Kanbe and Caroline walked across the massive wheat field, and so Kanbe could see how the people here lived. In the field, Kanbe could see three types of people, which were the following:
-The first type were humans who wore white shirts, yellow pants, and yellow boots. These humans wielded whips and swords, while they kept an eye across the entire field in order to keep the wheat safe from monsters and from thieves.
-The second type were people who could be humans, or also could be some kind of hybrid between human and beast that showcased some traits of the beast side. Those hybrids were known as beastkin, and they could have fox ears and fox tails or stuff like the shell of a turtle. It was a rather varied group, but all of them were harvesting the wheat that was ready to be harvested.
-The third type were people of different races, like the small and stout dwarves or the beastkin themselves, that had collars on their neck. Kanbe could notice that this type also handled the harvest, but they were treated a bit more poorly than the second group.
Kanbe quickly understood what was happening in the third group, but he couldn’t believe it, since that meant that this world had slaves and slavery was as common as it was in the Middle Ages. That alone was a problem for Kanbe’s morality, since he was against slavery as fiercely as anyone from Earth should be.
“Miss Caroline, does slavery exist in this world?” Kanbe asked, with worry in his eyes. ‘I hope it’s not, but I must know. If this world is like the Middle Ages, it’ll be hard to find a way home and I will have to change it. Or be ready to stomach things I shouldn’t stomach.’ Kanbe thought to himself.
Caroline nodded silently, while walking with Kanbe, keeping an eye on everyone in the wheat field since they were staring at Kanbe as if he was an outsider. Everyone was used to slavery in Elstivia, and that someone asked that was clearly a signal of being an otherworlder.
“In this country, known as Elstivia, yes. It’s normal to see slavery like this. But we don’t take anyone as a slave, they all are either debtors that tried to do tax evasion or criminals that deserve this punishment… Like rapists.” Caroline replied, with a sad smile on her face.
Kanbe didn’t look convinced, but knew that he couldn’t start antagonizing the ones of this world for their choices. Not yet, at least, since he just saw a wheat field and not how the cities worked with this. It could be that the slaves here are treated worse than the ones of the city, and that alone meant that Kanbe could do grave misunderstandings for being too rash.
“That said, sir… Do try to not ask such questions here. Only otherworlders do ask it, and that alone could be troublesome for you. After all, some people would love to end your life just for being an otherworlder. There are stories of otherworlders that were villains that wouldn’t care about the world at all, and that were powerful enough to destroy the world.” Caroline warned, while looking at the young hero.
Kanbe got pale the moment that Caroline explained that, because that meant that probably the fact that the hero was an otherworlder was kept under wraps. This alone would mean that the information about the hero summoning would be kept in the castle, and that his best choice was to follow what the king ordered without doing anything rashly, which would mean that he was bound to the king by his need to return to Earth.
Caroline decided to keep walking, without much worry, since her plan was to arrive to the town and ask the blacksmith that lived there some basic adventuring equipment for Kanbe. That way, in the best case, Kanbe would stay in the city an entire day waiting for the equipment. Otherwise, Caroline had the perfect plan to keep the hero busy but would also make her stay close to the hero the entire day… And that alone was a massive bother for Caroline.
“So, yes, esteemed hero. Let’s go to the city, before we run into another problem that could be a problem for the king.” Caroline said as she started strutting, leaving behind Kanbe. ‘I can’t stop it, but I can’t hold myself back from strutting. It feels so stuffy to walk like if I was a chaste nun.’ Caroline thought to herself, trying to calm herself down.
Caroline kept moving without caring if Kanbe was following her, mainly because she was worried that Kanbe would attract way too much attention right now after his blunder. And so, Kanbe was forced to run after Caroline while looking the entire wheat field until the two arrived to the walls of the city.
The city of Argeares was small, but heavily defended, the thick walls made of stone and iron that surrounded it did have windows enchanted to be as durable as the wall itself to allow mages to shoot their spells from the safety of the wall, and had pots filled of tar ready to have the tar dropped onto the foolish invaders that would try to climb up the wall itself alongside a heavy amount of bow wielders that could shoot down those that used stairs to climb up the wall itself.
Alongside that, the door itself was a massive door of 3 meters tall and 4 meters wide made of wood with iron to reinforce its durability, which usually was closed until someone got close to the wall.
Once someone got close to the wall, a couple of guards wearing leather armors would come out to greet those who approached the door and would check if they were bandits or were just going to the city. Since Argeares wasn’t a really turistic place, unless the hero celebration day which took place the 24 of June in which many people would come to Argeares to see the statues of the past heroes and pray in front of them, the guards would usually check if they could recognize those incoming as the usual villagers that live in Argeares or not.
In this case, two guards came to check on Kanbe and Caroline while wielding spears. The two guards looked ready to fight, wearing steel armors that covered their faces, which did scare Kanbe, but once they saw Caroline… Both guards blushed and positioned themselves to allow Caroline to walk inside the city.
“Good to see that the guards do remember how to treat a lady that handled their ails.” Caroline smiled widely at the first guard.
“Of course, miss Caroline. You dealt with my sinful mind, and I am glad you were around. I am getting married soon, and I would be blessed if the archbishop could handle the ceremony!” The first of the two guards, with a cheerful tone in his voice, said while making sure that Caroline could pass.
“I will see if I can help you with that, but I am glad that last night was something… You liked.” Caroline said, as she winked at the guard. ‘That meal was the best. I should get him once more. It is a shame he is getting married, he could make many succubi very happy. But not now, I can’t handle two guards with a Japanese looking at me. He could raise some questions that would get me into troubles.’ Caroline thought to herself, while trying to avoid licking her lips.
After saying that, Caroline giggled while moving along and Kanbe followed her. Kanbe could see that the guard that spoke to Caroline started blushing and looking around with a worried face, while the other guard was about to stop Caroline… Only to trip on a small vine that sprouted from the ground, which had enough size to make the guard trip and fall to the ground face first.
Argeares itself looked impressive. With its ironwood rooftops, shingle walls and perfectly chiseled stone roads made sure that Argeares had a delightful atmosphere.
