Chapter 362: Next Stop, the Imperial Palace.

Ten days after leaving the Great Forest, Dalia and Lily finally reached Arvandel.

It was the largest port city in the south and, thanks to trade with Eldia, also one of the busiest.

Human ships arrived daily at its docks loaded with goods, so the market near the harbor was packed from first thing in the morning.

The two of them had been moving through that crowd for almost an hour with their hoods covering their faces.

Not because they wanted to look mysterious, but because their appearance could draw too much attention.

At first glance they looked human, and although Eldian sailors were common near the port, two human women traveling alone through a southern city were already pretty conspicuous.

If, on top of that, someone noticed their nearly white skin and red eyes, the stares wouldn’t take long to pile up.

So their intention was to go unnoticed.

The problem was that they had spent almost an hour gawking at everything like tourists.

Elves, beastmen, dwarves, and all sorts of half-humans mingled around them, trading with complete normalcy, something that alone would have been enough to catch Lily’s attention.

But what truly surprised her were the objects.

There were stalls lit by flameless crystal spheres, metal cabinets that kept drinks cold, and all kinds of strange devices.

Lily stopped in front of one stall to watch a beastwoman pull several steaming skewers out of a closed iron box.

She stayed there a few seconds longer until, looking up, she discovered that Dalia was already several steps ahead.

Lily hurried to catch up.

"That was mana, right?" she murmured once she was back at her side.

"Yes. Very little, but it definitely came from those stones."

"And do you know how it worked? Because they weren’t using any magic circle."

Dalia didn’t answer right away, and when she finally did, her voice sounded far less sure than usual.

"No."

Lily looked at her in surprise.

Dalia not knowing something was strange in itself.

After Rose, she was the most powerful of her sisters, and although she specialized in close combat, her command of mana and magic was still considerable.

On top of that, she had memorized almost everything their father had taught them about the world before sending them south.

But none of that could explain what lay before them.

And that was precisely the worrying part.

Dalia swept her gaze over the market once more, now paying attention not only to the devices but also to the buildings, the stalls, and the people using them.

"We can’t keep going in blind," she said, stopping. "We need current information."

"And how do you plan to get it?"

"By asking, obviously."

Lily smiled.

"Sure. Excellent idea. ’Excuse me, we’re two vampires from the north who haven’t heard any news in years. Could you explain why you’ve suddenly stopped killing each other?’... very subtle."

"..."

"I’m just saying maybe we should work on the introduction a bit," Lily said with a shrug.

Dalia stopped paying attention to Lily’s teasing and began watching the people passing by until she found someone who seemed suitable.

Nearby, a short, stocky beastman had just stopped a cart loaded with crates and sacks at the entrance of an alley.

Round ears stuck out of his hair, and a striped tail swayed slowly behind him.

After making sure nobody was paying attention, the man left the cart and disappeared into the alley, probably to relieve himself away from the eyes of the market.

It was exactly the opportunity Dalia needed.

She headed over with Lily following, and the two waited by the entrance.

Soon the beastman came back down the alley adjusting his belt and humming a tune under his breath.

But before he could reach the street, the two hooded figures stepped into the alley and blocked his path.

He stopped short, his striped tail bristling.

"Something I can do for you, ladies?"

Then Dalia lowered her hood, just enough for him to see her eyes. They glowed an intense red, almost luminous in the gloom of the alley.

The beastman opened his mouth to say something more, but the words never came.

His expression went blank, his shoulders relaxed, and his pupils dilated until they almost swallowed the color of his eyes.

"Father told us not to interfere with this world," Lily reminded her in a low voice. "Isn’t this interfering?"

"He won’t remember anything."

From there, the questions came one after another, and the beastman answered all of them in the same flat voice, without hesitating once.

His name was Hugo and he didn’t know all that much; after all, he was a merchant, and most of what he knew came from rumors heard in markets, taverns, and trade routes.

But for Dalia and Lily, it was more than enough.

That was how they learned that, not long ago, a man everyone called the Death Emperor had appeared in the south practically out of nowhere.

Nobody seemed to know for certain where he came from, but they did know what he had accomplished afterward.

In record time he had done something that for centuries had been thought impossible.

Unify the south.

Elves, beastmen, half-humans, and dwarves had ended up under a single government.

Some regions had joined of their own accord, and others only after being decimated.

Now that man ruled from the imperial palace, in the old elven capital, accompanied by his guardians.

And since his arrival, the wars between the southern races had practically vanished.

"Do you have a map?" Dalia asked.

"Yes, ma’am. In the cart."

"Bring it."

Hugo walked out of the alley with stiff steps and returned a moment later with a rolled-up parchment.

It was a map of the south.

Trade routes were marked in red, cities with small symbols, and Arvandel appeared beside the coast.

Dalia followed one of the routes with her finger and then another, silently comparing the distances and landmarks on the map with the directions their father had given them before they left the Great White North.

"What did you find?" Lily asked, leaning over her shoulder.

Dalia stopped her finger on one of the largest symbols on the map.

"Rose is here."

Lily followed her finger to the imperial capital and her eyes went wide.

"Wait... Sister Rose is in the Death Emperor’s palace?"

"So it seems."

"And what the hell is she doing there?"

Dalia didn’t answer, because honestly she had no explanation either.

The Rose they knew was an extremely solitary person.

She could spend entire days shut in her room without speaking to anyone, avoided family gatherings whenever she could, and reacted rather badly when someone invaded her personal space.

Not to mention she hated crowds, unnecessary conversations, and social interaction in general.

Even her relationship with their father was complicated.

So imagining her living in a palace, probably one of the places with the most people coming and going at all hours, didn’t make much sense.

Dalia ended up rolling up the map and tucking it inside her cloak before looking at Hugo again.

"How far is it?"

"On foot, about thirty days."

Lily’s shoulders slumped.

"Dalia, I’m sick of this," she protested, covering her face with both hands. "We’ve been walking for months. My feet hurt, my legs hurt, and if I have to take one more step, I’m going to sit down right here and not move."

Dalia let out a heavy sigh.

Flying would have solved it in an instant, but it would also have drawn enough eyes that half the south would be talking about them before nightfall.

And Father had given a fairly simple order.

Don’t draw attention.

So, however tempting the idea of flying and finally escaping Lily’s complaints might be, it wasn’t an option.

Dalia was about to resign herself to another thirty days of whining when her eyes fell on the beastman’s cart.

"Hugo, where were you headed with your cart?"

"To the coastal villages, ma’am. I have to deliver goods to three of them before heading back."

"Not anymore. Now you’re going to the capital. And you’re taking us with you."

"Yes, ma’am."

Lily let out a squeal of joy and hung off her sister’s arm.

"I love you so much! Did you know you’re the best sister in the world?"

"Let go of me."

Lily let go, but didn’t stop smiling. She ran out of the alley and leapt onto the back of the cart, sprawling across the sacks as if they were the most comfortable mattress in the world.

Dalia followed at a calm pace and sat next to the beastman, who had already taken the reins with the same empty expression as before.

"To the capital!" Lily said cheerfully.

"Yes, ma’am."

The beastman flicked the reins, the ox let out a lazy moo, and the cart began to move through the crowd.