Hearing Leo's words, the two soldiers looked at each other before nodding their heads.

"That place is indeed possible since no battle has ever happened over there before." One of the soldiers said.

"Although the Heart city is the main base of the Mischievous Lion organization, it seems like they don't plan to attack the Blue Coral city yet." The other soldier added.

"Oh, okay then!" Leo said, "But, would it be alright for the two of you to guide us? You see, it's possible that they might not allow us to pass, right? But with you both, I think it would be possible."

The two guards thought for a bit as they then suddenly remembered how Leo had given 1 gold coin tip to practically every vendor from the beginning till this present moment.

As soldiers, they would actually only receive 1 silver coin every day, which is 30 silver coins in a month's time. But those vendors that Leo had bought stuff from had basically received 4 months' worth of their salary.

"Okay!"

"Sounds fair to me!"

Princess Elaine then clasped her hand together as she said, "Then, let's go!"

.....

After dozens of minutes of walking, Leo and the others finally arrived in front of the west gate.

Unlike what Leo had expected at first, specifically, all the gates of the Blue Coral city being strict, it was actually the contrary as he has only found dozens of soldiers stationed in the west gate rather than hundreds. Moreover, most of them too, was actually not as alert as he had expected. Though he quickly realized that it should only be the west gate like this, considering what the soldier had said where there has still been no war happening over here.

The two soldiers that guided them talked to the people in-charged of the west gate before finally nodding their heads seemingly in agreement.

They then returned to Leo as one of the soldiers said, "I've talked with them and they agreed with letting you out. Unfortunately though, because of how strict the Blue Coral city is at this moment, we can't assure you whether you will not get caught by oth-"

Before that soldier was able to finish, Leo immediately threw 5 gold coins to him, "Is that enough?"

"Oh, it's more than okay!" That soldier nodded in delight.

"Don't worry, we would only be staying for a few minutes, just to have fun and the likes, we would be back soon." Leo smiled.

"Then have a happy picnic!" The soldier said before motioning for the soldiers in-charged of the west gate to open up.

The moment Leo and the others finally distanced themselves far enough from the west gate, they immediately stopped with their act as they quickly went to the forest at the side in order to hide and wait up for the others.

Based on what they have agreed before, they would meet up at the north side of the west gate, specifically in a small forest with an open land surrounded by trees and a rock in the middle.

Moments later, Leo finally arrived in that place, Gretchen and her men, Margaret and the 9 others, Jeffrey, Matt, Venice, and Number One to Number Ten was shockingly already long been waiting for them, which made Leo really astonished.

"How did you arrived before us?" Leo curiously asked.

"Didn't you guys used the secret tunnel?" Gretchen can't help asking.

The moment Leo heard Gretchen's reply, he really wanted to hit himself for forgetting about the existence of secret tunnels. He can't believe he just went through so much trouble, even waste tens of gold coins just to set-up a plan to leave Blue Coral city.

No use regretting though, since what's done is done.

"How about Blaze and the others?" Leo suddenly asked.

"They weren't following behind us, so I guess they would be arriving later." Gretchen replied.

After waiting for more than an hour, everyone finally saw Blaze, Haze, Glaze, and their men's silhouette. Right now, all of their clothes were drenched and their hair's wet while being covered with dirt and leaves.

"Where have you guys been?" Gretchen asked while chuckling.

"Wait, tell me first, how did you guys leave?" Blaze replied.

"We used a secret tunnel." Gretchen replied.

"How about you, Your Excellency, Leo?" Blaze turned to look at Leo.

"Through the west gate." Leo replied.

"Damn, I can't believe we just went so much freaking trouble from swimming through the ocean, climbing a cliff, then crawling the bushes, waiting for the right time when no one is watching, before finally arriving in here..." Blaze shared how much effort they had just gone through in order to arrive in their meeting point, "Yet you guys actually..."

Gaze suddenly smacked Blaze's head as he said, "Look, I've told you repeatedly that we should have just looked for the secret tunnel, but no no no, let's do the hard way because the soldiers following behind us would definitely find out that we are members of the Mischievous Lion organization if we used the secret tunnel and not to mention we would also cause the others trouble if we do so. Look at them. They used the secret tunnels, and Excellency Leo's group even used the freaking west gate without any fear. You damn stupid Captain!"

Seeing them almost fighting, Glaze immediately pulled both of them far away from each other, "Chill, as long as we have arrived, that's all that matters."

"You stupid muscle head!" Blaze and Haze both kicked Glaze's side.

"....."

At the side, Gretchen and Margaret can't help thinking of having popcorn while watching 3 brothers fighting with each other.

"What are you guys just standing for, quickly break them up!" Leo exclaimed to the people enjoying the show.

Hearing Leo's order, they quickly moved to pull Blaze, Haze, and Glaze away from each other.

