Earle would deal with his interpersonal relationships later; for now, he sauntered back to the gate with a pathetic limp. His legs still felt raw.

"Mayid, are you absolutely sure there are no other spells on the gate? I won't die instantly when I walk through it?"

"I assure you, Master, I never make the same mistake twice."

Mayid was so cool and mysterious and nonchalant...

"GAH! MAKE IT STOP!"

"You should be feeling better in a few hours. Just endure the discomfort for now, Master."

It wasn't that... It wasn't that, but! He could never admit! What it truly was!

"Yes, yes, you're right. The discomfort is temporary. It's a trick of the mind. Pain is weakness leaving the body!"

Earle regained his composure just as he reached the gate, making his way to the pedestrian entrance on the left. He reached out with trepidation to unlock and open the much smaller gate.

"Master... If I knew you were going to use the pedestrian entrance, we wouldn't have had to deal with the security system."

"What do you mean, Mayid?"

"Aside from the basic restriction I applied, there is only a minor illusion on this gate to prevent detection."

All his pain was for nothing! Earle kept a cool façade, in complete contrast with his inner self.

"I see."

With Mayid's confirmation, there was no need to hesitate any longer. He opened the gate with gusto. Beyond the gate the air felt fresher, the grass greener, the sky bluer. It wasn't just Earle's imagination, either. There was a massive bubble stretching to the clouds containing the estate. No wonder it felt so stale and dead inside. Taking a moment to inspect the surroundings, Earle found a carriage parked not far off.

"Did you call for a carriage, Mayid?"

"Yes, Master. I had confidence that you would be able to reach the gate."

She deigned not to mention that the carriage had been kept on standby for nearly 2 weeks, when Earle made his first attempt to leave. Earle decided to do a quick 360 around the carriage. He hadn't seen one in a while.

"Where's the coachman?"

"Ah, there's no need for one. The horses are quite smart, if a little slow."

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Mayid's smile widened. Earle looked at the horses. He got another case of double vision.

"Mayid. The horses look a bit strange...?"

There were horses. There were. But it didn't seem like they were really horses. If Earle angled his vision just a little lower, he could see people laying on the ground. At least twenty of the poor guys. Their legs were amputated, and stakes were pierced through the stumps that remained. There were chains that attached the stakes to the carriage, pumping them full of mana. Earle could tell it was a spell to keep them alive without letting them recover. Their faces, and probably the rest of their front side, looked almost like Earle's legs had a couple minutes prior, though they had some skin still hanging on. Most of them had no fingernails, and for those that did they were barely attached. A few of them turned to look at Earle, faces filled with pain, despair, and exhaustion in equal measure. Each had a similar incision on their necks. Their vocal cords were probably cut, judging from the light wheezing that came out when they tried to plead for help. It seemed like, uh, they would pull the carriage forward by dragging themselves along the ground. It looked quite painful.

"They're a bit of a special breed, from far north. Quite hardy. I'm surprised you noticed."

"Ah, yes..."

He felt bad for them, but not enough to potentially expose himself to harm by helping them. They could tough it out. Earle, however, was starting to get the perception that his family was one of the highest evils. The make of his grandfathers bed would be a lot more understandable then. It would explain Mayid's shadow monster. And possibly his moral ambiguity, as well. He felt like he was losing his innocence. Nothing good would come from lingering on it, so he decided to just enter the carriage. It was also kind of disgusting, so he wanted to not see them anymore. He had become more tolerant toward gore recently, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. Mayid joined him, and Rami jumped on top of the carriage. With a snap of her fingers, the carriage began to move at a snail's pace. Still better than walking; their destination wasn't too far anyway. The estate wasn't far from the capital.

The ride was relatively smooth, surprisingly. Earle was expecting it to be a lot less stable, what with there being so many... draggers applying force at different angles. They managed to maintain similar speeds, dragging themselves along in a synchronized formation. He couldn't help but admire their skill. As he was doing so, the carriage slewed a couple degrees to the left, and the carriage went over a massive bump. The carriage slowed down significantly.

"Whoa! What was that? A rock?"

Earle stuck his head out the window and glanced back. Oh. There were three mashed bodies missing a variety of pieces being tugged along, their entrails trailing behind them. The combination of mana overload and being run over left them a bloody mess. Mayid snapped once more and they were detached, humming to herself all the while. Earle couldn't resist throwing up at that one.

"I didn't think you would have motion sickness, Master."

He was too busy vacating his guts to respond. The foul taste of egg and bile washed over his tongue and lingered in his mouth. Mayid gently rubbed his back.

----------------------------------------

The ride took longer than expected due to losing more of the draggers along the way, but they still arrived to the capital in a timely manner. Noon was upon them. Citizens dressed in little more than rags were gathered around the capital's outer wall, pitching tents and cooking lunch.

"Are they refugees?"

"Yes. Between the civil war, demon invasion, and void corruption, many have been forced to leave their homes. And there is no space for them elsewhere, so they squat around the capital and spread their filth while poaching game."

Kind of harsh, but alright. It wasn't Earle's place to judge. Mayid knew much more of the world than he did. She also had a shadow monster. The group continued to approach the capital's outer wall.

"Halt!"