Chapter 44 | The Unaccounted 4

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Later that afternoon, two days after the explosion and only one day since the horde attack, a group of businessmen and women met at the Alton manor to discuss their concerns about the recent events and how they could move forward.

“The Imperials are blocking our access to the Elven Forest,” said a man to Lord Benas. “As you know, Riverside commerce heavily relies on materials and trade from the elven territories. We are worried about our businesses if we are continuously blocked.”

“I share in your concern Mr. Smith but the horde has brought many dangerous monsters to the area that are still being dealt with. Also, they have to get rid of all the corpses outside before they can cause more trouble. But hopefully, we can have it sorted out soon. In the meanwhile, I may be able to arrange shipments of the materials all of you need from a different source. I will cover the losses from the temporary change in supplier.”

“Thank you, My Lord!”

“Is that all the business concerning you?” Lord Benas asked those in attendance.

“Well, regarding the checkpoints, My Lord,” Mr. Schefter said. “There has been trouble with my shipments of medicine. The Imperials have been confiscating bottles of my healing and anti-toxin using some vague excuses for some time.”

“I haven’t heard of this,” Lord Benas muttered curiously.

“They have only been taking a few occasionally. I thought I could handle it but recently, they have no regard for what loss has befallen me. They justify it as necessary to the cause of capturing the Devil Slime.” Mr. and Mrs. Schefter were an old couple with little recourse if something happened to their business. They could only rely on the generosity of their fearless Merchant Lord.

The carriages from the Schefters were not an isolated incident. Ever since they imposed these checkpoints months ago, cargo has been going missing. But potions were valuable and the Imperials were using them to sure up their own limited supply. It has been hitting their bottom lines particularly hard. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Mr. Schefter. Although I do suspect the checkpoints will be lifted soon.”

“Thank you, My Lord.”

***

That night in the tavern returned to normal despite the abnormalities happening about Riverside. Signs of the apocalypse, a horde attack, senseless death, and an attack on the mayor’s daughter. The freelancers here were starting to sound more like adventurers almost, ready to slay the monster for glory rather than profit. An ominous terror befalling the land and Alan’s personality infesting their minds with delusions of grandeur about being heroes. It seems like in every freelancer who was working for ends meet, there was a spark for adventure waiting to be lit.

Something was going to happen. Another disaster? No. This was going to involve the humans of this town but Alisha didn’t know when. Was there going to be an outbreak in fighting between the Association and the Empire? Or perhaps between the Guardians and Phoenix? Regardless, they were going to be getting another intriguing event happening tomorrow.

Jeromy knew what happened in the forest and had more information about these ‘Guardians’ than she did but she kind of burnt that bridge. He wasn’t going to talk with her about sensitive information and she couldn’t spy on him since he was a high-level mage. So far, her impression on others had been that of a child but she was a very capable young adult!

Alisha would be impressed by how far the Phoenix had gotten on their own if not so annoyed by Jeromy.

Tonight, at the tavern, the four members of the Sune family sat around a table together upstairs for dinner. Alisha was also there in her human form eating as everyone caught up with each other. They spoke in the elven language, Sentinese, but Alisha understood it just fine because of telepathy.

The mood was weird. Wasn’t the town nearly destroyed yesterday? Why were they speaking like none of that happened? She didn’t want to sour the evening by bring it up so she went with it.

Yuli spoke about her adventures with Reinold over the past year. It was mostly spoken to her sister since she wasn’t here for her story times. In contrast, Selina spoke only briefly about her travels. She seemed more private of a person and she didn’t have strong emotions compared to her younger sister. They couldn’t be more different.

When pressed for details, Selina began unloading the most interesting tales that made Alan’s stories seem like dreams of a child. They were subjugation missions while working as a team of around twenty to clear monster dens and dungeons. Not too fantastical but also a lot of technical stuff that a lot of people Alisha has overheard in the tavern glance over.

Working in a group of casters was a lot different than Alan’s or many other’s run-and-gun styles. Alisha also witnessed these tactics when fighting with the Imperials and Inquisitors.

Selina spoke across the table to Alisha, “I would like to thank you for rescuing my sister and step-brother in the forest. It was a very brave thing you did.”

