Part 1.
The following morning the three of them left out the same southern gate that they had entered the day before. The same pudgy inattentive guard was posted there, this time he was sitting in a chair leaning up against the wall and taking a nap in the most awkward position with the weapon tucked behind his neck and both arms wrapped over the top of it which looked painfully comfortable. If that was even a real thing.
This time though, their business would take them east, into the most northern reaches of the forest. Their target was the dangerous wolf Diagoro, who had earned the moniker “Demon Wolf”, due to his constant attacks on anyone heading into the forest. When Alex asked Lili the reason why she so badly wanted to take the quest, her response was simply, “Isn’t it good to help people?” This caused Alex to raise an eyebrow and secretly question her real intention.
The entire trip there and back, including the time to fight and defeat their target, was estimated to take nearly the entire day, as the distance was a good bit away from the town. Generally, whenever the woodcutters would leave town for wood, they would request the guild for a few guards, and it would be a multi-day trip, depending on the number of cutters and their number of carts. With the appearance of Diagoro, however, those requests had all but dried up, as the last group that had ventured to go into the forest had never returned. There was no confirmation, but the general belief was that they all had died, if not magically disappeared. This made completing this quest essential to the town's survival, as they were getting low on wood fuel for fires. They could get by for a while on the use of other fuel sources for their fires, but how long would those last, how long until they were taking apart furniture to warm their food and themselves? Woodcutting wasn’t a glamorous job, but it was an important one for the continued livelihood of their fellow townspeople.
They walked for a few hours, the forest growing larger as time went on, Alex gave a stretch, adjusting his back. A vestige of his Earthly days when he resided in his older body, which had started to feel the wear and tear of a hard life, and even harsher treatment. He didn’t have those same aches and pains in this newer body, but habits died hard, and while he didn’t notice the action, the others did.
“Late night with the lady?” the elf asked from behind him.
“What are you talking about?”
“Just asking, since you don’t seem fully rested.”
Odwun had a mischievous grin on his face as he imagined whatever he thought about what Alex and Lili could have possibly been doing last night. The truth, however, was quite different. At some point in the night, Alex had woken up surprised to find Lili wrapped around him. She could do so because he often slept heavier than the dead. If he had deemed it necessary, he could have paralyzed her body without waking her and broken free from her grasp, but she hadn’t tried anything inappropriate with him, so he decided to simply leave it be. The only issue was, now that he was awake, he found it difficult to return to sleep, especially with her heightened body heat next to his, making it an uncomfortably long night.
“Whatever you’re imagining, keep it to yourself.” He finally responded to the elf after a short while.
Odwun on the other hand took his short silence as a sign that what he was imagining, at least to some degree, did take place, and that made him grin even more. To Alex, this was simply a side-effect of sexual repression due to the Elvish culture.
As for Lili, who easily had the best hearing of the three, she simply ignored the whole thing and hummed a happy tune as they walked along. She was more than happy to let the elf imagine whatever fantasies he wanted, they may very well be coming true soon enough, or so she hoped.
They arrived at the forest and the first thing that Alex noticed was how old the forest felt. It was part of the same forest that they had been living in, but a different section. It was the oldest part of the great forest that hugged the world’s tallest, longest mountain range. The air was heavy and full of old must, and the trees grew close as if they were attempting to barricade against any would-be visitors. The presence of forestry could be seen but that was only obvious because they had been told ahead of time. It reminded Alex of a particular forest from an old fantasy novel he had read as a child.
“This is the spot where the lumberjacks were attacked. Keep your eyes open everyone.” Alex warned.
There only person who was truly put on guard was the elf. Alex had already created a small invisible barrier around them, while Lili’s natural senses and instincts were far sharper than the men’s, meaning if anything got close, she would know it well before it had the chance to attack. Regardless of their readiness, there was no movement from anywhere inside the forest.
“Seems it didn’t get the invitation.” Odwun joked. He may have been wearing a confident smile, but the sweat coming from his hairline betrayed his nervousness. What normal, sane person wouldn’t be in this situation? They were hunting a monster that obtained a respectable bounty but, supposedly, murdering a large group of people, that included adventurers.
