Red felt a headache incoming. He didn’t have much experience convincing people to do things, and when he did, he often relied on logical arguments. Logic wasn’t what Aurelia was basing her decision on, however.
“There is a risk that the crystal core might be discovered,” Red said. “Hiding it inside the puppet protects us both.”
He had been lax with protecting the moonstone core, and that was because it didn’t emit strong Spiritual Energy, and even if someone noticed, they wouldn’t be familiar with the strange energy. However, this was a risky gamble. Stronger cultivators would definitely sense it if they examined Red, and if someone familiar with necromancy noticed it, then his safety would be in jeopardy. If he lost the moonstone core, then he wouldn’t be able to resist the curse when it inevitably returned, and Aurelia would also lose her freedom, since her soul was trapped inside of it.
The puppet would be able to both hide the core and give Aurelia a means to defend herself or flee if they were threatened. As for whether she would run away? There was no reason for her to, since their fates were tied together, and even if she did, he would still have the controlling disc for the puppet which could track and deactivate it as necessary.
His appeal, however, didn’t seem to move the woman, so Red used the other reason he came up with.
“I would also like your help with training.”
This time, Aurelia responded with a snort. “How would I be able to help you with the body of a useless puppet?”
Red noticed this line of thought seemed to move her.
“My progress with swordsmanship is not quick enough. At this rate, it might take me a year or more to master the sword arts.”
“And what would you have me do? I’m a saber master, not a sword master!”
“No, but you could spar with me.”
Red was never the type to passively train in quiet and peace, as much as he wanted to. From back in the mines with Viran all they to his training session with Domeron, he always pushed his progress by sparring against people far more skilled than him. Practical combat was, of course, also a good alternative, but it was hard to find in the middle of a city.
This was where Aurelia would come in - not just a sect disciple, but a core one at that. She was probably superior to both Domeron and Viran when it came to skill foundation.
“… You want to spar with me?” She asked, her voice filled with surprise.
“Yes. It would be the best way to speed up my training.”
A few seconds of silence went by before Aurelia laughed, her mood suddenly shifting.
“Fine, I will be your sparring partner then!”
Her words contained undisguised hostility, and it gave Red pause for a second. It went away, though, as he was prepared for this attitude when he came up with his plan.
After assembling the puppet into its standing position, he opened its chest compartment and inserted the crystal core into it. He felt strange parting with the item after having it constantly by his side for so many years, but he knew this was for the best.
Red closed the chest compartment and took a step back, examining the puppet. He took out the control disk, ready to activate it, but the puppet started moving on its own. Its movements were labored as its limbs jerked around without fluidity, which left him worried.
In truth, when he suggested this plan, he wasn’t too sure of its viability. Aurelia couldn’t interact with physical objects, but she could still use the Spiritual Energy in the core to influence the world around her to some limited degree. Red’s plan hinged on the fact she could use the core’s Spiritual Energy to control the magical mechanisms of the puppet and thus move it on her own, but he didn’t know how difficult that would be. If she struggled to move the puppet around, though, then this was too much of a risk.
The puppet continued to test its movements, and to his relief, it was able to move its limbs more naturally. A few minutes later, it stopped moving and looked over at Red with its featureless wooden face.
“Can you…?”
Red trailed off, as he realized he didn’t know if the woman could communicate inside the wooden puppet. His concern was unfounded, though, as Aurelia’s voice responded.
“I can speak properly, if that’s your concern.”
Right as she said that, Red heard a yelp from the other side of the house. He looked over and saw the imp, who had been busying himself organizing materials while its master spoke to himself, staring at the puppet in shock.
“M-Master, who is…?”
A sudden realization hit Red as he looked back at the puppet.
“What, surprised?” Aurelia asked. “Didn’t you read the manual? The puppet also has a voice function to transmit messages.”
Red could visualize the smirk behind her words. Of course, he knew about this ability of the puppet, but he failed to consider the implications behind Aurelia having access to it.
“You, imp!” She looked over at Emer.
“Aahh! It can speak?!”
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“Be quiet, fool! Bring me all the clothes you have in the house. And be quick about it!”
The imp was both confused and scared, looking over at Red for help. He hesitated for a second before nodding.
“Do as she says.”
Emer was all too glad to get out of the room, moving upstairs with the maid to gather the clothes.
Red then looked back at Aurelia.
“What do you need clothes for?”
“To wear, of course.” She said, as if it was obvious.
“You’re in a puppet’s body.”
“So what? You are the one who told me to use this body, so I will make myself as comfortable as I want to while I use it. If you have a problem with it, then forget about asking me for help!”
Red chose not to argue.
Soon enough, the maid and the imp came downstairs carrying chests full of clothes. Aurelia barked orders at them to take out the clothing and show it to her, which the imp did with all haste.
It didn’t take long for her to show her dissatisfaction.
“What is this garbage?”
“I-It’s clothes ma’am. It’s everything we have in the-”
“I know what it is! I mean, why is it all men’s clothing?”
The imp seemed at a loss. “Ma’am, it was just me and my brother living here… There were no women other than the maid.”
“Bring me her clothing, then!”
They brought them over, but Aurelia wasn’t any happier.
“Too large! Too old! Horrible tailoring! None of this will work!”
The imp looked up at his master, on the verge of tears.
“These are all the clothes we have. Any of them will suffice for now,” Red said.
