Beyond the Border

The next day, they set off in a carriage from early dawn.

“Ugh… my head….”

Serina frowned and touched her forehead.

Roderick clicked his tongue as he looked at Serina.

“I knew it. I’ve told you so many times not to enjoy such strong liquor.”

Lily handed Serina a pouch full of water with a worried expression.

“Lady Serina, are you alright? Please, have some water.”

At that moment, Ares approached Roderick closely and whispered.

“Hey, what happened? Didn’t you say Serina strips naked when she drinks? I couldn’t even sleep waiting for that.”

At Ares’ grumbling, Roderick sighed as if he was dumbfounded.

As the carriage traveled for a while, it stopped with a thud.

The coachman leaned out and shouted.

“Marquess! It’s going to be difficult to go any further! The wheels won’t turn anymore because of the blizzard and ice!”

Roderick looked out the window.

Huge piles of snow and frozen ground were blocking the carriage’s progress.

“I have no choice. We’ll have to walk from here.”

Everyone got out of the carriage.

The blizzard was so fierce that they couldn’t see an inch ahead.

It was as if the surroundings were covered in a white Veil, and the knife-like wind pierced their lungs.

It was hard to breathe, so they couldn’t even exchange a word and silently moved their feet.

How long had they walked?

At some point, the blizzard stopped as if it were a lie.

The sound of the wind hitting their ears also ceased.

A magically clear sky unfolded before their eyes.

As if someone had drawn a line, the stormy world and the serene world were clearly divided.

Everyone could instinctively tell.

That they had crossed the Boundary.

The land beyond the Boundary was still covered in snow, but it was peaceful as if it were a lie.

As the group continued to walk, stepping on the accumulated snow, a large building faintly appeared in the distance.

Its appearance was clearly different from ordinary buildings.

There were no decorations at all, and not even windows could be seen.

It looked like the Black Fortress.

Around it, several small barracks were sparsely erected.

The group crouched down, hid discreetly, and observed the place.

After a while, a person wearing a Black Mask appeared from outside the Black Fortress.

Roderick muttered quietly.

“It’s him….”

But before his words could even finish, several more figures followed the Black Mask out of the fortress.

They were all wearing the same black robes and Black Masks.

“Damn it… there wasn’t just one Black Mask…!”

A look of bewilderment crossed Roderick’s face.

“How am I supposed to find him among all these guys?”

Serina spoke to Roderick’s worries as if they were absurd.

“What’s there to worry about? They’re all in cahoots anyway. We can just get rid of them all.”

At Serina’s words, Roderick and Ares were silent for a moment before nodding.

Then Roderick glanced at Daisy and said.

“What about Daisy… what should we do?”

Serina answered without hesitation.

“Let her go for now.”

Lily looked at Serina with surprised eyes.

Serina cast a cold gaze towards Daisy.

“Stay put. If you do anything unnecessary, I’ll kill you right away.”

Daisy trembled as soon as her restraints were released.

Then, without saying a word, she followed Serina’s instructions.

Serina carefully surveyed the front.

She fixed her gaze on the Black Fortress in the center.

‘Krios must be in that place.’

“If we try to enter that place all at once, we’ll be surrounded in an instant if we’re discovered, so let’s go while taking them out in order.”

Roderick said calmly.

But Ares shook his head.

“Even if we take them out in order, if they hear the sound, we’ll be surrounded in an instant anyway.”

Ares grumbled and looked around.

Roderick muttered regretfully.

“I should have brought the soldiers….”

Serina nudged Roderick’s shoulder.

“Since we don’t know how strong the opponent is, I think it’s better to avoid a full-scale battle as much as possible.”

Serina’s face was full of confidence.

“I’ll go to that biggest building and scout, and Roderick and Ares should stop any unexpected situations. Lily, watch Daisy here.”

Ares’ eyes lit up at Serina’s suggestion.

“Oh, that’s a reasonable plan! But what if something happens inside?”

Roderick couldn’t hide his worried expression.

“Serina, are you going to be okay alone? Isn’t that too reckless?”

Serina replied with a relaxed smile.

“I’ll be right back.”

With those words, she immediately moved towards the fortress.

As she moved, Serina’s expression gradually hardened.

There was another reason why she insisted on going to scout alone.

