Leaving Ravenhold Fort, the two falcons flew at relatively low altitudes, otherwise Eve could not do her job, guiding them towards Verta. She had taken the route, sure, but as she had mentioned beforehand, neither had she herself, nor anyone she knew of, taken the same path through the sky. What maps they had for the area, as well drawn as they were, proved too quickly to have quite the inaccuracies in both scale and precision. The lack of birds eyes view, as well as the general problem of survival in a middle age world, even with the addition of magic everything it brings along with it, serving as quite the hurdle in the path of cartographers and the like. And, as embarrassing as it was to admit it, Eve noted the fact that the nations further inside the continent no doubt had the same field much better developed. More power, alongside extended lifespans, gave said individuals quite a bit of free time to devote towards chosen hobbies. And mapping out their fine and beautiful nation, its vast fields, expansive forests and misty mountain ranges. From the simplest of villages to the most noxious and foul swamps, it all created the sense of adventure and excitement, something the most powerful people at the pinnacle no doubt craved, having likely reached the point they were at precisely due to said traits in the first place.

  And as they flew along a rather large swamp, the road leading to their destination skirting alongside its border, Rex noted that there were little to no farming villages along said path. There were quite a few rest areas created- clearing with simple stone walls and only a couple of exits, serving as well defendable and secure locations for a weary traveler.

  "I'm guessing there are quite the monsters living within the swamp due to the lack of villages around?" Rex asked to confirm his suspicion, momentarily receiving a nod of agreement and a short explanation regarding the issue at hand. The swamp had quite the size and along with numerous poisonous insects and other creatures finding it to be quite the pleasing home, there was a lake in the very center of it, and from there, groups of roaming monsters periodically emerged, scouring bothe the swamp itself and its surroundings. Large, near six meters long crocodile like monsters, alongside overgrown komodo dragons and even groups of naga like creatures, with the lower body of a snake with fish like scales and fins, and upper body like that of a humanoid creature, covered with crocodile like scales, head of a snapping turtle and two to six arms, holding primitive, coral origin weapons- mostly spears, though the mages or shamans, whatever they would call themselves, had staves.

  The monsters were anywhere from low C ranks to medium to high B ranks in strength, making the area too hazardous for ordinary people. It was speculated that the lake in the middle of the swamp contained a dungeon gate, covered under water, making the aquatic monsters free to reign and terrorize the surrounding lands, leaving the barren of human settlements and population. And due to the nature of the swamp, there were few adventurers interested in the location, with rarely any quests requesting anything that originated from said location. Only alchemists, assassins and very rarely healers, needed any kind of ingredients from the place, resulting in the state that was before their eyes.

  "Wait, so all we have to do is follow along this road and we will reach Verta?" Rex suddenly asked, only now realizing a rather obvious fact, his mind rather preoccupied with other subjects right now.

  "Eh? Ah, yes. That is right. Why?" Eve replied.

  "Because we will save on some time. I am a fool for not thinking of it sooner." he added as he mentally nudged their mount, wordlessy passing over the instructions, causing them to rise higher in the sky and increasing their speed.

  "Rex, I will not be able to keep track of our path at such speeds." pointed out Eve, already struggling with the task as the speed rose. Rex aura was what protected the group from both the wind and allowed them to converse normally.

  "Don't worry about that. Since there is nothing along the way, Wari and Sidsel can do the tracking. They will slow down once we close in on the first city along this path."

  "Ow." realization bloomed on Eve's face, causing her to exhale heavily and sit down as well. Even now, as soon as she had found a task to perform outside of combat, Rex seemingly effortlessly found a way to achieve it faster and more efficient. She was well aware there was no malice behind his actions, even more, as Rex likely could not even notice what his actions might have been construed as. The man liked his efficiency in certain aspects, and unless he was out there traveling for the explicit reason to enjoy the road, he would look for the fastest way to reach the destination, cutting down on the time spent on the way, more than eager to get to enjoy whatever action he had in mind at the other side.

  Thankfully, Eve did not have to sulk in silence for too long as Danica decided to ask a few questions about the city they were heading towards, as well whatever knowledge she could provide regarding the dungeon they would be diving as well, since all they knew was that their target monsters were not too deep inside, the dungeon being relatively high ranked one. Thus, with her mind taken of the depressing thoughts. Eve did exactly as asked and went on to explain the more important things regarding both subjects, starting with the town itself and then proceeding with the information about the dungeon.

