Chapter 13

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The silhouette ran in the dark corridors of the fortress, anxious.

“Goodness, what did I do?” You could hear it swearing in its beard, its voice echoing up to the high vaults of the imposing rooms she was passing through. She finally arrived at the Grand Hall, with its sea of living dead and the bed floating on it.

There! It had easily spotted the breach it was looking for, and for good reason since a gigantic maelstrom was centred on it, sucking up the gloomy miasm to inject it into the rift.

Hell! It’s of this size already? The shape seemed to panic.

I hate doing this… No, it is my duty! It pulled itself back together, before floating up to the eye of the oily smoke cyclone and extending its arms. The movements of the black gas slowed down until it stopped rushing into the breach, changing direction to move towards the shape, penetrating it through the opening of its hood.

Argh! The suffering that flourished through its body did not prevent it from reaching out to the breach and pressing its palms against the rock. Slowly, very slowly, the rift closed. An eternity later, the miasma had become calm again, just like a sea of oil full of sharks.

By the gods, I hope it didn’t do too much damage! Uhr...

The shadow then collapsed, exhausted, falling on the big bed like a puppet whose wires had been cut. Next to the young man and the beautiful lady, it fell deeply asleep.

Zoe

When the young woman asked after Professor Liddel, the young man at the reception told her that she was busy. Zoe had therefore not dawdled and had gone directly to place herself in her capsule.

I hope that nothing happened during my absence, she thought anxiously before launching the dive.

Élet

It must have been seven o'clock in the morning, eight-thirty Irl, when the young woman reconnected, choosing to reappear next to Dzīve. The little girl was still in her bed with her eyes closed.

Élet moved the chair from her bedside to that of her protégé, sitting to watch her sleep until she woke up. A few minutes after she had arrived, she heard a slight noise coming from the door. Turning slowly, she saw Greypa sneaking his head through the gap, trying to find out if his young patient was still resting. Seeing that Élet was present and that the little one was still recovering, he made a sign to the young woman, inviting her to come down. As quietly as possible, she got up and joined the old man, taking care not to make any noise when closing the door. Not wanting to risk waking the little one, they waited to be in the living room before starting to speak.

“So, how are you?” he asked, looking more than exhausted.

“I’m fine, but you look like a dead fish left under the sun. Is something wrong?” she asked in return, serious.

“Something you can’t do anything about, I’m afraid, but thank you for your worries. It had been a long time since I had been called a dead fish, hahaha!” He replied, fatigue giving way to laughter.

“If there’s anything I can do for you, just say it, okay?”

“Perfect, I’ve indeed something for you to do.”

“Tell.”

“During the night, Antoine and the twins, Morgane and Liliana, went to the altar of wishes alone. They almost died trying to get back to the village because zombies are still hanging around. Fortunately, Antoine received the blessing of a pact with a deity, like you with Dzīve, and she pulled them out of the pinch they were in. I would like you to meet before you come here with Antoine. Can you do that?”

“Ding... Your Quest -Chapter One, Act Two: The Restless Dead- has been updated. The current objective is to meet the new summoned and bring her and her pledged back to Greypa.”

Élet had listened, astonished, to Greypa's explanation while ignoring the announcement of the system.

“Wait, there’s another one here beside me?”

Greypa frowned before asking. “Is that so amazing?”

“Oh yes, you can’t understand how much…” she said. At this announcement, he seemed really anxious.

“Could this be a sign of something serious?” he asked.

“I don’t know. A priori, no, but be on your guard anyway, you never know.”

“Okay. Go ahead, I’ll tell Dzīve that you’re back and that she will be able to see you soon.”

“Thank you.” She walked to the door. “Okay, I’m going.” She nodded her head before she went out and closed the door behind her.

Greypa

Brave girl, I pray that she is right and that it will not be anything worse than a few undead... I hope they’ll get along well…

Élet

The young woman soon arrived at the entrance of the village, where she asked a guard where the newcomer was staying for the time being.

