After the shift away from magical tools like staves and wands, a new kind of self-reliance on one's own abilities and skills washed over the world. mage-artificers had less interest in doing other types of enchantments, and the art dwindled as fewer people took apprentices over the centuries. Nowadays it is hard to find those that rely on enchanted gear except high-end hunters, adventurers, or explorers. However, the number of magical spells and single-use diagrams available to cover every detail of life that was fulfilled by enchanted items skyrocketed.
Is this age of reliance on personal power better or worse than before? It is this author's opinion that it is better. Stories tell us how hard it was to find good enchanted gear, and the top-ranked adventurers were those that had a lucky strike and got something powerful. Today, it goes to those with the best training and effort, emphasis on the latter.
Excerpt from History of Adventuring, vol 2.
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The three safely returned from their sky-high all-nighter picnic and reached the balcony of Lumina's bedchambers. Dawn left the door to the balcony unlocked.
"Let's change into the spare set of uniforms, we have class in less than an hour. I'll get started with my brand new lifestyle grimoire to get us presentable." It was a book Aidan took from the academy library. Nobles usually loathed the utilitarian and beneath-their-station branch of magic. They had the coin to hire tier-D casters to do that for them. Until a noble has to escape a hospital and live three months as a fugitive. One can bet that said noble would learn the true value of knowing lifestyle magic himself.
They proceeded to disrobe without a hitch of shame. Their three-bodied-couple status was brand new but even before they had seen each other naked on several occasions. A whiff of water, fire and air magic later and the accumulated sweat on their bodies was gone. it was not as good as a proper bath, but it would do for today.
Dawn went ahead outside the room to check if it was safe for them to exit. Besides Pearl and Cythrel in the common room, it was. As soon as the three entered the room, the trap sprung. The two girls were onto them the moment the door they came from hit the frame.
"How was your overnight date, guys? I must say you have a lot of gall to keep the princess away from her chambers during the night. Lumina was almost reported kidnapped yesterday. Again. Your truancy can't become a habit, darlings." There was a hint of bitterness in Pearl's speech that didn't go unnoticed.
"We got back before class starts, what is the problem? The servants will see a bed used by a single person in need of making and us leaving through the front door." Aidan retorted.
"Yeah, that too. Now, Sora, how good was he?" Cythrel shot for the gold right away.
Sora glanced at Aidan with a mischievous smirk. The only boy in the room protested. "Shouldn't you talk about it when I'm not present?"
"We'd probably talk with Dawn present anyway, and she is a snitch. Now, Sora. Tell me how good was he."
Cythrel glared at the squirrel-kin as if she wanted to burn a hole in her head. Pearl was also interested but was trying to keep it under wraps. Sora touched her neck, played with her hair, pursed her lips and looked away holding her breath, her body tense. All in the span of seconds. For the two inquisitors working on overdrive, it was enough.
"That good? I can't believe," The elf glanced at Dawn. "He must have used some sort of illegal trick."
Are there even illegal tricks in the dealings between a couple? But Dawn's intuition was telling Aidan that the only winning move in this game was to skip play entirely.
"Hurry up, we have class. The headmaster will grill us alive if we are late." Aidan ushered the overeager females out through the common room's main doors, least his privacy be squandered right in front of himself.
Only to be met by more overeager females.
"Good morning, your Highnesses!" The trio of Lumina's ladies-in-waiting was already greeting their benefactor in unison.
That was it. Aidan decided to take a page from the princess' playbook and dump the troublesome work on his other half. He was sure things would go smoother without a one-to-seven gender ratio.
"I'm sure you girls will be more comfortable without me here to hold you back. I'll go ahead to set the laboratory." He parted ways after excusing himself.
Pamela, Lory, and Nancy would resume their job as Lumina ladies-in-waiting. It would mean being extra-careful around Dawn. They were instructed to call Dawn as Dawn. Cythrel later gave them a brief explanation that Dawn was Lumina's persona after she woke up in the hospital and even the King was calling her Dawn anyway. The ladies were to use the name Lumina only if the situation demanded.
They dropped Cythrel at the social studies building, Sora and Gurf went to the knight cadet training grounds and Dawn and Pearl joined Aidan in the laboratory.
Astromelicus announced they would spend a whole week doing foundation exercises for spellcraft and wizardry before tackling any sensitive subjects.
