Chapter 92
“The warning of the wolves” Part 2.
Though she found it curious that instead of acting as the elves who had asked for her help, the fairies had asked her to stay out of danger. So as soon as she got to her room after activating the home stone, she made sure she had both the door and the windows tightly shut. It was only when she was sure that she was in no danger, despite the howls of wolves she could hear in the distance, and the nagging feeling that there was something out there watching her, that she took Tsuki out of her inventory.
The little pup’s fur bristled as he growled towards the window, so Kalysto immediately peeked out, expecting to find some enemy nearby. But apart from the pretty scenery, the beautiful flowers and the forest surrounding the fairy queen’s palace, she saw no one.
“Mana sense!” She whispered, spreading her mana in the surroundings, as far as she was able, but she barely managed to extend it a couple of meters outside the window. So she turned and looked at the only source of information she had nearby. “Tsuki, are there any enemies nearby?”
The pup shook his head, but kept growling at the window, as if something out there was keeping all his senses on alert.
“Let me know if anything approaches.”
“Arff!” He gave as an answer, keeping his attention on the thick vegetation outside.
Uneasy at what could be going on out there despite how strong the fairies were, she pulled back the curtains, leaving only a small space for Tsuki to continue watching outside and took out half of the six hundred and twelve cores she had collected in the dungeon with the other heroes.
“I doubt I’ll be able to get the regeneration skill for now, but it doesn’t hurt to have one more option to help ensure my survival... “Absorb!”
The familiar violet sign appeared to her left.
[Does the user wish to absorb the remains of these slime cores?]
[YES/NO]
“Yes," she answered with conviction. And she repeated the same process with the rest, as well as with the twelve that Tsuki had just collected.
[The user has acquired 33% of the skill regeneration].
[The skill Absorb has leveled up to level 7!]....
[The skill Absorb has leveled up to level 10!]
Damn!... I’m going to need a lot more than I thought.
And without wasting any time, she pulled out the rest and absorbed them as well.
[The skill Absorb has leveled up to level 11!]
[The skill Absorb has leveled up to level 12!]
[The user has acquired 22% of the skill regeneration!]
As soon as she finished, she felt restless again.
Tsuki didn’t seem in a better mood as he continued to stare out the window, although he had already stopped growling and the howling of more wolves had not been heard again. However, the feeling that there was something lurking out there, did not leave her.
Annoyed with herself for not being able to calm down, she poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher Alynn had left on the table, but before she drank it she stopped. She poured the water she had poured into the glass back into the pitcher and whispered.
“Blessing!” she said, pointing to herself. “Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Purification! Blessing! Blessing!” She added as she touched the water, watching the golden glow linger for several seconds. “Inspection!”
Two windows opened this time, one blue and one violet. Knowing beforehand that the violet one tended to give much more information and was more reliable, she ignored the blue one.
[Purified and blessed pitcher, made of semi-transparent crystal. Contains low quality holy water. Quantity: 1 liter and a half]
It’s a pity I can’t sell it. It would make me rich for sure if I were on Earth.
She poured water into a glass and filled Tsuki’s cup as well. When she was finally about to drink her glass, a couple of knocks resounded at the door of her room.
“Who is it?” She asked. ”Mana sense!” She whispered, discovering that there was only one person behind the door, but she couldn’t get any other information beyond that.
Two heartbeats later, a soft voice answered from the other side.
“Champion? Is everything all right in there? I’m Hanna. I just wanted to check if you had arrived safely” Kalysto opened the door, still holding the glass in her hand, observing the kind pink-haired fairy. Who didn’t take long to search her room with her eyes, noticing Tsuki at the window. “Has he seen any enemy?” She was immediately worried.
”Not yet, but even though there is no one around, we both have this feeling of something out there lurking.”
“I will inform Galatea and the rest immediately. We will send someone to check. I assure you that we have taken care of all the wolves that were nearby, however if Mr. Tsuki still detects something, we should check. Even though it is small, the senses of a sacred beast are quite acute. And they can perceive things that other races cannot. We’ll check the perimeter again, more carefully this time. Maybe we missed something or they have very good camouflage.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Thank you for your explanation," said Kalysto, full of sincerity. Not only for having informed her of the danger, but because she knew very little about Tsuki, who was still determined not to allow her to see his status window.
“You had better stay inside your room until we are sure we have eliminated all intruders. I will get a guard to guard your door. If you are going out, please keep us informed and do not return to the forest for the time being.”
“I will keep that in mind," Just before Hanna withdrew, her gaze froze on the pitcher filled with holy water. Surprise shone in her pretty violet eyes.
“That...that’s holy water?” Kalysto blinked, not understanding what the warrior mage’s unusual reaction was about. But she recognized the greed and longing shining in her eyes.
“It is, though it is of low quality," she explained, but she could tell from her expression that this fact was of little importance to the fairy. Who seemed to have found a very well hidden treasure.
“ ...It would be possible that... would you be willing... Is there anything the champion wants in exchange?” She asked, after clearing her throat a couple of times and trying to control the desire in her expression.
