The Red Road Forest had maintained its chill during the transition to spring. As Baro's insidious scouts were left behind, the cold midnight fog embraced the two shadows. Mais and Hideo Yun had transformed into ghosts, draped in heavy cloaks with masks completely obscuring their faces. Hideo could not hide his amazement while watching Mais during the preparations. From the moment Mais put on his mask, he had not only hidden his face; his entire appearance and the aura accompanying him had completely changed. Standing before Hideo was no longer the young genius he knew, but an unidentified, dangerous, and foreign figure. He witnessed the extent of Mais's wealth once again.
"Truly incredible," Hideo murmured, lowering his voice. "The mask doesn't just cover your face; even your physical form changes entirely. No one could possibly realize your identity. But Lord Mais... Why do you need me? Wouldn't you move more freely alone on this secret mission?"
From the pitch darkness behind his mask, Mais "looked" toward Hideo. "Plain City is too far for me to go alone in this state," he said with icy honesty. "Someone needs to carry me. We must be fast, and you are a Core Expert. Do I need to be any clearer?"
Hideo's shoulders slumped slightly, his morale visibly dampened. "So, you brought me along merely as a beast of burden?" he grumbled. The lack of the respectful suffix in his sentence was immediately reflected in Mais's eyebrows and a certain shift in his aura. Hideo quickly bowed his head. It was clear that Mais was quite strict about such matters.
Being seen as a mount was not pleasant for a Core Expert. Nevertheless, Hideo did not object; his trust in Mais's strategic intelligence outweighed his pride. He had even heard that in some Provincial Cities, Core Experts did much worse things to curry favor with Lords. Though Mais was not a Lord, he was a young Sage with special needs, which made the situation more acceptable.
He carefully took Mais onto his back, and in the darkness of the night, they began to move rapidly away from the safe borders of the city.
A significant part of their journey passed through the dangerous Red Road Forest. From the moment they stepped into the forest, Mais began to experience an intense sense of discomfort. He could sense a connection between this place and his dream from the previous night, but he couldn't fully grasp the nature of the bond. The sea of blood in his dream and the mark left by the woman had established an inexplicable, almost "kin-like" bond between him and this forest. This connection made Mais feel as if the blood flowing in his own veins was circulating through the trees of the forest, driving him into a deep unease.
Noticing the tension in the load on his back, Hideo wanted to break the silence. "Why Plain City, Lord Mais? What awaits us there?"
"A great auction," Mais replied, momentarily distancing himself from the complex web in his mind. "There is a chance to obtain a higher-level formation there. We can only carry the power of our current 300-man units so far. For more, a stronger limit is essential."
Hideo Yun's pace slowed for a moment, his surprise reflected in his voice. "A higher formation? But Lord Mais, will that be enough to conquer a city? You know that city defensive formations are granted by the Royalty themselves and can empower an army up to the Origin Heart Realm. The power of a Lord... compared to a city's military capacity, I... I'm not sure."
Mais straightened slightly on Hideo's back. He was well aware of the situation Hideo described. On the day Pima arrived, Commander Wur had reached the Origin Heart Realm in the same way. However, his army consisted of 18,000 men, while Mais's didn't even have a thousand. An Origin Heart level formation might seem unnecessary right now. Yet, its power was undeniable. The problem with the 18,000-man army was that it contained too many people in the Foundation Establishment Realm. If Mais had the army of Yellow City, it wouldn't take long for him to push the power of his formation to its limit.
Still, Mais knew he couldn't obtain an Origin Heart Formation without seizing a city. But that didn't mean he couldn't oppose an Origin Heart Formation. The howling of the forest seeped through the edges of his mask. His voice took on a more ambiguous tone.
"I don't want that formation to conquer a city, Hideo," Mais said. His voice was as low as a whisper but as sharp as a command. Although he appeared larger than his original self, he sat on Hideo's back like a wounded soldier.
"Then what for?" Hideo asked curiously.
However, Mais did not go into further detail. He continued to go over his plans within his own thoughts. The road to Plain City was long, and the plans in Mais's mind were far more ambitious and comprehensive than the simple conquest Hideo could imagine.
---
"Hideo," Mais said, weighing his thoughts in the darkness behind his mask. "I asked your father to conduct an investigation into the women who visited Moura's tavern. Was he able to get any results?"
Hideo took a deep breath as he crossed rugged terrain. "We investigated, Lord Mais. We looked into the regulars, the wives of merchants passing through the city, and even local girls just looking for entertainment. But to be honest, we couldn't find anyone we could call suspicious or anyone who left the slightest trace of being an expert. Everyone seemed ordinary."
"Ordinariness is sometimes the greatest mask," Mais murmured. He lightly squeezed Hideo's shoulders with his fingers, fueled by the unease of that strange flow in the forest's veins. Since Hideo didn't know Mais's feelings toward the forest, he was weaving in and out of the woods along the path. This was affecting Mais. "Moura gave me a different report. He spoke of a mysterious woman in that tavern who enchanted and seduced all the men—and even the women—around her. Moura seemed quite certain that she was more than just a pretty face."
Hideo frowned. "Could Moura be exaggerating? There are always types like that in a tavern environment."
"Moura might be wrong. Still, I have reasons to believe him," Mais said, his voice becoming even more serious. "Moura didn't suspect the woman only because of his own findings. Baro's attitude toward the woman also influenced him. Tense and cautious. Since the subject is Baro, this woman raises the stakes significantly. My guess is that she is a Lord who has embarked on a Tao Seeking."
Hideo paused in surprise, but immediately continued running at Mais's warning. "Tao Seeking? But that's... isn't that a very difficult and arduous path?"
"It is," Mais said, analyzing the depths of the concept in his mind. "To grasp a Tao faster, to touch the essence of that concept, one spends time in the region where the Tao flows most intensely. Some become completely isolated from humanity, turning to stone at the top of a mountain for years; others—like this woman—mix directly with the people, seeking that essence in the very heart of life and passion. This path is unnecessary and excessively heavy for a mere Sage. If she is enduring this trouble, that woman has likely reached the Origin Heart Realm or perhaps she is an Ascended who has even crossed that threshold, though I don't see that possibility as high."
Hideo's spirit felt a shiver. In a place like Yellow City, a Lord wandering around freely outside of Baro's control would certainly explain Baro's tension.
But what did this mean for them?
A cold, arrogant smile appeared on Mais's lips beneath the mask. "The idea of a stray Lord wandering our streets is quite attractive. I can understand why Baro was wary of her. At least in the past. But now the roles may have changed, and Baro might not allow her to wander the city so carelessly."
It wasn't unusual for Hideo to hear Mais express his thoughts in fragments. His father did similar things. At this point, he understood what Mais meant.
'Drawing an Origin Heart Lord to our side.'
But what could Mais possibly offer a Lord to become an outlaw?
Hideo remained silent. Mais's strategies always saw a step ahead; but to draw a Lord to his side... that was no different from playing with fire. Yet, the confident tone in Mais's voice prevented Hideo from asking further questions. Toward the depths of the Red Road Forest, as Plain City appeared on the horizon, they continued to advance with the uncertain plans in Mais's mind.