Even while flying, it would still take just over a week to get to Frieden. Thinking of this awed Adam. After all, this is the same distance Adam had used a few years to travel! Given that he had zigzagged around wherever he pleased so the distance wasn't as great as if he had traveled in a straight line for those few years, it was still quite impressive to think of.

As they were flying along, Adam asked: “Where did you two wish to set up for the night? Do you want to stop at a town somewhere or camp out?”

Evelyn enthusiastically said: “Let's stay in a town or a village! The whole point of us going on this trip with you is to experience the world. We can't do much of that if we just stay up in the skies all the time!”

“I'm fine with that suggestion.” Heinrich chimed in.

When evening began to fall, the trio were able to easily spot a village close by due to the height of their flight. Heinrich had been flying high enough that someone looking up might just see the silhouette of a bird flying overhead. Having made the decision that they would ask the villagers if they had a place for them to stay, Heinrich veered down into the forest a small distance from the village. So as to not freak out the villagers, Heinrich would also be going in his Human-form.

It was a small hike to get to the village through the forest. Evelyn found it more difficult than either Adam or Heinrich and was thankful that her dress was spiritually enhance. Otherwise, it would be full of holes from all the tugging brush and branches.

Before too long, they finally found themselves at the edge of the village. The setting sun still dyed the sky orange and the villagers were only just starting to head back home from the few farm fields on the outskirt of the village. Adam, Evelyn, and Heinrich walked onto the trail leading into the village and headed in. the three were very unfamiliar to the villagers and were easily spotted a way off. Compared to the villager's plain and raggedy clothes, the three completely stood out.

A man quickly came up and try and talk to them, but was simply stunned by the clothing they were wearing. Evelyn's dress looked like a window behind which a field blue fire tumbled around, a sight the man had never expected to see in his entire life! Stumbling, he tried to eloquently ask: “W-what reason have the Lords and Lady come to visit our village?”

Heinrich and Evelyn were still a little stunned at how poor the conditions of the village was, compared to their own. Both were called villages, but they were worlds apart. Adam quickly stepped forward with a laugh and answered: “Our clothing is rather odd, but we are not nobles. We were just passing by and hoped that your village might have somewhere we can stay for the night. We are not asking any of you to vacate your beds or homes, we just wanted a roof over our heads for the night.”

The man scratched his head at a loss. “Our houses are all pretty cramped as it is with our familes. Perhaps the only place that has room is the shed where we keep some lumber...”

Adam nodded: “That will do nicely, we have our own travel gear to lay out and sleep there.”

The man nodded, glad that the three hadn't asked for too much. After pointing out the ramshackle shed, he said: “While it might not be up to your standards, the village dinner will be ready in just a little while. It will be by the cooking pits in the center of town, if you wanted to join us.”

“Thank you, we will.”

The man then left and started to spread word about the three to the rest of the village. Adam, Evelyn, and Heinrich stopped by the shed to drop off their travel gear. As they were doing so, Evelyn said: “I heard that villages on the outside were poor, but I wasn't expecting this...”

The conditions in the village were poorer than either Evelyn or Heinrich had expected. Their own village had spiritualists that could manipulate the spirit essence of the world to more easily create goods and products than just about any regular city could. They lived a life without want, as everything was easily within grasp. These villagers did not have such luxury.

“These villagers are on the poorer side, even for an average village's standard. Their lives are simpler, though. You would be hard pressed to find any crime in villages like this, though they are more susceptible to bandit attacks. Their sense of community is also a lot stronger than any town or city you can find.”

After that, the trio headed toward the center of town where the aroma of cooking filled the air. Instead of the various families preparing their own meals, this village gathered together and prepared a vast meal that everyone would eat. Their homes were on the small side, so they had no kitchens in them and this was the best way for everyone to have cooked food.

From a small distance away, all the villagers looked at the three as they approached. Adam, Evelyn, and Heinrich were instantly the hottest topic of the village. A boy came out and asked: “Are you noble lords?”

The boy's mother called out his name in recrimination, but Adam simply gave a jovial laugh: “We are not dressed this fancily because we are nobles. We are actually spiritualists!”

