A tiny plop rhythmically sounded back in the hut, but given the much heavier rain, I was very pleased with my work. Keeping the fire within fed, the winds that made it through the gaps in the wall were repelled by the warmth. Ria looked comfortable enough, albeit in a mild fugue as usual.

As there were few things to actually do inside, I alternated between channeling Negative Energy and directing my grave shadows. Having seen the mana fields of the clerics, the movement of the different elements within drew my curiosity more. They clearly showed an imbalance in their attributes, and I wondered if it was due to an affinity or if it could be cultivated.

Accidentally ending up only able to use a single aspect of magic was not appealing to me; becoming too much of a specialist limited the options further down the line. However, from experience I learned that all types of mana were interchangeable, merely at different efficiencies. That made taking the chance much less risky.

Cycling the Negative Energy about through my own mana field, attempting to control its form and movements was not going well. No games of Ibokuri any time soon—I was more or less limited to coating myself in an aura or emitting a flame.

Whenever I ran out of mana, I would switch to working on controlling my grave shadows. Numerically, they paled before the unholy legion I commanded yesterday, however distance was the real factor I wanted to work on improving. The grave shadow’s need to be within the radius of control to function(though admittedly that limitation had not been pressed to its outermost limits) and it needed to be utilized to its fullest potential. There may have been a very small chance of them accompanying us on our journey, if only there was a way to keep them out of sight.

Well, despite having an idea for the future, saying doesn’t make it so. Only small increments of progress were made. So long as I kept moving forward it would be fine though. For the moment I only hoped to waste time productively.

At some point, looking away from the multitude of threads between myself and the grave shadows, I noticed the clerics were by themselves. Swiveling about, I searched for the relatively plain mana field that represented Pan.

Distinguishing the villagers by their mana fields alone wasn’t something that could be managed with the vague information gave; using one sense isn’t how humans operate though. Everything is taken in with regards to prior knowledge; with a mental map of the village and the people’s habits in mind, deducing which Pan was didn’t take much effort.

Since it was warm enough inside and the members of the church were more than content to stay hidden in the houses, I left Ria without any worries. Stepping out into the rain, my clothes which slightly dried instantly grew soggy again.

Tugging at my shirt, it clung uncomfortably. Sopping wet, the fabric chafed—it wasn’t that the clothes given to me were bad, or that I particularly minded, but it felt so simple. Creature comforts like wicking shirts with their silky textures were something I was beginning to miss. Maybe if there were countries with better means of production I could try something out. No rush to push everyone out of the medieval fantasy era, but some nicer clothes would be good.

Moving quickly to Pan’s home, mud under my bare feet. Forget shoes in such crappy weather, running over soft, yielding ground felt quite comfortable. Nothing like a good squish squish squish while stretching your legs; with there wasn’t even any worry about tracking mud inside the house. Pan kept his abode clean enough that you would actually be able to tell if dirt was tracked inside.

Knocking on the door, Rion’s mana field got up to open it. Giving me a strange look, he simply opened the door all the way. The village didn’t have a habit of knock, greet, then enter; for the most part you just walked in to say what you needed to, so long as it was daytime. Everyone knew everyone and there wasn’t any meaning to wasting each other’s time with a call and response routine. No knock-knock jokes here.

The interior of the house was much nicer than my own residence. Constant maintenance gave it an older and well-worn feel instead of one of dilapidation. A hearth with an uneasily thin stone border sat against one wall. It seemed to be made of more mortar than true rock, probably made of reclaimed materials. Compared to the other shacks, the permanency still gave Pan’s house a dignified aura.

Sitting at a predictably simple and sturdy table, Pan currently cheerfully stitched away at a tunic similar to my own. After tying off his current thread, he looked up with a smile. What oddly intact teeth he had, maybe there was flouride in the water.

“Good news, you don’t need to be leaving just yet. The Clerics informed me that those responsible for collecting our tribute to the church will likely take a few more days before arriving. With the storm worsening the condition of the road, there is plenty of time.”

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He happily reasoned that a few more days would be of no consequence to the date of departure. Sure I wanted to stay, and it did warrant a breath of relief, but Pan looked a bit too celebratory. Usually he acted as his stature indicated, excessively average, with few distinguishing features, and a dependable-yet-flat mind for analysis. Seeing him puff out his chest, no matter how slightly, was out of character.

“I’m glad we can spend a bit more time here. Still, we shouldn’t push it too far back. Getting caught off guard like today was a bit worrying.”

“That...is correct.” Lowering his head while slightly fumbling a response, Pan only started to speak again when his son interrupted.

“Hey, don’t don’t rush out of here! You can keep staying some more!” The brat spoke up emphatically, throwing his hands down on the table. “Ria can be here a little longer, can’t she? You’re always saying to take care of, uh, naysen.”

“Pfft. it’s *onee-san*, brat.” Knocking him on the head, Rion gave me a scowl. “Look, I told you before, she can’t get better here. There’s aren’t many sources of arcane power in the area. Unless you want her to only be awake a few minutes a day, Ria needs to head to a place where she can be properly treated.”

