Chapter 7- Answering Questions
Alan's POV
My body! Everything hurts!
"Alan!"
I didn't expect that using Noir's power for the first time would be so painful.
"Alan!"
Where am I anyway? Everything is dark. The last thing I remember is fighting the assassins. Rose had killed someone.
"Alan!"
"And then..."
"Alan!"
"And then..."
"Alan!"
"WHAT!"
I woke up irritated, when I opened my eyes I was face to face with a wide-eyed Rose, she had walked away from me. Now I remember, after the fight, we came to the inn, the same one we stayed in when we arrived in Cagliamola.
"I'm sorry Rose... *COUGH*, *COUGH*" I had a coughing fit; when I took my hand away from my mouth I saw blood.
"Alan!" Rose approached me worriedly, "Don't worry, I'm fine, using magic for the first time got to me, but I'll get better with time."
"Speaking of magic. Explain!" Rose pointed at Rubrum and Noir, Rubrum was on a table in the room and Noir was floating next to Rose.
"Lord Alan! How do you feel?" Noir asked worriedly, I appreciate the concern but I wish he wouldn't act like he was my servant.
"I'm fine Noir, just tired." I lay back on the bed, and turned to Rose "I think you're going to want an explanation."
"Yes! Who are you really? Where are you from? How can you use magic? And what the fuck are these books?" she asked annoyed.
"Hey! Language! And don't insult Noir and Rubrum, they are my friends." Rose smacked me on the forehead with her closed hand.
"OUCH!" I think I deserved it.
"You dare?!" Noir approached Rose. "Calm down Noir, she didn't hurt me."
"As you wish Lord Alan." Well, he calmed down.
"The way I talk is the least! Now answer my questions!" Rose crossed her arms and sat down in a chair facing the bed.
"Very well, I will answer your questions, but for that, I will have to tell you about past events that took place in my homeland. Better get ready because it's going to be a long story." Rose sighed.
"I'm all ears."
"Let's start. The events took place before I was even born, one day in one of the greatest cities of my homeland a dragon and a giant monster fell from the sky."
"A dragon!?" Rose asked in surprise.
"Yes, a dragon. The moment the two fell from the sky they started fighting, according to the rumors the sound of bells echoed throughout the city, and white and black circles collided in the sky, it was some kind of fight."
"Bells?" Rose asked.
"Yes, no one knows how, but the deafening sound of bells could be heard by everyone, eventually the dragon won the fight and the giant turned to dust."
"And what happened to the dragon."
"We killed it."
"You killed a dragon!?" From the surprise in Rose's voice, it sounds like a dragon is something powerful.
"Yes, it was not difficult, a well-aimed missile and the dragon fell from the sky and was impaled on a tower in the city."
"What is a missile?" Rose asked.
"A weapon made to take down flying enemies." A missile has many functions, but I don't feel like explaining modern technology right now.
Rose nodded. "Continue."
"For a while, nothing noteworthy happened, the government of my homeland took care of things and everything seemed normal for a while."
"Something bad happened didn't it?" Rose asked with a worried look.
"Yea. A plague began to appear, at first it seemed like a normal disease, but as time passed it spread at an absurd speed, no medicine seemed to have any effect, and the healers of my land had no idea what the plague was."
"It doesn't look that bad, I may know next to nothing about Midgard, but one thing I do know is that plagues are common around here." Rose gave me a doubtful look.
"That's where you're wrong, it was that bad, in the end, the plague had two outcomes, you'd either become a pillar of salt or you'd become a snow-white, red-eyed monster known as a legion."
Rose was silent thinking for some time "This is hard to believe, becoming a monster or a pillar of salt, sounds like a horror story."
"You can believe what you want Rose, but keep going. The plague continued to spread, and the government didn't know what to do so they gathered all the sick people in one part of the city and built a wall around it."
"Did they lock up the sick in one part of town? That simple?" Rose asked annoyed.
"Yea."
"The King of where you come from must be a motherfucker."
"Yea. "King". Of course." I prefer not to explain democracy to medieval people; I don't want this to become the French Revolution.
