Italics = Writing/Thoughts
Bold= REAL SHIT/Big Signs
Chapter 14
February 2, 2021, 11:10 PM
This was bad, this was very bad. A few days ago, Alameria Cresentria, one of the Three Musketeers, and one of my friends, was arrested on suspicions that she was a monster. This is bad because one, she's my friend, and also because this means my time in Lescatie is running out. In the books the invasion happened on the night of her execution. Spoiler alert, she survives, however now that I'm in this world her fate might change, hopefully it won't. But in any case, I have to leave very soon. Before that, I need supplies for my journey, which is what I'll be focusing on today.
Instead of our shopping trip being cancelled, Paula and Olivie agreed to postpone it for a few days, Olivie said that until Alameria's trial, there wasn't much we could do, and that this trip is what we need to keep our spirits up until then. While not many people would do this while their friend is in jail, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
It took me half an hour, but I made it to the gates of Salvarison safely. Waiting outside was Heinrich dressed up in some casual wear. When he saw me. He gave a small smile and waved me over.
"Hey Heinrich, how have you been holding up?" I asked him, his smile shrunk slightly before replying, "Not good enough I guess.." he sighed, "It's all just so sudden, you know? And it's weird, just.." Heinrich trailed off, I put a hand on one of his shoulders. "I get it, I honestly couldn't believe it myself. Did they tell you anything about where she's being held?"
"No, not until after the sentencing." Heinrich said, taking a deep breath, "Thanks for your concern though Seth."
"No problem, though you both were pretty close." I began, before a thought came to mind. "By the way, how did you two get so close if you don't mind?" I asked. Heinrich blinked twice, "Hm? Oh, well, it happened about four years ago, me and Ala-" before Heinrich could continue, someone called over to us.
"Seth, Heinrich, you two came." Olivie happily greeted us, beside her was Paula. The two stuck together as they came closer to us, the two of them seemed to be taking this as well as Heinrich, that's not to say that I wasn't affected. Surprisingly I found it hard to think of anything but this whole situation for the past few days, even though I already knew it was coming before I even knew Alameria, this hit me like a bag of bricks. I guess that's just my brain reminding me that this isn't just a hentai anymore, but a reality.
"We didn't keep ya waitin too long did we?" Paula asked. Heinrich shook his head, "You came just in time actually, I got here two minutes ago, and Seth thirty seconds ago. So good timing."
"That's good to hear." Olivie said, "Now then, let's not waste anymore time. While most of us have been here before, I understand this is your first visit to Salvarison, isn't it Seth?" Olivie asked as the other two turned to face me.
"Yeah, I've spent most of my time in Lescatie itself, so I'm going to have to rely on you three to be my guides for the day." I said, to which Paula chuckled, "Ain't you lucky? You've got three of the best guides you could've asked for Seth. Just stick close and don't wander far, ya hear?" Paula said as the four of us made our way past the gates and into the city.
I couldn't help but be amazed by the city once we entered, despite being so close to the main city, Salvarison had a much stronger vibe to it than Lescatie, as safe as Lescatie felt, entering Salvarison gave a feel that a mamono would be vaporized the moment their feet touched the stone road we stood on, heavily armed soldiers patrolled the streets, their sheathed weapons could easily be seen as if they wore them like a commander wore their badges and medals. Despite the more militaristic feel, it was just as, if not more lively than Lescatie with their shopping district. As we walked, it was quickly made clear to me just how different their shopping was compared to their sister city. While you could find a more diverse market in Lescatie, with blacksmith shops and armories scattered evenly, just about everywhere we looked was either blacksmith shops, armories, and tool shops, occasionally separated by the few food markets here.
The thing about Salvarison is that this city is the main HQ of Noscrim's Holy Order of the Ice Flower, so it only made sense this city would focus more on the weapons and armor market than other means of commerce. To put it simply, it was a hero's paradise for gear, so long as they had the money to purchase such goods here. I saw an enchanted sword in one blacksmith shop priced at 10,000,000 gold. In another shop, a fancy set of armor had each of its pieces cost as much as the sword.
Now, I wasn't exactly rich, though I had amassed a big sum of money thanks to all the missions I did with the Musketeers, despite that money being one of the reasons for the country's imminent invasion, I couldn't help but silently thank the corrupt Order senators for letting soldiers like me earn so much. Not that it made my opinion of them any better, they were still assholes that deserved to be pegged by hellhounds instead of the rest of the civilians in Lescatie.
Hanging from many of these shops were also the banners for the Holy Order of the Ice Flower, or what I thought it was, a light blue flower-like-snowflake with a cross in its center. This also hung from a few of the Chruches in the city, and it was on a flag that flew high above the city on its castle. The top floor being a literal penthouse for Wilmarina.
"So, this is Salvarison then?" I asked as I looked around, "Where exactly do you two live then?" I asked the two Musketeers. "We live in the castle, floors four and five are dorms for the meme era of the Holy Order of the Ice Flower."
"Oh really?" I asked, I wasn't even faking it this time, I kind of forgot that bit of info, hopefully that was the only info I'd forgotten.
