“Oh, and this magic will be broken in a few minutes.”

At my words, both Leon and Victor froze. We both let out an “eh”.

“Could you not have told me that sooner!”

The prince urged his horse to run as he yelled at me angrily. We went after him. Rai also possessed a lot of endurance for a lion.

Well, I guess that was partly because we weren’t moving that fast when we entered this forest….

The bear was a little perplexed that we left it behind, but we didn’t have time to worry about it now. After some time, it would be free and not have to worry about being bound.

“Are you sure we should be going in this direction?”

“I can’t be wrong.”

Victor brushed off Leon’s concern, and turned his gaze towards me.

“The prince’s intuition is sharper than an animal’s, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“You’ve been undermining him for a while now, if anything.”

“Oh my, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“How can this guy be so disrespectful to someone like me?”

The prince tried to interrupt our conversation, but his horse’s footsteps were so loud that it was hard to hear him.

Running on bad footing jolted my entire body and used all sorts of muscles. Rai was fairly stable, but even so, his movement made my vision unsteady.

…It was remarkable how animals could have such amazing, dynamic vision. I could now understand why they were better than humans at perceiving what was going on around them.

“It should be all right by now.”

The prince slowed down his horse’s running speed a bit. We escaped from the bear, but we saw many dangerous insects and animals on our way here. Unlike the Forest of Death, this forest was teeming with dangerous creatures.

It was the most dangerous to stay still. We had to climb up the cliffs as soon as possible.

Leon and I silently followed the prince.

We heard a sound coming from the direction we were traveling in. Our fear grew stronger as we heard the ominous sound.

It took a lot of courage to walk in an unknown place. If one of us gets lost, we would have to fight our way out alone. …I had only felt this kind of tension when I had first entered the impoverished village.

Victor suddenly stopped his horse. Ahead of us was a wall of rocks. We couldn’t go any further.

“Up here!”

Victor’s voice echoed quietly. I lifted my head and looked at the wall.

I didn’t expect it to be this high. There didn’t seem to be any places to rest on the way up, and it was going to be a physical challenge.

“If we fall, we’re finished.”

I nodded at Leon’s words.

…I was supposed to come back after retrieving Maddie. Before this, I had been studying at the academy for a while. It was a strange feeling. At that time, I couldn’t even begin to imagine going to Ravaal country.

“I guess we’ll just have to leave these guys here and climb.”

Victor dismounted from his horse and immediately began preparing to climb.

I was really setting myself up to die, going up without a lifeline. It made me wonder if the world would be a little different without me.

“Are you scared?”

Perhaps sensing my uneasiness, Victor looked at me with a smirk.

Trying not to appear weak, I smiled and said, “No way”.

“…You’re really not a very nice woman at all.”

“Did you want me to be scared?”

“No, I think you’re an amazing woman for staying strong in a situation like this.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to Victor’s honest praise.

Whenever I was with Victor, I always felt like I should be prepared to die trying something.

It was the same with our last expedition.

…After all, it was in a place called The Forest of Death, you know. I wouldn’t even think of going there for sightseeing.

“You?”

Victor looked at Leon, who answered calmly and without a hint of fear.

“I am used to being on the verge of death on a regular basis.”

What a power statement. It was not a line you would expect to hear from a fourteen-year-old.

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