The reason the carriage had suddenly become so chaotic was simple.

“Hey, hey, hey? Little one! Are you going to hold the reins properly or not?!”

“Tie! Careful! Hey, Raul! Tie’s bag is falling!”

“Waaang, the horse is very fast!”

Because at this very moment, the one holding the reins was none other than Tie.

Even though Raul was helping from the side, Astie was literally dangling on the horse like a straw.

Nordix, watching from inside the carriage, clicked his tongue.

“This feels a bit unsettling.”

Apparently Bale had been thinking the same thing—he glared at Basto.

“I told you. If it’s not allowed, it’s not allowed. Why did you even put the little one on a horse, huh?!”

Basto pressed his lips together awkwardly.

After hesitating, he answered.

“What was I supposed to do when she begged for three days straight? She said it was her dream to sit in the coachman’s seat. I couldn’t just keep pretending I didn’t hear her.”

“Why not? If a child asks, are you going to allow her everything? You spoil her all the time, so she pulls things like this!”

Basto clenched his lips tightly.

There was no point arguing with Bale over something like this—he would gain nothing.

Basto had never been eloquent and always lost to Bale in verbal sparring.

That was what they called human incompatibility.

‘But I didn’t allow it for no reason.’

Strangely stung, Basto lowered his gaze.

“The little one will probably say next time she’ll ride without Raul. She’s got nothing but unnecessary adventurous spirit.”

Oddly enough, the moment Bale muttered that, an excited voice rang out from outside.

“Waaah—! Wahahahaang!”

“C-Captain! Don’t keep petting the horse! Hold the reins! When you need to stop, slowly with both hands like this......”

Unlike Tie, who was bursting into laughter from sheer delight,

Raul’s voice, supporting her from behind, sounded desperate.

No matter how you looked at it, he was clearly using all his strength to keep the carriage from flipping over.

At that moment, Tie turned back toward the squad members inside the carriage.

“Everyone look at Tie! Tie is driving the horse!”

Bale let out a heavy sigh.

He lazily stuck his head out the window and replied lifelessly.

“Yeah, good job.”

“Really? Yes? Tie is awesome, right?! Tie drives better than Raul oppa and Enzo oppa?”

“Yes, yes, just please look forward.”

“Uhhehe, Kkamani! Grandpa Nordix! Look at Tie!”

But once excited, Tie did not know moderation.

In the end, hearing themselves called, both Lucarion and Nordix leaned their heads out as well.

“......Our pace is simply magnificent.”

“Ha ha ha, Astie. I would believe it if someone said you were a professional.”

Tie giggled and only after some time stared forward again.

“Raul oppa. Everyone says Tie is good! That means until we reach the new house Tie will keep driving......”

“Little one, you didn’t forget what we agreed on, did you? Exactly ten minutes. Seven left.”

But at that moment,

Bale’s merciless announcement shattered the good mood at once.

Tie’s eyebrows drooped pitifully on their own.

From behind, Raul quietly comforted her.

“I’ll let you ride again later, Captain.”

Tie looked at him pitifully.

“Really......?”

“Yes. But not a word to Bale?”

Tie nodded vigorously.

And just as she was smiling faintly again while looking ahead—

“Wow, a river!”

The view of a river opened before them.

Raul smiled.

“That’s right. Looks like we’re almost there. Since we can see the Isera River.”

“Isera River?”

“Yes. It curves halfway around the imperial city and the center of the capital. It’s also called the Boundary of the Ancient Gods.”

Raul pulled up the cloak that had slipped off Tie’s shoulder.

“Don’t you remember the story Grandpa Nordix told yesterday?”

Tie’s eyes immediately grew wide.

“I remember. Ancient gods!”

After leaving Kaldenbein Ridge,

Agavert had been marching at an accelerated pace the entire time.

There was no time to waste, and besides, they had an agreement with the Supreme Commander—they absolutely had to reach the capital today.

But yesterday afternoon,

the giant side effect of that forced march that everyone had feared had finally struck.

‘I’m boooored.......’

An unprecedented wave of enormous boredom had suddenly crashed down on Tie.

Indeed, for four-year-old Tie, a journey lasting several days was far too long.

