The bard was staring at me and for good reason. I probably looked mighty weird as I sweat buckets, and was quite blue in the face. Actually, I already expected something like this, so I shouldn't worry so much. In the first place, they shouldn't be able to find me that easily, so first things first was to get stronger. I mean, by becoming strong, I should be able to avoid capture, which means I wouldn't have to live in the smelly dungeons, which meant- yeah you get it (do you?).
"We'll be staying at the Gold Phoenix, what about you Luna? Since you're now a part of our troupe, we'd welcome you." Lennor said, interrupting my line of thought.
"The Gold Phoenix? That sounds fancy!" I exclaimed, forgetting my worries.
«Passive has leveled up!»
«Passive Lv.5 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +9%. Events Beyond your control are +9% more likely to yield beneficial rewards»
"Right? Get this, but we're actually sponsored by the second prince!" Lennor boasted, puffing out her chest in pride.
"Really?! That's great! Of course I'll join you guys." I said, and the troupe all gathered up to head to the hotel.
The Gold Phoenix was a hotel right at the edge of the nobles' district. The white stone exterior was decorated with gold (was that real?) and two phoenix statues stood before the front doors, making it stand out from the rest of the buildings surrounding it. A fancy enough looking place, the guards (who were bare-chested and not that bad looking) let us in without any trouble, dipping their heads to the leader.
We split up into roughly three groups to take separate rooms, each one fairly large and consisting of a bedroom, bathroom, and living room. I was given a blanket to sleep on the ground with, but thankfully they had a thick, and unbelievably soft, rug laid out.
It seems that guys and girls room together here, and so I had been put into the same room as Ludan (Lennor was also with us, along with two other men and three more girls).
"Alright, how about everyone introduce themselves? Luna, you go first." Lennor said as we all sat down by the fireplace.
"Right. I'm Luna Silverwing, it's a pleasure to meet you. Um, after I mistook Mihai-san for someone else, Lennor-san ended up recruiting me. I may be inexperienced, but I hope you'll take care of me." I said, using Lennor's misunderstanding.
"Oh? There's someone as handsome as our Mihai out there?" A brown haired girl with freckles said, grinning.
"W-what are you talking about, it's only because I'm wearing a hood that she misunderstood..." Sudan said, backing me up with my story.
"It's such a pity that you hide your face even though you're so cute..." The girl glanced at the bard with a look of regret. "Oh, right, I'm called Lucille, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Lucille Fairwind
Sword Dancer Lv. 5
| Fairy of a Hundred Blades | Shrine Maiden |
Shrine Maiden? Interesting...
"I'm one of the fire dancers, Miki. Most of our troupe are dancers or acrobats, so you'll probably end up learning skills for one or the other." The man who spoke up had long and straight black hair and a mole under his left eye.
Mikishiro Sen
Flame Dancer Lv.7
| Flame Eater | Wielder of Flames | Heir of the Sen's |
I'll say this straight out. His face looked just as much as a girl's as my own. What, with his long lashes, silky hair, and smooth skin... He was pretty well muscled, though, and with his chest bare, you couldn't deny the fact that he was definitely male. But still, it pissed me off, just a little.
"Haha, we'd welcome you as a flame dancer if you ever wanna give it a try. The name's Leo by the way." The other man said, an arm around Miki's shoulder. Huh. Wait, what is this air around them, it's so friendly. I know that just because they're overly friendly doesn't mean that they swing that way (the same applying to girls), but still! I mean, Miki was hot, and slightly feminine, while Leo was also hot, and not so feminine. With his reddish brown hair and kind eyes, I thought that he fit rather well with Miki's more elegant looks.
Leo Kustark
Flame Dancer Lv.7
| Lion's Heart | Sword of Courage |
Then silence. There were two other girls that I didn't know, and while one was fidgeting nervously, the other was outright ignoring me, glaring as she stared in the other direction.
"Alright, this sweetheart here is Mai. She's the only painter in the troupe. Unlike most groups, we take craftsmen classes as well, and they can sell their wares to the people who come to the show while we can get the buffs from their art. It's a win-win, right?" Lennor said as she gestured to the fidgety girl.
"I-it's a pleasure to m-meet you..." She stammered out. Her round and dewy eyes were hidden behind a pair of large glasses while her dark brown hair was tied in a braid that fell down to the floor (since we were sitting, though, I can't be sure of how long it really was).
Mai Yuknir
Painter Lv.4
| Shy | Coward | Innocent | Heart of Silver |
Heart of Silver?? Is that like, you almost have a heart of gold, but not quite? That's harsh man...
"And then this sulking girl right here is Diane," Lennor continued, "she's one of our two beast tamers and has been with us since she was still a babe~ It's too bad that today we weren't able to show off any of our bigger animals, but you should see how she is with the drakes, they turn into little puppies when they're in front of her."
Diane Morktash
Beast Tamer Lv.10
| Protective | Misunderstood | Loved by Animals | Gaia's Child |
The small redhead glared at me, her scarlet eyes titled upwards, giving her a mean look. She had lightly tan skin and lean muscles, implying how hard she worked. Her chest was also tiny, like mine (totally different from the wells endowed Lennor and Mai). No worries Diane-san, big boobs aren't everything in life!
