Trapped in Another World With No Magic-Chapter 161: Imperial Reconnaissance

“You’re not allowed to take your helmet off for more than one minute,” states a passionate young woman’s voice. Though ‘young’ is relative, as her own age is still roughly five times more than the human to whom she is speaking.

“Yes, yes, Mukori,” replies the Emperor of the Fievegal as the redhead nags him lightly, watching over him as he does one final check on his equipment.

“And, you have to check in on the radio every hour,” adds the orange dragon in her human form. “And, if we catch even a hint that something dangerous is happening, we’re coming to get you.”

Daniel smiles, continuing to work. “I’ll keep the helmet on, but I’ll only radio at breaks.”

She pouts, and Ryuogriar speaks up next. “With your permission, Mukori and your Greatness, I’ll continue hosting negotiations with the smaller territories and merchants alongside the young Duchess and her Grace the Grand Duchess.”

“Please do, Mukori,” replies Daniel, and Hekate smirks proudly. “I approve, Ryuo. Please don’t take any nonsense, though. I don’t care if we end up having to conquer the whole world.”

The young feldrok’s face becomes deathly serious. Of all things that she has said, she has become more and more impatient with the idea of playing nice when their respective kindness has been routinely spat upon. “As Empress of the Fievegal, I don’t want anyone forgetting who is the strongest in the world.”

Ryuogriar smiles, placing her hand on Hekate’s shoulder. “I’ll keep your words in mind, my sweet Hekate, but I will strive for diplomacy. Fear inspires challengers to attempt to overthrow the strong, and makes it easy to gather allies. You just make sure to keep the strike team safe.”

The young feldrok smiles and nods. “Mm-hmm. We’ll be fine.”

“Anything on the Grand Duchy or Grendel Six?” asks Daniel, in case there are any emergency updates before he departs.

Xyreko answers, “Grendel Six reports that the anti-magic bombs seemed to have disabled Kernuules in a manner similar to a golem. They are monitoring on station to determine if it has been defeated, or if it has a core similar to the Citadel.”

Daniel nods in understanding. It’ll be troublesome if Kernuules can spawn indefinitely from its core, which may be located somewhere hidden in the forest.

“The Grand Duchy is unchanged. No attacks to report. I do believe we will be receiving Rikuto’s reply today, though.”

Daniel looks up at nothing in particular as he thinks. “Ah, the deadline is today, isn’t it.”

“Yes.”

“And, have you had stealth golems in his proximity?”

“Indeed. I believe he will approach the negotiating table, since there are a great deal of nobles in Mornistae that are troubled by the Grand Duchy’s capture and the Grand Prince’s presence in Mornistae. Additionally, the otherworlder they summoned has caused quite a bit of chaos as well, prompting various factions to pursue her in the hopes of bringing her over to their side.”

“Ah… I forgot about that…” remarks Daniel.

“What’s this?” asks Hekate with her ears perked up. She and Doephluev crowd closer to Daniel. “What about a ‘her’?”

“A friend of ours asked me to keep an eye out for and potentially help a woman who was summoned just recently. I’m sure we talked about it briefly.”

Doephluev complains, “And, what is your intention for her?”

The mechanic smirks wickedly at the archoneldwyn playing at Empress for the second day in a row. “You seriously don’t want to play this game, Doephluev.”

She instantly pales and recoils, knowing that the ‘game’ is, of course, the Hekate game.

This doesn’t deter the raven-haired feldrok Empress, however. “Let those losers have her. It’s not like otherworlders are a good thing. Rikuto is a butt, and I’ll be glad when he’s no longer a thorn in our… butts.”

Daniel laughs. “As I said, a friend asked me to help if need be, but so far, that’s the furthest it has gone. But, I hope all of you will help remind me to ask about her when we meet with Rikuto. If she does meet up with us, we may be able to gather information that can help prevent a misunderstanding.”