"The army was unable to defeat the legion, so a nuclear bomb was dropped on the part of the city where the sick were."
"What is a nuclear bomb?"
"A magic bomb with enough power to destroy a city."
Rose just stared at me with wide eyes and an open mouth.
"It is true. It seemed to have solved the problem, but then and plague started to appear in different regions, the situation ended up getting worse, and the legion was no longer contained in one place. Then the years passed."
"It just got worse from there, didn't it?"
"Yes. The plague got out of hand, legions only increased in numbers, and life for the common people only got worse, the gap between rich and poor widened even more, and huge slums were built by those affected by the chaos."
Rose looked towards the floor and spoke in a low voice, "It's all gone to hell. It was not?"
"For a long time, yes. But the Hamelin Organization emerged, they promised to fight the legion, passing the image of heroes, but that was just a facade, something terrible was being done behind the doors."
"What do you mean?"
"People were disappearing, children mostly, taken from orphanages, off the streets, all taken by the Hamelin Organization, lured by the promise of a better life, and they were never seen again."
"It just gets worse and worse! What the hell place did you come from?" Rose walked over to me and stared into my eyes.
I sighed "I think you better sit down, the story is not over." Rose sat down. "Go on."
"I started to distrust the Hamelin Organization when some friends of mine disappeared, they were just people trying to survive in an abandoned city, one day they told me they were going to the Organization, and I never saw them again."
"Abandoned city?"
"The city where the dragon and the giant appeared after the plague spread the city was abandoned, with groups of survivors fighting for resources and shelter, I managed to survive relatively well, I got into fights almost to the death with other survivors, but I got a nice apartment to live in, it's not like the owner would care."
"You were there? Alone? And your family? Your parents? And what is an apartment?" Rose tossed question after question.
"One question at a time. Yes, I was alone in the city, I had nowhere to go. My family was just my parents and the person who taught me how to survive. I prefer not to talk about my parents, it brings back bad memories. An apartment... How to explain? Imagine a tower that touches the sky, this tower is made up of houses and in each house lives a family. Apartments are very common, when we could no longer expand to the sides, we expanded upwards."
My parents. How long have I not thought about them? Not since the... I'll stop there; I don't want to bring back bad memories.
"Alan?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by Rose "Are you okay?" she asked me worriedly "Yes, I'm fine, thanks for the concern; I'm just reminiscing." I smiled at Rose, she gave me a sad look "If you want you can stop explaining, it's bringing back bad memories. Is not?"
"Now that I've started, there's no reason to stop, but thanks anyway. All the people turned to salt covered the city like snow, and the fight against the legion continued until the Organization won, but the plague continued to spread, one day as I was returning home I was followed, and that same day I met my new family Nier and Yonah." I gave a sad smile.
"Do you miss them?" Rose asked as she looked to the side.
"Yes."
"Now I believe it's time to talk about Noir and Rubrum. I found Rubrum in a pile of books just like her, they were about to be burned by the soldiers of the organization, they said that Rubrum was a failed project, whatever they meant by that, in my opinion, Rubrum, is a success, she has helped us so far." Rubrum jumped a little from the table where she was, it looks like she was happy.
"One day Yonah started getting sick so Nier, Yonah, and I went to a shelter that was supposed to be there to help the survivors in the city, the problem was that this shelter was being funded by the Hamelin Organization, the Organization soldiers were all over the place, I felt something was wrong."
"And what happened?"
"When we entered the shelter, the soldiers were not distributing food or medicine, but books."
"Books? So you mean that Noir..."
"Yes. I received Noir from the soldiers, and Nier also received a book. There are several Grimoire Noirs."
Rose stared at Noir and asked him a question "Is this true?"
"Yes Miss Rose, I am only one of many, but I serve Lord Alan, I will destroy all My Lord's enemies even if it costs my life."
"Lord?" Rose asked me with a raised eyebrow. I sighed "Explain to her Noir."
"As you wish Lord Alan. Lord Alan must be treated with the utmost respect for being worthy of holding the title of Original Gestalt." Noir said proudly, he flatters me too much, not that I don't like it; I love it when they stroke my ego.
"And what is an Original Gestalt?"