"Well, last is Mihai then?" Leo said, glancing toward the still hooded bard.
An evil giggle could be heard in Lucille's direction, as she smiled slyly... and then proceeded to tackle Ludan, yanking off his hood to reveal teary golden eyes partially hidden under the long, tousled bangs of his slightly messy blood red hair. At the moment, I had goosebumps. The daemon was in a position that made it appear as if he had been sexually assaulted by Lucille, a pinky feminine aura exuding from him. It was a pose that would turn on any guy, if not for the fact that he had a large, although slender, body that definitely belonged to a man. No, I mean, I have nothing against feminine guys, but this just looked wrong. Why are you acting like a virgin girl? Aren't you so powerful that your classes and levels are hidden behind question marks? Get a grip!
"Breaking news. A member of the troupe was found raped by L-san!" I said, unable to resist (actually now that I think about it, we have a lot of people whose names start with L don't we...?).
Collective gasps sounded.
"Lucille, for you to do that to Mihai... is my chastity in danger now?" Leo said, his arms crossed over his chest (*cough* boobs) as he stared wide-eyed in astonishment at Lucille, who was still on top of Ludan.
"I'm more worried about Miki," Lennor said, to which I nodded to.
"Wait, wait, wait, I was just stripping-"
"Stripping? So you admit to your crime!" Lennor exclaimed.
"No, taking off! His hood, his hood!"
"Stealing his manhood?" I added fuel to the fire.
"Oh my god, you beast!" Leo covered his important parts.
"Kyaa!" Mai flusteredly exclaimed, her eyes covered by her hands while her face was as red as a tomato.
"Alright now, enough joking or else Mai won't be able to handle it anymore," Lennor said, to which everyone replied yes, with Lucille getting off of Ludan, and the bard composing himself, still faintly blushing.
"Since Luna already knows Mihai, there's no need for him to introduce himself." Mihai seemed to look relieved when the raven haired woman said this, pulling up his hood as he hid the upper half of his face again. Did he have a persecution complex about his eyes? I guess it couldn't be helped though, considering how he was a daemon in human territory. There were a lot of books and manga with that type of setup, huh?
Miki glanced out the window, the moon already rising as magic lanterns turned on and lit up the streets. "We should probably sleep; we have practice early tomorrow," He said.
"Ah, ah, that's right. We're performing for the prince in a week too. With all of this mess going on, who knows what will happen. He seems like the type to move our meeting up." Lennor groaned, rubbing the wrinkles between her brows. "Seriously, are people satisfied creating this sort of mess."
That's right! You say it Lennor-san! Then again, I was also the person that took advantage of those deaths to snitch some expensive looking stuff and learn the skills from the books inside the building... Well, I mean, what use do those have to a dead person? They should go to someone who will actually use them, like me!
Everyone laid out their blankets, with the leader getting the bed all to herself (it seems that whenever they're in a hotel, beds go to the leader and the elite members, of which Diane, Miki, Leo, and Ludan belong to).
The moon was high in the sky when my eyes snapped open. I sat up, letting my eyes focus before counting the bodies. Oen, two, three... they were all asleep (at least I think so). Breathing was steady... yeah, they should be sleeping.
I took out one of the objects from my inventory. It was a polished gem that shimmered a million colors as it reflected the light of the moon.
A blue message window popped up in front of me after a few seconds of staring.
Heart of Magic
Previously a treasure of a fairy's, it was stolen by an evil summoner who enjoyed torturing his enslaved familiars.
Restrictions:
Fairy Race or
Possesses one (or more) Fairy familiar(s) or
Identified as a "Fairy Friend"
Effects:
Increase all magic elemental affinities by +40%
Increase spell effects by +50%
Increase casting speed by +100%
Decrease mana consumption by -15%
Now this is what they call a treasure. To have been just lying around in the guild was such a waste! If I sold this I could get millions of gold.... But I wouldn't sell it. Actually, I couldn't sell any of these items I had stolen without raising suspicion against myself. Plus, this was the type of thing that a person should keep for themselves. I'm not sure if be able to actually use it th-
*Clatter*
I put the gem back into my inventory, my head turning sharply to the source of the sound. It came from outside. I stood up, and careful not to step on anyone, approached the window. Right below, on the cobblestone streets, were what appeared to be knights. They wore heavy white armor, with helmets hiding everything save for the small slits for their eyes. Engraved on the chest plate in silver was a pair of angel wings encasing a western styled sword. With the magic lanterns having already gone out, they were partially in shadow, the metal gleaming under the pale moon, the smaller of the two casting down an eerie red light.
... There were two moons? No, wait, now's not the time to be thinking about that! That emblem, if I recall, had been the one that I had seen earlier in the day at some church or another. Which meant that they were most likely "Paladins". Why were they here though? More importantly, why were they standing in front of the hotel doors, looking all imposing and stuff?!
Was it for me? No, calm down, you don't know that. But now that I think about it, wouldn't they have magic to look for the criminal? I'm not the killer though. My thoughts went round and round in a cycle, and I got nowhere.
At the front of the orderly knights was a woman with short dark hair that seemed purple in the light. Since the light was red, that probably meant her hair was blue. Her helmet was under the crook of her elbow as she stood dignified before the soldiers. She was probably the leader... is what I thought.
