Mage Manual
Chapter 345 - Chapter 345 Chapter 291 Everyone on the Street is Looking at

Chapter 345: Chapter 291 Everyone on the Street is Looking at You_2 Chapter 345: Chapter 291 Everyone on the Street is Looking at You_2 He didn’t dare look inside the carriage and could only cast his gaze out the window to the warm sky. However, the fog within the city was not only failing to dissipate but had become even more thick and cloyingly sweet. The sun, vying for dominance of the sky with the full moon, was blurred by the light mist in an ambiguous manner, as if they were fighting beside a bed.

However, the aerial logistics system of Vatican Mura seemed weaker than Azura’s. If Azura’s drone swarm was like a school cafeteria bustling with students who had just finished midday classes, then Vatican Mura’s drones were like the washroom during a class break: sparse and few between. It was unclear whether it was a downgrade in Vatican Mura’s consumer spending or if its people just didn’t like online shopping.

As the orbital train came to a stop, new passengers boarded, and Ash and his companions immediately sensed something different–the locals, who had been more or less observing them, now split their attention to look at two of the newcomers.

Even without any knowledge of local customs, they immediately grasped the implication of this behavior: these two new passengers were, like them, not from around here!

Sure enough, the two new passengers looked towards Hanna’s group of six and headed straight for them. One was a burly Beastman and the other a gaunt Goblin. Their appearances didn’t reveal any weapons, but most Gospel Book Mages used guns as their medium, and by the way they were covering their waists with trench coats, it was clear that they were keeping up with the latest trends.

They stood next to Hanna’s seat. “Purple Moth, the Duchess sends her greetings. I am from the Family Reunion Office–”

“You must have been operating in Vatican Mura these past few days,” said Hanna calmly. “Do you like this city?”

“Vatican Mura is the Vatican Mura of the Six Emblems, and we’re not from the Six Emblems, so how could we possibly like this No Return City,” the Goblin laughed. “We’re here on a Task near Aliando, ready to head back, but we got orders from the Duchess to wait for you in Vatican Mura. We didn’t have high hopes and were planning to head back soon, but luck was on our side–discovered from the Gospel Book that the number of outsiders in Vatican Mura had increased by five, matching your group’s number exactly.”

Using the Gospel Book to check the external population count to determine their whereabouts?

Ash and the rest immediately gleaned two pieces of information: first, that the external population in Vatican Mura was exceptionally small, and second, that the Family Reunion Office couldn’t directly obtain information about them and had to determine their trail in such a roundabout manner.

However…

Weren’t there six of them? Why had the outsider count only increased by five?

“Are you sure luck is on your side?” Hanna touched her amethyst earring and sneered. “This is Vatican Mura, not Azura. Do you dare to make a move?”

When Hanna said this, she did not lower her voice. The locals around who heard her became more and more sharp and heavy with their stares, but they remained quietly seated in their original spots, indifferently watching the conflict between the outsiders unfold.

“How can we know without trying?” The Goblin smiled slightly, summoning his Gospel Book, and then suddenly the orbital train slammed on the brakes, with the powerful inertia almost throwing the passengers forward. Prepared, Ash and the others quickly steadied themselves, ready to fight with the mixed breeds from the Family Reunion Office–

“Don’t move.”

Hanna’s words froze the men’s killing intent in their gaze, but oddly enough, the Beastman and Goblin didn’t take the opportunity to attack them. Instead, they stood aside nonchalantly, as if mocking them with a ‘come on, hit me’ attitude.

The orbital train began to retreat backwards, racing toward the direction out of the city.

The other passengers straightened their clothes and sat back down. They made no complaints about this unsolicited trouble; instead, they looked at them with eyes as if staring at a dead man, as if disdaining to have any verbal interaction with soon-to-be-dead roaches.

Igula suddenly asked, “Is it illegal to strike first?”

“Whoever strikes first and harms another in public will be marked as a criminal by the Gospel Book, and it might even actively alert the Red Hats to arrest them,” Banjee explained. “Furthermore, from the moment a criminal commits a crime, others automatically gain unlimited defensive rights against them. So who strikes first is very important–of course, this is only in public spaces. If it’s a private area, although the Gospel Book knows, it won’t intervene, and the Red Hats must investigate on their own.”

So even though Hanna’s house was torn down last night, the Gospel Book would not report the Family Reunion Office. It only requires no PVP in public areas, but PVP in private areas is considered a player’s internal dispute and is not within the jurisdiction of the Gospel Book.

The two had a very straightforward plan–control the hovercart to leave Vatican Mura and head back to Azura, whoever strikes first is a dog.

Although Ash was now wanted, Hanna and the others were still legally innocent, and the Red Hats could only attack Ash, according to both reason and sentiment, without being able to do anything to them who remained lawful citizens.

For example, if they were sitting in a vehicle, to protect the safety of Hanna and the others, the Red Hats could only halt them and force Ash out, and could never obliterate them with a Flame Burst. No matter how advanced the medical treatment here was, sacrificing the interests of lawful citizens was a line the Red Hats were forbidden to cross.

But if they willingly gave the Red Hats an excuse, the Red Hats wouldn’t have to hold back as much and could even kill them first and then revive them through treatment for a slow trial.

This plan was actually to see if Hanna had the resolve to go all in. If she couldn’t give up her status as a legal citizen, then she had no choice but to accept the “Azura Day Trip” prize from the Family Reunion Office.

Of course, they had another choice: let Ash, who was already a wanted criminal, take care of the two of them.

Setting aside whether Ash could beat them, just him appearing in a public setting would directly trigger the imperial warrant, and Red Hats from across the city would vie for this windfall reward.

Moreover, Ash indeed couldn’t beat two Two-winged Mages, unless he managed to trigger the demonic coat’s special effect again–but what if it failed?

The safest method was for Hanna and the others to overpower the two field officers with thunderous force and then escape immediately, but…

Igula looked at Hanna and didn’t see any sign of a plan in the young lady’s beautiful face; she seemed to be quite happy to see it happen.

The Swindler gestured to the Necromancer, and Harvey raised his eyebrows.

Since the young lady was unwilling to make a move, we would force her to make one.

Throughout, Igula and Harvey’s attitude towards their superior had never changed–they didn’t want a boss.

The identity of a wanted criminal was more intimate to them than an ID card. If they could take this opportunity to pull the young lady into the same camp, they couldn’t think of any reason to refuse.

At that moment, the hovercart passed through a street, which clearly divided the city inter-district boundary line; northward was the core second ring of Vatican Mura, and southward was the newly developed sector in urgent need of urban development.

Just then, Ash and the others felt as if something had been drained from their bodies, leaving them feeling empty and even thinking sluggishly, unable to muster the energy for anything.

The other passengers were even more obvious, their heads drooping like withered flowers, lacking the strength even to gaze at the outsiders.

The hovercart suddenly braked hard, not due to being halted but due to the controller’s hesitation.

In just a few breaths, the Beastman and the Goblin’s complexions turned pale and languid; their hands and feet trembled uncontrollably. The Beastman was somewhat better off, merely gasping heavily, while the Goblin knelt on the ground, drooling incessantly, their loud heartbeats echoing throughout the carriage.