The girls raced to the north gate as quickly as they could, Jia scooping Heian into her arms on the way out. She cast a worried glance at Ja Yun, who was acting strangely normal given what they’d all just gone through.

“Ja Yun, are you okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine! Why do you ask?”

Ja Yun glanced over, then did a double-take when she saw Muddy’s new form.

“Oh ancestors, when did Muddy get so cute! Come here you precious little blob, you!”

Muddy latched onto Ja Yun’s fingers as she reached out to it, and its terrified quivering slowed down a bit once it had found a familiar perch. The way the elemental moved was fascinating to watch—though it had taken a more humanoid shape, it was still clearly liquid, and wasn’t shy about temporarily deforming itself to move around.

Jia hesitated to press any further, but Ja Yun’s behavior definitely wasn’t normal.

“Ja Yun, do you remember the dream at all?”

The former soldier blinked.

“Hm? Oh, sure! Well, parts of it, I guess. I was pretty out of it. I think Heian helped us, right? Thanks, sweetie!”

Heian waved at Ja Yun, who returned it with a bright smile and a wave of her own. Jia was getting more perplexed by the second.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Ja Yun? You were pretty upset before...”

“Oh! Is that what you’re worried about?! When we were all jumbled together, I put all that stuff that was bothering me aside and stuffed it into a sort of mental box. I’ve never been able to do that so well before!”

Jia frowned.

“And...?”

“And it’s still there! So I’m fine! Isn’t that great?”

Ja Yun’s rictus smile was suddenly a little off-putting. Dae had mentioned that technique before—a mental exercise of his own design plus some help from his master. He’d told Jia that it was dangerous to overuse.

“Ja Yun, I don’t think—”

“Look, we’re here!”

Sure enough, they’d arrived at the northern gate, where Master Ienaga and the others were waiting with varying levels of patience. Seong Misun, of course, was the first one to comment on their late arrival.

“It’s about time! I was this close to insisting that we leave without you.”

Jia bowed in apology and tried her best not to flinch when Ienaga struck her in the head with a wooden training sword.

“Lee, An, Eunae, do you think that my policy on tardiness has slackened in the last three years?! This is not a routine class that you can miss for a bit of extra meditation! We have strict time constraints which you have now completely ruined. Do you have any excuses?”

Ja Yun opened her mouth to say something, but Jia practically jumped to shout over her.

“No master! I’m very sorry!”

Eui and Eunae repeated her apology and bowed as well, and Ienaga sighed heavily.

“Some things never change. Even the consequences will be similar. We’re going to need to run to make up for lost time. Which of you are confident in your ability to indefinitely outrun a horse without using any ki?”

Everyone present raised their hands except for Jung and Seong Misun. Jia nudged her little sister with a foot.

“Narae, no ki means no flying. You’re not that fast yet.”

The child sullenly lowered her hand, and Misun took the opportunity to voice her own misgivings.

“Um, the soldier girl is one thing—who knows what those college mages get up to—but Eunae? There’s no way my sickly little sister can do that, you’re bluffing.”

Eunae leveled a flat stare at her sister, somehow enhanced by the veil covering her face.

“Did you think my field exercises with Haeun were for show, Misun? My talent for the martial arts might be lacking, but I haven’t neglected my training. I can do this much at least.”

Master Ienaga nodded approvingly.

“Good, I’d be sorely disappointed if any of my students couldn’t accomplish that much. The next question is—who among you can do it while carrying someone?”

Eunae and Ja Yun lowered their hands, leaving only Jia, Eui, and Rika. Jia grimaced.

“We’re strong enough to do it, but it would be too awkward for either of us to carry someone any taller than Narae.”

Jia had to accept the harshness of reality. She was short. Extremely short. She’d already been small for her age at fifteen and she’d barely grown since. Eui wasn’t much taller—a trait she’d inherited from her mother, apparently. Ienaga nodded in agreement.

“Very well, you two can take the girl. Miss Lee, who would you be most comfortable with?”

Jia did a double take before realizing that Ienaga was addressing her older sister. Lee Jung scratched her cheek, glancing between Rika and Ienaga indecisively. Misun stepped forward and scoffed.

“Why are you asking her?! She’s just a mortal—lucky to joining us at all, and even more lucky in the unlikely event she even survives the trip.”

Ienaga frowned at the interjection, then nodded curtly.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have left the decision to her.”

“Then I—”

“Lee Jung, you’re with me. No disrespect to Takeda, but if there’s danger then it will be easier for me to keep you safe with me.”

Jung bowed.

“Thank you very much, My Lady. I’ll be in your care.”

Misun began to sputter in indignation when Rika stepped forward and patted her on the shoulder, grinning.

“Looks like it’s you and me, big sis! This is gonna be fun!”

Seong Misun grimaced and brushed Rika’s hand off her shoulder.

“Ugh, I hate you. Fine, let’s get this over with. We’ve wasted enough time already.”

Jia took Narae on her back, her little sister’s arms wrapped tightly around her neck in a piggyback. Heian took the same position on Eui’s shoulders—though it was mostly symbolic since she didn’t actually weigh anything. Ienaga lifted Jung up in a princess carry, and Rika insisted on doing the same for Misun, much to the latter’s chagrin.

“This is demeaning.”

Rika smiled down at Misun as she gathered her six fluffy tails from underneath her, holding them in her lap.

“Well, so was sticking a veil over my girlfriend’s face! Would you rather I threw you over my shoulder like a sack of rice?”

While Misun tried in vain to bicker against Rika’s relentless teasing, Jia approached Master Ienaga and Jung, furrowing her brows in concern.

“I thought we were going to be taking Jung in a litter.”

Ienaga sighed.

