It was snowing throughout the next week. Harbourtown, which was just east of Lindorn, and set within the narrow bay the river flowed out into, was practically covered in white powder. Yuriko pondered the sea, which was half-covered with floating ice. The town was on the northern side of the bay entrance, and she could see an old castle near the spit. Actually, now that she focused her Enhanced Sight, she could see several artillery cannons set on the walls, the barrels poking out.

The opposite shore was about two leagues away, and there was also a castle there, with artillery. She didn’t really know how far the shells could reach, but perhaps the range was at least five longstrides. There were warships stationed across the bay, roughly two large ships and a dozen smaller and faster ones. Southeast was the Norrinth shore, but she couldn’t see past the strait, since it was covered in deep fog.

The sea breeze was freezing, but she wasn’t all that bothered. Her overcoat had been torn, and its repair runescript weaving would take a few more weeks to finish, so she was wearing a jacket bought from a local store. It wasn’t sized for her though, and was a bit short. The hem was at her midriff, and the shoulders and sleeves were a bit tight. She wanted to buy a bigger jacket but the only ones remotely her size were men’s clothes, and those fit even worse on her. Her shoulders, while broad for a woman, were still slender. Heron was taller than her by six inches or so, and if they stood back to back, her figure could be concealed by his quite easily.

Thankfully, she had a loose blouse to wear under it, which fit her well enough. Someone let out the hem, so it covered all the way to her pants, which were still her traveller’s gear. Even though it had been damaged in the fight, too, it was only a few nicks and tears and had been easily repaired by putting in a couple of hundred lumens.

Ah, yes. She was no longer hampered by the thin ambient Chaos in the atmosphere. Her body produced more than enough Radiant energy and since she could convert them easily, refilling her reserves was only a matter of focus. So, she refilled all of the empty jade cartridges the marines had. During the course of the highlands campaign, their supply had nearly run dry.

As for her overcoat, it wasn’t a matter of Animus but time for the weaving to actually make things work.

The Dauntless was one of the smaller warships. A destroyer, according to Douglas Hart, who was bouncing on his toes every time he spoke about war machines, warships, artillery cannons, and other assorted weapons used by the military. Boys.

She sighed as she stared out at the bay. Their departure was set for tomorrow, but the weather was making the sailors hesitant. According to the news about the battlefront, the Season of Water had put a halt to open warfare. Here anyway. The battlefront on the southern shores of the Kamwick Sea didn’t get any kind of snow and was warm throughout the year.

Speaking of the year, it was already 3001 After Founding. The Celestial Refraction…had not occurred. Yuriko and the others had been more than surprised when the Season of Air ended, and the Season of Water commenced immediately afterwards—the day of darkness and reflection had simply not happened at all. That, more than anything else, told her that they were on strange shores, and she’d like nothing more than to go home.

“Only after we get what we came for,” she muttered. This had been a long detour, and while she couldn’t regret it, especially with their gains, she was still feeling antsy from the wasted time. But then again…

Casper Nichols said that he’d been in this plane for five thousand years, ever since the Shattering. But she remembered that the Shattering happened just before the Empire’s creation. So that meant Irvalla was probably a region in temporal flux. Time passed here faster than elsewhere. So maybe they hadn’t lost that much time after all. This was the third Season they were here, so probably only a Season and a half had passed in Rumiga. That was still a long time, but her foray in Kogasi, Bella, the Pure Lands, and Realmheart had lasted more than a year.

The skies were dark with snow and she returned to their inn. Aside from their group, there were two other people with them. Douglas Hart and Darren Worrington. As for why they were in the same inn…

“I want to go with you, teacher,” Douglas said while bowing repeatedly. “I want to see other places, where you Outsiders came from! Karcellia, and Irvalla are boring!”

Yuriko blinked at his enthusiasm and was honestly hesitant on agreeing to bring them along. When she looked at Darren, the disguised woman said, “I just want away from here.”

Yuriko sighed and said, “Alright, you two may come. But beware, where we’re going is as dangerous as the highlands campaign, maybe even more so.” Both of them do have their Animus cores formed, so it would be a pity if she couldn’t see how well they’d progress in the future.

None of the others seemed to mind. Sheamus grinned toothily and murmured, “Another two caught in the mistress’ web.”

Yuriko just rolled her eyes. She didn’t actually feel any connection to the two Karcellians through her Mien, so Sheamus was plainly wrong. Not that she actually checked the dreamscape for it. It was still difficult to access that place here.

The inn was nice and cosy when she returned to the common room. And more importantly…

The waitress approached her as she sat, presenting a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Yuriko’s eyes widened in delight and she wasted no time savouring the sweet drink. She shivered in pleasure as she rolled the drink in her mouth. It wasn’t quite as good as the Imperial Truffles Finan had given her, but it was roughly half as good. And. more importantly, there was more than enough of it to indulge every day. Every hour, if she wanted to!

