The morning was chilly as always, but I was dressed in thick clothes, so, except for my cheeks, I didn’t feel the sub-zero temperature much. Not that I had a thermometer, but by the sight of frozen hail atop some decrepit roofs, I affirmed my doubts. Small hail drizzled in the dawn as the sun was yet to cast its candescent light from behind the clouds that would have draped the city in a yellowish glow instead of the white light of the mana lamps. The noble residences around us were closed, including the gates, and Baron Hesroeder ordered his guards to help us out, so we patiently waited outside the rear entrance. Garlan had accompanied the sentries inside, and I saw him making his way toward us with two horses and the guard.

My lady sneezed, and I pulled her cowl over her head before wiping her face with my napkin. “I’m not cold, mongrel. The settling flakes of dust are troubling me.”

I nodded. High-level Ice Attribute mages seldom felt anything remotely to chill. But she was wearing her thin green frock along with trousers and shoes, so I didn’t feel particularly hopeful about her plight.

The black mare decked with ostentatious saddle nickered at the sight of my lady, and my lady nuzzled against her crest as the mare bowed her head. Garlan was already up and ready, and he waved at me before starting his journey to the southern wall on his brown stallion, which was a tad taller than our mare. He was carrying a square traveler bag similar to my own, albeit brown and tattered. The straps on my bag dangled to my waist, and I had to fasten them to my belt after they had failed to stay in place multiple times.

I helped my lady up the horse before using the stirrup and reins for support as I sat atop the saddle. [Weightless] spell was a must, given we couldn’t afford to strain our horse, so I cast it on both of us as soon as the horse sagged under our weight. She neighed once, not too loudly, as I pulled the reins and followed Garlan, who had gained quite a few meters distance.

My lady leaned in my bosom, holding the rein with a smile once the trot had changed to gallop.

“This feels great, mongrel,” she held my arms as her hair nuzzled against my nose, forcing a sneeze, which made us almost lose balance.

“Cowl, my lady,” I said, wrapping my hand around her abdomen immediately before she could fall off.

She nodded with rosy ears, and I let go of her just as fast after placing her hands on the pommel of the saddle.

“Mongrel, I’ll fall if you don’t hold me,” she said, raising her head halfway as the horse walked through the empty streets, sensing her companion slow down. The residences were shut in the early dawn hours, and even the market plaza hadn’t opened to greet the new day.

“You won’t, my lady.”

She clicked her tongue in annoyance and leaned closer to me, reveling in the newfound crook in my bosom.

Reaching the rear gates didn’t take long, and Garlan had already talked to the sentries, so flashing our mercenary license was all it took to rush past the gate. Not many guards were awake, and even the diligent ones were half-asleep. The mare, though, was alarmed and not as much calm as the stallion. She didn’t quite like humans, so her inkling toward my lady had really been strange.

Was it because this horse would be our death flag? I didn’t ponder much, for I was confident that I could handle any challenges hurled at me by the extremities of the words.

We rode past the trees interrupting the vast array of bushes, the dwellings outside the capital fading into the distance just as fast. Garlan’s stallion was fast, but he matched our pace so that the mare wouldn’t be outdone and start feeling competitive. I didn’t understand the language of horses if you are wondering. But most of the time, undead instincts were spot on.

The sun’s first rays shined on the verdant grass that glistened in the morning dew. Probably melted hail, but except for mineral composition, it didn’t make much difference. We didn’t stop on our way for hunting or rest, and even when the sun reached overhead, our horses were running strong. Probably too strong, but once the lush green vegetation entered our sights again, we stopped, letting our rides graze as we settled down under a leafless tree to eat our bread.

“We can reach Carthan by nightfall if we continue at this pace,” Garlan said, drinking water from his leather flask hung around his waist. I fished our bottle from my backpack and handed it to my lady. “Travelling past Carthan in the night is perilous, so we need to spend the night in the town. Even our horses won’t gallop for long, even with [Heal].”

“We’ll reach the port on the second night,” I said while Garlan nodded.

He continued after a brief pause, “Which means we’ll have a day to blend in and search for the envoys. If we don’t reach Achlon by the second night, we can stay at the inn between Port Achlon and Carthan city. It’s usually empty, so getting a room or two won’t be a problem.”

“Are we riding ships?” Gralan asked as my lady handed me her half-eaten bread and the flask.

“You will grow hungry later on, my lady,” I said.

“I’m full,” she got up and walked to the mare that was grazing the verdant grass close by.

“About ships,” I turned to Garlan. “I don’t think they’ll ask us to tag along, but can the envoys really stop the first prince’s fleet from reaching the port? There are pirates to worry about, too, adding to the cold winter. Moreover, our client had implied that getting ourselves involved was necessary when I had visited her to drop Yule. I didn’t quite like how discreet the mage sounded, anyway.”

“I am not fond of the sea,” Garlan sighed. “No fresh bread for days, same scenery for weeks, and smelly sailors to top everything. It’s the worst scenario for a lone wolf such as me. Though having you on the journey might change that, I don’t want to feel optimistic about it. Can you freeze the sea?”

“Not really. I can materialize ice over the sea, but not the sea itself. [Freeze] spell works by processing mana and not by affecting possessions of the world. Unlike your earth attribute. It’s the only category that can manipulate nature.”

