While humanity's highest will was gathered in council in the imperial capital, a relatively insignificant man was struggling to walk on foot with his family under the scorching sun.

"Dear, let me help you a bit," Helen said worriedly, looking at her "fully armed" husband as she carried only a small bundle.

"No need, when I was on the front lines before, the orcs would sometimes launch surprise attacks forcing us to evacuate urgently. With insufficient personnel, I had to march for days carrying over 60kg of weapons and supplies alone. This is nothing," Alvis tightened the straps on his body, rejecting his wife's offer.

He had a bundle with the infant Hess on his chest, his powerless daughter Misha on his back, burdened by bulky packages on his shoulders and in both hands. Sweat flowed freely like Raphael's dragon breath.

Ever since he was discovered by the female scout, Coenet had accelerated arrangements. Not long before the Dragon Slayer Squad departed, he had them secretly put on a small boat, forcing the scout not to directly apprehend them thanks to his imperial representative status.

Alvis had legal identification papers arranged by Coenet's Ryton connections. They were now ordinary Ryton citizens - all they needed was to enter the kingdom's borders.

After traveling a short distance upriver by boat, they disembarked quietly, carrying their original luggage and the Natterian, Morey and Ryton coins gifted by Coenet.

The first few dozen kilometers were smooth sailing. Local farms, manors and small towns remained orderly, except for increased Morey soldier patrols and the sudden construction of small temporary forts. Everything else was fine.

They could easily purchase supplementary food and lodge at roadside residences to rest.

But as they traveled further north, human habitations became increasingly scarce.

In a small forest 98km from Oakenburg, they found over ten abandoned houses. Based on the dust accumulation and weed growth, Alvis judged the owners had left no more than two months ago.

Although the vacant houses were more convenient for them to temporarily rest in, the food issue began to become troubling.

Alvis' three-year-old son Hess needed fresh fish, skim milk, meat and eggs. But without fishmongers or herders, he could only find cured fish, smoked meat and black bread to quickly resume their journey. Hess soon fell ill with vomiting after eating these.

Most critically, the Morey soldier patrol network became increasingly dense.

They were wary of any non-Morey military personnel. Alvis personally witnessed a seemingly deranged vagrant running from somewhere get apprehended. When the soldiers' repeated questioning failed to yield satisfactory answers about his origins, they simply executed him on the spot!

This made Alvis dare not take any risks. Fortunately, his years of military training helped him evade patrol after patrol, slowly approaching the north.

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Of course, he could not return by boat upriver, as that area was now deserted - any vessel drifting northward would immediately be spotted.

Through the tense game of cat-and-mouse, Alvis eventually managed to lead his wife and children 200km without incident. Luckily, they even found a pile of dropped materials from a magic academy along the way, including a spellbook documenting a healing spell. Alvis used his rudimentary magic skills to cure his children.

He planned to reach the outskirts of Oakenburg, hide in the forest to construct a simple wood raft, then cross the river into Ryton's borders.

But in the final 30km stretch, the vast Gryphon squadrons made it completely impossible for him to proceed.

As a former Gryphon rider himself after undergoing DeLuca's private training, he was deeply aware of the fearsome power of these synthetic magical beasts. Even from miles up they could identify moving objects below, even discerning anomalies by scent.

He didn't dare take that risk, cowering on the outer edges of the Gryphon patrols as scarce food and the harsh natural environment increasingly afflicted him and his family. The mosquitoes of summer bit mercilessly, causing Hess and Misha to fall ill with malaria.

Alvis was prepared to take a gamble - attract the Gryphons' attention himself, while allowing Helen to find some way to spirit the children into Ryton alone. There was no going back - the Morey people who had suffered such calamity would never let anyone connected to Raphael go, using every means to extract the information they wanted, uncaring if it was women and children.

However, that day, Raphael unexpectedly encountered Alvis again.

At the time, he was explaining the journey details to a crying Helen when he suddenly felt a slight breeze brush his face. The clouds above seemed to be fleeing something terrifying.

Alvis caught a whiff of a familiar scent in the wind, along with the distant low draconic roars and beating of wings that made his pupils constrict.

Before long, large groups of Gryphon knights began mobilizing in waves, flying northward. Tremors from numerous warhorses' hooves galloping across the ground shook the earth.

Then came dead silence, until Alvis spotted the clouds tinged crimson like blood from his bush hiding spot. A blazing crimson streak flashed across the sky!

Alvis quickly leapt out to gaze upwards, but Raphael had already vanished over the horizon, leaving only a long trail of scorched air seared across the heavens.

"Whew!"

He was now close to his goal.

"Just a few more miles till the southern outskirts of Oakenburg. Then I'll hurry and make a raft, cross the river into Ryton. As long as Coenet doesn't talk, DeLuca's people would never find me!"

Hope rose in his heart as he tightened the ropes binding his burdens, the sturdy hemp cording cutting bloody grooves into his toned muscles. The blistering sunlight incessantly baked his skin, a torment akin to the agony of the lash.

Helen trailed tightly behind, occasionally supporting the heavy packs on Alvis' body to ease his load. But she was naturally frail and sickly - even this simple assistance drained her considerably.

A patch of green entered his vision - the forest was near. A collapsed signpost by the road read "Welcome to Oakenburg - Humanity's Safest City!"

"Heh heh." Alvis gave a dry chuckle, shaking his head at the thought of it now being a dragon's nest.

"Oh well, the human nations will definitely take it back. As strong as Raphael is, it's no use." He never rated the red dragon highly, as the humans had not truly exerted themselves yet. Unless the Dragon Lord mobilized full forces to spark an all-out war between man and dragonkind, it couldn't cause too many waves.

Alvis was still unaware that Raphael had already returned, as it happened at night while he slept.

The family quickly entered the forest, the towering branches blocking the oppressive heat and bringing relief.

"Alright, let's see if there are any vacant houses," Alvis slowly lowered his burdens, setting down the two children. Misha immediately ran crying to Helen's side, the novelty of travel having worn off as she only yearned for the shelter of a roof over her head.

As Alvis prepared to retrieve drinking water, several humans bearing sleeve insignias suddenly emerged from the foliage, surrounding them while brandishing iron rods menacingly.

"Which unit are you lot from, daring to desert like this?!"