“He knew and you let him go? Just how careless can you be Maria?” Maria froze as Nao’s face twisted into an angry expression.

Maria had finally gained enough rest to finally face Nao and her incoming anger. The demoness would be angry and she would bitch about it to Maria. There was no avoiding this outcome.

“So, how long is she going to go on for? I think she’s been scolding you for a good hour now” Suna asked as she quietly made her way behind Maria. She had been left off relatively untouched by Nao’s anger since she had played no part in this but she had to endure the yelling as well.

Not that Nao yelled. She never truly did raise her voice throughout the scolding but her tone made it seem like she was scolding Maria.

“Yes, I got it but it’s done and over with. Unless you have a way to convince the driver to rotate the bus around, we have no choice but to go with the flow. And there is also no guarantee that Alester would be in Chariot hill anymore” Maria allowed Nao to finish her complaining before dealing the finishing blow.

In fact, these were all the facts Nao knew herself. She had just been complaining about the sake of complaining and getting her irritation out. Nao would think much more clearly once she had calmed down.

“I know we cannot do anything about it now. But next time tell me these things in advance” it was ironic how Nao already knew there was going to be the next time for them. And the worst thing was, Maria had a feeling there will be many next times after this.

She was about to reply back when she felt their cabin stop moving. It was an abrupt moment and caused Maria to crash into Nao’s blossom. Suna also let out a muffled yelp at the sudden jerk of their cabin.

“What happened? Isn’t this too soon to have reached the Grand Canyon? It’s not even been a day yet” Suna asked as she picked herself up from the floor. Maria took a considerably longer time. The soft feeling below her hands felt good and Maria just needed a few more seconds to gather herself.

“Are you done feeling me up yet? I would like to check up on things outside” Nao sounded amused as she spoke those words. Maria bolted away with a flaming face and could not help but feel disappointed at the missed opportunity.

But she was curious as well. She wanted to know more about why they had stopped moving ahead. This should have been an uninterrupted journey with food being provided to them in their cabin. There was really no need to stop.

It was dark outside when Maria opened the cabin. The bus had been designed in such a way that it was made up of different cabin segments and they were all interconnected by magnetic forces in between. It was not unlike a train in that regard but on a smaller scale.

Maria forced her to take a communicator before she left the cabin. Maria felt her paranoia rise up the longer she looked out. The darkness did not feel like a shadow trap but it still left her with a bad taste in her mouth.

“It’s safe to come out here. There is no one outside and I mean that quite literally” the duo inside the cabin did not hesitate to come out at Nao’s words. The sun had already set and the air was beginning to get chilly.

The temperature had already dropped quite a few degrees which were unusual for this time of the summer. Maria also felt exhaustion starting to creep up on her and her body had needs that clashed against itself.

“Where did the tour guide and the other crew go? Did we get ditched?” Suna sounded annoyed and rightfully so. They had essentially been left behind despite being a registered party member of the traveling party. And this did not seem like an oversight. It was quite maliciously done.

“Did they find out who we were? I made sure our identities were flawless but I won’t be of any use if they recognized our looks. It won’t be much of a stretch if they did” After all Alester had recognized Maria.

It would not be out of the realm of possibilities for one of the other passengers to have recognized Maria’s face and decided to rat her out to the others.

“I don’t think it’s about that. If that were to be the case, then they would have never allowed us to leave or even-handed us to the royal guards with their own hands. Besides, the air smells rather sweet here” Nao observed. Maria tried to take a sniff of the sweet smell as well but she could smell something spicy instead of sweet.

This difference in experience could not be anything other than a magical interference. Maria was sure she had heard about it before but something felt hot to her.

“Shit. Maria, cover your face and don’t breathe in. We need to find water and fast” Suna cursed and Maria felt her attention divert to that mouth. Her body gave a painful tug and forced Maria to move a few steps toward Suna.

Nao and Suna looked relatively unharmed but Maria could not help but feel like boiling. The feeling was familiar to her but her mind felt blank at the moment. It was overwhelming for her.

“Nao, scout out a source of water. I’ll stay with Maria to make sure she doesn’t breathe any more unnecessary pollen from the air. It’s affecting her human side” Suna yelled and Maria instinctively felt herself react to that voice.

Her body could recognize a familiar heat source near itself and it made it far easier to navigate toward it. She felt her throat become dry from the heat around it and also felt something blocking her air passage.

Maria choked at empty air, feeling her lungs converge with the foreign entity inside them. It felt like something was poking her in the chest and it caused her to fall to her knees.

“Shit. It has started to spread. There is no time for us to wait for Noa” Maria felt Suna’s hands on her and instantly felt her body being picked up.

Her heat subsided but it came back with a vengeance the next second as Maria felt her lungs expand and collapse painfully. She held onto Suna for dear life before she felt coldness fill her up.

Maria took a deep breath and instantly felt water enter her mouth. Strangely enough, she did not choke but took a deep breath instead.

[It’s the funny number]