Chapter 108
“Before the Escape” Part 3
Kalysto planned to escape before the end of the ball and read the whole book in the quiet of her room before they had to leave the next day for the south and face the demon king with Thomas and the army that came with him.
And while she managed to succeed with the first part of her plan, she didn’t do so well with the second.
Two things happened almost at the same time as soon as she finished reading the second chapter while lying in bed with only a T-shirt on and a warm sheet over her body.
Four knocks resounded loudly against her bedroom door a second before a violet window appeared in front of her.
[Kalysto, I need you to come immediately. Mhiralla has once again sent a horde of monsters that have spread the plague around our barrier. They even managed to create a rift that Artemis is sealing as we speak. But several fairies have been infected and I need you to come heal them and purify the affected area.]
“Of course, boss! Please give me five minutes and I’ll get dressed," she commented as she put the book on her bed, took her black pants out of her inventory, and hurried to put them on as the knocking against the door grew louder and louder.
Kalysto continued to ignore them as she put on her stockings, but the doorknob began to turn and when they tried to open the door, it slammed against the heavy couch she always put against it to prevent anyone from entering while she slept.
“Kalysto, we know you’re in there because you have the couch up against the door," said Rita.
“And it’s because of things like this that I don’t have many friends!” she muttered under her breath. Alice would have taken the hint immediately, “It’s not a good time! Come back later!”
“I don’t think that’s possible, Miss Luna. Either you open the door right now or I’ll break it down,” Kalysto froze at the sound of Milo’s soft voice.
Shit! She thought as she finished tying the laces of one of her tennis shoes. With a frown, she stood up, dragged the couch aside, and opened the door wide.
On the other side of the door, Koden, Rita, and Milo were waiting for her.
“Sorry. He appeared out of nowhere when we were already here," Rita said softly, approaching her. Kalysto stepped aside to let her in, but blocked the way again with her body.
“What are you doing here?” she growled, annoyed to see that her plans had been ruined.
I need to finish reading that book and find out how much time I have to do the third mission before this continent goes to shit! Did you have to come and interrupt me just now?
“I heard voices," Milo commented as he scanned the room with his eyes, looking at the unmade bed and her messy hair. “Why put a piece of furniture against the door?”
“To prevent a pervert from entering while I sleep, of course," she replied, annoyingly.
“I assure you, Miss Luna, that the guards will not let anyone into this area without my authorization," he replied, arching an eyebrow and leaning against the door frame. Despite his serene appearance, the strong smell of alcohol wafted from his breath and Kalysto folded her arms. Uncomfortable at their sudden closeness.
“And why should I trust them?” They both stared at each other in silence for a few seconds as Kalysto belatedly remembered that she had forgotten to put on a bra and that the queen was still waiting for her to go do her job.
“I see," was all Milo said, and as he watched carefully the closed bathroom door inside the room as he took a step trying to enter uninvited.
At that very moment, a powerful lightning bolt struck the gardens of the royal palace, breaking the magical barrier that protected the palace, which had been conjured centuries ago and on which year after year Milo and the rest of the court magicians worked to find a way to strengthen it.
And a violet window appeared in front of Kalysto.
[How dare that filthy human enter a maiden’s room uninvited and interrupt my summoning?]
Kalysto was also annoyed by the audacity, but frightened by what the queen might get up to, she immediately grabbed Milo by the wrist preventing him from advancing.
Sleep well! Sleep well! she thought, pouring a large amount of mana into making him sleep just as a second bolt of lightning struck so that Milo’s body hit the ground and a bottle of green potion he had been holding spilled on the floor.
“Help me put himt on the couch!” She asked Koden, who came in and did as she asked, while Kalysto peeked outside the door to her room, making sure no one else had seen them, but neither of the two guards watching the hallway were paying attention to her, so she hurried to close the door. And put the couch back against the door.
“Kalysto, what’s going on?”
“I don’t have time to explain, but stay here until I get back in a couple of hours, and make sure you read the book on my bed!” She approached Milo and checked that he was really asleep. still, she put her hands on each of his cheeks and conjured again in a low whisper: “Sleep well! Sleep well!” Pouring out her remaining mana.
