The horse galloped its way away from the transportation unit; it wasn't that big like the other horses, but it was fast when it moved with just one passenger, which in this case was Ken.

Two hours have passed since he started his journey; according to the old guy, it would take about two days of continuous travel without rest before they could reach the Hunched Flame kingdom. 

With rest, it should take about three days for Ken to get there. In this journey, he did not want to hurry too much; it was better to reach there in good health than under the hot pursuit of the Smith family, who are on the run right now.

.....

Jack Smith climbed onto the back of the flying battle horse; behind him, a small number of soldiers were also mounting their battle horses. 

He would go and search for the bastard who killed his last child, who was already showing how talented he was with the water element; his mana core was even better than that of his brothers. 

And he even has a high chance of getting into the aqua tower. 

"Some of you head towards the transportation unit; I'll go to the place you suspected and check for any signs; you guys go guard the borders." He gave instructions and started riding his horse away.

The soldiers whipped their battle horses, and with a neigh, the horse kicked off and started heading in the direction the soldiers led it. 

Those not on battle horses conjured water under their legs and used mana to propel it forward; however, because they were still learning mana, the speed of the aqua stuff wasn't even as fast as the horses. 

Mia was at home, adding more fire to the fireplace to heat the house a little, when the door of the house suddenly opened and she saw someone clad in silver armor; he was no other than Jack Smith, the patriarch of the Smith family, a man so cruel that his wife and kid feared him so much. 

Mia placed her knees on the ground and then lowered her head to bow. 

Jack scoffed at her as though all she did was unnecessary, then he proceeded into the house without asking for permission. 

"He is the patriarch of the Smith family; I hope he doesn't find anything left by Ken." She let out a cry in her heart. Ken is the only guy she took as her friend, and she even has a thing in her heart for him. If anything should happen to him, it will be bothersome, and a place in her heart will remain empty forever. 

She knew her affecting was one-sided, but she did not care about that; her eyes watched as Jack gallantly walked inside. 

A magic rune could be seen in his eyes; it was rotating slowly and beautifully as well. 

It was too obvious that he was using mana to strengthen his vision, which was very, very bad for her. Her safety and freedom are on the verge of turning into captivity. 

"I have to maintain my composure or he will suspect I know something about him." She let out a cry from her heart, and then she started calming her breath until it was calm enough to withstand the pressure Jack Smith was emitting. 

Jack Smith walked into the room that Ken lived in; the mana in this room was stronger than any other place in this house, and it was more of the flame attribute, but no dark mana. 

"What's your magic attribute?" He asked Mia without even looking at her. Mia calmed herself and gave her answer. 

"Flame attributes and a little bit of plant manipulation." 

"Hmph," Hearing the word "flame" made his eyes shrink, displaying how disgusted he was when that particular magical attribute was mentioned.

"If she didn't have flame as her elemental affinity, then I could have suspected she knows a thing about Ken."

"I'll ask you for the first and last time, have you met any young man named Ken? He is of average height, has white hair, and has flame and dark attributes."

"Not at all." She let out with a slight bow of her head. There's a magical spell that can tell if a person is lying or not, but it can only be practiced by those who have reached the rank of 1-star mage.

Jack Smith sighed, then hovered in the air toward his horse. Before he left, he tossed three items to Mia. 

One of them was a one-time communication token; the other was a photo of Ken; and the other was a small bag containing one hundred copper, which was equivalent to one silver. 

"Why did he give me these?" The Smith family has many names, but kindness is not one of them. Thus, after receiving the money and other stuff, she began to wonder if that was a trap or something that could harm her in the future. 

"If the cash really is a trap, all I can do is use all of it tomorrow to stuff the house with everything I need, and maybe I can get a scroll containing a plant manipulation spell," she thought to herself as she kept the money inside a small box. 

Jack Smith did not rest even after he searched all the house and felt a trace of Ken's presence. He even went ahead to trouble the Flame bloodline noble families and even got into a fight with one small noble family who refused to let him in. 

However, the fight ended in a tie because he was fighting against an army of them. 

He left the place later on, after killing a lot of the soldiers and injuring some of them; he saw them as a minor pain in the ass. 

His soldiers at the transportation unit also gave him a call, telling him that they could not find anyone who said they knew or had seen Ken. 

Jack gritted his teeth; he is very sure those demonic beasts have something to do with Ken.