Book 3. Chapter 15.
“Secrets.” Part 2
So that’s why she won’t let me heal myself despite the risk it poses to me. Kalysto closed her eyes at the same time as her shoulders slumped as if she no longer had the strength.
She could finally understand the real reason for the whole thing, yet that didn’t stop much of her from feeling disappointed.
And here I thought that if I worked hard and made fast progress with the quests, I could get her to unlock my healing skill, gain her trust, send the rest of the heroes back, learn the spell to travel between worlds ... maybe even gain her respect ... and so I could find my place ... a home for myself. An unpleasant grimace distorted her face as she kept her eyes from watering with tears, bent her knees, hugged them, and hid her face between the crook of her arms and her knees. Not wanting Hanna to see her crumble. How foolish and delusional I was...why did I ever think she could like me?
Ever since the night her father disappeared, she had lost her home. Her mother and she had never really understood each other, not when all her mother cared about was the attention of the man who warmed her bed. Kalysto had lost her deranged attempt at home again that afternoon when her stepfather murdered her mother in the kitchen.
I never fit in at the orphanage, she remembered. Always studying so she could make sure she could get into a university while the rest of the kids avoided her, pointing her out as a murderer. Leaving her more and more alone.
So, she ran away and moved to another city. Blasky seemed as good a place as any to start from scratch.
But when she finally got a scholarship, soon after the dorm she was in was destroyed in an earthquake. She had to take a second job to pay off the debt on the computer she had bought, which was buried in the earthquake rubble, and because of the overwork, her grades dropped. Although she did not lose the semester, her grades were not high enough to keep the scholarship, and she had to drop out. After a couple of low-paying jobs where she was just exploited, she was finally able to get something decent, go back to university, and get a cheap room, thanks to Mrs. Tanner.
But she had lost that too now.
Even when she had become so attached to Alice, her best friend, she started hanging out more and more with her new friends. And that, coupled with Kalysto’s limited free time, which didn’t match Alice’s busy social schedule, had caused them to start drifting apart.
Even though they had promised to move in together as soon as they finished their respective careers.
My whole life has been just one shitty thing after another. She realized suddenly as tears streamed down her cheeks, their warmth contrasting with the cold of the early morning. I get up only to fall again and keep fighting. And now that I’m in another world, things don’t seem to change.
Even when she had a system and was much stronger than before... the blows that life threw at her seemed to get bigger and bigger.
And I couldn’t even finish enjoying my vacation or sleep as much as I wanted to!
<
Kalysto rolled her eyes, not at all pleased by Persephone’s poor attempts to comfort her.
<< Stop whining like a little baby! Just get stronger, kill them all and that’s the end of the problem!>>
Kalysto frowned.
“Shut up! I’m too tired and hungry to listen to your nonsense! Besides, no one asked for your opinion!” she complained.
Do you realize it’s your fault that the queen won’t let me heal myself? If she had done it from the beginning, everything would have been so much easier for me!
<
And we both would have died at the hands of that orc if it weren’t for the queen! She refuted, annoyed. Besides, if it weren’t for me, you would have starved to death! You can’t even cook an egg without letting it burn!
<<...>>
<<...Black is our color, it goes well with us...>> Persephone defended herself at the mention of her disastrous cooking skills.
<
I’m not in the mood for this! I’m not going to argue with you anymore! And before Persephone could argue, she added: Come on, Kalysto, focus!
[The passive skill Mental Defense has been activated.]
The familiar coldness washed over her from head to toe, immediately silencing Persephone’s voice.
A few seconds later, after glancing away from Hanna, Kalysto wiped away his tears discreetly and withdrew two theles from her inventory. She offered one to the fairy and took a bite of the other.
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An eerie silence stretched between them and the silent forest as they both ate, each deep in thought.
“If I were in the queen’s place I wouldn’t have even given me the chance to have the system, much less prevented my murder,” whispered Kalysto without understanding why the queen had helped her in spite of everything, while she watched how the wind gently swayed the treetops and a couple of leaves fell off to be swept away by the soft breeze under the strong light of the two moons. “If it were her, I would not have taken the risk, nor would I associate with someone who has a possible accomplice of my daughter’s murderer inside...” Then she turned her head to look at her carefully. “Knowing the risk, then why did she choose me as her champion and not someone else? Also, how is it that you are so sure that Persephone serves him or that she works with him?” After Tsuki told her that the eye delivered something to Persephone, there was no doubt that they knew each other, but that didn’t mean they worked together.
“...” Hanna looked at her sadly before answering.” We know they are related because their energies are similar. Do you remember what happened with the elves who kidnapped you?”
“How could I forget?“
“It’s not only that her energy is very similar to his, but that many fairies died under that same spell.” Fear shone in Kalysto’s eyes, who hurried to close them as ice invaded her body when she understood what she implied.
He had taught that spell to Persephone.
No wonder the queen warned me that she would personally deal with me if I ever lost control of Persephone like that again. Her hands shook as she realized how close she came to dying. But then why didn’t she kill me after that? Why keep giving me a chance?
