Evan’s cheek turned red in embarrassment at his blunder and he tried his best to calm his rapidly increasing breaths. “I’m sorry, miss,” he mumbled sheepishly.

The Knight Commander chucked. “No, it’s fine, really,” she said. She knelt down on the snow covered road, her eyes level with Evan’s.

“What’s your name, boy?” she asked.

“Evan, Evan Galien.”

“He’s an idiot, miss,” Wyra blurted out.

“Language.”

Wyra shot a glare at Evan. She pointed at Zed. “And this parrot over here is Zed, my twin.”

Zed stared at Wyra in disbelief and opened his mouth to object. “Hey-”

“And this is Fel, our sister.” Wyra continued cheerfully, cutting Zed off.

The Knight Commander perked up when she saw Fel’s ears, “Ah, I know you, you’re the elf slave that got adopted a few months ago!”

Fel’s expression turned sour and the Knight Commander’s eyes widened in fear. She bit her tongue in regret, realizing her error too late.

Fel smiled bitterly and bowed stiffly. “It is an honour to meet you, miss.” Her words were simple, but they sliced through the Knight Commander like a blade.

“I’m sorry. Please, call me Julia.”

Silence filled the air and everyone stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say.

Eventually, the driver’s voice broke the silence. “To all passengers, please make sure you don’t forget any belongings and get on the carriage. We’re about to set off.”

Leon cleared his throat with a small cough. “Well then, shall we?”

“Yes, thank you.” Julia sighed, grateful for an escape from the now suffocating silence.

…

The caravan made its way out of the city through its busy, cobbled roads, passing numerous other caravans going to and fro from Wistre. Evan spent most of his time sleeping, the only possible form of distraction from the persistent taste of bile threatening to shoot out every few seconds.

The carriage itself was decently clean, even for his standards. There were two rows of plush velvet sofas facing inwards so that its occupants had to face each other, both wide enough for four people to sit side by side comfortably. The windows were covered by curtains, dyed a rich shade of royal green.

What bothered him, however, was the lack of baths and ventilation.

Magical artifacts, even simple ones that regulated temperature, were hard to come by, and certainly not for five silvers a day.

When Evan woke up, he found that the sun had already risen high in the sky. The snow had stopped falling while he slept, revealing the clear blue sky up above.

He looked around and found the scenery around him to be foreign and unfamiliar. Gone were the houses and shops, replaced by rolling plains of grass that stretched far into the horizon and a small black dot off in the distance.

“Oh Evan, you’re awake,” said Cara, “Come down, we’re just about to have lunch.”

“Alright. Coming, Mom.” Evan stretched his sore limbs before climbing out of the carriage.

The caravan had parked out on the side of the road. Though merchants huddled together in their own groups, the atmosphere was friendly.

‘I guess networking is more of a dinner thing here.’ Evan thought with a shrug.

He sat down beside Fel, waiting patiently for Leon to finish cooking. Zed was chatting excitedly with the knight commander who smiled and nodded at his words, occassionally opening her mouth in surprise shock and oohing and ahhing. Wyra sat by his side, listening quietly.

“How hard is it to become an auroch, Miss Julia?”

Julia sighed. “Very hard. Much harder than becoming a regular knight,” she answered with a bitter smile.

“What’s the difference between them?” Wyra asked.

“An auroch has more responsibilities than a regular knight. A knight is sworn to protect the ruler of a region, while aurochs like clerics answer directly to the king. Every single one of them is at least on their third attunement.”

“Wow, you’re really smart, miss.” Wyra said. Zed nodded vigorously next to her.

“I wonder who’s smarter between you and Evan,” he wondered aloud, before grinning mischievously. “How about this, whoever can answer my question right will win a prize.”

Evan opened his mouth to object. “Hey, I didn’t agree to this–” but, as always, was cut off mid-complaint.

Zed grinned cheerfully at an unamused Evan and began his first question. “Everyone knows the Allium Route was built by the first king, Argus Vylian.” Julia and Evan both nodded. “My question is, why did he do it?”

Silence ensued and the children leaned forward in anticipation, waiting for an answer from either of them. Julia scratched her head in thought before speaking up.

“Well, I think–”

Evan cut her off. “Argus Vylian knew he was treading dangerous territory when he founded the Vylian Bank. After all, it was not just nations that went to war,” he said. “He did not have the manpower, or the strength to safeguard his clients’ money and all it took was one successful heist for trust in him to be ruined. So he was faced with the age-old dilemma: ‘how do you stop someone from stealing from you?’”

The children stared at the ground deep in thought.

“Be strong so that no one would dare steal from you.” Zed spoke up, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Evan nodded. “Correct, that’s one way, but that was impossible for Argus Vylian. So he chose the second option: be so poor, no one would want to steal from you. He needed to make his business so unprofitable, no one would want to have it.”

Looking at all the puzzled faces in front of him, Evan began to elaborate.

