Chapter 43
“Have you ever seen a wound like this before?” the undertaker asked, pulling back the sheet.
Yecha frowned and leaned in towards the body. A young man lay dead and naked on the table. A gory hole pierced straight through the heart. A blank look of confusion on the man’s face; nobody had bothered to close his eyes. There was no dignity in this death.
“It looks like the damage caused by a high-level archer,” she said, sticking a finger into the gaping hole. “Someone capable of infusing their arrows to the point where the projectile passes straight through the body.”
“As you say,” the undertaker agreed. “He’s the fourth one I’ve heard of with a wound like this in the last week. A well-to-do lad. Supposedly on his way home from a night out. Looks like robbery, it does. All of his valuables were missing, at least.”
Yecha sighed. A high level murderer was not something that she had time to deal with right now. “Has word gotten out?”
“Not so far as I’ve heard. Nobody likes talking to me much, however,” the undertaker reminded her. “Except the others in my profession, of course. Which is how I knew of the others and thought to bring it to the crown’s attention in the first place.”
“Of course,” Yecha said. She slipped the man three gold coins and patted his shoulder. “Let me know if any others appear with wounds like this, and put the word out to your compatriots to do the same. I’ll take care of the investigation among the living.”
~~~~~~
Tom allowed Nigel to straighten his tie, staring blankly into the distance as he allowed the dread of the oncoming celebration to wash over him.
The last few weeks had been hard on Tom. From the moment that he’d heard that Tilluth village had been razed by the dragon, he’d felt a pit in his stomach that just wouldn’t go away. He’d known that there was nothing that he could do; he was no dragon slayer. All he could do was put his faith in Antoine to resolve the issue before anyone else died.
So he’d put on a brave face and pretended nothing was wrong while waiting to hear of Antoine’s success.
When the news came, it was far better than expected. Only one villager had died in the initial attack. Unfortunately Tom didn’t get a name, so he didn’t know which one of his neighbors had died. For that matter, he still wasn’t certain which of the villagers had died to the maneating Flame-lynx that had plagued the village a few months ago.
That had been his fault, and the weight was heavy on his soul.
Nobody could blame him for the dragon, however. Right? Surely that was just bad luck.
“Is something wrong, my lord?” Nigel asked him.
“Just social anxiety,” Tom lied. Although that was half of the problem as well.
In celebration of the news that Resh the violet dragon was dead, the king was throwing a ball, and Tom had been unable to avoid his invitation. Nor could he think of an excuse that would be acceptable for not appearing. ‘I feel awkward when I’m not in the territory of a Core I control’ was not something that most people would understand.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t function if he didn’t control the nearest Core Stone. Most of his abilities wouldn’t work, however, and aside from that he felt a constant low level anxiety which was distracting.
“I’m certain you’ll do fine,” Nigel assured him. “You’ve got the steps down for the most common dances, and you’ll be able to excuse yourself from the less common ones if they end up being performed. Besides which you’ll have Princess Rowena on your arm most of the evening. I’m certain that she’ll be able to handle anyone who gives you trouble.”
“Right,” Tom agreed, although secretly the fact that he’d be dancing with his fiance for most of the evening was as much of a stressor to him as the unknown socialites. He got along well with Rowena, but this would be his first time appearing in public with her. And the king was using this event as an excuse to announce their engagement as well!
“You’re acting like you’re off to the hangman’s,” Nigel chided. “It’s a social event. At your age, you should be excited to attend such an affair.”
“Nigel, the largest social event I’m used to attending is the spring solstice in my village, where about fifteen hundred people would cram into the village proper. The adults would get drunk and sing offkey while the children danced and played catch-me and ruined our good clothes with grass stains and caramelized fruit.”
“Sounds like a wonderful time,” Nigel said.
Tom glared at him. “You know what I was saying! I’ve never been to an event like this before!”
“Well, I have,” Nigel said. “And I’m quite confident that you’ll handle yourself with grace and aplomb. You simply need to stop fretting over what might be and focus on the moment, My Lord. Deal with each new situation as it arises and you’ll find that the evening will be over before you notice it.”
Tom exhaled. “Thanks, Nigel. I’ll try that.”
They stepped out of the dressing room, where they joined Grant, Ingrid, Emil, Elisa, Jessica and Akira. Not all of the summonees from Earth were attending this party, but Tom had invited the three that he’d summoned first, and they had each invited a plus one from among the new arrivals. He would have invited Aisha as well, but she hadn’t returned from her mission of mercy yet.
Ingrid stepped over to him. “No, no, that’s not right,” she said, and she adjusted both his collar, tie, and the way that his coat hung over his waist. “There, that’s better. I made this suit especially for you, Tom, so you should learn to wear it properly.”
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“Thanks?” he said. “I do appreciate the new suit, Ingrid, but I don’t see what was wrong with the ones I’ve been wearing.”
“Nothing, if this were eighty years ago,” Ingrid said. “Men’s fashion has progressed significantly on Earth since then. While suits are a staple, the differences in style are subtle and distinctive. You’re a man of distinction, Tom, and you should dress like it. Not like you’re wearing a hand-me-down from your great-grandfather while he was a boy.”
“Right,” Tom said, shrugging. Nigel, meanwhile, was studying him carefully to determine the exact adjustments that Ingrid had made to Tom’s new suit. It was hand sewn by her using the finest of linen from Tom’s parent’s inventory. Tom had to admit that it was more comfortable than the suits that he’d grown accustomed to wearing since arriving in the capital.