Aidan got access to the restricted library and got about two dozen new spells, including Astromelicus' Lifesight. Their huge mana pool and newfound affinities meant they could use any spell.
It would also give Aidan time to work on his new original spells.
A spell to precisely shear Lumina's soul out of his.
A spell to temporarily grant Lumina control over his body.
The former was being a huge headache. They couldn't experiment with it for obvious reasons. The latter was actually rather easy to implement. The restricted section had a number of volumes on mind magic and there were spells to grant control of one personality over another for someone with multiple personalities. Aidan got these mind spells and modified them to work with souls instead of personalities.
Their afternoon schedule also changed. They were going back to the castle to help Claire with the backlogged paperwork and to work on the tunnel trade agreement terms. In a week and a half, the foreign trade council would meet and the three princesses scheduled a hearing to present their plan.
Everyone was in the castle doing paperwork. The three princesses, Sora and Aidan had experience with management and accounting and were working on the reports and documents while Cythrel, Lola, Deb and 'Lumina's three' were organizing and sorting the documents by date and fiefdom.
There could be a conflict of interest because Pamela, Lory, and Nancy were nobles and there were documents from their own fiefs in the mix, but the same could be said of Aidan. Except his family's fiefs were just a big hamlet and three villages in the middle of nowhere. After all four swore to never hide any embezzlement from their own domains during this work under penalty of death, they were allowed to help.
"How did it come to this, Claire? Why there is this much unprocessed paperwork accumulated?" Dawn asked with utter innocence.
Claire stopped reading, placed the trade report she was reading down and glared at her.
"It is almost all Lumina's fault actually, Dawn." She sighed.
"Sorry? How was it my, her fault?"
By now everyone stopped what they were doing. The atmosphere was tense, the two princesses were starting a blame game. Claire sighed and answered.
"Father was devastated when you got hurt. He was even more after you were kidnapped. After you were taken out of the hospital by Lord Aidan to avoid the assassins. Brother Lucien was away doing mercenary work and he was left alone. You underestimate how important you were to him, Lumina. He was too troubled to oversee the Kingdom and it reflected on the whole court. Some court officials that were less diligent in their work started to just not do it or to take bribes to abscond the embezzlement of taxes."
A wave of guilt hit Dawn and Aidan. It felt like every move they did to fix a wrong caused three new evils to sprout.
"Claire, I'm sorry." Was all she could answer.
"He would be even more devastated if you were lost, little sister. If I may be so bold as to suggest what you should do, go right now barge into his office to give him a hug." She replied with a big grin on her face. That she stole a glance at Aidan was not lost to them.
Dawn stood up, patted her dress and adjusted the rapier at her waist. She turned to Nancy, the closest one.
"How is my hair?"
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"Let me check, Lu... Dawn." Nancy adjusted Dawn's hair decorations. "All set."
"Well, big sister. If you excuse me, I'll do your errand right after I finish preparing. Please help me."
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King Helios almost wished he could let all these crooks out of the hook if it would mean not having these endless hearings and trials. Corruption was allowed to spread over the realm and he knew it was his fault. This tax collector assigned to oversee the southwest fiefs, for example, was going to be executed. Since he was an important marquis third son, the hearing was being done behind locked doors.
He wished something could give him some respite.
Shouting and the sound of metal clashing erupted outside. A rushing sound of splashing, like angry waves. Clanging metal like an entire kitchen worth of cutlery coming down and scraping of metal against stone.
A flash of blue metal cutting next to each of the hinges of one side of the double doors.
All the windows of the room bounced with a dull sound as if something hit them without breaking at once and the side of the door that was cut flew out, pulled by an invisible force.
"Surprisingly effective." A sharp, haughty female voice could be heard.
And she entered the room. Blue steel rapier on the right hand, glowing Light magic on the left. Her long hair waving in the air as if some strange airflow guided them.
The guards stationed at the door reacted.
"Halt, intruder!" They were already swinging their weapons without even sparing time to see who was coming.
With uncanny grace she dodged two of them and parried the halberd of the third with the rapier, actually cutting a piece of the ax head off. The wind seemed to bend and twist around her.
"Dare to point your weapons at me and perish, impudent fools." She slowly moved her rapier in a broad movement while standing up like she was posing for a painting, victorious.
The guards finally took their time to match the voice to the person and took a step back.
The princess carefully walked unchallenged in the audience chamber.
