Brogen was sitting on the couch in the living room, munching on potato chips as he watched an animal documentary on the television. It featured a myrmecologist who explained how he managed and maintained the various ant farms he had in his lab. Keep the ant farm in a cool environment, don't put too much food to avoid the growth of mold, don't mix in other species of ants, remove wastes such as leftover food and ant corpses.

Brogen watched mesmerized as the camera panned to various ant farms that displayed millions of ants going about their tiny lives. He looked on with amazement as he pondered how lucky the ants were for their ignorance. What would the ants feel if they realized that they were simply little insects being observed and kept as pets by a higher life form? That their lives, whether they be millions or billions, are insignificant in the grand scheme of things and that their survival hedges on the decision of a researcher who studies them because of curiosity?

Brogen was woken from his musings as the documentary was interrupted by a commercial. He looked at the clock.

7:13 p.m.

“Why's Mom taking so long?” he muttered as he went to the comfort room to relieve his bladder. After answering the call of nature, Brogen returned to the couch and waited for the commercial to end.

“Why does Tin-Tin need to keep on working anyway?” he grumbled as he sat in boredom. It was a Saturday night, so he didn't have classes today and tomorrow, which meant he had a lot of free time. Unfortunately, his mother was out buying groceries and his friend Tin-Tin was working in her old job at the market.

Even though Tin-Tin was already part of the Arte family and even adopted the surname, she still preferred to work on her free days to help Elena with their daily expenses. Although the older woman tried to assure the young girl that she no longer needed to work, Tin-Tin still wanted to help.

“Tin-Tin's shift is gonna end at eight, so she won't be coming home soon, and Mom… she's gone for three hours now.”

As Brogen wondered why his mother was taking so long, the commercials finally ended and the ant documentary was back on. But before Brogen could immerse himself into the show, there was a loud knock on the door.

Brogen knew it wasn't his mother since she wouldn't knock in the first place, and Tin-Tin was still at work, so it could only be a stranger. Brogen grumbled as he stood up, muttering about people disturbing him.

He opened the door slightly to check who the stranger knocking on the door was and was shocked to see a police officer waiting outside.

“Good evening, Mr. Officer,” Brogen greeted nervously. His mother often scared him that the police will come for him if he misbehaved. “Can I help you?”

“Are you Brogen Arte?” the police officer asked slowly.

“Um, yeah? Why?”

The middle-aged police officer took off his hat and kneeled until he was level with Brogen's height. The wrinkles on his face deepened as he prepared to tell the innocent young child the news.“I'm sorry kid, your mommy just got into an accident. The cab she was riding in got hit by a truck. The truck driver was the only survivor in the accident.”

Brogen stood frozen behind the door as the world crumbled around him.

●●●

November, The Year 1228 A.C.

I sat up in panic as I finally woke up from my nightmare. I was breathing heavily as my eyes tried to adjust to the dim bedroom. The expensive curtains were closed, drastically limiting the amount of sunlight entering the room and giving me a hard time seeing. I checked beside me and noticed that Mom wasn't in bed.

In an instant, my focus sharpened on my fabric sense, giving me all sorts of information in a radius of two hundred meters around me. After a few seconds' searching, I immediately sensed Mom cleaning in the living room. With a deep and loud sigh, my nerves finally calmed down as I lay back down on the bed. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.

More than a year and a half had already passed since I last dreamed of my past life, and I hadn't experienced a depressive episode ever since. My life over that time had been good and peaceful and I almost thought I'll be able to enjoy life like this forever. Except I dreamed of the past again last night, and it was the worst possible memory I could dream of. Great, now my day is ruined.

I got up and opened the curtains to let the sunlight flood the room, hoping that the radiant light would lift up my mood. Unfortunately, all it did was shine harshly on my eyes and annoy me. I closed the curtains again and activated my Authority on a bunch of soft cotton fabric in one corner of the room. “What should I wear today?” I muttered.

After a few seconds of contemplation, I decided to wear a black long-sleeved shirt and long dark pants. Using my Authority's ability I just discovered a few months ago, the piles of white cotton fabric sitting in the corner changed color to a deep shade of black and wrapped around my body. I wish my power came with a list of its abilities so I didn't have to stumble upon it myself.

After a few seconds, the fabrics transformed into the clothes I desired, fit and snug around my body. I didn't forget to include lumps of thread in some areas of my clothes as emergency sources of fabric so I could immediately form my thread suit or threadtacles in case of an emergency.

While dressing myself, my eyes flickered to the small slip of paper on top of the dresser. It was the result of the Magic Aptitude test I took several days ago to monitor my progress and the proof that my training was bearing fruit.

Magic Level: Fifth Circle

Affinities: Life, Wild

Level of Augmentation: None

Brain reservoir: Normal

Heart reservoir: Normal

Bladder reservoir: Normal

Mana: 31,487

Mana density: 1.6

My mana had increased more than ten-fold since my first Magic Aptitude test, an extremely fast and ‘terrifying’ rate of improvement, according to Mother Betha and Liz. The main reason, I think, for my quick progress was that I was doing two types of training that utilized mana: magic training and Authority training. Simultaneously doing those two training routines resulted in my magic level easily reaching the fifth circle despite me only being twelve years old.

But despite my magic level being in the fifth circle, the strongest magic I could currently cast was only up to third-circle magic. Starting at the fourth circle, where the ‘real’ magic started, the difficulty in keeping the magic circles stable got exponentially harder due to the larger amounts of mana utilized, so I was stuck at the third circle. I wasn't in any hurry though, so I didn't rush my magic training and instead focused on my Authority.

With a satisfied nod at my attire, I exited the bedroom and entered the main room where Mom was arranging the piles of clothes to be sold later in the day. She heard me open the door and greeted me. “Good morning, sweetie. Breakfast is ready at the table, just help yourself.”

I looked at the table and saw a big plate of bacon and mashed potatoes with gravy along with some fresh fruit juice. Seeing the food made my stomach grumble, but before I seated myself at the table, I approached Mom first.

“Oh!” Mom exclaimed in surprise as I pulled her into a hug, then she instinctively wrapped her arms around me. “What's the matter? Why are you hugging me all of a sudden?”

