Elrhain rested his chin on his arms while they dangled on the windowsill. He extended a palm out, enjoying the flow of the summer breeze up high. The birds all around chirped in joy as the manna rich fresh air nurtured both prey and predators.

The insects dutifully went about their day collecting grub and greens, while the critters dutifully chomped the tiny bugs up. The fish in the lake swam happily, and the gheists in the forest warred with newfound resolve.

Their howls would sometimes even reach a hundred miles out, until it finally managed to annoy little Elrhain's ears, making him wish for a pair of noise-cancelling buds.

Outside and down below the mountain, a long line of beasts continuously entered the Lochuir township.

Both the beasts and their masters were weary from their long travels. Their complexion barren while their bodies unclean with sweat, dust, mud and grime.

But even then, Elrhain could easily discern the different styles of their kilts and pelts, not to mention the unique features the dhionne themselves possessed. Some wore hide cloaks, some draped leaf robes. Some had wings of butterflies, and others had tails of tigers.

Each ethnic group—the best way he could rationalize their varied biology in his mind, gathered together, keeping a distance from the others.

They hung swaths of beast skin banners and flags from long sticks, poles, and stone handles, with many totems and symbols painted on them.

Along with their peculiarity, the flags denoted the identity of their tribes, houses, or masters. The stronger groups even had the luxury to flaunt their achievements to others, hanging giant gheist fangs and bones on the poles.

Elrhain noticed another detail about the banners with his extraordinary vision.

The only thing one group’s banner had in common with the others was the large Earthloch insignia, a rising obsidian spire on a background of a lake of blue and mountains of green. They were painted in one of the most eye-catching places, shadowing even the symbols of the dhionne’s own houses.

Other symbols of the Earthloch Siorrakty were also weaved on the dhionne’s attires, burnt onto their beasts of burden’s fur, or even branded on their bodies as sigils.

It denoted their other identity, the one that had made them answer the summons to the Lochuir valleys.

They were the servants, freemen, and nobles loyal to the Earthloch clan.

Most of them travelled from far corners of the vast clan dominion, bringing their families, valuables and food, to tide through what was to come.

Others were called back from all over Uoris Diosca, telling them of the dangers the clan faced and the opportunities to be reaped from it.

A cry of a bird resounded with the flap of wings that followed, prompting Elrhain to lazily turn his head.

Three mountains over, another party of dhionnes mounting fliers—various giant flying gheists, left the peak to the horizon beyond.

「Still counting their numbers?」Someone rocked the wooden stool Elrhain stood on, and he almost had a heart attack.

The boy looked down to see Agwyn’s mischievous smile. He glared at the pigtailed imp and kicked her way, but the little girl snapped her head away faster than his leg with a peal of bell-like laughter.

「It’s not like I have better things to do.」, Elrhain grumbled. 「It’s already been a month since the adults stuffed us in this dull courtyard.」

Agwyn pushed another stool beside him. The little girl huffed as she got on, then breathed in the crisp air that entered through the window.

「Mommy did tell us we’ll be able to go out soon during yesterday’s dinner. They’ve almost sorted out the mess outside. She said from now, the Lochuir entrance will be more organized.」 Agwyn whistled, scanning her eyes over the long line. Something prickled Elrhain’s mind — an inconvenience that appeared every time they shared each other’s senses.

「How many today?」

「About four hundred so far. I bet the number will go over a thousand before nightfall.」 Elrhain counted with his tiny fingers. 「So that makes about twenty thousand since the ritual? I didn’t count the first few days, though, so I can’t be sure.」

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「Ey, it’s gonna get more cramped. I don’t like the noise they make at night.」 Agwyn winced.

As if to prove her words, a fight broke out in the middle of the line between two groups. It didn’t take long before even the elderly and children joined in by flinging mud, rocks, and anything they could get their hands on at the opponents.

The watches on duty rushed over and started shouting colourful expletives. Five minutes later, a few young men and women from both groups were beaten black and blue, forcefully bringing an end to the fight.

The watches kept a close guard in the vicinity for a few more minutes, giving the groups a loud earful of threats, which made all of the perpetrators pale significantly, before letting them join the line again.

This was the third dispute since morning.

An episode like this would not refuse any dhionne group entry. Because it was the clan who had called upon them to unite their strengths in the first place. Earthloch needed all the muscle and manpower they could afford for the imminent collapse. What were a few rowdy younglings? They could contribute more if the clan could direct their rage upon the gheists.

