Chapter V

Having been slightly overwhelmed by all of the rather foreign items on the menu, Abi decided to take the safe option and just order whatever it was that Album went with, but when her meal actually came out, she could only gape down at it with slight apprehension as she silently tried to deduce what it actually was. It was clearly some form of meat that had been coated in a red glaze, but it was unsettlingly bulbous, and there were centimeter-wide lines running along the slab that appeared like veins. The meal was called “crusno”, which didn’t give her any indication of what it actually was, and when she glanced sidelong at Album to see her cutting open one of the bulbous lumps, she watched a gray liquid ooze out of it. Her roommate, however, was unbothered, and Abi had to guess that despite appearances, the ooze must taste fine. She then glanced across the table at Ryokumo and Nigreos, who had ordered what seemed to be normal steak dinners with potatoes and vegetables, and she internally sighed.

I guess I picked the wrong person to copy, she thought with slumped shoulders. What even is this?! It doesn’t look edible at all! I mean, I’ve seen some pretty strange food in my time, but this is absolutely the weirdest thing I’ve ever come across! Then again, Album seems to be enjoying hers so maybe it won’t kill me but I really don’t like the thought of putting that in my body!

Abi shivered, but not wanting to be rude to either the chef who made the food or her friends, she swallowed back her nausea and forced herself to cut into the meat. Like Album’s, the moment she popped one of the lumps, ooze leaked out to cover it and now that she had a closer look, it had a much thicker consistency than she had been ready for.

“Everything okay, Abi?” Nigreos asked, sparing a concerned glance at her. “You look a little pale.”

Abi quickly forced a smile, wanting to swiftly cover up her hesitation. “Oh, no, I’m fine! Just been a long day, you know, so I’m a bit tired. Yup! Perfectly okay!”

She then decided to rip the bandage clean off as she finished cutting her crusno, jammed the piece on her fork, then put it in her mouth. At that point, attempting not to gag became even harder. The meat was so chewy that she felt like it must have been raw and no matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t figure out whether it was the glaze or the ooze that was sour. Nevertheless, she forced herself to swallow it before doing her best to casually pick up her glass of tillyberry juice and drink half of it to clear the taste away. All the while, Nigreos watched her with a wry smile and she had a feeling that he knew exactly what she was thinking.

“So what exactly is that?” Ryokumo inquired after a moment, motioning toward their crusno with a nod of his head, his features indicating that he, too, was disgusted by it.

“It’s crusno,” Album replied with a sweet smile. “It’s a really high-end Dunnovian dish that you can hardly ever find outside of their country, which is mostly because there are so few chefs who actually know how to cook it. As far as I know, this place is one of the only restaurants in Ijiria that serves it.”

Ryokumo cocked an eyebrow as he regarded the bulbous meat. “Ah, is that so? And why exactly can nobody prepare it?”

“Well, because if it isn’t cooked perfectly, it’s poisonous,” Album answered with a proud expression, as if enjoying the fact that she could show off some of her obscure knowledge.

And while Abi was glad that Album seemed to be enjoying herself, she just couldn’t look past the word “poisonous”. “Huh?! What do you mean it’s poisonous?!”

Album chuckled and quickly waved her hand. “Don’t worry, Abi, the chef here knows what she’s doing.”

“Ah, well, yes, but…” Abi cleared her throat to stop herself from stuttering as she turned back to gaze at her dinner with even more discomfort. “Just out of curiosity, how exactly is it poisonous though?”

Her roommate considered the question as she chewed on another part of her meal before answering. “Well, first of all, I don’t know if you knew this but it’s not actually meat. It’s made from a plant species that grows in the jungles of West Dunnovia called the Carnivorous Alpha.”

“That thing’s a plant?!” Ryokumo exclaimed with about as much surprise as Abi was feeling internally at the revelation.

Album motioned for him to quiet down as she glanced at the other tables to make sure they hadn’t disturbed the patrons before answering Ryokumo in a softer tone. “Yes, it’s a plant and a really dangerous one at that. Back before we really started to refine our magic, the Alpha was one of the most dangerous predators in the western part of the continent. Not only does it have a large enough mouth to swallow a human whole, but it also has a bunch of these little lumps that contain doses of poison so deadly that a small drop could kill a giant if it so much as grazed their skin.”

