“Lord Eustar, preparations for the move are complete.”

Barens, standing in front of the mechanical device, said. Eustar immediately took Laila’s hand and stepped onto the portal, which looked like a circular platform.

“Coordinate setting is complete. The departure point is Sercita, and the destination is Habashuka Headquarters. We’re moving.”

The moment he pulled the small lever, Laila unknowingly took a deep breath. She expected to experience water filling from her throat to her lungs and stomach again. But this time, it wasn’t like that.

She felt her body grow cold to its limits. It was as if she were standing naked in a mist made of ice and dry glass shards.

Her skin was cracking and shattering, collapsing like a sand castle… Seeing her fingers scatter and fall down was the last thing she saw before Laila suffered from extreme nausea.

“Ugh…!”

Was this also a symptom of motion sickness? It seemed so. It was similar to when she first moved through a portal. She felt dizzy, nauseated, and her vision blurred. And then familiar fingers prying open her lips…

“Don’t bite, Laila.”

For a moment, she was confused whether ‘don’t bite’ referred to Eustar’s fingers or the terribly tasting motion sickness medicine. After just one suck, Laila squeezed her eyes shut at the awful taste that made her shudder.

“What is this? What have you brought?”

Startled by the sharp voice, Laila quickly raised her head. She didn’t even have time to check if her fingers were in place.

The woman standing before her eyes… or should I say girl? A small girl with long hair of an odd color like an unripe lemon was looking down at Laila with a fierce expression.

“It’s a witch. You finally found one. I’m sick of your persistence.”

The girl said. It was undoubtedly a criticism directed at Eustar. Though she looked like she could be his niece or youngest sister in appearance, her tone was unrestrained.

“What are you doing? If you didn’t come here to become a moldy lump, get up quickly. Time is of the essence.”

The girl who snapped turned around abruptly. Eustar helped Laila up. Just then, the ‘orange’ on her tongue had completely dissolved, allowing Laila to somewhat regain her senses.

“Are you alright?”

Laila immediately shook her head.

“Not at all. This medicine tastes truly awful.”

“I admit that. I’ve been trying to improve it to something more palatable someday, but it’s not easy.”

While the two were talking, the girl who had gone ahead turned her head sharply and shouted angrily.

“Can’t you hurry up?”

Her arrogant and rude attitude was enough to surprise even Laila, but Eustar’s only reaction was a mere shrug of his shoulders. As Laila followed him, she lowered her voice and whispered.

“That child… how old is she?”

“She’s not a child. Well, let’s see. In human years, she might be about a hundred years old. Maybe even older.”

Laila’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean? Is she a magician by any chance?”

Eustar tilted his head ambiguously. As if saying, ‘Maybe so…’

“She is a magician. But… hmm. We don’t have time to explain now. For now, she’s not a child and is the head of the Tentinella Branch 2, that is, this Habashuka headquarters. Olga. Myuge Olga. But don’t call her Myuge. It’s better to just call her Olga.”

Laila wanted to ask why that was necessary, but as Eustar said, there was no time for that.

The atmosphere of the Habashuka branch was different from the Romul branch she had visited first.

This place had several times more mechanical devices than Romul, but in Laila’s opinion, they seemed to be easily a hundred to several hundred years old. Some were so old that she doubted if they really worked.

Myuge, who entered the space used as a conference room and lounge, slammed the table twice with her small hand. Then, with her head bowed, she gritted her teeth.

“We lost seven. As many as seven! Three trainee knights and four skilled knights! Damn it, do you know how much effort it takes to raise that many! How hard it is to train weak human bodies into warriors!”

Myuge vented her anger at thin air, then turned her head towards Eustar and Laila with the same expression. Laila thought to herself how fascinating it was to see her eyes sparkle like glass.

“That’s why I called you, Eustar. Now, would you care to explain why you brought a witch? Surely she’s not a combat-specialized witch?”

Eustar said.

“It’s not like that. Miss Laila won’t participate in combat, Olga.”

“Then why did you bring her? To show off her dress?”

“Don’t take out your anger on her. She’s just starting to learn about Tentinella. She’s exorcised a few ghosts, but this is her first time seeing magical beasts. She needs to know how we fight, that’s why I brought her. As she pairs up with me, there’s no way to avoid encountering magical beasts.”

Olga looked up at Laila with her arms crossed. Her gaze was so cold that Duchess Himierd would seem like a kind mother in comparison.

