"Phew…"
I wiped the perspiration from my face and peered through my enchanted glasses. The sun was shining brightly, its warm rays beating upon us mercilessly. As a vampire, I wasn't cut out for journeying under the relentless heat.
Stella, despite being a vampire, fared a lot better. Perhaps she had undergone the appropriate training and conditioning when she was a knight, which might explained why she wasn't as bothered by the heat and distance. In contrast, the four mages looked as if they were about to collapse. Lindley maintained that blank expression, but I could tell that he was exhausted too.
Fortunately, he didn't have any organs or blood that required water, so he wouldn't suffer from heat exhaustion. Despite his lack of muscles (the disguise didn't count), he seemed like he had grown tired from the journey.
"You're amazing, Stella," I said with a shake of my head. She giggled, still looking cheerful as she led from the front.
"I've marched longer distances than this when I was in the knight regiment. We would have to march for hundreds of kilometers over months."
"That doesn't make you any less amazing."
"Flatterer." Stella smiled playfully. "You're also doing a good job, keeping up. Even though you're not exactly that fit…"
"Don't underestimate me," I scoffed. "Even though I look like this now, I was once part of the Hero party, you know? How far do you think we've traveled?"
Then I raised both of my hands up in surrender.
"That said, I'm still nothing compared to you."
"Well, you're an ice mage, after all." Stella looked pretty smug. "You were pretty impressive when we traveled up north, completely unaffected by the cold. I think you're just not used to the heat down south. Also…you've been carrying that coffin this entire time."
She pointed to the huge coffin bobbing behind me. I had used blood magic to transport the damned thing, and it continued to hover unsteadily in the air, following me wherever I went. I was beginning to feel like that girl from a certain light novel series, the white-haired princess who carried a coffin wherever she went. You know, the one with thick eyebrows and a huge sniper gun…
…never mind.
"Oh, this is nothing." I continued to lug the coffin around and waved my hand dismissively, causing it to shudder. The Mikhail-Miranda abomination had it easy, having been frozen into stasis by my ice spell. I actually envied the two-headed zombie right now and which I was surrounded by frost.
"Break! Please…call a break!"
Behind me, Chris panted, throwing his hands up in despair.
"I would concur," Lindley added solemnly, withdrawing his hands into the folds of his robe. "I do not know how long more this physical body of mine will last."
"We could all use a rest," Wilson agreed, supporting a heaving Rose.
"Good idea." I glanced at Stella, who sighed audibly at our slow progress. She folded her arms and glanced around the area before coming to a decision.
"We'll take a break there."
She pointed toward a cluster of trees. It was a great choice – their thick branches and leaves cast a massive shadow on the soft grass, providing us shelter in the shade. The four mages and disguised lich lord proceeded there, relieved, and collapsed on the grass. Chris and his friends immediately broke out their bottles and gulped down water.
Stella and I joined them shortly, and I carelessly chucked the coffin to the side. It was made out of durable material, so I wasn't too worried about it getting damaged. The damned thing could handle a few bangs and falls.
Besides, I wouldn't want its occupants to get too comfortable, would I?
"Hu…"
I exhaled and staggered into the shade, glad to be out of the sun after so long. The relentless rays had not been kind to me. If I hadn't put on the appropriate clothing, I would have gotten sunburn. Aloe vera wasn't very common here, unfortunately. We would have to import them from the east or the tropics down south of the Havan Kingdom.
Well, thanks to my vampire constitution, I would easily heal from any sunburns during the night. Hell, I wished we would travel during the night instead, but that would be pretty harsh on Chris and the others.
We were only traveling together for part of the way, though. Once we reached Royales, which was in the central portion of the kingdom, Stella, Lindley and I would split up with the party and continue traveling north. When that happened, we could travel during the night if necessary.
"We'll be at Riaju City by tonight," Lance said as he stared into the distance, resting his head against a tree. He sighed in relief. "Then we can get a carriage and horses there. It'll make the journey a lot easier and faster."
"Maybe the military investigation unit might have even arrived at Riaju City!" Chris said excitedly.
I couldn't help but perk up at that. We did hear rumors that the royal family had dispatched a military unit to Riaju province to investigate the rumors of Miranda abusing her powers and wiping out entire villages. Even if she was a member of the strongest Hero party, abducting and experimenting on over a thousand citizens, leading to their deaths or turning them into monsters, wasn't something they could let her get away with.
Personally, I suspected the royal family was more concerned with the ominous prospect that Miranda might lead an army of freakish monsters to invade the capital than they were with the wellbeing of the poor villagers.
"That would be great. We can pass our written reports and the evidence to them." Wilson was resting his head in Rose's lap, the both of them relaxing under a tree together. "We will still have to go to the capital to personally testify to the court, though. I bet they will want to interrogate us."
"Damn." Chris grimaced. "I'm so not looking forward to that."
