The first day of the expedition went by without problems. Adion’s group had to fight off some beasts a few times, but it was nothing they couldn’t handle. Adion had, of course, taken over Sell’s fire as soon as she let go of her control over it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an opportunity to sneak some fire away to study. The concepts wouldn’t hold forever either, as Adion hadn’t actually grasped them.

Adion was now sitting around a campfire with his team, eating dinner. It was getting dark, and they would spend the night there, along with the other mages who had joined the expedition.

“Wouldn’t it be a good idea for Sell to just ask what they are after?” Rufus asked, “It seems to be the easiest way to get an answer. That Alan seemed more than happy to share everything.”

“He might just be lying,” Adion said, “I can just use my trick and listen in on their conversation.”

“Can you do that all the way from here?” Benji asked.

“No,” Adion shook his head, “I would have to be within 300 feet of them.”

“How are you going to do that without raising suspicion?” Benji asked.

“I’ll just say I’m out taking a walk if anyone asks,” Adion said.

“Taking a walk after a day of walking?” Benji asked, raising his eyebrow mockingly.

“I’ll say I’m looking for Mashi then, whatever,” Adion said.

“Didn’t we agree that we should wait?” Sahra asked.

“We can wait to take any action, but information is always good to have. It will help us make a more informed decision. And it’s not like they can discover me,” Adion said.

Unless I screw up and accidentally teleport.

“Alright,” Sahra shrugged, “I think it should be fine, no?”

“I guess so,” Benji nodded, “Can you go with him, Sell? It might be easier to deal with anyone wanting to ask any questions with you around.”

“Sure,” Sell nodded.

“Let’s go,” Adion said and got up.

The two headed off in the direction of the Derolm family part of the camp.

“So what is this trick that makes you able to spy on people?” Sell asked, “Is that how you knew Alan was approaching before you saw him? And how you were convinced there wasn’t a Soul mage within 300 feet yesterday?”

“You know,” Adion turned to look at her, “You’re very nosy for a princess.”

“Well, you’re very weird for some guy,” Sell retorted.

“Fair enough,” Adion couldn’t help but smile, “I have a very good spatial awareness. I’ve had it since I was a kid. My grandfather helped me hone it by blindfolding me and throwing stuff at me, mostly plums. I’ve gotten quite good at sensing the mana around me by now. And things moving around me at a distance of about 300 feet have a hard time escaping my notice. I just recently learned a way to train my senses a little more, so if I really focus, I can listen in and spy on anything happening as long as it’s not too far away.”

“Oh,” Sell said, “I didn’t know you could train like that. Can you show me? I want to see if I could do it too.”

“Sure,” Adion nodded, “If you let me study your fire.”

“Deal,” Sell smiled, “But don’t think you will have a chance to match my fire anytime soon. As long as I can remember, all I’ve ever thought about is fire. So don’t get too depressed if you don’t notice any results.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Adion said.

Should I tell her what I know about the burning of Iitha? It might be helpful to her, and it’s not any secret I need to keep. But her parents must know, right?

“Sorry, what happened in Iitha, by the way,” Adion said, “The burning, I mean.”

“Oh? Thanks,” Sell said, “It caused heavy losses to our Kingdom, and it’s been a very uneasy couple of years following that.”

“I’ve heard. Do you…know who did it?” Adion asked.

“No?” Sell said, “Why? Do you?”

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “I found out recently that it was that organization I told you about, Heavenly Light. I don’t know why they did it, but I have some papers that should prove they were involved. But I guess your parents must know even if you don’t?”

“What? Why?” Sell was confused, “Just who are they? What do they want?”

“I wish I knew,” Adion said.

“Haaah,” Sell sighed, “Well, like you said, I’m sure Mom and Dad already know about it. It’s not for me to worry about.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll get what they deserve eventually,” Adion said. He then noticed they were close enough to the big tent where Harran and his men should be dining.

“It might be hard to focus while walking. Let’s stand behind this tree here, and I’ll try to see if I can find something out.” Adion said before closing his eyes and focusing on the space in the tent. He grabbed hold of a part of it with his Authority and infused his Will in the space mana there.

Focusing to sense his surroundings from that place instead of where he actually was without accidentally teleporting took some effort. But Adion had trained teleportation and his eavesdropping plenty of times by now.

“I doubt it. She didn’t seem to be interested in anything about what we were after,” Adion heard Alan’s voice say.

