“There you are,” greeted Nadine cheerfully when she saw Alissa walk through the door of the inn they had been staying at for the past week. The Fifth Royal Princess and Maribel had been seated around one of the tables in the inn’s large communal room that doubled as a tavern when Alissa entered, and waved their hands to catch her attention. “Had thought you’d end up enjoying yourself in your books and forget that we’d be leaving today.”

“Puh-lease, I’m not that much of a bookworm, and besides, I think this’ll be the last library I get to see for the next couple of months, so got to make the best of it while I can, you know?” replied Alissa with a nonchalant smile. Some part of her felt guilty about keeping her meetings with Esperanza a secret from Nadine and Maribel, but her more rational side knew that was the right thing to do, since there was no way to gauge how those two would react to Esperanza’s existence in general.

While Alissa felt that Nadine and Maribel were more open-minded compared to most people she met in Ephemera – probably courtesy to the better education they received during their youth – they were still people who had been raised on stories that pretty much placed the old gods and their worshipers as taboo and heretical, if they even heard of such stories at all.

Even if many of the Ephemeran locals never even heard of the old gods, however, the doctrine of the new ones was most definitely not one that would accept any sort of rival, so their reaction to having their worldview challenged might range from being overly defensive to absurd violence.

It was something she had seen and experienced for herself in her previous world. How some kindly people might suddenly turn into screeching harpies when the beliefs they held to be true for their entire life were brought into question. Even when the question was a logical one and there was little to no proof for said beliefs.

Alissa had learned to just keep her mouth shut instead. Far too often it was not worth the trouble to confront such people. Unfortunately, in Ephemera keeping her mouth shut might not even be an option for her, as she needed to find out whether what Esperanza alleged about the ritual supposed to return them was true or not. She had a feeling that it would not be easy to pry the truth to that situation, one way or another.

Instead, she chose to keep quiet while she learned and observed more about the situation. Perhaps some of the people she knew might be receptive to the idea that their gods were not the benevolent, almighty beings they have been taught all their lives. She knew that some people, like Sir Inolet and Sir Marsten, were clearly no lover of the temple, though she was as of yet uncertain whether that dislike also translated to the actual teachings as well or just to the bureaucracy instead.

Either way, those were thoughts for the future. At the moment, Alissa was packing up her meager belongings – a few changes of clothes, mostly, as well as her weapon and armor – to prepare for travel. She wore the artifact cloth that worked as her inner armor directly on top of her clothes for the past week she had been in town, so she was not exactly unarmed and unarmored while she was going around.

If she wore her armor for the trip back, it would actually feel lighter. Armor was designed in such a way so as to distribute its weight equally over her body, which made it less tiresome to wear than to carry in a bag like she did. It was pretty warm out, however, and armor would make that warmth far worse with how it traps the heat, so Alissa chose to pack up her armor and just carry it slung over her shoulder in a bag tied to her spear instead.

The route was pretty much safe and she would still wear her inner cloth armor anyway, so a little more comfort wouldn’t be too bad to have.

As Alissa walked downstairs from her room, she noticed that Maribel and Nadine had similarly already brought their packed belongings with them in bags slung behind their shoulders. Clearly the three of them thought alike and favored having some more comfort for the trip rather than wear their armor for the route.

They paid the last of their bills with the innkeeper and said their goodbyes, before they walked out of the inn and headed south, towards the town’s south gate. The next batch of soldiers on break had already arrived in town in the afternoon, as the previous batch – the one Alissa, Nadine, and Maribel was part of – already left in the morning.

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It was not long before the three of them left the city through the south gate, and the girls stopped for a bit just outside the gate, a bit to the side from the lines formed by people and wagons that were entering the city. The three of them stretched their bodies and flexed their muscles for a bit, especially their legs, and made sure that the bundles they carried sat comfortably and securely behind their backs, before they looked at each other and nodded.

Then all three girls took off in a sprint, running so fast that the wind caused their hair to cascade like banners behind their heads while whooping loudly in excitement.

If there was one thing Alissa liked the most out of her experience in Ephemera so far, it was the way the world’s system of stats and attributes truly enhanced her body. She was a track and field athlete before she switched to basketball, and the feeling of running with the wind on her face was always something she enjoyed greatly during those times.