"Original Gestalt is a MASO compliant human."
"And what is MASO?"
"MASO is the element I use to cast magic. MASO is also what is making Lord Alan stronger and stronger; his power is yet to reach its peak." Noir's voice got louder, he's happy to praise me; I think I'll start praising him back.
"So does that mean you're going to get even stronger?" Rose asked me.
"According to Noir, yes." Rose put her face in her hands and took a deep breath. "As if you don't already cause enough trouble."
"Hey! I'm not that bad." Rose stared at me "Maybe I am a little."
"It's good that you know. Now continue your story."
"When Nier and I touched our books, we heard a voice, it was Noir, suddenly something I can only describe as a nightmare happened, all the people who touched Noir except for Nier and I turned into monsters!" Rose had an impassive face and an emotionless look in her eyes.
"Isn't this over? One disaster after another?"
"It's been like this ever since the dragon and the giant appeared; I can't do anything about it. The three of us fled the shelter while the monsters killed the soldiers, we hid in a market, but the monsters followed us."
"And what happened?" Rose asked apprehensively, she sat on the edge of the chair and leaned forward.
"I left Nier and Yonah hidden in the market and went out to fight. I managed to kill a couple of monsters."
"So you were always this strong?"
I gave a laugh followed by a cough "HAHAHA... *COUGH*, *COUGH* No I was just a normal person, but don't think I came out victorious like a comic book hero, the moment I killed the two monsters, the rest of them surrounded me and started beating me."
Rose swallowed, "I'm afraid to ask, but what happened next?"
"Noir appeared, and lent me his power, he saved my life."
"I am not worthy of such praise, Lord Alan." And Noir acts like he's my servant again.
"Take praise Noir, you deserve it." Noir didn't say anything, but I could tell he was happy.
"What happened next is just a blur in my memory, when my senses came back all the monsters were dead on the ground and I was covered in wounds, I fell to the ground, I was dying, while bleeding to death I heard something, a song."
"A song?"
"Yes. It sounded like a woman singing, I believe I was hallucinating from blood loss, I lost my consciousness, when I woke up I was in a forest with Noir trying to wake me up, and the rest I think you already know. So, this is my story. Now I will ask you a question. Do you believe me?"
Rose was thinking for a few minutes, several expressions passed through her face, doubt, anger, surprise, sadness, then she took a deep breath and said "You Alan, you are an idiot...".
"Hey, I tell you the story of my life and you." Rose interrupted me.
"I have not finished! You Alan, you're an idiot, always putting yourself in danger, but still helping people, that part of you I don't understand, to this day I still wonder why you helped me, I still wonder if this is just a dream, you came out of nowhere, saved a girl you don't know, got her a home, a job, taught her to read, write, taught her to live, you are strong enough to dismember a person, you have two magic books, one of them speaks and treats you like a king."
"I don't know where you want to go..."
"I've not finished yet!" Rose gave me another blow to the forehead.
"OUCH!"
"Until yesterday I just thought you were someone unusually strong, but then I discovered these two books, and now you're telling me that you came from a faraway land full of monsters! Do you know how absurd that is?! You are an imbecile! Dragons and giants falling from the sky, people turning into pillars of salt, weapons that can kill dragons and destroy cities! Do you think I'm a kid who believes everything she's told?!"
"I'm sorry..." Rose raised her fist to give me another blow; I think I better shut up.
Rose took a deep breath "But even so, I can't ignore everything you've done for me, not to mention of course the magical books of your absurd history are right here!" She pointed at Noir and Rubrum "So even with all the bullshit you said, I believe you."
"Thank you, Rose..."
"But!" Rose pointed a finger right at my face. "If you hide something like that from me again, I'll break every bone in your body! Understood?!"
"Yes ma'am!" I said while giving a nervous smile, I don't doubt she's going to do that.
"Excellent!" Rose smiled back.
Our moment was interrupted by someone knocking repeatedly on the door.
"OPEN THE DOOR!"
Alan's POV
Must be the city guards, who probably came to ask questions about what happened last night "Noir, Rubrum under the bed!" Noir used one of his Dark Hands to grab Rubrum and the two floated under the bed. "Rose, I'm going to lie to the guard, I need you to cooperate with my lies. I can count on you?"
