Althea walked back into the mansion, finding an entourage waiting for her.

The Marchioness seemed to release a sigh of relief as she stepped in.

"Guarding Countess Althea Diery." the Marchioness said. "I present the ancestral weapon of the Diery family."

A footman approached, holding a simple wooden staff on a velvet cushion. Althea tried very hard to school her expression, not showing if she was excited or disappointed. The staff looked simple, but that might just be what the Diery preferred it to look like.

"Are you sure, Marchioness?" the Marquis asked. Althea had found the way the husband and wife referred to each other as weird, but she long ago gotten used to it.

"Yes, the family records state that this staff is the ancestral weapon of the Diery family." the Marchioness stated.

"I see." the Marquis said, turning to Althea "I suppose it is time for you to leave, Countess Diery. I will send the envoy in a few days with what the march need."

"Please do so, your lordship." Althea replied politely, holding the staff awkwardly. The group began walking, Steward Ven forcing them on a brisk pace. Althea was the one having difficulty keeping up. If Mira faced the same dilemma, she didn't show it. But her dress was too restrictive, jewels too delicate, and cultivation too weak for her to keep pace.

The 'walk' left her wheezing by the time they reached the main gate, doing her best not to appear fatigued. The last thing she needed was to make some misstep by looking weak now.

The seen before her was enough to take her breath away. Althea had expected a small contigent, perhaps a lot of carriages to carry goods, but not...this. Hundreds if not more men stood before, lined up in neat rows around dozens of carriages inscribed with the Diery emblem.

The symbol of a tree in an otherwise barren glade reminded her of her familiar.

"Has my familiar been brought down yet,your lordship?" she asked the Marquis.

"A maid has placed him in the first carriage. The plant was quite...angry at being moved." A strange expression crossed the Marquis' face before he continued.

"The Diery army was handed to me to lead after the events of the battle of wood. But today I return the army to it's home, to be in the capable hands of Steward Ven until the Countess Diery is of age." the Marquis continued in a formal tone.

Althea realized what the people were. The army of the Diery county, she had no idea it still existed. The same army she was supposed to turn into something worthy of being led by Stewward Ven , an Adept level fighter.

Althea tried to sense how powerful the army was, using the meager senses she had. But even a Novice was still a mage, and she could tell how meager the armies power was. A flash of anger ran through her as she realized that the entire army was Novice. The Marquis must not have provided them with a cultivation manual.

But Althea had learned to keep her thoughts to herself for now. What the Marquis did was his business, she would deal with what she was dealt.

"I suppose it is time I left." Althea replied, looking up as if staring at the sun that was already past it's daily peak. The Emperor's deadline had passed without her noticing.

"Yes, I suppose it is." the Marquis.

"The horse isn't here." the seventh young marquis stated, sounding a little smug.

"The horse will come as soon as the Countess calls for it." the Marquis replied, giving his son a warning look. Althea was actually grateful for the question. Now she had an idea what to do. How did you call a a horse? Well, whistling was probably a good place to start.

Althea concentrated, whistling with as much strength as she could muster, hoping the hose would come. In hindsight she probably should have made a big speech about how you shouldn't keep horses unwillingly or something. Just keeping silent was a bad idea. But the horse running away had surprised her, and so had the Marquis' reaction.

Althea felt something drain from her as a tiny, barely noticeable green glow shot toward the sky. At first nothing seemed to happen as Althea stood there awkwardly. The seventh young marquis scoffed behind her as Althea felt heat rise up her cheeks. And then a figure emerged from the trees, heading towards them through the hair, approaching at rapid speeds. The horse from the before.

The horse landed on the walkway, kicking up a little dust storm, but the Marquis did not move and neither did she. The horse stopped just before her, it's eyes glittering with mischief as the Marquis's carefully laid rows of flowers lay buried under sand. The soldiers were staring at the horse shiftily as Althea patted it.

Steward Ven waved his hand, and a strange striped beast reminiscent of a zebra separated from the army's ranks. But this beast had blue and red stripes instead of black and white.

A stableboy approached the horse with a saddle, walking slowly and carefully, as if afraid that it would attack him. After his ordeal a few minutes ago, Althea didn't blame him. The horse huffed, but let the stableboy mount the saddle. Althea was on the horse minutes later, heading towards the army.

The entire convoy set out a few minutes later, Althea in the lead along with Steward Ven, guarded by eight other guards dressed in golden armor. The Emperor's guard.

The horse seemed a bit irritated at having to walk on land, but it soon caught sight of Steward Ven's ride. After that, it angled right beside Steward Ven, seemingly talking the other beast up. Althea wondered what their genders were.

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Steward Ven seemed a bit irritated by the horse's actions, a reaction that only grew more pronounced when the other beast slid write alongside hers' , nearly making them crash. But the Steward did not act to stop them either.

"What do you know of the Diery county, Countess?" he asked instead.

"Not much," Althea said, remembering what she had read and what little she remembered of her time. Twelve wasn't really that young, but she had still forgotten most of it. Not that night though. No, the night she had lost her parents was burned into her night.

