CHAPTER 536: CHAPTER 536 - PREPARING TO LEAVE CERYNEIA (PART 6 - FINALLY LEAVING!)

Since I only left a note to people from Coal City to go to Ash City, I did not need to make any special arrangements to meet or teleport anybody from here except the Lir’s family and the sudden addition of Naia’s parents and their respective groups. I walked leisurely in Coal City for a bit, kiting around the pursuers (a.k.a stalkers) that have been following me and Lir around since this morning.

I went one more trip around the marketplace, buying whatever I feel like buying since all these are merfolk-made items that I can auction at a later time. I also went back to the mining area and bought another batch of those mana crystals I discovered a few days back that can power magic tools effectively.

I constantly sent out my mana discreetly to check the position of the "stalkers" while pretending to be busy shopping. As I was walking back to the market, I suddenly made a sharp turn towards a small alley to surprise them so I can prepare for an escape.

Since I have handled all my affairs in Coal City, it was finally time to go back to my home base, Marius’ house in Ash City. After turning into the alley, I teleported straight inside my room in Marius’ home back in Ash City. It is the most convenient point to teleport to anyways.

Why would I even bother crawling into that shitty tunnel or going through the gates and deal with guards when I have this skill? I only did the "normal" option before since I have Lir accompanying me but now that I am on my own, I can do whatever I want.

Inside my room, I went inside the bathroom to take a quick shower and have a change of clothes. It was really smart of me to send Lir and Levi first back in Marahuyo to avoid any drama. I don’t know what explanation I will give to Marius if he asks why they are clinging on to me, especially Lir,

As I opened my bedroom door, I walked along the corridors, down the stairs and then towards the living room. I was surprised to see that the house is suddenly quite crowded. I believe everyone I gave a note to actually decided to trust Marius and escape with him. I never thought this silly guy actually had this high of a credibility that he can pull this many believers.

Still, the most surprising of them all was when Father Kai actually called him a prince. I decided not to ask about anything on that matter since if he wanted to tell me about it, he would have done so long ago. Everybody has the right to their own secrets.

Marius stood up abruptly in surprise as he saw me enter the living room from the direction of the stairs. He greeted me, "Oh, Rina! When did you arrive?" I gave a short response with a smile and said, "About an hour ago."

The people in the living room or I guess, we can now call it a receiving area for guests, looked towards the direction where Marius was looking and speaking to. When they saw it was me, they all widened their eyes and started verbally thanking me for making the effort to reach them and give me the notes from Marius.

My response as usual was just a smile and a nod to everyone. I only see it as part of the job to make the plan work and a part of the long list of things that I have to do to complete my promise with Marius to save his people.

As the house has visibly became too overcrowded, Marius, me and all the merfolks present started planning on which members will be part of each batch that will be sent out of Marahuyo. For Coal City, given that their quality of life is way lower than that of Cobalt City, I already expected that there will be more people choosing to leave the place with Marius’ help.

For Cobalt City, I have already teleported 55 merfolks out, including Levi and his three trusted aides. For Coal City, I have already teleported out 27 merfolks which included Lir, Kai, Naia, Neris and Itsa together with the latter two’s personal aides. These numbers still does not include the ones that chose to take shelter here in Marius’ home as of the moment.

During the meeting, we had a little attendance check to know the exact number of merfolks that would be moving out of Ceryneia soon. We also made sure to include information such as which ones are related like by blood or through work affiliation so we can arranged them to be teleported together in the same batch.

The meeting took about an hour before the members of each batch has been filled out. In total there are, 12 more people from Cobalt City that reached Marius’ home successfully. For Coal City, there were a total of 57 more people. As for Ash City where we currently are, for some reason, Marius was much more careful inviting people to leave with us so there were only 37 of them which included his trusted friends and the carefully chosen members of the city based on their skills.

Since there were a total of 106 merfolks that needs to be moved out, I decided to do it in three batches. If you include me and Marius in the batches, we can divide the whole group to three groups of 36.

The first batch will be the people from Ash City together with Marius. I need him to be there to settle the housing and needs of the earlier batches and the upcoming two batches as well.

The second batch will include the 2 remaining merfolks from Ash City and huge part of the group from Coal City. The last batch will include the rest of the people from Coal City, all the people from Cobalt City and me since I always teleport last in case there are last minute additions or changes.

We have set the time for the first batch to teleport in 30 minutes because I wanted to have something to eat first before we leave. I hate working in an empty stomach even now that I really don’t need to eat that much to function.

As we were eating inside the house, I already felt several presences lurking around the area. I am not surprised if the authorities or even the members of the upper class have noticed the sudden move by a lot of people towards Ash City for the last few days. I guess being curious and wanting to investigate is a totally normal reaction.

I kept my mana spread out around the area of our home to check on the individuals and even the groups that are watching our every move from the outside. I also have to check any ones that are hostile too just in case. As of now, there was no killing intent around us but there is a ton of malice though.

Before the first 30-minute mark was reached, I already started chanting quietly to create a teleportation circle inside the house. I want to do my last task as efficiently as possible so I can go back to the academe with no worries that I have made promises that I have yet to keep.

At the 30-minute mark. the first batch proactively walked and placed themselves inside the newly formed magic circle. Marius looked at me unhappily since I technically forced him to join the first batch. As for the teleportation itself, it only takes a few seconds for them to disappear and reappear to the destination set by the caster (Marahuyo).

The other two batches watched in awe as the first group of 36 people turned into particles and disappeared. I explained to the group that the teleportation was successful and there was a change of plans with the time interval.

The next batch will leave in 15 minutes since the number of people trying to figure out what we are trying to do inside the house and how more than a hundred people can fit such a small fit more than a hundred people and is well protected enough that they can’t get in.

At the 15-minute mark, the second batch left the house through teleportation as well as I have told them. After the 2 batches have left, it seems that the people outside seemed to have started panicking.

Though they could not see inside the house, they might have noticed the sudden disappearance of many merfolks from inside it. They must be using mana or life essence to double check the existence of the merfolks who came here. As they disappeared through teleportation, these people might think that we killed them off one by one or something.

Before they could barge through the door with magic, I have already teleported away together with the third batch of merfolk refugees. They should have entered that house now that have returned to its original state, wondering why it looked small and dilapidated all of sudden.