Hekate nods agreeably, and a new presence joins the group preparing to head out. “Sorry I’m late! Sorry!” Wenlianna enters the airship’s hangar with a bag hastily slung over her shoulder while she tries to put on her light armor, all while maids jog after her to insist she wait and let them do it.

Aramellianna, who has been waiting to send off the team, watches her eldest daughter jog in hastily.

Neith is the one to ask quietly, “Is it a wise idea to bring the Stalvaltan Empress, my Liege?”

Daniel doesn’t get a chance to answer before Wenlianna is in front of them, panting lightly. “S-Sorry. I was distracted with designing the control unit for the telegraph.” She blushes and scratches her cheek as she looks away from anyone directly. “I got a little excited…”

“What about what we were working on?” asks Hekate. Daniel notices that quite a few of his consorts nod at this, clearly indicating that there is a project that he is not privy to, other than the fact that he knew they were working on something.

Wenlianna pats her void bag, which she just slung over her shoulder. “I have it right here. That’s what I’m hoping to test when we get a chance.”

“Can’t the test be done here?” asks Treia, which Daniel can’t help but agree with.

The brunette magic artisan seems briefly stumped, but Doephluev comes to her rescue. “No. The risk of collateral is high enough that it needs to be away from other equipment. Additionally, we want to minimize any magical links to the golems if possible.”

“Is it… some kind of weapon?” asks Daniel curiously.

Having cashed in one of her special days won in bets against the other consorts, Doephluev doesn’t hesitate to act as she pleases in front of everyone. She presses her finger to Daniel’s lips, saying with a playful smirk, “It’s a secret, my Darling. One you will see soon enough. If you’re willing to divulge who amongst us is your favorite…”

“Neith,” blurts out Daniel instantly, shutting down the archoneldwyn and causing an awkward silence amongst everyone, including the grey dragon. He just returned from a brief trip to the hometown of his own new fiancee, Roestren, with plans moving forward for their relationship.

“My Liege,...” murmurs the grey knight.

Daniel leans close to Doephluev, saying with an icy, but playful tone, “The Hekate game never loses, Doephluev.”

She pouts at him, and he asks facetiously, “Now, can we start the mission, or should we keep goofing around all day?”

Sensing her cue to act like the Empress, Hekate perks up. She puffs herself up as she declares loudly, “That’s right! Enough of these [tomnanigans] and [shefoolery]!” She beams at Daniel like an excited puppy waiting to be praised. “Huh!? How was that?” Her wide grin exposes every one of her somewhat shark-like teeth, which works for her cheeky cute expression to be adorable.

And, Daniel recognizes the words as ‘English’, but mix ups of two common synonyms of each other. What he’s not sure of is whether or not Hekate did it on purpose, or if it was her youthful and imaginative brain moving faster than her mouth can put together real words.

The mechanic pets her head. “Perfect, Sweetpea.”

She grins, swishing her poofy tail back and forth while her ears flick happily.

Ryuogriar addresses Doephluev seriously. “Doephluev, do not forget that you have a responsibility to the future of the archoneldwyn. Were you anyone else, I would object to you partaking in these missions.”

“Is that so?” retorts the former assassin skeptically.

“I do not have to like you to have meant every word I said at that time.”

“Someday very soon, I think you will say you like me very much, Ryuo.”

The platinum dragon holds a serious expression, undisturbed by Doephluev’s mild threat.

A slender hand slides in to cut the tension, though it belongs to a somewhat surprising owner. “Save it for later, please.” Treia steps between the dragon and pseudo-elf, completely unafraid of how much more powerful either one is. She looks at Doephluev, saying dryly, “If there were a ranking system…” She shoots an accusatory smirk at Daniel before finishing, “You still have a lot of ranks to climb, oh great and powerful Empress Doephluev.”

The gatonine then grips Daniel’s shirt collar, pulling him towards the shuttle lest the mischievous conversation continue even longer.