"Breakfast is 7:30 in the mornin sharp, after that comes training for a few hours along side our exercise routine. You should see what hell I can raise in our shooting gallery Seth. No bullseye is spared." Paula explained as she twirled her gun with pride, before returning it to its holster. "The other two can hardly compete, Olivie almost hit a guard the one time." Paula smirked, Olivie's face turned red as she blushed, "It-it was an accident, I forgot it was loaded, that guard shouldn't of been standing so close either." Olivie pouted.
"Hey, you three want to check out this shop first? A friend of mine runs the place actually." Heinrich said, diverting the duo's attention from their fight to an armor shop in front of us. A sign above its door read "The Gilded Axe", with a golden axe painted next it. "If you three don't mind, can we check it out?" The three of us nodded and we followed Heinrich inside.
Working the front counter was a young man with orange hair and freckles. The ginger turned and was about to give out some generic greeting before his eyes fell on Heinrich, and a genuine smile lit his face up, "Well well look who's finally come back." The two grabbed each other's hands and grinned, "What brings you down to my corner of this city today Heinrich? And-hang on, aren't those two of the Three Musketeers?" The man asked in awe as the two heroes shuffled a bit, "Yeah Zack, the two and the knight there are some friends of mine actually. They followed me in to get a look around your shop." Heinrich explained. "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine pal, you three take a look around, see if there's anything you like." Zack gave us a thumbs up as he and Heinrich started to chat with each other, I began to look around at the armor displays in each of the isles. I needed some armor for my journey, something light, yet sturdy enough to be armor. I saw a few different sets of metal armor you'd see any hero or knight wear to battle, be they chainmail or your generic metal plated armor.
Currently I was leaning more towards chainmail than the heavier metal armors. Having done missions in both, I can safely say that metal armor can get pretty hot, while not so bad during the winter, it can be a problem come spring and summer, not to mention chainmail allows for quicker movement than the bulkier metal plated armor. If I didn't have to worry about mamono but your usual human rogues and raiders, then I'd probably take metal armor. But because I wasn't just going to be fighting normal humans, but perhaps magic wielding humans as well, I'd take chainmail to dodge better.
But as I examined the armors, my eyes came across a rather unique set of armor in the shop by the back. I saw what I first thought was chainmail, but it looked smoother, like leather, and the grey was more akin to a dark white than just grey. It came with a pair of chausses to made from the same material. The chest piece also covered everything below the wrists when it came to arm defense. And some neat black boots came with them. Though I did see any helmet with this armor.
I must've stood there for at least five minutes looking at this set before me, drawn like a moth to a street lamp. I suddenly felt a tap on my left shoulder and almost jumped out of my skin, Paula stood next to me. "What that's your lookin at?" She asked as her eyes landed on the armor. "I don't think I've seen anything like this before in the Holy Order." Paula thought out loud, the store owner heard her and turned his attention from Heinrich back to his own business.
"You're right about that, what your looking at is one of my shop's newer sets of equipment." Zack said as he left the counter and stood next to the armor set, "Belive it or not, this is a new variety of chain mail, I suppose you two have already noticed it's unique color right? That's because it was woven together with high quality silks, combined with mithril to make it stronger and lighter as well. While this isn't the strongest piece of equipment my shop has to offer, it's worth every gold and silver coin you have to offer." Zack paused to breath, before resuming his pitch. "It's sturdy enough to protect its owner from your usual stabs or slashes, but thanks to the mithril, it can even provide its wearer with protection against magic as well, as long as the magic isn't too strong that is. And did I also mention that even if it does get torn up, its enchanted so that it can repair itself overtime. But that can usually take from a week to a month depending on the severity of the damage." Zack said as I began to reach for my coin bag.
Being the salesman he is, Zack must have predicted this and moved onto the next phase of his pitch, "You know, if you want you can try her on. I've got more than enough enchanted equipment to clean it throughly when your done." Zack said, I took a moment to think about Zack's offer before nodding.
Two minutes later my friends watched me emerge from a changing room. With the belt fastened on I turned back to the changing room mirror to get a better look at myself. Seeing myself in this outfit made me feel like a real badass, even more than I did in the standard metal and chainmail armor the Order had us wear. And to top it all off, I didn't look like some edgy coldsteel the hedgehog wannabe either, so no cringe here.
"Zack right? I like the feel of this get up. But shouldn't there be a helmet with this?" I asked Zack, who shook his head, "No helmet, I asked my supplier and they told me they didn't make one yet, this is armor is still pretty new you know. You could purchase a helmet from here and call it a day I guess." He said.
"So how much does it cost then?" I asked with my coin bag in hand.
"Normally I'd sell this for a good 15,000 gold. But because your a friend of Heinrich, I'll knock off 3,000 gold and charge you for 12,000." Heinrich said.
I barely had more than the original price on me right now, but it was a good piece of armor. And I'd still have at least 2,000 gold left over, not to mention I had more gold at home hidden. But before I could say a word, Paula had her own coin sack out and was digging through it.
"Hey uh Paula, you don't have to pay for it, I have enough you know." I said to Paula, only for her to shake her head. "At least let me pay half of it. What kind of friend would I be if I let ya pay for it all?" She asked, after which we debated for a good two minutes over who pays what, afterwards I relented and allowed her to pay half of it.
"Anything else I can set either of you two up with?" Zack asked, me and Paula shook our heads, "I guess we'll be on our way then, great seeing you Zack." Heinrich said, "Right back at you friend, stay safe." Zack replied as our group left the shop.
