My thoughts shifted back to the present as Sasha began speaking once again.

"*sigh* I was not the only person to escape but no other teens or children ran in the same direction as me so I do not know of their fates... But we were able to do this because of the elderly mages and the adults of our group attempting to fight back while the executions were happening, but I honestly do not remember much of this moment, except for the screaming, yelling, and flashes of spells going off... As I said before, no one else ran west as I did so I was on my own once I escaped the massacre taking place behind me. I was only ten at the time but I had my magic to help me survive in the wilderness during the spring and summer months at least. I spent at least four years living like this while continuing my escape west until I exited what is considered the central zone of the Confederacy." I cut Sasha off by exclaiming in confusion.

"The what???" I asked with my head crooked to the side like a curious dog.

"The Confederacy of Man? It is just a way of referring to the alliance between all the different factions of mankind." She replied with a confused expression of her own.

"Okay... well continue," I said while waving my hand in front of me as I slowly connected the dots with my mind.

'An alliance between factions of mankind... So does that mean that there are other factions present in this world that are not mankind? I can only assume that to be the case for now, but that still leaves the question of what they are...' I thought as I shifted my focus back to Sasha

"As I was saying before, I lived within the wilderness during the warmer months while begrudgingly taking refuge within any small town I could find during the colder months. This lasted for about four or five years until I reached the end of the central zone of the Confederacy. After entering the western zone I continued traveling west but I decided that it was safe enough for me to spend more time in the cities or towns that I came across given that they were now becoming more spread out and less connected in ways of transportation. This allowed me to learn many skills like the medical techniques that I was going to use on Joann and Leon, but also many other things that helped me eventually secure what was my primary role here in the castle under Leon. I was also able to hone my medicinal skillset by joining different small groups of mercenaries as a healer when I wanted to continue west while integrating myself within various different underground groups when staying in a town to train my primary skillset of spying, to put it simply." Sasha said as I caught myself dozing off.

Luckily she wasn't paying much attention to me at the moment with her only looking in my direction once I stood up in order to do a couple of exercises to keep me awake. I did maybe ten jumping jacks and the same number of push-ups before looking back at the woman who was still sitting on my bed.

I decided against explaining my actions as I just couldn't be bothered and instead just waved my hand at Sasha for her to continue. I paced around the room a few times while listening to her speak.

"Anyways... I continued my journey west in this fashion for many years, maybe around ten to be precise, and I would have probably continued like this until the day I perished but it turned out that fate had other plans for me. I say this because just as I began to make a name for myself within the various groups I found myself with, conflict broke out in the central zone between multiple groups all vying for control over the city which is considered the capital of our confederacy, Goldleaf. Most of the mercenary groups in the peripheral zones of the Confederacy made their way toward Goldleaf to make their fortune, with a majority of the healers I knew of finding themselves whisked up by whichever faction would pay the most. Even I was made many offers of employment all relating to the multitude of conflicts taking place over the entire central zone by this point, but I refused them all as I was still wary of the influence the Accord had in the central zone, which had probably grown during the turmoil taking place." Sasha paused to take a breath before continuing.

"Instead, I decided I would continue as far west as I possibly could with the goal of integrating myself within a minor power in hopes of withstanding the chaos. This was easier said than done though as most of the powers in the peripheral zones became warier of people coming from the central zone, and for good reason I might add given that the conflict that was raging in the central zone had quickly spilled over into the peripheral zones, leaving many of the areas closest to the central zone in shambles due to proximity while leaving the areas farther away from the central zone isolated from the resource-rich areas of the center. As I continued west, I noticed fewer and fewer signs of battles taking place while scavengers and even slavers for that matter became a rarity, with all the above being replaced by general desolation as many of the towns and villages I passed through had shrunk in population by a significant amount as the conflict spread. I continued my journey for five more years bouncing from town to town in the evermore chaotic western zone while gathering whatever information I could that would help me reach my goal before I heard an interesting rumor in a town several times smaller than this one here and about a month's journey south-east of here called uh... Aya-- no... Aranor." Sasha said while I nodded to indicate that I understood what she meant.

I then sat down on the bed once again as I was getting a bit dizzy from pacing back and forth, not to mention that my actions probably looked insane in the eyes of the woman watching from the bed. Sasha continued once she felt I was settled.