“You brought her, so you take care of her. My knights and members will support you, but they can’t protect a witch too. By the way, is she really the witch you were looking for? Can she perform overlays without any restrictions?”

As the familiar term came up, Laila involuntarily flinched. However, when Eustar nodded, Olga didn’t push further. She must have decided that resolving this situation was more important than picking a fight.

She spread a map on the table. There was one showing the entire Kingdom of Sierow, and another with more detailed terrain of the nearby area.

Olga pointed to the upper reaches of the Kizel River.

“The sink was first generated in the upper part of the river. There’s a canyon close to the source of the Kizel River. Do you know the monster called Dingoneck that appears in the stories of magicians who used to live in the damp forest long ago? It looks very similar to that. But it’s bigger and more cunning. And faster.”

Both Eustar and Laila knew what kind of monster a Dingoneck was.

A being with a sleek, solid body, angular face, massive fangs that nearly reach its forelegs, and threatening spines. It was often a tale used to scare young children living near forests.

Olga’s explanation continued.

“It moves much faster through the river. Since the sink was generated in the river, its properties are probably similar. But that doesn’t mean it stays only in the water. It jumps around the steep valleys of the canyon like a winged mountain goat.”

Eustar furrowed his brow.

“Sounds like a troublesome one. Even more so if it’s cunning. We should avoid a head-on confrontation and set traps instead.”

“We tried that method too. But it noticed first and ambushed us. We tried twice, and failed both times. Some returned alive, but they’re all severely injured, so they might have to return to their hometowns.”

“What are its weaknesses?”

Olga tapped the table.

“It can’t see. No, it’s presumed it can’t see. It has no pupils. But given how remarkably it finds where things are, it’s almost certain to have sensory organs that replace eyes. They say it has dense spines along its spine, maybe those substitute for eyes.”

“Like a cat’s whiskers. Then cutting off those spines should be the priority.”

It was a plausible opinion. Olga agreed with Eustar’s words but shook her head.

“We tried. We lost two skilled knights trying that. This magical beast is too fast. Its running speed, attack speed, even its speed of detecting enemies happens in the blink of an eye. Got any good ideas?”

Eustar fell into deep thought for a moment. Laila gazed at him with a worried face. He said it wasn’t something she could help with, but actually just listening made her feel a painful sense of helplessness.

An unknown, unidentified magical beast. How could such a monster, not even appearing in stories, be defeated? Laila pondered repeatedly.

It was said it couldn’t see ahead. Olga said the dense spines rising from its spine acted as sensory organs replacing eyes… Then what could be used to cover its eyes?

“What if… This is just a what-if.”

When Laila opened her mouth, Olga and Eustar looked at her simultaneously with surprised expressions. Especially Olga. She looked as if she had thought Laila was a doll incapable of speech.

“Go ahead, Laila. You can say anything comfortably.”

At Eustar’s words, Laila’s face reddened slightly. She was afraid of how nonsensical her words might sound to these people. But still…

“Um, that monster, the magical beast. If it senses its surroundings with the spines on its back… What if we could paralyze those spines? Then it wouldn’t be able to sense anything, or at least it would have difficulties. I was thinking maybe we could deal with it then.”

Olga snorted.

“Are you suggesting we shoot it with an anesthetic gun? We’ve tried that, but it was useless. We couldn’t penetrate its scales. It’s like its body is made of stone, that blasted thing.”

Harsh expressions flew from lips as pretty as a mischievous angel’s. However, Laila persisted and spoke again.

“It’s not about approaching and using weapons. From as far away as possible, waiting for that magical beast to appear… and then doing it. As you can see, I’m a witch, and I can make various tinctures. Among them is one that makes you look dead while only your heart beats. We could make that… and spray it where the magical beast appears. Like a mist.”

Laila spoke, recalling the sensation of glass shards and icy mist scraping her body when moving to Habashuka. That tingling feeling. The fear that she might crumble without a sound…

As that feeling revived, she suddenly wondered what if that magical beast ended up in the same state.

Eustar and Olga considered the method Laila suggested with quite serious and sincere attitudes. Finally, it was Olga who made the decision.

“Alright, witch. Let’s try it your way. But it’s impossible to create a new machine in time to take down that monster. So we’ll have to use what we have somehow. For now, follow me. Try making that tincture. It’ll need to be in large quantities.”