“Excuse me?”

  Orion fought the urge to sigh deeply. He’d just gotten to the exciting part, too. While high-performance theorem provers might still be a stretch at this stage, his work on SPASS at the Max Planck Institute had allowed him to develop a framework for superposition calculus.

  He still needed some time to develop it into a functional model and even more to find a way to apply it to the blood crystal, but its compatibility with light mana and lasers in the specifics provided him with a path forward.

  All of that had to be put on hold for now because a teenage girl seemed to think his time was better spent talking with her. No, Orion. Keep it together. She can't understand the importance of my work. It’s not her fault.

  It was still difficult for him to resist his instinct to snap at her, but after closing his eyes briefly to collect himself, he turned to face her. “Yes?”

  The girl was already blushing, but the moment she met his eyes, her skin took on a faintly alarming crimson hue. She had silky black hair and wore a frilly white and pink dress that wouldn’t be out of place on a doll. “I was, I mean, I am going to be taking my snack soon. Would you like to join me?”

  “Orion would love that,” Asteria interjected before he could formulate a polite refusal. When he turned to her with a betrayed expression, she smiled. “We’ll be here for a long while. You’ll have all the time in the world to work on your projects. Take a break and then come back to it.”

  The girl let out a sound that could politely be called a giggle, but it was more like a squeal, and she grabbed his arm, pulling him up and dragging him away.

  Orion’s eyes never left his mother’s, deadpanning all the while.

  Seeing her giggle made the sacrifice worth it. Damn, I'm getting sappy now.

  A short while later, Orion found himself sitting on the opposite side of the coach, being served a warm cup of mou from the attendant.

  The smell was very enticing, though something about it felt different from the usual brew he got. “Is this the new stuff from Valderun?” He asked, and the woman nodded in agreement.

  “Indeed, young master. We just received a shipment a short while ago.”

  “Do you like mou, then?” The girl interrupted before he could continue the conversation, and Orion realized he’d almost forgotten about her. Even when he was trying to be polite, it seemed he’d be cursed with social faux pas.

  “I do, I’ve gotten used to brewing it myself because I don’t like it too sweet, but I have to say, this is nice. A bit less floral and more bitter than what I usually find in Silverpeak.” Then, more quietly, he added, “I might have to buy some before we leave Valderun.”

  “Oh, if you want, I can give you the name of the best shop in the city!” The girl brightened considerably, and he nodded, suddenly deciding he didn’t mind her too much.

  “I am Orion, by the way. Orion Voidwalker. What’s your name?” He asked, after realizing he hadn’t even bothered to ask so far.

  She quickly regained her flushed complexion, seemingly embarrassed that she had forgotten to do the same. “Ophelia Lesames, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she murmured, even going so far as to stand up and give a small curtsy.

  Ah, is she a noble? Or at least related closely enough to someone with real power to be considered one?

  The social hierarchy in the Lunar Sanctum’s lands was that witches ranked above everyone else. Technically, he was her social superior, but he wasn’t a fully-trained mage, much less one with an official position in the coven. So, he wasn’t sure where that left him in relation to a noble.

  Well, I believe that being my mother’s son is the main factor here. She’s a Magistra, and although that’s not a hereditary position, it’s still a higher rank than almost anyone outside the Sanctum.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” he dutifully replied. “So, this mou shop. Tell me more.”

  Ophelia smiled, feeling happy now that she had an actual conversation topic to follow, and Orion vaguely noticed the attendant step back a few paces to create the illusion of privacy.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Ah, it’s a good thing you met me, because if you’d asked people on the streets, they would have sent you to one of the Crimson Wheel’s shops, and that would have been a disaster,” she began, adopting an authoritative tone. “You see, they have the largest stock in the city, but that doesn’t mean much when it’s made up of only five varieties they try to sell in different formats!”

  Leaning back slightly at the sheer enthusiasm, Orion hummed to show he was following and took another sip. It was really pretty good, though he wondered how they’d managed to get the mou through the bandit-filled roads when it was a known luxury item.

  They must have gotten really lucky, or I guess the adventurers they hired did their job, but who would risk their lives to guard a product that only sells in limited quantities to fewer than a hundred people in Silverpeak?

  “So you see, their holiday specials are just reprocessed old stock! It is honestly absurd that such a reputable merchant alliance would resort to such tricks, but I guess too many people want to get their greasy hands on a delicacy like mou, and so they have to cut corners somehow if they want to meet the demand.”

  It was a frankly surprisingly accurate market analysis from a girl who looked like she still held tea parties with her dolls, but then again, she might have a class dedicated to mercantile endeavors.

  Actually, what is it?

  [Ophelia Leston-Ames - Lv. 27] [Golden Spoon - C-Rank]

  Huh?

