Galaco’s appearance was exactly as I had seen it in the book before.
Galaco, with two snake heads, was greedily devouring the falcon’s neck and wings.
A terrible sight unfolded in the dark, clouded sky.
The women all closed their eyes and screamed at the horrifying appearance of Galaco, and the men were also shocked and panicked.
The horses neighed anxiously and moved around as the procession suddenly stopped.
I held the reins tightly and stroked the back of the horse’s neck to calm it down.
Linel quickly raised his bow and aimed at Galaco.
“Galaco, you have to hit the head!”
Bellos shouted.
“I know.”
Despite Linel’s low voice, the arrow flew high into the sky.
The arrow hit the head of Galaco’s two snake heads that were tearing off the falcon’s wings.
But Galaco didn’t die. The other snake’s head, still alive, was busy eating the falcon’s neck.
“I hit the head, but why doesn’t it die?”
I asked Bellos in surprise.
“Galaco dies when you hit both heads.”
At that moment, Galaco, who had been holding onto the falcon’s body with his sharp claws and eating it, threw the falcon.
The falcon’s body, more than half eaten, fell down between the guests.
The guests were terrified and stood a wide distance away from where the falcon had fallen.
“Be careful!”
Galaco suddenly rushed down toward Linel, perhaps angry that he had killed another of his beings.
The people around him quickly moved away.
Linel didn’t care and pulled out his arrow from his back again.
There was no way he would miss, but Galaco was rushing too fast.
Even if the arrow had hit Galaco’s head, it seemed like it would have collided with him.
I quickly took out my slingshot from my uniform pocket, hung a bead, and shot it at Galaco’s head.
The bead hit Galaco’s eye, but it didn’t kill him.
Galaco turned around with one eye still stuck in it, raised its claws, and charged at me.
'Come as you please, you snakehead.'
I mentally prepared myself and drew my sword.
"Zelda!"
Linel called out to me urgently.
I could hear his tremendous nagging from his expression.
'Are you crazy? Why are you coming?'
'Who are you trying to show me that you're crazy? Do you want to die?'
and so on. He turned his horse around and tried to come to me because he couldn't stand me.
I raised one hand to signal him not to come.
'Don't come, I can't concentrate!'
But he ignored my gesture, got off his horse, and started running towards me.
"Oh, really."
I waited for Galaco to get close and tried to cut off his head.
Linel got in the way, so I had no choice but to take out the spear I had on my waist and throw it at Galaco's neck.
The spear spun around and struck Galaco's neck before flying away and embedding itself in a wooden pole.
As Galaco’s head and torso fell to the floor, the guests’ gazes fell to the floor together, and then they all looked at me.
I just smiled at them.
Feeling a little burdened by the surprised looks, I glanced back.
The concubines and other women in the carriage were all looking at me with their heads out of the carriage window.
Melanie even clapped her hands.
Rosie, Bonis, and Sharon were the only ones who were outside the carriage.
Rosie was holding a thick book in her hand, Bonis was holding a stone, and Sharon was holding a cleaver.
They seemed to have come out to help me if I was in danger, but all three of their hands were shaking badly. They probably weren’t much help, but to me, the courage they gave me felt like they had saved me.
I motioned for them to go back into the carriage and turned around again.
“What on earth are you going to do...?”
Linel, who had strode toward me, was standing there looking up at me with a much more fearsome gaze than Galaco.
“I’m okay.”
I told him calmly.
“I’m not okay.”
He continued, completely oblivious to the guests watching us from behind.
“I thought my heart was going to drop.”
His tone was both angry and desperate.
“It was Galaco that fell. Your Majesty, calm down. Nothing happened to us.”
I tried to calm him down again.
“I told you not to come out.”
“It was dangerous.”
“No, I could have handled it. And even if it was dangerous, anyone would have stepped forward.”
“Your Majesty was so out of it that you couldn’t see your surroundings. Everyone fell beside you.”
“...”
There was no one else to help him.
Everyone was shocked and flustered, so they did it reflexively, but it was true.
“And many people are listening. Please speak up.”
He leaned over me and whispered.
“We’ll talk again later, Empress.”
He spoke with clenched teeth and returned to his own words.
The guests who had seen Galaco’s terrifying behavior were tense.
“Get ready!”
At Linel’s command, the knights formed a line around the guests on both sides, with knights coming in every now and then to escort them.
“I guess Galaco is in the forest.”
Bellos said to Linel in a serious voice.
“Yes, that squirrel didn’t fly to Tanya Island yesterday, but saw Galaco in this forest and imitated its cry.”
“Where are we now?”
Prince Calvain’s question was answered by Grand Duke Martins.
“We’ve come down more than halfway through the Elang Forest. We’re currently closer to the Kingdom of Shattonil.”