[The Sleep Well skill has been level up to level 6!]
[Warning! The user has less than 10 MP left. Please wait a few minutes before attempting to use any skills again or your health will be severely affected!]
A violet window appeared before her.
[You should have let me get rid of him!]
“I’m sorry, but if you do that, my friends and I would be in trouble,” Kalysto quickly backed away and ran to put on the other tennis shoe she was missing.
[What the hell are you into, kiddo?]
“It’s a long story, and unless the boss is willing to take my friends back to Earth, it’s not worth wasting time.”
[...]
[Why would I do such a thing? I already have everything I need from you. And whatever I need, I can easily get it in the nine years of contract that we need.]
That took Kalysto by surprise.
“Nine? Wasn’t it three?” She questioned as soon as she finished tying her shoes.
[Time in our worlds runs differently.... But we don’t have time for explanations now. Get ready to be summoned and make sure those pesky, perverted humans don’t touch my magic circle!]
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“Yes, ma’am," she murmured, stepping aside, far enough away so that neither Koden nor Milo’s long legs could reach her.
The queen’s circle began to draw itself on the ground, just below Kalysto. Its violet light flooded the room.
“Rita, could you please close the curtains? The last thing we want is for someone to come and check while I’m gone. And remember that you both signed a contract with me in which you promised to keep my secrets. Well, this is one of them.”
“That’s the same summoning circle that brought us to this world!” Koden exclaimed, his face bathed in worry.
“No, it is not. The ones that brought you were blue. And unlike you, I was not brought here against my will. I signed a contract of employment with a being of this world. And this," she said, pointing to the circle, “is my new boss calling me to come to work. I will be back in a few hours. Don’t forget to read the book. What will happen to this world is written there,” she said, just before the violet light enveloped her completely and disappeared.
As soon as the strong light of the summoning circle dissipated, Kalysto opened her eyes and found a beautiful forest surrounded by black smoke. The orange leaves of the trees that had not yet been infected with plague or miasma emitted a soft glow, illuminating the place.
Quickly, Kalysto opened her inventory and took out a mana crystal.
[Does the user wish to absorb this mana crystal?]
[YES/NO]
Yes! she thought at the same time as she took out a bottle of holy water.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired 5000 MP!]
“Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Purification!” She immediately exclaimed and took a sip of holy water before putting it back into her inventory. “Ezhil Dispel Ezhil Purification!” The golden light of her skills spread more than twenty meters around her, and after a couple more rounds, the black smoke of the miasma had completely disappeared.
“Champion?” Galatea’s unexpected voice made her jump in shock. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s all right," she said, holding a hand to her heart. “And the monsters?”
“Completely exterminated," announced Hanna as she landed near her.
“Great, now which one of you will take me where I need to go?”
“That would be me, champion," immediately a soft breeze surrounded Hanna, who began to float in the air as she approached her and, after hugging her from behind, they both floated a few meters above the ground. “First, we need you to purify the whole contaminated area. Then I will take you to where the sick are.”
“Okay," answered Kalysto.
Half an hour later, they had already finished purifying the whole part of the forest that had been affected after the attack.
“Can we take a short break before going to check on the sick?”
“Of course, champion," answered Hanna, landing near a rock so they could both sit down.
“Do these kinds of attacks happen all the time?”
“Not that often. But Mhiralla usually attacks from time to time, disappearing almost as soon as she attacks the barrier to allow her monsters or miasma to pass through. Then she always flees quickly, long before the queen can get to the scene of the attack and cut off her head.”
“She sounds like quite the coward.”
“Oh, she definitely is!” agreed the fairy.
They were both silent for a minute while Kalysto took out a thel and ate it. Hanna imitated her and also took one out of her inventory.
“By the way, you told me the other day that if I was interested in trading to count on you for it," said Kalytso, seeing that she was running out of vials of holy water.
“Of course, is there anything you wish to obtain?”
“Would it be possible to get a few of those leather bags that are enchanted to hold hundreds of items in them?”
“Of course!” Hanna replied with a friendly smile, “I see that the champion likes to collect items as much as I do.”
“Yeah, well, to tell you the truth, I’m running out of space in my inventory. Do you think you can also get at least two two-liter jars and a couple of vials? Better make it ten of each and if you can get me some five hundred mana crystals, that would be even better.”
