The two days passed like a breeze.

  By the time Helena and Caraven reached the outer gates of the capital city of Grant, the road behind them already felt distant. This time, Helena was not riding her bike. The machine was safely stored away, hidden from sight.

  According to Jinn and Rob, riding an unknown vehicle into the capital was asking for trouble.

  Mistwood Town was one thing. The capital was another.

  Grant was heavily guarded, and even suspicion alone could be enough to deny entry. Helena had no interest in dealing with soldiers, questions, or unnecessary attention, so she accepted the advice and climbed into a carriage instead.

  She sat inside with Laysandra, boredom settling in quickly.

  The carriage had been stopped for a while now, lined up with dozens of others outside the massive capital gates. Merchants, traders, travelers. A long, unmoving queue.

  Helena leaned forward and stuck her head out of the carriage window.

  “Hey, Jinn!” she shouted. “How long is this going to take?”

  Her voice echoed lightly through the crowded road.

  She was bored out of her mind.

  Jinn turned his horse and rode back toward her carriage. “What happened?” he asked.

  Helena scowled. “How long is it going to take to get inside? I’m bored out of my mind.”

  She glanced around irritably.

  “Rob even took Laysandra away, saying he had some business with her. I’ve been sitting here doing nothing.”

  She paused, then added flatly, “If they don’t let me in within the next ten minutes, I’ll make my own way in.”

  Jinn’s calm expression paled instantly.

  His mind flashed back to the Night Wolf attack. The black surge. The wave of power she had unleashed like a tsunami.

  He imagined that same force slamming into the capital walls.

  “No. No, no, no,” Jinn shouted, loud enough to draw looks from nearby merchants. “You can’t do that. You’ll be a criminal.”

  The others in the carriage nodded rapidly. They knew Helena well enough to understand that this was not an empty threat.

  Jinn swallowed and added quickly, “You won’t be able to enter any city again. Ever.”

  That did it.

  Helena’s face paled.

  Now that made sense.

  If she messed up here, she would either have to live in hiding forever or erase every witness to clean up the mess.

  Both sounded exhausting.

  Retired Helena had no patience for that kind of work.

  She sighed deeply. “Fine. I’ll wait.”

  Jinn let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding.

  Still, he did not understand why she was in such a hurry to enter the capital.

  “Hey, Helen,” he said after a moment.

  Helena looked up.

  “If you really want in quickly,” Jinn continued, “try the commoners’ entrance. I don’t think there will be much of a line there right now.”

  He gestured toward the side road.

  “We can meet up again inside the city anytime. Just ask anyone about the Black Hawk base.”

  A smile spread across Helena’s face.

  “Good idea.”

  Then she hesitated.

  “Still… leaving without telling Laysandra feels wrong.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Jinn smiled. “What are you talking about? We’re all entering the capital. It’s not like you’re going somewhere far away.”

  Helena made a thoughtful expression.

  “…Ah. You’re right.”

  She climbed down from the carriage and stretched her body, arms raised high.

  “Carriages are way more uncomfortable than they look,” she muttered.

  “Do you want me to drop you there?” Jinn asked.

  “Nah,” she replied. “Just tell me where it is.”

  Jinn pointed ahead. “Walk that way. The first entrance you see will be the commoners’ gate.”

  Helena adjusted her short hair as it fell into her vision. Then she reached into her ring and pulled out a sword.

  She held it out toward Jinn.

  Jinn blinked, staring at the weapon. “What’s this?”

  “Take it,” Helena said. “And don’t start with ‘I can’t accept this.’”

  She pushed it closer to him.

  “Use it. Sell it. Keep it as a backup weapon. I don’t care.”

  Jinn hesitated for only a moment before smiling and taking the sword. He examined it carefully.

  “This is more than enough to be my new weapon,” he said honestly. “My old one was getting worn out.”

  “Good,” Helena replied.

  “Thanks,” Jinn said, gripping the hilt. “I mean it. Don’t forget to visit our base. I’ll treat you. And if you run into any trouble, don’t hesitate to use my group’s name.”

  He smiled slightly. “Although I’m pretty sure you can handle most things on your own.”

  Helena started walking away, waving lazily over her shoulder while yawning.

  Jinn watched her go, then looked back down at the sword in his hands.

  It was too good to be a secondary weapon.

  The blade gave off a strange shine, like the finest refined metal in existence. He had seen Krome using his new blade before. Even without enchantments, it carried excellent flow for aura.

  In truth, he had been a little jealous of Krome’s dual blades.

  He never wanted to ask Helena directly for one. He was not a child.

  Jinn smiled to himself.

