To be honest, Rapunzel didn’t find it entirely comfortable moving with the Tin Knight’s party.

Of course, it wasn’t because of negative emotions like disliking or resenting them.

Rapunzel wasn’t twisted enough to harbor ill feelings towards those who not only informed her of her brother’s death, which still didn’t feel quite real, but also directly delivered his belongings.

She just found it difficult.

There was the great witch Dorothea, who directly defeated the “mage” that had overwhelmed Rapunzel—who prided herself on her fighting skills—while she wasn’t unable to even lift a finger.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t her magic that brought him down, but that was how it appeared to Rapunzel.

And the noble lady Adelaide, who seemed to be a member of some incredibly noble bloodline, before whom even the haughty retainers of Donnengarten, not to mention the lord himself, bowed and showed respect.

It was quite uncomfortable to share every move in a small carriage, or rather, a not-so-small carriage, with these big shots who were incomparable to Rapunzel in both ability and social status.

What if I offend Dorothea and get cursed or something? What if I commit some rudeness towards Lady Adelaide and get punished?

To avoid these negative futures that came to mind, Rapunzel activated her observation skills to the fullest, and soon reached one conclusion.

This party is too weird.

First of all, the carriage was far from ordinary.

The carriage Rapunzel knew wasn’t originally such a fast vehicle.

Just as a person carrying a large bundle couldn’t walk or run like someone unencumbered, a horse bearing the heavy burden of a carriage couldn’t run that fast.

The average speed was not much different from or slightly faster than a person walking, and if the horse or carriage was of excellent stamina and quality, it might reach the speed of a person jogging lightly.

Trying to go faster than this would quickly exhaust the horse or cause major problems with the carriage—this was the common sense Rapunzel knew.

But this carriage casually defied such common sense.

Its basic speed was on par with an unburdened horse running freely, and it could maintain this speed continuously without even a moment’s rest.

Moreover, there was almost none of the vibration that should naturally come with running so fast. On paved roads, it was so quiet that one might wonder if it was really moving, and only on rough wild paths did it feel like riding a carriage.

Even if she tried to dismiss it as an expensive carriage for high-ranking people, when she saw what the “highest-ranking person” in the party was doing, even that certainty disappeared.

“Huu, huu.”

A breathing sound that couldn’t quite be described as rough, but just slightly out of breath, echoed.

It was the breathing of Adelaide, who was running hard on two legs a little distance from the carriage.

It was bizarre enough that a high-ranking noble lady was running alone while everyone else was riding in the carriage, but this was just the tip of the iceberg.

When the knight sitting at the edge of the carriage’s cargo area flicked his finger, a pebble about the size of a thumbnail flew towards Adelaide’s face.

Thwack!

A crisp sound rang out as the pebble hit Adelaide’s forehead.

But that was all.

Adelaide didn’t lose consciousness and collapse, nor did she suffer a major injury and roll on the ground.

Except for the slight reddening where the stone hit, Adelaide continued running unfazed, and the Tin Knight kept shooting pebbles at her.

Rapunzel wore a disgusted expression.

I understand it’s training to protect the body with mana, but do they have to do it so brutally?

Skilled warriors could not only strengthen their bodies with mana but also further reduce damage by concentrating mana on specific body parts.

At the extreme, even slashing bare skin with a sword wouldn’t leave even a small scratch.

Rapunzel herself knew how to handle this technique to some extent, but the training these two were doing was on a completely different level.

First, the distance between them was less than 3 meters, the knight varied the landing point, size, and power of each stone he shot, and crucially, this training had been going on for hours.

To judge where it will hit, how powerful it will be, and how much mana to invest in the almost instantaneous time until the shot stone arrives, and to maintain such concentration while running for hours? Are they even human?

Although the increasing red and blue spots and scratches on her body looked more like a scene of abuse than training, the person in question maintained a serious face throughout without showing any signs of pain. Rather than not feeling pain, it seemed like her concentration was so intense that the pain was pushed to the background.

And she doesn’t even look that tired from running…

It was a scene far removed from the “noble bloodline lady” Rapunzel had imagined.

Shaking her head, Rapunzel turned her gaze to Sophia.

She was writing something at an incredible speed while humming lightly, and realizing that her posture hadn’t changed at all since Rapunzel fell asleep last night until now made this frightening in its own way.

Rapunzel finally realized.

The witch, whom she initially thought was the scariest, turned out to be the most “normal” person among them.

Although her fashion sense was a bit off, it could look quite good if one thought of it as a “witch’s formal wear”. Or maybe it just looked that way because of her face and figure, but anyway…

“What, are you concerned?”

For a moment, Rapunzel turned pale, wondering if she had been caught thinking about fashion, but fortunately, Dorothea was talking about something else.

Dorothea, who had been experimenting with something for a while in the moving carriage, showed a bundle of Rapunzel’s hair, and said, “About your hair, it seems to have the property of absorbing mana and using it as nourishment.”

“Pardon?”

Rapunzel looked dumbfounded.

When she was first asked to hand over a handful of hair, she thought it was just out of curiosity, but now an unexpected conclusion had emerged.

