Kate's face darkened instantly. "If they have done something bad to my sister, I swear, I will burn the castle to the ground!" she looked at him, her eyes flaming with anger.

Ramza was awed by the girl's fierceness and boldness.

'Wow! How daring! This girl so brave!' he thought to himself.

He can only admire her stupid bravery.

"Miss, you're alone and powerless, there's nothing you can do..." he said.

He wanted to warn her and reveal more to her but the voice of Zemeth cut through his mind, reminding him of the consequences. It's a pity that a girl so pretty, yet so naive is going to be slaughtered soon. He has the power to do something to change her destiny but he isn't allowed to do so.

Kate pointed her fingers at him. "You! You will help me, right? I will give you the rest of my money as long you will help me rescue my sister!" she said.

Ramza was able to muster small laughter. "What can I do? Eh? I'm just a mere wagon driver?" he said while scratching his head.

He was blaming himself now, 'coz he planted the seed of doubts in her mind. He had to reverse everything he said to her to make their journey a bit bearable for the two of them.

Zemeth warned him not to get emotionally involved with the girl.

He will try not to.

Ramza took a deep breath and looked the girl directly in the eyes. "Miss, I'm just joking, okay? Those rumors are not true. I just made them up to play a prank on you. Please don't mind all the things I told you earlier," he said with a touch of seriousness in his voice.

"A-are you sure?" she asked staring back at him. She was trying to find out if he was telling her the truth or not.

"Yeah. I'm sorry if I scare you. Rest assured that we will have a smooth journey ahead, and you will get an answer about your sister's condition. Then we can return home to your village safe and sound," Ramza stated.

Somehow, his words of assurance vanished Kate's worries away.

"So, how many times you had traveled to the castle on the hill?" she asked curiously.

"A couple of times. Five times already," he lied.

Kate smiled feeling assured this time. "Ramza, can you tell me what the castle looks like?" she asked eagerly.

"Well... I was not able to get close to the castle because the horses can no longer go up in the hill. But looking at the distance, the castle looks grand because the Duke and Duchess who owned the castle belongs to a wealthy aristocrat lineage," he lied again.

Kate giggled feeling excited. "Wow! My sister must have been having a good time working in that castle..." she murmured. But then her expression changed quickly. "But why my sister doesn't have time to visit us in the village?" she blurted all of a sudden.

Ramza looked far ahead.

Then he shifted his attention back to the girl who seems to be waiting for his answer.

"Maybe your sister is busy in the household works inside the castle. Because, as you know the castle is big. There are so many rooms to clean and the lawn is wide as far as the eyes can see and there are so many plants to take care of. Do you know that the castle has one hundred fifty rooms total? I heard that from one of my passengers while they were discussing the castle..."

He lied again. He was just guessing wildly. The truth is he never had a chance to go inside the castle, nor, even if he can fly above the castle there's nothing much to see in there because the things there are not what it seems.

The castle was off-limits to his kind.

There are so many things that Zemeth hasn't told him yet about their mission.

He recalled in his mind how everything started.

One day, he just asked him if he wants adventure outside the Nephilim realm. Kind of bored in the land of paradise and want to try doing something out of the ordinary, he joined his friend and found himself in the mortal realm watching over three girls from a distance.

So far, Zemeth only revealed a few details to him about the mission. He was so secretive about it.

"Ramza, what are you thinking?" she asked and sat on the ground beside him.

He blinked a couple of times, only to find the girl already sitting close to him, did he dozed off? Or he was lost in his thoughts?

"Why are you sitting beside me?" he raised his brow.

"I saw s-something moving on that area over there! I'm afraid there might be dangerous animals lurking nearby and it will suddenly pounce at us. I'm scared!" she said, mouth quivering.

Ramza looked around him to find the moving creature. Instead, he saw one of his kind waving at him a few meters from the bonfire. Zemeth must have sent someone to watch over them. Good! He can focus on the girl! A silly smiled appeared on his lips.

He patted her shoulder trying to give her comfort. "Relax Kate, there's nothing out there. We're safe here," he said in a convincing tone. "You may go now inside the wagon and rest for the night."

"B-but what about you? Where are you going to sleep?" she asked.

"Here... besides the bonfire. I will watch over you so that you can have a safe sleep," he said with a smile.

"Y-you can sleep inside the wagon if you want," she offered awkwardly.

Ramza smiled. "No need. Don't worry about me, I am comfortable sleeping on the ground. I have done it many times," he explained.

"Okay..." she mumbled and rose to her feet.

Ramza watched as the girl went back to the wagon to rest for the night. He stood up and went to the horse and grabbed his sleeping bag from the black bag made of leopard skin.

He spreads the sleeping bag made of sheepskin into the ground near the bonfire and settled inside, it feels comfy. He shut off his eyes — thinking about the girl sleeping inside the wagon.

He falls asleep one hour later.

While another invisible winged creature was on standby, watching over them.