The Path That Glimmers of Freedom
Volume I: Chapter IV
Eina would never claim to be having a bad day, even this one wasn't really a bad day, at least not as much as it was somewhat embarrassing for her. She thought as much as she continued to glance through all the work she had let Sieg sort through on behalf of what she genuinely believed had been his first day.
It turns out, it wasn't his first day.
He wasn't even employed.
And with the benefit of hindsight, she could see a couple of the signs there but she'd just chalked them down to him being nervous about his new job. Even the scruffy attire was something she'd just thought was him being in a rush to get to work having overslept or something, she had intended to make a comment about it towards the end of the day or see if he would correct it himself.
He presented himself as being a bit of an airhead with the strangely earnest attitude of his that reminded her a bit of a lost child. The way he took after her every word with complete seriousness and made sure to pay attention to everything she said. He might have gotten a bit confused with some of the placing of things and the terms that were being used but he had potential to be a valuable member of the team.
At least, she thought so.
He was a far cry above Misha on her worst days.
Which brought about the revelation that he was just some lost teenager whom Misha had mistakenly thought was a new hire and she'd practically dragged him into the guild and had pretty much forced all her work onto, or would have if she hadn't come along and 'rescued' him by then taking around and putting more work on his shoulders. Quite frankly, the fact he hadn't complained at all just made her assume he had no problems with it.
Her hand froze as it reached for the next piece of paper, hovering in the air for a moment before she dropped it onto the desk with a thud. Closing her eyes and sighing under her breath, the weight of the revelations just taking their toll on her one after another. Misha was a little clumsy at times so perhaps the initial case of mistaken identity could be excused, Sieg's clothes were very similar to their uniform, afterall.
Either by design or by accident, he did look a lot like one of the members of the guild that even if Misha hadn't spotted him, someone would have made the mistake of assuming him to be related with them sooner or later.
Eina furrowed her brows as she thought about her interactions with Sieg and everything he had said and done.
He'd not said no to her once, rather the thought of denying her didn't even seem to cross his mind. It was like he didn't even register the fact he was pretty much digging his own grave and now that she thought about it, his earlier words when she first met him seemed very present in her mind.
Misha had asked for help with her work.
And that was that. He'd even gone back to her when he was finished and started helping her with the backlog of work she'd accumulated. The only reason he stayed around as long as he did was because he wanted to help Misha based on the sole fact that she had asked him for help. A cynical part of her mind might have assumed that Sieg was lying and he had ulterior motives for being there.
Then she thought about how he acted and found that argument was as sturdy as a house made of straw. Everything about Sieg was completely and utterly honest, he wore his emotions on his sleeve and there was an innocence about him that couldn't be faked. The fact he looked an Ishtar Familia member in the eye for their entire conversation and then asked if he'd done something wrong by not ogling her body like she was a slab of meet all but confirmed that in her mind.
If it was an act, it was an exceedingly good one.
She just didn't think it was an act at all. It was just…honest confusion as to whether or not he had done something wrong.
Her hand resumed its original course, taking hold of signout form for one of the lower floor maps and dragging it towards herself, glancing down at the writing Sieg had put in. The worst thing about it was that she couldn't find a spot of error in anything he had done so far, it was all perfectly adequate work.
Well, given that he had sat there with him for ten minutes and told him where to fill everything out correctly for the different forms, she'd have hoped that he did do it correctly, if only so she could save face as a trainer.
…
Didn't that mean she'd been able to train a completely unqualified person dragged off the street and have them do an acceptable job in less than an hour. She found herself blinking at the sudden revelation that hit her, perhaps as shocking as all the previous ones that had been dumped on her head in the last twenty minutes.
Wasn't that sort of really impressive?
She then grimaced once again as she realised that all of this would probably have to be copied out and redone by either herself or Misha because Sieg wasn't a proper affiliate, which meant all of their effort had been for naught. All of her training had basically been for naught and she'd been sitting next to someone who just didn't have the guts to tell her that he didn't belong there.
Unless…
She frowned as she thought long and hard about Sieg once more.
Even with what little she had glimmered from what the manager had let slip, it didn't paint a very pretty picture.
Her right hand fell upon the desk, index finger tapping away on the wood at ever increasing speeds as her mind wandered away from what she was actually supposed to be doing at the time.
Waking up in an alleyway and being lost in the city, dragged along with the crowd and then ending up in front of the guild? If that was true then there was a very real chance that Misha would have been the first person he had spoken to since he arrived in the city. Though it didn't explain how he ended up in an alley unless he just got dumped there by whomever was taking him to the city. It wasn't a pleasant thought but it was at least plausible, it wasn't like such things were uncommon.
Still, it would have added to his reluctance to speak about the truth because he might not have wanted to lose the chance to find out about Orario. All the same, he could have still asked but at the same time…
"Muuuu…" A groan fell from her lips, her left hand moving towards her forehead and cradling her temples. The tapping of her finger increased exponentially as her thoughts were now completely occupied by the otherwise baffling youth who'd been walking around during the day.
