Chapter 38 – Ripples of a Tiny Pebble

Aenon sat at his desk, deep in thought. There were a lot of things he needed to consider going forward. His potential list of enemies seemed to be growing by the day, and they were all existences he could do absolutely nothing against. The Overseer, the Solaria Dominion Empire, the nature elves of Glendwyr, and possibly the unknown entity haunting him through the System prompts. He was not even an ant to these giants, and he somehow needed ways to stand up to them. He sighed internally before pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind. He needed to first build his strength before he could even begin to plan counter strategies.

Knock knock knock.

“Enter,” Aenon said loudly while still resting his head back with his eyes closed. He was beginning to rely very little on sight these days. His soul and mana senses had gotten potent enough that hardly anything could get within 100 meters (330 feet) of him without him knowing about it.

He was seated at his desk in the city lord’s mansion when the former city lord, now appointed mayor Vincent, entered the room with six people in tow. Aenon had let everyone take rest in the guest rooms overnight after the ordeal from yesterday. There was a lot to discuss, and he needed to make sure everyone was well rested.

Vincent came in and waved his hand in the center of the room, conjuring up a long rectangular table with a dozen chairs on each side. The wood was stained a deep burgundy, and the entire set was rich and opulent. The head of the table had the most striking seat of them all, with several gemstones embedded all over. Aenon stared blankly at the mayor, neither being used to, nor expecting such a show of wealth. But still decided to play along for now. The conversation with the mayor could wait.

He walked up to his chair and sat down, waving for others to have a seat too. Once everyone was seated, Vincent waved his hand again and procured a set of crystal glasses filled with some clear drink. But Aenon didn’t even touch his glass, as there were many pressing matters to attend to.

“I hope everyone had time to process the incident from yesterday. So let me start by saying this. What happened yesterday is not to be discussed with anyone except those at this table. Irrespective of your loyalty and commitments. If you think otherwise, do keep in mind that we have a world tree in our backyard. And I am sure many powers will very easily kill for it. Either to obtain it, or to keep its existence a secret,” Aenon said as he looked at each person individually. Secrecy was his greatest asset right now, and he didn’t plan to give it up that easily.

Eskad nodded in affirmation, as did everyone else at the table. They were essentially all in the same boat. Elara had explained the significance of a world tree yesterday, and how jealously the elves from Glendwyr hoarded it. They would have no allies if they were to reveal its existence, for whoever they contacted would want it. He could feel the emotions from everyone as they all realized how dire their situation was.

“Next up, I need some confirmation from you. Am I right in assuming you arrived on this planet quite recently?” Aenon faced Eskad while asking the question. When he nodded to confirm, he carried on, “Then I need some intel from outside. Specifically, about the Solaria Dominion.”

All four party members looked surprised at his query, as they all exchanged looks. Eskad asked solemnly, “How is any of this related to them?”

“Just answer the question first,” Aenon replied.

“Please forgive us sire. The reason he asked the question is because of our own situation. We came to this planet to get away from them. The mention of their name is deeply concerning to us,” Elara responded instead of her husband. Her voice was very grim.

“Hmmm. I see. They are not linked to this incident. But with something else that I cannot disclose yet. Once I know what you know, and what your situation is, I might be more inclined to share the information.”

Aenon felt the tension rising in the air as the party shared concerned looks, before they came to some silent understanding.

“Very well, sire. My party and I were in the employ of an individual from the royal house of the Solarian Domain, House Lightseeker. We… owed them for something trivial. But they held it over our heads like a blade. They forced us to pay them back many times over, through exceedingly difficult and dangerous missions. Being left with no choice we fulfilled our obligations. We had but one more mission to go. But the last mission…,” Elara trailed off. She glanced at the twins sadly.

“We lost our brother during the last demand by the wretched vermin. We were triplets, not twins,” one dwarf said with hate and vitriol in his voice. There was a moment of silence as people processed what they heard.

“The mission was borderline suicidal, but we did it anyway. Having no choice in the matter. And we completed it successfully. But it cost us dearly. Roff, was our healer. But the person we owed, refused to acknowledge the mission completion,” Elara said with disgust in her voice.

“How so? I am assuming it was a System quest. If you completed the mission, then how could he invalidate it?” Aenon asked in confusion. He knew that the quest givers had to acknowledge the completion. But he didn’t know that they could refuse to do so.

“On a technicality. The quest stated we had to complete a 5-man dungeon successfully and return with completion tokens. Each party member gets one of those when you successfully complete it. Since our healer didn’t make it, we had 4 tokens in hand. Which he said invalidated the mission parameters,” Elara said with gritted teeth as the dwarves seethed silently on the side. Aenon didn’t want to cause them any more pain, so he stopped her from explaining further. At least in the presence of the dwarves.

