The forest fell quiet after the cultist finished speaking.
Aldric looked ready to argue again, irritation still clear on his face.
But before he could say anything—
Draven finally spoke.
"Then we'll make one."
The words were calm.
Simple.
Everyone looked at him.
The cultist frowned slightly. "Make one?"
Draven's gaze remained steady.
"Yes."
Aldric blinked once… then slowly grinned.
"Oh."
He rubbed his hands together, interest immediately lighting up his expression.
"Now that sounds interesting."
Lyriana tilted her head slightly.
"Forgery?"
Vaelith adjusted the babies in her arms but didn't look surprised in the slightest.
The cultist, however, stared at Draven for a moment longer.
"You understand what you're saying, right?"
Her tone was serious now.
"An NID isn't just a piece of paper. It's registered through the kingdom's administrative network—names, birth records, origin towns, tax ledgers."
She folded her arms.
"If the record doesn't exist in their system, the moment it's checked you'll be exposed."
Draven didn't seem concerned.
"We don't need it to exist everywhere."
He stepped closer to the edge of the clearing, looking toward the distant direction of civilization beyond the forest.
"Only where we're going."
Aldric chuckled.
"So we just need someone who can make the paperwork… and make sure the right people don't look too closely."
Lyriana glanced at him.
"That sounds like trouble."
Aldric shrugged casually.
"Less trouble than walking across an entire continent."
The cultist studied Draven carefully.
"…And where exactly do you plan to 'make' these identities?"
Draven finally looked back at her.
His answer came without hesitation.
"In a city."
The cultist watched him closely, still clearly unconvinced.
"You're talking about forging identities tied to a national registry," she said. "Without an original record in their system, any inspection will expose it immediately."
Draven didn't seem bothered.
He looked toward the dark outline of the forest stretching endlessly around them.
Then he spoke calmly.
"If a copy exists…"
His eyes shifted back to her.
"…there must be an original."
The cultist frowned slightly.
Draven continued.
"In a system like that, there are always records."
Birth registrations.
Tax ledgers.
Census lists.
Transport permits.
All stored somewhere.
He folded his arms.
"And wherever records exist… there are people who maintain them."
Aldric's grin slowly widened as he began to understand where Draven was going with this.
"Oh."
He chuckled under his breath.
"So instead of making a fake one…"
His red eyes gleamed with interest.
"…we just get a real one."
Lyriana glanced between them.
"Meaning?"
Draven answered simply.
"In a city there are thousands of identities."
His voice stayed level.
"Some belong to people who have died."
"Some belong to people who disappeared."
"And some belong to people no one would notice if they suddenly started traveling again."
The cultist's expression slowly changed as she realized what he meant.
"You're planning to take existing identities."
Draven didn't deny it.
Aldric laughed softly.
"Now that's what I call efficient."
Vaelith stood quietly holding the two children while listening.
Lucifer blinked slowly in her arms.
Elenya yawned softly, her eyes already beginning to droop.
The cultist exhaled slowly.
"…That still requires access to their records."
Draven's gaze remained on the dark line of trees stretching into the distance.
"In a city," he repeated quietly, "…there's always someone willing to sell anything."
The cultist watched him, still skeptical.
"…That still requires finding the right person," she said.
Draven turned slightly back toward them.
"And finding that someone isn't hard."
His tone remained calm.
"Anyone can eventually find someone capable of doing what we need."
Aldric smirked.
"Oh, I'm sure you can."
Draven continued as if he hadn't heard the remark.
"All we need to do…"
"…is find a city."
Lyriana crossed her arms.
"That's the problem," she said. "We've been avoiding them."
The cultist nodded faintly.
"And if we walk into one now, half the kingdom could be searching for you, my lord."
Aldric shrugged.
"Half the kingdom thinks it's more than that."
Draven glanced up through the trees where the last traces of sunset had already disappeared.
Night had fully taken over the forest.
"We don't need a large city," he said.
"Just one big enough to have records."
Vaelith shifted Lucifer and Elenya slightly in her arms, making sure they were comfortable.
Elenya had already begun drifting toward sleep again.
Lucifer, however, was still watching quietly.
Lyriana looked toward the forest ahead.
The cultist suddenly stepped forward.
"Right now," she said calmly.
From inside her robe, she pulled out a small metallic object—no larger than a coin—its surface etched with thin runic patterns.
She poured mana into it.
The runes lit up instantly.
A faint holographic map expanded into the air above her palm, glowing softly in the darkness of the forest.
Lines, terrain markers, and settlement symbols appeared across the projection.
"We're currently on the eastern edge of the Varethyl Forest," she said, pointing toward a glowing section of terrain.
Everyone instinctively leaned slightly closer to examine the projection.
Aldric stared at the floating map for a moment.
Then slowly turned toward her.
"…You had something like that this whole time?"
The cultist didn't even look up.
Aldric's eye twitched slightly.
"And you're only bringing it out now?"
He sighed dramatically.
"You little brat… you're really damn annoying, you know that?"
Lyriana ignored him and focused on the map.
Vaelith, still holding Lucifer and Elenya, suddenly turned her head slightly to the side.
"My lord."
Draven looked at her.
"A few hundred miles from here," she said calmly, "there is a city."
The cultist glanced down at the map again.
"…She's right."
Her finger moved across the glowing projection.
"If we travel northwest from here…"
She tapped a bright settlement symbol.
"…we'll reach Grayhaven City."
Aldric snorted.
"So your fancy map wasn't really needed then."
The cultist ignored him and continued examining the terrain markers.
"Grayhaven is large enough to have a full registry office, trade records, and airship access."
She finally looked back at Draven.
"If we're going to acquire identities…"
"…that city will work."