During the rest of the journey, Shu Himo spent the time thinking about the abduction.

Based on the fragmented memories he had from the former Shu Himo, the three kidnappers weren’t the ones who had captured him initially. After all, there was no way those three would be able to take him away from a guarded place like his home.

The one who had kidnapped him was a dantian core formation realm expert, who then carried him to those three. But why?

Why would an expert rely on three unexperienced weaklings? They were bound to be found by the elites...

Suddenly, the blurry image of the abductor surfaced in his mind. Paying attention to it, Shu Himo soon discovered the presence of a family seal on its clothes. Its pattern resembled two curved horns spouting from a silver helmet.

He discerned that the seal belonged to a family under the name of ‘Valhanna’.

Could it be a declaration of war?

It was impossible that such an expert had revealed his affiliation accidentally. It was done on purpose. He came up with two possible reasons for that.

The first was that the expert was from a third family who wanted the Shu family to attack the Valhanna family. While the second was that the expert was actually from the Valhanna family, but for unknown reasons wanted to be attacked first.

Their plan may seem elaborate, but it's reliant on me relaying that information to my family. It may have worked normally, however...

On his face grew what looked like a mix between a crazed and a mocking smile.

...the Shu Himo they planned against is no longer here.

Standing close to him, Hains felt a shiver slid down his back. They had nearly reached the capital, what had taken to the child? But before he could worry about that, a childlike voice echoed to his ears.

"We are finally back!" As if he had forgotten about his previous contemplation, Shu Himo’s eyes lit up at the sight of the capital’s walls.

With a height above ten stories, the grey stone wall seemed to touch the sky. The wall was around thirty meters thick, yet the top appeared devoid of artillery and towers. It presented instead countless black rods spread across the wall, fixed a few meters from each other.

The wall's weight should be enough to crush the ground by itself, yet not a single rift stood in the surrounding green plain.

The only entrance was an arc-shaped gate, its size enough to even let a few kheliphod kings pass together. Waiting for their turn, a long line of travelers, merchants, and adventurers stretched for miles.

The sight reminded Shu Himo once again of where he was. A cultivation world.

A smile grew on his face, and he strolled toward the gate followed after by the elites. As one of the most influential families of the capital, it was only normal that they didn’t need to wait to enter—albeit the ones standing in line stared at them grudgingly.

“Halt! Please show your identities!” With spear in hand and an arming sword sheathed on the waist, a male guard stopped the group. Wearing full plate armor that left exposed only his face, the man awaited an answer.

“We are from the Shu family, here is the seal.”

When he saw the seal on Hains’s hand, cold sweat covered the guard’s back. He feared that had been disrespectful, but when he saw that they didn’t care he sighed in relief.

“You can pass, I apologize for my rudeness.”

The group nodded to the guard and walked inside the capital. None of them, however, noticed the disdainful gaze the guard shot toward Shu Himo, believing that the child had been saved by the elites.

The news about Shu Himo being kidnapped was spread throughout the capital, there was almost no one who didn’t know about it. In a world where being the ruler was synonymous to being the strongest, a child who could not fend for himself had no place among the nobility.

The moment Shu Himo walked past the gates, he felt the distinct sensation of walking on cobblestone, completely different from the dirt he had felt for most of the journey. His sight was meanwhile filled with the bustling activity of ongoing beast-people.

The vast majority wore plain brown linen clothes, with occasional armed groups walking through the crowd. He soon noticed that most of those groups wore light armour, but whether it was because of the existence of cultivation or for the lack of money, he did not know.

After advancing a few more steps, he saw several stalls on the sides of the road. Each stall had its specialty, faring from necessities like food to rarities like relics. The richest stalls were decorated with colorful glass lanterns, while the others with just traditional ornaments like strips of fabric.

A nostalgic smell pervaded his nose, one that he didn’t think to meet so soon. He turned quickly to look at Hains. “Can you lend me some money? I will return them once we are back.”

“Sure, what does the young master need to buy?” After spending the last few days of walking in the forest, Hains didn't mind to relax a bit at the market.

“Just a bit of food.”

Hains nodded to those words and gave Shu Himo a few copper coins.

Chasing after the scent, the child walked for half a minute before he stopped in front of a stall. He inhaled deeply, causing a pungent scent to enter his nostrils. It was the smell of fried squid, one of his favorite delicacies.

After asking Hains and the elites if they wanted some and receiving a negative reply, Shu Himo walked up to the stall. “Hi~! I’d like these two, how much are they?” Pointing at the biggest fried squids, he let out a smile.

“Two coppers for them both, young man.” The middle-aged man behind the counter replied with a grin.

“Here.” After he gave the coins to the man, Shu Himo received from him the two fried squids.

