Chapter 16: Epilogue (Volume 1)
Slowly, I poured out a constant stream of mana towards the seals that I created several days ago. In these seals, time itself has paused from the rest of the world. You can say, it’s in a world all on its own. But, its true wonders is the healing factor associated in these seals. If one were to sustain a massive injury, I can just place them into these seals. No matter how grievous the wounds are, it will heal since time is paused, preventing the wounds from killing the person inside. Now, you’re probably wondering who is inside these seals. It’s Anna with her guards. After that little incident, I placed them here in the inn that Raymond’s watching over. I then sealed them up to keep them safe from the ‘cleansing’ of the city.
Slowly, the thin purple film began degrading. As the particles dissolved into the air, the girl below me began to stir. She opened her eyes, revealing Brown colored irises. She yawned as she sat up from her seat.
“Good morning”
“… Hello?”
She replied to my greeting with a bit of caution. Though, I didn’t really take note of it. Keeping my smile, I stood from my seat and went to work with Dale’s seal. Seeing this, Anna began to panic as she stood in front of Dale.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Umm… releasing them from their seals”
“Seals?”
“Yeah. I had you three sealed up for a couple of days. I couldn’t risk having you three hurt during the confusion”
She looked at me strangely.
“Confusion? What… what exactly happened?”
“Oh, you don’t remember?”
She closed her eyes for a second. She must have had a headache seeing as she touched her forehead.
“No… I don’t remember anything. The last thing I saw was both Dale and Das panicking… and from there… from there?”
She gave a confused look as she tried to remember what happened.
“I see…”
I couldn’t help but say that. I guess the experience must have shocked her memory. Either that or the seal actually had a hidden quirk in it. Is it possible that the seal erases any form of memory that has traumatic effects on a person? Hmm… I should test this out later on. I placed my hand on her shoulder and led her back to her bed.
“For now, I want you to relax. You’re not in any danger and your companions are safe. So just wait while I wake your companions up”
Using a soothing voice sure helped since I could see her visibly relax. I quickly went to work on both Dale and Das. I really liked trying to see my limits so this time, I used parallel invocation. Soon, both seals began to disappear. As soon as it did, both Dale and Das immediately jumped from their beds with eyes wide open. Seeing that nothing was happening, the two immediately gave off a stupid look. I couldn’t help but laugh seeing their faces. The two looked towards me though they seem to turn away immediately. Hmm… I wonder why?
“Well, now that you three are awake, won’t you join us for breakfast?”
The three looked at one another. It looked as if they were talking with their eyes as they all stared at one another. After a few seconds, Anna was the first to break her gaze.
“Can I ask, how long were we in that seal?”
“You’ve only been in there for a couple of days”
“… then I am very sorry, but we must neglect your offer”
I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Right now, Anna was emitting a rather professional aura. One that befits those of higher power. Never would have I imagined this seeing as she had a happy and aloof mood during our time with her in our travel.
“Would you mind explaining why you can’t join us?”
“I’m sorry, but that is something I am not allowed to tell you. Furthermore, my business relates to the lord of this city. I cannot just say anything that can compromise our trust with him and I must soon meet with him as fast as possible”
“Lord of this city? By lord, do you mean…”
“Oye lassie, what’s taking ye so long”
Suddenly, a rude voice interrupted me. I kind of felt annoyed as Byron entered the room. If you wonder who Byron is, he’s the noble we’ve met with after Rina and I were captured. Of course, I still have a grudge against him but in my time of working with him, He’s a living example of a proud and honorable noble. He is rather young compared to the other warriors, but he’s talent in managing a city as well as battlefield tactics were immense. Also, I was surprised to know that he had a daughter. Though, that daughter was actually an adopted one who he found alone after her entire village was destroyed. Yep… he’s a textbook example of what a true noble should be.
“Sir Draguss!”
Anna immediately straightened her posture while Dale and Das stood with respect.
