Chapter 179 The Redania Empire (1) The Shortcut



As the wagon walks on with the winter wolves pulling them at considerable speed, the hobgoblin skeletons and goblin champion skeletons continue to escort the wagon and Wilhelmina's unconscious friends that are being carried by some of the skeletons.

Some with the worst injuries got put inside the wagon and got treated by Lyan's holy magic, while three of them got carried by Shadow the aggressive black horse, and the rest of them got carried by the skeletons.

They occasionally got attacked and ambushed by the frost undead along the journey to exit the deadly magical forest of the north, but with Grimclaw's and Hobu's lead on defending the company, the attacking frost undead all got defeated rather easily.

"Master... Do you know that girl or something?" Tesha that had woken up from her sleep uttered as she saw the sight of her master in front of her.

"Hm... Not really," Replied Lyan.

"But you're treating her too well. You're even casting your healing magic even though she's not that injured anymore..." (Tesha)

"Well... You could say that she's something like a gift for some people. I wonder what kind of expression they would make when they saw this girl?" Uttered Lyan as he continue to cast his holy magic until Wilhelmina's face regain its healthy color.

"Hmph. Is that so?" Tesha snorted in dissatisfaction.

(I see. Her value has changed, huh?) (Hestia)

Hestia's voice appeared inside Lyan's mind. Because of the cold, the high spirits rarely appear and comment as they clam themselves inside their respective rooms as they turn on the heater inside to stay warm.

(Value?) (Lyan)

(Hmph! Don't act like you didn't know. I know that you only saved her because of her rare beauty and charisma, but you don't really care that much about her and only think that it's a shame for her to be killed there, right? But when she uttered her name, you immediately change your behavior towards her and even cast healing magic with your limited holy mana) (Griselda)

(They are... The friends of the Valkyries...?) (Sylphia)

Hearing their words, Lyan made a small smile.

(Well, It seems like all of you paid attention to my encounters rather well) (Lyan)

(Of course. I believe that it is part of our duty to see and judge the meaning of your actions. It might be one of the reasons why the gods made us contract to you in the first place as well) (Arturia)

There are some merits to having the high spirits paying attention to what he's experiencing as they have more knowledge about this world despite each of them might come from different eras, but at the same time, it's kind of annoying to have people commenting on every single thing he's doing.

(Thanks for your opinion, but I'm getting too much mana drained because of the heater you're using non-stop. So I'm disconnecting) 

(Lyan)

(Hey! Wa-) (Griselda)

Immediately, the voices stopped coming into Lyan's mind.

"Now then, Let's continue our journey,"

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"How far are we heading to?"

Wilhelmina asked as she looked at the map that Lyan showed her.

"We're heading to the Redania Empire. I believe you've heard about it, right?" Lyan uttered as he points at a certain point on the map.

"Yeah... But I never really went there personally. It's my first time going there. How much longer do you think we will arrive?" Wilhelmina asked with concern. There are some of her unconscious allies that are injured and need to be treated, and the children might be too fragile to withstand the coldness of the north so they would need to have shelter and have a long rest as soon as possible or their bodies won't hold out.

Her biggest concern came from her lack of knowledge about the northern region. As the daughter of the Marquesse, she only meet and went to the other ally countries of the kingdom, and she only has a limited amount of knowledge about the Redania Empire that even based only on the rumors she heard in the past.

"Your friends are fine. They are being treated gently, and I make sure that they are being carried not in a dangerous pose. Their bodies are also wrapped in enough cloth for them to withstand the cold, and we'll switch the injured that I've already healed with the children so that they won't get sick. Our aim is to arrive at the first bordering town as soon as possible," (Lyan)

"How long would it take for us to reach there?" (Wilhelmina)

"Well, we've crossed the deadly magical forest of the north that is the shortcut to the Redania Empire's region. So I guess it will take at most a day for us to reach there," Uttered Lyan with a shrug.

