Chapter 94: Boys’ Day Out
The sound of enchanted wheels hummed beneath them as Lord Varuzil’s gilded carriage rolled gracefully along the road, cutting through golden meadows and winding hills that gave way to sharper terrain the closer they got to the borderlands. The velvet-lined interior shimmered with sunlight filtering through the enchanted glass windows.
And inside, the mood is practically festive.
Vuvi stretches her arms wide and lets out a dramatic sigh of relief. "I love this. I love all of this."
She lounges with her boots kicked up, goblet in hand, absolutely glowing with satisfaction. "This... is what I signed up for," she chirped, swirling her wine. "No more forest witches. No more soul-hunting baronesses. Just one straight road to Nettlehusk and then onward to the dwarven kingdom."
Veena clinks her own goblet against Vuvi’s. "And we’re doing it in style."
Sera, lounging beside them with her feet propped up, smirks. "Only took, what, twenty-three detours to get here?"
Vuvi laughs. "If you count the witches, yes. Twenty-four if you include the giant talking mushroom cult."
"No," Veena mutters, "we agreed not to talk about the mushroom cult."
On the opposite bench, Penelo and Lula sat on either side of Pip, huddled over the glowing pages of the ancient book Ka’Lula had received. Pip’s eyes flickered between glyphs as his head slowly tilted in confusion, emitting low, thoughtful beeps. Penelo was furiously sketching possible translations. Lula, meanwhile, tapped her chin with a quill, occasionally scribbling something down that made absolutely no sense.
"I think this one means ’divine origin,’" Penelo said, pointing to a vine-like swirl.
Lula squinted. "That’s the same one you said meant mushroom yesterday."
"It can be both," Penelo argued.