Maybe it was for the best that things worked out as they did. There was no real need for us to stick around, especially not if the people at the farm didn’t want us nearby. No need to make things difficult for them, at least as long as they honoured their debts towards me and gave us some additional supplies. We might not strictly need them, we had looted plenty, especially considering our relatively low consumption, but there were principles involved. I had done the people there multiple favours, from teaching to enchanting, and I’d be damned if I simply abandoned that investment.

I only had to figure out how to extract the appropriate payment without undue effort.

My best bet might be to work with Mrs Wu, she should understand that paying their debts is the most efficient and least painful way for us to part ways, something that seemed to be necessary given what Kevin told me. If the people start considering me an enemy, they wouldn’t want to pay their debts and if I’d be forced to collect them, it’s incredibly likely that the damage I’d deal on the way was more significant than what they actually owed me. At least if I decided to go at things violently, instead of simply sneaking in, taking what I wanted and sneaking back out. The guards hadn’t been able to stop me before and I doubted they’d manage if I decided to simply move through the shadows. For that, they’d need massive magical support or fairly specialised skills, neither of which they were liable to have.

The easiest way to drive that point home would likely be a covert home visit with Mrs Wu, by stealthily intruding into her personal space she should immediately realise that working with me was a much better idea than trying to work against me. She knew me, had trained me, but with magic in the mix, I had no doubt that I could overcome her and her defences.

After explaining my plan to the others, we started to prepare. The easiest way to avoid a confrontation that would help nobody but would be detrimental to everyone involved was for us to leave. If we weren’t here, nobody could confront us and thus, there would be no need for us to defend ourselves, undoubtedly leaving many of the attackers injured or dead.

While my plan was that I was the only one to enter the farm in the evening, the others would wait nearby for my return, before all of us set off, travelling north. Lia had previously scouted in that direction and according to her, there was nothing significant to see until you reached a nearby forest. Just more fields, a few relatively small villages and farmsteads, nothing tremendously interesting. We should be able to get to the forest in an hour or three, depending on how careful we were and how quickly we decided to move.

For that, I was somewhat disappointed that the Army of Dog had decided that they didn’t want to continue onwards with us. To them, travelling long distances held little interest, not even with Silva as their leader. Instead, they wanted to make the fields their home, mark parts of it as their territory and feast on the abundant game roaming the area. Maybe I should have expected it, dogs, like wolves, were territorial at their core, but I had been hoping for their support. Alas, they’d remain behind, while it might be my destiny to keep travelling. There were worse things to do.

My plan was to prepare a simple hideout once we were under the cover of the trees. That would allow us to explore deeper into the forest and once we had more information, we could decide whether or not we should stay there for a time. I was quite curious how much the forest had changed, I doubted it still had endless rows of cultivated trees with very little shrubbery. No, the change would have struck the forest, too, most likely turning it into something more interesting, maybe a place with dangerous, magical beasts roaming around, maybe even something that could challenge us. Lia had never entered, as I had asked her to avoid potentially dangerous places when she was out on her own, leaving us with little information.

But first, I had to collect the debts the people at the farm owed me.

Once the sun set, I quickly moved, not yet stepping into the shadows but simply jogging across the dirt track we usually took towards the farm. There were a few clouds in the sky, making the night exceptionally dark and great for sneaking around. With nothing impeding my progress, it didn’t take long to reach the farm and once I could see the guards and their torches, I decided to give them a lesson and slipped into the shadows.

By now, I was able to remain hidden for quite some time, especially if I didn’t teleport through the shadows but simply concealed myself. Concealing myself wasn’t without danger, as I had learned when we encountered the Gravehounds, but for now, those were the only enemies I had to fear while hidden this way. The guards, on the other hand, didn’t have the ability to detect me, let alone harm me.

Like a wraith in the night, I slipped through the guards, their rotation had tightened but I thought I’d still be able to evade them, even if I didn’t move through the shadows, though I didn’t want to test it right now. This was a demonstration of superiority, a message I wanted to send.

As such, I made my way to Mrs Wu’s office with nobody the wiser, slipping into the somewhat dimply lit room by squeezing through the dark gap beneath her door. The shadows were truly everywhere, and all shadows were connected.

“Good evening, Mrs Wu,” I greeted her, stepping out of the shadows in one of the corners of her office. Demonstrating just why I respected her, she didn’t flinch, or react at all to my intrusion, she merely finished writing some document before turning to me.

“Good Evening, Samantha,” she returned my greeting, her voice the polite mask of a consummate professional.

“My companions and I have decided that staying in this area would be detrimental for everyone involved. As such, I would like to cash in on the many favours I have done for the people here and have those favours paid out in food and similar supplies,” I told her, noticing a brief look of relief on her face before the emotion was hidden behind her polite mask.

“Yes, I can see what you mean, there are a few troublesome rumours. I have been doing my best to keep things civil, but you know how people can be. Do you trust me to get a fair share of supplies? I believe it would be best for everyone involved if nobody sees you here,” she asked, getting a nod in return.

Dealing with professionals was wonderful. It took Mrs Wu a bit of time, but within half an hour, she returned to the office with a nice selection of produce, mostly from the recent harvest but also some packed supplies from before the change. It wasn’t as much as I had hoped for, but a quick check showed me that the amount she had taken was large enough to be considered fair.

“Thank you,” I nodded to her, “Maybe we will meet again, it was an honour to receive your training, Teacher,” I gave her a respectful bow, wishing my former teacher farewell.

“It was an honour to train you, Samantha. Use my teachings wisely and take care of your little family.” Mrs Wu returned the farewell and my bow, while I quickly packed the supplies she had given me away. Given that I was planning to travel through the shadows, I couldn’t use my magical bags but I had prepared enough to carry everything. Maybe I should revisit the magical bags, what I had at the moment worked but it wasn’t perfect, or even adequate, not with the drawbacks involved. Shaking my head and pushing the thought away, I once again bowed to my teacher and disappeared into the shadows, amused that not even vanishing right before her eyes could get a real reaction out of my teacher. I noticed a brief widening of her eyes and nothing more.

Slipping back out of the guarded area was a little more difficult, mostly because I was laden down with supplies, but I managed without running into trouble, confirming my notion that Mrs Wu hadn’t mentioned my visit to anyone. Maybe she would at some point, possibly to suggest that I had taken the supplies, but I wasn’t sure. And didn’t really care, I had no plans to return in the short- or mid-term, so if the people didn’t like me, I didn’t care.

Not that plans for the future were my main concern, not when moments before I slipped out of the shadows to join my friends, I could hear a disturbing howl in the distance. There were Gravehounds abound and maybe it was for the best that my party was planning to leave. Those things were a pain.