World: MSS - Loading....
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“Get your hands off of my healer.”
The priest whose arm I grabbed froze, eyes wide. For half a second, I could imagine myself losing control. It would be easy. Just a snap of my wrist and it would be done. A clean break, and the message would be clear.
And at the same time, I’d probably make an enemy out of this entire camp.
Yeah, I could imagine Zenom’s reaction. My party would be banned from leaving the camp premises, our privileges for hunting revoked. The other adventurers might even join in, trying to earn brownie points from the Clergy gathered around.
But the temptation was there.
“Mr. Lock.” Aurora muttered, warning me as much as waking me.
With disgust, I shoved the Priest’s hand away from me, releasing him.
“Darwin, stop picking that up.”
I heard Stole’s voice, much calmer than before. The girl was hunched over, dragging Darwin away, the boy twice her size. He had tear marks streaking down his face and refused to meet anyone’s eyes, fixated on the food. He kept muttering something but I couldn’t make out what it was.
“What’s going on here.” Finally, Zenom made his entrance.
“That’s what I’d like to know.” I stepped up to meet him, purposefully taking up space in the middle alongside him.
As much as I was an adventurer, Zenom was a Holy Knight. He would react to body language, any signs of backing down or giving an inch could be seen as weakness. As much as this might be a political field, it was a battlefield. So I needed to carve out a space of my own, to make him perceive me as a threat.
And right there, the stage was set. Zenom standing in the center with the beaten Priestesses in training standing behind him. They were openly sobbing now; holding onto the other girls. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the theatrics. Only moments ago, they’d been livid.
I saw Zenom’s eyes sweep the clearing, his brain connecting the dots.
“Slaveborn, do you know what happened here?”
‘Start strong. Don’t appear confused. Be direct and certain,’ I told myself.
“All I know is that I told the my two party members,” I gestured at Stole and Darwin who’d settled down now under Aurora and Kyrian’s watch, “to get some lunch before we head out. And I came to find their food on the floor and Stole’s face wounded.”
Slowly, Zenom looked at Stole’s cut lip. Then he looked at the other two priestesses who had been… well, like I said, beaten to a bloody pulp. It didn’t help that their face was swelling up even more. Then quite pointedly, he looked down at his feet with a grimace, then back at me.
…Was that a human tooth that I saw next to his boot?
I need to tell Skaris later to teach Stole how to beat people without leaving visible wounds.
He cleared his throat. “Are you saying that there was an attack on your party member?”
“I’m saying,” I stood aside for Zenom to get a better look at Darwin. “That Stole did your work for you.” I took a step closer, to make a point.
Zenom inched away from me.
Huh. Interesting.
I took another step, quick and certain, getting right up in his space. I spoke quietly, “There’s a bullying problem here and Stole put a quick stop to it. Now, either you knew about it and you can acknowledge it and dole out the appropriate punishments. Or you can pretend you didn’t know and let this go. Whichever you choose, I’m not letting Stole get punished for standing up for what’s right.”
“It’s apparent that your Pioneer assaulted members of the clergy in broad daylight and you’re expecting me to let this go?” Zenom whispered back furiously.
“Let it go or open a full-on investigation into this matter.” I snarled, “I know the Church’s laws well enough. A certain member of the Clergy being ostracized? Bullied? I’m not sure who Darwin is, but if your Church accepted him regardless of his… disability, I’d say he’s someone important. I’m sure the Bishop would love to hear all about this, and report it to his parents back home.”
Zenom’s eyes widened.
Of course, he probably thought I hated the Bishop.
That was true. I did hate him. But as much as I hated him, I hated the idea of something this stupid getting in Stole’s way.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Aurora was right. I’d been negligent in my duties as a Party Leader. It was time to step up.
Zenom cleared his throat and I backed off.
“Explain what happened.” He said in a stern voice.
One of the Priestesses –the one with the black eye– pointed at Stole. “We were just enjoying our meal when that beastman came and attacked us, Sir Saintred.”