From there, the mission launches, and they fly to the area where they originally discovered Yaulwembor, since it had the least amount of combat. It’s the same location that she was finally captured at, and the nest is in a state of disrepair.

Daniel and Neith stand ready to lower the ramp and fight if need be, and the mechanic explains to Wenlianna, who is the non-combatant of the large group, “Wenlianna, please remember to stay in the center of our group. Doephluev will focus on protecting you, but you have to be mindful that she has to keep track of you if we start fighting.”

The brunette nods. “I understand. Though, not often, Mother has made me partake in some of the drills for the Stalvaltan Guard.”

“In a worst-case scenario, I’ll teleport her out,” replies Hekate. “So, be mindful where you throw your anti-magic bombs.”

“Of course. Though, as we talked about with Doephluev, your sheer volume of mana should allow you to recover relatively quickly.”

The archoneldwyn offers with a devious grin, “I’ll gladly shoot magic at her Greatness if we need to purge mana nullification.” She leans close to Hekate, teasing, “I won’t forget where to start.”

“Sh-Shut up!” exclaims Hekate with rosy cheeks, embarrassed that she told Doephluev the details of how and why their plan failed.

“How are we looking on the mana scanner?” asks Daniel, looking at Wenlianna.

She pats it on her side opposite of her shoulder-strapped void bag. “Ready to scan. It’s mainly flooded with refined mana… for obvious reasons.” She glances around at the veritable powerhouse of magic might gathered in the shuttle. There are more regular soldier-strength individuals than masters of mana with the gatonines and Stalvaltan knights, but it’s obvious where the bulk of the mana is coming from.

Doephluev crosses her arms under her chest, joking dryly, “Some of us just leak mana all over the place.” She shoots a look directly at Hekate, and Kuboen, Gwenesphia’s brother, grumbles, “It truly amazes me that you people have accomplished what you have.”

Veiranoei adds softly, “I used to think my Grandfather was eccentric…”

“The kinds of people willing to face monsters on a regular basis typically need to have a… loose disposition in order to stay sane,” remarks Senn as she keeps her head back, trying to resist motion sickness. Thankfully, she has plenty of ginger, now that she knows the magical powers it has to ease her stomach on airborne trips.

“Remind me later, Senn, and I’ll teach you the recipes I can for ginger-based foods that are good. Ginger snaps should be good. That way you can mix-...” Daniel suddenly flinches as he’s talking, as if he’s being bombarded by loud noise.

It’s not painful, but he just received the iciest threat he has ever heard from Geirahoel.

This happening after she threatened to give him one final ignityal-infused kiss if he fails to keep his promises.

The mechanic casually clears his throat after a moment, and Ucahote’s voice reports from the front, “Landing in ten seconds, your Greatness. Please standby.”

“Thank you, Ucahote,” replies the ravenette with a smug smirk directed at Daniel.

The shuttle touches down, and Daniel lowers the ramp, which Neith quickly ducks up onto to ride down to the ground, surveying the area around them the whole time.

Kera’tai approaches, and she looks at the mana detecting device that Wenlianna is watching for any changes.

“Wouldn’t this have worked better if all of us had one of these?” asks the Chi’rinnis.

“Ahok’s team are building more,” replies Wenlianna. “And, Mo-, or rather, Yanidere has sent out letters to the other magic artisans and artificers employed in the Grand Duchy to request their assistance as well. Some will be rather excited to see the Citadel and the advancements available to the common-folk of the Fievegal. But, it’s a long journey, so… I… Well, the point being, it takes time to assemble them.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

She then looks at Daniel, asking, “Daniel,... I know most of my tribe have moved to the Fievegal, but… If this works…”

“I intend to conquer every part of the continent that doesn’t object to becoming a part of the Fievegal,” states Hekate. This puts the Mattarglos citizens a little on guard, but the feldrok Empress adds, “Peacefully, except in retaliation. I think I’ve said it, but I have no need for unruly citizens.” She puffs her flat chest up with pride, flicking her ears proudly of herself. Just as quickly, though, she speaks more sincerely to Kera’tai. “Your ancestral homelands will remain accessible only to your people, if that is what you wish, Kera’tai. And, yes. We shall purge the sources of monsters from those lands.”

