James Miller
I awoke in the early morning, the sun just cresting over the horizon. My chest ached as I sat up in my bed. I looked down at my wound. I looked over at my clothes, my shirt and jeans were repaired, without having to patch up the breaks in the fabric. There were two more articles of clothing. A dark green overcoat with the head of a black bull on its back. The fourth was a pair of leather boots, colored in the same dark green shading. I also found my revolver and rifle resting on a chair, a note written down by them. It was held down by a rock. I rose from my bed, pain streaming through my body. I grasped the bedpost, using it to give myself leverage so I could stand.
"Fuck. It hurts so much. I need… I need to learn more about this world, how it works, who lives in it, who rules it. So that when I return here, to the Black Bulls… I can be of some use to them." I put on my new clothes andI picked up the note. 'Hey James! It's me Vanessa! I decided to give you some new clothes and repair the ones you got. I gave you some boots and an overcoat with the logo of our squad on its back. Wear it proudly, and I hope you enjoy it.' I smiled. It felt good to have someone who cared about me. I looked up at the door and grimaced.
I took step after painful step. I could hear the snoring of the members of the Black Bulls. The pain dulled but was still there as I approached Vanessa's room. I could hear terrified whispers as I slowly opened her door. Instead of snoring, she was crying and whispering in terrored screams. I sat down on the bed next to her. I grabbed the blanket which was on the floor and draped it over Vanessa. It seemed to calm her down a bit. I grabbed a quill and dipped it in some ink to write her a letter.
'Dear Vanessa,' I wrote. 'I hope you're doing well. I've made a decision that I'm too weak, and would only drag you and your squad down. As such I'm going to travel through this country to learn more about it, and thus become stronger. When I feel I'm strong enough I will return. Thank you for all you've done for me.' I placed the letter under a half empty bottle of wine and walked out of the room, to the front door.
From the shadows, a man as Vanessa described, long black hair and a nasty smirk, emerged. "You must be the newest addition to Yami's gang of rejects."
"You must be Naucht Faust, Vanessa told me to avoid you," I replied dryly.
"The Drunk said that? Oh how that hurts me so! Anyways, do me a favor and leave. We don't need any more fools joining up-"
"That's what I was doing," I said as I walked past him, into the forest.
"Good. and never come back," he said with a satisfied smile.
"Now that... Is something I will do… eventually," I whispered to myself as I entered the treeline.
I had chosen the worst time to go it on my own as it was now pouring down rain. Luckily Vanessa was kind enough to give me a hood with my overcoat. I found some lights in the distance. "Where there's light, there's heat." My only thoughts were of a nice hot hearth and some warm food. I walked into a somewhat ruined village. A few houses remained standing while the rest laid in ruin. I walked up to the closest house and banged on the door, slinging the rifle over my shoulder and holster if my revolver.
A young woman opened the door with a cautious look on her face. She was wearing what I expected from a feudalistic society, a basic tunic and long skirt that reached down to her ankles. "A-are you ok, sir?" She asked me. She couldn't have been that far away from my age, I'd guess 21 or 22.
"Yea I'm fine, just a bit cold is all," I replied. "Any chance I could lay by the fire? I've been out in the rain all day."
She nodded and motioned me to come in. She peeked her head out the door and scanned the area before closing and locking the door. "You aren't with… the Devil Believers?" She asked, palming something in her waistband.
"Who?" I asked.
The woman released a heavy sigh as she began to relax, showing me to the fireplace. "They were a group of mages who had low magical power. Even less than normal for a commoner. So they tried to get the powers of the devils."
"What happened to them?" I asked as I started a fire, lighting the kindling with a lighter I had on me. She looked at me with amazement as the wood caught fire.
"They were disbanded by the magic knights, though two of their founding members live up on the mountain. One's name is Bow I think."
"People with low amount of magic power. I should go and meet them. Maybe I could learn something from them." I nodded. "What did they do?" I asked.
"All I know is that Bow was good with mixing plants and making mixtures."
"That sounds useful," I said as I took off my coat and shirt, placing them by the fire.
"Could I borrow a change of clothes? Mine are all soaked and I don't want to catch a cold," I asked with a lighthearted chuckle.
"Ok, but on one condition: you sleep in the same bed as me. No sex or fooling around. Just sleep in the same bed as me, understand?"
I nodded with a quizzical look on my face. "Why?" I asked.
"You'd just run away if I told you…"
"I promise I won't, I just want to know why," I turned to face her.
She shuffled in place before explaining. "I used to have a family… I loved them so much, my husband, my two children, it was wonderful," she said with a smile, before it turned into a depressed expression. "But then a powerful duke ordered me to become his bride. After that my family was killed off… I never wanted to become that bastard's bride, but now he's coming tomorrow to take me away. However, I had a friend in the Magic Parliament that says there's a loophole, that is that I need to have a man living in my house when the Duke arrives," she explained.