“Nothing. I just had a nightmare, that's all,” I muttered as I basked in Mom's warmth. After a few seconds, I let go of her and we started eating breakfast, relishing the flavor of bacon and mashed potatoes. Bacon was expensive, but with our successful business over the past year and a half, we could easily afford it now along with other luxuries.

“So that's why you're acting so gloomy with the black clothes and all. Do you want to talk about your nightmare?” Mom asked as she ate.

“Don't say it like I'm pretending to be a drama queen,” I grumbled. “And I don't wanna talk about it,” I replied as calmly as I could, although I could still feel the cold sweat on my back as I recalled the nightmare. “By the way, are we opening the shop today?”

With the success of our shop, we finally had the money to renovate our house. The old wooden shack we used to live in was now a small but well-built house made of sturdy lumber. We had an extension built to the right side of our house that consisted of a large room filled with racks of clothing on display. The room was now our very own clothing store, named the “Arte Clothing and Apparel” and was now the most famous (self-proclaimed) clothing store in town.

“It's a Saturday, sweetie,” Mom said with a chuckle. “We're not opening today.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Are you going out shopping?”

“Yes, but I'll go out later in the afternoon since I still have to finish the design for that formal dress. I'm sure a lot of the ladies in town would want to buy it when the Fall Harvest Festival arrives,” Mom shared excitedly.

Ever since we became well-off, Mom didn't have to work so much in the chapel to feed us, although she still helped from time to time. With all the free time she had, she spent most of it caring for our mini-farm in the backyard, drawing, and making new designs for women's clothing. Most of the clothes in our shop actually used Mom's design and I was only responsible for the production.

“Since I don't have anything else to do for today, I'm going to be visiting my friends later, Mom,” I said as I finished my food. “And Garin wanted to talk to me about that offer I gave him a year and a half ago.”

“Don't forget to deliver the clothes over at Maly's, okay?”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me,” I replied as I used my fabric sense to sense the batch of clothing I will be delivering over to Maly's for today.

When we built our shop beside our house, Maly wanted us to remain as business partners, so we agreed to sell each other's products in our respective stores. If Maly managed to sell some of our clothes in her shop, ten percent of the sales will go to her, and the same applies if we managed to sell Maly's products in our store. Because of this set-up, both of us had been extremely successful and made a lot of coin.

With my meal finished, I got up and summoned my backpack made of leather with my Authority. I couldn't control leather, but I could control the thread used to sew the bag together. I found this out just recently and came up with the idea to sew all the things I had with thread so I could summon them from afar. Because of this, everything in the house was either lined with stitches or had thread wrapped around some part of it. I liked to think it was for emergencies, but I was actually just too lazy to stand up every time I had to get something. With this, I could summon anything I needed with a simple thought without moving a muscle.

I went to the door connected to our shop, which led to the back of the counter where people paid for their clothes. I scanned the large room with my eyes and fabric sense and exhaled in satisfaction at what I saw.

Ornate shelves and racks of various clothing filled the entire store with a specific section catered for men and women, small fitting rooms with metal mirrors were available for people who wanted to test their clothing, mana-powered lanterns provided illumination, and a closed-off section filled with expensive and luxurious garments were available for people who wanted a more formal outfit.

Although I called them ‘luxurious,’ the closed-off section didn't really contain clothing fit for nobles. The material used for the clothes in the closed-off area was simply too expensive to be displayed out in the public, which was why I put them in locked cases and only showed them to interested buyers. We already had a few cases of thieves stealing from us, so I made sure to apply extra layers of protection for our expensive products. I could easily take back the clothes that were taken from us using my Authority, but that would be too suspicious.

I headed to another door that led to our storage area located behind our shop where we stored most of our products. The door was locked and the key for it was back in the bedroom, but I simply inserted a thin threadtacle inside the lock and pushed the pins upward, unlocking it.

I entered the small storage room and started levitating several crates of clothes towards the front of the store where I would manually carry them to my small cart outside. Nobody was peeking inside the store anyway, so I freely used my power to make my life easier, although I made sure to check my surroundings constantly with my fabric sense.

A few minutes later, I got my cart prepared and ready, all six crates of clothes sitting in its holding space. Before I left, Mom bid me goodbye with a kiss on the cheek, much to my embarrassment since a few people walking in the streets saw it. “Take care, sweetie. I love you!”

“I-I love you too, Mom,” I replied with a blush. I loved Mom with all my heart, but showing it to the public was extremely embarrassing.

Although I had grown much over the past year and a half, I was still a kid, with my height only reaching just below Mom's shoulders. But to be fair, she was tall for a woman. My physical workouts did give my body a lean and fit appearance, but my height and face made it obvious that I was still a kid. But even if I'm still a kid, getting kissed in the cheek in public is embarrassing!

I quickly pushed my cart away to escape the amused smiles of staring passersby as Mom chuckled behind me.

●●●

“Delivery for a miss Maly Matson! Is there a miss Maly Matson here?” I called out as I arrived at Maly's stall. The once-humble stall now featured cute and childish designs to attract the attention of children passing by, and each product on display now had the Matson trademark embroidered on it. The trademark consisted of a stuffed bear with its arms raised, as if it was about to hug someone.

“Finally! I've been waiting for the delivery since last night!” Maly said as she came around the counter and walked up to me. The formerly little girl was now a beautiful woman and still retained the cuteness she had since she was young. Her height was still on the smaller side, but she gained a few more inches over the past year, putting her at the same height as me. As usual, she gave me one of her usual cheerful smiles.

“I was busy yesterday, so I wasn't able to come,” I replied as I started carrying the crates to the back for storage. “How's the business going?”

“It's going fine, I guess. Oh, leave one crate behind the counter and put the rest in the back,” Maly said as she directed me on where to put the crates.

As I put the last crate in the back of the stall, I sensed a person stop by the front of the stall and rummage in his pocket for something. I looked up and saw a nondescript man retrieving an egg from his pocket as he glared at Maly. Before I could react, the man threw the egg at my friend, striking Maly behind the head as she shrieked in surprise.

“Fuck off, ya' fucking Ocranian bastards!” the man shouted before running away.

My temper, which was already ruined since waking up from my nightmare this morning, clouded my mind as I saw Maly looking at the fleeing man with a sad and confused expression on her face.

Before I could further think about my actions, I used my Authority to pull at the man's trousers, causing him to trip. The man tried to scramble back up but I made his trousers subtly move in random directions, causing him to trip again and again. I slowly approached the man with menace in my eyes, my hands clenched as I readied to pummel the bastard's face in before somebody pulled my arm back.

