Journey to Harriet Territory
After a smooth dinner in Hacker County, Park Jeong-jae received a brief guide to the road ahead and decided to depart early the next morning.
"I'll give you one of our two-wheeled carriages as a housewarming gift," the count said.
It was an incredibly valuable present to just accept outright, but dragging Jenis along on foot wasn't an option, so Jeong-jae accepted it on her behalf, treating it as a gift from the count to his daughter. Jenis seemed to think the same about the compact carriage, as she was buzzing with excitement from early morning, enchanting every nook and cranny with spells.
After bidding farewell to the count and exiting the castle gates, Jeong-jae spotted Jenis and approached her.
"What're you up to?"
"Oh, Baron! You're here. Almost done. Just wait a sec..."
Jeong-jae drew closer to the carriage and watched Jenis grunt as she fitted together the intricate rings connecting various complex magic circles. He considered offering a hand, but remembering how she'd been inwardly disappointed when he'd accidentally shattered her spell the day before, he held back and just observed. He had no idea when she'd started, but he was impressed by how neatly she'd organized defensive magics like mana refraction and auto-counter, alongside conveniences like cleanliness maintenance and space expansion.
Since Jenis was deep in work and hadn't concealed the circles, Jeong-jae had no need to scan the carriage with reconnaissance magic. Right now, she was focused on linking the rings between the speed-boost spell on the horse's hooves and the auto-counter spell to ensure stability—essential to prevent either from breaking midway and causing disaster.
"Hold on just a bit... mm-hmm, got it. There!"
"How long have you been at this? Even I'd need at least thirty minutes for something like that."
"Going on three hours now," Jenis said, her voice tinged with a hint of hurt.
Jeong-jae masked his surprise and decided to brazen it out.
"The fact that you're only six times slower than me is impressive enough. Hardly anyone in the human world can claim that."
"Haha, yeah, I know. I don't get bummed about stuff like that anymore."
The nuance suggested she used to get hurt by it. Mages, who often devoted their lives to magical research, all had pride in their skills. For a versatile genius like Jenis, the top of her peers, that pride was naturally sky-high. Deep down, Jeong-jae knew his mere existence poked at people's egos left and right.
"Done! All finished! What do you think? Gotta say, it's pretty much perfect, right?"
Jeong-jae leaned down to glance at the completed magic circle. Even at a cursory look, there wasn't a flaw to nitpick. He carefully patted Jenis's shoulder in encouragement, then helped her to her feet.
"That's more than enough to brag about. Now, where's the coachman...?"
"Oh, I can handle that myself!" Jenis volunteered, raising her hand eagerly.
Jeong-jae blinked in shock, eyes widening. A noble lady volunteering as coachman? Unheard of.
"You sure? The Hacker family has plenty of drivers who could take us."
"This carriage is ours now—you and me. How do we get back without one? It's not like they're kidnapping us to keep us here forever."
He let slide her subtle implication that her allegiance had fully shifted from Hacker County to Harriet Territory. Jeong-jae still looked dubious, tilting his head.
"You okay with that? Got much experience driving? Plus, it's your first time to Harriet—gotta navigate without getting lost."
"I've driven a carriage a few times. This is a small two-wheeler, not a big four-wheeler, so it shouldn't be too hard. I've bundled the orientation magic with the speed-boost spell! And for stamina, Professor, you can just take over sometimes, right?"
"It's not that hard, but..."
Jeong-jae had some experience handling reins himself. On long hero party trips, no single person could manage solo, so everyone learned the basics. Though in their group, where Bernard handled most chores, Bernard Silverpoint was always the one stuck with the longest shifts.
"Perfect, then! Truth is, I get self-conscious with a coachman around—can't chat freely. Some folks treat them like they're invisible, but I can't do that."
That made sense. Some people gab away in taxis ignoring the driver; others can't. Jenis was just the latter. She probably didn't want to watch her words while excitedly chatting with him.
"If that's it, sure, I'll help out. But you're still grabbing the reins too, right?"
"Don't worry! You just assist a little, Baron. This is my chance to show you how capable your estate aide is before we even arrive!"