The main attractions were the several statues of the former heroes, which were built in this city across the ages, and the Argean road… A road that connected the center of the city to the exits of the city itself and the port, which was a magnificent port made purely of chiseled stone and obsidian on the sides of the stone roads.
This port was always filled with all kinds of trading ships, since it was the last destination before arriving to Troricalin which was the city where most shipments would be placed on carriages to send them to the cities where they had to be, and that was a source of income for this city.
Yet, it wasn’t the only source of income for the city of Argeares. Trading and tourism were in fact the fourth and fifth source of income for Argeares, which had a progressing economy, mainly supported by baking, wood production and fishing, while their biggest strengths were gorgeous leather work and advanced smithing.
The city itself had Kanbe marveled by its beauty, and couldn’t believe that this city could be anything small, but before he could voice his thoughts… Caroline had moved forward, and Kanbe had to run after her once again.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to let me see the city?” Kanbe asked, with a bit of an annoyed face, as he went right behind Caroline.
“No. This city is a wonderful city, but you are a sitting duck. There’s at least an assassin guild looking forward to catching you, in order to extort the king himself. Since that would be dangerous for this world, it’s best that I decide to move forward and go straight to where the blacksmith I know is. With a sword and an armor, you might be able to handle some kidnappers, and at least you should be able to exterminate some goblins.” Caroline said as she pouted. ‘Don’t annoy me, or you’ll make me want to eat! Ugh, how could this guy has any relationship with that man? I should get him for a meal!’ Caroline thought to herself, clearly stressed for having to ignore the guards.
“I do understand that, but wouldn’t we be safe in this city?” Kanbe asked, a question which he wouldn’t get an answer anytime soon.
Caroline sighed while moving along, but Kanbe couldn’t notice why she was so stern about getting him ready to kill monsters. He had already noticed, because it was clear to anyone, that Caroline was stalling for time but this kind of focus to go to the blacksmith… It was something that didn’t fit with her wanting to stall for time
But nonetheless, Kanbe was dependent on Caroline right now since he didn’t know anything about this world and Caroline was her guide… So he followed Caroline while ready for almost anything, since he didn’t believe that Caroline would try to kill him.
After thirty minutes, Caroline and Kanbe arrived to a wonderfully built smithy that was made with stone bricks, and had a crimson tiled roof, with only a wooden door with metallic engravings on it alongside the emblem of a katana.
Kanbe was internally amazed by this smithy, but at that moment… Caroline turned to Kanbe with a sweet smile.
“Hero, please wait here. I will talk with the blacksmith alone, since it would be dangerous to get you too close to the forge.” Caroline said with a sweet smile. ‘And if Sumeragi sees you, he might decapitate you on the spot. Just like Dad: He sees a boy near me, and he’s already planning how to kill the poor boy.’ Caroline thought to herself.
Kanbe felt like Caroline’s reasoning seemed sound, but it was clearly forced. There was a hidden reason why Caroline wanted to go inside alone, but Kanbe couldn’t know why. Yet, it couldn’t be something that would hurt him badly… Or so Kanbe thought.
And so Kanbe stayed out of the smithy, while looking around the city and its people, which most looked like highly trained farmers that could easily pass as bodybuilders.
Meanwhile, inside the smithy, Caroline was greeted by the cleanest smithy she had ever seen… If she hadn’t been here before. It had a perfectly swept floor and the tools were stored neatly on the walls. There was a desk in the corner with a piece of parchment showing the current project's measurements, and the materials were neatly stored in bins with clear labels saying what they had inside. Clearly, whatever apprentice has been charged with upkeep of the smithy has taken their job very seriously.
The smith was working on a sword, while using a hammer and an anvil to shape said sword correctly. This smith was a tall dark elf with long black hair, crimson eyes, a scar in his left cheek, a lacquered red and black prosthetic arm that had a sakura emblem in the shoulder area, which did connect the prosthetic arm to the smith, and was wearing a white T-shirt and black pants while working.
“The hero seems to have been summoned. I have to recheck who is he. If it’s the boy that should have been summoned, our pact with Namika will be finished. But he’s a smart hunk, and a treat for my eyes.” Caroline said while she took a deep breath.
The smith kept working on the sword while trying to give it the final touches, after correcting the parts of the sword that weren’t fully hammered, without looking at Caroline. He had heard her, but he wasn’t a fan of this plan… It felt too perfectly prepared, with little room for improvisation in case of a backfire.
“I know that’s your plan. Too perfectly prepared, you had to hold off that prick of a prince until the time was perfect to summon the hero, but you forget to take into account the variables like… This hero being stronger and smarter than we expect, and that Takuto’s blood runs in him. He may not be a tiger yet, but he’s a tiger cub.” The smith, Sumeragi, said as he looked at Caroline.
Caroline sighed, she knew this smith from almost all of her life and she knew how easy to worry the elven man was, but decided to smile and look on the positive side of her plan. Otherwise, she’d get way too nervous to act normal when near Kanbe and that would be fatal for her. Without counting the stories of the hero having skills that dealt extra damage against any dark creature, which sounded like asking to have a problem.
“I know, brother. I know. Our father will be resurrected by Namika if we did it well, though. Now, only remains to check one thing out and then one thing to do. Since the hero will interfere with our future plans, it’s kinda what heroes do once they find our father, and then they die by his hand while annoying him, once we confirm it’s Takuto’s grandson… He will die in a trap I prepared for him, best to kill an annoyance before it becomes an annoyance. What a shame to kill my previous go-to guy for my meals, he had stamina for days even if he was so messy, but well… We need a scapegoat, and as an archbishop… I will be going with my retainers to Crelens, so new guys to fetch and probably more flavors to taste. I am getting jittery about that.” Caroline said as she pouted.
Sumeragi looked at Caroline with dead eyes, clearly not wanting to hear what his sister was saying about men, and decided to focus on the plan.