Abi and Ryokumo could only gape at her before the former set her fork down and decided she no longer cared about offending the chef and would be stopping by the dorm cafeteria to get dinner afterwards.

“And tell me, Album,” Ryokumo began as he folded his hands on the table. “What utter moron looked at something like that and decided ‘ah yes, let me put that dangerous man-eater in my stomach! That seems like a brilliant idea’?!”

This time, Album just shrugged. “I don’t know, but despite how it looks, it really is delicious! It’s one of my favorite foods, actually. And once you remove the poison from the lumps, the sour taste of the excretions goes so well with the plant itself! Don’t you agree, Abi? Isn’t it good?”

For a few seconds, Abi just looked back at her roommate’s excited and enthusiastic smile and internally debated what to say in response. On one hand, she considered the monstrosity on her plate to be one of the most unappetizing things she had ever consumed, but on the other, she really didn’t want to disappoint Album, and after a quick game of tug-of-war between those two sides of her, she reluctantly put on a smile and nodded.

“Yup, it’s really good!”

Abi then did her best to keep her gag reflexes in control as she forced another bite of crusno into her mouth, much to Album’s clear pleasure. But while she clearly fooled her roommate, Nigreos and Ryokumo were both looking at her with dubious expressions, and the still silent Nigreos appeared to be holding back laughter. So Abi merely smiled at them with a silent “Don’t say a word” and to her relief, the two obliged.

“Anyway,” Abi began once she’d choked down the bite and washed it down with more juice. “Ryokumo, you said you wanted us to meet up so we can get to know each other better, right? So, since our food is out, I think we should start.”

Desperate to turn the conversation anywhere else, Abi eyed Ryokumo with another silent message, urging him to help her change the topic.

“Yes, that’s right!” Ryokumo then clapped his hands together and flashed his charming grin as he regarded them all. “As I’ve said, the four of us are going to be working alongside each other for the foreseeable future, both at the school and perhaps even beyond, so I thought it would be best to take some time to sit down and just chat about ourselves. We do, after all, have a very interesting set of members.”

Nigreos smiled as well as he set his fork down and chimed in for the first time in a while. “Yeah, I was thinking along the same line, actually. After all, this would be the first time we’ve all been together since orientation and while I’ve known Album for a long time, I’ve admittedly been interested to get to know the two of you.” He indicated both Ryokumo and Abi as he sat up straighter in his chair. “You especially, Abi, have already left quite the mark on the Citadel with both Master Grunly’s accounts and your performance in the battle.”

She immediately felt her cheeks turn red as she sipped more of her bright blue juice, having been wondering what those in the Citadel had been thinking of her. “I-is that so?”

Nigreos nodded. “It is. Like I’ve said, I’ve been taking private lessons with my father up in the tower and I did ask about you. From the sound of it, there’s rumors that Master Grunly seeks to potentially make you his apprentice, if you perform well enough at the Academy.”

Huh? His apprentice?

She laughed awkwardly and placed her glass back on the table, unsure of how to even respond to such a comment. “Er, no, it’s probably just a rumor. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Grunly clearly is interested in me for one reason or another, but…” She shook her head. “An apprentice? Please… I’m nothing special, despite what he might say, and I know enough about Masters and their apprentices to know that becoming one means that you’re the best of the best. I’m certainly not.”

“Not yet, maybe,” Ryokumo pointed out with a wink. “But you’ve got four years at this school to make an impact, and I think you’ve already begun to do that.” Then, before Abi could say anything, he quickly turned and addressed Nigreos. “What has your father said, out of curiosity?”

The dark mage considered the question. “Well, just that with the orientation alone, both Master Nakoma Taurus and Princess Ilirianna were left quite impressed with her.”

“So she did catch the princess’s eye?” Album muttered.

Despite wanting to claim that he was exaggerating, one look at Nigreos told her that he was telling it exactly as it was. Somehow, her performance had been enough to leave an impact on individuals as powerful as the Master of Fire and the heir to the empire. Part of her was overwhelmed by that thought but another couldn’t help but be slightly proud.