Many of the villager's eyes grew wide with wonder and surprise, especially the eyes of the children. It made sense though, considering the living fire that Evelyn's dress seemed to be made from. The boy asked with awe and expectation: “Really?”

Adam nodded: “Look.”

Adam picked up a stone and levitated it with wind essence, enthralling the boy and many others. Heinrich and Evelyn were unsure of what to think about this turn of events. At this time, a young girl that was perhaps only three years old tottered out with her hand outreached. She grabbed at Evelyn's dress with wonder filled eyes. “Pretty.”

The girl's own mother quickly came out and picked up her child. She quickly apologized: “I'm so sorry!”

More surprised about the sudden apology, rather than the tugs from the endearing girl, Evelyn said: “No need to apologize.”

In this manner, and interesting night for the village began that they would never forget. The young boys couldn't get enough from watching Adam give simple demonstrations of his manipulation of spirit essence. Young girls were simply enthralled with Evelyn's own beauty and that of her dress. The burly and more stoic Heinrich quietly won the fancies of a few of the older girls with his exotic tan skin.

For Heinrich and Evelyn's part, they had never felt so different from others before. It was only now that they had realized how regular people actually lived outside their village. From the way they lived, to the things they wore, and the food they ate, everything was just so different. It was far below the standards they had thought the outside world had.

The next day, Adam, Evelyn, and Heinrich continued on. That evening, they stopped by a town to stay at. The town was completely different from the village. There was more of a bustle and people kept more to themselves. While the townsfolk gave the three a glance, none of them approached. The towns people were all better dressed than the villagers, but the sense of a close community seemed to mostly disappear. While there were a few people greeting one another, it seemed that everyone was off doing their own thing.

They paid for an inn room at the town. The inn keeper was generally nice and amicable, but also seemed groveling. Their dress had once again given others the impression that they were nobles or important people. Whereas the villagers had eventually come around and became more frank with the three as they interacted throughout the evening, the townsfolk did not open up in the same way.

Like this, Heinrich and Evelyn were continuously introduced to the outside world as they flew to Frieden. Having finally arrived late in the evening at Frieden, the trio once again took to an inn. Adam was certain it would take some time to convince Segen of who he was, so it was best to not start late at night.

The big city was once again an entirely different place for Heinrich and Evelyn. People were seemingly ruder and what little sense of community existed in the towns seemed to completely disappear now. From dark alleys, they could even tell that there were people watching them. Presumably robbers trying to decide if the three were a good target.

For all the bad things that stood out the most, there were still good things. There were still nice people to be found, beautiful places to visit. But those bad things just screamed out the most and colored Evelyn and Heinrich's perception more.

After setting themselves up in an inn, Adam spoke to the other two: “Why don't the two of you go explore the city while I meet with Segen?”

Evelyn and Heinrich seemed a little reluctant. The world was far different than what they had imagined it to be when compared to their village. They weren't sure they wanted to explore more of it. Adam persuaded them: “I know there are a lot of bad things, but you just haven't seen and experienced much of the good yet! Evelyn, the whole point of you coming out and journeying was to discover the world and interact with more people in it. You can't do that if you just sit around in the inn all day! Push come to shove, just go to SILU. At least the spiritualists there should be relatively familiar.”

The three formed a plan for the next day. Heinrich and Evelyn would purchase some plain cloaks to hide their fancy dress so they could walk through the city without so many stares. Hopefully, they could find something they liked while going around. Adam wasn't worried about the possibility of the two being mugged. Any who might attempt to rob the two would be in for a rude awakening.

Adam set out early the next morning to go to Segen's house. Segen was eating his breakfast when a knock was heard at the door. Sparring Annette from getting it, Segen stood up and went to the door. He opened it up and started saying: 'Hello' but was stopped half-way through. Before him stood a man with golden eyes wearing some of the most exuberant clothing he had ever seen. Adam, who was the man, gave a wide and joyous smile.

“Hello, Segen, long time no see!”

“Do... Do I know you, sir?” Segen was at a loss. He was certain he would remember this person if they had met before.

Adam's smile only seemed to grow. “I really don't think you are going to believe me, but I am you uncle Adam!”

Segen showed a moment of disbelief before suddenly slamming the door shut! Adam was thoroughly surprised, he had not thought of this scenario. He gently knocked on the door: “C'mon Segen, I know it is surprising but I am not lying!”

