Dia took a few deep breaths, and then leaned against a tree. Thin, flimsy fences could be visible from her vantage point, and after taking a swig of water, she stepped on to the dirt road, ignoring Farah, who was sprawled onto patches of lush grass.

They had indeed reached Farah County in ten days by mana-walking, but the reason why the countess was sprawled onto the ground was due to the fact that Farah hadn't assumed that they would be running whenever their mana ran out. Farah, whose stamina was completely dependent on her mana, hadn’t taken well to the realities of a body unused to exercise after weeks of just sitting and dealing with paperwork.

Aunt Lumine, who had so much mana that she could mana-walk without seeing the need to pause whatsoever, sniffed the air. “Be careful, children. There is something nasty in the air, and I don’t like it. Countess, your territory seems to be plagued by some ne’er-do-wells. Best you get someone to handle it.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Dia replied.

“You…alright. You seem good enough. You should be able to handle a bunch of rogues and thieves yourself, no? The friend who taught you how to secure your perimeter should have given you good advice on how to deal with bandits.”

Dia thought back to the small booklet Claud had given the two of them before departure, and nodded. “There’s a small booklet.”

“May I take a look at it?” Aunt Lumine asked.

Dia blinked. It took around half a minute of her patting her body and searching her backpack, before she located the palm-sized booklet, which drew raised eyebrows from the Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings.

Tutting, she took the booklet. “Clearly, you haven’t found it in yourself to actually read your friend’s hard work, no? You need to work harder in things that don’t quite interest you, child. A one-track mind you have, but at least do make an effort to appreciate the hard work of other people.”

Dia felt her face burn. “I was intending to read it after we hunkered down somewhere safe. Mana-walking and jogging for hours on end made me too tired to—”

“Is that really the case?” Aunt Lumine walked over and patted her head. “You’re my niece. I know you quite well. But if you claim that you were simply too tired…then I shall not press you on it. The Moons can illuminate running streams, but they can’t make horses drink from it.”

Suppressing the urge to fidget, Dia tried to look sincere, prompting her aunt to sigh. “You’re all grown up, so I can’t really do anything or tell you that you need to do something. But your friend, the paranoid one who gave you this absurd playbook, is probably a good role model to learn from.”

Dia briefly considered the life of Claud, who had all kinds of defensive artefacts and weird plans, and then shivered. That was a lot of hard work, and—

“You…well, at least put in some work, okay?” Aunt Lumine reached out and bopped her head lightly. “I’m done reading it — don’t even ask how — and it’s well-written…in a sense, anyway. You should just focus on the relevant bits, instead of the idiotic bits the author added in.”

“Idiotic bits?” Dia asked.

“Yeah.” The mighty Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings had a peeved look on her face. “He spent half the book on fifty ways to die while travelling outdoors, and I didn’t know half of them.”

She took a deep breath. “For instance, did you know that lying down on lush patches of grass kills an average of five hundred people a year?”

Farah, who was gasping, rolled off the patch of grass immediately. “What?”

“Yeah, that’s what your friend claims. According to this book, lush patches of grass are favoured homes of venomous insects and snakes. Many travellers die from being bitten, without having had an antidote or a relevant skill on hand.” Aunt Lumine shook her head. “Wow. Talk about unfortunate. There’s more. For instance, some trees actually emit slow-acting poison into the air, paralysing anyone who takes a nap on them. Eventually, death follows from heart failure, starvation and—”

“Alright, alright!” Dia took a deep breath. “If you continue to read all these things out loud, I don’t think I’ll have the courage to walk out of town anymore.”

“Oh no, don’t worry about that!” Aunt Lumine’s words took on an annoyed tone. “He also included ten most common ways of dying while in a town, which includes, but is not limited to, falling victim to a new sickness, collateral damage by powerful mana-users, buying contaminated food, scratching yourself on a rusted nail…”

Dia muttered some choice words under her breath, before lugging Farah onto her feet. “Let’s go in before my aunt decides to narrate more things.”

At the same time, Dia retrieved the booklet from her aunt and stuffed it into her clothes, making a mental note to review the book later. For some reason, there was this odd emotion in her aunt’s eyes, although it vanished a moment later. Perhaps she was interested in knowing the person who led such a warped life or something along those lines, so it was possible that Claud might just get some little artefact for his trouble.

People like Aunt Lumine were the kinds who liked to bestow little benefits on those who seemed pleasing to their eyes. Claud seemed to be meeting this bill, if nothing else, and—

Hold up. Why am I assuming that Aunt’s definitely going to be visiting the Moon Lords? What am I exactly preparing for? Dia tilted her head, confused. The way that thought had popped into her mind was entirely uncalled for, and besides, Aunt Lumine was one of the trump cards behind her father. Given that a war was on the horizon, there was no way she would be able to make time to visit her little niece and her ragtag gang of buddies, so…

She shook her head. “Come on, let’s go already. I can’t wait to see what’s your palace like, Farah.”

“It’s nowhere as impressive as Nightfall’s, so don’t put much stock in it,” the countess replied.

“Don’t worry.”

The Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings let out a snicker, before clearing her throat, and a dignified air began to emanate from her. Her aunt rarely let her guard down, unless she was with close kin, but once she did, it was hard to view her dignified form as normal.

As for why her aunt was laughing…

Well, that was a story best left for later. Patting Farah’s back, Dia urged her forwards — the prospect of having proper amenities, food and bedding was too much of a temptation now.

“Alright, alright,” said Farah. As the three of them proceeded to the flimsy fence, Farah’s hair began to change, from jet-black to a nice emerald. At the same time, her features shifted subtly, and a self-assured, confident smile emerged on Farah’s face.

“I haven’t seen you in your true appearance for some time,” Dia noted, giving the countess a once-over. “A refreshing sight, if nothing else.”

Farah’s hair flapped dramatically, despite the absence of any wind whatsoever, but Dia couldn’t bring herself to smile or laugh. An imposing air had spread out from the countess, something very close to what the Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings had, and as Dia stared at her two companions, her heart twitched with envy.

The two of them had this special presence to them, and Dia had a feeling that this presence had nothing to do with their mana circuits. If she had to peg it somewhere, it was…probably their mental state. A profound synchronicity with their mental image and their true self.

Dia calmed herself down. It wasn’t the first time she had encountered it, after all.

“Let’s go,” said Farah, her voice rich and strong. “Follow me, the two of you.”

Without waiting for their response, she walked on, her gait swift and certain. Within minutes, they had approached the small fence that Dia had spotted earlier, but before Dia could say anything, Farah had leapt over the fence with a feline grace.

Dia watched as Aunt Lumine did the same, before following suit a heartbeat later.

It was just a mere fence, but when Dia hopped over it, a sense of relief washed over her. There was something to be said about invisible, mental boundaries that divided the wilderness and safe areas, as well as their effects on the mind, and Dia found herself relaxing.

They were in the civilised parts now, and Dia, with her muscles loosened to an unprecedented degree, finally regained the presence of mind to look around. The three of them were on a sandy path, flanked by pastures of tilled soil…as well as people cutting down luscious strands of wheat.

Time seemed to freeze as the farmers stared at the newcomers.

“People,” Farah replied, her voice now a strident baritone. “I, your Countess Farah, has returned!”

The farmers surged forward a second later, shouting and screaming madly.