I awoke to find myself being held by Yna so tightly that it was hard to breath.

My aching muscles and head didn’t make it any easier.

“Yna.” I wheezed only for Yna to tighten her hold on me.

“You’re back! Did he do anything to you again?” She asked while I tried prying myself free from her grasp.

“No, although he wishes you and the others would go a little easier on him.”

“Should we?” Yna asked with a pained expression.

“Nah! I don’t care how much it hurts, beat that idiot as many times as it takes. I-I’ll bare whatever Kenos has in store for me-“ I stopped after seeing Yna frown and even though it was technically my first time seeing it, it shook me to my core.

“Part of me wishes I could cut the two of you apart, but…”.

“Hey. It’ll be fine. Besides, he and I came to some kind of agreement.” I said.

“Oh?” Yna whimpered as the morning sunlight bathed her beautiful, but saddened face.

I gently ran my now small hands along the scars on her face.

I then went over the things Kenos and I had spoken about.

“I see. Well, I suppose we are somewhat indebted to him, but that doesn’t mean we have to be nice to him, right?” Yna asked.

“Treat him however you like. That being said, I believe Nira should have arrived already.”

“You’re right. Let’s go meet her.” Yna said before finally letting me go.

She and I quickly got dressed before making our way to lower Coh. Although walking was rather painful for me, I bit my teeth and walked alongside Yna.

One of the many buildings in this busy place served the role of a waiting room of sorts.

We entered it to find that it was mostly empty although a group of rather tall individuals could be sitting by one of the corner tables.

I counted nine Ash Wraiths and they were all covered head to toe in thick furry clothing… even though everyone was telling me that the Expanse was experiencing its hottest summer…

Ah well.

“Greetings, Nira. I hope your journey here was pleasant.” I said while walking up to the tall, slender woman who I knew as Nira.

She and her entourage stood and walked towards us, although I caught glimpses of some of looking around with awe and wonder.

It was a reasonable reaction to have since they basically lived inside a mountain.

“Hello, Lord Katsíki --“

“Please, call me Katsíki.” I said with a gentle smile.

“Y--yes. So this is your sanctuary.” Nira said while eying the building.

“Forgive my frankness, but I consider all of the Expanse as my sanctuary. Coh is just it’s heart. Please follow me, let’s continue this chat in a more private setting.” I said before leading Nira and her entourage out of the building.

We then made our way to upper Coh and eventually arrived at one of the many guest houses I had prepared for times when I would have to entertain and accommodate leaders and officials from other places.

We entered the rather large house and I led the Wraiths into the living room where we sat.

“So… I’m guessing that you brought all fifty Wraiths, like I asked. What would you like in return?” I asked while leaning back into the couch atop which I said.

This was an attempt to soothe the many aches in my body.

“Firstly, I’d like to thank you for all the supplies and healers you’ve sent over the past few months.” Nira said with a lowered head.

I would have told her it was fine, but this wasn’t the time for being humble.

We were at war and I had other things to worry about.

“Such things are only natural when one joins an alliance. Feel free to call on me or the others any time you need help.”

Nira nodded before crossing her legs.

“Alright, with that out of the way, I’d like to ask for one hundred full sets of armour and an equal amount of weapons.”

I frowned.

“Did I not send fifty sets not too long ago?”

“You did, but Han informed us about the possible size of the full army of Lanceberg. We’d like to make sure Mount Jivu is protected as best as possible.” Nira said.

Was she worried that we were going to lose?

Well… our chances were slim and I understood her caution, but still…

“Alright, I’ll have them ready within the week. Is there anything else you’d like?”

“No, that is all.” Nira said and it’s here that I noticed that one of the Ash Wraiths was far shorter than the others.

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But her face was covered by a fur hoodie, so I couldn’t quite see her face.

“Good. Will you be returning to Mt. Jivu immediately or…?”

“You wouldn’t mind if we stayed for a bit?” Nira asked with slightly widened eyes.

“Of course not! Make yourselves at home.” I said before standing hopping off the couch.

“There are five rooms in the building and everything has been made to suit the needs of you Ash Wraiths. Also… you guys might wanna change out of those clothes.”

Everyone except Yna gasped.

“Lord Katsíki…” Nira gasped while covering her chest with her arms.

“Oi! Don’t misunderstand! I meant change into lighter clothes, it’s freaking hot and I’m sure you’d be more comfortable in something lighter!” I cried.

“Oh…” Nira sounded and I could tell all of the wraiths had come to the same realization.

I sighed before turning to leave.

“Umm… lord Katsíki?”

“Yes?” I asked while turning to face a flustered Nira.

At this point, I’d also given up on asking people to speak with me casually.

“Could you… perhaps give us a tour of Coh?”

“Mmm? Why me specifically? I could always just ask one of the Black Blades to escort you guys around.” I asked with a raised brow.

“That’s true… but…” Nira awkwardly fidgeted with her fingers before regaining her composer.

“We would feel a lot comfortable if we had you as our guide.”

“Oh… do we have anything else planned for today?” I asked Yna, who silently stood by the doorway.

“I have a ton of paperwork to do. I also need to find a way to best integrate the wraiths. You, on the other hand, are free until tomorrow when you need go return to Cohval.”

“I see. Go on, then. I’ll keep Nira and her buddies company.”

Yna nodded before walking towards me and giving me a kiss on the forehead.

I giggled like an idiot before tapping her nose.

“Stop it. You’re embarrassing me in front of our guests.” I said while trying my best not to smile.

