Chapter 296: Miss Gabriella

After the maids finished packing the luggage, everyone’s “journey” began.

They did not need much on the road.

The little they did bring was stored inside the storage artifact Olivia had created, making it extremely convenient to carry.

Monastar lay about 3,000 kilometers from the Holy King Capital.

Considering that neither train nor carriage would be especially convenient, and after Roselyn and Simona coordinated together, the group would take a train to Consron, a small country south of the Holy Kingdom.

After all, Monastar was a nation of the Southern Continent, and the still-incomplete rail lines could not reach it.

Even a carriage would require a full day of travel across the ocean.

Originally, a normal trip would have taken a week to reach Monastar.

That was already the fastest transportation in the entire world.

Gabriella’s body, however, could not endure a journey that long.

Worse still, the mana coordination period was about to end, and the life in Gabriella’s belly would soon begin to develop.

In the end, only under Isabella’s insistent demand was the journey changed to the most convenient combination of train and teleportation magic.

Consron, as a country on the southern part of the Northern Continent, had masters from Monastar.

They were more than capable of drawing a powerful magic circle and teleporting everyone to Monastar.

Gabriella had not even set out yet, and the people responsible for receiving them were already prepared in a short time.

This was far from the first time Gabriella had been astonished by Simona’s efficiency.

The interior design was nothing like the crowded image she remembered.

It was more like a moving, cozy hotel, with a dedicated bartender and chefs working in special cars.

The space to move around was quite large, since the entire train had been “booked out” by Gabriella’s party.

Only later did Gabriella learn that this train was a high-class conveyance reserved for ministers and nobles of the Holy Kingdom.

It was already the best treatment the Holy Kingdom could offer.

For ordinary transportation, the train was fast, roughly half the speed of the wind, yet the cabin did not jolt.

Beyond the windows, the scenery rushed past at different speeds depending on how near or far it was.

Morphis and Philina were remarkably lively.

They curiously examined every little thing here, as if neither of them had ever taken a train on a long trip before.

Gabriella allowed the maids to move about as they pleased, so each of them went off to do something she wanted.

They split up.

Morphis and Philina followed behind Simona, asking about future work arrangements, while Roselyn and Hertitz sat together, quietly discussing something or other.

Creis and Olivia left as well.

The instant before they vanished from Gabriella’s sight, they were still holding hands.

Then there was Liya.

In principle, Liya could not take part in this operation, since she still retained her identity as a demon.

Even so, Simona arranged for her to rest in a room in the last car of the train.

“My body really is fine.”

Just as she was thinking, Isabella’s hand settled on Gabriella’s belly and pulled all of her attention back to the present.

Because nearly all the maids had gone to other cars, the car Gabriella occupied had grown much quieter.

Isabella lay on her back on the sofa, leaning against an enormous soft pillow, while Gabriella lay on top of her.

Isabella often placed Gabriella’s head with painstaking care upon those plump swells.

They were soft, though not exactly comfortable.

It was more a way of flirting with that idiot Isabella than anything else.

Gabriella was wearing a black dress at the moment, black pantyhose wrapping the full length of her long legs.

Isabella gently caught Gabriella’s waist between her knees and let her hand wander lightly over that abdomen without a trace of extra flesh, savoring this lovely moment and not hearing a word Gabriella said.

More than mere stroking and concern, her expression carried a hint of playful relish, as if she were holding Gabriella in her mouth and carefully tasting her.

Gabriella had meant to resist a little.

After all, if something like this were discovered, it would be thoroughly unseemly.

Especially when they were about to meet Letitia, they needed at least a shred of dignity.

But when she saw the look of enjoyment on Isabella’s face, she sighed and relaxed.

“Hmph.”

“Gabriella, do you know Tileimo?” Isabella suddenly said.

“Mm… why ask that all of a sudden?”

“Didn’t Roselyn already say it? Tileimo became an Apostle. I didn’t know about that.”

Gabriella watched the towering mountain range growing distant beyond the window and could not see Isabella’s expression.

“They all say Shadow is a terrifying Authority, but I still don’t have any real sense of it… Is it truly as destructive as they claim?”

Isabella had clearly recalled the information from Gabriella’s dream.

To decide to destroy the world based on nothing more than scientific prediction, simply because Isabella’s Authority had been judged extremely dangerous, looked bizarre no matter how one viewed it.

Shadow was certainly strong, but Gabriella did not believe it could be dangerous to that degree.

“I want to know just how terrifying an Apostle really is. Doesn’t that sound a little strange coming from my mouth~?”

“It is strange. After all, the Evil God’s master still doesn’t know her own potential. No matter how you look at it, that’s strange, isn’t it?”

“That’s exactly why I have to get to the bottom of it. As the saying goes, hearsay is empty, and seeing is believing.”

Isabella smiled with confidence.

“Did you really undo the Shadow for Hertitz?” Gabriella lifted her head a little and asked curiously.

“Lately the Shadow inside her has stabilized a great deal. Did you help suppress it?”

“I don’t actually need to touch her at all.”

“All right…”

At noon, the train arrived at its destination.

Compared with the Holy King Capital, Consron lagged far behind.

The buildings were low and the layout chaotic, giving the feeling of having arrived in a primitive society.

After they disembarked, the people who received Gabriella’s party were the entire priest corps stationed here, members of the knight orders that had been incorporated, and a young woman they had never seen before.

Her name was Reina.

She looked like a descendant of a Church minister.

Unlike ordinary knights, she wore no protective gear at all and resembled a princess more than anything.

She had long golden hair and a magnificent gown.

Her figure was slender, her bearing upright, and her looks ranked among the finest even among humans.

Combined with strength that had reached the Saint level, she had quickly become the center of the human army.

“Gabriella, Lady Silver-White Sword Empress.”

Reina inclined her head with a smile and had specially brought nine knights to the station to welcome Gabriella as she stepped off the train.

Gabriella smiled and returned the greeting.

“Miss Reina, I’ve long heard of you. I hear you are the strongest swordswoman of the new era. To see you with my own eyes is an honor.”

The polished speech made Reina blush a little.

“How could that be… I am only your junior. Please continue to guide me from now on.”