After we cleaned ourselves, I asked Winerva what she was planning to do. She told me that she was going to Antares, so she could train with Abigail and Gabriela and do more missions with them. Her kidnapping made her realize how weak she was. I wanted to tell her to keep it easy but held myself in the end upon seeing the look in her eyes. I am familiar with that look. Telling her otherwise would only hurt her.
Right now, we are sending Winerva off. She has told us that she doesn't need to be sent off, but we still feel the need to do that, so on the off-chance that another dickhead tries his luck on her, we will be ready to intercept.
Right after Winerva passes through the Gate, we leave for Guatencia. I have notified everyone of my leave, so nothing is holding us back anymore. Aurelia assumes her Dragon Form. She waits as we climb her back and then takes off when everyone is aboard.
Valeria quickly casts a Concealing Spell on us, erasing our presence as soon as we are in the air. I am the navigator, so I have a map in my hands, directing Aurelia to where we should go to. The flight will be quite a long one because we are not racing against time. Guatencia is also quite far from Verniculos. But most importantly, we want to make some stops and enjoy whatever the territory we find ourselves in has to offer.
Three hours pass, spent with a light idle chatter. Aurelia notifies us that there is a masterless territory below and asks us if we would be interested in visiting. Being a masterless territory, it is not carved on the map. We know nothing about the territory, so we inspect the city first. Other than the fact that it is a thriving city, we don't find anything exceptional.
We want to have an enjoyable and memorable vacation, so the result of our inspection makes us ignore the territory. Aurelia increases her speed and flies for another five hours before notifying us of another masterless territory. We have entered the eastern part of the world, so Millonia isn't so thrilled to hear that. Nonetheless, we still inspect it.
"Wait, isn't it the city that we visited, Lady Valeria?" Millonia says in slight surprise.
"It is… indeed," Valeria confirms. "It has been ravaged by Snow Spiders."
"I told you! Those critters are dangerous."
Unfortunately, the territory has become a ghost town. The things you can see from the town are only snow-covered houses and dead bodies littering the ground. All of the bodies look like human-shaped popsicles. It is hard to tell how much time has passed since the Snow Spider's invasion, but I am sure it is more than a year ago.
"Can we… stop there for a moment?" Millonia requests, surprising me slightly.
"I thought you hated Snow Spiders," I comment.
"I want to check on something."
"We are going down!" Aurelia declares before diving downward.
Thirty seconds later, we are standing before the entrance of the town. Aurelia isn't interested in exploring the town, so she waits outside in her Dragon Form. Millonia walks into the town without saying anything. Valeria and I are not interested in the town, so we follow her lead.
Walking past some houses and slithering through some alleys, she takes us to a middle-sized hut. She inspects the condition of the house briefly before opening the door. The door creaks and a smell of fungi-infested wood assaults our nose. She steps in and inspects every nook and cranny of the hut. She appears to be looking for something.
"Did you visit this place in the last three years?" Valeria asks.
"I did," Millonia acknowledges with a hum. "I came here two and half years ago. That kid I saved from the slave merchant those years ago just got married and told me she was expecting a baby. She still remembered me even though it had been a decade."
"You saved her life, after all."
I finally realize what Millonia is looking for: signs of struggle. I don't know how special Millonia's relationship with the girl is, but I am sure she will hate it if she finds the girl falling victim to the Snow Spiders. The emotional reason will be that she already knew the girl was expecting a baby. The psychopathic reason will be that the girl wasted her effort in saving her. judging from her reaction, I doubt it is the latter.
Creak!
A loose group of loose wood on the floor makes Millonia look down. She stomps on the wood, breaking it and revealing a room underneath. A familiar scent hits our noses, causing Millonia to stiffen slightly. Casting [Illustambian], she illuminates the underground room. In the corner of the room, we can see a scrunched-up body embracing something in its arms.