"You three are really troublesome. Don't you see, we are still near the wall? So soldiers would definitely notice us once they noticed a fight between Mages." Gretchen quickly took the rule of being the older sister as she began teaching them a lesson or two. Though she was chuckling after finishing her words.

.....

It was only in the late afternoon when they finally reached halfway to the Heart city. And because they were already starving, they all decided to take a rest and catch some Magical Beast to barbecue.

"Jeffrey, Matt, and Venice, you guys look for some mushrooms and spices we can use for cooking. Number One to Number Ten, begin building up a temporary camp. Blaze, Haze, Glaze, your group would be in-charged of putting up a perimeter around us. Gretchen and Margaret, your group would assist Blaze's group in case of any danger. While I would be looking for the Magical Beast to eat." Leo quickly began assigning their roles.

"Okay!"

"Roger that!"

"No problem!"

"And Charlotte, you'll be coming with me!" Leo called out to Charlotte before walking to begin looking for Magical Beast to eat.

Charlotte nodded her head as she quickly followed after Leo.

Although they were now far from the Blue Coral city, Leo still didn't let down his guard because there might be some scouts scattered in places.

Arriving 100 or so meters away from their camp, Leo and Charlotte suddenly heard fighting from a distance.

"Basing from the sound, they should be fighting against Magical Beast," Leo said.

"Should we help them?" Charlotte asked.

"Let's observe first," Leo replied before he quickly runs towards where the sound was coming from. Charlotte also quickly followed behind.

Moments later, they finally saw 6 people fighting against dozens of Magical Beast. Two of them were already seriously injured while only 4 people were still able to fight, specifically 2 females and 2 males, though the other female was healing right this moment.

Looking closely, Leo was surprised to see Claude, David, Hannah, and also Dandelion present in this group.

Since it was them, Leo didn't hesitate to lend a hand. He quickly ordered Charlotte to help them.

Whooosh!

Whoooosh!

Whooosh!

It only took a second or two for Charlotte to eliminate all of the dozen Magical Beast as she then slowly walked toward Claude's group.

"Thank you for saving us!" Claude bowed his head a bit to show his gratitude to Charlotte.

"May I ask what your name is?" Hannah asked.

"You can call me Charlotte," Charlotte replied, "But you shouldn't be thanking me, but instead him," She then pointed at Leo who is currently walking towards them.

"Leo!" Claude, Hannah, David, and Dandelion immediately became shocked.

"I've never expected that I would be meeting you guys again in such a place and in this kind of situation." Leo said with a smile on his face.

Everyone immediately started hesitating about how they should treat Leo after his status of being a member of the Mischievous Lion organization was spread throughout the entire Silver Kingdom, not to mention being a disciple of their President, except for Claude who quickly approached Leo seemingly without any care.

"Hahahaha, you sure do know how to hide secrets!" Claude said. He was now a trainee of the Mischievous Lion organization after the Blacksmoke city was conquered by them, simply because he's a member of the Blacksmoke Noble Household. And after knowing their hierarchy system, he quickly knew at this moment that he should do his best to have a closer relationship with Leo, as it would definitely give him more opportunities in the future.

Leo simply smiled before he then asked, "So, how's everyone after that incident back at Blacksmoke city?"

"Still trying our best to become a 3rd-year student." Claude replied.

"Oh, so Mage Academies didn't stop, although we are in the middle of a war right now?"

"Actually, there are only 3 Mage Academies remaining in Silver Kingdom, as the rest has either been destroyed or has already transferred to other Kingdoms. And because of the Kingdom Protection Array being destroyed, the 3 Mage Academies has quickly used this as an opportunity to groom students through hunting Magical Beast." Claude replied.

"Oh..." Leo nodded his head in understanding. He finally understands why he had never noticed any movements of any Mage Academies the moment the war starts. So it was simply because only 3 of them remained, "And those Mage Academies are?"

"Silver Mage Academy of Silver royal family, Glacier Mage Academy for Snow, Honoris, and Skull Noble Households, and the newly formed Mage Academy of Mischievous Lion, the Mischievous Lion Academy, created by the 24 Elders of Mischievous Lion organization." Claude explained.

"And I assumed that you guys have now become students of the Mischievous Lion Academy?"

"Not just us, Cassandra is actually the Student Council President of Mischievous Lion Academy, along with the help of the Mischievous Lion guild. Hahayst, I really want to join them..."

Hearing the word 'Guild', Leo quickly realized that Olivia was definitely the one who has established the Mischievous Lion Academy instead of the 24 Elders. This was always her thought in the past. That's the reason why he had assigned some members of the Mischievous Lion organization into different Mage Academies in the first place in order for them to gather information, resources, and to recruit more potential students. George and Charles have also allocated some manpower to this plan as well. Even all of the 24 Elders have given the full support of this plan.

And finally, after years of effort, the plan has finally taken the first step.