Sera flinched her shoulders. She looked like she just lost her soul.
“It’s Ian’s fault for not timing it right.”
He was thinking the old saying, reap what you sow. Thinking about Ian who must be crying out loud at the mansion, Riley put a bitter smile on his face as he walked.
“Y… Young Master? Are you really going to just leave here?”
“It cannot be helped.”
As he said, it was impossible for Nainiae to go back to the mansion right now and bring Ian.
“Still…”
“Nothing will get solved by us hesitating and standing around here. It would be better for us to move. As for Ian, we can contact the mansion during the dinner time.”
Riley muttered as he looked around the area. He breathed out long.
The frosted breath made it look as if he was smoking.
Looking at the long, frosted breath coming out, Riley seemed satisfied. He tightened the scarf on his neck a little.
“Anyway, this place is pretty nice.”
The place they arrived through Nainiae’s Teleportation magic was a wide-open field that was covered in snow.
It was not snowing right now. However, perhaps because it was snowing until just now… the field in front of Riley’s eyes was white and soft snow field.
“Hwuaaaaaa…”
Like Riley, Sera tried blowing out the frosted breath. Sera put on a bright look on her face after realizing the scenery late.
“… It is.”
No matter where they looked, everywhere was white.
Sera enjoyed the sound of the snow being crushed as she walked. She turned the bag on her back toward Nainiae and asked,
“Nainiae, can you please bring out the map from my bag?”
“A map?”
“Yes. It is probably already sticking out from the bag. It is rolled up.”
Nainiae approached the bag and found the map that was sticking out like a tongue. She drew the map from the bag and opened it.
“Did you pull it out?”
“Yes.”
Nainiae answered as she opened the map. Sera turned around to look at the map together.
“Can you guess where we are?”
Although they moved instantly using the Teleportation, Sera thought it would be best to confirm for sure about their current location, so she asked Nainiae.
“Um…”
It seemed Riley was also curious about the current location. He stopped looking around for a moment and joined them.
“I think we are around here.”
They were at quite a distance from the Iphalleta mansion and the Solia Castle.
The area around where Nainiae pointed was surrounded by mountains. The area didn’t have a name.
“…”
Riley was looking at the part that Nainiae pointed with her finger. Before anyone realized, he was furrowing his brows.
‘It was near?’
He was not sure if this was just a coincidence, but Riley found words that read ‘Duke Philisneon Manor’ not far from where they were on the map. This was why.
* * *
Podududuk.
Podududuk.
Thanks to the magic that Nainiae used, they had been stepping on snow. Still, they were able to walk without slipping or falling. The group found a suitable place to rest, so they started to unpack there.
“… Is he planning on walking aimlessly and going back?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m talking about the Young Master.”
Of the two maids who were getting the dinner ready, Sera opened her mouth first and asked. Nainiae flinched and said,
“… I am not sure?”
From what Sera just said, Nainiae noticed that Riley must have not told Sera the truth about the trip. Nainiae pretended to be busy and worked on the potato she was handling.
“Well, he is going through the puberty, so I can understand something like this.”
“Puberty?”
This wasn’t something like puberty.