<h4>Chapter 163: Returning</h4>


    Lake had been running for about an hour at this point and he knew where he was because he had just spotted where he had found those bandits who stole the cart from the old man. He no longer cared about them but it did make him wonder how the old man and his two grandchildren were doing.


    Continuing on his journey it wasn''t long before Lake found the woods they were hiding in. Going into the woods it wasn''t long before he found them. All three were sitting on the same log and as Lake got closer he could see all their mouths were stained green. It seemed they had taken his advice and had turned to Whanto to feed themselves.


    Appearing in front of them Lake waved hi. "Your cart was destroyed by the time I found it and the horse had been eaten." Lake didn''t really have anything else to say and was about to leave when the old man said. "Please lead us back to the capital, I know its dangers there but we won''t survive out here in the woods."


    Lake had kind of expected something like this to happen and while he found it annoying he didn''t think it would be that bad. That being said he didn''t want to waste his time so he asked. "What will you do once you''re inside the capital? You were leaving for a reason so I doubt you have anywhere to take shelter."


    "Yes it''s true we have nothing to return to but it''s still better than nothing." Lake wasn''t going to waste his time leading people who were just going to die so he said. "You would be better off standing by the road and begging for a ride away from the city. You''re pretty close to a town where you''ll be able to find work and even if you have to walk it will only take you a few days."


    "We would never make it this road is infested with bandits." Lake had been down this road a few times and never seen any bandits other than the ones who had taken the cart from this man and they weren''t really dangerous, just hungry so he said. "I took care of all the bandits already, you''ll be fine."


    With that Lake turned to leave and even though the old man tried to stop him again Lake just kept going. He had truly given them the best advice he could and the rest would be up to them. Getting back on the road, Lake started to run back towards the capital. He wanted to get all his business at the Alchemist guild done quickly so he could hit the road.


    ...


    After his inspection, Lake quickly entered and rode the Elevator to Lucas'' office. Once inside, Lake said to Lucas. "Master Lucas I''ll be gone for a while starting today. Would you mind telling Master Na about my absence so he doesn''t think I''m just skipping work."


    "Are youing to today''s execution before you leave?" Lake had no intention of going so he shook his head. "Ok. Do you want your pay early for the road or do you want me to keep it here for you?"


    "What do you mean pay?"


    "Yes your sry for the month, It''s a few days early but if you won''t be here you might want to take it with you, trips can be expensive." Lake hadn''t been aware of a sry but he guessed it made sense he did work here. "How much is it?"


    "Lets see, 32,800. Not bad for a first month, especially since you didn''t really make anything to sell. Do you want it?" Lake had been nning to get his money at the Fighters guild in the Metal Domain so he didn''t really need any so he asked. "Can I get it at any branch?"


    "Yes. Where are you going though, there might not be a branch there." Lake hadn''t wanted to tell Lucas what he was doing or where he was going but he couldn''t help but think Lucas didn''t care with how he was acting. "The Metal Domain."


    "Yes there are branch offices there so you can get the money once you get there. Your friend Nia''s there at the moment as well so you should stop by and say hello."


    Nia is in the Metal Domain huh, why." Lake saw this as a good chance to get more information on where he was going. "Well it''s the perfect ce to send her with her being such a talented Enchanter because the Metal Domain is where the guild makes all the equipment we can''t buy."


    Lake guessed that made sense and it made him wonder if the cksmiths guild was going to be a bigger force there than the Alchemist guild. He had always thought the cksmiths guild building was kind of small, especiallypared to theirs. "Alright It''s time for me to go. I have to get ready for the execution."


    "Goodbye Master Lucas." With that being done he only had one other person to say bye to. He rode the elevator all the way down to the basement where the entrance to the dungeon was. He quickly found Joy standing where she always was. "Joy." After he said her name Lake saw her react like she always did whenever the effects of the Loyalty curse was turned up so he said. "Goodbye."


    He couldn''t really have a conversation with her when she was like this so he rode the elevator up to the cafeteria and went to get some food for the road. This was what he was going to miss the most so he sat down and had a meal first before packing his bag with stuff he thought would keep for a long time.


    Once that was done he walked into the kitchen and looked for Millie. Like he expected she was there telling her students what to do. "Hey Millie do you have any cheese lying around?" Lake knew she had continued her research on new food items so there were things around that he could ask for that might not be out in the cafeteria.


    "There is a small amount on that table over there." Lake nodded and went to where she had pointed. Finding a white brick Lake cut a small piece off and ate it. It was clear she had made some progress with the vor and being slightly greedy he stuck the whole brick into his bag. He was sure Millie wouldn''t mind there still weren''t that many people around who liked cheese so really he was the only person who would be eating from this brick.


    "Thanks Millie. I''ll see you." He got a small wave from her and with how busy she was he decided that was good enough and left the kitchen. Heading for the storage closet to stock up on potions, Lake realized he had forgotten to go to his room to see if his servants had gotten his belt yet.


    Feeling toozy to go himself, Lake found a passing servant and told them to go and ask one of his servants about it and if they had gotten it to bring it to him. It would probably take a while for this process to happen so Lake could take the time to organize his bag better. He had a lot of food inside now and he wanted to be able to carry a few of every potion.


    It was too bad he didn''t steal any of this stuff because he could store more of it using Booster Bag. Thinking that Lake tried to move the cheese he had taken from Millie into the Booster Bag and found he could. He guessed he had stolen it after all. With the brick of cheese in the second inventory Lake had enough room for another health potion and after packing it away he just started to wait for his servant to deliver his belt.


    After a while Lake saw the servant whose name he had forgottening towards him with his belt. "Here you go master."


    "Thank you, I''ll be gone for a while so enjoy your time off." After saying that Lake started inspecting his belt. It had twelve ces you could store things like bottles on it and because of the armor and the way the storage spaces had been designed you didn''t have to worry about them falling out as you moved or them getting broken.


    Putting it on, Lake put a few potions in it and after doing a flip to see if they would fall out Lake was satisfied and decided he was ready to go. Lake headed for the door outside while getting his map back out of his bag so he could look at it as he ran. Once he was outside he found the right road and started to Run towards the Metal Domain.