The distance between where the group arrived and the fortress was quite far.

But even from that far distance, she could feel a tingling sensation in her body.

The intense aura of Pleasure emanating from the Black Fortress, it wasn’t just a feeling of Pleasure.

It was Mana that was so similar to her own, or perhaps the same thing.

‘Like that Witch back then.’

If the opponent was stronger than the Witch, she judged that Roderick and Ares would be brainwashed by Pleasure in an instant.

The inside of the fortress was full of complex passages and stairs like a maze.

Serina immediately deployed Mana detection.

She immediately detected the wave of Pleasure.

‘Is it upstairs….’

She quickly climbed the dark stairs.

After climbing for a while, she finally arrived at the railing on the upper floor.

This place had a structure where she could see the inside of the lower floor clearly.

The lower floor was decorated with dazzling lights, but for some reason, she couldn’t see anyone, let alone those wearing Black Masks.

Only the dazzling lights flickered meaninglessly in the quiet space.

At that moment, a languid voice was heard right next to her.

“Oh my, do we have a guest? Today is not a day for business, though? What to do….”

It was a seductive voice that seemed to stir up lust just by listening to it.

Serina tried to concentrate her Mana for a moment, but soon gave up.

It was clear that if she launched an attack here and caused a commotion, those wearing Black Masks would flock in.

‘Damn it….’

She slowly turned her head and acted as naturally as possible.

She decided that if necessary, she would beat this woman up and run away.

The owner of the voice was covering the area below her eyes with a thin cloth.

But it seemed that she couldn’t hide all of her beauty with the thin cloth.

Blue shining eyes and a sharp nose.

Red bobbed hair and a black dress that clung to her body.

As soon as she saw her hairstyle, Serina intuitively remembered.

It was similar to the description of his younger sister that Roderick had explained.

But she wondered why she was staying here so naturally.

Serina asked cautiously.

“Do you… know Roderick?”

The woman blinked her eyes and tilted her head.

“Roderick? I’ve never heard of that name before. I’ve never seen it on the customer list either….”

She answered innocently as if to confirm that Serina’s guess was wrong.

Then she scanned Serina’s outfit up and down.

“Oh my, lady. What is this outfit? You have to wear clothes that fit the occasion here. Come, follow me.”

The woman grabbed Serina’s hand and headed inside the hallway.

Serina was embarrassed by the absurd situation, but decided to follow her for now.

The woman took her to a fancy dressing room.

After closing the door, the woman immediately began rummaging through the dresses of all colors that filled the wall.

She tried on the dresses one by one on Serina’s body and muttered to herself.

“Hmm… blonde hair and red eyes… what color would suit her well? This one suits her well too. This one too… this one too….”

She had a pure face like a child dressing up a doll.

She tilted her head or sparkled her eyes every time she tried on a dress, and finally picked up a sky blue dress.

“This is the one!”

The woman handed Serina the dress with a confident voice.

“Come on, take off your clothes quickly. You can’t go around wearing clothes that don’t fit the occasion in a place like this. Hehe.”

She clicked her tongue as she looked at Serina’s Combat suit.

Serina decided to follow her instructions for now.

After all, she couldn’t see anyone else in this building except for this woman.

Her naked body, which had been covered by the Combat suit, was revealed as it was.

The woman scanned Serina’s body and let out a small exclamation.

“Oh my… so beautiful! Oh my goodness… like a perfect sculpture! Wait a minute.”

The woman exclaimed repeatedly and skillfully dressed Serina in a sky blue dress.

‘Ha, I don’t know what this is all about.’

After a while, the woman clapped her hands as if she was satisfied.

“Okay, it’s done! Take a look around.”

As the woman said, Serina slowly turned around and stared at the mirror.

Blonde hair and red eyes were in harmony with the sky blue dress.

The only problem was that it was too short.

‘She wants me to wear something like this…?’

“So pretty! Really, I’ve never seen anyone who suits it so perfectly! It’s like….”

The woman suddenly stopped talking in the middle of her praise.

Her face instantly changed to an expression of tension that was hard to believe was the same person.

Her eyes were shaking, and her lips were trembling slightly.

“Did Roderick Hyung… send you?”

Her voice was filled with deep longing and anxiety.

“Is Hyung… safe?”