“But she doesn’t want to go!”

“Calm down Rion. There really isn’t anything more our village can offer to her. Preparations have been underway for quite some time now. Have faith, Alric knows what he’s doing.” Chastising his son, Pan unintentionally hit me with some stray verbal fire.

Hey, I’m not going to correct you, and I promise I’m going to accomplish this—but please stop thinking I have some sort of big plan. It makes me feel like I’m lying. Which I am not, by the way, you are just unreasonably interpreting things.

“Yeah, have faith.” I coughed, and readjusted my ponytail. “Besides, in my most recent foray into the forest, the *mana* of the world and I connected. The magic bestowed upon me will make the journey much easier. No need to worry at all.” It’s not a lie, it’s creative leeway.

Rion...growled a little at me, before moving to the other side of one of the partitions to his room. In response, I just shrugged to Pan, kids can be weird sometimes. Well, I wasn’t hoping to get into a real argument with him anyway. At least it seemed he wasn’t at the level of following us out of the village. That wouldn’t be a good outcome.

“Are you reconsidering?” I asked. Turning away from the what-ifs and could-bes, Pan continued to look a bit reticent. Watching his face while he dealt with Rion gave enough clues, of course he could be experiencing some doubt.

“No.” The village chief paused, having trouble with his words that evening. “No, if she is to get better, Ria needs to leave the village. If not for you, I doubt she would have even been able to hold on so long. No one could force you to stay by her side for life; it’s clear that even if you do find peace in this place, it is not meant for you.

“Every time you return from the forest, you exert more...pressure. Whatever it is you follow, it does not belong in a small place like this. I realize that there must be many things I can not understand about you, and despite what my father taught me, the world is too big for me to grasp as well. There must be dangers unimaginable.

“How could sending Ria on such a journey not tear at me? But keeping her here will do no good...I can only thank the Patriarch that you willingly have chosen to escort her. Of all the powers that walk the earth, one has decided to save my daughter for paltry recompense. Whatever the risks may be, I see that more than any other, you will shield her along the path that can give Ria her life back. One where she can pursue her dreams on her own once more.” Carrying on, Pan’s voice choked up. “No, I’m not reconsidering. Only anxious for the day she can be whole again.”

Slightly glistening from the firelight, his brown eyes misted over, and he surreptitiously wiped a them with his shoulder.

“Hey, no need to get worked up. Taking it to such lengths was my choice, I came up with it on my own. This is just how I do things.” Moving up to using two hands to adjust my hair as a distraction, watching Pan get emotional was...well emotional. I didn’t well up with tears like him, but I couldn’t just sit there stoically, so I did my best to get him to turn off the waterworks.

“I do want her, and you as well, to stay as long as possible, but I know that is mere selfishness on my part. I’ll make sure that you are prepared to leave by the day after tomorrow. The Clerics and Paladins will have already set off by then, and leaving then will give you perhaps a day or two separation from the incoming tax collectors. It should also give some time for the other folk to calm down as well.”

So pretty much a two day prep time, or rather, 42 hour prep time before departure.

“I too would like to continue to delay my departure, but I agree it is better to leave sooner rather than later. I should prepare then. There are a few messes I’ve made that I need to go clean up. Stay dry.”

Giving each other little nods, I dashed back out into the rain. Through the thick clouds, telling the time wasn’t easy. Some point in late evening, it didn’t particularly matter, considering all my obligations had been rained out. That meant there was plenty of time to begin wrapping things up.

I started by heading to my hut, where I fed Ria an early dinner. Complaining a bit as usual, I kept my poker face on and didn’t reveal anything was up. It was a toss up for whether that would make things worse two days hence, but I preferred to avoid dealing with Ria putting her all into her venomous speech. At least for the moment, I wanted to wrap things up peacefully.

Conking out, after being fed mana, Ria entered a state of total unresponsiveness. From observation, it seemed to turn into regular sleep after an indeterminate amount of time. Watching her sleep was pretty boring, so I wasn’t very rigorous about marking down the duration. Even so, that gave me at least a quarter of an hour to clean up all the junk that gradually accumulated. My Inventory was almost full, but after heavy internal debate, I decided to dump some of the training rocks I used with Tagalong Girl.

Speaking of her, I would inform her on the morrow. With the rain, training was cancelled, and we didn’t want to tip off Rissa or Harold. Tagalong Girl kept her unchildlike personality hidden from her parents, as important characters are wont to do, and I did not challenge her on it. From her position, and the orientation of her eyeballs, showed she was indeed already in bed at such an early hour.

Given the thunderstorm, there really wasn’t much else to do. I did still have a few things to take care of before morning. Just a few going away presents, and the rain wouldn’t bother me. Only the way my tunic constantly rubbed against me. Well, I didn’t really need a shirt if no one else was out and about, so after an initial slight shudder, I set out into the cold, autumnal storm.