After more than three hours of marching at the slow pace of the carriage oxen, we finally arrived at one of those relay stations that lined the main roads of the kingdom every 40 miles or so.

I'd never ridden anything before except a bike, but I quickly got comfortable riding the Lynx. Maybe it was because his steps were smooth and fast, or maybe it was because up there on his back, clinging to his fluffy fur, I felt happy and protected.

We made countless small forays into the woods and then returned to the main road, while the two chariots moved at their slow pace. Along the way, he pointed out various wildlife to me, and we even startled a caravan resting in one place, scaring them half to death.

However, once I stepped down, I couldn't walk properly. My legs had a tendency to stay too wide apart, with my leg muscles sore, while he freely laughed at my bandy-legged demeanor.

In stark contrast to the lush greenery of the forest, the way station was a grey, foul-smelling, and crowded compound. It was so crowded that we could only book two rooms, and that was only because the fat innkeeper, seeing me riding what he thought was an epic mount, instantly took me for a noble lady. However, I was told that the Lynx had to stay outside with the horses and couldn't enter the living quarters.

And even then, it was only allowed if I guaranteed that he would behave and I would be liable for any costs that might occur in case he got hungry.

Well, problems were already starting to arise at the first human settlement. I started to understand the Lynx better, but what could I do? One solution would have been to camp outside and only visit these settlements during the day, but what would we do in big cities?

The Lynx shrugged and ignored the problem. He preferred to slink into the forest and promised to meet us back in the morning before we left.

The rooms were spacious enough, with several simple wooden beds that looked dirty enough to make me question the wisdom of sleeping there. While we could have all crowded into one room theoretically, Ju informed me that my status as a noblewoman required a separate room. So, I decided to allocate one room for the boys and one for the girls. This way, the boys would have their private corner for the first time in this world, and we ladies too.

As we brought Hew in on a stretcher, I noticed him scratching, and when I got close to him, I inspected him. What I saw shocked me.

"Oh, fuck me! Tom, go and get Ju. Mike, help me undress him."

As Tom left the room without asking any questions, Mike turned to me with a shocked face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, while Michael admonished me in a low voice.

"Lores, a lady doesn't speak like that..." he mumbled.

I snorted, annoyed, ignoring him, and turned towards Mike.

"Don't be so alarmed. It's just ticks. Damn ticks with magic camouflage skills, hiding well enough from view that we haven't noticed them until now."

"Ticks? Then why did you call Ju?" he wondered.

There was something off in the way he spoke. He was speaking slowly as if having difficulty concentrating. Tom had also been slow to react and move. Even when we carried Hew inside, I wondered why the two of them didn't help and let me and Alice do the work. I had thought they were just tired after the long walk in the sun, but maybe I should examine them too, once I'm done with Hew.

"Because I might inadvertently hurt him while I exterminate the pests," I explained, placing my hands on his forehead. "Damn, you have a fever too!" I sighed and turned back to Hew. "We'll have to wash him and change his clothes. Michael, please bring some fresh water!"

There was a fountain in the yard powered by some mana shard, courtesy of the innkeeper, but you had to carry your water to your room. Well, unless you were a mage, but I guess the clients here were mostly from the lower class, and there were few mages among them.

"Hew, hold still!" I urged. It was difficult to focus on the ticks if he was struggling.

"It burns..." he protested, but he stayed still now.

He was in a half-delirium again; his situation had worsened.

"We don't have any spare clothes..." Mike said just as Tom and Ju entered the room.

I sighed. "Well, then you'll have to shake the clothes outside," I shrugged. "I think I killed them all. We'll have to buy some clothes later and wash these. Ju, please heal him," I said, pointing at Hew, but there was no need to ask her, as she was already glowing, casting her spell.

Damn, it's fascinating to see her casting her healing spells as her body lights up from the inside, making her appear even more ethereal and otherworldly.

Once she was done with Hew, I turned to Mike. "How do you feel, Mike? Is something wrong?"

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"I'm just tired, maybe because I didn't sleep well," he answered.

Well, at least nothing seemed to be too bad. "Just let me check you..."

He looked bewildered and stepped back, his cheeks reddening. "I'm okay. Don't bother..."

I grabbed his hand. "Just stay still for a moment. Don't worry, you don't need to undress, and... I want to inform you that you too have ticks..."

As I was cleaning him, Ju pointed out an even bigger problem.

"He's got worms too, can you see?" she said, gesturing at his lower abdomen.

"Worms? Intestinal worms?" he asked, looking shocked.

"No. Oh, drat! Worse. Just stay still, I'll take care of it," I replied.

"These must be from the river water," Ju explained. "I must warn you, Lores will burn them off. It's going to be extremely painful."