“Well, regardless,” Abi hurriedly interrupted. “We’ve already talked plenty about me back on the first day and there’s honestly not much more to tell! I’ve just wandered around for years on end and that’s all. So what about you, Nigreos? Tell us about yourself and Noctalus.”

Tossing the ball into his court, Abi shifted the topic of conversation away from her, and thankfully, Nigreos gladly picked it up. “Alright then. Sure. Let’s see… I’m eighteen years old as of this past spring and I’ve lived in the palace of Noctalus for the grand majority of my life. I’ve got two little sisters, one sixteen and the other thirteen, who I love dearly and I’ve been studying dark magic ever since I was six.”

Nigreos then stopped and considered what else he wanted to say, and while he was thinking, Abi decided to chime in and ask something.

“I didn’t realize you had sisters, Nigreos,” she commented with a smile. “What are they like?”

Yet, after asking the question, she noticed his expression grow tense for a moment so brief that she questioned whether she’d been mistaken, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she accidentally touched on a sore spot. But regardless of what went through Nigreos Noctis’s mind at that moment, his smile returned just as quickly as it wavered and he answered her.

“Well, they’re certainly a handful,” he said with a soft laugh, a sound that seemed so full of love that it more than told her how important they were to him. “The oldest of the two, Lunara, has always been very energetic. She’s the type to spend her time running around the palace and getting into all sorts of trouble. One time, she somehow convinced Album’s brother, Eko, to help her fill my bedroom with dark spirits to the point that you could hear the chittering from down the hall.”

Album sighed and shook her head. “Ah, I remember that. Our mothers were pissed.”

“As they should have been,” Nigreos replied with a smirk. “I think it took me about two months to track down all of them and at times they were so loud that I couldn’t get any sleep. I couldn’t even tell you guys how many times I had to march down to one of our guest rooms for some peace and quiet.”

Recalling her own many experiences with dark spirits over the years, Abi couldn’t help but empathize with him. While dark spirits were harmless little critters, they reproduced fast and would constantly emit a loud sound that resembled the chattering of teeth. She’d never actually seen them with her own eyes but she had stayed in plenty of inns that were infested by them and Nigreos certainly wasn’t exaggerating about their ability to prevent one from sleeping. They were a true menace.

“You’re sister sounds like a genius,” Ryokumo said wryly. “And tell me, what did you do to deserve it?”

Nigreos snorted. “Absolutely nothing. She was just bored that day and I guess she somehow coerced Eko into being a pain. That being said, I didn’t take it lying down and promptly called upon my littlest sister to help me get revenge.”

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“And what’d you two do to them?” Abi inquired.

“Oh, nothing too crazy. I simply acquired a few frostbite stones and froze their bedrooms.” He grinned proudly. “Now the thing about frostbite stones is that they’re easy to deactivate if you know where to find them, but if they’re hidden then they’ll just keep freezing their surroundings until they can be located, and Neah just happened to come up with the brilliant idea of sewing them into their mattresses. This was the dead of winter, so they weren’t terribly pleased.”

On her left, Album just put her head in her hands while Ryokumo just began to cackle, as if finding the situation to be the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

“And how long did it take them to locate the damned things?” the wind mage asked.

Before Nigreos could reply, Album chimed in with annoyance. “Three weeks!” she snapped. “For three weeks, Luna and Eko waged a ridiculous prank war with Nigreos and Neah that more than once resulted in me being an unintended casualty.”

Shooting Nigreos a glare, the dark mage guilty scratched the back of his head. “Er, well, perhaps it went a bit overboard. Neah and I may have rigged a homemade stink bomb to go off in a corridor we intended to lure Eko into and, well…”

“Unfortunately, they didn’t plan for me to be the one to show up first,” Album finished with a grunt. “And it was quite potent, I might add. I reeked so badly that nobody in the castle would come anywhere near me.”

“Well, I hear tomato juice baths are good for getting rid of stench,” Ryokumo pointed out, but Album just sighed.

“I took five. Didn’t help.”

“Yes, and I’ve apologized for it,” Nigreos reminded her.

