On top of the perung named Toti, Rudi, Sherry, and Floria sat, while Rudi firmly held Doris's limp body as if he feared losing his brother. In a literal sense, he was indeed afraid, for if he were to let go even slightly, Doris's body would fall off the perung.
"Forgive me." Rudi turn down his head but quickly lifted it again, "I didn't expect that you could ride perung like this," Rudi praised.
Their main problem, as Micah had predicted earlier, was that Rudi didn't know how to ride perung. While with Micah earlier, he had used all his madness to control this flying beast. Fortunately, they now had a replacement rider named Sherry.
"Forget it, don't worry about it. Riding a perung like this is like child play for me! Besides, that's not our main point! We need to get my husband to Sayejij City as quickly as possible, right? The city you burned to gain power! You lead that city by spreading fear among them!"
"Eh..." Rudi was at a loss for words. His eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing Sherry's statement. For some reason, the woman's words felt off from what had actually happened. "... Why you think like that?" Rudi asked, confused.
"What do you mean why?! The rebels used your names when they told me what happened!" the pink-haired girl asserted.
"And you believed them just like that?"
"Well, not really, but from what that count said, I'm not sure they're lying. Who else could pull off such madness besides you three?! Not to mention you drove a herd of tutamits into the city! That's insane, you know!"
"Very strange..." the dark-skinned man rubbed his chin. He was curious about the knowledge of the count who Micah had called a little dog earlier. "If he got the information from Camel, it shouldn't be like that..." The oddity started to echo in Rudi's mind.
If the count's information came from Camel, it shouldn't be like that. That 'eye' knew the traitors weren't the ones who summoned the tutamits. Or perhaps, Camel did that to make the three of them look like villains?
Everything was becoming stranger, but a light was visible behind this oddity. Rudi was becoming more certain about what was happening to this country. He also now knew how the nature of war looks like. Perhaps this was one of them.
"Big Rudi..." Floria pressed on the armor of the person carrying her brother. She sensed the heaviness on the face of the person in front of her. "... Will my big bro be good, right?"
"Relax, Floria! It's all a matter of time! If we make it to the city, your big bro will be saved!" Sherry encouraged, changing the term of address for Doris to 'big bro' so Floria would feel more comfortable instead of hearing words like 'dear', 'my husband', or the like.
"Hmm (bowing)..." Floria did not deny it at all.
"Oh, yes! Back to the earlier discussion!" Rudi's mind finally managed to organize all the information. "I have two possibilities about that count! First, he's a spy from the duke's side. Second, and this is certain! That count is trying to do something to increase your hatred towards us! The first possibility can be dismissed, but the second is clear... No matter which side that person is on, he is definitely planning something to trap you."
"A trap? What would they gain from making us hate you?! Power? Influence? Or that village? Besides, they should know that we already hate you from the start?!"
Rudi was momentarily held back, his mouth as if zipped shut. Sweat began to drop, luckily their speed in the air made the sweat fly away instantly.
"I don't know... Maybe with some kind of magic or something?"
Sherry squinted her eyes dumbly, "something like that doesn't exist, if there was even-" but she realized it instantly. Her eyes widened, looking ahead, her teeth gritted tightly in a mix of frustration.
"Sherry?"
"Sorry Rudi, but we need to go faster! If not, then it will all be too late! I don't want my hu-!"
"Tell me what's happening?" Rudi shouted, cutting her off.
"A magic- no, more precisely a passive skill from a level influence. Usually, that skill is obtained by those who have manipulative status are at level 60 or above."
"The name of that skill is Shadowslash Hatred!" Sherry added. "That skill induces hatred in its victims so- so-!" Sherry couldn't continue her sentence.
"It's alright..." Rudi asked the pink-haired girl to stop. "I understand."
More or less, the influence of the magic made the victim intensely hate the person they already despised the most. In Doris's case, that meant Lydia, Rudi, and Micah were the targets.
Rudi pondered Sherry's words for a moment. He didn't quite expect that this pink-haired girl had such incredible knowledge behind her seemingly foolish behavior.
There was no more time to think about that. Both Sherry and Rudi knew it; they stopped talking and focused on the journey, heading to the city at full speed.
'A skill that can be obtained from manipulative status, Shadowslash Hatred? This is becoming clearer...' Rudi thought to himself.