I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from Trent. It sounded like some magical place, given that Alyssa learned to read before age ten. Yet visually at least, it didn’t look all that different from Hatula. Wooden houses, about two or three stories. Though, like normal stories, not the huge Malatise Manor type stories. Stepping out of the carriage, I realized the smell was different.

  Come to think of it, we hadn’t stopped at any villages since I left Hatula, always a town or city. It smelled different, but perhaps that was just Trent. We were far north west of Hatula. But it was nice to be at a place that least felt normal.

  “Sir Beladone, let us make the arrangements and let the Maiden of Wind and her retinue enjoy Trent,” Lady Evelyn said.

  He waved his hand, and the two knights came to me, with William and Alyssa; this made four. Also, Marie, Linda, Tessa, and Kelly decided to join us. The others were told to go prepare a room for this evening.

  Of course, every eye was on me. My status as a maiden had been announced, but I wasn’t personally certain these people knew. Hmm, no, they probably did. The children weren’t asking any questions. It took us a few days to arrive after all, and our route was certainly no secret. So a pigeon probably warned them before we even reached Zeigel.

  “Dame Alyssa,” I said as I stopped.

  She kneeled before me. “Yes, Maiden of Wind?”

  “For our tour, you are relieved of guard duty. Remove your helmet and act as our guide for the rest of this afternoon. You may put your helmet back on when you return to guard duty,” I said with sharpness. It was for both of us. This would be worse if I had to watch her hold in her excitement to be home, let alone how hard it would be for her to do that.

  “As you wish,” she said, removing her helmet and handing it to Linda. “Then, might I suggest this place first!”

  “Yes, you are encouraged to lead the way,” I said, smiling.

  While walking, I began to notice a few differences. There were well over twice as many homes here in Trent. I learned this was because work happened inside, so simply having twice as much living space for the people was not nearly enough. They needed places beyond that for conducting work, especially on days with poor weather.

  We visited a few different blacksmith shops. One made armor or weapons. Another made things more like building materials, nails, and the like. A last made even more intricate things like bracelets. This one was apparently Alyssa’s grandfather.

  He knelt before me and lowered his head to the ground. “I am honored to simply meet you, and to think my granddaughter was with you. When I found out you were coming, I began working right away. I hope it is a gift that brings you joy.”

  With his head still lowered, he raised his hands to hold out a box. Marie took it and examined it. As someone qualified to serve a princess, she was more than qualified to check for any tricks or traps, not that I suspected any. When it cleared her inspection, she opened it before me.

  Wow, I thought. It was beautiful. The way it sparkled in the light was mesmerizing. It was a golden bracelet with intricate etching. Rubbing my hand over it, I could realize how smooth and perfect it was. I held my hand out so that Marie could put it on. I would have rather done it myself, but I couldn’t ask how, and even if I knew how, it would look weird to do so.

  It fit my wrist perfectly. Amazing, how did he know? It felt like it had to be more than a pigeon from the capital giving him information. How would he gain the size of my wrist? With how much the knights stood in the path of others, I can’t imagine anyone getting such a measurement without me noticing.

  “Does it fit well, Maiden of Wind?” he asked, still with his head lowered.

  “You may rise. It does, I am ever so grateful to receive something so beautiful, though it appears to be writing. What does it say?”

  With my permission finally granted, he stood back up and looked at the bracelet on my hand. “I do not know. I prayed to the God of Metal that he would guide me in writing what you needed. I recognize it as an ancient script, but I cannot confess more knowledge than that.”

  I turned to Kelly. “Perhaps you can read it?” I asked.

  The modern bible was obviously written in our modern language, but older Bibles used what we call ancient script. Though followers of the church all dedicated a different level of time to it. So it was no guarantee.

  She looked at it and felt the grooves with her fingers. “I apologize, Wind Maiden, but this script is too old for me. My knowledge of the ancient world is brief, merely the version from five hundred years ago. So we may find luck in another place.”

  “I see, well, all the same, thank you,” I said with a small nod.

  Back outside, I noticed most people were in the town square with Beladone and Lady Evelyn. I shuddered thinking about what awaited me once they were ready. Alyssa’s family was out with them, so her home was empty when we stopped by. But seeing her old room was interesting enough for me. Books lined a little chest, and she had both dolls and wooden toy swords.

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  “They craft wood here as well?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Trent crafts basically anything. Be it something that can be built, and Trent can build it! Trent was founded by the crafters who didn’t want to live in Zeigal after they finished building the wall! So our history in craft is as old as it gets!”

  “How much would a toy sword and two toy dolls cost? Oh, and something for a dog?” I asked.

  “A silver or two would probably cover all that,” she said.

  I took out my coin bag and handed Marie three coins. “I’d like this before we leave Trent, if possible.”

  “Yes, Maiden of Wind,” she said with a small curtsy.