Oh? Looks like I managed to catch them at a good time.

“Would someone of her status be allowed to simply come unattended to the Outskirts and accept missions from 1st-tier families? I bet those Tyllen bastards have a hand in this. You have to think about these things, Alan. If we manage to get our hands on a Merillian Soul Peach, our branch of the family will soar to match the matriarch’s. I doubt we will keep hiding our strength by that point, and you can’t keep being this naive if you want to survive.” Harran spoke to his younger brother.

A Merillian Soul Peach?

“Okay, brother,” Alan said in a low voice, “So what should we do?”

“I don’t know, we can’t be reckless either. If this valley contains a whole tree of Merillian soul Peaches, it would be enough to entice even the most powerful of Noble families. We can’t let that princess catch wind of it.” Harran said.

“Would it really interest someone of her status?” Alan questioned.

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“Of course it would,” Harran said, “I’m sure news will reach Ellia soon, and then even the Imperial family might send out a team here to investigate.”

“It’s that valuable?” Alan asked, shocked, “So if it really is a whole tree, wouldn’t our family…”

“We might get more Soul mages than even the Imperial family,” Harran finished.

“But why isn’t everyone looking for it? What about the Tyllen family?” Alan asked.

“I’m not sure what they’re up to. They would have surely heard news of this by now. There were quite a few witnesses when the Outskirts Guild found remains of the fruit in a beast that was brought in. Perhaps this princess of Iitha has something to do with their plans?” Harran mused.

“You think they have people following?” Alan asked.

“It’s very possible,” Harran said, “But why would the princess show herself so openly? Something is off. The only thing we can do is keep our eyes open. And when we get close to our destination, we should send some scouts, people we trust. Once we find what we’re looking for, I’ll lead the Outskirters to some other place to distract potential followers. As long as there are no beasts guarding the tree that our family can’t handle alone. Gah! This is so complicated. Father should have sent at least a Gold with us. No one would have known.”

“We have quite a few witnesses here. I’m sure someone would have known,” Alan put in.

“You’re right,” Harran sighed, “I guess this was for the best. No need for unnecessary risks.”

“So what do we do exactly?” Alan asked.

“Let’s see the situation once we’re close. I’ll make a decision based on the circumstances we find ourselves in then. No need to plan anything for now, but we should keep an eye on the princess.” Harran said.

“I could offer to join her team,” Alan said, “I could say I need the experience. Surely they wouldn’t refuse.”

“That’s good,” Harran said, “It will be good training for you too, just be careful.”

“Of course,” Alan said.

Ugh, we’ll have to deal with that guy? But this is interesting. I don’t know what these Merillan Soul Peaches are, but it sounds like they’re very precious.

Adion opened his eyes and let go of his hold over the space in the tent.

“Let’s go,” Adion said to Sell.

“Okay. What did you find out?” Sell asked.

“I’ll tell you once we get…wait. Oh damn, that fool is coming here,” Adion said.

“What fool?” Sell asked, but she realized who Adion meant as she spotted Alan walking over.

“Oh? What a pleasant surprise, Princess Sellitha. What are you doing here? Did you decide to accept my offer to join us for dinner?” Alan asked as he walked up to the two.

“No,” Sell shook her head, “We were just looking for our acquaintance, Mashi.”

“Oh,” Alan nodded. He then looked up at Adion with a scrutinizing look, “And this is…who again?”

“I’m Adion,” Adion said, “I helped you up earlier, remember? When you fell down?”

“Right, right,” Alan coughed in his hand, a little embarrassed. Adion thought he could see a small smile on Sell’s face.

“You didn’t get hurt, did you?” Adion continued.

“No,” Alan forced out an awkward smile, “Well, that Mashi guy is over there,” Alan pointed out the direction.

“Right, thanks,” Adion said and headed off with Sell. He couldn’t just go back to his team now that Sell had said they were looking for Mashi after all. Adion was fine with being annoying in Alan’s eyes, but there was no reason to be suspicious.

“Why does he keep calling you Sellitha?” Adion asked, “Is that your name?”

“What? Oh, yes. Sell is a nickname. Basically only my family calls me Sell. I just didn’t introduce myself as Sellitha because it would give away my identity.” Sell explained.

“It would?” Adion asked.

“Maybe not to you, but to a lot of people,” Sell said, “Anyway, are we going back to the group?”

