Chapter 94: Whereabouts of the Carriage

Rub, rub.

“Ehehe…”

My Master was gently stroking my hair.

The sensation of that cool, yet warm touch slowly descending from the crown of my head to the nape of my neck sent a shiver through my entire body.

Just being held in my Master’s arms, having my head stroked, made the world perfect.

‘This is happiness…’

I had waited so long for this moment.

For three long years, I tended to the labyrinth waiting only for my Master, and I came to find her after a perilous journey.

I felt as if all that effort and waiting was being rewarded in this very moment, with this happiness.

“Lyco, what are you thinking so hard about?”

My Master said, pinching my cheek slightly.

“It’s nothing! I’m just so happy to be with you, Master.”

I could feel my cheeks turning red.

My Master gave a gentle smile and continued to stroke my hair.

Her smile was as soft and mysterious as moonlight.

That smile alone felt like it could melt my heart.

But why weren’t we going home…

Oh, right!

We were waiting for the carriage!

Now that I thought about it, it was a little strange that the carriage still hadn’t arrived.

It felt like quite a bit of time had passed…

“Miel!”

Flap, flap!

The blue butterfly flew onto my shoulder as always.

A faint light emanated from its small body.

Miel always flew closest to me.

“Miel, how many days has it been since we got here?”

Miel plucked a few strands of my hair.

Ouch!

‘Am I going to go bald at this rate…?‘

[A week has passed.]

“A whole week!?”

My goodness, a week had already gone by.

Time had passed like flowing water.

In these happy days with my Master, I hadn’t noticed the passage of time at all.

“Master, aren’t you bored after a whole week?”

I asked cautiously.

My Master replied with a gentle smile.

“Lyco, a week is the blink of an eye for me. To me, who has lived for thousands of years, it is a very short time.”

Ah, that’s right…

My Master’s perception of time was different from mine.

But her next words made my heart pound.

“But the time I spent here waiting for you felt incredibly long.”

“Hic… Master…”

Tears of emotion welled up in my eyes.

In the meantime, Miel plucked my hair again.

Hey!

‘I’m really going to go bald!’

‘Isn’t there another way besides using my hair?!’

Miel ignored my glare and began to write with the hair.

[Lady Frostia! How long has it been since you arrived at this place?]

‘Seriously… isn’t the difference in tone a bit much…?’

I swung my hand to catch Miel, but it leisurely dodged.

Grr!

It playfully flew in the air, never letting me catch it.

It seemed to be enjoying my frustration.

My Master seemed to ponder for a moment after seeing the words Miel wrote.

“Hmm…”

My Master tilted her head as if calculating something.

Her silver hair swayed gently before my eyes.

Even that was perfectly beautiful.

“Nys.”

Far away, on an ice hill, Lady Nys was enjoying her tea time.

Dressed in a black gown, Lady Nys was drinking tea with an elegant posture under the gentle sunlight.

“Yes?”

Lady Nys took a sip of tea and lifted her head to answer.

“Nys, how long has it been since we arrived here?”

“Hmm… a little over two months, perhaps?”

Huh?

Two months?

Suddenly, my mind became a jumble.

The calculation didn’t add up.

“So, Master, you arrived here two months ago, but I only arrived a week ago?”

My Master nodded.

“I see.”

Unlike my Master who answered calmly, my heart grew increasingly anxious.

‘The timing is off!’

The calculation when I left the kingdom was clear.

They said a month and a half would be more than enough to arrive…

“Master, the carriage was scheduled to arrive in a month and a half. But it’s already been over two months and still…”

Lady Nys put down her tea and approached us.

“Oh dear, it seems something has clearly gone wrong.”

“Hmm…”

My Master frowned slightly.

‘What could have happened…?’

‘Did they simply get lost?’

‘Or was there some kind of accident…?’

‘No way…’

‘They didn’t run away because they were scared of Master and Nys, did they…!’

“Master! I think we need to go catch those ninjas!”

***

The scenery unfolding outside the window was unsettling.

A dreary field of mixed purple and black stretched endlessly.

Dry trees pierced the sky like bones, and not a single breeze blew in this desolate place.

The sky was covered with ash-grey clouds, and the sun did not shine.

Lightning flashed intermittently, but the strange phenomenon of no thunder followed.

At first glance, it looked like the land of death Nys created, but arriving at the Dians Empire’s reception area already didn’t make sense time-wise.

I focused my mana with my staff and materialized a map.

A bluish map of light floated in the air.

I tried to gauge our current location, but the surrounding terrain did not match the map.

‘Strange. We should still be within the Heshet Empire’s territory…’

Tilting my head, I observed the surroundings more closely.

This scenery was definitely not the normal appearance of the Heshet Empire.

“Is this Lady Nys’s domain? Lady Lycoris hasn’t returned yet…”

Leivi asked, pressing her nose against the window and looking out.

A sense of anxiety was evident in her voice.

“No, that can’t be. No matter how fast this carriage is, it would be impossible to arrive in just a month.”

Suddenly, the shaking of the carriage felt unusual.

A subtle vibration was gradually growing stronger.

This wasn’t just due to a bumpy road.

My senses, sensitive to mana, were definitely detecting a strange energy.

Suddenly, a strange creature passed by the window.

It looked like a wyvern, but its body was made of stone.

That’s…

A gargoyle…?

Following it, creatures that appeared to be variants of cockatrices and minotaurs moved in a group.

Not a single one of them was a normal monster.

All of them were deformed and mutated in some way.

“Wh-what are all those things?”

Leivi said in a trembling voice.

Her hand naturally moved towards her bow.

“Could it be… this is the demon territory…?”

The mumble escaped my lips unconsciously.