“Mmmm...” the fairy turned her head, looking at her carefully under the light of the two moons. “I have never heard of anyone collecting holy water, but considering that there are usually periods of time when it is a very difficult item to get, I can see why the champion might be interested in doing so. Let’s do this! If the champion agrees to give me four liters of holy water, I will get her the ten jars, ten enchanted bags with a capacity of five hundred items and a thousand mana crystals.”
They both accepted the trade contract
“By the way, how come you were able to send me a message the other day?” Hanna looked at her in complete surprise at the unexpected question.
“When the champion has made a deal with someone it will appear as a bright spot on her map. Even if they have terminated the contract, while the person is still alive you only need to touch their dot on the map with the intention of wanting to communicate with that person. And a window will open, allowing you to dictate your message.”
An hour and a half later, Kalysto was back in her room after having finished healing the fairies. She appeared in the bathroom as she always did every time she returned, happy with her new acquisitions and because she had taken the opportunity to fill the twelve jars with holy water that Hanna had given her, she gave two to her as they had agreed, and managed to keep the precious liquid inside the new vials. Still, she refilled the jars again with water, going back to purified holy water, preferring to have them full and available in case of an emergency.
As soon as she left the bathroom, Koden and Rita were waiting for her, the former with her arms folded. The latter, with a pale face after having made progress in the reading.
“So technically you could have escaped on your own the whole time, but you didn’t?” he questioned.
“Exactly," answered Kalysto, approaching Milo again. “Sleep well! Sleep well!”
“May I ask why you didn’t run away?”
“For several reasons, one of them the debt I owed Amanda.”
“Who is Amanda?” Rita interrupted.
“Edward’s aunt," Koden answered.
“Oh, right!” said Rita.
“And because I needed information about Alice’s whereabouts and for that I had to talk to Thomas, but I already did that.”
“Why don’t you ask your boss to help us escape?” Rita asked.
“Because she doesn’t like humans. She signed a binding soul contract with me only because I was about to die. Even now if I don’t keep my part of the contract, I will die. Besides, why would I enslave myself for another nine years to free one of you when we’ve only known each other for such a short time?”
For Alice? Sure! But I still need to win more points with the boss before I risk bringing up the idea. And after what happened with Persephone I don’t think now is the time for that. Kalysto thought.
“That sounds like a very dangerous job," commented Koden, understanding her point.
Kalysto shrugged.
“It was either accept that or die split in half by the axe of the orc who was summoning the portal the other day. I honestly didn’t have much of a choice, and they’re pretty decent to me, plus the food is much better than here.”
“Kalysto even the food in a prison tastes much better than here!” Rita complained.
“Have you figured out how the heck that orc managed to summon a portal?”
“We’ve been digging through the books you stole from the library for over a week and we haven’t found anything to give us a clue!” Koden growled.
“I suspect the crystal he was holding helped him, but I have no idea where I can get one or what kind of crystal it was," Kalysto shrugged.
“Maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong library," Rita said suddenly. “Why don’t we look in his?” she commented, pointing to Milo.
“Rita is right. If not in his study, maybe we could find something in his room.”
After putting Milo to sleep and how many guards they met on the way, as stealthily as they could, they moved towards the study where Milo had given them the first classes on magic and stole all his books.
“Magic really is a wonderful thing," sighed Koden after handing the last book to Kalysto, who put it in one of the enchanted bags she had exchanged with Hanna.
“Don’t get too excited, we’re still missing his room and we have to hurry before the party ends and someone goes to visit him," muttered Hanna, nervous that they might get caught.
The next morning, as the coachmen prepared the carriages for the long journey to the Southlands. Darla, sitting in the temple carriage, arrived at the king’s palace, only to be greeted by chaos.
“What the hell happened here?” she demanded.
“The palace library has been burned to the ground and the Duke of Lanish, along with his aide, have escaped from prison without a trace," one of the guards informed her.
Darla clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“That is not important now. Take me to the king at once. Tell him that the second prophecy has been fulfilled and a tower full of monsters has appeared in the west. The heroes must travel there as soon as possible.”