“Will the hero die at the hands of some goblins? I don’t think so. Specially, if you give him the equipment I prepared for him. It might be heavy, but if he knows what the hell he is doing… The goblins will just be bashing their heads to kill themselves, before even trying to kill him. Steel armor, not chainmail, and it’s enchanted. Durability enchantment, Lightweight, self-repair, enhanced physical defense, and resistance against dark element. A goblin will stab it and just see how their crappy daggers become dust.” Sumeragi said as he looked at Caroline.
Caroline started laughing softly, she knew that her brother knew what was talking about, yet she knew exactly how to kill a hero. A hero killed by a goblin would prompt a fast summoning right away, and then another hero would appear. There was a need of a death so haunting that made sure everyone would be choosing to wait for more than eight months to start it up and then spend a year preparing the hero summoning. By that time, probably with their father alongside them, they should be ready to kill David Junior and book it or even take control of the country.
“Oh no! He’ll die at the hands of an archlich. You know how they are, but they are just what we require. No one will believe that I convinced it with a supposed position as a member of the dark lord entourage for it. And to Inferno with that obnoxious prick, he is too naughty for a bunch of bones. Once the hero is dead, we trick Vizgard to go Deus Vult on it, and we wait until Dad is around. And then, it’ll be up to him. Also, I would be in trouble if goblins killed him, since I am stuck keeping an eye on him. Not like I mind the eye candy.” Caroline said as she smiled widely.
“And what if Namika tries to trick us? She’s known for her mischievousness, as a goddess, and it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Sumeragi said with a worried look.
Caroline smiled while showing a scroll to her brother, with a wide smile, after all… That scroll was a magic contract, and it was a simple parchment of paper infused with mana and that on the seal of the roll of paper there was a bright red ruby shining brightly. The scroll was made with lost magic that bound both parties equally, and could very well kill a god who didn’t keep their part of the contract, and it was extremely rare to find.
“I made a magic contract with her. Not even her can get away from a magic contract. Also, remember who our Dad is, Sumeragi. He is too powerful for her to not grab and use as a dark lord. She’s desperate, her religion is on its last spurts of life, so she needs a dark lord that can stop Zerax. I still don’t know why she needs to defeat him, but in my time as a bishop, I have seen some weird stuff in the teachings of Zerax. So we all win, unless Zerax, with this.” Caroline said with a smirk on her face.
“Yeah. But that’s none of our business.” Sumeragi said as he scoffed, clearly not liking the idea of having Namika use them for her own plans.
“There are connections between Katas and the church of Zerax.” Caroline pointed out, keeping her smirk, as she got closer to Sumeragi.
After hearing those words, Sumeragi had to stop finishing the sword and got up while glaring at Caroline. His anger was welling up quite quickly, and he couldn’t control himself for long, since he hated Katas with all of his soul. But also, he couldn’t believe that his sister would leave her own nephew near an institution that could very well sell him out to the one that would probably kill him on sight.
“Are you sure of that, Grandine? We sent Legias to the most inconspicuous nun of all the church of Zerax… And you tell me that there are connections between that son of an ill goat, Katas, and said church!?” Sumeragi asked, as his voice sounded more enraged by the second.
Caroline giggled while smiling, she knew that Legias was close to the enemy… But an enemy that couldn’t move right away, and in fact… Close to her, so she could extract him quickly and run away.
“Well, Lillian is safe to trust. I know her father, and she’s straight up against slavery. That’s why the prince wants to turn her into the spouse of the hero, because otherwise she’ll be a trouble with Katas snooping around. Harder to kill Legias with someone that should become the spouse of the hero, but won’t do it since she’s leading an orphanage. Smart little me knows it. And if Namika follows the contract, Dad might see the situation and finally go ballistic. You know that if he goes ballistic, David junior will have to run and pray to Zerax at the same time if he wants to stay alive.” Caroline explained, as her smirk got wider. ‘If I am going to do something, I should make sure it’s not a half-measure. Dad always said that, and I see why. What a shame, I can’t just feed on the poor hero.’ Caroline thought, as she licked her lips.
Sumeragi sighed and gave to Caroline a suit of armor, made of steel plates, that was grey and simply covered from the neck below since the young king would not like that the hero got his head covered by a helmet. Alongside that suit of armor, he gave to Caroline a longsword that had a red guard, straps of leather around the handle, and a black pommel that had a small aquamarine gem attached to it.
Grandine looked at the equipment given, and touched both pieces for a few seconds before making them disappear. She had used a benediction from the gods, or that’s how the average people called the basic powers that most could use, which was known as inventory. It was simply the ability to have a dimensional box with you at all times, that could be used to store almost anything as long as it wasn’t bigger than the inventory that the user had, and could be used to save items and then summon them when required… Or to quickly wear any sort of equipment the user wanted.
“The sword has enhanced sharpness, sharpened edge, self-repair, mana repair, and a little tracker with the gem. We should be able to locate the hero, and properly off him, if your plan goes south. I doubt it, but your plan does not have a contingency plan… And Dad always nagged us to have a contingency plan.” Sumeragi said with a scowl on his face.
“I know. My specialty is PR plans, not planning an assassination of a hero. That was Dad’s stuff, and even if I know a lot about planning this kind of stuff… I am not the best at it.” Caroline said as she shrugged.
Sumeragi looked at Caroline, and chuckled while patting his sister’s left shoulder. He knew that Caroline was lying, and that she had a backup plan, only that she was being stubbornly betting on the fact that she wouldn’t need it for a reason that eluded the blacksmith’s mind.
“I don’t know what’s your backup plan. I know you are just lying to my face to not risk it, probably because you will be doing some stuff in the river.” Caroline said as she pouted.
Caroline glared at Sumeragi, with an angry face, but also was pouting. Sumeragi found it endearing, but he knew that meant that she could prank him just for busting her idea.
“Yes, you guessed it! Is it that obvious?” Caroline said, while pouting.
“Not at all. Unless you know that the archbishop wants to kill the hero, and is the daughter of the Black Flame Devil… Yeah, hard to guess. So, I suppose you will use a mutating pill on a fish type of monster… Mutate it to become a monster that will eat the ship like if it’s a morsel, and so the hero will be digested by the monster… And you can just say that you missed the ship, or that you trusted the knights of Zerax. Or both, if you can do it well. Following the second option, the knights would have a PR debacle that could straight up ignite more rebellions across Elstivia than before.” Sumeragi said as he just chuckled.