"Yes!" Rose said.
"Then open the door for me." Rose went towards the door; I got up with some effort and sat on the bed. Rose looked at me, waiting for my signal, I nodded, Rose opened the door, and on the other side were three city guards.
Of the three guards the ones on the left and right wore leather armor with some metal plates on the wrists, shins, and chest, they carried short swords and small shields, the middle guard was better equipped, the armor was also leather, but it was more covered in metal than the other two, he also wore a metal helmet, I could see a medal attached to his chest, probably to show his rank. I better say hello.
"Hello! A good day no? How can I help you, sir?" The guard stared at me for a while.
"We are looking for people known as Alan and Rose, we have been informed that they have been seen heading towards this inn. It's you two isn't it?" I felt sweat running down the back of my neck, out of the corner of my eye I could see Rose looking at me worriedly, time to lie as I'd never done before.
"Yes, we are."
The guard approached "Very well, I would like an explanation about what happened last night, specifically about the bodies found on the street and inside your house. I hope you can clarify the situation."
Damn it!
"Come on, I'm waiting."
"Of course! Pardon me!" Said while doing my best poor guy voice "You see my good sir, last night Rose and I were attacked by bandits, they were trying to kill me and kidnap my dear sister." I said with tears in my eyes as I approached Rose and hugged her.
"We have no family, our father died from working so hard, soon after our mother died of illness, we both had to survive with what little we had, we traveled from city to city, doing all kinds of heavy work, being underpaid and exploited by our bosses." I looked at Rose; she stared back at me with a look that said 'What the fuck are you doing!' I stared back with a look that said 'Collaborate with my lie!'
Rose hugged me back "It's true, my idiot brother, he's been taking care of me for years, always looking for work, but he always ends up failing because of his stupidity." What the hell are you saying, Rose? That will not remain like this!
"I wouldn't have had to look for work if you hadn't set the inn's kitchen on fire a year ago!" Rose stared at me with half-closed eyes.
"Well if you weren't such a womanizer we wouldn't have to flee every town we stop. Serious! The daughter of the tavern keeper, the baker, the carpenter! Even the priest's daughter! We wouldn't have so much trouble if you could keep your pants in place!" Rose said in a dramatic voice and with watery eyes. So is this the game you want to play?
"I wouldn't try so hard to have fun if you didn't cause me so much stress, you get into fights with gangs in the cities, steal food from the stalls, and worst of all once came to complain to me that you had stolen money from an orphanage and on the way, told the children that if they had any problems with it, they should go and complain to their parents. Tell me, Rose, if our parents could see us what would they think?"
I covered my eyes with one hand to hide my fake tears, but there was a vengeful smile on my face.
My smile turned into a pained face as Rose stomped on my foot with her heel using all her strength, I held back a cry of pain, this will pay off, and I slipped my hand over Rose's shoulder as if to continue our embrace. With my index finger and thumb, I pinched the side of her arm hard, being careful not to hurt her. Rose kept a straight face, but a tear slipped from her left eye.
The highest-ranking guard finally lost his temper "Enough! I'm not here to hear the tragic story of your lives! You were attacked last night I believe! But that doesn't explain the decapitated body, the one that had its jaw ripped off and the one that was crushed into a paste."
"Sorry sir, we got carried away by our family ties, but to solve your doubts, we were saved by one person," I said as I bent down and forced my hand to the back of Rose's head to make her bow too.
"A person? I very much doubt that one person could do all this alone."
"One person managed to do all this because he used magic." When I said that the guard's eyes widened, and he came running toward me and grabbed me by the shoulders.
"Magic?! To be sure?!" the guard asked startled as he shook me frantically.
"Y-yes, w-why the s-surprise?" Seriously? Why was he so scared?
The guard looked me straight in the eye and said in a serious voice "Listen to what I'm going to tell you boy and listen well! The lords who rule these lands are cruel wretches, demons in human flesh, every one of them can use magic! Normal people don't stand a chance against them, but magic users, that's another story, the Lords fear that a strong enough magic user could kill them!" The guard continued.
