"So, what now?" asked Miyanna as they passed the fort and started walking on a road leading north.
"I told you before, but there are two things we can do," began Blanc, "Either we buy Marks and then attempt to make more money, or go into this Domain's forbidden wilderness unseen."
"Will it not be risky, brother?" Kael asked.
"It will, but our other option to enter the wilderness is to ask permission from Noble Blood Certa, and that would be perhaps just a death sentence," Blanc explained.
"Why?" asked Miyanna.
"In the past," began Celine, taking over the explanation, "Noble Blood Certa was a Royal Blood. They were ruling over a smaller Kingdom that the Empire conquered."
"Exactly," Blanc nodded, continuing, "And part of that Kingdom was also our family's Domain. In the past, more ambitious Patriarchs of Blood Certa tried to take parts of their former lands from the other Noble Bloods, including ours, but failed."
"But, this new Patriarch of theirs is not like his father, my love," said Celine.
Blanc smirked, "Because he does not have the power or the ambition of his father, that's why he chooses diplomacy."
"But I know him personally, he is quite the pacifist, he avoided eye contact like his life depended on watching the grass," Celine added.
"He has that same poison in his veins as his father and all his ancestors before him. He is a pacifist because he needs to be one. He is weak. But if a chance arises with us, the young Noble Bloods of a defeated enemy of his, he might change his attitude. We did not leave danger behind only to jump into a pit full of poisonous snakes that have attempted to conquer our family for generations," Blanc explained.
"If they are enemies, why haven't we just gone around this Domain?" Miyanna asked.
"Health and strength," Blanc replied.
"What the fuck does that mean, hubby?" Miyanna sighed, finally no longer embarrassed to call Blanc by the name she had wished to call someone all her life.
"The Domain of Noble Blood Certa, as well as any other Domain, be it Noble, Crownbound, or Imperial, all have wilderness, nature, and Vita-rich lands to protect, however you want to call it," Blanc explained, but stopped for a few moments as a cart passed them along the road they were on. "These lands were mostly protected from the common folk and used by the Noble Bloods for themselves and their Blood or for gains, be it monetary, strength, or, in only four cases around all Noble Blood Domains, health."
"That's barely an answer, my love," giggled Celine, "But what Blanc tries to overexplain is that, in four Noble Blood domains around the Empire, only four have a beast we can hunt and harvest that would give us one of the most valuable resources there are. The thing all humans need. And that is time, decades of lifespan. And what gives us that are the Turtles."
"Oh! I've seen one before in the Imperial Capital. They are cute," said Lune, finally able to insert herself into the difficult-sounding conversation.
Blanc chuckled at his little sister's words but kept on talking, "Turtles are most valuable as Raw Vita. Many Noble Bloods would go to war in an attempt at being able to prolong their lives. So, that's why we are here, because such Marks would benefit all of us greatly if we were to decide on harvesting illegally."
"It sounds like it would be difficult," Miyanna sighed.
"I still think it will be easier to just steal the harvest than try to convince that Certa fool to let us harvest freely or to make enough money to buy hundreds of Marks," Blanc replied while kicking a rock.
"It might be difficult to find them even if we decide on harvesting them illegally, I hope you are aware of that, my love," Celine added.
"I am," Blanc nodded, "But what other choice do we have?"
"Wait, why are turtles hard to find here?" asked Lune.
Blanc smiled, knowing his sister's question was more innocent, so he replied accordingly, "Because they took almost all of them in the past, Little Flower, and their population dwindled," he explained to her before turning to the others, "That's why this Domain and Noble Blood are weak now. Their gold mines ran dry because of greed."
"Okay, so, we can't ask for permission, we can't raise enough money to buy all that we need, and we can't steal them because they might be gone already. In that case, why are we here again?" Miyanna replied.
"All that you said is correct, my dear, but there are other beasts besides turtles that we can harvest for Raw Vita," Blanc began, "But the chance at finding some is worth it. I have a feeling the fools gave up searching too early, and that there are many turtles out there."
Even though there were more questions to be asked and answers to be given, they were suddenly interrupted by a convoy of carriages coming towards them on the same road they were on, so they moved aside.
The convoy was led by riding soldiers, and even though they looked at the five of them with suspicion, they couldn't stop.
And neither were the thirty carriages that were headed towards the fort they just passed less than an hour ago.
"Quite odd," muttered Celine as she turned around to look at the convoy that had just past them.
"Beyond that, my love," Blanc replied, his eyes on the same convoy she was watching, "It might be smart to move off the road and walk unseen for a while, who knows what's happening."
And with nods from the four of them at his words, they moved past the road heading north and walked alongside it at a distance of about four hundred feet to the west.
And they kept it that way for another two hours, when they considered themselves deep enough into the Domain, making them decide to take a break atop the shaded side of a hill.
The shaded slope lay on the far side of the hill, opposite the path they had taken.
Deciding to rest there, they began the short climb, only to halt at the hill's summit, where smoke rose in the distance, curling up from behind the hills a mile or two away from them.
"Oh," muttered Blanc.