[Enemy analysis.]
Victor, Captain of the Silver Guard.
Magician rank: Blocked by bracer on right arm.
I decided I’d assume he was at least as strong as the Black Knight, judging by his ability to conjure a powerful spell book. Where did Hector get the confidence to take this guy on? Was he simply willing to die trying? Goddammit, Gwendolyn, why would you make a family like this?
Victor made the first move after declaring he was going to bring a calamity onto the city. But killing me before then had to be more important, I supposed.
With a wand that replaced his sword, he gave it a wave and pointed it at me. That was when I had a weird sense of impending danger or doom, a little sense in the back of my head warning me that regardless of his realm, the wand combined with any hidden treasures could in fact fuck me up.
“Everyone get the hell out of the way!” I said as I blurred to the side, right on time for a dark gray burst of… magic and wind to ignite from Victor’s wand in a concentrated beam. The soldiers were thankfully wise enough to take my advice. Unfortunately, at least a dozen of them were tossed around like objects in a hurricane. Some didn’t get back up, a few bled, revealing that the attack did have some sharpness to it. Thankfully, I didn’t sense any death.
And I couldn’t let that happen. If there was one thing I’d learned about being here, that would be the fact that I didn’t have to let my reality become an endless gorefest where the only thing I did was struggle. Fuck that.
Victor fired another blast, far more quickly than I could’ve expected, leaving me no chance to dodge. So instead of just dying, I blocked with my bracer. The force of the magic pushed me back some, but I easily held until it dissipated, to the silver guard captain’s growing despair.
My reddish aura returned as I focused on Victor, hand aimed, the dragon magic burst already racing toward him. His surprise still hadn’t worn off, but he still had just enough sense to put up his shield and block.
That didn’t stop a ridiculous shockwave from forming, denting the shield almost into uselessness and tossing the man backward. What waited for him was my foot and it enjoyed meeting his face.
He flew, but didn’t give in, summoning the power of his wisp in earnest this time, as it glowed.
“Abstract, use it, destroy everything. Silver Wind Calamity!”
He aimed in my direction and as I made sure no one was anywhere near me, Victor’s wand followed. “You can’t escape.”
The wooden magical tool, which looked like a drumstick, briefly glowed as bright as the sun, until it released the energy.
Unfortunately for him, the spell dissipated when a vine pulled his leg, causing him to fall flat on his face. Ah, if only he had enough sense to pay attention to his surroundings. As if we wouldn’t play dirty.
I walked over to Victor and one good punch later, he was out and slapped into anti-magic handcuffs as the Wingston Guard made the arrest.
The silver guard didn’t bother putting up a resistance as I looked at the fifty of them and soon, all of them were being marched presumably toward the dungeon. As I examined Hector and his men, I was reminded that they were technically kingdom soldiers.
I pulled out health potions for the injured, handing them off for distribution.
“Make sure my price is deducted from their wages and delivered to me at your earliest convenience,” I said.
Hector laughed. “Absolutely. This is the second time you saved our city. It took only a couple of minutes at best for you to disarm the silver guard captain, even with him equipped with one of the most powerful spell books I’ve ever personally seen.” He gave me a wry smile. “You didn’t seem that interested in the fight.”
“I’m never interested in fights,” I replied with a chuckle. “But at least I’ve made some money off it and hopefully avoided worsening this political nightmare, so I can’t be too mad.”
Harmony shot me a micro-glare before returning her attention back to the other apprentices. They were discussing spell books and even Lucas, my honest blacksmith who was supposed to be on my side, appeared very interested in gaining a destructive and deadly spell book.
Gwendolyn emerged from the crowd, seeming to be far too tired to carry on the strict look she normally had.
“What a mess,” she said, after glancing at the dispersing crowd once more. “Hector, find your father and Rose. I want messenger birds sent to that insufferable duke immediately. Make sure what happened is reported to the Lord Ruler as well.”
She turned to me.
“You look to be on the brink of collapse, Gwendolyn,” I said, which of course made the unknowing people around move quickly. No one talked to the Red Star as an equal and lived to tell the tale, after all.
I took notice of Alexander clearly searching for any signs of Ripley, but detecting him in the adventurer’s den, I nodded at Milia to take him there, and perhaps recruit Anzu.
“I wish I could say I’d had worse days, but being caught at the epicenter of a political disaster may be as bad as it gets for a city leader,” she replied. “Are you here to help?”
The desperation in those eyes spoke volumes, a situation that brought up the possibility of giving the emperor’s son an excuse to target Wingston should he resume the expansion after taking the throne.
I had my doubts, unless the duke, Gaston’s father, truly gave a damn about owning some random city out in the middle of nowhere. Then again, this may be the only foothold out there for an Astral Empire family, one that claimed an early start on territory. That brought the bigger question out of me.
