It was night, and the two moons were high up in the sky.
In the end, Louise and her group chose a medium-sized inn.
Patrice went to bed early, and Varudo and Louise seemed to have returned to their rooms.
As Louise's personal maid, Shesta did not rest after serving Louise to bed. Instead, she went out of the inn alone.
"That …"
As the cold wind blew, Shesta could not help but shrink back a little.
— She had not reached the level where she was impervious to cold and heat.
After observing her surroundings, Shesta finally found an empty space.
The maid excitedly ran to the empty space, took out the Emei Piercer at her waist, and started to practice seriously.
Although it was late at night, Port La Rochelle, as a transportation hub city, was still bustling with noise and excitement.
In almost all the inns, mercenaries and adventurers from all over the world, as well as officials from various countries, were partying all night.
However, it was extremely quiet near the empty space where Shesta was practicing.
Only the sound of the maid waving her piercings through the air could be heard.
"Cloud Stripping!"
"Partial White Dress!"
"Flowing Silk!"
"Dancing Silk!"
...
Shesta practiced every move seriously, without the slightest bit of carelessness.
The flowers of the Dismantled Paulownia Flower stood still like a virgin.
Dancing in the wind, her dress moved, and her piercings were enchanting.
Shesta, who could only be considered cute, faintly revealed a seductive charm as she waved her piercings.
Not far away, Eight-cloud Ink was sitting on a rock, looking down at Shesta who was working hard.
"What a hardworking girl."
Suddenly, Yakumo discovered that there was a person standing on the balcony of the second floor of an inn that had been carved out of the mountain rocks not far away.
Varudo.
Under the night sky, Varudo stood on the balcony, silently looking at Shesta who was practicing on the empty space below.
Then, Varudo turned around and entered the room.
Not long after, he walked out of the inn's entrance and came to Shesta's side.
The two seemed to be talking about something. With Eight-cloud Ink's hearing, she easily knew that Varudo had invited Shesta to spar.
— Just like Annie back then.
Shesta hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"Interesting …"
Eight-cloud Ink, who was sitting on a rock, smirked.
"… Are you trying to find out the truth?"
On the way here, although Waludo was extremely secretive, Eight-cloud Ink and Patrice could still detect that he was secretly contacting someone.
Given the relationship between Angelietta and Louise, she would definitely ask her directly if she had any questions.
In other words, Waludo was no longer one of Angelietta's men.
Perhaps they were loyal to the other nobles in the kingdom.
Or perhaps … someone from another country?
Eight-cloud Ink and Patrice, who had already labeled Waludo as a villain, did not directly expose him due to Louise's trust in Waludo.
She was a fox. She would always give herself away.
Eight-cloud Ink had vaguely guessed that Waludo's goal was the Prince of Wales.
While Eight-cloud Ink was pondering, Waludo and Shasta were already engaged in battle.
Sword light flashed as they fought back and forth.
As the captain of Griffin's team, Waludo was not only strong in magic, but also in swordsmanship. At least, he was on par with Annie.
However, before Annie became a knight, she was an ordinary person who did not know magic. After becoming a noble, she only specialized in swordsmanship and shooting. She still did not know magic.
In contrast, Waludo, who used magic to attack from time to time in between battles, was stronger than Annie.
However, Shasta's progress during this period was also quite impressive.
Therefore, although she was not a match for Waludo, she was still able to put up a good fight.
At first, Waludo, who was holding a knight's longsword, was struggling because he was not used to Shasta's fighting style. He was caught off guard when Shasta closed in on him.
However, with his rich experience, he quickly adapted to the strange pattern of the twin daggers. He released a wind blade to block Shasta's attack. After that, he jumped back to open up a distance and began to release magic.
Once Shasta used her footwork to avoid the magic and closed the distance, he would add a violent whirlwind to the knight's sword to force her away.
After all, Shasta had not practiced martial arts for long. After a while, Waludo placed his longsword beside her slender neck.
She had failed.
However, there was not a trace of discouragement on the little maid's face.
In her view, Waludo was the captain of the Queen's guard, a noble Magician. It was already a great improvement for her to be able to fight with such an important person from a commoner's maid who did not know anything.
Shasta's little heart was unusually satisfied.
After the battle, Waludo returned to the inn and Shasta put away the Emei Piercer.
Eight-cloud Ink looked up at the two moons alone, lost in thought.
⑧
The next day.
At the first glimmer of dawn, everyone gathered at the agreed meeting square.
"There is a ship heading to Albion today. Let's take that ship."
Riding on Griffin, Waludo turned around and said to the people behind him. He then led the way to the stairs leading to the top of the cliff.
"Tut!"
Seeing that they were going to climb the mountain, Eight-cloud Ink could only give up on riding. Holding the reins was not an option.
Patrice frowned and then sighed.
With her physique, it was almost impossible for her to climb this seemingly endless flight of stairs with her own body, right?