This was just sort of hopeless to think about right now without the person in question right here.
She really should have been annoyed about him leading her on like that and making her run through all the specifics, the worst thing was that she'd been rather taken with how quickly he seemed to come to terms with everything, especially with how he actively looked as though he was trying to meet her expectations. It was a refreshing change from what usually went on around here.
She couldn't even complain about the quality of his work. It wasn't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination - he'd asked her for assistance once or twice to make sure everything was in order - but it was passable. He hadn't submitted anything until he was confident with it and she had agreed, it was part of the reason why she'd entrusted him with Rose while she sorted out some of the other requests.
All Rose had said about him was 'Could be worse' and that was that.
It meant she didn't really have an opinion on him in the first place, all things considered so it was probably good news. It meant he hadn't messed anything up and had done the job well enough that Rose had no reason to complain about him.
Even still…
He'd tried to apologise to her and she'd just stormed out of the room, it wasn't as though she was angry with him as much as she was disappointed in herself for not putting two and two together. It was more so she could leave while trying to save face and avoid shouting at him, especially because she could tell he did genuinely mean his apology.
"Eina…"
Sure enough, the individual response for all of this called out to her from the seated position at her side.
"Hmmm?" Eina lowered her hand, glancing to Misha from the corner of her eye "What is it?"
"Me?" Misha did a double take at her, then squinted at the half-elf "I should be asking you that. You've just been sitting there staring at the same piece of paper for the last minute or so. It wasn't even that long." there was a pause before a look of apprehension came upon the face of the salmon haired woman, leaning back slightly "Don't tell me…Did he make loads of mistakes on-"
"No." Eina cut off that before it could take root, levelling a flat look in the direction of her co-worker for a half second before she returned her eyes to the form and slid it to one side. She hadn't really known how long she had been staring at it but the fact it was just that long was a little troubling to her, she didn't usually get this worked up unless it was over her role as an advisor to an adventurer. "Thus far all of his work has been acceptable. What of you?"
"...Yeah, same." Misha responded in a rather drowsy tone of voice.
"I certainly hope you aren't going to sleep."
"Heh…like I could." The girl responded with a sardonic chuckle "I'm here completing all of this work and I'm not allowed to go home until I do." There was a brief silence before she groaned, her head dropping onto the desk with a thud. "How is it that the one time I find someone to help me it turns out like this?"
Eina barely spared her a glance as she moved her hand to the next parchment "Perhaps this will encourage you to become more independent and not rely so heavily on others to pick up the slack you leave behind?" she couldn't help but comment, probably with a bit more humour in her words than she really felt but at the same time, she could do with something to better her mood at the moment and Misha was just there.
"Easy for you to say." Misha remarked, turning her head onto it's side and staring at her through her half-lidded gaze. "You're just built differently to the rest of us."
"I believe you have it the wrong way round. My work is just as acceptable as our peers, as is yours when you put your mind to it." Eina quickly defended "It is merely the case that you often don't put your mind to it. As much as I would also welcome a break, we were both aware of the requirements of the role when we joined so we have very little to complain about. This is simply the result of our choices."
"Why are you trying to make cleaning up paperwork sound so profound?" Came the quick, and somewhat puzzled, reply to her statement. Misha pulled herself off the desk and straightened out her posture in her seat. "Besides, it's not like I'm the only one who has to go through all this extra work, you know?" she pointed a finger to Eina "How come you didn't notice it either? I'll admit that I wasn't paying too much attention but you're Eina. You probably have a spreadsheet for your breakfast."
Eina sputtered, whirling her head in the direction of the pink haired girl "I-I most certainly do not!"
"That's a pretty strong denial you just gave me~" Misha teased with a sudden sense of amusement, Eina baulked at having the tables turned so quickly upon her. If she was going to salvage this, she would have to act quickly in order to do so. The girl seemed to pause for a moment, her back straightened out and she widened her eyes. "Wait…do you actually have a spreadsheet for your-?"
"It was for a diet I was going on and I got rid of it weeks ago!" Eina hastily blurted out, ignoring the burning sensation in her cheeks of embarrassment before she rounded on her colleague and pointed towards the space in front of her. "Besides, now is hardly the time for us to be discussing whether or not I like to control what I eat, you especially can't afford any more distractions."
"It's not my fault he didn't say anything…" Misha whined out loud, slumping once more "Can't they just give him community service for tricking us and then have him come in here and help?"
Eina regarded her with a flat stare. "I shall not even dignify that with an answer." And she did not, instead turning her attention back towards the table and already trying to dismiss Sieg from her mind for the time being.
