Mary frowned and stared at the large body of water in front of her. It was vast, as big as an ocean. In fact, she suspected it was an ocean. She was standing on some flat rocks just a few feet above the water. Behind her, there were more stacked flat rocks that were a few feet taller than her. Above those, there were even more rocks, forming a cliff. Her red hair whipped about in the wind, trailing behind her. Sprays of sea water splashed against the rocks and flew up, wetting her black armor. She clenched the hilt of her sword, and her frown deepened. Using her left hand, she shielded her eyes from the sun and peered towards the horizon. All she saw was water.

With a sigh, Mary turned around. With one step, she appeared on top of the cliff. Her face paled as she took another three steps, the scenery blurring past her as the land shrank beneath her feet. In less than ten seconds, she had gone from the coast to the entrance of a small village. She stomped inside, glaring at the villagers before arriving at a quaint house that looked like it would fall over at any second. Mary raised her leg, and with a bang, the door flew off its hinges and smashed into the wall behind it. Someone inside screamed, and Mary stepped inside. She narrowed her eyes at a man who was trembling while seated on a wooden chair. “You lied,” she said.

“T-t-then kill me!” the man shouted. “I won’t betray the emperor!”

Mary sighed and shook her head. She hadn’t expected the citizens of this empire to be so loyal. “Even if you don’t tell me, someone else will. Wouldn’t you just die in vain then?”

“No one would be willing to betray the emperor!” the man said. He climbed to his feet and grabbed a nearby walking stick. He was an old man with missing teeth, and he didn’t seem to be afraid despite his initial trembling. “You asked me where the emperor was located because you wanted to kill him and destabilize our great dynasty. You might come from the heavens, but you’re not a celestial, you’re a evil spirit!”

Mary pinched the bridge of her nose. “I told you I was going to thrash your emperor and take his throne. I never said anything about killing him.”

“There’s no difference between the two!”

Mary sighed again. Why was it so difficult to find Tafel? A day had already passed, but she hadn’t even accomplished the first step of her plan. She was going to find the emperor of this land and usurp the throne. Afterwards, she’d forcibly conscript everyone into the army before sending them out to find Tafel. It was a very simple plan, but she was being thwarted by the civilians. They wouldn’t tell her where the emperor was! She would find someone, coerce them into giving out the emperor’s location, and walk towards that location while draining her blood to travel faster. If it was back home in her own empire, it’d only take seven repetitions to find her palace, but this was already the twenty-fifth time. She thought there was something strange, but it was only once she reached an ocean that she realized she was being lied to! “You really won’t tell me where the emperor is even if you die?”

“I won’t!”

A wrinkle appeared on Mary’s brow as she walked across the room and sat in a wooden chair. In this situation where coercion didn’t work, what would Tafel do? Tafel would probably … ask Vur. However, Vur was nowhere to be found also. In that case, what would Vur do? He’d lie and be unreasonable because that’s what he did best! Mary snorted and shook her head. She wouldn’t let herself turn into Vur. It’d be like she became his follower if she did. Follower? Mary’s head tilted. Could that work? She straightened her back and looked at the man, who had traces of confusion on his face. “If I promoted you to a high rank after I dethrone the emperor, will you tell me where he is?”

“H-how dare you try to make me betray the dynasty!”

Mary blinked. “You don’t want to be a noble?”

“I, I won’t betray the dynasty!”

“You look really poor. Nobles have a lot of money. They can eat all kinds of food whenever they want.”

The man swallowed his spit. “L-like I thought, you’re an evil spirit. I won’t fall for such temptation….”

Mary furrowed her brow. The words coming out of the man’s mouth was contradicting his body’s expressions. “Are you sure? This is my final offer.”

“A-alright. In the name of the great dynasty, I’ll do it! I’ll help the dynasty maintain its traditions to prevent you from corrupting it. I have to be a noble to do that, don’t I?” The man nodded. “The emperor lives in Northern Capital. From here, we head west.”

“We don’t head north?”

“No,” the man shook his head. “We’re already in the north. We’re east of the capital right now.”

“Oh,” Mary said. “That makes sense.” She stood up and grabbed the man’s arm. “Come, let’s head there right away.”

“Eh?” The old man was about to say something, but the room turned into a blur. Before he knew it, he was already outside of his village. A sense of vertigo washed over him, and he leaned over to the side before vomiting on the ground.

Mary furrowed her brow. “Are you okay?”

“How can a mere mortal be okay when you move like that!? Besides, I’m not even a normal mortal! I’m eighty-seven years old! I can’t even walk normally without my cane!”

Mary’s eyes lit up. “I understand.” She took another step, reappearing back inside the man’s house. He vomited again. Mary ignored him and grabbed the cane that he had left behind before handing it to him. With a weary look, the old man grasped the cane, and Mary’s face turned pale as she left the house with the old man, shrinking the land beneath them. This time, the old man didn’t puke, but that’s because there was nothing left in his stomach.

Mary nodded. It seemed like the cane worked. After determining which way was west, she took a few more steps and arrived at … the ocean. With a blank expression, she turned to look at the old man. “You lied to me again.”

“Great celestial,” the old man said and gasped. “You went south instead of west.”

Mary blinked. “Oh.”