Since they still feared the wrath of the dark mage Zach, they began keeping their distance from Luna whom they had been tirelessly thanking for saving their lives up until a few moments ago.
Zach ignored these changes as he engaged in conversations with the group as before. The only difference was when they had to sleep. Zach and Luna took turns sleeping so one could always keep watch.
Diana insisted that no one would dare to harm the two but Zach didn't take her words at their face value despite how sincere she might have been.
On the third day, after they entered the periphery of the state of Mesore, Zach found an anomaly in his surroundings. He instinctually brought out his gun from the holster and cocked it using his left hand while keeping the muzzle towards the ground.
Luna saw him take action and knew that something was wrong. She bared her teeth in order to show some deterrence as her flame sprang up out of nowhere and began to surround her very being.
"What is it?" asked Luna without looking at Zach. She continued to scour the area for anything out of place or any abnormality that she had missed but Zach had caught on.
Instead of answering the succubus, Zach looked towards one of the trees in the vicinity and called out in a loud voice.
"Is there any point in staying hidden when you have been found out already? Stop playing hide and seek so we can help you with whatever it is that you want."
From the time they had teamed up with Diana, Zach had been feeling extremely uncomfortable in his heart. It was as if someone was following him like those stalkers who chased after celebrities.
But after two days, he finally caught a glimpse of the shadowy figure that tried to stay hidden as it followed the group at a leisurely pace while keeping its distance from them. He didn't bother making a fuss earlier because the other party didn't seem to have any bad intentions towards them.
Zach tried to ignore it but very soon the sneaky gaze felt like two piercing lasers that were about to melt through his back.
At that moment, Zach decided to get rid of the shadowy figure so he could get some peace of mind.
"Better come out now or call over some people to take you out of here once I am done taking action. The choice is yours." Zach openly threatened as he began to advance while aiming towards the person hidden behind the tree. Luna stood beside him and advanced every step with him.
In the heightened emotional state, Zach failed to notice the helpless expression that came over the faces of the group, especially Diana. Luna believed Zach one hundred percent so she didn't even register what the other humans thought.
"Please stop. It isn't what you think." She had difficulty getting her words but the bitterness in her voice was only hidden from Zach and Luna who hadn't known the girl for very long. The rest of the group seemed especially sympathetic to her as they looked at her with pity.
Time stopped for Zach as he heard her words. It seemed that he was the only one who hadn't known of the existence of this stalker as everyone else in the group wasn't too surprised at Diana's words.
"Is it someone from your group?" Zach asked. Anyone could have heard the apprehension in his voice.
"No, but it is related to me." sighed Diana as she thought of different ways to explain her situation.
In the end, she decided to go with the simplest and the most concise explanation she could find.
"I have been promised to the eldest son of the Sosis family through a mutual understanding between our families. The person you just noticed is from that Sosis family. Basically he is a spy sent by my fiancé's family and his only job is to keep an eye on me at all times and report on my daily activities. Of course, they are usually not so blatant about it. Since I have come out this time for adventure, they can legitimately do it with the excuse of saving my life in the event of any accident."
"What kind of hidden protector lets you get hurt to the point of being comatose and anemic?" Zach wanted to ask her but didn't give words to his thoughts and just stared at Diana as he tried to say something; anything to ease the tense atmosphere but his mouth felt as if it had been waxed shut.
Zach put his weapon back in the holster and calmed his tense muscles. The flame surrounding Luna vanished at the same time as she pulled down her hood again and assumed her position one step behind him once again.
Without another glance at the shadowy figure, Zach turned towards Diana who looked like she had eaten something bitter. The small changes in her expression and the sadness hidden in her eyes revealed even more sensitive information to Zach.
Zach felt that the engagement between Diana and the eldest son of the Sosis family must have been finalized without her consent. Either that or she had willingly become the sacrificial goat for her family. It was already obvious that one family had the upper hand and was in complete control of the other.
What he didn't understand was the reason why Diana didn't offer any resistance despite her clear resentment towards the engagement.
Since Diana was putting up with such nonsensical and invasive behavior of her in-laws, Zach didn't deem it fit to offer his ignorant opinion in this regard until he became sure of her position. It was her personal matter anyway and his interference could be seen as inappropriate.
Silence prevailed throughout the rest of the journey. Diana didn't say anything either as the only remaining sound in their vicinity was the whistling of wind that made their clothes flutter like leaves dancing chaotically in a storm after different intervals.
After specially powerful gusts, Zach used his fingers to comb his hair ruffled by the wind in order to avoid looking like a Neanderthal without any quality while Luna pulled her hood so far down that even her face became barely visible.
The winds died down after Elizabeth city came into sight. The thick castle-like walls of the city reminded Zach of the medieval Europe and the sturdy infrastructure developed during those times.
Zach received weird looks from people who were working outside the city as they pointed towards him energetically with their fingers. The looks on their faces made him feel self conscious and he tried to avoid them through any means possible.
Zach wondered if the reason for their adverse attitude towards him was his dressing. He was in fact dressed very differently compared to the people of the city and the hunters accompanying him. All the hunters were either wearing combat gear or the same clothes as the ones in the city while he had become the ugly duckling by default who was wearing clothes from another world.
In the wilderness it hadn't mattered much but here in the city it did. They tortured Zach with their condescending looks until he was saved by the arrival of the carriage that Diana had been expecting since the city came into view.
Based on how they had reacted to his appearance, Zach felt that the people of the city had a very specific sense of dressing that didn't allow for any deviation from the norm. Aesthetic sense and clothing had differed from region to region even in his previous world. Therefore, he assumed that the adherence to the cultural and traditional practices must be very high among the people of this city particularly because of the strong and developed culture.
Before long, two sturdy individuals sitting in the front seat of a brilliantly decorated horse carriage pulled on the reins of the twin horses as the carriage came to a halt.
The two men got down from the carriage and bowed towards Diana who waved her arm hurriedly to keep them from getting into formalities before getting into the carriage.
She invited both Zach and Luna to sit inside the carriage with her.
It was a spacious carriage which could easily hold four people comfortably with a side by side seating capacity of two. Zach and Luna sat on one side while Diana and one of her servants took the other.
Their journey resumed once the servant gently knocked on the carriage door and pulled on the curtains partially to avoid the sun from hindering their vision.