"I hope the court officials aren't corrupt." Lance gulped. "What if they want to cover the whole thing up? They might silence us…"
"If that happens, we'll come rescue you." I nodded at Lindley and Stella. The lich lord gave me a dry stare, as if to say that Stella and I would be on our own if we launched a rescue operation. Without his legion of undead, he wasn't going to waltz into the capital and risk his life, even if I gave the order.
That was fine. I knew he wouldn't be of much use in the capital anyway. And such an operation called for stealth, not a horde of shambling zombies.
"Don't worry, they won't do anything to us," Chris assured me. Then he winced. "I hope."
Meanwhile, Rose was stroking Wilson's hair while speaking to Stella.
"You should give Klein a lap pillow too," she suggested. Stella raised an eyebrow, completely baffled.
"Why? I'm his sword, not his cushion."
Rose sighed in exasperation. "I'm trying to help you, girl…"
"Help me? With what? And what does that have to do with telling me to give my lord a lap pillow?"
"I'm teaching you how to make Klein happy."
"Like I said, my duty is to protect him and make sure he goes down the right path. Not to make him happy." Stella pondered for a moment. "In fact, I wager that I'm supposed to make him unhappy."
"I can't even…!" Rose threw her hands up into the air. "The girl doesn't even realize her own feelings for the guy she loves!"
"Or maybe you completely misunderstood their relationship?" Wilson suggested, his head still lying on her lap. "Just because they are a guy and a girl traveling together doesn't necessarily mean they are in a romantic relationship. It could be platonic."
"You shut up! Or I'll kick you off my lap!"
"All right, all right. Whatever you say, my lady." Wilson sighed and closed his eyes, too weary to argue.
From a safe distance, I shook my head. Girls always seemed to love the topic of romance, always gossiping about other people's relationships. Well, most girls, anyway. If I recalled correctly, Irene, Yvonne and Miranda were no exception, often gossiping about other women. They would tease each other, but the problem was that they were directly competing against each other for the affections of Herman. But they loved to discuss romance.
Stella, perhaps because she was raised as a knight and mostly surrounded by men (and her sister), didn't seem to be prone to such gossip. If anything, she approached the topic with a deadpan attitude. She was all duty and honor, appearing to have no interest in romance. Then again, she did say that time that her wish as a child was to become a bride.
I had best not mention that to Rose, or she would be teasing poor Stella to no end.
"Come on, Miss Stella!" Rose continued to grill her. "Don't you want to get married? You're already at that age, you know?"
"I…suppose…" Stella glanced in my direction, a movement that wasn't lost on Rose. She grinned.
"I knew it! So you really…!"
"For now, duty first. Only after we've achieved what we want, then I'll think about marriage and the like."
"Huh? What do you want to achieve?" Chris asked curiously, his attention drawn back to the girls' conversation.
"Peace. And end to corruption." Stella deliberately remained vague. She was always on the ball when it came to these things. That was why I trusted her so much.
"Heh…that's pretty cool," Lance said, sounding impressed.
"Well, if you guys are energetic enough to talk so much, I suppose you have the strength to resume the journey?" I asked, eliciting groans from the other mages.
"Come on!" Lance protested. "Let us rest a few more minutes!"
"Yeah!" Chris agreed. "We haven't fully recovered our strength yet!"
"We'll collapse if you push us too hard," Rose pointed out.
"Well, Riaju City isn't that far from here." Wilson sighed, the only one among them to see some sense. "If we push ourselves a little, we should reach it before evening. Then we can finally sleep on beds."
That seemed to motivate the others a bit, and they didn't complain when I proposed that we move again a few minutes later.
*
We managed to reach Riaju City that evening and piled into an inn for some good, water and more importantly, beds. The innkeeper nodded sympathetically, having witnessed many overly exhausted travelers drop by his tavern over the years.
"You guys shouldn't be wandering around the province," he warned. "There have been tales that entire villages have vanished…their populations taken away by the multi-mage Miranda, for her heinous experiments."
We all exchanged glances, but didn't say anything. Evidently, the news of Miranda's defeat hadn't reached the ears of the other citizens in Havan. Then again, we hadn't deigned to spread them just yet.
"The investigation military unit will be arriving in two days. Wait until they come, then you can safely travel around Riaju province."
"Sounds like a plan," Wilson said ironically.
"Some of us plan to travel out of Riaju Province, actually," I told the innkeeper. "I hope there are still carriages and horses somewhere."
"Oh, you'll find them." the innkeeper nodded. "The stables a few blocks away. But that's a good idea. The sooner you leave this godforsaken province, the better."
"Well, I think you'll be hearing good news soon enough," Chris said before Lance kicked him under the table.
"Thank you," I thanked the innkeeper. Already in my mind, I was plotting the next stage of my journey. Before I aimed for the next target on my revenge list, I had best settle the matter with the vampires.
Given how volatile the situation was when I left Tyranvania, I doubted I could put that matter off for too much longer. It was time to return and bring the rebelling vampire nobles to heel once and for all.