I accepted Taavi and Taavetti's offer. The fire spirit and I jumped in the back of a horse-drawn carriage. We wasted little time and departed immediately after agreeing. I didn't even have to time to check the carriage or even look at the horses. They were in a big hurry. I decided I would pay them for the ride once we get there and we'll happily part our ways, but I'll tell them about the changes of plans when we arrive. Finding a carriage that went in the direction I was hoping for wasn't an everyday occurrence, so I thought I'd use the situation. 

An old, big, sturdy cloth covering the cargo area where I sat blocked my view of the outside scenery. Instead of the sky, all I could see up was a dirty orange-white mix. The fire spirit and I found the most comfortable position to sit among the trading crates while Taavi and Taavetti were sitting in the front, taking control of the horses. 

I leaned my back on one of the bigger crates and thought about the things that could happen. Rheya was surely up to no good. The girls she gets her hands on will surely have a terrible experience. Who knows what's she thinking? And what's she planning?

Magic books stated that black magic sometimes required human sacrifice. She could prepare something very ominous and I'm going to stop her. With the witch's guild gone, there was nobody to control crazy witches, although I now doubt that they were controlling the evildoers like they were supposed to. I don't want Rheya to sully the good name and reputation of witches. Some are bad, but are good ones too, the same as people with no magic. I like to believe that people are inherently good.

The fire spirit suddenly snuggled into my cheek. It did it from time to time when I got lost in thought.

"I'm fine. I just had unpleasant encounters with Rheya and neither of us ever convinced the other of anything, but I believe I'll be able to stop her this time. We shouldn't let her do as she pleases," I said.

I explained everything about Rheya to the spirit and although it said nothing back; it mimicked some gestures while we were riding the carriage of Taavi and Taavetti. In a way, we had a conversation.

"Everything alright? Did you say anything?" Taavi said from the front of the carriage as he looked back at me.

"Everything is fine. I said nothing." 

"I must have imagined it," Taavi said and turned his gaze back to the road.

I felt relief because I also didn't want him to think I was a crazy girl who talks to herself.

"We're approaching a dangerous road. Full of holes and stones. The ride will be bumpy, so hold on tight and if you can stop our merchandise from falling over, we'd be very grateful." Taavetti yelled from the front. He was controlling the horse with rains and couldn't spare a moment to look at me.

"I'll try," I said.

A few seconds after Taaveti warned me, the carriage was jumping all over and the merchandise was falling all over. I couldn't have stopped it with my hands even if I wanted.

"Movens subsisto!" I chanted a spell that halted the movements of the surrounding things.

Taavi looked at the back of the carriage where I was and saw his stuff frozen in mid-air. His shocked expression suddenly became a smile.

"Calytrix, thank you for protecting our merchandise," he said.

"It's nothing," I answered.

The bumps in the road didn't stop for a while, but keep my focus on the spell was easy. Even though it was uncomfortable, it was still better to take a ride than walk all the distance on foot. 

Taavi and Taaveti weren't rich merchants, judging from their carriage and items they sold, but they got by. Their carriage consisted of old wood, cracked in places, yet its main support pillars held strong. The items were neatly put in boxes, but they weren't heavy because they sold small things like jewelry, glasses, and plates. Since everything was lightweight, I needed little energy to maintain the spells.

We took only one brief break to let the horses rest and quickly resumed the ride to the capital. The merchants were in a hurry because they wanted to sell some of their wares before nightfall, and that worked fine with me. I'd like to find an inn before nightfall too and then the next morning I'll carefully investigate what's Rheya up to.

The fire spirit was a little bored, so it flew in and out of the carriage. I stayed put and closed my eyes because I was feeling sleepy. As I was slowly entering the dreamworld, I noticed an incredible amount of energy near me. I immediately opened my eyes and saw a blonde boy sitting across from me with a smile that seemed warm. As always, he had a charismatic aura around him and dressed nicely.

"Big sister! It's been a while, but since I came to your world, I thought I'd stop back and say hi," Andrezey said.

"That's nice of you." I didn't know what to say, so a standard courtesy line was surely okay.