"That's why they enacted a law that no one can use magic without their direct permission; the Lords also recruit magic users who have shown loyalty to them! If word spreads that someone using magic without the Lords' permission spreads Cagliamola will be destroyed, and every man, woman, and child will be slaughtered by the armies of the Lords! So tell me what this person was like. Who saved you?"
Think Alan! Think! Think of a person who does not exist. I can't, I'm too nervous to think of someone out of the blue.
"Tell me!" The guard yelled again as he shook me.
"She was a woman!" Rose screamed. Thank you, Rose, thank you. You saved me.
The guard released me and approached Rose. "One woman, go on."
"She had short red hair, was short, had yellow eyes, and dressed like a noblewoman; she wore a red dress that covered her entire body, black gloves, and black high heels." That Rose, create someone who is the complete opposite of me.
"Are you sure?" the guard asked.
"Yes!"
"Very well, I thank you, citizens, for your cooperation, you are doing the city of Cagliamola a great service, and the three of us are going to withdraw now."
"We didn't do anything much, we just did our civic duty."
The guard stared at me for a while "Boy are you a noble?"
"No." The guard just shrugged and walked away.
I turned to Rose "Why does everyone ask if I'm a noble?"
"You speak like one, and write like one, you always use complicated words that I have no idea what they mean."
"I am only well versed in the pronunciation and writing of the alphabet of my homeland, thus being able to maintain dialogues for a considerable amount of time and use their various synonyms avoiding the repetition of words, as a consequence of my high knowledge which is above Midgard average people, I end up creating the misconception that I have a higher social status than a citizen of this nation. Am I correct my dear companion?"
I looked at Rose with a cocky smile on my face. Rose looked back at me blankly. "I have no idea what you just said. But changing the subject..."
"ARGH!" Rose stomped on my foot again "What's the idea of pinching me?!"
"It was because you stepped on my foot!" I grabbed Rose on both cheeks and started pulling and pinching them.
"I stepped on your foot because you started telling lies about me, I didn't rob an orphanage!" Rose grabbed my cheeks and started pulling at them.
"And I'm not a womanizer; I haven't even had my first kiss yet!" Rose started to laugh.
"HAHAHA! So does that mean you're a virgin?! I knew it!"
"Listen here you little shit!"
As Alan and Rose argued, they didn't notice that Noir and Rubrum had gotten out from under the bed and were now watching the two of them, seeing the current situation Noir only uttered a sentence.
"Lord Alan, are you a virgin?" Noir said as if he were a father disappointed in his son.
Rose's POV
We went back to our house, it took us longer than usual because of Alan, he still hadn't gotten better, he stopped coughing up blood but he was still in pain, we were walking together with the excuse that if someone attacked us again we would be ready, that was a lie, Alan needed someone to lean on but was too embarrassed to ask, so we slowly walked to our house, one step at a time.
He pretended that everything was fine, he was failing miserably, he was pale, breathing heavily and with difficulty, I felt him shaking as he leaned on my shoulder, it looked like he was going to drop dead. Please don't let that happen.
The bodies were taken away but the blood stains were still there, entering our house, the red stains marked the floor, Louis's corpse, the decapitated head, and body were no longer there, and I helped Alan to a chair in the kitchen He sat up with a sigh of relief.
"The house is a mess, isn't it? All these bloodstains are in our bedroom, on the living room floor. I think I better start cleaning up." Alan said as he struggled to his feet.
"No." I pushed him back to the chair "You'll just sit there; I'll take care of this mess!"
"But..."
"No, but! You will sit your ass in that chair."
He sighed, "Okay, can you at least bring me a pillow?"
I didn't see a problem with that, I went to our room I took a pillow and gave it to him, Alan put the pillow on the kitchen table, he was looking at the pillow for a few seconds before falling with his face on the pillow, it looks like he was sleeping.
Now how am I going to clean this up? I thought as I looked at the bloodstains.
"Allow me to help you, Miss Rose." It was Noir; he was carrying two buckets of soap and water, using those hands that came out him.
