Chapter 29: The Caravan

Celia took the book.

As soon as she saw the cover, she felt something was wrong.

Why was it titled *Celia’s Walkthrough Collection*?

Her breath hitched, and she hurriedly flipped through the pages.

As soon as her gaze landed on the opening pages, her mind buzzed, and blood rushed to her head.

The book read:

“Little Celia possesses a significant contrast in personality. She is stern with strangers, but easily embarrassed before acquaintances. Her defense against direct romantic advances is exceptionally low. Signs of long-term sexual repression are evident. Although she has lived in celibacy for sixty years, she always seems distracted during the annual Dark Elf Festival. From what I know, her heart must be filled with longing…”

Celia’s cheeks turned a shade of red that looked ready to bleed.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she gripped the pages.

‘Longing, my foot! This is pure slander! And I feel like I’ve seen this handwriting somewhere before.’

“Dammit!”

Celia squeezed the word through her teeth and slammed the book shut.

Her eyes burned with a fire of ultimate rage, her voice wavering with fury.

“Silvia! This handwriting… this twisted sense of humor… it’s definitely her! As the Clan Leader, does she have nothing better to do than write this about me all day?!”

Her chest heaved violently as she ground her teeth.

“Fine, very well… Silvia, just you wait! If the author of this trash isn’t her, then I, Celia, will gladly be the submissive one for the rest of my life!!”

Onyxia was stunned by the extreme reaction.

Wasn’t it just an ordinary book?

Why such a large reaction?

She quickly leaned over to take a look.

‘Oh no, I grabbed the wrong one.’

Traka had indeed shoved several books at her earlier, calling them “Onyxia’s Reference Materials.”

She hadn’t looked closely before stuffing them into her bag.

She just wanted to find a topic to talk about and randomly pulled one from the pile…

How did she end up picking this fatal one?!

“Wait! Celia, calm down!” Onyxia panicked.

If she hadn’t spoken, it might have been better.

Now, Celia’s attention was fully focused on her.

“So… Onyxia, those moves you used before… did you learn them from this trash? To use against me?!”

Onyxia wasn’t about to take the blame for this.

She immediately shook her head, her face looking completely aggrieved.

“No! Absolutely not! Celia, I swear, I haven’t even opened this book since I got it! I’ve been with you and Ilyas the whole time, so where would I have found the time to read it? How could I have followed what’s inside to deal with you?”

She pointed at the book and then at her bag, trying to make her words more persuasive.

“I have no idea what’s actually written inside. I really just picked it at random. If I had known it was something like this, why would I bring it out and go looking for trouble? Believe me, everything I’ve done to you was… just because I wanted to. It has nothing to do with this cursed book!”

Celia stared intently at her, as if searching for a hint of a lie. But she found nothing.

Several minutes later, the heaving of Celia’s chest finally steadied.

She looked away and squeezed out a stiff sentence.

“…There better not be.”

Accepting the explanation reluctantly, she threw the burning book onto the seat beside her, as if holding it for another second would burn her.

Just as the atmosphere softened and Onyxia breathed a secret sigh of relief, a voice piped up cautiously.

“That… that book…”

Ilyas blinked her large eyes.

Her gaze moved back and forth between Celia’s blushing face and the *Celia’s Walkthrough Collection* tossed on the seat.

She asked softly, “Can… can I take a look?”

The words had barely left her mouth.

“NO!!!”

Celia and Onyxia shouted almost in unison.

Ilyas was startled by the intense reaction, but she couldn’t help muttering, “W—Why… doesn’t it have stuff about Celia written in it? I’m curious. I want to understand Celia better.”

“When I say no, I mean no!”

Celia’s voice was firm as she moved the book as far away from Ilyas as possible.

***

Just then, the carriage suddenly came to a stop.

Before Celia and the others could figure out what was happening, a crisp female voice came from outside.

“Break time! Guests inside. The Captain says you can come down to stretch your legs and get some fresh air.”

Upon hearing this, Celia quickly straightened her clothes, trying to cool her face before stepping out of the carriage.

A female Elf stood outside the door.

She was tall with a straight posture.

Her brown leather armor, designed for easy movement, was stained with a bit of travel dust, but it couldn’t hide her efficiency.

Most striking was her shoulder-length gold hair that shone brilliantly, tied casually behind her head to reveal a face with clear lines — devoid of makeup but full of heroic spirit.

“I am Kaila, a Gold Elf and a guard for the caravan. We’ll be resting for thirty minutes. The road ahead is smooth; we should reach the Border Outpost in about two days.”

Celia nodded to her, desperate for the forest breeze to blow away the heat on her face.

Onyxia followed, casting an interested glance at the heroic Gold Elf guard. Ilyas walked out last.

Taking advantage of everyone else leaving, she quickly stuffed the *Celia’s Walkthrough Collection* into her own luggage.

After finishing this, she walked out as if nothing had happened.

Another voice rang out.

“You must be the guests Arian asked me to take special care of. You saved those little ones, and I was too busy moving cargo this morning to thank you properly.”

The speaker was an extremely burly Beastman.

He was more than two heads taller than an ordinary human.

The muscles on his arms, exposed by his leather armor, were knotted and gnarled, and several old scars marked his hands.

“I’m the leader of this caravan. You can just call me Grom!”

He patted his chest, his voice booming.

“That girl Arian gave strict instructions to make sure you’re sent to the Border Outpost comfortably and safely. If you need anything along the way, just let me know!”

Celia replied, “Thank you for looking after us, Captain. I am Celia, and these are Onyxia and Ilyas. We’ll be in your care.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” Grom waved a massive hand, laughing heartily.

During a gap in the conversation, Celia mentioned seemingly casually, “Captain Grom, you travel this route all year round and have broad knowledge. Along the way, we’ve heard that the border areas… seem a bit unsettled recently?”

“We caught a glimpse of a small squad earlier. Their armor style was very unique, seemingly embroidered with a rose pattern? It’s quite rare for such an elite Human Knight Order to appear in the buffer zone between Elves and Beastmen. Do you know of any rumors, Captain? Since I’m traveling with companions, I’d like to avoid unnecessary trouble.”

Hearing this, the hearty smile on Grom’s face receded slightly.

He stroked the short beard on his chin, lowering his voice.

“Heh, you heard about that too? Those tin cans… the Knight Order of the Rose, it’s definitely them. They’ve been wandering around this area quite frequently over the last two weeks.”

He spat, looking a bit dissatisfied.

“Those fellows claim they’re tracking some Heretic or a fugitive. They’re holding a permit given by who-knows-who. I even heard their Commander has arrived. I have no idea what there is to search for around here, but regardless, this is the border of the Elf and Beastman territories. No matter who he’s hunting, it won’t fall on our heads.”