A convoy was traveling on the road back to the city. This was a noble's convoy, with a noble crest displayed on the carriage. However, it was a crest that no one had seen before, and judging by the rank, the owner of this convoy was merely a Baronet Knight of the lowest rank—a newly promoted noble who had just obtained her title.
Baroness Chronos clutched the letter of introduction in her hand with extreme caution. Whether she could become the Count's knight now depended entirely on this letter from her teacher. Although she was confident in her own strength, she knew that for a knight like herself with no background, climbing further up would be extremely—
—difficult.
Staying in the Royal Capital might offer better development, but she wasn't cut out for that environment. Therefore, her decision was to seek refuge with a high-ranking noble and become that noble's knight. If she could gain the appreciation of this high noble, then her future promotions would no longer be an issue, and she might even restore the glory of her ancestors.
However, such things were not simple. After all, a noble's confidants were groomed from a young age. Joining now wouldn't necessarily result in being valued. This was when connections were needed. Her luck was relatively good; her swordsmanship teacher was the younger brother of a certain Count. Thus, she was bringing this letter of introduction to seek refuge with her teacher's elder brother.
But Baroness Chronos did not know that her teacher actually valued her aptitude and felt her bloodline could produce excellent children. The contents of the letter were actually arranging a partner for that Count. Naturally, the position intended for this Baroness was not that of the mistress of the Count's house; he only intended to bring her into his harem.
"What a foolish woman. I'll choose her as the target then." Tsukasa had previously used Shadow Step and Stealth skills to enter the carriage, then used her Investigation and Analysis skills to read the entire letter. The Baroness Chronos before her couldn't even detect her presence. A max-level Shadow Step allowed one to completely hide their existence within the shadow space, meaning she was currently just a shadow. Combined with max-level Stealth and Concealment, she was truly a terrifying phantom.
Before entering, she had already used the Appraisal skill to obtain information on this convoy.
As the Appraisal level increased, not only did the information obtained become clearer, but the impact on the target when activating the skill also became lighter. Furthermore, the attribute values of these people were too far apart from hers, and they lacked skills like Investigation or Perception. Thus, they didn't even know she had used Appraisal to obtain all their information, let alone discover that she had slipped inside.
"Launch the attack."
Following her command...
...the Shadow Demons, which had already hidden in the convoy's shadows, instantly launched an attack. The two knights at the very front, along with their warhorses, were pierced through by black shadow stakes and hung high in the air. Such a terrifying scene instantly panicked the horses behind them, and the knights hurriedly pulled their horses to a stop.
High-level Horsemanship skills allowed for the control of horses, and these knights had all given their horses names. This was an alternate world after all, so it was impossible for these knights to let their formation fall into disarray just from this chaos. In fact, they had already calmed the warhorses, and the entire convoy had come to a steady halt.
"What happened?"
Baroness Chronos stepped out of the carriage.
She didn't see the black-clad youth sitting inside her carriage behind her at all. A knight hurriedly explained the situation to the Baroness. The Baroness arrived at the scene of the incident and looked at the warhorses and knights hanging in the air by shadow stakes. The miserable state of their deaths was chilling, and the Baroness's expression became incredibly serious.
She stared at those stakes.
"What on earth is this?"
She drew her sidearm, intending to cut down the stakes. However, just as her sword was about to strike them, the shadows on the ground suddenly changed. Sensing this change, the Baroness immediately shifted her technique, her sword hacking at a stake that had suddenly emerged from the shadows. But the stake's resilience and hardness were somewhat beyond her expectations.
Not only did she fail to block the stake's attack, but her sword even flew out of her hand. She could only watch in horror as the stake extended toward her head. What kind of monster was this? There were no monsters with these characteristics in the Adventurers Guild's monster encyclopedia. And why would it appear here? There had clearly been no reports of such things nearby before.
"Captain!"
The knight behind the Baroness timely tackled her to the ground. The stake pierced into the body of the knight behind them, instantly hoisting that knight high up. Furthermore, more stakes burst out from that person's body and plunged into the ground, after which the stakes stopped moving again, giving the illusion that they were passively triggered.
Tsukasa deactivated Shadow Step and returned to her physical form. She found an unopened bottle of red wine in the Baroness's carriage, opened it, and took a sniff. It had a pleasant grape aroma. She poured a little and licked it with her tongue, finding it was just grape juice with low alcohol content. So, she unceremoniously took out some glassware, poured herself a full glass, and sat in the carriage watching the show while drinking.
The Baroness then said to the knights, "Do not approach them! Retreat carefully!"
"Regrettably, the Treant Shadow Demons will not let the prey they've snared escape."
Tsukasa found a decorative sword in the carriage and began to fiddle with it.
The carriage began to move, but it wasn't long before screams could be heard from outside. Because they tried to flee, the Treant Shadow Demons' attack pattern changed accordingly. Originally, they only attacked those who triggered the traps, but now it turned into an indiscriminate slaughter. The unit, which had thought they could still escape, was instantly dealt a heavy psychological blow.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
*Pshhh!*
One after another, shadow stakes extended from the ground, impossible to guard against. Unless one could hide in a place without shadows, there was no way to escape the Shadow Demons' attack range. But at this moment, the sun in the sky was warm, and shadows were everywhere—their own shadows, the warhorses' shadows, and the carriage's shadow. Even if a person died, their shadow—
—still existed.
Therefore, unless they could attack the Shadow Demons hidden in the shadow space... but Tsukasa had already confirmed that there were no mages among them. Even if some knights knew simple magic, it was impossible to harm her Shadow Demons with their attribute values and that level of magic. In the entire convoy, only the Baroness's attributes were higher than the Shadow Demons'.
But unfortunately...
...the Baroness was an excellent swordsman.
She didn't know magic.
"It's time."
Tsukasa watched as the Baroness's unit was nearly wiped out before heading out of the carriage with the bottle of wine and her glass. Now it was her turn to make an appearance. As long as she saved the Baroness's life, it shouldn't be difficult to get information about where this place was from her mouth, right? And who would have thought that all she wanted was something so simple?
Note:
Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!
I wish you all a year filled with blessings, success, good fortune, and happiness!
Important Announcement:
I will be on Lunar New Year holiday starting February 15th, 2026, and will return on February 23rd, 2026. During this time, I will focus on resting and spending time with my family.
During my break, I will prepare some new chapters, which I will post regularly after the holiday ends. Please stay tuned — the following parts are very interesting!
Thank you so much for your incredible support. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!