‘How do you know?' Alon looked at Edmund, puzzled.

  ‘They give me the same feeling Eliza does. They have six nobles, maybe a subjugation force aiming at this fortress.’ He opened his eyes, looking at the northwest.

  ‘Angel-6 to all units; Velvent is coming from the northwest; fallback to where we came from, now!’ Alon turned around and walked.

  All the soldiers walked in Alon'sAlon's direction, leaving the A-Dam behind with Edmund and Eliza, who were still treating one of them.

  ‘Our mission here is over. Walk in that direction, and you will find the Velvent soldiers. You don’t know what happened; if they pushed, just tell the truth: the soldiers of the goddess saved you all. Let’s go, Eliza.’ Edmund turned around and walked away, pulling his sword from the ground as he passed by it.

  ‘Ah, ok… Have faith and trust in her; she will be with you like I feel she is with me right now.’ Eliza put her hand on top of her heart and nodded to the people before turning around and walking away.

  As the two walked away and the soldiers passed around them, they looked in the direction Edmund pointed at and walked ?to the ruins of the fortress walls, but now with a smile on their faces, now that they would return to their town.

  ‘Edmund, you can sense people that can use magic?’ She looked up at the sky.

  ‘It was in the middle of the mission on the other fortress; my body just sensed one of those that they call mages, and now I can do it. Interesting, isn’t it?.’ He smirked.

  ‘Humm, when I was healing those people, it wasn’t as fast, but when you started to talk and show things to them, some would heal faster, and one was even the same as one of our soldiers.’ She looked back for a moment.

  ‘Maybe, just maybe, what links you and the person you are healing is her highness, which affects the effectiveness of your healing powers.’ Edmund stroked his chin.

  ‘What do you mean?’ She looks at him?.

  ‘It needs testing, but even a person who can use the device has tiers of loyalty to Her Highness like some call her goddess, others Her Highness, or just our leader.’ Edmund looks forward deep in, though.

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  ‘That means that if you want the healing to be more effective, you need to see Her Highness as the god she is becoming; this is so beautiful.’ She put her hands on top of her chest.

  ‘Well…’ Edmund scratched his head.

  As Alon’s company walked out of the fortress and into the forest, they returned to where they came from in the same arrow formation. With Eliza in the center, protected by the Alon squad, and right behind the mortar squad, Edmund talked with her. She became more curious about his actions.

  ‘Why did you preach to them about her back there?’ She looked at him with a serious look.

  Some soldiers around them looked too curious about his answer because they saw what he said. Alon wasn’t paying attention to any of it, as he was concentrating on the coordination of the platoons.

  ‘It's simple; they are a seed; now, in Velvent, we have a large group that can spread the word about Ariadne; the situation was perfect.’ Edmund turned his head like he was trying to listen to something.

  ‘You are thinking far ahead, hum? Are you trying to sense the people from before?’ She extended her hand to Edmund.

  ‘Yes, they are not following us; I think they are at the fortress.; I don’t know for sure, and it's not that I’m thinking far ahead; I just did because it was an excellent opportunity.’ He got her hand and helped her overcome a small fissure she couldn't jump over.

  As he was helping her, Edmund had the impression that she was probing him or something like it; he couldn’t say anything about how he only sees the duchess as a leader and nothing more; in his mind, this would ultimately make everyone against him on the spot.

  Their views on Ariadne are becoming more religious. Even childhood friend Eliza said the people there should have faith in the duchess. He remembered they already had a story about him and couldn’t oppose it.

  After helping Eliza, he smiled at her and continued walking. The surrounding soldiers looked at Eliza and him occasionally, maybe waiting for them to resume the conversation, but it would be some time before Edmund opened his mouth.

  ‘We learned a lot on this mission; after listening to you talk, I will give some recommendations to the duchess.’ Alon looked behind for a moment as he continued to walk.

  ‘What recommendations? Do they all need to worship her as a god? Well…’ Edmund scratched the back of his head.

  ‘That would be wonderful.’ Eliza spoke in a cheerful tone.

  ‘I already do that, captain.’ A soldier raised his hand.

  ‘Me too,’ another one said.

  Others raised their hands before Edmund started to be concerned, not because they viewed Ariadne as a goddess, which is expected and desired, but because it was happening too fast. His thoughts were full of speculation. But one thing is sure: this connection Ariane and now Eliza talked about is becoming stronger.

  ‘Yes, that is one recommendation, which is a huge advantage. I wonder if daily prayer would improve it somehow.’ Alon looked behind again for a moment.

  ‘I think I do; my healing improved greatly after praying to Her Highness daily before bed.’ She began to smile like she had a feeling of relief.

  ‘I don’t know about healing, but I feel calmer now that I pray for our goddess.’ A soldier to the right spoke.

  ‘Me and my wife are feeling so much happier now that we pray, thanking her every day for everything we have.’ Another soldier spoke, but now from the left of the group.

  Edmund was shocked by how they were talking about Ariadne. It made no sense; this ability was more profound than he thought. With his sword resting on his right shoulder, he tried to understand what everyone was saying, but he felt increasingly like an outsider.

  ‘What is happening?’ Edmund thought to himself.