“Milady! Where have you been!? The guard is being mobilized to find you as we speak!” Kaguya’s frustrated and exasperated tone was evident as she berated her Lady. Yuki ignored her as she climbed in through her window, untying her hair.

“I was out,” she said, walking over to her desk. She pulled the drawer out, taking out a small leatherbound journal.

“You went to the Quarantine Camp again didn’t you? Your first trip there wasn’t enough for you?” Kaguya asked.

“No, and I’ll keep going back there until I find a way to help those people.” Yuki didn’t turn to look at her, instead of grabbing a pen and writing something down. “Kaguya, you know as much as I do that we can’t just leave them down there. I’ve been eavesdropping on my parents and the other Gentry. They’re not doing anything but arguing. I’m not going to sit here and leave my people’s fates in the hands of a deadlocked bureaucracy.”

“But milady. What if you fall ill? The entire Royal Palace will be scrambling and spiral into chaos,” Kaguya said, giving her Princess a concerned look.

Yuki glanced at her with a thoughtful expression on her face. After a few seconds of silent contemplation, she finally had an answer for her. “I’m not. I’m one hundred percent certain of this because… of what I’ve observed. Well, other than people starving to death for unknown reasons, the sickness doesn’t seem to spread all that well. No one sneezes so it doesn’t travel through the air and guards come into contact with the patients and they’re just fine.”

She flipped through her notebook to an earlier date. “And… the one thing that spreads it is… bodily fluid. Getting it inside you through the mouth is enough to get it started. That and bites. For some reason, the people get really aggressive if they don’t die which forces the guards to cut them down.”

“The guards just cut down these people?” Kaguya asked.

“W- Well, no they told them to stop but that’s beside the point. This is a really weird sickness, Kaguya. Sick people don’t just get the strength of five men and charge at an armed soldier that’s trained by the Imperial Army,” Yuki replied. “Something’s strange about this disease…”

“And because of that, you’re going back?” she asked.

“Yeah. Do you want to accompany me on my next trip?” Yuki said.

“I guess I have no choice. This is all to keep you out of trouble is it not?” Kaguya smirked when she saw the indignant look on Yuki’s face. It was fun messing with her like this. For all the intelligence that the palace praised her for, Yuki was still naive to the ways of the world and the ways of people.

“Well, considering that you’re better built for stealth than Red, it’s better to bring you along.” Yuki closed her journal and packed it away in her dresser.

“What are we even going to do over there?” Kaguya asked.

“Mostly we’re there to observe. I’m using [Physical Masking] to disguise myself as one of the medical staff there so I can help around while taking notes. You should too,” Yuki chimed in.

“If that’s what my Lady wishes. I can’t really stop you without fighting you and we all know how that would go down.” There was no doubt in her mind that Yuki would utterly defeat her if she tried to physically stop her. As she was right now, Yuki could turn her into a red paste before she could even utter a word.

“Come on. Stop making such a sour face and help me find out the rotation of the guards for the next… ten days.” Her cheeky smile snapped her out of her reverie.

Finding out the rotation of the guards was surprisingly easy. It was too easy but neither of them asked. Red had no idea they were going. Yuki hopped to the next branch with a small bag slung over her shoulder. Behind her, her loyal retainer followed. The Quarantine Camps were located several kilometers outside of Gimle, in an area known for its dense forestry. Nicknamed the Ocean of Sakura due to the color during the spring season, Seirei Forest was what surrounded the base of Mount Asbru, the largest mountain in Alfheim.

The snow-capped peaks loomed over the entire forest as they approached their destination. The large bodies of oak and sakura blurred past them as they traveled at high speeds. After a few more minutes of jumping, Yuki landed on the branch of an oak and quieted down.

The Quarantine Camp was a large facility. Due to its isolation and high traffic, the camp was built to accommodate the population of a metropolitan area the size of Gimle. Only, this place was littered with white tents filled with Imperial Soldiers and medical staff from across Alfheim.

It was a place Yuki had been to multiple times in the past week. The large fencing that went up to half the size of these massive trees surrounded the entire perimeter. Watchtowers dotted each of the four faces with four towers per direction.

“This looks worse than I expected. It looks so cramped in there,” Kaguya said, grimacing at the small space. The tents were uncomfortably close to each other. For a place known as the Quarantine Camp, this place was far from it.

“Yeah, I think they’re relaxing the distancing because the disease appears to be spread through ingestion or bite. Question is, why do so many people get sick here if that’s the case? If I figured it out, then they probably did too.” Yuki sat on her branch for a few seconds.

“Have you been everywhere inside this place, Milady?” Kaguya asked.

“Everywhere except for the Commander’s Tent. I can’t get there in my disguise. Part of why I asked you to come along. You known Hidden Body and Ghille Mimicry right?” Yuki asked as her hair slowly began to turn black.

“You brought me here to break into the tent?” Kaguya asked.

“Kind of. That tent I think…” She points her finger to the tent close to the commander’s. “I think that’s where they keep their store of the medicine. I’ve seen it being used before but I never have the chance to swipe it. It looks like it cures the symptoms.”

“And they’re telling no one?” she asked.

“Well, that’s what I’m finally here to figure out,” Yuki said.

“You want me to break in while you look at the sick people?” Kaguya asked.

“Yup. Simple. Just… grab everything you think looks important,” Yuki said. “Let’s meet back here in an hour.”

“Wait, milady. Shouldn’t we have a better-” the words died in her throat when Yuki’s body vanished before her eyes. Sighing, Kaguya’s body shimmered before fading out of sight.

