At six in the morning, I punctually welcomed the new day.
I never had the habit of sleeping in anyway, and furthermore, this was a special period that didn't allow me the luxury of battling with the bed for three hundred rounds.
It should... temporarily not come again, right... In my memory, menstrual periods lasted several days, but it couldn't possibly be HP-1 every so often.
Outside the cabin, Sigrdrífa was leaning against a tree with her eyes closed, taking a brief rest. I hesitated about whether to disturb Sigrdrífa, but she seemed to sense something and proactively opened her eyes.
"You're up early, Anna."
"Good morning, Rifa. Go rest now, I'm fine."
My fatigue status had completely disappeared, and I had successfully adjusted to normal condition.
"I'm actually still fairly energetic... about two hours of rest should be fine."
"Really?"
"We moon elves have a buff that slows fatigue accumulation at night. Besides, where's the time to rest now?"
Indeed, we hadn't escaped danger yet. Even now we remained within Duke Borgia's barrier.
"Anna, we need to plan for the future. We can't keep hiding in Baron Hurst's forest forever. Last night alone, three groups of adventurers broke in, even though this place is relatively safe."
"There are too many adventurers. Sorry, it's probably because of me."
Lemoria continent wasn't small, but the reason for the large number of adventurers in Duke Borgia's territory... was me. They had originally planned to come farm my affection, but happened to become Duke Borgia's pawns.
"It's fine, none of them discovered Anna and Lily."
Sigrdrífa hurriedly added this explanation.
Under the nationwide search wave for Lily, a few adventurers mysteriously dying in Baron Hurst's forest was just an insignificant matter that no one cared about. While there was no immediate need to relocate, we should prepare for the worst.
Before discussing with Sigrdrífa...
I found a flat patch of grass, sat down cross-legged, then beckoned to Sigrdrífa.
"Rifa, let's talk while you rest. You can't keep standing."
"Oh, okay..."
I patted my thighs, frantically hinting to Sigrdrífa.
"???"
Unfortunately, Sigrdrífa didn't seem to understand, so I had no choice but to speak directly.
"Come lie down here."
"Eh?"
"It's... a lap pillow. Although I don't have experience with it before, I'll do my best."
"Lap pillow? Isn't that something between human lovers..."
Sigrdrífa instinctively blurted this out. Though she realized her slip and immediately stopped talking, her body movements became quite stiff.
"I've never heard such a thing... but it is indeed something done between people with close relationships, like between servant and master."
"I... is it okay...?"
"Yes."
"Then, excuse me..."
Sigrdrífa slowly lay down on my thighs, quietly asking me "Am I not too heavy?" This degree was nothing to me. Logically, if a lap pillow went on too long, the person providing it would get numb thighs. No matter how long a maid provided a lap pillow to her master, it was part of her duty, so my lap pillow wouldn't have any negative effects.
"Anna."
"Is it acceptable, Rifa?"
"It's very comfortable. But..."
Sigrdrífa's tone changed, and I couldn't help but perk up. After all, no matter how rich the theory, this was my first practical lap pillow.
"I can't see Anna's face at all..."
"..."
Sorry, this problem was too tricky for me to solve.
"Getting back to the point, Rifa. We have three methods to solve our current predicament."
"What are they?"
"Plan A: Hide within the [Barrier], wait for the [Barrier]'s time to run out, or wait for external forces to stop the [Barrier]'s use."
"Barriers have time limits? I'm not very familiar with barrier principles."
"Does Rifa know that some skills require multiple people to cast together?"
"Combination techniques?"
"Barrier principles are similar... but the number of participants can reach hundreds, and each person must possess skills like [Barrier Construction] at master level or above, then spend several years to complete it."
Once a barrier was completed, activating it became much more convenient. As long as continuous minor maintenance was performed, it could theoretically continue forever.
"Each [Barrier] activation consumes the energy it has stored. While [Barriers] allow for resupply during operation, even the lowest consumption operation means resupply can't keep up with the [Barrier]'s consumption."
In other words, the barrier's maintenance time was a breakthrough point.
Sigrdrífa keenly noticed a certain word I'd mentioned.
"Lowest consumption? Barriers have different uses?"
"Yes, like a car's high and low gears... uh, Rifa might not understand this comparison. Let me put it more simply. [Barriers] can be adjusted according to different situations, shutting down certain functions to reduce consumption and maintain longer."
"Then I'll ask directly—this barrier Duke Borgia activated, is it powerful?"
"It's not a question of powerful or not... it's the type where, to keep us trapped, he probably chose the lowest efficiency barrier. I've never seen how long it takes for barrier energy to be exhausted, but the highest power barriers can last a week without ending..."
If we wanted to hide and seek within Duke Borgia's territory, we needed to prepare for a prolonged battle.
I didn't think this was the best strategy, and Sigrdrífa's opinion aligned with mine.
"No good, too much time, too much risk. Anna, what do you mean by external forces stopping the [Barrier]? Blowing up the [Barrier]?"
"How could that be possible? Independently destroying a [Barrier] head-on could probably only be done by a Demon Lord... I mean, Duke Borgia isn't the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Michel after all. Using barriers without authorization—His Majesty the King won't just sit by and watch. Maybe envoys coming to inspect Duke Borgia's territory are already on their way."