I now had my new armor neatly folded in a bag hanging from my shoulder, once I had it cleaned I'd be ready to go traveling the world in it. "So, anywhere else you three want to go to?" Olivie asked as we took another look around. "Do any of you know a good shop for gear? Specifically for traveling?" I asked, Paula seemed to have been caught off guard by my question, if the odd look she gave me meant anything. But it was brief and my attention turned to Olivie when she began to speak, "I've heard of a few actually, if you want, we can stop at those places Seth, they're not even that far from each other."
"Sure, lead the way." I said, and our group was off again.
5:00 PM
"Well, that was a perfect waste of 50 gold Seth." Heinrich said as we walked down the road, minutes earlier we found some lottery and I decided to enter it for fun, I didn't win the main prize, but instead got this bag of sand. It now sat in the back of bag, perhaps I'll find a use for it someday, maybe if I have to raid a temple.
"It was probably rigged from the start." I replied, despite my failure to win the lottery I had a fun time with the musketeers and Heinrich, we went to a few shops and I found just about everything I needed for my upcoming journey. Once I had my stuff packed up I'd be able to hit the road.
As we approached the gate, Olivie sighed, "Today was quite fun even though Alameria couldn't join us." Olivie lamented, "We can only hope she'll be found innocent soon enough." She finished.
"Her trial is happening in three days." Heinrich began as he then turned to me, "Seth, you haven't known her as long as the rest of us have, but if you could come it would be appreciated."
"I can come?" I asked, "Are you guys sure this isn't some kind of private trail?" While the other musketeers and even Wilmarina came to Alameria's trail, I wasn't sure I could come since those three were heroes.
"It's fine if you come, anyone with a connection to her in the Holy Order and Ice Flower are allowed from what I was told." Olivie said.
I thought about my answer for a second before answering, "Yeah, I'll come then." I said, whether I came to the trial or not would probably not change the outcome (hopefully), so maybe I'd be fine to go.
"Thank you Seth, we'll see you then. Take care." Olivie said as I turned to leave, Heinrich was going to be leaving a little later, saying he'd had some business with Olivie. As I was out of sight from the gate to Salvarison, I heard some quick footsteps behind me, followed by a voice calling my name.
I once again found myself face to face with Paula, "Oh, hey Paula." I greeted, last I checked she was back with Olivie at the gate, did something else happen in that short amount of time?
"Hey, do you have a minute?" She asked, her eyes darting around us, as if she were watching for some unseen stalkers. After a minute her eyes slowed, occasionally going from one side to the other. She didn't think any monsters would get us this close to the city did she? "Yeah, whats on your mind?" I asked, the sky was now orange thanks to the setting sun on the horizon.
"It's just, while we were out shopping, I noticed you taking quite an interest in..." she paused, "Camping gear, and travel equipment a lot." Paula slightly twitched, her face screaming that she was troubled. "I mean, you seem like you want to leave really soon." She hesitated.
"Well, not too soon." I replied, "But I want to be ready for when the times comes. I can't stay here forever Paula." I said, her frown deepened, despite how long we had known each other now, I never got to tell her about me having to leave. "Someone out there has to know me Paula, maybe I have a family that's worried sick about me, or maybe even thinks I'm dead. And if that's the case I need to find my way back home, to wherever the hell I came from." I answered.
"But Seth, how much about your folks do you remember? For all you know you probably didn't even have a good life, here you're a part of the Holy Order, heaven knows what job you had at home." Paula said as I paused. "Even if I was practically homeless, or even if my family's dead I still want to go. I can't live the rest of my life like this, not knowing who I am or where I'm from. Even if the truth hurts I have to know." I lied, "It's not like I don't like any of you, you guys are the reason I've been able to hold onto my sanity so far, but I just can't stay." I finished.
Paula went silent for a minute, thinking of what to say, before suddenly her eyes met mine, staring at me with a serious look. "If that's how it is, then take me with you."
I blinked, then blinked again.
"What?" Was all I could say.
"You heard me." Paula answered firmly, "When you leave to find your home, I want to come to. We can travel together." Paula repeated her offer.
My mind was still trying to process this, Paula's eyes were starting to water as her stern look softened, "What? You have a problem with that?"
"Huh? No, no, but, you actually want to come with me?" I asked, Paul nodded quickly. "But, why? Who knows how long we'd be gone, you've lived in this country your whole life, you're literally one of the most skilled heroes in Lescatie, and you'd throw that away to travel with me?" I asked. My anxiety started to rise.
"I wouldn't really quit, think more of a vacation." She said, "I want to go with ya because..." Paula hesitated, her cheeks blushed as she tried to speak, "...because, you're my friend." Paula said before shaking her head, "More like best friend maybe, Seth, if something happened to you out there I'd never forgive myself, you're one of the few knights here that looks at me like a regular person, there's no stiffness or rigid posses when you're with me. I don't want our friendship to end with you leaving to find your past."
"But, you really want to do that? What happens when I find my home, and my family and whatever life I had before? What'll you do then?" My heart was beating a hundred times a second, of all the changes I may have made, this couldn't be one of them. Paula had to stay in Lescatie, especially for when the invasion happens.
