"This might not be the Duke." Pulsie mentioned. "There is that treaty you have with him."

"I am sure he doesn't think this counts." Althea replied. "After all, this was just some pirates that happened to attack the fleet. Had Elder Bel not been there, they would have succeeded. The county would have lost a year's worth of food, and a huge amount of manpower, but it wouldn't be a fatal blow, I am sure the Duke was aware of that and planned accordingly."

"What are you going to do?" Pulsie asked.

"For now, I am going to call the Empress." Althea replied, telling the Steward to do the same. The Nathan issue had happened just a couple of weeks ago, and they still hadn't recovered from that. Now this. There really was a lot of trouble going around, wasn't there?

"Althea." the Empress said, dark circles under her eyes as she visibly looked haggard. "I am sorry, I do not have time to talk right now. There have been issues."

Althea was curious what issues she was talking about.

"In fact, you should know about them. Didn't one of your people take up a position of nobility in the Merlen kingdom?"

"Yes, what happened?" she asked. Did the kingdom fall already? That would be bad.

"The Confederacy lost. The King made a move and killed half a dozen of Confederacy Adept stages. The entire continent is in an uproar. The Confederacy should not have had that many Adept mages surrounding the capital, and the King should not be powerful enough to challenge them." the Empress sighed.

Althea suddenly felt guilty about disturbing her. The Elder's death was important…but it wasn't a matter that really required the Empress's intervention.

"Has that caused a lot of trouble for you?" she asked.

"Not particularly, there are simply ten times as many people that want to make an alliance with us. If we were to enter the war now, we could help decide the winner. The military alliance with the Elara Empire has just made it worse. Now we represent an even bigger portion of the battle force not already engaged in the war." the Empress sighed.

Oh, so she had a tendency to make more work for the Empress.

"Please tell me if there is something I can do to help. I would be glad to." she said.

"Well, if you can forge a peace with the Zun Empire, or at least stop them from attacking this winter, I would be glad. But other than that, I don't see what you can do." the Empress replied. "On to other matters, why did you call me? I am sure there was a reason."

"The Diery fleet was ambushed." she said.

The Empress groaned.

"The three great pirate groups colluded together to attack the fleet."

The Empress closed her eyes and let her head fall back. "How bad is it? Do you need us to send more food to the Elara Empire to keep your end of the deal? I think I can-"

"The fleet didn't sustain significant damage." Althea said. "But Elder Bel is dead."

The Empress paused, looking at her in shock. And then she took a deep breath, several papers appearing around her.

"If you can tell me which pirates you are able to kill before they escaped, I will make sure that you receive the bounties."

Althea sighed. Perhaps this was going to be a bit more shocking than the Empress expected.

"The three great pirate groups were annihilated, your majesty." she said. "Elder Bel killed the White Maiden, Black Mage and Dancing Pirate before dying. Not a single ship that attacked the fleet was able to escape. I was hoping that you would collect the bodies and loot we received from the ships. The county does not have a space mage that can-"

"I would be glad to." the Empress said. "Send me their coordinates, I shall head over immediately. I need a break anyway."

"Just a few kilometers from the Mer archipelago." Althea said. "The pirates seemed to know the exact route, as if someone had informed them."

"Do you suspect Duke Zerolian?" the Empress asked.

"I am nearly sure of it. There is no one else that would take such actions." Althea said.

"I would not be so sure." the Empress shook. "The fleet was awfully close to the archipelago when it was ambushed. And there are many that would like the Elara Empire to not receive this food shipment. After all, the Empire would be forced to enter the war if you fail. There is a rather concerning famine running through its lands."

"Oh." Althea was unaware that even the Elara Empire had a famine issue. "There will be consequences for whoever was responsible for this, Empress. The Elder was very well respected among the half-Elves. I am sure you will notice that soon enough."

The Empress sighed, she seemed to be doing that a lot today. "Althea, how powerful do you think the Duke's forces are?"

Althea scrunched her eyebrows. That was a strange question.

"The Duke should have about a dozen Adept stages under him." Having more than one Adept qualified one for the royal council. A dozen sounded like a good guess.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Thirty seven." the Empress replied. "The Zerolian duchy has thirty-seven Adept stage mages, over a thousand at the Master stage, and even I don’t know many Journeymen. So please, be careful when dealing with him. The Duke has not reached this stage out of nowhere."

“More than that, if he wanted to actually harm you, he would use much greater force than he has till now. What is excessive force for you may just be a warning to him.”

The communication cut off, but she was sure she would remember the Empress' words for a long time.

Thirty-seven Adept stages. That was a lot, wasn't it.

Hmm, it was about time she got back to cultivating, wasn't it?

But the question of whom, if not the Duke, attacked the fleet remained? A covert attempt by the Zun Empire? The Zun Princess had been known to employ such tactics. Perhaps she was the one who had attacked this time. Or whoever had sent the half-step Grandmaster beast during the beast wave.

Althea wondered if she had too many enemies. That information agency couldn’t come quickly enough.

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Althea sat below Pulsie's branches, her eyes closed as she thought about the things she had gleaned.