Adventurers weren’t like the local guardsmen, especially the ones from this town. Adventurers were more comparable to trained knights, even the adventurers at the lowest rank of Opal Squares were capable of taking on a few guardsmen at one time. They had to be of course, the first step to becoming an adventurer, as Alex found out, was passing a test of martial and, if applicable, magical skills from an advanced adventurer, usually a high-ranking retired member. If they weren’t able to pass these minimum requirements, the likelihood that they would make it through their first year was less than ten percent, hence the creation of the testing system. Even now, the mortality rate of young Squares was hovering around the fifty percent marker, but if they made it past the first year, that shot up dramatically to around eighty percent.
When you reached the realm of Sapphires and Emeralds, you touch the realm of legendary adventurer parties, with Rubies being the pinnacle of what regular Humes could do, the only reason for the existence of Diamond Princess rank was a way to categorize the power of Heroes from the past, and to help with the classification of superior monsters. Had a Ruby Heart ranked adventurer run into Clavis Braun Sith, without proper party support and preparation, it would have been instant death, even with all that, it still would have been a coin toss between victory and defeat. The Shadow Lord, who had survived fights against both previous heroes, would have required a battalion of Ruby Hearts, which simply didn’t exist.
If one was to categorize the current strength of Odwun, he would be around an Opal, nearly dead center of the rankings, which in turn, made him a fairly weak elf. Given who his father was, this apple had rolled down a hill and landed in a river then washed up on some foreign bank. Making his fear of the current situation, ignorant of the strength of his companions, well founded. Fear is a necessary component of survival after all.
“I guess you’re right, elf. Maybe he hasn’t realized we are here because we are a small party.”
“Or because we haven’t chipped away at the forest,” Lili added.
“Hmm… in that case.”
There was a twinkle in Alex’s eye, that no one noticed, and loud crashing, smashing, snaping, and breaking sounds couldn’t be heard from inside the forest. A large dust cloud could be seen billowing up above the trees.
“What did you do!” screamed Odwun.
“I said hello.” Responded Alex, monotone.
Lili’s ears perked up, expecting to hear the sounds of their target responding to the sudden noises.
“Why would-“, Odwun started to scream before a barrier was put up around his head, drowning out his wailing.
“Anything?” Alex whispered.
Lili didn’t respond, her focus intensified as she waited for any kind of sign that would be expected from the creature known as the “Demon Wolf.” After a moment of silence, she went to say something in response to Alex’s inquiries, but a single solitary cracking sound caused her to quit before she could start. It wasn’t until after the third snapping of a twig did she finally speak up.
“It is coming.” She said, not looking away from the forest.
“Good, this should make things easier. By the way, I think it is about time you told me why you really wanted to take this quest.” He asked her, resting a hand on her shoulder.
As comfortable… no, as enjoyable as it was to receive a touch from him, she knew what this touch meant. He wouldn’t fight her on anything, as long as what she was doing wasn’t against him or harmful to herself, but this was something that he didn’t want to be out of the loop on. She couldn’t blame him either, he had been patient about anything that she wasn’t ready to talk about, and a great and non-judgmental listener regarding anything she was ready to discuss. She felt that she owed him an explanation why they were taking time out of their journey, out of his journey, to help her with this side quest.
“He is an acquaintance from home. He is… was, my guardian’s brother. He was also one of the guards that betrayed my family and brought an end to our Dynasty.” She said, her face full of determination.
“Revenge then?”
She shook her head, “No, I want answers. I want to know why he chose to help those that wanted to kill my family?”
“I see. Then I’ll-“
“With all due respect. Please, let me fight this one. This was an internal issue; I want to use my powers to come to terms with what happened.” She bowed to him deeply.
He couldn’t bring himself to deny her and agreed to her request, with only a single exception.
“If I feel the need to step in, I will. I don’t mean to step on your resolve, and I have faith in your abilities, but you are too important to me to let you come to harm. So, I will protect you over your pride.”
This was not a matter he would budge on, they both knew that, and for as much as she wanted to show him her strength and prove, not only to him but to herself as well, that she could take care of herself. Yet, she also loved his unending desire to protect her. It was like a love language between the two and considering all the things she had gone through in her relatively short life, having someone who would and could protect her, was the greatest feeling in the world.