Millonia doesn't say anything, but she clenches her hands. The identity of the body was someone she knew. It was an unfortunate finding but not unexpected. Masterless territories are prone to facing this kind of crisis. Millonia jumps into the underground room and takes out the body. We get out of the house and then find a place to bury the bodies.
Once we find the place, Millonia casts a Spell to open the ground. She gently places the bodies inside the ground and then closes it. With Earth Magic, she stacks some rocks on the ground to mark the grave. We stay silent for the next ten seconds as Millonia spends it solemnly looking at the grave.
"That baby was no older than a few months old which means the invasion might be around the time Layland was summoned," Millonia muses aloud. "I promised to come and see her baby, but I didn't. I forgot about it. I hate the eastern part of the world, after all. I won't say I regretted it, but I feel like a jerk. She said she would name her baby after me."
"It is what it is," I say as empathetic as I sound which may very well sound condescending. "It is unfortunate, but you can't do anything about it. You hardly did anything wrong."
"I can do something about it, though," Millonia rebuts, looking at me with a glint of insanity in her eyes. "Revenge!"
It is hardly surprising that we are not going to have a normal vacation, so I just sigh at her exclamation. We walk out of the ghost town and then head to the forest in the north which is highly likely whence the Snow Spiders came. Aurelia is intrigued this time, so she follows us in her human form.
Upon reaching the snow-covered forest, Millonia activates [Bottomless Abyss], turning her hair red. A black mark runs down her eyes, emphasizing the demonic look she gets from the small horns protruding from her forehead. Mumbling to herself, she casts another Spell. It is an Ancient Demonic Spell that is quite overkill to use on a group of Snow Spiders inhabiting a forest.
[Clamore Gehenna]!
A beam of fire shoots deep into the forest before spreading out. A line of fire circles around the forest before erupting and engulfing the entire forest whole. Enhanced by the wind that comes with the Spell, the fire burns even brighter. The wind also makes scream-like noises, making you think you are looking at Hell.
The white and dull land gets a new color—red. The snow covering the ground melts, unable to withstand the heat the forest is radiating, revealing the ashen soil below. Millonia watches as the forest crumbles. She appears to relish the crackling and popping sound she hears from the forest.
Before long, we are flying again. Millonia remains quiet, a serene look decorating her face. It seems what she just did refreshed her more than our vacation would. I shake my head in amusement and leave her alone. I idly talk with Valeria and Aurelia, speaking about what I am going to do once we are home.
Two hours later, Millonia gets out of her silent state. She asks Aurelia to go down as she needs to do a number one. Aurelia complies and Valeria doesn't protest as she also wants to do it. We land a couple of Absitan away from the closest masterless territory. They could have done a number one anywhere, but their lady etiquette doesn't allow them.
Casting a Disguise Spell on ourselves, we speed to the city. We slow down once we are before the entrance. I quickly throw a gold coin to the guard, prompting him to let us through. We walk through the busy road until we find a quite high-end inn. We enter the inn, order a room, and then use the toilet. It sounds weird, but it is the most logical action to take. This world doesn't have a public restroom.
I sit at the bar while waiting for the three women to finish their business. I still have some eyes landing on me—I can't disguise my handsomeness—but I am blending in. As such, I am listening to the information that the locals have to share. I am doing it discreetly, of course.
"Have you heard of Guatencia?"
"Everyone around here knows Guatencia. Heck; even Southerners know Guatencia."
"No, that's not what I mean." The gossip starter leans on and lowers his voice. "The rumor is that some people from the Empire are there."
"Tsk. What are those bastards doing there?"
"Well, Guatencia possesses the best hot springs. Maybe, the princess is interested."
"Do you think they can't make a hot spring that rivals those in Guatencia in the Empire?"
This world didn't have an Empire before. However, because of the fall of Antares and Cresundia, the three of the Five Great Kingdoms merged, giving birth to the Zechen Empire. It hasn't done much, but an Empire's interest in such a small territory is suspicious. I have a feeling that our vacation will be more interesting than we expected.
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