“I understand. I appreciate the honesty and am sorry for your loss. Now to keep my part of the deal, I believe the Solarian Dominion is responsible for the recent dungeon break incidents around the former village of Jadefall. That is all I am going to state for now,” Aenon said.

The reactions were near instantaneous and varied across the table. Blake and Vicent stared open eyed in shock. The dwarves stood up in anger and slammed their fists on the table. Elara and Eskad shared a worried look, while Jenny just looked around in confusion. Aenon leaned back in silence.

“Are you sure sir?” Blake asked. “The planet is still in its tutorial phase, and outside influence is not permitted. Only the few adventurers and critical city personal like the NPCs are allowed to come to the planet. But that too with severe limitations. We can’t bring anything from outside.”

Aenon crossed his fingers and placed his hands on the table before him. His silent stare shut everyone up. Even the dwarves apologized for their outburst and meekly sat back down.

“Now, back to my question. What news do you have of the empire?”

“Err, of course sire,” Elara started explaining. “A major incident happened in the Dominion a couple of months ago. A young prince went missing, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Rumors are circulating that the prince has been killed because he was involved with…forbidden things. It has thrown the entire Dominion into chaos, and there has been a major upheaval going on due to it. In fact, it’s this chaos that allowed us the opportunity to escape.”

Aenon closed his eyes, as he considered the implication of this news. He knew of the power structure of the empire from his discussion with the now dead prince. The empire had multiple noble houses, each vying for control of the smaller territories. The Lightseeker house was part of a minor faction that had been rising in recent years. And the prince that he made Allie kill was tenth in line for the patriarch position. So, something as small as the disappearance of a prince from a distant noble house would not warrant such a response.

“How important was this prince and from which house was he from?” Aenon asked. He needed to hide his involvement as much as possible.

“Umm, it’s the same house that we owed. In fact the same person, prince Gareomos Lightseeker VI. He was unimportant and irrelevant in every regard, except one. He was dearly loved by the crown prince of House Lightseeker, Prince Caelus Valis Lightseeker,” Elara said with some trepidation.

Aenon looked at Elara and asked firmly, “Your escape doesn’t happen to have any relation with the prince’s disappearance, does it?”

“Absolutely not, sire. We swear we had no knowledge of it. But we would nevertheless have been executed if we stayed,” Elara responded in a rush. Aenon knew they were not involved, but it didn’t hurt if Vincent and Blake suspected otherwise.

Aenon eyed them briefly, before nodding, “I believe you.”

The party members breathed a sigh of relief. Pretty much everyone except Jenny believed he was from a noble house, and he wanted them to continue doing so. But he needed some more information of a more sensitive nature now. He turned to Vincent.

“The arbiter of this village. Has she been in touch?”

“No sire. She has disappeared too, like she never existed. I even got a notification that she was stripped of her position. Not sure who the new arbiter is, cause he/she has not deigned it important enough to visit an Abandoned Village,” Vincent replied. Aenon thought that was that, when Eskad spoke up.

“The new arbiter is located at our current settlement, Pinespire. But no one has seen or heard from him/her. Apparently, they desire some secrecy to carry out their task. He/She has appointed Lady Agatha as assistant guild head at Pinespire though. And she has been acting as the go between ever since,” Eskad stated. He briefly hesitated before continuing, “The previous arbiter failed at her responsibilities and has been replaced. This was the information passed onto us by Lady Agatha.”

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“And what happened to the previous arbiter?” Aenon asked neutrally.

“Rumor has it, she is related to…,” Elara chewed on her tongue a bit before continuing. “Overseer Velcodirust. The loss of prestige that it has brought about has been significant for that man. He has been on a warpath to regain his honor. Some people are saying he might have been directly related to the incident with the Dominion, since they had attempted to use the arbiter’s failure as way to sully his reputation.”

And there it was. The little nugget Aenon had been looking for. It had come full circle, with the Overseer and the empire essentially poking and prodding each other. Since Aenon had disappeared, the Overseer needed a new scapegoat to hide his illicit practices. What better way than to point everyone in the direction of the Lightseeker house. But Aenon felt there was still a crucial piece missing.

“I am more interested in facts than mere rumors. Is there any credible connection between the former arbiter and the Dominion?”

Eskad and Elara shared a glance before the berserker spoke up, “During the last days with the Lightseeker house, immediately after the prince’s disappearance, we overheard some house officials saying the arbiter might have been directly or indirectly linked to his death.”

