Following Klian's release from his bind and the curse of the dragons lifted off completely, the tundra surrounding Laria turned into a lush patch of land with countless springs of hot water sprouting out from the ground.
"Harukiiii…" Pulling on Haruki's hands, Moriyana was begging him to make the carriage stop. "Can we really not take a dip yet? Pleaseeee?"
"Let go of master, you witch!" Pushing Moriyana back into the seat, Asuka glared her down intently.
Hiding her head on the carriage interior, Moriyana's body puffed forward from the pain, making the buttons on her casual sundress pop off and hit Riley right in the eye.
"Ouch!" Squealed Riley.
"I'm not a witch, I'm a succubus, you dimwit!" Moriyana complained,
"You stupid morons shut up," binding Asuka as well as Moriyana to their seats, Moriyana Pulled Riley closer to her bosom so she could comfort her hurt baby. "Next time you hurt her, I'm gonna burn you two!"
Gently stroking Riley's head, Margarette gave them both a petrifying stare. Even Haruki was a bit threatened looking at her, the way she got defensive when Riley's safety was involved was as maniacal as his own unhinged demonic self.
"And if you all don't quit down in there, I'll burn you all myself!" Yelled the couch woman, Roselia. "You're stressing the tigress and if she runs off, I'll fly off and leave you all on your own."
The noisy environment around him reminded Haruki of his journey to Daira. Having to deal with all the quarreling amongst the adventurers, and the countless fights between the clovers made him feel nostalgic, especially after all the hell he's been through recently.
'Who could've thought a stroll through the once cruel tundra could be so refreshing?' Even though he was relishing in his bitter-sweet memories, the reason for this sudden adventure wasn't entirely for the sake of relaxing a little. 'The new path Rom has finally completed…I can only think of one monster that could be blocking the road and demanding to see me.'
At the crack of dawn when the bypass joining Laria to numerous other duchies was finally completed, the sudden appearance of a monster blocking the road had caused massive uproar throughout the duchy. What was supposed to be a momentous day had become the topic of chatter amongst the already chatty citizens.
"Master, are we going to visit Daria after we've dealt with this monster?" Asked Margarette, still stroking Riley's head even though she was blushing like a cherry. "From what I could gather from his letter, this monster only wants to meet you and then would let anyone pass so we don't exactly need to report it back to him explicitly, he's bound to find out that the monster is gone."
Blinded by her desire to head home to check up on things, Margarette was trying to push a long journey that was absolutely unnecessary for the moment.
"Nah, I'd rather we do what Moriyana wants and take a dip inside these hot springs, maybe we can even find a way to monetize them while we're at it," if it weren't for the holy binds, Moriyana was ready to jump up from excitement upon hearing Haruki's suggestion.
The rest of the journey was spent in silence with each passenger consumed by their own thoughts. Feeling attacked by others trying to make advances on her master, Asuka was plotting to get some alone time with her master like she used to. As for Moriyana, despite having turned numerous people into her servant she still hadn't done the deed in a while, and relaxing in the hot spring with her legs spread open for a Haruki was all she could think of.
'Mother's been too coddling to me recently.' Thought Riley, her face buried into Margarette's thick thighs. Conflicted between loving attraction and longing to soothe her carnal urges with her, Riley couldn't help but think about the time she'd kissed her own stepmother. 'I shouldn't think like this, but her lips, her tongue it was so…No! Don't think about it!'
Margarette herself was no stranger to those taboo longing, and her feelings towards not only Riley but Haruki as well were making her stomach flutter up a strange warmth.
"R-Riley? Can you not breathe on my thigh?" Flustered herself, Margarette bit her lips to drown her heavy breaths.
"What?!" Embarrassed in front of everyone, Riley picked her head up and looked in the other direction as Margarette. "Sorry…"
"Shin, I see the monster," breaking the awkward exchange Roselia called out to Haruki. "It's a damned reaper, why does he want to meet you anyway?"
"We'll find out soon enough," as soon as Rose stopped the carriage, Haruki got off of it and made his way towards the lanterned reaper with the rest of his crew in tow.
'I do not have the time nor the patience to deal with this bastard.' Expecting a fight, Haruki conjured a magic circle over his palm and moved it in the direction of the reaper.
"You fucking bastard, I'm gonna kill you for what you did last time," pissed about Jenna and her sister, Haruki shot shards of ice towards him.
Totally expecting him to dodge the ice, Haruki conjured up multiple magic circles all around the lanterned reaper.
"Thank you, Duke," said the monster as the ice pierced through him. "For freeing me from this land of cold."
Hearing his genuine words, Haruki was thrown off guard and let go of all the magic circles.
"What?" He muttered, confused and yet enraged towards the monster's apology.
Ignoring Haruki's confusion, the monster reached for his lantern hanging by a stick. Undoing the knot binding it to the wooden rod, the reaper let the lantern fall onto the ground and shatter into pieces. Screeching like ghouls, the spirits trapped inside the lantern's blue flame rose up, escaping from their burning prison.
"This path you've built, and the melting snow has finally set me free of my worldly binds," letting his walking stick fall off his hands, the image of the reaper slowly began disappearing in front of their eyes. "The only thing I had left in this world was to thank my savior, and now that's it done I'll meet you in hell."
Of the group, only two of them truly understood what the reaper meant when he promised to meet Haruki in hell. And despite having seen Haruki's core memories Riley as well as Margarette decided not to dig into the matter, while Rose didn't care enough to indulge in her curiosity.
"Before you move on," despite watching the creature disappear from existence, Haruki just couldn't forgive him for what he had done to the sisters and their parents. "Did you consume Jenna's parents as well?"
With not much time left in this world, the reaper simply nodded in agreement. Enraged by his answer, Haruki clenched his teeth and glared at the reaper to curse him once more.
"Burn in hell, until I get there and make you wish you never escaped this damned place!" His fists curled up tight, Haruki couldn't do much but simply watch the monster disappear through thin air.
For a while, he simply stood there with his blood boiling in rage but left with no choice but to head back, he finally turned around to the group and uttered a few simple words.
"The hot springs…we're going there," putting up a fake smile that fooled nobody, Haruki marched back to the carriage.
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