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The carriage floated into the air.
Davian leaned his head out the window.
The carriage floated about 1 meter off the ground.
"Aaaagh!"
The coachman's startled scream echoed from the front of the carriage.
Karin closed her eyes, continuing to manipulate mana with her palms, and shouted to the coachman.
"Keep going! It's nothing serious!"
"A-Alright, alright!"
Driving stagecoaches meant meeting all sorts of people.
From high nobles to wealthy merchants, and even travelers like magicians and swordsmen.
But the coachman had never met a passenger like this before.
She had been grumbling about the carriage shaking, and then she used magic to lift the carriage up.
Her magical control was so precise that the carriage glided smoothly along the mountain path like a boat on a calm lake.
The horses, feeling the reduced weight behind them, picked up their pace even more.
And the one most impressed by Karin's skill was...
Not the coachman, nor Luna, but Davian.
'She can do this with telekinesis?'
To lift the carriage he was in and hold it still in the air.
Okay, Davian could do that too.
But right now, only the vertical axis was fixed.
If Davian had done this, the carriage would have stopped in mid-air and the horses would have fallen backward, but this carriage was smoothly gliding along, receiving the full force of the horses' pull.
'She fixed the height and let the carriage move as it is? This smoothly?'
Davian looked at Karin's face, which was focused with her eyes closed.
'The royal magic department's secret project... She's really something.'
Originally, they had planned to camp for the night, but thanks to Karin's telekinesis, they arrived in Portus City at night.
"Karin. Thanks to you, we avoided camping in the mountains. That was amazing, wasn't it?"
"I just lifted the carriage because my butt was hurting too much."
Mana control. Mana mastery. Magic endurance.
All were top-notch.
Karin had shown something too great to have just done it because her butt hurt a little.
Of course, the carriage had to come back down to the ground after some time, as she couldn't keep the magic going indefinitely.
And.
After several attempts, Davian succeeded in manifesting the same telekinetic magic as Karin.
Anyway, it was possible because Karin had shown it first.
It was something he wouldn't have even tried if it hadn't been for Karin.
Luna asked.
"Where do we go now, Davian?"
"We can't visit the Marquisate at this hour. We'll have to stay in the city overnight."
"It's bustling here even at night."
"It's the largest port city on the continent, after all."
"But Davian. Didn't you say the person we're looking for is a Marquis? A border Marquis, that is. Why do they live in a port city?"
"Because this is the border. Why else would Portus City be the biggest port city?"
"Because it's easy for ships to come and go?"
"That's right. It's a good location for large merchant ships to come and go. In other words, it's also a good place for large warships to come and go."
"Ah..."
Portus City.
The largest port city in Alkancia.
Closest to the Marino Empire, and a place where large ships can come and go thanks to its wide coast and deep waters.
"If there's a war, this place would be the most dangerous, right?"
"That's right."
"So that's why the border Marquis is in the port city... But Karin called her the 'Witch of the Battlefield Espin' earlier, right? Why the Witch of the Battlefield?"
She could ask Karin since Karin said it.
Luna kept bombarding Davian with questions.
On the other hand, Karin looked like she wasn't interested in their conversation at all.
"During the old rebellions of local nobles, Marquis Espin was in the 4th Royal Guard. Ah, of course, she wasn't a Marquis back then."
"And then?"
Luna's eyes sparkled as she continued to ask questions.
It had been so long since she had talked to Davian alone like this.
'Why didn't I approach him sooner?'
Davian was so kind to answer even if she just kept asking questions like this from the side.
Luna was regretting why she had been hovering around him all this time.
"That's the nickname she got back then. Witch of the Battlefield. I heard she led her troops and almost wiped out the nobles who participated in the rebellion."
"Ah... She's an amazing person."
"Well. The royal family would see her as a great knight. To the nobles on the opposite side, she would have been no different from a demon."
"Ah! I guess so. Davian is always objective."
"After the rebellion war, the royal family wanted to appoint Espin as the commander of the 2nd Royal Guard, but Espin requested the title of Marquis instead of the commander's position."
"Wow, that's amazing? The Marquis is much higher, right?"
"It is in title, but it's also a position that everyone shies away from. You have to go to the border and live away from everyone. Even if the title is a bit lower, being by the royal family's side can be more rewarding."
"Ah... So that's why she became a Marquis and came here?"
"I've only heard about it, so I'm not sure."
In fact, Espin became the border Marquis and came to Portus City because of her young daughter.
She was getting thinner and couldn't eat well, but the magicians at the royal medical center couldn't cure her.
Some said it was a mental illness, some said it was a kind of curse, and others said it was cancer and that healing magic should never be used.
So she came to this port city, where goods and people from various continents gathered, to try to cure her daughter herself.
If the capital city of Kanzar is the center of the Pax continent, where the Alkancia Kingdom is located, then Portus City is the center of several continents.
"But Davian. Why are we selling that Venenum Pool here?"
"Marquis Espin's daughter is sick."
"Could it be...! Cancer?"
"Maybe."
If Davian's memory was correct.
Around this time, Espin would have figured out the exact illness of her daughter.
And the period of trying to cure her daughter with methods from various continents.