“There’s no need to thank me. Yuli and the Altons have saved me too.”

“But still, you saved them while I was away, and for that—I would always be thankful,” Selina gave a smile from her stoic face. Despite Selina’s overly serious impression, she cared a lot for her family.

Now that Alisha was conversating with Selina, there was something she wanted to ask, “If you don’t mind me by asking, can I ask you why you joined the Phoenix?”

“Alisha,” Elise gave a knowing look, telling her to not ask. However, her look gave away Selina’s answer. It was the same with Elise and her association with them: it wasn’t by choice.

“No Aunty, I do not mind at all.”

Selina began to retell the story. She was at the Seutarian Mercenary Academy undergoing her training when he met Jeromy Powle. He was the son of the lord of a once-mighty Imperial House. During the Vultian-Grethenian War over fifty years ago, Jeromy’s father was captured and joined the hundreds of thousands of humans taken as slaves. Rumor had it at the time that Jeromy was part of the human rebellion to reconquer what his house lost.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

With such history with facts and gossip, many thought he was going to dislike working with elves but he was very cordial. Despite growing up a slave, he held no resentment towards elves and was a respectable recruit who passed every test to be the top of his class. By the end of the first semester, there was no one on campus that didn’t know his name.

With a man with such a reputation, Selina didn’t expect their first meeting to go the way it did. Jeromy received an assignment from the Phoenix to secure a reincarnated while the unit was being visited by the church for special prayer. Unbeknownst to the Guild, the Inquisitors were part of the delegation and wanted to capture and kill the reincarnated in the facility.

Selina was walking to her quarters when shots rang out. She pulled out her bow and saw an Inquisitor around the corner standing over the reincarnated person on the ground. Selina had no reason to shoot the Inquisitor at the time so she tried to reason with him.

“Why are you here?” Selina asked with her bow drawn directly at the Inquisitor. “This is a restricted area.”

“This…thing is an unholy reincarnated which must be purged. Interfere and I will have you arrested,” the Inquisitor spouted his empty threat.

“I cannot have you take him.”

Selina didn’t relent and so the Inquisitor quickly aimed his revolver and shot at her. The arrow she shot pierced the gem bullet in mid-air and embedded itself in the man’s shoulder, disarming him. Then, another Inquisitor entered her vision from the adjacent corridor and shot at her.

Jeromy came out of nowhere and grabbed her, shielding her from the bullet while shooting the Inquisitor to submission. After the whole affair was done and the church was expelled from the campus, Selina and Jeromy met up again to talk about what happened.

When Jeromy grabbed Selina, it wasn’t a very appropriate place to grab.

Everyone around the table started laughing hysterically and even Alisha couldn’t stop giggling. Selina steadily ate as she continued, “He said he did not know what he did wrong.”

“He is not very conscious of how to treat girls is he?” Julie said while giggling.

“He was not very good before, was he?” Elise suggested.

“Yes, he was not. I had to teach him a few things,” Selina said. The room fell into a waiting silence as everyone stared at Selina with knowing faces. “What?”

Alisha found herself intrigued and asked, “What do you mean by ‘what?’ How is he as a partner?”

Selina’s face was flushed in an instant and she shrunk in her seat. She answered meekly, “Everything is okay.”

After the incident at the Academy, other incidents involving Jeromy and the Phoenix had her pulled closer to the fold. Selina never intended to, but was driven by her sense of duty against the injustices plaguing Theia.

***

Yuli, Julie, and Alisha were heading back to the manor after the dinner. Selina had work to do with Jeromy so she stayed behind in the New District. The town at night time was always worth the sight as the lights reflected in the river as Grevin lit the darkness with a faint hue of green. The way the lights refracted off the buildings were so beautiful. After all the chaos, the town was still lively.

“Your sister is a very serious-type, is she not?” Julie said, smiling.

“She is. When we were younger, it was trouble to get her to smile at all. She would say that she was ‘smiling in her heart’,” Yuli said. They both giggled endlessly at that.

“She is an interesting person. Being as stern as she was, I’d thought she’d be a mage for the Magic Guild. Why a mercenary?” Alisha asked. The Magic Guild of Seutaria was a powerful organization for creating and producing magical products. There would always be a need for someone skilled enough to make specialized spells and methods.