"As promised, I came to check out if your world was fine. We completely closed off the black holes. They won't be coming back," Andzerezey said.

"That's great news," I said and immediately looked in the merchant's direction. Our conversation was audible to them, and the situation surely shocked them.

"Don't worry about those guys," Andrezey pointed to Taavi and Taaveti. "I enclosed the space where we're at so that they don't see me or hear our conversation. If they look back, they'll see an illusion of you sleeping."

"That saves us a lot of trouble. Thank you once again for helping my world, Andrezey," I said with a smile.

"I just did what I think it's right," Andrezey said."Too bad you broke off the contract with me, but you were in for it only to save your world. I wouldn't mind having allies like you on my side a little longer."

"Even without a contract, you can think of me as an ally if we're both doing the same thing we think is just," I said in a way that Andrezey would understand. He often spoke of justice, and I found his thinking sound, particularly when it led to positive results. "Akios is still under contract with me, but he could not accomplish his goals," Andezey said. "But you're still under contract with Akios. What two of you plan to do now?"

"I don't know."

For starters, I didn't even know what Akios's true goal is. He failed at it, but he might try again. I don't know whether he'd include me in his further plans or not. If it was something shady, I didn't want to have any business with it, but the contract was still in effect. He could borrow my magic at any time, but he has not shown up since we saved the world. II thought he had achieved his goal and finished his business with me."

You look surprised. Don't tell me he didn't tell you anything?" I surprised Andzrezey by my behavior. "That's impossible. Akios told me he was fond of you and that you are good friends." 

He did what? 

I was even more surprised the more Andrzezey spoke. "He's feeling down about the failure, but in the beginning, I told him that his success rate was 0.1 percent,"

"It's below 0? Then success wasn't possible in the first place?" I said.

"I told him everything before we forged a contract, but he was ready to cling to any hope," Andrezey explained. "That's how important it is to him."

I remembered my last interactions with Akios when he told me he could do the rest on his own since my world was saved.

"I'm sure he'll contact you soon and explain everything," Andrezey reassuringly said."I gotta go back now before anybody notices I've been gone." With those words, Andrezey teleported somewhere.

I was alone in the cargo part of the carriage when Taavi looked back. "Calytrix, it's good that you're awake. We are having some trouble with the carriage."

"What happened?" I asked.

"The horse injured his leg. We won't be able to go anywhere now. He'll need to rest for at least a day," Taavi said.

"You didn't care about it properly!" Taaveti angrily looked at his merchant partner.

"Me? You're seriously accusing me?" Taavi said.

"Yes, you!" Taaveti yelled."Remember the time when you..."

I stopped listening to their conversation. It was just a fight between partners that didn't concern me. They halted the carriage, and I jumped out of it. The fire spirit immediately followed. Since it was a problem with the horse, it may take more than one day for the animal to rest and I didn't feel like waiting that long.

I ignored the merchants and approached the horse. It didn't have any outside injuries, but the way it made a posture with its leg was out of the ordinary. It was a beautiful muscular horse with brown fur that glistened golden in the sun.

"Curatio!" I cast a healing spell on the horse's leg. The problem the horse suffered from wasn't a grave injury and I easily fixed it. The hose moved its legs after I was done and made a move with its head as though it were thanking me. I didn't know how to interact with it, so I stayed silent.

The merchants were still arguing, and I let them be. Even though the horse had healed, it ran for half a day; therefore, a rest would benefit it, as the remaining distance isn't far. I left a few coins by their side, which they didn't notice as their angry glares at each other got more and more intense. I'll continue on foot the rest of the way or perhaps try to find a new ride.

I strolled down the road, making my way to the capital while a lot of merchant's carriages passed by. This was a sign that Rheya's kingdom was prosperous, since the trading business seemed to be frequent.

If I find someone taking a break with the horses, I'll ask them for a ride the rest of the way. Just as I thought that, I saw a white horse eating grass near the side of the road and a small carriage near it. My lucky chance immediately appeared.

An older man was resting on the ground near the horse.

"Hello!" I called out to him.

"A girl?" The man had a heavy muscular build and had some small patches of hair on the head. He carefully looked at me from bottom to top."Come closer!"

