Chapter 178 Our Ride Is Here . . .

"Y-you . . ." Jin was dumbfounded before he muttered without a thought. "I guess . . . we can win this after all."

Of course, we were going to win this.

I wasn't planning on losing or dying in the first place.

The others thought that they were safe and sound when the soldiers were reduced to corpses by Thomas alone. So when Thomas casually picked up the broken limbs and severed guts and organs of the fallen soldiers, eating them without regard to anyone, the others gasped in shock.

If only I had a camera on me so I could preserve their expressions forever.

"C-Cross . . ." Amara's hold on my fingers tightened. She hid her face on my sleeve while she looked like she was about to gag.

"I-is that . . . normal?" Jin uttered in disgust.

Lina looked away and didn't comment.

I dispersed the tense atmosphere with a stifled laugh and joking tone. "Thomas is a ghoul," I told them straight to the point. "So he would need to eat flesh and drink blood to recover, or he would turn into a pile of broken bones and severed limbs."

Jin and the other's mouths dropped.

"Don't worry. Thomas is very loyal to me, so rest assured that he wouldn't attack you . . . as long as you remained on my side, that is."

"D-did you . . ." Amara looked at me suspiciously under her lashes. "Did you do this?"

"I didn't kill him if that's what you're asking. I found him on the brink of death, so I changed him into a ghoul using a very special potion so he could live and get his revenge on those who killed him."

"I've been meaning to ask this . . . where do you get all this stuff?" Jin asked.

I shrugged. "I have my ways."

"Is he . . . going to be okay?" Lina asked for the first time, looking over at Thomas.

Funny how she was genuinely worried about my ghoul rather than the curious and dreadful expression that I mostly saw on the others' faces.

"Don't worry. As I said, Thomas won't bite you if you remain loyal to me."

Lina didn't comment, and she went back to the comfort of her passivity.

"Anyway, let's get out of here before the others get wind of what happened here."

Jin looked over at our surroundings and uttered in a voice barely above a whisper, "I think there are still spies left to report what happened here."

"No worries. Everything is clear," I said. Unless the spy could see beyond two hundred meters, there was no one on the map that the [Evil Eyes] conjured except us and the usual foraging spots and beasts in the area.

"Right . . . you can see everything. How can I forget?" Jin said, huffing a condescending laugh.

We then proceeded onwards and out of the forest. Everything seemed fine on the surface, but deep inside, I knew they were scared of Thomas. They were at least ten meters away from my ghoul, eyes trained on his every move.

The only one who was getting close to him was Lina, seemingly amazed at the arm Thomas was chewing as we walked.

"Aren't we going to run?" Jin asked for the nth time.

I didn't bother to comment since his answer came galloping meters from us.

"What is that?" Amara questioned, squinting her eyes on the approaching wagon.

It was a normal wooden wagon that was open above with a very cheerful girl sitting in the driver's seat waving at us.

"Yoohoo! My Lord! Are you alright?! Florin's here to pick you up!"

I felt eyes drawn towards me.

The corner of my lips quirked to the side. "Our ride is here."

Jin frowned. "Ride?"

". . ." Lina took her comment to herself.

Thomas was busy eating to care.

And Amara wrinkled her nose. "Are we going to be okay riding it? It looks worn out."

I raised my chin a proudly said, "That wagon had carried me from Roselake all the way to my property. It only looks rough on the outside, but it's sturdier than a fortress. Let's go."

I had contacted Florin to come and pick me up after Thomas turned into a Ghoul. I planned for her to take Thomas back into my Fief since the man couldn't think for himself, and he was a hazard waiting to happen if I was going to infiltrate Bluebell Town.

But things happened, and I was glad that Florin had arrived now.

"My Lord!" Florin pulled the reign of the horse and jumped down from the driver seat while she curtsied towards me. "Florin has arrived as you command. I hope I wasn't late."

"No. You're just on time," I said and patted her head. Florin let out a giggle and jumped into my embrace.

"My Lord! Florin misses you so! We haven't seen each other for more than a week! Did you miss Florin too?"

I was about to answer her when I felt a piercing glare behind me.

"Cross." Amara smiled though anyone could see that she was forcing herself to calm down as she enunciated each words. "Who. Is. She?"

Oh, right . . . I forgot that I have to introduce my woman to Amara.

<Good luck, Host~>

"Ah . . ." I introduced everyone to each other while Florin frowned, eyes glued on Amara's breasts.

"What's this? More cows? I'm sick of all the milk already," she spat.

"Cows?" Amara raised her brow, and she looked at me with a lioness's threat.

Where should I start?

"I'll explain on the way," I said to her and guided her into the wagon.

I had to compliment's Amara's self-control, for she didn't cause a scene and simply jumped into the wagon herself. However, she was starting to ignore me.

"My Lord. Are they new recruits?" Florin asked when we started to move.

"That's right. And go fast. Someone is after us."

Florin did as I said, and the wagon lurched forward, its wheels spinning in the loose earth. The horse was still skittish, but it kept moving. We had to move quickly since there were a lot of things to do back in my territory and that someone was after our throats.

Though I hadn't arrived in Bluebell town like my initial plans, I guess I had no choice but to postpone it as there were much other concerning matters that needed my attention.

With the horse, I think we could cut the travel time to two or three days if we only rest for four hours a day. We would probably arrive at Dementia by tomorrow night or two days from now.

We rode in silence until we came to a small village on the outskirts of the city. This small village still had nice soil to grow crops, and their huts weren't run down like the succeeding villages that were near abandonment.

There were no spoken words between us except for Florin, who updated me on what was happening in my territory. And even she shut up after a few hours when darkness swallowed the light.

Lina and Jin fell asleep despite the latter fighting his exhaustion. He eventually succumbed to sleep after few futile attempts to keep his heavy eyelids open.

We had no sleep since the war, so all of us were tired.

Thomas didn't feel tired or sleepy, so he stood guard while occasionally blinking to get the dust from his eyes.

Amara was still angry at me, trying her best to ignore my presence though I was beside her.

I sighed and blasted the air over the horizon. I needed to fix this as soon as possible or risk her anger tripling by the minute.

"Are you going to stay mad like that forever?" I asked her.

Amara continued to look away, and she only replied with a cold harrumph.

"This is silly. Stop making something out of nothing."

Amara whipped her head in my direction, and the anger in her eyes made pulled back a little.

"Oh really?" she spat. "I don't think that patting her lovingly on the head like that didn't mean anything."

I took another mouthful of air. "Florin is only like a little sister to me."

Florin stared in our direction, and her lower lip puckered out. But my pointed glare made her shut her mouth tight.

"Is that right?" Amara's anger didn't listen one bit. "And what are these COWS she mentioned earlier, then?"

". . ." That . . .

<Host, should just lie. It would make things livelier~>

I don't want to create unnecessary problems in the future.

It was best to tell her the truth at this rate. She would eventually find out about it.

"Alright . . . I admit that I have other . . . relationships."

". . ." Amara paused, then her eyes rounded like he didn't expect for me to answer her honestly. She lowered her head after a few seconds, her fringe blocking the expression on her face.

"How many?" she asked after a short pause.

The calmness in her voice gave me hives.

I scratched the back of my head. "Two . . ."

". . ."