Chapter 21: The Jester's Folly
"Curses? How dreeeeadful it seems you've found yourself in quuuuuuite the predicament." Roswaal leaned forward placing his elbows on the table and his chin on his hands. "I do have to say that curses are increeeeeeeedbily uncommon. Once they are active there's no way to remove them I'm afraid."
"This one was placed through blood contact. Is there anything special about it?"
"Blood contact? What kind of blood?" Roswaal's voice suddenly shifted out of his usual carefree tone.
"Dragon's blood." I slid a bit down from Prylla's arm who quickly helped reorient me.
"Oh? My oh my, just how did you manage to get infected by thaaaat of all things? The only ways I know of to get ahold of it is to either become the ruuuuuler of Lugunica or kill a dragon yourself, however, there's only one dragon leeeeeft alive who protects this country."
"Well, is there anything else you can tell me about them?" I opted to not mention the Witch Cult.
"Curses are a suuuuubcategory of spiritual and magical aaaarts that originated from Gusteko. Once they've become active there's no way to deeeeefend against them I'm afraid. They specialize in killing and are quite common among the shamans of Gusteko. Most magicians don't use them because they reeeeequire physical contact."
"This one regererated my severed arm."
"Your arm was severed and the curse repaired it?"
I lifted my left arm slowly and showed him the black veins covering my arm.
"Oh, how dreadful. This is ceeeertainly unique. I don't think there's much more I can do for you saaaaaadly, however, please allow me to treat you to lunch since I'll feel quite ashamed after you came all this way to leave nearly empty handed. Frederica." Roswaal called out to the maid who'd been standing to his left throughout our conversation who simply bowed to him and shuffled out of the room into a side room, presumably the kitchen.
A few moments passed and two more maids followed Frederica out of the kitchen. They each wore identical maid outfits and the two new members were twins. One has medium length sky blue hair that covers her right eye, large light blue eyes, and young features. She also has hair clips towards the left side of her hair, a flower-shaped ribbon on the same side of her hair, and a maid hairband. The other was nearly identical except for her hair, eyes, and ribbon. Her pink hair covered her left eye and the visible eye was red. The blue-haired one seemed to be holding back a visible frown while the pink-haired one remained as composed as Frederica.
The two younger maids each held a plate of food in their hands while the older maid had a plate in each hand. They handed out the plates to each of us at the table then took their spots around the table. The twins stood on either side of Roswaal while Frederica stood at the other end of the table opposite Roswaal.
"Mmm… This is good..." Prylla was the first to take a bite of the food. I continued staring at the plate for a few moments before I joined in.
"Worried about poison? I wooooouuld never do such a thing to a guest of mine." Roswaal's carefree grin returned to his face as he shrugged lightly. The blue haired maid glared at me in particular, but it seemed she disliked all of us.
It wasn't that I was worried about poison, but more so that I had developed many habits during the past few months in Vollachia as I attempted to blend in with their culture. Prylla insisted I never eat first even with her own cooking. In fact, she'd always eat a small bite before I had any everytime she made anything to ensure its safety.
"It's a habit. You never know who'd try to kill you in Vollachia."
"Ah yes, I've heard quite a bit about theeeeeeir practices. It's a shame to be soooo paranoid all the time."
We continued to chat leisurely as we ate Prylla and Ireyne occasionally joined in while the maids remained silent and mostly expressionless. Every so often I'd catch the blue-haired girls glare in the corner of my eye. Now that I'm thinking about it she looks a little familiar, did I know her from somewhere?
"What a wooooonderful meal, you're cooking is as splendid as aaaalways, Rem."
"Thank you, Lord Roswaal." The maid bowed.
"You're the one that made this?" I asked her.
"Yes, Rem does all the cooking for the manor."
"It really was good."
The maid didn't respond at all to my gratitude, instead she and the others quietly cleaned our plates and left the room. Leaving just us and Roswaal.
"I'm deeply sorrrry that I couldn't be of more heeeelp. Gusteko might hold the answers you seek as they are faaaaar more familiar with that type of magic."
"It's alright, we planned to go there anyway if this didn't work out."
We exchanged a few more pleasantries before leaving the manor and returning to our inn at Costuul. Since Roswaal wasn't able to provide any useful information he insisted we at least allow him to give us a carriage for our journey north which I accepted. We stayed overnight in the inn and planned out where we were going to stop first in Gusteko. There are a few villages we planned on passing through. We ultimately decided to use the northern passage that would lead us to Albis as our first stop, then head further north stopping in Innorandum before heading to Glacia. If we can't find what we're looking for in Glacia we planned on heading towards Eternya to the east instead of Drisstay to the west this would leave us north of Elior Forest from what I could gather. Apparently going to Drisstay would be, 'worthless,' as Prylla put it. Drisstay, otherwise known as the Mountain Gate City, essentially connected Gusteko to Kararagi through the Virga Mountains.