It never got easier the second time. Yuki grimaced as she walked into the medical tent with new arrivals. People lay on beds that were crudely built from wood and white cloth. It was extremely uncomfortable, considering that their bodies were beginning to go. She walked over and knelt next to a patient, rubbing a cold rag on their head. Around her, other medical staff did the same, though some did it with less fervor than others. A quick glance at their eyes told her that they’ve given up on them. And she couldn’t blame them.

“You’re going to be okay,” she whispered to the unconscious person before her. Her eyes widened a little. “Hey. Are you…?” Yuki pressed her hand against his forehead. Warm. “But your skin is so…”

“They’re like that sometimes.”

She looked up and saw a man with white robes standing behind her. His dog-like ears twitched as he placed his hand on the man’s forehead.

“Their skin loses color but we can’t find the reason for it.” He shrugged before taking his hand off. “Are you new here? This is the first time I’ve seen you.”

“Oh, I was here for the past few weeks,” Yuki said.

“I must have missed you. But anyway, I wouldn’t worry about them. They’re like that from time to time. The best we can do right now is supportive care. We don’t really know what this is despite… I think months of studying it now,” he said.

“I’m sorry. Did you just say months?” she asked.

“Well, yeah. I assume you knew.”

“S- Sorry, I’m from the countryside. We don’t get much news of the Imperial Capital from where I live,” she answered quickly.

“Ah, I see. Well, to answer your question, this sickness has been spreading amongst the common folk for months now. Some of the Gentry got sick too but not a lot. Just warriors from Gentry Families.” The man shrugged. “I’ll leave you to your work. I’m going to go look after this pa-”

A shriek pierced the air throughout the tent. The two got up and turned around. Yuki’s eyes widened at the sight. A patient had jumped out of bed, right as a fiddle. It was as if he had never been sick at all. However, his gaunt, bony form begged to differ. His hollow eyes scanned the room. His teeth were bared for all to see, snarling and frothing at the mouth.

The guards posted inside all grabbed their weapons and slowly approached the man. Taking care not to aggravate the person, one of the guards walked over with her hand held out in a non-threatening manner.

But to the patient, the gesture was anything but non-threatening. Acting as if they were possessed, the patient lunged at the guard, knocking her to the ground. He gnashed his teeth as she held him back.

“Don’t swallow any of it!” the man next to Yuki said, watching as black liquid dripped from the attacker’s mouth.

“This is bad.” Yuki’s fingers twitched as frost built up at her fingertips. She watched as some guards fought to restrain the patient. However, in a feat of impossible strength, the patient shook them off, throwing them onto the other beds.

The patient opened their mouth and let loose an unholy roar. In one swift motion, the once Kin leaned down and bit into the guard’s throat. Blood sprayed everywhere as the patient ripped their throat out with their mouth. In its mouth were the guard’s skin, muscle, and trachea, dangling out of the sides like an errant noodle.

“Shit!” Yuki jumped into action, having snapped out of her stupor. She threw her hand forward, sending a hail of icicle spears.

Having noticed her movement, the patient got off the guard and lunged at Yuki, only to be impaled by several ice spikes. Staggered from the impact and pain, black fluid bled from its wounds. The patient snarled before attempting to make a second move.

However, it never came. In a flash, his head was removed from his body. Yuki’s eyes widened as a cloaked woman made her presence known. A black blade was in her right hand as she walked over to the corpse.

As she was about to speak, Yuki’s words died when she saw the eyes underneath the hood. Gold. The woman knelt in front of the beheaded body and held her hand out. A red and black glow emanated from her palm. The corpse flashed for a few seconds before scattering to dust.

“W- Who…?”

The woman said nothing as she stood straight. She ignored Yuki and turned to the Captain, who had rushed in with back-up.

“Miss! Please don’t come into the tent-like this!” the captain said.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I needed to see the situation at hand. I feel like I’ve seen enough. We can discuss this later, Captain. I’ll return to my tent and log my findings,” the woman said, walking out of the tent. Behind her, her cloak billowed in the nonexistent wind.

“Damn Valkyria,” the man muttered beneath his breath as he followed after her.

V- Valkyria!? She thought. If that was the Valkyria, then she must be from Midgard. But what’s the Valkyria doing here? And was that what I thought it was…?

“...lady. MILADY!”

“Huh? I’m sorry. What is it, Kaguya?” Yuki blinked as she turned to her retainer.

Kaguya looked at her strangely. She had been oddly quiet when they got back. Yuki didn’t pester her for the information she discovered despite asking her to get it. Instead, the Princess said they would talk when they were in her room once more.

“Milady, I’m worried for you. Are you alright? What happened?” Kaguya asked.

“I saw it. I finally saw the patients that got cut down. I saw them turn with my own eyes,” she said. “And I couldn’t do anything but watch as the Valkyria-”

“Woah, wait. Did you just say Valkyria?” Kaguya asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“You might want to read this.” She pulled some documents from her pouch and placed them on Yuki’s desk for her to see.

The white-haired fox kin grabbed the papers and sifted through them.

“Valkyria arriving from Midgard. Make sure she’s comfortable. Don’t let this leak out? Keep this under wraps? Kaguya, what is all this?” Yuki asked.

“It looks like that the Valkyria is here for a diplomatic visit and someone wants to keep it from her. But… I’m guessing from your reaction, she saw it,” she answered.

“I think she has one. I think the Valkyria has an Arts,” Yuki said.

Kaguya remained silent at the revelation. An Arts User? Here? She contemplated her next words before getting cut off by her Mistress.

“What else did you find?”

“Oh, these. It seems that… this isn’t as natural as we thought.”

Yuki raised an eyebrow at the statement before taking the documents. Her red eyes carefully read each line, looking for anything out of place. The longer she read, the greater her shock became. Gradually, her face’s emotion settled on anger and disgust. Bubbling rage and fury boiled within her as she slammed her hand on the desk, cracking it.

“I need to talk to my parents now!”