“Might as well say hello to Mashi first,” Adion said, “We are supposed to be looking for him after all.”

“Alright,” Sell nodded.

“By the way, do you know why they wouldn’t send any Golds or Diamonds on the expedition? This is the Derolm family, after all. They should have plenty of those mages to spare for something this important,” Adion said.

“They would be punished by the Imperial family if they did that. Depending on the circumstances, their entire family might be eradicated,” Sell said.

“What? Why?” Adion asked.

“I’m not too sure about the details, but at least in Iitha, there is a deal with the Soul beasts of the Black Mountains. Soul beasts are just as intelligent as elves and humans, and neither side sees the benefit of having a Diamond mage or beast appearing and killing the Bronzes of the other side. It would just make both sides take unnecessary losses. So, certain areas are marked for people and beasts of a certain strength.

“Of course, the occasional mage or beast one stage higher might appear; that’s unavoidable. But should the Derolm family send Golds and Diamonds in an expedition to an area of Silvers, it would definitely anger the Soul beasts that someone in a higher stage slaughtered their Silvers. The Imperial family might have to send the heads of the Derolm family to calm the situation down and keep it from escalating.” Sell explained.

“Oh,” Adion said, “I see, that makes sense. I knew beasts weren’t very interested in killing weaker beings, unless for food. But I still had the idea of the Outskirts being more of an ongoing war.”

“It is an ongoing war,” Sell said, “But not a desperate one. The current situation suits both sides very well. No one at the Soul stage wants to get involved in throwing the area into chaos. It’s much preferable to have the war for land in this controlled manner. The side with the stronger and plentier mages of each stage will get to take over more land.”

“Hm,” Adion nodded, “But it feels like it’s always sapi expanding their land, and never the other way around.”

“That’s the case at most times,” Sell said, “But it has happened that beasts retake an area from sapi. It might even happen here. I heard that Silver beasts are appearing deeper and deeper into the Empire. In a few years or decades, Dorbarta and the other cities around here might be under the control of beasts.”

“Hm, I guess you’re right,” Adion said, “Makes it seem important to have strong mages of all stages.”

“It is,” Sell nodded, “That’s why scholars and teachers are so respected, and why academies are so common.”

“Seems like a waste to not educate all the non-mages with sparks out there then,” Adion said.

“Well, I guess,” Sell said, “But most people like them only get to Bronze once they're old, too old to think about hunting in the Outskirts, so it might not make that much difference.”

“Well, thanks for the lesson,” Adion said. He was already lucky to be on a team with two people who had graduated from Cyalis. And now a princess with a lot of knowledge was sharing what might otherwise be difficult to find out.

“How about you teach me something in return?” Sell asked, looking at him intently with those ruby-red eyes.

“What would that be?” Adion asked, confused. He didn’t hold that much knowledge. At least not that Sell could know he knew.

“How can you hold control over fire so long?” She asked.

Oh, of course, she would notice.

“Haah,” Adion sighed. He really didn’t want to say ‘secret’ again. Besides, she had already noticed what he could do. He might as well make up a reason for it, “Remember that I said part of why I was so talented was because I was lucky?”

Sell nodded her head excitedly.

“Well, I found a treasure when I was twelve. That treasure made it possible for me to control fire much longer than everyone else. It can’t be too much, though, but if it’s the size of a fist, the Will of the world won’t fight me very much.” Adion explained.

“Wow!” Sell exclaimed, “I’m so jealous! What kind of treasure was it? Where did you find it?”

“Let’s talk about that another day,” Adion said, “That’s Mashi over there. It’s kind of a secret, so I hope you won’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t really have anyone to tell it to. Thanks for telling me,” Sell said with a smile.

If I knew you’d smile like that, I would have told you more. Adion thought to himself, but quickly snapped out of his daze.

Wait, that’s not good. She’s still a princess—a Royal. And I don’t know much about her. I don’t have to lie, but I should really be better at keeping secrets. What the hell, why did I just tell her that? Couldn’t I just have denied it? I didn’t mention the pills or Authority, but she can put a lot of stuff together. Maybe she already knows about this strange power from some Royal secret knowledge stuff?

“Adion?” Sell tilted her head worriedly, “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Adion snapped out of his thoughts and answered.

I guess this will let me study her fire more comfortably. I’ll have to be more careful going forward, though.