The name above her head glowed red. Which meant she had killing intent. I learned in the Beginner's Village that names glow red when they possess killing intent that is directed towards me (at least that was from my experience with monsters, but I had yet to meet a human who had a red name until now, with them normally being white). She didn't know me though, so she was probably just leaking that intent outwards in general.
Yizak Dreik
Paladin Lv.22 | Beserker Lv.13
| Captain of the Elmar's Knights | Peacekeeper | Sword of Justice | ??? | ??? | ???| ???|
Hmm, so I could still see the level even though it was at 22. So how big did the level difference have to be until it became question marks...? Ludan-san, you are terrifying.
Even then, that Paladin woman was more than three times my level. Oh, my, god, she is over three times my level. If she's here for me I will get slaughtered. I backed away from the window as quickly as possible, going back to my blanket and burying myself underneath it. I didn't see anything, nothing at all.
«Passive has leveled up!»
«Passive Lv.6 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +10%. Events beyond your control are +10% more likely to yield beneficial rewards»
This counts as events beyond my control right?! Grant me good luck you darn 10% probability!
I didn't even stir a single bit as I counted my heartbeats.
Soon, a loud banging came to our door, waking everyone else up. I pretended to have just opened my eyes as well, keeping my face neutral.
Lennor went to the door and opened it a crack. "Who is it?" The person on the other side said something that I couldn't hear, causing the beautiful women to frown deeply.
Everyone glanced at each other, confusion clear on their faces. Ludan tugged down on his hood, seemingly a nervous habit of his. Perhaps he was constantly in fear of his race being discovered. At least the troupe seemed friendly enough, and free of racial discrimination.
That being said, even though I was panicking just moments ago, I feel rather calm right now.
Lennor opened the door and gestured to us. "They're gathering everyone in the lobby downstairs - the paladins are here," She said. We all followed her, who followed one of the paladins, his helmet tucked under his arm.
In the lobby were a large number of people, both staff and guests. The guests all seemed rather well dressed and were arguing with a few of the knights. I felt pretty shoddy in my beginner's cloth armor in comparison. We met up with the other troupe members, who remained well behaved, unlike the rich guys who were picking a fight with people more than seven times their level (the average level of the knights being around 15, and the average level of the guests around 2).
"I have had a 'truth' spell cast in this area. Any lies you speak will result in an electric shock, so choose your words wisely. I will ask the same question to all of you, of which you shall answer one at a time." The female knight said, her sharp gaze scouring the crowd of 30+ people.
She started with one of the fat merchants. "Are you the one who committed the crime of murdering fifteen summoners in this city of Lindel?"
It was specific. Like this, telling the truth would be easy. If it had been slightly more vague, I might have been in trouble.
"No."
"No."
"No."
It was my turn all too soon. I felt like I was bathing in a tub of cool water though, since I had nothing to worry about. The pressure that the knight commander exuded was unreal, but I didn't back down.
"No."
Nothing happened and she gave me one last look before moving on.
"No."
"No."
Soon the entire room had answered. There were no particularly big incidents. A knight that looked like a second-in-command talked with the woman, his gaze on two people. Namely, me and Ludan.
Ludan I can understand since the guy was still wearing his hooded robe, but why me?
"You, and you. Please stay here. The rest may leave." The knight pointed to me and Ludan. So I hadn't just been imagining things when they had stared at us.
Lennor shot a worried glance at us before herding the rest of the troupe back upstairs.
"Although you were able to answer the question truthfully, we just wish to confirm a few things." The second-in-command looking guy said.
Glenn Cophendal
Paladin Lv.18
| Lieutenant of the Elmar's Knights | Competent | Kind | Sword of the Weak |
Seeing his titles, I already like the guy. Ah, you're such a good person. Titles don't lie after all.
"Firstly, why is it that you wear that hood? We cannot help but be unable to place a certain amount of trust in you do to the fact that you hid your identity."
Ludan flinched. This is where I come to the rescue. Having super strong Ludan-sama by my side would be for my best interests after all.
I took a step forward, shifting myself to block the daemon from view as best as I could.
"I apologize, but everyone has their reasons for being unable to show their face, and not all the time is it due to said person being evil. Perhaps you could show a little consideration, after all, there are people who suffer psychological and or physical damage." I said, my voice smooth and calm.
"That is true. But as this is a matter of national importance, I am sorry to say that we must order your friend here to show his face." Oh, he's pretty polite. This guy was the hero type! Actually, I felt he was more that faithful friend of the hero that ends up dying before the hero group reaches the demon king. How pitiful.
"Then let me ask you, do you, no, does your church possess any enmity towards different races?"
His chocolate brown eyes widened, probably having realized the reason behind my question. "No, do not worry, we serve Elmar. The church's that discriminate against the other four races are only found in the 12 kingdoms and 31 duchies, and have been disbanded in the five empires."
I nodded then turned around to face Ludan, having to look up since he was a good half a head taller than me. "And so he says. As we are currently under the 'truth' spell, he does not lie."
Ludan slipped his hand under the hood, slowly pulling it off. I could tell he was shaking ever so slightly. A wimp, despite being so strong. Whatever happened in his past must have scarred him badly. I didn't feel pity though, since he should be able to overcome this fear by himself.