“So you’re saying it’s faster to go to the Kingdom of Shattonil than to return to the Empire of Lapion?”
“Yes, in terms of distance.”
“Let’s head to our kingdom first. It’s better to take refuge somewhere nearby than to take a long way back when we don’t know where the Galaco might pop out.”
Prince Tesla stuck his head out the carriage window and offered his opinion.
“If we continue south without stopping, there’s a village near the border of the Kingdom of Shattonil. Let’s reinforce our troops there and safely escort our guests to the kingdom.”
Everyone seemed to agree with the Prince’s opinion.
It would take about a day and a half to reach the border village of the Kingdom of Shattonil.
Even if we sped up a little, it would still take a day.
Until then, there was no telling when or where another Galaco might attack.
“It looks like it’s going to rain soon, so let’s move on without stopping at the next villa. Let’s leave early in the morning just before the sun rises.”
Linel took care of the situation, and everyone followed suit.
There was no time to eat lunch in the forest.
We marched without stopping, eating fruit one by one along the way to the villa where we would stay for the night.
The people in the carriage were better off.
We could eat a simple meal in the carriage.
Rosie and Sharon suggested that I eat in the carriage with them, but I didn’t do it.
The women on horseback were also steadfastly keeping their places, so I didn’t want to leave my horse to someone else and get on the carriage alone to fill my stomach.
Four hours into the march, Raphael pointed his finger and shouted,
“Just cross that bridge and you’ll soon be at the villa!”
An arched stone bridge appeared over the river with strong currents.
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
As we reached the bridge, the tension of the guests had eased, and I could hear them chattering here and there.
My shoulders, which had been tense, naturally dropped.
I turned my neck here and there to relax my stiff body.
“I’ll have to fill my stomach as soon as I get there. My stomach has become very thin in half a day, you know.”
I heard the Ekiya Empire’s minister, who was walking right in front of me, slap his bulging stomach with his hand and say this. The guests glanced at his massive stomach and burst into laughter at the minister’s words.
Just as I was about to snicker, the minister in front of me disappeared.
It really happened in an instant.
Keeeeek-!
Galaco jumped out of the forest and snatched the massive minister with his two sharp, large claws and flew away, and the minister’s terrible scream echoed through the air.
In the blink of an eye, the minister’s cheerful laughter turned into a scream.
“Let’s hurry!”
Linel shouted at the guests, and the dazed guests began to speed up according to the instructions of the knights escorting them.
The sound of the carriage rolling also became faster.
When we were almost over the bridge, a bigger one than the Galaco that had appeared a little while ago appeared and destroyed the bridge we had crossed.
The strength of an adult Galaco was beyond imagination.
Fortunately, no one was left behind on the bridge, but it was not a situation where we could rest easy. I loosened the reins of my horse and slowed down.
I deliberately hunted a few small animals in the middle of the march to prepare for such an event.
I threw the animals I caught to Galaco, but the prey was too small for its size.
After I threw two or three pieces of food, the two-headed snakes ate the food I threw, one after another.
During that time, I was able to increase the distance between Galaco and the guests.
I galloped back towards the villa before Linel caught me.
'There are too many windows... '
The villa we arrived at was filled with large windows.
However, there was no other place for this many people to hide.
The knights and servants quickly entered the villa first.
The guests also got off their horses and carriages and climbed the villa stairs.
"Galaco is inside!"
One of the servants who had entered the villa first shouted and ran out the villa door in a hurry.
Everyone stopped walking.
I raised my head and looked around the villa building.
"Over there, the window is broken!"
Along with the leftmost window of the villa, the exterior wall of the building was also slightly broken.
Everyone turned their gazes to where I was pointing and opened their mouths, when... With a sound, the large window in the center of the second floor shattered, and Galaco’s two snake heads emerged, each holding two knights in their mouths.
Everyone froze in place, their mouths agape.
“Get down!”
Linel shouted, and everyone fell flat on the steps.
It was dangerous to go inside the villa, as there might be more Galacos inside.
However, there was no way back.
The bridge to return had already been destroyed by Galaco.
“There is an abandoned monastery near the border. It’s not far from here, so how about going there?”
Prince Tesla said.
“But Prince! It’s a very dangerous place. There’s a rumor that it’s a cursed place...!”
Grand Duke Martins expressed his concern at Prince Tesla’s words.
Is the monastery cursed?
I tilted my head and watched the conversation between the two.
“Grand Duke! Now is not the time to discuss such superstitions!”
Prince Tesla became angry at Grand Duke Martins and crushed his opinion.
“It’s started to rain. The raindrops are quite heavy.”
At Bellos’s words, everyone opened their palms to check the falling raindrops.
The dark clouds that had been gathering all morning were finally pouring down rain.
Galaco, with two snake heads, was greedily devouring the falcon’s neck and wings.
A terrible sight unfolded in the dark, clouded sky.
