The carriages rolled out of the city as the people cheered. Arad looked back at the capital’s gate, “I hope they don’t keep watching us for long.”

Aella giggled, “Would it matter?” She looked at the gate with him, “You can teleport us away with a void step before flying.”

Arad nodded, “I was thinking of carrying the whole carriage instead of having you ride on my back.”

She looked around, “We’re not sending the carriages back.” She giggled. They were numerous to ride on Arad’s back.

***

CRACKLE! Gojo heard something in the back of his carriage. He turned, “Did you hear that?” He asked.

“Only luggage rolling in the back,” Liliana replied.

“No,” Gojo looked back, “That sounded like flesh on wood and a soft one at that.”

“You know it’s weird if you can tell that?” Lydia stared at him.

“You can sense people and animals like Arad. You would have sensed if anyone was there.” Jack stared at him.

Gojo thought about it for a second, looking out of the window. “Stop the carriage. We have an uninvited guest.”

The carriage stopped, and so did Arad’s carriage. Gojo walked out and opened the luggage storage in the back.

“There is only one person who can slip through my detection,” Gojo said as Arad and the rest walked out of the carriage to check what happened.

CLICK! Inside the luggage locker, he looked around, only seeing their bags.

“There is nothing inside.” Liliana sighed, looking inside.

Wiggle! Wiggle! It was small, but he saw that one of the bags moved a hair strand.

Gojo lifted the bag, opened it, and took a look inside.

“GRRR!” Lucy, the youngest princess, stared at him from inside the bag, growling.

He extended his hand inside the bag, “Why are you…”

“AW!” Gojo snatched his hand away as she bit him. He looked at Isdis in the back, “Do something about your little sister,”

“Lucy!” Isdis gasped, “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in the castle,”

Lucy closed the bag on herself, “I’m not going back.”

Arad approached Gojo, “The magic around her body is a bit weird,”

“Wild magic, her is so strong that it can muffle our detection,” Gojo replied.

“Less of muffle and more of making her have the same presence as wild mana.” Arad looked closer at the bag.

“She feels more like a magic item to me than a human,” Gojo added, “If I didn’t know she’s a human, I would assume she’s a doll enchanted with magic.”

Isdis tried to open the bag, struggling against her little sister, who held it close.

“Try this,” Jack handed Isdis a glass potion.

“What’s this?” She asked.

“Demon Skunk essence, one drop should be enough to force her out,” Jack replied with a smile, lifting a thumb.

“I will make you drink it!” Isdis screamed, “Why do you even have this?”

“It never harms to keep a stink bomb close by,” Jack replied with a smile, and Liliana approached, “You’re right,” She also had a bottle.

Isdis growled, “Those two sure do act the same.”

Gojo sighed, “I will be back in a second,” He disappeared.

Two minutes later, he came back with a signed document.

“What’s that?” Arad asked.

Gojo showed them the paper, “A signed contract from the king to teach his daughter Lucy swordsmanship and magic for a year.”

Isdis stared back at him, “You’re taking her with you?”

“I mean,” Gojo scratched his head, “Look,”

In the blink of an eye, he pointed his finger at the bag, firing an ice spear. Icicle lance

CRACK! The spear shattered the moment it got closer to the bag.

“That was a regular cast. The wild magic around her makes spells unstable like hell.” He sighed, “She’s probably best staying with me to learn magic and control her power rather than staying in the castle doing tea parties with humans.”

“She’s human!” Isdis sighed, holding her hurting head.

Thud! Lucy extended her hand out of the bag, “My father has approved!” She shouted, getting out of the bag.

“Well done,” She pointed at Gojo.

PEW! A small ice bead fired from Gojo’s hand and smacked her in the forehead. “Your wild magic interferes with spells. If I made something custom with denser mana, you won’t dispel it before it hits you,”

Lucy held her forehead, almost crying, “You dare hit the princess?”

“Yes, yes. Of course, I would. Princess Lucy Lior Ruris.” Gojo stared at her.

“I would have you executed for being rude to a royal princess,” Lucy growled, and Gojo nodded in approval.

“Please do try,” He extended his hand into his stomach and pulled out a book, throwing it at Lucy, “The Basics of Magic. I will have a quiz for you once we reach Alina.”

“A quiz?!” She gasped.

“You’re running for an hour if you don’t get it. You better start studying now.” Gojo glared at her. “I don’t have time to deal with children who can’t protect themselves.”

Lucy opened the book, “This is…too many words,”

“It’s simple when you understand it,” Gojo replied, walking toward the carriage. “Let’s keep going. We will set off to the frozen north after we spend a few days in Alina. There are some spell tomes there I wanted to purchase first.”

“Ho,” Arad approached, “Magic that you want, what kind it is?”

“A spell that keeps mosquitos away. There is also one that keeps drinks warm for an hour.” Gojo replied with a smile, “There is even one that changes cloth color,”

“Mundane spells,” Arad sighed.

“They are the most fun. I already knew how to blast things, so I’m looking more into convenient spells.” Gojo got into his carriage.

****

A few minutes after the carriages started moving again, Lucy growled and fell on Liliana’s lap, her eyes spinning. “I can’t…” She growled.

“Motion sickness,” Liliana sighed, “It gets worse if you try to read something,”

Gojo pulled a bag from his stomach, “Here, keep reading and try to hold out. You can get a feeling similar to motion sickness when running out of mana. This is a good way to train for that.”

“Really…” She cried, her eyes spinning.

“It usually starts after you get below 50% of your capacity. Your training already started.”