It was not much farther to the next town now. After that, it would be a matter of days before they reached the end of the Elzen Valley. Perhaps a week at the most. Assuming all they did was travel, that was.

“Are there any more stops you intend to make?” Lusya asked.

Azure shook her head. “Nope. The Redtree Festival was the last one. It’s a straight shot out of the valley now.”

That was about what Lusya had expected. Azure buying souvenirs had been a hint, and there couldn’t be much more to see at this point anyway. In that case, there was little for them to do but head for the exit.

“Aw,” Ariya whined. “All the stops are so much fun, though.”

“It is better this way,” Lusya said. “I did enjoy some of them as well, but we have a mission to accomplish. It is time for us to resume our journey in earnest.”

This had been an enjoyable diversion. She had not planned on one so soon after Zentril, but she did not regret meeting Azure or traveling as they had. Aside from amusement, Lusya had even gotten some useful information and insights out of it.

Ariya sighed. “I know. I’m still gonna miss all this fun stuff, though. Oh, and you too, Azure.”

“I appreciate that,” Azure said with a bittersweet smile. “I’ll miss you both too. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we cross paths, though.”

“What makes you say that?” Lusya asked.

Azure shrugged. “Call it a hunch. It might be a long time, but it’ll happen.”

If it did, Lusya suspected it would be on the battlefield, with Ariya long dead. Even then, Lusya doubted it. Despite all her recent growth she was still not strong enough to fight Azure. When the war resumed, Lusya would endeavor to avoid Azure and the Paladins in general. She didn’t say any of that, though.

“I see,” was her only reply.

They walked on for some time. It was not silent, but Azure did most of the talking. At the moment, she was relating another tale from Lusya’s childhood. She had climbed a tree and been too scared to come down. This, Lusya had a vague recollection of. Many of the details, however, she had forgotten, and so much of the story was new to her. This was apparently after the cat incident, as the cat had climbed up after her and attempted to comfort her, only to wind up stuck itself. A servant had helped them both down, and Lusya had given him a silver coin as a reward. Said coin had been stolen from her mother, according to Azure.

“Why had I stolen a coin?” Lusya asked. She wasn’t sure what use she would have had for it as a child living in a noble manor.

“There was a merchant visiting the manor,” Azure replied. “You were going to buy a toy.”

Lusya cocked her head and blinked twice. “Was my mother not going to allow me to have this toy?”

“Oh, you didn’t even ask,” Azure said. “You just grabbed the coin to buy it with.”

“I see. That does sound like something I would do.” It was something she had done, in a more extreme manner, in recent memory. “Continue.”

“So, of course, Lusya was scolded for getting herself in that situation, praised for her generosity, and scolded for stealing in quick succession,” Azure said. “And she didn’t get the toy she wanted. You would think she would be scared of climbing after that, but you would be wrong. She spent the next week trying to figure out the best way to climb trees, so she could get down on her own.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Ariya giggled. “Are you still good at climbing trees, Lusya?”

“I do not know,” Lusya said. “It is not a skill I need often.”

“Even when you do, you don’t really need to climb the tree thanks to motomancy,” Azure said.

“That is also true.” She could just jump to the top if she needed to.

Ariya sighed. “I wish I could do cool motomancy stuff.”

“Maybe you’ll be able to someday,” Azure said. “No one starts out being able to. You’ll just have to learn.”

“That would be great,” Ariya said. “Lusya, will you teach me?”

Lusya shook her head. “I do not think you meet the requirements to use motomancy at present, nor do I think I am suited to teaching you from nothing.”

Both those statements were true. In the former case, Lusya intended to keep it that way. Ariya’s purity was what prevented her from being able to use motomancy, and that needed to be preserved at any cost. In that latter, while Lusya had offered to teach Ander, he had already known some motomancy. She had no idea how to teach someone who couldn’t use any motomancy to use it, nor did she remember how she had been taught initially.

Ariya frowned. “Is there anything I can do to be able to use it?”

“Perhaps,” Lusya said. “But it is better if you do not, for the sake of our mission.”

“Oh,” Ariya said. That seemed to be all the explanation she needed, as she broke into a smile. “Okay. If you say so, Lusya.”

Lusya nodded. “I do.”

With Azure’s story concluded, there was a brief silence as they walked. Ariya was the first to break it again.

“I know we’re done visiting cool places,” she said, glancing around. “But this area is really boring.”

“It is not dissimilar to other stretches we have passed through, even within the valley,” Lusya said. She did not dispute the point, though. It was flat, open land in all directions. She might not have had much of an opinion on many landscapes, but this one was relatively uninteresting, in so much as any were interesting.

“I know,” Ariya said. “It still feels boring, though.”

“Perhaps you have become too accustomed to Azure’s diversions, and it has lowered your tolerance for boredom,” Lusya said. “It will pass.”

Azure grinned. “Sorry.” Despite her smile, she did sound apologetic. “I know you two probably had a good rhythm going. I didn’t mean to mess with that.”

“It is fine.”

Ariya had taken time to acclimate to the pace Lusya set to begin with. Lusya was sure she would adjust again with time.

There was another brief silence, then Lusya and Azure abruptly stopped, forcing Ariya to do the same with her hand in Lusya’s. Luysa’s eyes were drawn to the northwestern horizon, toward the town they were supposed be headed toward.

“What is it?” Ariya asked, looking from Lusya to Azure and back before directing her gaze to horizon as well. “Is something bad over there?” She shuddered. “Another demon?”

“No,” Lusya said. It was far worse.

“Arguably worse,” Azure said, clicking her tongue. Lusya had not expected an agreement from her. “I knew he was supposed to be passing through here too, but I was really hoping we’d miss each other somehow.”

“You know this mortal?” Lusya asked.

It was not strange for that to be so. Such a powerful mortal was no doubt a Sacred Knight. A high-ranking one, in all likelihood. It was doubtful Azure knew every strong Sacred Knight, but being familiar with one didn’t seem like it would be unusual either.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Azure said. “He’s an annoying little brat.” She glanced at Lusya. “And I doubt he’ll be particularly understanding about your presence.”

“I cannot imagine many Sacred Knights would be,” Lusya replied.

“I’d be able to reason with some of them, but this one…He’s dangerous.”

“So, why aren’t we running, then?” Ariya asked, her head cocked far to the side.

Azure sighed. “It would be against decorum for me not to go meet him. I would be fine with that, but, more importantly, if I can sense him, he can probably sense us, including Lusya.”

“It would reflect poorly on you if I simply left,” Lusya said.

Azure nodded. “I don’t particularly care what he thinks, but it could be trouble if he tells anyone. For all of us.” She grimaced. “I have to go, but I’ll take the heat if you don’t want to risk it.”

Lusya considered for a moment.

“We will accompany you,” Lusya said. “He is already coming this way, and he may be able to catch me if he pursued, especially with Ariya with me. It is better to confront him head-on.”

Azure smiled. “Thank you.” Thanks seemed rather pointless when Lusya was doing it for her own sake, but she held her tongue. “I’ll do what I can to make sure no one gets hurt.”