(Shortcut...? Don't tell me, he crossed that deadly magical forest of the north while fully knowing how dangerous it is only to get a shortcut to the empire?) (Wilhelmina)

"So, Tesha? Do you regret following me already?" Lyan shifted his gaze to Tesha at the side with a grin.

"Yes. Very much so- Is what I want to say, but... Of course not. I won't even be able to talk so freely like this if it's not because of you, master. I do not regret it," (Tesha)

Hearing Tesha's response, a big grin appeared on Lyan's face as he make a mess of Tesha's hair. "Now you're acting like a good girl again after being cocky for a while. Here take some cookies," Lyan gave her some cookies he summoned from the grimoire's space.

"I'm not being cocky! It's just that master seems to love dangerous and life-threatening situations so much that I can't help but think that you're thinking of killing me!" Protested her.

Looking at the exchange between Tesha and Lyan made a smile to form on Wilhelmina's face as well. She still doesn't understand why Lyan took her along from the beginning and why he saved her instead of leaving her and her friends. But then again, she realizes that Lyan is someone who always has several plans and schemes. Knowing that Lyan isn't cruel makes her feel a lot better, and she feels indebted to him for saving her even though she was now a slave.

"It seems like you have a good impression over your master, right?" (Wilhelmina)

"Ah, yes. That's true." (Tesha)

Wilhelmina kept looking at them as they continued their conversation. She couldn't help but feel jealous of their relationship. And the image of her three best friends appeared inside her head.

(Surena... Emilia... Alice...) (Wilhelmina)

As Wilhelmina's gaze went distant, the wagon continues to walk to the north where the Redania Empire lies. The winter wolves pulled the wagon skillfully and doesn't seem to be showing any sign of fatigue. 

The winter wolves originally appeared from the northern region and they were born in that area so they can endure the coldness of the north easily. They also can create warmth and heat up the air around them, which is very useful for the northern region.

While the wagon moves forward, Lyan turned to look at Wilhelmina and asked, "Your little friends are alright, right?"

"They are. We've been talking about many things, and I let them rest for a while. They are all feeling much better, and they are sleeping soundly inside the wagon." (Wilhelmina)

At some point, the children's slaves wake up, and Wilhelmina immediately shows her face to them to make sure that they won't get panicked when they saw the unfamiliar faces and the unfamiliar wagon. 

She wants to avoid annoying Lyan because of the children's sudden cries and ended up getting kicked by him, so she immediately took control and calms them down.

She saw all of them as they are so cute, and she knows that they are going through a hard time due to being slaves from such an early age. Looking at how they are now safe, and they have a bright future before they made a smile to form on her face.

The children started to fall asleep after eating and drinking something warm.

"Alright then, let's get faster," (Lyan)

With Lyan's orders, the wagon slowly accelerate its speed, and Wilhelmina held the children's hands to comfort them and let them fall asleep deeply once again.

After walking for quite a long time, Lyan noticed a village nearby. From afar, he could see the snow and ice-covered buildings and the snowy ground that looks like a white blanket laid out across the area.

"A village... It means we're close to the empire, right!?" Wilhelmina asked cheerfully as she realized that they are near to the Redania's borders.

"Yeah. But we're going to take a short rest here," Lyan uttered and-

*Snap!*

He snapped his fingers, and all of the skeletons disappeared including Grimclaw, leaving only Hobu and his shadow servants, and the skeletons that are carrying Wilhelmina's unconscious allies.

"Now for the finishing touch," Lyan snapped his fingers once more, and some of the company's appearance transformed.

The skeletons turned into pale humans wearing a robe, and the winter wolves once again transformed into Siberian huskies just like when he visited the winter cabin.

"Polymorph..." Wilhelmina uttered the name of the high-leveled illusion magic Lyan just cast with ease.

"Anyway, let's unload the wagon before we head into the village."

___________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,797,710,950 Elnes / 3797 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers

Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1), Fey Mammoth (Lv. 1), Arcane Retriever (Lv. 1), Winter Wolf Alpha (Lv. 12)

Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army