Galen Vesa

Watching as my power in the form of bright blue flash smashed into the grand duchess, one thought bounced in my frozen mind. No way in hell I can talk myself out of that. I should run while I still can. Shouldn’t I? And I would if my legs didn’t choose that time to commit mutiny.

Frozen in place, I counted heartbeats until my incoming demise. Well, not in physical sense of the word but after a stunt like this, nothing but social death and persecution awaited poor, pointy eared Karin. Perhaps it was for the better? I could still go by my banana form. That would solve some issues.

My happiness turned out to be short lived. Whatever the dam lantern concocted, it hit the grand duchess fair and square then continued onward, pulling out of her back dark, shrieking miasma. Wailing in pain, the abomination tried to hook its tentacles back inside the elder woman but my presence and the light emanating from my wrist kept it away until it could no longer hold its form. Ripped apart and dispersed by a sudden breeze, the putrid smoke was no more. Then and only then the light waned.

Saying they were in shock, I believe would be an understatement. Not even the duchess herself noticed the blood soaking the right side of her body where the burns covered her before. No longer black and covered in scabs, her freshly reopened wounds exposed healthy pink skin. Although, leaking so much blood can’t be good. In the heartbeat that it took me to close the distance between me and the matriarch, I scowled at the cursed thing locked around my left wrist.

You’ll do something like that again without consulting me first and I’m tossing you into the deepest, smelliest cesspit I can find. Even if it cost me my arm or even if I would have to dig the pit myself. Understood?

The lantern did, what it usually does and ignored me. I on the other hand, grabbed the falling duchess and urged my water ring to do its best. Oh, right, time for this unlucky dolt to give a public performance.

“O mother of true light, hear thy unworthy servant and save this hume child for she is worthy of thy grace.”

Mumbling random gibberish, check. Special effects courtesy of my water ring, check. Nosebleed due to mana abuse, check. Annoying dryad laughing her ass off inside me, check. One shocked and no longer dying noble, check. Dolt’s an idiot, check.

I can see sparkles...

Perhaps dumping three quarters of my mana into her wasn’t such a clever idea. Under all that blood she now looked as if I just shaved off half a century off her back. Note to self, never do that again in proximity to a cursed weapon. The kickback tore at my inside with a furry of an expired kefir. It brought back memories.

The good doctor said, drink kefir or natural yogurt. It will help protect your gut from side effect of antibiotics. Yeah, right. That night I lost seven pounds.

As the screaming ensued when people regained control of their minds, a wooden bucket found its way into my arms. Whether Fenella improvised no worse than I did, or perhaps my face just looked like I would need a bucket in the nearest future, I thanked her with my fake smile and got sick.

Well, let’s look at the bright side. Nobody bothered the sickly elf, sitting in a corner of the barge and hugging her trusty bucket.

“You’ll live?”

Such question from the judge magister herself? Not what I would expect. Her hostile aura gone for the time being.

“As soon as we get the hell away from whatever the hell is messing with that town, I may feel like living again.”

I dumped overboard a bucked full of blood and bile.

“Got any of that wondrous drink left?”

“No. It left with the kabu. I’ll ask if they have something similar. Either way, clean up yourself. I don’t feel like smelling puke all the way to the capital. The grand duchess will give us a ride with her in her carriage.”

Just as she spoke that, our ferry hit the shore and a flurry of activity swept through the ranks of knights traveling with us. Fenella went to bother their captain.

“Sir Tonnes, I’ll need five of your men for a moment.”

The grey eyed knight looked as if he would at most spare her a sword, preferably shoved into her gut. Yet he composed himself.

“Jin!”

He summoned a knight with one silver stripe on his collar. As all the men in this company he sported a mane of black hair, broad shoulders and a forgettable face. As he moved, four others followed him.

“Sir?”

“You will go with Judge Magister Tirsten. Attend to her needs.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

He came to attention and turned towards the mage.

“Your honor, your orders?”

“Clear those people from that beach and cordon it away, we need some space.”

“At once, your honor!”

I watched them get to work. I must say they were efficient. People vanished from our sight the moment those knight’s boots landed on the sandy bank.

“You can wash up there, I put a barrier around the area. “

That invitation I took gladly.

At first, I thought about going for a swim but we did not have that much time, so I just splashed my face with cold water and made sure I got rid of the smell. I also washed off whatever blood I could. It worked remarkably well. Too well I must say. Getting out dry from a river is not a normal sight. Oh well, Water earned herself another cookie. I sent some mana into her name.

“Good enough, I think.”

Fenella judged my efforts as I approached her. She stood by the unloaded carriage and with a nudge of her head, urged me to get in. I hoisted myself in since nobody offered me a hand and sat on the empty bench. A moment later Fenella squeezed in beside me.