The trip to Albis from Costuul would only take about three days total, but this was the easier part of the journey as heading deeper into Gusteko the colder it becomes. The Eder Snowfield being the main obstacle in our path. Even travelling across the Gibarell Great Glacier would be easier at least on our faithful Falo which we chose over a ground dragon for a simple reason. A ground dragon would freeze to death over the journey between cities. Between Albis and Innorandum would be about five days, between Glacia and Innorandum about two days.
To reach Glacia from here it would take about 10 days total. This was much better than I could have hoped for considering I have no idea how long it will take for this curse to kill me. That's assuming that what I'm looking for is in Glacia and we don't need to travel to Eternya which would add an extra five days to our trip. As long as I can solve this problem I don't particularly care how long the journey takes. Hopefully it will be over quickly.
The next day we packed everything we needed along with clothing fit for the freezing temperatures. The cold was most certainly what I was dreading the most about this. Well anyway, we set out first thing in the morning to begin our trip to Albis. The first day came and went without much incident beside a mabeast here and there which Prylla took care of without issue. The change from warm to cold was quite jarring throughout the second day of the trip. It was far colder than I'd thought it would be. I hope our falo will be able to stay warm.
We arrived at Albis on our third day and found a place to stay for the night. Ireyne handled my care while Prylla went around the town to ask about shamans. My gospel updated that night telling me to go in the opposite direction to prevent some mugging in the Capital of Lugunica. Frankly I'll be forced to ignore the gospel's orders for the time being which greatly annoys me, but my own safety must come first. If I die then following the gospel will be pointless after all. Even if it sets back my search for my brother, if I'm dead I can't find him.
Prylla ultimately found nothing in Albis and we set out for Innorandum which will be the longest portion of our trip. The snowfall has started to get worse the deeper into the country we get. There wasn't much snow on the ground on our way to Albis, but I guess that's why they call it a snow field as the snow became much thicker. If the snow on the road to Albis was only three inches deep the snow on the way to Innorandum was a foot deep. This greatly slowed down our progression, but this is also why we chose a falo over a ground dragon since falo's have much greater stamina than ground dragons.
It's the third day on our journey to Innorandum. I think it's gotten even colder, but I frankly can't tell anymore. Prylla and Ireyne have been using ten minute shifts in the drivers box to help prevent frostbite and we've covered the falo with a blanket to help keep it warm. I've spent most of the trip curled up in a thick wool blanket in the back of the carriage. The carriage does a decent job of keeping the freezing winds off my face, but occasionally a cold breeze will slip through. If this curse doesn't kill me this cold will.
We arrived at Innorandum on schedule and just like Albis Prylla went around the town to see if she could learn anything about shamans. Surprisingly enough it doesn't feel as cold in this city as it does outside of it. While we are in the snowiest region of the country, the locals claim this area isn't affected as much as it's hallowed ground.
"I believe I've found something useful." Prylla returned from her investigation that evening.
"Oh? I'm glad this hasn't been a complete waste of time."
"Apparently there's some rumors going around about the Gustekan Holy Church."
"Really?"
"They say strange things have been happening in Glacia. Apparently any dissenters of the Church have been, 'disappearing,' it could be related to shamans."
"So, someone in the church is cursing heretics to silence them?"
"That's what I've been thinking. If we find them, maybe we can get some information out of them."
"It's more of a lead than what we got from Roswaal."
The next day we set out for the Holy City of Glacia. Leaving Innorandum was hectic as the snow got incredibly thick. Prylla and Ireyne had to dig the carriage out of the snow several times, however, we luckily didn't run into anything else that might pose a problem. The day passed by and we camped out overnight again. Prylla and Ireyne spent at least an hour digging out a space for the falo to rest. Ireyne used her earth magic in intervals to build a small shelter for the beast. The rest of us huddled together inside the carriage to keep warm.
The final day of our trip went much smoother than the previous. The snow thinned out the closer we got to Glacia, so we didn't need to stop as frequently to dig out the carriage and check on the falo. The city was barely visible on the horizon; the initial journey was coming to an end it seems. The large city at the foot of the mountain looked much smaller if you were to compare it to Pardochia. The city didn't have any walls in comparison to the cities of Vollachia which were all essentially fortresses. We arrived in the city at roughly mid fire time which was better than I'd hoped. Prylla secured us an inn like she usually does and stored away the falo somewhere warm. We had finally arrived in the city with our main goal being to investigate the Holy Church of Gusteko for the rumors of odd deaths.