"I don't know Seth, I'm not one of the smartest heroes out there if ya didn't know already. Plannin isn't a strong point either, but whatever happens, whatever we find at the end, I wanna be there with ya." Paula paused, "If we don't like what's there, we can go back to Lescatie together, beg to Noscrim to let us back in if we have to, but I'll be there for you. That's what friends are for, right?" She answered.
"Well..." I hesitated to answer, if I didn't want to screw up this timeline anymore than I may have already, I had to think very carefully about what I said next. I took a few more seconds before I replied. "...Sure, I'll tell you when I'm heading off, and we'll meet up outside the city." I paused again, "I don't think I'll be leaving for a while, so by then maybe you'll have it all worked out with the Ice Flower." I lied.
Paula exhaled, "Good, in that case, wanna head back to Lescatie together?" Paula asked as she began to move to my side. "But, you live in Salvarison-"
"I have the time, unless a monster suddenly invaded that is, but that can't happen." She replied, with my mind now blank from shock I relented, and the two of us started to walk back to Lescatie.
"What the fuck have I done?" I thought to myself.
February 3, 2021, 2:00 PM
I stood in a clearing outside Lescatie in the forest, not the one I woke up in, but it was similar. I was wearing the new armor I bought the day before, which felt somewhat comfy. Today I was doing something a little bit different. I was trying to do some magic.
While I've spent most of my time in Lescatie training myself physically, I've barely touched up on magic. During my time here I've looked through a few books and talked to a handful of mages on how one can do magic and want to see if I can do anything.
I began by closing my eyes, and inhaled.
"One, two, three..." I mentally started to count up until I reached five, that was when I exhaled, and began to mentally count again. Basically I meditating, or trying to anyway.
Once I got into this pattern I started the next step, my mind stopped counting and instead I tried to visualize my spirit energy flowing through my body. I saw an outline of my body, with white vein-like trails covering it. It was like seeing a neon sign almost.that was when I felt it, this strange sensation begin to flow through my body. It felt like the same vibrant feeling I felt in the air around me when I first woke up in this world, only now it wasn't coming from the world around me, it was coming from me.
Then my mind made up another picture in my head, this time it was an open hand with the palm facing upwards, slowly, a fireball began to fade into existence, hovering two feet above the palm. My hand soon felt tingly, and the skin felt warmer, only slightly warmer then it did seconds earlier.
And now for the finishing touch, the words. Casting a spell with your mind alone is possible in this world, but extremely tough, requiring the caster's full concentration to do so, if you lose focus for even a second it ruins the spell, as said in the Sabbath Grimoire. So of course I'd have to channel the spell with words.
"Feel the heat rise..." I paused, "The fires of passion from within.." Forcing myself not to cringe I pushed through the rest of the spell, "Behold...FIREBALL!!!" I shot my eyes open and threw my hand forward, expecting a ball of fire to soar across the space in front of me...
But there was nothing, absolutely nothing.
The warmth that I felt in my hand was gone, now that hand felt the same as it did before I tried this spell. I didn't even expect anything to happen to be honest, but I know I felt that warmth, that couldn't have been my brain messing with me.
"Maybe I should try a simpler spell then, like magic missile?" I thought a loud.
I closed my eyes and repeated the breathing pattern from before, and the visualization of my SE, but afterwards I still did the hand picture, only now I added the vein-like lines from the visualization into it, showing my SE flowing into my hand. Above my hand I pictured a small beam of light, not a fireball, just a ball of mana I guess.
"Behold..." I paused, "MAGIC MISSILE!" I declared, my hand palm shot forward as I visualized the mana orb turning into a small comet.
This time, I got results. However...
One minute, I'm standing up feeling perfectly fine, then all of a sudden, I let out a guttural yell as if I were punched in the gut. I felt as if my very soul were being yanked out by a chain wrapped around my hand, followed by a sharp pain from my chest that spread through out my body. I was down in seconds groaning in pain, clutching my hand.
"What..." my mind tried to think as my senses were overwhelmed by a sudden dizziness, "What the fuck happened?" I finally thought as the pain reached my skull, bringing with it a throbbing headache. I felt like I was about to black out from the pain before it started to stop. The pain lessened more and more before it finally went away as suddenly as it came.
For two minutes I just laid there, it wasn't like I could even move if I wanted to. After the two minute mark my limbs finally responded to my brain's commands. I sluggishly started to move my arms, flexing my wrists back to push my torso off the floor of the clearing, making my dizziness worse momentarily before my knees bent in, allowing me to push myself up off the ground. I felt like a drunk recovering from a hangover as I tried to steady myself, I held a hand to my chest as I caught my breath.
"Jesus Christ..." I sputtered, "What the hell happened?" I asked myself, how the hell did a magic missile spell do that to me when a fireball spell didn't do anything as bad?
"How interesting.." A woman's uptight voice said from the trees nearby. I turned to see Primera, watching me from behind a tree.
"You?" I asked, mentally preparing myself for the inevitable verbal lashing that was to follow. "Why are you here?" I asked.
"Simple, I was out patrolling the forest for any monsters that could've slipped in." Primera answered, the half-elf walked closer to me and examined me closer. "You're that pathetic knight from a few months ago right? That unique spirit energy is as noticeable as ever, but you can't even use it right." She mocked.
"At least I tried, what's it to you?" I retorted.
"It's just interesting how bad your control is, but.." she examined me again, and her eyes briefly widened, "What am I sensing here?" She said to herself, not bothering to whisper.
