Chapter 11: Night Ride

At night, the castle was truly dull.

Zhe Zilin moved a chair to the window and sat quietly, gazing out at the pitch-black forest.

To be honest, tonight he actually wished a Charm Ghost would appear so he could cover his ears and take a good look at its appearance, or ride out on horseback to confront it face-to-face.

It wasn’t that his courage had grown.

He was just bored out of his mind.

“So boring. Is this what a canary’s life is like?”

Right now, he was like a caged canary, unable to escape his prison.

Even if he fled, the outside world would claim his life.

No. I have to get stronger!

Zhe Zilin stood up, gripping his sword, and strode energetically toward the grassland.

He found a wooden stake and began practicing his swordsmanship.

However, the Dragon Slayer cut through iron as if it were mud.

With just a bit of force, the stake split in two.

It was truly uninteresting.

This Yaojin Sword was only suitable for swordmasters of great skill.

Practicing sword forms or something… forget it.

Losing interest in an instant, Zhe Zilin sheathed his sword and lay flat on the ground, gazing listlessly at the stars dotting the night sky.

“Ed, are you bored?”

Ailia, wrapped in a cloak, walked over with small steps, exuding the demeanor of a lady.

Zhe Zilin let out a long sigh, using his hand as a pillow, and said, “Spending every day in one place living a repetitive life—how can you stand it?”

Ailia stopped beside him and squatted down, also looking up at the night sky.

“Before you came, I would sometimes leave the castle too.”

“Where to?” Zhe Zilin turned his head and asked curiously.

Seeing his interest, Ailia’s lips curved slightly.

“To Ice Source City in the North to pray for the nobles, or to gather herbs in the forest.”

“Do you go at night too?”

“Sometimes. After all, I am a witch. Few things in the forest dare to mess with me.”

Zhe Zilin executed a carp jump, flipping upright from the ground, his interest piqued.

He suggested, “Why don’t you take me for a stroll in the forest? I still don’t know what it looks like inside.”

“Now?” Ailia tucked her hair behind her ear and slowly stood up.

She hesitated a bit.

The thought of preventing Zhe Zilin from escaping had weakened considerably without her noticing.

Now, what worried her was that the night was unsafe.

There were evil entities in the forest that even she might struggle to handle.

But Zhe Zilin’s expectant and pleading expression softened her heart.

Moreover, she had just seen how truly bored he was and didn’t want him to find castle life dull.

After some internal struggle, Ailia nodded in agreement.

“But Ed, the two of us can only ride one horse. This is to prevent any accidents.”

Zhe Zilin was like a child about to go to an amusement park.

While nodding in agreement, he dashed toward the stables.

He had been eyeing this forest for too long.

His curiosity had probably overflowed onto the grassland, arriving in the forest one step ahead of him.

It must be the Loving Meal at work. Ailia actually agreed to take me into the forest for the first time ever.

He casually grabbed a pile of fodder and threw it into the trough.

Then he patted the horse’s neck, urging it to eat quickly.

Once full, they would ride properly.

When only scattered bits of fodder remained in the trough, he impatiently led the horse out.

He mounted it and rode over to Ailia.

“Get on!”

Ailia was also infected by Zhe Zilin’s smile and felt inexplicably excited.

Come to think of it, this is still the first time riding together with Zhe Zilin. Close contact is inevitable.

The night was alluring, hiding the shyness on her cheeks.

Zhe Zilin dismounted, placed both hands on her waist, and helped her onto the horse’s back.

Then, with a graceful swing of his leg, he embraced Ailia and immediately spurred the horse toward the forest.

Ailia gripped the reins tightly.

With every jolt of the horse’s back, she could feel the firmness of Zhe Zilin’s body pressing against her.

It was an extremely aggressive sensation.

A man’s protrusion was something innate.

Zhe Zilin was entirely focused on the forest drawing ever closer and didn’t notice at all that Ailia was being pressed against by his “gun.”

Hyah!

Finally, the step he hadn’t dared to take during the day was now crossed.

The horse flew into the forest.

Everything suddenly opened up.

Cool moonlight spilled down.

The trees in the forest grew tall and towering.

Fallen leaves covered the ground.

There was almost no obstruction; the path was unusually flat.

At the same time, the passive skill Empathy transmitted Ailia’s emotions.

Panic, tension, and joy.

Zhe Zilin glanced sideways at Ailia’s profile.

The evening breeze brushed her soft hair, revealing her fair, smooth face.

A sweet fragrance wafted to his nose, leaving Zhe Zilin dazed by the scent.

So I’ve caught a whiff of that sweet fragrance too.

He muttered to himself in wonder.

“What did you say?” Ailia slightly turned her head and looked up in surprise.

“I said, which way now?”

Three paths appeared before Zhe Zilin.

He tightened the reins, making the horse tread in place.

Ailia looked at the leftmost path and explained, “The leftmost one circles around the castle. Let’s take the leftmost path.”