"Honestly, I am distraught trying to ascertain what is more appalling, that you actually tried to stop me, that your reactions were lacking, or that you allowed a single girl to waltz in the audience chamber."
Dawn sheathed her rapier and strode in the audience room with perfectly placed steps in the King's direction. Helios stroke his beard trying to hide his amusement. Some officials made an attempt to intercept her but she shot them down with a glare.
"I shall not be denied in my intent here. Woe shall befall any who attempts to."
It was Lumina in all her glory. Or at least someone that spent the last few months studying hard to pass for her. The way she was glowering left and right as she walked evoked dread memories of her legendary bursts of anger.
She stopped before the King sitting on the throne and curtsied with just a small bend on her knees. The length of her skirt didn't allow for much movement. "Your Majesty, I come here before the Crown today to settle a grave issue. If I may, I will commence immediately."
Helios couldn't read his daughter's face. But he wanted to know what she meant. "You may proceed. But what might be that grave issue?"
Dawn jumped forward, changing orientation to the side, left hand over her skirt to prevent it from rising. Helios felt as if the wind was delivering the girl on his lap, courtesy of her Tailwind spell. She fell with the right hand already wrapping around his neck, the left joining soon to clasp around meeting at the back.
She looked in his eyes with a big grin.
"That my father is not getting the appreciation he deserves."
And proceeded to plant kisses on his cheek, ignoring the beard pricking her skin. After a while, she just rested her head on his chest.
A minister seized the moment of calm to try and get things moving again.
"Your Highness, if you may, please let us continue. This is a hearing of utmost importance."
Dawn opened her eyes and stared at the minister, with a neutral face. "I am well aware of the fact." Behind the scenes, Claire was feeding Aidan information about the hearing that very moment. "Father, allow me."
She kissed Helios once more before getting down from his lap. The poor King was too disconcerted to do anything, still digesting what just happened, his heart fluttering. Without waiting for an answer that would take too long, she took the stage.
"You. Thrice damned you are, before the Twelve, beneath the Crown, and among your peers. Tell me, what worth is your stolen gold now?" She asked the man being tried for embezzlement, corruption, and treason.
Dawn continued, knowing the man would not dare to speak.
"What good it is to make some coin squandering your name, your family and your realm? Is this what Yutis' officials stand for? Woe befalls our lands, enemies threaten to tear us apart and when catastrophe strikes your gold will be worthless, a dagger to your back from betrayal all you'll take from this world. Down to the depths of despair with you.
"For this is the tragedy of evil and treason, it begets even more evil and treason. Look at my eyes and answer me, what gleams the brightest? Is it the tarnished bloody gold your larceny obtained you at the cost of hundreds starving or the righteousness of the sun, warming equally duke and serf?" He didn't raise his head.
"Surely thou can feel it. Thy days are numbered. Thy death is at hand. Say the word and I'll spare you further pain, my blade shall give you a painless demise.
"I said look at my eyes. I shall not be denied. Raise your head and meet wrath. NOW!"
The tax officer didn't want to. His desire was to disappear, to run away. That was no little girl in front of him, he thought her to be an angel of vengeance, burning light so strong he'd be consumed to his charred bones. But he could not resist her command. He looked up and looked at the beautiful face of his doom incarnate.
To Dawn, this was all a theater, a staged and calculated move. The realm couldn't do without capable people and the widespread corruption that took over during the last year would mean a huge purge throughout all ranks, leaving the realm depleted. Training new people would be hard, especially if the families would also become destitute. In the medium and long term, the consequences would be devastating.
There was one possible solution. Instead of slaughtering these officials and losing their knowledge and experience, convert them. But to pull it off, both a strong force and a powerful symbol would be needed. The strong force would make them think twice before committing another crime, and the powerful symbol would serve as a beacon so they would keep on the path.
The powerful force would be a magical compulsion. The symbol was something bugging Dawn's head ever since she set foot inside the capital. Even though Lumina was a bitch, the people cherished her with fervorous devotion. During her shopping trip yesterday she was flustered and embarrassed several times by people smiling to her as if she was the first flower after the thawing of the snow.
Claire's accusation of her being the source of all the problem was meant as a joke but it struck her heartstrings. If only she was strong enough to dispel the tracking soul marker before the rhinorses crushed their vital organs. I only she had the presence of mind to check things with his magic sight before it was too late.
Dawn was shaken from her mental musings with the sight of a crying man.