“I know,” Garlan patted my shoulder, adjusting the log underneath his buttock that had almost rolled away. “But I thought you’d hide some more weird quirks behind that smug.”

“Magic never violates the laws of nature, Garlan,” I leaned against the trunk of the tree behind, watching my lady caress the crest of the mare. “And everything has a price to pay. For materializing spells, you need mana. For demons to thrive, you need the life force of mortals. And for bread, you need dough. Even in your earth manipulation, you need to burn mana furiously.”

“Law of exchange,” Garlan nodded thoughtfully. “Though, it often seems like we are using nothing while casting spells. Especially in case of Dark Attribute mages and damned [Dispel].”

“Well, it’s a unique attribute to have. Dark Attribute mana particles can recombine with others, annihilating each other, just like how Holy Attribute mana can give rise to the progeny of propagating mana particles. There’s nothing lost or created here, but it’s just that particles are getting exchanged between the two; for every created progeny, there are mana particles annihilated. If you kill all the holy attribute mages, then the Dark attribute would cease to exist.”

“How does it work in external casting? I mean, aren’t we using impure mana?”

“We are, but our casting process manages to convert them into our favored mana. As an analogy, a single particle glows in various colors, and external casting is your ability to stop it at a single color, one that matches your attribute. It’s not mass action that counts, but your accuracy. The effects of mana materialization come in all shapes and sizes, nevertheless. They teach this in the Academy, though in not much depth.”

“Rudolf, our mare is full,” my lady’s shout stopped our conversation, and my bread lad helped me up as we ambled toward Letitia.

We galloped through the stretched of greenery throughout the afternoon, past the Carch Hills that wasn’t our destination for the day. Even the rundown inn didn’t stall our horses as sceneries changed, and the frozen lake disappeared in the distance. There were small settlements in the plains, surrounded by trees devoid of leaves, and a couple of carriages from the port forced us to slow down. The escorts greeted Garlan, probably with sneers, but my bread lad grinned as his stallion trotted forward.

When the gates of Carthan finally entered our view, the light of the sun had disappeared completely, and my lady was exhausted after the arduous journey atop the horse, despite her initial jubilance at the prospect of riding her mare. She was resting her head in my bosom, eyes closed, face contorted to a pained expression mixed with anger. We were sharing a single stirrup, so that might have been another reason for her exhaustion.

Garlan slowed down the gallop of his horse to a walk as shanty residences lined outside the shallow walls that weren’t as developed as the ones in the capital. Even the bastion at the corner was worn down, let alone the crenelation that should have housed watchtowers behind. It was expected because the town was facing the capital, but this lethargy meant they didn’t have a place to retreat if the capital went up in flames. Sure, overconfidence was detrimental, but the few centuries of peace were more.

“Is she all right?” Garlan asked, watching my lady’s pale face. “Horse riding for a day isn’t all colorful, lady Letitia.”

“Shut up, mutt!” her eyes shot open, and she glared at Garlan, before her hands reached her things in pain. She might have scarped her thighs, and I cast [Heal] after touching them softly, feeling her jolt.

“Warn me, mongrel,” she said softly and clutched my arms hard. “And don’t touch me there so abruptly.”

“All right,” I said and fished out our travel license–my guild pass and my lady’s graduation card–as we approached the gates.

Garlan jumped off the horse, and I followed his suit and helped my lady down soon after. “You want me to cast heal again?”

“I’m fine,” she said, looking away, a tad embarrassed. I ruffled her hair with a smile, pulled her cowl to cover her head, and accompanied Garlan through the small passage beside the open portcullis. Carriages trudged through the entrance even in the evenings, carrying goods from the port to the capital. Guard quarters was located just inside the gate, and Glarn flashed our identities after a brief conversation with the woman, who appeared genuinely interested in his tales. The counter had few more visitors and other sentries who were busy with their own tasks.

The room was largely vacant except for stairs that ran either side of the counter, to the walls above, and behind the sentries were swords of varying lengths attached to the walls. The railing of the stairs adorned a few worn-out tunics of the guards, dripping with, I hoped, water. A sink lined at the left side of the entrance, the tap too rusty for non-water attribute mages to use without any forbearance.

I nudged Garlan, cutting the conversation short, and we walked out of the brick room, accompanied by his apologetic nod at the woman.

“Sigmouth inn for the night, Rudolf,” he said as we tramped through the narrow passage back to my lady. “I’m not sure why, but short-term visitors need to use that one. Haven’t been to Carthan for long, so I got no clue what the town dynamics are. They might be trying to rip us off, but we don’t have much of a choice if we don’t want to spend the night in the wilderness.”

“As long as my lady gets a bed and clean sheets, we are good to go.”

“What about you? Sleeping with your lady?” He elbowed me in the stomach with a grin.

“It sounds twisted coming from your mouth, Garlan,” I sighed. “And your delusions are unwarranted.”

“Are you even a man?” He stared at me aghast. “Or are you perhaps interested in me?” He frowned and continued, “Sorry, Rudolf. As much as I like you as a friend, I need some tender meat in my bed. You won’t do, with all that thin bones beneath your suit.”

I ignored him and walked to my lady, who was still caressing the mare without blaming it for all the bruises she endured today. She liked animals; I updated my log about my villainess again. And fishes.