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Part 2.
The wait wasn’t long before their target arrived at their location. Before them was a towering beast whose dark fur seemed to trap any light that dared to venture too close. It bared its fangs which were the size of chef knives but were a mangled overlapping mess like too many teeth had sprouted and they were all fighting over their place in his mouth. His deep burly growl, a clear threat to his perceived prey, was vibrating within their chests. The eyes were dark, with red pupils, the size of teacups, that flashed to and fro between the different members of the group.
Had Alex not previously encountered the being known as the “Forest Queen” on the large black cat from his first week in this world, it would have only been fitting to call this creature, “Forest King”, save for the fact that that title now resided with Alex himself. One surprising title Alex did notice was, “Unintended Traitor”. Something that he refrained from telling Lili for now, deciding not to make matters more complicated than they already were.
At first, it threatened to become a stare-down until Lili stepped forward to the front of the group. There was an aggressive determined look on her face, which threatened to overshadow her natural beauty, not as if that was a real possibility. Yet, the visual of a young beauty staring down a mangy giant monster from a dark and twisted forest had been a story told time and time again, but each one had failed to truly capture the image before Alex’s eyes. His protective nature screamed at him to move his body and completely destroy the threat to his loved one, but his promise kept him at bay. He would allow her to do what she desired and would only move if the situation called for such an action.
The tension could be felt like a weighted blanket on the two bystanders. The combination between the barrier around his head and the weight of the situation was proving too much for Odwun. He frantically tapped his hand on Alex’s chest, screaming for him to remove the barrier. This would have proven futile had Alex not bothered to look away only for a second to see what the elf was doing.
“Oh… right, the barrier.” He said passively, before waving his hand, only to be met with an audible inhale of air. “Forgot all about you, sorry.” There was a jovial way in which he said it, alluding the elf to question his sincerity.
“How could-“He was stopped by Alex raising his hand again, a clear threat that if he continued to speak Alex would undoubtedly resort to putting up another barrier around his head. It was only at that moment that the elf realized that Alex was scared. This entire time Alex had always had a confident demeanor, he always seemed to know what was happening and how to handle it. This situation though was out of his hands, and that lack of control unsettled him.
“Murakami, why did you betray the dynasty!?”
Only the deep growl of a predator met her question.
“You wouldn’t know, but your brother is dead! Kenzō is dead!” She continued, ensuring she was loud enough to be heard over the creature’s rumbling vocals.
Same as before, there was no hint of any recognition to be seen from the creature.
“Does she have the right creature?” Odwun whispered.
Alex would have probably questioned it as well had he not already verified the creature’s name and other information. He could only speculate on how Lili knew that it was Murakami, especially from a random sketch on what was essentially a wanted poster. He simply chalked it up to them both being Beastmen and them having special ways of recognition. Yet, if that was the case, why didn’t he recognize her back? It was possible that he had never seen her in this form, depending upon how close he was to the imperial family, but if she recognized him, it should work the same way in return.
“Unintended Betrayer? Was he controlled? Is he still under control? Shit… why doesn’t this screen show things like that… incomplete piece of garbage.” He quickly thought through a list of likely possibilities, but he came to the conclusion that the most likely scenario was that Murakami, the giant wolf, was currently still under the influence of an outside force. “Will she realize it though?” She had asked to take care of this situation and he had every intention to keep his promise to her.
“Nothing for your brother? What about the people that you murdered? Or the dynasty that you brought down!?” She roared before charging forth.
Lili was a powerful caster, and while she and Alex had spent some time doing intense physical training, against a true vampire, she was still far from being an expert fighter. Clavis had been weakened by Alex in their first fight, and before Lili and Clavis had ever fought, Alex had been sure to weaken him again, meaning he was far from being the same creature that had nearly done them in on their first encounter. Lili chagrining in when the tactically sound decision should have been to stand back and work her magic against a creature like this, caused Alex’s stomach to drop, but still, he held himself back.
Maybe it was a delay because of the unconfirmed mind control, but Lili’s initial hit, a straight punch with her right hand, landed squarely on the creature’s head. A loud cracking sound could be heard when the hit landed, implying that bones were breaking under the force of her hit. When Alex zeroed in on the young girl, he could see a dim, pale-purple light around her hands. “That copycat.”
