The carriage continued on its journey along the forested area, carrying its travelers across the land with the intended destination being the Huizhou Country. It was a country consisting of a race known widely as the War Beasts, who possess beastly features like furry bodies, ears, tails and claw like hands and feet despite walking upright on two legs like all the others.

Lucia, Luna, and Alex were the ones riding inside the carriage, and their intended destination was not the capital but a nearby location that was restricted access for everyone to enter. That place is known as the Forest of Fog, which was considered a dangerous place for anyone to enter because of the numerous disappearances of previous travelers that never returned after entering the forest.

“I wonder what the Forest of Fog actually is,” said Lucia as she sat looking down at the map that she unraveled for them to see.

“But miss, it’s not located anywhere on the map though?” Luna asked curiously as she was unable to find it spot despite everyone being aware of its general location.

Lucia chuckled and replied, “Of course not. It was first written on the maps, but after numerous adventurers and traveler went missing in it, all the kings deemed it a dangerous place to enter and wiped it off the map so no one could go to it without a guide.”

“I see,” said Luna, nodding in understanding, “but we’re going in there, aren’t we?”

“Yes. Why the sudden doubt?”

“Well, it’s just that you said it was barred without a guide, so does that mean we’re allowed to go with a guide?”

“That’s right,” the older girl said in agreement. “Remember that letter my father left me? Well, it said that he’s arranged a guide for us once we reach the capital of Huizhou Country.”

“Oh, wow,” said the younger girl in amazement. “That’s so nice of him.”

“I… I guess so,” admitted Lucia grudgingly.

“Miss, admit it. Your father is doing this for you rather than for us,” said Alex from beside her.

“I… I know that, Al,” she began saying weakly, “I know that. I just wish… he was this open from… from the beginning…!”

She looked saddened after lamenting her concern, which spurred Luna to move and pat her on the back. Alex did not say anything immediately as he knew the internal discord that had occurred between her and her father, but he knew that things cannot remain the same forever.

“Miss, the past is the past. Just let it go and move on forward because it’s clear your father is trying his best for you,” he told her, and she nodded in agreement. “So, I think you should write a letter and let him know where we are and how we’re doing.”

Lucia turned to him and asked, “I… should do that?”

He nodded and said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Yes, miss. It’s already been two weeks since we left Fjell, so he’d obviously be worried about us.”

“If he is so worried, he could’ve written to me first asking about us, right?” She asked back while looking down. “He didn’t even give me a reply from the message I sent him regarding the inn and those thugs.”

“Maybe he forgot about sending you a reply because of his busy schedule. He is part of the council, so he would constantly be bombarded with work,” her student tried reasoning with her. “Come on, miss. It’s not just anyone you’re sending the message to. It’s to your own father, so stop worrying and just do it.”

As Lucia seemed to be torn between sending and not sending, Luna supported Alex by adding, “Yes, miss. I think you should send a letter as well. The uncle could’ve just forgotten, that’s all there might be to it. Plus, you can also send message to my uncle and aunt telling them how we are.”

To this, Lucia finally nodded in agreement and said, “Alright. Since you want me to send message to Alex’s parents, I’ll also send one to my father.”

“Yay~!” Luna cheered while Alex shook his head with a wry smile on his face.

That night, the coachman stopped the carriage next to the road and took care of the horses while Lucia, Alex and Luna took care of their things. They setup the tents and firepit to light up the night to keep them warm and went hunting for food.

Lucia and Alex hunted the monsters while Luna acted as a decoy to lure them towards them. The magic teacher and student would then use their spells to kill the monster. Initially, they did let Luna deal with the monster but one punch from Luna destroyed the monster’s body and made things messy.

Luna was practically brought to tears when that happened and kept saying, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know how much force to use!” despite her childhood love and older girl doing their best to console her. She was devastated after her first failed attempt even though she was very excited to kill her first monster, resulting in Lucia and Alex doing the hunting while Luna acted as the bait.

“I wish I can do hunting as well,” lamented Luna sadly as she watched Lucia cast a levitation spell to carry the body of the monster back to their camping spot.

“Don’t fret over that, Luna,” said Alex lightly while hugged her from the side. “You are our chef, and that’s more important than hunting the monsters. Your cooking always so great that mom would’ve been proud of you! Believe me!”

“Mmm,” his childhood love nodded and cheered up immediately by his praise.

Once they returned, she immediately got to working on the cooking while letting only Lucia help. Alex did offer to help, but she flatly refused him by saying, “I don’t trust you with a knife,” that left Alex feeling dejected as he muttered, “It was only one time I cut myself by accident,” while he sat on a log and played dully with a stick.

More than half-an-hour later, they heard Luna say, “Dig in!”

As she brought the pot of bubbling meat in it, a delicious aroma drifted from the pot and made their stomachs growl with hunger. She handed out a bowl for each of them and sat down to use a ladle to take a portion of it out of the pot and place them into their bowls. Then they sat while eating slowly with the wind slowly blowing smoothly against them.

After taking a few bits out of the meat, the coachman looked at Luna and completed her with, “Young miss, even though we’ve been having nothing but meat for these last two weeks, I’ve never got bored of it.” Luna looked embarrassed at his complement, but he did not finish yet as he added, “I really think you’ll make a wonderful wife.”

This immediately made Luna blink with surprise and blush crimson red as she looked down with extreme embarrassment. Lucia made a, “Oh~!” sound with her mouth as if she was not expecting that at all.

“You hear that, Al? Luna will make a great wife!” Lucia said, clearly teasing Alex because she knew the feelings that these two youngers have for each other despite not making it open.

Alex looked at his teacher with a wry smile and said, “Yes, miss. I know she will make an amazing wife.”

“Al…!” Luna said softly and looked at him while blushing red with embarrassment, which made Alex turned to her and grin at seeing her expression.

They continued to eat in silence and once they finished, they placed the bowls to the side. The coachman left to look after the horses while Alex, Luna and Lucia had their own conversation.

“So, how long is there till we reach Cheosan Country, miss?” Luna asked curiously.

“Let’s see,” began Lucia, and she pulled out the map and laid it on her lap. As the two youngsters gathered beside her, she pointed on the map with her finger and said, “I think we’re currently here, so maybe we’ll reach the capital, Yeong, by tomorrow evening.”

“That’s nice!” Alex said with a smile. “I can’t wait to take a proper bath in the rooms instead of outside.”

“Yes. It’ll make a nice change,” Lucia agreed with a smile.

“So, what is the country like, miss?” Luna asked curiously.

“What the Cheosan Country is like?” The older girl asked, and pondered for a moment. As Alex and Luna turned to look at her, she smiled with a knowing look and said, “I don’t know all that much, but I know it’s a country of dragons.”

Vertrex

Sorry for the delay, everyone. I've had some IRL complications that I had to immediately take care of and then I feasted myself till I ended up with a stomach ache. XD

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! ;)