Chapter 49: The Departure
The next morning, Malrik, Eliza, and Lily left the Duke’s palace behind them, dressed in clothes plain enough to belong to any ordinary noble traveling without fanfare. Waiting at the gate was a carriage pulled by two horses — nothing like the polished, crested vehicle he’d ridden with Eliza before. This one was simple. Practical. No banner. No serpent crest anywhere on it.
The driver looked barely older than Malrik himself. The moment he spotted them, he hopped down from his seat and offered a respectful bow.
"Greetings, my lord. My name is Colin. I’ll be handling the carriage the entire way to Blackthorn."
"Good to meet you, Colin. I’ll be trusting you to get us there safely."
"Don’t worry, my lord. This isn’t my first trip to Blackthorn."
At least someone here sounds confident about this.
Malrik climbed inside, taking a seat across from Eliza and Lily as the carriage lurched into motion, aimed toward their first destination — the Marquisate of Ashmoor.
It took approximately four minutes for the enclosed space to become a problem.
Malrik shifted for the third time, acutely aware of how small a carriage interior became when one of the passengers happened to radiate the kind of presence that made the air itself feel crowded.
Lily caught the movement and offered him a reassuring smile — the kind of smile a queen gives a nervous subject.
"There’s no need to worry, my lord. One Fallen-Rank Morveth accompanied by a few thousand Awakened-Rank Morveths is hardly worth worrying about."
She examined her own nails with mild disinterest.
"If I used even five percent of my strength, I could erase every threat on this road without breaking stride."
Malrik studied her for a long moment, thinking privately about the same demon who’d gone pale-faced and sweating against a single Awakened Spider Queen not a few days ago.
This is definitely the same person.
"...Of course it would," he said out loud, with exactly enough sincerity to be polite and exactly enough restraint not to laugh.
Eliza smiled warmly. "Don’t worry, Young Master. I know you can do this."
"I need air," he standed abruptly, and climbed straight through the carriage roof to the driver’s bench before either woman could object.
Behind him, Eliza and Lily exchanged a brief, pointed look — the universal language of two people silently agreeing to blame the other for whatever had just happened.
Malrik settled beside Colin on the driver’s bench, exhaling properly for the first time since leaving the estate.
"Colin, right?"
"That’s right, my lord. I’m glad you remembered."
"Where are you from?"
"Redmont Barony, my lord."
Malrik raised an eyebrow. "I heard Redmont was peaceful. Quiet. Doesn’t sound like the kind of place that produces people who do dangerous work like this."
Colin laughed, a little self-deprecating. "Redmont is peaceful, my lord that’s correct. But peace is a blessing and a curse, all at once."
"We can’t earn a living hunting Morveth the way most territories do. There’s simply nothing dangerous enough around to hunt. So we find other ways to make coin. Transporting passengers is one of them."
Malrik nodded slowly, working through the logic.
Hunters everywhere else sell monster parts — weapon materials, alchemical ingredients, everything harvested from a corpse. That’s a whole economy built on danger.
Who would have guessed peace could actually hurt people financially.
"That must be difficult."
"We’ve grown used to it, my lord. Honestly, it’s probably far safer than the alternative."
Malrik glanced sideways at him. "How did you know I was a noble, if you never learned my name?"
"I was told to transport a noble from House Vesperion to Blackthorn Barony, my lord. That’s all the information I was given. I don’t know your name — may I have the honor of asking?"
"Just call me ’my lord.’ That’s fine."
Colin nodded without pressing further, and Malrik shifted the topic before the silence could grow awkward.
"I noticed you’re avoiding certain routes. Any particular reason?"
"I’m steering clear of anywhere Morveth might corner us, my lord."
"Do you know what Rank they usually are around here?"
"Mostly Mortal. Awakened, if we drift too close to the Bloodmire Forest."
Malrik considered that for a moment.
"From here on, don’t avoid anything. I don’t want you changing the route."
Colin’s shoulders tensed visibly. "...As you command, my lord."
Roughly ten minutes later, they found themselves surrounded by a pack of wild boars — ten of them, snorting and pawing at the dirt, every last one Mortal Rank.
Malrik gave the order without ceremony. Fenrir and the rest of the wolves poured out and finished the job in under a minute.
"Keep driving," Malrik said calmly.
After witnessing the massacre, Colin hesitated for a moment before asking, "Young Master... aren’t we going to collect the mana crystals? I can gather them myself."
Malrik raised an eyebrow.
He had almost forgotten that, to commoners like Colin, even Low-Rank mana crystals were a valuable source of income. A handful of them could feed an ordinary family for quite some time.
In the Duke’s household, however, such crystals were little more than worthless scraps. No one could be bothered to stop and collect them.
"No," Malrik replied. "I don’t want to waste time."
He paused before adding, "Don’t worry. Once we reach Blackthorn, you’ll be paid well."
The pattern repeated for the rest of the day — any Morveth foolish enough to appear was erased before it finished registering as a threat. By the time night fell, they made camp on a modest rise overlooking the road.
Malrik wasn’t satisfied.
A full day, and I’ve only crawled up to Level 47.
Tomorrow we reach Ashmoor. I need Fifty before we get there if I want any chance at the Advancement requirements.
Which means tonight isn’t for sleeping. Tonight’s for actual hunting.
He turned to Eliza.
"Stay with Colin. Protect him if anything happens."
Eliza’s jaw tightened, clearly unhappy about the idea of separating from him, but she nodded anyway. "...Understood, Young Master."
"Lily — you’re with me."
Lily’s entire posture brightened.
"Finally." A pleased, sharp little smile crossed her face. "I’ll get to show off my new strength properly. It’s time to torture — ah, I mean, hunt — a few disgusting insects."
They reached the treeline shortly after, and Malrik immediately found the surrounding area disappointingly thin — nothing worth the time it would take to kill. He made his decision without much hesitation.
Fine. We go in properly.
He raised his hand and summoned everything at once.
Wolves and spiders materialized behind him in a solemn, disciplined line, Fenrir taking the front position, the Spider Queen falling in to his right, Lily settling to his left — wings folded, expression already sharpening into something dangerous.
"Move out."
The entire host surged into the forest as one.
Lizard-shaped Morveth began appearing almost immediately, only to blunder straight into the Spider Queen’s webbing — bodies caught, thrashing, and then rapidly dissolving under a corrosion that didn’t leave much behind to identify. A second wave came from the opposite direction, ready to strike—
—and simply stopped.
They stood frozen mid-charge, then dropped to the ground, screaming, convulsing, clawing uselessly at nothing at all.
Malrik turned toward Lily and found her already in her true form — horned, winged, crimson eyes glowing faintly in the dark, wings spread wide behind her with the unhurried elegance of something that had never once needed to rush a kill.
A sadistic smile curled across her lips—the smile of a predator that delighted in tormenting its prey before finally putting it down.
"...How delightfully pathetic," she whispered, her glowing violet eyes fixed on the lizard as it let out a bloodcurdling scream, its body convulsing violently under the nightmare consuming its mind.
Then, all at once, her smile deepened, and she slowly turned her gaze toward the depths of the forest.
A soft laugh escaped her lips, and She spread her wings ever so slightly.
"Finally...The real hunt begins."