Carriage Talk

Ch 8

POV Charlotte

"Leon."

"Leon."

What is he daydreaming for?

"LEON"

That finally got his attention.

"Oh. Good morning. Didn't see you there."

"Let's get going now."

Beyond Cordon anybody who wasn't affiliated with the academy wasn't allowed. That means we would have to travel on our own. Most people chose to ride horses, as it was the fastest and the cheapest way to travel alone, other than by foot that is. I was just about to do that when I was stopped by Leon.

"Instead of riding on horseback why don't we just use a carriage?"

"A carriage is much slower. Don't you know that?"

"But it is comfortable. This isn't a day trip, riding horses for multiple days straight is definitely exhausting."

He was right. But as a Weapon Specialist I already had stamina that went beyond normal humans. When I was travelling from the Albrecht family territory to Cordon, I continuously rode on horseback for three days without any significant decrease in performance.

"The way from here to the Academy is filled with monsters, having a carriage will make it much harder to protect ourselves. Also, I don't want to expose my real strength, even with no one around."

"Although there are monsters all over these lands, this is still a safe path. How do you think the 1st and 2nd refinement rank warriors reach the institute? Also, why do you want to reach early anyways? The final admission test won't start until the end of next week."

Hearing his arguments, I also relented. Although it wasn't a problem for me to travel by horse, it definitely wasn't as comfortable as travelling in a carriage. Also, even if monsters attacked us, two refinement rank three warriors should be enough to beat them.

"Follow me. I already purchased one in the morning."

So, he already planned on not travelling by horse. What would he have done if I still refused, I wondered.

He led me to a sleek, white carriage standing in the shadow of the city walls.

"It's way too fancy." Clearly it was an expensive model.

"It's not like any of us is short on money right?"

"Still. I prefer to be lowkey. Riding in something like this is sure to attract unwanted attention in the academy."

"Didn't you agree because you wanted comfort? This is the only one with Wind Spell inscriptions in the suspension system. You won't even feel the bumps while riding."

Leon was looking at me with sparkling eyes like a kid asking his mother's permission to purchase a toy.

His personality was quite different from the scheming way he acted yesterday. If not for the same face, I would think it was someone else. I had to constantly keep reminding myself, under that harmless mask, there was a dangerous snake that could expose me anytime.

"Haah. Fine."

Since he wasn't ready to listen there was not much I could do. He had already purchased it anyway, and I don't think it would be possible to return it back. However, I wasn't expecting the words that came next,

"Then you drive, I will sit in the back." He quickly jumped in the carriage and closed the doors.

It took me a few moments to realize what just happened.

"Hold on. Why should I drive while you get to sit inside and relax?"

Wasn't he just talking about comfort? How is driving a carriage comfortable?

"I purchased the carriage. Shouldn't we split the tasks? Or are you going to throw me away after using me?" He said while sticking his head out of the window.

This little-. Making a Weapon Specialist his driver. I had just reminded myself to be careful and not fall into his traps.

Just when I was wondering whether to go beat some sense into Leon or to just accept my loss, his head popped out of the window again.

"Just drive till we leave the city and enter the forest. I will take over from there."

He wants me to drive for only about an hour? What's the point then? Is he making fun of me?

I wanted to ask him the reason, but seeing that his eyes weren't joking around like before, I just went and sat in the driver's seat in the front.

We exited the city from a different gate. Again, I felt my body being scanned and the ring was activated cloaking my strength. Right as we passed the gate Leon asked me,

"How did you hide your level from the scanning imprint? You need to at least be a 6th refinement to be able to fool it. Even then you would need a top tier cloaking combat art."

Nervousness spread through me. If he knew I had a magic artifact of this level who knows if he will change his plans about cooperating with me. On top of that, I still didn't know his refinement level. In the end, instead of answering him, I asked him a question in return.

"What about you? How did you hide your power?"

I had only asked him so that he would stop asking me about my methods. But the reply I received was definitely not something I was expecting.

"I don't need to hide. I am a 3rd circle Expert Magician."

My mind couldn't comprehend the information he gave me. It took me a few moments to realize the gravity of what he had just said.

He is a spell caster. 3rd circle at that.

A 3rd circle spell caster was able to escape me flawlessly? Goosebumps appeared on my hands and I remembered my father's words before one of my missions.

'Never ever look at a spell caster with the conventional level of power. Even if they cannot harm you, they are definitely able to escape death.'

That mission was the first time I had a spell caster as a target. Back then I was a High Warrior and my target was an Adept Magician. I had thought they would at most have a few good ways to run away, but nothing I wouldn't be able to stop, I was a level above him afterall. On top of that, I would be the one who struck first. I didn't see a single way by which I would fail the mission.

But it turned out that that was the closest I had ever come to failing a mission. My first strike bounced off him, and my second strike phased through him. It seems he was ready for an assassination attempt and already prepared body doubles and traps all around.

It was only later that I learnt of the saying about spell casters- to kill a spell caster with certainty, you had to be two minor gap levels above him.

And right now, a person who wielded such power was sitting behind me, with my secrets in his hands. Although I was a major gap level above him, I did not feel safe one bit.

"Why did you tell me?" I asked him after a few minutes of silence.

He didn't have a reason to tell me about his power level.

"You would have gotten to know about it later anyway. Now it's your turn to answer."

"What do you mean?"

I didn't understand what he was saying.

"Answer the question I asked. How did you conceal your power level?"

"I don't want to answer that." I directly rejected.

I used the same trick he used against me. He was the one who said you can refuse to answer, I was not going to play into his hands anymore. But to my surprise, instead of getting frustrated he calmly asked me another question.

"Fine then. But I told you my power level. Tell me yours."

"4th refinement Weapon Specialist." I replied with some hesitation.

What he said before was true. Since we were going to be a team, it was only a matter of time before he learnt my power level. Moreover, I was sure he more or less had guessed it.

"A Weapon Specialist has the means to conceal her power level from a scanning imprint left behind by a mage? I am afraid that it is only possible by using some sort of artifact, no?"

"We have almost reached the forest. Your turn to drive now."

I didn't answer his query. And instead tried to change the subject. Even though he was a spell caster, he was only a magician. There was a class level divide between us. In a head on fight, I would be the clear winner. For his victory, he had to take me by surprise.

It seems Leon understood what I was thinking.

"Don't you know silence is the same as a tacit confirmation? But don't worry, I am in no need for such an artifact right now."

'Right now' he says.

"What about in the future?"

"Who knows."

"…"

Once again I reminded myself to never lower my guard around Leon.

.

.

.

"Alright, you can stop driving now, come and enjoy the comfort of the carriage." Leon said as he hopped out of the carriage.

I was still confused as to why he wanted me to drive for the past hour. I got off the front seat and was about to enter the carriage when I saw him walk over to the horses instead of the driver's seat.

"What are you doing?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Just watch."

He closed his eyes, as if to concentrate on something. After a few seconds he took out a small knife and cut open a gash in his hand before putting it on the horse's head.

"Command Contract~."

Only then I realized he was casting a spell. It was one of those rare ritualistic spells.

"Magician's Healing~. Unending Stamina~. Shared Vision~. Increased Instinct~. Minor Fortune Blessing~."

My eyes grew wide seeing him cast spell after spell as if he were just speaking common words. I knew how skilled Expert Magicians were, and had even assassinated some. But I had never met any other Expert Magician that could keep casting spells continuously like this. If the energy fluctuations around him were not of 3rd level, I would never believe that he was only a magician.

"Let's go now." Leon said as he finished his spell casting and went back into the carriage, leaving behind a shocked me just standing there.