“Oh, that’s bullshit and you know it.” Stole snarled. She turned to me, pointing at the two girls and the gaggle of other Priestesses around them. “They’ve been picking on Darwin for days. And today, they finally tripped him and his food fell all around him. And then they kept laughing and… and I got so angry and…” She started choking up.
“Why are you crying for?!” The teenage Priestess yelled out, “You’re the one who attacked us!”
“Because you should pick on someone your own size!” Stole yelled back.
“That’s definitely not you, you’re at least 50 pounds heavier than me.”
“Oh no, that bitch just didn’t!” Stole made a move to jump towards the girl.
I quickly got my arms under her, struggling to keep her away from the much slimmer Priestess.
Briefly, I wondered which one was more powerful: The [Strength] boost from Cores or Stole’s anger-induced buff. It was a close call, but I managed to hold her back.
Zenom looked back and forth at the exchange, his gaze finally landing on the pair of priestesses-in-training.
“Is what this Pioneer is saying true?” He asked simply.
The Priestesses opened their mouths to answer but he cut them off with a look and they looked away in shame.
“It… it was just supposed to be a joke, Sir Saintred.” One of them whispered.
Seeing them cowed before Saintred revealed them to be exactly what they were. Just a pair of girls who knew enough to show shame, but had lost control over the situation. That’s how most cruelty starts. A jab here, a joke here. Then it goes far enough and… and we hav a situation like this on our hands.
Zenom muttered something to another older looking Priestess, which I didn’t catch. His eyes finally landed on me and Stole again.
“...I will look into this matter.” Then looking to Stole, “But another bout of violence will not be tolerated.”
Stole growled but Aurora clamped a hand on the girl’s shoulder. She looked up at the older warrior and her eyes filled with tears again.
“Lock Slaveborn, a word?” Zenom said.
I accompanied him as he walked away from the crowd, which was dispersing now that the situation was over.
“You cannot take that Priest into your party. He is not fit to serve in battle.” Zenom said once we were far enough so that no one could hear us.
“I thought you’d stop me because he’s someone important.”
“Every Priest and Priestess is important, but no more important than another. Once we are anointed into the Church of Light, Flame and Shield, we are all but servants of the Flame.” He continued and I matched his stride, “Do not take the boy. He is not ready.”
“My mind is already made up.” I explained, “If I leave him, he’ll be put into the same situation every time we’re gone. At least until we get off this island, I’m going to keep an eye on him.”
Zenom grimaced. “...If that is your will.” Then he walked into the Commander’s Tent.
I stood in front of the tent flap, staring after Zenom –afterimages of his scarlet cloak swishing in the edge of my vision. Zenom had to know why I was taking Darwin. He had to know that I was purposefully taking a Priest who couldn’t inform others about my party’s activities. Of course, I was taking him for Stole too, but for Zenom, that wouldn’t matter.
Yet, Zenom wasn’t causing a problem over the issue.
Even back there, he could have made a huge stink out of the situation. If he really was against me, he could have just grounded my party. My position in the Camp was pretty solid and I had a lot of respect among the adventurers –even among the auxiliary forces whom I saw here and there. But it was no where enough to openly defy Zenom. To do something like that, I’d need an elaborate stage, like I did with the Bishop the other day.
So you can understand my confusion about Zenom.
I thought he hated me.
Yet, he had invited me to the Turina Empire. Not a formal invitation but extended his grace and I was sure that it came with a lot of the benefits –such as a free pass through the Jayu Borders into Turina Territory and some weight with the Church. And now, he wasn’t even making my life harder. Rather, he just let me be.
Surely, he suspected me of wanting the Autarch’s Key at the end of this journey for myself.
…Didn’t he?
It bothered me.
It bothered me a lot.
Since coming to MSS, I saw a lot of things as Black and White. Either they were out to kill me or they weren’t. Or the other way; either I had to kill them or I couldn’t. I think the first outlier among that was Clover –she was a former friend, then an estranged acquaintance and now a dangerous enemy that I was allied with. Yes, I said it; Clover was an enemy.
But it wasn’t just her anymore. Zenom Saintred; Borealis, Dorocian and Gurran.
Too many people were straddling the line between Black and White and it was getting harder and harder to keep track of everything.
