The shout, filled with desperation and urgency, came from a soldier, on horseback, who dashed up to the captain of the group of riders. The captain frowned upon seeing the soldiers. As if the storm clouds had returned, the captain’s face turned dark.

“What is it, Diorun?” the captain asked.

The messenger, with an uneasy expression, spared a brief glance at Erin, before straightening his gaze at the captain. “A message from one of the Blue Cloaks at the camp.”

“A Valdrun knight? What business do they have now?”

“These people here are the friends of the High Lady. They are not to be… harassed or vexed, as the Blue Cloaks put it.”

“What?” The captain’s eyes widened. “Is this a joke?”

“It isn’t, Captain. They were very clear with their… demands.”

The captain narrowed his eyes. “Is that all to their demands?”

“They have been granted free passage to the capital.”

The captain tutted. “Unbelievable.” He stared at Erin and the messenger back and forth.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Everyone’s eyes were on the captain as all awaited the decision. The outcome was obvious but it didn’t lessen the blow on the captain’s pride.

Regardless, a soldier could not defy an order from the higher-ups. With a face of reluctance, the captain gave the command. The riders backed away from Erin and her companions and returned to their formation.

“Heed my words, Fae. Your exemption from military inspection and tolls does not mean an exemption from the laws themselves.” The captain left such words with Erin before riding off with his men and also the messenger.

“What a sore loser,” Amyra huffed. “I didn’t see a stick up his arse but he sure acted like one who did.”

“Not uncommon,” Siv said. “Lord Hegan himself had encountered a few of such people. There will always be those who can’t help themselves to abuse the power they had.”

Lyra, who nearly snarled at the captain, sighed in relief. “It really helps to have friends in high places.”

“How stupidly bold of them,” Nivia scoffed. “Do they not fear the consequences of provoking a Fae’s displeasure and deprecation?”

Lilian tittered. “Believe it or not, my dear Nivia, there are some out there who still believe that notion is nothing more than make-believe, a ploy by the Fae to reign superior social standing.”

“These idiots would risk destroying the well-being of their own people just to stroke their ego.”

“To them, there is no such risk as they didn’t even believe in that story in the first place.”

“I pity those who lived close to such a person. They would have to bear the brunt of someone else’s fault.”

“Let’s just keep moving. We don’t want to be out here in the wilderness after sunset,” Erin said.

Everyone nodded— except for Aera.

“Aera, what’s wrong?” asked Erin.

“W-what about Aedan? Shouldn’t we wait for him?”

“Ah, that person.” Nivia tutted. “I have actually forgotten about him.”

“He’s capable, Aera,” Siv said. “I’m sure Master would—”

“Hold on, there. Master?” Erin questioned.

“You’re my Mistress. By right, he should be—”

“Stop right there, Siv.” Erin sighed. “He may be my lover but he’s not my… spouse, alright?”

Lilian snickered.

“Then how should I address him?”

“His name alone will be fine. In my case too.”

“But—”

“Can we save this drama for later?” Nivia cut in. “You know, after we found a roof over our heads.”

“Of course, Nivia.” Erin smiled wryly. “Let us get moving.”

The group went down the gentle slope with firm steps and vigilant gazes. The threat might have subsided but expect the unexpected, they had come to believe.

The path through the forest was a smooth one and they made it through without any problems arising, except for their hunger but that could be easily remedied.

They gradually approached one of the many outposts they had seen from afar. The scouts on the watchtowers placed by the paths had long since caught sight of them but due to the orders from the Valdrun Knights, they let them through without making any fuss.

They passed through the frontier without being stopped by any of the soldiers. However, from the looks of these soldiers, they all seemed far too eager to exercise their authority on Erin and her companions as they were a group of gorgeous ladies.

“I can’t believe there will ever come a time where I felt so grateful for a noble, a human noble no less,” Nivia said after they made it through the camps of the outpost and went right back on track.

“Oh… that’s not good,” Lyra muttered. Being the one walking ahead of all the others, her face turned strained at the sight of the path ahead.

Erin strode up to Lyra’s side to share her view. “What in the name…”

When the rest saw Erin’s grave expression, they all rushed up to Erin’s side to get a glimpse of the sight that made their pseudo-party leader fretful.

“By the Spirits,” Nivia gasped. “What happened?”

There were houses laid in their path, a village but there was no fence defining its space. That was to be expected but what wasn’t anticipated was the havoc and destruction of these villages.

Many of the houses were burned down. The crops were destroyed. Corpses were strewn all over the lands. There were survivors but it was clear that the dead outnumbered the living. It was no comfort to the survivors.

Soldiers were already on site, remedying the conundrum and disaster to the best of their abilities. As the survivors were few, every other able hand were sent into the heart of the disaster.

“Spirits be good…” Lilian muttered with a hollow voice. “What could have done this?”

“People,” answered Siv. “I know these marks of destruction. They were left by people.”

“Bandits?” Aera asked.

“Bandits wouldn’t have the guts to commit such atrocities with so many soldiers patrolling nearby. Whoever or whatever did this, they are not afraid of the soldiers or they are confident the soldiers wouldn’t be able to track them down.”

“These destruction… they are not orderly. It’s whimsical and fickle. Just from a simple glance here, more than half of the crops have not been taken. Bandits pillage for food, women, and valuables, in that order of priority. They would not leave so much food behind.”

