At nine that evening, the patrons gradually began leaving the tavern.
"Madam, please follow me."
Kalaya rose and followed the woman upstairs.
"Do only you and your husband run this tavern?"
At Kalaya's question, the woman slowed her steps and replied, "Rest assured, madam. My husband and I sleep on the first floor. If anything happens, just call out."
"Mm."
Kalaya nodded slightly and asked no further questions.
Once inside the room, she looked around. It was hardly luxurious, but it was clean and tidy.
"Have a good rest, madam."
With that, the woman left the room and closed the door.
Kalaya walked to the window and opened it. From here, she could just make out the militia patrolling the edges of the village. Their ranks were orderly, without the slightest hint of slackness.
Within the village, only a few houses still glowed with faint light, their occupants busy with something.
Closing the window again, Kalaya waved a hand to set up a barrier, then dispelled her disguise and revealed her true appearance.
She sat by the bed, took a book out of her Space Equipment, and turned to a creased page before beginning to read.
It was a book containing low-level transcendent knowledge of the mind aspect, which she had mastered before she even became a soul intent tier arcanist. After becoming Legendary, however, she had dug these books out again, intending to spend some time studying everything anew from the beginning.
Reading with a different mindset naturally brought different insights.
Time trickled by, and before she knew it, morning had arrived.
As the sun rose, Kalaya closed the book in her hands and returned it to her Space Equipment. With a thought, she restored her disguise, then dispelled the Magic Barrier.
An invisible force spread through the room,