Do I even have the right to judge someone as Right or Wrong?
Hell, I labeled Zenom as brainwashed right off the bat. But he showed surprising flexibility in situations like this, wielding the political sword with fairness.
…Did I really have to kill him?
‘Wake up. Kill or be killed, he’ll kill you without blinking if you so much as touch the Autarch’s Key.’ A little voice whispered to me.
‘Maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe… maybe we can talk to him. To all of them. That Turina is trying to open war.’ I thought back.
‘Yeah, and who do you think will be standing on that battlefield? If that war happens, your enemies are all here. Zenom Saintred, Borealis Vetilius, Dorocian Kojisa. They’re not your friends, don’t get confused.’
As I walked through the camp back to my party, I saw Arione, Scarlet, Clover, Lety, Maria Akka Xalud and Arrosh in the distance. They didn’t see me, too busy talking amongst themselves. Arione had some wild hand gestures, telling a story or a joke of somekind. When he was done, Scarlet and Maria burst out laughing. Clover was blank while Lety… Lety kind of smiled.
Situations.
There’s no good or evil in this world.
Just situations. And the decisions we make in them.
I’d think about Zenom when the time came.
…And Clover too.
Steeling my heart, I readied myself for exploring this island with my Party.
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“I can’t believe this worked.” Kyrian muttered, putting away the canteen of alcohol I swiped from the Mess Tent.
We were finally starting the expedition and it began by cheating.
Namely, I stowed the six [Fruit of Clear Mind] into my bag: the ones given to us to stave off the effects of the Special Field.
“Now instead of gathering eighteen fruits and finding even more if we want to keep our expedition longer, we can rely on this alcohol instead.” I said.
Aurora made a face as she took a swig from her own canteen. Skaris belched and then washed the taste out with a mouthful of water.
“Wassss there no better ale in there, Sssslaveborn?” Skaris complained.
“It’s not for taste.” I took a swig of my own, feeling it burn as it ran down my throat. “It’s to keep us going in the Expedition.”
There was the sound of retching and I saw Darwin emptying out his stomach. Stole patted him on the back.
“Speaking of, Mr. Lock, you never shared with us our goals for this Expedition.”
I nodded and gestured for everyone to gather around.
We were a good few miles out from the Camp. It was strange to be inside the island again, it’s angry-red-glow perpetuating through the air. The smoke curled and twisted around our armor and weapons, almost a living thing. Stole’s eyes were focused, ears pricked up to detect even the faintest hint of a monster that might be nearby.
It wasn’t just Stole either. Aurora had polished her armor and it showed. Kyrian had trimmed his hair and Skaris was noticeably in a good mood, despite the poor alcohol. There was an air of excitement around the party and it infected me too. Having being surrounded by the other parties and stuck on that boat for so long, we had all longed to be on land.
More than that, I think we all missed just being like this. Just us, on an expedition, hunting monsters and exploring an unknown place.
“Our goal is simple.” I met everyone’s eyes once, to make sure they were focused. “I want everyone to go through Soul Sanctification on this island, before we reach the Trader’s League.”
Kyrian took in a sharp breath. Aurora nodded.
“I had surmised as much, Mr. Lock. It only makes sense.”
“If we want to get stronger, we need Cores and Items. And the best chance for that is the Trader’s League. This is probably the last stop we’ll make, so we need to make the most of it. This island is full of Grade-7 monsters and above.” I explained, “We can make room for our Core here.”
“And what of weaponssss and armor?” Skaris asked.
I could’ve dragged it out or kept them in the dark. But I don’t hide things from my party anymore. They deserve better.
“There’s a dwarf city underneath this island.” I said slowly, “And I met a Master Smith.”
“Wha-”
“Imposssssss-”
“Wow!”
I shushed them immediately and they quieted down. Their reaction had been expected though. That’s how rare a Master Smith is in MSS. Unless you know where they are, the chances of stumbling into one accidentally was extremely rare. And even if you stumbled into one, the related quest was so complicated that it might be better to just hunt for an item instead.
But at our level… it just might be the shortcut we need to get stronger.