Kana walked with her hood pulled low, the fading afternoon light catching the edges of her thoughts the way it caught the side of the road—slanting, sharp, revealing things she wished she could ignore.

  The capital loomed far to the northern direction, but her mind drifted northward, again and again.

  Days had passed, yet the battle in the frozen north clung to her like a scent she couldn’t wash off. The echoes of those five masked attackers. The cold certainty in the twins’ mirrored eyes as they waited for her in the underground tunnel—waiting as if they had known the girls’ path better than the girls themselves.

  Two things refused to align, no matter how she turned them.

  Why did those five focus only on Suri and me?

  And the twins in the tunnel—the way they stood, perfectly still, identical down to the rhythm of their breaths…

  Who sent them? Why them? Are they even worth the trouble?

  If it’s really the empire, then how did they know our exact movements? Was there a spy among the students… or the professors? Or from the adventurers?

  The idea lodged under her ribs like a sliver of cold iron.

  Or is it someone from the kingdom? Royal Knights or..

  Her mind shifted to the duke—his rigid posture, the tremble in his fingers when she’d confronted him.

  No… he has no reason to target us. But yes… I might have scared him a little too much.

  A humorless exhale escaped her.

  It vanished in the cold.

  But another thought shadowed the next.

  What if someone’s waiting for me at the southern gate?

  The moment the idea formed, it felt wrong—heavy, almost prophetic. Kana had learned to trust that weight.

  Which was why, at the very last moment, when she was already on the road leading south gate of the capital city, she changed direction.

  She needed to reach Suri first.

  Warn her.

  Suri probably had less scouting illusions in the capital since there were some few unexpected situations in the north. Orphanage. Suri wouldn’t deactivate her scouting illusion there. She would go there first.

  After all, the two twins probably thought she would go the standard route, and if they had people there.. she would be hunted again. So Kana took the long path west—farther, slower, safer.

  Her nights became routine.

  Light a fire.

  Roast meat from her [Inventory]

  Wrap her cloak tighter against the creeping cold that signaled she was in the kingdom now.

  Sleep with one hand near a dagger, the other resting lightly against the ground, sensing tremors, breaths, presences.

  Then came the fifth night.

  Kana’s eyes snapped open before her mind even caught up.

  [High Awareness] flared through her nerves like a sharp jolt of lightning.

  Movement.

  Approaching.

  Not fast.

  Not stealthy.

  A group.

  Large.

  Twenty?

  She focused on her [High Awareness]

  Over thirty…

  Moving slowly, steadily, not trying to hide.

  Wagons.

  Four, maybe five.

  Heavy wheels.

  Merchants? Kana thought. Merchants usually travel in such numbers especially if they were carrying something expensive… or dangerous.

  She stood by the fire, letting the flames cast her shadow long across the dirt as the wagons rumbled into sight.

  The night seemed to brighten as lanterns swayed from the wagon frames.

  Then a booming voice cut through the quiet.

  “Good evening to you, Young Lady!”

  A round-bellied man hopped off the leading wagon—and nearly tripped. His clothes were bright, an explosion of colors against the muted forest. A hat with a long feather drooped toward his ear. His cheeks flushed red from drink or cold, and a silver badge gleamed on his chest, reflecting firelight like a tiny captured moon.

  A certified merchant.

  The wagons halted behind him, guards shifting restlessly, metal clinking.

  But the merchant wasn’t looking at Kana.

  He was staring hungrily at the meat roasting on her spit.

  “I am Iman!” the man declared, spreading his arms grandly. “Merchant from the western town! My class is [Alchemist], seller of herbs, rare potions, and the occasional miracle if you pay enough!”

  He beamed.

  Kana simply ignored her lively introduction at first then he approached her.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “And you, young miss?”

  Kana read the group again—subtle breaths, posture, tension, heartbeat rhythms.

  Nothing murderous.

  Nothing dangerous intent.

  Just tired guards and wagons carrying cargo heavy enough to strain their wheels.

  She removed her hood—slowly, respectfully.

  “I’m Ana. Class: [Scout]. I’m… currently lost on my way to the western gate of the capital.” She lied. All students from the academy after all were currently in the north.

  One of the armored guards chuckled—a short bark of a sound.

  “[Scout], lost? That’s a first.”