“She slept at Milo’s.” Told her a spearman, a bit of fear in his eyes and a lot of respect in his voice.

I guess there’s nothing we can do about it, given the show I did yesterday... She thought, vaguely remembering her anger.

She followed the instructions of the guard, the villagers greeting her when she passed by, some thanking her also for having protected the village, others less open disappearing immediately after the greetings. Finally arrived at Milo’s house, she knocked at the entrance. A girl came to open the door.

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“Yes?” She asked without recognising the person in front of her.

“I’m looking for the young woman who slept here tonight, is she still here?”

“No, Dad left with her a little earlier, you just missed her…” She still seemed to have something to ask, but looked hesitant.

“What do you want to know?” asked Élet.

“Who are you, ma’am?”

“Ah? My name is Élet, I am Dzive’s summon, and you?”

The teenager seemed surprised by the young woman’s answer, taking a second before answering her. “ ... My name is Catherine, delighted to meet you, my lady.” She said before curtsying clumsily.

“Get up, you don’t have to stop before me!” said Élet, a little embarrassed. Oh my God, they’re not all gonna treat me like I’m some kind of nobleman, are they?

“Yes milady! But I still have chores to do, so if you don’t mind, I’ll keep working, my lady!”

“Sure, go ahead. And you can stop calling me my lady, I’m not any kind of noble!” she exclaimed with a smile.

“Yes, Miss.”

*Mental Facepalm* It’ll maybe be a little harder than expected…

***

Arriving at the house of Antoine’s parents, she heard screaming through the door.

“NO, it’s out of question!”

“The problem is, I don’t care what you think…”

“Blam-blam-blam…” Élet had knocked heavily on the door, both to make Herself heard over the scram and to try and interrupt the conversation.

The dor was opened by a desperate-looking Milo. When he saw her, however, he seemed to find some hope.

“Ah, it is you? Maybe you can help me out.” He took her to the living room where two women were facing each other, one with brown hair, the other with gold hair. Between them, on the sideline, Antoine was pulling a head so long Élet was scarred it would touch the floor.

Upon arriving in the room, Élet asked a question. “What is happening here?”

“This woman is trying to push my little pumpkin to fight and…?” She frowned, unable to recognize the person she was talking to. “Who are you?” She said in an aggressive tone. Milo reacted immediately. “Be a little more polite, Nadine. It was this young woman who protected the village just yesterday.” His tone was firm but calm.

“Oh... so you are Élet, forgive me, but I am a little nervous for the moment.”

“It’s nothing, but could you finish answering my question, please?”

“Of course. So I was saying that this young woman is pushing my little sweetheart to fight, she has put funny ideas in his head, like becoming a magician and killing the living dead.” Her tone was much more respectful than before.

“Okay.” She said before turning to the golden-haired young woman.

“First of all, nice to meet you, my name is Élet and I am the first summoned of this village. Could I know your name?”

“But of course gorgeous!” Replied golden-hair with a smile. “My name is Kailun Dolteri, and you can stop bein’ polite with me, it bothers me.”

“Well, let’s get back to our case then. Antoine’s mother accused you of, how can I say...yes, she accused you of perverting her child. Anything to say?”

God, what a hen mother she is…

“I’m just saying that he’s the one who called me and asked for the pact, I did not tell him to do anything. He’s the one who wants to become stronger.”

“Impossible! My little chicken wouldn’t hurt a fly, and he would be even less inclined to fight! What he wants is to become a cheesemaker, like me and his father, isn’t that true my little heart?” She asked Antoine, who was cowering without saying a word.

“What if we listened to what he wanted to say?” She turned to the young boy. “Antoine, what do you want?”

He spoke after a brief hesitation. “Well...it is true that I would like to be a cheesemaker…”

“Ahah!” exclaimed his mother.

