Inside the carriage, a damsel was sitting primly on her seat, looking up at the sky through the right window of the sturdy vehicle she was riding on.

The delay of their departure had put her in a dour mood. Who would not be? That delay almost cost herself her own life.

Adding to the stress she was already suffering from, the sleeping passenger, who occupied the cabin behind hers, was snoring blatantly loud. It was so irritating that she thought that he was born to be a nuisance to her on this very day. She was beginning to regret the decision of sharing this carriage with him.

He was the very reason for the hold up of this coach’s departure. And now, he had successfully ruined her peaceful travel back to Cephel.

“Please! Stop!”

A male voice came from the side. It was different from the voice of their driver, and the shameless snoring irksomely continued, so she assumed it came from outside.

Curiously, she looked down to see where the voice came from. She knew that it was intermittent for any human to be walking in this forest. However, right there, a man was scampering by the side of their carriage, pleading about something.

It was common knowledge to anyone that vaguras were rampant in this area, and encountering one meant meeting your demise. So it’s a complete surprise to see someone in this place, unarmed and wearing a tattered unusual attire.

“My friend is standing up ahead! Please stop!” came out his plea.

He jogged hard as he could to keep up with their speed but a mere human could not keep up with an oyomu.

You and your friend are fools. The damsel thought wryly. An oyomu can’t be stopped that easily.

Her annoyance was at its peak, as if this was the most annoying day in her life. All she wanted was a peaceful trip towards Aquilla and back to Cephel, yet another commotion rose for her unattained quiet travel.

Her chauffer had told the man that what he was requesting was nigh impossible. In the end, the man was not able to do anything but shout at his friend, “Yana, run away!”

Losing her interest to the man and to the situation outside, the damsel turned away from the window and looked at what she got from Aquilla for her birthday. It was a wooden flute. On its body her name was embedded in a cursive manner.

Letting out a long sigh, she muttered, “It is not everyday for me to get out of Cephel, however this day had turned to be an unpleasant one.”

Her original plan was to shop for a dress made from Aquilla. The dress is for an upcoming party, but unfortunately it turned out that acquiring a dress had become a fatal task. The one who was at fault the vaguras who happened to launch an all-out raid on the city today.

She had been looking forward to this day, for this was the first time she would see the bastion of Aquilla and the rich forests along the way.

It was not that forests were not existing in Cephel, in fact it is a city built by trees. Adoring the beauty of nature was something the elves had inscribed on her and as a human who grew up with them, she could not hold back her excitement to see life of different creatures in various places.

Another sigh came out from the damsel’s pretty lips, “If only these people could appreciate their lives more.” She was obviously referring to the pair of people up ahead, who were throwing their lives by prostrating themselves right in front of a rushing oyomu’s path.

It was then the carriage shook wildly. At the same time, a grunting sound came from the oyomu.

The quake almost threw her off her seat. If she had not get hold of the rim of the window, there was also a high chance that she could have been thrown off the carriage itself.

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After checking on herself for any small injuries, in which there was none, the damsel looked outside again and noticed that they had stopped.

Unbelievable, she thought as she opened the door of her cabin and climbed down the carriage steps. The height from the flooring of the carriage was enough to give someone if they fail their landing.

In the middle of her descent, a voice boomed above her. “What happened? Why did we stop?”

Instead of a courteous reply, she irately scowled at the stout middle-aged man who was bending over his window, staring down at her.

"You could just go back to your slumber.” She coldly said as if her words carry a curse.

“What did you say, young lass?” the man bellowed.

She completely disregarded the fuming man and continued climbing down. When she safely set her foot on the dirt road, she impulsively ran towards the two young people who were standing right in front of the oyomu.

There she saw a woman with short black hair petting the creature’s head, while the other one was the man she saw earlier.

“What were you thinking?!” The damsel heard the man yelling as she gets closer. “You almost got stepped on by this beast!”

The oyomu puffed its breath as if it understood the man had uttered a word and it struck the wrong chord.

The short-haired woman lightly chuckled in response to her companion. “I’m fine and don’t call her like that. She doesn’t like it.”

“Then what am I going to call it?” the man asked.

“It’s an oyomu. You haven’t seen one yet?” the damsel answered him.

She stepped closer to the two strangers who were shaking their head. Her mood had slightly changed as her insatiable hunger for knowledge grew inside her.

“Then how did you know this was a female?” The damsel asked the short-haired woman as she stroke the side of the oyomu’s head. Fumbling her hand through its as-white-as-snow fur, caressing the creature’s cheeks.

The short-haired woman pursed her lips. “I don’t really know. I just knew it. By the way, my name is Yana,” she introduced herself and her companion. “Umm… Sorry for interrupting your journey but we really need a ride to uh… anywhere.”

“Well, we already stopped so it would be inappropriate to ignore your request,” said by the damsel, but a disagreement was voiced out by the obese man who had followed her.

“He-hey! What are you thinking, you broad? You don’t even know them and you’re letting them travel with us.”

This man. “I do not even know you either, do I?” With this, she started to vent all of her anger right at the source of it; the complaining man.

“And besides, I’m letting them in my cabin, not yours. So, why are you complaining like you own my carriage? Would you like me to remind you how pitiful you are when you pleaded to let you in? If you would continue to complain, I would gladly leave you here.”

Not waiting for an answer, the damsel turned to her driver and said, “I will let them in.”

The young driver wordlessly nodded in response. Meanwhile the old man was whispering curses under his breath as he started to go back to the carriage.

Sighing, the damsel looked back to the pair she recently got acquainted with.

“Sorry about that. Oh! How improper of me! I have not introduced myself yet. My name is Olivia Seria, it is a pleasure to meet you.”