Chapter 39

Chapter 13: Water Chestnut Grass

“Go and check it out,” the knight commander instructed, and after a moment’s thought, added, “Be careful. If you notice anything amiss… eliminate them on sight.”

“Yes.”

The reporting church knight nodded and led four other knights slowly towards the front of the group.

I turned my head to look. The distant view was obscured by heavy snow, visibility was extremely low. I could vaguely see some figures gathered ahead on the road, surrounding a cart and talking.

Could something have happened?

It would be interesting if it developed into a robbery scenario… though I doubt there would be anyone foolish enough to do that. Facing over a hundred church knights, such an act would be tantamount to declaring war on the Holy Church. Few people in this world would dare, and those who dared wouldn’t have the strength to back it up.

“Little Shire, what are you daydreaming about? Aren’t you coming up?” Carlos had been helping me pull back the curtains of the cart, and seeing me standing there motionless for so long, he became impatient.

“Oh.”

I glared at him unhappily but no longer paid attention to what was happening in front. I got into the cart quietly, sat down, and began fidgeting with my fingers.

After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to speak to Carlos.

“Carlos, I just saw an illusion.”

“Illusion?” Carlos raised his eyebrows when he heard this, “What kind of illusion, like Valen Empire’s Osmiru cake?”

“…No. I saw someone I don’t know.”

I suppressed the urge to throw him out of the cart and patiently explained.

“Someone I don’t know?” Carlos realized I wasn’t joking, and his expression turned serious, “Are you sure you’re not joking or suffering from snow blindness? Can you describe the details? What did the person look like?”

“The appearance, I forgot. But I saw people. It seemed like… there was also a black castle. The snow felt familiar, as if I’ve been here before.”

“You mean you feel this place is familiar, and you’ve been here before, and you’ve seen someone?” Carlos instinctively touched his beard, “This doesn’t make sense, how could you have been here before?”

“Not exactly.” I scratched my head, feeling troubled and unsure how to convey that strange feeling.

“Can you describe the black castle you mentioned?”

“It’s black and very large.”

“…Isn’t that the same as saying nothing? Give me more details.” Carlos frowned.

“It’s near a mountain, with a very sharp tower, a huge bell tower… and a bridge.”

“A bridge?”

“Yeah. A very long bridge.” I opened my eyes wide, stretched out my arms, puffed out my chest, and extended my arms straight, trying to give Carlos a better sense of the bridge’s length, “There were many birds on the bridge.”

Carlos frowned, fell silent for a moment, then suddenly widened his eyes.

“Hey, hey, hey. Little Shire, are you talking about the Schantel Castle?”

“I don’t know.”

Seriously, I’m asking you, why are you asking me? I haven’t been to Schantel Castle.

“There’s only Schantel Castle that matches your description. It’s where the Duke of Scaryge lives, and it’s our destination. But how could you know what Schantel Castle looks like if you haven’t been there… Little Shire, do you have the ability to predict the future?”

Carlos looked incredulous and immediately shook his head, “No, that’s impossible… How could such an ability exist? That’s unreasonable…”

“…”

I was speechless. Predict the future? What a wild imagination. Are you kidding me?

It seems this guy doesn’t know either. It’s probably not due to the power of order; maybe I just didn’t get enough rest.

I lost interest immediately and then remembered another thing. I gently beckoned Carlos.

“Carlos,” I said seriously.

“Hmm?”

When Carlos heard my name, he leaned forward with a serious expression, staring at me intently.

“Um, the cake. Is it good?”

After saying this, I noticed a slight twitch at the corner of Carlos’s mouth.

“…Not good.”

He crossed his legs, put his hands behind his head, and instantly returned to his usual indifferent state, saying carelessly.

“Liar.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

Although Carlos was familiar with the Valen Empire, he wasn’t the type to pay much attention to food. Therefore, the taste of any food that he could remember must be excellent.

Just as I was about to ask more, the cart suddenly started moving.

“Huh, did they solve the problem ahead?” Carlos asked casually.

I shook my head at him, indicating I didn’t know. I lifted the curtain slightly and peeked out curiously. Just then, I met the commander’s gaze. He grinned at me.

“Nothing to worry about, Miss Silvega.”

