Chapter 681 (2/2)

Likely out of annoyance and childish anger, Alta had given up on skipping and switched to running as she opened up some space between the carriages. Although Lucretia was wearing a long, plain dress, the young girl’s speed was nothing to her. Within twenty seconds, she felt the wind and… caught it. It was hard to explain, and Lucretia understood it was a Skill, of a kind. But immediately the energy of the world filled her and she could arrive next to Alta without much work.

That was the trick of the magic here. It was not truly yourself growing, although that was one way it was understood. Lucretia knew that was foolish. What you were truly doing was borrowing a fraction of Randidly’s power that animated the world. As soon as she had this realization, Lucretia seemed able to freely learn the “special skills” reclusive experts had taught her, on the dime of Imnor.

“You are getting faster,” Lucretia teased as she caught up with Alta.

The girl pouted, but it was only play acting. When Alta suspected Lucretia’s guard had been lowered, she screeched and leapt towards Lucretia’s legs in the hopes of tripping her. Although she could have dodged, Lucretia allowed the young girl to tangle her legs and knock her to the ground. All the while, she was very aware of how gentle she was.

The two of them rolled around and wrestled for a while. But there was only so many openings that Lucretia could leave for Alta to “take advantage of”. Very soon, it became impossible to pretend like she wasn’t capable of overpowering the younger girl.

With the straight face she used around the rest of the family, Lucretia stood while holding Alta upsidedown by her ankles. “Apologies for tripping miss. To prevent you from injuring yourself, I will carry you for the remainder of the trip.”

“No!” Alta bellowed, but she was giggling furiously and clawing at Lucretia’s dress to get a grip. “Put me down! I’ll have you fired if you don’t!”

“Of course,” Lucretia intoned monotonously, dumping the girl unceremoniously on her head. This caused Alta to howl in anguish, but then her giggles overtook her again. They played this game a lot, and both of them knew their parts.

After being dropped, Alta settled on the ground and looked up at the sky. Part of the effects of the electromagnetic radiation of this place was the miniature climates formed above each of the seven lands in the tree. Right now, it was a bright and warm late afternoon in the finest countryside the Spriggit Land had to offer. But Lucretia barely noticed. Her eyes were locked on that blooming karma in the girl’s chest.

“Am I special?” Alta asked. From Lucretia’s time on Tellus, granting wishes, she heard a familiar note in the girl’s voice: longing.

As Lucretia considered how to answer, she felt pity for the girl. Given everything she could ever desire, but rarely anything she needed. Her father was busy, her mother dead. Her older brother loved her dearly but was driven hard by Imnor to inherit the business. There was always something else that they should be doing so that Alta barely had the time to have meals with them.

Vacations like these where Alta got to spend time with her father and brother were rare. And even now, Imnor considered this a good opportunity to bond with his son, so he had left his two daughters and his nagging younger wife behind to find some peace hunting.

Perhaps no one was at fault, but Alta was the one who was forced to understand why everyone looked at her with jealousy, but she was always so sad.

“Yes,” Lucretia said quietly with glowing violet eyes.

Alta sat up and looked at her with a mock serious face. It always made her laugh because it was an impeccable impersonation of Imnor’s butler. “Creta, I do believe we pay you to perform that task.”

Both women giggled, and Lucretia reached down and ruffled Alta’s hair. But then her hand paused. Lucretia’s eyes narrowed.

In a fluid motion, her dress was ripped open from behind as she spread her ‘talons’. The two strange wing bones were about as thick as a wizened plum, but they were almost three meters long and all muscles. As her outer clothes fell away, the skin-tight leather armor she always wore beneath was revealed.

Lucretia’s gaze turned to the West. “Alta, we need to get back to the carriage.”

The air smelled like blood.