Meanwhile, Selene was even more excited than usual.
"Yes! A real adventure for the first time. I'm gonna take out all the enemies — pew pew..." She jumps on the spot, arms swinging like she's already firing something.
"You definitely will," Esdeath says, patting Selene's head.
"Time flies by too quickly, and you're departing again," Ravenna says in a low tone, her shoulders sunk, eyes fixed on the ground.
"I wonder when we'll be able to go anywhere together with you," Alice sighs as well, arms folded loosely.
"Don't worry. Just like she said — time will fly by too quickly, and I'll be back before you know it," Maruti reassures her, patting her back. "And see... Kailith is with me this time, and next time we'll all be together," she says, jabbing a thumb at Kailith with a smile.
"Promise?" Ravenna asks, voice small.
"Yep. Just make sure to train hard while we're away," Maruti answers, full of energy.
"I've informed Verdes. He'll be here to train you," Lortell cuts in, then turns to Brenna. "Especially you, Miss Brenna. All the things you learned with Ravenna were just basics — you might not be able to handle his ways," she says.
Brenna doesn't say anything. Her head stays down, as if her mind is somewhere far off, and she only nods slightly.
"Well, you can refuse anytime. It's all up to you whether you want to get stronger or not," Lortell adds, turning back toward Esdeath and Selene.
"Ooookay... all settled now. We should get to the carriage," Maruti says, giving the others one last look.
But her gaze catches on Brenna again — still with her head down.
"Yo, Brenna? Got nothing to say to us?" Maruti asks. Brenna has always been cheerful and mature, so the way she's acting now was quite off.
And the moment Maruti points it out, small hiccuping sounds start coming from her, tears dropping off her cheeks one after another.
"Wait... wait... why are you crying?" Maruti takes a step back in surprise.
Brenna hadn't cried like this even when the last time Maruti left. It was genuine shock.
Brenna wipes her tears with her wrist and looks up, eyes red and brimming.
"You're going on a very dangerous mission, aren't you? Kailith told me it might cost everyone's life," she says, voice thick and painful.
"Kailith, why did you have to tell her?" Maruti whispers in protest.
"It just slipped out. And she deserves to know the truth too. Should I tell her where you went last time as well?" Kailith whispers back, already leveraging her way out of it.
Brenna didn't understand how awakeneds work. Despite being one herself, she was no different from an ordinary person — it was only recently that she'd started training with Ravenna and learning the basics.
So it was hard for her to grasp, much less accept, how dangerous the life of an awakened is. Especially for someone like Maruti, who had to fight everywhere she went. That's why Maruti had decided not to tell her much at all, lying always that she was only going on an expedition or a visit to another kingdom.
Maruti scratches her head awkwardly. She was never used to dealing with someone crying, or knowing how to comfort them.
"C'mon, there's no need to cry. Look at my biceps," she says, flexing her arms. "Look at my thighs — he ain't winning. Besides, Kailith is there, and Lortell and the others too. I'll be fine," she says.
Brenna takes a deep breath and calms herself a little. "It's not like I can stop you."
"You're damn right," Maruti exclaims, hugging her tightly, then slowly pulls back. "So better say goodbye happily," she adds.
Brenna nods forcefully, forcing a smile onto her face. "You two take care of yourselves and make sure to come back."
"We will," Kailith and Maruti say in unison.
Esdeath, Selene, and Lortell were already inside the carriage. Unlike last time, there isn't an ounce of sadness on Esdeath's face — she's going with her family, after all.
"Come into the carriage already," Lortell says, peeking out of the window.
Maruti and Kailith walk toward it, still waving their hands.
"Meldia, make sure to train Alice, and keep an eye on Verdes so he doesn't slack off," Lortell says — but it comes out less like a command and more like casual words from her.
"Yes, my lady," Meldia bows lightly.
With both sides waving, the carriage pulls away and slowly shrinks out of sight.
Inside, Maruti looks down at her locket — the Rank A Attendant of Miracles essence stone hanging at her throat.
"At least now I know. Fulfilling desires as wishes works too," she thinks, then pulls her focus back to the front.
Soon the carriage drops them at the railway station, and from there they take the train straight to the republic. They're already behind schedule — Esdeath had expected to depart for hell in about a week, and almost two weeks have already slipped past.
They arrive at their destination at night and stop at a hotel to rest. When morning comes, they set out for the government teleportation facility, now under the republic's control.
On the way, they pass several stages along the streets. In human kingdoms, public stages like these were for drama, music, or dance performances, with money collected afterward.
These were different. Banners hang here and there, plastered with some person's face, some symbol, someone's name.
And on the stages, speeches were going on — economy, currency, development, and the like. It's as though someone just decided to dump their knowledge on everyone for no reason at all.
"What is happening?" Esdeath asks the others.
By pure coincidence, not far from her, an old man sits at an open café, scanning his newspaper between sips of coffee.
"Elections? Democracy? You're saying any filthy commoner without a drop of royal blood can lead this whole country if he gets enough votes?" he shouts, arguing with such force it looks like he might smash his cup on the table.
That was more than enough to understand. The republic is drifting toward democracy instead of dictatorship. Several parties were running campaigns and making speeches to pull in votes.
"Dang, never thought in my wildest dreams there'd be elections in this world. You sure fucked everything up," Maruti chuckles, glancing at Esdeath.
"Not like I care," Esdeath says flatly and starts walking again.
Along the way to the government teleportation facility, they pass stage after stage, rally after rally.
Some make over-the-top promises, some are honest, and some whip up the common folk's rage and hatred toward nobles, royals, or barbarians to draw them in.
One speaker in particular catches Maruti's eye, firing off one fueled line after another.
"Our grand lords are down at the gates crying that the hairy savages stole half our kingdom 'unfairly.' Look at those highborn soft-skins shaking their fists — they look like a bunch of hairless house-cats mewing at a pack of wolves because they lost their favorite rug!" he shouts.
"We shall make a better future, put them in their place. No more kings — just us," he adds.
"Lol, hairy savages? He's got quite the imagination," Maruti chuckles. "Can you give him my vote?"
Before Esdeath or anyone else can answer, the man shouts again.
"Fuck barbarians!"
"Yay! Fuck barbarians!" Maruti raises her head, adding her voice as the crowd echoes it back.
"You're a barbarian as well," Esdeath says with a sigh.
"Ohh shoot—" Maruti nearly bites her tongue at the sudden realization. She keeps forgetting that, despite how she looks, she isn't human.
Because of that, she doesn't let a single word out for the rest of the walk, her ears quietly burning with embarrassment.