“Come with me, Ione,” Belan ordered as soon as she had stood in front of the pair. Amahn stood stock still. “I would like to have a talk with you.” She laid a frail hand on Ione’s shoulder, but it felt like the weight of stone settled on her.
Get your fucking hand off of me.
Ione had no doubt Belan was using skills on her. They made a few steps towards the entrance, Amahn followed until the older nun barked, “you will stay here Sister Amahn! Father Umin will speak to you.”
The younger nun grimaced, but did as she was told. Ione had a very bad feeling. She turned on Tier 7 of [Pain Resistance] and [Fear Resistance] in the aim to calm her rising panic. It helped and she was able to ignore the gravity of the situation.
Her panicked thoughts cleared, and she was able to take an objective look at the situation. First, Umin had a class that included some form of mind control. Obviously, he, too, was going to go on her shit list, and the resulting DING! In her mind notified her of that decision.
DING! Quest Obtained! Please refer to the quest tab to get a detailed explanation.
Kill Father Umin
Rewards: 7,500 EXP, 40 Attribute points, ???, ???
Second, was that she had to tell Jahren, Trikka, Kraylin and Daniah to choose their classes before the ceremony and just run away. The three girls must have had some idea, but she had to be sure that they knew, otherwise, all of her teaching would be for naught.
As they walked outside, the young girl appreciated the chirping of birds and the warm air before Belan’s grating voice caught her attention. “You may have managed to fool everybody, but you have not fooled me. I have given you the benefit of the doubt for far too long.” She took a considerable inhale, then exhaled. “I have watched you grow up. From a babe, to a youngling, to a child. You have excelled at everything you have chosen to do, despite my best efforts. When it was brought to my attention that you had completed your house training at a rate far past the other children, I had expected it due to your elven heritage. They are known for having young that grow quickly. Then, curiously, Sister Sannie was killed while teaching your classes. Naturally, I suspected you. For the right reason, of course.” She added. “You spoke with Tervail, and had managed to fool him into believing your innocence. Then, Neve was killed, in a most brutal fashion, and the bloodstains have yet to come out of her room. I suspected you of that as well, but to have an investigator brought again so soon would have cast suspicion on me as Neve and I did not get along well. So, she had a quiet funeral; her body was cleaned up, and with no surviving family members ready to claim her, she was laid to rest in the orphanage cemetery, and we moved on. Kine, a boy who spoke to you very briefly, who you had fought in the forest; don’t think I didn’t notice your own bloody knuckles, who was then found dead in the pond, by you. Smart. But then you made no effort to hide yourself around Amahn, and that put you in contact with other children you could corrupt. I understood Amahn’s reasoning, she believed you to be a bright child, and wanted you to influence the other children to have your drive towards learning. I was willing to let you be a normal human child, despite my founded notions. I have tried to have you killed, malnourished, imprisoned, and isolated, but you have managed to fool both Coranne and Amahn. And then,” her voice was laced with venom, “you try to manipulate my children into your puppets. For what reason? I do not know.”
It was telling of how much a hypocrite Belan was, to have said she was manipulating children to be her puppets, when unarguably, that’s what the older nun had done for many years.
They soon stopped in front of the orphanage and Ione was deep in her thoughts. During the entirety of Belan’s speech she had tried to decide whether she should make a run for it, or stay, so that she could figure out what Belan wanted. The older nun wouldn’t have made a grand speech like that if she wasn’t offering something.
“And I dislike not knowing. Tell me why.”
Ione had three options, tell the truth, lie, or use a combination of both.
“I wanted them to be at the same level as me. So it would be more fun playing games if I wasn't the best all the time. That’s why I never really joined in with the children around, because I knew I wouldn't have fun.”
Ione was aware of how that came across, conceited, arrogant and childish. However, It was realistic. She simply couldn't tell Belan that she was trying to gain allies now to use them in the future when she needed them.
The older nun scrutinized her.
“I know you have been reincarnated. For how many lives? I know you have many skills, how many? You will tell me, now.”
“I’ve been reincarnated a total of 9 times. I have 8 skills, including the ones I’ve learned here.”
“Have you been reincarnated in the previous cycle?”
Ione’s mind raced. That was something she hadn't learned. She wasn’t aware that people could be from previous cycles since she was under the impression that they could only be from the present one. Why was the information different? Ione supposed reincarnations from past cycles were more valuable since they could hold more information than most. For the sake of continuity, and to avoid having to remember her lies, She went with the easiest option.
“No.”
Belan nodded and stared at her with an inscrutable expression. “Do you renounce being an elf?”
Ione gave her a strange look, but said, “yes,” regardless. Where was she going with this?
“Good. That’s very good. I will propose a deal.” She straightened her skirts and led the young girl inside to her office.
