181. The Inevitable

Three days of preparations later.

Nine carriages were lined, five of which were boarded by humans, and the other four were meant for food and other necessities.

There was a total of fifty-two Dragon Horses ridden by Butler Go and the soldiers. Though Colt already had both Butler Go and Lucille, he couldn’t possibly have the two of them go running about, massacring everyone like maniacs… well, he could, but that if something happens and their strength was not up to par, then it would not be good.

There were also four more Nether Flame Pegasus, freshly caught by Neun, Butler Go, and Shickly the yesterday. These Nether Flame Pegasus were not trained, but none showed any haughtiness as in front of them were an Infernal Umbra Pegasus and a fat cat on its head.

These Pegasi would show their worth later, but for now, they were more of an attraction than anything else. They would be showing their worth sometime after they reached the first destination.

Colt watched as the excited batch of people enter their carriages with smiles and expectations while he, the one who planned all of these were watching them with fogeys.

“Well, it appears you can’t tell them they can’t go.” Shickly said with a gloating expression while drinking wine.

Colt turned to his Father, who was enjoying every bit of his suffering. Shickly leaned into Colt and whispered, “This is the married life, my son. Get used to it.”

The only thing Colt could do was shake his head in the face of a father like him.

“Papa! Let us get-going!” Filla said with a smile; the excited kid was calling out!

“I’ll be right there, my daughter.” Colt said, and then as he approached the carriage, he waited for Faerith, who was standing next to it finish whatever it was she was saying about Magics, and something Colt couldn’t understand.

He stood there and waited for her words to end, and as it did, she turned to him and reminded him, “Take care of everyone, Miss Lucille and Butler Go may be stronger than you are, but they elected you to lead this travel. You have young ones with you; just make sure they do not get into trouble.”

“I will, mother, do not worry. They are my family; I will not let anything happen to them.” Colt assured her before entering the carriage. The carriage he took was larger than the usual and for a good reason.

Inside, there were Mina, their three daughters, Ayl’s cradle, and Lyra. Lucille was actually supposed to be in the same carriage but was rejected. Lucille was upset and even threw a fit.

The hundred-year-old or so Tower Master sniffled and then went to a corner while mumbling with a pout. She thought Mina didn’t want to be with her, and in short, it was the usual.

Mina saved the day by talking to Lucille and making two compromises with her, and having the Tower Master take care of Ayl during the night… Lucille was taking the nanny job seriously.

‘Say, should I retire from being the Tower Master?’ these were her words three days ago when she calmed down Ayl, who was awakened from slumber.

The second compromise was about the inevitable when traveling with children.

Faerith watched Colt enter the carriage, and then, Lopre, the Captain of the Platoon, confirmed that everyone else had boarded and everything was ready; he shouted aloud, “March!”

The Count and Countess watched everyone’s departure with a pleasant smile. Shickly turned to Faerith and made a playful smile as he whispered, “I supposed it is time for Lyra to become a big sister??”

Faerith’s face flushed red as she responded with elbowing Shickly, “Don’t try your luck tonight; you said you have a lot of things to do.”

“What about other nights then?”

“Talk to me when you finish everything — I’ll be going to the Orphanage with some maids; Sister Mary and Sister Fer should have already left by now.”

The Countess then entered the Mansion, and Shickly, who had his mind above the clouds, realized her words and then called out, “Wait, Sister Mary and Sister Fer left? Why you tell me anything.”

“They asked me to keep it quiet from Colt and the others; I do not know why, however. I couldn’t risk having you tell them about it. They went directly to the Holy Land using their mounts, so it was impossible to begin with. They were in a rush!”

Shickly stood outside, watching Faerith enter the room; he had an odd expression on his face as he asked Liron, his friend, “Am I that untrustworthy?”

“Speaking from experience, sometimes, yeah.”

===

The March out of the City took about thirty minutes and was treated as a parade. Filla and Lyra were enjoying themselves as they waved their hands around with glee.

Filla and Lyra, who had not been outside of the City were excited with the trees and the plains as far as the eye could see.

For the first hour, they looked around and saw birds and how vast the view was compared to the limited view of the City.

The second hour was when they turned to books and began reading about stories of myths, legends, and even magical formulas.

The third hour was when they tried playing games with Colt and Hylda.

The fourth hour was when they began questioning Colt about his experiences. Colt’s stories were exhausted in a manner of two hours, and then… the inevitable happened.

“I’m bored.” Lyra said while watching over Ayl. Although Filla did not say anything, she agreed with this tiny aunt of hers.

The two chibis turned to their most trustworthy provider of information, Mina, to ask, “When will we get to the Holy Land?”

Mina looked at the children as she prepared the sweets for bribes and answered, “We are not headed for the Holy Land, but for the Capital City.”

“Oooohhhh? Does that mean we can see the Castle?” Filla and Lyra excitedly.

Mina nodded her head.

Another question came out, “How long will it take to reach it?”

“…Three weeks?”

Those words managed to draw out the despair in the two children’s faces, and Colt, the Father, was on the side, could already see how they would act.

This was the inevitable they spoke of, that moment when children learned that it would take longer than a couple of hours to reach the destination.

‘This is why I didn’t want to bring the children along.’

For Colt, who had experienced commercial airlines… he could already see the future.

'I wish to get to the Capital and get that new Carriage Faster!'

Sadly for Colt, magic existed, but Miracle does not.