It was still morning, the sunlight was intense, brightening the environment, and a flock of birds flew westward. The humid air and the sun's rays made Eislyn sweat and her throat dry. It was such a hot day; she felt her body melt. She needed to take cover in the shade and get some hydration. However, the man in front of her didn't plan to stop any time soon.
Eislyn knew that she would faint from heat stroke if she kept on. Ultimately, she forced them to take a break; strangely, Sir Romero didn't object at all. There weren't any villages nearby, so they stopped in the middle of nowhere. She sat under a tree where her body could be covered in the shade. The leaves and branches blocked the sun, so she felt less hot.
"Are you okay?" Sir Romero looked at her before he patted the horse.
"No, I'm so thirsty." Eislyn groaned frustratedly. "You're a mage, right? Can't you use your magic to give me some water?"
What she wanted right now was water; cold, fresh water to cool her down.
"I don't know any water magic. If you are what you said, you should already know that."
This man was still so persistent about this guardian angel. Give her a break.
"Of course, I know. I'm just speaking senselessly."
She didn't know what kind of mage he was since she hadn't seen his magic abilities. Back then, the smoke bomb that the black-clothed men used was dissipated by magic; she wasn't sure if it was his work or someone else's. Other than that time, she didn't witness more magic. When the man came back clean, she had thought he had used water magic but thinking again, he could've used a cleansing spell.
"Then do you have other means to get water?"
"I do."
"Really?!"
She knew it! It would've been weirder if that man didn't have something essential like water while travelling. She could finally relieve her dry throat and suffer less from this darned weather—
"Look for a river."
—What did she even expect from this man?
"Useless..."
"What did you say?"
"A river makes sense. I'll go look for one."
They were in a forest, so there should be a water source somewhere; they just had to find one. Sir Romero didn't object, but he also warned her not to stray too far away since it was easy to get lost and he wouldn't be accounted for if anything happened to her.
"How about you follow along, and we will look together? " She wouldn't need to worry about her safety if he was with her because right now, she was as good as a piece of paper.
"I'm not the one who needs water," he refuted.
"You should hydrate yourself too! It's not good to be so stubborn."
"Go already."
Eislyn dramatised in her head; he was such a cold man who lacked courtesy, willing to leave a harmless girl alone in a foreign place and didn't even bat an eye to it.
"Come back when you're done with your business. I will leave you if you aren't here after two hours."
She didn't fuss about it and left before enthusiastically waving her hand. "Don't miss me for too long. I'll be back before you know it!"
Once her figure was no longer seen, the man raised his hand and stretched out his index finger. It was as if it was a sign when a little bird landed on his finger that had been waiting for his order. There was a small case tied on one of its legs. Inside contained a green gemstone the size of a pebble.
It was a one-time communication magic stone that came in pairs. There was no way to tell who the communicator was from the stones only, as they were untraceable.
He activated the item, and in seconds, the stone emitted a glow and transmitted a voice.
- It's me.
"What is it?"
- When will you return?
Sir Romeo stayed silent at the question. The image of the red-headed girl appeared in his head. He looked in the direction the girl had left and somehow didn't know how to answer.
- Did you run into trouble?
The voice sounded out again, interrupting his thoughts.
"It's nothing. Something weird got stuck to me and refused to leave. It's going to take a little longer."
- Weird? Stuck? What do you mean?
He didn't answer the voice and only cut to the point. "Why did you want me to contact you? What's going on?"
The stone went silent before the voice coming from it turned grave.
- It's not an emergency, but return as soon as possible. They have made a move. We suspect that their next target is the vial of dragon blood.
At this news, his eyes sharpened and sank into contemplation—the blood of an ancient race that disappeared years ago. The strength gap between the two sides could increase if it landed in the enemy's hands. If that happened, Aglia would be the first one to go down. However, the matter of the existence of the vial being false or true—nothing was confirmed.
The person on the other side continued to discuss the current situation. The next movements of the enemies might be hard to discern, but that didn't mean they were completely disadvantageous. The spy they had sent to lead the scouting operation was someone they could rely on.
- They may already have a clue of where it is. Syra said they held a map of an unknown place, and only selected ones could access it. Unfortunately, that's as far as he could go. He's still lurking around to find out more about it.
At least they had something to track down.
"I understand. I will be there in four days."
- Four days? I thought you'd be done with your mission already. Well, you did say it was going to take longer.
"The weird thing is slowing me down. I can't even throw it away. And I got another mission on the way."
- Why? Did the weird thing tell you to take responsibility for your mistake?
The voice laughed, but Sir Romero became instantly alerted.
"How did you know? Was it a trap set by you? You screwed me up. I'll kill you."
- ...It was a joke based on your irresponsible habits. I was right? I told you to stop being so careless.
Sir Romero narrowed his eyes. "It would've been better if it was you. Then I could use it as a justification to kill-"
All of a sudden, he felt the ground shaking beneath his feet. The noise became louder and more transparent as he could gradually see dirty dust building up in one area. He squinted his eyes to have a better look.
There was a small shadow figure that eventually got out of the layers of dust and revealed itself.
It was Eislyn.
She was running exceptionally, but she didn't look right. Immediately, Sir Romero understood the situation when he saw what was behind her not too far away. It wasn't one or two demon beasts but a whole pack.
He froze in shock and barely uttered, "That crazy—"
What in the world did she do to be hounded by demon beasts? He was astounded and more so bewildered. After all, these kinds of creatures were supposed to not appear in a safe zone. The chances of sighting a demon beast were lower than a person dying from breathing. In other words, it was impossible.