The war paintings made her cringe again, but she ignored it as both of the room occupants sat in their respective chairs.
Ione observed as Belan picked up a quill and procured some parchment before writing.
A deal? What deal could entice me enough to stay here when I knew that Belan knew I was reincarnated?
Not 5 minutes later, she placed the document down, and turned it over. One glance, and Ione knew it was a contract.
“I will allow you to live here for the duration until you turn 15. You will have a choosing ceremony like any other. But you will not be an elf. We can shave off your cheek and forehead ridges, and cut off the tips of your ears. You will not be healed for these adjustments. You will not share classes with any of the children and you will receive a new private teacher. You will have your own room. You are not permitted to speak to Coranne, Amahn, Fellis, Daniah, Trikka, Kraylin and Jahren. You are allowed to speak to myself and your teacher. You will not kill anyone else, and you will keep your head down. I know many people revere reincarnators, but I do not. You will give me a list of your skills and resistances, their levels and tiers and you will tell me your arcane skills. Does this sound acceptable?”
Ione stared at the nun.
This lady is out of her fucking mind. No, I will not shave off the ridges on my face and no, I will not have my fucking ears clipped. No I will not tell you all my skills, and no that does not sound acceptable. and besides this, what the fuck do I get out of this?
"What do I get out of this?" There was nothing that Belan said that would ever entice her to stay if that was what she received.
The old woman sighed. "You will live here until your choosing ceremony. You will not be hurt in any way despite your past transgressions. You'll have food, a bed, and will still continue to receive an education, but at a higher level due to your...circumstances." She listed it off as though she was talking about chores.
Ione liked the sound of a higher education and having free lodging and food. If she were to escape now, there was no telling if she would be able to survive just on classes alone and there was no way, at this point, to find out if it was possible. Besides that, she was in a human kingdom currently at war with elves. If she were to escape, she would most likely be hunted down, and if she had managed to evade capture and try to escape Whisperwind altogether, she would be met with a battlefield full of people much, much higher leveled than she. There was nowhere safe for her, except the orphanage. She responded with, “It all sounds very reasonable, except, I don’t wish to have my ears clipped and face shaved. I don’t have [Pain Resistance], and my ears are already sensitive. If they’re clipped, I'll feel pain for years.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“That will help develop [Pain Resistance], would it not?”
Man, she's messed up.
“I guess, but with [Pain Resistance]… wouldn’t that give me more power and incentive to leave the orphanage anyways?”
Belan’s lips thinned, and then she gave an imperceptible nod.
Yes!
“You’re correct. Okay.” Belan took back the document and made the required adjustments. She then presented it to Ione once again, and with a raised brow, said, “read it over one more time, sign it, and then I will show you to your new quarters.”
To say the least, Ione was suspicious. Belan hated her, and had even admitted to trying to kill her, so what was the reason that she wanted her to stay?
“Why do you want me to stay? Wouldn't it be beneficial to you for me to leave?”
“Like all obstacles, adjustments must be made.” Further muttering, “I wasn't an official on the high council for nothing.” Belan sat up straight and continued after she cleared her throat. “You show me that you can follow the rules I set out, and I will allow you to choose a non birthing class that benefits the nation, with my approval. I would rather use you, then end you, and I know you can do great things for the people of Whisperwind.”
“How?”
“By being a spy, of course. You don’t think we don’t know who your father is, do you? Do you know anything about Al’varo G’alatria?” She snarled.
“I have no idea who he is.”
“That’s good and we have ensured that, until now.” Belan stood up and procured a canvas from behind a painting, depicting a giant of a man with shock white hair and light green tinted skin, wearing dark wood armor, who bared his teeth in a warning while he stood on top of mangled human bodies, their limbs stuck out haphazardly. His facial ridges and ears were much more pronounced than hers, so much so, that she suddenly realized how much she took after her mother.
Human genes are strong.
It was interesting to see the person that had a hand in her creation, and she wanted to know how her parents met. A thought came unbidden to her mind: was it even consensual? She shuddered.
Yet, then she thought of her mother’s dying words, when she had told her to find him. That would imply some level of trust, would it not? If her mother was, presumably, a thinking, rational being, she wouldn't send her to find a rapist would she?
Unless… it was to kill him, she thought.
“That is your father. A scourge on our nation. He is the 3rd General of the elven army, and has successfully breached the barricades numerous times; the only General to do so. When you are of age, and you have an appropriate class, you will be released outside of Whisperwind to go to the Elven domain. You will gain their trust, act the sad, poor, little abused halfing, and then report back to us.”
“Us?”
“Yes, you will not be privy to the other parties involved, but they will know exactly who and what you are. You’ve already met them.”
“Tervail?”
Belan shook her head.
Ah, the shadow person.
