Note to the reader: *.......* means he's saying that in his head.

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Chapter 40

When I woke up the next day, Sylvia and Eva were both sleeping comfortably on my chest. Luckily they were hard sleepers so escaping wasn't hard. My destination was Aelisias room. When I had some time to think about it I figured out it was the earring. I put it safely in my pocket.

Maid:"G-Good morning sir!"

I was greeted by the maid from last night. She was busy cleaning outside Aelisias room, but stopped and bowed to me.

Becket:"Good morning."

I smiled and waved. Just when I was about to knock on Aelisias door a finger tapped me on the shoulder.

Maid:"Shes not in there."

I turned around to face the maid.

Becket:"Where is she?"

Maid:"In the royal smithy."

She was avoiding eye contact.

Becket:"Much appreciated."

I set off for the smithy, but after a few minutes I realized I didn't know where it was. It ended up taking me half an hour to find someone who then gave me its location. When I entered a wave of heat hit me in the face.

Becket:"Hello?"

I used my forearm to cover my eyes since the heat dried them out.

Girl:"Yes?"

I looked to see who the voice came from, and standing to a large furnace was a young girl. Off to the side was a middle aged man sleeping in a chair. I couldn't understand how he slept in this heat.

Becket:"I'm looking for Aelisia. I was told she would be here."

Girl:"You just missed her."

I took a look around the room.

Becket:"Maybe I could ask her."

I whispered to myself.

Becket:"Do you think you could help me out?"

Girl:"Depends on what you need help with."

I pulled the earring out of my pocket.

Becket:"I was wondering what this was."

When she saw the earring her eyes widened.

Girl:"Where did you get that?"

Becket:"Aelisia gave it to me. I know it seems to have an affect on people, but how exactly does it work?"

Girl:"That's actually something I enchanted."

Becket:"Oh, guess I found the right person then. I'm Becket."

I reached my hand out to her which she shook.

Felicity:"I'm Felicity."

Becket:"I've never seen you before. Are you new?"

I was certain I had met every worker in the palace at least once. I may not know everyones name, but a young girl like her would stick out in my memory.

Felicity:"Actually I just started working here today. Aelisia was down here because she was checking up on me."

I thought it was a little strange that Aelisia would check up on a random palace worker so this girl was probably special. Out of curiosity I decided to see if I could find out why.

Becket:"Why would she need to personally need to check up on you?"

Felicity:"Well.....I'm working for the palace as a way to make up for my crimes."

*She must be one of the people Aelisia arrested yesterday.*

Now that I had answer I decided to return to the earring conversation.

Becket:"So about this earring."

I prompted her for an explanation on what it does.

Felicity:"It's a pseudo charm enchantment. Usually a charm enchantment is incredibly hard to do, but I found a way to make one that works similar. It actually has two enchantments on it."

She seemed really excited to explain the earring to me.

Felicity:"The first enchantment invades a persons mind through eye contact and searches for any kind of feelings of love or even lust. Once it finds the right feeling the amplifying enchantment activates suddenly strengthening the emotion it found. The only problem with the enchantment is that if the target holds zero feelings for you it won't work."

A look of pure bliss adorned her face.

*She must be really passionate about enchantments.*

Becket:"So anyone who falls for this enchantment already likes the person using it on them at some level?"

Felicity:"Yes, but it also works for physical attractions not just emotional ones. It also needs to stay close to the users head in order to work so not wearing it makes it stop the enchantment."

Becket:"Why's that?"

Felicity:"The enchantment moves to the users eyes, but it can only move a short distance. It doesn't necessarily have to be on the ear. You could wear it as a nose, tongue or even lip piercing."

Becket:"Are there any permanent side effects from using the enchantment on people?"

Felicity:"Using it once or twice should be fine, but if used on a person too many times they'll begin to act the same way around you even without the charm."

I continued to listen as she talked on and on about enchantments. Eventually I realized she isn't planning on stopping anytime soon so I decided to escape.

Becket:"Well it was nice talking to you, but I need to go find Aelisia."

