Realm Wars

Four days passed.

In these four days, many things changed, but one thing remained the same, and that was Cecily's hatred towards Ryu.

Her hatred was warranted because one, Cecily became in debt to the Owner to claim him. Two, he licked her akin to soiling her first kiss. Three, he killed a human in cold blood. Four, and the biggest of all, if not for him, Dozla wouldn't have died.

They were in this mess because they traveled for a month searching for him only to come out that he was useless.

The single good thing that came out of this trip was that she bound a half-demon to her. If not for this, Ryu would have been dead by now. However, that was not keeping Cecily from killing him once they got back in the kingdom.

Ryu still wasn't allowed to eat or sleep in the tent with them though he was allowed to eat scraps and leftover food. But that didn't matter to Ryu as Ferris kept gave him food and fruits in secret. She also provided him with a warm blanket at night whenever they sleep under a tree. Not that he needed it in the first place.

Though Cecily occasionally punished Ryu with soul scourge, Ryu didn't groan in pain this time. He didn't know that Cecily was punishing him.

But Ferris knew.

Ferris walked beside Ryu behind the carriage every day while Cecily and Murok sat inside the carriage, and Agatha was the one behind the reins since Dozla was dead.

Whenever the soul scourge torment Ryu, Ferris held his hand, and the pain stopped. Like his soul was being rejuvenated instead of being torn to pieces.

Of course, Ferris didn't say anything and remained tight lip. If she told Cecily was punishing him, Ryu would gladly take it even if his soul would shatter to bits.

In these four days of travel. Ryu and Ferris had grown closer to one another to the point that Ryu fully trusted Ferris now.

And thanks to Ferris teaching Ryu whenever no one was looking, Ryu had a basic knowledge about the world and other races. Though he was not fond of speaking, he could utter words without much difficulty compared to the last time. And besides that, he could now read simple letters and write simple words.

The only people who knew about this were Ryu and Ferris.

Cecily, Murok, and Agatha didn't know that Ferris was teaching Ryu and that she was giving him food.

As for Ryu, he didn't give it much thought. It wasn't a big deal for him, so he didn't mention it. And besides, no one wanted to take the initiative to strike a conversation with him except for Ferris, so naturally, he would not say anything in turn.

Even with the insistence of Cecily that Ferris sat inside the carriage, Ferris disobediently walked beside Ryu during their travel until Cecily didn't care anymore.

For Ferris, she would take every chance to be together with Ryu, teaching and explaining things to him while the others were busy with their world in the carriage.

As of the moment, they were in their usual travel back to the kingdom of Byron, and Ryu and Ferris were walking hand in hand as Cecily didn't have anything better to do than to torment Ryu. But thanks to Ferris, Ryu didn't felt any more pain since four days ago.

Urgh. . .

Ferris cursed in her head.

Ever since she disobeyed Cecily, she also suffered from the soul scourge.

This bitch is. .. very petty.

Ferris licked her lips. Ehehehe, do you think that would work on me?

Like every time it happened, at the feeling of her soul being torn apart, it was gone before the pain starts to kick in.

Though Ferris has to use mana every time to heal her soul and Ryu's, not to mention, she has to keep her camouflage up throughout the day; her mana was exhausted to half at the dead of the night. But thanks to Ryu's essence, she recovered it in one fell swoop.

Sometimes Ferris wondered why that was. She remembered that the maximum amount of mana that a demon could receive after consuming an essence wouldn't even reach half. But with Ryu, she recovered it in full.

Ferris didn't give it much thought. If nothing, she should be thankful.

Ferris knew that Ryu was not just any ordinary halfbreed. Since day one, she knew. She didn't mention it since she was not sure of what kind of beast Ryu belonged to.

The soul scourge stopped, which meant that Cecily was mentally exhausted.

The soul scourge could only be done by utilizing extreme concertation to inflict pain or kill the servant, so of course, no one would be able to keep at it for a long time. It was mentally draining. Even for Cecily, she had to stop to rest her mind.

Ferris smirked.

"What's that?" Ryu pointed to a creature about two hundred centimeters tall, hopping and sniffing the grass.

They were on their way towards Southshore Port Town in the usual dirt path with tall trees and greeneries flanking on each side.

Ferris glanced at the creature and answered, "That's a wild hair. They're extremely agile, but if you manage to capture one, its meat is one of the most delicious in this realm. It also fetches a high price––!"

Ferris didn't finish her sentence when Ryu leaped and chased after the creature. It was not like it was the first time it happened. It happened numerous times before, so Ferris wasn't worried.

After a short while, Ryu was back to Ferris's side, and he flashed the wild hare at her, face serious.

Ferris understood what Ryu wanted even without him saying anything. She chuckled and grabbed the hare. She flicked a knife from the scabbard on her thighs and skinned the hare. Using magic, she roasted the wild rabbit to perfection.

Ryu watched all this in anticipation. He was not over with the amazing spells and magic by using and manipulating mana.

"Teach me."

Ryu pestered Ferris to teach him how to do it, and Ferris explained in patience.

