The Returnee Wants Peace

In the deep sinking voice, the anguish and conflicts that Cassis had experienced so far were felt.

As if to grasp even a single clue, his gaze carefully scrutinized her expression, and Rosha nodded slightly, meeting his gaze.

“Of course. That’s for sure.”

Suddenly thrown into another world, it’s impossible to tell the entire journey back home here.

But despite experiencing many things, she is still Roshanak Aper, and his younger sister, which hasn’t changed.

Having confirmed the confident gaze, Cassis checked the carriage with a light sigh where his uncle was on, just as his close servant climbed onto the coachman’s seat, a little after his uncle left.

Now they must approach the carriage slowly otherwise they will really be late.

Cassis seemed to have realized that too.

“…It’s driving me crazy. Let’s go.”

His tone was much softer than before.

* * *

There was a small space near the rear wheel of the carriage for unloading luggage.

Just before the departure of the carriage, Rosha and Cassis, who safely sat there, rode in silence for half a day.

‘Seeing the altitude gradually increasing, we’ll arrive soon.’

Rosha thought, adapting to the jolting motion of the carriage. According to what she learned beforehand, the rift was located in the steep rocky area to the southwest of the territory.

In other words, it means they will soon have to carry out the ‘Anomaly Verification’ quest.

‘The quest to close the rift before the magical beasts emerge… Simply thinking, it’s about absorbing the surrounding magic and using that power to seal the crack, but things won’t be resolved that easily.’

Rosha didn’t forget that she was subjected to ‘hard mode.’

Certainly, unexpected situations will occur, and the success or failure of this quest will depend on how they handle that moment.

‘I also have to be concerned about Cassis’s safety.’

It’s best not to bring him to dangerous places, but since they came together, protecting him is the priority.

Therefore, dozens of plans for unforeseen situations were floating and being recombined in her mind.

Then,

-We need to get down now.

Cassis, noticing the slowing carriage, mouthed.

He showed no emotion about what happened before boarding the carriage, except for occasionally staring at her intensely.

‘Once this task is over, it would be good to talk to some extent.’

Although she can’t tell everything, she had roughly thought about how to explain it on the way here.

Following Cassis, Rosha jumped down from the carriage at the right moment. It wasn’t possible to completely silence the sound of their steps, but it was easily masked by the sound of horseshoes and rolling carriage wheels.

Eventually, the carriage stopped.

The uncle stuck his head out of the window, and his servant, who had been silently driving the carriage until now, spoke.

“From now on, this is a managed area, so you have to walk. The road is also narrow.”

“Ah, understood.”

Watching them move, Rosha and Cassis, hiding in the bush, exchanged glances. They hadn’t realized the strange relationship between the uncle and the servant until now since they hadn’t spoken a word.

Besides, a managed area?

“What are they saying now? It’s the first time I’ve heard that our territory has such an area?”

Cassis, muttering skeptically, carefully followed them as they retreated. His movements were nimble and light like a skilled hunter.

Rosha, wary of being discovered, meticulously stepped only where he stepped as she closely followed him.

How long had they moved?

Having passed through the suddenly narrowed path and entering the sparsely populated rocky area, they began to hear someone’s stern voice.

“I had high expectations for you Bjorn… but after the last incident, the young master was very disappointed. You boasted about having control over the Count Aper’s household, yet you couldn’t even track Cedric Aper’s movements properly. Thanks to that, the second young master and I had to take a fruitless trip.”

“That, that is…”

Peeking between the rocks obscuring her view, Rosha saw a familiar knight standing in front of the head-hung uncle.

It was the knight escorting Heres Lycaon when he visited last time.

‘No wonder he had the genuine Necklace of Suggestion… He seems to be one of the core figures in the Marquis’s house.’

Seeing uncle’s close attendant also standing behind that man, it seemed that Marquis Lykaon had quite an interest in her family.

But for what reason?

While she was mulling over, the conversation continued.

“But the merciful Marquis decided to give you another chance. He also bestowed a powerful item anew.”

“Oh…”

“He said that if the engagement goes well, the item would be yours, so you must do it properly this time.”

“It may be possible. There will be no problem this time. But…”

Suddenly, the uncle, whose voice was full of desire, pointed somewhere and asked.

“The place where the unknown power called magical power contained in this necklace emanates… is that the place, correct?”

“Yes. You see it for the first time. It’s our new source of magic power.”

Source of magic power. That’s a dangerous idea.

Rosha leaned just enough to confirm the place the uncle pointed at without getting caught, and then she found it.

A small clearing where about half a dozen people gathered.

In the center of it, a black crack stood vertically, almost unbelievably.

It seemed to be about 3 meters high, and from within it, a rich stream of magic flowed out, faint enough to appear as a mirage.

It was a rift.

“What the heck…”

Cassis, who saw the same thing, mumbled, forgetting the situation. But Rosha had no chance to reply.

And understandably so, as a blue window appeared as if it had been waiting for this moment.

Sudden Quest Alert!

Due to the hard mode effect, the demonic beast appears sooner than expected. Hurry and eliminate the demonic beast to ensure the territory’s safety!

At the same time, the calm surface of the rift began to tremble slowly. Seeing that, Rosha slightly opened her mouth.

Hey, forget about the  source of magic power and get out!

Otherwise, you’ll all die!

She wanted to scream to run as far as possible right away.

However, Marquis Lykaon was a clear enemy targeting her family for some reason. Although she didn’t take human life lightly, risking danger to save an enemy was another matter.

Rosha hesitated. That fleeting moment separated life from death for them.

Something sharp suddenly shot out from the rift and pierced through the chest of a nameless knight in an instant.

“Aaargh!”

The knight, who became a victim of the unknown demonic beast, soared high before falling down.

Everything happened so quickly that people’s reactions were slow. Only the knight who had been conversing with her uncle earlier managed to draw his sword with a horrified expression.

“Everyone, snap out of it! There’s something unknown here!”

“Draw your swords!”

The three knights guarding near the rift finally came to their senses and drew their swords. Holding weapons seemed to give them some relief, as they cautiously guarded the vicinity while hiding their fear, looking quite knightly.

However, in front of the giant demonic beast slowly emerging from the rift, any ordinary human’s will would shatter.

“That’s… Oh no, we are surely going to die…”

“It’s a demon, surely a demon…!”

Pushing through the hesitating knights who were backing away, what appeared was a beastly demonic beast with a mane and a metallic tail.

Its entire muscular body had teeth and claws that were sharp beyond normal, and from the sharp blade at the end of its tail, the blood of the first victim dripped.

Kwaaaaaaa!!

The roar of the demonic beast, easily taller than a human, hurt their ears.

The remaining ones tried somehow to survive, but to no avail. Although the body seemed to accept a sword if aimed well, the blades broke easily when clashing with the claws.

“Aaah!”

“Save me…”

In the end, the demonic beast rampaged near the rift and easily killed the few knights and what seemed to be a researcher.

“Kuh… Was it a hole from which a demon comes out…”

And the last knight who was most skilled.

Now, only the uncle remained, who had shivered while taking shelter under a large rock.

“Ugh… Don’t come! Don’t come!!”

As if to mock the raging uncle, the demonic beast approached him with leisurely movements.