Ever since she was summoned to Ephemera, she found that she could run faster and longer than ever before, reaching speeds that would have broken world records in her previous world with ease and performing other feats that would have likely been considered superhumanly. Even after months, the thrill and excitement she felt when she did something like that had yet to fade, probably furthered along by the way she was still growing in prowess as well.

Clearly, Nadine and Maribel shared some of her feelings, as while they did not whoop and cheer as loudly – perhaps out of a sense of decorum – they too clearly had excited looks on their faces as they ran along and tried to catch up to Alissa. The two of them had classes that were inferior to hers, which meant that they had less stats, but they also focused more on their Body attribute compared to Alissa’s rather more balanced build with a slant to Body, so the three were pretty close to each other in speed.

Of course, even for them, it would be rather unsustainable to keep up the speed they used in the sprint all the way to the fort nearly half a day away. They slowed down after a while – though by then Clearridge was pretty much reduced to a smudge on the distant horizon – and went for a more relaxed jog that still ate up ground faster than most people running at full speed would achieve.

“Always nice to be able to let loose every once in a while, eh?” asked Alissa while they jogged relaxedly. The three of them had enough attributes to maintain such a pace for hours on end without issue, other than pauses for things like bathroom breaks or the like. If they kept that pace up, they would likely reach the fort that very night, around the time the soldiers from their batch returned.

“I was a bit skeptical when you first mentioned it back then, but now I am definitely a fan of the idea,” replied Nadine with a smile and a nod. Most people with high Body attributes often had to restrain themselves to some extent in everyday situations out of concern for other people around them. It was far too easy for them to accidentally swing their arm or leg a little too hard and accidentally hit someone otherwise, which might well cause serious injuries or even death.

It was a bigger problem for those who had less fine control over their power. The three of them were the sort who focused on keeping themselves in full control, so they did not face that issue overmuch, but even so they too had to restrain themselves quite a bit when they were in town, mostly for the sake of other people around them.

Even during battles they often had to restrain themselves a bit to avoid accidental collateral damage to their own allies. It was rare for a situation to develop where they would be able to use their full power freely, as that would imply that they had no allies around them at such a time. It was an often frustrating limitation to deal with.

Which was why Alissa had suggested to Nadine and Maribel – and many others through Ethan as well – to let loose every once in a while. Running on the road between Clearridge and the fort was a good way to do that. Once they distanced themselves from the city – easily enough done on the sides of the actual road – the traffic on the road greatly diminished, which made it safe for them to run and jog at high speed through the road itself.

The three girls chatted relaxedly while they jogged through the road at high speed, at times grabbing some snacks from their packs to munch on. It was easy for them to eat while running at the same time, what with the improved coordination their physical bodies possess as their attributes kept increasing higher and higher.

At times they had to swerve around some wagons that were headed to the city or the fort, and the girls would cheerfully wave at the surprised occupants of said wagon as they either overtook them rapidly or flashed past. It might be a bit of a surprise for the people in the wagon, but otherwise it was just a bit of harmless amusement for everyone involved, and those who saw them would have stories to tell others in exchange.

As they expected, they made good speed, and as the sun set and the night began to set in, they continued unabated in their path. While none of the three possessed a true form of night vision, their vision had become far more acute than before and they were quite capable of seeing to some extent in the dark. As such, traveling in the night no longer possessed much of an obstacle.

Even the light from the moons and the stars were plenty for them to navigate with, and the road itself made for an easy guideline for them to follow to their destination.

The girls actually caught up to the wagons that carried the soldiers from their batch around a mile from Fort Ixlay, and waved to them as they passed, which the soldiers returned with raucous cheers. Even if the soldiers might not be able to tell their actual identities in the dark, from the speed and ease with which they overtook the convoy of wagons, it was obvious that the three were powerful people, and most if not all of the soldiers present likely owed their lives to the powerful fourth tiers that fought alongside them in the fort back then.

As such it was only natural for them to cheer on their heroes.

From where they met the soldiers, it was only another five minutes or so before Alissa’s group reached the fort once more. She heard that the fort would likely be christened Fort Silvia, after the girl who gave her life in its defense. It was a nice gesture, one that Alissa could appreciate, yet a rather empty one at the same time.

Getting things named after you wouldn’t bring you back from the dead, after all.