"Thank you, Noir." Said while picking up a brush, Noir was carrying one too, we started cleaning.
"Noir, do you mind if I ask a question?"
"No Miss Rose."
"What is it like to be a book?" Noir was silent.
"That's a tricky thing to answer. Tell me, what is it like to be human? As I recall, I was always a book, from the day I woke up."
"How did you wake up?"
"I was not born Miss Rose, I was created, some time ago I did not exist, and when I came into existence I could not see, hear, feel, I had no conscience, it was as if I was sleeping in a deep and dreamless sleep, but one day I saw a light in that void, and then I woke up and the first thing I saw was Lord Alan. I suddenly knew what I should do, I should serve him, protect him, for he was an Original Gestalt, it came into my mind as an instinct, I had a goal."
Noir started talking in a sad tone, but his voice was filled with happiness as he started talking about Alan.
"You really like Alan don't you?"
"Yes Miss Rose, after all, he is my Lord, but he is not the only person who I appreciate the presence."
"Serious? And who is the other?"
"You Miss Rose," Noir said in a gentle tone.
My eyes widened, I couldn't look at Noir, the floor became so interesting all of a sudden, and I could only say one word "Thank you." I couldn't hide the smile on my face.
"Not at all, Miss Rose."
"Miss Rose? Mind if we talk some more?"
"No Noir. What do you want to talk about?"
"About my dreams."
"Dreams? You dream?"
"Yes. I work on a MASO basis, so I don't need to sleep, but I still sleep from time to time, it helps to rest my mind."
"I understand. Tell me about your dreams."
"They are horrible Miss Rose. I was in the body of a child in a large room, there were several tables, chairs, and cupboards around the room, next to each bed there was a child, it was an orphanage, suddenly the doors of the orphanage opened and from it came soldiers, one of them placed a box full of knives inside the room. They said we should fight to the death, only the last two survivors could leave, what happened next was just a blur, I remember screams and blood. In the end, there was only one boy, one girl, and me."
"And what happened afterward?"
"The boy was trying to protect the girl, he couldn't I guarantee it, in the end, there was only the boy and me, so the doors opened again and the soldiers came, they took us away, but the dream ends as soon as I pass through the door. As you know I am just one of many Grimoire Noir, perhaps the dreams I have are the memories of the original Noir." Noir was silent.
What should I say? Noir is waiting for my answer, but I've never had this kind of conversation before. Take a deep breath Rose and speak.
"I also have bad dreams, sometimes I wake up and I'm back in the brothel, I can't escape that shitty place and I end up spending the rest of my life there, the truth is I'm afraid to wake up and find that the life I'm having now it's just a dream. But still, in the back of my mind, I know that this is real, that you are real, that Rubrum is real, that Alan is real, all of you are real and I'm not in the brothel anymore, I'm here now."
"What are you trying to say, Miss Rose?"
"What I'm trying to say is you, me, we're all here now, I'm not in the brothel anymore and you're not in the orphanage anymore, that's the reality, our memories of the past may come back to haunt us, but in the end, they are just that, memories, we decide what to do with them. About you being a copy of the original Noir you have to ask yourself 'Does it matter? ' from what you said you were sleeping before you met Alan, think about it, out of all the copies you managed to wake up and get a goal. Doesn't that make you better than the original? As far as we know, he might still be sleeping. Noir you succeeded where the original failed."
"Th-thank you, Miss Rose, I honestly don't know what to say other than thank you, thank you for listening to the concerns of this fool book."
"Noir, please don't call yourself a fool."
"Of course Miss Rose. But if I may say, what you said was surprising; I didn't expect that from someone like you."
"What do you mean didn't expect that from someone like me?!" I dropped the brush and approached Noir.
"Don't get me wrong Miss Rose, but based on your way of acting and speaking..."
I didn't let him finish "So you mean you thought I was just a dirty-mouthed lazybones?" Said while grabbing Noir.
"N-no Miss Rose, but I didn't expect you to be so kind." I approached one of the buckets of water with Noir in my hands.
"So you mean you thought I was a cold-hearted bitch!?" I stopped with Noir on top of one of the buckets.
