Pondra put the finger-sized house inside her bag. They looked at their destination, a long way that almost looked infinitely far from them.

  “We need a hat,” Jacha said.

  “Huh?” Pondra was surprised.

  “You’re a magician and I’m a retired explorer,” Jacha said. “They’ll allow us to enter the kingdom, but Jacob is just a normal Malinian who will be seen as a betrayer, even as a child.”

  “Oh, I see,” she said.

  “So, you’ll be fully checked because magicians can smuggle things into the kingdom, but for me, they’ll quickly scan me,” he explained. “We need to make Jacob small enough to sit on the top of my head and hang on the edge of the hat when necessary.”

  “I didn’t think about it that way,” she said. “I was thinking of hiding him inside my bag, but any quick reaction would end up crushing his small body.”

  She reached into her bag, and the hat immediately scaled back to its original size. Then she approached Jacob.

  “W... wait, is this painful?” Jacob asked.

  “I haven’t tried it on humans before,” she answered with a mischievous smile.

  “What if I die? How does it even work?” Jacob asked, terrified.

  “I’m just playing with you; it works perfectly on everything,” she answered. “Its limitation is that I must be within about one hundred steps of the object, and I can only scale down the objects.”

  “You’re mad,” Jacob muttered.

  “What did you say?” Pondra asked.

  “Wait a second, will he be able to talk after you scale him down?” Jacha asked.

  “Yes, he can, but we won’t be able to hear him,” she answered.

  “Jacob, let’s agree on two signals,” Jacha knelt down close to Jacob and raised two fingers. “If you jump once, this means you need some air,” then he folded one finger. “If you jump twice, this means you need to do something urgent,” then folded the last finger.

  “Ok,” Jacob said. “This is convenient.”

  Five strings were attached to Jacob from Pondra. She wanted to scale down his body, shirt, pants, and his sandals.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  He gradually began to shrink until he became the size of two fingers. Jacha took him and placed him on the top of his head.

  (T...that’s warm and fluffy,) Jacob thought.

  “I’m going to wear the hat, Jacob,” Jacha said. “If you want me to wear it once we reach the gate, jump once.”

  He wore the hat; it was an archer’s hat with a feather on the right side.

  (I can’t see anything, and the air becomes heavy in here,) Jacob thought. (B...but Jacha’s hair’s smell became sharp; it was a long journey, and we barely stopped at any inn for long.)

  Jacob jumped once, as they agreed. Jacha took off the hat and held it in his hand.

  “Let’s go,” Jacha demanded.

  Now they both could move quickly; both of them were able to save their energy the previous night to use magic and enhance their own bodies with it.

  They jogged to the kingdom without draining their energy.

  “I’m sure you’re tired after using your ability on Jacob,” Jacha said.

  “Yes, I used it five times at once,” Pondra said. “But I’m fine.”

  “Don’t push yourself; we might encounter some monsters if we’re not lucky enough,” Jacha said.

  “You can take them down alone for me,” Pondra pleaded.

  “Uhm, o...ok,” Jacha said.

  (Feeling it closely, our kinky hair is really good for bouncing. I remember when I gave Zoeske an example of how to inspire an ability from real materials,) Jacob thought. (Jacha’s hair tickles me with each step he takes.)

  At Jacob’s small size now, it was hard for him to resist the wind force. He was clutching Jacha’s hair and observed the surroundings. He felt a bit of joy observing the huge world with his tiny body.

  Meanwhile, on the merchants’ path to the kingdom, Saint and Nicky were prepared to continue their journey to the kingdom. But they estimated reaching the kingdom in ten days.

  “Where do you plan to go after you leave us in front of the kingdom’s gates?” Saint asked.

  “I have to go somewhere,” Nicky said. “You’re annoying enough, so don’t stick your nose in my business.”

  “S...sorry,” Saint apologized.

  (Both she and her sister wear expensive clothes, but they seem to have barely cleaned themselves. I wonder if they ran away from home,) Saint thought.

  “What is it?” Nicky yelled.

  “N...nothing, why are you always angry anyway?” Saint questioned.

  “Shut up,” Nicky yelled again.

  The baby looked innocently at Nicky, and gradually a smile was seen on his face. He melted Nicky’s heart with his charming eyes and puffy cheeks.

  She blushed and turned her face to the other side.

  (Her personality is annoying, but she has a big heart,) Saint thought.

  “What do the kingdom’s gates look like?” Saint asked.

  “They’re tall, and two guardians are protecting them, and two soldiers who scan the coming people,” Nicky answered.

  “I hope they don’t kick me out,” Saint bemoaned.

  “You’ll be fine,” she said.

  Soon, Jacob and the others will reach the kingdom. A hard place for dark-skinned people to enter and a difficult task of finding Zoeske among thousands of people. It will be the second visit for Jacob, and he is not looking forward to it.