The Capital, Falkner Kingdom.
D’Arc Manor.
It was midnight.
Vivienne sat behind the desk in her study with one hand supporting her cheek while the index finger of the other repeatedly tapped against the polished wood.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The study was brightly lit despite the late hour. Candles occupied the desk, wall brackets and several stands around the room, their warm light falling over shelves of books and stacks of unfinished paperwork.
Linda moved quietly between them, replacing one candle that had burned too low before relighting another whose flame had gone out.
She glanced toward Vivienne after hearing the tapping continue for several minutes.
"You seem to be in a foul mood, Madam."
"I am." Vivienne’s finger stopped. "This boy left without informing me, and he did not even send a telegram by sunset."
"It is indeed a little unfortunate. The young master was probably in a rush."
Vivienne looked toward her.
"What could possibly require him to hurry so much that he does not even have time to say goodbye to his mommy?"
Linda remained silent.
Vivienne waited as if Linda might actually have an answer for such an offense.
None came.
Her finger tapped the table once more.
This time, the surface responded.
Thin lines of pale light spread underneath the polished wood before rising several inches above it. Mountains, railway lines, rivers, settlements and roads gradually formed into a miniature projection of D’Arc County.
The northern region occupied most of the space before Vivienne, small lights marking towns, military stations and other important locations.
Her eyes moved through them.
Copper Town.
Silver Town.
Gold Town.
The northern settlements.
Vincent wasn’t there.
Vivienne’s brows lowered slightly. She shifted the projection toward the Highlands and immediately noticed another presence buried deeper within the mountains.
Her tapping stopped completely.
A faint flicker of surprise appeared in her eyes.
Something enormous was there. As she looked closer, she found it to be a dragon that was injured and dying.
She studied it for only a moment before expanding the map farther beyond the Highlands.
There she finally found the one she was looking for.
Vincent.
Vivienne stared at the distant valley beyond the mountains.
"What is he doing all the way there?"
Linda naturally had no answer.
Before Vivienne could complain further, something else caught her attention. Her gaze settled upon the Valley Kingdoms for several seconds before she closed her eyes.
Her thumb touched the tip of her index finger, then moved to the middle, ring, and little finger.
Her fingers shifted again as she silently calculated.
When Vivienne opened her eyes, the irritation had disappeared from her expression.
"Strange. All of these people were supposed to die."
Linda stopped placing a candle midway and turned to look at the map.
"Their destiny has changed for some reason."
The people within that valley should have been approaching death in great numbers. Instead, the course leading toward that outcome had changed considerably.
They weren’t going to die, at least not today and this surprised Vivienne because she could feel such strange changes.
She was not on the Fate Path so divination and calculating Fate were beyond her. However, she was sensitive to Death and everything around it.
If these people were fated to die but didn’t, she could easily catch it.
Vivienne found the matter interesting and decided to monitor them.
She then turned her attention to Vincent, then she found something more interesting and looked closer.
There was nothing binding him to the people around him. He had absolutely no karma with them.
Her attention moved toward Anastasia. There were connections there, though nothing immediately alarming.
Vincent was different. Even when Vivienne expanded her observation farther, the amount attached to him was strangely small.
Then she checked herself.
Her son had no karmic obligation toward her either.
Vivienne stared at the miniature figure representing Vincent for a while.
"Interesting..."
The word left softly.
A few seconds later, her expression eased as she found him safe. But then, just as she remembered how he had left without saying a word and not sent a telegram, the annoyance came back.
"Linda," she said.
"Yes, Madam?"
"Send someone to watch him. If he is in trouble, they may assist him. Otherwise, they are to remain at a distance and avoid contact."
Linda bowed lightly.
"I will arrange it."
Vivienne continued to stare at the projection and said, "Also, remind to scold him when he returns.
"For?"
Vivienne stared at his projection and said while knitting her brows, "I have been too soft on him and he’s becoming arrogant. Look at his audacity to not even say goodbye to his mommy before leaving or sending a telegram on time."
Linda looked at her for a moment, then had a faint smile surface her face.
She lightly shook her head knowing what would happen when the young master returned, and how her reminder would be treated.
Still, she bowed and said, "Yes, Madam."
...
Northern Region, D’Arc County.
Copper Town.
It was roughly an hour past sunrise by the time Vincent was walking through the town with Anastasia.
Copper Town was already awake. The weak morning light reflected from damp stone roads while shopkeepers opened shutters and the last gas lamps were extinguished along the wider streets.
The smell of freshly baked bread drifted out from a bakery where workers and railway employees were buying breakfast before their shifts, while carts carrying coal and supplies rattled toward workshops farther inside town.