“Wait, I need to ask the coachman.”

I opened the window and stuck my head out.

The black-clad coachman was driving the horses with his head bowed.

His movements seemed somewhat stiff.

“Coachman! Where are we going right now? I think we’ve taken a wrong turn!”

I shouted, raising my voice, but there was no answer.

Only the sound of the wind brushed past my ears.

“Coachman?”

Still silence.

Something was wrong.

“Light!”

A bright light flashed from the tip of my staff.

The strong light startled the horses, causing them to stop.

The carriage shook violently and came to a halt.

My body lurched forward, and I almost hit the wall.

“What’s going on…?”

Leivi asked with an anxious expression.

Tension was written all over her face.

“The coachman’s condition is strange. I need to get out and check.”

I answered calmly, but inwardly, I had a bad feeling.

I got out of the carriage and approached the driver’s seat.

The coachman was still motionless with his head bowed.

A faint purple aura swirled around him.

I carefully touched his shoulder.

“Coachman?”

Only then did the coachman slowly raise his head.

A chill ran down my spine.

The coachman’s eyes were vacant.

His pupils, completely white, stared into the air.

Dried saliva stained the corners of his mouth.

These symptoms…

They were characteristic of high-level mind control magic.

“Oh no! This is serious!”

Urgency tinged my voice.

Leivi jumped down and came to my side.

She too gasped when she saw the coachman.

“Hah… is he… dead…?”

“N-no. He’s still alive. But it seems he’s under a powerful mental spell.”

I was momentarily flustered by Leivi’s words but explained as calmly as possible.

Flap, flap!

Cecilia flew out of the carriage and came to our side.

Rote also levitated and circled around us.

They both seemed concerned about the coachman.

Lycoris’s insect monsters were surprisingly intelligent.

However, Glacia seemed uninterested and was still lying inside the carriage.

“What is this…?”

While examining the coachman’s eyes, I noticed a purplish mucus flowing from his ear.

This was definitely a mutation phenomenon beyond simple mind control.

I cast a diagnostic spell.

A purplish aura shimmered from the coachman’s body.

It was similar to necromancy I had learned about while studying the history of magic, but it felt different somehow.

More primitive, and more powerful…

“Dispel!”

I used a purification spell, but there was no reaction.

The purple aura completely ignored my magic.

I tried a stronger spell.

“Liberation!”

A blue light enveloped the coachman’s head, but the purple aura instantly swallowed it.

The magic resistance was too strong.

It was a stronger resistance than any magic I had ever encountered.

“Is it not working…?”

Leivi asked worriedly.

A look of despair flashed across her face.

“It’s difficult to dispel with my abilities. If we had the authority Lady Lycoris possesses, it would have been possible…”

I thought of Lycoris’s apostle authority in my mind.

Her authority could surely purify any mental contamination.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“For now, please provide first aid. The coachman’s condition is deteriorating rapidly, so it’s best to make him as comfortable as possible.”

“Got it!”

Leivi immediately took out bandages and medicinal herbs from her backpack.

With skilled hands, she disinfected the coachman’s wounds and crushed herbs to put in his mouth.

Then she brought a blanket from the carriage and carefully laid the coachman down.

“This should stabilize his condition for now…”

Leivi’s skills were truly remarkable.

As a former hunter, she was also skilled in first aid.

“You’re truly amazing.”

I looked around, collecting my thoughts.

Records from countless books flashed through my mind.

The scenery before me perfectly matched the descriptions of the demon territory.

“This place really seems to be… the demon territory… The territory of the demons located in the northeast of the Heshet Empire.”

I tried to maintain my composure, but it wasn’t easy considering the gravity of the situation.

“The demon territory…? Then the one who did this to the coachman is…”

Leivi’s voice trembled.

Her hands unconsciously clenched and unclenched into fists.

“Yes, it’s highly likely to be a demon.

A demon’s mind control is particularly infamous for its cruelty.

They often control only the body while leaving the victim’s consciousness intact, so the victim feels all the pain and terror but can do nothing.”

I explained, recalling my knowledge of demons.

It was something I had researched as a magic scholar, but I never thought I would face it in reality.

Leivi’s face turned pale.

Her hands trembled slightly.

Her brave demeanor vanished, leaving only the image of an ordinary girl trembling in fear.

“So… you’re saying the coachman is still feeling everything right now…?”

“That is highly probable.”

My heart grew heavy.

Seeing Leivi’s anxious expression made it feel even more serious.

Worry deepened within me.

‘I hope we haven’t entered the Land of Death… If so, this could become a really dangerous situation…’

I pictured the continent’s map in my mind.

Beyond the demon territory was said to be the Land of Death.

It was an uncharted region, not well-depicted even on maps.

Cecilia suddenly flapped its wings, showing signs of anxiety.

The wings of the flame butterfly burned brighter than usual.

It circled us, creating several small fireballs to illuminate the darkness.

It seemed as if those fireballs were detecting danger.

Rote also began to rotate around Leivi and me more rapidly.

Its speed increased, as if forming a protective barrier.

As if it had sensed an unseen enemy.

A movement was felt inside the carriage.

Glacia finally awoke from its laziness and came out.

Normally, it wouldn’t get up easily no matter how dangerous it was, but this time was different.

It seemed the insects’ instincts had sensed a great danger.

In that moment, the earth rumbled.

Thud.

Thud.

A rhythmic vibration, like the heartbeat of a giant creature, began to grow stronger.

Academic curiosity and instinctive fear washed over me simultaneously, and I felt the color drain from my face.

And a deep voice, seeming to emanate from the earth itself, echoed.

“Khuhuhu… Welcome to the Land of Death…”