"A daemon. No wonder why you kept your hood on. Although what I said was true, there are still many people scattered throughout the empires that continue to discriminate against your kind." Glenn said, nodding his head in understanding. Let me admire you some more Mr. Paladin, you are too cool right now.
Ludan quickly pulled up his hood again. He's too shy. I feel like I misunderstood him before, but now I knew that rather than an adult, he acted more like a young child. I couldn't help but want to pamper him~
"You may be dismissed."
Ludan quickly turned around, but before he left, Glenn spoke. "You have a good friend." The bard glanced back, and it may just be my imagination, but it seemed like he blushed a bit, before going back to the fourth floor.
"Now you must be wondering why you are here."
No, I just want to leave. Why is it that everyone thinks I want to know stuff? It's like cliche line #1 that everyone just has to say.
"Because you are one of the people we are to protect, I will do you the courtesy of letting you know."
Glenn stared at me sternly, making me straighten up my back upon reflex.
"We were tracking the traces of the people who were in the summoner guild today, or more accurately, yesterday. You are one of those people. Although we know you were not the one who murdered the summoner, we would like for you to answer a few of our questions."
I nodded, showing my cooperation. At this time, the blue haired woman stepped up as Glenn backed down with a short bow. The commander knight stared at me, her green eyes seemingly probing my soul for information.
"Were you, or were you not, at the summoner guild on the fifth day of Sutei, year 667?" She asked.
F-fifth day of Sutei? How am I supposed to know that? That's yesterday, right?
"Um, does that mean... yesterday...?" I couldn't help but confirm.
"Yes, it does." The woman answered me. Oh, she didn't get angry or anything from my ignorance? Perhaps she isn't all that bad.
"Yes, I was at the summoner guild."
"For what reason were you there?"
"I wanted to learn summoning skills."
"You have talent in magic?" Her gaze went sharp. You're way too scary, you know?
"Yes."
She nodded, looking as if she made a mental note about it.
"Who did you see while you were at the guild?"
"Well... I don't really remember the faces of anyone... there was probably the guild master...?"
Since they were mauled beyond recognition, but among the corpses might have been the master. Probably.
"But they were all members of the guild I think. Since from what I remember they were wearing magician's robes."
Yep, yep. Unless one of those corpses wasn't actually from the summoner guild. I mean, you never know.
"Did you see anyone you think might have been the killer? Anyone acting suspiciously?"
Well, I doubt one of the corpses is your killer. Of course, neither would I have had seen anyone acting suspiciously since they were all dead.
"Not that I can think of, no..."
"Among the stolen items were several magic tools, gold, gems, and spell books. Have you ever seen any of these?"
Spell books? I only have the two books from the guild master's office, but only one of them is a skill book. And that means, singular, not plural.
"I'm sorry, can you be more specific...? I mean, if you just say that then I'm sure I saw some lying around..."
"There were recorded, ten spell books stolen. Of them, five were said to have been in the guild master's room, and the other five in the downstairs lobby. A total of a thousand gold, 30 magic tools, and 19 gems were also found to be missing."
... I did not steal all of that, I swear. I only count three magic tools, fifty gold, and 8 gems in my inventory.
"I can't say I've seen all of those... I have probably seen a few when I was there, but..." I shrugged.
"I see. We are thankful for your help. If you remember anything else, please come to the Church on the main West road."
They left, leaving me a bit of room to relax, finally. Still, for the murderers to have gotten their hands on so much more than me... I got mildly pissed, having to compose myself before being able to head back to our room.
Everyone was still up and looked to me when I entered the room.
"So? Did you get in trouble?" Lennor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, since I was at the summoner guild before the summoner had died, they were just asking me some questions." I said, and the leader let out a sigh of relief.
"So you were there... no wonder why you looked so pale when I told you the news." She said, looking at me with a hint of pity.
"Y-yeah."
Although nothing can compare to a fresh dose of rotting and half eaten corpses after lunch.
"Don't sweat it! It isn't like there was anything you could have done to prevent it." Leo said, probably in an attempt to cheer me up. He was a good guy, although a different type to Glenn-san.
Lennor glanced outside. The dark of the night was graying - it was already dawn. I hadn't even noticed how much time had passed.
"Well, let's go ahead and start practice. Luna can choose who she wants to be apprenticed under as well." Lennor said, getting up from her seat on the bed.
"Weren't you at the summoners guild? Perhaps you have some skill in magic?" Leo asked, a smirk on his face as if he said this with the expectation of being wrong.
"? Yeah, I can use magic." I replied as if it was totally natural. I mean, isn't it, though?
They stared wide-eyed at me. "You have... enough mana to use the spells from one of the main five magic classes...?" Lucille asked, doubtful.
"Um, is there something weird about that...?" I glanced around, but they all just continued to stare. I guess magic isn't as common as I thought??
"Weird? There are currently only a total of 1000 recorded mages in the entire country. Of course, not counting the forbidden necromancer class." Lennor said, shaking her head in astonishment. "And that's out of the tens of millions of Astarne residents. Well, the Suisen and Mura Empires have far more mages than this country, but Isdan and Kaikush have about the same number."
