The weakening of the feeling she had was less like a disappearance and more like an obfuscation. Yuriko knew that whatever it was that was pushing her to get to was still there, but it was no longer pulling her towards the northwest. It wasn’t pulling at her from any particular direction at this point and its presence was like an itch she couldn’t reach.

“What’s got you all sour?” Gwendith murmured as they alighted from the car.

“Hmmm?”

“You’re scowling,” Gwendith said, “and part of your Anima is turning an ominous red.”

“Oh. Sorry,” Yuriko muttered as she tried to rein in her irritation. “It’s just that the thing that’s been pulling at me ever since we’ve gotten here is suddenly hidden.”

“Oh? That’s troubling.” Gwendith frowned, “But not really relevant now, isn’t it?”

“No, I guess not.”

The menfolk started pushing the car and the hitch wagon to the roadside. The countryside was never deserted, as far as Yuriko could tell. Unless they go up the mountains, practically every plain and flatland was covered in farms and orchards. Of course, farmsteads and villages weren’t at every corner. Farther down the road, she could see some stone buildings with metal devices next to them. It looked abandoned, however, with the windows and doors boarded up.

Soon enough, the car and the hitch wagon were out of the way, and they continued walking down the road.

Matthews spoke a few words, then repeated them in Old Imperial, “The border is just a few kilocubits down this main road. We’ll have to turn to the west a bit, hike across the fields, and go up the hills.” He pointed towards a pass in the mountain range. “We’ll aim towards Salein Pass, slip into Sanctus, and cut across to Norrinth’s port town, Barda.”

“Alright,” Yuriko agreed.

He repeated the words again in his language, then added, “A fine time to teach all of you to speak Karcellian, don’t you think? We’ll be travelling a week or more before we can get to Barda. More if we can’t hitch a ride. Petrol’s gone up to thrice its price from last year.” He muttered sourly, “I expect there'll be none available in the coming years as everyone will hoard what they have.”

“Petrol’s that important?” Yuriko asked. She supposed it’s the replacement for denatured Animus, isn’t it? Everything back home ran on runescript lines and Animus anyway.

“Aye. Every tank, warship, and transport’s going to guzzle petrol. None of that and all those lovely weapons won’t go anywhere.”

Dusk was about to arrive and the dim lighting made the footing a bit treacherous. They reached the side road and moved westward. The terrain had been sloping upwards since noon, which slowed them somewhat. Surprisingly. Matthews and his aide, Levi, were going slower than she expected. And an hour later, both men were drenched in sweat. The older man’s face was a bit flushed too.

He muttered something under his breath and translated it when she asked. “It’s a long walk, and I’m not used to such exercise. Hah. One Above, it's going to be a long night. A long week, too!”

He was tired already? Yuriko looked at the others. Even Izna and Armin, the civilians from Haveena, weren’t even winded. A few minutes later, Matthews begged for a short break.

“Haah…haaah…I can’t…” He wiped the sweat off his brow.

They’d just passed the border, and thanks to the darkness, and perhaps the Confederate warriors weren’t that worried about the Sanctus Kingdom. They were unwary and lax. But then again, the border station was nearly two longstrides away.

They’d gone off the road for the past couple of hours, and they had another three or four hours left before they could camp for the rest of the night. But if Matthews and Zuber needed a break every half hour or so, then it would take more than twice as long to reach the port. Two hundred longstrides to go.

“Do you want us to carry you two?” Yuriko offered. “That way, we’ll make better time.”

“Oh, but…”

“Nonsense, come on.” Yuriko waved Heron and one of the marines over. “Can you two carry them for a while?”

“Sure,” Heron said in an amused tone. He looked at Matthews and shifted his backpack over to hang in front of him. The marine, on the other hand, gave his gear to one of his teammates and carried Zuber on his back. The boy was as thin as Orrin and probably weighed much less. Matthews was a big man though, and only Heron was tall enough to easily carry him. Well, Sheamus, too, but Heron was stronger.

“I’m sorry for this,” Matthews said as he clung to Heron’s back.

Heron just nodded. He looked at Yuriko and asked, “What did he say?”

“He said he’s sorry.” Yuriko giggled.

“Oh, it’s nothing. He isn’t even as heavy as you are.”

Yuriko glared at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“Er, ah, hahaha, nothing. Nothing.”

And so, they spent nearly five days hiking up and down the mountain. The foothills and the lower third of the mountain range were covered by pine trees. The snow caps visibly grew smaller as the days went by, and it grew warmer and warmer. Not that the temperature changed much for them. As they climbed higher it grew colder.

There were more than enough wild animals to hunt for food. The first day, Yuriko caught a woolly goat. She snapped its neck and carried it along until they halted for the day, then spent a few hours dressing the kill and cooking what they could. She was tempted to feed the bones and the offal to the ration bar fabricator, but she didn’t have enough distilled Chaos to waste on it. As it were, three hours a day in meditation barely provided enough sustenance for Desire.

