"What do you think was going to happen?"
At five o'clock in the afternoon, the witch on the train asked Shard. They had been traveling for a while and were likely to return to Aphrola Manor before six-thirty in the evening.
At this point, Shard was holding an orange cat that had been slightly startled by the earthquake in the small town, although Shard thought it was probably faking it.
"Before we set out, I was worried that we would encounter Ivan Daknis in the town, or that Old Mrs. Ilal had not given up and was trying to sacrifice us to the deities,"
Shard responded.
"Daknis has been gone from Coldwater Port for a week; he couldn't possibly appear here. As for Ilal, she is only of the Second Ring; are you underestimating me?"
The witch asked with a smile, and Shard shook his head:
"I just didn't expect it to go this smoothly. I thought that acquiring every Spirit Rune would require a heart-pounding adventure."