"Please, your Highness, have mercy."
"What makes you think you are worthy of mercy? Please tell me honestly, if you were to judge someone for the same crimes you committed, would you grant them mercy? Speak, man. Do not waste your last moment." She was stone cold until now, but the last phrase was delivered with a softer voice.
He lowered his head, his tears dripping on the ground.
"No, your Highness. I wouldn't. Please make it painless, your Highness, I beg you." He lowered his head even further, sticking his neck out.
"Painless!" Dawn screamed. "A thousand deaths is not enough for the likes of you. Fire and brimstone, doom and damnation unto you, your name and your house." She was fuming. Her outrage was real. For someone raised with the tenets of his house, those shady dealings like what this tax official did were anathema to Aidan.
"But Yutis does not deal in torture or slavery. Tell me, do you desire death?"
"No, your Highness. I don't want to die, please have mercy."
"You die today. That is certain, your fate is sealed. You must desire rest from your empty existence. You shall have it!"
She placed the hand on her rapier, drawing it and scraping the blade against the metal rim of the scabbard. The sharp sound of metal against metal was all that could be heard over the sobbing of the man. She never took the whole blade out, however. With a fast move, she slid the weapon back. She just let the silence overwhelm the room.
"I did not allow you to look away. Look at my eyes and meet your fate. Raise your head."
The man had a pitiful visage. Tears, snot, a face full of regret. Dawn did her best to not shirk away and avert her eyes. She could understand why girls avoided disgusting things. She could see more detail in that man's face than what she'd like to.
"If you had a second chance, would you ever steal from the realm again? Under the god of contracts, do you swear?"
Dawn took a sheet of parchment. The contract she made with Gurf, now erased with a mark.
"I shall sear your flesh, engrave this commitment upon your very soul. The man you were died today. But if his flesh desires to keep on living, it may do so if it is to serve the realm."
"Yes! Please your Highness, princess Lumina. Do with this lowly servant as you will, command me and I shall do your bidding. Please, Lumina the Merciful, princess of the Sky. Sear my flesh, engrave my soul."
"Sign this contract under the gods. Accept my geass upon your soul. You will work for no coin beyond the bare minimum you need to feed and clothe yourself with the bare minimum allowed by your job. You will wear no jewelry or trinkets of value. You will be hosted as a lowly servant beneath your station. You shall have no House in this new life. Your flesh will toil for the glory of the realm until it stops breathing and decays. This will redeem your past life of its crimes. You will take only a single woman in your entire life, one that accepts you and wishes to be your lawful wife.
"Your former family and House will forfeit only half of their belongings. No one of your former kin will be punished further for your crimes, only for their own." It was actually a boon. They would be entirely destitute, some maybe even executed if things ran their normal course.
The man crumbled on the ground, a sorry mess of a person.
"Your new name is Justin. It means he who stands upright, the lawful. All what you were before is now foregone. Priest! Oversee our contract under the gods' watchful eyes."
The priest came. The contract was filled and signed as Dawn ordered and she placed the spell on the man.
"Major Geass."
As she cast the spell the contract page went blank and a second mark appeared at its bottom. Dawn rolled the scroll and stowed it.
"Justin. Report to princess Claire tomorrow morning. She will give you your first assignment. Find the servant's governess, she will assign you proper lodging. Rest for the remainder of the day and night and think of your new life."
Dawn offered the man her hand. He knelt, closed his eyes and pretended to kiss it. It would be a major blunder to actually touch her with his lips.
"You are dismissed, Justin."
"Your Highness. Your Majesty. By your leave." He bowed and retreated ten steps without turning around. Then he left through the door Dawn broke.
Dawn turned around and looked at Helios. The King understood very well what she did. The man was stroking his beard, a proud, penetrating look, and a smile in his face.
"Your Majesty. I shall return to Claire's side to help her with the paperwork now."
Helios waved at her and stood up. He walked forward and hugged the girl.
"The realm is proud of our princesses. I am proud of my daughters."
Dawn tapped his back.
"Father, spare some of this hug for Claire too. I can't breathe."
Some officials laughed.
"You are dismissed, Dawn. Go and return to your duties."
Dawn curtsied. "Your Majesty." She turned around and made for the door.
Before she could leave, Helios spoke. "Thank you Lumina the Merciful, princess of the Sky." He joked before opening in a hearty laugh.
"Ugh." Dawn cringed.