Caroline looked at Sumeragi and was tempted to slap him, seeing how he had predicted her entire plan just from knowing what he did know about her.
“You are so hateful, brother.” Caroline said, while turning around.
“Yep. And probably you will use that chance to have a last date with your feeding guy, before killing him to enhance the archlich, to cover all. And then have the hero fight the archlich first while you are mourning for the loss, while seemingly getting drunk and probably feeding off someone else. Because, let’s face it, sis… You love eating. You are a foodie, we both know it. And a succubus that is a foodie tends up to leave a trail.” Sumeragi said as he smirked.
Caroline blushed brightly, knowing that Sumeragi knew her way too well, which did embarrass her quite a lot. Because she had been hiding the fact that she was a succubus from everyone, of course not her family, since they knew all about her, but knowing she left a trail meant that she didn’t do enough cleanup.
“Did I mess up in the cleanup?” Caroline asked with a worried face.
“Not really. But I learned to find the small traces that even your best cleanup leaves.” Sumeragi said as he smirked.
Caroline sighed in relief, and started walking to the door, since keeping the hero waiting for too long would raise alarms.
“We might not see each other for a while, but if you do finally get together with that farm girl… I want all the details, and by that I mean all the deed. You and Dad have the same tastes, after all, innocent and cute.” Caroline said as she smirked, and strutted out of the smithy.
Sumeragi smiled widely while blushing, mainly because he was happy to see his sister, but also she had teased him quite well, and waved goodbye silently to Caroline before returning to do the final touches on the sword.
Caroline sighed while going outside the smithy, from where she could see that Kanbe had been busy dealing with some thugs, three in total, who were on the ground and were bleeding badly while Kanbe’s fists were covered in blood. She didn’t expect this kind of situation happening today, specially with the guard being strict on security.
That said, seems like no matter how good the guards were, thugs were bound to appear, but this raised a problem.
If Kanbe was hurt due to this attack while she was talking with Sumeragi, it would easily mean that she would have to answer to the knights of Zerax about it and that the next steps on her plan would be way harder to perform since the knights would be around the hero at all times. Not impossible, though, since an archlich could exterminate the average knight of Zerax without being in too much of a hassle… But the archlich could go rogue and try to kill her too, which would make her have to kill the archlich which would show her own power.
And so, Caroline’s mind started panicking, knowing that her plan could blow up right away without a chance of making it work… Just because the hero had a stroke of luck with a bunch of thugs attacking him, and that she could very well end up demoted as a normal nun… Or worse, executed for allowing the hero to be hurt, since he was the only chance against the dark lord.
***
While Kanbe was dealing with the thugs, far away from that action… In Andving, the capital of the elven country of Rivialt, known for its magic academy.
A female elf of a meter and half, with clear pointy ears, short blond hair styled in a pair of cute pigtails, green eyes, snow-white skin, with glossy red lipstick on her plump lips, and it was clear that she was using makeup to seemingly enlarge her eyes, who was wearing a very short black cropped top that barely covered her stomach, a red miniskirt that barely covered anything, black lacy stockings with a black lacy garter belt, and red platform heels of 15 inches.
This woman was calmly walking across a street with polished stone tiles, which had grass on both sides of the street and massive trees that granted a lot of shade for those walking through said street, as many stalls were placed across said street that were selling fruits and all kinds of street foods as it was a street near the academy of Andving.
The academy was a massive castle, since it was the former castle of the elven royalty until Katas the first became king, which had eight skinny, round towers that reached twice the height of the adventurer’s guild in Andving, the second-tallest in the capital, that were connected by large, thin walls made of light brown stone.
Elegant windows made of stained-glass were scattered generously across the walls in a seemingly random pattern, along with overhanging crenelations for archers and artillery, and a massive wide gate of at least two meters made of wood that released a blue hue of mana that calmed those that touched it and had evil intent.
The academy itself was a place where the greatest nobles, with some capacity for the magic arts, learned alongside some brilliant mages that managed to pass the rigorous tests of the academy about the many ways to use mana and how to engineer systems that used mana without the use of metallurgy.
As this female moved along the street, she was stopped by a young elf with black hair, pointy ears, dark skin, with a scar going across his left eye diagonally, with black eyes, who was wearing a black shirt with golden stripes, black trousers, and black boots. It was clear that many elves that moved across the same street looked at the young elf with content, and even a smidge of hatred, due to the fact that he was a dark elf and not a normal elf.
“Sho, why are you coming here? You know better than I do that coming here alone is, you know, a bad idea.” the female elf asked the dark elf, clearly worried about the wellbeing of said individual.
“Yeah, miss Asaka. But I have bad news to share. The prophet had a prophecy.” Sho said, as he looked worried at the female elf.
“You know you can, like, call me by my name, Sho. But a prophecy, like for realsies?” The female elf said as she caressed Sho’s face.
“Yes, for real, Rei. A terrible one. A dark lord is coming, and we are tasked with defeating it in case of the hero summoned by David is unable to pull the weight.” Sho said, as he touched tenderly Rei’s hand.
“That’s terrible! Then we should ask for a group of valiant men to assist me with said duty!” Rei said as she blushed due to the tender touch of Sho.
“Yes, but his majesty has another problem. I came to guide you to Rayne’s manor, but it’s about Legias and Saida. To not count that sir Rayne of house Lefeleim has died abruptly, and no one knows why or how. Forget about considering who.” Sho explained.
“Hm. I would, like, have to check the situation to find out why, right?” Rei said as she giggled, even in said somber situation.
“Y-Yes, you should do so, Rei.” Sho timidly said.
Rei simply nodded, and walked alongside Sho as she hugged Sho’s right arm lovingly, while many male elves looked at Sho with both envy and jealousy that Rei, the arcane hero, was being so loving to a dark elf like Sho.
Sho calmly guided Rei to a small manor in the noble district of the elven capital, which was a district with polished quartz tiles that acted as the road of the district and had lampposts made of mythril with a blue gem inside the top of the lampposts themselves that gave the same hue that the door of the academy gave.
