Chapter Two: The Bear in the Forest

The following day-

As promised, Lunetta had cast her magic on their bag, which now swallowed up everything-from the tent Livio had procured to the blankets he'd brought from home. So much fit inside that it was enough to make Sophie uneasy instead.

"Wait, it can still fit more?" Sophie asked.

"We could probably fit Matcha in this thing!" Livio laughed.

Realizing he was actually in danger of being swallowed up as well, Matcha hurriedly raised his head and gave an unhappy whinny before jabbing Livio with his muzzle. If a bag could swallow up a whole horse, it was a veritable monster.

Incidentally, thanks to said monstrous bag, Matcha's load had grown considerably lighter, but even then, Sophie was still unable to ride on horseback. And it was only natural that Vyce, who now joined them for their journey, had brought along a horse of his own.

So just what became of Sophie, you ask? The hero who came to her rescue in her hour of need was-quite surprisingly-Lunetta.

It all started when Sophie looked at the bag and remarked, "This is amazing! How does it work?"

Wholly and singly focused, Lunetta launched into an unstoppable explanation. As she spoke, Sophie chimed in and followed up with additional questions-only to prompt another relentless explanation.

Vyce shook his head in dismay. "C'mon, that's enough outta you for now, little lady."

Sophie, of course, couldn't just ignore Lunetta. More than that, however, it was simply fun just getting to hear what she had to say, so Sophie pitted herself against Vyce in a way Lunetta wouldn't notice.

Even Lunetta herself, however, stopped talking when she saw all the townspeople had come out en masse to see them off.

"The heroes who vanquished the monsters are about to depart!" the townspeople shouted.

Lunetta gave an airy wave-it was perfectly fitting behavior for the fiancée of a king...even if the long dress she wore was so black it looked like she was heading off to a funeral.

The very moment they exited town, however-

"Now, where was I..." Lunetta said, resuming her explanation. Even after Vyce lifted her and placed her atop his horse, she didn't stop talking, and even when Vyce rode behind her on the horse, she still didn't stop.

Vyce's own trustworthy steed made a show of grimacing-despite being a horse-as Lunetta prattled on and on. It was clear as day that the horse was less than thrilled. Even when Vyce tugged at the reins, the horse didn't move a muscle in response.

"Simply put, if we first hypothesize that magical energy exists in all things in the world and then think to manipulate it, then I believe there is nothing outside the realm of possibility," Lunetta continued. "I believe the reason witches such as myself are more capable of controlling magical force than magicians is because of a difference in how we perceive things. For example, it's not a matter of recognizing 'space' as some nebulous, vague concept, but rather, understanding that it comprises magical force."

"It's no use..." Vyce groaned. "There's no shutting her up. I'll just make her walk."

Even after Vyce dropped her small frame to the ground, she didn't stop.

Lunetta's eyes continued to shine, brimming with energy. That was the very moment that the king decided to throw in the towel.

With Lunetta now on the ground beside her once more, Sophie couldn't help but give a bitter laugh. She was stricken with admiration at the fiery passion with which Lunetta spoke-and the shocking lack of awareness for those around her she displayed with it. Perhaps the fact that she poured every ounce of her energy into magic was precisely the reason she was able to wield such tremendous spells with ease.

"Tire her out and she'll hush," Vyce said.

That didn't stop her from being treated like an inconsolable, wailing baby by her fiancé, though.

But, it was a lucky turn of events for Sophie since she couldn't ride horseback. Thanks for all that nonstop chatter, Lunetta! Or something like that. Still, just as Vyce had said, things couldn't continue like this forever. At some point, Lunetta and Vyce would be riding on their horse. When that happened, Sophie, too, would be forced to ride horseback herself. Saying she'd be "forced to" was a bit of an insult to Matcha, but considering Sophie was unable to ride a horse, it was a matter of life or death. There was nothing logical about sheer terror, after all.