  “I’d love to clash with Krome sometime,” he murmured. “I’m sure the sound will be pleasing to the ear.”

  Helena walked for a few minutes before the commoners’ entrance came into view.

  The best part was the line.

  It was short.

  A handful of people stood ahead of her, shifting their weight, holding papers or cards. The guards at the gate looked bored, barely glancing up as they checked identification and waved people through.

  Helena joined the line quietly.

  She waited.

  By the time it was her turn, the guard did not even look annoyed. He simply held out his hand.

  “Identification,” he said flatly.

  Helena reached into her inventory and pulled out a gold coin. She placed it into his palm.

  The guard glanced down at it, then up at her.

  Something flickered in his eyes.

  He opened his mouth, probably to say something about protocol.

  Helena calmly added two more gold coins to his hand.

  The guard closed his fingers around them.

  “Please go in,” he said, already turning away.

  Luckily, Helena was the last person in line. No one was behind her. No curious eyes. No witnesses.

  She passed through the gate, a smug smile forming on her face.

  Corruption at its peak.

  Money really was one of the best ways to get things done. And it was also the most useless thing to her.

  With her True Philosopher’s Stone ability linked with Matter Manipulation, she could turn an ordinary stone into gold. Then reshape that gold into anything she wanted.

  An infinite money glitch.

  If she felt like it, she could collapse the entire economy.

  She stepped fully through the gate.

  Sunlight poured in from the other side.

  She did not stop walking.

  Then she looked up.

  And her heart jumped.

  People.

  So many people.

  Merchants calling out prices. Carriages rattling over stone roads. Guards patrolling in pairs. Workers carrying crates. Children weaving through legs. Noise. Motion. Life.

  The air itself felt alive.

  Helena stopped breathing for a moment.

  “I didn’t think I’d ever see a city like this again,” she whispered.

  On Earth, during her last years, she had lost hope of that. The world had felt like a cage. Like she was a prisoner, and the entire planet was her cell.

  Mistwood had been lively.

  But this was different.

  This was overwhelming.

  Her chest tightened, then fluttered.

  Without thinking, Helena started running.

  She did not know what emotion it was. Joy, relief, longing, grief. Maybe all of them tangled together.

  She did not need to explain it.

  She was not observing anymore.

  She was feeling.

  People glanced at her as she ran through the crowd. Some frowned. Some stepped aside. Most did not care. To them, she was just another adventurer in a hurry.

  The capital was like that.

  Busy lives. Busy people. No time to wonder why someone was smiling while running through the streets.

  After a few more minutes, Helena slowed and stopped at an open square.

  She sat down on a stone bench.

  Breathing.

  Listening.

  Voices overlapped around her. Footsteps. Laughter. Distant shouts. Wheels rolling over stone.

  She tilted her head back and looked at the sky.

  Clear.

  No clouds.

  The emptiness made her heart feel strangely heavy.

  She raised her arm toward the sky. The wristwatch on her wrist caught the sunlight and reflected it brightly.

  Joseph’s watch.

  The brilliance made her smile soften.

  She did not know why, but along with happiness, guilt crept in.

  Why was she the one who survived?

  Why not Hana?

  Why not Joseph?

  She knew it made no sense. She knew there was no answer.

  Still, the thought returned.

  She remembered Hana’s eyes when she talked about other worlds. How excited her daughter had been, imagining places beyond Earth.

  She remembered Joseph laughing.

  “It’s every man’s dream,” he had said. “A fantasy world, saving a princess, marrying her.”

  Helena had frowned back then.

  “I understand Hana,” she had said. “But you?”

  Joseph had grinned.

  “Ask any man,” he replied. “If you ask whether he wants to go to a fantasy world and save a princess, more than ninety percent will say yes.”

  Then he had added, smug as always, “I’m pretty lucky though. Half my wish already came true.”

  “Half?” Helena had asked.

  “Yup,” Joseph said. “A princess got delivered straight to my home.”

  Helena’s cheeks warmed at the memory.

  She opened her eyes, snapping out of it.

  “That damn man,” she muttered, cheeks still faintly red. “Teasing me even in my memories.”

  The smile that followed was gentle.

  Her family’s faces lingered in her mind, easily overshadowing the guilt.

  Helena stood up and looked at the sky again.

  “I’ll see you again tonight. When you’re filled with stars,” she said softly.

  She turned back toward the city, ready to walk forward.

  Thank you for reading the story.

  This novel is cross-posted on SH, and with this chapter we've now reached the original release point.

  From here on, updates will continue according to the regular schedule.

  Schedule: 1 chapter every 2 days.