"Excuse me?" Was all I could reply with.
"...hm." Primera put a finger to her chin, "I can see now why you're so pathetically bad, why a simple magic missile could cripple you like that." She answered with a matter of fact tone.
"So what's wrong with me?" I asked, Primera simply shook her head.
"If you want answers, go to Lady Fullmoon down at her orphanage, I'm not going to waste my time with you. I only watched you earlier out of boredom, with the forest being too quiet even for my liking." She said as she began to turn her back to me.
Before I could say another word, Primera was gone, having vanished back into the maze of green brush and vegetation and leaving me in the clearing.
The last thing I wanted was an audience, I came here to cool off as I tried to use magic, my mind was still reeling from Paula's offer yesterday. And I was feeling conflicted about it, despite the logical part of my mind screaming the answer to me.
"Guess I could go see Sasha then." I thought to myself as I turned to the direction of Lescatie's main gate.
2:30 PM
"Seth? I didn't expect to see you soon." Sasha greeted, I didn't see any of her orphans inside, but heard them out back laughing and playing. "What can I-" Sasha suddenly paused and examined me, her eyes widened in surprise, "Goodness!" She exclaimed as she suddenly rushed over to my side, her hand around mine.
"Hey-hey Sasha wait-" I tried, but Sasha soon brought me to her room and shut the door. "Hey, what's going on?" I asked, the sudden movement didn't make me feel good, considering that I was still recovering from my attempts at magic before.
"Can't you feel it? Your mana core is damaged!" Sasha exclaimed as she grabbed a vial full of a bright white substance. "Drink this now!"
I did as she said and drunk it, the potion tasted very bitter, but it worked and I could feel fatigue and remnants of pain vanishing. "Could you tell me what's happening to me now?" I asked.
"Your mana core, its damaged, or was damaged before." Seeing my confused stare made Sasha sigh, "Everyone has a mana core Seth, its a part of your soul and is responsible for your body's mana production." She explained as she examined my body, and her eyes narrowed.
"This-this-somethings wrong here-very wrong. Everyone uses their mana core through out their lives, be it through spell casting, or simply exerting yourself through work. Even those who cannot use magic work their mana cores." Sasha looked genuinely concerned as she stared at me, "Seth, I've never seen something like this-something so-this-"
"Sasha, stop beating around the bush please." I replied calmly. Her worry was still plain as day however, "You don't understand Seth, your mana core-it's overwhelmed. No one at your age should be this damaged-what did you this past hour?" She asked. "I was in the forest and wanted to see if I could use magic, I tried a fireball spell and nothing happened, but when I tried to use a magic missile, my body hit the ground like a bag of sand and it felt like my soul was ripped from my body." I explained. Sasha listened and sighed. "I see, an inexperienced magic user trying to use magic for the first time can easily damage their core, it's actually quite common for me to see cases like that." Sasha said, "It's not entirely fatal, but if left unchecked, a damaged mana core can lead to a slew of problems, such as a lack of mana production, being more susceptible to mana corruption, and poor health in general."
"So then what makes my case so special then?" I questioned.
"It was the level of damage, usually even those who are terrible at magic or beginners don't often wind up with cores so heavily damaged unless they continue to overwhelm their cores, but with the severity of yours, it's almost like you tried an Evil Obliterating Incantation, but to have sustained such damage from a magic missile? That's practically unheard of." Sasha explained.
"So, I can't use mana? Or..." I began.
"No, your body can use mana, I sensed it before a few days ago, at-well-you know." Sasha paused, "But it seems that magic is pushing it, if I were you, I'd avoid doing anymore attempts at magic." Sasha said. "However, from what I've sensed from your core, you have a small affinity to magic it seems."
"What?"
"Yes, despite what happened, you have the potential to be able to use magic to a degree, in fact, the only reason you were able to mess up as you did with magic missile is because your body can use magic, but because of how neglected your core is, you'd have to train it up first."
"Training it how?"
"If you'd done your research, you'd find that doing the Introspect hex would be a good start, a few patterned breaths as you visualize your mana flow through your body would help."
"Oh, that I knew, I did that a little before I tried casting either the fireball spell and magic missile." I said smugly.
"Thank the Chief Goddess you did, had you not then there's no telling how badly your core would've been damaged then. You probably would've been left to fend for yourself out there in the forest, an easy catch for more feral mamono." Sasha said with warning. "But now that it's repaired you should be fine for now."
"Good" I sighed, I thought of leaving to continue my day, but something stopped me, that being a few lingering questions from our last meeting together at her other orphanage.
"Actually, if you don't mind, can we talk about..." I paused, "You know, the-"
"Orphanage in the woods?"
"Sort of-I mean-some of what happened. About Timothy specifically." I clarified, "When he called Theresa big sis, you sort got startled." Sasha began to open her mouth before I cut her off, "I'm not forcing you to answer me, but if you could I'd like that."
Sasha was quiet for three minutes, silently debating what to say, I almost thought she wouldn't say anything before she started to speak. "...A year ago, I was called out of retirement briefly to help a squadron of knights, the mission was to help reclaim a town that was overrun by a strong group of bandits. These weren't your usual run of the mill bandits either, they didn't flee when our squadron came to the town's gate and put up a fight as well." Sasha frowned, "After we had disposed of them, we soon found that many of the villagers that didn't run away had been slaughtered, stories from those who did flee told us as much, but seeing the carnage first hand..." Sasha closed her eyes and paused, taking a moment to keep herself calm, "...We were still able to save a few of the survivors that didn't flee, though many of them were terribly wounded and minutes away from dying. Timothy however, he was an exception.." Sasha's face darkened.