The manor was made of maple wood, with elegant golden windows made of glass, with mythril engravings across the wall to act as a support to the manor of three floors that had a squalid garden with a few bushes that were shaped as cubes and a massive apple tree.
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House Lefeleim had been an important house ages past, back when Katas was a mere young and meek boy, that was above the rest of noble houses until Leif Lefeleim died of old age.
Once Rayne Lefeleim took charge of the noble house, he wasted the inheritance money in doing fruitless business with the humans that smuggled all kinds of potions and lending money to the other houses without intent of recovering the money, and his influence in the noble houses declined due to the fact that Rayne’s children were talentless in the magic arts.
Rei was guided quickly across the manor, seeing porcelain floor all across the manor, and many pieces of ancient art as painting of the former kings and suits of armor that had not seen any kind of action for centuries, but couldn’t truly see it as Sho guided her quickly due to the pressing matters.
And so Rei entered inside the crime scene, Rayne’s office, which had porcelain tiles too, a massive window that gave a wondrous view of the entire capital, a circular wooden maple wood table with engravings of a hexagon, a couple of tables, and a damaged bookshelf. The entire room was a mess, with books thrown to the ground, papers scattered across the floor, and clear fighting marks were left on the floor.
As she was checking the office, she saw a rather tall elven man, with blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes, who was wearing some green robes with several white cube-shaped patterns all across the robes and a pair of white boots with green soles checking the porcelain tiles in the area stained in red as a rather fat and bald elven man lied face first on the ground, with a dagger attached to his back.
The tall elven man was king Katas, and Rei quickly did a curtsy towards the king however she could, which made Sho to bow to the king while looking to the ground as he quivered in fear.
“No need for such formalities, miss Asaka and company. I am here to check on my old friend, Rayne. He was killed, there is no doubt about that, and while the knight order of Elathana should be the ones investigating it… I simply can’t believe what they would say about his death, since I need to see this for myself.” Katas said as he looked calmly at both Rei and Sho, who took a deep breath and started checking the room.
“The killer was skilled enough to kill him, but not without a fight. But there’s not a broken window, so that means it was someone Rayne trusted.” Sho said as he checked the unbroken window.
“That could be many, since most of the nobility knows how to fight. Dunno, but like that would be a fact.” Rei said, while checking the hexagon engraving, as she was feeling like the engraving was hiding something.
Rei used a bit of mana on the engraving, and the entire table started shining with UV light as it showed an emblem of a demon smiling that covered the center area of the hexagon. This made Sho look at it surprised, but then the engraving showed a message just below the center area that said: “Ars Deavil saith: Debtrio debust pagaids.”
“A message, in elven, so we know that the one who did it was an elf. Not a dark elf. That takes away a few of the suspects, but that doesn’t help.” Katas said as he looked at the message with a cold glare.
“The message says: As the Devil said: Debts must be paid. Which kind of devil says that? Like, one of Pride?” Rei said as she pondered the meaning of the message.
“Could be. But no. It’s of one legendary individual, of ages past, way beyond what even us know. Have you ever heard of the Black Flame Devil?” Sho said, as he pondered all the options.
“I heard of it, but like, never caught my interest.” Rei said as she looked at Sho.
“The black flame devil was a being that hunted gods, a godslayer, who made the ancient city of Neradath. With his undead armies, he reigned supreme above all the godslayers, until the gods kicked the godslayers out of this world. A being who decided to make several individuals that would carry on with his legacy, if he ever died.” Sho explained.
“You missed out a lot, but brevity is a must. That said, I never believed in any of the stories until I saw Sumeragi… One of his children, saving Legias. I guess that Legias has some ties to those children.” Katas said as he looked at Sho in the eyes, an act that would surprise most elves due to the fact he never looked at any elf that wasn’t his daughter like that.
“If so, wouldn’t that mean that Saida has the same ties? After all, the black flame devil only cared for close friends, business partners, and his family.” Sho said, considering what he knew of the stories.
“Maybe, but I suppose they are not that strong, or they chose to not show them yet.” Katas said, while glaring at Sho.
“Oh, it must be because Guinevere was one of those children, and like, you married her, your majesty.” Rei said, with sarcasm in her voice, but clearly knowing that she was right.
“You are right. I am trying to hide that fact, to prevent issues for my sweet daughter, due to the fact that Legias is a cursed child.” Katas said, looking at Rei’s neck instead of her eyes.
“But an assassin killed her, like, not sir Rayne. So why is this placed here, with sir Rayne dead?” Rei said.
“We must find the culprit, and ask them ourselves.” Katas said with a worried look.
“If they know of this. This seems like something prepared, and someone knows the secret of Guinevere and wants to make his majesty pay for her death.” Sho pointed out.
“It’s a good hypothesis, I suppose I can entrust you this.” Katas simply said as he left the room quickly, while clearly sweating.
“We both saw that. He ordered her death, and Rayne was a middleman for it. That’s why he’s dead. Someone is killing people in that devil’s name, or one of his children is using their legacy to take revenge on Katas.” Rei said with a serious tone.
“Well, you sure hid that realization from me and his majesty, Rei.” Sho said as he looked surprised by Rei’s words.
“I must act like a little scamp that doesn’t know anything, Sho, dearie. But also, it’s because that way… Nobles don’t think of me as a danger, but nothing more than a future trophy wife. As if I would let them get me. I’d rather marry you, Sho. You are so cute and loving.” Rei said as she hugged Sho, who was blushing brightly.
“O-Okay. But we should check who did it!” Sho said nervously.
“Indeed. I think this assassination was impulsed by one of the devil’s children, but they just pushed it forward and gave the green light. The culprit has their own reasons to kill Rayne, which are covered under the reason of killing under the devil’s name.” Rei said as she smirked.
“Well, let’s start investigating, then!” Sho exclaimed, quickly freeing himself from Rei’s hug.
And so the couple started investigating, trying to decipher the reason why Rayne died, as they found out a letter covered in blood with the Lefeleim seal acting as a wax seal for the letter.