She had in fact taken his style from their training together, applying her own twist to hit, this case being, the implementation of her Dominion Magic to her hands. This allowed her to alter her hands in any way that she could imagine, as anything in that space was completely subject to her whims. While it was very similar to how Alex would strengthen his body with his pure mana, the use of her magic in this was taxing not only on her mana pool but also on her mind, as it was constantly having to stay active between the fight and her ability. “Bad choice against this opponent. What are you thinking? You will tire yourself out for nothing.”
The wolf didn’t even seem to register the strike, which seemed odd to everyone. Any animal, a wolf especially, would be more agile and attempt to avoid strikes. They would fight with the intention to wear out their opponent before going for the lethal strike. Alex could only seem to attribute this strange behavior to the possibility that the creature was under someone's control. “If that is the truth, that may be her saving grace.”
She leaped back after the hit, taking a second to investigate her opponent’s reaction. It was sluggish and its focus was drawn to Alex, rather than the person who had just cracked its skull. The stare-down lasted only long enough for Alex to turn his head away, at which point the wolf seemed to come alive. His attention became wholly focused on Lili, with bared fangs dripping with saliva, a lowered stance with legs contracted like coiled springs, its claws seemed large and sharper than they had before, and there was an aggressive aura coming off him that felt like a physical wall smashing against her body. He was no longer on the defensive against the most dominant predator and could focus on the insect that was buzzing around him.
Her response to this was a mix of excitement and fear, like someone stepping up to the edge before a jump, their only thoughts were, “why am I doing this?” and “I hope the cord holds.” It takes a truly special kind of person to be able to willingly venture before the jaws of death and feel a rush of excitement. In Lili’s case, she was grateful she was finally being taken seriously and wanted to test just how much she had grown against a true opponent, but at the same time, she couldn’t deny the fear she felt at her first real life or death battle.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“I am going to make you answer my questions!” she screamed before charging at the animal.
It met her challenge by striking out at her with a large paw. She hadn’t realized the difference between the two of them until now. The weight that came from behind what was, for it, nothing more than a simple swipe of the palm completely blunted any edge to her attack. She had to shift her mana from within her hands to in her arms, imagining them to be the hardest, toughest thing she could a large shield of crystal-like material. The force of the impact sent her flying back into the ground. The beast may have gone in for the kill if not for an icy chill crawling up the back of his spine, when he peered back, the source of that deathly aura hadn’t moved a muscle.
Her arms were numb, and her breath was hard to steady. The difference between them physically had been obvious from the start, but she wanted to win with the skills she had been taught, why else had he taught her to fight? She gritted her teeth as she got up off the ground and stepped forward toward her opponent. Refocusing her mana into her limbs to make use of her [Dominion Magic], but there was a pain in her head when she did. She realized right away, she was running low on mana, while she did have [Mana Regeneration], it could apparently not keep up with this style of combat, a fact that she would have to remember from now on. This wasn’t the time for worries like that though, she had to find a way to finish this fight fast. Her opponent was an enemy she wouldn’t forgive, and she owed it to all of those that were no longer here to avenge their wrongful deaths.
Again, foolishly so, she charged into the fight. This time, however, her tail and ears, the fox ones, had come out. Like a warrior changing forms to power up, she was faster and judging the impact from her strike, stronger too. The wolf quickly reversed its attention to Lili after taking a second to verify that the terrifying one wasn’t planning on attacking him. He had plenty of time to again swat away the fly buzzing around him, or at least he thought he had. He misjudged the girl’s speed, which had easily tripled with her more beast-like form, and the hit this time compared to the first wasn’t even comparable. With the hit that landed on his jaw, he was convinced that it was now broken.
A mischievous grin, if it could be called that, appeared across its face. The place where Lili had just struck already seemed to be in the process of being repaired, the bones straightening back into their proper places. This time it went on the offensive, barreling forth till it was nearly on top of her. In her new form, she was faster and stronger than before, but she hadn’t realized just how low that bar had originally been set. It was too fast for her to react.