And finally, Aenon had the full picture. At least as far as it was possible to get a clear picture of the internal politics of the noble houses. Based on this Aenon could make an accurate guess about what happened next. The noble house had to hide the involvement of their youngest prince in illegitimate spells. They must have tried to pin the blame on someone, that someone being Eskad’s party. But they did want to seek revenge on the arbiter, but the Overseer must have hidden her. So, they went after him instead, assuming it would be an easy political move. Only for it to backfire in a major way. The Overseer was obviously a shrewd political genius to have reached the heights that he did. The rest, as they say, was history.

His one impromptu decision to make Allie kill the prince, instead of doing it himself, had set off a series of ripples he never could have planned for even if he tried. They must have had some way of tracking the killer, and his decision at the time had shielded him from the fallout. The one good thing about the entire debacle was that he was in the shadows, with the spotlight focused on Allie entirely. He would have felt bad for her, if not for the entire soul chain thing her grandfather pulled.

Now that he knew all this, he needed to sort out his priorities and plan. He didn’t want to squander the relative calm he had earned as the two behemoths focused on each other. He needed to set the deck in his favor for the eventual rematch he would have and try to gain as much power as possible. Both personally and politically.

“Alright. You have given me a lot to think about. You can all go and rest for the next couple of days. Just don’t leave the village or try to contact anyone outside. My shadows are always watching,” Aenon said eerily as Venge moved in the shadow at the corner of the room. “You are all dismissed.”

Aenon felt fear off everyone’s souls as they stood up as one and started filing out. But before the door was opened Aenon added, “Except you. Jenny.”

The poor girl froze in her tracks, unsure of what to do. She looked helplessly at Elara, who shook her head quietly and walked out. Once everyone left, and the door closed with a loud click, Jenny turned around with dread and sat at the very last chair, as far away from Aenon as humanly possible.

“Our conversation was interrupted last time due to the sapling,” Aenon stated as a matter of fact. “Its time we continued, don’t you think?”

“Ye… yes. S.. sir,” Jenny replied in a trembling voice.

“You know, don’t you?” Aenon asked.

“Know what, sir?” Jenny replied while staring at the ground. It had become a habit of the people around him since it was unnerving to look at his face with the mask on.

Aenon stood up and walked over to the shivering girl, before sitting down on the chair opposite her. She still refused to look up. So Aenon removed his mask and placed it where she was staring. She tensed up and closed her eyes.

“Look at me,” he said softly.

She shook her head violently, refusing to do so.

“You do know who I am.”

“No, I don’t,” she shook head again and covered her closed eyes with her hands.

“You are the only one here who has experienced my domain before I went missing. And dare I say, its hard to forget its effects.”

Jenny trembled as she covered her entire head in fright, probably expecting an attack of some sort. Which is why she was thrown off guard when Aenon spoke next.

“Thank you.”

She opened her eyes in shock, only to find him smiling softly. She was too dumbfounded to say anything, so Aenon continued.

“For keeping my secret safe. I know it’s hard to trust me, especially after the incident with your mother. But I am grateful that you didn’t out me. You might not understand why, but maybe someday you will.”

“This is not some ruse to get me to relax before you kill me, is it?” she asked hesitantly.

“Heh. What do you think?”

Jenny stayed silent, thinking something as she continued staring at him. Eventually she asked, “Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why do you keep saving me? Even after all I have done, after what my mother has done,” Jenny asked.

Aenon could sense every feeling that was bubbling in her soul. He knew his next answer would either make it or break it. He needed to choose his words very carefully. So, he gave it a lot of thought before responding. Hoping it would be enough.

………………

Jenny

Jenny sat there, staring at the boy before her. The face that had haunted her nightmares for the past couple of months. No matter how much she spoke to Lady Agatha, the dreams had not stopped. Every night without fail, she had seen the same face. The same expression of disgust as he walked out of the room with those words.

“As a last mercy I will tell you this, your mother is not dead. Her token got used up. I merely wanted her to experience what she has put others through. The other animal she served is truly dead though. And if she hasn’t changed her ways by the next time we meet, I will end her permanently too. Get out of my house. Do not dare to show me your face again, unless you are willing to accept what kind of person your mother was.”

It wasn’t the moment of her mother’s death that haunted her. Neither was it the remorseless with which he did the act. It was those words. A testament to his patience; his kindness; and his ruthlessness. She knew then what kind of person that boy was.