The women all closed their eyes and screamed at the horrifying appearance of Galaco, and the men were also shocked and panicked.
The horses neighed anxiously and moved around as the procession suddenly stopped.
I held the reins tightly and stroked the back of the horse’s neck to calm it down.
Linel quickly raised his bow and aimed at Galaco.
“Galaco, you have to hit the head!”
Bellos shouted.
“I know.”
Despite Linel’s low voice, the arrow flew high into the sky.
The arrow hit the head of Galaco’s two snake heads that were tearing off the falcon’s wings.
But Galaco didn’t die. The other snake’s head, still alive, was busy eating the falcon’s neck.
“I hit the head, but why doesn’t it die?”
I asked Bellos in surprise.
“Galaco dies when you hit both heads.”
At that moment, Galaco, who had been holding onto the falcon’s body with his sharp claws and eating it, threw the falcon.
The falcon’s body, more than half eaten, fell down between the guests.
The guests were terrified and stood a wide distance away from where the falcon had fallen.
“Be careful!”
Galaco suddenly rushed down toward Linel, perhaps angry that he had killed another of his beings.
The people around him quickly moved away.
Linel didn’t care and pulled out his arrow from his back again.
There was no way he would miss, but Galaco was rushing too fast.
Even if the arrow had hit Galaco’s head, it seemed like it would have collided with him.
I quickly took out my slingshot from my uniform pocket, hung a bead, and shot it at Galaco’s head.
The bead hit Galaco’s eye, but it didn’t kill him.
Galaco turned around with one eye still stuck in it, raised its claws, and charged at me.
'Come as you please, you snakehead.'
I mentally prepared myself and drew my sword.
"Zelda!"
Linel called out to me urgently.
I could hear his tremendous nagging from his expression.
'Are you crazy? Why are you coming?'
'Who are you trying to show me that you're crazy? Do you want to die?'
and so on. He turned his horse around and tried to come to me because he couldn't stand me.
I raised one hand to signal him not to come.
'Don't come, I can't concentrate!'
But he ignored my gesture, got off his horse, and started running towards me.
"Oh, really."
I waited for Galaco to get close and tried to cut off his head.
Linel got in the way, so I had no choice but to take out the spear I had on my waist and throw it at Galaco's neck.
The spear spun around and struck Galaco's neck before flying away and embedding itself in a wooden pole.
As Galaco’s head and torso fell to the floor, the guests’ gazes fell to the floor together, and then they all looked at me.
I just smiled at them.
Feeling a little burdened by the surprised looks, I glanced back.
The concubines and other women in the carriage were all looking at me with their heads out of the carriage window.
Melanie even clapped her hands.
Rosie, Bonis, and Sharon were the only ones who were outside the carriage.
Rosie was holding a thick book in her hand, Bonis was holding a stone, and Sharon was holding a cleaver.
They seemed to have come out to help me if I was in danger, but all three of their hands were shaking badly. They probably weren’t much help, but to me, the courage they gave me felt like they had saved me.
I motioned for them to go back into the carriage and turned around again.
“What on earth are you going to do...?”
Linel, who had strode toward me, was standing there looking up at me with a much more fearsome gaze than Galaco.
“I’m okay.”
I told him calmly.
“I’m not okay.”
He continued, completely oblivious to the guests watching us from behind.
“I thought my heart was going to drop.”
His tone was both angry and desperate.
“It was Galaco that fell. Your Majesty, calm down. Nothing happened to us.”
I tried to calm him down again.
“I told you not to come out.”
“It was dangerous.”
“No, I could have handled it. And even if it was dangerous, anyone would have stepped forward.”
“Your Majesty was so out of it that you couldn’t see your surroundings. Everyone fell beside you.”
“...”
There was no one else to help him.
Everyone was shocked and flustered, so they did it reflexively, but it was true.
“And many people are listening. Please speak up.”
He leaned over me and whispered.
“We’ll talk again later, Empress.”
He spoke with clenched teeth and returned to his own words.
The guests who had seen Galaco’s terrifying behavior were tense.
“Get ready!”
At Linel’s command, the knights formed a line around the guests on both sides, with knights coming in every now and then to escort them.
“I guess Galaco is in the forest.”
Bellos said to Linel in a serious voice.
“Yes, that squirrel didn’t fly to Tanya Island yesterday, but saw Galaco in this forest and imitated its cry.”
“Where are we now?”
Prince Calvain’s question was answered by Grand Duke Martins.
“We’ve come down more than halfway through the Elang Forest. We’re currently closer to the Kingdom of Shattonil.”
“So you’re saying it’s faster to go to the Kingdom of Shattonil than to return to the Empire of Lapion?”
“Yes, in terms of distance.”
“Let’s head to our kingdom first. It’s better to take refuge somewhere nearby than to take a long way back when we don’t know where the Galaco might pop out.”