“So, Argus began using up his clients’ money on what would be a grand project, the scale of which no one on the continent had ever seen before. He began developing the roads for the Allium Route, all the way from the Western Regions to the Elven Kingdom of Aeria; several thousand kilometers of lit, paved roads, guarded all day and night against monster attacks.”

The children fell silent, thinking about the costs it would take.

“He realized that besides accruing massive amounts of debt, infrastructure was a massively underdeveloped sector that no one paid any attention to.” Evan continued, “He would be taking a gamble, but if he could charge even five silvers of tariff a carriage from every merchant that travelled the Allium Route…”

“Even a dragon would be jealous of his wealth.” Wyra finished, breathless.

Evan pointed a finger in the air. “Actually, one did get jealous and tried to attack Argus one day.”

Zed’s jaw dropped. “Did Argus Vylian fight the dragon?” he asked excitedly.

“Sorry to say, Zed, but it unfortunately died to a particularly powerful monster living in the Wisteria Forest before it could even get close to Zyra,” replied Evan.

“Oh.”

Evan continued, “Anyway, Argus’s clients were pissed when they found out he had been spending their money without their consent, but a share of the future profits were enough to silence them.”

Evan turned to Zed. “Now,” he said, “Am I right, or am I wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Zed replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked.”

“You–”

Before Evan could release his well prepared torrent of curses, Leon called out, “Lunch is ready!”

Evan glared at Zed. “We’ll settle this later.”

“Deal.”

Winter brought snowstorms to Javik, but the sun would always shine through the darkest clouds.

Eventually.

…

Soon after lunch, they were on the move once more. As soon as everyone sat down at the carriage they fell fast asleep, full after their meal. Everyone except for the adults, that is.

“He isn’t normal,” Julia blurted out. “Those words he spoke… they aren’t the thoughts of a four year old child.”

“Evan’s just smart for his age.” Cara said defensively. “Besides, Attuned tend to mature faster than regular people, right?”

“Physically, yes, but only in rare cases, and that only in females. Meanwhile, your son is smarter than some nobles I’ve seen.”

“Your family included?” Leon asked.

Julia’s eyes narrowed at the not so subtle accusation, “I earned my position in the Knight’s Corps, despite my father’s opposition and what rumours say. I had nothing to do with Claude’s activities, no matter how much my brother tried to bribe me to cover up for his misdeeds.”

“Sure, we each have our own secrets we want to keep, for reasons I believe we will not share.” Leon replied with a shrug, earning a nod from Julia. “But I will say this,” continued Leon, “Even if he is a god, a monster, or the demon king himself, Evan is still our son. If anyone, even a Knight Commander, even dares to hurt him, things will get ugly.”

Julia scoffed. “Are you threatening me? You’re not even Attuned.”

“So was the First Emperor.” Leon bit back.

“What do you–”

“Remember how he built his empire?” Leon said, pulling a small amulet out from under his clothes.

“A communicator… have you been recording our conversation this entire time?” Julia’s eyes lit up with anger.

“Manners maketh man, but I would gladly be a dog if it means my family will be safe.”

“You know, I kill you right here and destroy the amulet, and no one would know,” Julia hissed, her tone icy.

“Go ahead.” Leon said with an infuriating smirk. “Make my day like your brother made ours. We got a daughter we could actually be proud of.”

Julia glared at Leon with fury, her mana flaring up and leaving a blazing flame in her eyes.

But his gaze did not flinch.

Julia extinguished the flame and sighed, “I wish there were less people like you in the Corps.”

Leon shrugged, “We all wish for a lot of things, but we can’t always get them. We might as well make the most of what we have, and protect the ideals we believe in.”

“So, Knight Commander–”, said Leon, meeting Julia’s gaze with as much firmness hers held, “–what will you protect? Your honour, or your people?”

Julia hesitated before bowing her head, “I’m sorry. I was rude to you, Mr. Galien.”

“I too, apologize for the inconvenience.” Leon replied, bowing his head in return. “You’ll understand once you have children of your own.”

Julia blushed at the thought. “I would love that.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

A cry rang out outside the carriage. “We reached the forest!”

The air suddenly grew tense and the lively chatter of the merchants quieted down, seemingly afraid of disturbing the local inhabitants. The children jerked awake at the noise, looking around in confusion.

“What’s going on, mom?” Zed asked, his voice heavy with sleep.

Cara put a comforting arm around Zed. “Nothing, dear. Just go back to sleep, okay?”

The carriage door swung open to reveal the driver with a grim expression on his face. “Apologies for the interruption,” he said. “To all passengers, we would like to inform you that we have reached the Wisteria Forest. Please remember to never stray from the path or disturb the local wildlife here. We will not be responsible for any accidents that occur due to negligence on behalf of the passengers. Thank you for your cooperation and may Goddess Seraphine bless our passage.”