“Stop, Brogen! I'm alright!” Maly shouted as she pulled at my arm. “Just let him go!”

Hearing Maly's voice snapped me out of my stupor and immediately released my control over the man's trousers. The bastard didn't bother looking back at us as he bolted right out of the square. People watched the man escape, most of them looking on with contempt, but I noticed other people glaring at Maly before walking away.

“Are you alright?” I finally asked Maly as I turned back to her. Her hair was a sloppy mess as egg yolk dripped down her red hair.

“I'm fine, Brogen,” Maly answered as she pulled me back to her stall, holding my hand as if I was a little kid. “You don't have to beat somebody up because they threw an egg at me.”

“But they deserve it,” I grumbled as I followed her in her stall. “Racists like those would keep on coming unless you make an example of them, you know.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn't want you to get hurt for my sake,” Maly said while giving me an uncomfortable smile. Just like me, Maly's entire day was now ruined. “Thanks for getting angry on my behalf, Brogen. I didn't expect you to react like that, what with how you usually act,” Maly said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I didn't know I had it in me,” I replied jokingly. “Your dad should get a guard so something like this shouldn't happen again. With the current state between Edria and Ocrana, people like that man earlier would keep on increasing.”

Over the past year, the relationship between Edria and Ocrana had worsened even further. Edria had started garrisoning troops near the border and now Ocrana was doing the same. Both countries claimed they were just doing military exercises and training, but only a fool would believe that. The winds of war were starting to blow across the two kingdoms.

Maly looked sullen as she tried to wipe the remains of the egg off her hair with a cloth. “About that… can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure, you can tell me anything,” I replied.

“My family and I are going to Ocrana soon.”

My brain processed her words for a few more seconds before I fully understood her meaning. “You're leaving?” I asked dumbfoundedly as I stated the obvious.

Maly nodded without looking at me. “Dad said it's starting to get dangerous for us here, so he decided to bring us back to his old home, wherever that is.”

“But…”

What about us? What about your friends here in Erfeld? I thought, but I didn't say it aloud. I knew it was selfish and all it would do would make it harder for Maly. The only thing I could do was to make it easier for my friend.

“When are you leaving?” I asked instead.

Maly pouted at me. “Aren't you sad that I'll be leaving? These could be the last days we're going to see each other! Forever!”

“Of course I'm sad, but now that you're leaving, I'll now be able to take your space here in the town square,” I said with a serious face. “Rental spaces here are highly sought for and now that I'm the first one to know that you're leaving soon, I'll be able to get it first!”

Maly gaped at me in shock, then glared at me when she realized I was joking. “Why do you have to tease me all the time?! I'm being serious here!”

“Pretty hard to take you seriously with egg yolk dripping down your hair,” I said with a chuckle as Maly hit my arms weakly. “But on a more serious note, things would be a lot less lively without you around. Do you intend to tell the others about your departure?”

“Yeah, I'll tell them soon,” Maly said sadly, then fidgeted awkwardly in place. Then she looked at me with a resolved expression before pulling me into a hug. “I'll miss you, Brogen.”

“I-I'll miss you too, Maly,” I said with a fluster as I returned her hug. After a few more seconds, I let go of her, much to her disappointment. “As much as I like hugging a cute girl, the egg yolk on your hair is getting on my shirt.”

“You're always ruining the moment!” Maly shouted with a blush before going to the back of the stall to wash her hair.

I bid Maly goodbye with a forced smile and left to visit Garin. As much as I tried to put on a cheerful front for Maly, my mood was further worsened by the news of her imminent departure.

I walked to Garin's farm in a dark mood.

●●●

“I don't think we'll be able to go through with our plan, Brogen,” Garin said glumly when I found him at his farm counting and making a record of this season's harvest.

“What?! Why?!” I asked incredulously. The plan he was referring to was the agreement we made long ago where I would be acting as his middle man by purchasing his crops at a much higher price than others in exchange for a monopoly on it. It was a way to help my friend as well as an attempt to expand my business to also include crops and produce.

“A messenger from the capital had arrived yesterday with a Royal Decree from the King,” Garin said with a grimace. “All farmers and other primary suppliers of food are required to sell all their crops only to the King until further notice. According to the messenger, merchants and traders under the King's employ will be coming from the capital to collect the food before winter.”

I was speechless at the news that my friend told me. Forcefully buying all food from the farmers themselves would bankrupt merchants and middlemen who bought and resold those goods to other places. The King was just making enemies by doing all this.

“Although it's not related to our agreement, there's even more news,” Garin said. “The army is also recruiting soldiers right now. Not just in Erfeld, but also in other cities and towns here in the south. I think the King is finally about to go to war with Ocrana.”

My mind immediately remembered Maly and her family. They intended to leave this kingdom soon to avoid getting persecuted by this kingdom's people, but I don't think they'd be able to leave in time, not with how fast things were escalating.

“I'm sorry, Garin, I didn't expect all this to happen.”

“It's alright, the King is paying higher prices than the normal merchants anyway, so it's still a win for me,” Garin replied.

“Did Ralf and Terric volunteer to join the army?” I asked nervously. My two warrior friends were pretty famous in this town for being augmenters and I worried that the King might forcibly recruit them, or worse, that they might volunteer themselves.

“Don't worry, our friends aren't stupid,” Garin said, easily knowing what was on my mind. “Ralf only wants to kill the undead, and while Terric wants to be a knight, I don't think he'd want to kill soldiers from another kingdom just to be one. Unless the King decides to send the press gangs, nobody would be forced to join. They probably have all the men they need anyway.”

“Thank the Holy Mother…” I muttered. This day was just full of bad news. Did I piss off Lady Luck or something?

“Do you have any more things to do today?” Garin asked me.

“Not much, I have the rest of the day to myself since we're not opening the store today.” Liz actually invited me to train with her today, but I wasn't getting fooled by her. She was probably intending to interrogate me more regarding the knowledge I know about chemistry and physics.

