Chapter 37: The City of the Setter Family

Chapter 37

The City of the Setter Family

The ancient transfer gate mentioned was a large base. The Setter family members were the first to enter, while Ellie had to wait to transfer along with the family head, Aman, and other important individuals.

The old, retro-looking magical script, which wasn’t as bright as the previous magical scripts, slowly appeared in one or two rings, eventually forming many circles of varying sizes rotating around them. Certainly, Ellie didn’t have the ability to count them, as within just 3 seconds, she found herself already appearing on the first floor of the tower.

This place was quite different from what Ellie had imagined. She thought she would encounter numerous dangers upon entering, but instead, when she was inside, she found herself in a large market-like setting with many buildings, including a prominent hospital from a major family and a widely influential sacred church.

She could see the Setter family emblem without much effort. There, the family’s mansion was even larger than the one in the city of Set, possibly because this area could be claimed without limit. Moreover, since ordinary people could not enter here, the noticeably smaller population allowed them to expand their base as much as they wanted.

"Let’s go to the Setter family area," Steven gave her a friendly smile, seeing how excited the girl was about her first visit to this place.

In actual hunts, the institution did not include scores from various families to prevent their descendants from easily gaining points. Like this time, Aman, being from the Setter family, would not receive any points. He was here solely to support his family. To truly collect points, one must go to the control area assigned by the institution, and that area strictly did not allow outsiders to intervene.

Ellie saw an area enclosed by a bright blue dome, marked with the institution’s symbol. For the significant institution, they had claimed a large area that allowed students to train fully without family interference. This vast area covered a territory so extensive that even other families did not need that much space.

"That’s the institution’s area; they control the largest part of the 1st floor because they want to train their students. However, there are also other international institutions. Following this watercourse will lead to the boundary lines, where other foreign institutions are located, but generally, there are rules preventing us from encroaching on each other."

"The number one institution of the country has claimed the largest area among all the institutions, up to the 4th floor, supported by the nobility and the emperor of the country. Whereas other countries’ institutions mainly occupy up to the 3rd floor."

"However, typically, regular students only go up to the 3rd floor to do missions. The 4th floor is still too dangerous for solo incursions. Yet, the mission assigned to Lady Ellie this time is to be conducted on the 6th floor, where from the 5th floor upwards, there are no national divisions."

"Many countries cannot claim territories, while others can conquer and claim cities. There, we encounter various species continuously at war."

"The Setter family encountered a war with the Skeleton Tribe on the 6th floor just a few months ago. While every war brings damage, the rewards are also substantial. After defeating the Skeleton Commander, we gained a trove of treasures from them, and one thing that gave us confidence in capturing the Masqueraded Steeds was the Bone Cage."

Steven narrated the details as he led Ellie to the city of the Setter family. The middle-aged man did not waste anyone’s time, so after finishing his statement, they had arrived at another large room at the heart of the Setter family’s territory.

"This is the “City Control Platform.” Its function is similar to issuing magic commands. As long as we can hold any city on any floor, this control platform will manifest magic connected to that city. Of course, when a city is seized, it’s essential to clearly define that the occupier of the city is also the ruler of which cities, and a lot of magical scripts are then integrated into the spirit."

"If the process is not followed correctly and completely, it won’t connect to other cities, which can be quite troublesome."

"For example, if I have a city on the 1st floor but not on the 2nd, traveling to the 2nd floor is like starting from the 1st floor anew. One must undergo tests and face many dangers while traveling. However, if I already own a city on the 2nd floor, I can use this magical script to travel or send people directly."

Steven touched the City Control Platform in front of him. In this part, Ellie already knew from the novel she had previously read. The heroine of the story, like her, was a country girl with no cities or experience in entering the Tower of Eternity. However, because she had many male protagonists by her side, her comings and goings in various cities were quite comfortable.

It wasn’t just the Setter family that allowed her easy access; even the royal palace granted her this privilege. The great Sage was not only good at teaching or researching. He could seize 2-3 cities himself. Unfortunately, he disliked management, so he handed it over to the institution. It could be said that he had partly helped the institution to secure more resources.

While other students could only ascend by taking on missions, Nara didn’t even need to look for missions. Simply being a direct disciple of Professor Lucien granted her that privilege from the institution.

While Wint Femon, the hero who fought for life and was not fully accepted by everyone in his family...used his abilities to conquer a small town — the heroine was granted access from him as well, even though in the story, she had never visited that town.

For Ellie, who did not have such a male patron, she did not feel sorry. From the beginning, she had intended not to rely on any families to reach various cities. She aimed to conquer a city for herself!

Wasn’t it interesting? It’s like a salaried employee who devoted all her physical effort to work for money to pay for a small condo, only to eventually use her power to work hard to become a “city owner.” The value of using physical and mental effort was clearly greater.

