Chapter 2: Call Me Yaya

The journey to Karak City was not difficult, but to avoid unnecessary trouble, Lainsi took a longer route. It took her seven days to reach the transit town of Sena, which would normally only take three days. Was she being too cautious? After all, no one knew that the Emperor had given her something, and it wouldn't draw attention if the palace was missing a cook. Lainsi took a big sip of beer and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Sena Town was a must-pass on the way to Karak, and it was most developed in terms of carriage rentals due to its proximity to the imperial city.

It was mid-afternoon, scorching hot weather that was almost unbearable. Lainsi sat in the only Maple Leaf Tavern in town, deciding to have a good drink and rest before continuing the journey to Karak overnight. The tavern's slightly closed door was pushed open with a bang by a group of people, and a dry gust of hot wind blew across everyone's faces, causing beads of sweat to immediately rain down.

"What the hell! Who the hell opened the door so wide, not giving a damn..." A burly man was about to curse out loud, but as soon as he saw the people entering, he swallowed his words. The group that entered the tavern were all dressed as knights, wearing medium-sized blue armor with two intertwined snake heads on their chests and shiny blue knight swords hanging from their waists. Anyone with eyes could tell that they were members of the Serpent Knights, one of the three major knight orders of Delampat, the Emperor's personal guard.

Lainsi turned her head away, not looking at them. She drank her beer slowly, even though they didn't know her, it was better to be cautious. "Do you know why there are so many knights from the knight orders recently?" a middle-aged man, whose nose was already red from drinking, said to the middle-aged man next to him, who looked like a merchant. Lainsi also wanted to know more about the current situation and listened quietly. "Let me tell you, His Majesty King Gustman III has passed away, and Crown Prince Yali has ascended to the throne." "I know that, but why are there so many knights from the royal knight orders?" the man with the red nose took a gulp of beer. "Don't rush~ let me tell you slowly~ I heard that Prince Yalong, the fifth prince in Karak City, wanted to rebel. He was beheaded two days ago. They are here to recruit troops. Do you know that many members of the royal family and nobles..." Lainsi heard that Prince Yalong was already dead and couldn't help but tremble, spilling some of her drink and turning pale! Fortunately, no one noticed her.

With Prince Yalong dead, Lainsi touched the necklace hidden in her pocket and couldn't help but smile bitterly. What should she do now? With Prince Yalong dead, the mission entrusted to her by the Emperor couldn't be completed. What should she do? Due to the sudden turn of events, Lainsi didn't know what to do. It's better to rest for now. She was tired after two days. She would think about what to do tomorrow. Lainsi couldn't come up with any ideas for the moment, so she could only take it step by step.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lainsi took out the necklace and examined it carefully. The pendant of the necklace was made of pure gold in the shape of a hexagram, with a small gemstone embedded at each corner on the front, and a large purple gemstone in the center emitting a purple glow. Lainsi recognized it as a precious magic crystal. The back of the pendant depicted a small mountain range, with two lines of text below: "The Sacred Land of Flame Guardians, where heroes perish in the sea of fire." "Monte Mountain?" Lainsi recognized the mountain range.

Monte Mountain was located at the border between Delampat and the Hamit Kingdom, about twenty-five days' journey north of Sena Town. Monte Mountain was one of the battlefields where ancient humans fought against many races. There were hundreds of thousands of lost souls on the small plain at the foot of the mountain. Legend had it that the plain was cursed by the fallen warriors, turning it into a swamp with wandering spirits. For thousands of years, few people had successfully crossed the Swamp of Death. Most of them never came out once they stepped in.

Since the mission couldn't be completed anymore, and when she escaped from the palace, she didn't bring much money, why not go and see the so-called treasure indicated by the necklace? Lainsi made up her mind and started preparing. She bought the necessary food and water, and also sold two steel knives. She left Sena Town and headed north, embarking on her journey to explore the treasure.

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"Help! Help!" A desperate cry for help faintly came from the left side of the woods.

"Howl~ Howl~" The howls of magic wolves followed from the forest.