When she learned more than a year ago that I could cast magic efficiently because I had the proper knowledge regarding the science behind it, she kept on begging me to teach her. After several months of begging and stalking me in the streets, I finally gave in and taught her some of the basics, which only led to her getting more greedy for knowledge.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how I look at it, I already forgot most of the concepts I learned in college after more than a decade of living in this world without refreshing my knowledge now and then. Because of that, Liz could only plead so much before she realized that I was telling the truth when I told her I didn't know anything else, although I often lied about not knowing what she was asking about since it got so annoying.

“Cool, then come help me count these sacks of grain,” Garin said without any shame as he handed me a piece of paper and a charcoal pencil.

I should've known that Garin was just trying to get me to work. “You better pay me for this,” I grumbled as I started counting the hundreds of sacks of grain piled up in front of us.

●●●

“That goddamned, good-for-nothing, puppet of a King!” the obese man snarled in his bedroom as he crushed the paper containing the King's decree. It was one of many missives sent to each leader of a town or village demanding a tribute of food and gold to be sent to the Edrian Army ‘for emergency purposes.’

The man spat at the antics of the nobles, dancing around the topic as if it was a secret that the kingdom was intending to attack its neighbor. “And they have the gall to charge me a hundred gold for a war that nobody wants?!”

The obese man, Millard Rutter, Baronet of Erfeld, ripped the missive apart with his large hands and stood up from his desk, fuming. He understood that the army needed food and gold if they were to march to war, but the problem was that he didn't have that much money left after the monster attack last year. He had spent a large amount of his money to fund the repairs caused by the rampaging monsters, not to mention the amount he spent on lavish food and ‘exquisite’ paintings.

The increasing monster presence in the southern parts of the kingdom was the fault of the army in the first place ever since it relocated most of its forces to the northeastern border. Although monster extermination was often the work of adventurers, a large part of it was handled by the kingdom's military. But now that most of the King's soldiers were stationed at the border, the monster population was getting out of control.

The Baronet didn't really want to spend his money on helping farmers and peasants, but his line of work required him to do so. He had enough money to pay off the tribute, but he doubted that he would have enough funds left to last until the end of winter. “Goddamn bastards!”

He was already in a bad mood earlier when one of his guards interrupted him during his ‘recreational activity’ to deliver an important letter from a royal messenger, and after learning its contents, his mood had worsened even more.

“Is everything all right, my lord?” a beautiful woman nervously asked from the large bed on one side of the room. The woman was naked and her hair was disheveled from the ‘recreational activity’ that she was doing with the Baronet earlier before they were rudely interrupted.

“I'm not a fucking noble, slut, so don't call me ‘lord!’” the Baronet shouted at the prostitute, spittle flying from his mouth. As much as he tried to deny it, Millard was insecure about his position as a Baronet and was bitter for not being able to join the kingdom's peerage. Even if he disparaged the foolishness of the nobles, he longed to be a part of them.

“I-I'm sorry, Sir,” the woman stuttered.

“I should punish you for that,” Millard said darkly as he began walking towards the bed, his naked visage wobbling with every step.

Before the large man could harass the prostitute, the door to the room opened without a knock. The Baronet turned quickly, rage written all over his face.

“Who's the fucker—”

The moment he saw who entered the room, the Baronet immediately scrambled to cover himself with a blanket as he kneeled on one knee in front of the person who entered the room.

The person, a beautiful woman with dark hair and dressed in fine clothing, smirked at the large man in front of her, then looked at the naked prostitute on the bed. “Leave,” she said with a voice more seductive than a whore's.

The naked woman immediately obeyed and quickly gathered her clothes. Before the prostitute left, the beautiful woman handed her a pouch full of gold. “For your services, and for your silence,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you very much, my lady,” the prostitute said happily before leaving the room.

When they were finally alone, the beautiful woman spoke again. “I see that you still haven't changed your ways, Millard.”

The Baronet remained quiet as he continued kneeling on one knee.

“Give me a report on this Cell, Purplehood,” the woman said in a more professional tone.

“Yes, Blackhood Rella,” the Baronet quickly replied, his tone respectful and subservient. “Cell 16 has been experiencing difficulties in smuggling merchandise from Vont. With the arrival of the new Royal Decree, patrols have increased to prevent bandits from stealing the food to be sent to the capital and military checkpoints have been set up on all major roads. The Brownhoods have tried using the routes through the forests, but most of them had disappeared, presumably from the increased monster presence.”

“Understood,” the woman, Blackhood Rella, responded. “You will have a new set of orders, Purplehood Millard. Cease all Cell activity until further notice and lay low. The Royal Constables have tracked down some of our Cells and brought down some of our operations. The brothels in Sherton have already been dismantled and our drug laboratories in Feim have been raided, so you are to instruct your Brownhoods and Redhoods not to commit any crime in the meantime. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Blackhood Rella,” the Baronet answered.

“Is there any suspicious activity recently in town? It's been a long time since I came here as your ‘wife,’” the woman said with a mirthful chuckle.

“Everything has been functioning normally,” the Baronet answered.

Blackhood Rella's brows raised in amusement. “I'm glad to know that the old crone in the chapel is not causing us any more troubles. It would take dozens of our men to eliminate her if she ever poses a problem to us, especially if that Gravekeeper and the retired exterminator learn of our presence.”

The Baronet grimaced at the reminder of what happened many years ago. The syndicate he was a part of, The Hood, gave him orders long ago to manipulate and take control of the pastor for the organization, but they had vastly underestimated the old woman's power and he was the one to suffer the consequences.

“Is there any other matter that you would wish to speak of?” the woman asked as she prepared to leave.

“There is a new clothes merchant that has been steadily gaining success over the past year,” the Baronet said. “Their business has become successful enough to be considered a good asset for the Hood that I considered taking them in our rackets, but it contradicts with your new orders to lay low for now.”

The woman pondered for a moment. “Do you think it will become more successful in the future?”

“I have seen their products and I can confidently say that they have a high chance of making it big,” the Baronet replied with a glint of greed in his eyes.

“Then you have my special permission to take in this particular business, but make sure to keep it subtle,” the woman said. “If you have no further concerns, then I shall take my leave. The Royal Constables know that I am here somewhere in the southern region and it would not do to lead them to your Cell.”

As soon as the woman left, the Baronet stood up and breathed a sigh of relief. The Blackhood were the higher-ups in the syndicate and were known for being uptight in their behavior, punishing members who did not adhere strictly to the rules. One of the rules was to always be ready to receive a Blackhood into their domain, and Millard almost insulted his superior for interrupting his ‘recreational activity.’ Fortunately, Blackhood Rella was one of the more easy-going Blackhoods.