“I cannot express how grateful I am for your company but before we continue, allow me to introduce myself again. I am grand duchess Viviann Leticia von Vermilion.”

She made a formal bow from her seat.

“Please accept my gratitude for saving my life. Twice.”

Gratitude, ha? Again, something bothersome. Her crimson eyes dug deep into me. Watching, evaluating. Whatever she looked for I doubt she could find it. Not in me. Not in my alien face. Not in my voice.

In turn I studied her as the carriage rocked along the road and my silence dragged on. Free of burns blood and her bonnet, her face gave off a mesmerizing, royal feel. It spoke, this is a person of power, obey me. Even in her ruined dress, she had this powerful aura. An air of someone who weighted each of their words. An aura of a lord. A righteous lord? I don’t know. I could not tell and I knew little of her to judge her character. Although, as sincere as her face felt, I’d rather not be associated with more nobles. It’s nice to have money and live a comfortable life but their wealth tends to attract trouble. Trouble in which I wish to have no part. I have enough on my hands with this new guild and all the menagerie stick inside me.

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“Your grace, I cannot accept praise for benevolence you ascribe me. My actions were not motivated by thirst for good, honor or compassion. All I did was for my own benefit and safety.”

That should sound arrogant enough for an elf.

“Be it as you say, it is still my life you saved, and my honor oblige me. Ask whatever you desire and I shall see to it.”

She cast her gaze at the judge magister sitting beside me and added.

“As long as it is within the boundaries of the law.”

“Of course.”

Fenella graced us with a smile. A first one I saw on her face. The duchess mirrored her expression. Was this some sort of a joke between the two? Either way, the wolf once said that refusing a gift from a noble is no different from an insult to his face. Eh, why is it all so bothersome?

“My only desire is for a free and quite life, as ridiculous as it may sound coming from me. I know all too well, not even the emperor can grant that wish but if you are willing, your grace, our guild would be honored to have your patronage. Master Altina will be delighted to speak with you.”

Grand duchess’s smile softened a little. Freedom. Did that idea resonate with her?

“Then I shall gladly await her invitation however my dear, I will not let you off so easily. I have given you my word and I shall keep it, if you will ever find yourself in need, come to me. I will do my best to fulfill your wish then.”

“Then I shall remember your kindness.”

I put my right hand over my heart and lowered my head, something the elven customs required of such an occasion. Then seeing their puzzled faces, I mentally kicked myself and added in imperial tongue.

“I apologize. That means I accept your kindness.”

Old habits die hard. I can't count how many times i was forced to do it in that forest.

“How beautiful,”

Hmm? The duchess’s maid whispered. Her watery eyes locked on my face as hot blood rushed into her cheeks. I could see in her gaze a convoluted story pullulating in her mind. At the same time my throat felt as if too much mana run through there and my cursed charms were again acting up.

“As if a goddess spoke straight into my heart...”

Oh no. Nope. Nuh uh. Nada. I am not going that way. I am not planning on becoming some glorified saint. Thanks, but no thanks. I’d much prefer being a wet dream than a chained up political pushover in service of some obscure faith.

“Ah, please forgive me.”

I cut in before anyone could follow that unholy path.

“There are some charms placed upon my body I cannot rid myself of without forfeiting my life. They tend to affect people’s desires and their perception of me. Please do tell me if you find yourself uncomfortable with my presence. I have little control over those charms.”

That confession did loose me some points in the eyes of our host. Not much of a loss since at the same time it erased the saintness label from my life. Even logic let out a sigh. Being a pointy eared walking wet dream troubled me enough. Adding religion and gods into the mix? No, thank you. I’ve read enough of isekai novels to know how such a fate would play out. I’ll pass on that.

“Your grace,”

Leaning back in her seat, Fenella cut off the troublesome topic.

“I must ask, were you aware someone placed such high-level curse upon your body that it was able to manifest itself?”

The maid clenched her fists in response to such blatant accusation but stopped herself from showing any other reaction. The frozen, fake smile returned to the duchess face.

“Is this a formal inquiry, your honor?”

Did those two ever met before?

“I don’t know. Should it be? Any high-level curse must be reported to the imperial magistrate. If not by the victim herself, then by her family or by any other person to whom such curse was made known.”

“I see. I will make sure to report it as soon as we reach the next town. None of the healers I consulted regarding my wounds told me they could be a result of a curse. I am as shocked as you are.”

“Is that so. Well, in that case...”

“It’s not a curse. It’s was a shade.”

My big mouth did it again. At the same time, shivers went down my spine. The odd one waved at me from the outside. Her smile made my hearts loose their rhythm.

I need to find a way, a cheat to break out of her influence. That damn thing, whatever she is will be the end of me if this goes on. Every time. Every single time that thing shows her face around, life decides to play ball with my ass. What’s it gonna be this time hmm?

