I've Got A Mana Processor In A Magic World-Chapter 61: The Freeborn

The early part of the journey was mostly quiet, with Zephyr and Rita keeping to their thoughts. Veronica was surprisingly content to be silent. Since the journey started, she seemed as though she was a totally different person. She had a cold and aloof expression on her face that made it look like she was bored as she stared at the rolling plains through the window next to her.

Zephyr threw her a passing glance before he turned to look out the window on his side.

Her aloofness was jarring. Either she had been warned vehemently by Frederick, or she was putting on a persona as they crept ever closer to their destination. Not that he was complaining— while he had prepared his mind to face Veronica’s antics throughout the journey, this peaceful atmosphere was something he welcomed with open arms. He hoped it could continue this way througho—

"How did you get here?" Veronica suddenly asked, startling Zephyr.

’Fu— Did I just jinx it?’ He cursed inwardly.

He glanced at her and found her staring at him intently. A light scoff nearly escaped his mouth but he caught himself. ’Ha! So she was simply bothered by what I previously said.’

"I don’t remember." Zephyr said morosely, turning his gaze back to the moving landscape.

Veronica’s eye twitched. "Then how do you remember the person you claim is stronger?"

Zephyr looked at her again, taking his time, "What does that person have to do with how I got here?"

"We both know you implied it with your tone. You spoke as if the person were the cause of whatever happened to you and your partner." She said through clenched teeth.

Rita, watching the escalating situation, quickly stepped in, "H— Hey. We haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Why don’t we do that now?" She quickly dragged out some of the supplies from beneath the seats, tossing a loaf of bread Zephyr’s way, preventing him from giving a reply as he made to catch it.

"Father said our journey would be very long, taking at least three days, so he prepared enough supplies for the journey... more than enough even," she chuckled nervously as she rattled on. "So we can eat as much as we want without worrying." She carefully arranged a fresh loaf of bread and a generous portion of roasted meat onto a small, sturdy tray, then extended it to Veronica. novelbuddy-cσ๓

Veronica’s eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at the offering, as if debating its worth. After a tense second, she took the tray, her fingers brushing Rita’s, and began to eat, tearing off a piece of meat with surprising gusto. The action caused Zephyr’s brow to tilt upwards slightly. He’d thought she was going to act pompous yet again and was already prepared to give a remark.

He received the rest of his portion from Rita, thanking her before digging in.

Rita breathed out a sigh of relief at effectively diffusing the rising tension before it got critical. She’d thought her father was exaggerating when he briefed her about the extent of Zephyr and Veronica’s squabbles, but she never knew that even that was being conservative. They looked ready to go at each other’s throats if she hadn’t stepped in.

It was surprising because they’d only just met the previous day, so seeing this was somewhat amusing.

Zephyr saw the small smile on Rita’s lips and could kind of tell what she was thinking, so he decided not to make things too difficult for her for the remainder of the journey. He’d try very hard to be civil with Veronica from here on out.

"What’s the name of the place we’re going to?" He posed a question.

Rita looked towards Veronica for a beat, but when she showed no sign of responding, chewing her meal slowly and looking through her window, Rita replied, "The Freehold Sanctuary. The cradle of our freedom," she said with glittering eyes. "At least that’s what my father called the place."

"Sounds very... official." Zephyr said with a solemn gaze. The fact that he was about to join what seemed like a resistance started to sink in more deeply. But he had no choice. If his identity was ever found out by those in power, he was going to die.

He thought back to the individual that had spent a lot of money to chase them down. Veronica had said she cleaned up his and Smiling Devil’s trails, and judging by her character, he was sure she must have been very thorough and the man was surely dead, along with anyone else that might have had an inkling as to who he was.

He looked up at Veronica and found her staring at him like she could read his thoughts. He could see the seriousness in her eye that told him the extent to which she valued the cause she was fighting for, and how far she was willing to go for it. Zephyr had to look away eventually as her stare became more intense. The carriage dulled back into silence.

.

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The remainder of the day was spent mostly in silence, with the occasional chatter from Rita as she introduced various landmarks they crossed to Zephyr. By the time night fell, they had covered about ninety miles and traveled past four different cities and towns, a testament to the horses’ unusual endurance. They were a special breed. Large and hairless, with scales that covered their whole bodies and made their rippling muscles even more pronounced. Their scales glistened in the moonlight as they drank from the creek not too far from where the company camped for the night. The two coachmen who had driven them the whole way started up a fire and proceeded to pitch the tents they were all going to sleep in for the night. All but Madam Veronica who stayed behind in the carriage.

Zephyr struck up a conversation with the two gentlemen who had set up the tents for them, and learned their names—Jim and Dirk. They had been working for Frederick for years and had recently joined the Freeborn— the name adopted by members of the Freehold Sanctuary— and that this was the fourth time they were journeying to Freehold.

"What’s the place like?" Zephyr asked, eliciting a grin from Dirk. "Well, you gonna see it ain’t you? Don’t wanna ruin the surprise for you now." He gave a knowing look to his colleague, Jim, making Zephyr and Rita even more curious.

"Can you do magic?" Zephyr asked instead since they were being mysterious.

"Haha!" Jim chuckled. "Well, you can’t join the Freeborn if you don’t know how to cast magic now, right? That’s common sense." He looked at Zephyr quizzically.

Zephyr frowned slightly, ’Oh? It seems these guys weren’t briefed about my identity.’ He looked at the scales that now covered his arms as a result of the illusion spell embedded into the necklace he wore. The men probably saw him as one of them, at most, a talented kid being recruited into the fold.

It made him wonder about the arrangements at this Sanctuary. How free was he going to be? Who would know his true identity? Already it seemed only those high up in the sanctuary hierarchy were going to know who he truly was.

"Yeah. I was just joking." Zephyr laughed nervously, trying to cover up his ignorance. "When do you think we’ll be getting there?" He quickly changed the subject. The two coachmen didn’t seem to see anything wrong and replied without suspicion, "If we make good time like today, without any run-ins with bandits and the like to slow us down, I reckon we’ll be there by noon the day after tomorrow."

Zephyr nodded, glad to have successfully shifted their attention. They moved on to other topics as Rita stirred a pot of broth bubbling over the open fire. They ate their fill for the night before retiring to bed. Another day of traveling was ahead of them.