I've been subject to many, many carriage rides throughout my lives. They're never fun. Always, they supply stiff and secluded seating in a stuffy shuttle scrounging its way down a slimy and sometimes slippery path. It's a completely different type of small space from the one I like. Unlike the dusty territory under the bed, a carriage is ever-moving and is a breeding ground for all sorts of uncomfortable and awkward conversations and situations.

Not to mention I've had to deal with divorces, physical fights, inane yelling, various forms of abuse, and even childbirth all within carriages. None of those being sourced from me, yet all remaining stains upon my time inside these death boxes. Well, I might have started a fight or two in my earlier lives. Perhaps.

Regardless, as we settle into the second hour of this carriage ride, I am likely noticeably cranky. This shimmying cage of unpleasantries has not been kind to me today.

My father crossing his arms across from me is the next pile of nonsense I need to deal with. Yet another element that is souring my mood.

“Are you not going to answer the question, Aella? You've been unresponsive for more than an hour. Perhaps you need me to remind you of what exactly I was concerned about. For what reason did you attack Sebas? He seems utterly terrified of you. From what I've gathered, you challenged him to a duel three days ago and then knighted him for some unknown purpose after your victory. Why? Explain yourself.”

Father, even if I wanted to, I can't exactly communicate with you, can I?

“Your Grace, I think Lady Aella is nervous! She may feel uncomfortable being in a carriage. Considering what you told me about her, I wouldn't exactly doubt it…”

I nearly forgot Winona was here. She hasn't made a sound since the beginning of the ride. Her breathing has likely been shallow from lingering fear of my father and his status, so the fact that she even said something at all is truly impressive.

“Winona, do you consider yourself someone who can understand my daughter?”

“Ah, um, I think I can! Or, at least a little bit, Your Grace…”

“Explain.”

“Uh, well, Lady Aella has lots of little habits that I've noticed! Her face doesn't change all that much, but she scratches her hands when something doesn't go her way, and when she's really happy the tips of her hair glow with her purple mana, and when she's nervous, she grabs that broken stick and keeps it close, and she's doing exactly that right now! It's easy once you look closer and-”

“And despite all of that, she still managed to smile at you, but no one else. Not even her father. That's enough for now, Winona.”

“Ah, yes, sorry, Your Grace.”

Winona quickly falls silent again. This tension must be mentally draining for her. Poor girl. But this whole thing is making me self conscious. Having someone reveal my open book of habits is not ideal. I'll have to communicate with her about that. I feel myself lessening my grip on Scipio. I'm not nervous, I'm just uncomfortable. Feeling the awkward pressure of the stagnating silence, I dare not move. This is the rare time I truly regret losing my sight because I can't even look out the carriage window to distract myself. My father speaks up again.

“Aella, I will give you praise where praise is due. Sebas is a candidate to become vice-captain of our knights. One of the strongest candidates. The fact that you bested him in battle is proof of your strength as a Sincavage, and for that I am proud. But the entire process was risky and unnecessary! I would have throttled Sebas myself afterwards if he wasn't someone who had to follow your orders.”

Thank goodness I'm a duke's daughter then. Sebas would have had much more trouble.

“Aella, I'll say this again, for the sake of everyone. If you need something done, talk to me about it. Or your maids. The young girl next to you seems to understand you well enough. Go through her if need be. But if we want to live together as a family, I'd like for us to do it amicably and with an understanding of each other, alright?”

I nod. It's best just to put a lid on this conversation and move on.

“I hope that you actually mean that…”

We pass another thirty minutes in silence and I find myself readjusting my sitting position and fiddling with the two halves of Scipio in my hands.

“Is there a reason you like that stick so much, Aella? You're seldom seen without it. It can barely be used as a weapon anymore and yet you still carry it around. I can get you a much sturdier alternative if you wish to hone your fighting technique some more.”