“Calm down princess, I rather not be tied down to formalities. So please, be at ease”
I could tell that Anna did not expect that response as she gave a clueless look.
“Anyway, how long are you all going to take? Breakfast is already ready and everyone’s waiting”
“Sorry, it took a while since I’m still not use to controlling huge portions of my mana”
“Still? It’s been a few days, ya should have mastered advance control by now!”
“You can’t just expect me to learn advance control in only a few days!”
He gave a scoff.
“Nonsense, for a magician, advance control is highly important. If ya fail to learn it quickly, then anyone, even a beginner, can negate your magic like what we did yesterday. And I sure know that ya won’t want something like that happening again now do ya?”
He gave a wry smile knowing that what he said really irks me. Sadly, I couldn’t say anything back since what he said was true. I can only sigh in defeat as I stood ready to follow him to the dining room. Turning back, I saw the three who still hasn’t gotten up.
“I know you three are confused, but come. We’ll answer as much of your questions as we can”
With that, I followed after Byron. Currently, we were in the palace. It’s still under reconstruction after the Lancers and Iridia dealt a huge amount of damage to it. But, with everyone’s enthusiasm, the finishing repairs are almost done. Rounding the corner, we finally made it to a huge door. There, two dwarven guards stood ready. As soon as they saw us, they quickly opened the door and stepped aside to let us through. The amount of respect I had for dwarven soldiers is really high. They were professionals to the very core, though I did hear them occasionally make jokes and chat. Then again, doing that means their living people and have a will on their own.
“Ah, Feri. Come here, we saved you a seat”
Rina beckoned me to an empty seat between her and Iridia. I quickly ran over to them and took my seat. As for Byron, he sat at the very head while Anna sat at the guest chair beside him. Dale and Das also took their seat beside Anna. As soon as we got comfortable, maids began to flock into the room carrying dishes. Normally, we would have had the palace chef cook for us. But, I was surprised that Roland and his wife volunteered to cook for us today. I’ve been invited once to their meals before, and I’ve got to say. They make very delicious food. It was so good that I was willing to pay them money to make more, but…
“”We would never ask for such a thing from our savior!””
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The two immediately said the same thing at the same time. Truly a couple, those two were. Also, they had a cute daughter and an adorable son. Those two can easily melt your heart when you see them.
“”Big sister!””
As I thought that, the two kids ran towards me. I instantly felt my soul being healed.
“Hello Abby, Cain. How are you two doing?”
“We were playing with the other big sisters!”
“We were having fun. Won’t you join us?”
They glared at me with puppy dog eyes. Ah… I still need to eat. I feel hungry, yet… why. Why is it that I feel my hunger disappearing? As if she knew what I was thinking, Iridia tapped me on the shoulder.
“You have to eat. I know you like playing around with the kids, but you need food alright?”
“Mwuu… just for a bit?”
“No. you have to eat first. Now you two, let your big sister eat first. As soon as were done, then we’ll send her over to play with you two ok”
With big happy smiles, the two nodded vigorously before running out of the hall. As I watched them run out, I couldn’t help but smile. I then noticed that everyone was also looking at me with a smile on their faces. Somehow, I felt very uncomfortable under their gazes.
“A-Anyway, let’s eat”
I immediately started to dig in to my food. I was eating a simple hamburger… or it should be simple. Instead, a range of taste bombarded my taste buds. Ahh… those couple should really start a restaurant. I had no problem lending them the money since their food is so good.
“Oh my”
“Who made this?”
“It’s so good”
By the sound of it, I’m not the only one enjoying the wonderful cuisine. Ahh… this really should be how mornings start. Good food and wonderful children to run around and greet you. Truly, nothing can heal your heart better than this.
_______________________________________________________________________________
After several hours of blissful moments, including the time that I took playing around with the kids, we all finally gathered in Byron’s office. There, a slightly nervous princess with an over domineering dwarf could be seen. As for me, I decided to stand for a bit. The first bit of this conversation doesn’t pertain to me so I don’t feel any obligation of joining them yet.
