Chapter 200
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200
When she stumbled out of the carriage, the world was a blur. A thick fog blanketed everything, making it impossible to see even a meter ahead.
Where am I being dragged to?
Scobina wondered, but no answer came. For now, she could only follow silently behind Rocheisa. Strangely, despite having kidnapped her, they hadn't bothered to bind her. Her hands and feet were completely free.
Should I run?
The thought flickered through her mind constantly, but she couldn't bring herself to act. The only reason they wouldn't restrain her was their absolute confidence.
Even now, the slender beastkin in front of her navigated the invisible, fog-shrouded path with ease. Their physical senses were on another level entirely. If Scobina tried to run, she would only get lost and be recaptured. There was no guarantee her limbs would still be free then.
No, she couldn't even guarantee her limbs would remain intact.
Even if she did manage to escape, she had no options left. All her scrolls for escape or combat had been in the guild carriage, which was shoved off a cliff the moment she was taken. After plunging down a precipice well over a hundred meters high, not even a trace of it would be left.
She couldn't hope for a miracle, like being found by other guild members.
“…How much time has passed?”
“Five days.”
Rocheisa replied instantly. Despite their roles as kidnapper and hostage, they addressed each other with a strange, polite formality.
Hearing the answer, Scobina secretly furrowed her brow.
Five days.
The situation had gone wrong a long time ago.
By now, Swallow or Patrick had likely stormed the Leprechaun Merchant Guild in a rage. Scobina could only pray that nothing terrible had happened. Her only solace was that, for all their savagery, they were surprisingly rational in such matters. They wouldn't harm the guild immediately. She clung to that vague hope.
“Where are we going?”
“…”
Rocheisa did not answer this time.
A five-day journey was by no means short. To make matters worse, they had changed their mode of transport multiple times along the way. At one point, they had even flown on the back of a giant bird. Though she couldn't gauge the exact distance, the air was growing steadily warmer, suggesting they had traveled an immense distance south.
“What about Aina?”
“Aina is following behind. You do not need to worry.”
Scobina asked after the apprentice merchant, and Rocheisa gave the same detached reply as always.
They had separated Scobina and Aina right after the kidnapping. She couldn't tell if their goal was to instill fear through isolation or simply to prevent them from plotting together.
“…”
With nothing left to say, the conversation died. Silence reigned for the rest of the day’s walk.
Scobina kept moving. Her thoughts were a chaotic storm, vast enough to swallow the surrounding fog, but the only thing she could do was walk. So she walked and walked. Every journey had a destination, and her captors had a purpose.
Once they arrived, she would learn what it was. And once she knew, she could figure out how to respond.
After an eternity of silence, the fog finally began to thin. She had been following the red dot of Rocheisa’s hood for so long that when it gradually sharpened, she glanced down and saw the road beneath her feet. What she’d thought was an empty expanse of fog actually held a path.
“Please stop.”
Two guards materialized from the mist, blocking the way.
The fog had cleared just enough for outlines to become faintly visible. Stopping behind Rocheisa, Scobina studied the two guards.
They wore armor she had never seen before, custom-made to fit their beastkin builds, much like Rocheisa’s own attire. Scobina narrowed her eyes at the unfamiliar style.
A conversation took place between Rocheisa and the guards. Rocheisa pulled something from her breast pocket in a typical inspection. She passed the object to the guards and exchanged a few more words.
Soon, the guards, seemingly startled, bowed a full ninety degrees and greeted her with booming voices that cleared Scobina’s groggy mind. Only then did she realize. No, she had already suspected it, but now she was certain.
“…Please enter.”
This place was Rium, the Beast Kingdom.
*
The monsters who had visited Rium all called it a garden.
“…”
Her mouth fell open of its own accord. Unwilling to admire her kidnappers’ nation, however, Scobina forced it shut with sheer willpower.
A garden.
It was filled with flowers and trees, but it was entirely different from the forests where the mythical elves were said to have lived. If elven forests embodied raw, untouched nature, this place was a manicured, cultivated version of it.
Flowers and trees lined clean paths in every direction. Vines and grass grew in perfect harmony, without a single weed out of place, making every view look like a masterpiece painting.
It was like something out of a fairy tale. Yes, a fairy tale. And in this fairy-tale land lived beastkin who looked as though they’d stepped right out of one.
Only after they passed through the city walls did Rocheisa finally confirm their location.
“Where are we heading?”
This time, Rocheisa hesitated for a moment before replying, “To the center of Rium.”
Scobina nodded, accepting the answer without suspicion, but then a thought struck her and she turned back.
“What about Aina?”
“The distance between you has only grown a bit wider. Aina is coming safely, so you do not need to worry.”
The answer was unsettling, but Scobina simply followed Rocheisa. As they moved deeper into the city, she thought:
Did they say this nation was underdeveloped?
If one were to ask whether their level of civilization was low, the answer was certainly yes. Their culture was visibly distant from that of humans. However, that did not translate to a lower standard of living.
Take transportation. Humans used carriages to compensate for their slow speed and limited cargo capacity. Nobles enjoyed sky carriages—a form of homunculus transport—while subjugation squads traveled between distant territories using devices called Teleportation Hubs.
In comparison…
The only form of transport Rium seemed to operate was the rickshaw. Its structure wasn't much different from a human one: a cart pulled by two burly male beastkin.