  I felt some joy in having gained gifts for my siblings if nothing else. As we continued walking through the village, it became increasingly apparent that it was just a village, despite how different Alyssa had turned out. Bigger than Hatula, sure, and the buildings were nicer as well, but visually, that was it. I was expecting, well, I didn’t know exactly, but if this place made someone like Alyssa, I expected something that would be sticking out.

  Yet the differences were the people. Crafters, they had built this town, put them in Hatula, and they would just rebuild this town. It wasn’t the answer I wanted, and it left me a bit unsettled. Wondering if Hatula wasn’t as good as I always thought it was.

  We came to a field, and Alyssa said this was where she would practice gale sense. The flowers were beginning to shed their petals for winter. But for now, they still swayed beautifully as the air rushed past us.

  “Then let us try that. You are supposed to teach me gale sense, right?” I asked.

  She nodded. Marie excused herself to begin the commission for the items I wanted. Kelly and the others wanted to try to learn gale sense as well. Linda had come prepared with a blanket; even if I weren’t a maiden, a duchess would not be permitted to sit in the dirt directly. The blanket was small and only large enough for me, so everyone else had to sit in the dirt.

  Alyssa held my hand as we began to practice the mana mixing. But this time, she should be the shape of the net, or maybe a grid fit it better. She actually extended it out from her body, and because we were mixing, I could see all the threads touching flowers. It was eerie to realize that I could detect how each moved through her. To think this was a thing magic could do, to see with your eyes closed.

  We all took turns with Alyssa as we tried the technique on her own. Producing threads was simple enough, but refining them as a large graph outside my body was difficult. I ended up asking her why she did a grid. She explained that it was simply the easiest way for her to visualize and control her mana.

  Hmm, what is useful to me, I wondered. Well, I guess Luft’s sigil was something I drew a lot. I stretched out a single thread until it reached about five meters from me, then I had it turn at the same angle for the sigil. That wasn’t too hard. Hmm, this is interesting. It feels different than with Alyssa. I only had the basic symbol currently, and was planning to add extra threads, and yet. It felt so clear already.

  “Wind Maiden, what are you doing?” Alyssa asked.

  I opened my eyes and saw the field was glowing green. “Huh?” I asked.

  “It began when you began casting your net. I thought you might have been doing it?” she asked.

  The light faded. “I was just doing a net as you told me to.”

  “Wind Maiden, if it is not… well, do you think that I might be able to connect and see what you did? I have an idea,” Kelly said.

  I nodded, and we held hands. I began forming the sigil again, and her emotions were more than apparent. She felt a sense of awe at what I was doing.

  “The light is back,” Alyssa said.

  “It is so beautiful!” Kelly added. “I can feel his presence. The God Luft, the spark of his mana, is inside the Wind Maiden, just as the scripture says, but the sigil she drew is around her; it is making it so much stronger.”

  Luft? I didn’t feel anything different from whenever I normally did this. The only thing I really noticed was how much farther I could see. It was still in a sort of static sense that was like the gale sense I remembered when I had shared it with Alyssa, but my sigil only expanded a few meters. Yet I could see all the ways the villagers were moving.

  I could even tell which two were Lady Evelyn and Beladone. Lady Evelyn’s mana was much larger, second only to Beladone. But it wasn’t his mana that really caught my eye, but something else. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I just felt a sense of being drawn to the mana around him. Oh, wait, he is coming this way.

  “Sir Beladone is coming,” I said.

  “He is?” Kelly asked. “I can see the signal, but how are you so certain that it's Lord Beladone?”

  “I just can feel it,” I said.

  Alyssa confirmed it a moment later that he was indeed walking over here. “To think that you have enough energy to send the mana that far.”

  The light faded, and I opened my eyes. Kelly was crying. Oh man, now I feel bad. Though I wasn’t entirely sure why she was crying.

  She wiped her eyes and bowed. “Thank you so much, I am eternally grateful to you, our holy Wind Maiden.”

  Oh, she was happy crying. Was this perhaps a religious thing? I didn’t feel anything special myself.

  “May I try and see this as well?” Tessa asked.

  But before I could answer, Beladone noticed us and raised an eyebrow. No point in hiding anything, given the fact that two of his knights would just report it anyhow, but I had pre-arranged my plan for this event beforehand.

  “Alyssa was teaching her gale sense, but it seems to be stronger with her, perhaps because she is the Wind Maiden,” William spoke up. The goal was to help sell the idea that he was loyal to Anlage by giving Beladone any details he could immediately.

  I tried to let my face glower just ever so slightly. It was not something that went past Bealdone’s notice. After all, if I didn’t see being dissatisfied, then he would likely not fall for this trick.

  “Prietest Kelly, the venue is prepared. Wind Maiden, you should get dressed.”

  I knew it was coming, but even that was disheartening, as if this majestic dress, worthy of a duchess, was somehow not good enough for me to get married in. I had to change into something even more elegant.