After dressing himself up and taking his seat behind his desk, he called for his second-in-command, one of his most trusted Redhoods. “Ivan! Get in here!”

A huge and gruff man entered the room, a wicked smile plastered on his face. “You called for me, Sir?”

“I want you to fetch me the clothes merchant I've been telling you all this time. Bring her here.”

“You mean the one that I beat up in the tavern and got excommunicated for?” Ivan asked with a large grin. He was supposedly exiled from the town, but faking his departure was easy with the Baronet himself backing him up.

“Yeah, I forgot her name, but get that bitch in front of me before the day ends,” the Baronet said as he started writing missives to his underlings to stop all Hood operations until the higher-ups gave the go-signal again. “Oh, and make sure to keep it quiet. She'll be the last one to join our racketeering before we cease all criminal activity.”

“Yessir. Oh, and her name's Helen by the way,” Ivan said with twisted glee.

The Baronet looked up at his second-in-command with a pleasantly amused expression. “Oh? Then I guess we'll be having a reunion, eh?”

The two men shared a vulgar laugh before the Redhood left to follow his orders.

●●●

Theocracy of Zurath

The Holy See

“I can't believe it's that day of the week again. I'm going to go senile if I keep seeing those lunatics,” Catherine muttered as she walked in her simple but finely-made robes. Her fine clothing would have looked bland on anybody else, but reaching her mid-thirties only gave her a mature beauty that matched her apparel. Her harsh words elicited a chuckle from the man escorting her.

“I hardly think the Cardinals deserve such comments from their own Pope, Your Holiness,” Ellis Hegan said beside her with a mocking smile. The middle-aged man was donned in shining silver armor that shone under the light of the magic lanterns illuminating the halls, the crest of the Holy Mother emblazoned on his chest plate.

“That's pretty ironic coming from a Holy Paladin that regularly complains about the senile old geezers in the Council of Cardinals,” Catherine snapped back. “And I already told you to just call me Cathy.”

“Only when we're alone,” Ellis responded with an amused smile. Catherine glared at him.

The two were surrounded by an escort of Templars, elite soldiers known for their prowess and deep dedication to the faith. Their usually stoic demeanors were replaced with amused smiles as they listened to the banter between the most important person in the Church and her personal bodyguard. Their words would have been blasphemous if they were uttered by anybody else, but the Templars were already used to it.

“I just hope today's mass would be a more subdued affair,” Catherine said with a tired voice as they walked through the grand halls of the Mother Cathedral, the largest and most important structure in the Holy See. Their destination was the nave, where Catherine would be giving her weekly mass with the entire Council of Cardinals as her audience.

Catherine was the Pope of the Church of the Holy Mother, her authority second only to the Holy Mother Herself. Her position gave her power over not only the Church, but also the entire Theocracy of Zurath, making her authority on par with monarchs of other nations.

But despite her power, she faced her own problems brought about by her followers, just like any other monarch. People of her position often faced issues caused by corruption and greedy subordinates, making the task of ruling an entire nation far more difficult.

But for the Pope of the Holy Mother Church, her problem was entirely different, and it reared its ugly head the moment her entourage entered the nave where all the Cardinals in the Holy See were waiting.

“Her Holiness, the Oracle, has arrived! Praise be to the Holy Mother!”

“Your Holiness, I have sinned! I have sinned against the Holy Mother! Please exact retribution upon this lowly servant!”

“She looked at me! Her Holiness looked at me! I am blessed!”

“Oh! Oh! I can feel Her divine presence! OOOHHH!”

Catherine's face turned into a grimace as she beheld the large hall filled with the clamoring Cardinals. Everywhere she looked, she would see old men and women vying for her attention by shouting praises, and she even saw some who were crying. The problem that the Pope faced wasn't corruption or greed. No, what she faced was even worse: fanatics.

After what felt like a lifetime, Catherine finally managed to reach the stage at the front of the room and faced the Cardinals from behind her podium with Ellis standing guard at the back covertly.

The seats in the nave were arranged similar to a theater's, with each row elevated higher than the row in front of it and built in a semicircle that surrounded and faced the large stage where the Pope would be preaching. There were hundreds of seats in the room and most of it was occupied by men and women with the rank of Cardinal.

The clamor suddenly turned silent when Catherine spoke into the magical device set into the podium that would transmit her voice with a higher volume. “Thank you all for taking the time to attend service today. I know everyone has been busy taking care of affairs abroad, especially with the looming war between Edria and Ocrana, yet all of you still found the time to attend today's mass.”

Another clamor went up in the room as the Cardinals gushed at the Pope's gratitude. Catherine thought it would take several more minutes before her audience calmed down, just like what happened last week and the week before that, but a middle-aged man seated at the front suddenly stood up and addressed the entire room.

“Please, everyone! I know all of you are ecstatic with Her Holiness' words, but let us all listen first and avoid interrupting her Holy message!”

The Cardinals in the room suddenly quietened at the man's words. The man was also garbed in a Cardinal's robes, but a keen observer would notice that aside from the platinum pin attached to his left breast that signified his rank as Cardinal, a simple iron pendant also graced his neck.

“Thank you, First Cardinal Corbette,” Catherine said with a grateful smile, although her inner thoughts were far more different than her words. What does this old geezer scheming about this time?

“It is my pleasure, Your Holiness,” Corbette responded with a grin that held unknown intentions.

Catherine reminded herself to be careful of the seedy-looking man. Corbette Gillis was the First Cardinal, a position that gave him the authority to represent the Council of Cardinals. Before the Pope could enact a law or decree that might affect the entire Theocracy, it would have to be approved first by the Council unanimously through a vote, a protective measure set up by the first believers of the Holy Mother to prevent a single person from wielding too much power.

Catherine never had any issues with the Council itself. The Cardinals would lick her feet if she ever ordered them to do so, such was their fanaticism. The only issue was the First Cardinal. There have been several incidents where Corbette had persuaded the Council against the Pope's will, and Catherine feared that the scheming man was thinking of doing something today.

With everybody's attention on her, Catherine started the mass.

●●●

The masses conducted by the Holy Mother Church usually consisted of everybody singing a song of praise to the Holy Mother, followed by the pastor's sermon, and lastly another song to end things.