…
…
She really should have at least waited for him to finish his apology before she stormed out of there. He didn't seem like a bad person and the way she'd all but ignored him and stomped out of the room had been rather rude and probably a little more hostile than she had been intending it to be. He probably thought she despised him or something.
She was angry with him but not in the sense he was probably thinking.
Really, what he needed was a good talking to about speaking up when he was in trouble.
What is a Homunculus?
Sieg wasn't sure how he was supposed to answer that when it was put forward to him. He'd answered all the other questions to the best of his ability, although Rehmer had gone through most of those one by one and given dubious answers to all of them.
Age? He didn't really know anymore.
Romania? The man had never heard of it before in his life, Sieg would have liked to say he was surprised by that but in truth he wasn't. This situation was already pretty strange and just as he'd never heard of Orario before, it would have been strange to suddenly expect people to have heard of Romania as well.
But that didn't really answer the question of the Norse Gods whose names were being thrown around, especially the likes of Loki. That was more than a little strange for him to hear that, especially from Dia and the others. It meant there actually was the God Loki who was currently in Orario and that was a weird thing to consider. Especially considering how close he was to both Siegfried and Fafnir.
Would Loki know who he was? Maybe not him personally, but would they sense Siegfried and Fafnir within him? What was he supposed to say if they did?
Those had been the questions that plagued his mind when he saw the request for his guardians. Namely because - to his knowledge - the term guardian referred to individuals who had actually cared for his well being.
He'd also put down the names of the three people who sprung to mind.
The first was Astolfo, whose name had garnered no recognition at all. Sieg was certain that if the Paladin had been in the room at the time, he would have probably complained about the strange dog man not recognising his name at all. Not in a sense of being annoyed, but more in a sense of being playfully wounded? Maybe? That was how he saw Rider reacting.
'What's with that lacklustre reaction to my name! I'm the cutest Paladin of Charlemagne!'
Something along those lines.
The next had been Siegfried.
That was where things had gotten a little strange for him, the name once more garnering no attention from the man at all. That was something that struck Sieg as being more than a little strange and perhaps a little saddening at the same time. In a city where the God Loki was currently residing, how was it that the name Siegfried didn't ring a bell with anyone? Perhaps they just didn't associate the name with the ancient Hero.
"Do you recognise the name?" Sieg had found himself asking, to which his response was an odd expression on the face of the man.
"...Is there some reason why I am supposed to?"
And that had been that, chalking up one more mystery in Siegs mind that this was a very strange place for him to be. On the one hand, he wasn't as worried as he had been about somehow encountering the God Loki and having to explain why Siegfried's heart was currently in his chest, but on the other hand he was now more than a little puzzled as to where he was.
How could someone know Loki and not know of the tale of Siegfried and Fafnir?
Finally came Jeanne d'Arc.
No reaction.
At that point…Sieg felt an odd pang go through his chest when the man didn't so much as blink as he read out the name, once more not knowing who she was in the first place. That troubled him more so than the man not knowing Siegfried but for an entirely different reason, it was just something he couldn't wrap his head around. Maybe it was because Jeanne - while just as influential on his life as Siegfried and Astolfo - had been much closer to him in terms of personal relationships.
That was probably what it was and he felt a little hollow when nothing came of the name. Though the man had asked about why he put down three names for guardians as opposed to two.
"Siegfried died."
Conversation dried up immediately after he said that, Rehmer had frozen for half a second before nodding his head once to Sieg and looking back down at the piece of paper. Though the next question was the one that had currently thrown him for a loop.
"You've put…Hoemun-" The man furrowed his brows "Hom-un-cu-lus?" he glanced back at Sieg when he finished speaking, an expectant and perhaps a touch of puzzlement on his features. "Is that how it is pronounced?"
"Yes."
"Yes." Rehmer pursed his lips "What is a Homunculus?"
What is a Homunculus?
That was the question now running rampant through his mind, a hundred answers sprung to the forefront of his mind but not a single one of them passed between his lips. He must have looked as surprised as he felt judging by the way that Rehmer's brows furrowed at him and his head tilted to the side. "Perhaps it is on account of me being ignorant, but I have never heard of them before."
"Really?" Sieg found himself asking before he could help it. It was honestly a surprise to him they had never heard of a Homunculus before, did they just operate under a different name here? It might be the case, he just couldn't imagine the idea that there wasn't another homunculus wandering around the world. There was no way he could be the only one.
Though how best to explain what it was…
Sieg frowned in thought "...Well we're…tools."
Rehmer blinked once, looking as though the sentence had gone right over his head and opted to just stare at Sieg for what felt like ages in complete silence. Opening and closing his mouth several times before he eventually spoke in a quiet and very confused tone of voice. "Tools? What do you mean?"
"We're…Do you know what a Spirit is?"
Recognition flashed through the mans face, his eyes widening ever so slightly and leaning back in his chair. Now staring at Sieg with nothing shy of surprise before it faded away into understanding and then back into shock, all in the span of a good few seconds. The speed at which he had cycled through emotions was honestly surprising to him. "You're-!"
