"Sorry to interrupt. Can I have a moment of your time?"

Hearing that voice, Merlin and Luna were startled. They turned around and saw three soldiers in silver armor standing there.

Luna was terrified, but Merlin gently held her hand and calmed her down.

"What is it, honorable soldiers?" Merlin asked politely.

The soldier in the middle stepped forward, looked at them one by one, then asked, "Are you new here? Why have I never seen you before?"

Merlin and Luna's appearance was very striking. One was a handsome teenage boy with white hair and purple eyes, while the other was a little girl with pink hair and eyes the same color as her hair.

Merlin's heart was beating fast, but his expression remained calm as usual.

"Sorry, soldier. My sister and I are new here. We're from the city of Tarlosis, two hundred kilometers from here," Merlin replied politely and calmly. "We arrived only a few weeks ago, so it's natural that you don't recognize us."

The soldier and his two comrades were surprised to hear his introduction.

"The city of Tarlosis?" They furrowed their brows. Then the soldier who had spoken earlier asked again, "Why are there only two of you? Where are your parents?"

Merlin's expression instantly darkened, but he quickly hid it with a smile.

"Our parents… have passed away," he replied in a voice trying to sound strong. "They were killed by troops from the Kingdom of Aldoria about a month ago. As a result, we became orphans."

He clenched his left palm, as if holding back his emotions.

"Because that city holds memories of our parents, I decided to sell all of our parents' belongings and move here to start a new life."

After saying that, he let out a long sigh, as if the burden on his heart had been lifted.

The soldiers fell silent and exchanged glances.

"I'm sorry, kid," the soldier said guiltily. He patted Merlin on the shoulder and encouraged him, "Stay alive and don't make your parents in heaven sad."

Merlin nodded heavily. "Thank you for your words, soldier."

The soldier nodded with a smile. Afterwards, he asked several questions that could be considered unimportant.

However, Merlin was not a fool. Although the three soldiers had begun to trust his story a little, they remained vigilant.

Those questions were indirectly an invisible trap. If he answered incorrectly, he and Luna would definitely be exposed.

Fortunately, Merlin was able to maintain his composure and act perfectly.

In addition, he had absorbed information from the man whose money he had taken yesterday.

Whether it was the layout of the city, the government, or the security system, he had memorized everything clearly.

So, the questions asked by the soldier were no big deal for him.

Once satisfied, the soldier and his two comrades turned around and walked away.

Luna breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Merlin with admiration.

"Merlin, you're really amazing!" she praised softly. "You were able to fool those soldiers."

She didn't expect Merlin to resolve the crisis so easily.

If it had been her, Luna was sure she would have been immediately discovered and arrested.

Merlin did not show any joy at her praise.

He glanced at her, tightened his grip on her hand, and warned, "Don't get too excited. This is a danger signal. The city guards seem to have reported the spy issue to the newly arrived soldiers. They'll definitely conduct a massive investigation, and that will endanger both of us."

Frankly, he didn't expect the soldiers to ask him such questions.

It showed they might have been watching him and Luna since they left the room.

And while they were safe now, that didn't mean that in an hour, three hours, or six hours, they would still be safe and undetected.

Luna's happiness vanished, and she gave a firm nod.

"I understand."

Merlin smiled in satisfaction and pulled her along to walk around the city.

***

"Hey, I'm curious about one thing," said one soldier, glancing at his comrade. "Why did you ask the boy those questions?"

The other soldier also looked at him curiously. They hadn't met the two by accident—they had planned it before breakfast at the inn.

His friend had been so eager to interrogate the pair that he and the other comrade had no choice but to follow along.

Noticing the stares from his two comrades, the soldier shook his head and replied, "I don't know either. My instincts told me that the two of them were very strange. But after hearing the boy's answer, I realized it was just baseless suspicion. I apologize to both of you."

The two soldiers exchanged glances before smiling.

"Relax, buddy," one of them replied. "All right, forget it. Let's go have some fun before the war starts. What do you guys think?"

His two comrades nodded in agreement, and soon they were on their way to a famous tavern two hundred meters from their position.

***

Three hours passed quickly. The city center, which had been quiet at first, slowly began to fill with people.

Meanwhile, Merlin and Luna spent their time having fun.

They bought various snacks, from light to heavy, and that made Luna very happy.

Whenever she went to the city of Dralmor just to walk around or get angry at her father, she always went alone—and it was sometimes very boring.

But it turned out that walking with someone else was much more enjoyable.

Of course, that was also because the person accompanying her was Merlin.

Although their relationship had been bad at the beginning, it was much better now, and Luna no longer felt tangled by awkwardness or uncomfortable feelings.

"It's almost noon," Merlin said, glancing at the clock in the city center. "Let's go."

Luna licked a sun-shaped candy while holding strawberry juice in her left hand, then nodded lightly.

The two walked to the west side of the city. When they arrived, they were stunned by what they saw in front of them.

Many horse-drawn carriages were lined up neatly, but around thirty guards were walking back and forth, watching everyone who wanted to rent one of them.

"Merlin," Luna called hesitantly. "What should we do?"

Merlin paused for a moment, looking left and right, then noticed a man walking beside him.

Quickly, he stopped him. "Sir, do you have a moment? I want to ask you something."

The man stopped and looked at him in confusion.

"Go ahead, young man."

Merlin glanced at the soldiers in the distance and asked, "I want to rent a horse-drawn carriage. What are the requirements?"

The man was surprised. "You want to rent one of the horse-drawn carriages?"

"Yeah." Merlin nodded slightly. "Can you tell me the requirements?"

The man looked toward the row of carriages, then replied, "Actually, there are no conditions. But because of the rumors about the two spies earlier, a new requirement was added—proof of identity as a citizen of the Kingdom of Avernia."

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