“She joined the mercenaries because she wanted to help people and protect us,” Yuli said sincerely.

“I see. It’s a noble and selfless reason,” Alisha recited, hoping her feelings weren’t conveyed through her telepathy. It sounded like a platitude that everyone seemed to accept. Alisha wanted to go into the medical profession back on Earth and the first day Cayden went into the summer program they said to go into the career for yourself. Physicians couldn’t be happy otherwise, saving lives was merely the result of their dedication.

“Alisha? Do you disagree?” Julie asked, catching Alisha’s slight sarcasm.

Alisha sighed heavily, “Selina probably joined the mercenaries for herself as much as she does for other people. That’s true for everyone. So, I have to ask for what selfish reason she had to join the mercenaries.”

Yuli thought hard about her answer this time, “Hmm, sister joined because she did not enjoy mundane work. She wanted to travel and see the world while using her skills to the fullest.”

“That was a better answer,” Alisha said. The three understood Selina’s feelings well. They all wanted freedom in their own way.

As they walked the streets of Riverside, they spotted a large crowd surrounding the tall oversized meathead.

“Uncle Alan!” Yuli yelled through the meathead’s adoring crowd until Alan’s smiling face turned to her.

“Ah! Little Yuli! How have you been this grand evening of triumph?”

“We just had a family dinner and are returning now. Have you come back from another mission?”

“Yes, and your brother came along too. You should’ve seen him in action! He was just as I have remembered from the days of our glory, slaying monsters and rescuing fair maidens like yourself!”

Alisha couldn’t stand this guy. He was so boastful, without tact, a show-off, and annoying. Other than his strength and appearance, what did Yuli and the others see in him?! “Mr. Alan! You are so cool!” Julie shouted with sparkling eyes of admiration.

Not you too, Julie!

“Uncle Alan, you should join us for dinner some night!” Yuli suggested.

No! Yuli! How could you?!

***

After their encounter with Alan, the three caught up with Reinold up on the road. Alisha continued to rant, “That man has no sense of humility! He’s just a show-boating flirt!”

“He’s a level-three mage. It’s not show-boating if he really is that good,” Reinold said, defending the clearly indefensible. Alisha couldn’t explain it but Alan’s attitude was really getting under her skin.

“Are you serious?!”

“No,” Reinold said plainly. Everyone started giggling and Alisha became embarrassed, burying herself in Yuli’s arms. “Why don’t you like Alan? He’s a likable guy. He just doesn’t take things as seriously as you do.”

“I don’t take things seriously.”

“Yes, but you’re taking him seriously.”

“I certainly am not!” Alisha barked back.

“You like him! Do you not?” Julie smiled and shrieked for some reason.

“I certainly do not!”

“But you think he is cool?”

“Maybe a little…” Alisha communicated in a whisper but everyone heard, “But he’s so vulgar that it’s unbelievable and embarrassing.”

“Awww~!” Julie and Yuli awed simultaneously.

“Please don’t!”

They approached home at the manor as a group of people exited through the front doors to the awaiting wagon back into town. The Altons were going to escort them back to their homes since it was dark. Mr. and Mrs. Schefter were among them. Mr. Schefter was shaking hands with Lord Benas.

“Thank you, My Lord, for all of your help,” Mr. Schefter said to Lord Benas.

“It was no problem at all. Seeing Riverside prosper brings me nothing but joy,” said Lord Benas.

“Ah, your daughter,” Mr. Schefter said as he saw the group approach. “And Alisha, Julie, and Reinold. How are you all this evening?”

“Very good, thank you,” Yuli said.

“Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Schefter,” Julie said while bowing.

“Evening,” Reinold said plainly with a measly wave of his hand.

“You girls are so precious. How about you come by the shop some time and I’ll cook you something,” Mrs. Schefter suggested.

“Thank you very much. We will.”

“Yes, and Yuli. Alisha seemed very interested in medicine, how about you leave Alisha to play once and a while?” She whispered the next bit in Yuli’s and Julie’s ears. “And she’s a good attractor for business.”

“I know what you mean,” Yuli said quietly. They all giggled at that thought. Her cuteness was profitable, Alisha thought jokingly.