“What about the other two?” Zhe Zilin didn’t immediately ride forward.

Instead, he planned to explore the other two paths.

If he wanted to escape in the future, he had to familiarize himself with these three paths.

Having ruled out the left one now, the remaining two might become his future escape routes.

Ailia was silent for a moment.

She thought he was just supposed to ride around the castle to pass the time.

But now he clearly wasn’t satisfied with that.

Unable to bear seeing Zhe Zilin disappointed, she explained one by one.

“The middle path leads deep into the magical forest, all the way to the endless polar region. The deeper you go, the more dangerous it becomes. Even I rarely set foot there.”

“The rightmost path leads to North City. Along the way are the habitats of ogres and half-orcs. They usually travel along this road to North City to abduct and sell people.”

Zhe Zilin had heard of North City from Ailia before.

If he wanted to escape, he would have to pass through North City.

So, without hesitation, he spurred the horse and galloped to the right.

With a try-it-and-see attitude, tonight he wanted to see the walls of North City.

However, the horse galloped for more than ten li.

The moon had climbed from the mountain peak to the middle of the sky.

Yet no lights from North City appeared at all.

“Ed, let’s go back.”

Ailia was familiar with every landmark on this road.

She knew that riding another ten li or so would get them to North City by the latter half of the night.

Coming this far was enough to pass the time for Zhe Zilin.

“Any further ahead is the main activity area for ogres and half-orcs. It’s not safe at night right now.”

Zhe Zilin knew that this forest trip ended here.

He didn’t want to push for more either.

If Ailia got angry, it would probably be hard to have another relatively free ride like tonight in the future.

He nodded and turned the horse around, preparing to head back to the castle.

But in his peripheral vision, something moving caught his attention.

By the bright moonlight, he cast a measuring gaze that way.

In an instant, a giant axe appeared out of nowhere, flying straight toward his head.

Almost in the blink of an eye, he drew the Dragon Slayer and swung it forcefully at the axe.

Completely unprepared, the impact of the axe knocked him off the horse.

Zhe Zilin wrapped his arms around Ailia’s waist and used his own body as a cushion as they fell to the ground, rolling several times before stopping.

“Idiot! Kill the horse first, or they won’t be able to run away!”

A deep, scolding voice rang out in the pitch-black forest.

“Big brother, you’re still the smart one!”

Another voice sounded, followed by a giant sword thrusting toward the horse.

“Damn it!”

Zhe Zilin quickly got up and moved to stop them from killing the horse.

If the horse was gone, getting back to the castle would probably take several hours.

Who knew what monsters or demons might jump out in the forest?

But how could his running speed catch up to the flying giant sword?

He only managed to chip off the sword’s tip, but the blade would still pierce the horse’s body.

“Stop the sword from killing the horse.”

Compared to Zhe Zilin’s slight panic, Ailia calmly squatted down.

A drop of blood fell from her fingertip onto the giant axe.

Like a soldier receiving orders, the giant axe immediately responded, charging swiftly toward the giant sword and successfully intercepting it.

Zhe Zilin was astonished.

Aside from the magic potion, this was the first time he had witnessed Ailia’s magic as a witch.

Her words were law!?

As one of the Four Great Witches, the World-Ender Witch, he had anticipated Ailia’s terror.

But now it seemed he had still underestimated her.

In the shadows, the two forest dwellers who had witnessed this scene panicked and began begging for mercy.

“Big brother, it’s a witch! We’ve messed with the wrong person!”

“Run! Spare us, Lady Ailia! Don’t kill us!”

Zhe Zilin stared and saw two three-meter-tall figures dart out from behind a large tree, begging for mercy while fleeing in a sorry state.

Ailia slowly walked up to the giant sword and axe and dripped blood again.

“Kill your master.”

The axe and sword flew into the forest.

Soon, two muffled thuds and the sound of bodies collapsing indicated the result.

Zhe Zilin sheathed the Dragon Slayer and asked, “Who were they?”

“Ogres. They eat humans. Half-orcs are also on their menu. They have large builds and are extremely ferocious.”

Ailia’s hands searched over Zhe Zilin’s body, her face filled with worry.

“You didn’t get hurt, did you, Ed?”

Zhe Zilin shook his head.

This was the second time he had felt the danger of the forest.

If not for Ailia, he would probably have died twice over.

“You saved me again, Ailia. Thank you.”

“Let’s hurry back, Ed. This isn’t a place to talk.”

At Ailia’s urging, the two immediately mounted the horse and set off back to the castle.

……

In the forest, several pairs of eyes had followed the two from the castle all the way here.

After witnessing the ogres’ fate, they felt a wave of fear.

“The witch is here. We can’t make a move.”

“White cloth was hung in Ice Source City last night. The King of the North is done for. Ailia will leave.”

“Really!?”

“Tomorrow, the witch will definitely leave. Our chance will come.”