An Owl's Rise

Days went by as Evelyn continued to act as a distraction for Maeve.

During this time the young mistress of the Taidale Family did not sleep once and kept Evelyn up with her.

Thanks to physical enhancements raising their ranks had granted them, as well as some magical teas that boosted alertness, neither of them needed to sleep even after being awake for several days.

Of course, for Maeve it was simply that she did not want to fall asleep as she was afraid of the unceasing nightmares she was sure to have.

Evelyn though, was basically being forced to keep the young woman company.

Maeve insisted that they talk for hours, play games together, or read books and discuss their thoughts on them.

Overall, Evelyn got fed up with this pretty quickly. Unfortunately, to keep her cover, there was nothing she could do but play along. Maeve had latched onto her as emotional support and was not going to let her go easily.

'It should not be much longer. Once we reach her destination, we'll part ways, and I won't have to deal with this anymore.' Evelyn thought, struggling to prevent her frustration from appearing on her face.

Thankfully, it was only a few hours later that they arrived at the border between the Usturg Federation and the Miris Sect of the Tyrannis Union.

"Evelyn, could I ask you to deliver this to the checkpoint's guard captain." Maeve said, holding out a thick letter.

Taking this chance, Evelyn happily grabbed the letter and hurriedly exited the carriage. While her personal feelings about Maeve were complicated and she was certain she did not hate the young woman, being forced to accompany her for days straight had irritated Evelyn to no end.

Fresh air and open skies. It feels like it has been an eternity.'

Upon exiting the carriage Evelyn took a deep breath and sighed in relief. While she had not been physically restrained in any way, being cooped up in the carriage for so long almost felt like she was trapped in a cage again.

"Evelyn!"

Bylur rushed over to her before she even finished getting her bearings. He looked a bit like an excited puppy that had not seen its owner for a few days.

A slight smile on her face, Evelyn greeted Bylur and asked him for an update on what had occurred while she was stuck in the carriage with Maeve.

"Nothing much. We got attacked by some weak beasts occasionally and caught some people spying on us, but no other big groups made any moves. I'd guess after easily repelling the first batch of assassins, anyone else after that girl are pretty wary."

After answering her questions, Bylur asked her if she was okay, and if Maeve had done anything untoward to her. There was both worry and a bit of anger in his eyes. Perhaps he was jealous that Evelyn's time had been monopolized by Maeve.

Evelyn naturally did not air her grievances to him. Certainly, she was somewhat annoyed, but telling that to Bylur would only lead to disaster. He was likely to charge into Maeve's carriage and cause a scene.

"Hm, so that is the Tyrannis Union's border. That is one massive barrier they had set up. I can't imagine how much magical energy it takes to maintain that thing." Evelyn said, looking out into the distance.

Right now, the flying carriages had landed on a well-travelled road and were slowing approaching a large fortress that was a checkpoint for entering the Union.

However, the fortress was far less impressive than the nation's barrier.

All around the Tyrannis Union, there was a powerful barrier that detected and tagged any beast awakened rank or any human that was mage rank or above. The only way to enter without setting off this protective magic was to enter through a checkpoint like the one they were heading towards.

Of course, anyone weaker than the third rank could slip by, but the union did not consider them to be a threat worth monitoring.

"It looks like there is a fairly long line to enter, but it does not seem that we are moving to join them. Do you know why that is?" Evelyn asked Bylur.

"Yeah, Edgar told us that we did not need to wait like the common folk. Apparently, our ward has some connection with a high-ranking member of this sect or something." Bylur responded, shrugging his shoulders in disinterest.

Evelyn nodded her head in understanding. In every society there would be some that held more authority and power than others. Maeve was part of an esteemed family in the Usturg Federation, it was only to be accepted that her treatment would be superior to random merchants and travelers.

Soon enough they reached the checkpoint and saw that there were actually two gates. One for those of high social status, and another for those that were not.

"Halt, state your business and affiliation, a guard in shiny metal armor said as he approached Maeve's procession.

Unlike the guards outside of Taidale City, the ones around the checkpoint into the Tyrannis Union were far stronger and more professional. These people were not here just to levy and entrance fee.

Edgar was the one that approached the guard and explained who they were and why they wished to enter the Miris Sect's territory.

When she saw that they had finished their conversation, Evelyn stepped forward with the letter Maeve had given her in hand.

"The Young Mistress asked me to deliver this to the guard captain. Would you be able to bring it to them?"

Taking the letter, the guard gave it a once over.

"Wh-what?!" He explained in surprise.

As he examined the letter, he noticed the seal on it and went slack jawed in shock.

"Please, give me just a few moments. I will go get the captain right away."

The guard then rushed off into the fortress. Clearly having used magical enhancements to move faster than normal.

In less than five minutes, he returned with a tall woman with short blonde hair. She was not wearing any armor like the others and was actually in casual clothing. Mostly likely she had not been on duty but had responded anyways because of Maeve's letter.

"I'm Captain Agatha. Which one of you is in charge?" The woman asked.

Her eyes glanced between Edgar, Evelyn, and Lucia.

"That would be me, Captain." Edgar said, taking a step forward.

"Okay. As per the letter's instructions I shall issue your party flying permits and assign one of the guards here as an escort. While you wait for them to arrive, go ahead and attach these to your carriages and pin these medals on everyone in your group."

Edgar took what Agatha had offered them and along with the others guard quickly got to work on passing out the medals.

Not long after everything was finished, a young woman with bright scarlet hair raced up in hastily put on armor.

"Heidi, reporting for duty ma'am."

Agatha raised her hand and motioned for Heidi to be at ease and then told her the details of her assignment.

While that was going on, some other guards checked Evelyn and her companions' identification and Mercenary licenses, but there were no searches or questioning.

Over in the other line for people that did not hold illustrious statues, Evelyn could see that the guards were thoroughly examining everyone and whatever possession they had on them.

'I guess all of that groundwork was worth it.' Evelyn thought as the checkpoint's gate opened.

Walking in front of the carriages just behind their guide, Evelyn was the first to reach the other side. Finally, she had reached the Tyrannis Union. The nation that housed her greatest enemies and the people she could never forgive.

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