His behavior reminded me of the merchants I traveled with just a while ago, but he had a much more intimidating atmosphere around him. He had dark brown eyes and a bronze tan.

I took a step back. The surrounding atmosphere wasn't good.

"I'm talking to you. Don't ignore me!" he yelled. 

In just a few seconds, he ran behind me and gripped me. He lifted me up with ease. I tried to struggle, but I couldn't move at all. His grip was the strongest I've ever felt in my life.

"You're just the same age as those girls and you're pretty. You're coming with me," he said.

I wasn't afraid because the only one who could wield magic in this situation was me, which gave me the upper hand. The fire spirit remained hidden, but it increased its flames when it saw what happened to me. I shook my head to signal it I had the situation under control. I didn't need help, but I didn't immediately react because I wanted to collect my thoughts. Once I'm in a calmer situation, I'll use my magic to get out of this dangerous situation.

I could never beat him with physical strength, but I could easily deal with him with magic. He quickly brought me to his dirty, old carriage where several girls bound by ropes girls were sitting. They were all his prisoners. What I saw shocked me, but at the time reminded me of my first meeting with Rheya's slaves. This man was terrible, just like the princess.

All the girls had blank expressions and were somewhere around my age. Each one of them was pretty, but they were all on the verge of crying. One girl was sobbing terribly while a long-haired one yelled: "Don't think you can get without punishment. When my dad and brothers find you, they'll kill you for this!"

"Shut up, will you? Or do you want to end like that girl?" He pointed to a girl who was sleeping at the back of the carriage... no... she wasn't sleeping. Someone knocked her out cold. The girl who yelled immediately went pal and stopped talking.

This time around, unlike Rheya's slaves, these girls will surely be happy if I free them, but I'll ask them once he is away. He didn't linger long. The man just checked if each girl was tightly bound and left satisfied. I could easily free myself and leave, but leaving the girls in their current state seemed wrong.

"Do all of you want to be freed?" I asked them.

"Of course I do," a girl exclaimed.

"Shhh... don't yell. He'll come back," a girl with braids tried to calm the long-haired girl near her. "All of us want to leave. We were taken away from our homes and villages by force," she said to me.

The sobbing girl couldn't stop crying to say anything, but I interpreted that it also means she wants to go home.

"Princess Rheya is looking for friends her age, but we didn't want to go. Most of us are content with our lives and prefer not to live in the capital with the royals," the girl with braids explained.

"You're also here without your will, isn't that right?" the long-haired girl."Our families will surely come to save us."

"I can free all of you now," I said.

"How could you do that? You're also tied up," the long-haired girl glared at looked at me.

"Ignis!" I chanted and burnt all the ropes that bound us.

The girls were speeches for a few moments and were strangely looking at the burnt ropes.

"How? A real witch?" the girl with braided hair spoke.

"We need to hurry now," the long-haired girl spoke.

"But that man is still out there. If we escape, he'll capture us again," the sobbing girly finally said something.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of him," I said with a calm voice to assure them.

They hesitated only for a second before they jumped out of the carriage. The man was still there keeping a watch on the carriage, but it won't go easily as he thinks.

"Musus ignis," I chanted, a flame wall between us and the man. 

The girls used the chance to run away after saying a quick thank you. They ran toward the forest from where they'll slowly make their ways home.

"What do you think you're doing, wenches?" the man yelled from the other side of the flame wall.

The girls already left, and I was the only once left. I didn't answer him because I thought the flames would make him give up, but they didn't. He walked through the flames and got burnt badly. In fact, his clothes and he himself were on fire. It was such a terrible idea to walk through flames and I thought nobody would attempt that except for those who had magic protection. This man had no protection, yet he still did it. He screamed in agony and rolled all over the ground.

My first instinct was to help him, but I remembered how he took the girls hostage against their will and wanted to sell them off to Rheya. The man continued to scream. He was surely a worthless criminal, but at this rate, he might die. And I don't want anyone to die.

"Dona mihi aqua," I chanted a water spell and extinguished the flames that burned the man.

