The Mythical Path of a Princess from a Destroyed Kingdom

This is the norm for itinerant merchants: extremely high profits but also very dangerous, since no one knows what terrifying monsters or evil bandits they might encounter on the road.

Fearing that the bloodshed might attract something, the caravan quickly disposed of the corpses and continued on its way, only stopping to set up camp and rest at dusk. As adventurers, they naturally defended the outer perimeter to protect the weaker merchants.

"Speaking of which, I haven't asked you three yet, what are you going to do in Crystal Salt City?"

The five sat in a circle. Maginus took out a package from her dimensional bag, Arat took a sip of water from the pot, and, having nothing to do, began to chat idly. Harry, tuning his violin, casually remarked:

"I'll do what I always do: perform for money, feel the fluctuations of music and magic, so that I can become a real, magical bard as soon as possible."

Lily had already removed her heavy armor and was taking out armor oil and sword oil from her pack to apply to her weapons and equipment.

These things are not like Maginus's protectors and psychic blades; ordinary items require constant maintenance to ensure they are in the best possible condition.

Ellie was helping her when the dancer touched her chin with her finger and said thoughtfully, "We need to go find my aunt. She works at a newly opened opera house and they need a lot of staff, including dancers and bodyguards."

Everyone had their own goals. Maginus listened to their conversation, noticing their occasional glances at her, and casually grabbed a piece of firewood and tossed it into the fire.

"To avenge our grievances."

The somber words made the already oppressive atmosphere even more somber. The four people stared at the girl with expressions of pity, but she herself remained expressionless, as if it were none of her business.

……

After everyone had finished eating and taken care of their tasks for the day, Maginus, who had chosen to keep watch, sat alone by their campfire, while the other four lay down on their straw mats to sleep.

Campfires were scattered around the campsite, providing enough light to keep out predatory animals. The girl stared quietly at her fingers as crimson mist contracted and dissipated.

She is trying to make life force and spiritual energy more concentrated, ideally restoring them to a state similar to blood, from gas to liquid, and then from liquid to solid. Once she successfully condenses them into a solid, she can use life force to do many things.

Another point is the strength of her psionic energy. Since she can sense the life force of others, it means that once she becomes powerful enough, she will be able to directly guide and extract the life force from a person's body, just like withering or dying spells.

A more direct manifestation of this is its impact on the blood.

The Soul Blade manual Oren gave her only covered the basics, and it's unlikely anyone could teach her how to use her psionic abilities; the girl would have to figure everything out on her own.

Is belief itself one's strength...?

The psychic energy, combined with life force, flowed within the girl's body, enhancing her physical strength, while the quality of the psychic energy itself gradually increased through self-hypnosis.

I need to liquefy the fog... I need to liquefy the fog...

Maginus murmured to herself, and the expanding and contracting red mist was changing according to her will, albeit very slowly, but it was indeed changing.

Another three days passed.

After encountering the robbers, there were no further incidents on the journey. Apart from the merchants who had been injured or killed, the rest of the people in the caravan recovered their composure, and the atmosphere in the caravan was gradually improving.

On their journey, they also encountered other caravans heading to the Kingdom of Nesser, and the two sides exchanged greetings and talked about the current situation of their respective countries.

"Approximately how much longer until we reach the territory of the Crystal Salt Kingdom?"

Maginus asked Arat, the thief toying with a coin between his fingers: "About eight or nine days. I remember it takes about half a month to travel from Nesery to Crystal Salt."

The girl sitting in the carriage closed her eyes, about to continue her exercise, when a commotion arose in front of the caravan. She raised her eyebrows, glanced at it, and then ignored it.

The merchants, whose goods had been damaged or whose personnel had been injured, were arguing with the caravan's organizers, some adventurers, and guards because they were emotionally agitated.

These are all trivial matters; don't worry about them.

As darkness fell amidst the noise and the girls' training, a voice came from ahead again, this time filled with excitement and joy: "Everyone, there seems to be a village ahead! We don't have to camp out here anymore!"

"Oh!!"

Upon hearing this good news, everyone cheered. Whether the village had been abandoned or not, they could now go inside and sleep more peacefully, without having to live in fear like they did in the wild.

As the caravan approached the village, the people in front were somewhat disappointed when they got closer to the entrance. They discovered that it was an abandoned village, completely deserted, which meant there weren't enough people to huddle together for warmth.

Fortunately, many of the unfinished houses were still intact. However, as the carriage carrying the girl approached the village gate, she suddenly opened her eyes.

The girl felt uneasy about the village, though she didn't know why.

"Everyone," Arat, usually so nonchalant, surprisingly spoke first, his brow furrowed as he looked around, "do you sense anything amiss?"

"No." "I had the same feeling."

The other three said no, and Maginus agreed with his strange feeling. The thief gripped the coin that was tossing up and down and warned in a low voice, "Anyway, be careful, something seems off here."