Lainsi leaped onto a large bluestone on the left side of the road, carefully determining the correct direction of the cry for help, drew her steel knife, and swiftly entered the woods. Don't underestimate Lainsi just because she was a cook; her knife skills were quite good. Her father had taught her since childhood that learning some martial arts in addition to culinary skills could increase strength and self-defense. Lainsi believed that her father's self-developed knife skills from culinary arts were quite formidable! At least that's what Lainsi thought.

Three giant magic wolves appeared in front of Lainsi, howling and chasing after a girl in a red robe.

Magic wolves were one of the most widespread and ferocious wild monsters on the Kamira continent. They were massive in size and could stand taller than a person when standing upright. With razor-sharp teeth, they could easily bite through a small tree. They preferred to live alone, so it was rare to see three magic wolves together in one place.

The three magic wolves were chasing relentlessly. If it weren't for the dense trees and the fact that the girl seemed to be a mage, often using levitation spells to dodge in moments of crisis, she would have been caught by the wolves long ago.

"Ah~" The girl in the red robe, possibly exhausted, fell to the ground. The lead wolf opened its bloodied jaws, revealing its sharp white teeth, and viciously lunged at the girl's neck.

"Guagua Falling to the Ground~" Lainsi shouted loudly, her steel knife spinning like a whirlwind, turning towards the lead wolf.

A flash of cold light struck before the wolf could react. Its massive head rolled to the side, and a shower of blood sprayed into the air. The girl, who had fallen to the ground, couldn't dodge in time and was splattered with blood, looking disheveled.

With the steel knife out, Lainsi quickly approached the girl, drawing her spare steel knife and vigilantly watching the remaining two wolves, not daring to be careless. The two wolves seemed startled by the sudden turn of events and took a few steps back, their wolf eyes shining with fear. They turned their tails tightly between their legs and fled towards the forest without looking back. Even the fierce and brutal magic wolves didn't have the courage to face this terrifying enemy again.

"Ugh~" The girl in the red robe couldn't bear the sight of such a bloody scene and vomited.

Lainsi wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, feeling exhausted. She didn't expect her own knife technique to consume ninety percent of her internal energy. If that wolf hadn't been scared away, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Extending her hand to help the girl up, Lainsi pointed to the path they had come from. "Miss... behind us, there's a small stream. Look at us, we're covered in blood. How about..."

"Ah~" Before Lainsi could finish, the girl in the red robe also felt uncomfortable all over her body and hurriedly ran towards the back.

Oh, girls... Lainsi couldn't help but smile wryly as she touched her head.

"Thank you so much for just now... I'm called Celia!" The girl in the red robe sat on the bluestone next to the campfire, combing her flaxen hair and looking at Lainsi with her brown eyes.

"Hehe, you're welcome... I'm Lainsi! Miss Celia, you're a mage, right? How did you end up being chased by magic wolves?" Lainsi wanted to know more about Celia, as she was interested in exploring ancient ruins and the like.

"Don't call me Miss... you're my lifesaver!" Celia stuck her tongue out playfully at Lainsi. "Call me Yaya instead!"

"I'm an apprentice mage on a journey of experience. Hehe, yesterday I discovered an ancient ruin in the mountains ahead, so I wanted to explore it thoroughly. I didn't expect to encounter many magical beasts inside. I managed to escape, but I ran out of magical power. Luckily, I met you; otherwise, I would have been in big trouble."

"Oh, an ancient ruin... Yaya, what's inside?" Lainsi became interested when she heard about the ancient ruin. There was always something special inside ruins, and Lainsi was very interested in exploring and searching for treasures.

Yaya straightened her clothes, rested her small hand on her chin, and furrowed her brows, thinking for a moment. Her expression was both mischievous and adorable.

"I couldn't go deep inside, but there was a strong surge of magic power. There should be something there."

"Really! Let's rest for now. Tomorrow, I'll accompany you on the adventure, how about that?" Lainsi noticed that the campfire was getting smaller and added more firewood.

"Okay! That's great! It's a deal, huh? Tomorrow, we'll go together." Yaya jumped up happily.

"Get some sleep. We have important things to do tomorrow!"

"Okay! Got it, Big Brother Lainsi. Goodnight! :)"