What she felt was that she couldn’t only imagine what it would feel like to be struck by a stone column. She didn’t even have time to adjust where the mana was and took the full brunt of the hit in her abdomen, threatening to force out what little food they had eaten earlier to come up. When she did get a bit of her sense back, she realized what had hit her was the creature’s tail. It looked soft and fluffy, but when it contacted her, she realized how deadly that illusion was. The fluffy fur was more like rods coiled together creating something like a whip made of stone.
The next strike came just as fast, this time it was the front left paw, claws poised for a kill strike. There was no way she could avoid it, no way she could defend against it. All she could do was use the last seconds to curse just how powerless she still was, no… how stupid she had been in this fight. She had power, she had just been stupid with it, she wanted to show him how much she had grown, using what he had taught her, and she had failed at that, spectacularly.
The dagger end of the claw came forward, and she had just enough time to close her eyes, barely enough time to ready herself for the strike that never came.
“That’s enough. HEEL BOY!” The voice was extremely hostile, and an aura of death filled the area. When she looked up, Alex had stepped in between them. She wanted to cry and scream at the fact she was still being rescued. “Get up.” That was all he said, it was short, abrasive, and completely directed at her. It was the first time in her life she had ever felt so afraid of anything.
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Part 3.
Throughout the entire fight, the wolf had been weary of the creature called Alex. He didn’t know why; it was simply a matter of instincts. He knew for a fact, that this creature was far more dangerous than he appeared to be. This worry coming from behind him had, several times, stopped him from engaging in the fight fully. And now… it was apparent how right his instincts were. What should have been a kill strike on the young female was stopped with nothing more than the tip of a finger, and a looked that would kill the Lord of Death himself. When the words “HEEL BOY!”, entered his ears, it seemed to overwrite any other command that was being given. The wolf dropped to the ground on its belly next to Alex’s side. While he had no desire to fight the man, he couldn’t understand why his body responded in such a way. “This is better than death, right?” Was the thought as it viewed the world in the view of nothing more than a pet for the first time.
In the seconds before this happened, Alex and Odwun were watching the fight break down. It was noticeable from the beginning that Alex had been on edge the entire time, his annoyance at the whole situation was seeping out of him causing both the elf and the wolf to consistently be on edge. The proper thing would have been to ask him if he was okay, but Odwun was under the impression that if he had done that, he may not have lived to regret it.
In an instant, the source of all that malice vanished from that spot and was now more than fifty meters away between the girl and the wolf. There was a command that rung out through the air, reminding Odwun of the other day in the forest, his body threatened to respond to the command, but luckily enough he managed to keep hold of his pride and he watched the giant wolf drop, and rest at Alex’s side.
“What is that power?” Odwun whispered, barely audible to his elven ears. The idea that one could command the will of others through a simple command was terrifying. He began to imagine how it could be used against the world order. Images of nations of people falling simply because this man wished them to, people from kings to peasants turned into slaves at a simple command. It was here that Odwun concluded that he needed to find a way to stay at Alex’s side, the most dangerous place can sometimes be the safest.
“What are you thinking?” Alex roared.
“What do you mean? I was fighting that monster!” Lili shot back.
“Why are you fighting him physically? You specialize in magic?”
“I was using what you taught me!”
Alex’s eyes seemed to shine with the flame of irritation. He knew she was smarter than this, but he couldn’t figure out what she was trying to do.
“I didn’t teach you that so you could fight against creatures like this! I did it so you could fight off idiots like the elf!” He yelled loudly, even pointing in the direction of Odwun.
The elf made a move like he was planning to argue his case, but quickly thought against it and lowered his hand.
“What are you doing? This isn’t like you. I get that you have some kind of history with this wolf, but… You say that you were using what I had taught you, but from what I saw, you threw all that training away and were simply wailing at him like some spoiled child. Had I not interfered, you would be dead right now. Is that what you want? To just die? If that is the case tell me now.” His voice was stern at first but grew shaky as he spoke.
It wasn’t just the weight of his words that piled onto Lili, but the pressure of the air around him and the stare that pierced through all of her defenses, all combined to make her feel like she was a small child again, trapped in a cage, naked and alone. The fact that she was choking back her tears allowed her to retain the smallest bit of her dignity.
“I am sorry. I lost myself.” She said solemnly.
