“You’re back!” Tsarra embraced him at the door, her gentle eyes twisted in worry when she saw the fatigue on his face. She let out a yelp upon witnessing the condition of the Vampire, her face bloodied, and clothes torn.
“I’ll warm up some water” she said, hurrying up the stairs.
The liberated duo followed her upstairs, entering their private rooms to wash themselves and change their clothes. ‘I should check up on her injuries…’ Exill knocked on Envy’s door prior to entering, surprised to find Tsarra tenderly applying poultice to the scratches on the Vampire’s face and ribs.
“Thanks Tsarra, don’t push yourself as you’re not fully recovered yet.” Exill lingered for a moment watching the two have a bonding moment.
Returning to the living room, he sat down by the table and dug into the vegetable and egg pie Tsarra had heated up. He listened to the gentle murmurs of conversation emanating from Envy’s room, his ears itching, curious to know what they were talking about.
After some time, Tsarra emerged, gently closing the door behind her. She walked over to him, brushing his pie filled cheeks and tousled hair with concern in her eyes. In his seated state, the petite woman was slightly taller than him and her jade eyes glimmered, amused by the novelty of this reversal of roles.
“Is it over now?” she asked, noticing the cuts on his palm.
“Yes, and I received a reward for our troubles. Let’s shop you new clothes tomorrow.”
“But I can repair-”
“No, those garments are stained in blood and beyond repair, go shopping with Envy tomorrow, she needs new clothes as well.” Exill cut her off, unwilling to put up with her penny-pinching ways that exceeded his own.
Tsarra caressed his hand, touching the hard callus in the centre of his palm, formed from months of painful training with the spear. Exill felt a shiver run down his spine when her fingertips brushed against the cuts on his hand, a slight tickling sensation as his skin absorbed her healing mana. Exill looked up to see her examining him intently.
“Do you think you will ever stop fighting?” she asked.
Feeling a distinct sense of déjà vu, he smiled ruefully, fondly remembering Luna and her dislike of the Labyrinth. ‘I wonder how she is holding up.’ He wondered briefly.
Searching deep within for the right words, it took a few seconds until he could properly respond. “I… don’t think that would be possible. You know most of my secrets, but I haven’t shared one recent discovery; Aberrations are drawn to me. We might be safe for now in Ark, but I don’t know how long that will last with the Inquisition breathing down my neck.” Hesitating slightly, he added in a soft voice:
“Soon, I will leave Ark…”
Tsarra nodded, having suspected that would be the case, yet his words hit her like a brick wall. She turned to withdraw her hands from his, but was surprised when he held tight, a mischievous grin on his face.
“Another thing I failed to tell you is that I’m sitting on an impressive magic that I have yet to master, capable of transporting me across vast distances in an instant.” He swept his hand across the air to emphasize this point, “Even if I were to leave, it wouldn’t be goodbye, I will drop by from time to time.” He squeezed her hand in affection, rising to clear his empty plates. “I need to periodically check up on how my favourite apprentice is doing after all.” He added with a cheeky smile.
“I am your only apprentice.” She replied, smiling at his joke. However there was a hint of sadness in her eyes and she went back downstairs to rest.
Exill washed the dishes while deep in thought, ‘I really should leave soon’. The encounter with the Bailiff had been too close for his liking. Having said that, there were many things he needed to do before leaving, and as always, money was the key limiting factor.
‘I need funds, not only to leave this country, but to access the Spirit Guide.’ The Spirit Guide was a tome stored in the Library that contained the sum of the Kingdom’s knowledge on how to obtain jobs. It cost a thousand Denars to access and required prior approval. To fully utilize the tome, he would need to unlock [Archivist] first – a job he suspected would grant him photographic memory.
He returned to his room to consult with the Divination tools, and was surprised to find Envy already sitting on his bed. He paused, knowing she hadn’t fed in two days, but he had yet to recover vitality from healing Tsarra. Incarceration with a loaf of bread had done little to aid his recovery.
Noticing his reluctance, Envy patted the spot beside her. “I’ve already taken a blood potion” she grimaced, expressing her opinion of them, “I just want to talk.”
Exill hesitantly sat down beside her, suppressing the urge to check the colour of her eyes. It had been four days since he emplaced the mana laced command to prevent her from enthralling him, and it took all his self-control to not reiterate the command right now at this moment.
“We are halfway there.” Envy said wistfully, unaware of his internal struggle. She was simply happy with his earlier forgiveness and this momentous milestone.