All her life she had believed herself to be special. Believed her mother to be the perfect role model. Even when others said otherwise, she continued to believe it. When others hated her, she merely scorned them and looked the other way. All she needed, all she wanted, was the approval of her mother. No matter who was hurt, no matter who she had to leave behind. Her best friend, her colleagues. Her brother. She pushed them all away.

And for a time, she was happy. She reveled in the praise showered on her by her teachers and her mother. She felt untouchable, even if she saw and heard her peers making fun of her. She chalked it up to petty jealousy. Any time she felt doubt, she buried herself in books and accolades her success brought her.

But eventually, the hollow feeling inside her got bigger. No prize, no praise could fill the void. Worse was that she knew deep down, what could fill it. A friend. Someone who would accept her for exactly who she was. Not someone who would try to make her change her bad habits to be the prefect little girl. Sadly, the damage was done by this point. She didn’t know how to make friends, and her older ones she had pushed too far.

And that was the reason she had gone on that fateful camping trip. She needed a break. A break from her mother, a break from all her academic achievements. She had read somewhere that unplugging into the wild was a great way to find yourself. And so, she had done that. But old habits are hard to kill. And the universe had other plans of its own.

She was thrust into a world so foreign, so unbelievable, she didn’t know what to do. She stumbled around helplessly, hoping, praying, for someone to wake her up from this nightmare. Worse still, she didn’t even have the one connection she always relied on. Her mother. And so, she tried every defense mechanism she had learned over the years to survive.

At first, she threw tantrums to get her way. But that ended up very poorly for her. Then she tried flattery, like how she saw her mother use on multiple occasions. That too failed as everyone was disgusted by how dependent and needy she was. Everything just made things worse. And worst of all, was the experience with Erwin. She wanted to rely on him, but he had abused her worse than she could ever imagine. She still felt the spiders crawling…

Every person she had tried to depend on either abused her or scoffed at her weakness. And during that this boy appeared out of nowhere. He saved her from prison without a single word. He gave her food and consoled her, despite her behavior. He even attempted to make her see the reality of this world, by going out his way to reunite her with her mother.

He somehow knew that her mother wouldn’t be successful. He just wanted her to see that. Not expecting to uncover her mother’s hideous plot. And that’s when she saw his ruthless side. But even in that, there was kindness. He could have just left her to believe that her mother was dead, but he didn’t. But not once had she seen him ask or expect anything in return.

Her time at Pinespire was both healing and enlightening. She finally managed to accept who she was, and what her mother had done all her life. She saw the entire world in a different way, away from the lens her mother forced on her. But even so, she was reluctant to meet the boy again. She feared him, which was the one thing that she couldn’t come to terms with. Why did she fear him. She knew the boy wouldn’t harm her, if she didn’t do something despicable. Then why.

She had a long time to think about all this, and she had discussed this with Lady Agatha at length. Both had come to the following conclusion. She didn’t fear the boy’s wrath. But his mercy. For it would be a clear sign of how much of a failure she was. Lady Agatha had said that Jenny had put the boy in her mother’s spot.

In the sense that, she respected the boy and was thankful to him. And now in place of her mother, she would seek his approval. It didn’t make sense to her, but according to Lady Agatha her soul had been molded like that, whatever that meant. She would always need someone to look up to. And for now, that person was the boy. And just like how she feared displeasing her mother, she was afraid the boy would pity her for her weakness.

That is why, when she finally faced him again, she was terrified. The moment she was in the pitch-black abyss, she knew he was there. She felt his presence deep in her soul. She was no longer afraid of the treant then, but of the fact that he would see her in the same position as before. A helpless damsel in distress. She hated the fact that she almost got the berserker’s party killed, but more than that she hated appearing weak and helpless before him.

It grated her when the boy ignored her presence. Not even acknowledging their past connection. And so, she tried to convince herself maybe this wasn’t him. Maybe this was some other individual like him. But the way he treated everyone around him dissolved that doubt like smoke.

Like before, he was ruthless and swift in his actions. But never more than what was warranted. He didn’t attack Eskad for his threat, just scaring him off. He didn’t cast the spell on the elf, letting the sapling decide. He didn’t even kill the elf himself, leaving it up to Eskad. His actions were always controlled, calculated.

And that is why, when he asked her to stay while the others left, she was terrified. She feared he would look at her with the same hateful gaze. She feared he would tell her how disappointed he was. How she had failed to make something of herself, despite him saving her life. That is why his response to her question made her break down and cry.

For it was vindication to all her fears. An acceptance of who she was. An acknowledgement of who she was becoming.

“Because none of it has been your fault. And despite all the mistakes you are making, you are trying hard. And growing into something fierce.”