The older nun knew when Ione made the connection. “Yes, that individual. They will be surveying your performance from afar. They cannot go into the elven domain as they are human, but you can. You are an Elf.”
“Then why did you suggest cutting off my ears and parts of my face?”
Belan scowled. “You act too human to be an elf and I have children wondering if elves are as truly bad as they are taught. They are, but you are an exception based on your human lineage.” Belan pinned a glare. “I cannot have my children like you, do you understand? They cannot like elves, so, If you were made to look more human, they wouldn't be influenced in their opinions. The best I can do now is hide you away.”
Ione nodded. She could almost see the logic, and while she knew that she was particularly vicious and brutal to those she had deemed beneath her, for reasons she couldn’t, or didn't want to, explain, she would never use someone the way Belan was trying to use her. Especially since this would be against her will, and Ione had strong opinions about that sort of thing. In Ione’s view, Belan should kill her.
“Besides,” Belan added. “I could heal you long after to restore you to your elven nature, even after you have healed naturally. I'm one of the best healers in this orphanage.”
‘Orphanage,’ huh? Sannie said something slightly different. Seems like Belan is telling lies too.
She tried to see if she can discern any tells, but there was nothing.
“Why didn’t you think of this before? You could have done it when I was a baby, and I wouldn't have been able to fight back.”
Belan huffed in amusement. “You think you could fight back now?”
Ione’s eyes narrowed and she swallowed her snappy retort. “No, I don’t think I could, but regardless, you would have been able to do what you wanted and then treated me well. Of course, no special privileges, but none of the…judgment and malnourishment. No segregation. Just treated me as you would a human child.”
Her point was that they could have ingratiated themselves with her from the start and groomed her to be a spy. That way, none of this would have happened.
The older nun’s lips thinned into nothingness and she didn’t say a thing. It was evident that Belan didn’t think that far ahead.
"What happens after I complete what I'm told to do?" She raised a brow.
"You will go free, I've written that down."
The little girl thoroughly looked over the document, read it in full to make sure the nun wasn’t pulling any tricks, but in her indecision, she suddenly felt [Danger Sense] blare a warning. She tried to discreetly glance around her, but it proved difficult with Belan zeroed in on her like a hawk.
The older nun smiled, and her eyes became beady dots. Ione didn't like that expression. “Do you have [Danger Sense]?” She asked, as she procured a new quill and parchment and started writing.
Ione thanked her good foresight to turn on [Deception], otherwise her face would have spoken for her. “It's called ‘Word of Warning.’”
She sat there and thought for a minute. Why would [Danger Sense] alert me? If it was due to the contract, then she could speculate that it had some sort of hidden clause. If not, then she theorized that it could be due to her indecision. But, what would attack me if I didn't sign the contract? She glanced at Belan. Ah. Yeah. She would. She didn't even bother to ask what the consequences were in her refusal to sign, knowing the old asshole must have some sort of failsafe. So, she decided to ask a simpler question. “Is there something about this contract that I should know about?”
“No, everything I’ve told you is as stated on the contract. Your skill is most likely warning you of a contract being signed as they are binding.”
“Binding?”
“Yes, once you sign it both parties are beholden to it.”
“So what happens if it breaks?”
“Then the parties involved are aware of what exactly was broken and any sort of reprimanding is done between the two.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
She stared at Belan and used [Predator Sense] to check her heartbeat, but it was at resting rate. Ione had a feeling that the nun was lying. She had already done so before perfectly, and if Sannie didn't blow smoke up the old nuns ass, then she likely would have never known. If this was a contract that was in some way magical, then she suspected her new tier of [Deception] should do the trick. Though, it was a gamble.
She had to make a failsafe. Most likely, for an enchanted contract, there had to be a second one for the other party, and for this one, Ione only saw hers. If [Deception] didn't work, then she would have to steal Belan's contract, something she would have done regardless, and destroy it, along with her own. If [Deception] did work, then she would be completely free to live the rest of her time in the orphanage in a room of her own, with a higher education, free food, and the required solitude to work on new skills.
Since there was nothing else that she could glean from the older nun, she went with the path of least resistance.
She signed the contract. Yet, she still held some suspicion.
This contract has to be magical, right? There's no way it can't be if it just ends up being words on paper.
Her question was soon answered when, immediately after signing, she felt a bind constrict her heart, and she looked at the older nun with narrowed eyes.
Of course, not wholly unexpected, but still aggravating.
She immediately noticed a new notification on her status page.
Status afflictions (1):
* Binding Contract (LVL 5-Binding Heart)- You have signed an enchanted contract! Make sure to follow it, or else your heart will explode!
Belan looked quite proud of herself.
The little girl, on the other hand, was amused. If Belan thought this was a set back, then she couldn't be more wrong.
Regardless, Ione was going to kill her.