**An hour before**
Sarah sat down in front of a simple mirror that one of her shadows procured when ordered.
She gathered all of her golden hair together, before locking it in a small bun on the top of her head with a special strap.
Sarah reached out and grabbed the nearby wig, also prepared by one of her slaves. And just by putting it on the upper part of the strap and then correcting its position a bit, she changed.
The air around the princess glistered with the fine particles of the mana dust, distorting the perception of all those who would look at her.
'That level of disguise should suffice,' Sarah judged her reflection before pulling on the side of her wig just a little bit more. Satisfied with the results, she stood up and put the mirror away before grabbing and putting on a simple, fur coat.
The water of the nearby lake carried the dreadful shrill from the highland steppes on its northern shore, making the air in Thatcham quite chilly.
"Follow me in the standard extended pattern," Sarah ordered, heading through a special, disguised tunnel down two floors, from the president's office to one of the countless rooms within the Imperial Express branch.
'Leaving through this place is a much better idea,' Sarah thought, sneaking down to the bottom of the buildings while perfectly merging into the flow of the people in the corridors.
And soon…
Soon, she walked out of the claustrophobic confinement of the tight building, once again allowed to breathe the fresh air of the outside.
"Haaa…"
Unable to resist the temptation, Sarah took in a mouthful of air, keeping it in her lungs for a while before slowly releasing it away.
With the moment of elation passing, Sarah lowered her gaze onto the streets and smiled lightly before taking a step towards the main street of the town.
'It's been quite some time since I last went out like that,' Sarah thought to herself as she followed down the general flow of people.
With not even the slightest clue as to where to look for her target, she had no reason to move to any place in particular.
Rather than going to hunt, Sarah simply went fishing.
The princess followed the mindless flow of the crowd, adoring every tiniest detail of her surroundings.
Everything around was exotic, vastly different from what she was used to seeing in the imperial heartland or even its development zone.
'We are just a day or two of riding away from the border, and everything already changed so much,' Sarah thought, slowing down for a moment as her thoughts got the better of her. 'I wonder how different the world gets if you go even further…'
Prompted by a sudden sense of nostalgia, Sarah looked out in the direction that somehow felt the most exotic.
And as she slowly moved up the sidewalk towards the main intersection of the gate-side part of the town, her gaze fell down the other main street that led down towards the port.
Port, which was currently brimming with far more activity than when Sarah took a glance while riding into the city.
Sarah stopped, ignoring the flow of the others through the crossing… Only to get shouldered and pushed around in a show of instant retribution.
Now that she was in her disguise, no one gave her the preferential and near-reverent treatment she was used to.
Upon learning this lesson, Sarah quickly moved away from the main flow of people, hiding near the facade of the nearby building. And as she looked down the street again, her face tensed up in disbelief.
'It shouldn't be that easy,' she thought, nearly rolling her eyes in astonishment.
The port wasn't just busy.
It was currently riddled with violence, as different groups of people clashed with each other in the strange example of a real-life battle royale.
There were spots where there were only some riots, while other areas exploded in outright brawls and fights.
Sarah raised her eyes, and surely, there was a cloud of black smoke rising from the distant corner of the port that she couldn't see from her spot.
'Well, what would be the chances if he were to be over there,' Sarah smirked before making her way down the road.
With a steady supply of high-grade mana dust at her hip and several elite shadows in tow, violent unrest like that didn't pose any threat to her safety… While it might hold the information she was oh so desperate to obtain.
Yet, before the princess could even reach the area where the unrest began, something tugged at her soul, pulling her away into one of the narrow side alleys.
'Wha…?!' Sarah's eyes went wide when she nearly missed her step under the sudden pressure.
It was no attack. Nor was it magic.
'Compulsion spells feel different,' Sarah instantly noted, her face strangely calming down.
Now that something weird happen, she was finally free to drop the act and revel in her true element.
The memories of all the training she went through at the hidden capital resurfaced.
And with a perfectly straight face, Sarah pulled herself back to a proper position, only to take another step and peek out of the corner of the street, into the alley that some force wanted to drag her into.
'Isn't this the pull of fate?' Sarah analyzed the situation, gently weaving this new force into the stream of her consciousness. She remained aware of the compulsion, but it no longer could affect her actions.
The narrow alley was empty… or rather, almost empty.
Sitting by the side of one of the buildings, surrounded by random trash and debris from some old battles, sat a lost child.
The kid had extremely long, red hair, currently dirtied all over. It was dressed in what looked like a bag once used to store flour and now decorated with holes for legs, arms, and head.
Sarah spent only three seconds watching the motionless child before she gave up to the suddenly exploding compulsion that tugged her soul into the alley.
Even though nothing happened yet, the princess swallowed her saliva.
'I can already hear Mera's lecture,' she thought, her lips curving up in a small smile as she walked up to the child.
The kid was curled up, clearly trying to preserve what little heat it could have left.
Prompted by now just her own pity, Sarah reached out and pushed the hair out of the child's face.
It was a girl.
A five, maybe six years old girl with hair so long it would take fifteen years at the very least to grow.
"How are you, little girl?" Sarah asked in a gentle voice, trying to hide just how bewildering the appearance of the kid was in this random alley.
The kid finally raised its head…
Only to look at Sarah with its big, red… and empty eyes.
'Ugh…' Sarah clenched her buttocks while forcibly keeping a smile on her lips.
The sense of judgment coiled all over her soul the very second the kid raised its eyes on her.
'There's no way that's the…'
Before Sarah could fully form her thoughts, the noise of the nearby commotion exploded.
In the short time that passed since the princess's attention moved to the strange compulsion, the area covered by unrest managed to spread to her proximity.
And as Sarah raised her attention towards her surroundings, she raised her face…
Only to see a soldier walk out from the corner at the other end of the alley.
'Not soldier, mercenary,' Sarah thought, instantly switching back to her combat sense.
The aura around the girl changed as she swapped the orders she floated for her mana dust.
The few fine details that she spotted on the spot were enough for her to recognize the difference between the man's potential professions.
As for the mercenary himself…
When he turned his head and looked at Sarah, his eyes remained exactly the same as before, showing no interest whatsoever.
The stranger carried a simple sword in his hand and even stepped into the alley, but he couldn't be bothered to pay Sarah any attention. Yet, the very moment he took his first step into the alley…
WOOSH!
A long projectile shot mere inches away from Sarah's face, taking her by total surprise.
Despite raising her awareness to its limits, she never noticed anyone approaching her from behind!
Yet, as Sarah's eyes followed the projectile in the moment of the shock-induced lowered guard, she realized the simple truth.
It was not her that the mercenary was wary of. And it wasn't her either that this projectile was aimed at.
Sarah turned her head around, looking at where she entered the alley herself. And as she started to turn her head, a body flew right past her, charging at the mercenary.
'A provisional?' Sarah noted on the spot, sensing no presence of mana dust on the new party. 'But wasn't that mercenary around seventh…'
The kid in Sarah's arms suddenly jolted, as if all the energy she didn't show before started to manifest right at this precise moment.
The man who threw the projectile never received a blessing that would allow him to wield mana dust. And the mercenary he was charging was somewhere around the seventh rank.
But what was even stranger, was how the weaker and the more aggressive of the two didn't appear to bear any weapons himself!
It took Sarah a moment to push aside the conflicting observations and refocus her attention on the actual scene…
Only for a shock to strike her spine, causing the girl to shake on the spot and her eyes to widen.
'There's no fucking way…'