At the mention of her name Felicity shut her mouth and nodded. Fear evident in her eyes.

*What did she do to scare you so much?*

I left the smithy without a destination. Since I had already learned about the earring I no longer needed to talk with Aelisia. I had wasted about an hour inside the smithy so it was probably time for breakfast. As I approached the dining room I could smell that my guess was right. There were three people already inside not counting maids.

Aria, Celestia and that creepy baby were already eating. That baby was staring at me again while the maid fed him. I sat down on his side of the table across from Aria. Everyone had different schedules so sometimes they would meet during breakfast while other times they miss each other.

Aria:"Where were you last night?"

Aria was innocently questioning me.

Becket:"I fell asleep in the library."

I decided to lie to her. It felt like the safest route to take. She seemed to accept it since she went back to eating. The maid finished feeding the baby and took it for a nap. Sylvia and Eva entered together shortly after.

Sylvia:"Good morning everyone."

She looked composed, but Eva was obviously nervous.

Becket:"Good morning Sylvia, Eva."

They took their places at the table and began eating.

Becket:"So about the Goblin King."

Sylvia looked up at me.

Sylvia:"You'll need to pick your team and get them registered as adventurers today. We have to handle the goblins before they begin attacking villages. After breakfast I'll call the person in charge of communication with the scout team watching the goblin tribes."

Becket:"So when exactly should I set off?"

Sylvia thought for only a second before answering me.

Sylvia:"As soon as possible would be best so if you can you should leave tomorrow."

Becket:"Tomorrow huh."

We spent the rest of breakfast silently eating. I was introduced to the communications guy who gave me all the information he had on the goblins including their current location. The scout team was actually a group of adventurers being paid by the kingdom.

I left the palace and went to Gene's inn. Those vampires would be all I needed for a team.

Gene:"Hey Becket! I've got great news!"

Gene smiled the moment he saw me.

Becket:"What's the news?"

Gene:"Alexa agreed to a date."

I tried to smile, but it was a little stiff.

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Becket:"That's great."

Gene:"I'm gonna take her to a restaurant near the palace. It's expensive, but the vampires pay a lot so I should be able to afford it."

Becket:"Well I'm actually here to see them so I've gotta go."

I was eager to escape that conversation. There's no way I wanted to tell him I've slept with the girl he likes. I quickly shot up the stairs.

Becket:"We're going for another trip!"

I walked into their room announcing my presence. Carmilla perked up when she heard me.

Bram:"Who are we going after this time?"

Becket:"Goblins."

Carmilla:"Goblin blood is disgusting."

Carmilla seemed a little annoyed. I think she was disappointed that it's goblins this time.

Bram:"I don't understand? Why goblins?"

Becket:"The goblin king is rising up so we need to squash them before it turns into a real problem."

Bram nodded in understanding.

Carmilla:"I don't want to hunt goblins!"

She was pouting on her bed.

Becket:"If you kill more goblins than your brother I'll get you some fresh blood."

She jumped up from her bed.

Carmilla:"I'll kill them all! I don't even need Brams help!"

I wasn't sure who would be the donor for Carmillas blood addiction, but I'll worry about that later.

Becket:"Both Bram and I will be there. You'll just have to work hard not to be out done by us."

A looked of determination filled her eyes.

Carmilla:"I'll kill more goblins than both of you combined!"

*She's easy to motivate.*

Becket:"First, are the two of you registered as adventurers?"

Bram:"I'm not, but sister is. Our family doesn't usually allow something like adventuring, but sister insisted. She can be very persuasive when father isn't around."

Becket:"Alright then Bram we're going to get you registered. Do you still have your title stone Carmilla?"

She tilted her head in confusion.

Carmilla:"Title stone? What's that?"

I lifted my hand to show her the one on my wrist.

Carmilla:"I think they gave me a bracelet like that. They had to give me a new one every time I finished a job."

I looked over at Bram.

Bram:"She easily losses things."

I exaggeratedly sighed.

Becket:"Guess we'll get you a new one. Lets go."