Caroline Status:
Race: Humanoid Demon. Subrace: Succubus.
Gender: Female
Age: 25 years old.
Height: 1.80 meters tall.
Three sizes (Bust-Waist-Hips): 90-60-90. (Only shown when the analyzed one is 18 years old or older)
Cup Size: D. (Only shown when the analyzed one is 18 years old or older)
Likes: Innocent people, irony, having fun.
Dislikes: Dumb guys, perverted guys, and spicy food.
Level: 60
STATS (Maximum of 1000):
HP: 5000000/500000
MP: 50000/50000
STR: 25
VIT: 300
INT: 500
DEX: 300
AGI: 75
Magic affinity: Holy magic, Nature magic, Non-elemental.
Skill affinity: Craftsman, Magician, Charmer, Scavenger, Survivalist, Bishop, Master Scribe, Scholar.
Titles: Archbishop, holy soul, loved by everyone.
Job: Archbishop.
Special Skills:
Blessed Body: Her health pool is enhanced tenfold, and her defense is doubled. Also allows the user to regenerate faster, but requires far more nutrients.
Health Boost: The user gains 10000 HP, also makes them harder to poison.
Demonic Heritage of the grand demons: The user's maximum mana is enhanced a 30%.
Blessed Tea Party: Active, 0 MP. Once an enemy hurts her and makes her bleed, her blood can enter the areas of the target's body that aren't hermetically closed. Once the blood is inside, it mixes with the target's blood and turns it into an extremely hot tea-like substance that heals all kinds of wounds and ailments once ingested. After twenty minutes, if the target isn't bleeding and the user is still alive, the target will become a living teapot only able to pour the medicine made inside itself.
Blessed Healer: The user's healing skills heals a 20% more.
Nature's blessed friend: The user's druid abilities are stronger than average, which allows the, to grow plants almost anywhere.
Skills:
Bishop skills (Master) :
Holy soul: Passive, increases a 20% the power of holy skills.
Holy healer: Passive, increases a 20% of the power of the healing abilities.
Holy protection: Passive that gives a 100% resistance to the mind control ailments.
Blessed Soul: Passive, increases a 60% the power of holy skills and healing abilities.
Blessed protection: Passive, any curse used against the user will be negated.
Minor Heal: Active, 3 MP. Heals a target a 10% of the user current HP.
Medium Heal: Active, 20 MP. Heals a target a 30% of the user current HP.
Minor barrier: Active, 5 MP. Creates a barrier that can withstand a 20% of the user current HP.
Medium Barrier: Active, 10 MP. Creates a barrier that can withstand a 40% of the user current HP.
Greater Barrier: Active, 30 MP. Creates a barrier that can withstand an 80% of the user current HP.
Restoration: Active, 15 MP. Takes out ailments like poison, paralysis, and bleeding.
Complete Restoration: Active, 50 MP. Takes out all ailments.
Holy bullet: Active, 3 MP. The user shoots a holy bullet that deals holy damage.
Holy burst: Active, 30 MP. The user causes an explosion of holy mana around himself/herself. Range: 10 meters.
Holy Turrets: Active, 50 MP. The user creates 5 balls of light that will shoot holy bullets to the enemy.
Magician (Master):
Magic Knowledge: Passive. Allows the use of magic.
Magician's soul: Passive. All spells cast by the user are a 20% stronger.
Magic control: Passive. All spells are cast 10% faster. Some can even be used without chanting.
Magic modification: Passive. The spells can be modified to give them new effects and change the way they are used.
Chantless: Passive. The minor spells will be automatically cast without even saying the name of the spell and the user only has to think in the spell and the adept spells only will have to be chanted entirely when using magic modification.
Holy Magic:
Holy bullet: Active, 5 MP. The caster creates a bullet of holy magic. It is like a laser that will perforate anything.
Holy Heal: Active, 10 MP. The caster can heal an ally a 10% of their maximum HP.
Holy Lance: Active, 16 MP. The caster creates several spears made of holy light.
Holy Blade: Active, 22 MP. The caster can create a sword made of holy element and throw it or implant the holy element temporarily to the blade that the caster is using.
Holy Aura: Active, 30 MP. The caster implants the holy element in the armor he/she has and increases his/her defense a 20%.
Photon Laser: Active, 80 MP. The user shoots a laser of light that pierces through anything but can be redirected using mirrors.
Divine Salvation: Active, 1 MP. The user can dispel any effect like nothing had happened.
Lion's Heart: Active, 5 MP. The user can give bravery to the target and increase their resistance to fear and ailments a 50%.
Holy Empowering: Active, 0 MP. The user can add the holy element to anything. Pinnacle spell.
Non-elemental magic:
Mana blast: Active, 4 MP. Allows the user to shoot mana in its purest form to an enemy.
Mana barrier: Active, 5 MP. The user creates a barrier around himself/herself to protect against attacks.
Mana Spear: Active, 10 MP. The user creates a spear of pure mana that pierces the enemy.
Dispel: Active, 20 MP. The user can dispel any spell used against himself/herself.
Mana Field: The user can create a mana field with the mana of the environment and control that mana.
Mana Bomb: Active, 5 MP. The user creates a bomb made of Mana or implants it on an enemy. It will explode after a few seconds.
Magic Return: Active, 25 MP. The user can make all of the effects that are applied on an ally go to him/her and null them.
Mana Missile: Active, 2 MP. The user can shoot a missile at a target filled with mana.
Mana Lock: Active, 500 MP. The user can block the mana of a target for 1 minute. Pinnacle spell.
Survivalist (Master):
Survival Specialist: Passive. Allows the user to survive harsh conditions for extended periods of time, and grants the ability to recover from any ailment with enough time.
Survivalist Stomach: Passive. The user can withstand easily eating rotten food, with only some minor indisposition.
Survivalist Compass: Passive. The user knows always where he/she is, and which path to take in order to go back. Only works as long as the eyes are open, and if the user has seen the path they have followed.
Survivalist Last Stand: Passive. If the user is going to die due to not natural causes like starvation, once per month, they can heal themselves up to optimal condition.
