They ate the dogs. They actually ate the dogs.

  Or, well, what was left of them.

  For it seemed the Law of Separation had really separated anything inside them, turning their insides into what could be best described as minced meat, run through a blender twice just to make sure nothing remained whole.

  I puked at the sight.

  But somehow, that was barely a concern for Enna and Stevin, who acted as if this were a perfectly normal day before erasing the memory of what I’d done to those poor creatures.

  Then, without hesitation, they started chopping up the remains and searing their favorite parts of the Chupacabras’ meat.

  I... puked again.

  If the flesh of that damn creature was considered noble cuisine, then I was fine being a peasant.

  “By the Gods,” Stevin groaned, sprawled on the ground near the fire. “That was some good stuff.”

  “I haven’t felt this full in months,” Enna added with a grin.

  “Disgusting freaks,” I muttered, a shiver crawling up my spine, my already-empty stomach threatening to give up what little it still held. “Just go to sleep already. I’ll stay watch.”

  I did not stay watch that night. Nor the one after.

  They seemed perfectly capable of surviving on just a few hours of sleep before walking fourteen hours straight with barely one or two breaks in between.

  My feet were killing me, to say the least. And with the poor sleep I was already getting from sleeping on the ground, I was starting to feel that chronic exhaustion creeping in.

  The same chronic exhaustion that haunted me in the days between Julia’s passing and the funeral that I never got to attend. My brain fog was slowly making a comeback, and my movement slowed visibly to the point that even the two of them noticed, asking about it.

  “Just exhausted,” I told them. “Not yet used to sleeping like a savage.”

  At least there had been no more incidents in the two days since the dog's attack, which gave me some time to actually think again, if only barely.

  And it turned out I’d been mostly right about how things worked in most of this world, or at least this continent: a meritocracy wrapped in monarchy, wrapped again in the same old list of failures that made feudalism what it was.

  Despite being romanticized by fiction and worshipped by Medieval lovers, it was, at its core, a shitshow.

  Mix in corruption, an uneducated, starving population, a pack of power-hungry nobles, and a sprinkle of religious fanaticism, and voilà, systemic fuckery à la mode.

  Here, though, magic changed things in some ways. Whether it took the shape of spells or godlike beings floating through the sky expecting human-shaped sacrifices, it had undeniably shaped how feudalism evolved in this world.

  But it was unclear to me as to how, so I asked about it. Its specifics, things that might have been different.

  Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, the dog-eaters knew next to nothing despite both of them appearing to have a somewhat decent education.

  And, of course, Ephe didn’t answer when asked about it either.

  I swear, that woman replied only when it was convenient, because God forbid I don’t make a fool of myself at least once a day.

  As for the most interesting subject, though the one I knew the least about, it was Geography.

  From what Stevin explained, the Great Velvet Forests stood in the southwestern corner of a continent called Obios, covering most of the Westgod Peninsula, as Ephe called it, in lush, bountiful greenery.

  “Your forest is in the middle of the Peninsula, Your Grace,” Stevin said as he hopped over a puddle, “Good spot for a King. Bad place for any decent resources.”

  Well said, dog-chewer.

  If I were to compare my location to somewhere back on Earth, the Iberian Peninsula would probably be the closest match, with my forest standing roughly where Madrid would be on the map.

  A curious thought, really, imagining it like that, despite the rather obvious differences between the two worlds.

  One of those differences, for instance, was currently hanging above the trees, its saliva forming the very puddle Stevin had just jumped over.

  Tell me, why was the spawn of Camazotz itself, a giant bat with a mouth far too wide for a bat to have, perched in the trees like a damned predator?

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  No need for an answer, really; it was, after all, a question that solved itself fairly quickly, though.

  Enna’s magic flashbang turned out to be that poor nightmare's greatest weakness, blinding it before it could even lunge toward us, only for Stevin’s rhythmic stomps to impale it against the trunk of the colossal tree for all eternity.

  It seemed their mana capacity was at its peak, which meant I didn’t have to use my Law of Separation on the beast, despite almost shitting myself when Ephe screamed [Danger] in my head.

  “We should be out pretty soon,” said Enna a few minutes after defeating the beast.

  “Out of what?” I asked, somewhat relieved they hadn’t tried eating the bat as well.

  “Out of this forest, Your Grace,” she answered, still looking ahead. “Into the more bountiful areas, and the more traveled ones.”

  “And less dangerous,” added Stevin matter-of-factly. “Overall, we were pretty lucky not to have to fight anything-”

  “Stop right there!” I cut him off. “Let’s not jinx it, hm?”

  Stevin frowned, not quite grasping what I meant. Seems the little guy was only good at magic, arguing, and eating strange things.

  “Don’t speak things into existence,” I clarified.

  He nodded in understanding, still somewhat confused, before we continued.

  Two arguments, nearly a fight between the dog-eaters, and three more hours of walking through the same forest I’d begun to grow oddly fond of, the colossal trees suddenly stopped.

  I looked confused, but with reassurances from the two, we stepped past the last row, only for the sight before me to steal my breath.