He'd made to shout, then quickly clamped his jaw shut and leaned forwards "You're a Spirit?"
"Oh, you do know." That was good, it would make the explanation a lot easier. He'd never think he'd have to explain something like this but all the same, it worked out in the end. "Well…I suppose in simple terms we're spirits in the shape of people." Maybe he should have included the artificial part in there but he didn't want to give the man the wrong impression.
Or perhaps he didn't want to give the wrong impression of what he was. He might have said a homunculus was a tool but he didn't believe that, not really. It was more of a broad description of what the original purpose of them had been, tools to be used and disposed of when the time came. That was all there was to it and nothing more.
Though Rehmer was still staring at him in shock before he leaned forwards, resting his arms on the table and moving them up, using his hands to prop up his head as he let out a long and shuddering breath. "You're a spirit…You've been in Orario for less than a day."
"Yes." He was probably closer to being a phantasmal at this point than being an actual spirit, but in his current appearance he certainly didn't look the part of a dragon. But calling himself a homunculus would probably have incited much less panic and disbelief than if he said he was a dragon. That had been his understanding.
That wasn't to say there was no truth in his claim as a Spirit, both in his nature as a homunculus being an artificial spirit and with Siegfried's heart in his chest, he was still a Spirit. Maybe.
He didn't know all that much.
"...You…No wonder…"
"Is something wrong?"
Rehmer stopped, then raised his head and stared at Sieg for a few seconds before he opened his mouth and said "You've never been to Orario before, have you?"
"No."
"So when you said to me that you woke up in an alleyway…"
"I woke up in an alleyway. I don't know how I got to Orario and didn't know where to go. I'd never seen a human with animal ears before, so I just-"
"Don't worry…just…" Rehmer lowered his arms from near his head, letting them thump on the table without registering them in the least. The pair of them fell into a silence, Sieg staring across the table at the man as he seemingly debated something in his head, eyes lingering on him for a brief moment before they darted away and to the side. "Excuse me for a moment, I need to speak with my superior about something."
Hastily rising from his chair, Rehmer moved around the room once more, briefly pausing as he passed Sieg and raising his hand. "Don't go anywhere for the moment. I will be right back."
"Alright." Nodding his head, Sieg returned to his previous activity of staring at the wall while Rehmer went away to collect someone else once more. He was sure that everything would be straightened out at this point, but he hadn't been expecting the reaction when he revealed what a homunculus was.
They knew what Spirits were but didn't know what homunculi were? Maybe the art had been lost and people just weren't making them so the name fell away. That was a little strange to consider. It was more than a little strange.
If there were no Homunculi left then…
Sieg felt his heart ache, his left hand moved towards it and rested on his vest, clenching his fingers as hard as he could and dragging some of the fabric with it, lowering his head and staring down at the ground.
If there were no Homunculus left except for him then did that mean he had failed in saving them?
Rehmer did not run as he made his way through the halls and rush towards Roymans office, he didn't want to give people the wrong impression as to what was going on. Though he did move at a slightly faster pace than he otherwise would have done if this had been any other situation.
The reason for this sudden change in his usual haste being the Spirit that was sitting in the room, if they were to be believed. Whatever the veracity of his claims aside, it would account for a great many things. Such as why he didn't know where he was supposed to go, how he ended up in Orario in the first place if he didn't remember entering the city and the statement that he wasn't associated with any member of a Familia.
Spirits might not have been that uncommon in Orario, but those Spirits and the type that would currently be sitting in his office were an entirely different ballpark. Salamander Spirits, Undines and Gnomes were very easy to identify based on their physical appearance compared with the other races, usually by their distinctive features and the like with Gnomes being a race even shorter than Pallums.
The point being that most Spirits didn't resemble humans all that greatly, or at least they didn't resemble humans often, there were a few notable exceptions but for the most part the spirit races didn't appear that similar to people. Except when they did, but at that point they started getting into the realms of being a little rarer and certainly more powerful.
The human looking Spirits were in the upper echelons, especially if the old stories were to be believed, and their appearances were still something not fully understood in the world. It might be something the Gods were more familiar with, but the Spirits had been around for a lot longer than the Gods had and played a major role long before the Gods descended and bestowed Falna on the different races.
All that aside, the mere idea that a Spirit could materialise in Orario wasn't all that far fetched, his appearance would have ordinarily denoted him as being young but it was impossible to tell with Spirits as they existed differently to humans. All the same, a Spirit of this type was no small matter, those being more human in appearance generally denoted them being stronger than their brethren.
Which would mean he'd have to speak with the guild head directly, rather than leaving a report that he otherwise would have done if this had been like another situation. He wasn't sure if he personally believed that Sieg was a spirit - he'd never heard of a Homunculus before - but outright denying the possibility was something that he could no longer do. If the boy wasn't a Spirit, then all that really came of this was that he wasted everyone's time and then could be dealt with appropriately.
