“Are you mad at the Elder?” Orion asked as soon as they were far enough from the embassy not to fear being overheard.

  Asteria closed her eyes, clearly struggling with her feelings, but shook her head. “No, I’m not mad. Annoyed, yes, but I’ve known her for a long time. I expect her to use all the cards in her hand, especially when the stability of the entire Magocracy is at stake.”

  After a few more minutes of hard marching, she finally slowed down. “Yue isn’t the kind of woman to do anything without considering all the implications, but often she dismisses the feelings of others, simply because if put in the same situation, she wouldn’t get as mad.”

  That was something Orion had noticed for himself. The Elder wasn’t a bad person, and she didn’t seem to draw pleasure from lording over others, but it wasn’t uncommon for her to push her subordinates beyond their limits.

  It’s easy to forget her age because of her beautiful looks, but that woman is at least a century old, probably older. She doesn’t live her life like everyone else.

  It wasn’t exactly an ivory tower situation, since she stayed involved in the daily activities of the embassy, but it wasn’t far off either.

  Eventually, Asteria slowed down, and Orion realized they had arrived at Ames Manor. She must want to get the Basilisk Fang’s help to rank up.

  He was fairly certain that this was usually handled in-house, but while Morliana’s influence in the embassy was weak, she undoubtedly had some informants. It seemed like his mother wanted to do something to remind her own teacher that she wasn’t someone to be manipulated, but an equal.

  Not that I think she could match up against Yue right after ranking up. That old witch has been growing her power for a long time, and, since she hasn’t reached tier five, advancing in tier four must be hellishly difficult.

  Frankly, the fact that his mother managed to gain more than twenty levels in a single year was utterly ridiculous. She had to duel powerful enemies many times on their way to Valderun, which no doubt helped, but it was her unrestricted access to Yue’s stores of rare ingredients that truly allowed her to make the jump.

  As a potioneer, the easiest way to level up was brewing highly complex potions, though this was rare in the Sanctum due to her responsibilities in managing the department and teaching.

  Ever since she arrived in Valderun, she has been making rapid progress. Even if we hadn’t been forced to flee the Sanctum, coming here might still have been worth it just for this.

  A servant arrived at the gates shortly after, visibly surprised to see them but swiftly greeted them. “My lady, my lord, the Minister is presently with someone in his office, but I can escort you to Lady Ophelia if you’d like. She was about to take a break from her lessons.”

  “That’d be lovely,” Asteria replied with a smile so dazzling that the poor man stumbled in surprise. Clearly, even trained servants like him weren’t completely immune to a beautiful face. “I’d also really appreciate it if you could make sure to inform the Minister of my presence here after he’s done with his meeting.”

  The butler nodded so vigorously that Orion feared his head would fall off, then quickly scurried away to do her bidding after taking them to the inner gardens.

  “Ew,” Orion muttered, earning a titter from his mother.

  “Oh, don’t be like that. You were blessed with a beautiful face, moonbeam. Learning how to use it to your advantage is just as important as learning magic.”

  Orion snorted. His looks had done little but cause him problems. He would have been perfectly fine with average features, but he ended up in the ninety-ninth percentile. Still, it wasn’t worth arguing with his mother over, especially when she seemed so determined.

  Soon, they found their quarry, and he stepped back to observe a master at work.

  Poor Bart didn’t stand a chance. The white mage was clearly torn between the joy of finally resolving a long-standing issue and the uneasy feeling of still blaming himself.

  Asteria didn’t hesitate to prey on that.

  “I’ve been wanting to take my son out of the city for a while. The atmosphere has been stifling, but since today is such a nice day, a little trip couldn’t hurt, could it?” She asked, and Bart nodded in agreement.

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  “Yeah, it’s been pretty gloomy for a while. With spring finally warming the land, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of rare herbs,” he said, and Asteria’s face lit up, as if she hadn’t already known.

  “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea! There are a few rare ingredients that only appear at the end of winter. This could be a perfect chance to find them before the adventurers go out in large numbers," she replied, earning a nod from Abella, who, as the beast master of the group, was the most in tune with nature.

  “Now would be the perfect time, yes. If we weren’t stuck with this job, I’d already be out there in the field hunting for some of the more expensive stuff.”

  This is too simple. It's hard to believe Mom could have the skill to manipulate a conversation so subtly.

  Any further talk was interrupted as Ophelia stepped out of the manor and lit up upon seeing him. She made sure to politely greet his mother first, then marched over to elbow him, prompting a surprised groan.

  “That’s for leaving me like that the other time,” she said snidely, though he could feel the smile in her tone.

  “Sorry,” he apologized with a grin that showed he was completely unrepentant.

  From the corner of his eye, Orion saw his mother sit on one of the lawn chairs scattered around and move it so that the sun could shine directly on her.

