Chapter 91: Moving Vacuum Environment (Patreon)

"L-Lady… Lady Pandora, I…"

As they traveled, there was no third Trekbear, so Louliana was sharing a seat with Pandora, clinging to her tightly. The stiff "solemnity" on her face only made her nervousness more obvious.

Pandora laughed. "Well, it's my first time riding one too. Don't worry, I'm right here with you."

"Mm… mm."

Luluo had been racking his brain since they set out, trying to think of a way to talk Pandora out of this. At the sight of the two of them, he couldn't help wondering. What on earth had happened to make a mistress and her servant get along so well?

But he didn't agonize over it for long. He turned his eyes to the streets instead. He'd already noticed it on the way in: compared with his last visit, there were now guards on duty and peddlers hawking their wares, a sight he'd never seen here before.

In truth, besides the guards who'd come back from their "vacations," most had been recruited over the past two days. It was a decision Pandora had proposed after Naila took over for the time being.

Of course, it was really just a copy of the Kingdom of Lugunica's system. Roughly speaking, one veteran guard led three new recruits on patrol through the various districts, and the farther a patrolled town or village lay from the center, the higher the pay.

Thanks to these guards, who at least did their jobs, people who used to hide at home even in broad daylight were finally leaving their safe harbors and reaching out to the world.

"Mr. Luluo, how long have you held this post?"

Ignoring the stares of the crowd around them, a veritable sea of people compared with before, Pandora turned to him and asked.

Startled at being singled out, Luluo swallowed and lowered his head. "About a year, I think…" He paused.

"In that time I've traveled through some other domains and learned more than I knew before. But the more I learn, the more complicated my feelings get…"

"Is that so? That must have been hard on you."

Just from the look on his face, she could picture scene after scene like something out of a tragedy. This was not the kind of background a normal young man ought to have.

"You too, Miss Hertz. Judging by a streetscape so unlike any other domain's, governing this place must have been terribly difficult."

Honestly, it was the first time he'd ever seen this many people in one place in Gusteko.

Hearing that, Pandora waved a hand awkwardly. "Oh, not at all…"

Seriously, she'd been slacking off the whole time, okay? Being praised like that, what slacker could stand it?

Seeing this, Luluo turned his head away, avoiding her eyes. After letting out a breath, he said, "Forgive my presumption, Miss Hertz, but you'd do well to stop here…"

She had issued edicts that people didn't even dare to speak of. It was a groundbreaking attempt, and events had proved her right. Someone like that… he didn't want to see her perish this way.

Pandora only smiled and shook her head. "You've truly opened my eyes, Mr. Luluo."

In the materials she'd studied, anything dark could happen in Gusteko, and the people she'd read about were the most vicious of villains. But someone like Luluo, standing in the darkness yet longing for the light, was a rare sight indeed.

"What… do you mean by that?"

"Nothing."

After they left the central district, the crowds thinned, and as they gradually neared the edge of the domain, small snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.

"Miss Hertz." Seeing this, Luluo, who hadn't spoken in a long while, called out. "The bag on the left side of the Trekbear's saddle has clothing for keeping out the wind and cold."

"Ah, thank you."

After thanking him, Pandora looked at the Trekbear's left side. A bag hung there.

So this bag isn't for storing provisions… Then what's the water flask on the right for? I don't get it.

With a silent sigh, she pulled a hooded robe out of the bag.

Isn't this the same as what he's wearing? So the clothes Luluo's had on all along are snow gear…

She could have used her Authority to keep all three of them clear of the wind and snow, but she put on the robe in her hands anyway.

The instant she draped it over her shoulders, she felt the wind around her drop by far more than a little. The temperature settled to that of a warm room, and the snow seemed to be shut out of the space around her. She could more or less conclude that the garment had been "enchanted."

"Lady Pandora, these clothes are amazing…"

Louliana, sheltered by the same "protection," exclaimed in wonder. It was her first time wearing this kind of "magic" clothing.

Pandora nodded and didn't say much in reply.

What she was curious about was the snow itself. Even after leaving the bounds of Kenash Domain, that "holy land," the goose-feather flakes falling from the sky hadn't hindered the three of them at all. The snow on the ground was admittedly unkind to the Trekbear, but it only slowed them a little compared with their pace on level ground earlier.

So this is the legendary "ship of the snowy plain," huh…

After grumbling to herself for a while, she took note of the state of the surroundings.

The snow falling from the sky, like white blossoms, whipped by fierce winds into a blizzard, had cut visibility to almost nothing. She wondered how on earth the Trekbear knew the way home…

"Lady Pandora, could you tell me the story from that book you read?"

As she was studying the scenery around them, Louliana tugged at her sleeve and asked.

"Of course…"

So she began telling Louliana stories, along with a few things she'd seen and heard on her travels. Her audience wasn't only Louliana, either. Luluo listened too, in silence. Heading north in this weather, she was sure that without conversation, a person would feel completely cut off from the world.

"Miss Hertz, is something the matter?"

Pandora had suddenly looked over at him in the middle of her story, and Luluo asked in confusion.

"Mm… no, nothing."

She was curious about one other thing, too: how had he endured four days of round-trip travel with no one to talk to?

And so, with chatter that came in fits and starts, they traveled for a long while, stopping only for about two hours to let the Trekbear rest. Night fell quietly.

Seeing Pandora without the slightest trace of tension, Luluo no longer brought up the idea of her running away.

Thinking it over, he realized that from that defiant remark of hers, it was clear Pandora seemed to have some kind of certainty…

With that, he steered the Trekbear to a halt. "You two, there's food and water in the flask on the Trekbear."