"I know that the county is the most barren place in the Empire in terms of mana concentration, bu the opposite is true for the county's ordinary fertility. The county produces over seventy percent of the Empire's food, and almost all of it's ordinary crop.

The only family of power in the county is mine, the other noble families left long ago. The sects and guilds have since left too, leaving the Bern army the only other force in the region. The biggest known threat to the county is from the Zun Empire's spies, saboutuers and hordes." Althea said, reciting from her memory.

"The Zun Empire is lacking in fertile land, making famines common in the country. So the Empire raids the Diery county often to get it's hands on our produce." Althea said.

"Yes. I see that you have memorized the general information section of the library." the Steward said. in his usual gruff voice."Tell me what is the main occupation in the county?"

"Farming." Althea answered, not even having to think about it.

"What are the other occupations in the county?" the Steward asked, continuing his barrage of questions.

"The sale and transport of the produce. The county's economy is almost entirely agricultural." Althea answered again. What was this, a pop quiz?

"What about the army? What does the army do?" the Steward asked.

Althea considered the answer. The real answer was barely anything. The Bern march had handled safeguarding of the county, and it would continue to handle most of it. But the internal matters of the county would be her charge now.

"Not a lot." she finally answered. "The Diery army is usually weak and small, the weakest of any county in the Solerian Empire."

"And how much land does the county have?"

"The county is an nearly rectangular oval that spans over a ten thousand kilometers." she replied.

The Steward nodded, hopefully satisfied by her performance.

"And what about the population?"

"The county is the most populated county in the Empire, but it's population density is one of the lowest. The county only has three major cities, most of it's population is rural and spread out."

"Now, why do you think the army is so small and weak if that's the case? Is the county not rich enough? Or was it another reason?" the Steward asked.

Althea was confused why he was testing her, but it probably had to with the Empress. After all, she seemed the type to tell Steward Ven to teach her.

"The Diery county was protected by the Bern march, they did not need to have a big army." Althea answered.

"Hmm, I see." Steward Ven implied, and Althea knew that she had gotten that answer wrong. The tone reminded her of when an intelligent student got the answer wrong but the teacher didn't want to correct them.

"What is it?" she asked, before realizing that she wasn't being very clear. "The answer."

"Can you tell me what stage a Diery county soldier was usually at?" Steward Ven asked.

"No..." Althea replied. The books did not mention it , and she did not remember it either.

"The Novice stage." Steward Ven replied. "The reason the Diery county is so weak is because it lacks a proper cultivation manual for it's military. The family does have two manuals, but only one can be practiced. The other has conditions too hard for them to meet."

"Why not just give the same one?" Althea asked.

"That is not an option, Countess Diery. If a noble gave away his own cultivation manual, it would destroy his family's foundation. The commoner would eventually rebel against him. There are many, many precedents." Steward Ven continued.

"Why would they rebel if the noble wasn't a bad ruler? A good ruler-"

"Would still face the attacks." Steward Ven interrupted. "What motivates these attacks isn't misery, it's greed. A noble has significant wealth and power, wealth that a talented commoner can be grow powerful enough to just take the nobles wealth and disappear. A few times they have gone so far as to conquer the territory for our enemies."

Althea pondered over it, a bit surprised at the reasonable response. The nobles did have good reason to keep cultivation a secret. Well, not really a secret but prized.

"And there are the six families. Five duchies and one royal family. The six families have released a cultivation method to the public making their regions the most powerful in the Solerian Empire." Steward Ven.

Alteha did not know about that particular piece of information. Six cultivation methods were public?

"Why doesn't every commoner-"

"First, the methods are only available to citizens of that region. Second, not everyone can practice a method, in fact they are often quite selective. A lot of families have fallen because their heirs could not practice their art. The Diery family nearly fell when they lost their ability to practice their art seven hundred years ago" Steward Ven said . The Steward was far more talkative than I thought he would be.

"I am still a teacher, Countess. I would not be a very good one if I just grunted at my pupils." Steward Ven said.

"Are you reading my mind?" she asked.

"No." Steward Ven replied. "I am just well versed in people. The Empress has charged me with protecting and educating you, and I expect your cooperation in doing both. The knowledge you have gathered till now is impressive, but it does not make you invulnerable to mistake.

Bringing change might seem to be the best approach, but it is imperative that you first know why the thing was there in the first place. " The Steward finished, leaving her shocked. "Now come, we approach the Diery county

"The Diery county approaches!" the Steward announced before she could say anything. "Take care of your horses, they will try to return."

Althea looked at the land in front of her curiously. A bridge stood in their path, built over a large river.

The Steward kicked his ride lightly, the beast rushing towards the bridge. Althea's horse ran towards the bridge, nearly throwing her off it's back. The bloody beast was very irritating. But Althea held on, matching the Steward's pace as they crossed the middle of the bridge.

The difference was immediately noticeable. The air was lacking. As if a sudden dryness permeated the air, making it uncomfortable to stay. Althea adjusted to it soon enough, and so did her horse, grazing at the grass as if the exercise had starved it.

The Steward's beast was more uncomfortable, but it too calmed down soon after the Steward nudged it a few times.

The army crossed the bridge in a rush, crossing it in one rush. And then the problem began.