She hit the ground with less dignity than she was slapped from the air, tumbling. She skidded on the dirt, her fall only stopped by a tree. Leaves, dirt, and bits of twig clung to her as she struggled to her feet, but she didn’t seem to mind as she looked at him, absolutely stunned. "You are a Master Knight."

Vale looked at her calmly, now back from his jump. "I am. Are you ready to talk now? Or do I need to do more slapping?"

She flinched, her wings folding back behind her. "No, you don’t. What do you want from me?"

"I don’t know where I am."

She hesitated and looked at him skeptically. "Well, you are close to Tachibana and Matsumoto Clan."

Vale froze. He’s that far from home? Matsumoto is the Clan closest to the Akatsuki Desert and in-between Tachibana Clan. He looked at the stretch of inhabited lands and understood. He was in the wilderness between the two Clans.

Vale rubbed his head. "Which of the two Clans am I closest to?"

"Matsumoto."

Vale nodded. Out of all the Clans in the Hinterlands, the Matsumoto is one of the strangest. They are not like other Clans. They have no Clan leader or chiefs. And most of their population are made up of mercenaries that work for other Clans. That’s the major drive of the Clan, as they had no Rift of their own, so they sell themselves as a workforce in the Hinterlands and beyond.

They are also the foremost in hunting down any ruins that did not fall into the immediate territory of any other Clans.

And even with all of these, they still held tightly to their title as a Clan.

Although none of the Hinterlands were willing to face them in a direct fight, not only because they had nothing to gain, but because the Matsumoto were actually strong as well.

Vale shrugged. "Well, let’s go. How long will it take to get to the main Matsumoto Clan?"

The butterfly lady paused and gave him a look. "I don’t understand. You wanted to know where you are, I told you, what else do you want from me?"

"You’ll follow me the rest of the way to Matsumoto. I’m trying to make my way to Akatsuki Desert."

She snorted a laugh. "I should follow you? It’s better that I die than follow you! I’m on my way to Tachibana, you can follow me there if you want."

Against his immediate objective, Vale couldn’t help his curiosity about Tachibana Clan. It was a Clan of the Hinterlands and yet not. In more technical terms, they were part of the Hinterlands because they had territory here, but their close proximity to Kanji Plains, the High Clans, made them different.

They were not High Clans. They didn’t come close to being one. They were even lesser than a branch of a High Clan, but they held themselves in a snobbish way, looking down on the other Hinterland Clans.

But none of the other Hinterland Clans could deny their power. At least, none had ever faced them in battle, but there were rumors of their power because of their proximity to Kanji Plains.

"What are you going to Tachibana for?"

She gave him a look. "What else? I’m going to offer my services. Rumors say the Tachibana has finally been granted permission to join as a branch family of some High Clan, but they have to fight for it."

"Fight for it?"

She shrugged. "A new Rift was discovered, and the said High Clan offered it to three of its weakest branch families, and the Tachibana. Whoever wins it will be the only branch family standing, absorbing the others."

That’s vicious and brutal, just as expected of the world. Vale wasn’t fazed. "So, is something happening among the High Clans? Wanting a Hinterland Clan as a branch family and pruning said branches?"

She smiled. "Of course something is happening! The High Clans might soon go to war!"

Vale shuddered, shocked. "What?"

"They have grown too powerful, too strong. Their balance of power is causing friction with each other. There has to be an imbalance. Although none of them have made any moves, each and every one of them is making preparations. Things are about to become interesting."

Vale scowled. It had been a long, long time since the High Clans went to war. They were powerful, powerful Clans, and their wars were serious, the real deal. The last time they went to war, seven High Clans were reduced to five, and the spillover of their war almost tore the Hinterlands apart as bandits and rogues flooded over.

It was part of what created Matsumoto Clan.

Things were bad. Thousands died, and the economy of the Hinterlands nearly collapsed. The Hinterlands was indeed backward.

Vale took a deep breath. If war should happen now among the High Clans, then he couldn’t even imagine the effect it would have on the Hinterlands. What about the Rifts? They were dangerous, and a war would be a distraction... especially with the Rifts pushing hard at this time.

"When do you think the war is going to start?" Vale asked.

She shrugged. "Who knows? But the tension is at an all-time high. But they’ll go to war, that much is sure."

Vale studied her. "How do you know all of this information?"

She grinned and flapped her wings. "Because it is my job. I am more prone to gathering information and spreading it. Consider it my goodwill that I’m telling you things you should have paid for."

Vale raised his brows. "You think the Tachibana will appreciate your... ability?"

She glared and shot back. "Then they’ll be fools not to! Really, you Hinterlanders know nothing more than getting stronger and stronger! Nothing more than fighting!"

Vale folded his hands. "The Hinterlands were carved out of fighting ruins and Rifts. It’s in our nature. We claimed this land from the monsters by might."

She snorted again. "But what of now? Isn’t it time for change? Already the High Clans are going to explode because the Plains can’t contain them! Maybe they’ll be unified under a single High banner!"

"They can’t be contained?"

"The nature of a Clan is to grow and expand. Just like a Knight. But where will the High Clans expand to? In the end, they have to devour each other to create space...!!"

Just as she was speaking, she suddenly stopped, and her eyes flashed with multicolored light!

Frzz! Frzz! Frzz!

The air suddenly buzzed. But Vale was already on the move. He ducked and twisted out of the way of the invisible projectiles, moving with casual grace.

The invisible projectiles hit the ground and trees, exploding into a force that shredded everything.

Vale looked at the butterfly lady, who was looking at him with wide eyes. She looked incredulous and annoyed that he actually dodged it. "Why won’t you die? Are you not falling for all of my tricks?"

Vale raised his brow. "You are good at what you do, aren’t you? You’re not as weak as you pretended to be, and your ability doesn’t lie in information gathering, at least not solely. You’re not going to Tachibana to offer that skill, you’re going so that you can harvest from the spoils of war. Everything you’ve said and done was to create the illusion that you are weak and I can easily overpower you so that I can let my guard down."

She smiled. And this time, there was no helplessness on her face. Her smile was sharp and vicious. "Oh? You’re good as well. Tell me, when did you figure me out?"

"Since the beginning," Vale lied. In fact, he did not figure her out until she attacked him with invisible attacks, but unfortunately for her, he could see the illusion she wove to conceal the attack. He had been fooled by her and had actually believed her to be weak.

Compared to him, she was weak, but Vale had let his guard down! Even the strongest warrior could be killed if they let their guard down!

Fuck. She actually almost had him! A Master Knight was still a Master Knight!

"So you were playing along with my game! How cute! Those fools in Matsumoto think I’m weak. Well, only those that remain alive still think so."

"So you’ve been lying."

"No, I have not. I only speak the truth. I am indeed going to Tachibana because of my information-gathering ability. I am considered weak in Matsumoto, and there’s indeed a war about to happen."

Vale thought about it. So she didn’t say some things and simply let his own imagination complete it. Not bad. "Impressive. But what does your information ability say about me?"

"That you are not from around here and you are quite eager to reach Akatsuki. You are an Errant Knight but have a strong Artifact. You are very cautious."

"Did it tell you that I am growing impatient with all of this and leaning heavily toward killing you and finding the way by myself? Even though that isn’t wise?"