Segen opened up the door and said in a huff: “Do you really expect me to believe you are my uncle!?”

“I don't think I can make you believe me with just one thing, but I have a lot I can say. First; I do not believe we ever talked to anyone about what lullabies I played to you as a child.”

Adam immediately pulled out a flute and played a lullaby on it. It was just the first of many little things Adam presented to Segen to convince him. After an hour or persuasion, Adam finally convinced Segen of who he was. Segen was still dumbfounded, though. He wildly pointed at Adam's new body: “How did you manage all of this!?”

Adam gave a dry chuckle. “That is kind of complicated. I will explain what I can, but there is some that I can not tell you.”

While Adam and Segen reconnected, Annette sent word to SILU that Segen would be staying home for the day. It was a happy and joyous reunion. One of Segen's kids even dropped by. Towards the evening, Adam told Segen that he was going to depart to meet back up with some others he was traveling with.

“Oh, you are traveling with others?”

Adam nodded. “I plan to stay here in Frieden for a little while, but I want to head back to Heider before too long. They are traveling with me and afterwards I was going to accompany them in their travels in return.”

“Invite them over for tomorrow. I would like see who it is that you are willing to travel with.”

Adam met back up with Evelyn and Heinrich at the inn. “Well, did either you find anything good?”

Evelyn brought out a wrapped package and opened it up: “There were all sorts of food stands selling sweets dotted around. Try some. a couple of them are really delicious.”

Heinrich shook his head: “Besides that, there wasn't a lot that interested us...”

“Well, maybe I can fix that. I think you two would find more fun interacting with others at SILU. Segen invited you two over to the house tomorrow and maybe we can stop by SILU and you can see what it is like there.”

The next day, Adam took Heinrich and Evelyn along with him. Heinrich and Evelyn enjoyed getting to know Segen and Annette. It was more personal and friendly than the rest of the city had been to them. For a little over a month, Adam, Evelyn, and Heinrich stayed at Frieden. Since Evelyn and Heinrich did not want to register under SILU, they were only allowed limited access to the campus. Still, it was fun and exciting to interact with other spiritualists that were not from the village. It was a closer connection that Evelyn and Heinrich had ever felt between the outside world and their home.

After that blissful month of spending time with Segen again, Adam felt it was time to visit Heider. Adam said some temporary good byes with Segen. Evelyn and Heinrich were a little reluctant to leave, as they had made a couple friends at SILU during their stay. They had finally started to see some of the good parts of the city when it was time for them to leave.

The journey to Heider was long. Adam had traveled for many many years and had crossed a large amount of land. It took a month of travel to finally reach their destination. The first thing Adam did when they arrived was to go to the family grave. He gently wiped some dust away as he stared at the now numerous amount of names on the grave. Towards the top were the ones he was familiar with; Vivienne, Helen, Alfred, Emilia. Adam looked at the other names at the list and silently smirked at an interesting observation. Rather than the others being a descendant of Adam or Alfred, since they both had a child with Helen, they were all descendants of Helen! Especially since Adam had not spent much time with the family, this grave wasn't for his family, but for Helen's!

Adam continued to stare at the grave. Even for being supposedly part of her family, Adam hadn't been there for long. His name was not inscribed upon the grave, as no one had actually thought he had died. Now, there probably wasn't anyone who would remember him. When he finally died, his name would not be inscribed upon the grave. Adam thought of adding his own name now, but felt that was wrong. He could only give a depressed sigh.

Heinrich and Evelyn silently watched on. Since this was the first place they stopped, they hadn't been to an inn yet. The two felt an odd sensation whenever they looked at Adam and the list of names he was looking over.

After a small while, Adam returned to them. He only said: “Let's go.”

After staying in an inn for the night, Adam said he was ready to leave the next morning. Both Evelyn and Heinrich were a little surprised. Didn't he come to Heider to visit? Adam shook his head: “I already visited them. There is no one else I know that lives in that house I bought so long ago...”

Not wanting to press the issue, Evelyn and Heinrich prepared to leave. As the three were leaving the inn, they overheard an interesting piece of gossip; “Hey, did you hear about the dragon that has been roaming along the border for the past week?”