“Thank you for your patronage!”

“Thank you too!” Shu Himo laughed as he walked away. Holding the fried squids by the sticks, he quickly gave a bite before they could cool down. A savory flavor swept in his taste buds as he felt its crunchy texture with each bite. To his delight, they were greasy yet not overly so.

The smile on his face continued to widen, as he felt satisfied by eating fried squid after a few days of abstinence from fried food.

The elites looked speechlessly at the child. They felt that the atmosphere around him had changed completely, almost as if they were looking at another person.

Oblivious to their gazes, Shu Himo walked up to each stall acting like a child visiting a market for the first time. He reminisced about basic knowledge of the capital as he sank his teeth on the squid.

He knew that he was on the north side of the capital, as the market was present only there. On the opposite side were several academies, divided between commoners’ and nobles’ ones. At the east side were the dwellings of commoners and middle class, while on the west side were the slums, a lawless place where even nobles may get killed.

An inner wall slightly smaller than the outer one divided the four areas with a fifth central one, where the nobles lived. Lastly, a third smaller wall separated the nobles’ residences to the royal’s one.

Shu Himo continued to stroll around in the market, until he noticed a shop’s signboard with ‘Storage Rings’ written on it. His eyes lit up, he had found what he sought for. He picked up the pace toward it and walked inside.

“Welcome to the Storage Ring’s shop! If you need any help feel free to ask me!” The shopkeeper said from behind the counter. Unlike the crowd outside, she wore a purple silk gown, adorned by an intricate flowery pattern. Such clothes were rarely seen even on viscounts.

Shu Himo nodded and walked up to a shelf. The rings placed inside the caskets grabbed his attention. The ring bands ranged from white to black as the crowns varied in countless shapes and colours.

The storage rings held the ability to store items inside an ‘unseeable box’. While Shu Himo had the storage function to take care of that, the others did not know the existence of such a thing. And Shu Himo did not want them to know.

He soon noticed the prices of the rings and couldn’t help but gulp. Even the cheapest ring had a price of ten gold coins.

A single gold coin’s value was equivalent to a hundred silver coins, which was also equivalent to ten thousand copper coins. Even a baron would have at most a few gold coins.

Knowing that even if he swept clean Hains’s wallet he would not find enough to buy a storage ring, Shu Himo gave up on it.

He bid farewell to the shopkeeper and walked outside of the shop with a frown. He didn’t think that the storage ring would be so pricey.

I can pretend that the sword is in my sleeves, but how can I use the scythe without buying a storage ring?

While he could ask for money to his family, he didn’t want to do so unless he had no choice. He fell in thought in search of a solution, when the idea to play at a casino appeared in his mind.

No no no, that’s too risky!

But when he recalled something from his past, he rejected it immediately. Shaking his head continuously, he sped off toward the center of the capital as the dumbfounded elites followed behind him.

They soon reached the gate to access into the nobles’ area. Its appearance was the same as the outer gate, with the exception of red fabric hung by the sides. Two guards wearing black full plate armor stood still at each side of the gate, not letting anyone aside nobles walk inside.

Hains approached one of the guards and showed them the Shu seal. After receiving the guard’s permission, the elites, Hains, and Shu Himo walked inside, proceeding toward the Shu family’s mansion.

Shu Himo soon noticed the massive change of landscape. Even the smallest building could be compared to a manor, yet the area was filled with them. The more he walked toward the center of the capital, the more the buildings’ size increased.

Compared to the market there were way fewer passersby, but the few nobles he had seen wore refined clothes, both colorful and filled with countless designs.

While he strolled through the street, however, Shu Himo’s mind was somewhere else. He was curious about what reaction to his return his family would have. Would they be happy? Would they be celebrating? As many questions flew in his mind, a grand mansion entered his view.

A dark metal gate stood in front of him, with behind a gravel road leading to the front door. Little birds chirped as they flew around a water fountain amid the way. A fresh fragrance swept through the air, arising from the flowers in the courtyard.

The white building stood tall, imposing the viewers not to take their eyes off from it for a single second. Huge glass windows reflected the light from the sun. The illusion of a rainbow crossing over the house arose in Shu Himo's eyes.

Enchanted by the view, he stopped walking to relish on the sight— but his gaze snapped hastily towards the sky.

He quickly noticed a figure befalling from the blue.

Snow-white hair and tail swaying to the air’s movement. Slightly baggy clothes dyed half side white and half black, a rare combination in the kingdom to say the least. That figure was a cat-woman. Her eyes were white, and her lips thin.

She was dropping toward Shu Himo. Her foot aiming at him, attempting to deliver a kick.

But Shu Himo didn't take any defensive stance, he just sidestepped her kick and looked speechlessly at her.

“Mother?!”