  Verta was a relatively small city, having formed as a gathering place for adventurers near the local dungeon. Unlike Vixiera though, due to the relatively high level of the dungeon itself, it was notably less populated to the point it was hard to decide whether to call it an actual city, or simply a large sized village. It had its own stone walls surrounding it, with rather large sized three gates providing access to it. There were also plenty of shops, though most were for the purpose of buying whatever loot the adventurers would bring back from their delves, as well as a few smithies, tailors and leather working shops, providing plenty of durable and good quality gear. No true master craftsmen though. people with such skill level would move to either capital cities, enormous trade hubs or hole up somewhere away from people, making the would be customers go all the way out there to them in hopes of getting their gear crafted. The center of the city was a large building- adventurer guild's branch that everything else was wrapped around, like circles encompassing the most important location in the very center.

  The dungeon itself was what could be described as large, endless expanses of grasslands, filled to the brim with all manner of bovine creatures and large cats that feasted on them. The one exceptional thing about the dungeon was a rather special peculiarity about the prey animals. Unlike most dungeon monsters who attacked people on sight, the ones here mostly lived their own lives, only attacking if the people went closer than some fifty meters. The predators acted like one would expect, though with savage and berserk style. As expected, they would attack on sight, all stealth and silent prowling abandoned, replaced with savage rush and unquenchable thirst for humanoid blood.

  Eve then proceeded to tell a bit more about the monster they were going to hunt, explaining in detail about the monsters parameters and any other info they had on them. Bullmors were large, muscular cow type monsters, a bone plate covering their forehead, as well as part of their backs. Instead of two horns, one on each side growing out of their temples. they had three pairs, lined along their head and the base of the neck, creating a rather fearsome and dangerous vibe. The slightly golden fur or theirs also gave them royal bearing and together with the super high quality meat that was one their uncommon drops had given the bullmors another nickname- golden bulls.

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  "I do have to wonder." Rex spoke once Eve had stopped with her explanation "What is so important that demands the amount of meat on this quest to be gathered. It did feel like something of a rushed request."

  "Well..." Eve hesitated for a moment, exhaling a deep breath, taking another before answering. "I have two older brothers and one sister and right now, alongside two of our mothers they are out of the country, visiting the neighboring nations in what we could only call a summit of sorts. It happens every two years and the dignitaries from all the involved nations visit one country after another until a full circle is finished. Then, the talks happen where some policies get changed and whatnot. And the nation to host the final event changes every time. As it just so happens, this time it is to be our time to do so. As you might have guessed, there is always an unspoken contest among the leaders of the royal families to one up the others, making their own event the grandest, strengthening their own position within the alliance. The royal beef was just one of the ideas my family had come up with as a potential highlight of the event, though the closer it came the less likely it was to be possible. While we have A ranked adventurers in decent numbers within our territories, and that goes for all the nations that are part of the pact, we don't have proper A ranked parties that could perform such large scale operations, securing the amount of raw meat we would need for the occasion. As you might have guessed, those of the highest rank would leave for the more developed and powerful nations closer to the center."

  "That makes more sense than I would like to admit I can understand. Heh, us men and our dick measuring contests. Though I suppose in a world where one man's power can easily trumps that of hundreds, or even thousands, it makes even more sense. Thanks for the answer." Rex nodded with appreciation.

  "Don't mention it. It is the least I could do." Eve smiled, their conversation coming to a stop, though not for too long, in less than another hour, the group could sense the slowing down of their flight, the scenery they pass by starting to become more and discernable, and as their gazes moved over the horizon as the falcons began their descent, they soon noticed the presence of man made structures in the distance, or more precisely what they saw was a stone wall, surrounding a settlement. And, the closer they got, the more and more they could make out of the structure surrounding the settlement as well as the larger buildings towering over others within. Soon enough Eve also confirmed that they had indeed reached Verta, a clear surprise in her voice at the relatively short amount of time they have had to fly to reach here. It just proved how winding the road here was and how actually close they were to Ravenhold fort. Yet another thing she would have to quickly write down and send to her father.

  Since the world about the travel method of Rex had been forwarded towards all settlements of the nation, courtesy of Coachmen guild, they had less and less disturbances as they approached each new location. The guards, while vigilant, did not go into full panic mode upon noticing the two, enormous birds closing in on the wall, their black frames quite the telling sign regarding the identity of the approaching entities. And, once close enough that the human frames on one of the falcon's backs could be discerned by the guards on the walls, one among them even began to gesture towards a certain direction, apparently guiding the incoming adventurers somewhere.

