10 Departure (2/2)

Master and familiar had a very close relationship. When this contract was forged, there was no way to break it. The servant would live and die by the side of the wizard who summoned it.

But that was not all. The stronger the master's magic, the stronger the familiar would become. Even it's intelligence would change with time, growing to match or even surpass the average human.

However, there was also a downside. Since Morgana was much weaker now, Mordred had been heavily impacted. In fact, for a very long time after transmigrating, she wasn't even capable of summoning it anymore.

....

As soon as the bird left, Morgana and her golems started making their way through the forest, following a route defined by Mordred, where the dangers were less in number and the forest, more open.

After Morgana had traveled for a mile, she suddenly commanded the carriage to stop and looked back one last time.

With a hand gesture a signal was transmitted somewhere else and an explosion from far away echoed through the forest.

It was a habit of the wise to keep his or her secrets close to the chest. After all, information is currency and Morgana was no fool who would give it away for free.

Not only did she destroyed all of the materials she wasn't willing to carry before leaving, but now, with this explosion, even the structure itself was gone.

As such, Morgana honestly believed that even someone as powerful as Saci wouldn't be able to gain anything of value by searching those ruins.

So, with a satisfied smile, the dark wizard turned towards an open scroll on her lap and gave the order for the golems to resume their movement.

....

The scroll was Saci's gift, a crude map which depicted several of the region's landmarks. There was almost no writing, only symbols whose meaning Morgana could vaguely deduce.

”If this is true, that is even more information than I would have dared to ask that guy for. However...”

Could she trust him?

Of course not.

But could she refuse him?

The answer is, most likely, no.

There were two Xs, one marking the position of her base and another somewhere on the margins of what appeared to be a mighty river.

Apparently, Saci intended for her to visit this location.

”If I don't go, this will be taken as an offense, leading a narcissist like him to retaliate without question. This is not an enemy I can afford to make. On the other hand, if I play along and massage his ego, maybe I can even get rewarded. Anyway, at this point, doing nothing means certain death.”

During her youth, Morgana passed through many hardships and ascended to great prominence from a very humble background.

Of course, someone like this was necessarily good at currying favor with those who had more power than her. In the business of power and politics, not knowing how to ”play ball” greatly lowers chances of success.

Thinking about this, Morgana turned towards the only written inscription on this entire map. It was not in any language she knew fluently, yet the wizard immediately understood it's meaning.

After all, she had seen it before.

”To the winner, the potatoes.”