Trap Making: Active, 10 MP. The user can make all kinds of traps, as long as he/she understands how to make them.
Mapping: Active, 20 MP. The user can make a map of the area with their mana, to plan where they go.
Marker Addition: Active, 30 MP. The user can place a mana signal on an object and is able to sense it in a range of 200 meters.
Light Sprint: Active, 2 MP/minute. The user can increase their speed a 200% while running. Pinnacle skill.
Charmer (Master):
Increased Charm: People of the opposite sex or those of the same sex interested in the same sex will be more attracted to the user.
Charmed Trust: Those who are charmed by the user will trust him/her totally.
Charming negotiations: The negotiations with the ones who can be charmed will be easier.
Irresistible: Those who may be interested in the user will lose any kind of restraint when they see him/her.
Craftsman (Master):
Total knowledge of the creation of battle tools: The master version of Knowledge of the creation of tools. Allows the user to create any tool that aids in a fight like kunais.
Master Creation of tools: Active, 2 MP. Allows the user to create a master class battle tool like kunais.
Master Refinement: Active, 5 MP. The user can refine the tools made by himself/herself with no mistakes.
Master Mass Creation of tools: Active, 20 MP/second. Allows the user to create 20 master class battle tools like kunais per second without stopping as long as the user has mp and the materials.
Master Scribe (Master):
Enhanced Writing: Passive. The user can write twofold faster while allowing it to be readable, without losing too much stamina.
Careful Writing: Passive. The user can write things even in an earthquake, without making a single mistake.
Efficient Writing: Passive. The user writes much more efficiently, making it far less strenuous.
Carbon Copy: Active, 10 MP. The user can make a copy of any paper they have seen for 10 minutes without any mistake.
Coding Writing: Active, 12 MP. The user can code anything they write in a code they can think of in a few minutes.
Decoding Writing: Active, 20 MP. The user can decode anything they read that is in an understandable code in a few minutes.
Mass Copy: Active, 100 MP. The user can do several hundreds of perfect copies of a book in a couple of hours. Pinnacle skill.
Scholar (Master):
Fast reading: Passive. Allows the user to read quickly any document and understand it.
Deeper Understanding: Passive. The user can understand things that most people wouldn't understand easily.
Percipience: Passive. Allows the user to grasp anything that happens around him, and to understand even better the things they are focused on.
Recitation: Passive. The user can recite anything they have understood without any problem. Pinnacle skill.
Sumeragi status:
Race: Dark Elf.
Genre: Male.
Age (Elven age/Real age) : 180 years old/ 22 year old.
Height: 2 meters tall.
Likes: Innocent people, good fights, spicy food and stay with the ones he cares about.
Dislikes: Dumb guys, Corrupt people and those who overuse their power.
Level: 60
STATS (Maximum of 1000):
HP: 400000/400000
MP: 15000/15000
STR: 425
VIT: 300
INT: 100
DEX: 300
AGI: 300
Magic affinity: Basic magic, Enhancing magic, Thunder magic.
Skill affinity: Samurai, Enhancer, Magician, Craftsman, Swordsman, Defender, Blacksmith.
Titles: Wicked soul, traitor of the elves, hunter of the wicked, War Dog.
Job: Ronin
Special Skills:
Mana resupply: Active, 0 MP. The user recovers an 80% of the total mana the user has used in the last hour. Only works once every day.
Super body: The user's body is far better than usual, so it can withstand way better than the average person the side effects of skills like Limiter Release.
Honorable Reward: Those killed in an honorable way give extra skill points to the user. Per every 10000 killed honorably, the user gets 1 skill point.
Trick tack toe: Active, 0 MP. The user can translocate in a triangular way, in a two-step translocation.
Super Dash: Active, 20 MP. The user can do an extremely fast dash towards a target.
Defender's might: The user's defense increases a 10%.
Skills:
Samurai Skill (Master):
Bushido: The user deals an extra 20% damage with Samurai skills.
Knowledge of swords: Allow the user to know about the katanas and other Japanese swords and increases their damages a 50%.
Fast blade: Allows the user to wield the katana a 50% faster.
Duelist soul: When the user is in a taunted status or taunts someone, he deals 80% damage and increases his HP and defense a 50%.
Shukuchi: Active, 3 MP. Allows the user to move closer with a extreme speed to a target. It can be combined with other skills.
Pommel strike: Active, 2 MP. The user strikes a foe with his pommel and stuns him. Can knock out weak opponents.
Vertical Draw: Active, 5 MP. The user grabs the sheathed sword and puts it in a vertical position. Then he draws the blade and cuts the enemy.
Severing blade: Active, 10 MP. The user can do a slash that has increased cutting power. The increase of cutting power is higher when the sword is sheathed but it is slower.
Showdown: Active, 15 MP. The user taunts an enemy and challenges the enemy to a fight.
Field slash: Active, 20 MP. The user can do a field where if an enemy trespasses it, the user will slash the enemy with an increase in power, critical rate, cutting edge and speed. Only can use it when the sword is sheathed.
Ceremonial Death: Active, 20 MP. The user will slash seven times the enemy and after the seven slashes, the enemy will receive extreme damage (90% chance) or instant death (10% chance). It can be dodged if you are fast enough.
Reaper's toll: Active, 50 MP. A diagonal slash attack that can be used to sever arms (60% chance of success) or instant death (15% chance of success). It can be used either with the sword sheathed or unsheathed.
Double heavenly slash: Active, 75 MP. A couple of slashes that will cut cause a high area damage against a group of enemies.
Enhancer (Master):
Hardened skin: Increases the defense of the user a 50%.
Instant Reflex: The user returns to the attack stance when the enemy throws off-balance him by a previous attack. It can hurt depending on how the user is thrown off-balance.
Magic Soul: The user gains a 50% extra resistance to magic.
Body Enhancement: Active, 1 MP. Increases for a brief period of time (1 minute) all the status a 20%.
Skill Boost: Active, 3 MP. The damage caused by skills is increased a 3% for a long period of time (1 hour).
Evasion enhancement: Active, 5 MP. The user increases his speed when he dodges attacks during a brief period of time.