“Didn’t stop me from getting covered in mayonnaise though, did it?” she replied as she folded her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows.

At that, Nigreos’s guilt seemed to increase. “In my defense, that only happened because Eko sniffed it out first and lured you into the trap instead. That was more on him than us.”

“Okay, I need to meet these siblings of yours!” Ryokumo added excitedly. “They seem like they’d be fantastic partners in crime!”

Both Nigreos and Album turned hesitant looks toward the man, and Abi could see in their eyes that both of them knew just how bad of an idea it was for Ryokumo to meet their siblings. Meanwhile, Abi silently listened, enjoying getting to see the mischievous side of the two mages and to hear about their home lives. Abi had always wondered what it might have been like to have siblings had her parents survived and part of her wished she could have had a more normal upbringing. Of course, she was proud of what she had accomplished, but it had been a lonely existence, always traveling by herself and never staying in one place for long. She hadn’t belonged anywhere and she had nobody she could consider family or even friends.

So it’s kinda nice…just sitting here and listening to them talk. I know I told Grunly I’d only be here for a year but… Abi smiled to herself. I could easily see myself being happy here in Erika, at least for a little while.

“Well anyway, that’s my story,” Nigreos said, drawing the conversation back to where it started. “From here out, my goals are to continue on my path to becoming the Master of Darkness and to live up to my family name…” The man then paused, and again, it felt to Abi like he was holding something back, but whatever it was, he didn’t decide to share it. “...Simple as that.”

“Well that was lovely,” Ryokumo commented, raising his glass toward Nigreos. “In that case, Album, your turn!”

“Oh, m-me?” The second the conversation shifted to her, Album seemed to pull into herself, and Abi knew she would have preferred not to share anything. “Honestly, Ryokumo, there’s not much more to share. I’m…just going through the motions, you know? Eko’s the oldest, so he’s going to be the Master of Light in my father’s place. I’m…” She grimaced and smiled sadly as she stared down at her half-eaten crusno. “Well, I’m supposed to be the next eraser, but if I can’t pull myself together, I could see even that responsibility being pushed off to a cousin or something…”

As she trailed off, Abi couldn’t help but frown at the mention of the word “eraser”. Naturally, over the course of her time studying nature magic and researching different historical eras of Ijiria, she had come across the concept of erasure. It was one of the most powerful known spells in existence and was created by the Luz family back during the Age of Destruction, not long before the Second Civil War. The process by which the family discovered such a horrific power had been lost to time since the Master of Light who researched it refused to share what he knew, and it was unknown whether even the modern Luz knew how it came to be. There were plenty of theories and conspiracies but as far as Abi knew, none had ever been confirmed.

What made erasure magic so powerful was that it was the only known magic that could tamper with space/time, altering reality itself to the whim of the user. As far as Abi’s understanding went, the eraser could essentially remove a person from existence, erasing all memory of that individual and altering the realms to make it so that they never existed in the first place. Only the user could determine who remembered and who didn’t, and because of this, the power was heavily regulated from the moment it was conceived. After all, if left unchecked, the eraser could get rid of whoever they wanted and nobody would be any the wiser. In many ways, it was lucky that the Master who created it was such an avid supporter of the king that he immediately revealed his newfound power. In fact, the only reason that Master hid how he learned it was because he feared what might happen if traitors to the empire were to gain control of it. But over the years of erasure being passed through Luz generations, many feared that there were people that had been erased without anybody ever knowing.

And if I remember correctly, it did spread outside the family. One of the current Luz’s, Album’s mother if I remember right, can do it, and then there’s someone in the Citadel with the power as well.

Abi remembered being terrified of the concept back when she first read about it, for if it ever did spread to somebody dangerous, it could spell the end of Ijiria as they knew it. In that sense, it was calming to know that somebody as sweet and respectful as Album would inherit it someday.

“Right, erasure,” Ryokumo murmured after a moment. “Yes, I suppose that is a daunting responsibility, but I believe you can handle it. Orientation could have gone better, but you’ll get there. Pinner’s can be fought, and just with how little I know, I can tell you’re strong, Album. You’ll be a fine eraser someday.”

