"Noted."

"So I've talked to the community leaders, and they said it's alright if you keep weak ownership claims. They're more worried about what'll happen if your magic breaks than about annoying Overlord Imara."

"I've also checked some stuff, and - I think our chances of getting to the city alright are a bit higher than I'd guessed at first. It'll still take a few hours, but I also now know where to go once we get there. Someone I talked to goes to the port city a lot. So we should be able to get a ship fairly quickly..."

"What do we need to do?"

He pulls up a map on a screen. "This's the best way to walk out, without getting seen from the road... We can cut over to this suburb over here - they've got a train station that doesn't check people's identification. Then we'll quietly sit on the train for a little bit, and get off over here..." He gives the name of the station. "Which is supposed to check identification but can't, because their infrastructure for it's broken. Then over here is the bar someone recommended - probably it'll be more expensive to get passage on a ship there, but my friend said the people willing to take unofficial passengers are less skeevy here than somewhere cheaper... Mostly we need to keep our heads down, though."

"I can do my best."

"Sure. Are you ready to go tonight?"

"I think so."

"I don't have much more to get ready... I should be good in half an hour."

"Thank you again for helping me out here."

Awkward shrug. "It's no problem."

Cor reads more while waiting for Esulri to get ready.

He reemerges soon enough, carrying a backpack and wearing a jacket with a lot of pockets. "Okay, I'm good."

"Is it going to be cold, should I borrow a coat?"

He stops to consider. "Probably it won't get bad, but it won't hurt for me to bring an extra in case..."

"I do not know how to build a fire without magic because before I always had magic, see."

"Don't think it'll get that cold? And there's fire starter stuff I have. But I'm not - really anticipating camping, I was planning to push through some if it gets dark."

"I'm very clumsy and that's worse in the dark. I'll chance it if we aren't going along cliffs or through thorns, but will need to be careful."

"I'll carry a light..."

"Okay, I can probably manage. But no cliffs please."

"Don't think there's any."

Then Cor has no further objections to setting out.

Esulri gets him a walking stick and flashlight, and hooks a bright lantern to his backpack so it's illuminating Cor's path in case he drops the flashlight to steady himself.

There's a road for a good bit of it, nice and smooth, and then various side paths that are increasingly low-integrity. Nothing with branches sticking out, though, and Esulri's willing to walk slowly and point out tripping hazards. (He's exceptionally quiet, though - mostly because he's recharging mentally, but also he doesn't want sound to carry too much.)

Cor is not especially good at walking quietly but he tries, and at least isn't making conversation.

They get out of the valley with no issue.

It's very dark when they get to the little outskirts town. Esulri says he can find a motel for the rest of the night that's not inclined to ask questions; there's probably trains before the morning, but it's not like they're being pursued, and they need to sleep some even if they're on a mild time crunch. (Esulri doesn't seem very tired himself, though.)

"I could sleep."