“Wait.”

  “…What?”

  “…Thirty two years ago?”

  “Yes. Thirty two years ago. Do you have a problem?”

  “…Do you have to start from all the way back then?”

  “…Just shut up, and listen to the story,” Daes said, glaring at Alnea. “Or do you also want to betray me?”

  “…Betray?”

  “That’s right, betray,” Daes said, glancing at Tia and the girls. “Just like them.”

  “…Please continue, Daes.”

  “…At least you are not a traitor,” Daes said with a snort, before continuing her story. “As I was saying, this story began thirty two years ago, in the depths of the Blue Thunder Canyons, with the birth of a girl—

  “Wait,” Vestia said, interrupting the impatient woman once again.

  “…What now?”

  “Blue Thunder Canyons, as in the Forbidden Area of the Blue Thunder Canyons—

  “You were born in a Forbidden Area?” Alnea said, staring at Daes with wide eyes. “And I thought that my birth story was already crazy enough.”

  “…I want to hear that story some time. And no, I was not born in a Forbidden Area. The Blue Thunder Canyons is not just limited to the small Forbidden Area at its core. Its surrounding territory is also called as Blue Thunder Canyons. And is the place which my clan calls as home.”

  “…Your clan controls an entire Forbidden Area by itself?”

  “What is so surprising about it? There are many clans which do the same. Like the Weinas. Some even control as much as upwards of ten Forbidden Areas.”

  “And other clans let them enjoy the Forbidden Areas by themselves?”

  “What else can they do?” Daes said, shrugging her shoulders. “It is not as if our clans have occupied those Forbidden Areas recently. We have been in control of those territories since the Age of Gods. And we have the strength to protect it. Most importantly, these areas are not as strategic as the Lost City. At best, they just act as a training ground for our younger generations. Just like the Bright Light Forest and the Night Canyons in your country. The difference is that none of the Orthodoxies in your country are strong enough to occupy those areas by themselves.”

  “…I see.”

  “…Anyways, as I was saying, this story began thirty two years ago, in the depths of the Blue Thunder Canyons, with the birth of a girl to a Grand Wanderer—

  “Your mother is a Grand Wanderer?”

  “That’s it. If someone interrupts me again, I am going to kick them out of my mansion,” Daes said, glaring at the people around her, releasing the breath she was holding only when everyone nodded solemnly. “If you have any questions, then just wait for me to finish my story. Do not interrupt me again. Alright?”

  Everyone nodded their heads once again.

  “…Good,” Daes mumbled, before glancing back at Alnea. “And yes, my mother is a Grand Wanderer. Just like my father. And their mother and fathers. And no, before you start making up some strange stories in your head, I am not the heiress of the Thunderbird clan. Never was. Though I did have a prominent status back in my clan. My grandfather is the Thunderbird clan’s Great Elder, after all. But that is all in the past.

  “From the day I became imprisoned in the Lost City, I was doomed to a life of obscurity. Unless I became a Grand Wanderer myself. Or leave the city as someone’s Dependent. And the former is nearly impossible without the latter. Without sufficient tempering, and enough fortuitous encounters, advancing beyond the True Rank would depend on Goddess Ilea’s moods. And she has rarely ever shown me her favour.”

  Daes paused, reminiscing about her past, resuming her story only after a few moments had passed.

  “With the resources of my clan, it was easy for me to become a False Wanderer before I turned fourteen, and touch the threshold of the True Rank by the age of eighteen. That was when I came to the city. And when I fell for the traps of those bastards… Everything went downhill after that day. My Heart was shattered, my Spirit injured, and my hands, stained with the blood of my own companions. I even began to doubt my conviction. My Roots…”

  Daes paused once again, taking a few moments to reign in her overflowing emotions.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “…My Roots, you see, are a little different from normal Roots. I will not get into the details, but long story short, they can give me snippets of future. Not as visions, of course. Such advanced use of the Mysteries of Fate and Time is not what my Roots can afford. At least not now.

  “No, the snippets of the future come more as a gut feeling, and they come sporadically, whenever I am at a crossroad, allowing me to choose a path that would lead to a better future. Or so I thought, until they led me to a path that saw me trapped in the Lost City. You do not know how devastated I was back then… How it feels to see what you have believed in your entire life, come crashing down on you…

  “If not for my mother, who came with me to the city, intervening in time, I may even have been Enthralled. And even after her rescue, it took me months to come out of the shadow of… of…”

  “…Daes?” Alnea said hesitantly, after Daes hung her head down, and stopped speaking altogether. “Are you alright?”