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
"Oh~ I didn't know that." I nodded, now understanding why they were so surprised. So, breaking that down, although magic seemed common enough to use for support classes such as bards and dancers, a person who had enough mana to be able to use the spells from the five main magic classes (summoners, elementalists, sorcerers, clerics, and necromancers) was pretty rare.
Suddenly everyone (mainly Lennor, Leo, and Lucille) had sparkly eyes as they looked to me. "Show us magic~" they seemed to say.
Even if you look at me like that... wait, this might be a good opportunity to summon my first familiar! From what I read amongst the items in the summoners guild, a summoner will possess one of three general affinities - Fairy, elemental, or demon affinity. This will determine what type of familiar they can summon, with fairies mostly as support, elementals as mostly magic damage, and demons as mostly physical damage.
Frankly, the reason why summoners can also use elemental familiars, even though there existed an elementalist class, escaped me.
In addition, unlike the four primary elements that elementals can be found in, fairies have several elements beyond that. Such as light and dark fairies, or nature fairies, etc. Long story short, fairies are a million times better. Even if they are mainly a support type, that suits me just fine.
"Hmm, I might as well summon something then! Although it'll be my first time..." I said, pulling up the skill window that only I could see.
Active Skill:
Summon
Beginner's Lv.1
May summon a "familiar" class being of your general and elemental affinity
After leveling this skill up, one may summon multiple familiars at once, and those outside of your affinities (with -10% decrease to skill effects as penalty)
Mana cost will vary depending upon the familiar
A magic circle was also in the information section, of which I already had a paper version of in my inventory. Somehow or another, the circle I took out looked slightly fancier, but it should do the same job, so it'll be fine... probably.
Everyone was looking at it with interest, except for Ludan. He had a small frown on his face as he stared at me from afar. Am I doing something wrong?
I lay the paper down on the ground. Then with my hand over it....
"«Summon»"
I glowed with a white light, my clothes and hair beginning to float up as the runes on the sheet burst forward with the same white light.
I then opened my eyes to a white world. A blue screen was in front of me.
Invoking Summon Skill
Large affinity to all subjects detected
Which Familiar do you wish to Summon?
Demon
Fairy
Elemental
I pressed the fairy button. Three cheers for cute fairies!
Large affinity to all elements detected
What element of fairy do you wish to Summon?
Light
Dark
Fire
Water
Earth
Wind
Other (please specify using a verbal command)
Oh, I can even choose the element? This is pretty hard. I wanted a fancy element, but at the same time, since it was my first summon, I would be more comfortable sticking with a primary element.
I chose water. Since I liked water (I mean, you can't live without it...).
Suddenly thousands of small pixie like creatures appeared, with skin colors anywhere from light and dark blue, to teal and turquoise, and sizes varying from super tiny to extra small, with the biggest (that I could see) being roughly half the length of my head.
They are so freaking cute, what is this.
I scanned the crowd for one that caught my eye. There it was. She was about the height of my palm (and my hands are pretty small), with translucent green-blue wings that flapped at the speed of a hummingbird's. Her skin was a pale teal color, and her medium length bob was a dark emerald. Her clothes were also fascinating - they seemed to be made out of a leaf like substance. The leaves were a dark sapphire blue, and the veins a glowing rustic orange. She practically screamed magical being.
Of course, the other fairies were also amazingly cute, but I just happened to like this one. After making my selection, the rest disappeared, leaving only the green haired fairy.
She blinked, suddenly seeming to gain life.
"Oh! It's a human~ Nice to meet you!! My name is Khari!" Her voice was like silver bells, and she sounded like a cheery enough person.
"My name is Luna. I'll be your summoner from now on." I replied, circling her with a partially suppressed grin on my face.
"Then let's get to the contract. I will require [100 mana points] for each summon. I lowered it just for you, hehe."
"Oh my, thank you for that then!"
"Hmm, I have a bunch~ of skills. Of course, when I'm summoner you can use them all freely! My main job is to heal peeps. I can also purify, do minor attack spells, crowd control... blah blah blah." She ticked off each item on her fingers. "You know, the usual."
"Alright, that sounds good." I said, nodding.
Suddenly I was back in the hotel room, the whole lighting up business finished as Khari materialized above the circle.
"It only took a few moments huh. How cool." Lennor commented.
"R-really cute..." Mai stammered out, her voice so soft I almost didn't hear her.
"Hmm, so it's a fairy type?" Leo commented, leaning in to get a better look.
I spotted Ludan, whose mouth was in an O-shape as he stared at the fairy. "Ti-ti-titania??" He said, before realizing that he had spoken out loud and promptly shutting his mouth.
"Titania?" Miki looked to Ludan as he titled his head slightly.
The other troupe members didn't seem to know what Titania was but in my previous world... it had been the "Queen of the Fae". Khari is? No, rather, how would Ludan know something like that?
... Then again, in general, Ludan was pretty mysterious. With his strength, I felt like I could trust it even if he pointed at an apple and claimed it was a pear.
I don't know what Titania meant here though, so it's not like I could actually be completely confident that he meant the queen of fairies when he said that.
Khari didn't say anything, her smile unchanging, although I felt that that was more suspicious than anything else. Then again that just might be her personality.