“Shouldn’t you be informing the duke of this duchy?” I asked, now wondering about more things in the pecking order of this kingdom. What was Count Hubert doing all the way out here in the boonies? “Also, now that I had some time to think about it, was Count Hubert a real count? Because now that we actually need some high-ranking officials—”
“Slow down, Sir Nate,” Gwendolyn said after a giggle. Her actually laughing despite the dire situation meant I looked silly, a master magician asking questions basic to these people with eyes of ignorance. Not that I gave a fuck. That clued me in to the potential of this world’s nobility ranks working differently than Earth’s. “I informed our own duke the moment the report of the murder was sent to me.”
You could tell the situation was desperate, as the Red Star didn’t invite us to talk about this privately. Then again, it could be public knowledge, instead of a desperate plea for help. Mandi walked over at some point, listening in on the conversation, fearless. Not that her mother was in the mood for being a you-know-what today. “As for the count, he was retired, but retained his title for working under the Lord Ruler for many years. You may not be familiar with the ranks, though I’d recommend doing some studying for your own in the future. A count isn’t high on our ladder, especially for mortals. He held power in Kyushu through his schemes, blackmail of the mayor, using his money, and well, you heard what happened to him.” Gwendolyn actually paled briefly. “Never mind that. What’s—”
“I hate to say it,” I interrupted, “but we came here for some shopping and maybe a firsthand glance at the situation at best.”
“Naturally, Sir Nate got pulled into the heart of things when that prick decided to kill everyone,” Chenzu chimed in.
Gwendolyn seemed to visibly wilt, as if all hope was lost. I felt a little bad, but what could I do? Pour a potion on the ground and hope for a miracle? What a stupid, unrealistic…
I froze, before doing just that. I poured summoning potion on the ground, calling forth Aku in front of all of these people. They’d either seen me fight or not, I honestly didn’t care at that moment. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement to keep anything about me secret, leaving me no choice but to be at least a little grateful to the Wingstons, even if they did all of this for future benefits. They were just as useful to me too. Kyushu’s financing wasn’t formed out of thin air.
“Great Master Nate, he who has achieved—”
He froze at a look from me that told him not to blurt to the world about my saint upgrade. I was still learning the ropes, after all. My advancement slowed down to a crawl, too.
I knew Gwendolyn and Hector probably scanned me, or would have had I not snatched the bracer from Victor’s arm. They… sort of matched in a twisted way.
[Bracer of the Shadows. Item rank: AAA. Item quality: Meh, dented. Despite its unfortunate condition due to a certain saint, it is still a special bracer capable of masking the wearer from low to mid-level scans. Great for not gaining any notice from powerful figures while traveling.]
[Bracer of the Heavens. Item rank: AAA. Item quality: Superior. A bracer capable of blocking very powerful attacks, magical and physical. You may use its essence to give your potions a minor boost. It is imperative to raise the price by 30% for any boosted potion.]
The description of the Bracer of the Shadows made my eye twitch a bit, as if the system had a personal bone to pick with me. Nevertheless, I was so glad I stole, ahem, borrowed it from the guy I just beat up. Loot! Even if I received it in a nonconventional way. Not that he’d need it in jail anyway. His mind would likely be occupied on Big Mike’s demands.
“Why have you summoned me?” Aku asked after clearing his throat.
Ignoring the terrified or shocked expressions of everyone around, including Alexander’s, I turned to Gwendolyn, then back to Aku.
“It’s been a while, Aku,” I said. “I require your assistance. We’re currently searching for a murderer, someone who fled the city after committing the act. Are you able to help us with something like this?”
“Ah, that’s quite easy for any dragon of my bloodline,” Aku said. “But I will need to be taken to the place of the murder.”
The giant dragon shrunk to the size of a gecko and landed on my shoulder.
“Well, you heard the dragon, take us to the scene of the murder,” I said.
“Of-of course!” Gwendolyn said, flustered.
I heard a suspicious giggle, but when I turned to look at Mandi, she’d donned an expressionless façade. I narrowed my eyes. She simply shrugged.
Gwendolyn and some soldiers took us to Gaston’s manor. Staff were currently cleaning it out, until the Red Star ordered them to take another break. She gave them each two gold coins.
“Go clean up and eat another lunch, I don’t care. Come back in two hours.”
“See, I told you getting this job wasn’t the end of the world,” an elf man said to his afro-wearing human friend.
“Perhaps,” he replied and soon, the staff were all gone, leaving us to hopefully finalize the investigation.
Aku glanced at the manor. “There’s a lot of lost here. You’re looking for a murderer… Hmm. I see. I see.”
The dragon’s eyes took on a bright orange glow. “Veritatem mihi revela!”
Abruptly the area inverted in colors for maybe five seconds, before shifting back and causing Aku to slump.
“Are you okay?” I asked the dragon.
“Master… you do not want to get involved with the person behind the murder. I’m speaking as a dragon, perhaps at full power where even you wouldn’t stand a chance… this person makes even us seem like mere children. The murderer has an aura of ruthlessness that cuts even time and space like the sharpest knives, and what’s worse is the conviction. The conviction of not being evil, but just serving the kingdom. This person is misguided beyond all hope and if someone could even kill them, well, that would be a mercy killing. I cannot advise getting within even a meter of the murderer.”