Once the caravan has completely entered the village, and the pioneers confirm that there are no people or creatures there, everyone can disperse on the spot, and each person should guard their own wagon if necessary.

Most people began looking for houses that could at least provide some shelter from the wind, but some remained where they were, their movements confined to the vicinity of the carriage.

They were either guarding the trucks, or, like Maginus's group, they sensed something was amiss and were ready to flee at any moment.

With the girl's affirmation, Arat stopped the remaining three from looking for a place to stay. He then asked the dancer Ellie to inform the carriage owner and drove the carriage to a location near the other end of the village.

Besides them, there were three or four other teams present, exchanging glances, their intentions quite clear.

"I'll go and talk to them to see if we can travel together if a serious problem arises."

Arat left the group and headed to another carriage, where the leaders of the groups gathered together and discussed in hushed tones.

Chapter 102 Ghost Well

Before long, Arat brought back good news: if anything unexpected happened in the village, their teams would temporarily travel together until they were out of danger before discussing anything else.

Maginus, however, focused his attention on the cargo inside the wagon, which contained a large quantity of fine silk.

“Captain Arat,” she suddenly spoke, “do you believe your premonition?”

"Of course I believe it, so many people didn't notice..."

Arat didn't say anything, but following the girl's gaze, he saw the box of exquisite silk. As a thief, he almost instantly understood what the girl was going to do, and his eyes lit up.

He glanced at his companions and nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, none of us are the kind of people who are old-fashioned."

"what happened?"

Noticing that Arat's gaze was a bit strange, Lily asked him a question. The young man tossed his dagger aside and said, "Once we're safe and sound, I'll sell the goods in the car, and then we can divide them up, okay?"

When money was mentioned, everyone became wide awake. The bard Harry asked excitedly, "So, how much money can we expect to make from selling this cartload of goods?"

"I remember there were exquisite silks, glass artifacts, and so on on the cart. The total amount was probably no less than several hundred gold coins. After all, these are things that rich people play with. Tsk tsk, trading can really make money."

Maginos did not comment on this, nor did she know the exact price of these items; in any case, a single ordinary piece of furniture in her old home cost more than several hundred gold coins.

Based on this, the wealthy people Arat mentioned are probably just minor nobles or small businessmen.

During the time after the girl left the palace, she did indeed see the distinctions in wealth that her teacher Santi and even her brother had mentioned.

The gap between rich and poor on the continent of Noir is extremely large. While the lower class may be starving and lack clothing, the upper class consumes endless resources.

Those powerful individuals, such as legendary mages, can use magic to create gold, or travel to other planes and planets to obtain gold equivalent to tens or even millions of gold coins, which they then use to conduct their experiments.

The disparity in power has led to a disparity in quality of life, and naturally some people want to change the status quo. Kings, nobles, and even churches of gods and cults in some countries have the desire to make changes.

Unfortunately, their kindness could only extend to their own territory and people, because evil was equally powerful. Demons, devils, monsters, evil gods, and nobles who enjoyed oppressing the people all hindered change.

For now, stability, obsolescence, stubborn decay, and burgeoning vitality are the main themes of Kenoyle.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to reclaim the Kingdom of Nesery. If that day ever comes, at least I should make sure the slaves and even the poor have enough to eat. Perhaps cooperating with the Church of the Three Gods would be a good option.

"call……"

Maginos thought about the gold coins sold in the goods. She had indeed experienced hunger and cold, but everything was too far away for her. She couldn't even settle down herself, let alone reclaim her country and become queen.

Moreover, given her current mood and personality, will she be a benevolent ruler or a ruthless killer if she becomes queen?

Clutching her weapon, the girl sat down and withdrew her scattered consciousness, continuing to hone her spiritual energy. As she honed her skills, a mist of life force emanated from her, sharpening her senses and allowing her to observe the movements of the creatures around her.

"Damn adventurers, a bunch of scoundrels, a bunch of bandits!... Mary! Waaah!"

Inside a mud-brick house near the village well, a merchant who had lost his wife was drinking with some other merchants, cursing the adventurers and guards who had failed to protect their families and property, deeming them worthless.

Even if they didn't pay, they should still protect themselves!

The merchants were indignant, some of them burst into tears. One of them felt the urge to urinate, got up and stumbled to the door, where he found a corner to relieve himself.

After everything was cleared away, the merchant rubbed his eyes and prepared to leave. Just then, a faint cry for help came from behind him:

"Help……"

The hollow voice made the businessman, who was drowsy from drinking, turn around and shout in a very unpleasant tone, "Who is it!"

"Help……"

In this era, a normal person would have run away long ago upon hearing such a sound, without even glancing back. However, the drunken businessman, emboldened by alcohol, strode towards the source of the sound.

Arriving at a well in the village, the merchant knelt down in a daze and put his head on the edge of the well to look down. The sight inside the well instantly snapped him out of his daze, and the fear in his heart urged him to scream, but he couldn't open his mouth.

Deep within the dried-up well, pale ghosts stared at him, revealing eerie smiles.