  Orion blinked. He definitely didn't expect to find another extra ranker—the term he’d coined to describe those whose rank exceeded what was normally available at their tier and level—and even less one with such a weird class.

  This trip to Last Thaw was starting to become very confusing. First, there was the sudden discount they received thanks to Asteria’s promise to guard the carriage. Then, the unusually high leveled adventurers, and now this girl.

  I’m beginning to suspect something shady is going on.

  Ophelia kept prattling on endlessly, seemingly happy to discuss the complexities of supply and demand when it came to the mou trade, but the more she talked, the more wary Orion became.

  Sure, someone born into a merchant family, at least one involved in the mou trade, might have known that much information, but the way she was going through what should have been confidential data only made the alarm bells ring louder.

  As subtly as he could, Orion leaned back further so he could see both hostesses in his field of vision. Unsurprisingly, they were hovering nearby instead of attending to the other passengers’ needs.

  The moment he caught them, he was quick to inspect them.

  [Nomea - Lv. 71] [Battle Maid - D-Rank]

  [Chulla - Lv. 77] [Battle Maid - D-Rank]

  Both were much stronger than he would have expected someone in their position to be. At this point, he didn’t even feel the need to check the other passengers. It was obvious that he’d gotten caught up in something strange.

  Now, the only thing is, does Mom know?

  Even if she hadn’t been told, he would be very surprised if she hadn’t caught on by now. She was considerably stronger than anyone else in the room and should have enough experience to realize the deception.

  But why go this far? If Ophelia were a noble lady, I would understand assembling a large escort to see her safely to her destination, but why resort to this level of deception?

  The answer was that she either needed to be moved very quickly, and there just hadn’t been enough time to gather an escort of knights and mages, which he doubted, given how relaxed she was, or that her house didn’t think they could provide enough protection to justify putting a target on their back.

  After all, everyone knew that something being guarded more than usual was likely to contain valuable cargo.

  So, is the strategy here to hope that bandits or even a potential enemy of her house don’t stop us since we look like any other carriage? And in the unlikely event that they do, I suspect all these speed-focused warriors are meant to get her away from danger as quickly as possible.

  Orion still felt like he was missing something, but it seemed his silence had gone on too long.

  “Is everything okay? Is the mou too bitter? I bought it because the merchant told me it was super rare, but I should have known better!” Ophelia leaned forward, staring at him with her big doe eyes.

  She had it bought?

  Before he could muster a response, something happened.

  BOOM

  The sound wave hit the carriage only a second later, but the shock-absorption charms did their job, and it rattled only slightly.

  Immediately, the adventurers sprang into action, moving to each of the four corners of the carriage while the fifth, the larger man who deployed a tower shield from his back, quickly took position next to the only door.

  “Please remain calm; the coach driver will provide us with information shortly. Please remain calm.”

  The two maids also got their act together suspiciously quickly, with the first standing protectively beside Ophelia while the second moved to the wooden wall that separated them from the driver.

  She grabbed a hidden latch and slid it to the right, revealing a small window to the outside world. “Marty, what is going on?”

  Silence was her response. The woman paused briefly before cautiously looking out of the hole.

  She retreated immediately, slamming her hand against another hidden mechanism that sealed the latch and caused the carriage’s windows to darken, while various spells activated simultaneously.

  “We are under attack!” She proclaimed, earning a few shouts of surprise from the crowd. Less than Orion would have expected from a group of civilians. “Do not leave your seats unless you have a part to play in the coach’s defense. I repeat, do not leave your seats.”

  What little natural light filtered through the windows now wasn’t enough to see everyone’s faces, but Orion could imagine no one was especially pleased with this turn of events.

  Ophelia, however, was close enough, and he was surprised to find her calm instead of the panic he would have expected from a teenage heiress.

  She met his eyes but said nothing, only returning the look mildly, as if this whole thing was just a temporary inconvenience.

  “I will go out to check the situation,” he heard from the back, and Orion snapped around to see his mother walking toward the door.

  “Magistra, we don’t know where the attackers might be coming from. They might be waiting for us to exit the carriage to attack,” the bulky adventurer rumbled, though Orion noticed he stepped back in deference as Asteria came closer.

  “We’ll be sitting ducks if we don’t act. They hit us right after the last valley, so they’ve probably been watching for a while. I doubt they will have left us an escape route, and I don’t think poor Mr. Marty is in any shape to drive us anyway. Am I right?” She asked, turning to look at the hostess, who shook her head grimly.

  “He’s dead. An arrow to the heart,” was the reply.

  Yeah, that will do it. Now, the question is, who is coming to kidnap this hidden princess?

  HERE to get on my Patreon, where you will find 16+ extra chapters, with many more to come!