Agwyn scrunched up her nose as she witnessed all that, then started biting her nails.

「After you went to sleep yesterday, daddy said it will take a whole cycle for everyone to arrive. But an Uoris Diosca cycle is like, um, three thousand days? At this rate, that’s like three million more dhionne being stuffed inside this one valley.」

「I don’t think so. Wasn’t grandpa debating building more huts and longhouses on other mountains with the big guy? They will probably just expand the residential areas.」

「That’s good. Come to think of it, the clan has two-and-a-half dhionne for every lake, according to Auntie Lilian. Then this degree of immigration won’t continue for long, right?」

Elrhain nodded.

「I reckon the ones living within the borders of the Siorrakty should make up the vast majority of that population. If what Lilian said was right, that’s only two hundred and fifty thousand heads. They should arrive within a season at the current rate. 」

He then pointed to a few eye-catching travellers in the line. They either stood alone or only with a small party. Each had scary-looking weapons and a battle-hardened disposition. The typical dhionne groups usually gave them a wide berth, except the oddly curious children.

「Those are the disc-walkers. They wander all over Uoris Diosca in search of power, fame and adventure. In fact, they do look like adventurers from fantasy video games and RPGs. What do you think?」

Agwyn excitedly nodded her head. 「Do you think we can be one when we grow up?」

But she drooped her shoulders a second later, 「Mommy said the collapse will last for a hundred cycles at the least. Hells, first the courtyard, now this! Is my second life going to be one detention after another?」

「Eh, stop whining. Speaking of a hundred cycles,」Elrhain chided her, then placed a finger on his temples thoughtfully.

「Will we still be alive by then? Well, you will, since everyone’s praising you for all those talents in cultivation thingies and—Wait, wait, I will be too, okay? I can come up with some uber cultivation technique using Earth science that suits me perfectly, so don’t cry!」

After cooing the girl for what felt like hours, she finally unburied her face from her palms. Agwyn quickly wiped the snot and tears away with the hemp of her robe. Her smile was both shy and forced.

These days, Elrhain wondered if Agwyn let her young body dictate too many of her actions. Talking to her was like walking on a tightrope sometimes.

Elrhain coughed to clear his throat before bringing her attention back to the disc-walkers again.

「As I was saying, I bet your father calculated how long most of the disc-walkers would take to return when he said one whole cycle. They first have to learn about the word of the collapse from wherever they were, then make their way back tens of thousands of kilometres by foot or by beast. That reminds me,」

Agwyn’s eyes were still a bit misty and red. But the girl tried hard not to show her inner emotions. She was now peering intently at some Brachiosaurus-like gheists, their heads moving out of the canopy like scrawny shark fins slicing the sea.

「Will the clan close the borders after this cycle?」

Agwyn shook her head. 「I don’t know. But I don’t think so. Daddy said that the Manna-rioghs will go berserk come next summer. That the gheistrums roaming outside will be too dangerous for lone travellers to cross the mountains. So if they can actually make the journey in such conditions, there’s no reason to turn them away.」

Elrhain rubbed his nose. An aroma of roast meat and fruit drifted up with the wind. Some groups were preparing their meals on makeshift firepits.

‘Any disc-walker who can fight their way back is a tremendous asset. Still,’ He tried to guess what kind of meat was being roasted. It smelled like both beef and tuna.

‘I can’t believe we actually caused all of this. Or maybe it was just Agwyn. As much as she likes to deny it, she’s the one who literally received 99.999% of the gifts. Not that I am pushing the blame on her….’

A visage of a friendly old man flashed past Elrhain’s mind at the thought, ‘Grandpa Thundham says it was mainly me though….delusional old man.’

He had a hard time accepting that claim. Most of the Earthloch clan nobles attributed the rift in the sky that night to Agwyn alone, and he somewhat agreed with that sorry lot.

Lilian's clever manipulation shifted the ‘merit’ partially to Elrhain, primarily because of how heated the crowd was during her speech on the night of the ritual. They just wanted to hear good things back then, like a pep talk before the apocalypse.

Elrhain didn’t know how long that diversion would last. People tended to turn merits into faults when things don’t go the way they hoped. They might still attribute the good things to Agwyn just because she was the princess. As for the bad stuff….

A former servant’s child like him, whose family was ennobled under mysterious circumstances, was the perfect scapegoat. He’d been blamed for less in his past life.