?Boxed in from all sides by convoy carriages filled with adventurers, Haruki was finally on his path to Daria. To further strengthen his security two female members of the shadow des were traveling with him inside his oakwood carriage. Thest one of these identical triplets, Ka, was out on foot making good use of her ninja abilities to spy out any possible danger.


    "I''ll soon switch with big sis for surveince duty," Sitting across from Haruki and Asuka, Jenna finally uttered something after an hour of silence. "Fina, Keep Lord Frost safe while we switch."


    "Of course, you don''t need to tell me," Cleaning her kunai, Fina replied without even looking at her sister. "And, don''t forget that I am older than Ka."


    "Keep fooling yourself, she''s a minute older than us both," The quarrel amongst sisters was getting surprisingly deeper. "Just keep our Lord safe, alright?"


    Offering no response to Jenna, Fina began to stack her kunai by her waist belt. Scoffing at her condescending act, Jenna reached for her long dark hair and quickly tied them into a bob. Dressed in an all-ck suit, the girls were as elusive as a shadow. Pulling up her dark mask, Jenna got off her seat and held the door of the racing carriage open.


    "Dammit!" Being sted with scorching steam, she instinctively let out a curse. "The damned tiger is turning the snow into vapor, no wonder it''s scorching hot inside the carriage!"


    The burning w tiger was an indigenous beast of the tundra, however, since food was scarce in thesends, they often passed their lives hibernating in their dens and rarely ventured out into the territories of humans. Thus, it was no surprise that such folly in making it draw a carriage wentpletely unnoticed by everyone.


    "Go switch already, the beast is only helping us by masking us in mist," As if personally offended by her harsh words against the beast, Fina protested against her sister.


    "Aghhhh!" Jenna cried before jumping out of the carriage.


    Having witnessed the sisters'' interaction with each other, Haruki could only imagine how much of a headache it must''ve been for their parents to handle them. However, at the moment he didn''t have the luxury to worry about something so meager. Before getting into the carriage, he had nned to spend his leisure time with Asuka going over his ns as they both took care of their carnal curses. But now with the sister apanying them, draining those levels that Asuka had acquired from someone else had to wait a while longer.


    "Fina! I told you not to fight with Jenna again!" Jumping into the carriage and instantlyining was thest of the triplets, ka.


    "Mhnmm," Fina continued to ignore the presence of her sisters.


    As her eyes met Haruki''s, she felt extremely embarrassed by her unprofessional behavior. Getting to her knees, she held her arm over her heart before looking up at him.


    "Apologies my lord, I shouldn''t be shouting in your presence," Taking a closer look at her tanned face, Haruki noticed a pair of light wounds around her neck.


    "It''s okay, but how did you get hurt?" He asked before gesturing Asuka to address to her wounds.


    While getting healed by Asuka, Ka exined how there were monsters roaming around the tundra and while fighting one such creature she was slightly injured around the neck by a projectile.


    ''It''s been so long since I''ve been out in the open that Ipletely forgot about monsters and such.'' Remembering a time when he used to defend his field from kobolds and goblins, a genuine smile crept onto his face. ''I wouldn''t mind fighting a few myself.''


    "Lord Frost, if you do not mind, can I ask you something?" Ka''s sudden interruption broke Haruki''s chain of thoughts.


    Looking at her, he noticed a childlike glimmer in her dark eyes.


    "Sure, go ahead," he answered, a bit curious as to what she wanted to ask.


    Enthusiastically mping her hands, she leaned forward. Seeing her getting close to Haruki, Asuka quickly yet gently pushed her back into the seat.


    "Ah-Ahem! Sorry, ehehe," Her response only made him wonder if she was really the oldest one of the bunch. "Have you met the emperor? Or maybe gone to Feralnd? Maybe even to Scorchen Gaia?"


    Her peculiar line of questions drew everyone''s eyes directly to her. It wasn''t that she had said something odd, or even slightly strange, but the implication those questions carried made everyone visibly ufortable.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Sis, miss Asuka is a demi-fox, I don''t think you should be asking such questions in front of her," Giving her sister a stern look, Fina tightly clutched Ka''s arm.


    Turning her attention to Asuka, Ka sped her hands apologetically.


    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to!" Smiling at Ka, Asuka looked away to the other side.


    "It''s okay, only feral demi-humans live there," The hushed tone of her voice bled hurt, but hiding it behind a smile she kept going. "Besides, the emperor will soon take over that ce so it''d be one with the empire anyways."


    Despite the Feralnds being the homnd of demi-humans, Asuka herself had never lived there. With the generosity she''d been given in As, she had little connection to the ce, and yet for some obscure reason, the thought of those demi-human children being torn to shreds in the war with the empire, bleed her heart to no end.


    "As for the emperor, no, I haven''t seen him, and thest news about Scorchen Gaia I received was about the esction of our war with the demons," saying that Haruki was reminded of Asmodia and how little she''d been interfering with him in recent days. "However, since we''re nowhere near their of the demon lords, it''s bound to go on for a lot longer."


    ''Why the hell does she wanna know all this anyways?''


    "Really?!" Ka enthusiastically yelled out.


    "Settle down, you politics nerd!" tearing up a piece of cloth Fina stuffed into her gaping mouth.


    "Pfft!" watching the interaction from the edge of her eyes, Asuka let out a chuckle.


    Shattering their sense of security, an abrupt decline in the carriages'' speed, raised suspicion in everyone''s eyes. To everyone''s knowledge, the carriages weren''t supposed to stop until they''d passed the tundra, thus the sudden change of ns heightened their sense of caution.


    "Stay behind us," Moving in front of Haruki, the two sisters clutched the door to prevent it from being opened.


    Getting off the seat, Asuka opened the coachman''s window at the front. To her terror, she only saw the tiger with no sight of the coachman. Turning around, her eyes nervously jittered as her mind searched for any answers.


    "Asuka, what''s happening?" Noticing the fazed look on her, Haruki shook her by the arms.


    "The coachman...he''s not there, and I don''t see the other carriages either!" Snapping out of her trance of terror, she began to calm down a little.


    "What do you mean? We are in the middle carriage, they can''t be far f-"


    Interrupting him was a rhythmic knock on the carriage door. ncing back at Haruki, Ka motioned him to stay at the very back.


    "Fina, use it," She whispered to her sister.


    "I know, detect presence!" Upon the activation of her ability, a dome of green light sprouted from her body and epassed everything in her close proximity. "No...No way..."


    Frozen solid as if she had seen a ghost, Fina red at thin air with her eyes wide open.


    "It''s thenterned reaper!" Springing up onto her feet, she drew deep shallow breaths and began to hyperventte. "We''re stranded in an illusion all on our own!"