Himo walked back to his room and sat on the bed whose sheets had just been changed. Phylia sat by his side. 

The room was rather small, with just enough space for a bed, a wardrobe, and a few more pieces of furniture—Himo didn’t bother taking a bigger room, nor did he bother to decorate this one. The window gazing to the outside courtyard was enough for him.

“Let’s see…” His eyes moved to the two displays, each showing a few question marks and a price to pay. “I will start with this one.” With but a push on the ‘25 BS points’ button, he chose the function he gained from controlling the kingdom.

[Detracting 25 BS points…]

[Thanks for your patronage!]

[You now have 68 BS points!]

[Unlocking the new function…]

[Unlocked a new function: Real-Time Map. You can use it from the menu or by saying(or thinking) “Map!”. Remember to close your eyes!]

[Real-Time Map: allows to oversee any territory where the user holds complete control.

Note: monster territories and enemy camps are considered outside of the user’s control even within the owned territory.]

Himo spent a moment to read through the explanation before he said, “Map!”

[Initiating the map… Please close your eyes.]

As soon as Himo complied, his sight was transported to the sky—he stared down at the royal palace from the height of clouds. The inner courtyard filled with flowers and a fountain, the towers pointing at the sky, and the green around the palace were all within his view.

He tried to change his viewpoint but to no avail. “System, can’t I adjust the angle? I feel as if I were playing a management game.”

[Negative. It’s only possible to switch location, zoom in, and zoom out.]

“I see.” With but a thought, Himo zoomed out to gain sight of the whole kingdom. His point of view arose up the sky. Soon enough, all the territories of the kingdom were within his sight—villages, towns, and the capital became but small dots. He could see prairies, mountains, and rivers, as long as they weren’t overrun by monsters.

He first glanced at the Jungle Kemister—where the remains were—and noticed that most of the area was concealed by a dark fog. 

As his sight steered over some villages, he thought back about the situation of the last village he had seen. After grabbing a piece of paper and a quill, he recorded the name of each village that had lords whose residence was too luxurious compared to the rest of the village. He planned to swap those lords for someone who would improve the villagers’ quality of life, and consequently improve their productivity.

Once he had done that, he spent ten minutes roaming around the map, looking at everything he felt interesting—he found out that, at the south of the kingdom, there was a huge body of water.

“A sea? No… an ocean?” He squinted his eyes, but the area visible was limited to the shores. Additionally, he couldn’t see anything to the west of the capital. There wasn’t a single spot of light in-between the dark, ominous fog.

“How interesting…” A shiver pierced his skin. He remembered the words of the Elder Renhe—that place was called ‘Death Valley’. Despite how clichè that place felt, his lips couldn’t help but curve upwards. Or maybe that was the exact reason why his heartbeat kept getting louder. “Is this what you’d call a ‘forbidden area’? One of those filled with riches?”

But even so, he calmed down quickly. He was no fool—he knew it wasn’t his battlefield. Not yet, at least.

Afterward, his attention was taken by a peculiar sight. In the middle of visible plains in the north, there was a straight line of fog. And it kept advancing; while not fast, that fog closed the distance to the capital. Soon, it reached a village.

Unlike the fog-clouded area, the village was in clear sight. From the sky, Himo could see the small houses, the market on the square, and each villager go on through their daily routines. From who plowed the lands to who cooked at home, everything was in motion—but they stopped. Abruptly. Their gazes shot to the northern sky, and, just as quickly, they started running toward the south—toward the capital. They grouped into a blob of people and left behind their homes. Their village.

“Eh?” Himo was stunned. He sent his gaze to the north part of the village, where the fog started to creep in. And he saw them. Hundreds upon hundreds of blue balloons flying on the sky—undisturbed, they flew toward the south. “What are… those?” But before he could say anymore, they each shot a blue streak of light. The village turned into a dark fog.

The child’s consciousness snapped out of the map and he rose to his feet. “Phylia, we have to go now!”

She didn’t pose questions and followed him.

After saying to his family that they were going to take a walk, Himo and Phylia ran through the streets, toward the capital’s north gate. They both wore a brown hooded cloak to hide their identity, so no one knew they had left.

But, before they could sneak out, a guard intercepted them. “Halt! Show your faces! I need to know who you are before you can go out.”

Himo smiled. He whispered, “We meet again.”

The guard blinked. “Sorry?”

“You’ve helped me quite a lot the other day—thank you for that."

“The other day…” The guard dazed for a moment, but his eyes quickly widened in disbelief. “Y-Y-Your Highness?!”

“Shh.” Himo looked left and right, but seeing that the bustling of people didn’t halt, he heaved a sigh of relief. “It's indeed me.” Raising the hood so that the guard could see his face, he chuckled. “Do you want to become a royal guard?"

“Eh? ...Y-Your Highness… is what you’re saying… true?”

“Yeah. But only once I come back.”

“Feel free to go! This guard will be waiting for your safe return!” the guard yelled and straightened his back. Watching as the two walked out of the gate, he teared up. He had always admired royal guards—they were the very reason he had become a guard. At that moment, he felt that every sacrifice he had done was worth it.

-----

Several minutes later, Himo and Phylia were running through a wasteland. Countless holes filled the soil, some shallow while others deep, each surrounded by feeble green grass. Around the pits were many fragments of wood, shattered by the very impact that made each crater. Many cracked stones filled the way. Knights ran left and right, some picking up the wood fragments, others filling up the holes, while others planting down new trees.

The knights didn’t bother the two children, so they bypassed that area quickly. They soon reached a forest overrun with monsters. 

Just as they passed a boulder, Phylia turned to look at Himo. “Master, why did you promise a position to that guard?”

Himo glanced at her and skipped a tree. “Give and take. Since that guard helped us earlier, I thought to reward him like that.”

“I see.” She furrowed her brows and fell deep in thought. 

The two overtook several trees, when suddenly, Himo tensed up. He looked back to his trails, then leaped to Phylia’s side. He whispered to her ears, “Phylia, do you too feel observed?”

She woke up from her thoughts. “Yes. Someone is pursuing us… What should I do?”

“Don’t morph unless necessary and act as if we didn’t notice it.” He shrugged. “I feel that it’s not someone we can fight with.”

She nodded.