Giggling to herself, she finished the mug, then asked for more. The waitstaff brought her as many as she wanted! Hie hie!

“You’re going to get fat drinking twenty mugs of that every afternoon,” Darren muttered as she entered the common room. “Really, how can you have so much of that stuff?”

“I’ve a second stomach for chocolate,” Yuriko said primly.

Darren chuckled darkly. “Certainly not the image you’d want your students to see.”

Yuriko shrugged. “I’ve fulfilled my part of the deal. Your Archons even recorded my lectures and practice.”

That had been a surprise. About a week after she began her lessons, a troupe of people carrying weird machinery had visited the classroom, set up their gear, and asked her to act as if they weren’t there. Later on, they showed her the resulting ‘movie’. While it wasn’t able to capture her Animus or Anima, it still allowed her words to be replayed and remembered. Perhaps in the next few generations, Karcellia will have a much more robust Animus training system.

“And,” Yuriko continued, “I’ve never put on weight from overeating.” She pursed her lips. “Not fat anyway.”

“Lucky you, then,” Darren ordered a similar mug of hot chocolate before she continued. “I’m surprised they allowed this to go through. Chocolate isn’t included in the rationing.”

Yuriko shrugged. After the first time she drank it, she asked the waitstaff if she could purchase more to bring with her on her trip. They presented her with a tin filled with chocolate cubes. She was supposed to add them to a pot of water, a cube per person drinking, and a mug of water or milk each, then bring the pot to a simmer. Sugar or other sweeteners were to be added afterwards. She paid for several tins, most of which she kept in her backpack, with a single tin resting inside her hip satchel right next to the canister of Ambrosia.

She and Darren chatted throughout the afternoon. The others in her age group came by for afternoon tea. The marines, the beastkin, as well as the two Haveenians trickled into the common room closer to dinner.

The next morning, a Karcellian navy man met them in the inn’s common room while they had breakfast. Afterwards, the man led them to the docks. As the sun had barely been up an hour, the streets on the way were mostly deserted, at least until they reached the wet market just a block from the docks. That one was bustling with hundreds of townsfolk buying fish and other seafood.

The Dauntless was still a couple of hundred paces into the bay, and they were instead led towards a set of longboats. They, along with their luggage, which wasn’t really much more than their backpacks, were soon ferried across the cold waters. Up close, the destroyer looked to be made entirely of steel and iron, with some kind of finish that prevented the hull from rusting. A rope ladder had been thrown over the side, but Yuriko simply flew up the five paces between the sea and the side. Once she was on board, she lifted everyone within reach and plopped them next to her.

“Do you want the dinghies on board too?” she asked the gaping sailors, who, as one, shook their heads.

An officer hurried up to them and ushered them into their quarters. “It will only take until the afternoon to reach the Norrinth shores, ma’am. Please, rest and prepare yourselves.”

“Thank you,” Yuriko replied. Their quarters were barely worth the name, but then again, the destroyer wasn’t all that big, and surely, the cannons and munitions took up most of the space. The warship sailed away, eastward, the deck rumbling with the engine’s vibrations.

Yuriko and the others spent the time napping. They were going to come ashore in hostile territory, just as the sun set. They had little choice as the Karcellian Naval Command couldn’t allow the destroyer to leave its post for too long. As it were, they told her that the crossing would still be perilous especially if they encountered Confederate Underseacraft.

Thankfully, they arrived near the Norrinth shore unmolested by evening. They hove to nearly a longstride away, along a desolate stretch of shore, far from the opposing towns. The upper part of Norrinth had been occupied by Commonwealth forces for the better part of last year, but they pulled their troops away once the daemonic invasion had concluded. Now, only a token force was left mainly because, according to Karcellian intelligence, they had picked a fight with the Drunada Unity at their eastern border. Still, there were thousands of soldiers in Norrinth.

Hopefully, they would be snug in their barracks in the cold of the Season of Water.

They were ferried to shore using dinghies again. Yuriko flying across the channel would draw far too much attention, especially in the dark. From there, they were supposed to head southeast. There were more than thirty of them hiking, far too many to be inconspicuous.

Then again, there was little need to avoid battle, Yuriko believed, and if they were accosted, they would simply blow away the opposition. Each of them carried a Karcellian rifle, along with enough bullets to fight off a battalion or two. Ah, and their packs were filled with hardtack and dried meat. Hopefully, enough supply to cross the thousand longstride journey they had to make to reach the opposite border.

They crossed several leagues that first night, running as quickly as they could. The two Karcellians were carried piggyback. Douglas navigated through the nightlights, somehow managing to point out which way was southeast. By midnight, they settled to rest. It would probably take a couple of weeks to reach the border at their current speed, and then, they would have to fight.