“Can you please explain what’s happened over the past days I was… unconscious”
“Well, if I were to do that then I need to introduce a couple of people first”
Byron immediately beckoned for us to step forward. To think that I didn’t really want to join the conversation in the beginning. Are you planning on dumping the work to me Byron? Hesitatingly, I walked towards them.
“This here is Ferizia Av Lowell. Everyone calls her Feri and she’s a rather amazing magician”
I took a curtsy.
“Pleasure to meet you Anna Morozov”
“… I see you know my name. Are you perhaps related to Iridia?”
She stared at both us, passing her gaze from me to Iridia.
“Yes. She is my sister”
“Then, how come I didn’t see you with her when we were travelling?”
You did…
Of course, I kept that to myself as I told her the story that Iridia, Rina and I came up with.
“Our plan was to meet in this city. After that, we were supposed to travel northwards towards the elven continent”
“Elven continent? Didn’t you know that they’re currently being invaded by the demons?”
“Yes. The reason we are going there is because our household is sending us there to help”
“The Lowell household huh”
She began to scrunch up her eyebrows.
“I’ve never heard of the Lowell household before. I’ve memorized almost all of the noble houses in the continent, Elven, human, dwarven and even the Ronin houses of the Devil tribes. Just who are you people?”
The three of us looked at one another and giggled. We then pulled out our cards to show in front of her. Immediately, her jaw hit the floor.
“Our household has been a well-kept secret from the world for a long time now”
“But now, our household decided to open up to the world. That’s why we three decided to explore and enjoy our experience of the world”
“And that, we fully intend to do”
I finished up our sentence as if we three were as one. Then again, we kind of are seeing as I’m the master of the two. But, I really do like them better as sisters… though the Lancers know the full story. It’s a good thing Raymond taught me how to control my mana since right now, no one, aside from the lancers, know who I truly am.
“But before that, we thought of helping the city for a bit. Especially since our hand was pushed”
“W-what do you mean by that?”
Anna gave a confused look while Byron smiled. We’ve already told him the story of how Anna was kidnapped. From there he would always give me a smile. Maybe it’s because he approves of what I did. I slowly recounted what happened the past few days. How, Anna and her guards were captured by a gang under the black phoenix. How, we annihilated that gang and started assimilating several members under our power. At this point, I recounted the battles and the negotiations we’ve been conducting as well as the purge. And now, here we were… The city rid of the black phoenix and a time of rapid reconstruction.
“I… I see. Is this all true Sir Draguss?”
“It is. If it weren’t for these three, we would still be fighting for another three months”
“Three months huh. Speaking of which, you said that you couldn’t really fight against the… what was their name? The lancers? How did you managed to take them in?”
I shrugged.
“Money”
“… Say what?”
The princess gave a perplexed look. Is it really that surprising to use money in this world to get something that you want? I mean, I got manpower and training. That’s a good deal if I say so myself. After thinking it over for a bit, she seemed to accept my answer.
“I guess that makes sense. But, what I’m curious about now is you. By how you’ve explained everything, you seem to be a rather powerful magician. Yet, the dwarves have managed to negate your powers that easily. We all know that negation magic is easy to use, but it’s hard to synchronize it with the spell you want to negate. So how is it that you managed to lose when you seem to have the power of an A rank magician?”
“Ahh… well, there are circumstances. Mainly because I still have trouble in controlling my own power”
She doesn’t looked convince. Is that perhaps her intuition saying that I’m lying? I mean, it’s the truth that I have trouble controlling my power. As for the rest of the truth, I’m still very new to this world meaning I still need to learn a lot of things. Yeah… there’s no way I’m revealing that.
“Come, come. Let’s not be hard on her. She is a spirit after all”
Byron immediately started to diffuse the system. I’m honestly glad he’s here… wait? Did he just! I looked over to him and saw him give a wink.
