“What changed?” Red asked upon learning the news.
If the city of Carlhanne truly fell to the Empire, a lot of his plans would be thwarted. Right now, this was one of the few places on the eastern side of the continent free of both imperial influence and far from any sects - an ideal base for him to cultivate. Any other country he wandered to, there would be an increased risk of exposure to a sect cultivator or imperial agent.
“Nothing changed,” Marina shook her head. “We still are at peace for the moment, but the reality of the situation is probably setting in for his Majesty. He has explored every option to fight back, but all of them have serious drawbacks, the least of which would turn our entire country into a battlefield between the sects and the Empire.”
“What about the Aetheric Artifact then? Why waste his time fixing it?”
The importance that the royal court put on fixing the artifact didn’t seem to match the attitude of a country ready to surrender.”
“That is a point of contention, but some say it is a maneuver to discuss more favorable terms of surrender,” Marina shrugged. ”It also makes little sense to me, seeing as we are far from equal to the Empire to discuss any kind of surrender terms that benefit us. Of course, these are all rumours at the end of the day, but King Thomas’ change in attitude is definitely something that has occurred.”
“Could others be spreading these rumours?”
“I wouldn’t put it past them. Still, if it’s coming from the royal court, that means troubling times are ahead of us.”
Red frowned and looked down in thought. He imagined the cultists were the biggest danger in the city, but now there might even be nobles within the court pining for an imperial takeover. Was the Golden Hand also involved, considering their trade dealings with the Empire?
‘This wouldn’t necessarily benefit them.’
The Golden Hand was a trade organization, and their motto was to make a profit wherever they could. In the current tense political situation, there were plenty of opportunities to make a profit from both the Empire and Carlhanne, whereas if the Empire took over, then the need for their services would severely diminish. The best possible situation for them was if this conflict extended for as long as possible.
‘Then if it’s not them… Does that mean the Empire has agents in the royal court?’
This wasn’t too far-fetched. There were imperial sympathizers amidst the nobles who saw a brighter future for their country under the Empire, but none outright supported the foreign power in fears of being branded a traitor. However, that did not mean they couldn’t be moved to action with the right offer.
For instance, if the Empire offered one of the noble families the right to rule the city after their takeover, would there be no one that took the offer? No, some of them would be only too eager for the opportunity to ascend as a royal family.
Red looked back at Marina and nodded.
“I understand. I will be careful.”
He truly meant it. Given the tense political climate in the city, there was no telling if laws or conventions would stop someone in power from making a move against him if they wanted to.
“That’s good,” Marina nodded. “I know that we are no longer trade partners, but that doesn’t mean I can’t support your other endeavors, either. Do you need any materials for talismans or formations? Given what happened, we won’t charge you anything for it now.”
Red was about to refuse, but he caught himself. Considering how much money he owned to Lady Ilse, could he be refusing these acts of kindness?
“…I will keep that in mind, but right now, I need something else.”
Marina looked both surprised and relieved that he accepted her offer. “What is it, Master Viran? As long as it’s within my power, I can get it for you.”
“I need dresses.”
She seemed at a loss. “Dresses?”
“Yes, and a wig too.”
“…I see. And might I ask… Actually, it doesn’t matter. I will get these for you. Do you have any preferences?”
He recited Aurelia’s long list of requirements, which he had memorized despite his unwillingness.
“Very well!” Marina nodded and stood up. “I will make sure to pick them out and package them myself, so you don’t need to worry about any of our employees knowing what they are delivering!”
Red was confused, but just nodded along, and they soon parted ways.
…
He returned home in the same carriage, and a few hours later, some servants from Lehmann’s Traders delivered a lot of carefully packaged boxes. There were so many of them, Red thought Marina must have made a mistake.
“This is what Lady Lehmann told us to deliver, Master Viran,” one of the servants said. “We can take it back if you’d like.”
Red was silent for a second before shaking his head. “No, it’s fine.”
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Soon everything was inside, and before he could say anything, Aurelia came walking down the stairs.
“Are these the clothes? Are you sure you haven’t forgotten anything?”
Red took a second to respond as he stared at her puppet body, which he still wasn’t used to. She had done her best to shape her features into her own likeness, while still leaving some details purposefully simple, since there was only so much you could do with a wooden puppet. It looked considerably more human than before, but that likeness seemed to bother him on an instinctual level.
“I ordered everything you asked.” He said. “This is more than I was expecting.”
“Very well.” Aurelia looked over at a certain spot in the living room. “Imp, help me open these boxes!”
The imp jumped up in fright from a corner of the room he seemed to be hiding in.
“A-At once, Mistress!”
He and the maid set about unboxing the items. Soon enough, an assortment of colored dresses, wigs, and other pieces of clothing were spread all over the room.
Aurelia started to assess them carefully, and even though her puppet face remained unmoving, Red could tell the expression she was making behind it.
“Very low quality! I have seen rags in my sect weaved of better material!”
“Is this supposed to be a wig? Are you sure they didn’t just take this from a mop?”
“Bah, this shoe doesn’t even fit properly!”
Instead of standing around listening to her complaints, Red walked over to the Spirit Gathering Formation and started to cultivate. It took over an hour of complaining and trying out the clothing before Aurelia seemed to settle on something.