When the last song was finally finished, Catherine spoke to the assembled Cardinals. “Before everyone leaves, I wish to state my intention to go to the Kingdom of Edria sometime in the future to visit our Edrian worshippers.”

At her words, the Cardinals once again made a clamor as they praised her intentions.

“Her Holiness intends to save the people that lost their way despite the threat of war! Praise her magnanimity!”

“She will find the Holy Mother's lost lambs and guide them back into the path of the righteous! Praise!”

“Praise!”

“““Praise the Holy Mother!”””

Catherine could hear Ellis laughing hard behind her, but she ignored him and kept up her strained smile. As much as she loved her fellow followers, their intense fanaticism often creeped her out, but she accepted them all the same. They were still her brothers and sisters in worshipping the Holy Mother.

Before a Pope could leave the Holy See, he or she would traditionally have to seek approval from the Council, but Catherine usually skipped the formal procedures and often opted to just ask their permission after masses, just like today. The Council would follow her every whim anyway, so going through the normal but lengthy procedures would just make things complicated.

Right when Catherine thought that the Council would have no problems with her departure, the First Cardinal stood up once again and caught everybody's attention. Oh no, what is it now?! Catherine thought in panic.

“As commendable as Her Holiness' intention might be,” Corbette began, “I believe that allowing the Pope to leave the safety of the Holy See right now is too risky, especially with the war between the two kingdoms looming over the horizon.”

At his words, the Cardinals quietened and pondered. After a few seconds, most of them started nodding and muttering in agreement.

“We cannot let Her Holiness risk herself!”

“I bet those backstabbers in the Orthodox Churches are just waiting for an opportunity to eliminate Her Holiness!”

More and more Cardinals started having the same thoughts and soon, the entire Council was now against the Pope's departure for Edria. This wily old geezer, Catherine thought.

“That is why,” Corbette continued, “I propose that instead of the Pope, we should be the ones risking ourselves in her stead to save those who lost their way!”

“What?!” Catherine exclaimed, but her voice, whose volume was already enhanced by a magic item, was tuned out by the chorus of enthusiastic agreements by the Council. She stared in shock at the First Cardinal, who had a large grin on his face as he cheered with the other Cardinals.

The reason why Catherine feared the First Cardinal isn't because he wasn't a fanatic. In fact, it was the opposite. Corbette Gillis, the First Cardinal of the Council of Cardinals, was the biggest fanatic out of all of them, and Catherine shuddered as she saw the gleam in the man's eyes. There's a fine line between fanaticism and madness, Catherine thought bitterly.

Catherine intended to go to Edria in the first place to find the mother and child shown to her in her dreams by the Holy Mother. As the Pope of the Church, Catherine was the only person that could receive divine messages from the Holy Mother Herself, but this was not the reason why she was given the title of Oracle. The Popes before her had the same ability to receive messages from the Holy Mother, but they were not called ‘Oracles.’

The reason why she had her own title was because of her Authority. Catherine Whitlock Cain was an Ascendant, and her Authority was the ability to see the future. Although it was extremely limited, one of the abilities of Catherine's Authority allowed her to gather information from glimpses into the future, and because of this, she was named ‘Oracle’ by the Council of Cardinals after Corbette convinced them to do so.

In one of her random glimpses of the future a few days ago, Catherine had seen the child that went by the name of Arte become captured by Edria's nobles once he turned into an adult. The Holy Mother had sent her enough divine messages over the past decade to drive the point home that She wanted the child and his mother safe and sound.

Catherine initially planned to travel to Edria by posing it as a visit to the followers in the kingdom, with claiming the boy and his mother her true purpose. Although her visions showed the boy being abducted by nobles, the visions were never absolute, which meant Catherine could erase that future by acting. But on the same note, that also meant the child could be abducted much sooner than what her Authority showed her, which was why Catherine wanted to act as soon as possible.

“So much for your vacation, huh?” Ellis said beside her with a chuckle. They were both standing on the stage as they watched the Cardinals in front of them shout their praise and enthusiasm in what they now call a ‘pilgrimage’ to Edria.

“Shut up, Ellis. Now that our plans are ruined, that just means you're going to have to go to Edria alone,” Catherine replied.

“No way,” Ellis said immediately. “I'm not leaving you alone here with no protection.”

“There are hundreds of Templars stationed in the Holy See, Ellis. I already have enough protection as it is.”

“Don't underestimate your enemies, Cathy,” Ellis answered, calling the Pope in a more intimate manner. “I could name more than a dozen people in the Holy See working as spies for other nations.”

“Then I'll just have to stay in the Mother Cathedral until you come back,” Catherine replied.

“Can't you just send the other Paladins?”

“Unlike you who's just lazying around, all the other Paladins are busy doing missionary work,” Catherine answered. “And I couldn't trust anybody who isn't a Paladin with this task. Please, Ellis. Help me with this.”

After a few more seconds of contemplation, Ellis finally sighed in resignation and agreed. “Fine, I'll go fetch the little brat and his mother.”

“Ellis!” Catherine chided. “You better wish the Holy Mother didn't hear—”

Catherine didn't get to finish her sentence when she suddenly fell to the ground as her body convulsed violently.

“Cathy!” Ellis exclaimed as he immediately dropped beside his friend and cushioned her head with a decorative fabric he pulled from the podium. “Formation!”

Without delay, the Templars that acted as the Pope's escort quickly surrounded the stage in a protective formation, their hands poised and ready to draw their blades at a moment's notice if needed.

The entire Council of Cardinals witnessed the Pope's collapse and erupted into panic. Dozens of them tried to rush to the stage with Life mana pouring out of their hands in torrents to cure the Pope of whatever was afflicting her, but the Templars barred any attempts by the Cardinals to climb the stage.

“Everybody calm down!” shouted the First Cardinal. “Have you forgotten already? Her Holiness has an Authority and is having one of her ‘visions.’ We must not disturb her!”

At his words, the Cardinals calmed down, some of them kneeling to pray to the Holy Mother. Most of them had concern written on their faces, but all they could do was watch with bated breaths as the Oracle convulsed in the arms of her Paladin.

●●●

Catherine opened her eyes and found herself floating in a dark space. Her mind was foggy as she tried to remember where she was or what was happening. After a few seconds, her surroundings started shifting as the dark background became diffused with so many different colors that it hurt her eyes. She then realized that she did not have a body, only eyes.

