The wooden clogs clacked crisply against the wooden floor. She didn't stay long in the hot spring, returning to her room ahead of everyone else after just twenty minutes.

Her bedroom was on the second floor of the main building, which only had two bedrooms in total. The layout was all open, and the view was quite nice with all the windows wide open.

As the innkeeper, Old Xia, had mentioned, the two bedrooms on the second floor of the main building were meant for use by His Highness Duke Xiang Ling and had another one that remained vacant. The specifications of the two bedrooms were completely identical, symmetrical with no discernible differences.

Initially hesitant to assign the vacant room to Tiran for rest, Old Xia's attitude changed significantly after a few whispered words from Mo Yi in his ear. Indeed, what did Mo Yi say to him? Even though she was a princess from a powerful western country, her noble status didn’t warrant such respect without proper diplomatic protocols in place, right?

Allowing Tiran to use a room of the same standard as that noble princess, it seemed like Tiran's status in Old Xia's eyes had risen almost to the same level as hers.

"Oh! That feels quite something."

Having lived in a modern world in her past life, where despite existing cultural differences between the East and the West, the interiors of modern buildings had tended towards homogenization. But this place was different. Accustomed to the grandeur of western-style decor, encountering a room with an eastern minimalist layout and style felt like a displacement in time and space.

Surrounded by wilderness, with no privacy concerns, the overall open layout made the space feel particularly airy, as if one's being immersed in an ocean of the night.

The chirping of insects, the rustling of leaves in the wind... and more silence, with the birds’ calls making the mountains seem even more remote. That was probably the kind of atmosphere it was.

"Tsk, recalling a poem even across two worlds, truly worthy of being me."

Shaking her head, Tiran contentedly hummed a tune as she walked into the bathroom to find a towel to dry her still slightly damp long hair.

Ping...?

Hmm?

Tiran, with her towel wrapped around her head to absorb the moisture, opened her eyes.

Had she just heard the sound of wind chimes earlier? Continuing to dry her hair, Tiran walked out of the bathroom and strolled around the second floor of the entire main building, also taking a walk around the room reserved for the neighboring princess, without finding anything that could produce a sound similar to wind chimes.

Forget mishearing; she was, after all, a dignified Level Nine Knight who could potentially return to the Holy Rank. Making such a basic error in a quiet environment was less about hearing problems and more about mental issues.

"What's going on..."

Furrowing her brows, Tiran returned to the door of her own room and, outside in the corridor, leaned against the railing to oversee the entire inn. To prevent possible attacks by steppe people, Old Xia had instructed the inn’s boys to keep all the lights in the estate lit through the night. Combining that with Tiran's excellent vision, she could see everything within that side of the walls very clearly.

For example, over there on the grass, Shuma and the mercenary leader were engaged in a squabble, or Miss Mimi was playing in the hot spring pool with Chirp.

—On this note, Mimi felt more like a mom accompanying a child, huh?

This inexplicable thought popped into the princess's mind.

No, no, that wasn't what I was trying to think about just now.

It was the atmosphere. Yes, the atmosphere seemed a bit off. Without any particular reason, that's how Tiran felt. Everything seemed normal on the surface, yet there was a subtle hint of something being amiss.

Before, soaking in hot springs, chatting, and going upstairs all felt natural, but now Tiran couldn't help feeling a bit blocked in her heart, as if something was bothering her, like a thorn in her back.

"Little Tiran." Someone patted her shoulder from behind.

"Wow!"

Startled, Tiran turned her head abruptly, only to see no one there. "Who is it!"

"Are you making fun of me on purpose?"

The voice carried some discontent as a little hand reached out to pinch the chin of the princess and forced her to bow slightly.

Facing the red-robed girl with a poker face, Tiran awkwardly chuckled: "Li... how come you walk without making any sound? You scared me."

"You were daydreaming so deeply that you didn't respond despite me calling you several times from behind."

Li crossed her arms and furrowed her brows.

"Sorry, sorry." Tiran quickly apologized.

Dealing with the stubborn Liecho was really difficult for her. Unlike the easily embarrassed Aya, Li showed no reaction to her teasing. And all kinds of pranks were always easily exposed by her. As for physical fights...

Although the spells of an Arcane Mage were known for being straightforward, Liecho, as a member of the kingdom's Magic Research Institute, had various tricks up her sleeve. Unless using real skills, Tiran would end up at a loss in minor scuffles. On the other hand, Li, pretending to conduct research, would openly involve her in some strange tests.

It's better not to provoke her.

"What do you need from me... huh?"

Back in the room with Li, before Tiran could finish asking, she saw Li taking out a blanket and a pillow from a pendant-style storage magic tool around her neck.

"I mean, are you planning to sleep here?" Tiran asked with a hint of amusement.