To comfort Tie, who could not sit still from boredom, Nordix devised a clever method.

‘Tie, are you very bored?’

‘Yeees, Tie is going to turn into a stone.......’

‘Then Grandpa will tell you an old story.’

Nordix told Tie several stories about the Empire and the capital.

And one of them was precisely the story of the “Boundary of the Ancient Gods.”

‘You know the current capital is an expanded capital, right?’

‘Yeees!’

According to Nordix, originally the capital of Tallocium had been a single independent city.

Like Seoul—the capital of Korea.

But when magic stones began to rise, the Emperor expanded the borders of the capital.

To simplify, it was like merging Gangwon Province and Chungcheong Province with Seoul.

‘But is there even Seoul in Gangwon and Chungcheong......?’

Apparently not.

While Tie frowned and searched her memory for the map puzzle she had assembled in kindergarten,

Nordix continued.

‘But you see, expanding the capital. It sounds easy, but in reality it brought a great deal of confusion.’

‘Why?’

‘Imagine that one day places that were not the capital suddenly became the capital. Would there not be chaos?’

Tie nodded with her mouth slightly open.

It was true.

The mountain village of Kaldenbein Ridge was also officially part of the capital.

And not only that.

The Weapon District, and Pearlcity as well.

Essentially, all the places they had passed through the gates belonged to the capital.

‘Think about it yourself. Do they really look like a capital to you?’

Tie shook her head.

No matter how she recalled the journey, she never had the feeling of a huge city like Jongno or Seoul.

‘But once you cross the Isera River and enter the Old Capital—the one from before the expansion.’

‘.......’

‘Everything is completely different from this side of the river. It is full of life, magnificent buildings lined in rows.......’

The Isera River.

A great river that had surrounded the capital before its expansion.

Its other name—the Boundary of the Ancient Gods.

Now it served as the boundary between the Old Capital and the New Capital.

‘You will see for yourself. The moment you cross that river, you will understand what “a completely different world” means.’

As expected, Raul smiled from behind.

“Almost there. Once we cross that bridge.”

Tie swallowed.

Indeed, the closer they drew to the Isera River, the clearer the view became of a city resembling a gigantic jewel box.

Trying to calm her pounding heart, Tie looked around.

There were already noticeably more carriages around them.

When they entered the bridge over the river, there were even more.

Because of the crowd, the shouts of coachmen rang from all directions.

Noticing the traffic had grown dense, Basto stuck his face out of the carriage.

“Tie. Are you managing?”

Tie nodded vigorously.

And somewhat flustered, she glanced around.

‘Ten minutes are almost up.’

It seemed impossible to stop the carriage here and move back inside.

“I’ll look for a place where we can stop briefly.”

In the end, at Raul’s suggestion, Tie released the reins.

Instead, she tightly grabbed Raul’s hand as they searched for a place to stop.

“Hiiiii!”

An unfamiliar carriage suddenly pressed sharply against Agavert.

The situation was on the verge of collision, and Bale leaned out the window, waving his arm.

“What are you doing, are you insane?!”

But the coachman on the other side merely snorted.

“What am I supposed to do if I’m being squeezed? Would you yield yourselves?”

Tie’s mouth fell open.

‘This is......!’

Dangerous driving?

Her heart pounded.

Actually, she had seen this in Jongno too.

‘Yeah~ four-lane road. Oh-oh? The Morning next to us suddenly cuts in? The witness jerks the wheel, oh-oh~ bang~!’

More precisely, in YouTube videos that the uncle from the hardware store at the end of the alley watched every day.

‘The insurance company claims the applicant is 60 percent at fault. Now! Let’s open viewer voting!’

When Tie sat beside the uncle, she inevitably ended up watching too.

Every time he watched, he practically burned with anger.

‘They’re completely crazy! Tie, hurry and press this. This one.’

‘What is it?’

‘Viewer voting.’

Tie had many times voted ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) on the uncle’s phone that dangerous driving was bad.

‘And they’re doing that here too!’

The child’s eyes flared.

Soon, with a serious expression, Tie shouted.

“Mister! You didn’t even use a turn signal, what are you doing right now?!”