"What in the world is this?" Locke asked as he bent down to pick up the crystal. In his palm, the crystal was very light, almost weightless. He observed it from all sides, but found almost nothing.

He looked at Ghost. "Is this something you'd like?" Locke asked. She shook her head. It was not something edible to her. Locke tossed the crystal into his pocket before the two returned home.

After a good rest, Locke and Ghost left the Barony in a carriage. They were headed to Lum City, to the Duke's celebratory session. Inside the carriage, Locke looked at the host of gifts he had prepared for the Duke's daughter. The DTC was a very good conduit to handle such affairs for him.

Leaving in a carriage, Locke reminisced about how different the Barony looked now. If he wasn't short on time, he would dedicate himself to slowly gaining power and raising the value of his Barony. However, he had to find a cure for his ailment first. A conscious poison was currently trying to consume his soul. For now he didn't feel anything, but to die at the age of sixteen was not something he desired.

In the carriage, Locke and Ghost spent their time playing chess. Locke had asked for an artisan to make the pieces and the board according to his specifications. He had taught Ghost the rules and the two were now playing.

Initially, Locke had an obvious advantage , but Ghost's growth speed couldn't be underestimated. The matches between the two had soon become a toss up. However, Ghost's skill never improved after that. Locke realized that her growth was probably limited by his own skill level. Ghost had an incredible ability to learn by copying, but lacked imagination to come up with new ideas.

'I have to find a mage willing to teach her. She is being heavily limited because of my illiteracy with magic.' Locke thought.

The carriage had slowly crossed the boundaries of the Barony, when the area became eerily silent. The carriage suddenly stopped as well. The sound of boots trampling on the ground could be heard within the carriage. 

"Get out of the cabin, oh great Baron!" Several voices yelled out in mocking cheer. Locke and Ghost looked at each other, before calmly getting out of the carriage. Locke's first instinct was too look at the carriage's driver. He saw the driver smirking and understood that he was part of the plot as well.

The carriage was surrounded by ten men dressed in black robes and a flame symbol on their abdomen. He was instinctually reminded of LARPers back on earth and struggled to stifle a laugh. 

"Tch Tch. You have become a victim of your own success. People even want you assassinated now." The leader of the group said.

Locke looked at the leader and sneered. "You aren't the first group either. But you are the first with such elaborate costumes. Which group are you from?"

Hearing Locke's words and seeing his confidence, the group immediately turned vigilant. They wondered if their intelligence about the Baron was wrong. Perhaps, he was hiding his strength?

"Who sent you?" Locke asked.

The leader of the group sneered. "Who knows. We just receive the hit from the association."

"Mercenary association? Understood. Ghost, finish them off. They are useless things." Locke sighed. 

Before he even finished his words, Ghosts had rushed towards the leader like a rocket. Her right hand had transformed into a claw and the fingers on her left hand elongated into gigantic spikes that pierced the necks of five opponents, killing them at once.

"Oh no! He has a powerful mage protector!" One of them screamed the last words in their life as a metallic claw tore through his face. Before the assassins could even respond, Ghost had slaughtered them all.

"They are getting more brazen." Locke commented apathetically as he turned to the carriage driver, the only one who hadn't been killed yet.

"You don't seem to be part of this stupid mercenary group. So who paid you off?" Locke asked.

The man had already wet his pants in fear as he saw the blood and gore littered on the path. He was looking at Ghost like she was a monster.

"I-it was Master Trive!" The man grovelled.

"Oh. Good job. Now die in peace." Locke said as Ghost slashed his throat, killing him as well.

Locke then slapped his forehead. "Oh, I'm so stupid. Who will ride the carriage now?"

Locke took out a bottle of liquid from his suitcase and poured a drop over the dead bodies. The carcasses quickly disintegrated and disappeared along with the blood and any signs of battle.

"Let's sit in the driver's area." Locke told Ghost. "We'll hire a new carriage driver from the next town." 

Then he changed topics, while Ghost was cleaning her hands with fresh water. "Trive's getting smarter, but he still needs a few more years to reach a double digit IQ."

As they were heading further, they arrived at a small village. This village was on the way to Lum City. It seemed like a very tiny village, reminiscent of the old Herish Village. Observing the notice at the entrance of the village, Locke found the name familiar.

"Ruffian's Lair. Why does the name sound familiar?" Locke wondered before his eyes shined. "Right! How did I miss that. Isn't this village supposed to be haunted?"

When they entered the village they found everyone looking at the carriage with vigilance. Locke jumped out of the driver's seat, and walked over to the biggest house in the village. He guessed that it must be the one belonging to the village elder.

"Don't go in there." An old hunch backed grandma balancing her body using a jagged wooden stick warned Locke with a frog like croak.

"Hello grandma." Locke said with a smile. "Does this village have an inn?"

The grandma shook her head and pointed towards a slightly smaller house than the biggest one. "The villager elder lives there. Go talk to him."

At that moment, Ghost tugged at Locke's shirt. Locke turned to her. "What happened Ghost?"

"Why are you talking to yourself in that manner?" Ghost asked.

"Wait..." He turned and saw that no grandma was there. "Interesting.." He said with a smile.

He turned to Ghost. "I was speaking to a grandma, but it seems you could not see her."