is the major town under your jurisdiction. It is weird that we don't find any of your family members here. You must know it is basic etiquette for all the lower noble to welcome a royalty such as the Fourth Princess." said Angus.
"Err.. That is…" said Count Hick.
Angus cut his sentence, "Don't worry, Count Hick. It's just a simple matter. But I am still curious about this epidemic. Alright, let's go visit the quarantine zone." said Angus as he stood up from his seat.
"W-Wait, Young Master Victory." said Count Hick, panicky.
However, Angus is already walking away and ignoring him while Jayna, Anna, and the royal guard follow him. Seeing this, Count Hick couldn't help but grit his teeth and followed Angus reluctantly.
Leaving the Count manor, Angus immediately walked in a certain direction while looking around. The Count, who is following him, couldn't help but be surprised at Angus's act.
Normally, a noble prefers to use a carriage to travel around, but Angus ignores this behavior and just walks around like any passerby. Furthermore, Jayna, Anna, and the royal guards are just following him without complaint.
After walking for a while, Angus starts to fasten his pace and run around. Still, the others followed him without saying anything. A few minutes later, they arrive at the entrance of the quarantine zone, which is located on the outskirts of the city.
Some knights wear simple cloth masks on their faces guarding the area. As they approached the site from afar, they immediately tensed as the Angus group was quite large. After they find Count Hick among them, they immediately ease up.
Without waiting for the guard to speak up, Angus immediately entered the quarantine zone like walking in the park. Jayna, Anna, and the royal guard also follow him. Just as the knight wants to stop them, they feel the pressure from the Royal guards.
Fortunately, Count Hick immediately explained the situation to the knight before anything escalated further. In the meantime, Angus finds many emergency tents housing the infected patient. Angus and the others could smell many horrible smells worse than shit from it.
He also found few people from religious organizations. The majority of them are from the Temple of Death. While walking around aimlessly, Angus looked at all the patient conditions outside the tent.
Soon, Angus feels a strong presence coming toward him. A man wearing full-metal armor with the Temple of Death emblem approaches them. Beside the man was a woman in the gray priest's attire.
"I am sorry for our late welcome, Fourth Princess, Young Master Victory." said the priest.
"No problem. We just want to look around." said Angus casually.
The two of them were immediately surprised at Angus' casual response since people do not want to look around the quarantine zone on a normal occasion. But, knowing the last incident, they immediately recovered.
"Then, please let me guide you around." said the priest.
"Don't bother. Rather than guiding us, you should take care of all these patients. Besides, we have the Count Stillshot to guide us." said Angus.
Looking at the Count behind them, "Err… Then, please pardon me." said the priest as she left the group as she was also quite busy tending the patient.
However, the knight wearing the armor with a stoic face didn't follow the priest. It seems like the knight is going to keep following Angus. At this moment, the royal guard notices the knight's behavior and wants to pressure the man to get away.
Contrary to their expectation, the man easily retaliates with a more powerful mana aura and even creates some nearby disturbance. The royal guards know that this man is powerful.
Just as they want to draw their weapon, "What the hell are you doing, dumbass?!! If you want to fight, fight at another place. This is a quarantine zone, not a battlefield." reprimanded Angus.