The bus was completely silent, mostly because some students were still fascinated by how it was moving without being pulled by beasts.

Others were silently asleep, Renelle being one of the ones asleep, with her head comfortably resting on Adrian’s shoulder.

Cassian watched this with a frown on his face, but the moment he was about to open his mouth and say something,

A shadow spike was launched at his face, fortunately, he was quick enough to catch it before it could do any damage.

The shadow dissipated, a moment after, but Adrian didn’t even spare him a glance.

Cassian’s frown got darker, although the damn butler had warned him to stay silent whilst his lady was asleep,

He didn’t actually think Adrian would try to kill him if he even attempted to say something.

Adrian, on the other hand, just continued leaning on the seat in a way that Renelle was comfortable enough on his shoulder.

He glanced outside the window, noticing that they were now fully out of the capital, and what lay beyond the western gates was what could only be described as the wild lands.

Beasts of different sizes tried attacking the bus by jumping in front of it, and the end result was as one would expect, 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

They were immediately crushed.

According to Alvíss, anything below B-Rank would find it impossible to even put a dent in the vehicle.

So even the driver didn’t bother moving out of their way and just ran straight through them.....

Although, that might just be because it was their first time driving.

Adrian continued looking out the window, watching the barren land pass by without much expression on his face.

’Noctis,’ he mentally called out and the cat immediately exited the [Shadow Vault] and appeared on his lap.

«I’m not sure either,» it responded, «but if the words of that dragon are correct, that should allow you to permanently use it.»

’I see,’ Adrian nodded, noting that his line of thought was similar.

According to Darius’s dragon, Noctis was incomplete and its four shards were time, space, reality, and fate.

In other words, the founder, the cult’s Master, the headmistress, and Isla.

Though two of the four were within reach for him, he needed to find the founder first since he was the key to knowing exactly what he was supposed to get from them.

«You’re thinking too much,» Noctis added, one eye opening slightly, «you don’t need all four immediately.»

’I know.’

His gaze shifted slightly, landing briefly on Renelle who was still asleep, before adding.

’But if I want to ensure her safety,’ he moved a stray strand of hair off her face with a small smile, ’I’ll have to unlock that again.’

«...» Noctis was silent at his words, preferring to say nothing, after all, its contractor had proved time and time again that he’d do anything for the lady by his side.

Someone though, was not happy with Adrian’s action of casually touching Renelle

"You’re a servant," Cassian suddenly said with an even darker frown on his face, his tone sounded calm but at the same time, sharp, "it would do you well to remember that."

"Hmm."

That was Adrian’s only response as he went back to looking at her, paying Cassian no mind.

He could try stabbing the annoying bug again, but that was just a waste of his energy, so he decided to just ignore it.

Cassian though, was even more annoyed at the disrespect, and Darius’s chuckle did nothing to help with the situation.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t carelessly respond, after all, he had an image to uphold and he wouldn’t ruin it because of one insolent servant.

Besides, they were going to be stuck together in the corrupted lands for a month, giving him enough time to get his revenge.

Or even better, get rid of the annoyance and just blame it on an accident.

Lady Renelle might be protective of her servants, but even she would forget a dead one in just a few days.

With that thought, Cassian leaned back with a slight smile on his face.

The silence returned again and the bus continued humming as it drove through the wild lands.

Outside, the scenery grew harsher with every passing minute.

What little vegetation there had been near the capital had long since disappeared, replaced by cracked earth, jagged rock formations, and a faint, almost sickly haze that lingered in the air.

Even the beasts had changed as they now looked more mutated and terrifying, but still, nothing above C- Rank appeared.

The students looked ahead, noticing that something had appeared on the horizon.

At first, it was just a dark line, but the closer they got, the more it grew, until it towered over everything else in sight, and they finally understood what it was.

Walls.

Massive, reinforced walls that stretched endlessly to both sides, their surfaces layered with magic tools that were brimming with mana.

Towers stood at intervals, each one with a spirit mage standing there and looking down at them.

Adrian noticed that there was a frown on the faces of the spirit mages as they spotted the bus.

Probably because it was their first time seeing a carriage like this.

"Damn," Darius let out as the bus approached the massive gates, "this place really is different from the capital."

"This is humanity’s most recent stronghold," the girl sitting beside him, Linda, spoke up, " it had only been five years since we recovered it from beasts, so its being this gloomy is expected."

"I see," Darius nodded as he continued looking at the wall.

It took a while, but the gates suddenly opened, allowing the bus to pass through and letting it come to a stop just a short distance away from them.

The next second, the doors let out a hiss again and the bus shook quite a bit as a giant of a man walked in.

He was one with red hair and eyes similar to Darius’s, and a scar over both his eyes. He also had a full beard and he was wearing a full set of armor.

His eyes scanned the students for a while before he said a single word,

"Out."