Prince Tesla stuck his head out the carriage window and offered his opinion.
“If we continue south without stopping, there’s a village near the border of the Kingdom of Shattonil. Let’s reinforce our troops there and safely escort our guests to the kingdom.”
Everyone seemed to agree with the Prince’s opinion.
It would take about a day and a half to reach the border village of the Kingdom of Shattonil.
Even if we sped up a little, it would still take a day.
Until then, there was no telling when or where another Galaco might attack.
“It looks like it’s going to rain soon, so let’s move on without stopping at the next villa. Let’s leave early in the morning just before the sun rises.”
Linel took care of the situation, and everyone followed suit.
There was no time to eat lunch in the forest.
We marched without stopping, eating fruit one by one along the way to the villa where we would stay for the night.
The people in the carriage were better off.
We could eat a simple meal in the carriage.
Rosie and Sharon suggested that I eat in the carriage with them, but I didn’t do it.
The women on horseback were also steadfastly keeping their places, so I didn’t want to leave my horse to someone else and get on the carriage alone to fill my stomach.
Four hours into the march, Raphael pointed his finger and shouted,
“Just cross that bridge and you’ll soon be at the villa!”
An arched stone bridge appeared over the river with strong currents.
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
As we reached the bridge, the tension of the guests had eased, and I could hear them chattering here and there.
My shoulders, which had been tense, naturally dropped.
I turned my neck here and there to relax my stiff body.
“I’ll have to fill my stomach as soon as I get there. My stomach has become very thin in half a day, you know.”
I heard the Ekiya Empire’s minister, who was walking right in front of me, slap his bulging stomach with his hand and say this. The guests glanced at his massive stomach and burst into laughter at the minister’s words.
Just as I was about to snicker, the minister in front of me disappeared.
It really happened in an instant.
Keeeeek-!
Galaco jumped out of the forest and snatched the massive minister with his two sharp, large claws and flew away, and the minister’s terrible scream echoed through the air.
In the blink of an eye, the minister’s cheerful laughter turned into a scream.
“Let’s hurry!”
Linel shouted at the guests, and the dazed guests began to speed up according to the instructions of the knights escorting them.
The sound of the carriage rolling also became faster.
When we were almost over the bridge, a bigger one than the Galaco that had appeared a little while ago appeared and destroyed the bridge we had crossed.
The strength of an adult Galaco was beyond imagination.
Fortunately, no one was left behind on the bridge, but it was not a situation where we could rest easy. I loosened the reins of my horse and slowed down.
I deliberately hunted a few small animals in the middle of the march to prepare for such an event.
I threw the animals I caught to Galaco, but the prey was too small for its size.
After I threw two or three pieces of food, the two-headed snakes ate the food I threw, one after another.
During that time, I was able to increase the distance between Galaco and the guests.
I galloped back towards the villa before Linel caught me.
***
'There are too many windows... '
The villa we arrived at was filled with large windows.
However, there was no other place for this many people to hide.
The knights and servants quickly entered the villa first.
The guests also got off their horses and carriages and climbed the villa stairs.
"Galaco is inside!"
One of the servants who had entered the villa first shouted and ran out the villa door in a hurry.
Everyone stopped walking.
I raised my head and looked around the villa building.
"Over there, the window is broken!"
Along with the leftmost window of the villa, the exterior wall of the building was also slightly broken.
Everyone turned their gazes to where I was pointing and opened their mouths, when... With a sound, the large window in the center of the second floor shattered, and Galaco’s two snake heads emerged, each holding two knights in their mouths.
Everyone froze in place, their mouths agape.
“Get down!”
Linel shouted, and everyone fell flat on the steps.
It was dangerous to go inside the villa, as there might be more Galacos inside.
However, there was no way back.
The bridge to return had already been destroyed by Galaco.
“There is an abandoned monastery near the border. It’s not far from here, so how about going there?”
Prince Tesla said.
“But Prince! It’s a very dangerous place. There’s a rumor that it’s a cursed place...!”
Grand Duke Martins expressed his concern at Prince Tesla’s words.
Is the monastery cursed?
I tilted my head and watched the conversation between the two.
“Grand Duke! Now is not the time to discuss such superstitions!”
Prince Tesla became angry at Grand Duke Martins and crushed his opinion.
“It’s started to rain. The raindrops are quite heavy.”
At Bellos’s words, everyone opened their palms to check the falling raindrops.
The dark clouds that had been gathering all morning were finally pouring down rain.
“Your Majesty, even if you have to find somewhere else to sleep, how about going to that monastery to avoid the rain?”
Prince Tesla asked Linel.
“I guess that’s the only way.”
There was no other choice.
Prince Tesla asked Linel.
“I guess that’s the only way.”
There was no other choice.
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