"I already told you, you can't." Ferris shook her head a little. Her blazing eyes concentrated on the roasted meat before it settled on Ryu.

"More like. .. you can't right now. . ." Ferris didn't explain anymore while Ryu didn't pester her for more.

Reflected in Ferris's scarlet diamond eyes were complicated symbols circling, revolving around and around enforced by pentagrams.

Runes!

On day one, Ferris saw Runes inside Ryu's body. It was not just one pentagram of runes –– there were four. In her entire life, even with her inherited knowledge, she had never seen anything like it.

She didn't even know if she could break it.

Those runes were the reason why Ryu couldn't manipulate mana. Rather it was not because he couldn't. It was because his body was repelling mana. It was complicated that she could barely make out anything.

She deduced that it could take in good spells and repelled the negative ones since she saw how Eoi's arrows made of concentrate mana didn't work against him. But his body accepted her [Diamond Dust] when she healed him. And with mana avoiding him, she doubted that Ryu could see those particles, much less manipulate them.

What a high-level set of runes.

She couldn't decipher the runes with the knowledge that she inherited from both her parent's abilities available only to angels and demons. There was only one being in the entire realm who could. "The supreme Queen of the beast realm," murmure Ferris.

Ferris couldn't help but praised whoever placed the spell inside Ryu but at the same time wondered why. She even wondered if it was the Queen of Beasts but that would be impossible. No one saw her and live the tale. She didn't even know if she truly existed or just a myth made up by the beastmen.

Enough, if I don't know, then I don't know.

Ferris frowned and promised to research this and would do everything she could to break those runes. After all, if Ryu could manipulate mana, his chance of survival would surge. So naturally, Ferris would make this her top priority.

But to how exactly, she too was at a loss. She tried to break it forcefully, but she was only repelled, and it wasn't pretty.

Should I venture into the beast realm and seeked the Queen of beast? She'd be ripped to shreds before she could even come close.

Ferris blinked and continued to roast the hare. Once done, she gave Ryu the whole hare.

Ferris knew the nature of beastmen more than Ryu. Acknowledging their strength was essential to boost their confidence. But these days, Ryu was filled with contemptuous stares and punishment from Cecily and this impact Ryu's overall mentality.

Not to mention that the beastfolks love to kill and hunt. It was not a problem since Ryu lived his whole life inside the colosseum as this urge was sated, but now. He could no longer wantonly kill, and if his body didn't taste those blood, those feeling of ripping flesh, he began to feel restless and inadequate.

And one way to restore and heal the beast inside him was to acknowledge it as being above, and Ferris was doing precisely that. Do little tiny things like giving him the whole hare to eat first and have him go hunting for his food and kill beasts in the forest to satisfy his inner beast.

Ryu chomped down half of the meat, and his eyes watered.

It was so good!

Ryu gnawed the meat nonstop in delight. When all the meat and bones were consumed, and only the leg was left, Ryu glance at the girl beside her.

"Here."

That's only when Ferris grabbed the leg and ate. Her stomach rumbled in delight while her tongue salivated from the taste.

No less from a noble's food!

"Where are you going?"

Ferris stopped munching as she eyed Ryu, who was darting off towards the forest.

"Hunting for more." I will gift it to Cecily later.

Then he was gone amidst the tall towering trees.

Ferris shrugged her shoulders and chewed her food.

While the atmosphere behind the carriage was light and festive, the same couldn't be said inside the carriage.

"It's been five days since the attack happened. In a matter of hours, we will reach Southshore Port," Murok mumbled as he concentrated on absorbing mana.

In these past few days, even with Murok's concentrating all his attention on recovering his mana, he still just managed to recover half of it.

Murok gave up on finding the cause of why his mana was being sucked and decided that he would just investigate the matter once they were inside the Kingdom's safety.

Cecily didn't reply and just contented to watch the ever-changing scenery with her chin resting on her arm, elbow against the window frame.

"If only we aren't moving so slow, we could have reached it in just a matter of two days. .. ," Cecily mused.

"We still have ten days before we reach the Kingdom, but judging from our speed and being cautious in our surroundings, we would get there in fifteen days. I don't know if we should be thankful that our attackers didn't attack us anymore or that we should be warry. It felt like our situation is a calm before a storm," Murok mumbled.

Cecily frowned and sighed. But at this time a translucent green-colored bird appeared inside the carriage.

Murok grabbed the letter from the bird's beak before it dissolved like smoke.

"What it says?"

Murok opened the letter and read its content. A relief smile appeared on his face.

"It said that help is on its way. Judging from their speed,

if they'd get to us without delay, I say they'll reach us in a matter of five days. But if they slow down, about ten days if we stay in Southshore."

Murok stroke his beard, a little worried about the contents of the letter.

"I say that we wait for them in Southshore. It would be much safer."

"No need," Cecily rejected the idea. "The earlier we meet with reinforcement, the better. And besides, even if we stay there, how are you so sure that those vile creatures wouldn't attack us? It's better to double our speed and meet them halfway."

Murok didn't say anything and nodded. "Then we will do that. Once we rested in the town, we should move at top speed in the morning."