“No, they won’t! Just because you spent your entirely life clothed like a vagrant doesn’t mean I will do the same. I want clothes worthy of a sect’s disciple!”
Red sighed. For a second, he thought she was just making his life difficult, but her tone was sincere. This was clearly a very important matter to her.
“I can try to sew you a dress.”
Aurelia snorted. “What do you know about sewing dresses? With your eye for style on top of it? I would rather go naked!”
“… Then what would you have me do?”
“Let me buy my clothing.”
“That is a terrible idea.”
Bringing a puppet to shop for her clothing would evidently attract a lot of attention.
Aurelia was displeased, but she also recognized the risk. “Ask one of your female friends, then. That merchant girl can probably get anything you ask her.”
“And what exactly should I ask her?”
“Ask for her best dresses, preferably ones that still allow freedom of movement but that are also of quality-materials and style. Orange ones would be better, but I can also make do with brown and yellow. Not green, though! Also, ask her for light shoes, black preferably, but it depends on if it matches with the dress. Don’t forget to ask for a wig too, but make sure it matches my hair color. It is a soft black color, and not jet black…”
Red closed his eyes as Aurelia went on and on about her preferences.
…
Dawn approached, during which Aurelia continued to pester the imp. She started to make adjustments to her puppet body, carving the wood to better fit her feminine figure while avoiding damaging the arcane lines which allowed it to move. However, she wasn’t able to change too much, and she made sure Red heard her complaints.
“To think you are making me use such a useless puppet for a body! It doesn’t even have a function to customize its features. I’m not even able to shape my chest without destroying it.”
At the end, Aurelia decided against carving facial features, instead only modifying her limbs and torso. Red was all too eager to move past this, so as soon as morning arrived, he made ready to use a communication talisman to call upon Marina.
To his surprise, though, she was the one who called first.
“Master Viran, would it trouble you to meet up in our guild’s headquarters as soon as possible?”
Her voice was full of worry, with none of the relaxed and laid back tone the merchant’s daughter carried herself with most of the time. Red could guess why.
“I am on my way.”
It didn’t take him long to arrive. Walking through the streets, Red heard no mention in conversation about the confrontation in the slums from last night, which could only mean the news were suppressed by authorities. This gave him some relief, as it meant no wide searches for the culprits would be conducted, but it also meant he wouldn’t know how or if any investigations were being conducted.
No guards spared him a suspicious glance as he soon arrive at the Lehmann’s headquarters, which remained closed. A servant brought him inside and to the upper floors, to a room where Marina waited, pacing around nervously while waving her fan.
She looked over at him with a nervous expression as soon as he arrived.
“Were you and Lady Ilse behind what happened?”
“What happened?” Red answered with a question of his own.
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “You mean you truly don’t know? There was an accident in one of the auctions the Golden Hand was conducting from the shadows in the black market yesterday. News haven’t spread about it to the public, but word is that plenty of royal officials and even a few nobles died because of a group of assassins last night. The entire royal court is in chaos demanding for the Golden Hand to give them an explanation!”
“And why are you asking if I was involved?”
“Because…” Marina hesitated, looking around as if worried someone was spying on them. “I know you wouldn’t do such a thing, Master Viran, but I have known Lady Ilse for years, and I know how ruthless she can be. I was worried something like this would happen when we told you two that we would be breaking off the deal, and now all of a sudden this disaster happens to the Golden Hand! How could I not be suspicious of her?”
“You still haven’t answered why you think I was involved.”
She seemed somewhat reluctant to reply. “Isn’t it obvious? You two are business partners, so she would approach you first about such a matter. Not to mention… You fit the part of an assassin very well with your mask and attitude.”
“If you harbor such suspicions, you should clarify them with Lady Ilse herself,” Red said. “Golden Hand has provoked plenty of other factions who would have reason to target them as well, so while your suspicion is not unfounded, it is not the only explanation. All I can tell you for certain is that if I was behind this attack, I would never involve innocent bystanders in my revenge, and I don’t believe Lady Ilse would, either.”
When she heard this, some of the tension in Marina’s shoulders seemed to leave her body. “I know, I know. I-I shouldn’t have even asked you so directly. It’s just that when I heard how many people were killed, I just… Still, even if you two weren’t involved, you can expect people in court to throw a suspicious glance your way at the very least.”
“I will keep that in mind.” Red knew that was a possibility, but it was a risk he was willing to take when he accepted Lady Ilse’s proposal.
Besides, he knew there were certain things that the Golden Hand wouldn’t want to have revealed about that accident, least of which how one of their bodyguards was responsible for killing their clients, not the assassins themselves. With that in mind, they would also be very careful in conducting their investigations.
“You really do need to be careful, Master Viran…” Marina stared at him with a serious gaze. “In the past, I feel like I could predict the movements and actions of the court, but these days… It feels like their decisions are being influenced by things I don’t even know about, beyond their reliance on the Golden Hand to fix their Aetheric Artifact even.”
“How so?” Red asked, not dismissing her worry out of hand.
“His Majesty King Thomas hasn’t been as active in decision making as he was in the past. These days, he leaves most of the meetings in the hands of his ministers, and those who meet him say he has lost a lot of the vigor with which he carried himself in the past… Almost as if he has resigned himself to his defeat.”
“Defeat?” He frowned. “To the Empire?”
“Yes… It is possible he is considering surrender."