Uta had promised to go to the Avalonera kingdom in a few days after she picked up the best harpies she could.

Aurora accepted her words. So, after they gave a quick goodbye to each other, Aurora and Ruby went back to the shopping area.

"I still can't trust that perverted bird girl," Ruby murmured.

"It's fine, it's fine," Aurora said. "They will be useful."

"They better be!" Ruby said.

"Welcome back, Miss Ruby and Miss Aurora," Rita said, standing in front of the old shop. "The carriage was ready."

Rita held her sword with her right hand and then touched the carriage with her left hand. For a moment, nothing happened, but the wind started to move around the carriage. From the device attached to the bottom part of the carriage, a strong wind pushed it, making it float a little bit from the ground.

"That's cool," Aurora said. "It's kind of like a hoverboard or a flying car in science fiction. It almost doesn't feel like a magic-related thing."

"Is it safe...?" Ruby said, worried.

"Don't worry, miss," Rita said. "Thanks to this sword, my control over wind magic even surpassed any harpies around. I will make sure we arrive safely."

"Yes, even I'm surprised," the old lady harpy said. "Since I opened this shop, it's the first time I've seen such refined control of Wind magic. So don't worry, it's safe."

Aurora and Ruby then got inside while Rita needed to sit outside to control it.

"Good luck with your trip," the old lady said.

"Yes, thank you," Aurora said.

The carriage then started to move. At the beginning, it moved slowly, slower than a normal carriage.

"What is this?" Ruby said. "It doesn't feel fast at all."

But soon the carriage started to gain speed.

"So fast!" Ruby said, kind of scared. She reflexively held onto Aurora's hand. "I'm not sure about this! Will we be okay...?"

Aurora, on the other hand, just giggled. Thanks to LightSpeed, she was used to moving fast, so this was nothing for her.

"If you're scared, just hold onto me," Aurora offered.

"Well, this wasn't so bad then," Ruby said, happily grabbing onto Aurora more.

The trip to Valoria kingdom usually took several days, even weeks sometimes, but they reached it in less than a day.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"The side trip was worth it," Aurora said as she got out of the carriage.

"Yes, but... I'm kind of feeling sick..."

Car sickness? Aurora thought. Or maybe, more accurately, super carriage sickness?

"Sorry miss! Are you okay?" Rita asked.

Aurora picked up a drink from Serena's bag and gave it to Ruby while she tried to remember how to relieve car sickness.

"Thank you," Ruby said weakly as she started to drink a little.

Aurora blinked a few times; she felt stupid. She had light magic that was mostly for curing things. She should have used it instead.

"Ah! So much better! Thank you!" Ruby said as Aurora cast her light magic.

They then started walking. Around them, the mood was depressing. The town was bleak and somber, with its dilapidated buildings and cobbled streets worn down by time. The gray sky seemed to mirror the inhabitants' melancholic mood, as they went about their dreary lives. The air was thick with the smell of rotting food and sewage, and the sound of coughing and groaning echoed through the narrow alleys.

"Did we get in from the worst part of town or...?" Ruby's voice trailed off.

"Or was this how things usually were in this kingdom?" Aurora said, guessing what Ruby was trying to say.

Ruby had nodded.

"I don't know either," Aurora said. "I hope not, but--"

They had stopped by a small girl with a really thin body. She had looked pretty weak, with her long hair a mess and dirty and her clothes equally dirty and full of holes.

She started begging. "Please kind stranger, give me something to eat..."

Ruby quickly picked up a pouch from her pocket, immediately alerting people around.

"Umm, I'm feeling generous today, so here, take it," Ruby said, as she pulled out a golden coin and gave it to the girl.

That was a mistake because immediately people around them suddenly became full of energy and started to surround them. Kids, men, women, old people, all kinds of people swarmed them instantly.

"Me too!" they said.

"Me too!" the others said.

"Please, me too!" a bunch of teenagers said.

"Please! I haven't eaten for a week!"

"Please!"

They started grabbing their clothes, making Ruby panic. Aurora quickly grabbed Ruby's pouch and threw it away. The coins inside immediately poured out, falling on the ground. Noticing this, the people immediately pushed and shoved each other, trying to pick up the falling coins.

"Let's go!" Aurora said, grabbing Ruby's hand and quickly leaving that place. Rita followed behind.

"That was scary," Ruby said, calming her breath.

"I'm sorry, miss," Rita said. "They seemed like ordinary town's people, and I wasn't sure if I should attack them or not."

"It's fine," Ruby said. "They didn't really hurt me, but..."

Aurora nodded. "They're all desperate. Let's be more careful in here."

To avoid drawing attention because of their clean and high-quality clothes, they wore a cheap-looking cloak on top of them.

They then settled in at an inn not too far from where they had hidden their carriage.

Ruby immediately jumped into bed.

"Ah, I'm tired," she said, hugging the pillow. "Anyway, what are we going to do next?"

"Let's plan things out properly," Rita suggested. "I heard from Miss Ruby that you want to meet with the huntress, an assassin?"

Aurora nodded.

"Well, I'm not going to ask why," Rita said. "But it's not only going to be dangerous, people like them are hard to find too. I mean, they're used to hunting people, they know how to protect themselves from being hunted."

Aurora nodded, knowing that. She even knew specifically how Reiren did that. In the game "The Phantom Huntress," you could pick a buddy as your partner to help you on missions. There were a few choices you could make: a dog that could help with smelling where the treasure and target were, a bird to get the full map of the specific mission, or a girl, her best friend named Eliphia Rosabeth, who was a great support that could hear from far away. It was almost impossible to get a jump on them. Eliphia would hear them before they could even get close. Especially since other assassins were hunting them too, they would be super careful every time someone got close to them.

"Yes, I'm expecting that," Aurora said. "So my plan is, if we can't chase them, we will make them come to us instead."

"How?" Ruby asked.

"Well, even assassins are still just human, right?" Aurora said. "They still need to eat, sleep, and do all the normal things humans do. So instead of looking for them, we will pick some places where they might come to and wait there. And the fact that all their hideouts were destroyed, they won't have a choice but to pick a public place to do just that."

"I see," Ruby said. "That's simple enough. I like that!"

Aurora smiled. And she had actually already picked a place based on the game event. It was no longer about whether they would come or not, but more about when.

***

A week later, Aurora, Ruby, and Rita sat in the tavern. The air was thick with the smell of smoke from the fireplace and the aroma of ale, mead, and roasted meats. The tavern keeper, a huge man with a bushy beard, served tea and food to them.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ruby asked as she drank her tea. "They haven't appeared here for the past few days."

"Be patient," Aurora said. "They will come eventually."

"Okay," Ruby sighed. "I'm just kind of tired of this place's depressing mood. I want to go to the Dwarf kingdom already."

"I'm sorry, but we can't leave until I finish my business here," Aurora said.

Ruby shook her head. "No, don't apologize. I'm just being selfish," Ruby hurriedly said. "I know this is where we were going to go from the beginning. I shouldn't complain."

Aurora smiled. "I will try to finish this as quickly as possible, I promise," she said. "But why do you want to go to the Dwarf kingdom? I mean, I want to go there too, but--"

"Miss," Rita said, interrupting Aurora. "Someone's coming."

Two girls with cloaks entered the tavern.

***