Double Stellar Calendar, Year 56, the end of May.
Spring had already passed. Although the weather didn't leave on time according to the season, just like how the cold winter would always leave some tail, the warm spring would also leave some influence.
But in any case, at this time, people who had a sense of time knew that summer was coming.
At the seaside, there weren't many changes during the transition between spring and summer.
On the endless coastline, there were three horses running north along the coast, with four people sitting on them.
The horses weren't running fast. The riders had taken the horses' physical strength into consideration, and this wasn't a short journey. At least, that was what Lulunaka said.
Because the journey on foot was more time-consuming, Lulunaka took the three horses, leaving two horses in the chapel.
Although these animals had been useless for a while and had been eating fodder for free every day, they were finally of some use now.
Olga, Padding, and Julius were each riding a horse, galloping along the seaside.
Their luggage and weapons were carried on their backs, which were not heavy for these animals.
In terms of riding, Olga and Padding had been veterans for many years. Compared to them, Julius looked a bit embarrassed when riding a horse.
Julius, who had always lacked the opportunity to touch a horse's tail, let alone ride a horse. He had learned how to ride a horse in a hurry, and it looked very clumsy. He was in front of the horse, and he had been passively flipping up and down with the horse's back, which would consume more of his physical strength.
But for a teenager who had never touched a horse, and had only recently learned how to drive a carriage and ride a horse, he did well.
When he was in the village, he had the experience of being kicked in the head by a horse's hooves. It was rare that such an incident didn't leave him with a fear of horses.
Julius only kept this kind of thing in his heart. He wouldn't tell Lurunaka about his embarrassing past and then make Lurunaka laugh at him.
Julius's horse fell behind Olga and Padding. Lulunaka was in front of him, looking at him with a smile.
Lulunaka sat behind Olga, and sat opposite, so she could see Julius's embarrassed look.
Julius always felt that Lulunaka's smile looked like she was mocking him. And along the way, when they stopped to rest, she really did laugh at Julius.
"If you don't know how to ride a horse, you can't be considered a hero."
At night, by the prepared bonfire, Lulunaka said this to Julius.
Although Julius was used to Lulunaka often laughing at him, hearing her words, he was still a little unhappy.
Perhaps it was because of Lulunaka's ridicule and the unhappiness caused by it that Julius learned how to ride a horse faster.
Looking at the results, Lulunaka's approach seemed to be very effective, but the other party, Julius, probably wouldn't agree with Lulunaka's approach.
Lulunaka sat very casually on the horse's back, as if she wasn't worried at all that she would be thrown to the ground by the horse.
Looking at her stable sitting posture, she really didn't need to worry about whether she would fall to the ground because of occasional big ups and downs.
She was still flipping through a small yellow book in her hand. Occasionally, she would glance at Julius, who was behind her.
Olga asked Lulunaka behind him, "It's been a week, where do you want to take us?"
After leaving the church, Lulunaka didn't say where she wanted to take them, only that they were going north.
This time, both the man and the horse had traveled north for a week.
This made Olga feel that they were just moving forward aimlessly, like a headless fly — just following the coastline of the Sea of Darkness to the north, north, and north again.
On the left was a vast forest with no end in sight; on the right was an endless sea with no end in sight.
They were in the gap between the dark green "sea" and the Sea of Darkness in the Forest of the Dead, which made them feel so small.
"I said that we were going to the north of the Forest of the Dead, didn't I? Master Olga, have you forgotten?" Lulunaka replied.
"If we go north along the coastline like this, we won't reach the north of the forest.
We will directly pass through the Forest of the Dead and leave the territory of the Crescent Empire. "Padding, who was riding beside Olga, joined in the conversation.
"You really should tell us where you want to take us."
Lulunaka closed the small book and put it away.
"To the north of the Forest of the Dead, this matter won't change.
But I hope to make a small detour and make some preparations before entering the north. "
She looked at Julius, who was struggling to control the horse under him, "There is someone who is too inexperienced. I think that if he goes in now, he will die very quickly."
"You shouldn't have brought him to such a dangerous place." Olga said. It was obvious that he still had some opinions about Lulunaka's plan to go out.
This made him worried that Julius would be pushed into danger by Lulunaka. It also made him worried about whether something would happen to Romuona, who was staying in the church.
"Master Olga, you can't protect them for a lifetime.
If you leave, these people you see as children, if they don't even have the ability to stand on their own, what will happen in the future? "
Olga's body stiffened. This was what Romuona said to him at that time, and it was also a decisive word.
At that time, he and Romuona were alone … until Lulunaka said the same thing.
"You eavesdropped on our conversation." Olga's tone sounded a little unhappy.
"Eavesdrop?
No, I won't do this kind of thing. If I want to know something, I will directly join your conversation. I don't like to be sneaky. "
Lulunaka said, "You said that I eavesdropped on your conversation, but this was what Romuona said to me. She said that you can't protect her like a chick for the rest of your life.
She looked very troubled, so troubled that she actually looked for me to have a heart-to-heart talk. "
Speaking of this, Lulunaka smiled, "She is not as guarded against me as I imagined. I am quite happy."
"You said that you are her friend."
"Probably only Romuona would be so afraid of her friend, right?
But sometimes, my warm attitude does make people feel uncomfortable, I admit that. "
Olga was silent.
There were some words that he really couldn't say.
Her so-called warm attitude sometimes brought people not only discomfort, but also fear.
"In short, you don't need to worry that I will bring you to a strange place. At least, I won't rush you to the Wyvern Valley in the northern part of the Forest of the Dead and ask you to pass through the valley to the Magic Beast Plain."
"But you still haven't told us what you plan to do.
You just told us to hurry on our way and didn't give us any information at all. "
Padding said. It could be seen that he was actually the same as Olga. He didn't want to be kept in the dark and didn't even know what he was going to do next.
"You all seem to be very anxious. Obviously, I should be the one who is most anxious."
Lulunaka sighed. She stretched out her finger and pointed at Julius, "I also hope that the person behind us can grow up as soon as possible so that I can relax a bit … But I can't find a good time. I don't even have an unlucky person who can be used as a sacrifice."
The word "sacrifice" that suddenly came out of Lulunaka's mouth made Olga and Padding vigilant.
"You said that you're not a necromancer." Olga said, "At least I believe you … Until now."
"Although I'm not a necromancer, you have a big prejudice against those who deal with death."
Lulunaka said, but then she frowned and looked like she was thinking. After a while, she continued, "But it seems that there aren't too many wrong prejudices. Most necromancers are indeed sinister bastards. Only a few aren't bastards, but they are also cold-blooded and heartless guys.
You remind me of a female mage who always treated my words as … "
Halfway through, Lulunaka stopped.
She turned her head and looked forward.
In the distance, smoke rose and floated to the sky.
It looked like smoke, and at the end of the sea, a ship could be vaguely seen.
She shouldn't be able to see things in front of her, but she seemed to have sensed something and turned her head. Compared to Olga and Padding, she discovered something in the distance — traces of human activity.
"Maybe the sacrifice has come." Lulunaka smiled.