"This place, this building that you are currently occupying, belonged to one of the oligarchs of our kingdom. I have ordered their end. Now, their facilities and holdings belong to the sect."

My extremely brief overview of the situation nearly went over the Custodians head, but it all managed to get in there okay thankfully.

"Wait, so you’re the one? The one that the Emberin Ladies mentioned? The emissary?" She uttered somewhat reverently. Which I didn’t like.

"Don’t ever call me that again." I quickly replied sternly with my brows furrowed slightly and my eyes squinting at her.

She gulped as she acknowledged my command, "Y-yes ma’am."

"Anyway, I need to use the teleportation circle to get back to the capital now, and I’m taking these three with me. Don’t ask why."

"R-Right away, follow me."

The Custodian then led us to the room just opposite this one and I directed Ash, Asty and Shirayaa onto it.

And just before we were teleported away, I gave one last command to the Custodian to have her pass along a message.

"Oh, and would you mind letting the headmaster of this cities Gilded Ophidian Institute where we’re headed? She’ll know what to do with the information."

The Cinder Custodian woman nodded and we were then off, the feeling of moving upward swiftly suddenly overtaking the four of us as streams of many different shades of blue streaked lines blurred past us.

And looking at the three of them, I could tell that they were extremely queasy, which I guess makes sense. This is their first experience using one of these things, and although they’ve been teleported around by me, this is actually quite different from that.

Compared to when I teleport them, which is more me just displacing our spatial coordinates from one location to another, this method is more so creating a tunnel between two locations. And moving us through it.

Soon enough though, the feeling was reversed and I let them know we were halfway there, which placated them somewhat, allowing them to hold out just a little longer, at least until we actually reached the capital.

And eventually, we had arrived.

Unlike my previous two times here in this building, the teleportation room wasn’t completely dark, and instead had some torches lit along the wall to the sides.

Inside the room also, was some initiates and acolytes, whose official rank is called ’Kindled Spirits’ which doesn’t make sense to me. As for what they were doing in here, they looked to be cleaning and maintaining the room.

Obviously, they were stunned by our sudden appearance, but they then were more scared because none of them could identify us as they scrambled out to call the guards.

I sighed, knowing that this would happen, but a small part of me hoped that it wouldn’t. Can’t always get what you want, I guess.

’This is not how I thought today would go.’ I rubbed the bridge of my nose with an exacerbated sigh. ’Why can’t I ever have anything nice?’

As those thoughts trickled through my mind, I saw many more Cinder Custodians enter the room, their spears tipped with a wavy flame shaped blade that seared the air itself.

Fortunately, upon seeing that we held no ill will towards them, a few of them relaxed slightly, enough for them to engage in a conversation.

"Who are you, and where have you come from?" One of them demanded with an overbearing tone. I’m guessing the leader of this group of Custodians.

"My name is Traytora and I have just come from Krara city." I decided this time to actually be cordial with them since this is the capital, and the Sect is primarily based here.

Also I didn’t have to worry about the Duchess’ forces anymore.

I also added this before she could ask why I was here, since that was the most obvious next question, "And before you ask, I am here to meet with the Empyric Coil. Or any of the Emberin Ladies, whomever is available right now."

All of the Custodians staggered slightly at my nonchalant attitude. And I realised that I probably should’ve made an effort to at least appear more formal than dismissive with my words. Oh well, too late to take them back now.

"You can’t just demand to see the Empyric Coil, let alone an Emberin Lady." The Custodians reaffirmed their stance, thrusting their spears into our faces.

I pushed Ash, Asty and Shirayaa behind me so that I could deal with this without getting them involved. Besides, all of them seemed a little sick after that experience, so they probably weren’t a talking mood.

I stared directly into their eyes, each and every one of them before I spoke, "I can, and I am. I am the only descendent of our ancestral Goddess, Astraa. You WILL listen to me or face the consequences. Now take me to the main temple."

I didn’t particularly want to use my [Bloodline Aura] on them for something like this, because it felt like I was abusing it in a way that if left unchecked, would lead to me spiralling out of control and becoming some sort of tyrant.

But I didn’t have time to be nice. I mean, I did, but I didn’t want to waste time here when there were things I needed to confirm, like what happened with the oligarchs and if the plan to remove the Cult from the kingdom is still ongoing.

I wanted to make sure everything I did still happened, even though by all accounts, this alteration in time should’ve stopped all it from happening, but for some reason, Ash and Asty still know me even though the orphanage is gone. This was why I wanted to get out of this situation quickly, to confirm everything.

And my [Bloodline Aura] was doing exactly what I wanted it to, chip away at their will to where they couldn’t disobey me.

Another reason I didn’t want to do this too much was if I did this constantly, then two things could happen, some people could build a resistance to it, or I could break their mind completely.

Thankfully, neither of those would happen and the Custodians soon relented, and four of them started to escort me out of the building to go to the Sect’s palace.

My friends were slightly offput seeing this side of me, but I reassured them that everything was fine.

"Oh, one more thing, prepare yourselves for the capital city. It’s a jaw dropping experience." I said with an excited smile.

And they all also seemed to be in better moods too, because they finally realised that they were in the capital city. I’d tried explaining it to Ash and Asty before, but I didn’t think I did justice, so I promised them that I’d take them here one day. Never thought it would be so soon and under such circumstances either.

Regardless, the Custodians led us out into the city, and I let the three of them go out first so that they could get a good proper look for the first time.

And the looks on their faces were priceless. I could even see the Custodians smiling lightly behind their stoic expressions. Probably proud of the city they live and serve in.

Even I was ecstatic at their reactions. Not for the same reasons as the Custodians, but because now I could share this with the people I loved.

The Custodians wanted to get a move on since I was so insistent of getting to the Sect Palace as soon as possible, but seeing their faces, I told them that I wanted to stay here for a bit to let them bask in the city’s glory.

Besides, I could just teleport us all there, so we wouldn’t exactly be wasting any time spent travelling there if we just waited.

So, the Custodians simply let me enjoy the sight of the immense and colourfully expansive city with my friends.

None of us said anything. There was nothing to be said, just us sharing a moment together. I even shed a few tears because, it felt like I was experiencing the capital for the first time with my friends here.

A whole new way of experiencing the city.

At some point though, one of the Custodians coughed, snapping me out of the picturesque moment and reminding me why I came here.

I clapped my hands, getting the girls attention, "Right. Girls, it’s time to go meet the leading figures of the Sect of Naga. You ready?"

They looked a little nervous at the prospect of that, but all nodded enthusiastically anyways.

I made everyone gather together in a huddle to make this a lot easier for me and then got to work, expanding my vision all the way over to the front entrance of the Sect Palace and teleporting us there in an instant.

"Okay, we’re here." I announced.