"Me and two other knights walked into this one small house outside the town square, a husband and wife had been beaten to death by the raiders in their kitchen, and when we went to the top floor, we found the body of a girl no older than thirteen..." The war priestess shook slightly, "They weren't interested in money, or depravity, these raiders reveled merely on bloodshed. It didn't matter who you were or what you pled, if you weren't one of them, you were prey, simple as that. At least, many of the survivors told us this. The girl's body was slumped in front of a closet door, and when we moved her to the side and opened it, we found a small boy hiding within the closet..."
"It was Timothy wasn't it?" I finished for Sasha, she nodded.
"He told us his sister hid him there and grabbed the raiders' attention. Because of her sacrifice they didn't bother looking for him, but now..." Sasha paused again, "That event left him scarred for life I'm afraid, but seeing him with Teresa, and how he hardly feared her, and even called her big sis, it's a miracle almost."
"They met only a few hours ago then, and she got him to calm down and open up that easily?" Even though I was there it was still shocking that they grew that close in such short time. "As surprising as it is, this has benefited Timothy, now he's starting to open up more to the other children." Sasha said with a smile, "It's nothing to big, but the interactions he's had with them is a good start in my opinion." Sasha continued to smile. That was one less question I had, but I still wasn't satisfied, because my mind was still morally conflicted about something else.
"By the way Sasha, I have something else I wanted to talk about..." I began, Sasha's smile lowered, "Oh? What is it then?"
Believe it or not, I was stuck with another moral dilemma, the fate of the human children in Sasha's orphanage. In Sasha's story, after she became a mamono, not only did she corrupt Lisia and Emiyu, but the three of them then went on to corrupt the rest of the orphanage. This fact is why I was especially hesitant about associating with Sasha in the first place, but now that I was here and on friendly terms with her, I could probably save those orphans, if only a few even. Of course, I still didn't feel comfortable about changing the story, but I also don't feel comfortable leaving these kids to the mercy of the radicals and Fallen God faith, if I could save some of these kids' purity then that's one less thing keeping me up at night. But could I really go that far with the story changing?
"First of all, do you associate with the radicals at all?" I asked, Sasha shook her head, "I try to avoid them, even if I disagree with some of the Order's beliefs, I cannot bring myself to level with the radicals, some of the monster settlements I've visited don't often view them positively." Sasha remarked. "Why do you ask?"
"Because.." I paused and looked around to make sure none of Sasha's orphans were spying on us, "I believe that they'll invade the city very soon." I finished, Sasha's neutral look turned solemn, "I guessed as much, I've heard rumors of a possible attack from the mamono settlements as well when I'd visit, recently they've been sprouting up more often now. But how did you hear of this?"
"I found this Info Dealer, and she warned me about it." I lied, nor did I bother telling Sasha about Delphi beyond that, since there was no doubt she'd use whatever info I'd give her when she turns to her advantage.
"And why haven't you taken this information to the authorities then?" Sasha asked.
"Because it's as I've told you before, I'm neutral in this conflict, and even if I told them this, I could be thrown into a dungeon for being a possible heretic. Not to mention that even if the government was warned, there's little that can be done now, and that could lead to me having a target on my back, assuming I escape." I answered, "However, what I am concerned about are your children, and what'll happen to them during the invasion." I said, now entering a point of no return. "Sasha, we need to get your kids out of the country as soon as possible, its for their own safety." I told her.
"Seth, you think the radicals would want to target human children?" Sasha asked.
"No," I said before pointing a finger, "You will." I said gravely.
"Me?!" Sasha said in horror and indignation. Of course she would react this way, anyone would in her situation. But despite knowing this, seeing Sasha's usually calm and gentle demeanor once again turn around to her angry and hard battle demeanor still sent shivers down my spine. I held my ground and continued, "You know about the Fallen God, right? She's a deity notorious for corrupting heroes and clerics, it's said her views are as devious, if not, even more so than the radicals. And when the invasion happens, who do you think she'll tempt?" I questioned, Sasha backed up, and tried to refute my implied answer, "J-Just wait, I-I would never do anything to harm my children, I love them all dearly."
"Just like how the radicals don't hurt people." I retorted, "Even if you don't give in to the Fallen God, you'll still be up against an army of some of the most licentious monsters in the Demon Lord's army, a veteran hero like you would still get overwhelmed by them eventually." I answered, Sasha's eyes didn't meet mine, "Which is why I need your help to save them." I finished.
Sasha turned back to me, a tear running down her cheek, "What then? You want to just go and evacuate them to another order aligned nation, watch them be fed the same anti-monster policies that everyone else is given?" She argued, I didn't answer.
"You know what'll happen then? The order will come for them, my children, and draft them into their army, to train some to even be heroes, to go out and slaughter innocent mamono and their families..." A tear began to run down her cheek.
