Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1291  A Long Journey

The gates of Grotora opened with a dull groan as the merchant carriage rolled out of the town. Morning fog clung to the road, thinning only when the wheels crushed through it.

Inside the shaded cabin, Felicity sat between two crates overflowing with dried herbs. A plain brown cloak wrapped around her shoulders, hood pulled low enough that even her bright eyes were dimmed. Her hair, once an almost surefire giveaway of her identity, had been braided tight and hidden under a scarf.

Opposite her sat Feng, already leaning halfway out the window to breathe in the cold air. Their driver glanced back at her with a grin.

The woman looked like any cheerful coach youʼd meet on a countryside road. Blonde hair tied in a messy loop behind her head, cheeks lightly flushed, posture relaxed as she held the reins. But beneath the loose jacket she wore, thin glints of metal peeked through whenever the wind shifted.

She flicked the reins gently. Her movements were smooth, controlled, and far too precise for a simple coach. Every tug and pause felt measured, as if she could steer the horses blindfolded.

This woman was none other than Ria, an assassin the group accepted into their ranks as they severely lacked someone with good detection and the ability to sneak. For someone on an adventure like them in hostile territory, having a woman of her skills was incredibly important. As the de facto leader of the group, finding a reliable person for the job was one of the first things Iris had done.

Though Ria was kept in the dark about a few very important details… Such as the fact that she was traveling with the damned princess of the country, or that her allies were not the simple adventurer types she assumed them to be, but the Primrodial Villainʼs partners.

Felicity giggled, ”Miss Coach is very good at her job!”

”My father is a carriage driver; he used to take me on rides and let me take the reins,” the woman replied with a tender expression, reminiscing.

”Oh? How did he take to your elected profession?” Feng asked, curious. Ria lived a very dangerous life; some parents wouldnʼt be happy to see their daughter take such risks.

”Not well, but I told him Iʼm not going to grow wrinkles in a dozen or so years, so heʼd best deal with it,” Ria shrugged, then grinned, ”When I started leveling up and earned money he could never even imagine, his arguing lost some of its edge.”

”I can imagine,” Feng chuckled. ”Letʼs work hard so we can help your father retire early.”

”Oh! That sounds great!” Ria cheered. ”Letʼs do it!”

What work one might ask.

Well… They were adventurers… Sort of. The girls were basically on a big adventure, so they used some of the quests to decide where to go next. If there was good pay, theyʼd go and slay monsters. But they could not be considered proper adventurers, as they rarely accepted those jobs. It was mostly just to gain access to the broad network of the Adventurerʼs Guild and use their knowledge and screening of information to decide how to proceed.

This, too, was Irisʼs idea. It was safe to say that her team was very happy with their leaderʼs decision-making thus far on their journey, which has been going on for over two months now.

Outside, the sound of metal climbing over gravel echoed rhythmically.

Lyra ran on the left side of the carriage. The pink-haired tanker kept one hand near her sword and was even ready to unfasten the shield from her back at a momentʼs notice, eyes scanning the treeline with the same calm she showed during breakfast.

The girl was already a true professional, but spending the past two months in constant uncertainty and threat of danger, while having to shield two girls who were especially fragile at the beginning of their journey, allowed her to hone her skills as a protector to even greater heights.

She was the true Juggernaut, as her class implied, ensuring her team kept on breathing no matter the personal cost.

On the right, Iris matched the pace with ease.

Her dark armor covered her from head to toe. The helmetʼs visor hid her face entirely. No one would mistake her for anything other than a professional guard hired to watch a merchant convoy. The road curved, carrying them deeper into Ravenshade lands and away from civilization. The carriage rolled for another hour.

Ria hummed a tune as she guided the horses; her posture was loose and content, almost making the woman look as if she wasnʼt an eagle-eyed, permanently alert professional killer and thief. Then she suddenly gasped.

”Ack! I forgot to tell you! Have you heard the news?!”

Feng didnʼt even blink. ”No. Collecting information is your job; we avoid inns and the like on purpose.”

Ria ignored the flat tone of her companion without missing a beat. ”You four are always so secretive. Why do we even have to disguise ourselves? Weʼre legal adventurers.” Before Feng could even form a reply, the blonde brightened again. ”Anyway! Listen to this! The Primordial Villain is making waves again! Heʼs so badass! I have his poster plastered in my room. Heʼs such a looker…”

Feng stared ahead. Felicityʼs shoulders trembled lightly under her cloak. Both kept their mouths sealed tight.

This had become routine.

Ria was, in every sense, a Quinlan fangirl. She raved about him when she cleaned her daggers. She raved about him when she cooked. She raved about him when they camped, when they shopped, when she stretched before bed, when she woke up, and especially whenever she got even a fragment of new information about his exploits.

And the girls, who knew the man personally, slept under the same roof as him, argued with him, and trained with him, had now become experts at nodding along in silence as if they were hearing rumors about a stranger.

Their first meeting had come as a result of her evident obsession with this worldʼs equivalent of a celeb.

Ria had been alone in an Adventurerʼs Guild branch, drunk and loudly complaining that her old team refused to take on proper missions, happier growing old and irrelevant than taking on a bit of risk. Sheʼd just finished ranting about how the Primordial Villain could ”solo any duke if he felt like it,” when Iris, Lyra, Feng, and Felicity passed by.

At first, Felicity and Feng only sat near her because they found the woman amusing, while the other two looked over the available quests.

By the end of the night, Iris offered her a position.

Ria accepted without hesitation.

Her obsession with Quinlan hadnʼt stopped since.

And she wasnʼt alone. Quinlan had never been viewed as an outright monster by common folk. Nobles and their allies did everything in their power to paint him as a threat, but plenty of people disagreed. Many were simply tired of kneeling to powerful families who never changed, never listened, never cared.

The status quo had been stale for far too long, making people dream about change.

And then came Quinlan, someone who ignored every expectation, toppled long-standing norms, and slapped the order of their world across the face.

Nobles called it chaotic and evil.

Most commoners called it interesting.

And once the old posters of a masked figure were replaced with his real face, looking rugged yet unmistakably handsome, the number among one of the two genders rose disproportionally compared to the other, annoying quite a few men who had to smile to avoid drama while they seethed with jealousy when they had to listen to their partner rave about his looks and exploits.

This made Riaʼs bright admiration less unusual than it might appear at first glance.

Felicity finally asked, ”So? What happened? Did your crush get another wife? Will I have to listen to you punching your pillow again tonight while grumbling for hours on end?”

”Let me guess, did he defeat another army on his own?” Feng joined in, grinning.

Lyra and Iris perked their ears.

Ria reached into her pocket as she ignored the purple-haired girlʼs painfully accurate remark.

”Nope, youʼre both wrong! Youʼre not gonna believe this one.”

Ria dug into her coat and pulled out a folded newspaper with a flourish while her eyes sparkled as if sheʼd just unveiled a holy relic.

”Look! Look at the front page!”

She snapped it open.

Quinlanʼs updated wanted poster stared back at them. And right over his lips…

A bright red lipstick mark could be observed.

Felicity and Feng exchanged the exact same wry look.

ʼSomeoneʼ had clearly done ʼsomethingʼ to that piece of paper.