The more I think about it the weirder it seems.

There is no way an entire alliance would be after me.

Honestly, I think I know what could be happening.

Someone is impersonating me!

There is no way so many people would get it wrong!

I'd like to think at least one would plead for my innocence.

My new plan is to be a hermit.

I will not get out of this carriage.

I have Wolfie to keep me company.

Gran and Rollin from time to time too.

I simply take this time to train.

While I promised not to use illusion magic outside it should be fine in here.

I also train myself to apply makeup.

Let's just say this skill just became vital.

I hear about what is happening outside.

There are many repeat customers.

It is the exact same story!

It would be like going to the movies and expecting a different ending!

Until they tell me that they do change the endings.

Wow, this is either genius or diabolical.

People getting baited by a 10% difference in content.

Now I understand why they are celebrities here.

This whole town is full of gambling addicts!

The ending changes!

They don't announce which version they are playing either!

Oh my god!

Explain the coin sounds I kept hearing.

Before long, a week passes.

Our journey then resumes.

I can finally go outside and play.

Funny how usually I would not care one bit.

After all, I can always leave whenever.

But now after being confined for a while it feels so freeing!

The sun is extremely radiant, the air fresh, the birds are singing…oh they just died.

Guess we are roasting birds tonight.

It's actually my first time noticing but there is a bow user in our group.

Seems he mostly use it to hunt small game.

I pester him until he agrees to teach me.

A few minutes later, someone has given up.

Him, on me.

Let's just say I'm having trouble.

From another perspective, I am great at trick shots!

I'll aim in front and somehow always hit on the sides.

More like the only safe place to be is where I am actually aiming.

Just as I'm practicing, they scream that there are bandits!

I'm ready to go out there and beat them up!

Somehow Gran takes care of it.

She shows up, exchanges a few words with their leader and he leaves instantly.

What the hell?!

Was all I did before unnecessary?!

She chuckles.

"Don't worry about it, kid. It just happened to be fine this one time. Maybe I'll request your help the next."

Eh…sure.

Before long many days pass, then weeks.

I'd like to say that I'm having wonderful adventures but really, I'm simply training a bit and enjoying life.

We often stop by towns and cities.

Sometimes we skip a few.

Gran knows a lot about each of them.

They change their program depending on their audience.

It will go from epic narration to romance stories or even comedies.

It's quite impressive.

They can all change character on demand.

I'm slowly realizing that it's not that their stories are bad.

No, it's just that they hyper cater to their audience.

Objectively, seen as a whole, it seems questionable.

But in fact, they give people exactly what they deeply desire.

Somehow this makes me think about my own sect.

I started it all on a whim.

Got a few people to become members of it.

At first, I was playfully doing it.

Shamelessly while knowing it wasn't anything impressive.

But now I have understood something.

Even if it doesn't function as a sect, it does one thing well.

It is a symbol.

A symbol to remind people of their new resolutions.

If we did have a symbol itself …maybe ∅ I'm not sure.

Today something troublesome happened.

We almost got attacked.

By some sect.

We "invaded" their territory.

Well, it is a bit of an exaggeration.

It seems they are closing their borders.

No stranger can enter.

Apparently, a big city got wrecked.

A necromancer took over. Scary!

He had help to realize his evil designs.

They are looking for the necromancer's accomplice everywhere.

This in turn sent the whole continent on high alert.

Yeah, they should really deal with that as fast as possible.

Necromancers are masters of snowballing.

It starts with a few skeletons and before you know it…BAM! Undead army!

One that bloats the earth entirely.

Perhaps even the sky.

I haven't seen the bone dragon I fought fly.

I wonder if it simply couldn't, or it just didn't bother…

In any case, they were in paranoiac mode.

Driving people away.

This made it so we had to make a detour.

I was expecting my companions to be worried, but nope.

They had it all under control.

Apparently, it's not the first time something like that happens.

Once they received a direct invitation from an Artful sect.

Apparently, an incredible honor.

That let them visit Sho's official temple.

Sho being their patron deity.

His catchphrase is: the scene is a battlefield and the battlefield a scene!

Surprisingly these guys have pretty strong warriors too.

Their specialties being feints.

Feints so good they make their opponents throw themselves on their swords.

I'd like to see that one day.

How awesome is that!

Anyway, they had to go out of their way to visit them.

They had changed their itinerary completely.

How did they manage to please towns they were visiting for the first time?

With no reputation to their name?

Well, the answer is easy. Gran OP!

She would observe it all.

Then, after determining who they were dealing with, she tasked others to spread rumors.

Unusual enough to catch people's attention.

But believable enough for them not to disregard them entirely.

That made people flock to their shows.

They are doing the same technique right now.

Everything seems great at first glance.

But from time to time, I surprise Gran looking at maps.

Every time we get turned away, she draws a red cross on it.

With every passing day, there are more and more of these.

It almost seems like a huge trap is slowly closing on us.

But I'm sure it's not even about us.

It's about that goddamn dumb war.

The one that isn't starting.

The one that would be best if it never did.

Right now, the wait is casting a heavy atmosphere on the whole continent.

Even I that somehow have trouble reading the mood notice it.

From time to time, we meet merchants.

It quickly turns into a counseling session.

Every single group complaining so far.

Well, most simply keep their distances.

In case we are disguised bandits or something.

It keeps going.

Performances and more traveling.

All until one day Gran finally calls for a meeting.

"*Sigh* We have a crucial decision to make."

On the table, I can see a map filled with red.