Immediately afterwards, these ethereal undead creatures flew out from the well, constantly washing over the merchant's face. His rather fat face quickly became thinner, and at the same time, his body and life also shrank.

As the ghost flew out of the well, the entire village was gradually enveloped in mist.

……

"Get up! Everyone, get up!"

Maginos, who was dozing, was awakened by Ellie, who was on night watch. She opened her eyes and saw a white mist.

The girl immediately looked at the other carriages. The adventurers were also awakened from their sleep by their respective watchmen, and their expressions were quite solemn as they looked at the unnatural white mist.

Arat roused the horses, and several adventure teams gathered in their wagons. Someone exclaimed in alarm, "Do you know what's going on? This fog suddenly rose up!"

"The negative energy in the fog is becoming more concentrated."

One of the wandering knights said, seeing the skeptical looks on everyone's faces, he immediately took out a bottle of glowing sand from his pocket: "This is sand that has been soaking in the holy water pool of the temple. It will also glow when the negative energy becomes stronger."

Feeling the unique warmth emanating from the sand, everyone immediately believed his explanation. In the nearby village, night patrol guards struck metal plates to warn everyone of the impending danger.

"Ah!! There's a...a ghost! There's a ghost!"

The scream sent a chill down everyone's spines, and Maginus and some other agile individuals immediately climbed to higher ground to look towards the center of the village.

Large numbers of ghosts are drifting into room after room. People who are awakened from their sleep are panicking and running away. Once someone collides with a ghost, their body will become thinner.

An ordinary person would lose all their life force after encountering a ghost four or five times, while an adventurer could hold out for a while, but not too many times.

Chapter 103 Wealth Moves People

"Damn it, it's a troublesome thing like a ghost!"

Arat cursed angrily. As ethereal beings, ordinary weapons were useless against them, simply passing right through their bodies. To attack them, one needed the support of some kind of energy.

Flames can work on them, but the effect is very weak. For a better effect, you need something like positive energy.

This is why warriors can only directly attack ethereal creatures by relying on their powerful life force field once they reach the mid-level, but at that time they will have one or two magical equipment.

In conclusion, there aren't many people in this convoy who can attack the ghosts, and given their sheer number, running away is probably the best option.

The chaotic scene in the distance prompted Maginus to lightly tap her protector. Her magical weapons and mind blades were naturally capable of attacking the ethereal creatures, but unfortunately, there were simply too many ghosts. She would probably be surrounded by the ethereal creatures after killing just a few.

Even with her life force at its peak, the girl couldn't keep going in and out of the encirclement of about forty ghosts.

The crowd exhaled mist, and the influence of the ghosts rapidly expanded, causing the surrounding temperature to drop.

"Everyone, get on the bus quickly! We need to escape for our lives. Hopefully, there aren't many ghosts inside who can escape the village."

Sitting in front of the truck, Arat pulled on the reins and swung them hard, not caring at all about the people running towards him. The packhorses, already agitated and frightened by the sight of the ghost, immediately bolted towards the edge of the village, trying to get as far away from danger as possible.

The five teams gathered here, riding in eight carriages, traveled several hundred meters before emerging from the fog. They did not completely escape the fog, but remained outside the foggy area to see if there were any survivors.

Protect your own lives first. If someone can escape from the ghosts, that would be ideal. Adventurers are never stingy with helping each other.

After all, there are five teams here.

However, the chances of others escaping from the ghosts are not very high. The originally thin white mist is now enough to make it pitch black inside, and you can't see anything at all.

Even if you move in one direction, you might not be able to find your way out of the village. The sense of direction of living beings is also affected by ghosts. These five teams knew about the danger in advance and were waiting on the outermost edge of the village, which is why they were able to get out so easily.

"I don't know what the situation is inside... Anyone who knows how to attack the ghosts, please be prepared!"

The leader, temporarily chosen because of his superior strength, notified the five teams. Maginus+X衣尔零II霖旗司QX!t lightly flicked his arm to create a Nen Blade and said to his teammates, "My Nen Blade is made of special energy and can kill ghosts."

The four men showed obvious envy upon hearing this. Although the girl looked about the same as them when fighting, she was actually far inferior.

There weren't many people in the five teams who could deal with ethereal creatures. Apart from Maginus, who relied on her own abilities, the others smeared holy water on their weapons or performed ritual spells to enchant them.

The people performing the ritual spells all wore expressions of heartache; there was no other way, the materials were too expensive.

As for why they don't use holy water, it's naturally because the positive energy in water evaporates very quickly in ordinary containers.

Holy water that can be used at will become ineffective in about one or two days if it is not placed in a special container. Buying special holy water is not as good as saving money to buy a container. Therefore, all the people who use holy water now have containers to slow down the loss of positive energy.

As time passed, the chill grew more and more penetrating. Even the five teams outside the white mist could feel themselves trembling. No one dared to think about how cold it was inside.

"Could it be that everyone except us died inside...?"