I gaped at the dragon. In fact, we all did since he went on a tangent, speaking as if he was a survivor of a terrible tragedy. Shit, did he see fucking Satan or something? What the hell?
“Okay, first off, you don’t have to worry about that, it’s not my job,” I told him. “Gwendolyn’s going to report the person to the Lord Ruler and he and his troops will deal with it. Right, Gwendolyn?”
“Absolutely,” the Red Star replied, eyes filled with determination.
Aku shook his head. “I have no name for this person and only a few details. Her aura of darkness was much too strong.”
“Her?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s not a native of this small city and can fly. She has the power of torture melded into her aura. A young woman, barely can be considered a human adult, yet… she’s so powerful. A monster. A cataclysm. That’s all the detail I can muster. If you want to interview the spirits or something, I can’t help you with that. I used all of my energy just to keep the aura of that girl’s shadow from tearing apart my spirit. Would you like the details of how she committed the murder?”
“No,” I said. “The head being left in the middle of the street is all we need for a message. I have no idea who the murderer could be. What about you…?”
I froze to see Gwendolyn pale, on her ass, and lost.
“You know the girl? Who?”
Gwendolyn took a deep breath. “Now that your dragon has pointed out the obvious, I can feel just a trace of her magic, too immense to have dissolved quickly enough. He mentioned someone misguided, feeling as if she’s serving the country and not committing any evil, a young woman. And the biggest trait, a monster. She was actually in my town, and no one detected her.”
“Who?” I asked, turning to the others. Mandi and Milia, who returned, had apparently figured it out, judging by their expressions. This was someone they all knew before I popped into this world. If it weren’t for the fact that the dragon specifically mentioned a woman, I’d assume we were finally dealing with the Peace Spawner. Or was this another ‘final boss’ that I had to be wary of? “Alright, someone spill it. Gaston and his company were assholes, but we still need to know who did it, so that this political shitstorm can finally get off our shoulders.”
“I’m afraid things are going to get worse, love,” Milia said, her voice somber. “The dragon confirmed one of the worst possible suspects. The Lord Ruler will have to visit himself to make a decision.”
“I cannot believe she did this! That foolish brat!” Gwendolyn yelled. A pillar of fire shot from her mouth, bathing the entire fucking sky like a sunset.
“So…” I said, my patience wearing thin, even if I began to form this wild guess and truly fucking hoped it was off. Royalty couldn’t be that dumb. Seeming to sense my impatience, the Red Star finally relented.
“Princess Ling,” she said, confirming my guess and there, I felt like rubber. Goddammit. We were only four days away, not far enough to be safe from this shitstorm. “Of all the idiotic, most damaging, damning to the kingdom she’s supposedly trying to protect, things she could do. I wish I could say not all is lost, but that insufferable duke, Gaston’s father, will likely escalate things now that his guard’s been arrested. Salt being rubbed on the wound of his son being slaughtered along with his servants in this city. The emperor’s son probably wouldn’t care about some mortal, even if his father’s a duke, but that crafty bastard may try to appeal to the current emperor’s heartstrings. There is no doubt he will attempt blackmail. Either I surrender the city to him or receive the blame for everything as its city leader. Manthis… Manthis would get caught up in the petty game.”
I let out a long-suffering sigh, knowing damn well that she was telling us this as a secret plea for help. Or maybe not. There was a small chance that she simply had no friends to talk to and was venting her frustrations out to us instead.
“This is tricky,” Chenzu said. “Your best bet for now is to make sure the Lord Ruler learns of the truth. I wish I could say he’d announce that his daughter was responsible or tell Gaston’s family he caught the culprit, but the reality is… that I don’t know.”
Gwendolyn stood up, the city leader in her eyes booting to life again as if being dormant all day.
“Reporting it is the only choice I have,” she said. “I’ll give him all the details in hopes that he’ll see reason. As for how we found out, I’ll just tell him I found traces of her aura. They’re too powerful to miss and won’t be dissolving anytime soon. Only a brat would be this sloppy.”
“Do you think we’ll end up hearing about a father-daughter showdown?” I asked.
Mandi looked at me with a bit of sadness in her eyes. “I hope not. If those two fought, any city or village near them could be wiped just by the force of their mana. Ling may not be a master magician, but she’s a freak of nature, a monster.”
“That’s the life of a genius magician,” Chenzu said. “Being born with outstanding power and honed into a sharp edge by the tremendous resources provided by her family. She hadn’t killed any civilians though. Only targeted what she believed was a threat to the kingdom. Even if her judgement was kind of sad.”
“Gaston is as threatening as a fly buzzing around a honey cake,” Gwendolyn said. “Ling’s mental instability isn’t anything new.”
End of Phase 1…