  Deciding to go along with the amusing little show, Rex guided the falcons in the shown direction, soon enough noticing a rather large courtyard with a couple more guards rushing over to the middle of it, colorful flags in their hands and then promptly beginning to wave them as the falcons drew closer, clearly trying to send the message that it was there that they should land. The whole situation brought a smile to Rex's face, reminding him of the aircraft carriers and their landing signal officers. A stray thought passed through his mind as he ordered the falcons to descend and land near the signaling men.'Did they just came up with the whole procedure or did they have some records about a similar thing?' Regardless of the truth, not much changed for Rex, his course of action already clearly set out. The only thing he would need to figure out was how to proceed after these quests would be handed in.

  'Hmm. I should probably check in with the Coachmen guild. Might have some interesting job ah hand there.' he mused, considering the options 'Sure, its not like I will need their services when it comes to transportation, but the amount of information they hold is still incomprehensible. Might as well utilize that aspect of their services. Yep. Let's do that.' Rex came to a decision as the falcons landed. He could even see the slight fear in the eyes and postures of the previously signaling guards. Though that did make sense. Wari and Sidsal were A ranked creatures and as such, mere C ranked guards, or somewhere around there, would be nothing but light snack for the two falcons were they to decide to feast on them. Not that they would ever, unless of course attacked first.

  "Welcome sir, madam, Princess, to our humble town. We don't have much to offer to people as incredible as you, but we will do our utmost to satisfy any of your needs. Just give the word." spoke an elder gentlemen, dressed much like a butler, if Rex had ever seen one. His voice was soft spoken and eloquent, graying hair and small moustache indicating his advanced age, though it not only did not seem to hinder the well practiced movements and the natural grace the man exuded, but even enhanced it, giving the older buttler a hint of sage like air around him, promising not only courteous and mind stimulating conversation but also wisdom in the shape and form of an advice or two, or ten.

  "Duly noted, though we will not be staying for long this time." Rex answered, his voice calm and relaxed. He had already scanned his surroundings a few times, noticing the distinct lack of spies or similar shady men around them. Whatever the angle of the local adventurer guild's guildmaster was, the man was pulling out all stops to please their group, clearly there was something the man was aiming for, and sure enough, the butler spoke moments later to confirm Rex's guess.

  "If it is not too much of a bother, my master, the lord of the city and guild master of the local adventurer's guild, would like to extend an invitation to your mighty group for a dinner."

  Rex furrowed his brow for a moment, considering how to play this and as he weighted the options the two women just waited patiently for him to speak. Danica cared little for this and would default for Rex choice while Eve was waiting for Rex to ask her opinion. She remembered the words that Rex spoke back when they allowed her to join their party. She could express her opinion yes, but would not get to take part in the decision making itself. And, as she had expected, Rex addressed the two of them. "What say you girls? Is either of you interested, or just as disinclined as me?" Danica just shrugged, throwing out a simple 'meh' as her response, clearly not inclined to what must be some posh and high society thing offered, what with the man extending said offer.

  "While it would usually be the correct choice to gracefully accept such an offer, the Endless Journey can, and I believe should do as they see fit. A single upper A ranker could do similar, a party with four of them? Well, I can't even begin to guess..." Eve spoke, clearly putting herself a bit down, disregarding her status as a princess. She might as well not be one, at least when adventurers guild was concerned.

  "That answers that. We will pass on that offer." Rex spoke, though he added another sentence. "I am no member of the nobility and all that posturing and dancing around the bush bores me. Have a nice day."

  "Understood sir." the butler bowed in their direction "I will deliver the message to my master. I do apologize if you and your party have been inconvenienced in any way, shape or form. Have a good day." the butler bowed another time to the group and excused himself, leaving the trio, along with the falcons, alone, the guards already long gone, not the least bit inclined to stick around a monster who could tame other monsters, no less dangerous than itself, or so they thought.

  "So? A quick supper before we check out the town, resupply and get some rest. Then, early morning we set out and get to work. If possible, I would like to get through with the job in a day or two, though we will grind until we are done with the job and have some surplus since Danica was interested in them. If it is as tasty as the price point indicates, we might have to grind for much longer." he then glanced towards Danica, who was already imagining the promised taste of high quality beef the name of the meat implied. "I can see you drooling Danica. Wait until we get a taste first. This will only set you up for disappointment."