It felt like a child, who knew they did wrong, answering their parent with exactly what was expected, but not necessarily with what was the truth. This only infuriated Alex even more.
“You two, wait here.” He raised a hand and barriers appeared around the elf and the wolf. “We need to have a discussion.” He then picked up the young fox girl like she was a sack of potatoes and walked into the forest.
They hadn’t gone very deep, it wasn’t necessary, all that they needed was a bit of privacy, more than two is a crowd after all. When he felt the distance was sufficient, he dropped the girl, unlovingly, onto the ground and then found a sport to rest his back against a tree.
“Speak.” He said.
“Ouch… could have been gentler.”
“Idiots don’t get my sympathy.”
“I’m an idiot then?”
“That display speaks for itself. Now, what was that? That wasn’t you?”
She was quiet for a time, her eyes were done, focused on her knees which were showing from underneath her dress in this position, the specks of dirt contrasting with her otherwise pristinely white skin. In reality, her mind was focused on an image that was far away in a distant time. The image was of white walls towering into the sky, they were so white it was as if the craftsmen had plucked out the clouds from the sky and used them to construct the great citadel of her people. Yet, with a blink, that bright beauty had turned brown and orange, and the flames of betrayal destroyed everything before it. She could still feel the heat on the flames on her face and the popping and crackling sounds in her ears, so loud that it was deafening. Her home was lost because of a power struggle that had nothing and everything to do with her, yet she was the only member of her clan to survive, spirited away by the only allies she had left.
Now she had a chance to get some answers, from the one that had cut down her father no less, she had lost herself in her desire for that revenge. Back when she had said that she had lost herself, she was being genuine, regardless of how lifelessly she had said it. As far as her being apologetic for her actions, that was a different story. She hated that man, she wanted answers for why he had done what he did, but then she wanted him to suffer. Kenzō’s brother or not, he was her enemy.
“Alex. I don’t want to die, there are still things that I must do before then.” It was an unexpectedly mature and sincere response from her, one that he would have given if their places had been switched.
“Then why the behavior?”
“It is just as I said, I lost myself. I hate that man. He is responsible for so much pain and suffering.”
“He was part of the coup d’état that happened within the Kimmimonian Dynasty then? So, you were the princess that was supposed to be married off to the Lions, yet instead, they offered up your little sister and they lost their way to the throne. The question is why the Wolves joined sides with the Lions. I never understood that part, Vathsvala didn’t have enough information… Seriously the fact that gods aren’t omnipotent is both a blessing and a curse. Ah… sorry I got lost in thought.”
At first, Lili was surprised that a stranger had known about the politics of her homeland, but then she felt silly. If there was any single human in the world who know about it, it had to be him. After all, he had been able to have full discussions about the political world, Elves, Dwarves, and Humans… it did not matter, he knew about their histories as well as current politics, in some cases even better than Evona and her “messengers” did. Anytime someone asked him how he knew; he simply gave the response “I did my homework.” Of course, he would know about her country too, probably better than her, minus some finer details.
“Yes, my betrothal to the Lion clan’s heir was passed to my younger sister. My mother was concerned about their ambition. Her worries proved to be true when a sea of soldiers attacked the capital. My clan’s closest ally was the Wolves, who were the ones that opened the gates for our enemy. Fires ignited everywhere around me, and the sounds of fighting echoed throughout the castle. Not just blade on blade, but the howls and growls of beasts and monsters filled the air. As I made for my mother’s chambers, I came upon my father’s corpse, in his fully transformed form, and Murakami standing over him, drenched in his blood.”
Her jaw clenched tight at the mention of the scene. Alex understood why. A fully transformed Beastmen would be given tremendous power; strength, and speed that no human, save maybe a hero, could match. Couple that with their heightened instincts they could become a ferocious fighting force, a company of hundred of these could decisively defeat an army of a thousand humans and still be ready for round two. Their only weakness came from when they were defeated. Any Beastmen that was killed in a fully transformed state would lose their soul. All living creatures were part of the great cycle, once they died, their souls would return to Yggdrasil to be reborn, the exceptions were monsters. When their crystals were destroyed, their consciousness simply vanished into nothing, and for some unknown reason, fully transformed Beastmen were treated the same way.