He silently lay down on the ground for a few moments before he stood up. For some reason, he avoided looking at me and with his back turned to me, he said, "I'm just making a living here. Rheya doesn't care if the girls come by force or out of their free will. It all matters that they are pretty and I'll do anything to get food on my table."

"That's wrong," I said.

"Right or wrong? Who cares?" the man said."I'll remember you for standing in the way of my profit." With those angry words, the man left.

It didn't feel right letting him go like this. He'll probably hurt someone again, but even such terrible injuries he suffered from didn't stop him. If Andrezey were in my place, he'd kill the man and claim it was just, just like he did in Onocetraurum, the hidden monster village. Killing him didn't seem the right solution for me. If Akios was in my place, he wouldn't care and would only work in his own interests. That also didn't seem like the right thing I'd do either.

As I was deciding what to do, the man had already disappeared from sight. There wasn't anything I could do.

"Shall we head to the capital?" I asked the fire spirit."D you agree with me that we should stop Rheya?"

The fire spirit vigorously nodded and as I walked, I suddenly remembered that there was an unconscious girl left in the carriage.

When I peeked in the carriage, the girl was regaining consciousness. She was yawning and stretching her hands as though she just woke up. Her short born hair was in a mess and she looked at me with fear in her chestnut brown eyes.

"I'm Calytrix, a witch on her journey and I was just passing by in the area."

The girl looked around her and once she confirmed we were alone, she looked at me once again: "I see that the other girls are gone... It's better to have fewer rivals. My name is Ann and I'm the one who'll become Rheya's next lover."

"Lover?" I couldn't comprehend her worlds. 

That man led all the other girls into the carriage against their wills, and someone knocked her unconscious. Did the shock cause her damage, and she wasn't aware of what she was talking about?

"Rheya doesn't care much about people. Even if you have some sort of relationship with her, she'll probably treat you poorly," I said.

"I don't care. Others have always treated me poorly, so nothing will change except that I'd have access to money if I succeeded," Ann said.

"Ann, did that man hit you in the head?" I asked.

"He did, but I see everything quite clear now. From the start, I agreed to go with that man, but then he said that one girl wouldn't be enough and that he should offer more girls. That's when the trouble started. Everyone he met refused to go, so he took them by force," Ann said.

"Why would he hit you if you agreed with everything?"

"Those girls were sobbing uncontrollably and talked so much about their homes that they almost convinced me to give up. When he heard our conversation, he hit me hard to give the girls an example. If anyone defied him, that one would end up knocked out like me," Ann explained.

"Why did you change your mind again?" She wasn't making sense to me.

"I wanted to escape my poverty filled life and find a decent place. And everything is more decent from how I used to live. I ran away from home without looking back," Ann said."Those girls made me remember my poor mom, whom I left all alone. I thought about going back to her, but now I realized it would be better just to send her some of the money I receive from princess Rheya. That way, she and I'll be able to live more decently."

Ann told me her entire life story in just a few minutes. It was overwhelming, and I didn't know what to think. There was no proper advice I could give her. I wanted to tell her to live honestly with decent work, but such simple words wouldn't reach out to her. During our conversation, I mentioned the rewarding feeling of honest, hard work, but she just laughed it off.

She wasn't sure why Rheya gathered girls, either. Some people said she was looking for friends and other said it's a hunt for lovers. Ann suspected it was a search for lovers, but she didn't care what it was as long as she gained a royal's favor. I was sure neither of the answers was correct. Rheya was probably looking for obedient slaves or human sacrifices.

"I know of a shortcut to the capital. As a thanks for getting rid of that violent man, I'll show it to you," Ann said."But I still consider you a rival. I won't let you get Rheya's affection before I do."

She completely misread me, although I clearly state that I wasn't interested in any kind of relationship with Rheya.

"Don't think that you can fool me with a blue face with whom you fake a sickness whenever I mention princess Rheya. You're an excellent actress," she told me.

I just wanted to be quickly over with all this Rheya business, so I didn't want to start a fight with Ann.

"Let's just head to the capital," I said.

"Follow me," Ann said and started running before me.

The fire spirit and I also quickly dashed after her. After I deal with it, my journey will become peaceful once again.