Anyway, that had been dinner. It would have also been breakfast if Heron and Gwendith didn’t inhale the meat. Perhaps the lack of ambient Chaos is forcing their bodies to eat even more while in Body Forging, and it's not like the process would just stop. It could slow down, but to stop entirely meant that the process would fail, and likely cripple their growth.

Matthews, who insisted on being called Edison now, conversed with her every evening, and also during the day. He taught her Karcellian, which wasn’t all that much different from Wojan, now that she learned more about it. By the third day, she could hold a faltering conversation with him. The others, notably Braden, Gwendith, and Heron, since he was stuck carrying the man, learned with her. The others would have to learn, too, but for now, the marines were focused on making sure they weren’t followed, and that they wouldn’t walk into any enemy patrols, while the beastkin hunted for more food. They ate twice as much as any of the marines and they took advantage of the relatively abundant game. It was mostly rabbits, smaller rodents, birds, and the occasional deer or goat. As they neared the snow caps though, only the goats remained, and more often than not, those nimble creatures were perched on cliff faces and firmly out of easy reach.

Not that it stopped Kassy and her wild-cat kin. The feisty woman popped out her claws and scaled the rock face as easily as a ladder and she bagged a couple of goats that morning.

On the fourth day, they finally crested the mountain wall and then it was mostly downhill from there. The valley between was covered in pine trees, but from their vantage point, Yuriko saw roads, villages, and towns. But they were just skirting the edge of the valley. They were firmly into Sanctus Kingdom territory by now, and from here, they could follow the road to Barda. And they could probably seek a landcraft or ride on one of the locomotives?

As they were descending, she saw a moving plume of smoke making its way across the valley. Enhanced Sight showed her that it was a lengthy, segmented landcraft, with the lead one a shiny black. The segments behind it were lacquered brown, with windows. The ones behind it were truck beds loaded with assorted bulk goods though.

“Ah, the Arc Valley Railway,” Edison said. “We can take that and shave off a hundred kilocubits off our route.” He pointed towards one of the towns, which was roughly a couple of leagues away. Of course, the footpath would take much longer. “Sanris Station.” He hummed as he rubbed his palms to heat them up. He had layered a couple of coats over his shivering body, and his breath puffed steam. “I think it’s worth trying to get on. Better than two or three days walking.”

“You spent most of the hike on Heron’s back,” Yuriko said flatly and he chuckled.

“Yes, and I’ve got welts on my thighs spending that long while not moving. It would be nice to freshen up and have a cup of coffee,” he said wistfully.

“That would be nice,” Yuriko agreed.

Edison was so eager that he didn’t let himself get carried as they marched down the slopes. His enthusiasm lasted only for the first couple of longstrides, but he didn’t relent and marched stoically on.

The locomotive had passed by the time they reached the town. “It’ll come by tomorrow,” Edison assured them. “Let’s head to the inn. I’d like to take a load off.”

Before they came close to the town, Yuriko and the others had hidden their weapons. Her Arclight Sword was wrapped in cloth and latched to the side of her backpack, while the marines did the same for their Plasma Casters. As for the pseudo-Casters, or rifles as Edison called them, well, they fit into backpacks easily enough. At the very least, going seemingly unarmed was the apparent norm for civilians and refugees they were posing as.

Yuriko kept her hair tied in a braid and stuffed down the back of her coat, and she removed the belt cinching her overcoat to disguise her curves. The other women did the same, posing as boys to avoid drawing attention. Honestly, it was only Desire who wore a robe, which looked feminine enough to pass.

Perhaps they could visit a seamstress to buy clothing here? The fashion around town was similar enough to Verdanian sensibilities that she wouldn’t be surprised to see those dresses worn by women in Rumiga City. Or even the Imperial Capital, though they were a bit more risque there.

Edison led them to a pretty red brick building, which looked enough like an inn that she didn’t need to understand the sign to tell. He handled the fare, inquired about the railway’s schedule, and came back quite happy. The innkeeper had a welcoming smile as she ushered them all inside. She jabbered with Edison, speaking in an entirely different language from Karcellian, and the only thing Yuriko and the others could do was follow behind.

The inn was otherwise deserted. Well, there were a few locals in the common room, chugging down ale while some strange little metal contraption spouted words in the same language. They were given adjacent rooms, and while the innkeeper did eye Yuriko and the other women, strangely, she didn’t seem all that scandalized.

The best part about staying at an inn was definitely the baths. Yuriko spent an hour soaking in a tub. The hot water didn’t last that long, but her Radiant energy easily got it back to boiling. Her condensed aura would normally stop dust from staining her body, but a bath always refreshed her.

Afterwards, she headed to the common room for dinner. She would have been perfectly happy if that’s what all that happened, but midway through the meal, a bunch of uniformed men entered the common room. They were attired differently from the warriors back in the Confederate area, but they looked no less imposing.

Their hard eyes immediately zeroed in on her and the others and they barked harsh words. Words she couldn’t understand, of course, and when none of them responded, since Edison and Levi weren’t here, the men’s hands dropped down to their guns.