Though there weren't many nations in the north, their strength seemed a bit weaker. But don't forget, they had plenty of high-level fighters! Probably because they often battled monsters, most of the top human martial artists on the continent were in the northern realms.
The Sage Council couldn't really be considered a true nation, and had no regular army. But its chairman Cael Adonis was at the peak seventh level, on par with Elara!
Humans' biggest advantage was their huge population, so bit by bit, a few exceptional talents would emerge. Though the angel race was small in number, their overall strength was quite high. Compared to the human average of below third level, being born at the fourth level was an envied racial advantage.
Getting back to Reed and the others requesting reinforcements.
It wasn't very realistic to rely long-term on angelic reinforcements to relieve the pressure of frequent monster harassment. So Elara had them swing by the Ilandra Dominion to solve this issue, but they came back empty-handed.
"Though the emperor didn't receive us, we did hear some rumors. Ilandra has been quietly gathering forces lately, maybe preparing for another war, who knows..."
At this point, Mia couldn't help looking disdainful. In the past she'd likely have criticized humans' endless infighting. But after Edenmere had just been through a rebellion, she didn't feel she could judge.
In any case, since the empire refused to send troops, the angels Mia and Reed could do nothing on their own. So after completing the mission, they finally set out to rendezvous with us at the Sage Council.
Of course, at that time Cyra and I were still in the deep mountains of Cresthaven Papal Dominion, though they didn't know, thinking we'd already reached Crescent City.
"Fortunately, halfway there we contacted Elara through the spiritual network. Through her we learned you were still near Nikaro City, so we changed course to come here..."
Mia finally finished recounting their journey. In their last contact, out of concern for the situation in Parristol, Elara had suggested they return north. But since they'd already flown this far, and Reed herself didn't want to go back to Edenmere so soon, they stuck to the original plan to find Cyra and me.
"Should I be especially touched?" Cyra blinked and asked after hearing their story.
"Braving the dangers of war, overcoming obstacles to find me - it's like an angelic version of the journey to find a husband! Don't worry dear, I'll cherish you well..."
But before she could finish, she froze, then fell to the ground rolling around covering her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"What's wrong with you?" Yulanda, Judith and the others were startled. Even the ancient Cysper was caught off guard, rushing over with everyone to help Cyra up.
"Did sand get in her eyes? But that's no reason for such an overreaction!"
Fortunately Cyra's wailing didn't last long, ending in less than ten seconds. But as everyone fussed over checking on her, I noticed Mia and Reed were completely unmoved, not a hint of concern on their faces.
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"Could it be..."
I'd also started to go over, but seeing their reactions, I suddenly recalled Reed's self-created Five Light Ten Color spell - it seemed Cyra had fallen victim to it. Though strangely, she was the only one affected, with no one else reacting.
"I made some refinements to Five Light Ten Color. The light only travels in a straight line, letting me filter out rays in other directions to only hit the target, saving a lot of mana and avoiding friendly fire! The downside is it needs very precise control..."
Reed produced a peach from somewhere, taking a bite with no expression. Glancing at Cyra, still covering her eyes, Reed turned away unconcerned.
"So she had it coming!"
"Alright then..."Once again left bemused, it seemed only Reed was Cyra's natural weakness.
Though the two angels' sudden arrival caused quite a stir in Nikaro City, thankfully it didn't impact our next steps. And since they had no firm destination, they simply decided to join us, with Crescent City as the goal.
Actually, even without Reed saying it, I could guess she was likely as bored in Edenmere as Cyra, which is why she insisted on coming despite Elara's advice.
Following the road south, with the addition of the two angels, our party had swelled to eight or nine people - quite a boisterous and lively bunch!
Cysper initially suggested hiring a couple of carriages due to our slow walking pace. But Cyra vehemently objected, adamantly refusing to ride in a carriage again. My feelings were similar after my brush with Carl's ambush, leaving me distrustful of the drivers in front.
Was this the legendary mindset of "There's always treacherous officials plotting against me"?
But walking was pretty good too! We could all chat together, and I'd already made my peace with it. What was a bit more time after spending a year in the trial space?
By evening we'd reached a picturesque lakeside, and everyone decided to camp there for the night.
"Oh my, the fish in this lake aren't bad!"
Cysper strolled along the lakeshore, casually reaching in to pull out a huge fish that clearly weighed at least ten pounds!
"Looks like we can add a dish tonight, how about grilled fish?"
"Feliciana, I recall you still owe me a meal..."
Reed had been watching Cysper, but suddenly turned her gaze to remind me.
"Of course I remember!"
I nodded, not denying it. Actually, it wasn't just Reed, there was someone else I owed a sour fish soup. Now was the perfect chance to keep both those promises.
As for how to make it, I was already quite practiced. After some skilled preparation, I soon brought out two steaming pots of sour fish soup and set them on the table before everyone. The fish was just too big for one pot!
"Angelic cooking?" This was an enticing selling point, and everyone immediately swarmed over, the sour fish soup disappearing in an instant! None of them had tasted my cooking before, except Judith who had completely forgotten.
Of course, in Judith's bowl I also purposely added an extra handful of Romnian sour grass.
"Ack ack ack - too sour, is this even edible? Did you learn this from monsters?"
But Judith was ungrateful, nearly spitting it out after one bite. I did it to test if she had truly lost her sense of taste in the trial space due to light elemental influence as I suspected. But still, calling it dark cooking was too much!
"But I think it tastes pretty good. To be able to make even sour fish soup, I knew Feliciana was the most virtuous wife!"
Cyra's portion had the normal amount of seasoning, and she gobbled it up enthusiastically. But her mouth ran away as usual with the usual nonsense.
"Looks like little Adrian will have good food when...OW!"
I gave her a hard kick under the table to shut her up before she could continue her drivel.
"Is this the kind of flavor Edenmere food has?"
Brennan and Yulanda seemed to find it a bit hard to get used to, never having encountered Earth-style cuisine before, thinking this was how angels normally cooked.
"Not really, I've never had a dish like this..."
Mia frowned as she tasted a few bites, but then her eyes lit up as she kept shoveling in more fish. Yet her final evaluation was:
"It's just a bit too salty!"
"Couldn't you eat it with something else?" I couldn't help a twitch at the corner of my mouth - where was I supposed to find accompaniments? But seeing Reed nod at me with a satisfied look, I felt it was quite worthwhile overall.
Only Cysper kept grumbling about his grilled fish, stubbornly refusing to join us at the table.