He was sure that there was some manner of service the Guild could have him put towards in response to this, probably litter picking.
If he wasn't lying?
That made the situation a touch more problematic, if only because he might well have been a recently descended Spirit and their appearances were as enigmatic as they came. If he'd been in Orario for less than a day then he would have no idea what was going on and probably didn't see the harm in anything either.
As he came upon the door to the Guild head's office, he paused and glanced down at his appearance. Bringing his hands up and brushing down his uniform, removing any sort of crinkles that had been brought out during his not run. He would need to appear at his best for what came next.
Reaching towards the door, he tapped his knuckles on the back of it twice.
There was a brief pause.
"Enter." Royaman's voice called back through the wood, Rehmer took in a deep breath before he reached for the handle and twisted it, pushing the door open with a creak and entering the rather spacious office, it certainly outdid his small cubicle by being nearly twice the size and having a much nicer desk.
Hardly a surprise though, Royman Mardeel was the head of the Guild in Orario so it only made sense that his office would reflect his status. Especially with his clothing and physical appearance, a somewhat overweight elderly looking elf, slicked back white hair, piercing green eyes, a fine tailored black suit over the top of a burgundy coloured vest, sitting atop a ornamental velvet chair with golden rims.
In all honesty, it sometimes looked like what Rehmer imagined a Throne would be in appearance of.
"Rehmer." Royman greeted him with a clipped tone, looking up from whatever he had been writing when he had entered the room, quill still in his hand and parchment still on the desk. Slowly, the elf moved the writing implement away from the paper but only slightly, enough so that it would take the barest amount of effort to return if the moment called for it. "What is it you need?"
There was a moment before the frown grew "I trust there is no problem I should be made aware of?"
Rehmer thinned his lips "Not so much a problem as a surprising development, Mr Mardeel." he chose his words carefully, while it certainly had been a problem in the beginning at this point it was just a baffling case of something.
"A development?"
Naturally, Royaman noticed his choice of wording and was clearly suspicious of it, if the slightly raised eyebrow was any indication. "And what manner of development would this be?"
"A spirit."
A slight huff of dismissal came from the elf, turning his attention back to the desk and already in the process of resuming his work. "I had thought you with more sense than to come to me with problems regarding a gnome. Unless it, in some way, relates to the Guild or there has been a breach in city law, I do not need to be distracted with-"
"A potential high spirit."
As expected, Royaman stopped moving after he said that, the head of the man rose up once more and this time fixed Rehmer with a much more piercing stare than before. "A potential high spirit?"
"That is unless you are aware of a Spirit race known as a Homunculus?" Rehmer replied with a frown of his own, "I confess that I have not heard of them before. His appearance is certainly far more human than the other Spirits I am aware of, which left me with the conclusion that he is perhaps a high spirit." a beat "Provided he has not lied and wasted the Guilds time."
Even if he had, it wasn't like he couldn't report this either way.
Something that Royman was aware of as well, judging by the way his expression had scrunched up in displeasure for a brief moment when he spoke the latter part of the sentence, then his eyes closed and he exhaled.
Moving his quill away from the parchment and towards the small holder for the writing implement, clipping it into place next to the inkwell and slowly moving both his hands in front of him, interlocking his fingers together and resting them on the desk.
"Explain the situation to me in detail."
Rehmer withheld a grimace at that, this was going to look rather poor for everyone now. He could only hope that the fact they were dealing with a Spirit would mean they could get away with a reprimand, rather than having to face the possibility of a pay cut.
Sieg wasn't sure what had happened when Rehmer left, he had said he was going to speak with someone superior than even him so he assumed it was going to be important. He should have figured that something would end up happening which would bring about an extension to his stay here at the guild.
At the same time, he wasn't feeling all that worried about his situation. It wasn't as though this was going to end up being a life or death struggle, it was just a case of him getting caught up in a misunderstanding and then explaining to everyone what had gone wrong. He was more or less sure that everything would be resolved eventually.
He could probably also ask some questions while he was in the presence of Rehmer's superior, an individual who would undoubtedly know more about this place than Rehmer did and could explain the world to him in a bit more detail. Failing that, they could perhaps point him in the direction of someone who would be able to do just that. He wasn't sure how long he was going to end up being here in the first place.
He might have opted to try and fly back to the Reverse Side of the World but he wasn't sure how he would be able to do that. In any other situation he would have just said 'dragon' and then it would have been a simple solution. But the problem was that with the presence of the Gods here and a number of strange discrepancies cropping up, he wasn't quite sure if he could access the reverse side of the world.
Sure enough, he hadn't attempted it yet but if he couldn't be sure then he might well end up turning into a dragon for nothing and then find himself in the rather awkward situation of being a Fafnir dragon with nowhere left to go. It seemed a little risky to stake so much on something like that simple chance, especially when this world confused him enough to warrant further investigation.
