Decem 5th of 4831 AS Morning light shone into the room of a young girl who lived in the palace of Kujyuri. As the light shined on her face, her eyelids twitched as it reflexively responded to its touch. She slowly opened her eyes in response, still a bit sleepy, but she felt nonetheless well rested. Today felt like another usual day for her and she wiped small bits of sleepy sand from her eyes. As she was about to get dressed she realized that she was still wearing her casual clothes for the day before. A feathery red, pink, and white dress that had feather-like ends at her sleeves and with similar patterns sworn into the hem and seams of her attire. Each part was adorned with a feathery pattern in order to give her an elegant look as moved. She had long brown hair with ribbons that adorned her two fluffy ears at the sides of her head. Her ears twitched when she suddenly heard a knock at the door and she called out in response. "Who is it?" "It's me Rulu, are you ready?" Recogn

"Lady Rulu, we should soon be arriving soon to the source of the distress flare." Said Nosuri who then turned to her brother to ask him a question. "Ougi! Can you see any sign of them in this storm?" With a spyglass in hand, Ougi bounded up out of an open carriage window and was now atop the carriage's roof. Ougi swept his sight across the expanse of snowy plains and noticed an unusual sight in the distance. "No Sister, but I see some stone walls. They must be man made as they aren't natural. We must be in the right place. I suggest we head for the wall and follow along its perimeter." The pair of mercenaries, Ougi and Nosuri, were skilled fighters but also trained scouts from their father who took up hunting as a pastime when his children were in their youth. Nosuri and Ougi were no strangers to navigating in heavy weather, so using what they learned as children they slowed the pace of the caravan to ensure that they did not deviate off course to their intended destination. Yash

Hearing Shizu’s concerned tone to retreat, Azi turned around and began running to the fort’s wall. He had expended much of his magic energy and was unable muster another infusion into his legs as he had not fully recovered. As he attempted to run, he also felt sluggish as his body was still fatigued but knowing that the situation was dire Azi attempted to infuse any amount of fire elemental energy just one more time into his legs so that he could make a long jump to the wall. When he was 10 meters away from the wall, a bout of dizziness and a heat began to overtake his senses. He fell forward into the snow on all four. He felt sick and when he felt his forehead with the back of his hand, he could tell that he had a fever. Azi cursed in his mind at the luck he had. 'Damnit, not now. Just a few more meters.' He attempted to crawl the rest of the way but the feeling in his body was getting faint. The fur coat he wore helped to insulate him from the snowstorm, but his lack of magic

Chapter 57 Behind the Darkness In a secret chamber in Kujyuri's capital, numerous young men were sitting around a round table. These men were some of the ordained knights of Kujyuri who took part in Ozen's council. While the men here did not make up the entire council, they made up a good majority of it. A heavy atmosphere permeated the chamber as everyone had grim expressions on their faces. One of those faces was council member Jerome who was in opposition to Ozen. After a recent one on one discussion with Ozen, Jerome was ordered to command a force of 50 mercenaries himself to transport supplies to Shisayama. He was setting out in a few days, and he loathed Ozen's order. He would much prefer the comfort of his home in the capital with his wives, rather than the countryside bum of a village like Shisayama. Remembering that he would likely have to meet Shizu the Man Killer, he sighed in exasperation before he broke the silence. "So how was the operation in Shisayama?" "If you me

After a "refreshing" bath, Shizu and Azi now sat on a large couch with Kajima who had the new residents of the house taking a seat on the other couch across from them. On it, sitting from left to right was Rulu, Nosuri and Ougi. They all looked on with wry and awkward smiles as they witnessed the eye-catching event in front of them. There sat Shizu, Kajima, and Azi, but the last person was not sitting on the couch. Instead, he was sitting in Shizu's lap as she cuddled him from behind. Azi was slumped back into Shizu's embrace like a worn-out doll. He looked as if he had just lost a battle in utter defeat and Rulu swore she could see a wispy ghost somewhat floating out from his mouth. His embarrassment was also very much visible to everyone as the steam that emanated from his head was definitely not a product of the hot bath. Rulu and the others could only wonder what Shizu had put the small boy through to bring him so low. Rulu's thoughts began to wander as her cheeks began to tu