I clutch Scipio close to my chest and shoot my father a glare. You would dare to even suggest that I replace my closest companion just like that? Scipio, my friend, my comrade in battle, has stuck by me for months, and even after his untimely fracture by your hands, he still remains loyal to me as a reminder of my time in the wild, and my approaching return to it. I once spent 2 days trying to locate him after he was lost in battle. Plus, Scipio listens to me fully and without question. He's the only avenue I have to even share any of my information with. … Alright, perhaps that is a bit much. What originally was a tactic to keep myself mentally stable in my isolation has now become an attachment, I will not deny it. But… to betray Scipio now, or ever, would be the worst offense upon him and myself. It's near heretical.

“Your Grace, I think Lady Aella has some sort of emotional attachment to the stick. She ignores all the plushies my grandmother tries to give her and sleeps with that instead. Yesterday, she even gave it a bath!”

Winona, you really need to stop exposing me today. Somehow I've become more childish than I've intended to be. Luckily I have my current age to cover up for it.

“...Fine. Winona, for the remainder of this carriage ride, you will help me learn about my daughter. We have at least another hour until we reach our destination. We'll start with this stick that my daughter seems to love more than she should.”

“Oh, uh, yes Your Grace! Happy to help! But actually, where are we going?”

“Did I not tell you two? My apologies. We're heading to Hitherbliss so that Aella can be formally registered under the Sincavage family. We'll visit the Church planted there and determine her middle name, her date of birth, and other miscellaneous affairs. It's always troublesome to travel there, but we'll at least be able to spend the following morning exploring the city a little bit for some leisure.”

“Wait! This was an overnight stay, Your Grace?! I didn't pack accordingly at all! I didn't realize we were going so far!”

“Calm down, I had your grandmother take care of the preparations. We've got everything we need.”

“Then why isn't she here with us, Your Grace? Surely she's much more capable of a long trip. Someone like me…”

“Your grandmother is aged. I wouldn't want to inconvenience one of my best workers like that when I have a younger option right here. Winfred needs to fill in for my absence, and now Sebas is terrified of Aella. You've also shown a high understanding of my daughter’s actions. It was an easy choice. Expect more traveling until we can figure out how Aella can speak on her own.”

“Y-Yes Your Grace! I will do my best!”

I'm getting my middle name again. Like my first name, it's never changed, but unlike my first name, it is so unnecessarily tedious to get it. Somehow there's a tradition in this country where only people of noble blood are allowed to get a middle name, and it's always done through an odd process at the Church. It's considered a sacred act that involves 11 different priests, with the leading priest providing the name after the ritual is finished.

It's also entirely arbitrary. The leader just says what he needs to say and it's all prepared internally beforehand. Getting a middle name gets duller with each life, and the resulting travels only get more cumbersome. I turn my head to look out the window, and while all I see is darkness and the usual flashes of random color, I can at least imagine something interesting for now.

“Since we've got plenty of time, I want to know more about Aella’s habits, Winona. Does she do anything with this stick beyond what you've told me?”

Before Winona can answer I tap my foot on the base of the carriage with significant force, and then make an X with my arms. Enough of this. Whispering about someone's habits right next to them is an insult to who they are. I'll give a pass to Winona since she is a child, but my father shouldn't be so ignorant about this.

In fact, I know he isn't ignorant about this at all! He's the one who taught me that lesson! Which means he's doing this on purpose to get a reaction out of me. If I could see I bet he'd have an annoying look of satisfaction right now.

“Finally deciding to join the conversation, Aella? I think we can use this opportunity to figure out how to talk with each other properly. Winona is sure to be a big help.”

If I was in a good mood, perhaps I would have agreed. Though in retrospect it didn't matter anyways because right after the Duke finished his sentence, I felt a piercing pain in my left side, accompanied by the sound of the carriage breaking.

Huh?