“H-h-h-ow did you know?”
I couldn’t help but stutter as I began to sweat profusely. Looking at his face, he was pretty confident about what he just said. In other words, I knew that I couldn’t fool myself out. Yet, how did he know? I was sure I was controlling my magic to the point that he wouldn’t be able to know!
“I know what you’re thinking, and it’s actually a pretty simple answer. Although I couldn’t tell before, I can tell now since you’ve managed to completely block off any trace of mana from leaving your body. No normal person, human, elven, devil or dwarf could do that”
I couldn’t help but face palm at his calm explanation. It never crossed my mind that you can tell what kind of person a person is by analyzing his mana control… then again, he was probably banking on this to see who I truly am.
“Yep, I did this to see who you are. Elves normally leak mana from the tips of their fingers allowing for better mana manipulation, Dwarves convert mana into raw strength, Humans have a hard time controlling mana and would often store mana in weapons or crystals and lastly, Devils would store mana in their horns. The only ones that I know can completely hide the presence of mana are demons and spirits. Demons, in this case, do not have mana at all. Spirits, on the other hand, are beings made of pure mana but they can control it to hide their presence”
I don’t know what to be surprised at. The fact that he’s practically reading my mind or the fact that he just explained the basic weaknesses of all the races when it comes to magic manipulation. This guy… he’s really scary right now.
“Now, now, no need to be afraid of me”
“Can you get out of my head!?”
He laughed.
“Your face says it all you know. But don’t worry, it’s not like we have a profound hatred for spirits. More like, we kind of worship them in the sense that they’re known to bring good luck”
Wouldn’t that make me your good luck charm then!
This thought appeared in my mind. Surprisingly, Byron gave me a wry smile.
“STOP GOING THROUGH MY MIND!”
I couldn’t help but hide behind Iridia. Right now, Byron was really emitting an Aura that says ‘I know everything about you’. I really don’t like his kind of people. You know, the ones who seemingly knows who you are and what you are. It’s those kind of people that know you more than yourself. They are very scary people.
“Anyway, back on the main issue. Now that you know everything that’s happening, how fares the conflict?”
Suddenly, the mood instantly turned. Erasing the surprised look she had earlier, she looked towards us.
“As grateful as I am to the Lowell household, I must ask you to leave. Whatever I say now is classified and must not be told to anyone else”
“Ahh, no problem. We will be on our way”
I sighed, grateful that we were finally leaving the room.
“Princess, if I may”
I instantly glared at Byron.
“Oh no, I know where this is going. We are not going to get caught up in this”
“Eh… but, after everything you’ve done, you’re basically a part of this city’s politics now you know?”
“Don’t care. We’re not going to be bogged down by this. Plus, we’ve already set up several potion shops, orphanages and other key structures around the city. We are not going to caught up in any more than that”
For a minute, sparks began flying between us. He then sighed as he relaxed on his chair.
“Alright. I guess I really can’t ask for anything else. So, what now? What are you three going to do?”
“We’re going to stay in this city for several days to prepare for our journey. After we’re done, were going to head out to the elven continent”
“I see… Well, I wish you safe travel and enjoy the rest of your time here”
“No problem. Also, thanks for teaching me a bit of magic”
He smiled.
“No problem. Yer just like my daughter so I couldn’t just leave ya alone ya know”
His accent began showing up again. I couldn’t help but giggle as we made our way out of the palace. As we left, soldiers were kneeling one by one. I just hope they were kneeling towards us for helping them and not for the fact that I was a spirit. Ugh… I should probably change my appearance to that of an elf and copy their form of mana control. At least then, people wouldn’t question me too much. Oh wat, Iridia and Rina are hiding themselves as humans… Whatever, I’ll just say that I’m a special case. With a cheer, I raised up my fist into the air.
“Come on you two, let’s start getting ready for the journey”