This realization led to the creation of different sects within Beastmen society. Some believed full transformation was an abomination, others believed it was the true nature of all Beastmen, calling for their believers to stay fully transformed at all times. The latter sect didn’t last long, as many of their members seemed to devolve into wild beasts that had to be put down due to attacks on other members of society. The royal family had historically taken a conservative approach of always avoiding transformation, while the Lion Clan chose to always remain in half transformation. They reasoned that their appearance was intimidating and a deterrent for would-be attacks from foreign countries.
“Are you sure that he was the one that killed your father?” The question was simple enough, but it was also personal and could be seen as insensitive. He was essentially asking her to rethink everything she had believed for all these years since the coup. He knew how he would feel if someone had asked him to reconsider the death… the murder, of his father. He would want to punch them in the face, which anymore, meant death.
“I know what I saw and smelt. He was covered in my father’s blood and standing over his corpse. He killed my father.” She gave a stern look that said she had no intention of budging on the matter, and Alex had no intention to argue it further.
“I see. Well now that the fight is over, we can ask him all about it.” He said readjusting his position by swapping what foot was standing on, and which arm was tucked on which as they crossed in front of his chest.
“Why would he answer honestly?"
“The correct question is, would he dare lie to me?”
“…” Her only response was a dejected look as if she had already given up.
“We also need to come up with a proper punishment for you. You are too smart to behave the way you did. Hmm… I am adding another week to our arrangement.” He said, pushing himself away from the tree before starting to walk in the direction that they had come from.
“What!?” She cried.
“You think that I would just forgive you for almost dying? No, not at all. I’m livid with you.” He said turning around to face her. For only a split second there was an indescribable force that was exerted on the area. It happened so fast that it was nothing more than a strong gust of wind, but Lili understood quite clearly that that had been created with nothing more than bits of escaped mana that were feverishly churning within his body. She was one of the closest people in the world to him, both physically and metaphorically, yet even she didn’t understand how terrifyingly powerful he had become.
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Part 4.
The pair returned to the scene of the battle. Examining the sight of the two boxes in front of him, Alex smiled and said, “Good, just how I left you.”
This had been nothing more than a joke at their expense, even if they had wanted to, there was no escape from the boxes. While the boxes were of decent size, for the elf it was no different from staying in a small room though it lacked any comforts like a seat or cushion. These barriers did possess a finite amount of breathable air, with the size and how fast the couple had returned, he hadn’t had any problems with it.
As for the giant wolf though, it looked rather uncomfortable. The lack of space for him meant that he could not move or adjust himself as needed. This left him feeling very cramped, and given his height, his head nearly hit the ceiling of the box. As for breathable air, it hadn’t taken him very long with his panting to begin to notice the changes in the air, and was starting to feel lightheaded when the two strangers reappeared from within the forest.
Without another word, their confines vanished into nothingness. The elf immediately sat down on the soft grass beneath him, while the wolf began choking on the clean air, taking in as much as possible to make up the deficit.
“All right wolf, you were beaten, she wants to ask you some questions.”
Alex had taken a position next to Lili, his arms were crossed, and he wore a look of annoyance. Apparently, whatever had happened in the woods hadn’t pleased him, and the wolf’s instincts were screaming that the last thing he should do was make this human any more upset. Yet, there was something else in the back of his mind that wanted to fight back against this man.
Lili stepped forward, only slightly ahead of Alex, but well within a protective range. She took a deep breath, readying herself for whatever was to come. It was a straightforward and blunt question. Had the wolf truly been an enemy, a rebel, there could only be one answer.
“Why did you kill my father?”
There was a look of confusion in the creature’s eyes, then a flash of recollection that happened so fast, if Alex had not had heightened senses due to his abilities, he would have easily missed it. What followed was a deep guttural growl directed at Lili, struggling against some invisible force like it was trying to attack.
“I guess whoever is on the other end finally realized who you were and really doesn’t like the fact that you are alive,” Alex said, before placing a hand on her shoulder and gently pulling her back while taking a protective position in front of her.
“What do you mean?” yelled Lili.
“Exactly what I said.” He replied curtly. “This beast is being controlled by someone else. It is one of the other reasons that you are still alive.”