“I guess these will have to do. The rest you can throw in the trash!”
Red powered the formation down and looked over at the woman. She had tried her best to replicate the appearance she used while in her ghost form, albeit with some differences. Her puppet body wore a one-piece orange light dress that still allowed for leg movement, a long straight black hair that reached the middle of her back, and black shiny shoes that covered her wooden feet.
Other than those, she set aside a handful of clothes and shoes, which she claimed she would use whenever she felt like it.
“Go and store these in a chest upstairs.” Aurelia waved at Emer without looking in his direction. “And make sure you don’t wrinkle them, you moron!”
The imp was all too eager to flee the room, bringing the clothes upstairs with the help of the maid.
With them gone, Aurelia turned to Red.
“So, how do I look?” Her tone seemed to indicate she wore a haughty smile on her face.
“You look like a puppet.”
The woman froze, and he could sense her glare. A second later, her wooden body shimmered, and her wooden features were replaced by her previous lifelike appearance.
Red was taken aback for a second before realizing what happened.
“You can still manifest your image inside that puppet’s body?”
Aurelia snorted. “Of course! It’s a simple matter to superimpose my image over this puppet’s body.”
“Only I can see you in that form, though.”
“So what? It’s better than carrying around this wooden face all day!”
He chose not to comment on her words.
“I’ve brought sparring weapons too.” Red pointed at another box, where a handful of wooden weapons were lined up. He knew Aurelia practiced saber arts, though there were many types of sabers, so he had brought along every kind he could find, including some swords he could use as well.
Of course, alongside these sparring weapons, were also real steel weapons. These were not meant for training traditionally, but Red had brought them along as well.
‘If I’m not mistaken, then she will choose…’
“Bah! What’s the need for sparring weapons?” She didn’t even spare a glance at the wooden weapons before grabbing a steel saber. “All proper training is done with real weapons. You should know that by this point.”
The weapon she choose was a long saber, with a less pronounced curve and a blade that widened at its end. It was similar to the sabers Narcha used to wield, though a few times smaller.
“Very well.” Red nodded.
He walked over, about to grab a steel sword, but Aurelia suddenly interrupted him.
“What do you think you are doing?”
Red looked at her in confusion. “I’m picking a weapon.”
“There’s no need for that. You can use your wind-sword.”
He frowned. “That seems inappropriate.”
It wasn’t that Red was afraid of hurting Aurelia with his weapon. Rather, a normal steel weapon was to a Spiritual Artifact as butter was to a knife - a single clash of arms was all it would take for that non-magical armament to shatter into pieces. With such an advantage, even if Aurelia was much more skilled than him, there was little point in sparring.
“Just shut up and draw your sword,” she waved her hand, and a gust of wind cleared the room of all the clutter, opening a large space for moving.
Granted, it was still a small space for cultivators who moved around so fast, but Red knew the limitation of movement forced one to be more calculated with their movements. It was a constraint that promoted improvement.
He watched as the woman walked to the other side of the room and held the saber pointed down by the side of her body. He knew that nothing he said would convince her to reconsider, so he instead drew his claymore and stood opposite of her.
“You may take the first move,” she said with a smirk.
‘Do I?’
Red still remembered when they fought her while she was possessing Narcha’s body. Back then, she was limited in how well she could use that body and still almost defeated him and his sect members. Now, she was using a Spiritual Artifact as a vessel, and no one was struggling against her possession. The last thing he would do in a combat situation against such an opponent was take the first move, but since he asked her for help in the first place, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.
He held his sword up with both hands, pointed it at the woman, and charged. There was no Spiritual Art used in his movements, but with a single step and the blink of an eye, he already reached Aurelia. His claymore stabbed at her, and he used its length to probe her from a safe distance.
She stared at him, her face containing none of her previous haughtiness. With the same swiftness as Red, she swung her saber up to clash against his claymore.
It didn’t seem as if her attempt at deflection carried the same weight as his attack, and yet, the moment their weapons clashed, he felt an enormous force redirecting his weapon away. Red almost stumbled, but managed to hold on to his balance.
Yet, he didn’t have time to recover.
With a spin, Aurelia brought her saber to bear against him again, and he could only raise his weapon to block. Another clang rang through the room, and Red felt himself slide backwards under the force of the blow.
Aurelia, however, didn’t stop. She spun again and again, like a tornado, bringing her saber against Red from every angle, who could only do his best to block it. Not only that, but with every spin, her attacks seemed to get faster and stronger, and soon enough, he felt his claymore slipping from his grip.
The woman seemed to take this opportunity, and with another spin, brought her saber down with a sudden increase in speed. Red wasn’t fast enough to block it, and his claymore was sent flying away. The saber didn’t stop, though, slashing down against his shoulder.
Even with his improved physique and the normal weapon, Red felt his flesh rip against the slash. When he looked down, blood was running down his arm, though the wound closed on his own a few moments later.
He looked up, staring at Aurelia, who had ceased her attacks and was smirking at him as she lowered her weapon.
“If all you do is defend, then you’re just going to die.”
Red didn’t respond.
The situation seemed all too familiar to him.