Since they were with me I had a reason not to talk to Gene on the way out. Carmilla was acting like a child trying to run off every time I took my eyes off her so I ordered her to stay close. The adventurers guild wasn't very busy so we finished up quickly. Carmilla was already Crusader rank from whatever adventures she went on back in the vampire kingdom.

I dropped them off back at the inn and told them to be ready in the morning then I returned to the castle. There was still work to do in perpetration for fighting the goblins. I had to get armor and weapons for the vampire then prepare a carriage and supplies for the trip. It would only take about a week to get there so we needed two weeks worth of supplies.

I was helping some of the knights load the carriage when she showed up.

Aelisia:"Sup."

Becket:"So you finally show yourself. I was looking for you this morning."

Aelisia:"Why was that?"

It was obvious she understood why I was looking for her since she couldn't keep the smirk off her face.

Becket:"I was wondering if you could explain why you gave me this."

I pulled the earring out of my pocket and brought it close to my face so that the enchantment could activate. Unfortunately it didn't seem to affect Aelisia.

Aelisia:"Are you trying to charm me? It'll take a lot more than an enchantment to make me subservient."

I put the earring back into my pocket.

Becket:"So, why did you give it to me?"

Aelisia:"I thought it'd be funny, and I was right. I thought it would be Aria first, but you ended up with the queen and her daughter. At the same time."

Her smirk had turned into a full blown smile.

Becket:"This earring is dangerous. Felicity told me multiple exposures to it will lead to permanent changes in a person."

Aelisia:"Oh, you've met Felicity. You going after her next?"

Becket:"I'm not going after anyone."

Aelisia:"Did you know she's Felix's sister?"

Becket:"What? That's his sister?"

This new information made me forget about the earring.

Aelisia:"She's apparently a half dwarf."

Becket:"Wait I thought dwarves were short, muscular and hairy people."

Aelisia:"Hm? Who told you that?"

Becket:"No one."

*All the dwarves I saw in movies looked like that in my previous world.*

I didn't like Felix very much, but there was no reason to dislike his sister. If she found out I was her brothers killer how would she react? I did introduce myself so maybe she doesn't know my name. I decided it would be best to clear that up before leaving so I headed back towards the smithy.

She was still there except this time she was alone. The middle aged man wasn't in the room asleep.

Becket:"Hello Felicity."

Felicity:"Oh, you've returned Becket."

She was sitting at a table with a sword in front of her.

Becket:"What are you doing?"

I decided to start with a little conversation. She looked down at the sword then back at me.

Felicity:"I'm enchanting this sword."

Becket:"You don't need any kind of devices to do that?"

Besides the sword there wasn't anything else on the table so I was a little curious.

Felicity:"A true enchanter uses nothing but their mind."

She puffed out her chest with her hands on her sides in a triumphant manner.

Felicity:"A crafter uses tools to carve magic circles onto the item which works just like an enchantment except if the enemy can read magic circles they will know what enchantments you have."

Becket:"Interesting."

I decided to get to the heart of the matter.

Becket:"Actually I came here to talk about your brother."

She stiffened up when I said that.

Becket:"What do you know about his death?"

She hesitated, but still spoke.

Felicity:"My father told me he was trying to defend his honor. Someone stole his future wife so he tried to get revenge and died for it."

Becket:"It was me. I killed him."

I was looking directly at her, but I didn't feel any hate.

Felicity:"I barely knew my brother. Father kept me away from him and his family. Whatever happened between you and my brother has nothing to do with me. I thought father would accept me if I captured the Warlord, but his plan failed. Now I only want to spend all my time working on enchanting."

It didn't feel like what she said was a lie so I decided to believe it.

Becket:"So there's no problems between us. No grudges?"

Felicity:"I would prefer it if you acted like I have no relation to that family. That's how I was always treated anyway."

I let out a sigh of relief. When I heard Felix had a sister it worried me. I can kill people and not flinch, but seeing a sad woman always gets to me.

Becket:"Then I'll leave you to your work."

She forced a smile and waved goodbye.

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