"You really can see through clothes?" Tom wondered from his side.

"It's part of the domain," Michael explained. "She can see the insides, too..."

I nodded, while Mike was doing his best not to scream.

"That would be cool to have!" Tom chimed in as I examined him.

I gave him a sideways glance while Ju chuckled.

"You just have to gain twenty-some levels and refine your mana manipulation for a fine resolution," Ju explained patiently. "It might take thirty or forty years of training for an average gifted person."

Tom had no worms, but some larvae under his skin. He endured the cleaning, clenching his jaws but making no noise. Michael was the luckiest with only a few ticks.

I should have thought of this before and checked, but I never had this problem playing the game. Poor guys were effectively being eaten alive.

"This is just one of the problems for people without magic," Ju explained while healing Michael. "This world is so skewed in that regard!"

Luckily, my mana can function as a pest-control agent. When I will it, everything it touches is destroyed, consumed, and cauterized.

"Your magic is almost pure oblivion," a mesmerized Ju commented once we were done.

I leaned against her shoulder. This little exercise had drained my mana, and I was feeling wobbly.

I urgently need a bigger mana pool! I thought.

Okay, maybe I went a little overboard with it, but I hate pests, and once I started, I checked and cleaned the rooms, the bedding, and everything else there was.

In the evening, the Trewars set up a nice campfire outside and treated the gathered audience to a small show. They performed their fire games with torches and then built a human pyramid with three levels. Netor, a level sixteen acrobat, was Tehia's husband and Elenia's dad.

I learned that the level thirteen "thrower" was his son from a previous marriage. The boy demonstrated his accuracy at throwing knives around a smiling Elenia, who stood in front of a wooden door.

I wasn't particularly fond of that part of the spectacle, as I hate unnecessary risks, but many people found it thrilling and exciting. Especially when one knife went so close to her neck that it drew a little blood, but that was staged; she had placed the blood there herself with her fingers, feigning injury, but it had a great effect on the audience. The boy's name was Onetor, Netor's first son, and he seemed to be very attached to his half-sister.

Two kids went to collect donations from the spectators, while the other older male opened a small stand and began selling some kind of meatballs, probably made from another deer leg we recently donated to them, along with beer. His name was Gomodor, Netor's older brother.

The smell of the slowly roasting meatballs was hard to ignore and very appetizing. The prices were modest, everything was priced in copper: a meatball cost four to six copper, depending on how well you bargained and how many you bought; a quarter-liter cup of beer cost two to five copper. I also saw Tehia selling some of her medicine; it seemed to be for shudderfrost, the sickness caused by the bites of those worm-like beasts with triangular mouths that we fought in the marsh.

Marsa, Gomodor's wife, was selling charms. She was a fortune-teller. They had four kids, two older than Elenia and two younger. Tehia had another two kids, twins, a boy and a girl. They had been at the very top of the human pyramid they'd built. Marsa also helped with cooking or selling beer when needed, but Gomodor was the master cook; he was the one making and roasting the meatballs.

The show and the additional buffet was surprisingly entertaining, and the Trewars worked together like a well-oiled machine.

Our boys were resting; only Tom was out with me.

Once the show ended, Tehia came to sing. Her weathered hands, accustomed to hard work, played her mandolin surprisingly gently. She sang three lovely songs that were very much appreciated by the audience, and then, to my surprise, she gave a short speech.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you enjoyed my songs, know that they pale in comparison to the songs sung by the esteemed lady who graces us with her presence. If she would be so kind as to sing, you would truly hear what a masterpiece sounds like when sung by a real master!"

With that, she bowed, pointing at me.

I knew I should have made a run for it, but I stayed for the meatballs and beer. As all eyes turned to me, I felt like a deer in the headlights. It seemed we were involuntarily included in the Trewar show now.

I turned to look at Tom. "Are you up for a song or two? Maybe a ballad?"

"What about a soft blues?" he suggested.

I nodded. "Okay, let's sing a blues."

Oh well, the audience seemed to love it. We were enthusiastically applauded and begged to sing more. You couldn't just say no to the hundreds of pleading eyes. There was a certain charm in the air, and I didn't want to be the one to break it so soon.

When we sang Mike's ballad, Tehia tried to accompany us, and I encouraged her to do so by nodding in her direction. The songs were catchy, and we stuck to ones with easy-to-grasp melodies. The effect was impressive; soon, almost everyone at the way station was gathered around the Trewar firecamp. Just as I saw Gomodor talking with Alice to buy more meat from her, disaster struck.

A group of three brutes made their way through the crowd and stopped in front of me.

"It's your lucky day, girly. His Highness, the Viscount of Genevais, demands your presence!"