Subtitle: ‘I’ve never been scared in my entire life!’
“Qiweiya, why did you leave without telling me? I’ve been so worried!”
Qiweiya wiped a bead of sweat, offering a dry chuckle as she faced her maid, whose eyes were already glistening with unshed tears.
“Er… Vernis, darling, could you perhaps be a little less… intimidating?” she pleaded. “It’s truly exhausting to talk like this. Look, those perverts over there are staring at your… your…”
Vernis leaned in even closer, her voice dropping to a low, determined tone. “I don’t care! If Master doesn’t explain exactly what happened right now, I won’t get up!”
Feeling on the verge of tears, Qiweiya whimpered plaintively, “Vernis, darling~ you have to understand, I’m just so terribly, terribly tired right now.”
Angrily, Vernis pinched Qiweiya’s soft, delicate cheek. “And do you think *I’m* not tired, Master? I’ve been worried sick about you for ages! My heart is utterly exhausted!”
“Wet go! Goo ‘way!” Qiweiya managed to mumble, before Vernis, still pinching her cheek, began shaking her head back and forth in a tragic, furious manner.
Qiweiya silently thanked the heavens for their benevolence when the painful ‘windmill torture’ finally ceased.
She had, at last, successfully appeased her adorable, tsundere maid.
Kiel, the leader, called out, “There’s a small town just ahead! Everyone can finally get a good night’s sleep! Prepare to regroup!”
“Oh!” A chorus of excited shouts echoed through the air.
Amidst their fervent cries, the group arrived at the town, which exuded an undeniably eerie and gloomy aura.
Qiweiya surveyed her surroundings with heightened vigilance, sensing an energy permeating the air. It bore a striking resemblance to the Fel Energy she had encountered in the Demon Realm.
However, this energy was less volatile than Fel Energy, possessing a more insidious and concealed nature.
Moreover… this place gave her an extremely unsettling feeling!
Qiweiya clutched Vernis’s hand, her face a picture of timid apprehension, which left Vernis utterly bewildered and amused.
She never would have imagined that the esteemed Origin God would be so terrified of mere evil spirits and ghosts—undead aberrations that a simple light spell could dispatch.
Yet, seeing Qiweiya in such a state, Vernis felt a pang of deep sympathy. So young, and already burdened with the immense responsibility of protecting the world.
How much longer could this delicate frame possibly bear such a heavy weight?
In stark contrast to Qiweiya, the mercenaries showed no such timidity. They boldly ventured into various houses, searching for any signs of life.
****
Ghostly Countdown
A mercenary rushed to Kiel, reporting, “Captain, we haven’t found any living creatures! What’s more… these objects have been here for ages; some crumble to dust at a mere touch!”
Kiel finally sensed the strangeness of it all. This town had been reported as quite prosperous by the kingdom’s scouts not long ago.
How could it now appear to have been abandoned for centuries? Even a time mage wouldn’t carelessly unleash their power to such an extent.
Kiel turned to look at Qiweiya, as if silently asking if she had discerned anything.
Qiweiya steeled her resolve, muttering under her breath, ‘I, your lady, absolutely loathe these creepy, bizarre affairs… Why do I have to look at this?!’
Her immense divine sense, imbued with astonishing power, swept across the town.
“What the hell is this?!” she exclaimed aloud.
Kiel asked nervously, “What is it? Did you see some formidable undead?”
With a peculiar expression, Qiweiya projected an image of a humanoid soul-being.
This soul-being possessed distinctly human facial features and an identical bodily structure. It had all the skeletal structures and internal organs of a human.
Yet, it was neither a tangible living creature nor entirely dead like the undead, which only retain instinct. Instead, it hovered on the precipice of life and death, possessing terrifying rationality and an elusive energy nullification ability.
As a condensed form akin to a soul, it was immune to physical attacks.
‘Does this mean Qiweiya has to be the bodyguard again?’
“Why am I the one taking the blame again?! I’m not some tragic figure designed for this! It’s not the world’s fault!”
Despite her complaints, she still teleported the mercenaries scattered throughout the town back to their location.
Sure enough, the moment they reappeared, the strange entities began surging towards them.
Qiweiya’s gaze pierced through the walls, fixing on the largest concentration of these beings.
“Half-Law Elements, prepare!”
An overwhelming torrent of colorful, law-level energy materialized above Qiweiya and the others. With a wave of her hand…
“Fire~”
A dazzling, dreamlike radiance slammed into the ground below, followed by an incessant chorus of booming explosions.
Under the force of this law-level assault, the grotesque humanoids dissipated into nothingness with mournful wails.
All that remained were the lingering glow of the law and scattered debris: wood splinters, stone fragments, and sand from the ruined houses.
Qiweiya gazed at the now barren stretch of empty ground. “My resting place… it’s just gone?” she lamented. “Are you kidding me?! I refuse to accept this! We walked for so long…嗚~”
Vernis covered her face, weakly patting Qiweiya’s shoulder in exasperation.
Qiweiya blinked up at her. “What is it? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of lamenting? Go on, go on~ Don’t disturb me.”
“Bang!”
“Ow~ that hurt!” Vernis gazed at Qiweiya’s pitiful, adorable expression, feeling utterly helpless. She had lost count of how many times she had sighed along this journey.
“Qiweiya, Master, don’t you think there might still be other dwellings nearby?”
Qiweiya shivered under Vernis’s intense, expectant gaze, which seemed to brim with unspoken pressure. She resembled a little lamb, bleating softly, “Baa~”
Silence fell over the group.
Qiweiya, noticing the sudden silence from everyone, belatedly realized she had unconsciously acted cute. She covered her mouth, saying awkwardly, “I don’t think so…”
Vernis slowly lowered the hand she had raised. Her heart felt so utterly exhausted.
‘Who can take my place for a moment? Just let me rest and calm down!’ she thought. She feared she might lose control and accidentally swat Qiweiya away.
“Qiweiya, Master, you don’t need to concern yourself with these matters,” Kiel interjected. “Our caravan will find suitable lodging for everyone. If you’re tired, you’re welcome to ride in the carriage and play with the Young Prince.”
Qiweiya looked at Kiel, who had suddenly appeared to diffuse the situation, and mentally declared, ‘Nice!’
“Excellent, excellent~ We’ll consider giving you a buff or something!” she chirped. “You truly understand my heart! Keep up the good work.”
With a sudden whoosh, she boarded the carriage.
As for the ensuing cries of “Sister’s here?”, “Sister, don’t touch my face!”, and “Where can’t you!”, they were simply ignored.
Kiel watched Vernis with a cold gaze. “Miss Vernis, please proceed,” he said.
Vernis snorted disdainfully and strode ahead along the narrow path.
Kiel watched her retreating back, a frown creasing his brow. ‘As a reserve Imperial Guardian, I can’t possibly believe that you, a top Kavia protector, would wholeheartedly pledge allegiance to Princess Qiweiya,’ he mused.
‘It would be best for you to keep your distance from Qiweiya, Master.’ With these thoughts, he led the caravan’s people to follow Vernis.
Of course, Kiel failed to notice Qiweiya’s subtle gaze, which flickered towards them from within the carriage, her eyes gleaming with almost imperceptible, shifting thoughts.
‘Kiel, I truly hope you don’t overstep your bounds,’ she mused internally. ‘Otherwise, do not blame me for being merciless.’