Album glanced up at him with surprise, her cheeks turning a soft red before she quickly looked away. “I think you put too much blind faith in people. You don’t even know me, Ryokumo.”

“Maybe,” he conceded with a smile. “But I like to think I’m a good judge of character.”

“And I do know you,” Nigreos added. “And I happen to agree with him. Don’t let it get you down.”

Abi could see her roommate growing quickly flustered so she straightened up and turned the topic away from herself. “Well, regardless, I think it’s quite odd that Ryokumo’s the one who suggested this conversation but has yet to offer anything about himself. I think you should go before I tell you anything!”

Ryokumo smirked, eyeing Album warmly before shrugging. “Very well, I suppose you’re not incorrect. Tell me, friends, what do you wish to know about little ol’ me? Ask and I shall answer!”

Almost immediately, Nigreos came up with a question. “Well, there is something I’ve been wondering. From what I know, nobody can get into this Academy without a ridiculous amount of hard work, and so almost everybody has something driving them. Everybody comes here with a goal. I want to be the best Master of Darkness I can be. Album wants to move past her mana deficiencies and reach a point where she can handle erasure. And Abi was personally brought here by Master Grunly. You, on the other hand, are a foreigner who is so skilled at what he does that he managed to single-handedly defeat a well-oiled team at orientation. One must have a hell of goal to manage such a feat so…” Nigreos folded his hands on the table and eyed Ryokumo curiously. “What do you seek by attending this school, Ryokumo Caeli?”

As she listened to Nigreos speak, Abi suddenly realized that she didn’t know what motivated Ryokumo. Despite having spent most of her time with him in their various classes over the past week, she had mostly spoken of herself and her own experiences. Ryokumo had yet to share, and she found herself extremely curious now that the question was on the table.

The wind mage returned Nigreos’s inquisitive stare with his typical charming grin before chuckling to himself. “Well, that’s a hell of a question, my friend, and I fear my answer may disappoint you.”

“How so?” Nigreos asked, to which Ryokumo merely shrugged.

“Well, I’ve hesitated to share much about myself given how potentially pathetic my goals are compared to the three of you, but I suppose I can confess.” He took a quick sip of his drink and, when nobody moved to speak first, Ryokumo went on. “I was born in a small fishing village on the western Sukonese coast as the ninth kid to a rather poor family. I had five sisters and three brothers, and to be honest with you, I couldn’t tell you much about them.” To Abi’s surprise, Ryokumo’s smile turned briefly sad in the first glimpse of melancholy she had yet seen from the rather upbeat and cheerful mage. “We didn’t have much money, like I said, and I believe I was born to be yet another set of hands to bring in coin. As soon as I was able, I worked, and I worked myself half to death like the rest of my family.”

He let out a soft sigh, his eyes briefly turning bitter before the pleasantness swiftly returned. “When I was ten, a mage from Kurokiri, the Sukonese capital, arrived in the village with the intent to retire there. His name was Daisuke Caeli and he was in his early eighties when he first appeared in town.”

“Caeli?” Album interrupted with a frown. “Were you related to him?”

Ryokumo chuckled and shook his head. “No, I wasn’t, but I’ll get to that. Now, I was fascinated by this man. I desperately wanted to be a mage, too, and after a few months, I gathered up the courage to go visit him at his cottage and ask him to teach me, and to my surprise, he did. I was shocked. He didn’t know anything about me, he had no reason to bother, and eventually, he told me that he was bored in his retirement already and thought he’d busy himself with me.” Ryokumo’s smile then turned nostalgic and Abi could easily see the respect he had for the man. “He taught me the basics, gave me advice, helped me control my mana. Every second I had that I wasn’t working, I put it into training. I thought, perhaps, if I became a talented mage, I could leave the village behind and go to Kurokiri myself. By the time I was fifteen, I was rather good at what I was doing and Mr. Daisuke even said I might actually thrive in the capital.”

“And yet you’re here,” Nigreos muttered. “What happened?”