She would know about the Venenum Pool, but it would be so difficult to obtain that she would only be able to collect small amounts of it with great difficulty.
Davian, who had found a fairly large accommodation, raised his finger.
"Let's stay at that inn tonight."
A fairly large inn and restaurant in the port city of Portus.
Above the door, there was a somewhat old-fashioned phrase: 'Welcome sailors who arrive at the port with the moonlight.'
A place that takes responsibility for the night of sailors who come with the moonlight.
Sailor Moon.
Two men were talking in one corner of the first-floor restaurant.
Steamed fish and beer were on the table.
"Have you heard the news?"
"What news?"
The man leaned his upper body towards the table and lowered his voice.
"It's about the Marquis. I heard she's not in a good mood these days?"
"Really? I shouldn't go near the castle for a while. But why is she like that again?"
"It's because of the young lady."
"Has her condition gotten worse?"
"That's not it."
"Then?"
"I heard that people are gathering from all over, having heard rumors from somewhere. Saying they'll cure the young lady's illness."
The man who was listening to the story shrugged.
"Well, isn't that a good thing? Maybe someone will cure the young lady's illness."
"The problem is that most of the people gathering are flies. They're scammers."
"No, what crazy person would come all the way here to scam the Witch of the Battlefield. Do they have about 30 lives?"
The man lowered his voice even more.
"I heard that several people have already died."
"Isn't that a natural thing? How dare they play around with the young lady's illness without fear."
"But I heard that there's a line of people trying to meet the Marquis."
"Are they fearless or thoughtless?"
"It's probably the expectation that they can get a big fortune if they succeed. They're all here hoping for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The opponent is none other than the border Marquis Espin, after all."
"Indeed. They say the Marquis has an enormous amount of gold and silver treasures piled up in her castle, which she plundered while wiping out pirates, right?"
"What's there to say when the pirates in this area have been wiped out in a few years. They say the amount of treasure is more than the royal palace. Didn't she wipe out an entire pirate crew last week?"
"So that's why the flies are swarming."
Karin, who was listening to the men's conversation, said.
"Hey, Davian. It looks like we might be treated like peddlers?"
"We'll be lucky if we're not treated like scammers."
"Are you still going?"
"Of course. What we have is real."
The next morning.
Davian, Luna, and Karin arrived at the castle of Espin Elaina, the Witch of the Battlefield.
Luna shouted in surprise.
"Are there this many people?"
"There are a lot."
Even though it was early in the morning, there was a long line of people waiting in front of the castle gate, trying to visit the Marquis.
Roughly, there were dozens of people.
They were all people who had gathered to try to cure the Marquis's daughter and get a big score.
Some of them may have thought they could cure her, and some may have come to scam her from the beginning.
"Let's wait and see."
Tring.
A notification sound only audible to Davian.
=====
[Event: Get Recognized by Espin Elaina, the Witch of the Battlefield]
―Reward: 8K Mana Points
―Reward: Increase Espin's Favorability
―Failure: Death
―Accept: Y / N
=====
Davian's eyes widened as he looked at the notification window.
'What kind of event is this?'
It's not even a main quest.
The failure penalty for an event where you can choose whether to accept is death.
On the other hand, the only reward is 8,000 mana points.
Ah, and you get Espin's favorability.
'There's no reason to risk my life just to sell the Venenum Pool and make some money.'
And even if this event doesn't happen, he'll be able to find a way to approach Marquis Espin.
Just as he was about to move his eyes to the right, where the N was.
"Clear the way!"
Creak.
The huge castle gate opened.
A group of people rode out of the castle on horseback.
In the center was a person who looked like she could be called the Witch of the Battlefield.
Espin Elaina.
The Iron Swordswoman.
The Witch of the Battlefield.
A person who boldly obtained the title of Marquis with overwhelming force in a noble society that revolves around men.
She's wearing simple clothes, as if she's just going out for a while.
Huge trapezius muscles support her neck and shoulders.
Her broad shoulders were much wider than most men.
Her muscular arms were thicker than Luna and Karin's waists.
She's a swordswoman, but she has a completely different appearance from Professor Stella Cloud.
That look is like...
"She's the female Nubes."
"Huh?"
"Marquis Espin, I mean. She's the female Nubes."
Luna nodded as if she understood what he meant.
"Ah, yes. I know what you mean. Her body is really amazing..."
Karin added a word.
"Phew. Even the Royal Guard doesn't have a swordswoman with that kind of physique."
The people who were lining up to enter the castle rushed over.
"Marquis! Please look here! I know a way to cure the young lady's illness!"
"Marquis! As for this potion..."
"Marquis! I have the ability to magically heal illnesses just by touching them! It's on a different level from the healing magic of magicians!"
"If you insert this needle into the affected area..."
The man riding a horse right in front of Marquis Espin shouted.
His voice, filled with internal energy, echoed loudly.
"Clear the way! She's going out to the city on urgent business! Anyone who blocks the Marquis's path with a trivial matter will have their head cut off!"
Swish.
Several swordsmen in the front drew their swords.
They looked like they would really cut anyone who blocked the way any further.
Only then did the people who had gathered step back hesitantly.
At that moment.
Luna spread her fingers.
"The person riding behind the Marquis..."
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