Bam!
Joan slamd the carriage door shut, sealing them off from the wind and rain. As she settled into her seat, she asked Lu Li, "The wind has died down. Are you sure we shouldn't drive the horses ourselves?"
"No, Anna will handle it."
Lu Li unfolded a map next to an oil lantern mounted on the wall. Studying it, he replied to Joan, "It's two in the afternoon. We should reach Khimfast before dark. We can spend the night there, or push on imdiately to Roostown, which is thirty kiloters from Tenebrae."
His long finger pointed to Roostown, located on the map about three fingers' breadth from the Tenebrae Swamp.
"If we don't stop, we'll get to Roostown tomorrow morning. If we spend the night, we'll arrive tomorrow evening. The choice is yours."
Joan said uncertainly, "I've heard it's dangerous to travel at night."
"Many strange things hide in the darkness. We might encounter them along the way," Lu Li explained calmly.
There were no safe places left. Cities could be attacked by terrible creatures, and monsters road the lands beyond them.
Countless strange phenona were becoming increasingly known to the populace. If not for the storm hindering travel, panic would have already seized the cities.
Joan was torn. She didn't want to put Lu Li in danger because of her brother, yet she feared that if they stopped, they might not reach Oliver in ti, and she would bla herself for the rest of her life.
Lu Li looked at Joan in silence, then lowered his gaze and began to fold the map.
"I understand."
Joan didn't know what he understood, exactly, but Lu Li had clearly made a decision, and her agonizing choice was over.
Whatever the decision, her feelings of guilt and anxiety receded.
Lu Li tucked the folded map into his case. For a fleeting mont, Joan caught a glimpse of three silver flintlock pistols inside, each resembling a work of art.
Taking out a newspaper, Lu Li closed the case and set it against the carriage wall.
With a rustle, Lu Li unfolded the newspaper and imrsed himself in its pages as the carriage swayed gently.
Joan had nothing to do, so her gaze wandered to the back of the newspaper, but unable to make out the text, she looked away.
"Anna's books are in the backpack. You can read one, but ask for her permission first," Lu Li's voice ca from behind the newspaper.
Joan started to nod, but Anna's voice sounded from within the carriage. "I don't mind."
"Thank you." Joan knew Anna and had spoken with her before, so she wasn't afraid. She offered her thanks in the direction of the voice, then crawled over to the backpack, opened it, and took out a book with a pink cover.
Perhaps romance stories weren't to Joan's taste, or perhaps Oliver's disappearance made it impossible to focus. After a short while, she returned the book to the backpack, hugged her knees, and fell into thought.
[Tenebrae on the Allen Peninsula Has Lost Contact with the Outside World]
This news ca from the Allen Peninsula True News, a paper that, contrary to its na, consisted mostly of fiction and rumor. Last ti, for instance, they had denied the existence of shadow people and six-limbed creatures in Tenebrae, even though they were very real.
The Allen Duchy Herald, the Valsen Gazette, and the Daily News were more professional and official publications.
This ti, however, the Allen Peninsula True News had accidentally published sothing true.
The article stated they had received "reliable" information about the sudden loss of contact with Tenebrae. The rest was hardly worth reading, as they had simply transplanted the "Awful Giant" that previously terrorized the port of Zenster to Tenebrae, claiming it was responsible for the attack on the town.
And this newspaper cost three shillings more than the others.
After silently reading the entire article and finding nothing of use, Lu Li set it aside and picked up the Allen Duchy Herald.
The three major newspapers also ntioned the loss of contact with Tenebrae, but offered no details, only stating that this ti was different from the last.
Perhaps so people believed it, but most did not.
The panic among the populace would likely intensify.
The second page reported on riots in Elcoria County in the Kingdom of Allen, where starving residents had stord the town hall and the hos of the nobility, leaving thirteen people injured.
The third page discussed greenhouse cultivation. A botany professor, Leon Rein from the Imperial College on the Main Continent, claid to have achieved initial success.
The fourth page contained a curious piece of news.
"The Safest Place in the World! Almost no monster sightings have been recorded in the Lennon Archipelago. Immigrants from all countries are welco!"
The article listed all known appearances of terrifying creatures on the Main Continent, in the Fallow Lands, on the Lennon Archipelago, and in the Arable Lands. The remote Arable Lands had fared the worst. On the Main Continent, monsters appeared frequently; in the Fallow Lands, they were occasional; and on the Lennon Archipelago... not a single one.
Perhaps monsters existed there too, but at least there had been no cases of entire towns disappearing with massive casualties.
What was curious was that the news item looked like an advertisent for the Lennon Archipelago, designed to attract new residents—or perhaps the exorcists were behind it.
If it was the latter... did that an the exorcists had discovered sothing?
Was it truly safer there than on the other continents?
A rustle of paper sounded in the carriage. Lu Li had set his newspaper aside; Joan was now reading the Allen Peninsula True News.
"It's full of lies," Lu Li said, holding out the paper he had just finished.
"Of course. Their news is less reliable than a bard's tale," Joan replied. She already knew that.
Lu Li opened the window, and a gust of wind and rain swept into the carriage. Joan gripped the newspaper tightly to keep it from being torn away.
The carriage was already nearing the summit of Sugard Mountain. Through the rain, nurous estates and luxurious hos could be seen along the shores of Agate Lake.
The Bloody Tentacles, unobscured by the rain, descended from the heavens. Their number had not changed.
So of them seed to have shifted their positions.
Fifteen minutes later, the carriage left Belfast behind. The smooth, paved road gave way to gravel, and the ride grew bumpy.
The storm still raged, and they only encountered freight wagons on the road.
Once they were beyond the city limits, Anna released the aura of her vengeful spirit to ward off any approaching monsters.
Joan leaned against the wall of the carriage and fell asleep, her breathing soft and even.
She hadn't rested since Oliver disappeared.
The day passed peacefully. Around seven in the evening, Lu Li woke Joan, who had been sleeping soundly despite the jolting carriage.
Outside the window, the oppressive darkness was gone. The jolting had stopped, and the light from streetlamps and houses dispelled the loneliness and fear that clung to the desolate wilderness.
A large road sign, written in an elegant script, read:
[Welco to Khimfast, the City of Arts]
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