"But they'll be free, there's still a chance that the order won't recruit them, as small as it may be. Plus what choices will they have here when the radicals come knocking? They'll have as much choices in the demon realm as they would in any Order nation. But at least in an Order state, they'll have the chance to live normal lives, and not be forced into something they won't be ready for until they're our ages." I said, Sasha was quiet for several seconds before nodding.
"Do you know when the invasion is going to happen?" She asked, I shook my head, "But I know it'll be soon. As soon as I know, I'll tell you, you'll have to find some means of transportation for them in the meantime." I said. "I can do that, with the money the order pays me, renting a carriage or four would be easy." She said unknowingly flexing her wealth. "But Seth, I have something to ask of you if we're going to be doing this." Sasha asked, "I want them to go to a neutral state if we can send them there." Sasha requested.
"While many monster friendly states are demon realms, a handful of neutral states aren't, and while monsters and humans coexist together there, humans won't turn by being there." Sasha said, "If I can find a suitable nation for them, we'll send them there. Otherwise, I'll allow them to go to an Order nation." Sasha offered.
"Well, I guess that's a deal then." I said, in order for our evacuation to work both me and Sasha had to work with each other, I had the means of finding out the date of the invasion, and she had the funds to evacuate the children. Alone our efforts would be for nought. Sending the children too early would bring suspicion towards Sasha, so she needed me to give her the green light to send off the kids.
"So now it's settled then..." Sasha said, "I only hope whatever we do, the children will be okay."
"They will if we can get them out in time, but there's still another problem." I locked eyes with Sasha, "Wherever we send them, you can't go after them." I said, once Sasha turns, there'd be nothing stopping her from trying to bring back her children when the Fallen Goddess corrupts her.
"I understand, in that case, if I do turn, I'll try to keep myself from pursuing them..." Sasha sighed as she turned to a desk on the other side of the room and walked towards it, she opened the drawer in it and started rummaging around for something, "...but I imagine my words alone won't be enough to stop myself, I cannot imagine what will become of my mind when I turn, in that case..." Sasha turned to back to me when it appeared she found whatever she was looking for and handed me a sheet of paper. "This is a list of different neutral states, I'll pay for the carriages, but then you'll hand the riders a sheet of where to take the children, if you must separate them into different cities by all means do so, even if that means leaving some of them in Order states, but I would appreciate it if you could keep them together." Sasha explained, I took a quick glance at the sheet before pocketing it.
"Thank you Sasha, I know this probably was t easy to hear, but the pay off will be huge." I thanked, "I understand, I'd do anything for these children, the way I see them, they're as close to me as family. Not only that, they're already family to me." She lamented, we were both silent for a moment before she spoke up, "Was there anything else you wanted to discuss Seth?"
"That was all really." I said as I started to make my way to the door, "Thanks again for helping me with my problem earlier Sasha. Stay safe." I said my goodbyes and shortly found myself back into the streets of the slums, off to my shelter for the time being. I wasn't in the mood for doing another quest or training, as unproductive as that is, I needed to be alone for a bit and decompress, and check my map and the list Sasha gave me to.
February 5th, 2021
I found myself sitting on a bench within a courtroom, next to me was Heinrich who looked to be just barely able to hold himself together. And on the other side of me sat Paula and Olivie, the two heroes being so closed to us brought with it a few whispers from some of the more snobby and elitist guests of the court, but none of us paid them any mind. Today was Alameria's trail, or was it a court martial? I don't know, but she was going to be tried today. Despite the fact that I had training today Mersè let me come to the trial anyway fortunately.
The court almost looked like a church, with its interior being made of stone, and the only window was a giant mural behind the judge on the other side of the room. Sitting on a smaller podium to the judge's right was Alameria, now dressed in a grey outfit, with dirt marks all over it. It stung seeing the usually happy hero in chains and looking down, but I held my silence. She spotted us not long after being guided in and waved, and we waved back.
The trail started around 12:30, and it started with the judge introducing Alameria as the defendant, and the prosecutor was none other than Rhoda. My blood ran cold for a minute as she scanned the crowd before her with that stoic glare she had, her eyes locked with mine for a minute before the judge began the trial. He let Rhoda start first, and she went through the evidence that she believed was enough to convict Alameria. I didn't pay enough attention to the details, but some of it was questionable at best. She then had a few other Inquisitors and nobles take the stand to confirm her finds and to include their own accounts as well. The room filled with whispers before the judge allowed Alameria to prove her innocence. After she and her lawyer said their pieces, the two other musketeers and Wilmarina took to the stands, backing up whatever they could, and pleading Alameria's innocence to the judge. After that a few other knights and heroes spoke, and even Priest Noscrim spoke for Alameria's defense, though I doubted it was out of the kindness of her heart, but more so to save his reputation, since who knows what outrage would happen if the public discovered that Noscrim let his private army be infiltrated by a monster?
I stayed silent throughout the trial, it wasn't just that I didn't even know if I was allowed a say, but it was that I needed this to happen, Alameria had to be found guilty or else my plans for the children and myself to escape would be ruined. As harsh as it is, I've got no other choice. And so, after everyone had their say, the judge took at least half and hour to make up his mind. When he returned to his podium the room went completely silent, to the point that you'd even hear a pin drop in this huge room.
