*What to do?* wondered Merlin.
Camille could pass for his sister, but trying to make her brother pass for Merlin’s twin was a little too much of a stretch. Merlin’s head started to hurt, and he decided to stop thinking about it and do one thing at a time.
He called Camille over and used on her the same spell he had used on Mandy. He didn’t change much, but what he changed was enough to make her look like a completely different person. Her blonde hair turned crimson, and her beautiful emerald eyes turned violet, which made her even more bewitching than she was before.
After Camille’s, it was Gil’s turn. Merlin turned his ears pointy, making him look like a half-elf. Then, he turned Gil’s emerald eyes light brown. As long as the siblings didn’t say anything out of place, nobody would be able to tell who they really were.
“Ok, as I said before, you can join my adventurers group, but I don’t plan on keeping useless people by my side,” warned Merlin, “So what are your fight skills?”
“I’m a pretty decent archer.” said Camille.
When he heard her answer, Merlin thought that something didn’t add up. If she was a pretty decent archer like she affirmed to be, why didn’t she help defending the carriage, or when they had been attacked previously? Either she was lying, or she had wanted to keep that a secret, but it still didn’t fell right with him.
Then, he looked at Gil and asked him “And you? Do you have any noteworthy fighting skills?”
“I was trained in the use of daggers…” he answered.
“Ok, if both of you have fighting skills, why didn’t you put them to use when you were attacked?” asked Merlin, “Especially in your case, Camille. An archer could have helped reducing the number of attackers before they got too close!”
Camille looked a little distressed, she looked at her brother and then back at Merlin. He didn’t understand her reaction to his question, but he guessed that it could be something they didn’t want to talk about.
“I’m sorry, but my brother and I lost the wooden weapons our mother gave us, and due to our curse, any normal weapon that we wield loses its ability to harm, however, they still work perfectly in the hands of others!” explained Camille.
*Wow, talk about a strange condition* thought Merlin.
[*Looks like you have struck gold this time, kid!*] said Lokiseth, startling Merlin.
*Master, what do you mean by ‘I have struck gold this time’? Aren’t those two useless in battle?* asked Merlin.
[*On the contrary! If correctly trained, those two could become your biggest assets in a battle. There is no such a curse, the closest curse to what they described would be the one which turns into dust any wielded weapon, but that is not their case!*] replied Lokiseth.
*Master, could you please then tell me what their deal is?* asked Merlin.
[*It is highly probable that they belong to a witch bloodline, but they don’t seem to be aware of this themselves, which means their bloodline heritage has been lost and they didn’t receive it. It is a good thing for them though, they might have been locked up and forced to be breeders otherwise.*] stated Lokiseth.
*Master, what do you mean by that? And what do you mean by ‘witch bloodline’? Isn’t a witch just a female magus?* asked Merlin.
[*Don’t let the knowledge from your other world fool you! Making assumptions will lead to your death! How many times have I warned you about it?*] scolded Lokiseth.
*Sorry, Master.* said Merlin, sheepishly.
Lokiseth gave then his explanation to Merlin, [*I previously told you about the origin of the world, and the creation of the high humans, high elves, and other races, didn’t I? At that time, Natura, the goddess of nature, created a branch of high humans on her own, which came to be known as the witch bloodline. The witches and warlocks belonging to that bloodline had a longevity similar to the ones of high elves, and they were also a bunch of tree-huggers like them.
However, unlike the people of the elven race, who changed nature to their needs through the use of spirits as a medium, the people of the witch bloodline were able to control nature with their own will. This trait was so powerful that the other gods of the pantheon urged Natura to put limitations to the power of her creations, for if it wasn’t done, they could easily thwart the balance of power between races, and provoke an all-out war among all the races.
Natura, who also didn’t want that possibility to become a fact, agreed to the request of the other gods and limited their powers. She made it so that any weapon not belonging to the nature itself would become dull in their hands, and their reproduction rate would be so low, any couple could only have a child every two or three hundred years. That way their numbers would be constant, always between 1000 - 1500 people.
However, Natura made a miscalculation there. She didn’t take into account the greed some members from other races would feel when learning about the existence of such a peculiar breed of high humans. Not only other races, even some high humans coveted their power, and starting to capturing them in an attempt of using them as breeders.
The constant chase almost led to the complete extinction of the witch bloodline, and the remaining survivors scattered through the world, living lives of anonymity and reclusion. The world eventually forgot about their existence, sparingly mentioned in some ancient records, but never seen in actuality. Ironically, that same fact is what prevented them from going extinct alongside the high humans.
They were thought extinct too, but these two siblings are the living proof that wasn’t actually the case. However, their story is a little strange, and I think chances are history is repeating itself in their case.*]
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Merlin had been a little overwhelmed by Lokiseth’s explanation, so he didn’t immediately understand the meaning behind his last words. A few seconds passed, in which Merlin organized his thoughts, as well as the information Lokiseth had just dumped on him, and finally realized it.