"M-Miss Rose, what do you plan on doing?" Noir asked fearfully. I smiled at Noir "Well since you doubt my kindness, I decide to show you how kind I can be."
"Miss Rose wait!" I dipped Noir into the bucket of water.
"YOUR BASTARD BOOK! I OPEN MY HEART TO YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU THANK ME?!"
"Miss Rose stop! You will spoil my pages."
"AND WHO SAID I CARE?! I TRIED TO BE NICE BUT NO, YOU HAD TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH. I CAN SAY SOMETHING SMART IF I WANT! YOU KNEW?"
"Can you two please shut up!? I'm trying to sleep here!" It was Alan; he hadn't taken his face off the pillow.
"Lord Alan help!"
"You got yourself into this problem Noir, now you're going to get out of it. Nobody told you to open your big mouth. Rose try, not to spoil Noir."
"You can leave it to me! We are going to spend some time together."
"NO!"
I ignored his screams and plunged Noir back into the bucket.
"HAHAHA!" I heard a little girl laugh, it was Rubrum who was on the kitchen table, let her enjoy the show.
A few weeks later
Land of Seas
The Land of Waters is Midgard's biggest trading point, ships docked every day bringing exotic goods from all over the world, explorers set sail in search of adventures and unknown lands seeking to mark their names in history.
Men, women, and children walked the streets, but these were not normal people, they were nobles, aristocrats, and rich merchants, they dressed in the best clothes, full of ornaments and details.
The women wore long dresses made of the finest fabric, pearl necklaces were around their necks, bracelets of pure gold adorned with diamonds were on their arms, they wore the most expensive perfumes, the most beautiful makeup, they wore the finest shoes, and the women of the Land of Waters were the epitome of grace, beauty, and manners.
The men wore clothes that showed everyone their place in society, each of them wore a top hat or hat adorned with stud bird feathers, they wore long coats that reached the back of their shins, and on the back of the coat was sewn the coat of arms of their families and on the front of the coat was a flower of the coat's owner's choice, in his hands were the whitest gloves money could buy, these gloves never touched the dirt that commoners touched every day, the men's shirts and trousers were sewn by Midgard's finest tailors, and on their feet were black leather shoes crafted from the finest leather possible.
The children dressed in colorful clothes, gloves, shoes, and hats all of the best quality, they looked like little dolls walking through the streets.
The Land of the Oceans was a great place to live.
Or at least that's what it seems.
Behind all this luxury hides the reality of most people of Midgard, the difference between rich and poor was absurd, beggars and sick people were scattered in the alleys of the cities, being ignored by the high society, in the seas, pirates attacked all the ships that were not under the direct protection of the Lords, soldiers who were supposed to uphold the law and protect the people extorted the common citizen by taking money and food from those who could not defend themselves.
Our attention is diverted to the city of Avalon Wharf, the city was built on a hill that descended towards the sea, in the lower part of the city there was the city pier where the ships docked, and going up the hill we can find the houses of the population of the city.
At Avalon Wharf the difference between rich and poor was obvious, in the middle of the hill were the ghettos of the city's poor population, wooden shacks could be seen everywhere, dirty water ran down the streets, rats ran through the alleys and houses scattering diseases, beggars and beggars leaned against walls asking for crumbs to survive, in the shacks families did their best to feed their malnourished children, robberies and murders were common in this part of the city, but there was no use calling the guards if you couldn't pay the " Protection fee."
Up the hill was the high-class neighborhood, extravagant and exaggerated mansions covered the top of the hill, there was where the high class lived without caring about the problems of the world, after all, they had money and power, and no one could touch them. Clothing and jewelry stores were present on every street, restaurants sold the best quality food, brand new buildings could be seen as far as the eye could see, and the people who lived there enjoyed the good and the best.
Whoever saw it from outside the city would not have imagined that the distance between the ghettos and the high-class neighborhood was a street only about 2.5 meters wide, but no one from the ghettos would dare to go up the hill, after all, the neighborhood of high class was protected by guards wearing full armor, long swords and large shields 24/7. They wore the best equipment their lord could afford.
