Chapter 96: Finding the Rogue Ninja

But how should I find them…

I stood beside my Master, staring blankly into the air.

Reality suddenly hit me.

Do I have to search the entire route the carriage was supposed to take?

The continent is so vast, where do I even begin?

What if they went off course?

What if they’re taking a long, roundabout way…?

A sense of helplessness washed over me.

My chest tightened, and my mind went blank.

‘Where do I even start looking…?’

As my face darkened, my Master gently patted my head.

The moment her cool yet warm hand touched the top of my head, my heart calmed down a little.

“Don’t worry, Licorice. We’ll find them together.”

Her voice was still like the moonlight.

As its gentle and warm tone reached my heart, my anxiety slowly subsided.

Her touch and voice always had a magical power.

It was then.

Ting!

I heard a small sparkling sound from my chest.

What’s this?

My chest felt warm for a moment, and a faint light began to seep out from my inner pocket.

Huh?

What is this?

I quickly reached into my pocket.

The cold, smooth touch of metal met my fingertips.

I carefully took out the beautiful brooch that Abraxas had given me.

– ‘Serenade Acadenne’ – An exquisite lavender-colored brooch, a treasure that Abraxas holds especially dear. 

A purple light was pulsating from the center of the jewel.

The light and shadow repeated regularly, as if a heart was beating.

And that light was faintly extending in one direction.

“Uh…?”

I turned the brooch this way and that, but the direction of the light didn’t change.

It stubbornly pointed in a single, constant direction, like a perfectly calibrated compass.

As the light from the jewel grew stronger, I could feel the brooch in my hand vibrating faintly.

What is this…?

What does this mean?

Is it telling me to go quickly because they’re over there?

Come to think of it, that made sense.

Abraxas told me to take Nys away, but we were just spending time right next to her.

Is it showing me the carriage’s location to tell me to get going…?

“Master!”

I hurriedly looked at my Master.

She was looking down at the brooch in my hand with curiosity.

The purple light reflected in her white eyes, sparkling mysteriously.

“I think Abraxas is telling us! I think we can go in the direction this light is pointing!”

My Master’s eyebrows rose slightly.

A subtle emotion flickered in her white eyes.

“To think even Abraxas is interested in my Licorice…”

Something complex was mixed in my Master’s voice.

Jealousy?

Or was it suspicion?

I couldn’t tell for sure, but it didn’t seem to be just friendly.

Huh?

Wait a minute!

I think my Master is misunderstanding something!?

“N-no! I’m not particularly close with Abraxas!”

As I hastily made my excuse, the light from the brooch began to dim noticeably.

The vibrant purple that had been sparkling moments ago seemed to shrink by half, as if steeped in sadness.

…?

Is it sulking?

I was dumbfounded.

Hey… Abraxas…

We really aren’t close, you know!

Nys approached us with elegant steps, a subtle, amused smile on her face.

Seeing the hint of mischief on her beautiful face, it seemed she was finding the current situation quite interesting.

“Fufufu… This is quite interesting.”

Nys followed the direction the brooch was pointing with her gaze, and her expression suddenly turned serious.

Her playful smile vanished, replaced by a look of deep thought.

“If it’s that direction… it’s where the Land of Death and the Great Labyrinth are.”

The Land of Death…?

The Great Labyrinth…?

Those words echoed in my mind.

They felt somehow familiar.

I’m sure I saw them on the map Ryandel made…

Suddenly, a memory struck me like lightning.

Ah!

Isn’t that one of the Great Labyrinths ruled by a Demon King in the game I played!?

Of course, I heard from Seraphina and Beatrice before that there are no Demon Kings, but still, it’s a Great Labyrinth…

It’s an incredibly dangerous place!

“Surely they didn’t do something as stupid as entering the Great Labyrinth…?”

As I muttered, the brooch started blinking.

It turned on and off repeatedly, like a traffic light.

What the!

“Are you saying that’s right!?”

Blink, blink!

The brooch seemed to be answering that I was correct.

The increasingly rapid blinking seemed to be a strong affirmation.

My heart began to beat faster.

Ryandel and Leivi went into the Great Labyrinth?

Even with the three aces, the Great Labyrinth isn’t a place you can just enter recklessly!

Flap, flap!

Suddenly, Miel leaped from my shoulder and began a series of sharp acrobatic flights in the air.

Then, she plucked a few strands of my hair and quickly started writing letters in the air.

– This is bad! Licorice’s foolishness has spread to the party!

You little!

Saying that in this situation!

This time, I’ll definitely put you in your place!

“Hmph!”

But my hand only swiped at empty air.

Miel, who had soared high like lightning as soon as she finished writing, was already flying mockingly above my Master’s head.

Her cleverness, knowing I would never lay a hand on my Master, was even more infuriating.

Grr!

But I couldn’t waste time being angry.

My subordinates might be in danger.

Yes…

I’m a good person, so I’ll deal with Miel’s provocation later.

Right now, saving the party is the priority…

“We have to go now, Master!”

My voice grew urgent.

My anxiety made me tap my feet impatiently.

I clutched the brooch tightly, showing the direction to my Master.

My Master nodded and began to step back.

Then, a cold aura began to emanate from her body.

A silver light enveloped my Master, and that light gradually expanded and grew larger.