  My forest of giants ended atop a cliff, a sheer drop leading to a vast plain below. Whether it was a simple ridge or the slope of a greater hill, I didn’t know, nor could I care. Because what lay beyond was far more important to immortalize in my brain.

  Before me stretched a sea of greenery so immense, so endless, it might as well have been an ocean.

  Trees of every shade, brown, red, green, and gold, painted the landscape in waves of color. While taller trees rose above the canopy like islands across the waves.

  Far in the distance, barely visible past the horizon’s curve, stood the peak of a faraway white-capped mountain. Closer still, in an open patch of forest, a large lake reflected the sun's light on its surface, making me squint my eyes just to see its beautiful colors.

  As for the fauna inhabiting it, birds, beasts, and creatures I’d rather not see or think of again, flew, roared, and sang across the expanse. The air was alive with sound and scent: fruit, flowers, wild garlic, even the loud booms of distant magic.

  It was a magnificent sight, unlike anything I’d ever known. And for a fleeting moment, I understood what Julia had seen in all those hikes she dragged me on, her love for the quiet, the wild, the living world.

  It took Julia's death, crossing into another world, my own death and revival, surviving horrors, and walking for days… but I finally understood.

  I could’ve stood there for eternity and still would’ve found it beautiful.

  “We should take a break here,” I said quietly, watching the expanse as I sat on the edge of the cliff.

  Enna laughed softly at my expression, then nodded. “As you wish.”

  ‘Ephe,’ I spoke in my head.

  [Yes?]

  ‘When you revive Julia, have it done here. I want this to be the first sight she sees.’

  [Gladly.]

  For an hour, I sat there, smiling like an idiot, watching magic, birds, and creatures plunge back into the forest while imagining Julia’s face.

  Right as I was about to say we should move on, Stevin opened his mouth.

  “You know,” he muttered, dangling his feet off the cliff and playing with a blade of grass. “I lied about not receiving help.”

  “Oh wow, who would’ve thought?” Enna said sarcastically, the hem of her torn dress fluttering in the wind as she looked out. “Another noble house? Or the elves?”

  “The elves,” Stevin answered. “For my magic, they offered me food, shelter, and protection.”

  “Are there elves here?” I asked.

  Stevin pointed first to the lake, then a few miles to the east. “That’s more or less where they live. A small village, nothing fancy, but decent folk. My older sister knows their chief, so they received me pretty well.”

  “Luckily, that’s not our destination,” Enna interrupted. “We head straight to Ashtara.”

  Truthfully, I wanted to agree: go to Ashtara, do the Directive, go back home. But life is never that kind.

  [New Optional Directive: Enter the Elven Village.]

  [New Optional Directive: Aid their Cause.]

  [New Optional Directive: Accept the Leaf.]

  “Although I agreed to take you back to Ashtara, and although I agree with Enna, I say we pay them a visit if Stevin wants to,” I sighed, annoyed at myself for accepting an optional directive.

  But it was too tempting. Doing them increased the Reign Index, which in turn increased the Reigncraft’s level, making me stronger; I was a fool not to try.

  “Your Grace?” Enna asked, surprised. “Why?”

  “Call it curiosity,” I lied. “I’ve never seen an elf up close. The kid in me wants to.”

  Stevin laughed triumphantly. “Then why not, Enna? If His Grace is curious, we must go. I really wanted to see my… never mind.”

  “Oh?” Enna caught on. “Don’t tell me the heir of House Barta found himself an illegitimate lady? A commoner elf, no less?”

  Stevin’s face blazed red at the accusations.

  “By the Gods,” Enna continued. “Such a crime would sign the death of the two of you.”

  “Your Grace,” Stevin muttered, embarrassed and half-angry. “Can I push her off the cliff and call it an unfortunate accident?”

  “What’s wrong with loving whoever you want?” I said, turning to Enna and ignoring Stevin’s proposal. “I get the political mess, but so what? Call it youthful indiscretion, as long as they are not harming anyone, let them have some fun, worry later.”

  Enna sighed. “Your Grace, it’s legal and expected for nobles, kings even, to have more than one wife. But they’re expected to marry first. If they sire a child out of wedlock, that child won’t be baptized by a single priest or priestess on this continent.”

  Yep. Good old polygamy for the elites.

  "I was not talking about any child-making here, just some good old hand-holding and kissing. I don’t know about the elf in question, but Stevin is a child," I explained, but still turned to ask Stevin a question. “But if you really love her, why not marry her?”

  “Because of many reasons… but mostly because she doesn’t know I like her,” he muttered, mortified. "I haven't... courted her yet."

  “BAHAHAHAHA,” Enna exploded, laughing like a banshee and almost sending me over the cliff. “And here I was worried for you. I can’t believe I took you seriously.”

  “...Forgive me, Your Grace,” Stevin snapped at the annoying laughter, jumping to his feet. “I’ll throw this woman off the cliff right now.”

  “I want to see you try, bitch,” Enna grinned, leaping up to meet him. "Go call your elf wife... oh wait, you have none."

  With that last taunt, a poor taunt no less, they started throwing punches like two pro wrestlers.

  I sighed, already a normal occurrence seeing them throw it down.

  “Just don’t use any magic,” I muttered, before returning to the glorious view, tuning them out.

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