Three days later, we crossed the Endless Sea, leaving a salt-blue wake, and the Eastern Moon Continent rose ahead like a pale moon over water.

“Whoa, there are so many buildings—like a stone forest—and so many people, a river of heads!”

Looking down at the Eastern Moon Continent, my heart thudded like a drum, and I couldn’t help shouting; it was my first time seeing such a crowd and skyline.

“Ugh, the air here is so murky, like wet wool clogging the lungs!”

In moments I was struggling, breath snagging like a snagged kite string; compared to the Central Continent, this was swamp to spring.

“Servant, hurry and take this candy; breathe too much of this air and your lifespan falls like autumn leaves.”

Xinuo produced a pink candy that gleamed like dawn on a seashell and held it out to me.

“Oh, got it.”

I took the candy and slipped it into my mouth, sweetness blooming like plum blossoms after snow.

“Mhm, the air’s already clearer, like a mountain breeze! Xinuo, what is this candy, it’s too miraculous.”

I swallowed, and breath flowed smooth as a stream over stones.

“It’s a Purifying Candy; once eaten, it cleanses the air around you like a small windbell. All right, Hill, pick a spot and land.”

She closed her book with a leaf’s whisper and stretched like a lazy cat in sunlight.

“On it! But Master, can you give me one too?”

“After we land.”

“Okay okay! I’ll drop right now.”

Hill’s shout was bright as a lark, and she tilted down toward a patch of trees, green waves rolling beneath us.

…

In a forest near the Latvis Empire, a golden-haired, blue-eyed girl of sixteen or seventeen ran as branches whipped like lashes, while five men in black gave chase like wolves.

“Hey, Miss Faya, our Young Master Lar isn’t beneath you; no need to sprint like a startled deer, haha.”

The leader grinned, oil-slick and rancid as stagnant water.

“Yeah, yeah! Our Kage Family and your Tira Family are among the strongest in the Eastern Moon Empire; marrying our Young Master Lar isn’t a bad match.”

“That’s right, Miss Faya, be good and come meet Young Master Lar,” the others jeered, their voices like crows on a dead tree.

“Uu…”

Faya’s heart sank like a stone in a well; ever since Young Master Lar latched on days ago, every day felt like gnats in her ear, and he was the second son of the Kage Family’s head, so she couldn’t swat hard.

So yesterday, Faya left the Eastern Moon Empire to clear her mind, like seeking wind over an open field.

Bad luck struck like a cold rain; by the next day he learned she’d left, and this was the result.

“Ah!”

Running too fast, Faya caught a root like a hidden snake and tumbled, her ankle twisting with a flash of fire.

“Haha! Miss Faya, better to come quietly, like grass bowing to wind.”

Seeing her fall, the leader laughed, harsh as gravel.

“…What is that?”

But Faya wore no panic, only a dazed look, eyes fixed on the sky like a child at first snow.

“Huh, something up there? Whoa! What a crushing aura, like thunder pressing on the chest!”

From above, a pressure poured down like a waterfall, and the five men in black looked up by instinct.

“Hss!”

They sucked in a breath as one; above hung a vast silver dragon, scales like moonlit armor, its presence rolling down like a storm, and it was dropping toward them.

“Is that a dragon?”

Faya’s voice was soft, her gaze locked on the silver giant drawing closer like a falling star.

…

“Master, Master, give me the candy!”

The moment we touched ground, Hill shifted into her little loli form, bouncing like a sparrow and begging Xinuo for sweets.

“Here.”

Xinuo placed a Purifying Candy in Hill’s small outstretched hand, pale as a petal.

“Wow! So sweet, so good!”

She tossed it in and sprang up, joy fizzing like soda.

“Mmm, feels like someone’s here.”

I slid down from Hill’s back and scanned the trees; six people stood frozen like carved wood, shock written on their faces.

They were a girl sitting where she’d fallen and five men in black like bruises on the green.

For some reason, those five made my mood curdle like sour milk; a prickly dislike crawled under my skin like sand.

“If someone shows up and makes you unhappy, don’t swallow it,” my father’s words rose like smoke. “Kick him, whether he offended you or not.”

So I walked toward the five men in black, steps steady as a metronome—

Thump! Thump! Thump!…

Each took a kick, bodies snapping up like tossed sacks, and they hung three meters high before gravity called them back.

Pfft!

They hit earth and spat blood together, a red spray like crushed berries.

“Uh, my lord, did we offend you somehow?” they asked, smiling fawningly, grins wriggling like slugs.

“Quit smiling; it’s disgusting, like mold on rice.”

I kicked them again, this time with more weight, my foot a broom sweeping dead leaves.

“Y-yes, we won’t smile! But how did we offend you, my lord?”

They scrambled up, smiles erased like chalk in rain, repeating their question.

“Nothing much. You just annoy me, like buzzing flies. Now, you can roll.”

I held a cold face like a mask of ice; keeping it on was tiring as holding a pose.

“Ah, yes, we’ll roll right away!”

They answered quick as sparks, then actually rolled: bending backward, hands grabbing ankles, bodies forming rings that trundled away like hoops.

“Servant, since when did you turn into a sadist? Even I didn’t know.”

When the five had rolled far like tumbleweeds, Xinuo came over, pinched my cheeks between cool fingers, and teased.

“I’m not a sadist! Father said people who make you feel annoyed are usually not good, so I kicked them. Was that wrong?”

Confusion rose in me like mist; had I done something bad?

“…You didn’t do wrong, Servant. Natural-born kids are scary, like tigers that think they’re kittens.”

Xinuo patted my head, words drifting like a riddle.

“Wow, Boss, you were so cool just now!”

Hill charged into my arms, looking up with starry eyes, worship pouring out like moonlight.

“Uh, haha, it wasn’t a big deal,” I said, cheeks warming like sunset.

“No, Boss was totally like a queen in a book, crown-sharp and frost-calm!”

“Huh? A queen?”

“Mm-hmm! You had that queenly vibe, like winter on a high peak!”

“Uu…”

“Eh, Boss, why are you crying? Ah—don’t pinch my cheeks so hard, ow!”

…

“U-um, thank you for saving me just now.”

After a long moment, the girl we’d ignored on the side finally spoke, voice soft as a breeze through reeds.