Chapter 835: Eyes in the Sky, Beaks on the Road ( 835 )
He tapped its surface.
"Link to Sky Eye. Sync mapping overlay. Mana machine-gun system active. Secondary slot: one mana missile per drone."
Liana glanced over. "Deploying them already?"
"Just insurance," Javier muttered, fingers dancing across the glowing interface.
"Scan perimeter. Enable stealth mode. Patrol altitude: three hundred meters. High-alert setting. Sensitivity seventy-five percent. Priority: execute on hidden threats."
He tapped a final rune. The drones shimmered, nearly vanishing as stealth enchantments engaged, then shot upward like silent shadows and disappeared into the sky.
Satisfied, Javier pulled a pair of sleek tinted glasses from his coat and slid them on. The world shifted. His vision synced with Sky Eye and the drone feeds; layered displays flickered through his view, showing aerial and terrain scans in real time. Every movement around the convoy appeared with surgical clarity.
"...Now," Javier muttered, adjusting the frame with one hand. "Let’s see if anyone’s dumb enough to try something."
Buddy gave a low, indignant squawk.
Liana smiled. "Your expression is almost exactly like your father’s when he’s about to flatten someone."
"Wrong." Javier didn’t turn. "Father flattens people with speeches. I do it with toys."
Jarmen finally climbed into the first wagon, settling in with his family beside General Gilmon’s already cramped group. Their expressions were tight and controlled, but the awkwardness between them hung heavy enough to cut with a blade.
Behind them, Jarmen’s private guards and loyal servants boarded the second wagon.
Javier let out a long sigh, arms crossed.
"In the end, all their damn luggage ended up in my magic storage." He rested his forehead against Buddy’s neck and muttered through the sigh, "Of course."
He glanced back at the wagons. What had started as one carriage for Gilmon’s family had become a shared ride, ex-general and ex-advisor squeezed together in awkward silence, while the second wagon bulged with retainers and their private guards.
Liana guided her Pikko to trot beside Buddy, posture elegant as ever, a gentle smile on her lips. "Well, young master~ at least all their loyal people can come along. No one gets left behind."
Javier took a deep breath and turned to the Armand elite knights posted by the lead wagon.
"All right. Don’t stop once you start moving. Keep formation tight and steady. If anything looks off, report on the talkies immediately."
The knights gave firm nods, reins already taut in their hands.
Javier leaned forward and tapped the wooden frame near where Gilmon and Jarmen sat stiffly inside. "Buckle up everyone. And grab something to hold onto, assuming this is your first time on a Pekko-drawn carriage."
Gilmon frowned. "What do you—"
An Armand knight let out a sharp whistle and snapped the reins.
"CUQUAWK!!"
The Pekko squawked, mischievous and high-energy. Their heads jerking forward, beaks curving into something like a smug grin. They lunged ahead like living missiles, feathers bristling and claws tearing into the road. The wagons lurched violently; wheels screamed as the convoy rocketed forward.
Chaos erupted inside the wagons.
"UWAAAHHH—!!"
"S-SLOW DOWN!!"
Wind tore through curtains and shook loose bags; startled children and servants clung to seats, poles, and each other. Even Jarmen’s usually composed face was drawn tight with tension.
From behind, Javier pushed his glasses up with a quiet smirk as Buddy settled into a comfortable trot.
"Every time," he muttered, watching the havoc up ahead. "Never gets old."
Liana smiled beside him, eyes calm despite the distant screaming.
Javier’s ears picked up a sharp, distant sound of mana gunfire.
A burst of light flared on the horizon, far past the wagon trail.
Javier adjusted his glasses. The lenses shimmered faintly as his vision synced with the Sky Eye feed. In the upper corner of his view, a live overlay from the battle drones began displaying multiple engagements.
Target Neutralized.
Ambush Formation Disarmed.
Stealth Entity Detected. Executing Suppression Protocol.
"...Heh." Javier sighed, almost bored. "Seriously?"
He shifted his weight slightly in the saddle, one hand in his coat pocket, the other flicking through the feed.
"This Duke Kimar... really thinks a few road traps and cloaked assassins are enough to stop us?" he muttered.
"I wonder if Father’s little warning back at the council chamber flew over their heads. Or maybe.." his lips twitched "...they’re just that dumb."
A second explosion bloomed in the distance.
Another hidden ambush wiped out before it could even take shape.
Javier exhaled softly.
"No wonder Father used to sigh every time the old King summoned him for a council session... and that was before Edmund turned into a walking corpse possessed by so called Celestial."
He tapped the side of his glasses, zooming in on the drone map.
"Idiots lying traps on the road, hoping to delay us?"
From the corner of his vision, Buddy tilted his head, sensing the shift in his master’s tone.
"Relax, we’re not in trouble," Javier muttered to him. "They are."
The drone feed lit up again.
Mana spike detected. Approaching threat level: Minimal. Auto-suppress engaged.
Direct hit confirmed. Four targets down.
Another light flared far ahead, followed by silence.
Javier let out a long, drawn-out yawn and stretched one arm lazily overhead. He glanced at Liana, who sat completely unfazed, her posture straight and elegant atop her Pikko.
"Shall we go now?" Javier murmured, brushing back a few strands of his hair with one hand. "The battle drones will secure the route and monitor the wagons. No need for us to babysit the entire time."
He tapped the edge of his glasses, bringing up the live feed. The screen flickered as he cycled between drone views, shifting from aerial surveillance to a closer zoom on the first wagon.
The image stabilized... and he blinked.
Gilmon was slumped awkwardly against the carriage, eyes rolled back, mouth agape, complete with a small bubble forming at the corner of his lips.
"...Seriously?" Javier squinted.
Jarmen wasn’t much better, leaned sideways across a padded seat, head lolled to the side, arms dangling limp as if he’d gone boneless. A second bubble joined the first, wobbling slightly with each jolt of the wagon’s motion.
"...They’re both out cold," Javier deadpanned. "Already."
He flicked off the screen with a sigh and gave Buddy a light nudge with his heel.
"Alright, you lazy bird. Let’s catch up."
"Cuquawked!!" Buddy squawked in protest.
Javier smirked. "What? You are lazy. Don’t give me that look."
Buddy tilted his head, eyes narrowing. His beak shifted. Then the Pekko began walking at a slow, deliberate pace. Casual. Relaxed. As if mocking Javier’s command.
Liana’s Pikko trotted beside them at the same rhythm, feathers rustling gently in the breeze.
Javier glanced sideways. "Heh... see, Buddy really~"
Fwoosh.
A quiet shimmer pulsed from Buddy’s body. Feathers flared. The air distorted around him, a low hum of mana gathering beneath his claws.
Javier’s eyes widened.
"...Wait, don’t—!"
BOOM.
Buddy launched forward like a cannon bolt. The impact shattered the road beneath them, spraying earth and wind as his massive body blurred into motion. Trees rushed by. The road curved into a line. Pebbles flew. Speed roared.
Javier gritted his teeth as wind whipped across his face, the force pinning his coat to his back.
"DAMN IT, BUDDY!! I WAS JOKING!!"
From far behind, Liana’s sigh and smile.
"I suppose we’re doing this again."
Pikko gave a light chirp, then bent low, legs taut.
The moment her muscles coiled, she sprang. Not wild and forceful like Buddy—but elegant, smooth, like silk gliding over stone. She moved swiftly, cutting the wind without resistance, her feathers folding neatly to streamline the motion.
( End Of Chapter )