At the top of the hill was a mansion bigger than all the others, it was the mansion of the Lord of the Land of the Oceans Caerula.
Caerula was a woman with purple hair and green eyes, she wore a beautiful noble dress, currently, Lord Caerula was in her room looking for a new dress to wear, and beside her was a young girl who served as her maid.
"Not this one..." Caerula said as she pulled dresses out of a closet.
"Lady Caerula. What about this?" The maid said as she showed Caerula a blue dress.
"Shut up! You will speak only when I permit you!" Caerula replied.
"Yes, Lady Caerula!" The maid adjusted her posture and waited for further orders.
Soon Lord Caerula was interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door.
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"Come in," Caerula said.
The bedroom door opened and a young man dressed as a butler entered the room, the butler bowed and waited for his master's words.
"You are allowed to speak!"
"Thank you so much Lady Caerula. A man wants to see you."
"A man? I hope he has a good reason to interrupt me."
"He claims to have encountered a magic user who is acting without any Lord's permission."
Caerula gave her butler a serious look. "Send him to my office."
"As Lady Caerula commands."
SMALL TIME SKIP
Caerula was in her office at her mansion.
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"Come in."
The butler opened the door and he was accompanied by a man in a wheelchair, the man had both legs bandaged, and he stopped in front of Lord Caerula's desk.
"Get out!" Caerula said to the butler, he bowed and left the room.
"Very good! I hope you have a good reason to waste my time!" Caerula said to the man in the wheelchair.
"Yes, Lady Caerula! I was attacked by a magic user who does not have permission from one of the Lords."
"A magic user you say? What kind of magic did he use?" Caerula asked in a serious tone.
"He had a floating book by his side and he is known to always be accompanied by a girl with pink eyes, the book released shots of magic that filled one of my friends with holes, then the book created hands, it crushed the head of one man to the ground, as if that wasn't cruel enough, another man was crushed by one hand to a pulp." The man said in a dramatic voice and crocodile tears welling up in his eyes.
"And what did he do to you exactly?" Caerula said as she looked at the man's legs.
"After seeing what happened to my poor friends. May they rest in peace. I tried to run away, but the magic user ordered the book to shoot my legs, and sentenced me to a wheelchair for life." The man cried even more.
"Describe this magic user and the girl," Caerula ordered.
"With pleasure." The man smiled.
TIMESKIP
"And that's what they look like." The man finished describing the magic user and the girl.
"Thank you for your cooperation, my butler will give you the reward for the information, these outlaws will have their heads on the bounty, and their wanted posters will be spread all over the Lands."
"Thank you Lady Caerula, thank you!" The man thanked her.
"Okay, now stop wasting my time and get out of here! Wait! Before you go, answer me a question."
The man was silent, waiting for the question.
"Why did you come to me? You crossed the sea despite your condition. Why not go to the Lord of the forests or the Desert Lord?"
"But I was Lady Caerula, but they ignored me. They said I wasn't worth the wasted time."
Caerula let out an angry scream "THE INCOMPETENT IDIOTS!"
He turned away from Caerula.
Caerula cleared her throat and called to her butler, "He will deliver your reward, just accompany him."
"Once again, thank you Lady Caerula." The butler opened the door and the man left the room, the butler turned to Caerula as if expecting an order, Caerula looked at the butler and ran her thumb in a slashing motion across her neck, and the butler understanding the order nodded his head.
"Magic user? I wonder. Will you join me or will you become my enemy?" Caerula looked at her left hand, his hand was aging at an alarming rate, and Caerula then rang a bell that was on her desk.
*DING*
In a few seconds, a maid entered the room "Have you called Lady Caerula?"
"Yes," Caerula said as she approached the maid.
"Lady Caerula?" The maid received her answer as Caerula's hand entered her chest grabbing her heart, soon the maid's body began to wither and age and Caerula's body began to get younger, removing her hand from the maid's chest, the maid's desiccated body fell to the floor.
"Damn it! I did it again! It's the third one this week! Too bad she was my favorite. I'll have to have another one brought to me." Caerula said as she covered her face with a fan and kicked the maid's body away.
END OF CHAPTER