The lack of recognition towards the word 'Homunculus' but at the same time the reaction when he mentioned he was a spirit was a little surprising and somewhat alarming. Not alarming in the sense that Sieg was worried about a negative reaction, Rehmer had looked more surprised than he did horrified or disgusted, he'd also seemed to be in a rush to speak with his superior immediately afterwards.
He'd disappeared for a good five minutes before he came back to take him away, informing Sieg that he would have to follow him to the Guild head and from there he would answer a couple of questions. Depending on how the questions went, they would be able to figure out what to do with him afterwards.
For Sieg, it was quite a relief that he was finally getting somewhere, though there was still that strange tension about Rehmer that he noticed, it was as if the man was on edge about something. Sieg frowned as he stared at the back of Rehmer, the pair of them walking through the halls.
"Is something wrong, Rehmer?" Sieg asked when he felt the silence had gone on for too long, the posture of the man was starting to put him on edge and he was a little worried that he might have said something to make the man nervous. "You look troubled."
"Ah, I suppose I'm a little apprehensive." Rehmer admitted with an idle shrug of the shoulders, the tension seemingly bleeding out of him the moment that a conversation had begun. Sieg was internally thankful for that, he didn't like seeing the man on edge over something like this, especially when he was only doing his job. "There was also the case of having to explain how you entered the guild…"
He muttered that last part under his breath, so low that Sieg was certain that if he did not have better hearing he wouldn't have even noticed it at all. "I caused you trouble as well?"
Rehmer didn't respond for a moment, then sighed "We shall say it is a case of unusual circumstances that led everyone astray in the heat of the moment, it was a series of unfortunate events and lapses in the judgements of everyone involved." was the explanation that he gave, Sieg pursed his lips and stared at the back of the man as he stopped walking, turning side on to the Homunculus and glancing towards him with a touch of a frown upon his lips. "While I will not say that you are totally free of blame, there are just as many here who will rightly bear that blame along with you for not realising that you did not belong. Though if you wish to make amends, then I would request that you comply with our questions as truthfully as you possibly can so that we may put this matter to rest swiftly and without further cause for alarm, yes?"
Sieg nodded his head up and down, that made more than enough sense to him. He didn't have too much of an issue explaining most of the basics surrounding his presence being here. Not that there was a lot he could really explain, now that he thought about it. He didn't really know how he got into Orario in the first place so there wasn't much he could answer on that count.
"So-"
"Please don't start trying to apologise again." Rehmer interrupted him before he could finish speaking, levelling him with a knowing stare that seemed to border somewhere between annoyance and resignation. "At this point, it's coming to a point where you might be accused of being insincere. You only need to apologise once."
"Ah. I see." Sieg nodded his head once, holding himself back from apologising once again, if it was getting to a point where it was going to be rude then he would have to hold himself back. "Where are we going?"
Rehmer stared at him a moment, then turned back around and resumed his walk "We're going to speak with my superior. Especially given how uncommon Spirits such as yourself are around Orario."
"...Really?" Sieg got a little worried that he might have stood out more than he had intended.
"Not Spirits in general." Rehmer corrected as they approached a door at the far end of the corridor "Just Spirits in the sense like yourself, most of the Spirits we have around Orario are Gnomes and the like, even then the population of spirits in Orario is on the lower end of the spectrum, though you might end up with one or two adventurers coming up to you so probably don't advertise your status as a Spirit if you don't want to get harassed by them trying to get you to bless something for them."
"Bless something?" Sieg couldn't help but blink, letting his confusion sink into his words as he spoke, raising an eyebrow at the back of the man and not quite understanding what he was saying. "Why would they ask me to bless something?"
"Most are motivated by the old stories of the ancient Heroes, some spirit accompanying them with the power to create some legendary weapon or bless them with the powers before the age of Falna." Rehmer explained, he was actually having trouble following along with what the man was saying. "Not to say that you're one of those spirits, not everyone is like an Undine or a Salamander but you'll get the odd adventurer who just assumes you are so…" another shrug "It's your choice though."
"No, I just don't get why they would want me to bless something." Sieg replied after a moment, a frown coming upon his features and looking straight at the back of the man "I'm not that sort of Spirit. My magic can let me break things and I can probably heal if the moment called for it but I don't think I'm capable of much more than that."
"Hmmm." Rehmer stopped walking "The former can certainly have it's uses while the latter would be rather important." he turned around and glanced at Sieg, tilting his head ever so slightly "I've always heard of the ability of Spirits to cast magic at a proficiency above even the skill of the elves, but I've only ever seen the end results in terms of the products some of them produce."
