The visit to the abandoned tower hadn’t been worthwhile, so we returned to Miam shrine. Getting lost was expected, and navigating through the busy streets restrained with misery was hard for my lady. Of course, because many were crying their hearts out and blocking my lady’s smooth path. Some even blatantly asked for alms, almost tugging the bottom of the gowns.

If you are waiting for her to become sympathetic and generous, perish that thought. You are better off baking some bread for this undead. That way, you might not get butchered.

The Miam shine was no different from the shrine for the water goddess, except that this was meant for a goddess of the land. So, there was one additional turret gracing the door, and we had to amble through it to enter the deserted edifice.

Commoners, unlike nobles, though the ability to control mana was a blessing, so they resigned to fate instead of working their asses off to try and master casting. Everything was horseshit of mortals, but I wasn’t inclined to correct their misconstrued notions about mana and magic. The King, ironically, didn’t believe in the religion of heretics, so most of the nobles didn’t have any psychological barrier to learning magic. That alone accounted for a more significant number of noble mages.

Things were changing owing to the rule of King Berzilius because he had abolished religion, so the younger generation hadn’t been subjected to the same heretic belief of the masses. Unknowingly, he was making mages out of commoners, which would let the redhead amass the strongest army in the future. And Gladiata, should she end up in his route, become the most decisive queen to rule the lands of Arlikia.

Alas, one bored undead blocked their path to a paradise. Even if they gave me bread, I would make them grovel before my lady.

When we reached inside the shrine, Garlan was standing before a man, who was kowtowing before him, face marred with tears, and nails of his burnt hands nipped off. This shrine didn’t have decaying wood and most of the empty space. A chandelier creaked dangerously above us, and I lit the room using the mana lamps hung over the pillars around us.

The man on the floor glanced at us briefly and turned to Garlan with his forehead touched to the ground. He was wailing, and I moved my gaze away from him toward the altar, which had a crumbling statue of an almost naked woman decked with mud. Vines extended around her, covering her sensitive parts, and two more monolithic carvings of robe men lingered on either side of her. Their heads bowed.

My lady elbowed my stomach and held my hand. “Don’t look, mongrel! Or I’ll nip your eyes.”

I ruffled her hair and turned to Garlan. “Did you do this?” I asked, pointing at the bloodied nails on the floor around him.

“I would have done a better job, Rudolf,” he said. “This heretic is lamenting the loss of Karleburo, so he bit them off. Quite an uncomfortable sight to watch.”

“One worth documenting, bread lad,” I sighed in dismay at having missed such as good opportunity to witness raw blood.

“She indeed died?” my lady asked in surprise.

“What do you mean by ‘indeed’, Letitia?” Garlan turned to stare at me. “Did this bastard already predict that?”

“Even a toddler and connect two dots in a straight line,” I shrugged and watched the man on the ground.

“A toddler cannot understand you, Rudolf,” my lady rolled her eyes, with Garlan following her suit, though less elegantly.

“What happened here, loyal follower of Karleburo?” I asked.

“They killed Cormat. They killed Cormat. Cormat, Cormat, the absolute one. The one who gave us hope. Cast away our sins by burning our hands. Comar. They killed her,” he bit his fingers, still groveling before us until blood tainted his yellow teeth and pooled around his lips. “Cormat, cormat…” he rambled incoherently, and Garlan shook his head.

“That’s all her had been saying all along, bread lad,” Garlan said. “Tried asking for more questions, and he bit off his nails one after the other. When asked for more, his incoherent mutter followed and thrashing his forehead against the floor resumed. I don’t know who this Cormat is, either.”

“Do you remember the hound disaster of the capital?” I asked, pulling my lady behind me. Who knew what a crazy man could do in his frenzy?

“The one you orchestrated?” his crafty smile had returned to his face. “I stole some bread from the charred houses when we were tasked with cleanup the next day.”

“And you didn’t call me?” I stared at him in disbelief. “How could you enjoy bread at my expensive, bread lad?”

“Rudolf!” my lady poked her head from behind me, and Garlan grinned at her. She was more or less fuming with rage.

“Anyway, I hadn’t orchestrated the hound disaster,” I said flatly, trying to forget about Garlan’s betrayal. And the number of loaves he stole. If it was more than ten, I couldn’t forgive this bastard. Even though the undead never held grudges. “They used to serve someone called Cormat too. If Karleburo–“

“Blasphemous! Heretic! Die! Die!” the man screamed and stared at me with unseen hostility. Garlan landed a strong punch across his cheek and shut him up for good. He didn’t faint but resorted to his incoherent mutter, as if his outburst was an illusion.

“If Karleburo–“

“Don’t call her name! You heathen! You vile monster! She is Comrat! Destined to take us to paradise! Cormat. Sacrilegious creature! Begone! Cormat will kill you. Seal you for eternity. Dwei yuow…”

My lady had frozen his tongue, and another [Ice Shard] knocked him out cold.

“He was giving us some clues about his Cormat, my lady,” I said with a sigh.

“Didn’t we hear enough?” she shrugged. “He said not to call her by name. Call her Cormat. I don’t like anyone profaning my mongrel.”