"Khari is a healing, water type fairy." I said, introducing her to the others.
"Hmm, a healing fairy? That's good. Lennor and Mihai can do a bit of healing, but it can't compare to the spells from the main magic classes." Miki said, his ice blue eyes thoughtful.
"If you can use magic though, it would be such a waste not to refine your skills as a mage. Instead of having one of us as your mentor, you should just focus on being a summoner." Lucille said.
No! Wait! Even though I wanted to learn various things like bard skills, and be a super cool fire or blade dancer?!
"Yes, yes, that's true." Lennor nodded.
Noooooooooo!!!
My inner scream remained unheard as it was established that I would be the troupe's exclusive summoner.
"Well we can't exactly help you during practice now, so just think of it as a free study period and go do whatever you summoners do." Lennor waved me off as we went to the practice area, which was a place of flat land by the inn's stables.
"Okay, see you then!" I immediately left. If they won't teach me the skills then I'll just have to head to the guild district again, while hoping that I won't get caught up in any more trouble.
I stopped when I reached the border of the area, glancing around. At times like these, I had a suspicion that I might be followed. Did anyone light up...? There.
A man in commoners' clothing was faintly glowing. He didn't appear out of the ordinary, with bright orange hair and freckles. Okay, maybe he was a little out of the ordinary, but since this world was filled with wacky hair and eye colors, it looked perfectly normal.
If you saw past his baggy tunic and pants, you would see he was actually pretty muscular. He was probably a paladin sent to watch me. Like this, I don't think I would be able to go to the rogue or assassins guilds. Even any of the magic guilds might arouse suspicion. What a pain.
I went ahead to the chefs guild, where I was granted the cooking skill and a shining kitchen knife. Then I decided on the alchemists guild, where I learned to make health and mana potions (as well as poisons and antidotes) and scored a beginner's alchemy kit. I felt like go to any more places would be suspicious so... wow this was a serious pain in the neck.
I didn't want to escape from the guy because that might also make me look suspicious. Suspicious, suspicious, suspicious, everything was freaking suspicious.
I decided to hell with it and went to the bards guild. I was surprisingly good with the flute, so the guild master gifted me with that. The skills I got were Music, Flute Mastery, Singing, and Storytelling. Quite a few.
The acrobats guild didn't have many people in it since apparently the majority of them go off to travel the world (then again, shouldn't it be the same with the bard and dancers guild?). I got throwing knives, a ball, and ribbons. Free stuff is always good. The last two sort of reminded me of rhythmic gymnastics, so I would love to try it out later. I generated the Balance stat and obtained the Throwing Knives Mastery skill, as well as Gymnastics, Air Maneuverability, and Juggling.
My "to hell with it" attitude finally died down by then, and I regained my bearings, letting it go for the day. I was already tired and worn out from learning all those skills, so I should leave it until tomorrow. I went back to the inn, ready to have Khari help me conjure up a fatigue regenerating bath. Who says I can't use fairies like that? Isn't that what they're for? No? Well now they are!
-----
The orange haired man was kneeling before his captain and lieutenant. Both Yizak and Glenn had on severe expressions. Their creed was innocent until proven guilty, but even after their discussion with the silver haired woman, they had yet to lift their suspicions against her. She had, according to the truth spell, not told them a single lie, and yet they just could not believe it.
After all, she was the only person who they had been able to track down that had been at the summoners guild on that day. All the others had seemed to have simply disappeared. It was no wonder why they were suspicious. At the same time, they were protecting the woman so that she wouldn't suffer the same fate as the others.
"Report." Yizak said.
"Yes. Upon leaving the Gold Phoenix slightly after dawn, the target journeyed to the Guild District. After glancing around, she went to the chefs guild, then to the alchemists, bards, and acrobats guilds respectively. She spent no more than a half hour at each location before leaving."
"Hmm, well, she is in an entertainment troupe, so I find nothing wrong with visiting those guilds. It's said that the Blue Birds are one of the few troupes that have craftsmen as well..." Glenn said, stroking his chin. He hadn't shaved in a few days, but that only added to his mature charm.
"What is she doing at all of them, though? No man can hope to use the skills from even one of those guilds without long and difficult training, yet she headed to four of them within two hours." Yizak muttered, thinking aloud.
"Perhaps she was just testing the waters, finding what she really wants to do." Glenn shrugged, ever the optimist.
"Hmph. What was her name?" Yizak glanced at the orange haired boy, who had written up the report.
"Yes, from my investigation she is known as Luna. I have been unable to discover her last name, if she possesses one at all."
"Luna, is it? I'll remember that. Continue with your investigation." The captain dismissed the knight, who left after saluting both of them.
Once he was gone, the two could talk freely.
"What do you think?" Yizak asked from her seat at the wooden table before them.
"Hmm? Just like what I said earlier." Glenn answered, his smile unwavering.
"Humph, still the same bullshit as ever. If you were so kind then you would have joined the church of Riion or Mirelle." Yizak tapped her finger on the table, her eyes glaring at the wavy-haired guy.
"What are you talking about? The God of peace is a great deity to serve."
Yizak snorted.
"Well, unlike you, I do so believe that she might have been able to escape our lie detection spell. Either that, or perhaps she knows something we don't, and can not, or will not, divulge that information. Something my questions hadn't covered." She said, staring into the distance with narrowed eyes.