Sieg wasn't quite sure what the man was talking about, but he was fairly certain he was describing a different sort of spirit to the type that Sieg was. He wasn't even designed to have been a combat homunculus in the first place, he only had that knowledge of magecraft installed into him because it was the default for most homunculus to be aware of combat and healing.
And blessing things to make items?
That sounded like a more advanced use of thaumaturgy that he certainly wasn't capable of in the least. "Would they be upset that I can't make magic items?"
"Probably." Rehmer sighed "Most might end up understanding but you'd definitely get one or two who would probably refuse to take no for an answer and kick up quite the fuss about it." the man reached up, Sieg watched as he rubbed his temples, seemingly lost in his own head for a moment. During which time, the pair of them had come upon the door at the end of the hall. "At which point, it probably would be easier if you didn't talk about it. You look human so no one would really notice…for the most part." a shrug "I can't speak for the Gods, though."
Sieg felt the frown intensify on his lips "This sounds very worrying."
Rehmer let out a half chuckle, though there wasn't much in the way of amusement in the act "It's just how it often is when you show yourself off to be a little unique. The Gods are often very clear about getting things they like, more often than not." there was a brief pause, he turned to Sieg and raised his hand "Ah, but don't get the wrong idea about it. That's not to say that all Gods are like that, the ones who are troublesome are still those who value their Familia's to my knowledge, those who would be truly…problematic…are few and far between."
A silence.
"This is a poor attempt at comfort for someone who has never lived in Orario." Rehmer announced, more to himself than to Sieg given that he didn't look the Homunculus in the eye when he made the declaration. Sieg wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that, it wasn't at though he was ignorant to the nature of humans - he'd seen what they were capable of with Assassin of Black - but he didn't know that nature extended to the Gods.
Karna had been a rather pleasant character to interact with, all things considered. Even if they had come to blows, even if he did kill him, Sieg would never say there was a single moment where he hated or even disliked the Lancer. Though it would seem that there was a difference between the Gods just as there was a difference between humans.
"It's fine." Sieg spoke to reassure the man, waving his hand slightly "I think I understand what you're saying. People would try to use me, would they not?"
"...Yes."
"I'm used to dealing with things like that, so I understand what you mean."
"Hmmm. I suppose you would be used to such things as a Spirit."
"You seem to believe that I'm a Spirit." Sieg tilted his head, it might be a strange thing to ask but at this point, he was more surprised than anything else. "How do you know I'm not lying?"
Rehmer turned and fixed him with an odd look "There are certainly better and more sensible lies you could have told me than claiming to be a spirit. Especially given that such claims are not often taken lightly and anyone with a modicum of sense about them wouldn't do something as stupid as that when they were caught being somewhere they weren't supposed to be."
"I suppose."
"Besides, it's not as though there aren't ways of finding this out."
"Hmmm."
"That aside, we've delayed long enough." Rehmer stated with a note of finality, reaching towards the door and twisting the handle, pushing it open and taking a single step into the room. "I've brought Sieg."
He followed in after Rehmer, his eyes already wandering around the room as he did so, picking up on the differences between the office that Rehmer had and the office that he was currently standing inside of. This one was larger by far, at least twice the size and with a much better source of lighting in the form of windows positioned at the opposite end of the door with the curtains opened, letting the natural sunlight into the room.
On either side of the room were rows and rows of bookcases, all filled to the brim with similar styled tomes to the ones he had seen downstairs.
His eyes eventually wandered towards the only other figure in the room aside from himself and Rehmer, that being the large man that reminded him of the Yggdmillennia mage, especially with the stern look in his eyes and the aura of importance around him. There was also a note of dismissal mixed with light interest as well.
He had the same manner of ears as Eina, so he imagined the two might be of the same race, but he was visibly older with more wrinkles upon his face and his whitening hair.
The large man adjusted himself in his seat, tilting his head ever so slightly as his emerald green eyes looked Sieg up and down, an eyebrow raised ever so slightly. "Hmph. I see. He bears the appearance of the Guild uniform, if a little scruffy." the tone was slightly exasperated, tapping his left hand's index finger on the table twice. "Though I am more concerned that all it would take is for someone to dress in the same manner of out Guild and suddenly they are invited into the halls and given free reign."
Rehmer closed his eyes and nodded once in acceptance "I am having everything he worked on during the day looked over, though from what I can gather there was never a moment when he was outside of anyone's vision. Save for the times when I left him inside my office, but the information I keep there is far from important."
The man hummed "So I see. In any event, it is clear that there must be steps taken to better confirm the identity of our staff." the eyes narrowed "Considering this blunder occurred under your watchful eyes, I am holding you personally responsible to implement these new measures and ensure that something such as this does not happen again."
Sieg frowned lightly, glancing at Rehmer from the corner of his eye. The brown haired man did not reply at first, but after what amounted to three of four seconds of silence, he eventually spoke up. "I shall have some solutions upon your desk by tomorrow morning, Mr Mardeel."