Improved Body Enhancement: Active, 10 MP. Increases for a long period of time all the status a 20%.
Improved Evasion Enhancement: Active, 25 MP. The user increases his speed when he dodges attacks during a long period of time.
Neural Enhancement: Active, 30 MP. The user makes his brain go faster, obtaining increased attack speed and reflexes.
Battle Aura: Active, 50 MP. The user increases all the power of the muscles and allows the user to imbue the weapon used with magic so not only can be stopped without any kind of mana skills.
Limiter Release: Active, 25 MP/second. Nullifies any limit that the body has, increasing a 90% all Status. But causes pain and overused will cause the death of the user.
Magician (Master):
Magic Knowledge: Passive. Allows the use of magic.
Magician's soul: Passive. All spells cast by the user are a 20% stronger.
Magic control: Passive. All spells are cast 10% faster. Some can even be used without chanting.
Magic modification: Passive. The spells can be modified to give them new effects and change the way they are used.
Chantless: Passive. The minor spells will be automatically cast without even saying the name of the spell and the user only has to think in the spell and the adept spells only will have to be chanted entirely when using magic modification.
Basic Magic:
Minor analyze: Active, 1 MP. Shows to the user the status of the target. It can be tricked.
False status: Active, 3 MP. Allows the user to change what others see when they see the status.
Medium analyze: Active, 5 MP. Shows to the user the status and the personal data of the target. It can be tricked.
False data: Active, 15 MP. Allows the user to change what others see when they see the status window and the skill window when they use analyze skills like Greater analyze or medium analyze.
Fly: Active, 8 mp/second. Allows the user to soar through the sky.
Craftsman (Master):
Total knowledge of the creation of battle tools: The master version of Knowledge of the creation of tools. Allows the user to create any tool that aids in a fight like kunais.
Master Creation of tools: Active, 2 MP. Allows the user to create a master class battle tool like kunais.
Master Refinement: Active, 5 MP. The user can refine the tools made by himself/herself with no mistakes.
Master Mass Creation of tools: Active, 20 MP/second. Allows the user to create 20 master class battle tools like kunais per second without stopping as long as the user has mp and the materials.
Blacksmith (Master):
Blacksmithing knowledge: Allows the user to create armors, shields, ammunition, and weapons.
Master of Blacksmithing: The user can craft any kind of equipment that isn't made by the gods. But the user must know how to do it.
Create equipment: Active, 5 MP. The user can craft equipment.
Upgrading: Active, 20 MP. The user can upgrade the equipment with several improvements that makes it stronger.
Refining: Active, 5 MP. The user can refine the equipment and increase their performance and power. It can fail and damage the equipment and needs specific materials to do so.
Combination: Active, 80 MP. The user can combine several weapons to create a weapon even stronger than the other weapons used.
Defender (Master):
Protector of the weak: Passive. Increases a 75% the speed of the user when he sees someone wounded, and wants to go to their aid.
Tough Body: Passive. Lowers the damage taken a 20% when protecting someone.
Resilience: Passive. Lowers a 25% the effect and duration of ailments, curses, poison, and charm.
Grand Recovery: Passive. When the health lowers a 50% of the total, the user regains a 5% of their total health per second.
Mana Dash: Active, 2 MP. Allows the user to do a dash forward using the mana in their body.
Curse Bane: Active, 5 MP. Increases for 10 minutes the resistance towards curses a 20%
Magic Bane: Active, 4 MP. Increases for 10 minutes the resistance towards magic projectiles a 20%
Savior's translocation: Active, 20 MP. The user teleports in front of someone else, giving their backs to the target.
Rescue Retreat: Active, 30 MP, must grab the nearest ally. Allows the user to teleport anywhere in a range of 200 meters.
Defender's stand: Active, 100 MP. The user increased twofold their defense, and make a small field that stops all kinds of projectiles for five minutes. Pinnacle skill.
Swordsmanship (Master) (Photon style/ Extreme style/ War Dog Style):
Expert in Swords: Increases the power of sword skills a 25%
Perfect Striking: The accuracy while wielding a sword increases a 30%
Swordsman Wind: Increases the stamina of the user a 40%
Controlled Breathing: The user can control their breathing and increase their speed and power a 30%. Exhausts people faster.
War Dog Style:
War Dog style swordsmanship: The user is able to use the War Dog style well, which is using a katana using only one hand while using rage as a fuel for power. Allows the user to wield a katana with increased speed, and increased cutting power. Also, under the effects of War Dog Bloodthirst, this enhancement doubles.
War Dog Bloodthrist: Once the user gets either in a deadly situation where the body couldn't go further or drowned in hatred, they get a boost that makes instant death skills useless against them. Alongside that, the user can focus their rage perfectly and avoid being in a berserk state.
Ignore Pain: Passive. Allows the user to ignore the pain, and increases their resistance to terror, fear, and mind control a 40%.
Shallow Fang: Active, 20 MP. A shallow vertical slash made with incredible speed, causes bleeding if the target isn't wearing armor. Increases the damage of the next attack.
Vicious Claw: Active, 30 MP. A vicious horizontal slash that can cut even thick defenses, and pushes the enemy away. If combined with Shallow Fang, the damage caused will double.
Vicious Fang: Active, 30 MP. A vicious vertical slash made with brutal strength. This attack can't be blocked or parried, and will crush with its sheer weight those who try. If combined with Shallow Fang, can be used to perfectly counter a counterattack.
Shallow Claw: Active, 15 MP. A shallow horizontal slash made with incredible speed, can be used up to five times without stopping. It can be blocked, but will certainly make the user's posture suffer damage.
Vicious Counter Fang: Active, 0 MP. A counter skill that counters enemy charges by grabbing or crushing the weapon of the enemy while releasing a powerful vertical slash to cut the opponent's dominant arm or pivoting leg. The slash can be done with one hand or with two, but with two is slower.
Vicious Demonbane: Active, 120 MP. Pinnacle skill. The user can only use this skill once they lost a 40% of their HP. The user uses the mana to block their sense of pain and their limiter, to release a powerful slash that could even cut the thickest of armors.