  Iman immediately smacked the man’s arm.

  “Can’t you see she’s still young?! Scouts don’t start out perfect!”

  He turned back to her—his eyes crinkling with both amusement and calculation.

  “Young Miss Ana,” he said, voice lowering kindly, “we too are heading to the western gate. If you wish, you may travel with us… and it’s safer that way.”

  He pointed at her roasting meat.

  “Of course… nothing is free. That would be our deal.”

  Kana’s stomach tightened—not from fear, but from instinct. She weighed the possibilities swiftly.

  Traveling with them meant cover.

  It meant rest.

  It meant fewer eyes noticing a lone girl on the roads.

  And there was no malicious intent coming from them.

  She nodded once.

  Iman grinned and snatched up the meat eagerly.

  “How did you get such fresh meat?” he asked between delighted bites. “Impossible to transport without spoiling.”

  “I hunted it,” Kana replied simply.

  “Of course!” Iman boomed. “You’re a [Scout], after all!”

  The guards chuckled, the fire crackled, and the wagons creaked behind them…

  …..

  It had been two days since Kana joined the merchant caravan.

  Two quiet, uneventful days—at least on the surface.

  Kana spent most of it resting in the dim, swaying warmth of the wagon. Her limbs still carried the exhaustion of the twins disaster, her senses sharpened but fatigued, her thoughts circling the same questions like wolves stalking the edge of a fire.

  Most of the passengers were workers—laborers dozing with arms folded, women knitting quietly, two young kids rolling dice on the wagon floor. But there were four hitchhikers riding with them as well. Three had paid their fare. The fourth—Kana—had paid with roasted meat.

  At dawn, just when the world softened into blue and gray, the wagon jerked and slowed. The creaking wheels groaned to a halt.

  Kana’s eyes snapped open.

  One of the guards slid the wagon curtain aside.

  His voice was loud and nervous.

  “Everyone out!.”

  The passengers inside did not look worried. They sighed, stretched aching joints, gathered their bags. They moved with the practiced motions of people who had done this many times before.

  Kana frowned.

  “This seems too soon. We just stopped not long ago.”

  A woman beside her—fortyish, hair tied back with a fraying green ribbon—gave her a small sympathetic smile.

  “You must be new here,” the woman said. “This is Sun’s group territory. Bandits. Well…” She lowered her voice. “Bandits with rules. Going out is just a formality. Anyone who goes through here will need to pay.. like a gate entrance."

  Kana stepped down from the wagon, boots sinking slightly into the cold dirt. Her breath misted in the faint light as she scanned the treeline.

  Then—

  She focused. [High Awareness] ignited like a rush of heat behind her eyes.

  Sound sharpened.

  Sight narrowed.

  Thoughts stretched into perfect clarity.

  Iman’s booming voice struck her ears immediately, even from across the clearing where the wagons had formed a loose semi-circle.

  His loud, theatrical politeness was impossible to miss.

  Opposite him stood a tall, broad man with a thick torso and sun-baked skin. His arms were crossed, and despite his heavy build, his steps were light—too light for someone of his size.

  A [Scout] type?, Kana guessed.

  He swept the caravan with a bored, predatory glance—and his eyes landed on her like a blade point.

  Iman’s smile cracked.

  The bandit leader pointed directly at Kana.

  “That one,” he said. “Red eyes. I’ll take her and you will all go. Safely.”

  The clearing seemed to still.

  Kana felt every heartbeat within ten meters. Felt the tightening of grips on weapons. Felt the tension flood through the guards behind her.

  Several of them stepped forward.

  “Merchant Iman!” one hissed. “We can’t hand her over—”

  Another guard, the one who had teased Kana two days ago, now stood protectively in front of her, fingers WHITE on his sword hilt.

  “We pay tolls,” he growled. “We followed your rules.”

  Kana blinked, surprised by a small, warm ache in her chest.

  They’re willing to fight for me?

  Even though they barely know me?

  She bit the inside of her cheek.

  She didn’t want them to.

  Because she had weighed the battlefield in a single heartbeat—

  Bandits numbering around fifty.

  A few archers hidden above.

  Levels mostly 4 to 5.

  Four of them probably around level 10.

  Compared to what she had fought in the north, this wasn’t even close.

  It wasn’t fear tightening her muscles.