“Usually, hair is affected in quality and fullness by an individual’s physical condition. If your hair grew at such a speed, normally something should have gone wrong with your body. But your hair grows at a constant speed whether you’re starving, full, healthy or not, and always maintains its luster and beauty. It’s evidence that it’s not just a pure part of your body to begin with.”

“But I’ve never felt like my hair was stealing my mana?”

“You’ve been constantly losing a set amount since birth, so you probably just thought that was normal. And the hair itself has the property of absorbing mana not just from you, but from the surroundings as well? Look.”

Dorothea picked up one of Rapunzel’s hairs and started putting mana into it.

The golden hair seemed unchanged at first, but when Dorothea applied more mana, it visibly grew in length at a rapid pace.

“I-I see.”

Rapunzel felt a bit dazed.

It was fascinating to learn something she didn’t know about her own body, but more than that, she couldn’t quite grasp what it meant.

Dorothea seemed to realize this and added a brief explanation, “In short, it’s useful in many ways. As a catalyst, or as material for magic tools. Well, it has the drawback that the effect disappears after a certain time after cutting, so you need to process it further to prevent it from losing effectiveness before that, but that’s a problem that can be solved easily if you secure the source.”

“I see… Huh?”

After hearing that far, Rapunzel felt something was odd.

Source? Secure?

Dorothea shrugged as if she had just noticed.

“You know, if that constitution of yours is discovered, you’ll end up like a silkworm spinning thread for some mage. No, honestly, it’s surprising it hasn’t happened until now.”

“Whaaaat!?”

As Rapunzel’s scream rang out, even the other companions who had been focused on their own tasks turned their attention to her.

“Where did you learn the technique of handling mana?”

“Uh, um, that, that damn—no, my brother. Saying the world is harsh and I need self-defense skills and such.”

“Then he must have known, too. Well, just looking at the magic he developed, he seemed quite capable.”

After nodding in understanding, Dorothea asked, “So, based on knowing this fact, I have a proposal. How about postponing your plan to get off at the next town?”

“Postpone… to where specifically?”

“Sophia, give me the map.”

“Here you go.”

Dorothea drew a long line with her finger on the map Sophia unfolded.

“This is our current route. As you can see, to reach our destination, the Magic State, we need to cross the strait. That’s partly why we got a ship as compensation for defeating the mage. Originally, we were going to drop you off at a port city before crossing, but if you agree, we could take you to the Magic State. The price will be your hair during the journey.”

“I don’t mind about the hair since I have to cut it anyway because it’s bothersome… But why should I go to the Magic State?”

“Because you have talent as a mage,” Dorothea said nonchalantly. “And your hair is a treasure that others would naturally covet. In other words, for you, it’s an endless supply of catalysts that grow without needing particular management. If we say your own mana is 100, the mana in your hair exceeds ten times that. That’s roughly when it’s grown to your back, so if you grow it longer, it would be even more. It’s an unparalleled advantage for a mage.”

Sophia, who had been listening from the side, chimed in, “Ah, so you mean a magic tower? Magic towers covet talented mages. Once you’re affiliated, you won’t be easily kidnapped or harmed by ordinary opponents.”

“Well, to be precise, among them, ‘Protection’ and ‘Foresight’ are better, while ‘Control’ and ‘Annihilation’ are not so good. Anyway, the magic tower on our route is the Tower of Foresight, so it doesn’t matter.”

Dorothea’s blue eyes turned to Rapunzel.

“Of course, all we can do is take you to the city where the magic tower is, whether you can enter the tower or not is up to you. If you’re unlucky, things might get more complicated.”

At the gaze that seemed to ask, “What will you do?” Rapunzel fell into thought for a moment.

The protector who had guarded her and looked after her knowingly or unknowingly, even when apart, was no longer there.

And through this incident, she had keenly realized that she couldn’t protect herself alone.

There was the legacy her brother had left behind, but it was uncertain whether she could settle again as a stranger in unfamiliar land with just that.

“…Is it okay if I trouble you a bit more?”

“It’s not really trouble. We’re getting compensation for it, after all.”

The witch nodded indifferently.

That seemed to be the end of what she had to say.

At that moment, the Tin Knight leaned his body forward slightly.

Rapunzel flinched unconsciously.

She was a bit afraid of this knight whose intentions were unclear and who was monstrously strong.

Adelaide, who could hear his “voice”, explained to Rapunzel, “Ah, Sir Knight says he looks forward to working with you, albeit briefly.”

“Likewise, I look forward to working with you all.”

“And he says that, by his estimation, we’ll probably encounter about two more incidents, so be careful.”

“…Pardon?”

“It’ll be fine! I’ll help you a lot when it’s dangerous!”

Rapunzel couldn’t understand.

According to the map Dorothea had shown, the Tower of Foresight wasn’t that far away.

Or to be more precise, while the distance itself was considerable, most of it was occupied by the strait, so there weren’t conditions for incidents to occur.

Does he mean something like pirates might appear? Nah, no way.

Rapunzel took it lightly, thinking it must be a joke to ease the tension.

***

Two days later.

“Ye damn scallywags!! Ye haven’t fergotten Cap’n Bill, ‘ave ye!”

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken