The next day, early morning.
With the village chief and Lachimon seeing him off, Nolan left Carn Village.
Only now did Lachimon feel a sense of relief.
From the first moment he saw Nolan, his intuition told him that the other party was a very dangerous man, and he had never heard of anyone being able to tame a demonic creature like a Hellhound.
Especially...
Lachimon's throat bobbed.
That little Hellhound, which seemed to be affectionately close to that man, was actually clearly afraid!
He glanced at the village chief next to him, who looked utterly carefree, and Lachimon knew that the village chief hadn't taken his words to heart.
"Sigh," Lachimon sighed.
Fortunately, that man bore no ill will towards the village... After leaving Carn Village, Nolan no longer suppressed his speed. He grabbed the little Hellhound and advanced rapidly.
Along the way, there were only sporadic wild beasts, and no goblins or other demonic creatures were seen at all.
Seeing this, Nolan realized that no wonder the Adventurer's Guild had dispatched an adventure team to investigate; the impact of his month-long hunt of demonic creatures and goblins was much greater than he had anticipated.
From the fact that he hadn't encountered any adventure teams in the forest and the information he gathered from Carn Village, the Adventurer's Guild probably hadn't obtained any useful information.
Due to the lack of demonic creature obstruction and his increased strength, it only took about two hours.
Nolan had already seen 'E-Rantel' in the distance.
It was worth noting that it had taken him a full day to travel from 'E-Rantel' to Carn Village back then.
Three city walls completely surrounded the entire city. The rough, heavy feel emanating from their sturdy and majestic presence gave anyone approaching an invisible sense of oppression.
At the checkpoint below the gate, several soldiers were gathered, chatting casually and relaxing.
As soldiers of a fortress city, they naturally shouldn't be so lax, but it was still a bit too early.
In a border area like this, whether travelers or merchant caravans, they would choose a relatively safe time to depart. The surrounding villages also wouldn't come at this time.
Even though the harassing demonic creatures and annoying goblins had significantly decreased during this period, it still hadn't changed most people's travel times.
In short, it wasn't a busy time yet.
"Hey, hey, stop playing, someone's coming," a soldier suddenly saw a figure in the distance and reminded his companions.
"Seriously, so early."
Another soldier yawned, stood up, and also looked into the distance.
However, very quickly, the two somewhat lazy soldiers' eyes became serious.
The closer he got to 'E-Rantel,' the more Nolan couldn't help but marvel at the fortress city's massive walls.
Although it wasn't the first time he had seen it, a city as colossal as a fortress city, if magic didn't exist, could certainly not be built by human labor alone.
"Woof."
The little Hellhound followed closely behind Nolan, its head constantly swiveling, observing its surroundings, clearly very curious about everything.
Entering the city gate, Nolan glanced at the two soldiers guarding the checkpoint entrance, reached into his pocket, and took out the copper coins he had prepared, handing them over.
Unexpectedly, the soldier did not reach out to take them. Instead, he looked at Nolan a little more seriously.
"Sir, are you an adventurer?" the soldier asked cautiously, glancing at the little Hellhound, then respectfully.
"No, I'm not." Nolan frowned slightly.
"Is that so?" The soldier was briefly stunned, clearly a bit surprised by this answer. He exchanged glances with the other soldier and cautiously asked, "Sir, may I ask if you have a travel permit?"
Travel permit?
Nolan had heard the 'Rock' team mention this item.
In the Re-Estize Kingdom, besides the capital, the main cities in the noble territories of other major regions required a toll, or pedestrian tax, to enter and exit.
Of course, residents of one's own territory would receive certain preferential treatment, and some generous nobles would even directly waive this fee.
To receive such preferential treatment, one needed a travel permit specifically issued to the various villages within the territory, which served as a substitute for the 'toll fee.'
Nolan naturally didn't have such a thing.
The problem was that this soldier should also know. His hair color alone was enough to confirm that Nolan was not a resident living in this territory.
Nolan's first thought was whether something had happened in 'E-Rantel.'
You see, when he came to 'E-Rantel' a month ago, there was no such obvious vigilant behavior; one only needed to pay the toll to enter and exit freely.
It shouldn't be related to his actions in the Tob Forest.
At least, Nolan didn't think killing some goblins would cause such an impact.
Seeing Nolan shake his head, indicating he didn't have one, the soldier's face didn't show any surprise, because if he did, then there would truly be a problem.
"I apologize, Sir."
"Could you allow our magic caster to briefly inspect your belongings?" the soldier asked nervously and cautiously.
Accompanying a demonic creature, he was clearly not an ordinary person.
If the other party were an adventurer, they wouldn't need to do such an offending thing.
After hearing these words, Nolan had already realized that something must have indeed happened within 'E-Rantel.'
"Could you tell me what happened?" Nolan didn't agree immediately but spoke with an expressionless face.
"This..." The soldier showed a troubled expression.
"Wait a moment." Suddenly, another soldier standing to the side, who had been observing, seemed to remember something and quickly walked over.
"You're the one who was with Madam Bareare last time?" The other soldier walked over, clearly saw Nolan's appearance, and asked in surprise.
Black hair was already rare, and even though a month had passed, the impression was still deep.
As soon as this name was mentioned, the soldier from before showed a surprised expression: "Lizzie Bareare, the alchemist?"
Nolan raised an eyebrow slightly.
He knew that Grandma Lizzie's alchemy workshop was very famous in 'E-Rantel'; he had already felt it when they entered the city together last time.
But this time, Nolan could clearly sense that he had still underestimated Lizzie Bareare's reputation in this city.
"That's right." Nolan nodded gently.
"Is that so?" The soldier who had requested the inspection showed a hesitant expression and exchanged glances with the other soldier again.
"I am very sorry, Sir."
"This is an order from above, and we don't know why we have to do this," the soldier said with a face full of apology, speaking softly.
Nolan waved his hand indifferently, and the copper coins in his hand were immediately collected by the other soldier, who then allowed him to pass.