  It was something else.

  A cold calculation.

  This might be good.

  Her coins need to be replenished after the amount she just spent.

  Bandits always kept spoils nearby—coins, gear, sometimes artifacts.

  And if they bring them to their main base…

  She would also save this caravan.

  Earn goodwill.

  Earn additional coin.

  Kana inhaled slowly.

  A calm, measured breath.

  Opportunity slid across her thoughts like the thin gleam of a sharpening knife.

  The bandit leader drew closer, cracking his neck as he eyed her.

  “I will take her,” Sun declared, licking his lips. “As your passage fee. No one else will be hurt. You have my word.”

  “You’ll come quietly,” he continued. “And no one needs to die. Tonight.”

  “Fine,” she said softly.

  It didn’t feel soft.

  “I do not want anyone to be harmed… because of me.”

  The guards behind her stiffened.

  Sun smirked. “That’s one way to put it—”

  Kana stepped forward.

  Just one step.

  But that step carried a shift in the entire air.

  Pressure.

  Like a bowstring drawn silently to its limit.

  The bandits felt it.

  The guards felt it.

  “Put a shackle on— her!” Sun's voice suddenly turned into a high pitch sound earning a few giggles from men behind him.

  ……

  Kana’s hands were bound first.

  Thick rope looped tight over her wrists, biting into her skin.

  Then another length was thrown over her shoulder, pulled hard enough that she stumbled forward.

  The bandits laughed at the small noise she let slip—half grunt, half annoyance.

  They marched her through the narrow forest path, boots crunching leaves, the swaying lanterns on their hips throwing long, broken shadows among the trees. The smell of sweat, unwashed leather, and cheap tobacco clung to the air.

  Kana walked calmly in the middle of them.

  Or rather—she allowed them to think she was calm.

  While one of the bandits behind her tugged her rope sharply, Kana muttered, voice low:

  “They’re going to report you. For abducting me.”

  Laughter erupted like a small storm.

  One of the men with crooked, yellowed teeth leaned in close until she could smell the stale alcohol on his breath.

  “Of course they’re going to report us,” he sneered, as if proud of it.

  Then he tapped the side of his nose, grinning wider.

  “And we already paid them not to search for you.”

  Kana felt something tighten in her chest—not fear. Disgust.

  If she tells it to the duke… he’ll take action, right?

  Right?

  Her jaw clenched.

  She exhaled through her nose—a soft, controlled sigh. The rope scraped her wrist as she moved.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked.

  The bandits didn’t hide their delight at her question.

  Sun—their leader—walked ahead like he was leading a parade, not a kidnapping. His heavy build made the ground crunch beneath him, but his steps were too confident, too practiced. A predator used to be unchallenged.

  He wiped sweat from his brow, chuckling.

  “You,” Sun said, turning enough to flash her a grin, “are going to be this batch’s finest product.”

  Product.

  The word was a blade driven into her ears.

  “We’re delivering you to the empire,” he continued. “They pay the highest for rare goods. Young girls like you? Red eyes? Pretty face? You’ll fetch enough gold to retire on.”

  Kana stopped walking for half a second.

  Not visibly.

  But inside her, something stilled.

  A cold, precise quiet.

  Selling their own people to the empire…

  Selling them as slaves…

  The rope around her wrist began to tremble—not because she was pulling.

  But because her fingers were flexing, slowly curling into a fist.

  They all deserve to die.

  The thought wasn’t shouted in her head; it was spoken. Calm. Certain.

  The world seemed to hush in response.

  The night wind paused.

  The insects stopped chirping.

  Even the bandits’ footsteps slowed for a brief, eerie heartbeat.

  A faint pressure radiated from Kana’s body, subtle yet undeniable—like the moment before a thunderstorm when the air thickens, heavy with charged tension.

  Sun stopped mid-laugh.

  Every bandit within several meters felt a chill crawl up their spines. It prickled over their skin, ran cold fingers down their necks.

  One by one, without meaning to, they turned toward her.

  Kana lifted her gaze.

  Her red eyes were half-lidded, unreadable—yet they glowed faintly in the shadows, a simmering ember behind calm expression.

  Sun swallowed, throat bobbing.

  For the first time since laying eyes on her…

  He wondered if they had chosen the wrong person.