"The rumor was about Leon's father, Leroy, and how he was looking for an experienced healer to treat an illness that somebody within their family was suffering from. There was also mention of the town of Berkton itself with it being one of the few major towns on this side of the western zone with only Willsden, which is around two days south-east of here, beating it in population." I perked once I heard her last sentence as it sort of answered an important question that I hadn't had the chance to ask yet.

My question was about the general layout of the area surrounding the town, but I guess the answer is generally nothing besides the 'twin' town of Willsden. I made a note of the information before focusing on Sasha once again.

"I found this interesting because as I stated earlier, my goal was to integrate myself with an established power like this, but also because of how detailed the 'rumor' seemed to be even after traveling so far between as many lips as it did. Without much hope of achieving my goals elsewhere, I decided that my only choice at the moment was to go to the town of Berkton to see if what I heard was true. With that in mind, I began the month-long journey northwest from Aranor through the vast forest that separated the towns. Spring had come and along with it the multitude of shades and colors from the various different plants and trees in the area. Many animals roamed the forest during this time which allowed me to eat my fill while traveling which made the journey simpler, but nothing could shorten the month-long journey." Sasha said while shrugging her shoulders as I chuckled along.

She obviously didn't get why I found her last statement funny but I also didn't bother explaining it to her, so she simply continued talking.

"In the end, the journey took me around a month and a half to complete since I ended up slowing my pace to enjoy the beauty of the nature which surrounded me at the time. Luckily, I didn't run into any bandit groups while traveling but I did see traces of carriages along the way, probably from one of the few caravans that would also make the journey quarterly to trade goods between the distant towns. I followed those tracks until I came across the beginning of a road that continued in the direction I was traveling in. I believe your group traveled on the section of this road that connects Berkton and Willsden so you should know that the road is traversable but rather long, especially when on foot. The road I was traveling on was less worn than that one though, which caused me to lose the road a few times but I still arrived at Willesden with a few hours of daylight to spare. Although this is no longer the case for both Willsden and Berkton, I was able to enter the town without paying a fee simply because the rule hadn't been created yet. This allowed me to purchase a room within one of the many average inns inside the city proper for a night so that I could get a full night of rest before continuing the final stretch of my journey from Willsden to Berkton the following day. Obviously, I went to get some food in the inn I was staying in for the night but this was not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to gather a bit more information about the rumors surrounding what was the fourth noble family of my destination of Berkton before I set off in the morning." Sasha continued.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"While eating I was able to overhear several things that would help shape my plans going forward, with one of those things I heard pertaining to the rumor which had brought all this way in the first place. Firstly, I heard that the conflict in the central zone had reached a stalemate between the three groups who had been fighting for nearly five years at this point. Many speculated that the factions had no choice but to stop the fighting because the city which saw the brunt of the conflict, Goldleaf, had basically been turned into a wasteland of corpses and rubble, leaving only a shell of the former city to be seen. I am sure that the destruction described was an over-exaggeration of the actual damage done, but this was still a bad thing in my opinion given that the city was literally the only thing holding the confederation together. Unfortunately, I had no way of verifying the information at the time so I could only take what I heard at face value. However, the second piece of information I overheard affected me much more than the first in ways I can not explain to you even now all these years later. I heard that one of the three groups who vied for power in the conflict was the very same group that massacred my gro-... NO! My family... That massacred my family. *sigh* After hearing this I stopped listening to that particular conversation simply because I could not bear to hear it anymore. Luckily for me, someone came into the inn with an announcement to make which brought my mind out of the dark place it was headed. The person giving the announcement was someone that you could have recognized if you were there, but at the time I had no knowledge of him, Paul the captain of the knights, who was just a knight in the service of Leon's father Leroy at the time. He carried with him a piece of paper with the seal of Leon's house stamped onto it from which he read aloud saying ' His lordship, Lord Leroy of House Axecreek-" I cut her off once again.

"Axecreek... Sorry to cut you off but that surname is just too amazing... Please continue." I said while ignoring the look Sasha was giving me as she continued speaking.

"Well like I was saying before he announced aloud that Leroy was looking for a healer to diagnose and treat an illness within one of the higher-ranking members of the house. He also said that the reward for the diagnosis and treatment would be separate but equal in value while also stating that any charlatans who came forward would be executed without trial which was in accordance with the laws of the confederation if that ever mattered. He then said that he would be staying with the town of Willsden for a few days at their manor within the city to test the knowledge of any who came forward. I understood why there was a need to issue such a threat since most reputable healers were snatched up five years ago and were probably still located in or near the central zone as the majority of the severe conflict took place there. Once Paul finished his announcement he folded the paper carefully before placing it in his satchel and walking out the door he came through just minutes earlier. I swiftly jumped up from where I was sitting and ran to catch up with his group. After hearing me burst through the door behind him, he turned toward me with a surprised look on his face. I quickly explained my actions to him before offering my services to him. He asked me to follow him and continued walking in the same direction as before which I assume was the area that held their manor inside the city."