With a snap of her fingers, a blue cloth draped down over the body and windows. But the emblem stitched on it wasn't the white cross of the Walter family—it was something else.
"This is..."
Jeong-jae traced the red circle motif on the cloth. The circle itself was ordinary, but the design inside was clearly more than decoration. He recognized it: cursive letters spelling "VR."
"The Harriet family crest. Simon Harriet designed it himself, apparently. Of course, he vanished leaving only one daughter, so there was never a second-generation Harriet baron."
That explained why Walter, the heir, bore the Hellhound name. Jeong-jae knew it well, but seeing the Harriet crest firsthand—and familiar Earth alphabet after so long—stirred an odd warmth in him.
"Looks like writing to me. Do you know what it says, Baron?"
"It's the most common script in my old world. Not from my country, but universal enough that anyone could read it."
Jenis nodded.
"Must be from some overlord nation or superpower. So? Can you read it? What does it say?"
"V... R. Hard to pin down the exact meaning from just this, but..."
His first thought was "virtual reality," but Simon Harriet, from centuries ago, wouldn't have that in mind. Piecing together what he knew of the previous hero, Jeong-jae arrived at a plausible answer.
"Victoria... reigns."
"Huh? What reigns?"
"Nah, forget it. Only the late hero knows for sure. Anyway, prepping my territory's flag already? You're thorough. Thanks."
Jenis beamed at the praise. She bounced over to the driver's seat, grabbed the reins, and plopped down.
"Hop on! I wanna get going!"
Seeing her childlike excitement, Jeong-jae slowly approached the carriage. He lifted the cloth, opened the door, and found the interior cozy—smaller than a four-seater, but perfect for one, far more comfortable than expected. Once he shut the door securely, Jenis cracked the reins with a sharp flick.
"Alright, let's go! To the new Harriet Territory!" Jenis shouted energetically.
The journey proceeded smoothly without incident. True to her word about self-consciousness, Jenis chattered nonstop at Jeong-jae. She wasn't usually shy, but he sensed she was especially enjoying this, more hyped than usual.
"We won't get jumped by bandits on the way, right?" Jeong-jae asked, scanning around while taking a turn at the reins.
Jenis lounged in the seat, shaking her head.
"Even if bandits tried, the carriage spells aside—who's riding inside?"
"True. Honestly, I'd kinda like to get ambushed."
He meant it. If bandits were Harriet's top issue, as the count said, an attack would gauge the threat level perfectly. Jeong-jae deliberately took rough shortcuts over safe roads to tempt fate, but no novel-style bandits swarmed the "fancy noble-crest carriage." He barely sensed any watchful presences at all.
"At this speed, we could make it in one night..."
"We'll camp in the carriage tonight and arrive tomorrow morning. Showing up unannounced at night isn't polite to the locals."
"Fair point. Waking to a new lord in the dead of night would freak them out."
Jeong-jae agreed. The uneventful trip dragged on, and their talk gradually shifted to the territory they'd soon govern.
"Harriet couldn't escape conscription either. Lucky it's not agriculture-heavy."
"It's coastal, so fishing's the mainstay. But fishing needs strong men too—lots of heavy labor women can't easily cover."
"Still, enough manpower remains to sustain the village minimally. Plenty could serve as guards, right?"
"Dream on. If the main industry grinds to a halt, nothing else matters. Conscripting fishermen? Impossible."
Jeong-jae shook his head. Jenis puffed her cheeks, clarifying.
"No, not like that! Assign them to the lord's direct guard, but let them fish full-time instead of constant duty. Just set up a system to arm them quick in emergencies."
"Heard of soldiers farming, but never fishing..."
He vaguely recalled Admiral Yi Sun-sin having his navy fish during garrison time, but unlike widespread farm colonies, it wasn't common. After a moment's thought, Jeong-jae nodded approvingly.
"Makes sense. We can't predict changes once we're there. If we need to crush bandits, bolstering forces that way might work."
Jenis straightened proudly at his agreement. Jeong-jae glanced back, chuckling dryly at her triumphant face.
As expected, they reached the territory border around dusk. Per Jenis's suggestion, they spent the night quietly in the carriage without announcing themselves.
While the mage drifted off inside the carriage, the hero bolted upright in his bed.