However, Patrice also had a way. As a Magician of Seven Luminaries, she casually summoned Rock Spirits from the surrounding rocks and had them float behind the group.
After climbing a long flight of stairs, the group arrived at the top of a small hill.
In front of them was a huge tree with branches extending in all directions.
Between the branches of the huge tree was a huge object that seemed to be a ship.
"This is the ship we are going to take. It will take us to Albion."
Waludo laughed.
The land of Albion was located in the sky.
Thus, if ordinary people wanted to go there, they would have to take this kind of transportation.
The big tree had been artificially modified. Some of the branches were trimmed into the shape of stairs.
The group stepped on the stairs and boarded the ship.
Not long after, when it was time to depart, the ship's crew shouted.
"Let's depart! Lower the ship's rope! Raise the sail! "
While complaining, the crew listened to the captain's orders. They skillfully lowered the ship's rope from the tree branches and climbed to the fixed rigging on both sides to raise the sail.
After removing the restraints, the ship sank in an instant. However, it relied on the power of the 'wind stone' to float in the air.
The 'wind stone' was a magic stone that stored the power of the wind. This ship relied on the power of the wind stone to fly in the sky.
Eight-cloud Ink leaned against the ship's railing and lowered his head to look at the harbor that was getting further and further away.
As the ship rose in altitude, the wind became stronger and messed up his long hair.
"At first glance, it seems novel. But after careful study, one will discover that this method of power is very crude."
Patrice had unknowingly arrived beside Eight-cloud Ink and grabbed her collar to prevent the wind from ruffling her clothes.
"Sister Mwah, I can't help but want to study these novel things."
"This is the work ethic of a scholar."
Compared to being a Magician of Seven Luminaries, Patrice was more inclined to accept her identity as a scholar.
To her, all kinds of knowledge were the most attractive things in this world.
The ship gradually ascended into the clouds.
White clouds drifted in front of their eyes as though they were within reach.
"This altitude … If we were in Fantasy Village, we should be reaching the peak."
"Peak?"
Patrice knitted her brows. At the mention of peak, she thought of a certain masochist with a strange fetish.
During several banquets, that lass would be tormented in front of Patrice by Delicate Fragrance, Yukari, and the others.
At this moment, Louise ran over in a fluster and grabbed Eight-cloud Ink's collar.
"Yakumo, bad news. I heard from Captain that the Royal Army near Newcastle was besieged and bitterly fighting."
"Oh? What about the Crown Prince? "
Louise shook her head and frowned with worry.
"I'm not sure. Although he seems to be alive … "
"In any case, the harbor has been suppressed by the rebels, right?"
"Yes!"
Eight-cloud Ink lightly tapped on the ship's railing and asked.
"How can we contact the Royal Faction?"
"We can only break through in the formation. It only takes a day to ride a horse from Sokapolo to Newcastle … "
"Are we going to face the rebels head-on?"
Eight-cloud Ink smiled and patted Louise's head.
"Don't worry, Patrice and I will take care of everything."
"Okay!"
Louise nodded her head and let go of the worry in her heart.
His hand in his sleeve tightly gripped the rune card that Yakumo Mo had given him.
[Your Highness, I will definitely complete the mission.]
The ship continued to sail in the sky.
After an unknown period of time —
"I see Albion!!"
The crew standing guard on the mast shouted.
Through the gaps in the clouds, they could see the pitch-black continent. The continent continued to extend into the distance. On the surface of the continent, there were towering mountains and flowing rivers.
The hovering Albion had arrived.
"Floating Continent Albion. It floats in the sky and mainly wanders around the ocean. However, a few times a month, it will float over the continent. It's the size of Toristine. It's called the White Nation! "
Louise, who was standing beside Yakumo, explained with an "I know a lot" expression on her face.
Looking at the little girl's expression, Yakumo was amused and asked cooperatively, "What's the matter?
"Why is it called the White Nation?"
Louise pointed at the continent.
"The water overflowed from the river and sprinkled into the sky. The water turned into a white fog and enveloped the lower half of the continent. The fog turned into clouds and continuously rained down on the Halkkinia Continent. That's why it's called the White Nation! "
Patrice suddenly interrupted Louise's explanation and pointed to the distance. "There's a ship approaching."
Everyone looked over and there was indeed a ship approaching.
It was one size bigger than Eight-cloud Ink's ship. There was a hole in the side of the ship and the muzzle of a cannon could be seen.
"A warship?"
Eight-cloud Ink frowned.
"Is it the rebels? Let's destroy it … "
Speaking until here, Eight-cloud Ink raised her right hand towards the ship.
"Wait!!"
Louise suddenly stopped Eight-cloud Ink.
"Let's wait first. What if it's not the rebels but the royal army?"
Eight-cloud Ink thought for a while and lowered her right hand. "That's true."
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