It's seconds after and I'm lurched away from the carriage, the wood of the carriage scraping my body. I don't know how far I travel, dragged by the thing that's latched into my side, before it unlatches itself and I faceplant into the muddy snow. I already had breakfast, so I don't appreciate this dirty second course. My side is no longer pierced, but the resulting wound is bleeding. I feel the temperature around me drop significantly as various mana channels enter my default mana sense.

Ah, I get the gist now. Some sort of monster ruined the carriage ride then? Most people would have been troubled, but this is a win in my book. A pause on the grueling ride and a chance to hunt. I've been wanting to tear flesh for a few days now. I make sure to take off my socks and shoes as I prepare for the coming battle.

Sending out my mana pulse I identify my opponents. There's 22 of them. Two large ones and 20 little ones. A pack? A family? They seem quadrupedal and have not moved. Are they a reactionary beast? Or are they just shocked I survived whatever attack that was? Perhaps they were aiming for a headshot. My head was a little bit higher, for your information.

“Aella! Are you alright?!”

“Lady Aelllaaaa!!”

I hear my father and Winona approaching from a fair distance behind. Well, I suppose we can share in the bloodshed. This will also be a good chance to observe how Winona does in battle.

I move my arm backwards and shoot a thumbs up while I stack 5 mana barriers on myself. Whatever piercing attack these things have, I'd rather it not hit me again.

“Gweooogegegehegogo!!”

What a strange and guttural cry. I guess one of the big ones has decided that I need to die. I have to dodge through the pounces of the little ones in order to make my way towards the closest big one. During my advance I'm scrolling through my mental compendium of northern beasts.

It hunts as a family, communicates through garbled sounds, slow to move, has some sort of piercing attack, and its skin is freezing cold going by the little ones brushing up against me. Plus there's that odd smell…

Ah! Freezing Newts! An often forgotten and estranged subspecies of the dragons in this area, these things look more like big salamanders, and they never grow wings. They are big and a disgusting shade of bright blue mostly known for their tongues that act as harpoons to drag in prey, as well as their unique properties on their skin.

Typical hunting methods include the parents heavily wounding a prey so that their little ones can jump them and rip them to shreds. A solitary Freezing Newt will use a combination of its tongue, its claws, and the aforementioned skin, which secretes a watery fluid that's prone to freezing instantly on the Newt’s command. Said fluid is the source of their unique smell. I've had dragon meat before, and that was beyond delicious, so I find myself already drooling at the prospect of consuming the meat of its relatives.

Ah. Aella. Your gluttony is showing again. That's not ladylike. Well, that doesn't really matter right now anyways.

I've got no time to worry about the little ones, without the commands of their parents, juvenile Freezing Newts are practically useless and entirely clueless. Their hands are held far too much as they grow up, and that makes unaware packs easy targets for predators, even ones that tends to be below the Newts on the food chain.

Today, we have encountered an unaware pack, and I am that hungry predator. I've mentally identified the biggest one as Mama Newt, and her companion as Papa Newt. The females in draconic species are always larger than their mates.

“Wha- what are these things?!”

“Freezing Newts. Keep your distance Winona. Aella, are you doing alright? We can easily take care of these things, but I won't let you fight if you're seriously hurt.”

It is simply a flesh wound, father. Ignore my extreme pain and resulting bleeding in the side for now, it'll be better soon, probably. I give him a thumbs up and channel mana into my legs. I motion to myself and then bring my arms close together before spreading them wide.

“Your Grace, Lady Aella is saying she wants the biggest one! It may have been the one to snatch her!”

“...Fine. I'll get the other one then. If you, at all, are subject to the threat of serious danger, I will step in.”

I'm already closer to Mama Newt, which means I can start my attack. Dodging her halfhearted swipe at me, I slide under her and place myself at her underbelly. The squishy flesh of the underbelly is the weakest point for these types of monsters, as they're no longer protected by their scales, rough skin or annoying icy secretion. Using some mana sickles, I methodically stab into the underbelly of the beast as I hear it garble and screech. It's not long before I'm nearly flattened as it belly flops to stop my attack.