Vincent had woken before sunrise, freshened himself up, eaten breakfast and left Harrowfield without wasting much time.
There were more monsters throughout the Highlands than the previous day, but the current groups could still be avoided without much trouble.
He met the reconnaissance group again near the northern side of the Highlands before returning to Copper Town.
They were ordered to continue searching for whatever was causing the animals to flee, with more attention given to damaged terrain, abandoned habitats, unusual water sources and anything else that looked out of place.
Vincent also sent instructions for additional Railguards, supplies and manpower to reinforce the temporary camps.
The search could continue without him for a few hours.
His current problem was visible directly before his eyes.
Blue threads.
Felicia had already cleared most of the obligations around Copper Town before moving toward the other northern settlements, leaving Vincent with only a small number to handle personally.
He followed the closest threads toward several buildings that had been converted into temporary shelters.
Vincent understood what had happened almost immediately.
These people had arrived after Felicia left.
Families from damaged slums and smaller settlements had been evacuated overnight and brought into safer parts of Copper Town.
Some were still eating breakfast while others were organizing their belongings, collecting clothing and helping move supplies into the temporary buildings.
Most looked exhausted rather than relieved. Their homes had either been abandoned or placed directly in the path of monsters, and nobody knew whether they would still exist when this crisis ended.
They had nevertheless received shelter because of Vincent’s earlier orders.
That was enough to create gratitude.
Vincent gathered the people connected to him and briefly explained what he wanted.
He expected arguments, but instead the first man immediately reached into his pocket and offered him several coins.
Vincent paused.
"You’re fine with this?"
The man nodded quickly.
He took only a small amount before clearly stating that the payment settled whatever obligation existed between them.
The blue thread disappeared.
The next person had almost no money and immediately volunteered to work instead.
Then another did the same.
Vincent gradually noticed the pattern.
Nobody was particularly happy about handing over what little money they had, but they were much more uncomfortable with owing House D’Arc something.
Some had already seen what happened to others when Felicia went through Copper Town asking people to pay or work, and word had apparently spread.
Those who couldn’t afford even a small payment started volunteering before Vincent assigned anything.
A woman offered to help in the kitchens until noon.
Two men asked whether unloading supply carts would count.
Another offered to clean one of the shelter buildings.
Even the children were strangely compliant. One boy emptied his pockets and produced a few small coins while another immediately said he could work because his mother had told him not to cause trouble for Lord D’Arc.
Vincent stared at them for a while.
’What did Felicia do to these people...’
He would have to investigate that, but for now there wasn’t any time.
She did a great job and he didn’t have to do much to resolve things, so he was happy.
He would look into it later.
The adults were assigned to whatever useful work was already needed around the shelters: unloading supplies, cleaning, repairing furniture, organizing storage and helping distribute food.
Older children folded clothing, sorted utensils, counted simple supplies or carried light items between nearby rooms.
Nobody was given anything dangerous, and all of it ended at noon.
Vincent didn’t bother turning each person into a separate negotiation.
They paid, agreed on work or temporarily handed over something they valued enough to consider the matter settled. Whenever someone had very little, he simply let them pawn an item and promised its return after the agreed work was completed.
The threads disappeared one after another.
He spent less than an hour handling what remained around Copper Town.
Afterward, Vincent and Anastasia left again.
Silver Town came first.
People from nearby farms and small settlements had already been moved there because of the growing monster activity. Several had benefited directly from Vincent’s evacuation and relief orders, so he repeated the same process.
Pay something. Work until noon. Give something temporarily. Agree that the matter was settled. Then move on.
Gold Town followed, along with several smaller settlements where remaining blue threads led him.
Much of the population from exposed villages had already been pulled into larger towns, which fortunately meant Vincent didn’t have to spend half the day riding through every isolated corner of the northern region.
By late morning, the process had become almost mechanical.
Find the thread.
Find the person.
Settle it.
Leave.
Anastasia helped with the practical arrangements whenever local officials needed instructions while Vincent focused on whether the karmic threads actually disappeared.
Shortly before lunch, they returned to Copper Town.
Vincent stepped down from the carriage near the central road and immediately activated Karmic Thread Perception one more time.
He slowly looked around.
People moved through the streets.
Workers entered workshops.
Railguards passed nearby.
Carts came and went.
No red threads.
No blue threads.
Vincent checked again just to be sure.
Nothing.
For the first time since he learned how dangerous karma could be, there was nobody nearby pulling him in either direction.
Vincent released a long breath.
’Finally.’
One major problem was gone.
Now he could deal with the actual disaster.
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