I was getting a little tired of this ‘forever on the move’ business. While it had been interesting at first, what with being able to visit all these new places, it was slowly starting to get frustrating. I mean, I didn’t even get to set foot within the walls of Uruk!
The train we were on was an international one. Which basically meant that it was the joint property of both Regiis and the Egyptian Empire and was allowed to cross the border between them. So obviously, it was an important vehicle of international trade. The holds were chock full of goods that took up the least amount of space and were worth the most. Basically, luxury goods. It would have been weapons, but armament trade was strictly prohibited between nations.
Uruk was a border city, and with the coming Scarab Tide, it was full of soldiers and mercenaries hoping to make a fortune in the ensuing war. Demand for luxury goods like lace and artware had reached an all-time low.
Thus, the workers unloading our train only had to take the few items in our hold that were still viable – exotic fruits and spices. After all, even if a soldier skimped on clothes and aesthetic pleasure, good food was something they would never compromise on.
The things that had to be loaded onto our train were just as few. The only thing Uruk produced was corpses. More specifically, scarab corpses which could be used as raw material for alchemy and weaponsmithing. The Tide hadn’t arrived yet, so there wasn’t much of that. And even if there was, it would make much more business sense to transport them by wagons to the adjoining cities rather than pay the expensive fees to send them by rail. After all, most of the corpses were of a low Tier and the profit from selling them wouldn't cover the cost of rail transport.
When I was signing the goods roster right before our departure, I saw that the only additions to our cargo were a few crates of jewellery. It seemed that the jewellers were moving out for the duration of the war. Upon asking the stationmaster as I handed the signed roster back, I learnt that it wasn’t just them, all civilians were evacuated prior to the Tide, just to be safe.
So, unlike the rest of the stations we had passed through, we didn’t have half a day to explore while the workers loaded and unloaded the cargo. And even if we did, all we would be able to manage would be a rushed tour. This whole journey felt like entering a library and being told that you could only read the titles of the books. Deeply unsatisfying. Would not recommend.
Anyway…
Turning away from the desert landscape flashing past the window, I turned to the Saintess.
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“So, what do you want to talk to me about?”
She had shed her cloak, revealing a slender figure with breasts just one size too large for her slim frame. A broad leather bandolier was slung diagonally over her shoulder with several pockets across her midriff and chest. With my soul sense I could detect extremely high concentrations of elemental mana within them. If she was anything like Mother, then the pockets would be full of magical herbs and elemental crystals – reagents to assist her alchemical healing.
Instead of answering my question, she reached into one of the pockets, pulled out a folded piece of parchment and held it out to me.
Curious, I took it from her and unfolded it. Reading it, I frowned as I realized what it was.
“What do mean by showing me a transcript of my mother’s request for aid from your organization?" I asked. "A request they rejected.”
The Saintess was unfazed by my tone. “When your mother asked us for help, she included her particular circumstances: The birth of a Hominum child followed by infertility. At first, we didn’t think much of it, but by chance, one of our Praetors came across the request while going through paperwork. She realized what these circumstances really meant.”
“And, what did they mean?”
I had my speculations about what had happened, but it couldn't hurt to have them confirmed by the foremost medical authority in the Continent.
“They meant that your mother had an exceptionally dense bloodline. Dense enough to gain some measure of sentience. We have records of similar cases in the history of our Order. The reason you were born a Hominum despite having parents with such strong bloodlines is because your mother’s bloodline assimilated yours while you were still in her womb,” she replied, her mellow voice calm and soothing.
Silence stretched between us as she gave me time to digest the news. Time I didn't need.
“And?” I asked.
She studied my face for a bit.
“You don’t seem surprised… why?”
“We came to a similar conclusion," I said with a shrug.
"Anyway, knowing all this, why didn’t the Praetor help Mother out?”
“She wanted your mother to join us in exchange for her treatment. If your mother had a weak bloodline like one of our branch members, then the Praetor wouldn't have bothered to put forward conditions. But given how dense her bloodline was, it wasn’t possible to ignore her staying outside.”
‘Ah… so that’s why the Cult stopped paying attention to mother after she became stuck at the cusp of Tier 5 for several years. They thought that she had exhausted her potential. And given her inability to have children, there wasn’t much chance of their precious bloodline spreading.’
“But,” said the Saintess, “as per the latest news, not only has your mother promoted to Tier 5, she is pregnant again. This has piqued the interest of several of our Praetors. After some analysis, they concluded that her bloodline had been removed. And with your abilities and connections, it had to be either you or some Demigod who removed the bloodline…”
I raised a brow. ‘They managed to infer that much from just a few scattered clues?’
“That is why they decided to send me to meet you,” said the Saintess. “Bearing gifts.”
“Gifts?” I asked. "What gifts?"
“Knowledge and healing," she replied. "Your kitsune wife, Ceres; doesn’t she have trouble with her vision? I can fix her eyes.”