A fresh dawn

I waited in the sky, holding my staff and watching the ground as the sun illuminated the forestーthe winds blowing from the east as Annaliese swung at the pack of magical wolves. The sound of her sword clashing with their claws, mixed with continuous rapid slashes.

Squinting my eyes, I began to observe closely. Annaliese moves quickly, I say she’s on par with one of the Imperial Vascht finest soldiers. I don’t see any mana in her, so I can assume she can’t perceive magic… And her fighting style almost looks….

I exhaled, narrowing my eyes, disappointed.

That’s a shame, maybe if she was capable of using magic….

Shaking my head, I looked towards the horizonーmy job was to scout afar and make sure no wolves would sneak behind and as well as to look for Port Kalyiar. And there I saw a big dot; A town encased in large walls with the other side open to the sea, multiple ships docked at the shore. That’s our final stop in Ryven.

And further in the distance, over the strait, was the land of the Imperial Vascht. The fog from the distance covered the rest of my visibility. Partly due to the desert of no man's land. But that wasn’t a problem, I’ve already been there.

Underneath me, Annaliese was still fighting the wolves. There are still more of them, roughly fourteen and big in shape, so this will take a while… Or I could end it in one sitting.

I gave a second thought, wondering if using this magic again would compromise its classification.

Come to think of it… It has been a while….

Without a choice I’ve decided to kick the dust off of itーraising a finger to summon a magic circle underneath Annaliese. In the midst of a strike, she disappeared and was teleported to Marieka’s hiding spot.

With that, I don’t have to worry about her in the blast range.

I pointed my staff downwards, aiming at the pack of wolvesーwho were all grouped up together as the sky turned blue.

“Kurawaak.” A magic circle was cast underneath me.

BANG!!! The sound ripped across the skyーa ray of black light was shot down, hitting

the ground and killing the wolves in a blink of an eye.

The impact blew the rocks off the ground, sending chunks of debris flying across the field. Leaving a large crater in the middle, and from my calculations, the hole was at least ten meters deep.

Wow, it's that destructive…? That’s impressive… I thought it would've fallen off due to the rapid evolution of the magical animals.

Afterwards, I slowly descended from the skyーfalling down and landing on the ground smoothly before stepping closer to check the damage.

Wait, that’s kinda bigger than what I saw in the sky… My expression shot up.

Then I heard the bush behind me rumble, Annaliese and Marieka jumped out from it and approached me. “Eilise!! What happened! What was that loud noise? I was hiding and Annaliese was suddenly teleported and…..”

They both halted and stood frozen.

“Perfect, shall we get going?” I looked to my shoulder and saw their faces, they looked horrified.

Annaliese tried to form a word. “....Did you clear them all out? Mistress Eilise?”

I cleared my throat. “I was just testing something, Pay it no mind. Anyways, port Kalyiar is to the northeast, so do we stay for one more day at an inn? Or do we head straight to Imperial Vascht?”

She coughed, placing her fist near her mouth. “I think… It’s best if we rest up when we get to Imperial Vascht, so that we can continue our journey to the capital, saving plenty of our energy..”

Come to think of it… I haven’t ridden a boat for a long time. That’s because I just frequently teleport around.

“ーCome to think of it... Mistress Eilise, are you the only mage who can fly? I have never seen anyone fly before.”

“Hmm… Yeah no, Nixie can fly too. And she likes to use it a lot while I use a different method of transportation she can't use.”

“E… Eh…? Only you and mistress Nixie…?”

“Yeah. Enough of that. We need to be in the sea before night.” I recalled my staff back using pocket magic.

⇔ ⇔ ⇔ ⇔

As I stepped foot on the cobbled pathway, we made our way through the town, passing the crowds and trying to find a boat that sailed to the Imperial Vascht. Looking around, the town’s architecture was beautifulーsimilar to the capital, and the urban structure was well constructed, very organized.

It made me wonder why I haven’t visited this place, it could be because I didn’t want to flood the port.

Around five years ago the kingdom of Ryven was still at war with the demons. I was only appointed three years ago, and it was only that their population halved… Leaving this port unscathed.

We stepped foot on the wooden bridge leading to the dock and approached a man sitting in a boxーa hat covering his face to block from the sun.

He looks to be working here, so it was most logical to ask. “Excuse me, sir. What’s the schedule of the ship heading to the Imperial Vascht?”

“Imperial Vascht? Right this way…” He pointed over to the left. “Fortunately for you three gals, the ship will depart in thirty minutes…”

“That’s perfect mister, how much is the payment?” I offered.

“Don’t worry about it, for you three it’s free of charge. People hardly visit the Imperial Vascht, only a few mages. But still pretty rare.”

I tilted my head before Annaliese stepped forward. “Thank you sir… Are you sure, this wouldn’t hinder your work…?”

“Oh trust me. With or without payment, it’s all the same thing…”

Annaliese bowed her head and moved forward, Marieka thanked the man before following her while I stayed in place. The man looked at me and tilted his head.

“Aren’t you going with them, miss?”

…

.

I jolted, snapping back. “ーSorry… Thank you mister.” I hurried my steps catching up to the two.

As the wood underneath us creaked, they both halted near the ramp leading aboard the ship. 

Marieka turned around, glaring at me. “What’s wrong? Did you say something to the worker…?”

“No, nothing of that. I was just spacing out.”

I should ignore it. Clenching my fist, shaking my head to sulk at the real problem.

People would assume if another Pointed hat showed up in their capitalーit looks as if they are about to declare war… And that’s why I can’t let anyone find out about my identity, especially at the Imperial Vascht.

I slouched, muttering to myself. “I guess it’s a good time to explain to them.”

Scoffing, I straightened my posture. “Heed my call.”

They jolted, Annaliese behind Marieka turned around to me in an instantーbowing their heads… By how they act, I’m getting embarrassed just from seeing them like this…

Do they always have to do this…? I’ve already told both of them a few times already and they wouldn't listen…

Exhaling, I continued. “As soon as I step foot in the Kingdom of Imperial Vascht. Under any circumstances, do not let my identity be known to the public as it may come out as a declaration of war. Understood?”

“”Y… YES!”” The two of them answered in sync.

My lips formed in a straight line. I will never get used to that.