The colors finally shifted into place and formed a painting of a farming town. That was when Catherine realized she was having a vision. It's been a long time since I experienced an involuntary vision, she thought as she scanned her surroundings. Catherine usually had control over her ability to see the future, but now and then, when the future could heavily impact her fate, her Authority always activates automatically.

The world around her appeared as if she entered a painting. The appearance of the houses and farms looked like they were painted on canvas, with the sky tinged orange as the sun set on the horizon, and when she tried to discern her location, she was pulled to the center of town where a modest-looking mansion stood. Is this the house of the local lord? Catherine thought.

A group of men, painted in dark and sinister-looking colors, approached the back of the mansion, and in the middle of the group was a woman that shone like a star. Who are they? Catherine wondered.

The group entered the mansion and inside, an enormous pig of a man approached the woman, whose radiance remained unwavering. The pig grew a sinister aura around him that tried to surround the woman, but she suddenly grew a radiant aura of her own and repelled the pig, who recoiled in shock.

The man behind the woman reacted and struck the woman, much to Catherine's surprise. The white aura of the woman was splattered with red paint as she fell to the ground, a crimson puddle slowly spreading underneath her body. They killed her, Catherine thought.

The entire painting then shifted to another place, a large city filled with thousands of people that moved about with their daily lives, probably the capital, but Catherine saw something weird. A major portion of the population had strings connected to their limbs, like puppets. Even the King and all the nobles moved like puppets according to the strings' movements, and all the strings came from a single source. Catherine followed the threads, but what she saw filled her with terror.

In the middle of the city was a lone boy, his face featureless, with thousands of threads connected to his fingertips. Like a master puppeteer, the boy manipulated the people like dolls. The stringless people didn't realize that most of the people they encountered were living false lives, whose actions were scripted like a character in a play.

The entire city had become his playground. Catherine was terrified because she recognized the boy. It was the child in her dreams, the one that she was supposed to protect. And he's an Ascendant, Catherine thought in fear.

The scene changed again and this time, it was a painting of another city, but what Catherine saw was the same. A boy stood in the middle of the city, controlling the people like puppets. The scene changed again, and another city came into view with the same thing happening. Then another, and another, the boy slowly growing up into an adult, growing more powerful as more time passed.

Catherine watched in horror as dozens of scenes passed by in a blur. She saw the underground cities of the dwarves, the forests of the elves, the walled cities of men, and the oases of a nation run by slaves. She witnessed all the cities of the continent in a blur, including the ones in Zurath, and she saw the same thing. The boy she was supposed to protect in the middle of it all controlling every action of every person.

Catherine instinctively realized that the woman in the first scene was the turning point that would decide the fate of the continent, the fate of millions of lives. Her vision blacked out as her consciousness returned to her body.

●●●

“Is she awake?” Corbette asked.

“Does it look like she is?” Ellis responded with an annoyed tone.

“She looks pretty awake to me,” Corbette replied seriously, although there was a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“If she was, she would have started talking, don't you think?”

The First Cardinal and the Paladin spoke back and forth with hidden insults in each other's words until the Pope's hand suddenly gripped the Paladin's arm.

“Save… her…” Catherine choked out as she looked at Ellis with wide and tearful eyes. “Save… save…”

“Woah, calm down, Cathy, your body needs to recover,” Ellis said as he tried to wipe away her tears. “Your vision today was even worse than—”

“SAVE… HER…” Catherine said with so much intensity despite her weakened voice.

Ellis was shocked into silence for a moment, then grew serious as he realized there was no time to lose. “Where?”

“Erfeld… Erfeld…” Catherine said as quickly as she could. She initially had no idea of the location of the first scene in her vision, but if the woman in the scene was the child's mother, then it was Erfeld.

“Cathy, that's thousands of miles away, I wouldn't get there in time!” Ellis said in panic. He immediately realized that Catherine was referring to the mother of the child they were supposed to protect. “Wait, Betha!”

Ellis turned quickly to Corbette who had been listening quietly beside them. “Send an emergency missive to the Erfeld chapel! Tell Betha to ‘save the mother!’ Go!”

Corbette had no idea as to what was happening, but he did not hesitate to follow the order. In less than five minutes, the First Cardinal was able to send a message through the Church's secret network to the Erfeld chapel.

“Don't worry, Cathy, we'll save her,” Ellis said as he gently eased the Pope's head to the First Cardinal's robes that acted as a makeshift pillow.

“Go… there… now… quickly…” Catherine spoke weakly as her body finally succumbed to fatigue and fell unconscious.

Ellis bit his lip in hesitation. He didn't want to leave her while she was vulnerable, but he knew Catherine would never forgive him if he did not follow her order. “Doyle!”

One of the Templars that surrounded the stage immediately approached the Paladin.

“Your orders, sir?”

“Go and tell Captain Giles that he will be responsible for the Pope's security while I'm gone,” Ellis said as he stood up. “If so much as a single hair is disturbed on the Pope's head when I return, I swear I will skin every one of you alive.”

“Yes, sir!” the Templar replied with fervor as he ran to relay the message to the Captain of the Templars.

“I hope your decision to send me away is right, Cathy,” Ellis whispered beneath his breath as he left to make preparations for his long journey to Edria.

●●●

“There, you should be fine now, Mrs. Nealy, but make sure to come back when the rashes come back,” Mother Betha said as her last patient thanked her and left the chapel.

“Whew, and that's the last one!” Sister Lina said with enthusiasm as she and Sister Tillie started cleaning up the small area that acted as their clinic.

“It's not like it was that hard, Lina,” Sister Tillie said with an amused smile.

“Hey, you weren't the one cleaning up Mr. Donald's infected toe and wiping all the pus that scattered on the floor!”

“An easy task,” Sister Tillie replied while chuckling quietly.

“That's enough, you two,” Mother Betha said with exasperation. “I'm hungry, so go cook dinner, Lina.”

“Am I a nun here or just a maid?!” Sister Lina complained loudly as she started stomping off to the kitchen.

Before Mother Betha could reply, she felt the transceiver in her room emit enough mana to be detected by her mana sense. What does the Holy See have in store with us this time? Mother Betha thought as she made her way quickly to her room.