*Master, do you mean all that happened to them was just some kind of conspiracy? That someone planned all that just to get their hands on their witch bloodline?* asked Merlin, astonished.
[*I’m not saying that is actually the case, but all the evidences point to that possibility. Their mother suddenly disappeared, and after they escaped, an order has been given out to take their lives. It practically looks like someone discovered their mother was a witch and captured her, then they tried to capture the siblings but failed, so they gave out the order of killing them on sight, to avoid any leaks of their mother’s disappearance, as well as to avoid the possibility of anyone else robbing them of their monopoly over a breeder from the witch bloodline. Besides, due to political reasons, the Emperor can’t even look into those disappearances without becoming a public joke.*] said Lokiseth.
Merlin thought about it and came to the same conclusion as Lokiseth, but decided to hide those news from the siblings to prevent any kind of heroic thinking of saving their mother, that would get them killed before they were prepared.
It wasn’t a fair action toward the siblings, but he had grown fond of them in that short period of time, and he decided it was the only thing he could do to prevent them from rushing to their own deaths. He also made a decision, he would help them get stronger, and when the right time came, he would explain to them the conclusion Lokiseth and he had come to about all that had happened to them.
“Merlin, are you ok?” asked Camille.
She was worried about him because Merlin had suddenly stopped talking to them and had lost focus on his eyes. When he heard her voice, Merlin stopped talking with Lokiseth, and brought his attention back to the siblings. He was touched by her concern, and smiled at her before starting talking again.
“Ok, if that is the case, don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure to find some weapons that suit you guys!” affirmed Merlin.
Gil didn’t seem very convinced by Merlin’s words, nevertheless, the look his sister was giving to Merlin made very obvious to him that she trusted Merlin with her life. He didn’t say anything out loud, but he was growing weary of Merlin.
It wasn’t only his sister’s sudden infatuation with him, but also the many impossible things he usually did like they were the norm. He felt respectful and envious of Merlin’s power and abilities, but he couldn’t discard a faint feeling of dread. He was worried that Merlin might betray them and sell them to their enemies.
************************************************
At the same time, in the house that was serving as the headquarters of the people sent by the Dollan Empire to deal with the siblings…
Captain X: “Alistair! What did you find out? Why hasn’t our man inside the mansion come back yet?”
Alistair: “I’m afraid he has perished, captain.”
Captain X: “‘Perished’? What does that mean, ‘perished’?”
Alistair: “It’s as it sounds, captain. He is dead. It would seem, that instead of reporting back as scheduled, he went to the church, and received orders of finishing off the siblings, which he did at the expense of his own life.”
Captain X: “That doesn’t make any sense, why would the church employ to carry out the assassination, the same man we employed to gather intelligence for us? And how did they know about him?”
Alistair: “I have no idea of how the church got to know about the man we had in our payroll, however, the intervention of the church in this matter is out of question. When they searched our man’s body after his death, they found in his possession a tracking nullification talisman issued by the church.”
Captain X: “Why should it be the church?”
Alistair: “They have a lot of control over those talismans, so the only way an average ex-adventurer like him could have gotten his hands on one, was if the church itself had given it to him for the mission.”
Captain X: “Have you confirmed the deaths of the siblings? Have you made sure this isn’t a hoax created to deceive us and make us stop the chase?”
Alistair: “Yes, captain. I seduced one of the maids, and she allowed me to see the bodies. They were badly damaged, but I’m sure it was them. Besides, the viscount doesn’t know how to hide his emotions, and his grief was real. In addition, he asked the church for an explanation, but the church denied any involvement in the matter and suggested the talisman’s origin might be a ruin the assassin visited during his adventuring days.”
Captain X: “Good work, Alistair. On another note, you should stop seducing women when gathering information during a mission. That not only makes you ineligible for missions in places you have previously been, you already have 11 bastard children. If your wife one day learns about this little habit of yours, and all the women you have gotten pregnant during your missions, you will wake up the next morning with a dagger through your chest!”
Alistair: “Sorry, captain.”
Captain X: “I’m not the one you have to apologize to, it’s your wife! On a second thought, don’t apologize to her or tell her anything about your misdeeds, just stop committing them!”
Alistair: “Thank you, captain, for your forgiveness!”
Captain X: “I didn’t say it for you, I just don’t want to see my sister-in-law being punished just because you didn’t learn to keep your pants on! My wife would never stop nagging me about her sister’s fate, otherwise! Anyway, I’m going to contact our superiors and tell them the good news. Alistair, you go and tell our men to pack up, we are returning home!”
Alistair: “Yes, captain!”
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