I nodded. "Well I'd love to help you out!" I replied. Getting up, and stretching my arms with a groan. The woman gasped as she saw my bare chest. I looked down to see the chest scar that was so graciously given to me by Yami Sukihero.
"A-are you alright? That wound looks painful…"
"Oh yea, just got it healed yesterday," I explained as I was given my new set of clothes. I put them on as my host showed me to the bedroom where we both retired. The blankets were warm and soft. The young woman moved closer to me. "I never caught your name," I said, smiling at her.
"Its Ephira," she said before breaking down in tears. I held her close to me. I could feel her shaking as she continued to cry. "The Duke is going to take me one way or another. He'll just come back the next day. Or maybe he'll burn down my house and give me a place to stay."
"What about the loophole?" I asked.
"I lied," Ephira said as she clung to me. It reminded me of how my little sister clung to me in a raging thunderstorm. My parents were having a night out with a nice dinner, however the damage that the thunderstorm caused prevented them from getting home. My sister was so scared I could hear her crying in her room. I walked over to her to comfort her. My sister's hug was tight and frightened.
Ephira nails dug into my back as she continued to cry. I hugged her back, rubbing her back, trying to comfort her. Her cries eventually calmed down to muffled sobs. We fell asleep in each other's arms.
As I slept, images of someone I did recognize appeared to me. It had a human silhouette, only its head visible. It had long, white hair, and red eyes. The rest of its features were blurred. "Life. Death. Rebirth," it said in a low, gravely voice. Then it began to change its form into a serpent, starting to devour its own tail until it fully consumed itself into nothingness.
I heard a scared scream from Ephira as I felt her ripped out of my hands. I opened my eyes to see some floating metal blades aimed at my head, a man with a book and a far fatter one holding Ephira in his hands. "And who might you be?" the man I assumed to be The Duke asked.
"Just a man," I replied, grabbing my revolver.
He held up my overcoat, pointing at the Black Bull head on its back. "Are you a member of the Black Bulls? I've been told they have some beautiful women in their squad, especially the Enoteca girl. I think I'll take her next!" the duke gloated, tearing off Ephira's clothes, the girl screaming in terror as The Duke began to grab at her. I aimed my revolver at The Duke's head.
"You will not do that, and you will let go of Ephira," I ordered, pulling back the hammer of my revolver.
"Whatever that is, I doubt you'll be able to harm me!" The Duke bragged as he created a wall of fire. I steeled my nerves and ran through it, some of the fire catching onto my shirt. I shot the Duke in the chest, I fired again, the bullet tearing through The Duke's right eye, the obese man dropping to the floor. The metal blades flew at me, stabbing into my right arm, forcing me to drop my revolver. Ephira grabbed it and aimed it at the mage. "Leave James alone!" she shouted, firing the revolver at the mage. She rushed over to me as the metal blades dissipated and blood began to pour out of my arm. A green glow around her fingers, I could feel a wind brushing up against my wounds. They slowly began to heal as I looked up in amazement. "What is this?" I asked.
"Healing magic, luckily your wounds aren't that deep, so my magic is working well enough, though I don't have much magic to work with. I never saw your grimoire-"
"I don't have any mana, that's why I use these to fight," I said, holding up my rifle and revolver. "But it's because I have no magic that I have to resort to these weapons."
"Could I travel with you? With us both having attacked and killed people of noble birth."
"No. Put the blame on an assassin," I replied, reloading my revolver and putting on my overcoat and boots, holstering my revolver and slinging my rifle over my shoulder. "The sounds of the gunshots should've pulled some attention from some of the other townsfolk. They should believe you. Maybe try and find another noble who would be willing to wed you, one that isn't such a bastard," I said, kicking the corpse of The Duke.
"I'd prefer it if you stayed…" Ephira said with disappointment.
"I know, but I think if you look for someone who can treat you better," I said. Even though I had only known her a night, I didn't want Ephira to be fucked over by her circumstances.
"Ok…" she murmured.
"Please, look after yourself," I said with a smile as I walked to the door. "Just make sure your horror is believable," I waved goodbye as she waved back with a sad smile. Just as I got to the edge of town and onto the road up the mountain, I hear Ephira's horrified scream as she started her performance. "Good luck, Ephira," I though as I walked up the many steps to the house of this Bow woman.
So that was chapter 3! I hope you all enjoyed it. The next chapter will have some anime-only characters from the Devil-Banishers/Devil-Believers arc, Dazu Tayak and Bow Nocde. I wanted James to become more powerful, but not make it so easy. He'll have to work hard and earn it. The first proper skill he'll learn will start next chapter.