The magic transceiver consisted of a moderately-large device that could send and receive messages from a large distance and was part of a secret communications network of the Church. Although its range was limited, any message could easily reach the Holy See thousands of kilometers away by passing the message along dozens of transceivers in each cathedral along the way.

“Let's see…” Mother Betha muttered as she picked up the piece of paper containing the message that the transceiver automatically printed when it received a message and confirmed that the code name was from the Holy See.

Urgent. Pope's vision. Death imminent. Save the child's mother.

- Mother

Mother Betha quickly threw the paper away as she rushed to exit her room, no longer bothering to follow protocol to destroy any message sent through the Church's secret network. It was a well-known fact that the Pope of the Holy Mother Church could see the future, and Mother Betha did not doubt for a second that her visions were true.

“Lina! Tillie! Find Helen and Brogen and get them here now!” Mother Betha shouted as she got to the first floor.

The nuns looked stupefied for a second before realizing that things were urgent after seeing the pastor's grim look. They immediately dropped whatever they were doing and all three women rushed out of the chapel.

“We'll split up. Lina, go to their house. Tillie, go to the town square, I'll go to the Baronet's mansion,” Mother Betha said quickly.

With a quick affirmation, the three women ran in different directions to search for Brogen and Helen.

●●●

“Thank you for your patronage, madam! If you need more of the best textiles in this kingdom, you know where to look!” the merchant said with lots of cheer after Helen made a large purchase of expensive and exotic fabrics.

“A-Alright, thanks to you too,” Helen replied with a strained smile at the merchant's energy. The man's dark skin suggested that he probably came from the deserts of Vaspolia, but his Edrian accent was fluent enough to make people think that he was a native.

Helen quickly left the area, bidding goodbye to the waving merchant as she started her way back home. It was her first time doing business with the Vaspolian merchant and she had been taken aback by his energy. The only thing that made the awkward experience worth it was the variety of unique and exotic textiles she was able to attain. When it comes to fashion, uniqueness can either make you or break you, Helen thought.

She passed by Maly's stall on the way and intended to greet Brogen's friend but saw Liz instead. The tall woman was manning the counter, but instead of keeping her attention on possible customers, Liz's nose was buried in a thick book.

“How much are these?” Helen asked loudly with a mischievous smile.

Hearing Helen's voice shocked Liz out of her focus and made her yelp with a strange voice. Liz slipped the book to the side quickly and pretended as if she was doing her job all along. “W-Welcome to the Matson— Aunt Helen?!”

Helen chuckled as Liz gave her a pout. “I'm just messing around with you, Liz. You're lucky Maly isn't here or else she'd start nagging you again.”

“Yeah, I think I've had enough of her ‘lectures,’” Liz grumbled, then her eyes suddenly shone with excitement, although she tried to hide it. “By the way, I haven't seen Brogen for a long while. How is he?”

Helen knew the girl was trying to set up a meeting with her son to once again talk about ‘sciencey stuff,’ as Brogen would put it. Helen knew her son was trying to avoid Liz most of the time ever since she started pestering him about the ‘sciencey stuff’ and contemplated whether she should sell him out. In the end, she decided to have mercy on Brogen. For now.

“He's fine, but he's been extremely busy recently,” Helen said with as much sincerity as she could muster. “We've been working nonstop to keep our store supplied over the past few months. Maybe he'll be available next week?”

“Aww,” Liz groaned as her previous excitement waned. “Well, can you tell him I said hi? It's been several weeks since I last saw him.”

Helen felt glad that Liz didn't only want to meet her son just for their discussions but because she missed him. “Sure thing, Liz. Good luck on your job!”

Helen bid Liz goodbye as she continued on her way home, a smile on her face. The sun was setting, casting orange hues all over the town. It would get dark soon, but Helen was confident she would arrive at their house way before then.

She heard the crunching of dirt as a heavy foot stepped on the road behind her, close to her location. She looked back in curiosity and froze in place. A man was standing there, dressed in dark leather and a black cloak that covered most of his body, but it did not conceal his face. Helen's face paled as the Baronet's guard that beat her up years ago gave her a mad grin. He's supposed to be exiled, Helen thought in panic.

She heard more footsteps and when she looked back, there were now several town guards blocking her way and slowly surrounding her. Helen slowly despaired as she realized what was about to happen.

She looked for other people, civilians, or witnesses that could help her escape. Somebody that would call out to the guards and ask what was happening, anything to get her out of the situation. The only thing she saw was people quickly walking away in the distance and windows in the streets closing swiftly as their owners decided to stay out of whatever trouble was brewing. I'm all alone, Helen thought.

“Good evening, ma'am,” the man in the black cloak greeted with a grin, his voice dripping with undisguised sarcasm and amusement. “The Baronet wants to invite you to his humble abode. Will you care to come with us?”

“N-No, I don't think I will,” Helen said nervously. She tried to sound confident, but her words came out in a stutter.

“Sadly for you, the Baronet's not taking a no for an answer,” the man said with a chuckle before nodding his head at the guards.

Helen immediately dropped everything in her arms as she took on a fighting stance to threaten the approaching men, but her nervous face and bad posture easily told the guards that she wouldn't pose much of a threat. They were wrong.

The moment the first guard touched her shoulder, Helen quickly faced him and bit his hand with all her strength. The man squealed as he cradled his hand that now had two missing fingers, blood flowing profusely from the wounds. The other guards recoiled in slight fear when Helen spit the fingers in her mouth with a grim face.

“That bitch bit me! You fucking bitch!” the guard screamed in rage as he approached Helen.

Helen tried to fight back again, but the guard wasn't having it this time. She swung her fist towards the man's face, but he easily dodged it and slapped her hard across the face. The world spun around her as Helen stumbled in a daze, but before she could even recover, she felt a strong kick to her stomach that sent her rolling over the ground.

“You'll pay for this, you fucking whore!” the injured guard said as he approached again, but before he could continue, the man in the dark cloak put a hand on his shoulder.

“She's had enough, don't you think?” the cloaked man asked with a smile.

The wounded guard looked indignant for a moment, then stepped away while nursing his hand. The cloaked man looked at the rest of the guards and spoke. “Bring her, and do it properly this time.”

Helen tried to struggle but she could only cry helplessly as the men bound her arms and legs before carrying her towards the Baronet's mansion, her pleas for help muffled by the rag stuffed into her mouth. Brogen, help me…