“I see,” Nigel commented, although what he saw he kept to himself.
“Are you excited, Tom?” Jessica asked. She was also in a dress designed by Ingrid, an evening gown of scarlet silk. All of them were wearing fashions from Earth designed by the Seamstress from Norway. Ingrid’s Skills allowed her to craft clothes rapidly and efficiently, and she had worked hard on their outfits tonight.
Tom was confident that whether or not the flower-loving seamstress teamed up with his parents, she was certain to find a lot of customers after tonight.
“More nervous than excited,” Tom admitted. “I wish we were holding this event at the Guild Hall rather than the palace. I can sense Northstone from here, and its distracting because I don’t Control it.”
“Unfortunately the A.G. isn’t ready to hold a large event like this quite yet,” Grant admitted. “Although the renovations have been proceeding apace since you finished the primary construction, it’s simply impossible at this point to--”
“I know, Grant,” Tom interrupted. “I’m just complaining. It’s uncomfortable is all, and I can’t get used to it.”
“I understand,” Grant said, masking whatever annoyance he felt at the interruption. “Well then, I believe we’re just waiting for Rowena now.”
As though she were waiting for her name to be mentioned, Rowena emerged from her own dressing room at that moment, accompanied by her handmaiden who had helped her change. Unlike the others, she was dressed in Welsian fashion, with an emerald dress accompanied by a long matching scarf that wrapped around her shoulders. The gown matched the jewels in her earing and necklace perfectly. Or perhaps it was the other way around.
Or perhaps they were both supposed to match the color of her eyes. Which they did. Perfectly.
She glided into the room, and Tom swallowed. While he’d always thought of Rowena as a pretty girl, especially after her class evolution, seeing her dressed up made her outright beautiful.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“You look lovely,” Jessica said when Tom was slow to answer. She nudged him, and he blinked, realizing that was supposed to be his line.
“Yeah, um, sorry. It’s a very nice dress, it looks great on you,” he said.
Ingrid, meanwhile, walked a circle around the teenager, examining the dress with a professional eye. “Are these scarves a common feature of Welsian fashion?” she asked.
“They’re sort of traditional,” Rowena explained. “Heroes from Earth have always influenced fashion, but these scarves are actually based on the toga, which is the traditional symbol of power. You’ll see Uncle Fenard wearing one tonight, apparently. He’s gotten into a traditionalist mood lately for some reason.”
“Toga?” Jessica asked. “You mean like frat-boys dressed up in bed-sheets?”
“Curious that we share that tradition,” Grant said. “Togas were the traditional garment of the wealthy and powerful in ancient Rome in our world.”
“It’s really not so strange, in that case,” Tom said. “I didn’t know this until recently, but according to the historical documents, the founders of Welsius came from Earth. Rome, specifically.”
“Wait, what?” Jessica asked. “You mean they were summonees like us?”
“Not according to Gaius the Wise,” Tom answered. “According to the Records of the Dawn, the world of Reus was empty when they arrived. They were rebels in their own world, using magic to bridge the gap between world in order to escape certain defeat at the hands of an army that vastly outnumbered them. Once they were through, six Progenitors were selected by the Core Stones. Those progenitors became the Ancient Kings and Queens of our world, who founded the six great nations.”
“So then why isn’t everyone speaking Latin?” Emil asked.
“Because of what happened next,” Tom explained. “They knew they didn’t have nearly enough people to found a nation with the ten-thousand or so that they brought through. Especially since it was mostly an army of men, I guess. So the ancient Kings populated this world with Summon. They got thousands of people from all over Earth, speaking all sorts of languages and worshiping many different gods. Somehow it all boiled down into what we have today.”
“Huh,” Jessica said.
“I’m surprised that things weren’t more violent,” Grant admitted. “It seems to me that with all of the religious and ethnic strife we face on Earth, I’d expect summoning a veritable army of ancient Heroes from Earth would be a recipe for disaster.”
“It was,” Rowena said. She flicked her scarf back and sighed. “There hasn’t been a real war in centuries, but in the days of the ancient kings there were uprisings every few decades. Ironically a lot of the rights our citizens have nowadays are a result of the ancient royals just trying to make everyone get along.”
Tom considered, then decided to say his theory. “I think that it’s their fault that the nations are falling today,” he said. “They’re the ones who set things up to make it harder to people to obtain combat classes. Gaius said it was to keep the power in the hands of those worthy of it. If they had left things how they were supposed to be, then I don’t think that Velund or Petosh would be in the situation they are in today.”
“On the other hand,” Grant said, “It might have meant that the social cohesion which your nations enjoy today never formed in the first place. It might be the cause of our current struggles, Tom, but I’m not certain it’s our place to gainsay your ancestors.”
“I guess,” Tom said. “I just wish that it didn’t fall on me to fix everything.”
“It doesn’t,” Rowena said. “You’re not alone. It falls on everyone. You just happen to be slightly more important to everything than most people.”
“Yeah, what she said,” Jessica agreed.
“I did it!” Akira exclaimed. Everyone turned at the non sequitur. Floating just in front of the teenage Japanese boy was a small flame. He looked up and blushed to see everyone looking at him. “Sorry. I thought that since everyone was talking about stuff I don’t know anything about I’d practice my magic.”
Grant began to laugh.
“Come, it’s about time for us to be introduced,” he said, and they followed him to the procession where the master of ceremony was awaiting them.