“A shade?”

At least I did not have to wait long. Fenella switched her target of interrogation to me. To set the mood, I started with a sigh.

“Yes. A shade. Shadow or a memory of something else. While not a curse themselves, their influence bears related outcome. They can attach themselves to things, people and places.”

“They? Those disgusting apparitions are sentient?!”

The maid kept shivering in her seat.

“It appears so. I do not know of what kind of autonomy they are capable of but indeed, those I encountered before possessed some level of reason and logic. They go unnoticed most of the time as hardly anyone can see them. They attack those that can detect them so it is best to strike first.”

Well, I wonder if that’ll be enough to justify my earlier behavior. What else do I know about those things?

“To those that can sense them, they reveal their presence as a vile, putrid stench.”

“As if a mountain of rotting corpses burned inside a cesspit. A stench that would not go away no matter how much I scrubbed myself...”

The duchess paled at her own memory. So she was somewhat aware of her condition. I nod my head.

“Yes, that is the gist of it. They are repulsive beyond anything I can describe. Their presence pervert the world around them.”

Now that I think of it. Even from here I could sense something similar. My eyes went to the abandoned part of Danshur and the eerie lights flashing above its walls. The feeling lessened with every inch of the way our carriage put between us and that place.

“No so unlike from what I sense there...”

“Stop the carriage!”

Fenella called, perhaps sensing something herself.

I opened the door and jumped out even before the wheels froze. No that I knew what to expect, I reached out. There it was the stench that made my skin crawl. A blasphemy against all the living. A power so repulsive my insides churned even from this far.

And it saw me. I realized it watched me. Scheming. All it waited for was a proper time to strike...

Some people screamed clutching their ears, others retched bend over the ground. Some stood frozen in fear, staring blindly into the darkness that engulfed us. Others went mad, clawing at their own skin. Death have come for us and I would die when light burst out of my bracelet, repelling whatever came my way. Creating a pocket of calm among the horrors that ravaged this place.

Go.

The lantern urged me in my mind. Beside me, foaming in rage, Fenella fought with her own arm clutched tightly at her neck.

If I leave them here, they will die.

I thought back at the inhuman will burning on my wrist. It had no care for other's life.

Please.

I begged among the raging darkness.

Please.

I met the duchess eyes. Holding her trashing maid, her lips kept on whispering a prayer. Faint light held her sane among this madness. Suddenly she choked, spitting out blood.

Please, I know you can.

Perhaps annoyed, the lantern unfolded in my hands. Gripping its shaft so hard my knuckles became white, I brought the unwilling lantern’s tip into the ground where it sunk. At once, light erupted from my stuff, pushing back at the raging darkness, surrounding us in a bubble of calm air. Inside, the light brought us calm, soothing the pain and wounds people inflicted upon themselves. Out there, the blaze mercilessly burned the wailing shadows, wave aster wave assaulting our bubble.

Yet, the border did not move from where I stood.

“You have poked a sleeping giant. Now you must slay it or die along with those whirling at your feet. What will you do mista whabbit?”

The odd one cackled from a stone, somewhere within the darkness. I could not see her but I could feel her menacing presence.

“Is this your doing?”

“As if. Who do you take me for mista whabbit. I do not bother with such pointless things.”

The sand underneath my feet began turning white, brightness creeping away from my lantern. Has it purified the earth or did it... kill everything that lived in that dirt?

“Ah, an intriguing question my little whabbit. Would you like to know?”

The eerie glow of her eyes burned within the black smoke. I could feel the call of something... other, howling within that abandoned town. Something that should not be there. Something that I should slay. It made me recall what I once felt on that ship.

“...Yes. Yes, mista whabbit. Come and see with your eyes, come and see what should be forgotten.”

The lantern urged me to move. To go and erase what hid inside these walls enveloped with darkness.

But, if I move, they'll die. Isn't there something I can do? Perhaps not. But there was someone who, aside from me, could deal with those apparitions. If only she could answer me.

I gambled. I called the name of Fire, dumping my mana into what linked my soul with her. Her flames came raining down from heavens, burning away the putrid darkness. Her presence alone pushed away the smoke and I saw hundreds upon hundreds of condemned souls illuminated by the blaze of her burning body, charging against her flames. Pain and madness glowing in their eyes.

No. These were not people. Shades. Remnants.

“My love do not pity those that have condemned themselves. Eternal flames are where they belong.”

I cast a glance behind me. The duchess and her knights were alive. Unconscious and only just holding onto their lives. Fenella, wheezed on the ground. Fire picked her up and put back inside.

My lantern rose from the ground and floated towards the swirling black mist. I did not resist its pull this time.

“My Love! Take me with you!”

“No. Stay here. Keep them safe until I come back.”