  That made Ophelia take notice, “Oh, wow. It’s such a nice day today.”

  “We were just talking about that,” Bart nodded. “Asteria was telling me she’s thinking of taking Orion on a little excursion to look for some of the equinoctial herbs before the surrounding fields and forests are picked clean.”

  Ophelia brightened at that, “That sounds like a wonderful idea. We could even make it an outing, couldn’t we?”

  Orion didn’t need to look at his mother to know she was silently telling him to agree, and so he did, nodding, “That could work. With the Senate vote coming up soon, I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to make trouble for you, and we’d have backup in the form of an A-rank team anyway.”

  From a distant chair, Seothyn shot them a thumbs-up. “The Basilisk Fang’s protection extends everywhere. Our contract doesn’t specify that we need to be in the city, only that we have to protect the princess.”

  “Ah,” Ophelia deflated, “I don’t know if grandpa will let me go. He’s been pretty clear that I need to stay inside the city.”

  “Mmh, I wonder,” Asteria murmured. “Well, I needed to discuss something with him, so I might as well bring it up. Who knows, he might say yes.”

  “That’d be amazing!” Ophelia suddenly brightened, clasping her hands in front of her. "If you need the final blow, my puppy eyes can't be beat!”

  “I still don’t get how we went from there to here,” Orion grumbled. He wasn’t opposed to the whole trip and was actually looking forward to it, but it would be a lie to say he liked the social engineering his mother had used to secure this victory.

  “Don’t worry about it, moonbeam. I just raised a few concerns with the minister, and he decided that as long as we have enough support, it will be just as safe for Ophelia to leave the city as to stay in the manor.”

  Clearly, she wasn’t going to say more than that, and since everyone else in the carriage appeared completely relaxed, he might have been the only one who cared.

  I just don’t want us to get involved in anything dangerous again. Well, more dangerous than whatever mom needs to reach that last level.

  Ranking up wasn’t as complicated as the Class Ceremony, which was a full-blown religious event, but it still was supposed to be quite something.

  Since Orion had missed lessons for quite some time, he couldn’t exactly say what the Sanctum’s official stance was, but from overhearing several people discuss the topic over the years, he had been able to piece together a rough understanding.

  After receiving the necessary Exp, the System would reveal itself more clearly than most ever experienced, and would ask the person if they were ready to move forward. That, apparently, was the trigger for a trance of sorts, during which they would be untouchable and protected by the System itself, until they finally completed the process.

  According to some people he overheard in Silverpeak, it was quite an experience, and most considered it a religious event, at least in the lands controlled by the Sanctum.

  Though it might be different for those at tier four. I’m really starting to think we should have talked with Yue first before coming here.

  “We’re almost there,” Ophelia grinned, staring out of the carriage. It was reassuring to see that she hadn’t let her bad experiences traumatize her, although some of that was probably thanks to the Basilisk Fang’s attentive presence.

  The five A-rankers were outside, watching the carriage’s path and protecting it from anything and anyone that might cause trouble.

  Her words proved correct, as the carriage driver flexed his whip and the six-legged lizards he used as mounts came to a stop soon after.

  Their ragtag group was let out to the side of the stone-paved road that would have taken them to the smaller northern towns under the Collegium’s control if they had kept going. But instead of heading there, what they really cared about was the vast lands that stretched beyond what the eye could see, crisscrossed by thousands of small streams, rivulets, and slightly larger tributaries that would eventually flow into the Beltway.

  Here, they supported the growth of all kinds of plant life, bringing important minerals from the northern forests and feeding the many creatures that inhabited these lands.

  At first, Orion was confused about why a powerful faction like the Collegium would allow much of their territory to remain wild, but that was quickly explained when he realized they, just like his group, needed places to fight and advance.

  Purging Cyril of monsters wasn’t as impossible as some commoners believed. If the major factions teamed up, they could definitely do it or at least reduce the overall population to a small fraction. It just wasn’t convenient for anyone who wanted a ready supply of monsters to fight.

  “This here is where I last heard the troll herd was seen. But I have ta ask again, milady. Usually, a whole squadron of mages comes to deal with those nasty buggers. Are you sure you want ta do this?” The driver asked, wringing his hat in his hands.

  Clearly, the man knew they weren’t exactly like other adventuring teams, given the way his eyes slid to their equipment, but it was still difficult for someone like him to fully understand the power Asteria could wield, much less someone like Seothyn.

  “We’ll be fine, good man. You can head back to the village for now; we’ll come look for you once we’re finished,” she replied, then, with a spring in her step, headed into the wilds.

  As he passed by the man, Orion gently patted his shoulder in sympathy. “If it’s any comfort, you have nothing to fear. I’m more worried about the risk of upsetting the local ecosystem with how many monsters she’ll hunt, really.”

  Given the way his face twisted, it didn’t help much.