Chapter 621: Tomorrow at sunrise

***

Five days later...

"Here I was ready to be insistent for years and you’ve already given up after only days," Philip said, "Fascinating."

"It seems you underestimated how much of a bother you are," Athenodora said with a relaxed smile, "A few days was the most I could handle before I’m overwhelmed with a need to get rid of you."

Philip laughed. He was in such a merry mood that he didn’t even bother to glower at Caius who stood in the lounge with his arms folded and a neutral expression on his face.

"Fair enough, Dora," Philip said, and then he paused, "If you really want to get rid of me that much, I can’t help but wonder if the information you’re about to offer is actually true. Once I leave to confirm it, you might have taken the chance to go after the real deal yourself."

"You’ll know I’m telling the truth because I’ll be coming with you," Athenodora said.

"You’ll... be coming with me?" Philip asked slowly and though his smile remained, his expression became slightly puzzled.

"Yes," Athenodora answered, "And Caius too."

Now Philip went from puzzled to irate.

"HIM?!"

"Yes. Him," Athenodora said calmly, "Believe me Philip, I lose nothing by letting you go after the Blood yourself. You’ll die a horrible death to the obstacles on the way to the Blood and no one would even be able to fetch your body."

"What?" Philip stumbled.

"You heard me," Athenodora said, "I am willing to reveal to you the location of the Blood— an entry into its location anyway. What lies within it however, I’ll keep to myself. You can try and bother me to reveal it to you and maybe you’d even succeed but by then... well, I’m sure others would already be making their way to the Blood."

"Others?" Philip said slowly.

"Yes. Others," Athenodora said, "I believe it’s not a coincidence that I just happened to decipher the Blood’s location. It allowed itself to be discovered. I have no idea why it chose this time to reveal itself, but as much as I hold great regard for myself, I don’t think the location revealed itself to me because I’m special.

Others will be afforded that grace soon and before long, they’ll make their way to the Blood. And while you try your best to get me to reveal all I know, the Blood and your Lord’s chance at ’ultimate power’ will be lost."

’Well done,’ Caius thought in his head and allowed himself a brief smile before he returned his expression to neutrality.

Everything Athenodora just said, Caius had coached her on. It was he who told her of the impending influx of information about the Blood’s location because he believed their best chance for their plan to work was if Athenodora delivered the pitch to Philip because Philip would never respect Caius’s opinion. Caius also preferred not to advertise that he knew certain things. It didn’t bode well for his safety.

And what was his and Athenodora’s plan?

Well, a day after Caius had told Athenodora they needed Philip with them, she told him she knew Philip and he wasn’t going to buy it. He would suspect a possible backstab and wouldn’t want to risk it. So Caius had proposed they scare him into letting them come along;

With the things Caius knew and Athenodora’s talent for delivering information in a way that could sway even the hardest of hearts, they could make Philip believe that without them, he was bound to fail.

"You’re going to need a guide beyond knowing the entrance," Athenodora continued, "I’m offering to be that guide."

Philip was silent for a while as he weighed the importance of what Athenodora knew against the risk of having her close. He wasn’t stupid enough to think she was just being generous to offer to guide him— it didn’t take being a genius to figure out that she was after the Blood.

His knee-jerk reaction was to shut down her offer but he held back from saying this because while he might eventually be able to get her to tell him all that she knew so he could go after the Blood alone, the threat of others going after the Blood worried him still.

Against his better judgment, all that Athenodora said made too much sense to Philip, and try as he might, he couldn’t help but seriously consider her offer to be his guide.

"Okay. I understand why I should bring you with him, but I don’t see why he should be involved in this," Philip said with a thumb jerked in Caius’s direction.

"His blood is the only reason I still live. I can’t afford to be separated from him for too long of the curse will overwhelm me," Athenodora said.

"Then, just collect his blood in some vials or jugs or something," Philip said with a glower at Caius.

"Are you dictating to me how I should manage my curse?" Athenodora asked and despite the smile on her lips, her eyes were hard and dangerous.

Philip frowned and then scoffed.

"Fine. But no one else. I’d rather not be surrounded by his or your allies," He said.

"No one else," Athenodora promised.

"Could you grant me an exception from your disrupting Formation?" Philip asked.

"Why?" Athenodora asked.

"To contact my Mercenaries. The way you speak of the obstacles, I get the feeling I’ll need all the minions I can afford.

I’m going to need you to permit them to pass through the Dome as well," Philip said quickly in a tone of someone readying himself for a great undertaking.

"I won’t be doing any of that," Athenodora said.

Philip paused.

"Why not?" He asked.

"If you weren’t listening or just didn’t understand what I said, let me clarify; there is no time to waste. Only Nyx knows how many more have discovered the location of the Blood.

We leave tomorrow at sunrise.

With what I know, the three of us will be enough."

The last sentence was all Caius’s words which he had spoken to Athenodora when she, just like Philip was doing now, had been skeptical of the plan as a whole.

Philip sighed.

"I see," he said, "Then tomorrow it is, then. Excuse me."

Philip stood up and left the lounge. The door shut behind him, leaving Caius and Athenodora alone again.

"I’m surprised he left you alone," Caius said with a glance at the shut door.

"He believes I’m being honest and has decided to take a while to prepare himself for tomorrow," Athenodora said.

"You did well," Caius said.

"Why thank you," Athenodora said with a hint of sarcasm, "It was my first time telling lies."

"Ha ha," Caius laughed sarcastically in turn.

"And it wasn’t all lies, anyway. The urgency, for instance, was all truth. Especially since we’re two days past schedule," Athenodora said.

"You say that like I didn’t warn against exerting yourself and drawing from your Reservoir for personal desires," Caius said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, but it was worth it," Athenodora said, her eyes raking all over Caius from head to toe and back.

"Let’s see if you still think so when we find the Blood long plundered because we were late," Caius said with a laugh.

"We’ll just have to make good time then," Athenodora said with a shrug, "Stay off those pesky roads and take to the skies."

"You’ll carry me?" Caius smirked.

"Wouldn’t you like that," Athenodora said with a light bite of her lip before she continued saying, "But no, we’ll take a Sky-Carriage."

"A Sky-Carriage is only marginally faster than a Land Carriage," Caius said and then nodded in admission, "But a marginal advantage is an advantage nonetheless, I must admit."

"I knew you’d see it that way. I’m having my best one prepared," Athenodora said.

"Your best one? How many of them do you have?" Caius asked.

"As many as I desired," Athenodora said with an almost smug smile.

Sky-carriages are this world’s equivalent of the jets in Caius’s previous world but they never did quite overtake land carriages as the most favored means of transportation as had happened in Caius’s old world. The reason for this was that whatever propulsion has been developed for a Sky Carriage can always be used for Land Carriages as well;

Unlike Caius’s old world where there were jet engines and jet fuel not fit for cars, Mana remains the universal fuel for all things in this world. And with people being capable of achieving super reflexes, collision is never accidental and only happens because it is incited.

In other words, the issues that limit the speed of cars in Caius’s old world do not quite exist in this world. At least not the same way. Of course, Land Carriages still often have laid paths to follow, and not having any such limitation does make Sky-Carriages moderately faster but it just never was enough to warrant it as a complete alternative to Land Carriages.

But Sky-Carriages didn’t just cease to exist, instead, they became even more regarded as Status symbols than Land Carriages ever could be. To the point where the most standard one costs so much that only the most affluent families bother to acquire and maintain it.

So to have one or two Sky-Carriages is a testament to one’s wealth and status. To have multiple as Athenodora just alluded to is a testament to one being wealthy and irresponsible enough not to care how they spent their money.