The kirin woman relaxes with a soft smile, and Daniel adds playfully, “She’s the boss.”

Gwenesphia adds diplomatically to reassure the newest of their allies, “Alliances obviously count as part of Hekate’s peaceful conquest, of course, so please don’t worry too much, Father.”

Goelselmo chuckles a little. “I do fear a continental war, but hearing her Greatness say it aloud… It does remind one that there are many who do not share the fortunes we have.”

Senn points out as she gets her footing, now that they’re on the ground, “The Citadel has not yet stood for as long as it took to build. Next to the elves, the feldroks enjoyed the longest thriving empire in the world precisely because they did not impose their empire on the world.” She walks towards the ramp as Daniel and Neith make their way out first. Everyone files out in turns, and the elf makes her way to the trunk of the massive tree that Yaulwembor’s nest rests under. She places her hand on the bark for a moment, chanting softly.

“What’s she doing?” asks Hekate curiously.

Doephluev is the one to reply, “Spirit magic. Under the right conditions, it can influence the visions seen during a dawnsight, as well as looking into the past.”

“Correct,” replies Senn, somehow not losing focus on her spell. “Though, there is… noise…”

“So, the tree is the source?” asks Treia bluntly, looking up at the titanic structure of wood towering over them like a mountain. From the ground, clouds are obscuring the highest boughs and leaves from view.

“No, the tree is quite healthy. It’s something… else…” The elf backs away from the tree, looking around. She paces towards where the faormyr was sleeping when Daniel faced her, and she searches the area. The elf taps her staff on the ground a couple of times, and though seemingly insignificant, the gem at the center of the crook blinks briefly each time.

As if using a sounding rod to find water in the ground, everyone watches as Senn follows her strange winding trail before she stops and turns around. She kneels, finding a couple of Yaulwembor’s discarded scales.

When she lifts one, Daniel suddenly hums.

Gwenesphia realizes it too, gasping slightly. She blurts out, “The void arrow… Er, I mean, anti-magic round.”

Senn nods in agreement, inspecting the scale scarred ever so slightly with damage from a high-velocity impact. The luster has returned now, but at one point, it was a dull grey-white color due to the mana flux characteristic of sharmelkolle being negated.

“All of the particles should have decayed by now, shouldn’t they?” asks Hekate, looking at Daniel.

“They have,” confirms Senn. “But, it has created disruptive noise in the area, like a stone cast on the water’s surface. Time will heal the flow of energy, but it’s something…” She trails off as she thinks, suddenly looking at Daniel. He starts to ask, “What is it?” but she ignores him for a moment.

“You.” The elven archmage points at Doephluev, who crosses her arms.

“I am me,” retorts the archoneldwyn a little dryly.

“Why are you carrying anti-magic plates?”

Doephluev flinches a little, surprised. “I have them in shielding,” replies the former assassin. She shows her harness’s back, which now serves as a convenient carrier for the plates, since Daniel stopped making her wear it for negating her spells and rune magic.

Daniel sighs. “I should have known better. We’ve gotten away with it for the most part, since there’s a threshold, but even the thickest shielding doesn’t stop all radiation. It’s a reduction factor.” He looks at Senn. “Is it enough to negate such powerful magic?”

“This is not powerful magic, it is sensitive magic. Even small disruptions are likely to make it significantly more challenging.”

“I see. Doephluev, give me your harness.”

She nods and hands it over, though only after feigning that she is hesitant about it.

Daniel stows it in his void bag, since the leakage is thankfully not enough to negate the void bag.

“How’s that?”

