6-15: The Road Back Home

The following day was filled with lackluster exploration. Aside from the various shops and brothels, there really wasn't much else than a huge amount of farmland. Though, luckily, Seraph was able to find a contract for escort that goes back to the capital.

So, early in the morning, the girls all met up with the client. It was similar in size to the caravan they escorted to Aubergine, but there were only two people, both drivers. Specifically, they were brothers.

There wasn't much special about them, aside from just starting up their caravan business. But, either way, the girls were going to guard it.

And off they went, taking the road out of Aubergine, and back to the capital.

"We should be taking the faster route this time. Lara and her team should have finished clearing the bandits out by now, so the road should be relatively safe this time around." Seraph explained, letting out a yawn.

"Didn't sleep?" Veronica asked.

"She's not a morning person. Give her a bit and she'll be right as rain." Kazue explained with a light chuckle. "Ah, right, I bought something for you, Veronica, dear." She said, rummaging through a hole in space and time that she created.

"How did you...?"

"What, did you think I was some second-rate sorceress? I'll have you know I'm the granddaughter of the All-Mother."

"The All-Mother?"

"A beastkin saying to refer to the Succubus who birthed their races." Lilith explained in Veronica's ear.

"Precisely, predecessor."

"Call me Lilith."

Kazue nodded as she took out a bottle from the hole, which then closed, as if nothing was there. She handed it to Veronica, who gingerly took it from Kazue.

It was a transparent glass bottle with plenty of liquid, for it's size anyways, which would be enough to fill a but more than a canteen. The liquid in it was viscous and dark, similar to blood, but with a more greenish tint to it.

"What is it?"

"A rare potion that can temporarily remove your added appendage. It will come back after a time, but I figured that there might be times where you'd want to hide it's existence from others. Just one drop will make it disappear for about seven hours. Assuming that old geezer was telling the truth."

"Old geezer?"

"Ah, just an old man who happens to be our own doctor. Even though healing magic exists, it still can't solve every health issue."

Veronica nodded in understandment the returned her focus to the potion. She thought that she might as well give it a try. If it works, it could prove useful later. So, she opened the bottle which had a convenient stopper on it, making that one small drop easier to get.

Once it hit her tongue, Veronica felt an odd tingling sensation throughout her whole body, which only lasted for a second. And, within another second she suddenly felt air where her added appendage was.

"So it really does work. This is an amazing gift, Kazue. Thank you." Veronica said with a smile, giving her a small hug.

"Of course. All the kids pitched in too."

"Huh? Kids? What?" Just like that, Veronica was confused.

"Like I said, I can control my dreamscape as I see fit. Time there is vastly different here. Or, well, was. I currently have it set one-to-one with our time. But at the time, I massively increased the time, so multiple years in there have already passed. And, you've got six daughters." Kazue explained, which had officially broke Veronica.

Though, it was all fun and games until the caravan was suddenly attacked. It was just a sudden stop, but the carriages had been hit so hard that they flipped multiple times.

Veronica couldn't tell what happened, so disoriented and weapon in hand, she left the carriages with the others.

Bandits. And they were already demanding things.

It didn't take long for a fight to ensue. Rose Garden had taken up the front, trying to protect their underclassmen. Their first real fight against people, and it was kill or be killed.

Except for the added mage that no one expected to be hanging back. A sudden blast had knocked them all around. Veronica herself was launched hard into a tree, being knocked unconscious.

But, when she woke, she found herself in bindings, and in a cell with other women. However, her friends were nowhere to be seen.

Veroninca was on the verge of breaking under stress. And there was nothing she could do about it.