Alex walked up to the beast’s face and grabbed both of its ears with his hands and proceeded to stare into its large eyes.
“I don’t know who you are. I can assume you are probably in the vicinity of Kyogo, which means once I get there, I will make finding you a priority. I will make sure to hurt you in unimaginable ways for the suffering your ploys have done to my loved one. But, for now, I will simply end this connection.”
Alex sent a surge of mana throughout the creature’s body, causing it to wail in pain before crumbling to the floor. Alex gave it a thorough look over before being satisfied and returning to his position next to Lili. “So, if the creature is strong enough, a surge of pure mana won’t kill it.”
“Lili, give him a moment to recover, then ask him again.”
“How did you know?” Asked Lili, but both she and Odwun were interested in his answer. Mind control magic was rare and extremely powerful. In most cases, no one, especially the victim was aware that they were being controlled.
“There were a few giveaways, but it doesn’t matter right now. He is coming to.”
As he had said, the creature, with a shake of its massive canine head, seemed to be returning to a state of recognition. Its eyes were clearer, and its demeanor was calmer, if only slightly. It looked around at the people around it as if seeing them for the first time.
“Where am I? Who are you?” It asked in a calm, dignified voice that in no way matched the mangy creature before them.
“A group of adventurers, here to solve a problem. We are in the western part of Andorius, the human continent.” Replied Alex.
“How did I-”
“Not important. There is someone here that is, and if you would do us all a favor, answer her questions.” Alex said, interrupting the wolf. He then made a motion toward Lili, indicating that it was her turn to speak.
She was surprised by how easily he had handled everything to this point but quickly corrected herself before anyone had the chance to notice. She felt silly, of course, he would handle it like so, it was Alex after all. With her sanity firmly in place, she collected herself and straightened her clothes before stepping up to the forefront.
“Murakami, you played a central role in the rebellion against the Kimmimonian Dynasty, as the daughter and sole survivor of the Fujiwara Clan, I, Fujiwara-no-Inari, command you to tell me about your reasons for such a heinous crime.”
When she spoke, the pride and dignity of a ruler came forth. She had no special ability as Alex had, he double-checked it, just to be sure. This was her pure natural given talent, the talent that could only be found in those of royal blood. She had what historians called, “The Right to Rule”. It didn’t care if you were just or if you were corrupt if you were a true noble of a dignified lineage, with power and confidence you could command a nation with nothing more than your words. With how annoyed he had been with her before, he was genuinely happy to see her metamorphosis begin to take place.
The wolf, compelled by the words of the young princess, bowed his head instinctually. The furthest he allowed his eyes to wander was her feet, had he gone further without being authorized to, it would be an egregious offense. This was his monarch, his empress, yet he still didn’t understand why they were here and not within the white halls of the palace.
“My lady. Apologies for my failure, I do not understand your question. What do you mean that there was a rebellion, and last that I remember, your father was in perfect health just yesterday? In fact, we were discussing your future. Forgive me, it is not my place to announce this to you, but there are plans to have you marry my younger brother, Shinji.”
The news that a princess was supposed to be betrothed to another noble was no big shock, but the news that the future fiancé was part of one of the rebelling clans was something else entirely. For Lili though, images came flooding in of her once-future-betrothed, a young sweet, and gentle boy, one that she and her sister had often played within the palace gardens.
Then there was the matter of the Murakami’s memories, they were years behind. Did this mean that he had no memory of the rebellion, no idea that he had been the one that killed her father? This plagued her with a new decision. Did she punish a man who was essentially innocent because he was under the control of another, could her psyche take just letting her father’s killer just walk away free? She was so angry her body wanted to shake, but whether it was her will or the dignity of the blood running through her, she fought back against the desire. She was about to open her mouth but was interrupted by another.
“I want to hear more of what you know.” Alex had interjected himself into the conversation.
If he had done it on purpose to give her more time to calm herself or not, she couldn’t tell. Regardless she was thankful for it. Also, hearing what Murakami knew may prove useful in finding out the identity of the real traitors.
“Murakami. Please tell us everything that you can remember. It is important.” She said more softly than before, but still retaining all the presence of a monarch.
“Yes, my lady. I will go back two weeks ago, to when the betrothal to the lion cub transferred from you to your sister.”