The Villain Is Destined to Die: But as the Creator, I know All Endings-Chapter 220: Day - 1 : Trust me, this is the right way!
"Johnny, should we take the next right or go straight?"
The carriage slowed slightly as Cyan’s voice came from the front.
Ethan leaned forward from his seat, holding the prism in one hand.
"Let me check, Jimmy."
Leon pressed his lips together.
The prism flickered to life, projecting a faint route map in the air, just above his palm.
"...According to your map," Ethan said seriously, rotating the map with his fingers a little, "I think we should go straight."
"Straight?" Cyan frowned. "Are you sure, Johnny? That road looks suspicious."
Ethan narrowed his eyes at the projection.
"Jimmy, every road looks suspicious to you."
"That’s because suspicious roads exist, and last time I trusted your sense of direction, we ended up in a swamp."
"That was one time though."
"That was two hours ago."
Leon turned his face slightly toward the window.
His shoulders trembled.
"...Pfft."
Both Ethan’s and Cyan’s voices stopped.
Cyan slowly turned his head back.
"...Laughing doesn’t suit you, Den."
Leon cleared his throat, forcing his expression back into calm neutrality.
"I’m not laughing. Trust me."
"You are," Ethan said flatly. "Your teeths are showing."
Leon adjusted his glasses. "Focus on the road, Johnny."
Ethan’s eyebrow twitched.
Cyan clicked his tongue from the front driver seat.
"This is your fault, Den. You’re the one who insisted we use these names for a whole week."
"It is for safety," Leon replied. "If either of us slips up even once, everything falls apart."
"So you enjoy this?" Ethan asked. "Watching us call each other nonsense names?"
Leon looked away.
"...A little."
Cyan sighed.
Leon told them to stick to their new names for the entire week and to never let their real names slip off their tongues. To make it feel natural, they decided to address each other only by their new names whenever they spoke.
At first, it felt awkward.
But gradually, they started adapting to it. And soon enough, the names would roll off their tongues naturally.
It was 2 AM.
The carriage rolled forward, the metallic wheels crunching softly against the dirt road of Shinra City. The main city was already far behind them now.
Leon clanged back at the fading light coming from the distance.
Cyan kept his eyes ahead, and his hands steady on the reins.
They had decided to rotate positions everyday.
Cyan would drive first, while Ethan and Leon rested inside. They would switch once they reached their first resting point.
The Rubyhill Forest.
It lay just beyond Shinra’s border gate, nestled between Liora and the Merlin Kingdom. It was a quiet stretch of land that avoided most of Liora’s human verification checkpoints.
If they followed this route, they could avoid unnecessary inspections, background checks, and questions about identities. For a group traveling under false names, that alone made the detour worth it.
Right after they cross the forest, they would have to deal with only one checkpoint near the border of the two kingdoms.
"Jimmy," Ethan said after a moment, glancing at the prism again. "Once we pass the ridge ahead, we should be able to see the forest line."
"Let’s just hope we don’t run into forest hunters, or those weird adventurers," Cyan replied. "I don’t want to deal with guards tonight."
Leon glanced outside the window, toward the night sky above.
The sky in this world was so clear that he could see other planets far away.
’Even the constellations here are different from Earth,’ he thought.
Not that he missed his old world. But despite all this time, Leon still felt strange whenever he thought about it. There was no way of going back now. And even if there was, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
He had found his goal in this world. And until he reached it, he wouldn’t change his path.
"You look oddly calm today," Ethan said, noticing his expression.
Leon raised his eyes. "I am always calm."
Leon noticed Ethan’s expression stiffen for a second.
’He must be thinking about that...’
Aside from Leon, Ethan also knew the condition Evana was in. It was only natural for him to feel stressed, especially when three calamities were involved in the city’s current state.
Ethan hadn’t told them about it. Leon guessed he wanted them to experience it for themselves.
Two more hours passed before they finally sighted the Rubyhill Forest.
Cyan brought the carriage to a halt just before entering.
"It’s really dark in here..." he muttered from the front.
Ethan leaned toward the window and looked ahead as well.
"I can’t see a thing."
Because of the dense trees, even moonlight failed to reach the ground.
They had lanterns, but none of them wanted to use them. The light could attract guards, wild beasts, or worse... a lesser demon.
Leon leaned out slightly, peeking through the window.
"Let’s see..." he muttered, infusing mana into his glasses.
The darkness ahead slowly cleared up. The treeline and the narrow road leading inside came into view.
"Let me take your place," Leon said.
"Hm?" Cyan blinked back at him. "How are you going to see?"
"Don’t worry about that." Leon flicked his glasses, then looked at Ethan.
"If you detect even the slightest movement, inform me immediately."
"Alright," Ethan nodded, then told Cyan to come sit inside.
Leon opened the wooden door and hopped down, taking the front seat where the reins were tied. He gathered the reins in his hands and adjusted his grip.
Leon gently patted the horse.
FReewww–!!
The horse let out a sound and looked in Leon’s red eyes.
Leon activated his skill.
[Command of Grace]
The horse understood his intent instantly, responding to the slight pull of the reins and the gentle taps of his hand.
Leon didn’t actually know how to drive a carriage. He was compensating with his skill.
Command of Grace worked on every living creature.
"Woah... I didn’t know you were this good," Cyan said, clearly impressed. He had always thought he was the best among them when it came to driving. Back in his village, he had done it many times to earn money. Unlike the other two, Cyan had real experience.
Leon replied in a low voice, "My sister taught me."
"Wow...You’re really lucky to have her." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
’Lucky, huh...’ Leon repeated silently.
Lucky wasn’t the word he’d use. If anything, it was the opposite.
Still, Leon continued to use her name whenever he needed to. He had noticed that whenever he tied his lies to his sister, people stopped questioning him.
If someone asked how he was so skilled at controlling mana, he would simply say Veronica taught him.
And no one ever doubted it.
.
.
[A/N: Support with Power Stone. 100 PS in 24 hours for 2 extra Chapters!!]
