Tundra underwent a special change.
After being separated from Viola for a while – about 15 minutes to be exact – a mana tail was unintentionally created and started wagging. The bodily transformation occurred spontaneously, and the longer the time apart from Viola, the more vigorous the tail wagging became.
‘My owner’s scent.’
From inside the room, Viola’s scent was discernible. The mana tail had already formed, and as soon as the door opened, it started wagging vigorously as soon as Viola’s face came into view.
Viola’s voice came through, “Why are you doing things I didn’t ask you to?”
The vigorously wagging tail abruptly stopped.
“What?”
“Why did you quarrel with Jeremy?”
Tundra looked a bit sullen. He had expected praise for chasing away outsiders so well.
“Jeremy kept insisting on seeing you, so I stopped him.”
The tail deflated and soon disappeared leaving Tundra looking like a wet puppy abandoned in the rain.
‘Hey, that’s cheating!’
In reality, Viola was more inclined towards cute things than handsome ones. Puppies, kittens, babies, and so on. She was weak for puppies and babies, and now before her was a puppy-like appearance.
“Don’t be silly.”
Tundra found this a bit challenging to understand. Where did ‘silliness’ begin and end?
“Don’t engage in duels recklessly. Understand?”
Ah! That’s what she meant!
“Yes, I understand.”
Duels were not allowed, but hunting was permitted. Like hunting down the bandits. Tundra felt better.
‘Don’t duel, but hunt. Yes, let’s hunt.’
“But your intention was beautiful.”
Ultimately, Tundra’s actions had blown things out of proportion, but Viola seemed to understand his sincerity. Tundra had instinctively sensed that Viola was trying to keep away from Jeremy.
‘So the duel with Jeremy was just an excuse.’
Who in this world would think so much about her? That dedicated heart was appreciated.
As Viola approached Tundra, without anyone ordering him, he bowed at the waist to align his kind and gentle eyes with Viola’s. From that vantage, he was able to capture a similar kind and gentle look in Viola’s eyes. Today, he was able to see that look for about three seconds.
“But from now on, make sure to get permission first.”
“Yes.”
Viola gently stroked Tundra’s head. Tundra felt a sense of abundance as if he had everything in the world. Even after Viola opened the door and left, Tundra continued to pat his head where Viola’s hand had touched for a long time.
* * *
After Viola left, it didn’t take long for Zenon to find Tundra.
“What’s going on?”
The atmosphere was quite different from when dealing with Viola. The kind and gentle eyes Tundra displayed in front of Viola now turned sharp in her absence.
“Where did you go yesterday?”
“I went hunting.”
“What kind of hunting?”
“Hunting down bandits.”
“Why?”
“To prevent any hindrance on the Princess’ path.”
Zenon read a hint of madness in Tundra’s eyes.
“It sounds like you’d kill anything that obstructs the Princess… Yes, that’s what it sounds like.”
“I didn’t kill them.”
“You didn’t kill them?”
Zenon suddenly became curious about the reason. To deal with a problem definitively, killing was usually the best option.
“I didn’t kill them.”
“Can I know the reason?”
Tundra looked at Zenon.
‘His scent changed again today.’
Zenon was a strange creature with a scent that changed every day. Even now, it was impossible to know what he was thinking.
“If I kill them, there’s a smell.”
Zenon tilted his head.
“A smell?”
“The distinctive smell of corpses.”
“…Oh.”
Zenon chuckled.
“So, you didn’t kill them to avoid any unpleasant smells on Princess Viola’s path, is that it? You don’t want her to smell anything but the fragrance of flowers on her way?”
“Yeah. I want Lady Viola’s path to be filled only with the scent of flowers.”
“So, that’s why you didn’t kill them.”
In fact, the rule for suppressing bandits was total annihilation. All members of the bandit group had to be killed.
“Do you know the rule?”
“I do. Everyone must be killed.”
Letting them live unnecessarily could lead to consequences. It was ruthless, but that was the harsh reality.
“Originally, I was trying to determine responsibility.”
“Responsibility?”
“Doing something poorly is as bad as not doing anything at all.”
Zenon took out a piece of paper and tore it apart with his hands. It was a report he planned to send to the Bellato main residence.
“But since the reason is compelling enough, I’ll discard this report.”
After Zenon left, Tundra lay down on the bed.
‘Perhaps, he’s not such a bad guy after all.’
Zenon seemed to hold Viola in high regard. Tundra instinctively sensed that. The day passed slowly. Finally, Viola and her companions left the Hyrils’ territory and set their course toward Bellato.
***
Thanks to the applied high-altitude magic, the inside of the carriage was always comfortable. It filtered out any unwanted noise for the passengers, making it as cozy as a bedroom.
Hera smiled and suggested, “Shall we make a bet?”
“What kind of bet?”
“Whether we will be attacked or not.”