"Is it not allowed?" Li asked expressionlessly.

"No, no, of course, you can. I'm just curious because I remember the guest rooms behind are also quite nice, and you shouldn't be the kind of person who cares so much about the environment, right?"

"I don't care about the environment. I'm just afraid you might get scared sleeping alone, so I came to keep you company."

Rolling her eyes, Li retorted, causing Tiran to choke on her words. "By the way, regarding your Law Powers, I have a different idea for testing them."

Despite planning to mock her, Li found herself thwarted by Tiran and could only weakly respond. She then quickly regained her composure, instinctively took a step back, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and looked wary, afraid that Li would take out something colorful from her storage magic tool.

"Wait, testing? How do you plan to test it? I'm not up for anything strange, and besides, Li, you haven't dealt with Laws to solve such issues. It might be a bit too much..."

Memories of being chased all over the castle, various mechanical tentacles comparable to hentai monsters, were fresh in Tiran's mind. She had to remain cautious when it came to Li's so-called "tests."

"Don't worry, it's nothing like that this time."

Although Li also took out something from her pendant, it looked quite normal: two circular plates resembling electrocardiogram electrodes, but much larger.

"In the past, we used the perspective of warriors like swordsmen and knights to consider Chi flow angles, this time let's try directly from the perspective of mental power, that is, magic power."

Tapping the circular plate attached to her temple, Li explained, "This is a mental power enhancer. With this, I can directly observe your mental sea with my mental power... Although the conditions are very strict and cannot be applied in combat, it is quite useful for detection. As you say, you have an understanding of Holy Rank Laws, but you just can't seem to apply them, right?"

"Well, at first I thought the Chi intensity wasn't enough, but now it's pretty much back to its peak, and still can't use the rule."

Liecho shook his finger and said, "That's right. Do you remember when you mentioned using the rule once in a moment of crisis back in Milt? At that time, besides the forcibly induced Chi, the most significant difference for you should have been the intense emotional fluctuations."

"What's directly related to emotions is psychic power, so I speculate that the ability to control the rule may have something to do with your mental state. Perhaps the superliminal burst in Sainz had some kind of effect on your mental sea."

"Although I don't understand, it sounds powerful."

Tiran nodded repeatedly, like when listening to a top student's explanations, even if not fully comprehending, still responding with an "Mm, right."

"You don't need to understand, just sit on the bed."

Li pointed to the bed in the bedroom.

"Oh..."

"I'll begin. Keep quiet and don't interrupt me while I concentrate."

After sitting on the bed, Tiran, Li cleared his mind of distractions and focused entirely on his psychic tentacles.

Psychic tentacles were silent and intangible, yet could still affect physical things. For a mage, it could achieve effects similar to telekinesis, akin to the Force or telepathy, so Tiran could still sense a slight touch on his facial skin.

The sensation was quite subtle, as if some fine threads penetrated his skin and facial bones, yet without any peculiar or painful feeling.

"It gives me goosebumps..."

Tiran couldn't help but shiver.

"Quiet, as I said, I need to focus."

An abrupt reprimand made Tiran obediently fall silent.

After about half an hour or so, when Tiran could barely hold his breath and dared not even exhale, Li finally opened his eyes, looking somewhat tired as he sat down on a nearby chair.

"How was it?"

For most people, one could judge the result by facial expressions, but for someone like Li, whose emotions didn't show much on his face, one had to ask.

"No issues," Li shook his head. "Little Tiran, your mental sea is quite normal, and not inferior to mine... if you're willing, you could also become a decent Magic practitioner."

"I didn't really want to hear that kind of good news..." Tiran sounded a bit disappointed.

"The study of The Realm of the mind, even in the magitech capital, hasn't made much progress. The human brain and psyche are just too complex," Li shrugged but then changed the subject, "But I have an idea to try out."

Since the problem seemed to lie in psychic power, yet the specific issue couldn't be pinpointed, why not be more direct and simply boost the flow significantly?

"I can inscribe a rune to enhance your psychic abilities on your body, similar to how my device works, but more rudimentary and only capable of short bursts. The benefit is that it won't require total concentration to sustain the psychic output."

"Like a stimulant?" Tiran raised an eyebrow.

"You could think of it that way," Li admitted straightforwardly, "Don't worry, a short and intense surge in psychic power won't pose any problems to little Tiran's mental sea."

"Well then... let's give it a try," Tiran said somewhat hesitantly.

"Right, take off your clothes."

"Oh... ah?!"

"What's with the 'ah'? The rune has to be drawn directly on you, the closer to the brain, the better. If it can't be on the face, choose either the back or chest."

"Anyway, there's nothing ahead of us..."

"Hey! You're not any better than me yourself!"