So, what was this scene?
When Eislyn spotted Sir Romero, she waved her hand foolishly.
"Did you miss me, my child? I did as I was told...I came back on time! Along with some new friends!"
Just what was wrong with her?
She's just a crazy bitch, isn't she?
Although Eislyn seemed like she didn't take the situation seriously, as soon as the monsters behind her sped up, she dropped her act and screamed. While she had inadequate stamina, the rush of adrenaline filled her body. It was a matter of life and death; she couldn't afford to lose her life to some beasts.
"Why would you move faster?! Do you think I'm superhuman? Stop chasing me! Child! Help!"
She shut her eyes tightly and kept running for her life.
The noise Eislyn and the demon beasts made was not held back and were loud enough to be heard by Sir Romero without a problem. It would be stranger if the person he communicated with didn't hear the commotion.
- What's wrong?
Before the voice could finish, the communication got cut off. The green gemstone lost its colour and shattered into pieces.
The person on the other side, who suddenly got disconnected, stared at the broken stone in his hand and fell into silence.
"My child? A woman's voice?"
While Sir Romero broke the communication gem, he drew out his sword as he watched the party from the opposite side coming closer. His sword radiated a red aura with a mix of orange and yellow tint, and five magic circles appeared in the air surrounding the demon beasts. They had appearances mixed with wild bears and wolves with eyes entirely black. Their builds were large and strong, but the magic was powerful enough to stop their movements.
Seeing the magic circles a couple of times bigger than herself, Eislyn didn't hide her shock and almost tripped herself.
The red lines of the circles began to become brighter and brighter.
At this very moment, Eislyn confirmed that the man had really wanted her dead back then when he gave her those key numbers.
Otherwise, why else would he cast a spell this big towards her?
"Get out of the way within five seconds if you don't want to turn into ash."
She didn't wait for the man to finish speaking; she sped up, took a sharp turn, and freely jumped out of the area of effect.
The magic circles began to fire at the demon beasts from all directions. Chains of fireballs exploded as soon as the targets were hit. The demon beasts couldn't escape due to the magic circles blocking them. Painful screechings sounded out one after another as they were ablaze.
Eislyn, who landed flatly on the ground, held her head down with her hands, eyes closed. She was within close distance of the demon beasts, yet she couldn't feel a rise in temperature from the fire.
This kind of fire control was definitely different from a low-rank mage's work.
As soon as the screaming stopped, Eislyn stood up and dusted off the dirt on herself. She walked to the demon beasts and covered her nose from the pungent stench of burnt meat.
The demon beasts who once looked recognisable were now beyond recognition, leaving only a deep charred layer on their bodies and black smoke spiralling towards the sky.
They were burnt until they became huge clumps of coals.
For this level of magic to affect the demon beasts that well...
That man, Sir Romero, was either a Rank 2 or 3 mage.
He was not only skilled in swordsmanship but also in magic.
What kind of identity did he have?
Eislyn watched the man run his fingers through his black hair. He tilted his head slightly up and let out an almost inaudible sigh.
When he lowered his head again and looked straight at her with his piercing gaze, Eislyn unwittingly avoided it by looking away to the side.
He was clearly not happy about this.
His murderous face alone was enough to tell her she was in trouble.
Her vision scope just so happened to land on the overly burnt corpses. She began to praise the unamused man. "Sir Romero is truly strong. They don't even look close to what they used to anymore. Good job, my child! We can continue travelling in peace!"
So please don't look at me like that!
"Shut up with your nonsense. Explain yourself."
Sir Romero didn't sheath his sword but pointed it at Eislyn to kill her. She could tell he wouldn't let it go any time soon. If it were her, she wouldn't either. After all, there were demon beasts in a place where there shouldn't be. In a demon-free region like this, there shouldn't be any demons or the like unless someone purposely had let them in.
There was no reason why he wouldn't suspect her, who was of unknown origin.
Eislyn no longer joked around. "They aren't actual demon beasts but man-made."
Sir Romero stared at her wide-eyed, evidently shocked by her claim. "Man-made? You're saying someone has been conducting experiments here and created all these demon beasts?"
"You're a smart one. That's right, as absurd as it may sound, humans made those."
The next moment, Sir Romero's sword was covered with aura, and the huge magic circle on top of the target became brighter.
Eislyn kept eye contact with him without budging, but she knew a magic circle was directed at her from the start.
"What are you up to this time? It's best for you to tell the truth unless you want to die."
"Oh, wow. My child has grown so much." Eislyn joked but continued to explain. "I'm telling you the truth, though. I accidentally found a secret laboratory. I didn't see the seal at the entrance at first, so when I opened it, it broke. The seal must've been worn out to the point that a simple movement broke it."
The last part was a lie. It didn't break on its own; she did it. But it was better to keep it a secret from that man who might kill her if she acted any more suspiciously.
"A laboratory?"
"Well, if you must know more about it. Let me tell you a story. A story about a poor girl who only wished to quench her thirst and got chased away all alone to search for water—"
"Get to the point."
She cleared her throat and restarted. "Found a river, open sesame and the gate opened, demon beasts in a laboratory, they went 'grrr' and hunted me down. You saw, and a big barbecue started where I almost became a part of it."
"... In detail." He stopped and decided to add before she opened her mouth, "Talk like a normal person. Leave out unnecessary things and just focus on the laboratory part."
Eislyn silently clicked her tongue at him. That man sure was fussy, she had already told him what happened, but he wanted to know more yet didn't want her to say too much to him.
●○○