"Hmm, do you think that might be the reason she's been visiting so many guilds?" Glenn asked.
"Perhaps. But who knows. I've put in a request to the church for a high ranking sorcerer. He should be here before the city lockdown is lifted. We can question her then."
Glenn nodded. He then sighed. "For even a young girl like her to have to go through this..." he shook his head, but his eyes were emotionless. Discerning the paladin's thoughts were near impossible.
"Hmph. All is for our God." Yizak responded, her brows forming a V-shape.
-----
"That hooded guy. He's a summoner isn't he?" Khari asked me, currently floating upside down in front of my face. We were in our room at the inn, the troupe doing rehearsals outside today as well, while I was doing some more 'self-study'.
"Is he?" I glanced out the window where I could see his robed figure.
Seir Ludan
??? Lv.??? | Summoner Lv.???
| Voice of Silver | Weaver of A Thousand Tales | Nightingale | Blood stained | Shy | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |
I could see a little more, and I felt like the number of titles also increased by one. The levels were still hidden, but I wasn't sure why the first class was still unknown. Was he not just a bard? Mysterious, very mysterious.
"He called you Titania right? What does that mean?" I asked, looking back to the pixie.
"Oh, that? It's a title given to the strongest fairy among their element. The male fairies are Oron." Khari answered.
It's not Oberon?
"Eh, you were that amazing?!" I stared at her. No, rather than that, a healing type of fairy to become the strongest... could I have gotten a super amazing familiar?
"Fufufu, well, I can't say I'm that good though, since my combat capabilities are lacking compared to the other elements. Although I have better offensive capabilities than the light fairies, they also have their 'absolute defense'." Khari said.
"? But doesn't water have something like an 'absolute reflection' skill?" I felt it was a type of spell from my old memories. Khari stared at me.
"That's genius!" She exclaimed, before falling deep into thought as she muttered to herself.
I guess there didn't exist that type of skill here...
"Oh right, Khari, have you heard of the 'City of a Thousand Lanterns'?" I asked, remembering how Ludan said it was located in the spirit world.
"Oh. You mean Xan?" She glanced up as she turned herself right side up.
"I don't know it's name, but I guess that's it." I answered.
"Well," she cleared her throat and my ears perked up. She looked like she was preparing to tell a long story. "I'd say roughly half a millennium ago, the scholars of Shudeir were able to complete a certain spell, that transported Xan to the spirit world. Or more accurately, the space where the fairy, elemental, and demon worlds meet.
"No human was able to withstand the forced teleportation, and they all evaporated during the process. The spell had torn open a gap in the dimensions, and so the three rulers of the spirit worlds came together and formed a gate to close the tear, of which they locked with a certain key made from the powers of the three kings. Since then, the key was placed in the care of the worlds on rotation. I would say about 12 years ago, while it was in the hands of the elementals, it got stolen by a certain summoner. Since then, we haven't seen it.
"Anyone who has the key will be able to travel to the spirit world freely, but it's dangerous because if they aren't contracted to a spirit familiar, they will be unable to handle the journey. I hear that if you've passed a certain point in training, you'll be able to just barely survive though. If you've been granted protection from one of the three races, you can also make it. Oh, and-"
... Khari-chan, aren't there too many loopholes? But to think the story was so different from Ludan's...
"Khari, I'm wondering, is that key... something like this...?" I took out the silver key in my possession.
"Ohh, yeah! It should look just like...that..." Her eyes bulged out. "Ehhh?!"
Sir summoner dude, you should have hidden this treasure a little bit better...
"I borrowed it. From a dead guy." I said, coughing in embarrassment.
Khari gasped. "So you kill-"
"What, no! He was already dead!"
"Ah, I see. Well, it would have been fine even if you had killed him." Khari said with a shrug. This girl (fairy) is even worse than me!
"So it really is the right key... who knows what will happen if someone finds out I have it..." I muttered, storing the thing away before anything bad happened.
"Then just give it to me." Khari said, her eyes wide as if this was the obvious approach to the problem. It was. So I decided to hand it over. I felt much lighter now that that had been taken care of. I didn't just push the mess under the rug, not at all.
"Well to be honest, even if you had used it, you probably wouldn't have survived. The spirit world is pretty dangerous after all. Let's see... the red-haired daemon would probably live. Anyone weaker than him and I would doubt their survival rate."
I shuddered. I am glad I didn't use it. Or look at it for longer than two seconds. That key suddenly seemed rather menacing.
"Oh, but since Xan has the kingdom treasury, there would probably be quite a few high ranking humans who would try to get this in their hands."
D-did someone say royal treasury??
"What are the chances of surviving if Ludan comes with me...?"
"I'd say about 8 in 10. Why?"
Eighty percent? Th-that's not bad at all. No, no, no, calm yourself Luna Silverwing. You have already decided to give the key to your familiar.
I took out the key, my hand slowly going out to the teal skinned fairy. It shook as I paused, struggling. Then the pixie snatched it away, pocketing the thing into a dimensional storage pouch. Ahhhh, my treasure!! I sobbed violently, as if Khari had shaved off a part of my soul when she had taken the key.