"Once we reached the manor he escorted me inside to a study on the second floor of the building before having another knight check me for any items on my person to which I complied obviously. Once the searches were done, Paul had the knights place several small bags filled with many different herbs that were useless on their own but very useful once mixed together along with other mixtures I know of. Paul introduced himself to me before asking me to do the same which I did succinctly. I decided not to waste any more time and started naming the various mixtures I could make using the herb in order to prove my knowledge. Most of the knights present looked at me as if I were speaking a different language, with Paul being the only one who seemed to understand a bit of what I was putting forth. I waited for several minutes in silence while waiting for any kind of reaction from Paul or the other knights but they just huddled up in one corner of the room while whispering things that I could not hear between themselves. This lasted for a few more minutes before Paul stepped out of their circle to address me. He said that after speaking with his fellow knights, they decided that they would escort me to Berkton tomorrow in order for me to take up my assignment as their healer. I nodded at him before walking toward the door we all came through minutes earlier, but I was stopped by Paul who exclaimed out loud for me to wait." Sasha said as held in a yawn before continuing.

"I turned to him and asked for an explanation as to why he stopped me, to which he answered with a question of his own saying 'Where are you going, Miss Sasha? Although it is not official yet, you can still stay within the manor for the night.' I was taken aback by the hospitality they were showing me but it kinda made sense given that I was probably going to be the person mending any injuries they had in the near future. I accepted their offer with a nod and asked if someone could get my things from my room in the inn I was staying at before following one of the knights to the room I was issued for the night. Unlike you, I went straight to sleep when I entered my room and lay on the bed." She said while chuckling at her own words. I wanted to clap back at the woman but I honestly didn't have the energy to do so, therefore letting her jab go unanswered.

Instead, I stretched out on my bed while waving at her to continue. Sasha seemed to understand that I was actually exhausted and began speaking once again albeit with less detail than before.

"I see, well to make a long story short, Paul and the other knights escorted me to this castle the next day to me with Leroy. It turned out that Leroy was the person who the rumors had spread about as he had somehow been infected with a poison from a plant that was commonly found in the forests of the central zone, I was able to recognize its effects once I diagnosed Leroy after I arrived. I was immediately tasked with making the antidote which I could do if I had the ingredients necessary on hand, but none of them could be found within the time frame in which they were needed. Unfortunately, Leroy passed away due to the poisoning but I convinced Leon to keep the fact a secret until we were able to find the person who administered the substance since it had to be ingested orally to induce the killing effects it had on the late lord. I then used my methods to lure out what had to be some kind of infiltrator within the castle, which led to me earning my position as a spymaster. I was the one who pieced together the whole noble situation using the notes taken by the previous lords and reports from the cells I have built over the past five years. I know Leon gave that 'grand' speech earlier but trust me when I say that his only gift is his tongue, and I do not say that to put the man down. But as I am sure you noticed, he does not exactly share your ideas on the common folk and them ruling themselves... "Sasha's voice trailed off as she stared into my eyes before continuing with a tone that resembled a whisper in the almost silent room.

"Honestly, I am not even sure if you believe in that given your definition of a threat from earlier..." She said as she stood up from my bed before walking toward the one empty wall in the room.

I assume she was about to leave which I had no problem with given that I was literally about to pass out from exhaustion, but I still wanted to do the little trust-building exercise I had formulated earlier, so I called out to the woman who had reached the wall by this point.

"Sasha wait a second. Take the amulet and the sword..."

"Try not to mess up the amulet as it is the only thing my cousins and I have left of our family... But I want you to recreate this amulet however many times you can using the material from the sword... If you can do this with great efficiency then I will give people like you an irreplaceable position within my society... Y'all will see..."

My eyes closed before I finished speaking so I can only hope my words came out as smoothly as I imagined they did. I felt a bit of movement coming from the area of the bed where I left the items which I asked her to grab, so I guess I can rest easy and just hope for success.

Either way, I was sound asleep and probably snoring before she left the room... Through that damned secret door which is still technically secret since I don't know how to open it...

*sigh*