She really wants it. Kalysto thought. And remembered Caranthir saying that there would be those who would spend half their fortunes to get a bottle. Kalysto looked at the jar and then back at the expectant fairy.
“Get me another one of those jars, since that one itself is not mine, so I cannot give it to you, though I can give you what is inside. But I would like you to get me a large pot of at least ten liters and another jar for me. Plus six hundred cores of slimes. No, wait!” She said as she saw Hanna was about to speak, “let’s make it seven hundred instead.”
I’d better have some left over and not some left short.
“Deal!” Hanna answered immediately, full of emotion, and a violet window opened in front of Kalysto.
[Does the user wish to accept the trade contract offered by the fairy Hanna?]
[YES/NO]
Kalysto looked over the terms of the contract in detail, but it was pretty much the same as she had said. Hanna had simply added that she would have a week’s time to complete her order.
Kalysto thought she was giving her too little holy water for all the work it meant to hunt those slimes.
“Keep in mind that I need the cores in the best possible condition, or the quantity will have to be doubled," before she could agree, Hanna immediately changed the quantity to one thousand. So Kalysto agreed to the terms.
“Please place the holy water in this container and insert it at the bottom of the contract window. Once I do, the same after getting all the objects you asked for, the system will send you a notification and add them to your inventory. -surprised, Kalysto just nodded and did as the excited fairy had indicated. And she watched with curiosity as the pot of dried clay Hanna had given her disappeared inside the contract window. “Thank you for doing business with me!” Hanna said with a huge smile before leaving.
“Ok...that went much better than I expected," she whispered after closing the door.
Less than five minutes after she finished drinking her glass of water, another knock sounded at her door.
“Champion? I’m Pernet. Hanna sent me to escort you in case you need to leave.”
“Just a moment!” Kalysto closed the curtains, so that no one could see anything of what was going on from the outside, and opened the door, “Thank you for coming, Pernet. I need to go check on Artemis,” she commented, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. “Let’s go Tsuki!” she added, watching carefully to see if her pet was on guard with the tall warrior whose skin was the same color as chocolate. But Tsuki ignored him completely after sniffing him twice, as if he was saving his scent for future reference.
The guard’s gray eyes widened in surprise at the sight of him, but he said nothing about it as he escorted them to their destination.
Both Tsuki and Pernet stood outside Artemis’ room, guarding the door while Kalysto healed her.
“Mother suspects that Mhiralla may have learned of your existence. I think it is better for you to return to the human kingdom for a few days. Mother thinks it will be safer for you that way. She said Mhiralla won’t even think of looking for you in a kingdom where she is worshipped," the fairy whispered to her.
“I’ll leave in twenty minutes.”
“Don’t you think it’s better to leave sooner?” she questioned her, suspicious of her sanity.
“I think I found a way to speed up the healing process of the black plague. I had success with a few patients earlier. But since your case is the worst of all..." she said, inadvertently stopping talking as she concentrated her mana on healing the inside of Artemis’ arms and her lungs, which had begun to petrify from the bottom up.
“Are you experimenting on me?” She replied a bit alarmed, as her breathing became heavier. Lately it was getting harder and harder for her to breathe.
And Kalysto noticed it.
“Yes," she answered with honesty. “Now be quiet. You’re distracting me and I need to stay very focused for this," she scolded her, before blessing herself again and casting another of her usual rounds of healing spells.
If it’s Artemis who’s in charge of maintaining the magical barrier protecting this place, I’d better hurry and finish healing her as soon as possible. She thought.
Almost half an hour later, her efforts were rewarded when she was able to completely heal Artemis’ lungs and arms. And although she still needed to be unpetrified from the waist down, she was happy for the progress she had made.
“All right, that’s all for today. I’ll be back tomorrow night," said Kalysto.
“Thank you," replied Artemis with her eyes full of unshed tears as relief invaded her gaze, which a few minutes ago seemed resigned to meet certain death.
“I’m just doing my job," answered the former waitress with total sincerity, not knowing what to do when she saw the deep gratitude and pure relief shining in the fairy’s eyes. “Well, I... I have to go” then she opened the door and after purifying Tsuki, Pernet and Artemis’ room, she put her pet in the violet inventory and took out the home stone that took her back to the small bathroom in the room that had been assigned to her in the kingdom of Balsac.
The next morning, over one hundred and fifty horned rabbits welcomed her into the new dungeon where the small group of mages were now training under the tutelage of the court mages who replaced Milo while he continued to help the king solve various problems.
Well, I hope Alynn knows how to cook rabbit meat. Kalysto thought, as she conjured the skill of ice creation and manipulation and created a lone arrow, which pierced the body of a white, furry animal. And though she made sure to keep a low profile to dispel the initial excitement of the mages when they learned that she was the first to awaken an element, she kept a couple of the rabbit bodies she had hunted inside her inventory, saving one to give to Alynn as a thank you for all the care and attention she had taken with both her and Tsuki.
Three days later, Kalysto had already finished healing the rest of the fairies including those who had been injured and contaminated with the plague during the furtive attempt of invasion and espionage.
The only one missing was Artemis.
And while all seemed to be well in the fairy kingdom, in the human kingdom things were completely different.
One of the summoned heroes had died.