“Let me try again.” Senn approaches the tree once more, and while she does, Daniel turns to Wenlianna, who is walking around a circle encapsulating Daniel and those standing immediately next to him while the Honeydips secure the area, and Aoloan and Vaergraes watch over everyone from near the shuttle.

Wenlianna approaches Daniel, saying, “There’s not much difference as far as I can tell, though the refined mana does lower as some of our companions move about.”

Daniel nods. “Usually, a radiac could give you a direction on radiation until you got closer, since radiation grows exponentially weaker the further you get away from it. See if one particular direction is even a little stronger, and we’ll work our way towards that.”

She nods, starting to do another lap, but Daniel gently stops her with a hand on her shoulder. “You should be able to just turn in a circle.”

“Oh! Really?”

“That’s what I’m hoping.”

She does as Daniel asks, and she steps in a simple circle, watching the mana detector all the while. “Ah! Well well well! This direction does give a bit more of a reading. I just figured it was a regular fluctuation.”

“That’s possible. Mana seems to be a lot more… mobile than radiation, at least from what I’ve gathered. So, don’t rule out all fluctuations.” fгeewebnovёl.com

She clears her throat and presses a finger to his chest. “I’m supposed to be the expert here, Mukori.” Wenlianna using the word a second time after being dragged off by Ryuogriar stops everyone from Daniel’s inner circle, as well as Daniel himself.

The brunette, in turn, blushes and glances at everyone. She defensively adds, “L-L-Lady R-R-Ryuo and Great Aunt Reina said that I can use it! A-As long as… it’s someone I deeply cherish and love.”

Doephluev is the first to clear her throat, saying, “Well, she is a descendant of dragons. I suppose it is fitting.”

This earns a few warm laughs, and Wenlianna blushes a little. Appreciative of his archoneldwyn deviant, Daniel tries to stay on task. “You’re right, of course, Wenli-er, uh, Mukori.” She grins at him happily, and she continues her own thought, “Now then, if the source is unstable, we should be able to determine even more about the origins of mana.”

As the magic artisan leads the way, Senn remarks a little dryly, “I feel like I’m about to learn in the next six months things that have remained a mystery for thousands of years.”

“You’re thousands of years old?” asks Hekate innocently. She quickly points at Daniel before he can even tease her, “I’m a fellow lady. I can ask.”

“You’re sixteen. People ask you because it adjusts how they think of you,” remarks Doephluev. “Whether or not to respect you.”

This causes Hekate to twitch in irritation, and Senn answers, “I take no offense either way. Though, admittedly, it becomes easier and easier to lose track.” She adds softly, gripping her magic staff a little tightly, “It’s easier to count the number of tragedies that have taken place.”

Treia jokes, “You’re with the Harbinger of Calamity now, though. Might want to brace yourself for a few more.”

Senn manages a smirk, retorting a little cryptically, “I’m already here.”

Neith doesn’t look over his shoulder, in spite of walking several yards ahead of Wenlianna. He is likely using his magic and sound to keep track of Wenlianna’s direction, while also scanning the surroundings ahead for danger.

“Did you find anything by communing with the tree?” asks Daniel, directed towards the elf.

“That’s a bit blunt, Daniel,” teases Gwenesphia, and her sister Peiburi snickers.

The powerful archmage simply laughs, answering with a comfortable tone. “I did, actually. The tree told me where Yaulwembor was born.”

The human mechanic from another world is a fair bit surprised by both parts of her response. And, Hekate bounds up quickly, asking, “Wait! The tree really talked to you?”

Senn grins playfully, while Doephluev snickers, which provokes the feldrok girl to bicker with the latter. “Shut up! I level up when I defeat enemies, so it could be!”

Once more trying to stay focused, Daniel asks, “Is it nearby?”

“Mm-hmm. The tree is right back there,” replies Senn as she points her staff towards the titanic tree that they are still overshadowed by.

Daniel’s expression goes blank, and quite a few of those present snicker this time.

“Wenlianna, fire her.”