"In that case...I will take Lady Ellie to the 6th floor right away. We still have a long journey ahead to reach our destination."

Steven inquired about Ellie’s thoughts. The young woman didn’t say much; after all, she was here to work, not for a leisurely visit. Seeing that Ellie was ready, Steven immediately signaled. Many here were tasked with managing the city control panels; otherwise, it would be impossible for the Setter family head to send people to different floors all the time.

The staff whom he had delegated to the authority immediately transported them to the city on the 6th floor. The magical scripts activated again, and they successfully arrived at the 6th floor.

Actually, Steven wanted to entrust Ellie to Aman, but after realizing that the young woman didn’t quite like his second son, even asking to keep her abilities a secret from Aman at first, he then assigned the task to Koross who followed instead.

Of course, even though it was so, the thick-faced Aman was still beside Ellie, as if he also wanted to act as her personal bodyguard.

Ellie didn’t resist everyone’s decisions. Now, she was focusing on the scene before her. If the 1st floor was a bustling city, the 6th floor had no such appearance at all; there were only small buildings erected by the Setter family for various hunters to stay, but it lacked any bustle.

They had security units taking turns guarding at all times, as if ready to fight if enemies approached. It’s good that there was a barrier covering the city; without it, it’s likely the soldiers would be even more panicked.

"The soldiers in this city must always be vigilant, waiting to assist hunters who flee to here," Aman whispered besides the young woman’s ear. Ellie frowned slightly, immediately understanding the danger of this place. Only the strong could come here.

There weren’t many people around. The Setter family relied on its own strength to conquer cities on this 6th floor because they did not ally with other forces, hence they must tirelessly defend themselves.

However, the advantage was that all resources would belong to them; other families had no right to a share or to take advantage in any way."

"Lady Ellie need not worry about safety. If enemies approach, I will protect you myself," Koross frowned deeply, clearly interpreting Aman’s words as a threat meant to frighten the young woman.

However, Aman paid him no heed and leaned closer to the girl, who was looking around with interest, and whispered another phrase,

"If you encounter danger...you can hide behind me. I am much stronger than Koross," he winked slyly at Ellie. His words weren’t loud, but they were loud enough for Koross, who was standing nearby, to hear.

Koross’ eyebrow twitched uncontrollably, feeling an urge to challenge the second young lord right then and there. Previously, the second young lord hadn’t sought trouble with him as frequently as now. Of course, Koross knew the reason.

It was because he had suddenly gained the trust of Ellie and Lord Steven, while the second young lord had to find out for himself how important Lady Ellie was to the Eldest Young Lord. Especially when Lord Steven ordered him to protect Lady Ellie, the Second Young Lord’s eyes darkened instantly, though it faded quickly. But how could Koross, trained to be a spy, miss such subtle expressions?

After Aman had troubled Koross, he disregarded others’ feelings, simply orbiting around Ellie as if he were her protector.

Expert hunters of the Setter family were already accompanying them, albeit keeping a slight distance to prevent easy detection by predatory beasts. Nevertheless, they were ready to intervene should trouble arise.

Ellie, Aman, and Koross moved together, hiding in the same bush following a signal. For Aman and Koross, such hand signals were familiar, but it was new for Ellie. Fortunately, both helped her to follow the hunters’ commands precisely.

As they got closer to the tracks of the Masqueraded Steed’s footprints, the Setter members moved ever more silently, praying not to encounter other beasts first. Otherwise, if a fight broke out, their entire plan might collapse.

"In another 5 kilometers, we will reach the spot where the Masqueraded Steed’s tracks were last seen. They’ve ordered us to take Lady Ellie to the forefront, and the rest must hide as much as possible," Koross whispered the meaning of the hand signal. Ellie nodded in acknowledgment, knowing she had to use her magic power for the mission, though it was her first time venturing into such wilderness.

If not for her previous experience pretending to commit suicide in the woods near her village, this might well have been called her first foray into the forest!

"Come on, I’ll take you there," Aman’s sturdy hand reached out just as they were about to leave their hiding spot to get closer.

Koross paused briefly, looking displeased at Aman’s actions. Was the second young lord about to disrupt the hunters’ commands? If his whims caused the plan to fail this time, they might face severe punishment!

"Lord Aman..." Koross said in a whispering voice, yet it carried a tone of dissatisfaction. He intended to lead Ellie forward, at least closer to where the footprints were most recently seen. If they were too slow and the beasts got there first, today’s effort might be wasted.

Yet, the more Koross’ voice carried a threat, the more dangerous Aman’s eyes appeared.

Ellie didn’t know whether they would confront the formidable beast first, or if an internal struggle within the Setter family might erupt first!