In exchange for selling his soul to the devil, he was able to immediately sense whenever Delphine was in danger.

He could even move to where she was.

“…Walter. Come in.”

Having made up his mind, he suddenly blurted out the command.

Walter, who had been wandering around his tent, quickly came inside.

“Yes, sir!”

“Report.”

His quick-witted subordinate read the report he was holding without delay.

“We have thoroughly searched all the border villages. We found no trace of the suspicious trio hiding anywhere.”

“I told you to issue a wanted order.”

“Yes. It was already distributed nationwide three days ago.”

“…And did you put a bounty on it?”

“Huh? No. Of course, we did mention that there would be a small reward…”

Walter trailed off with a puzzled look on his face.

Then his superior, who had a crazed look in his eyes, immediately ordered.

“Put a bounty on it. Thirty thousand gold. Add that even just reporting evidence will be rewarded with a hundred gold.”

“What? But sir…”

“They will probably continue to wander around Sector 3. …So add the condition of granting Central Citizenship as well.”

Walter hesitated for a moment before carefully adding.

“But sir, you know that most people in Sector 3 live without a tomorrow anyway.”

“…”

“With that much bounty, and above all, the right to live within the Central Barrier…”

Walter finished his words while glancing at his superior’s expression.

“I’m afraid your wife’s safety cannot be guaranteed from those blinded by money.”

Pryde had also anticipated that much.

No, he knew better than anyone.

Just how desperately those living in Sector 3 wanted to get inside the Central Barrier.

The hopeless people of Sector 3 would voluntarily become bounty hunters, their bodies burning with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

It would be quite a hardship for her to escape from them, especially while not alone.

‘But you didn’t expect to walk a path of flowers while running away from me, did you Delphine.’

You were the one who ran away from that comfortable mansion filled with primroses.

The process of inviting you back there may be a bit rough, but it can’t be helped.

“Put out the bounty.”

The chilling command fell mercilessly like the blade of a guillotine.

Walter saluted without further delay and left the tent.

To begin with, he rarely raised questions only to check if his superior had lost his mind and made a mistake.

Left alone in the empty tent, Pryde scanned the void with a desolate gaze.

No matter how much magic she could use, she couldn’t keep wandering only in unpopulated areas forever.

If she appeared anywhere with people, he would definitely receive a report.

…Or he would find out her location when she got into trouble.

He closed his tired eyes, having not slept for three days, and muttered in a low voice.

“I’ll be able to see you again soon, Delphine…”

Veli’s expectation that Ioan would not be able to station a brigade-level army near the barrier for long was wrong.

“The troops have actually increased…”

Lin, who had secretly gone scouting using magic about ten days ago, reported with a look of dismay.

The day after they escaped from the barrier, even more troops had gathered and set up camp near the barrier.

He said that most of them were knights carrying black crystals, clearly intended to block magic.

They wandered the deep forest near the border, observing the situation, but the chance to escape was hard to come by.

It had already been ten days since they started wandering the forest.

“Damn it!”

Marian put down the giant wild boar she was carrying on her shoulders with a thud.

Then she roared like a beast.

“Bread! I want to eat bread!”

It had been ten days since they had been surviving only on meat and vegetables found in the forest.

Lin, who was sharpening a branch, glanced at her and reprimanded in a pathetic tone.

“You know we can’t. That devilish bastard has put out a warrant for us too.”

“Damn it! Bloody hell! How come there’s no one who doesn’t stand out…”

Marian cried out half-jokingly, half-seriously, scanning her companions.

Veli, with the face of a golden-haired angel, was smiling, and Lin had sleek black hair.

Both had very rare hair colors in the empire, and their appearances were also very eye-catching.

Of course, it was the worst for that woman with wavy red hair, said to be the most beautiful in the empire.

“…Ah. That’s right.”

Delphine suddenly picked up a dagger as if she had just thought of something.

Then, with an unhindered gesture, she grabbed a handful of her own lustrous hair.

“Aah! Delphine! What are you doing!”

Tak.

Before the startled Marian could rush over, her wrist was caught first.

The owner of the large hand that grasped her thin wrist was Lin, who was standing beside her.

“…Really. Can’t take my eyes off you for a moment.”

He looked at her with an exasperated gaze and recited in a low voice.

“What were you trying to do?”

“I was going to cut my hair.”

Delphine answered nonchalantly as if asking why he was asking such an obvious thing.

“It’s just cumbersome and impractical without a maid to attend to it.”

“What the…”

“And I just thought, can’t you change my hair color with your magic?”

Delphine asked with an innocent face.

Lin laughed, looking dumbfounded.

She had endured the forced march that even well-trained agents found difficult.

This woman had become quite brazen in that short time.

“I don’t know magic that produces such trivial effects.”

Lin answered in an absurd tone, still not letting go of her wrist.

“And in your case, it’s not your hair that’s the problem…”

He trailed off slightly, then suddenly realized he had been holding her wrist and let go, startled.

Delphine, not even noticing that fact, muttered dejectedly.

“Ah, right. My eyes stand out too…”

Her unusually vivid emerald eyes were not only very rare but also quite famous in the empire since childhood.

Really, this appearance never helps.

As Delphine grumbled, feeling upset, Veli spoke up absentmindedly.

“Hm. Dyeing. That’s a good idea?”

“Is it?”

“Of course, we can’t hide our standout handsome looks, but I think it’ll have some effect.”

Ignoring Marian’s absurd muttering about him calling himself handsome, Veli continued.

“I know a place in Sector 3 that sells illegal hair dye.”

At that, Marian forgot about being ignored and exclaimed with a flushed face.

“Then we should go there to get the dye?”

They eventually decided to leave the forest and briefly stop by a village called Lanchis located in the east of Sector 3.

It was because they were running out of things like salt in addition to hair dye.

“I want bread. Bread…”

Marian muttered with a face full of anticipation.

“And I could stuff my mouth with any seasoned food…”

“But will it really be okay?”

Delphine asked nervously, pulling her cloak.

A warrant had been issued nationwide from the very morning she ran away.

If there was anyone who recognized her face…

“It’s fine, it’s fine. This entire village is just criminals, so they’d only lose out if they reported.”

Marian waved her hand nonchalantly and answered.

“And the portrait on the warrant, it’s actually hard to recognize when you see the real person.”

“But never take off your cloak.”

Lin firmly instructed and even pulled down the cloak that was already pulled down to her nose.

“…But I can’t see in front of me like this.”

“Look at the ground as you walk.”

“Bread. Let’s go eat bread.”

“Yeah. Marian, you go to the restaurant and buy bread and salt first.”

Veli spoke in a slightly weary voice at Marian’s continued requests.

“We’ll go straight to the place that sells hair dye. We should be able to get other illegal items there as well.”

Delphine had no idea what other items they were going to buy.

As soon as Veli finished speaking, Marian headed off in a different direction with excitement.

Lin and Veli also unhesitatingly headed into the intricate alleys.

“…You seem quite familiar with the geography?”

When asked suspiciously, Veli smiled and replied.

“We relied on this place a bit while on the run after escaping prison.”

Both then and now, the one chasing them was Ioan.

“…”

Delphine followed behind them without a word, hiding her discomfort.

This Lanchis was darker and dirtier than any Sector 3 alleys she had seen, and the people walking the streets looked suspicious.

So much so that they, with their deeply pulled cloaks, looked the most ordinary.

‘With this much, I can really feel at ease.’

No matter how capable Ioan was, he wouldn’t be able to find me in such a chaotic area.

With that thought, Delphine released the tension in her shoulders that had been raised.