The brunette laughs at Daniel’s reply, stumbling a little while she walks. Daniel manages to react quickly enough to catch her, and the group comes briefly to a halt.

Senn explains sincerely this time, “The nest Yaulwembor hatched from has long since been overgrown and is now under the trunk of a tree.”

“Pardon me,” starts Lyrtef as he approaches. “I know I’m one of the least qualified here, but I thought Yaulwembor wasn’t a magic-transformed monster like Tyror and Rohgattabor.”

“That’s true,” replies Senn. “Faormyrs are naturally powerful, like dragons or feldroks. And, Yaulwembor is a particularly ancient one. She nearly pre-dates the tree she came to call her home.” The elf looks up at the colossal maple tree that seems to loom over all of the nearby forest with a soft and gentle shade.

“It was merely a sapling when Yaulwembor’s egg hatched, and she returned after a few centuries to nest here.” The elf then looks in the direction they’ve been walking, adding, “There are no monsters here comparable to the other two Terrors because Yaulwembor was here. I have something we can try to observe for mana transformation, so please guide us to the highest source of raw mana present, Empress Wenlianna.”

The brunette nods, now stable on her feet again, and she follows the mana detector once more. “It’s up to the second tier, so we seem to be getting closer to something.” She hums happily as she shivers a little too eagerly. “Ooooh, this is almost as exciting as when we made diamonds the first time, Daniel!”

“I wanna see!” exclaims Hekate, jogging over and walking shoulder to shoulder with Wenlianna to study the device. “It is! It’s actually glowing more!”

“Lady Ahok was a Court Magic Artisan for a time,” remarks Treia from nearby.

“It’s new for me to see stuff made like this!” Hekate isn’t defensive or upset. She’s happy and excited, seemingly having already had her little spat with Doephluev with no lingering frustrations.

Senn continues, “There have been monsters that appeared in the area over the centuries, but as one might expect, Yaulwembor slaughtered them all. When mages came to fight her to gain access to the lumber, she began imitating magic.”

“There is some hope for being able to communicate with her,” points out Kera’tai. “Even benkis can be taught to obey commands.”

Daniel agrees, adding, “On Earth, there were many animals that could be taught direct communication using either sign language or selecting letters and numbers. And, that was without translation magic being on the table.”

“Faormyrs have been nearly extinct for a long time,” adds Senn. “So, I don’t know if anyone has ever tried to communicate with them even as much as you did to put Yaulwembor to sleep.”

Neith holds up a fist suddenly, saying, “Please hold. There is something ahead.”

The less-magically powerful party members tense, and the Honeydip family regroups together around Baron Goelselmo himself. Both Stalvaltan knights, Helbeit and Resken jog up alongside Neith, forming a vanguard with 20 mm rifles at the ready.

Daniel calls out, “Remember your safeties, and do NOT point the muzzles at allies! Anyone responsible for friendly fire will be blacklisted and never hold a Fievegal firearm again. Focus, and make your shots count.”

“Neith! Can you tell what it is?” calls out Hekate as she stays close to Doephluev and Wenlianna.

“No, your Greatness. With your permission, I shall scout ahead.”

The mechanic turned Emperor is just about to send Neith forward, but Hekate calls out, “No. I’ll go.”

“What!?” hisses Daniel, shocked the most out of everyone that is surprised by Hekate’s declaration.

She looks up at Daniel, saying proudly, “I’m plenty durable enough, Daniel. But, Neith has talents I don’t. N-Not yet, anyways.” She reaches towards her precious human companion, gently gripping his jacket sleeve where it peeks out from under his armor. “And… You’ve protected me all along while I’m weak.”

“Hekate… You’re the furthest thing from…”

For once, Hekate holds her hand up. “I am weak, Daniel.” She smiles at him, pulling his hand off of his weapon to put it against the cheek of her helmet. “I want to stop being weak.” She looks to the side, adding sheepishly, “W-While I still have you to come to my rescue if I get in over my head.”

