Taming The Villainesses

Episode 279.1

The land of Angmar was quite vast.

So, it wasn’t uncommon to spend more than a month traveling between regions by carriage.

It usually takes three weeks to travel from the royal capital, Monarch City, to the city of witches where the martial festival was being prepared.

Of course, that’s if the carriage runs nonstop. If we stop occasionally at villages or cities along the way to feed the horses and take breaks ourselves, it typically takes around a month.

“Fortunately, we won’t need to drive the carriage tirelessly. We’ll use the teleportation gate to shorten our journey.”

At my explanation, Mirna’s face lit up.

“Can Sir Theo use teleportation magic too?”

She’s probably relieved that she didn’t have to go through the grueling month-long carriage journey.

I replied.

“I can’t use it perfectly yet, but I’ve learned enough by watching Queen Aira.”

I’ve seen Aira operate the teleportation gate twice.

I’ve got a rough idea of the incantations, the number of phrases, and the total amount of mana required.

Srrrrk.

I stepped onto the magic circle of the teleportation gate installed in the palace, placed my hand on the floor, and infused it with mana.

Wuuuuuung.

The teleportation gate began to operate with a strange sound, almost like a machine.

As I gently closed my eyes, I could see the coordinates of the teleportation gates across the world that’s connected to the palace’s, flickering like candles.

Finding the coordinates for the City of Witches, ‘Sandora,’ wasn’t difficult. I just had to choose the one farthest north, at the very end from Monarch City.

Is this it?

The coordinates for the City of Witches, Sandora, were marked by a spider-shaped flame—the symbol of Tarantera and the Witch Council, so I was eventually able to find it.

“Huh?”

“Sir Theo, is there a problem?”

“One moment.”

Just as Mirna said, a problem had arisen.

Even with the coordinates, I didn’t feel the connection between the gate here in Angmar Palace and the gate in the city of Sandora.

Could it be an issue with my proficiency since it was my first time using the teleportation gate?

No, it didn’t seem like that.

If I had to pinpoint it, it was more like a blockade.

Yes, a blockade.

It seemed like the magic signal I’m sending was being blocked unilaterally from the city of Sandora.

Though I wasn’t sure what was going on, I could guess that the gate in Sandora was closed.

「You have calmly judged the situation!

You have gained experience points through the talent 《Calm Thinking》.

All job experience +5」

Then where’s the nearest northern gate?

With my eyes closed, I searched in my mind’s eye for the teleportation gate closest to Sandora.

The nearest place was a river city called ‘Big River.’ I heard it was a city that developed from river ferries.

Its symbol was the fish of the Riverford family.

However, this gate wasn’t connecting either.

As a result, I had no choice but to end my meditation and inform Mirna and Professor Stella of the situation.

“The connection to the teleportation gate is being blocked. It feels like the northern cities have shut down their gates and aren’t allowing access. I’m not sure what’s going on.”

“……?”

Mirna blinked, seemingly not understanding. The one who responded was the elf, Professor Stella, who was thoughtfully stroking her chin.

“Now that you mention it, I’ve heard that bandits have been rampant in the north recently. It might be because of that. The Black Robes, specifically.”

The Black Robes.

The name conjured images of black-masked bandits dressed in long robes, appearing before my eyes only to vanish quickly. They were among the most significant problems plaguing Angmar.

It was said that the Bellhawk family was backing their activities.

Opal Bellhawk procured numerous experimental subjects and illegal items from them, and in return, they received money and supplies from the Bellhawk family—a give-and-take arrangement.

Now that Opal was dead and the Bellhawk family was undergoing a major restructuring, I had heard that the Black Robes was also going through a period of purging.

And now these scoundrels were causing trouble in the north?

As I furrowed my brow slightly, Stella spoke.

“With the martial festival and everything, we’ve been sending a ton of supplies up north. Plus, thanks to Her Majesty’s whims, there’s been a significant increase in the supply and provisions going to the wall. Where there’s honey, there’s bees and nymphs.”

Mirna chimed in, as if she had grasped the situation.

“So, because so many supplies are being transported up north, more bandits have started targeting the supply wagons. I get it.”

“Mirna-yang, you’re quick to understand. I like that.”

[T/N: ‘-yang’ is used to refer to or address a female listener who is younger or lower than oneself]

And that, of course, meant there was no way to avoid it—we would have to ride the carriage all the way to the wall.

* * *

Carriages in this world correspond to the cars of the world I originally lived in.

Just as some wealthy individuals in my old world flaunted their cars as symbols of status, the nobles in this world displayed their wealth by showing off how magnificent their carriages were.

For instance, take Kasim, who rode a chariot pulled by two white elephants—that would be a fitting example.

In that sense, Aira was quite modest. She preferred to walk rather than ride in a carriage.

In the first place, if the distance was far enough to need a carriage, she would probably be too lazy to go…. Because of this, I also haven’t had many opportunities to ride in an exceptional carriage.

Fwirr!

The creature that appeared before me was a very fine and splendid-looking beast, even to me who was a novice when it came to carriages.

White feathers, a golden beak, sharp eyes, and legs like pillars, its powerful front claws and the wings on its back added to its imposing appearance.