성황의 아이들 [3]

421

421. Freedom Underpass (3)

As we leave Regina, the proper road is cut off, and soon a desolate wasteland unfolds before our eyes. The hay wagon ran non-stop through that dark, rough field.

Rattling.

Every time the carriage shook, a thick dust billowed up from the dry ground.

"The top is not the main route. "I can't see a single signpost, so I don't know if the coachman really knows the way."

Masain is wary of his surroundings and whispers softly.

Just as he said, as soon as we left the sleepless city, people disappeared like a lie. The places where small villages once stood have been demolished, leaving no traces of houses, and the land where a road once would have been laid out is now a tangled mess of rough grass and gravel.

"You don't have to be so nervous, Sir Martha."

"But isn't the North already a lawless zone? In this defenseless state, I am passing through a road that is wide open in all directions. "How can we not be on guard?"

"hmm."

Seongjin hugged the moderately heated devil's lamp and adjusted his posture.

"Lord Masaine. Hey, do you see the mark engraved on the corner of the carriage? "There will be four small dots in the shape of a triangle."

Masain looked back to where Seongjin was pointing. When I looked for a while with my aura to sharpen my eyes, I could vaguely see some graffiti that resembled a triangle with a dot in the center.

"It just looks like a stain. Does that make sense?"

"Not at all. "As long as it's there, it means we're safe."

"... Why is that so?"

"It's because this carriage is a sign that it belongs to the Freedom Underpass. "The bandits know full well that trying to loot isn't very fun."

Unlike the upper level, the carriages in the free underpass do not carry valuable items. The only things they 'deliver' are felons who can't find a place in the Empire, or fanatics from underground cults. So no matter which side was touched, it was not good for the bandits.

Masain was roughly satisfied with the explanation, but somehow another question seemed to arise.

"But you. How on earth did you do that... ... ."

Masain tried to ask a question. Well, it looked like he wanted to ask me something from earlier.

However, when Seongjin turned his gaze and looked into the distance, he also realized the silent rejection expressed by the prince and silently kept his mouth shut.

[I'm bored, Seongjin Lee. Can I take a little walk around the area?]

"Stop it, devil. "If you suddenly start flying through the air, what will that coachman think of you?"

[Can't we just burn the whole carriage?]

"no."

[Tch!]

The night passed very slowly.

Meanwhile, Seongjin looked up at the starless cloudy night sky, and sometimes talked to the devil in silence.

The coachman, who had repeatedly called him annoying, didn't even look back after arguing with Seongjin several more times. This is probably because she painfully realized that opening her mouth would only make the wrong person and gain nothing.

Then, around dawn, they arrived at a small hut standing in the middle of the wasteland.

"Howdy!"

At that moment, a middle-aged woman who was sitting in front of the door burning a pipe, when she saw the carriage, raised her hat and greeted me. The foul smell of smoke from afar stings her nose, as if she were smoking extremely poor quality tobacco.