Daniel can’t look away from his small feldrok companion. It feels like only yesterday that she was a scrawny, underfed little kitten that he could break with the gentlest of touches, let alone being one of the few in the world of Zenkon he could probably defeat without any of his weapons. He sees her every day, but for the first time since their meeting, he isn’t seeing that small girl.

Her hair and fur are healthy and glossy, and her armor is worn and seen a fair bit of combat, but still holds more strength and character than many adult warriors. She is no longer a pitiful little waif, but instead, she is a brave young woman truly making efforts to become the Empress of the most powerful empire in the world.

At once, he feels a little guilty, since she is running ahead to grow up. Hekate had too little time to actually be a kid, and like him, has so few favorable memories of childhood, that she would rather become someone reliable to the people she loves than to enjoy the carefree life of adolescence. She doesn’t fear her mistakes. She is prepared to bash into them headlong and learn from them as forcefully as possible.

Daniel didn’t have children of his own on Earth, and he doesn’t know what side of the line Hekate truly falls on for him. But, seeing her standing before him wanting his permission to take yet another step towards adulthood has made it really sink in.

He does have children now. He doesn’t want to let their lives just pass him by.

The mechanic manages a warm and gentle smile after a long time of thinking, which caused Hekate’s tail to droop in concern that he was going to object.

Normally, Daniel likes to kneel down to Hekate’s level so that she is even or taller than him. But, that’s not what she wants right now.

“Hekate, scout ahead and determine the locations, number, and size of any obstacles or threats…” As he speaks, Hekate’s tail straightens back out, and her posture inflates back to her ready and confident posture. Her helmet hides the movement of her ears, as well as her full expression, but she is growing hopeful and happier with every word. “As a scout, you are responsible for bringing back information. That means you do not pick fights. You fight-...”

“Fight to run away!” says Hekate proudly. “I won’t let you down!” She hugs Daniel, and the mechanic pats her back. “Communicate with Sir Neith or anyone else capable of telepathy, but make sure you relay information and stay focused. Neith senses something, but the enemy could be lying in ambush.”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” cheers Hekate as she salutes, bouncing back a step from him.

Doephluev teases, “Am I the only one who is baffled by the Empress Regnant going on a scouting mission?”

Hekate scowls at the archoneldwyn temporary Empress, who shrugs innocently. “Don’t worry, your Greatness. I say that, but I’ll gladly come to your rescue.”

“I won’t need you because I’m going to do the best at my job!” She jogs several feet away before turning back to point at Daniel and Doephluev, “Seriously, I’m doing it myself!”

“Go ahead,” replies Daniel with a light tone, though he’s still a bit worried. He has seen Hekate take calamitous impacts from Yaulwembor and even Neith when they first encountered him. The mana she has absorbed has made her quite durable.

But, the human can’t help but see the scared little girl he met.

Be careful, Sweetpea. I’ll try to resist the urge to helicopter.

He looks at Doephluev and Wenlianna, who are looking at him expectantly.

Senn taps his bicep, and the mechanic looks at the elf. She gives him a subtle thumb’s up with a wink that looks a little awkward, like it’s her first time trying it.

Still, he’s sure the elf is reassuring him that, whatever it is, Hekate can handle it.

Treia remarks while everyone waits on Hekate to scout ahead, “I can’t believe we didn’t get attacked. We gave our position away forever ago.”

“Her raven-haired Imperial Greatness will handle it,” replies Senn, and Daniel notices that Neith gives her an uneasy look.

So, there is something out there. But, if Neith doesn’t know what it is, will Hekate be alright?

The mechanic looks at the elven archmage again as she idly casts some kind of simple spell, creating a small glow at the end of her staff.

Daniel sighs. “Wen-uh-Mukori, stay close to Doephluev. Everyone, be ready to move.”

He gets confirmations, and Neith takes a posture that allows him to be ready to run.

Whatever it is, they’ll know soon enough.

***