Ryokumo shrugged once more. “Nothing much really. Mr. Daisuke talked of Ijiria quite often, and especially of Erika. He said the greatest mages in all the world lived here, and he told me that my talent would be wasted in Kurokiri—that I ought to give the Ijirian Empire a shot. Well I took that heart, and when I was sixteen, Mr. Daisuke passed away from natural causes. His health had been getting bad, so I saw it coming, but…”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Abi said softly. “I don’t imagine that was easy…”

“No, it was not,” Ryokumo responded. “But it certainly lit a fire under me. That man was more family than anybody else, and he had once said I could use his name when I left, so…” The wind mage spread his hands out before him. “Upon arriving in Jeysa, I got rid of my old surname and replaced it with his. I became Ryokumo Caeli. I lived in Jeysa for a while, mostly on the streets, but I survived well enough. For roughly a year and half, I sought jobs as a mage-for-hire, mostly serving as a bodyguard or running around doing odd tasks here and there. And eventually, I drew the attention of the Lord of Jeysa, who decided to hire me to be a bodyguard for his daughter and to help escort her across the Starlight Bay to Stellareid.”

“Damn,” Nigreos murmured. “To be trusted with a lord’s daughter… That’s a hell of a responsibility. I’m surprised.”

Ryokumo grinned proudly. “Well, I impressed him. And I did an even better job when the boat we were on was attacked by a bunch of pirates. I guess they heard the girl was onboard and probably wanted her for ransom. And lo and behold, the only bodyguard left standing was me. I nearly died that day but I was gonna be damned if I lost the girl, so I fought like hell and managed to take out their captain. Cut off the head and the others run like cowards. As a thanks for saving his daughter, the lord offered me anything I wanted and I thought I’d try my chances at a letter of recommendation. Didn’t actually think he’d give it.”

“Ah, so that’s how you got in,” Album commented. “You’d honestly be surprised how much sway lords have over that sort of stuff.”

Ryokumo nodded. “And I was, believe me. Now, to get back and answer your question, Nigreos, I suppose the reason I’ve worked as hard as I have is…” This time, his smile faded completely, and Ryokumo was instead gazing down at the table with a slightly embarrassed expression. “I want to live an easy life. I worked my ass off just to get by back in Sukon and I did the same in Jeysa. I’ve lived without money since the day I was born and I simply wish to be comfortable. I don’t need to be a Master or even anybody of high regard. I just want to reach a point where I can retire like Mr. Daisuke did.” He shook his head. “It’s nothing noble like the rest of you. Nobody has expectations for me to fulfill, no Masters have their eyes on me. That’s all. I just want to eat well, sleep well, and live happily.”

Abi smiled as Ryokumo finished his story, realizing that it was the first time he had shown them his more vulnerable side. For just a few minutes, he set his persona aside and faced them as himself, and she appreciated that small glimpse into Ryokumo Caeli. She now understood why he felt such a camaraderie with her. Even setting aside that they were both commoners, neither of them had ever known the luxury they now experienced in Erika, and Ryokumo wanted to hold onto that with all his might.

A life of luxury… It does sound nice…

“I don’t think that’s anything to be ashamed of,” Nigreos told him with a warm smile. “I mean, Album and I were born into luxury so we certainly can’t imagine what it’s like to want for basic necessities. To work yourself as hard as you can just to be comfortable, well, I think that’s fair. And I believe you’ve already done plenty to make your master proud.”

“Absolutely,” Abi added. “There’s nothing wrong with that at all.”

She then picked up her glass and motioned for the others to do the same. Nigreos, Album, then Ryokumo all grabbed their drinks and placed them in the center of the table, and Abi found herself happy to be in their presence. These were her first friends, and she was overjoyed at getting to hear more about them.

“To a successful future, yeah?” she said, and the others echoed her sentiments.

From that point, they talked extensively for hours until The Den was getting ready to close. Most of their conversations were rather benign, with each of them telling silly stories or odd anecdotes about their pasts. Nigreos and Album talked more about their siblings and their home in Noctalus. Ryokumo shared some tales about Daisuke Caeli and his time training under the man. And even she revealed some of her experiences on the road—stories she never thought she’d have anybody to recite them to.

It was a surreal experience, and that night was the first time that Abigail didn’t feel a single doubt that coming to Erika was the right choice.