“Hmm… that’s true,” Lyra mused. Then, she suddenly frowned and pointed to a certain hut. “Look there. That hut over there. It looks like it had been cleaved in half with a single swing, cleanly at that.”

Erin narrowed her eyes. “Unafraid of the soldiers. Skilled enough to cut a hut cleanly in half. Leaving all the food behind. I say the perpetrators are not unknown to us.”

Everyone looked at Erin, baffled.

“What do you mean?” Lyra asked.

Siv raised her brows. The realisation had struck. “The accursed zealots. This is their doing.”

Erin nodded. “They would be the most likely culprits.”

“But why?” Nivia grimaced. “Why would they do such a thing?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Lilian said. “They would kill our lovely Erin just to gain favour with those ghastly and irrationally fearful deities. Ravaging a village on a whim doesn’t seem too far-fetch for them.”

“Hypocrites,” Lyra spat. “Every single one of them. Pathetic. They want Erin dead because they fear she would destroy the world or something but look at what their hired thugs have done. They’re doing exactly just that.”

“You lassies over there, halt!” shouted a soldier who sped towards them on a horse. “Not a step further, mind you. The area has been sealed off for investigation.”

“But we need to go through here,” said Lyra.

“Not possible, Miss. If you wish to proceed forward in this direction, I’m afraid you have to take a detour.”

“The detour will take us a week more time.”

“There’s Port Ikon. If time is of the essence, I would recommend hiring a boat at Port Ikon and making your way through on the stream.”

“That’s the sea.”

“The sea at the port leads into the inland lakes. Granted, the fee to hire a boat to travel upstream would be… quite costly to say the least. In any case, these areas are off-limits. Please, turn back.”

“But—”

“Thank you, kind sir.” Erin intervened. She took Lyra by the hand and dragged her away from the soldier.

No one noticed but the soldier had a deep blush when he got a good look at Erin’s face when she chimed in.

****

“We will head for Port Ikon,” said Erin.

As their original plan of course had been altered, they retreated into the trees, off the main road, to discuss their next course of plan.

“You can’t be serious,” Lyra retorted.

“Is there something wrong with that idea?”

“Mistress, if I may?”

“Just speak, Siv.”

“Port Ikon is famous for a few of its peculiar, rowdy locals. Troublemakers, in short, but that’s putting it lightly. Most important of all, there will be many slavers.”

“Slavers? Actual slavers?”

Siv nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”

“And the town’s guards do nothing about them?”

“Corruption runs amok the kingdom, Mistress.”

“Of course.” Erin sighed. “How trite. But what other choice do we have? The other path will add a week’s time to our journey. Port Ikon may not be a good option but it is better than all the other options we have on our hands.”

“No objections from me,” said Amyra with a toothy grin. “If those thugs want a fight, I’ll give them a good one.”

“I concur with Amyra, Mistress. We are not damsels. We are not without powerful friends. Lord Hegan has plenty of friends at Port Ikon. They can be our shields.”

“But you no longer work for him.”

“My relations with Lord Hegan’s friends are… amicable, to say the least. A couple of them even owe me some personal favours. One of them being the port’s overseer.”

Lilian tittered. “If that is the case, Port Ikon certainly doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

“Port Ikon it is, I guess,” Lyra muttered.

Erin clapped her hands. “Alright then, since everyone is in agreement, let us be on our way.”

****

It was an hour or two after midday when the group finally reached Port Ikon. The streets were bustling with life and activities much like the city of Sephrodia Valley. It was also quite noisy but unlike Sephrodia, the noises here were brash and clamorous.

It was a town filled with merchants from various corners of the world. It was essentially a trading port. Adventurers were easily spotted from just a simple glance despite the lack of game nearby. The heavy presence of adventurers was due to the fact that more than half of the merchants here had weapons and battle gear as their goods for sale.

As these goods were sold by the firsthand procurers themselves, the prices were much lower than those in the other cities and towns. Moreover, Port Ikon was conveniently situated along the path that led to many prominent towns and cities.

“Where do we go from here?” Lyra asked, looking at Siv.

Siv, in turn, looked at Erin.

“We’ll look for a place to rest first. We have someone we need to wait for.”

“That would be difficult, Mistress,” said Siv.

“Difficult how?”

“The lodgings here are… reserved only for the richest. Common folks like us would need to make do with camps. Thankfully, the woods around here are relatively safe. The only threat in the woods is other people.”

“Well then, It’s time to put those favours to use, Siv,” said Lyra.

“That’s just wasteful, Lyra,” Siv retorted. “These favours are not to be taken lightly and I can’t, in goodwill, recommend using those favours just to get some lodgings for even a night.”

“We could wait at a diner or a tavern and grab ourselves something to eat or drink while we’re there,” Amyra proposed.

“Or we can just wait at the edge of the town,” Nivia suggested. “I wager it’s only a few tens of minutes wait unless that dunce lost track of us.”

“I’m hurt, my dear Nivia,” came the sudden response from behind the girls. “Do you take me for an utter simpleton that can’t find his way?”

As the port was filled with all sorts of noises and all manners of smell, neither Erin nor Siv sensed Aedan’s approach.

“Took you long enough,” Erin muttered, crossing her arms. Despite the displeased frown, her heart became a hundred times lighter.