Angus' decision to let the guardian captain go is not just on a whim. Using his large-scale perception, he knows some other guardian groups are approaching their area. He also knows the sixth-grade captain is not easy to take down frontally in a short time.
He didn't believe someone with a weapon artifact and strong magic armor had no other hidden card as a last resort. In the end, Angus chose to let the captain go. Still, it is not without any precaution.
When the guardian fights against Angus, he already orders Cupid to spread his odorless fire-ice poison gas into the surroundings. As a Giant Salamander that relies on poison as its main weapon, Cupid creates various poisons, from harmless to deadly.
With the help of [Allegiance], Angus manages to force Cupid to reveal all its poisons during their travel. The odorless and colorless fire-ice poison is not strong. Still, if someone inhales too much, it will leave irreparable damage to the body.
This poison also has various or different effects on the victim's body according to their immunity and resistance. For the light symptom, the victim's body will feel uncomfortable, hot or cold depending on the time of the day. In short, it is a weakening poison.
Furthermore, if the victim encounters cold things like ice or snow, their body will easily get frostbite and weak to cold. Most guardian members are already encased inside blocks of ice that seal their lives.
Unfortunately, this weakening poison may not be effective against the captain since sixth grade are famous for their body resistance and resilience, even with his current heavy injury. Henceforth, Angus ordered Draven to also silently poison the wounded guardian captain.
As a legendary beast with a high percentage of success killing his enemy, Mundus is not only good at space manipulation but also at poison. Moreover, this poison is unique and different from deadly corrosive poison like crabfrog beast.
Mundus's poison is made of dark elemental, which is more like a curse or disease rather than poison. Any cure or medicine the victim ingests will only strengthen the poison. It is a very vicious poison that often leads to agony.
The only way to cure this poison is by using healing light magic, purification magic, or completely extracting the poison from the body like Angus did to Plargos' curse.
With the previous odorless Salamander ice-fire poison, the captain will definitely drink an antidote, which makes Draven's poison more potent.
In short, the guardian captain's days are numbered. If it is not for Draven's poison not strong enough, he may already be dead in a few hours or at least by the end of the day.
After leaving the frozen lake area, Angus decides to visit an inhabited forest far from their previous location. Learning from their last mistake, Angus lets Cupid go while traveling using a carriage.
This way, they didn't need to worry about other guardians detecting them. Unfortunately, Cupid seems to already be getting fond of them and reluctant to go away, complicating their current situation.
Angus and Jayna are also surprised at Cupid's behavior since he is often being abused by Anna, and they force it as their ride. Leaving with no choice, Angus wakes the sleepy troublemaker who brought Cupid in the first place.
"So, Cupid will come with us?" asked Anna while eating her snack.
After a round of coaxing the little troublemaker from her beauty sleep, Anna wakes up and immediately eats her snack. Using this moment, Angus asks Anna to liberate Cupid while explaining their situation.
"*Sigh* No, Anna. Cupid couldn't come with us." said Angus for the fifth time.
"Why? Is Cupid not adorable enough? Ahh... Anna knows!! Did Daddy fear Cupid's cuteness surpass Anna? Don't worry, Anna is the cutest and smartest." blabbering Anna.
"Urgh.. No, Anna. Cupid attracts the others. So, we need to leave it behind." said Angus.
"Hmm... Then, who is going to be with Cupid?" asked Anna.
"No one. It will come back to its own previous nest." said Angus.
"Ehh... That's boring. Cupid must feel lonely in Cupid's nest all day. Anna knows, why don't Anna bring Cupid?" said Anna.
"Anna, did you have a way to conceal or hide Cupid?" asked Angus.
"Of course not. Silly Daddy! If Cupid is hidden, who could see its cute adorable stupid face. Pfftt... Hahahahaha..." laughed Anna after seeing Cupid's appearance.
'Urgh... This is hopeless. We are not going anywhere. She is adamant to take it with us.' thought Angus inwardly.