The commander of the knights pointed to the front where the broken cart had been moved aside, and the caravan busy transporting goods. “Those are merchants delivering supplies for the church. They were taking some fruits and vegetables stored in Narangad to an orphanage in the Valen Empire for the children to eat. But the snowstorm on the road was too heavy, and the axle broke.”

“Oh,” I responded, shifting my gaze towards the merchants getting closer, who were moving their cargo onto another yak-drawn cart.

The队伍 slowly advanced, the knights marching with a resounding step, brushing past the merchant’s team.

The leading merchant, who was constantly warming his hands by breathing into them, turned his head inadvertently at that moment, and our gazes met.

He froze there, the words of command stuck in his throat as he stared blankly at me.

I saw a disgusting desire in his eyes, and felt instantly uncomfortable, quickly pulling down the curtain of the cart.

“What’s wrong?” Carlos, who had started to doze off, asked weakly.

“Nothing,” I shook my head at him.

The yak-drawn cart had traveled about three or four miles when night fell completely. The commander of the knights led the team to stop at a high ridge, then the knights set up tents to camp.

I jumped lightly from the cart and walked toward the nearby forest.

“Where are you going?”

Carlos also jumped down, stretching in the snow, his half-open eyes watching me walk away, and asked casually.

“For convenience.”

“……Oh.” He shrugged upon hearing this, “Do you want me to go with you?”

“Go to hell.” I quickened my pace.

…………

The forest at night was eerily quiet.

In the Valen Empire, which is perpetually winter, countless withered leaves and branches were covered with a thin layer of snow.

I looked around but found no signs of anyone, so I boldly spread the black smoke, and in an instant, five fist-sized black fireballs burst out, circling my body and flying around, making the forest already covered in silver frost even paler.

I listened intently to the sounds around me.

rustling…

“Bang!”

A fireball shot out, hitting the grass not far away with a dull sound, scattering the grass mixed with soil and some meat fragments, white smoke slowly drifting toward me, causing my body to tremble violently.

Afterward, I frowned deeply and waved my hand, drawing the remaining four fireballs back into my body.

The noise was too loud, and… it felt somewhat cruel. This method made me feel quite uneasy.

It would be better to use the black smoke; it wouldn’t cause these small animals to die in pieces… Although I knew this was just self-comfort, I wasn’t a saint, and since I didn’t want to kill, nor did I want to become a monster again, this was the only way.

The dampness inside the lining made my face slightly red; I knew what it was.

But this was something unavoidable every time.

Putting aside those scattered thoughts, I continued wandering in the forest looking for the next prey, when suddenly I heard voices, my heart startled, I immediately hid behind a tree.

Not far away, there seemed to be four or five figures, dressed like the people from the merchant caravan earlier.

“…Are you picking the big ones? Such small ones aren’t enough for anything.”

“I can’t carry the big ones.”

“Come on, if you can’t even pick firewood properly, what else can you do? It was a mistake bringing you along…”

“Hey, have any of you seen the girl who was sitting in that cart?”

“No, why?”

“I saw her! Although it was just a fleeting glance… her looks, tsk tsk tsk, if I could spend a night with her, I’d be willing to live ten years less, no, twenty years less.”

…Who are they talking about? Am I the one?

I clenched my mouth, restraining the urge to go and take care of them.

Damn it. What kind of stuff? Thinking about me, a tough guy? Know how to write ‘die’?

“……Is it really that exaggerated?”

“It’s true, you guys didn’t see it, that little look… oh my God, I’m done, I’ll never forget it.”

“Cut it out, you? Don’t even look at yourself in the water, such a level of noble lady, could she spend a night with you? Dream on.”

“You can’t, can I? With your weak body, you probably can’t last even three seconds, poor thing, she won’t be satisfied at all…”

“Bullshit, have you tried? Let me tell you, that girl is clearly a virgin, if I get the chance, I’d make her die happily, hahaha!”

Hearing this, I wanted to curse.

Everything is… I regret staying here to listen to their filthy talk, tonight I might not be able to sleep because of it.

I struggled to suppress the urge to burn them all with a fireball, frowning and turning to leave.

“Aah—I really want to take a puff of the mushroom grass… but tonight, there are church knights watching, so I guess I won’t have the chance.”

Mushroom grass? What’s that?

I stopped walking.