The judge gave his answer, and to my comerads' surpise, Alameria was found guilty. I could only hold my tongue as a swarm of a very whispers filled the air, a few cursing out the judge and his kin. The judge waited for the room to quiet itself again before he went on to deliver Alameria her sentence. On February the 19th, Alameria was going to be sent to the gallows and hung for the crime of being a monster. The musketeers said nothing as the guards dragged her out of the court in chains, but her empty stare was plain for all to see.
We left the court not long after, and Paula broke down within seconds. Wilmarina and Olivie were by her side within seconds to comfort her. Me and Heinrich stood there and waited a few moments before Paula calmed now enough to stand back up, she began to walk away with the two other heroes. I started to walk towards the trio, and when I was close enough I put a hand to Paula's shoulder, catching her by surprise. When she turn around I hugged her, it didn't take long for her to return it. My mind was blank then, and it felt like I was on autopilot mode. I was the first to breakaway from the hug and said my goodbyes to the trio of heroines, before saying goodbye to Heinrich as well. His expression was more unreadable if I had to describe it. Any other way to describe it if I had to was that of someone in shock.
After we parted ways, I turned around and began making my way to the orphanage, my latest sins fresh in my mind.
"I could've said something, anything. Even if it wouldn't have been enough to sway the decision I wouldn't have been a complete piece of shit." I thought to myself before shaking my head, "I shouldn't have to feel so awful about this, she'll be fine, Heinrich and the other musketeers will save her the night of her execution." I countered, but even then I was still filled with uncertainty, what if I did something to change that, and that change comes to bite myself and Alameria in the ass? And if that happens her blood will be on my hands.
"I don't think any of the changes I've made up to this point would interfere with Alameria's fate, hopefully. Unless Asher's going to be her executioner by some sick twist." I thought as I made my way to Sasha's orphanage.
A little over a half an hour later I heard the telltale signs of Sasha's kids being outside, and saw a few carriages parked close by. Upon entering her church I saw her talking with a group of men. She briefly told me they were the carriage drivers she was hiring before I whispered to her that I had the date. After we wrapped up the financial part of the deal, I handed the men the names of the cities they'd drop their batches of orphans off. After some careful thought I decided to divide them into two neighboring neutral nations in the south west. I didn't tell Sasha about this compromise, but thought I'd at least honor her request in some way. After the men had their locations they left. Leaving me and Sasha alone.
"I didn't expect you to have the location that soon Seth, if I may, how did you find it that quickly?" She asked. "Coincidentally, it's happening on the night of Alameria's execution. Don't ask how I got it, let's say I did some digging." I answered, Sasha's shoulders sagged, "Alameria the Musketeer? They're going to execute her?" Sasha asked in disbelief, "I was at the trial today, I couldn't even believe it myself." I said. "I can only hope the radicals arrive before her death, though it's not as if the Chief Goddess will answer a prayer like that for me." Sasha answered solemnly.
Before she could lower herself further I asked, "Well, now that we've got the date and the raiders, what happens now?" Sasha paused, "We discussed that part before you came, the drivers will be residing in a nearby inn. In the coming days I'll send for them to take a small handful of the orphans away, one group at a time, I'm thinking of sending for the first rider two days from now."
"That'll work I guess." I said. "Well, I think I'll be heading off now, see you around Sasha." I began to head off as Sasha said her goodbyes, but caught her watching me as I left. But I didn't focus on that much and let my mind wander to my other problem.
"Paula.." I sighed as I began walking, "She's been a good friend to me these past few months, and although I appreciate it lot, I can't bring her with me on my journey. With how much is at stake here, I can't imagine what would happen if she followed me." I thought as I reached my doorstep.
"I can't just tell her this either, not without having to tell her the full truth. But lying to her would ruin our friendship if I left without her." After closing the door behind me I plopped down on my couch and put my hands up to my face.
"But, maybe I could. I can't remember a whole lot from side guide II, but I don't think they talked about Paula as much as they did the other Ice Flower members like Vermutand Parshe, so maybeif she went with me, the timeline wouldn't change much." I reasoned.
"But then that could lead to another problem, the other two musketeers wouldprobably follow us,since monsters usually like bringing their human friends over to their side, or the radical ones anyway. And not to mention that a certain lilim is, or is partially responsible for Paula's monsterization, if that lilim see the two of us together it's game over for me. And that's assuming the two of us make it out of the city with our humanity in tact." I thought.
"But if I were to bring Paula, and the two of us do manage to escape Lescatie, she'd be a great help on my journey, since I'm not a hero or blessed she could help me fend off any wild mamono until I get strong enough, then it'd be the two of us together kicking ass and taking names. And if we wind up getting a full partywith a healer and mage, we'd be almost unstoppable. Well, unstoppable against other humans and weaker mamono, again, Paula's friends would most likely miss their gunner and come for her, which would be bad for me." The pros and cons in my mind continued to clash, my mental debate was at a stalemate as tense as an allied trench and central forces' trench in WWI.
I still had plenty of time to think this over, especially since I planned on staying back to make sure Sasha's kids get out of the city. So I had time to think this over. It also gave me time to see if I could get Asher to escape with me as well, bros before hoes after all.
Letting out one last sigh, I got up to get my thoughts flowing again.
A/N: Hey everyone, I just thought I'd post a quick note to thank you all again for reading my fic. And to also say that after next chapter we'll finally be leaving Lescatie for the rest of the story. And boy do I have things planned for then.