  “…I am fine,” Daes said after a few moments, exhaling a heavy breath, as she raised her head, and stared into his eyes. “Are you not going to ask me what I did?”

  “…You told us not to ask any questions, remember?” Alnea said, flashing a smile. “Besides, if sharing a secret hurts you, then I would rather you not share that secret at all.”

  “…I knew you were the right choice,” Daes said, as a smile returned to her face, only to be overtaken by gloominess the very next moment. “But that is the reason why I cannot run anymore.”

  “…You do not have to force yourself, Daes.”

  “…I am not forcing myself. I want to do this. I want to tell you everything that happened that day. Because only then, will you truly trust me. That is what my Roots are telling me.”

  “…Then your Roots are lying,” Alnea said. “Because I already trust you.”

  “…Maybe,” Daes said. “It would not be the first time they misled me.”

  “…I am sorry.”

  “Why are you apologising?”

  “…I should not have said that about your Roots…”

  “But you are not wrong. It did lead me into believing a group of Wanderers, and form a team with them, only for them to betray me at the end, forcing me to kill them with my own hands.”

  “…Is that why the city punished you?”

  “…Not what you expected?” Daes said, raising the edge of her lips ever so slightly. “Are you beginning to feel a little repuls—

  “But they betrayed you first!” Alnea said, with all sorts of expressions crossing his face, catching Daes off guard. “How could they punish you for defending yourself?”

  “…It does not matter,” Daes said, coming back to her senses. “I killed my teammates. And that is against the city’s rules.”

  “…Stupid rules,” Alnea mumbled, and clenched his fist. “One day, I will crush those rules with my own hands.”

  “…Then I will be waiting for that day,” Daes said, as a smile finally made its way to her face, before turning into giggles. “Just make sure not to be trapped by the city in return, or I will lose my freedom once again.”

  “…The city will never be able to trap me,” Alnea said haughtily, puffing up his chest, inciting another round of giggles from Daes. Only then, was he reassured that she was back to normal. And free to ask the question that he had been curious about for a while.

  “Do you not resent the city?”

  “Resent? Why?”

  “For taking away your freedom.”

  “…The city did take away my freedom, but it also saved my life. And it taught me many things that I would have taken decades to learn otherwise. Not to mention all the lectures it saved me from. Seriously, listening to those old people yapping all day long is much more tiring than fighting a hundred battles. If not because I was bored, and have recently seen a drop in my rate of progress, I would never have even thought of leaving the city…”

  “…You are not very good at lying, you know?”

  “…Tsk. You are much harder to fool now.”

  “…I was never easy to fool. And you are saying your thoughts out loud once again, Daes.”

  “Huh? Did I do something like that again?” Daes said, laughing awkwardly, before quickly changing the topic. “Speaking of thoughts… Do you remember what I said about my Roots and crossroads?”

  “…That is nowhere related to thoughts, but yes, I do remember everything you said.”

  “…After I killed my teammates… I lost all faith in my Roots. And that was when it put me at another crossroad. To either stay in the city for a few more years, wait for the greatest Good Fortune of my life to come, or to leave right away with my mother. And I chose the latter.”

  “But I thought that people could not accept close relatives as Dependents…”

  “…You must understand, Alnea. Wherever there are rules, there will always be ways to circumvent those rules,” Daes said. “It is true that my mother could not accept me as her Dependent, but she did not need to. All she had to do was to push a random person’s privilege to the level of Blood Lord, and then have them redeem me as their Dependent.”

  “…Then why…”

  “Why am I still in the city? Because my mother refused to take me away.”

  “…Why?”

  “…To let me believe in my Roots once again.”

  “…Well, there is no arguing with that,” Alnea said, nodding solemnly. “Losing faith in your Roots is a very troubling matter. And if staying in the city could solve that problem, then it would indeed be better for you to stay in the city.”

  “…Why else do you think I listened to her?”

  “…So, did it work?”

  “…I will let you guess.”

  “…It should have. Or you would not have advanced from the False Rank all the way to the Fourth Stage of the True Rank.”

  “…It looks like staying with the flies has not completely rotten your mind. Maybe there is still some hope in saving you.”

  “…But it looks like being imprisoned in the city may have also affected your Heart to some extent.”

  “Have you become a little rude? But it is fine. I like them rough anyway.”

  “…Though, I am curious,” Alnea said, ignoring Daes’ ramblings. “Did you get the Good Fortune that your Roots predicted?”

  “Have I not made it clear already?” Daes said, stretching her smile into a grin. “You are the Good Fortune that my Roots led me to.”