Cultivating was now a thing of accumulation, gaining knowledge about her elements and manual, that would let her reach the next stage.

The abilities of a Druid influenced land. The land and the Druid were connected. Now, she was trying to sense that connection, and through that connection, perhaps glean some knowledge.

Mana swirled around her, letting her feel its cycle. The joyful mana of the sun, running around the sky in a hurry to do its work. Althea followed, letting her mind follow the wind as it blew through Deadre.

The palace was built on top of a hill, the buildings around it built like terrace farms, the slope terraformed into steps. The wind blew through the streets, far more active than they had been months ago.

The tide had brought with it waves of refugees, seeking refuge after their homes were broken. Then the recent political climate had people migrating north to the county, hearing of the benefits she provided. But this was not the time to think about that. Now it was time to sense the wind. To travel the city with it.

The wind blew through a group of children playing, circling them as they laughed with joy. A smile drifted on Althea's face as she watched them play. A superhuman version of football, it seemed like. A version that involved pushing the ball around with mana.

Althea knew that she could use pure mana, every human could, but she hadn't tried it much if she were honest. Perhaps she should. The human cup was just around the corner, and that would involve battles. A lot of them. And she would have to come out on top. If she, the Countess Guarding Diery, could not win even the Northern Continent's championship, then it would be terrible for her reputation.

But once again, she was drifting away from the wind. The wind was to be her companion.

The wind was still circling the children, boosting their activities unprompted. Taking joy in their fun. Althea switched elements, sensing the surrounding land. The Earth wasn't active there.

Where was it active then? Althea let her senses roam, reaching for where the Earth was acting like the wind.

There, where buildings were being renovated. Where mages wiped their sweat, their cores exhausted as they pooled their mana, raising entire buildings in a matter of hours. The Earth acknowledged their effort. The sweat and blood resonated with their mana.

Fire. Was there anywhere that fire was helping people? Althea sensed across the city, sensing into cities as she stretched her mana sense to its limit. But she did not find a single instance of Fire working with anyone. Perhaps it just wasn't possible in a crowded city like this.

Water then. At the beginning, water seemed to be missing too. There just didn't seem to be any use of mana that Water supported eagerly.

Then she touched upon the river that ran close to the city. A river where people were purifying and collecting drinking water. Where workers were working to build the water pipelines that she had commissioned.

Water helped them, flowing as they wished. Althea could sense the difference. A minute, almost negligible difference, perhaps. But a difference nonetheless.

If one sought the Wind for freedom and fun, the Earth with effort, and the Water to continue life, the elements would come to their aid. The spells would flow faster, stronger as its intent resonated with the element.

Was the opposite valid too, then? Would Wind resist if she tried to capture something with it?

Althea tried her hand at it. First, she moved the wind normally, just asking for a breeze. Then she asked the wind to imprison a plant. To restrict its freedom and stop its leaves from moving around freely. The change was immediate. The wind was considerably slower to react, it’s power was restricted, as if the element was hesitant to attack.

The opposite of resonance. Mana pooled into her as she felt herself breakthrough to the next stage. There was much about this she had yet to discover, but it was clear that she was on the right path.

Communicating and understanding mana was clearly a part of what a Druid was supposed to do.

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A horse ran towards the gates of Selre, capital of the Zerolian duchy. The guards stopped the horse, its weary rider getting off the horse, his breaths heavy as he spoke his words hesitantly.

"I ha-have a l-lheter." the courier was unable to spell his words without breathes interceding, his words slurring out of exhaustion.

"What agency are you from?" the guard asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. But the bottle of water he offered belied his worry.

"The Diery couriers." the man said.

"Diery couriers?" the guard asked, mana swirling as he became more alert.

"What business have you here?"

"A letter for the Duke." the courier wheezed. "And a few others. The other couriers are dead. The noble pass claimed their lives."

The courier presented his satchel. The guard inspected it, but it was soon apparent that there was nothing within other than letters and food. The lack of water and staleness of the food made it clearer that the trip had gone for longer than it was meant to.

"Find an inn before you deliver them." the guard advised. "The nobles will not be kind if you arrive dressed like this."

"Of course." the courier said, not wheezing anymore. "There are a bunch of beasts nearby. Perhaps-"

"I shall see to it that they are dealt with." the guard replied.

The courier nodded and walked in, but he did not head to the inn. No, he went directly to a secluded palace in the city.

A mansion belonging to the Duke's third son.

The mansion's guards were more than hesitant to let the courier in, but the seal of a Viscountess made them hesitate to refuse him at the gate. The courier was finally allowed in, led to a hall where a man dressed in purple was waiting for him.

The courier handed the letter over, waiting for a reply.

The man merely glanced at the letter, glancing through it before saying other courier.

"Leave."

The courier bowed at the order, stepping away. But the resistance in his steps belied one thing: the courier knew exactly what he had delivered.

"Have the courier followed." the man ordered as soon as the courier left. "I want to see who really sent this letter."

The man sighed as he sat back onto the throne-like chair, rubbing his beard.

"A sister, huh. I wonder if she really exists. Or is simply a figment of my father’s imagination."

The letter was crushed in his fists, turning to dust under the sheer force of an Adept.