They reached the destination after twenty minutes of travel. They reached faster than Leo had expected. It seemed the new city was close to the town. The four squads had separated from the town. Each going to the respective positions. Ike’s squad got assigned to the west.

The new city was below the hill. They were not below it as that would put everyone in danger of being killed by fallen rocks. Nature was something we could not control.

The city was not near the hill. This made it hard to see what was going on with naked eyes. This was why Zek had given them the transparent crystals. It would zoom a person’s vision by four times. They got this number after being tested by Mia on their way.

The edge of the hills had no cover, so they had to remain within the forest that lay a few distances away from the edge, so no one could see. Because the people in the city could also see them if they had the transparent crystal. Since it required no magic to operate anyone could use it.

The clouds positioned themselves away from the sun. Beads of sweat rolled down their heads and back as they walked towards the edge.

Mia had a map with her which showed the location of the city based on it, they would arrive in five minutes at the edge. Zek ordered them to not go down the hill and to not have any contact with anyone from the city.

Xander stretched his arms as he walked and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Mia focused her attention on the map even though they were heading in the right direction. Mia did not bother to wipe any of the sweat. She did not sweat as much as the others did.

Emilia slowed down until she reached the same pace as Leo and moved beside him.

She kept her hands twisted behind her back as she spoke, “Leo do you think we are in the wrong?”

“What do you mean?” Replied Leo with a question rather than answering.

She shifted her gaze to Leo. “This, why are those without magic treated differently than those with magic?”

“The world is not kind to treat them equally and we as humans are not kind,” Leo gave a reply based on what he went through in life.

“But won’t that mean everyone is cruel and there is no kindness in this world? If so, how can we call ourselves human?” She spoke after thinking for some time.

“Everyone is cruel deep down,” Leo said, “that is how the world is. If you are not cruel, then someone else will be cruel to you which fills you with hatred and makes you turn cruel.”

“But this situation can be avoided if they are given equal rights as us.” She said not want to accept what Leo said.

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“That would stop this, but do you think it will happen?” He knew it would not happen because if it were to happen then it would have happened long ago. Long before he came to this world.

Leo did not know the exact living condition of the people who had access to no magic in this world. His only source of knowledge was the village, he had gone for his first mission. Sure, their living conditions were poor and those with power could torment them like how the bandits did, but a life with no power was good. Because a life with no power meant peace, not permanent, but temporary, however, that was still better than having no peace at all.

And if he were to go to a secluded location and live there, then that meant living a peaceful life and having a peaceful death, but that was not the life he got.

What was he supposed to do in this world? Kill Cao? Yes, that is something he should do, but what about after he kills Cao? There was nothing he wanted to do in this world. Become the best assassin? What good would that do? Leo knew what type of fear and pain a person had to endure if they were to go on that path. He did not want to go on that path, but there was no other path he knew.

That was his only path. In his old life he walked that path, so in this world also should he walk the same path? Yes.

“Leo?” Emilia asked as she waved her hands in front of Leo’s face.

“What do you think?” She asked with curiosity.

This brought Leo back to reality. He had lost any sense of his surroundings and had not heard what Emilia had said.

Emilia pouted. “I get it you did not listen to anything I said,” After saying this she increased her speed and moved away from him.

When he looked ahead of him the endless sky appeared between the trees.

Finally, they reached the top of the hill. The trees were all large with bright green leaves that shone in the sun’s light. The occasional wind blew which brought relief to them from the head.

As they climbed the hill, the wind blew more and its intensity increased, but the wind remained warm.

The city like Zek said could not be a ‘city’. It starts with wooden fences then followed by tents upon tents ranging from blue to green and grey. Outside the fences, people brought chopped trees into the city. Mia guessed they were used for building new houses as after the tents came houses made of wood. None of them were big. All were small and could barely house a normal family of four. A mother, a father and two children. This was what everyone in the Kingdom of Dawn considered as a normal family.

Mia could see everything in a more detailed way than the others. The transparent crystal was the reason for this.

There were people making food in big cauldrons with others bringing firewood in through one gate in the wooden fences. The gate was made of wood, but the individual wood pieces were joined closely together than the fences. Grass filled most of the area, but there were places that had none. Mia did not know if they were pulled out by the people or if the grass had never grown there.

The biggest thing that stood out was the number of people. There were countless lives. This sight overwhelmed Mia. When she looked the people were struggling to adjust to this new life. Yes, the lives of those who knew no magic were bad, but she did not know which was worse. Life here or life away from here.

Two areas divided the city. One area was for the normal people. It took up a majority of the space. The other area was for the sick. Many were laying on the ground with only a cloth spreading them from the ground. Most of them remained motionless. Towards the side, she saw two groups of people having a heated argument. At least that is what she thought.

The sight was horrific. Children were also a part of this. She could not see their faces. The transparent crystal did not zoom far enough.

“Let me have a look,” Xander said as he took the transparent crystal away from Mia not waiting for her to respond.