I awoke the next morning when Lucy got up. While I liked sleeping in, it was not that great in a tent. Thankfully my body did not need much sleep, I just enjoyed it. So I decided to get up and stretched. It was a nice morning with good weather. While I considered 8 am early, it was rather late for farmers. Alister and Lynn were already up.

They offered us breakfast which we accepted. Lynn had baked some fresh bread just for us. We discussed our plans for today. I would have to talk to Emma about the village. Hopefully most people would join us. We would probably need a few more wagons. And things to pull them. I suppose I could summon low tier elementals for that.

Could we build a wagon? Maybe. I was no expert on engineering but I could help with physical labour. After we finished breakfast I went to the village to talk to Emma. Lucy stayed with her parents to help them pack.

As I walked towards the village from the farm I saw a lot of activity. Hopefully people were preparing to leave. It did not take long to find Emma.

“Morning. I see everyone is busy.” I said.

“Yes. It seems your actions convinced everyone to leave.” She answered.

“Everyone? Nice, I did not expect that.”

“Well… not everyone thinks it’s a good idea but they have been talked into it by relatives or friends. That you helped the abducted women made a big difference. Also that you killed the baron. Some are simply afraid of retribution.”

Ah. So some believed that my offer was good for them, others simply saw it as the only way to survive. Maybe they would leave us along the journey and settle elsewhere in the Empire. Which was fine.

“Let me know how we can help. The sooner we can leave the better. Our plan is to use an old entrance to the dwarven kingdom.”

“I see. If you can get us into the dwarven kingdom that would be best. The path to Iron Rock is likely guarded and they would not let people leave during a civil war.” Emma paused for a bit, then she said: “Your maids are already helping us prepare. But there is something else…” She hesitated.

“Yes?”

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“So, you offered people jobs in your county. But they are losing a lot in the move. They can’t bring their homes. They don’t have a lot of savings. Even paying for the trip would be impossible for some.” Emma explained.

“I am not gonna charge you money for the trip! All expenses will be paid for by me. Not just food, also clothes and such. And I will find homes for them once we arrive. I am not just going to abandon them.” I assured her.

“Thank you.” She said,

After that I walked around. I had few conversations with the villagers. Some of the women we rescued came to thank me. Our maids were busy helping and organising. Iris’ military experience helped in setting up the caravan. Elandru and Thessia offered some healing to ensure people were in good health.

We used the carriage we had acquired from the late baron for Lucy’s family. A lot of their stuff ended up inside my necklace but they needed a ride. It was quite luxurious. It took a day to get everyone ready.

The transport problem was solved by using oxen in addition to the horses. We also were able to construct two simple wagons. Thessia was very good at manipulating wood.

The next day we left. Some people were rather emotional about abandoning their home. Hopefully we would be able to give them a better one. Two days later we ran into a storm. We were on a dirt road going through a forest. This led to an interesting discovery. My aura could be used to keep it at bay.

We could see the lightning and hear the thunder. Our caravan was encircled by rain. But our wagons stayed dry. The clouds on top parted for us as we moved. It was an interesting sight. Even the wind calmed around us. We could see the trees sway while only experiencing a gentle breeze ourselves.

“Ohhh…” Ben was impressed. His head was poking out of the carriage window.

“It’s amazing what you can do with your aura.” Lucy said. “I wonder if I could learn that as well.”

“Maybe we can find some more information on kitsune in the Dominion.” I stared at her tail while I said that.

“You are imagining me growing more tails again.” She said, “Or are you admiring my ass?” She teased.

“Uh… both.” I admitted. I managed to not blush, or well maybe I did, but only slightly.

We were at the front of the caravan. Minerva and Lily protected the rear. Iris was training her recruits. Currently they were forced to jog around the wagons. She was also teaching them a marching song.

At first there was a lot of confusion and some fear about the storm’s unusual behaviour. After I announced it was my protection they calmed down. The storm was still going strong an hour later and everyone had simply accepted it. The road was rather muddy. While we were protected from the storm the road ahead was still getting drenched.

“If this keeps up the wagons might get stuck.” I said.

“We can easily pull them out, but it would slow us down. Do you think we should just stop? Or ask Terath for help?” Lucy pondered.

“He is probably too busy sleepwalking.” I countered. I was considering using magic. But anything that would turn the muddy road more solid would be in a limited range. And we were travelling.

As we were considering the problem I spotted something in the trees. “Did you also see some blue lights?” I asked.

“Yes. Something is in there. Looks small.” She said, “Unfortunately, it’s hard to hear anything with the storm going on.”

So far monsters had avoided us. Maybe they had good instincts and noticed that we were strong. Or maybe it was because we were a large group. But now we had the attention of something.

“Do you think it’s hostile?” I wondered.

“I think we will find out.” She said as the blue light was getting closer.