“Magic is the truth of the world,” Veronica explained as she drove. “The more magic you know, the more clearly you perceive the truth, along with more taboos and unknowns...”
“Without strong self-control, a mage may end up becoming curious about the unknown and the taboos that shouldn’t be explored. That curiosity, put into action, would lead to the mage’s consciousness getting twisted by terrors...”
“Even those who can control their desires may still fall into madness.”
“Given the circumstances, faith is valuable in that it hardens our will and shields our minds from the invasion of terrors...”
She continued to warn Wayne not to get too ahead of himself. He was only getting started in the pursuit of magic, and there were many lessons he had yet to learn. Now that he had awakened mana and become a fellow mage, they shared a commonality. She thus acted a little more friendly to him.
Just a little, though.
She still held a grudge against him due to the diary. The humiliation was still fresh on her mind and made her clench her jaw every time she remembered it.
The blue car went at fifty kilometers an hour. Navigating unfamiliar roads was a painful process in an era without GPS. While Veronica could drive, she had never traveled this route before. She could only follow the signs and the map, which wasn’t enough to prevent all mistakes. They had wasted quite a lot of time finding their way back to the right path.
Their plan to quickly capture their target and leave had failed before it even began; they would have to spend the night at Klofron.
The car stopped at the curb some distance away from the town. They ate and drank to supplement their energy and ready themselves for a possible ambush from the Deathwalker.
Wayne took out the lunchbox filled with potato dishes William had prepared for him with love, crouching by the road and devouring it. He had eaten quite a lot of hardtack in the car, made from cooked oats, flour, jam, and margarine. The dry, crumbly texture scraped his throat, making him thirstier with every bite.
In comparison, potatoes weren’t so bad.
Standing against the car, Veronica ate a sandwich in small, elegant bites. Even without a dining table, she followed the proper etiquette.
The one acting in the starkest contrast from her wasn’t Wayne, but William. He had munched down a whole pack of chocolate and kept taunting Veronica as he ate. Sandwich? Pretty girls should eat chocolate!
Veronica was furious. It was quite obvious that she would rather be eating chocolate, but to control her sugar intake and maintain her figure, she had to rein in her desires for sweets.
“Veronica, this is much better than sandwiches!” William leaned in and grinned at her, his teeth covered in black, slimy stains. Even his breath smelled like chocolate.
He was asking for a beating, and a beating was what he got. Incensed, Veronica gave him a slight smile and gracefully put her sandwich away, wiping her mouth with a handkerchief. William frowned and turned on his heels to flee.
He only got two steps in before she dropped him with a jump kick. His groan barely left his lips, and the ankle lock already made him slam the ground and beg for mercy.
William was two meters tall and burly with bulging biceps, a thick waist, and strong muscles. He looked as deadly as a bear and weighed around a hundred kilograms. In contrast, Veronica was one hundred and seventy centimeters tall without wearing shoes. She was a beautiful girl with fair skin, slim waist, and long legs, and she wasn’t even half as heavy as him.
Yet she was the one to bring him down with violence every time he teased her. What a contradiction for a frail-looking girl to have top strength and speed.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Let me go, Veronica. My legs are breaking!”
“Hmph, are you going to stop being a little shit?”
A moment of silence, followed by another cry.
Having emptied the lunchbox, Wayne went on to eat hardtack paired with canned food as he watched William ask for more punishment. He snorted. “Veronica’s amazingly strong. Is that because of magic?”
“No, Veronica’s mana is sealed by the curse, preventing her from using powerful magic,” Monica said, sidling up to Wayne while using its licked paw to clean its face. “She can only use simple magical items in fights. She’s able to subdue William only because of her inherent physical strength.”
The cat had eaten in the car on its own and refused to have any audience. Wayne suspected that it had clove fish hidden somewhere.
“Inherent physical strength?!” he gasped in surprise. “Is it really not magic? How does she train? Look at her arms and legs. They don’t look toned at all.”
“She has dragon blood.”
He swallowed the hardtack with difficulty, his mind conjuring the image of a dragon breathing fire. He asked shakily, “There are dragons in this world?”
What a dangerous place. Mages, and now dragons? Will angels be sounding the trumpets for the apocalypse tomorrow?
“Huh? Where did she get dragon blood when there is no dragon?”
“She got it from her mother.”
“Her mother is a dragon?” Wayne sucked in a breath. Father-in-law is a dragon rider!
That was the most unhelpful explanation he had ever heard. He rolled his eyes and huffed, “The last time I heard something so constructive was the last time. Do you know? Scientists say that every time people waste a minute, they waste sixty seconds.”
They rested for an hour before resuming their journey. According to the map, they were thirty kilometers from Klofron.
The trees lining the road were getting denser. Since it was the tail end of winter, and early spring had yet to arrive, the evergreen firs were the only splashes of color in the forests. Piles of fallen leaves blanketed the ground and buried half of the tree trunks. The smell of decay permeated the air.
It was Wayne’s turn to drive.
Veronica sat in the back with Monica in her arms. She came up with a cover story for them. She would be William’s older sister. Monica would be, obviously, the harmless pet. And Wayne would be their driver. They were making a pit stop at Klofron and planned to depart tomorrow morning, after refueling the car.
She intended to capture Bloody Mike tonight and lift the curse by dawn. At first light, they would drive out of the town.
All plans were perfect before execution. Wayne wasn’t feeling optimistic. Case in point, her plan to dash in and out had failed because of their unfamiliarity with the region. He kept his opinions to himself, though. He was the greenest member here, and neither William nor Monica raised any objections.
A thunderous rumble followed a blinding flash of light. Dark clouds gathered low in the sky, shrouding the land in darkness.
“Whoa! That’s sudden.”
Wayne narrowed his eyes. The world had stuttered in his vision the moment the thunder struck. He only avoided driving into a tree because he had kept a tight grip on the wheel as a law-abiding citizen.
Suddenly, a translucent grey hand slammed onto the hood of the car, leaving distorted prints of dark red blood.
There must be a ghost under the car, and it’s climbing up to take the wheel!
His pupils contracted as he cursed the shop owner out, chest heaving.
Damn bastard, you swore on the Queen that the car wasn’t haunted!