The form of an elegant woman disappeared, and a majestic silver dragon appeared in her place.

Wow…

No matter how many times I see it, I’m filled with admiration.

The sunlight reflected off her silver scales, creating a beautiful rainbow of light.

When her huge wings spread, they were large enough to cover the sky.

“Get on, Licorice.”

So my Master can speak even in dragon form!

Her voice was a little more magnificent, but it still had that same moonlit tone.

My Master is so cool!

Excitedly, I climbed onto my Master’s back.

The texture of her scales felt smooth and cool.

It was like perfectly polished marble, yet it had a unique feel of life.

I was so happy that I flopped down on my stomach.

I rubbed my cheeks against my Master’s cool scales and rolled around.

The feeling of my hot cheeks against the cool scales made me feel even better.

Kyaa!

This feels great!

Hehe, it smells like my Master.

A cold, clean scent like the winter morning air.

Intoxicated by the scent, I took a deeper breath.

“Licorice.”

Nys, who had elegantly climbed on behind me, called out with a slight cough.

“Weren’t you in a hurry just now?”

Oh, right!

This was an emergency!

I sat up properly near my Master’s neck again.

I held onto her smooth scales tightly and corrected my posture.

My Master slowly began to spread her massive wings.

As her wings fully extended, a strong wind blew, and I could feel a powerful updraft all over my body.

And in the next moment, we soared into the sky.

“Wow!”

I’m really flying!

The cool wind brushed against my face as we cut through the clouds.

It was more thrilling than free-falling and more exciting than a roller coaster.

Despite the incredible speed, there was no shaking at all on my Master’s back.

It was so stable and comfortable that it felt like traveling through the sky on a giant sofa.

“Frostia-nim, you can fly this elegantly?”

Nys said with a slightly surprised voice.

“Isn’t this very different from your usual self?”

“Because Licorice is on board.”

My Master’s reply was concise.

But that single sentence conveyed how special I was.

Gasp!

She was flying safely because of me!

My heart felt warm.

To think that my Master was flying so carefully for my sake, contrary to her usual personality.

“Heeing… Master…”

Overwhelmed with emotion, I lay down again and hugged my Master tightly.

As I wrapped my arms around her sturdy neck, I could feel her smile through the subtle muscle movements in her neck.

Flap, flap!

Miel, emboldened by the stable flight, stood up from my head.

Then, carefully balancing, she plopped down on my head and perked up her small wings.

As the cold, high-altitude wind seeped between Miel’s blue wings, she spread them wide as if pleased.

She seemed to be enjoying the flow of air over her wings with her whole body.

“Why are you so excited too?”

When I spoke, Miel flapped her wings even more excitedly.

Every time we passed through a cloud, tiny water droplets formed on her wings, and Miel seemed to enjoy even that cold sensation.

Cute…

I suddenly felt ashamed for fighting with this Miel every day recently.

Seeing her enjoying the flight so purely, I felt like I had been too childish.

Hmm… or not…?

I think Miel was always the one who started the fights…

We continued to fly swiftly.

The scenery unfolding below us changed dramatically, like a scene from a movie.

It started with lush green plains and gradually turned into a barren, arid land.

The trees dwindled, and the color of the grass turned yellow.

How long had we been flying?

The land began to change noticeably.

The vibrant green life had completely vanished, replaced by a sinister-looking, contaminated area.

The ground was dry and black.

It looked like it had been sprinkled with ash, or like old, rotten mud.

The occasional trees were all withered and shriveled, their bare branches piercing the sky as if their last bit of life had been drained.

The grass was all yellowed and wilted, toppled over by the wind.

Miel suddenly flew from my shoulder to my nose and sat there, flapping her wings gently.

My nose tickled, but it seemed like Miel was trying to tell me something.

Huh?

To smell it?

Understanding Miel’s intention, I sniffed the air and noticed a faint, rotten smell mixed in.

A foul odor, like a mix of rotten eggs and old dirt, was carried on the wind.

But…

It seemed much weaker than the area Nys had created.

Nys’s area was a complete world of death, but this place felt…

Old and sick?

“Is this all the Land of Death is?”

When I said it with a tone of surprise, Nys chuckled.

“Pathetic, isn’t it? To think that humans call this meager place the Land of Death, they’re so timid.”

Aha!

So the name was just for show.

This place is just old and sick land!

Far off in the sky, huge shapes flickered past.

I couldn’t tell if they were birds or wyverns, but it seemed like some fairly large creatures occupied the sky.

But as soon as they saw my Master, they fled in a hurry.

“Caw! Caaaw!”

A sound close to a scream was heard, and they abruptly changed direction and flew away as fast as they could.

They disappeared so quickly, as if they had sensed mortal danger.

They know their place!

It seemed they instinctively knew how strong my Master was.

A wise choice.

As we continued to fly, an unexpected sight unfolded below us in the distance.

In the middle of the gray expanse, a bright red light was blooming in a circular shape.

Huh…?

Is that a fire…?

I don’t like fire…

Looking down more closely, I saw that it wasn’t.

It was an elaborately formed flame barrier.

It was protecting something in a circular shape, like a giant ring.

And what I could see inside the wall of flames was…

My splendid carriage!

“It’s my carriage!!”