Along the Skyship’s gallery, a fair silhouette drifted like moonlight, worry pooling like shadow under her steps.

LittleSnow, what’s brewing in your heart?

Mm, things like thorns caught in my throat…

Huh? Is it about the Third Princess, that cold star?

Mm…

The silver-haired girl gave a small nod; her silvery bow swayed with her silk hair, like a white butterfly dancing in a breeze.

Little Moon— I love you, I do, yet when I saw Sikong Qinhui twisted like that, my heart wouldn’t harden like winter ice.

Instead, I kept her aboard the Skyship, and I’m even set on avenging her, raising a blade like a comet.

I thought it was worse; this is fine. LittleSnow, didn’t I once save Ailuna too, like pulling someone from a river?

Huh?

When we’re together, that’s when joy blooms; at the Rangers Lodge, our tradition is acceptance and embrace, warmth like a hearth.

Yue Liuyi tried to imitate Dixue, reaching to hug the silver-haired girl and pat her head.

Her height fell short, a sparrow reaching for the moon.

But to Dixue, that clumsy reach looked extra cute, snagging the softest string in her heart like a plucked zither.

Yue Dier hugged the blue-haired girl without thinking, arms closing like a warm tide.

My Little Moon… you’re truly gentle, like spring rain.

Eek, don’t touch my head; you make me frizz like grass!

Mhm— Little Moon, softest and cutest, like a kitten in a cloud.

After holding Yue Liuyi for a moment, Yue Dier seemed to drink enough Little Moon energy, her spirit lifting like a sunbeam.

Only, the blue-haired girl’s hair turned tousled, strands drooping like sprouting cowlicks.

Your hair’s all messy, like wind-tossed grass.

Heh-heh, like a mischievous bell.

Uh… don’t let me see this while I’m on patrol; it’s like lantern-lit flirtation on my route.

Xiang Xiaoyan sighed and walked over from the opposite hall, a violet shadow floating like dusk.

Her hair was violet now, the blade in her aura sheathed like a sword in a scabbard.

Ah! Thanks for the hard work, Xiaoyan! Anything odd on patrol, any ripples in the water?

Even with Xiang Xiaoyan there, Dixue still clung to Yue Liuyi like ivy to a tree.

Of course there was. Over the canyon we just crossed, a band of pirates crouched like wolves, but maybe our ship blazed too bright, so they didn’t strike.

Mm. Please ask Miss San Hua Zhi to keep every silhouette moving, and leave every room light burning like stars.

Dixue’s plan was exactly that— a bluff, banners raised without an army.

The Skyship holds hundreds, a hull like a whale, yet aboard now, even counting Sikong Qinhui and Xia Jiajun, only eleven girls breathe in its halls.

So Dixue had everyone draw the curtains and switch on every room, while San Hua Zhi tugged blood-threads to dance cloth-made figures.

To outsiders, the ship would glow like a city of lights, a mobile fortress of the Inner Ring, and rash hands would freeze like startled hares.

But do we need this? Let them all come; it’s public service. We can sweep these vermin in one stroke like dust off a step.

Xiang Xiaoyan folded her arms, her brows drawn like bows, puzzled by Dixue’s choice.

That’d delay our route, and burden Ailuna too. Xiaoyan, in the Chaos Lands, bandits are like chives—cut them, and they sprout again.

In the New Land’s Chaos Lands, not just one planet’s exiles came; rogues from many stars swarmed like locusts for riches, numbers rivaling adventurers.

So what now? Do we leave those wolves roaming the hills?

No… their chiefs always slink to Rainbow Valley for a share; we set the net there and take their heads.

Dixue smiled and shook her head, bandits no more than ants under her heel.

Eh? But LittleSnow, even then, bandits will grow new heads, hydra-like; the Chaos Lands’ root stays unresolved.

Mm, true. Little Moon, can you light a lantern with a better way?

Could we… offer amnesty to some, the relatively decent ones, like picking clean grain from chaff?

In dreams, Yue Liuyi once chose a deathmatch against bandits, a sword raised against the storm.

But that only stacked stones on Ailuna’s back, weight grinding like winter snow.

So this time, Yue Liuyi turned the rudder the other way, choosing amnesty and raising a white banner.

Amnesty? How, with money, tossing coins like bait into a river?

The silver-haired girl blinked, puzzled; the blue-haired one’s ideas flew like a kite on a strong wind.

Not with money! We issue bandit licenses to those who surrender, make them work on paper, with stamps like talismans.

Licensed bandits?! That word cracked like thunder.

Xiang Xiaoyan and Dixue jolted like startled birds; without LittleSnow’s lie-sense, they’d swear Yue Liuyi was joking.

Mm. Licensed bandits must keep professional conduct. No killing; at most take a portion. Break it, and we revoke the license forever, law like a riverbank.

Eh? Little Moon’s not feverish, so why chase butterflies into nonsense?

Dixue brushed Yue Liuyi’s forehead, cool like spring jade, no heat at all.

I’m not being silly; my words drop like pebbles into a pond.

Your idea is kind, Little Moon, sweet with love, but most bandits are greedy, like creepy uncles offering candy; never loosen your guard.

In Dixue’s eyes, Yue Liuyi had turned into a naive, adorable kitten blinking at thunder.

No! Don’t treat people like preschoolers, LittleSnow. Look—the Chaos Lands and Rainbow Valley teem with wealth, yet the elves get no share, their hands empty.

Mm, for now, frost lies there, unmelted.

Rainbow Valley was once the Elven Kingdom’s land; over a decade ago, elves withdrew to the Elven Forest, leaving the Chaos Lands to run wild.

They aren’t good at dealing with humans, especially the bad ones, but these grounds are theirs; setting people to collect taxes is only fair, like gates on a road.

Eh!? Taxes!? Little Moon, you mean…

Mm. In the Elven Kingdom’s name, we amnesty some bandits, set toll checkpoints, and donate a cut to the elves as customs, coins falling like autumn leaves.

Eh?!

The violet-haired girl gaped, stunned by Yue Liuyi’s plan. Would any bandit agree? Less take already, then give elves a portion, bread sliced thinner.

No, Xiaoyan. Little Moon’s idea might truly work. If we only amnesty some, each bandit’s earnings might rise like a narrowed stream.

Why?!

Because many roads lead to Rainbow Valley. One road is safe and costs a fee; the rest are deadly. Which do you take?

Of course the dangerous one! I love killing bandits, my blade itching like thunder.

The violet-haired girl flashed a wicked smile, a crescent knife curving in her grin.

Ugh! Don’t seek trouble; think like regular folks, tether your horse before the storm.

Mm… regular folks pick safety, right… Wait, could it be…

Mm, that’s it. Profit per robbery drops, but numbers rise.

LittleSnow, Senior Xiang, I want to legalize the bandit trade in the Chaos Lands, turning blades into ledgers.

The cute blue-haired girl nodded, speaking to her companions with lake-steady eyes, serious as a mountain under rain.