'Angus, it's fine. Let Cupid come with us. Although there is still a huge chance it will get attacked, I don't think the guardian will dare to fight Cupid when they need to prepare for the Gram horde and father's incoming army.' said Jayna through their bond.
"Fine. Cupid could come with us. But you need to take care of it." said Angus.
"Don't worry, Anna will take care of Cupid. If Cupid gets naughty, Onyx said Onyx will swallow it." said Anna playfully.
At the same time, Cupid couldn't help but shudder after hearing Anna's words. As a lizard species monster, Cupid has a keen sense when detecting danger or other lizard beasts.
In fact, it often used its senses rather than its eye to see the surroundings. When he first meets Anna, he already finds the hidden Onyx among Anna's silky black hair.
Noticing Cupid's reaction, the young couple feels weird at its strange behavior. Still, they know it must be connected with Anna and decide to leave this matter alone.
In the end, they decide to still use Cupid as their own ride. Besides, Angus knows their whereabouts are already exposed. As long as they stay in this place, they will be found out in a matter of time.
After taking shelter in an inhabited tundra forest, Angus continues his research to light the fire forge. In fact, he already has a good solution by using a rune spell or his rune magic card.
However, light and the dwarf force need more than just fire. It requires a huge amount of concentrated fire elemental. Therefore, he needs to create a new fire spell specialized to light the dwarf forge.
With his current intelligence and [Analyze], he can create this spell in no time and engrave it on a special runic magic card.
Same as before, the two female dwarves enjoy their liquor while keeping their vigilance from the naughty, sneaky little monster. Unlike Balrug and other dwarfs, the two female dwarfs will not let the underage Anna drink their liquor.
As a female dwarf, they also have a soft spot for adorable kids like Anna despite their rough nature and masculine appearance. On the other hand, Anna runs aimlessly again while Brigida and Jayna follow.
At this moment, Angus suddenly looked in Anna's direction. Using his perception, he knows few people are inside this tundra forest. However, he didn't find it troublesome since these people were ordinary civilians from the village not far from here.
The Everwhite City is similar to an ordinary fiefdom in the Heart Kingdom. It comprises one big main city surrounded by a few small villages. Since this place is near the frozen Everwhite Basin, they couldn't find a completely empty land without people on it.
The genuine concern is not meeting people but instead meeting the guardians. As long as they act normal, they could still pretend to be ordinary civilians. At most, they will say they are traveling merchants from the outside.
Therefore, Angus wasn't concerned much about meeting other people or civilians. Though, he still preferred not to meet any of them.
Soon, Anna meets the old grandpa who is sitting on the rock. Jayna and Brigida also notice this person and approach the naughty Anna.
'Judging by his appearance, he seems to be resting after collecting the firewood in the forest.' thought Jayna.
Suddenly, Anna ran towards the old grandpa, surprising him with a loud voice.
"BOOO!!" shouted Anna.
"GASP!!" reacted the old grandpa in surprise.
"Hahahahaha...." laughed Anna at the surprised grandpa's expression.
"Anna?!!" called Jayna with a reprimanded tone.
"I am sorry. I hope you don't mind Anna. She is just too naughty." said Jayna.
"Haha... Don't worry about it. But I prefer it if you don't do that again. My old heart may not withstand it." said the old grandpa.
"I am really sorry. Anna apologized to him." said Jayna.
"Ehhh... Nope. Anna doesn't want to. Grandpa, did you have meat? Anna loves meat." said Anna excitedly.
"Anna!! I am really sorry. She is usually a sensible child, just a little bit naughty." said Jayna.
'Little bit naughty?!! Yeah, tell that to those beaten guards in the Royal Palace.' thought Brigida inwardly.
"Don't worry... Don't worry... She is just an energetic child. I don't have any meat, but I have some candy. Did you want it?" asked the old grandpa.
"You don't need to..." said Jayna.
Before she could finish her sentence, "Candy?! Anna wants it. But, Mira didn't like candy. So, don't tell Mira, Anna is having candy." blabbering Anna.
"Err... Sure. Here, you go." said the old grandpa before giving a few candy on top of Anna's small hand.