Departure

“All right, that’s settled.”

Serea looked at the brand-new Little Black. Beneath the cloak, its sturdy bones blended seamlessly with the shadows, as if it was born for assassination.

“Thank you, my queen, for granting me new power.”

Now possessing basic intelligence, Little Black spoke respectfully. At that moment, Lola, Vina, and Celia entered as well.

“My queen, we’re ready. We can set out at any time.”

It was Lola who spoke. She was wearing a black cloak and a black mask.

With her ears tucked inside the cloak, it would be hard to tell she was an elf unless one looked closely.

Vina and Celia were dressed the same as Lola.

Celia had also prepared an identical mask for Serea. She tossed it to Serea, who put it on as well.

Although Serea had spent most of her time in the palace and was unlikely to be recognized, wearing a mask was simply safer.

“Very good. Let’s depart now and try to reach Jones City before nightfall.”

“Yes, my queen.” x2

Lola and Vina responded in unison. Hearing this, Serea communicated with Dogsius through their mental link.

“Your ‘Beguile’ ability works on humans, correct?”

“Of course, my master.”

“Good. Follow my orders when the time comes.”

With that, Serea took the lead and stepped outside, followed by the rest of the group.

Outside, the Skeleton Warrior regiment was already assembled. They all wore masks and were clad in Otto Kingdom’s armor.

Even if discovered, it would only divert human attention toward the Otto Kingdom.

This might be throwing Otto Kingdom under the wagon, but in order to avoid exposure, so be it—for it wasn’t even her own country anyway…

With all preparations complete, they were ready to set off. Suddenly, a rough voice called out from behind them.

“Hey, Lola, and Queen Serea, you’re here!”

They turned and saw Aruka leading a giant wolf.

“Aruka?”

Everyone turned. Seeing Lola and the others in disguise, Aruka looked puzzled.

“Lola? What’s going on with you all?”

“Oh, I forgot to mention. We’re heading to a human town to buy winter supplies.”

“To a human town, huh? Then you all be careful. I won’t keep you any longer.”

As he spoke, Aruka mounted his silver giant wolf. Behind him were ten fully-equipped wolf riders.

“I’m here to say goodbye. We’ve been out here quite a while—time for us to return.”

“Ah, you could have stayed and rested a few more days.”

“No need. With the human threat resolved, I have to hurry back to the tribe. Autumn is nearly over, and we need to get food ready and all that.”

“I see. Then Aruka, do return safely. Thank you for coming to our aid this time. If the wolves ever need assistance, we’ll lend a hand as well.”

Lola spoke. Even though Serea was now the queen, Lola was still handling internal matters within the tribe.

“Great, we’ll head back then.”

“Safe travels.”

Lola gave a small bow as she spoke, with Vina also bidding farewell to Aruka.

Seeing the giant wolf at Aruka’s side, Serea suddenly thought of something and hurriedly called after him.

“Please wait!”

“Hm? Queen Serea, is there something else?”

“I have a small request. I wonder if Chief Aruka might agree.”

“A request? Hahaha, queen Serea, you don’t need to be so formal. We are friends of the great forest—if you have any requests, just say the word.”

Aruka replied heartily. The group turned to Serea, unsure what she was up to.

“My request is…”

Serea looked at the silver giant wolf and revealed a mysterious smile.

…

Two hours later.

“Awooo!”

The silver giant wolf let out a howl, charging out of the dense forest first. Several gray-black giant wolves followed, and behind them, a shadowy figure was darting through the woods.

Seated on the leading silver giant wolf, Serea clung in panic to Celia’s waist. The wolf was too fast—one careless moment and she could go flying off.

“This is way too fast! Slow down!”

Bouncing atop the wolf, Serea felt like she might puke. Had she known riding a giant wolf was this rough, she would never have gotten on this beast.

Sure, speed was good, but who could withstand such a tossing?

“My queen, we’re already very close to our destination. Please hold on a bit longer.”

“Easy for you to say!”

Serea wailed. Two hours earlier, she had foolishly asked to borrow Aruka’s wolf rider unit’s fang wolves to hasten their journey.

Aruka, being so straightforward, had immediately agreed—and here they were.

Because Serea had no riding experience, she and Celia shared the silver giant wolf, while Lola and Vina, accustomed to forest life, each rode their own gray giant wolf just fine. Little Black, with his extreme speed, followed at the rear.

With the giant wolves as transportation, the three only took two hours to break free of the Corrupted Forest. In just over an hour more, they would reach the Yeton territory.

“Awooo!”

A giant wolf leapt to avoid an obstacle, howling as it soared. The others were fine, but Serea, unable to hold on, fell off.

“Ah!”

“My queen!”

Serea screamed as Lola shouted in worry.

Watching the ground rush closer, Serea squeezed her eyes shut.

But just as she was about to hit the ground, Celia reacted quickly. She guided the wolf in a sharp turn and elegantly lifted Serea into her arms.

“Awooo!”

The giant wolf rushed ahead to catch up with Lola and Vina. The four continued toward their destination.

Still shaken, Serea was breathing heavily, clinging desperately to Celia, terrified of falling again.

“Th-thank you, Celia.”

In response, Celia’s cold expression showed as if she had nothing to do with it.

“It wasn’t me.”

Puzzled by this, Serea asked, “What do you mean, ‘wasn’t you’?”

But as soon as she spoke, Serea realized something.

“Oh, my master—based on the expertise of my, uh, former, former, former, former body as Royal Equestrian Instructor, riding this little pet is a piece of cake.”

It was Dogsius’s voice. Hearing it, Serea understood: Celia’s body was currently being controlled not by herself, but by the parasitic demon, Dogsius.

That made Serea recall that bowl of porridge from earlier.

A palace chef, a riding instructor…

“I’ve always wanted to ask you something.”

“My master, please ask! Whatever I know, I will answer.”

“I just want to know—what did you do before you became a parasite demon?”

“…”

Dogsius fell silent. Not because he didn’t want to answer, but because he was thinking.

Truth be told, even he couldn’t remember how many bodies he had parasitized over the years…

(To be continued…)

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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