Viola’s expression twitched slightly. Well, in this world, security wasn’t particularly great. An attack? That could definitely happen! But making any hopeful remarks was out of the question.
Viola honestly replied, “I think there might be an attack once or twice.”
“I’ll bet three times.”
Hera giggled playfully as she spoke, finding it amusing.
“One time with fools who know nothing.”
There might be ruffians who couldn’t even recognize Bellato’s emblem.
“The other two times with guys who know we are Bellato but still attack. One might be good at boasting but lacking in skill, and the other might be both bold and skilled.”
Viola thought Hera’s words made sense. Three times might even be on the low side. In fact, this world wasn’t a particularly safe one. That’s why whenever they traveled, they made sure to have knights accompanying them.
When a prominent family member was on the move, they traveled with at least five carriages, with dozens of knights following. Bellato was basically the only family to move with such a small group and yet they were one of the powerful families with the most enemies.
“But strangely, I don’t see any ruffians.”
Usually, at this point, an attack by bandits was inevitable. Yet, it was eerily quiet. As if someone had cleaned up in advance. As time passed, the tension eased slightly.
‘I’m tired.’
Though less than when she was very young, Viola was still vulnerable to sleep. She dozed off and dreamed. It was a strange dream where arrows were flying everywhere. In the dream, Viola moved agilely, dodging the arrows pouring down like rain. It felt like playing a game. Her score increased each time she avoided an arrow.
‘Hehe…!’
But soon something felt off. A peculiar smell hung in the air.
‘Do I smell blood?’
In an instant, Viola’s eyes snapped open.
‘Oh!’
Viola glanced around. Tundra, covered in blood, came into view. Walking toward Viola, he sheathed his sword.
“I’m sorry for involving you. I wanted to handle this quietly on my own.”
Viola looked at the dagger in her hand. Blood was dripping from it.
‘What… What is this?’
It looked like the real Viola popped out while she was dozing off. Viola almost threw the dagger away.
‘This is crazy!’
She thought it was a dream and couldn’t remember any particular details. Although she couldn’t recall anything, every muscle in her body ached as if being torn apart.
Clap! Clap!
The carriage door opened and the sound of clapping echoed. The one clapping was none other than Hera.
“You usually hide the madness trying to burst out so well. Well, not today! Today, you didn’t hide it at all.”
Hera scanned her surroundings with a dry gaze.
“They were quite skilled.”
“…”
Viola couldn’t remember anything. She hated the sticky sensation of blood on her palms.
“This is why I like you.”
“I want to wash up.”
She thought about summoning Pom-Pom but then decided against it. In the original work, Pom-Pom was a ‘spirit of blood’ who disliked blood. At first, he was afraid of blood but after being tamed by Heidi, he became a demon, struggling against his fate. Viola didn’t want to ask such a creature to wash away blood.
Tundra spoke, “I know of a waterfall nearby.”
Arriving at the waterfall, Viola’s mouth unconsciously dropped open.
‘There was a waterfall here?’
With overwhelming grandeur, the water fell from a high place. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be strong currents right below it.
Tundra casually remarked, “By the way, there seems to be a few carnivorous fish here. Their teeth are sharp, and their jaws are quite strong.”
Then he frowned, “But they don’t taste good.”
“How do you know that?”
“Ah, well, um.”
He came here yesterday to wash off the blood but thought that mentioning this might cause trouble.
“I checked the route to find a more comfortable way yesterday and happened to discover it. So, I had a bit of water.”
Viola glanced at Zenon.
‘Is it strange to say I can’t wash because I’m afraid of carnivorous fish?’
She deliberately dipped her foot in the water. The water was quite deep. Fortunately, the areas covered by the dress didn’t feel cold. The dress was able to perfectly block the coldness of the water and she didn’t get wet. Just touching the water washed away the blood on her clothes. It was truly a dress made by a master tactician.
‘It’s convenient to be able to wash while wearing clothes.’
Lukewarm! The cold water now felt lukewarm. As her clothes were automatically cleaned, it seemed that wiping off the bloodstains from her skin would be enough.
“I don’t want to be disturbed while bathing. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Yes! I’ll make sure no carnivorous fish or anything else approaches.”
Tundra flashed a bright smile. Just the fact that Viola gave an order seemed to make him happy.
Soon, screams echoed.
“Aaahhh!”
Viola turned her head to see a few men screaming as they ran away.
“It’s a monster!”
They ran as if being chased by something and disappeared into the mountains.
‘What is it?’
Is it a powerful magical being that appeared?
Tundra, with a cheerful smile, said, “It seems they saw a scary ghost or something.”
It wasn’t until then that Viola knew the identity of that ghost was Tundra. Suddenly, an artificial wind blew. Within that wind, the sound of a flute echoed. Viola recalled a character in the novel.
‘Could it be?’
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
If you like my work please support us in Patreon. Next post will be released on Februeary, 15.
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