My leg is almost caught underneath, but Winona uses her wind from her position across the field to send me flying out from underneath.

“Nice assist!” …is what I would say if it didn't send me careening into Papa Newt’s back. The instant icy feeling shoots up from my bare feet and throughout my body. It's probably the coldest I've ever felt, and the shock of it is making it hard to balance on this thing. It doesn't help that my father is trying to box this creature the size of a small dragon. He doesn't have Vulnus right now, so he's using his ungloved, scorching hands to attack the face of Papa Newt, and I can feel the blows ripple throughout the body of the monster.

“Aella! Grip onto it or get off, make your choice quickly!”

I quickly redirect my mana sense to his channels to see that he's winding up a big punch. He's going for a spinning uppercut. Yeah, no way I'm staying on this thing. I use the natural decline of Papa Newt’s back and its icy complexion to slide from the shoulders and off of the tail as I feel a surge of heat behind me. Direct hit, it seems.

My father starts yelling commands.

“Aella, the other one is to your left, go for it and don't worry about this one! Winona, take care of the offspring!”

“H-Huh?? Your Grace I haven't been in an actual battle before! Plus, these are little babies! They're so cuuuute! They're not even attacking me!”

…Seriously? How in any sort of sense is a Freezing Newt cute? And the only reason they're not attacking you is because Papa Newt who gives the orders is currently dealing with my father.

”By the spirits girl! You have wind magic don't you?! If you can kill a Direwolf in practice then I'll be damned if you can't slice a lizard! Now get rid of them!”

“S-Sorry Your Grace! I'll get to work! Little babies, forgive meeeee!!”

I promptly hear the squeals of juvenile Freezing Newts and the accompanying hysterical apologizing from Winona. Alright then, it seems I can focus all of my attention on Mama Newt.

She goes for a swipe once more, but it's no longer a warning and is with a drastic increase in speed and power. I'm able to weave through her repeated attempts at mauling me, but she's blocking off the entrance between her legs. I guess that easy opening was a one time chance.

What's an easy way to get her to stop moving? I can't jump high without being an easy target for her tongue, and because of the sheer size difference, I can't get away without her blocking me.

Hmmm… I'll use Winona to help.

Running quickly over to my maid, I have my back to Mama Newt and instinctually jump up some distance away, expecting the tongue to chase me. And it does! Which means I'm able to grab it and use some mana to yank it with me as a tug of war with Mama Newt starts. She's got herself steady by locking herself in place, but the tongue I now hold stretches farther and farther. If it reached all the way out to the trail where our carriage was, then this distance is no trouble at all.

I reach Winona, who has slain half of the young Newts, and I quickly grab her now bloody hand to get her attention. I start using my finger to write out a quick message, simultaneously keeping my right hand clasped around Mama Newt's tongue.

[GIVEBABY]

“Wha.. Oh! Yes! I see, I see! Here you go Lady Aella!”

She truly is a clever girl. She uses a big burst of wind magic to quickly round up the rest of the young Newts and place them onto the tongue, which they instinctively grab. I make sure they stay close to it by tying them all bundled together with my mana threads. I've also charged these threads with a mana blast that includes a special signature I've pre-coded. Mister Mourngrown’s thesis has proven useful in the fact that I have grown interested in coding my mana signatures, even when those signatures end up being used for something like a mana blast. This specific one is more simple, and not emotionally charged, being coded in a way where it detonates the blast 5 seconds after I break off the mana from my channels. With a magical snap of the thin thread, the timer starts and I release the tongue.

Like a tape measure, the tongue quickly retreats back into Mama Newt's mouth, her precious babies now trapped inside. Of course, they're not safe at all, because this species has a gulp reflex. It's easy to predict what comes next.