Yna nodded before exiting the house.

I felt a warm tingling feeling within my chest but I quickly remembered where I was.

“Err… go get changed so that our tour may begin!” I said cheerfully much to the fluster of the Wraiths.

They made their way into the rooms and it wasn’t long until they returned to the living room only they were wearing much looser and summer friendly clothing.

Their ashen white skin contrasted well with the dark browns of their clothes. They all also had long grey hair which was tied up in neat buns.

It’s also here that I noticed that one of them still had most of her body hidden. Same for her face. I could only see her eyes from behind the cloth she had wrapped around her head.

I assumed she had reasons for concealing her appearance and so I turned my attention to Nira who looked rather beautiful in her newfound silky pants and shirt.

She was here to see if Coh was a suitable home for the fifty Wraiths she’d brought, but other than that, I think she was just happy to be in a place that wasn’t the mountain… or the desert.

“This way, please.” I said before leading the Wraiths outside as the afternoon sun bathed Coh.

I then led Nira and company to Yna’s cabin.

One of the few structures that wasn’t made of darkness.

“This is where it all began.” I said with a smile as the wraiths stared at the humble cabin.

“How exactly did you build all this?” Nira asked. She already knew that I was of another world and so I skipped that part and went straight to the part where I met Kenos and how his power allowed me to create Coh.

Nira nodded thoughtfully after hearing my story and I led her and the others north towards the wall afterwards.

We arrived atop the wall and we looked out into the grassy plane which had been blanketed by tents and small buildings where my men went about their business.

“And to think… this may not be enough.” Nira muttered as she looked out into the distance.

I remained silent as the wind loudly whistled by.

“The journey here must have been tiresome. Come on. Let’s go grab something to eat.” I said before leading everyone to the dining hall and there, we received our lunches before taking our seats by one of the many tables in the crowded hall.

I failed to eat, however, after noticing that Nira was looking at her plate of food with a frown.

“Is… is something wrong?” I asked.

“N-no. I just… is everyone here served the same amount of food?” She asked with a pained expression.

“Yes.”

“I see.” Nira said softly before raising her spoon to eat.

She seemed so hesitant.

I took greedy spoonfulls of my food while thinking about what the food situation was like in the Jivu mountains.

According to Han, the wraiths didn’t really domesticate any animals and they hunted whatever they ate. They also fed off of some wild vegetables that grew near the mountain.

It wasn’t much, but it was just what they needed to survive.

“Would you like to me to send weekly shipments of some of the food?” I asked.

“N-no. We couldn’t ask that of-“

“Nira. We are allies now. Think of this as me ensuring that all of the Expanse’s major settlements are well fed.” I said with a rather stiff expression.

“I… I see. Then I’ll humbly accept whatever you send, but expect a shipment of supplies from our end as well.”

I nodded and like that we continued eating.

Unfortunately, a certain curiosity nagged me as we returned our dishes.

I walked up to Nira and tugged on her finger as we left the dining hall.

“Who is she?” I asked as we made our way to the town centre.

“Err… she is. Umm…”

“You should tell him.”

The short woman said as she walked up to me.

“Alright. Her name is Istel and she is my wife. She really wanted to see this place and so I brought her along.” Nira said as Istel removed her hood revealing herself to be a rather serious looking woman who had faint silver lines over marking her skin-

“Hoh?” I sounded while desperately trying to hide my surprise.

“Greetings, lord Katsíki. It has truly been a pleasure meeting you.” Istel said without expression.

“Yes. My goal is to make Coh a home for everyone. So feel free to ask me anything you like.” I said before sitting on one of the benches near the town centre.

Nira and Istel sat on the opposite side of the bench and a moment of silence passed as I stared at Istel and Nira.

Nira lowered her eyes for some reason while Istel looked at me with unshaking eyes.

“Err… do you mind if I ask how you ended up allying yourself with the wraiths?” I asked.

“It was love.” Istel said flatly causing the already flustered Nira to hide her face behind her hands.

“Hoh?” I asked while screaming internally. This was just too shocking!

“I met Nira shortly after my legion was massacred by countless Foph warriors. I fled south before eventually coming across Nira who was a scout back then. We fought to a standstill before eventually taking shelter in a cave as a sandstorm engulfed the southern Expanse. Nira nursed my wounds and I nursed hers as the storm raged on beyond the cave’s walls. We initially decided to go our separate ways after the storm passed, but I ended up following her home only to be captured and tortured by her people. It was not all bad since Nira begged the previous Matron to let me go. However, I couldn’t just leave the person who saved me not once but twice and so I decided to stay by her side. The Matron initially rejected the idea of harbouring a silver knight but after countless failed attempts at assassinating me, she eventually gave up and allowed me to stay.” Istel explained.

My mouth hung open as I tried digesting what she had just said.

“I see… well, sounds like a happy ending to me.” I said while nervously scratching my cheek.

“What about you? How exactly did you meet lady Yna?” Istel asked.

“Ah, Funnily enough, she shot me in the-“

I was interrupted by a loud explosion above me.

I looked up to find a Kommáti holding what appeared to be a silver spear.

He landed by my side as countless more explosion filled the air and I watched in horror as a nearby Rendaro was impaled by a silver spear that looked like the one which the Kommáti held.

His body was been torn open by the force of the impact.

I raised my widened eyes to the sky and saw several grey specks in the distance but I needed to focus on getting Nira and her entourage to safety and so I pointed at a nearby building and screamed with all the air in my lungs.

“GET INSIDE!”