Nodding along to what Lunetta was saying, Sophie glanced over at Livio. Noticing her looking at him, he gave an uncomfortable-looking smile as he furrowed his brow. They couldn't go on hiding the fact that Sophie couldn't ride a horse forever. Still, the two of them had completely forgotten about that detail and taken the bag after it had been enchanted with one hell of a spell. A bind didn't even begin to describe it.

Sophie had never just gone with the flow without any prior planning, so internally, she was sweating buckets. Step right up and see this mysterious waterfall with trails of water from all sorts of places-indeed, before you lies Cold Sweat Falls! Or something like that. Ha ha ha. But it wasn't funny. It wasn't funny at all.

Between worrying about just what on earth she was going to do and taking breaks as they went, Sophie had spent nearly half a day enjoying her "girl talk" with Lunetta. Even when Livio started preparing for lunch, Lunetta didn't stop, leaving Vyce to clutch his head in disbelief. "You've gotta be kiddin' me..."

But there was nothing to be done. In every corner of the world, from the dawn of time, girls had always loved to talk.

Such had been a part of Sophie's duties once. Compared to the elegant, "humorous" anecdotes exchanged at tea parties, what Lunetta spoke of lacked both glamor and titillating details. It was, after all, a technical discussion on magic. What Lunetta, who referred to herself as "a witch, not a magician," and Sophie-a novice in magic-spoke about was neither the design of their dresses nor rumors circulating within the castle. They spoke of "the magic wielded by witches and magicians." It didn't have an ounce of fluff or shine. But for Sophie, it was truly and thoroughly enjoyable.

The girls' stimulating conversation was brought to an end, however, when Lunetta blinked and said, "Huh?"

"Your Majesty... Look how many white trees there are," she said.

"You're just now noticing?!"

"That's proof we're close to Litzd," Livio said, pausing from stirring the pot a moment to explain. "These trees, with their pure-white trunks and leaves, are known as Litzd Trees-the town of Litzd draws its name from them."

The sun was shining brilliantly, enveloping the surroundings in a pleasant warmth. There was no indication that it might snow, and yet, the forest was covered with white trees that wouldn't have looked out of place in a snowy landscape. Naturally, however, the ground at their feet was covered with bright green grass and brown earth, making for a rather unusual sight.

Staring at the mysterious trees, Lunetta lifted a finger to point at something.

"Your Majesty-over there."

"Ah, something's there," Vyce replied.

"Sure is," Livio added.

"Huh?" Sophie asked.

Vyce and Livio gave Lunetta an unbothered reply. Trying to figure out what they were talking about, Sophie followed Lunetta's finger. Squinting, she could see something fidgeting between the white trees.

Sophie gasped.

It was pure-white and big-no, huge! It was way too huge! Startled and wondering if they'd come across yet another overgrown monster, Sophie looked over at Livio.

"Oh wow," Livio said, his blueberry eyes sparkling as they opened wide. "Sir Vyce, that one's quite large. It's probably one of the largest I've ever come across."

"Ya don't think you could slice it up?"

"I could," Livio answered, "but it'd taste much better eating it at a proper restaurant."

"Yeah, and it looks like it hasn't noticed us either. No point in fightin' when we don't have to. I was just getting hungry too," Vyce said, stroking his goatee as Livio handed him a bowl filled with soup. Watching the exchange, Sophie very nearly made a terrible fool of herself. Livio had removed his gloves to prepare the meal. His bare hands were long, slender, and beautiful, looking positively titillating even just holding the bowl-but that didn't matter.

With its side to them, the monster let out a mighty war cry of a roar-it did indeed seem as if the creature hadn't noticed them.

But seriously, that's a monster, you know? The thing's big enough to look down on the treetops here. And you're just going to glance over at it? And have a meal? Wait, did you actually want to eat that monster?

In sheer disbelief at Livio and Vyce's outrageous behavior, Sophie looked to her side to lock eyes with Lunetta, who'd risen to her feet at some point.

"Sophie?" Lunetta started.

"Huh?"

After spending a night together,...