In a morbid interpretation of a baby boom, the mother's stomach bursts open in a gory and splattery mess, with the sheer force of the mana blast propelling the body off the ground and rotating it in the air so that its spreading carnage can rain down upon us. The heads of a few young Newts fly in our direction, and I manage to catch one as a souvenir. I kiss it with a wicked smile and place it in Winona's bloody hands before I shoot her a thumbs up. Not bad, right? It's fun to see how you can go about a battle like this sometimes.

I quickly leave her and join my father to get some hits in on Papa Newt. I'm soon on his back again, and he secretes his icy liquid in defense, which promptly freezes my lower legs solid. If I were weaker, this would be a problem, but I can accelerate my kicks into his head, shattering the ice from the impact, so the added ice is only a buff.

It's admittedly nice, what happens next. My father and I enter a sort of mental zone, where we feel each other's mana and act based on that. I know when my father's about to punch, so I kick down the head of Papa Newt for a stronger directional impact. My father knows when I'll stab mana sickles into the eyes of Papa Newt, so he'll pin the creature down by the tail for the sake of my accuracy. No words are spoken, no gestures are needed, my father and I understand the flow of battle and are using each other as tools for the goal of victory.

I can see why it's so easy to become battle hungry. This feeling is exhilarating. At the point, Papa Newt is slobbering and hacking up its breaths, barely able to stand. It's simply a matter of a finishing blow.

I rapidly tap my father's side, and make a spinning motion with my index finger. Reptiles are meant to be spun around by their tail, don't you know? Let's use that and end this. I don't wait for my father's acknowledgement and I grab Winona assuming that he got that gist. Together we cut down a large tree, sharpening it with magic so that it acts as a giant stake that can be used for piercing. Winona decides to angle it at about 45 degrees with her wind magic.

I can feel the ground rumbling as my father starts his giant swing. Around and around and around Papa Newt spins until eventually

“GrrrrAAAAHHH!!”

With a strong cry of effort my father starts the semicircle motion of his slam, Papa Newt following the arc until the garbled cry of death sounds out and I feel blood raining down into my hair. Right on target. It's without hesitation that I lay down in the snow beneath me and signal the end of the battle with a snow angel. It truly is the surest mark of victory.

Winona soon drops the giant stake with the attacked Papa Newt and sits down next to me, exhausted.

“Haaaah…”

My father soon joins us.

“You did well, Winona, for your first battle. Though perhaps don't apologize to every monster you kill next time.”

”R-Right. Sorry, Your Grace.”

“I would praise you too Aella, but you already seem to be happy with yourself. You should be. I've only seen her twice but when the Alberblanche fights, she is a force to be reckoned with.”

I shoot my father a questioning glare. Who?

“I've addressed you by it before, but I don't blame you for not recalling the title. It's what I named you when I didn't know what you were. Investigations of that magical anomaly led to one source, and with the clear battle prowess among other things, Alberblanche was determined to be its name. Since that source was you, I think it would be fitting if you take that name in battle. Though I wish you never have to fight often enough to warrant it.”

“That's a really cool name, Your Grace! You think so too, right Lady Aella?”

Eh. It’s alright. Titles of battle have never really been of interest to me. It's a matter of prestige and honor between nobles and warriors, but does that really apply to who I am now?

Hm. Well, I'm in a good mood from that battle, so I'll give them a thumbs up and just focus on my snow angel for now.

“Unfortunately, young ladies, we clearly won't be able to reach Hitherbliss today with what happened, so after I check on our Coachman and carriage, I'll just cook us a meal from these Freezing Newts and we can camp out tonight. Winona, look at Aella's wound, if you could.”

“Will do!”

It's a bit odd to do this whole process with other people, and I'm not as injured as I usually would be, but this… this isn't so bad. Certainly a nice little break from the stuffy house life I've been living so far. The Coachman, named Billiam, has joined us, I can already feel myself drooling for that Freezing Newt meat, and Winona is leagues better at treating a wound than I am.

It won't be long before I leave this all behind, but at least now, in the moment, I'll allow myself to enjoy it.