86: Chapter 86 Crossroads City 86: Chapter 86 Crossroads City The business of selling passes had always been going well, truth be told, the monthly profits weren’t much, but it was stable.

Therefore, before departing, Leon specifically sought out Brass Dragon, telling him that he and Tassera might be gone for a while and asked him to keep an eye on the business, mentioning that if any trouble arose, he could seek help from his servant, Efreeti.

“Are we heading south now?”

Leon sat on a camel, gazing at the cloudless sky.

At this point, the two had been following a passing caravan for several hours.

“Yes, south, Crossroads City is to our south.” Tassera sat sideways on the camel, one hand resting on the camel’s hump and the other holding a book, which she wasn’t reading at the moment, so it lay on her thighs.

Leon had been in this world for over a decade, but he hadn’t traveled much, spending most of his time deep in the mountains.

Only in the past two years had he begun to have more contact with the outside world, learning about all sorts of messy things.

Curious, he asked, “Is there anything particular about Crossroads City?”

“What?” Tassera looked at Leon, puzzled.

Leon thought for a moment, then organized his words, “What I mean is—what’s the story with Crossroads City, how big is it, what kind of forces are there, and is there anything we need to be cautious about once we’re there?”

“I get what you want to ask.” Tassera said, “Crossroads City, a crossroad, branching off from the main highway, you should guess from the name what kind of place it is.

It’s a haven for smugglers, robbers, and criminals where no one on the winding streets of Crossroads City cares about your past.”

Hearing this, Leon understood what Crossroads City was all about, and nodding, he further inquired, “Why would we visit a mage in such a place?”

Tassera pursed her lips, looking at Leon somewhat helplessly, and counter-questioned, “What do you think?”

Leon laughed and said, “You’re a dragon, a Colorful Dragon, an Evil Dragon; only some wicked mage living in such a place would bother with you.”

“You are wrong there, I also know many mages who live in other places,” Tassera started to feel proud, “You don’t understand mages…

Whether I’m a good dragon or an evil dragon, knowledge has no right or wrong, good or bad, as long as I possess knowledge, any mage would welcome me.”

“Oh, I must remind you.” Tassera seemed to suddenly remember something, glanced at Leon, and said with a laugh, “Crossroads City is ruled by several major guilds jointly.

Among the guild masters I know of, one is an Ancient Black Dragon, the other a Witch Demon…

You are strong, but still be cautious in that kind of place, you never know when you might encounter an enemy you can’t handle.”

“Ancient Black Dragon, Witch Demon…” Leon started to feel the pressure.

“Scared, huh.” Tassera teased, “It’s not too late to turn back now.”

“Scared of what?” Leon said, “Such a big city with tens of thousands of people, who would bother me?”

“I don’t like causing trouble,” Leon added.

“Are you really saying you don’t like causing trouble?” Tassera sighed, her face full of disbelief as she looked at Leon, “Back then…

a few days after you arrived in the desert, didn’t you take over the territory of Efreeti?”

Leon was about to respond, wanting to explain that he was just there to watch Steam Lake and it was Efreeti who had sought trouble with him, and he was forced to retaliate.

He ended up not wasting his breath, saying, “Believe me, I really am honest…

I just fear others provoking me.”

Tassera examined Leon up and down.

With his black hair and eyes, and his pretty face full of childishness—it was the look of a teenage dragon after all—she laughed and said, “With that noble pretty boy face of yours, it’s indeed easy to attract unwanted attention.”

“Right…” Leon responded.

“Hmm, no matter, we can avoid trouble, but we shouldn’t be afraid of it,” Tassera pondered for a moment, then added, “With your abilities, even in Crossroads City, apart from the top few bosses, you don’t need to worry about anyone else… If you really provoke someone you shouldn’t, just run.

If you can’t beat them, escaping is still no problem.”

“Right,” Leon said matter-of-factly, “Life is the most important.”

Suddenly, a wind began to blow in the desert, lasting about ten minutes.

“I never asked,” Leon tugged at the camel’s reins, “What’s there to do for fun in Crossroads City?”

“Fun stuff… in the Upper City of Crossroads, there’s central heating, plumbing systems, elevators, and spacious rooms… all the comforts you can think of,” Tassera said with a curve forming at the corner of her mouth, “Theaters, circuses, fight clubs, large arenas… all kinds of entertainment and leisure activities are available.”

“Also, it’s exaggerated to say, but in Crossroads City, as long as you have money, you can buy any magic weapon or prop, no matter where they come from,” Tassera folded her arms, “refined gold, Mithril… I remember those are the materials you’ve always wanted for forging weapons… they have them, you just need to look.”

Leon nodded.

The vast desert was indeed quite large, or rather, because the caravan was stopping and going, the progress was quite slow, so even after two days, they were still in the desert.

If it were up to flying, Leon believed he could have flown that far in an hour.

Slow as it was, it didn’t feel too bad.

Over these two days, Leon really saw a variety of species, like the tall and strong desert trolls, and those protoceratops that looked almost like small triceratops—which he had never seen before.

Accompanying Tassera from Oasis City, through deserts, wastelands, forests, and swamps to Crossroads City, occasionally riding mounts with the caravan, sometimes hiring a carriage, and when the road was really tough, simply reverting to Dragon Form and flying over, the journey took Leon nearly ten days.

“This belongs to the territory of Casar Kingdom…”

“You’ve never seen bullywugs before, right?

These amphibious humanoids with frog heads need to stay moist, typically living in rainforests, swamps, and damp caves.

They are always hungry and thirsty, and evil to the core, and they tend to bully the weak and fear the strong…”

“That’s a shambling mound, also called a shambler, just a disgusting pile of animated rotting plant matter tangled together…”

Leon admitted, this walk wasn’t bad if they weren’t rushing… provided someone was there to chat with.

Finally, they arrived at Crossroads City.

Tassera had things to attend to, while Leon chose to explore freely, intending to find her if necessary.

Leon had already learned from Tassera that Crossroads City was quite chaotic.

He didn’t expect that less than half an hour after splitting up with Tassera, he would be stopped and attemptedly robbed… Worried about causing trouble, he chose to break the necks of the two robbers to prevent them from returning with more people; dealing with the small might bring the big, and dealing with the big might bring the old.

Before acting, Leon made sure there were no witnesses… As long as no one saw it, it wasn’t a crime.

A small incident didn’t affect Leon’s mood to wander, but to avoid further troubles, he felt he had to dress a bit more “ferocious.”