"Luna is such a good person, the spirit world will definitely reward you for this good deed!"
I cheered up. Khari left, and I decided I would ask her if I could visit the spirit world once I got strong enough. It seemed like an interesting enough place. On a side note, I am really hungry for some meat. Meat, meat, meat~
-----
The man kneeling before Yuzak and Glenn was not the orange haired one, but instead had dirty blond hair that reached his shoulders.
"Of the troupe members, only seven knew Luna Silverwing by name. Five of them, including the troupe leader and daemon, expressed concern for her wellbeing, while I was unable to talk to one, and the other refused to say anything else."
Yizak glanced away from her papers to the middle-aged knight. "Continue."
"Luna Silverwing had just recently joined the troupe. Only the troupe leader seems to know the actual reason for her decision, but she refuses to disclose the information without the target's permission. Aside from that, it is unknown what the target had done before joining the Blue Birds."
"I see. And did you find out what she was doing on the fifth?"
"Yes. When interrogating the guilds, I have discovered that she also went to the dancers and warriors guilds on that day. According to all the guild masters she had visited, her speed and ability in learning skills was unprecedented. Every one of them have proclaimed her a once in a century genius."
"Hoh? This is near unbelievable. They all claim she's a genius...?" Glenn shook his head, in disbelief.
"No. I believe it." Yizak said, standing. "Let us pay Luna Silverwing another visit. Call the sorcerer."
-----
"Again?" I stared at the plain faced paladin, the chicken in my mouth half chewed as I spoke.
"Yes. Commander Yizak and Lieutenant Glenn wish to see you." The man said, and I gulped down my food, standing up. I followed him to where the two were standing outside the inn's entrance. Aside from those two, there was another man, whom shocked me.
He wore deep purple robes trimmed in silver, looking like a mage. I would peg him at around 25 or so, his gray eyes hidden under circular lenses. With his unkempt gold hair, he definitely looked like your average scholar.
Laurence Nuel
Sorcerer Lv. 14
| Otherworlder | Revolutionary | Mad Scientist |
"Laurence!" I said, causing him to look up. His eyes widened.
"Do you two know each other?" Glenn asked, glancing to the sorcerer, then back at me.
"... yes, Luna is an old friend. I never thought I would meet her here." He said, pushing up his glasses.
"You didn't seem to recognize her when you read the report though?" Yizak said, clearly suspicious.
"Yes. I never would have expected for her to be here, so I didn't associate her with the target." His follow-up was smooth. Nice! I like the guy already. I felt like I liked a lot of people, way too easily, but I'm just full of love like that so it's okay.
"I see." Yizak left it be.
"But still, you're part of the church? I didn't expect that of you." I said. A mad scientist, as a member of the church? Wouldn't expect that at all.
"Oh no, we're just in a mutually beneficial relationship," Laurence answered, a smirk on his face. He looked just a little evil at that moment.
"Ah, now that's what I expected."
"Pardon for interrupting, but we should get down to business," Glenn said.
"Ah, right, of course." Laurence backed off with a slight dip of his head.
"We have investigated your actions in this last couple of days. From what we have learned, you have visited a total if seven guilds, including the summoner guild. From the statements we have taken from the respective guild masters, we have learned that you have learned the skills for the classes of the guilds you visited. Is this or is this not true? Please keep in mind that we are currently under the 'truth' spell." Yizak said.
"? It's true." I answered. I mean, in the first place, learning skills was way too easy. When taught a skill, a small percent bar will pop up, and once it finishes loading, I would have successfully learned the skill. I didn't even have to pay attention or anything. Then there were skill books, where all I had to do was press the "Yes" button.
The two stared at me.
"Hahaha," Laurence suddenly began to laugh. "Is that all? Then that actually has a pretty simple explanation. Although genius has no explanation, in this case it's pretty easy."
The three of us turned to look at him. I would like to know too.
"Luna and I are actually members of the same clan."
Aha, the "clan" he was talking about most likely meant us "otherworlders". That was pretty clever.
"You've received reports on us, haven't you?" He pointedly looked to the female knight. She nodded. It seemed like Glenn hadn't though, as he looked to her.
"The Heaven's Sky clan is not a blood-related family but instead consists almost solely of adopted children. All of them, without question, are unrivaled prodigies. It's said that anyone from the Kikue assassins to the new Suisen General are members of this family." Yizak explained.
Hold on, this wasn't just bullshit that Laurence had taken out of his butt?
Laurence's voice then spoke directly into my head, giving me a start. Oh yeah, weren't sorcerers pretty much espers?
'The Heaven's Sky Clan was created by an otherworlder for otherworlders. I think we have about ten members, with who knows how many more like us out there. Let me send you an invitation.'
A window popped up, and I accepted. At that moment, Laurence's name turned green, and I could see the words "Heaven's Sky Clan" beneath his class's and level.
Another window also came up, containing several names, of which I glanced through.
Heaven's Sky Member List
Roland Ashborne
Killian Drakeherr
Ciara Fiorrai
Ian Greyhawk
Yun Hua
Isolde Myllen
Rafiq Nioie
Laurence Nuel
Luna Silverwing
Electra Trish
Saskia Victori
Galen Zenshar
Wait, Yun??