“... And about your other question... I’m afraid I can’t answer it right now...” Hanna whispered, but Kalysto could no longer remember what it was about. She was too surprised that the queen had not killed her at that instant to think of anything else.
A long and uncomfortable silence stretched between them, until after ten minutes, Hanna clapped her hands and spoke again.
“Why don’t we go back to the previous topic and get away from such shady subjects?” She tried to cheer her up while they both made time for the fairy to recover enough mana to take them back to the queen’s castle. “Were we talking about mana circles and the ability to absorb ambient mana, as humans do, or mana crystals, as we fairies and practically everyone else do?” Kalysto watched her struggle to change the heavy atmosphere that had been created between them, so she decided to collaborate with the kind fairy.
“You know you still owe me several enchanted bags, right?” She said suddenly, remembering the deal they had made while she was in the tower and had run out of space to store the collection of weapons she collected both in the tower and in both dungeons.
“Sure! I have them here. Let me give them to you!” Then they finished the contracts they had pending. Just as a second awkward silence formed again, Hanna cleared her throat several times, as if to attract attention. “And that’s why we mages normally work so hard at creating our mana circles to increase our mana storage capacity,” she explained. And Kalysto had to try hard not to laugh at how uncomfortable Hanna looked as she forced herself to change the subject. So she decided to play along.
“...It is my understanding that when a mana circle is created a crystal protrudes from the skin of the person’s chest,” she said, worried that maybe the demon king was right and there was something wrong with the method she used to create her mana circle, since she never had such a gem appear to her.
“In most races it usually happens. However, that is not the case for the fei and fairies. It is said that our queen is the most beautiful creation made by the gods and the favorite of the god of ether, Fieal, and the god of darkness, Ygaerae. So in order not to ruin her beauty, they modified our species so that when we develop magic (which is a gift from the god of ether), the beauty of our species and therefore that of the queen, who is an earth mage, would never be harmed. The same goes for light elves, however I understand that neither humans, nor demons, nor the rest of the other elf classes, have this advantage. If I remember correctly, dwarves don’t have this benefit either, but that would be difficult to investigate now,” she said, looking very curious all of a sudden. Which caught Kalysto’s attention.
“And why is that? Am I sure you can fly into their territory at any time?”
“...” Hanna looked at her and sadness and compassion shone in her eyes. “Champion, while we were in your world, the whole dwarven territory was destroyed by monsters. It is said that three portals appeared there. In fact, I heard that portals have been appearing in other territories,” she told her in such a low voice that Kalytso had to come closer to hear her. “Only a small group of dwarves survived, and that was only because of a deal with our queen.”
“...What will become of them now?”
“Since my aunt destroyed the capital of Elenium and the elves fled from there after what they did to you, my aunt gave the surviving dwarves permission to settle there.”
“... I understand that the kingdom of Thagyol, which is just north of Elenium, was destroyed by the monsters a few days before I arrived. Isn’t that dangerous for them?”
“As far as I know there are no more monsters in that area, but it is likely that there are remains of miasma or the black plague, so they will probably require your services, champion,” she added the last as a smile full of complicity. “I tell you this only because I like to make deals with you,” she added, as if they were accomplices.
“Of course,” she went along with her. “So the dwarves are now vassals of the queen?”
“Mmm, more like they are in great debt to my aunt, she not only brought them here but also provided a good amount of holy water to heal their wounded.”
“How is it that the queen can get so much holy water if there hasn’t been another non-human saintess in centuries?” Curiosity flooded Kalysto’s voice when she asked and Hanna smiled, very proud of herself.
“Although I’m left without my nice collection, my aunt gave me a beautiful sword with penetration spells conjured by my cousin Artemis, along with a small mine of mana crystals,” she announced proudly, immediately catching Kalysto’s attention, whose eyes glittered with greed which made Hanna smile.
“How much do you want for the mine?”
“How much is the champion willing to offer?”
“...” Kalysto observed her silently before speaking again. “A lake two meters deep and as wide as the mine. If you dig it or get someone to dig it, I’ll fill it with holy water,” she bargained, sure that she would give it to her. And Hanna did not disappoint her.
“Deal!”
Several hours later, after lunch, Kalysto used the scroll the demon king had given to her and arrived in Desmond’s kingdom.
A large room decorated in shades of beige, and beautiful landscape paintings with golden frames and large windows welcomed her.
“It is a pleasure to see that you have finally decided to come and visit me, Kalysto,” the sensual voice of Aegir Donovhar echoed throughout the room. The hairs on the back of Kalysto’s neck stood up, and she immediately turned around to face him while activating her defense.
[Passive skill Mental Defense has been activated.]
Aegir was wearing red this time, dressed so elegantly that he looked ready to attend an elegant party, instead of just receiving her in a landing room.
“Thank you for your invitation,” she replied, looking away from him to focus on the elderly couple smiling warmly at her, and the young blonde girl who ran up to her with open arms and her flashy blue eyes filled with tears.
“You’re alive! I can’t believe you’re really alive!” Alice sobbed as she hugged her tightly.
“I’m glad to hear you’re okay too,” Kalysto whispered, returning her embrace.
“I’m so glad you didn’t die this time!”