As surprise finally left him, Cyril mustered a weak response to such words.
Isn't that a bit... too much? How can we even take care of so many magic creatures?
He loved Morpho, Tigris, and Atheris as much as Rhamn did, but he felt there was a limit to human capability to look after things.
"We can solve that issue once we get there." She replied without any concerns.
Cyril could only sigh at her ambition. He wasn't quite sure if he was in agreement yet.
...
After a short wait, Ophelia left the villa as well, dressed in her usual maid attire.
She solemnly stood in front of Cyril with her back straight. "Please, Master, follow me," she said and went behind the villa.
Cyril followed after her, already having an idea as to how they would reach their destination.
"Was this standing here the whole time?" Rhamn exclaimed with surprise once they turned a corner.
There was a beautifully decorated horseless carriage. On the sides was an emblem depicting a sword entwined with a flower.
Cyril already expected that Ophelia would choose this way to travel, and it was indeed the fastest way available to them, so he didn't complain.
He bravely entered the carriage.
Morpho has already experienced this marvel of magical technology once and was prepared for what's about to come.
However, Tigris never got the chance to do the same, not to mention Atheris, who didn't see much in her short life at all.
The snake half-poked her head out from the jacket, cluelessly looking around inside the carriage with curiosity.
Cyril carefully took a seat, securing himself firmly, and began to wait for their departure.
The best way to solve his current issue is to go see a craftsman specializing in magic equipment and get something from them fitting for his current troubles.
The city had many people excelling in creating magic items.
Cyril himself didn't know of any. However, Ophelia should. He trusted she would lead him to the most suitable one.
Soon Cyril felt someone climb up to the driver's seat, so he secured himself even more firmly. Morpho did the same.
Only Tigris was still careless and confused, along with Atheris.
Cyril held the tiger in his hand to prepare for any accidents and took a deep breath.
Suddenly, the carriage started driving on its own. The wheels were being propelled by Ophelia's magic, and the group sped up from the villa.
In no time at all, they drove past the side gates of the academy and beyond.
...
Actually, there were some strict rules regarding carriages in the Empire.
One of them naturally being about the speed limit.
However, for any guard to stop Ophelia's carriage, they had to meet two conditions: first, they needed to be foolish enough to still work as a guard despite their powerful abilities, and second, they also needed to have enough courage to mess with something that held the symbol of the Felling family.
Unfortunately, people that fit these two qualities were incredibly rare, and so Ophelia remained as the terror of the roads.
Though in this situation, Cyril somewhat benefited from such a thing.
He familiarly held his ground and fought against the gravitational force to stay in his seat.
Morpho was an experienced passenger already and was very much fine at the moment. Her body also became stronger since she was last here.
Her two siblings, Tigris and Atheris, were anything but fine.
The tiger felt incredibly nauseous. Thankfully they didn't have breakfast, otherwise it would return at this moment.
The snake hid inside of the jacket and tightly coiled around Cyril, attempting to stabilize herself this way. It worked to some degree. She wasn't in that bad of a state but still didn't enjoy this exciting ride.
...
After what felt like forever, the carriage made a gradual stop.
Cyril finally breathed a sigh of relief and got up from his seat somewhat unsteadily.
He smoothly exited the carriage, and from underneath his jacket a snake poked her head out, greedily breathing the air.
At this moment Morpho flew past her head in a demonstrative manner, as if she was telling her 'Look, I am fine, and you are not!'.
Having been defeated in this situation, Atheris quickly hid back inside of the jacket.
Ophelia jumped down from the driver's seat and approached the group.
"I apologize if the ride was rockier than usual. I was in a hurry," she apologetically said.
Was this really different from how it usually is? I couldn't tell...
He could only let go of his doubts and nod in understanding.
Then Cyril pointed with a hand back to the interior of the carriage, "Sorry, Tigris couldn't hold it in. It's a bit dirty."
While the tiger didn't eat breakfast, the remains of the dinner decided to show themselves instead.
Ophelia nodded without any sadness on her face and raised her arm to cast a spell.
Soon a brief shower fell upon the crime scene, and an unseen force cleaned the place for a bit. Ophelia had long since expected such a situation and prepared some spells for the occasion.
Tigris hid his eyes with his paws, too ashamed to look at what happened.
Cyril petted the tiger as a consolation. He could understand what he was going through...
...
The carriage was stopped somewhere in the center of the city. It was a street with many high-rise buildings lined up with different stores inside.
It was a commercial district with many high-quality merchandise to spend all one's fortune on.
Though the sun was only beginning to climb, the streets were empty. The stores, naturally, were closed for now.
However, that didn't seem to be an issue, as the moment Ophelia and Cyril walked up towards the doors of one of the buildings, they opened up, revealing men in suits with servile smiles.
It seems Ophelia warned them ahead of time through some means.
"Welcome! It's an honor to be visited by the esteemed Cyril Felling himself!" One of them energetically greeted.
Of course Cyril had never seen these people before in his life, but he didn't want to make some workers' lives harder, so he received their greetings as best he could.
A bit troublesome....