And yet, it was faster than a carriage.
They likely didn’t develop further because they felt no need to. Rium was a nation built on that very premise.
As Scobina followed Rocheisa, she endured the gazes of countless beastkin. Their looks were neither hostile nor friendly, but something ambiguous and hard to define.
After pushing through the sea of eyes and following her inconsiderate kidnapper for what felt like an eternity, the guards who had been accompanying them vanished, leaving just the two of them.
“You must get off here.”
Just as her mind was growing groggy again, she heard Rocheisa’s now-familiar, low voice.
Stepping down from the rickshaw, Scobina stretched slowly and raised her head. At the edge of her vision, the Imperial Palace came into view. This time, her eyes widened in silent awe.
The Imperial Palace floated high in the sky.
It was situated atop a colossal tree.
“Take off your shoes.”
Rocheisa spoke quietly, removing her own leather shoes as an example. Despite the grueling journey, her feet were completely unblemished.
Glancing at her own feet, Scobina followed suit. The two washed their feet in the cold water pooled at the base of the tree, then began walking along a path that wound up its giant roots.
Rocheisa offered no explanation, but Scobina knew the tree’s identity all too well.
It was the reason Rium was also called the Divine Tree Kingdom.
Yggdrasil.
And in the Imperial Palace above…
“You may enter.”
When they finally arrived at the palace entrance, the beastkin guards on duty bowed with disciplined precision. Unlike the border guards, they recognized Rocheisa instantly.
Rocheisa gave a slight nod and stepped inside, with Scobina following silently behind her. They had reached the destination she had been envisioning for days.
“You have worked hard on your long journey, Sir Rocheisa.”
A woman stood elegantly before what appeared to be an altar. She was a stunning beauty with rare black hair that cascaded past her hips.
Black hair…
Black hair was extremely rare. Who else had it? The ancient monster Swallow, for one. And wasn't the leader of the Imperial Knights, a man named Ar, also black-haired?
“…”
Her gaze wasn't entirely suspicious. For a brief moment, Scobina was utterly spellbound. The woman’s features and pale skin were those of a heavenly beauty, one whose splendor outshone any flower.
And then, instinctively, she sensed two things.
“I am the Empress of Rium.”
First, this woman was the mastermind who had ordered her kidnapping.
Second, for a fleeting moment, she felt an ominous energy radiating from her.
An energy just like Swallow’s.
Phase. 10
An energy like Swallow's.
As the Empress smiled, that familiar, dreadful energy brushed against her skin.
Unable to control her expression, Scobina unconsciously glared and bit her lip. The energy was faint. Unlike Swallow, who constantly exuded a suffocatingly potent aura, this was so subtle that Scobina wondered if she had imagined it.
Perhaps she had. The moment the smile vanished from the Empress’s face, the energy disappeared completely.
Startled, Scobina glanced at Rocheisa, but her expression was unchanged. She merely stared straight ahead with those sharp eyes of hers.
Did she not feel it? Was it so faint that only I, who have stood before Swallow countless times, could barely perceive it? Or was the pure energy radiating from Yggdrasil masking that dark aura?
“I am Scobina, Chief Deputy of the Leprechaun Merchant Guild.”
As the silence stretched, Scobina finally bowed politely. In response, the black-haired Empress lifted the hem of her skirt in a slight curtsy.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Pestilencia Piel Carolina. Please forgive my rudeness.”
Rudeness, my ass.
If a late introduction was rude, then kidnapping her was a crime worthy of death. The moment their introductions were over, Scobina’s eyes narrowed.
Perhaps sensing the hostility, Empress Pestilencia continued smoothly.
“Miss Scobina.”
“Yes.”
“I am the one who requested you be brought here by force. Please, do not direct your resentment toward Sir Rocheisa.”
“…”
“I apologize for having to resort to such methods out of necessity.”
“I believe you are using the phrase ‘out of necessity’ incorrectly.”
“No, it was necessary,” Rocheisa cut in.
The moment Scobina retorted, Rocheisa, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward to glare at her. Her sharp pupils were like a snake’s, just as they had been when they first met.
No, perhaps they were the eyes of a crocodile.
“Once we realized your guild was spying on Rium, we had no choice but to take this path.”
“…”
They found out?
Fearing her anxiety would show if she let her guard down, Scobina forced the corners of her mouth into a smile. She had given clear orders to monitor from several kilometers away with the utmost caution. How had they been caught? Damn it, she didn't have the luxury to analyze the cause right now.
“Sir Rocheisa.”
“…My apologies.”
The Empress’s single word dissipated the uncomfortable atmosphere in an instant. Bowing her head, Rocheisa stepped back.
Only then did Scobina realize there were other gazes fixed on her from behind—fierce, unfamiliar presences, fitting for a nation of beastkin.
There were two… three…
“Would everyone please leave us?”
At Pestilencia’s command, the presences vanished. Scobina assumed those gazes belonged to the knights of Rium known as the Holy Fire. This was the Imperial Palace, the Empress’s personal chambers atop the sacred Yggdrasil. The only ones who could stand behind the master of this room and observe were her personal guard.
Dismissing them was the Empress’s way of showing consideration. It also meant she had no intention of wasting any more time on trivial posturing.