“We were, but it would cost us too much time now. Do you think you’ll be alright without it, Miss Lee?”

Jung chuckled.

“Jia’s concern is appreciated, but I’ll be just fine. It’s quite comfortable here in your arms—I could get used to this kind of treatment, actually.”

Jia narrowed her eyes at her sister. Was she flirting?

“Jung, she’s like five or six times your age.”

“Mmm, a woman with experience, then. How exciting!”

Ienaga’s expression didn’t betray any reaction at all, ignoring Jia’s reddening face and moving on.

“Then it’s settled. I assure you that I will take good care of your sister, Lee Jia.”

Jung giggled but refrained from further comment, apparently having already sufficiently embarrassed Jia in front of her mentor.

With their preparations complete, the group set off with Ienaga taking the lead and setting the pace. And what a grueling pace she set. Even unburdened as they were, Eunae and Ja Yun struggled to keep pace, and Jia and Eui had to push themselves to keep up.

It was harder than Jia had expected to keep pace without actively using her ki. Her body had been dramatically reinforced over the years of her cultivation, but she’d gotten so used to channeling ki in her day to day life that she’d taken for granted how much it enhanced her strength.

Only Rika was completely unbothered by the restriction—her tall, muscular build helping her to keep stride even with Misun weighing her down. Still, by the time they finally made it to the forest and the sun was beginning to set, even Rika was starting to sweat—which Misun naturally had to complain about.

“Ew, gross, you’re getting your disgusting sweat all over my good robes!”

Rika chuckled.

“Well, you’re welcome to try running by yourself, big sis. Then you can get soaked in your own sweat and still end up needing me to carry you.”

“Stop calling me that!”

Ienaga clapped her hands for attention, having set Jung down to catch her breath. The fact that her sister was out of breath from being carried was concerning to Jia, but she let it go for now to listen to what her master was saying.

“From this point on, we’re in contested territory. Absolutely no use of ki, mana, qi, or any other kind of essence—the imperial scouts will detect it. The treeline will help cover us from detection, so we’re going to take a break here. Any questions?”

Jung raised her hand.

“How long of a rest? Are we setting up camp for the night?”

Ienaga grimaced sympathetically.

“I’m afraid not, Miss Lee. We won’t be stopping for more than a few short breaks until we’re fully across the border, after which we’ll be able to relax slightly.”

Jia’s big sister nodded.

“Ah, I see. Didn’t you say that it would take three days?”

“Yes. We’ve mostly made up for the time we lost this morning now, so the pace will be less arduous from here on, but we won’t be stopping for another two days and nights.”

Jung leaned heavily against the tree and nodded slowly.

“Alright.”

Seong Misun scoffed.

“Is she even going to make it? Last time she went a day without An Eui’s healing, she collapsed.”

“I was fine! Not that I don’t appreciate it, Your Highness, but you didn’t need to go so far for me back then.”

Jung tried to wave her concerns off, but Jia began to worry as well. Eui bit her lip as she considered it.

“Jung’s condition wasn’t actually all that bad internally, back then. She would have been fine for a few more days with a bit of rest. That said, without me healing her...she’s probably going to pass out again before we get there, yeah.”

Ienaga frowned.

“How long?”

Eui shrugged.

“Depends on her, really. I wasn’t that worried about it when I thought she was just going to be lying down in a litter the whole time, but now that we mention it...”

Jung pushed herself up off of the tree, brushing herself off with a heavy sigh.

“I’ll be just fine! If I fall asleep in Lady Ienaga’s arms, it will be because they’re just that comfortable, and because I can’t stay awake for three days like you immortals can.”

Jia didn’t feel convinced, but they didn’t have much choice anyway. Instead she turned her attention to Ja Yun, who was happily stretching while she tried to talk to Muddy.

“Can you say ‘Yun’? Go on, try!”

Rather than open its mouth—not that it had one on its featureless lump of a head—Muddy’s entire form began to ripple and vibrate until it produced a barely audible hum. The low, monotonous droning was impossible to distinguish as anything even approaching speech, but Jia gave the elemental credit for trying.

“So close! We’ll try again later. Oh, hey Jia!”

It was bizarre, seeing her so chipper. Jia waved weakly and sat down next to Ja Yun, feeding Muddy a bit of essence.

“Hey. How are you holding up?”

Ja Yun blinked.

“What do you mean? I’m still fine. Is this about this morning again?”

“Yeah. Have you talked to Eunae or Rika about it at all?”

“When would I have had time to do that? We’ve been sprinting all-out since before noon. Do you think that I should?”

Jia nodded.

“Yeah, I do. When you get the chance. I’m not sure if the way you’re handling this is uh...healthy. Dae told me that technique is only supposed to be for big fights or intense research, not day to day stuff.”

Ja Yun stared down at her lap and nodded.

“Yeah...you’re probably right. I’m just...kind of scared of what will happen if I let it go now. What I said to Eunae—”

Jia shook her head.

“What you said to Eunae wasn’t right, and you definitely owe her an apology, but you said it for a reason. Pretending otherwise isn’t going to fix anything, it’s just going to make it worse until you end up getting hurt, or hurting someone else.”

Ja Yun nodded weakly.

“Okay. You’re right. I’ll talk to them tonight. Thanks Jia, and um, sorry for what I said to you too.”

Jia patted Ja Yun on the shoulder and smiled.

“It’s fine. We probably deserved it anyway. I know how reckless I can get. Sorry for dragging you into it.”

Before Ja Yun had a chance to respond, Master Ienaga’s voice resounded through the trees.

“Break time is over! Get ready to leave. We’re moving double-time through the night.”

Jia sighed and went to fetch her little sister, a thousand worries and anxieties swimming through her head. It was going to be a long few days.