“He wasn’t cussing him in particular, Letitia,” Garlan complained. “If we earned some more information, I could have become S-rank mercenary.”

“I didn’t kill him,” my lady shrugged. “If you want him, carry him to the capital.”

“And risk getting bitten in my sleep?” Garlan clicked his tongue. “I’ll be surprised if I don’t get my hands charred before I get this fanatic to the capital.”

“We got to know that someone is killing the sages,” I said, interrupting their bickers. “As for who, we might find that in due time. Lykan had hired Karleburo to do his bidding.”

“What?!” Garlan was more surprised than I had ascertained. Guess he wasn’t as flexible as this undead.

“I had my misgivings about it, but Reav and Nuva verified the same before disappearing on us,” I said. “He didn’t want a siege to trouble the already crumbling walls of the capital, so brewing some trouble in Achlon was the right way out of his predicament. He wasn’t trying to kill us. His crew had decided to help us escape the capital, but I chased them away, not wanting to involve ourselves in their web of lies.”

“This maneuver would help them stabilize the kingdom,” my lady continued for me. “The two additional cogs would do enough to ward off any attempts from the pursuers. Only Arlikia fleet is feared outside of the mainland, so defending from them is enough in the initial days. We call this Slack Tactic formally. Cause enough destruction and leave a strong rearguard to stop pursuers. Yura had taught us the subject, so I have retained many military tactics in my head.”

We couldn’t help but smile at her unconcealed happiness. She was proud to have connected her Academy’s knowledge to actual combat.

“Amazing, Letitia,” Garlan nodded. “I can see that you are becoming a formidable woman.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, mutt,” my lady said, but her smile just increased. We laughed, my lady joining us soon with her adorable giggles. I mean, just giggles.

“But,” Garlan finally interrupted the cheerful ambiance. “Who killed Karleburo? The King’s royal mages are the most suspicious ones, but they couldn’t have known in advance. Else, Port Achlon wouldn’t have gone up in flames.”

“That’s something I have no clue about. The Sagacious Commandments might have something to do with it.”

“Possible,” Garlan held his cheek thoughtfully. “I guess we will get more answers if we rummage through the guild secrets. But, that’s for the future.”

My lady entangled her fingers with mine. “Are we leaving the port?”

“I will visit a few of my mates from the gambling house first. If the destruction is not too much, then we will leave together. I can’t guarantee anything, so you two might be alone on your return trip, depending on how things go. Good for Letitia, I suppose.”

“I wouldn’t mind having you along for the ride,” my lady glanced at the man on the ground. “A mutt hardly makes a journey any different.”

Garlan clicked his tongue. “I will get back at you one of the days, Letitia. Then again, I was quite happy you had called me by my name on the ship. I don’t know why, but it filled me with a strange sense of satisfaction as if I had achieved something monumental.”

“T-that was on a spur,” she rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand. “I will never do it again!”

“Can I pat your head?” Garlan asked with a grin. “You are kind of adorable these days.”

“Mongrel!” she gritted her teeth. “Burn this bastard will [Hell fire]!”

Garlan rushed to the door with boisterous laughter.

“What about this heretic, Garlan?!” I shouted, my voice echoing multiple times in the enclosure.

“Burn him or toss him to your hound back home, bread lad,” he shouted while running. “Or let him rot in this shrine.” And he was gone just like that.

“Isn’t he amusing, my lady,” I rubbed her hair.

“He isn’t, Rudolf,” she deadpanned and glared at me.

“He isn’t,” I nodded, suppressing my laughter. He wasn’t wrong, though. Letitia was an adorable villainess.

I didn’t know if this was fondness or anything close, but I didn’t hate the feeling. Didn’t know if I liked it either. My instincts should have kicked in if it was unhealthy for my transmigration magic. They didn’t, so I didn’t bother addressing the weird elation. I attributed it to the satisfaction of watching the mortal grovel before my lady and walked out with blissful ignorance.

When we reached the stables, Garlan had already left with his stallion, and a spell voice burst out when we reached close to the mare.

“Enalthrin Inn, room 205. That’s the room I booked for you. Closer to the merchant guild on the left street, past a few tenements. I’ll see you there. No entrance. Hopefully, it’s standing erect. Use your passes.”

My lady was taken aback and hiding behind me by the time Garlan’s voice disappeared.

“He learned a new spell, my lady,” I said with a smile. “[Flint Message]. It’s a special spell, one that needs water and earth attribute. The voice globules burst when an intended person reaches close enough. Which means he knows the pattern of our mana circulation.”

“Mana circulation?” my lady asked, clutching my cloak.

“Yes, my lady. The way your channelized mana flows within your body. That’s called mana circulation. Earth attribute mages can sense the movement of earth, even by the slightest amount, and the water attribute extrapolates the passive skill to any fluid. So, you could say he can sense the motion of any fluid. And [Flint Message] exploits this skill to blow off.”

“Isn’t that amazing, Rudolf?” Letitia asked, caressing her mare, now away from me.

“It is,” I said. “Garlan will become a strong mage in the future. If he lives out his life and learns external casting.”

This was unlikely, given that he was one of the villainess’s aides. I had saved him today, but he might not be lucky enough the next time.