"See that you do." Mardeel grumbled with a nod of the head, then his eyes moved from Rehmer and onto Sieg, fixing him with a critical stare. "So…you are the 'Spirit' that walked into the Guild having recently arrived in Orario?" The hum he gave was short and full of incredulity. "You look no different than a human and unlike the Gods there is no grandiose feeling to you."
That was actually a rather relieving thing to hear. He looked no different to a human, it might have been a point that the man made to argue against his claims but for Sieg, he couldn't think of a better compliment for his appearance.
He couldn't attest to the second part though.
It wasn't as though he was making an effort to appear as anything more than what he was.
"Regardless…Claims as a Spirit must still be followed through, as with all new arrivals in Orario who might be persons of interest." The man exhaled almost tiredly, leaning forwards and interlocking his fingers together. "Rehmer has already explained your details to me and provided me with the same list that you gave to him. Suffice to say that I have never heard of a 'Homunculus' before and your claim as a Spirit in the shape of a human is one that will require no small amount of evidence to support."
Sieg tilted his head "...Okay."
"Though I will need to ask further questions, especially if there has been no official manner in which you entered the city beyond 'waking up in an alley'." Oddly enough, that part of the sentence wasn't full of as much disbelief as Sieg was expecting, rather it was as though the man was now observing every detail of his story without actively dismissing it. That was good news. "Where were you before?"
"Somewhere else." Sieg replied with a shrug "I don't know if you'd be aware of it, it's where Spirits went when they left the world."
"And your clothes?"
"They were found for me by my friend."
"Which friend would this be?"
"Astolfo."
"Ah, yes." Mardeel glanced towards the paper sitting to the right of his arms, squinting his eyes slightly. "You have that one listed as one of your guardians. Though that begs the question as to where he is."
"...I don't know."
"Hmmm. Convenient but if you have made friends with a mortal, it would only make sense that some time passed in between your meeting." He frowned, glancing back at Sieg "Though that can only come from proof. What can you offer to claim that you are indeed a Spirit?"
Sieg frowned, he hadn't thought that through. All he could really say was that he was what he was and nothing else. It was certainly a strange position he was in, trying to prove that he wasn't human but was a homunculus certainly ran counter to what he had believed in, trying to exist as a human rather than a mere tool. Though if it aided in speeding up the process of belief, he supposed he could do something mundane.
"What sort of proof would you be after?"
There was a brief pause "Some minor demonstration of magical talent would be enough to grant some validity to your story. Everything in relation to higher level spirits denotes them as being capable of magic without the use of Falna, though we shall require proof of your lack of a Familia afterwards."
"Hmmm. Alright." He wasn't sure what Falna was supposed to be but he supposed he could do something small. He didn't want to damage anything in the room at the risk of appearing rude, but the only magical talents he had related to a limited array of healing Magecraft and the ability to break things. He supposed there were also the skills he'd inherited from Berserker of Black.
That would work, certainly with the surplus of magical energy in the air.
There was a brief silence as he tapped into the Bridal Chest of Berserker.
Then green lighting arced across his body, eliciting a noise of surprise from Rehmer to his left and the man in front of him jolted in his seat, both watching as the green electricity twisted and turned without causing any harm to him, eventually shimmering down into a hue that covered his body.
Sieg glanced between the both of them, then let it fade away.
"Is that what you meant?"
Mardeel blinked once, then cleared his throat "...I believe that will suffice." he frowned "Magic without a chant or even a spoken word?" he frowned "What manner of spell was that?"
"It just lets me use magical energy to strengthen my body." He shrugged his shoulders, there wasn't much more to it than that. It might have worked in combination with the Noble Phantasm of the Berserker, else he would not have had the opportunity to use it. "It can also repair me…a little, I suppose."
He frowned "Do you need more?"
"No, no." Mardeel waved his hand "At the very least you have confirmed you are something of an anomaly, it was certainly not like any skill I have witnessed before." he tilted his head "And strengthening yourself?" he muttered for a moment, then shook his head "Hmmm. No matter. Your ignorance to Orario and the story of a clueless spirit wandering the city by mistake and being dragged to the Guild has more…creedence, though it is still certainly one that requires a suspension of disbelief."
"Hmmm." Sieg nodded his head up and down "I see."
"Regardless of all that…there are still questions to be answered."
"Alright."
AN: Yep.
Sieg by combining Bridal Chest and Galvanism can become a perpetual motion engine, which means he can just empower himself to a pretty strong degree.
As for the power of Spirits in Danmachi…They're still pretty elusive, all things considered, but the Higher Spirits are the ones who look more human in appearance.
That and Homunculus are genuinely spirits, or it would be easier to call them artificial spirits but spirits nonetheless.
More so with Sieg as he now holds the strength of two Servants, Siegfried and Fran to a lesser extent, and the Dragon Fafnir.
Anyway…Sieg, ladies and gentlemen.