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“Yes, only 15,000 Denars and you are free. We are four months ahead of schedule despite your incessant nagging on how I spend every singly Denar…” he added. It was strange to think he was sitting next to the woman who had saddled him with so much debt.
“I’m... sorry for getting you imprisoned, and everything else.” She said, the remorse sticking in her throat.
Exill turned to her, surprised by the sudden apology. He had never heard her say sorry before. “… It’s a shame you had to say goodbye to the horse, I know how fond you had grown of her.” Exill changed the topic, not mentioning how he had overheard her naming the mare ‘Princess’.
“Mn, she was nice.” Envy hummed, fondly remembering the sensation of freedom.
Exill let the silence grow longer between them. In spite of the earlier apprehension, he was unprepared to find himself enjoying her quiet company. He wanted to ask about what had happened inside her cell but didn’t know how to broach the sensitive topic.
“What did you talk to Tsarra about?” he asked instead.
“Stuff… not everything is about you, you know.” She replied, with a ghostly hint of her trademark teasing.
“I know. It’s just that you were both in there for a while and I was curious what you guys had in common.” He fumbled, surprised by her sudden change in tone.
“That is between me and her.” She replied softly, and provided a rare smile to soften her rebuke.
Exill felt his heart beat faster, both taken by her warmth, and the grievous sight of the bandages covering her ravaged face. However, there were some things that needed to be dealt with first. Reluctantly, he broke the mood by reaching out towards the drawer containing the spare notarized contract, knowing it could no longer be delayed.
“I need you to sign this.”
Envy reached out and read the terms, forbidding her from enthralling anyone without his permission. The terms specified no end-date, implying it would have a lingering impact even after she was free.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she channelled mana into the contract, and they were both filled with the same resonance signifying a successful agreement.
“Do you think… we can return to the way we were?” She admitted the discomfort gnawing at the distance that had grown between them. She met his surprised gaze unflinchingly, knowing he had every reason to deny her.
“I don’t know…” He eventually replied, then continued on when she quickly looked away, “…but give me time, for now.”
The stifling burden that he had unknowingly been carrying was lifted from his shoulders with this small offering of forgiveness. As much as he resented her inadvertent manipulation, he had come to rely on her support and companionship even more. If she could learn to control her powers, it could prove to be a powerful weapon in their arsenal against Fate.
Satisfied with the answer, Envy placed her hand on his knee, then returned to her room.
***
The next morning, Exill awoke late and got up to brew some tea. Tsarra’s clay tablet was on the table, and he held it up to the light to read her clear script.
‘Envy and I are going clothes shopping with Iris. We’ll return by lunchtime.’ It simply said.
Grinning fondly, he wondered if they had enough money, curious what new fashion she would return with. The rest of the morning was spent prepping the Clinic for operation.
Now that his debt had been resolved there was a bit of breathing room to replace the enchanted artefacts he had lost or given away. Exill was also eager to return to training in the Labyrinth. In this world, strength translated to power… and he needed it to protect the things most valuable to him. It was true that he had become a rampaging killing machine, capable of taking down a dozen men, but he knew he was capable of so much more.
Having prepared everything for the Clinic’s opening, he composed a shopping list of the items he wanted, chief among them was a replacement for the ‘Wizard Ring’. He idly checked his Card and was surprised to find two new jobs had been unlocked, and another one that was greyed out.
Job Slave Trader Level 1 Description Production - Tier III Active Skill [Subjugate] Create slave contracts with willing participants
Job Murderer Level 1 Description Outlaw - Tier I Passive Buff Increased damage to humanoids (scales with level).
Job Inquisitor Level Requires [Priest] Level 40 to unlock Description Magic - Tier II
Slave Trader had been unlocked as a specialised progression of Vendor when it rose to level 20. Apparently, the 5200 Denar payment to Diallo was worth a lot of experience. He was just glad he had the wherewithal to assign [Vendor] as an active job while settling the debt.
Murderer was the job Envy held, and despite its unappealing name, the buff it provided was pretty spectacular. He distinctly remembered a resonant feeling when the Bandit Leader was killed.
[Inquisitor] was wholly unexpected, and he must have fulfilled some, or part of the conditions for obtaining it when he defeated the Infested Edifice that had been haunting Virigo.
All-in-all he was pleased with the progression. If he could somehow raise Slave Trader to a level higher than Diallo’s, it would save him having to pay 15,000 Denars for her freedom.
‘It might be worth it to return to the slave market to investigate what Diallo’s level might be…’ he thought.