My Wife and I Became Sages in Another World
Chapter 106: The Droman Empire

Chapter 106: The Droman Empire

The following day after our strange experience in the Illusive Woods, we woke up early to not waste the sunlight and prepared to cross the forest by flying.

Before we left, Valentina told us that she would be escorting the Droman soldiers to the capital, so I gave her a voice crystal in case she needed to contact me.

I had left voice crystals for Melina, Triana, Reinar, and the King, but now that Valentina was at the border and there was a chance of weird things happening, I gave one to her, too.

Gina, Vespera, and I climbed to the top of the border wall and began flying from there onwards to the Droman Empire while Yoru stayed in my shadow.

We had to fly above the Illusive Woods, which we considered to be pretty safe compared to what we saw when we descended the previous day.

While it seemed like the forest’s illusions couldn’t reach us so high up in the air, I still asked the pair to be wary since we knew nothing about the area.

We flew for an hour straight at a decent pace, not wanting to run out of MP in the middle of the way. However, when I looked at the horizon, it gave me the strange feeling that we weren’t moving.

Paying attention to the forest below me, I could see how one specific tree appeared in my field of vision several times while we flew.

The first few times, I thought it was a coincidence, but I had seen the same tree a dozen times already, making me stop in the middle of the air.

Vespera and Gina stopped right behind me, asking if I had seen anything as I stared at the forest beneath.

"Are we actually moving?" I asked, making the two look around them with confusion.

"I just feel like we are not moving. I mean, it looks like we are, but the forest keeps repeating itself..." I said.

The border walls weren’t visible in the distance any longer, and the Droman Empire was no different, as we seemingly found ourselves flying in the middle of nowhere.

"What if we fly up?" I pondered out loud, boosting myself with wind magic and aiming for the clouds. However, after thinking I had flown at least fifteen more meters upwards, I realized I had barely moved from my position.

It was clear to us that we were in an illusion, which we should have expected. Nonetheless, Vespera seemed focused as she closed her eyes in reflection.

"Found it!" the queen demon spider exclaimed, excitedly opening her eyes.

Vespera was using her "search" spell to look for the origin of the illusion that had trapped us.

From what she explained, illusions were magic that had to be cast by something. If we found the source and destroyed it, then we would be able to keep on moving.

"Is that the thing causing all of the illusions here?" I wondered, but Vespera refuted my theory, saying that the area was infested with monsters and strange creatures that could all cast illusions.

Escaping the illusion didn’t mean that we wouldn’t fall into another one later, but we had no choice and followed Vespera to the location she found.

However, I was expecting to find a beast or something dangerous, at the very least. But it was a simple rock with a strange purple aura surrounding it.

"This is the artifact," Vespera said.

"That’s just a rock. How is this an artifact!?" I asked, somewhat frustrated that we had been played by an inanimate object.

"Yes, it’s a rock. But it could be considered an artifact based on all the magic it is producing..." the queen demon spider replied, promptly taking out one of her spider legs from her back and smashing the rock to pieces with one stomp.

As soon as the rock was destroyed, we saw a massive purple dome appear around us and then shatter as if it were glass.

Noticing that we were out of the illusion, we quickly flew up into the air before something else could catch us. This time, we increased our altitude and kept going straight toward the Droman Empire.

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A few hours later, we spotted a city in the distance as we left the Illusive Woods behind, finding ourselves in a beautiful green field with a dirt road leading straight to the town.

Not wanting to cause a commotion, we descended on the field and walked the rest of the way until we reached the gates.

It was a city called "Vivint," and it was the closest Droman city that we had to the Sephyr Kingdom, located right at the border of their nation.

Gina and Vespera had to pay a small fee to enter, but I was granted free passage when I showed my adamantite adventurers card, which I almost forgot I had on me.

Vespera seemed annoyed at the prospect of paying, saying that legendary beasts shouldn’t subject themselves to such treatment. Still, I explained to her that it was better if people believed she was a human for the time being.

We were in a completely new nation where people didn’t know us, and we were looking for information about a devil, so the less attention we received, the better.

Vivint looked great, with bustling streets filled with merchants and children playing outside. The facade resembled something like old Greek architecture since I noticed they liked using a white marbled rock material for their edifications.

Seeing that I knew absolutely nothing about the Droman Empire, I asked Gina to tell me about the place.

It was governed by an Empress who possessed the highest authority in the nation, and every city had a Lord appointed by her who was tasked with keeping their streets under control.

The Droman Empire was much larger than the Sephyr Kingdom, and their population and army size were a good reflection of that.

Gina told me that the Kalusia Kingdom and the empire never had a good relationship, but it was never something that would have led them to war.

She recalled that the king and the previous emperor bickered all the time, but they never considered each other enemies.

"Is that why Kalusia asked the Sephyr family for help instead of the empire?" I asked.

Gina nodded, confirming that the devil had attacked them a few years after the emperor’s passing.

She believed that the emperor would have helped the Kalusia royal family, but the empress didn’t think the same and declined their petition to help.

Since they always considered the Sephyr Kingdom to be their ally, they were the next best choice to ask, and they agreed without doubting their decision.

"And now the empress is asking the Sephyr Kingdom for help to fight a war that she refused to help with in the beginning..." I muttered, feeling annoyed at the empress’ decisions, and I didn’t even know the lady.

When we arrived at the inn, we got a room advertised as the "adventurers room," which had four beds, as it was supposed to be made for a party to share.

At the counter, a group of soldiers who seemed to be on break were talking to each other, discussing the war, and I used my sound magic to listen to their conversation more clearly.

From what I heard, the guys were glad that they had been sent to Vivint and not the front lines, as they knew that this city had been flourishing for some time.

Being the city located the furthest away from the conflict with the Kalusia Kingdom, Vivint was considered the safest place in the Droman Empire.

Only young and strong soldiers were sent to the front lines while the older generation took care of the safety in towns.

"Vivint is so peaceful, though. It feels like I’m on vacation..." one of the soldiers said.

"Right. The capital has been quite a mess with the Crimson Scorpions going around..." the other replied.

"Those bastards! Since most soldiers are at the frontlines, they used that moment to strike. Goddamn criminals..." the soldier said, slamming his fist on the table with anger.

I mean, they had some good information, but it’s not like we could just arrive at the battle and clear out the soldiers of the Kalusia Kingdom.

Gina told me that everyone in her kingdom had been enslaved, so their soldiers were probably acting out of threats and not devotion to the devil.

However, I couldn’t forget about that "gang" that they mentioned.

’The Crimson Scorpions? Is it supposed to be like a criminal gang?’ I pondered.

A group that was taking advantage of the fact that there were few soldiers around to commit crimes sounded pretty common.

But in this world with so little means of communication, there was no way for them to know when the best time for them to strike would be.

Maybe they didn’t know, and it was all coincidence. Nonetheless, it seemed like that so-called Crimson Scorpions gang could have vital information, so I decided that our next stop would be the capital.