“Are you… threatening us?” The guard asked in disbelief while his fellow colleagues looked on in shock.

“Oh, please,” replied Lucia with a snicker. “I don't have the time to threaten or bully those weaker than me. But still, I appreciate how highly you think of my words.”

Her words made them scowl at her and say firmly, “It seems that you are a troublemaker. Letting you enter our country is not advisable under any circumstances.”

“On the contrary, if you don't let my carriage pass, I'm afraid it'll be you lot that'll be begging for forgiveness,” she replied with great coolness and confidence.

There was a moment of silence around them as the two parties stared at each other before the guard looked at his comrades before looking back at her. He and the others suddenly gripped their spears firmly and positioned them in an attacking position facing the carriage and Lucia.

“You are under arrest for threatening and humiliating the border patrol! Disarm yourself and come quietly with us.”

The guard had declared with a serious voice, but she continued to look coolly down at them. There was no trace of fear or nervousness within her eyes as she looked down on them from her higher position.

“Is that supposed to scare me… because I don’t feel it,” she replied sardonically.

“That’s immaterial. You are coming with us, so raise your arms into the air and surrender quietly,” the guard said and their spears began to glow as they were being channelled with their energy.

Upon seeing their readiness to attack her and her companions, Lucia sighed and said, “I warned you.”

Moving swiftly, she moved her hand to her left side of her shirt and pulled out a wand before pointing at them.

“Windfall,” she muttered quietly.

In an instant, magic circles appeared beneath all four guards before a massive wind blew down from above and slammed into them. The guards shouted in shock at the sudden wind that was attacking them and quickly caused them to fall to their knees.

“W-What the?!”

“What’s going on?!”

“What is this wind?!”

“Damn! I c-can’t move!”

The four guards exclaimed as they were finally slammed to the ground and kept there from moving. Their spears were knocked out of their hands and they rolled away while they faced their dilemma. Just then, their four dragons raised their bodies off the ground and roared threateningly at her.

“Quiet down,” Lucia said to the dragons and pointed her wand at them and said, “Chained.”

In an instant, magic circles appeared beneath all four creatures before metallic chains flew out and began wrapping themselves around their large bodies before tying down firmly to the ground. Despite them trying to move with their great strength, but they failed to budge.

“I warned you. I warned you!” She said as she turned back to the guards as the wind continued to flow down from above to pin them to the ground. “You didn’t listen, and now you are flat on your faces like turtles. Quite fitting considering the armour you’re wearing. I’m a magic user, you idiots. What made you think energy users could win against a magic user?”

Her question caused her student, who was still seated inside the covers of the carriage, to feel mixed emotions. He looked towards Luna and was reminded of their last battle with one another, which resulted in him being blasted away before he could get started on his spell.

“Let… us… go…!” One of the guards demanded with a bit of difficulty.

“Mmm…! Apologise to us, and I may consider letting you leave.”

“What?! Apologise?”

“Yeah. It’s simple really. That is, if you’re capable of saying it,” she replied before letting out a chuckle.

“Damn!” A guard cursed angrily. “Why should we apologise when you were the one that threatened and attacked us first?!”

“What do you mean I started it when it was you idiots that pulled the trigger,” she replied coolly. “My coachman here followed the rules and handed you the permit, but you idiots were taking your lousy time, wasting important time of my travel, and began to badmouth be me because of my racial status.

So, when did I start anything against you lot other than to come out and ask what’s with the delay? I have every right to find out, or are you telling me I can’t because of my racial status?”

There was a moment of silence as the four guards looked uncomfortably at her. She sniffed scathingly and released her magic, causing the wind to stop flowing down and allowed the men to get back to their feet. At the same time, she released the dragons, causing them to slowly rise up and glare fiercely at her.

“Just so you know, the seal on the permit belongs to Matthew Hartford, a high member of the council.”

Her declaration of the name caused a stir within the guards and made them look at the seal and back at her with a look of fear on their faces. One of them quickly checked on the seal and sure enough, were able to confirm that it was indeed real and belonged to the Matthew Hartford.

“We are people going on an important journey, so what makes you think he would do if he finds out about your behaviour towards people that he personally granted a permit for? I’ll leave it to your own imagination.”

The guards looked at her, clearly stricken from the sudden realisation of the deep trouble they would get into if a report of them stopping and causing trouble to this carriage that had the permit directly from a high member of the council.

“Now then, why don’t you inform me your names one by one?” She asked them coolly.

“Wait, wait, wait!” The guards said quickly, their realisation of the trouble they would be in making them seem desperate. “Please forgive us! We were wrong! You can go on your way.”

“Hmm,” she said, appearing to ponder their apology before smiling sweetly and saying, “No. That won’t do. After all the bad mouthing you did about my racial status and attempting to attack me, a simple apology won’t do.”

“In that case, please let this appease you!” Said one of the guards before turning to his comrades and snarling, “Hey! Take off your helmets and slap your cheeks!”

“W-What?!”

“Sir?!”

“You’re not serious?!”

He ignored their pleas and thundered, “Just… do it!”

With no other choice, the four of them took off their helmets and began slapping each other on the cheek. They did this repeatedly while Lucia was enjoying the show with a grin on her face.

“Is this enough miss?”

“No. Hit harder.”

They widened their eyes, but followed her command and began to slap their own cheeks with more force. The slaps stung and made them wince, but the pain they might experience from the trouble they created was far greater, so they ignored the pain and continued slapping their cheeks.

“Hey, I don’t like the look on your dragons’ faces,” she pointed out as she noticed the glaring looks the dragons had towards her.

Reacting with surprise, the guard from before rounded on his dragons and shouted, “Hey! Stop looking at the miss! Lie down and do nothing!”

The dragons reacted with surprise but heeded his words and lay down while looking hurt.

“Miss, I got them to stop doing that. Now, can you forgive us now please?” he asked with his cheeks very red and swollen like his fellow comrades.

“Hmm. Yes. I am,” she said finally, which made the four guards let out a sigh of relief and stop slapping.

A guard quickly handed the pass back to the coachman and together with their dragons, pulled open the border gate to allow them entry. On Lucia’s command, the coachman got the horses to move again and the carriage began to cross the border through the gate.

“If I find out you did the same to other travellers…?” She asked them threateningly.

“Don’t worry, miss! We won’t make this mistake again!” The guard assured her, and she nodded with satisfaction.

The other guards bowed to her as she and the carriage passed through the gate and officially entered the Yeong Country.