“...but it’s not a very useful role if the village gets destroyed, so I’d like to learn how to fight first…” He blushes a little as he went on. “... Besides, if so, I could be with Dzīve…” The face of Antoine’s mother had been getting whiter as the young man had finished his sentence.

“Ah, you see, not my fault.” Said Kailun, shrugging her shoulders and spreading her hands.

“No, it’s the ideas of this…this scammer that got into his head! I refuse to let him fight, it is too dangerous, he could die!” Antoine’s mother almost cried out.

“True, Nadine has a point, I cannot allow Antoine to put himself in danger.” Said Milo, annoyed but feeling obliged to support this opinion.

“Well, of course he’s going to die, what’s the problem?” asked the golden-haired woman.

Only Élet was not shocked by her sentence. The others looked at Kailun with empty eyes, trying to process the information.

“See, she doesn’t care if you live or die!” Screamed Antoine’s mother.

“Woah, that’s not what I said. I would hate to see him die!” Replied the interested person just as strongly.

Seeing Kailun and Antoine’s mother ready to gut one another, Élet struck the ground powerfully with Malice, who she had just invoked. The weapon’s aura permeated the room, reducing everyone to silence.

“I think this is a classic case of mutual misunderstanding, let me explain.”

“E-explain? But there’s nothing to explain, she publicly declared that my little lamb was going to die!” Nadine replied, almost as frightened as she was outraged.

“The tone, Nadine, the tone…”

“Sorry…”

After the interruption, the young woman continued. “In fact, you lack a piece of crucial information for you to understand each other.”

“Ah? Which one?” Asked Nadine with the most respectful voice she could muster.

“Well, since he made a pact, Antoine can no longer… he can no longer die.”

“What do you mean?” asked Milo.

“It’s the same with Dzīve and me. If at some point Antoine died, Kailun could raise him by sacrificing part of her strength, and he would return without sequel or anything.”

Antoine’s mother took some time to absorb the information. However… "Impossible, I don’t believe you!" She then turned to the head of the guards. "Milo, do something! She must be in cahoots with this woman!"

Okay, I’m getting sick of it. " You know what, I’m here because Greypa asked me to bring back Antoine and the new girl, so you have two options. Either you come with us to the old man’s, and he’ll explain everything to you, or you stay here, but I’m tired of your overprotective paranoia, Understood?" As she spoke, she raised her voice to the point of practically yelling at Nadine, the unhealthy aura of her weapon thickening with her voice.

“U-understood." Antoine’s mother was now feeling very small.

"I’ll come with you then…"

"All right! Done? Let’s go!" It’s that I have my little sister waiting for me, I don’t want to waste any more of my time...

***

Nadine remained silent while they went to Greypa, lest she upset Élet even more, but it was for Antoine that the journey was the most painful. Caught between his mother and his summoner, he was fired on one side and then on the other without daring to say words, stakes of a silent battle between the two women. They finally arrived in front of the healer’s house, entering silently after knocking on the door.

"Ah, I mean, what took yeh so long?"

“Ding, quest successful. Please proceed with next step.”

"Nadine took us so long…" Élet replied with an annoyed voice while ignoring the system. Before Greypa could continue to speak, a form launched a surprise attack on Élet, almost pinning the young woman against a wall. "Élet!" She threw herself on her Onee-chan to give her a hug, burying her head in her big sister’s chest.

"Easy, easy, I’m glad to see you too, but don’t crush me like that!" Well, I say that but it’s not as painful as it was before. It’s because my constitution stat as augmented through my class and Charac-points? She took the little one in her arms to return the feeling while burying, in turn, her head in Dzīve’s hair. Her hair smells so good…

The others were watching this scene, half-embarrassed and half-softened, not knowing where to put themselves.

Greypa was the only one to stay totally indifferent. "Well, girls, how long do you think you’ll be standing there? We don’t just have the time to do that."

"Wicked!" You are truly heartless!" They had both reacted at the same time, outraged by the old man’s uncompromising attitude.