“I’ve never heard of a [True God] taking such a direct action before” Cherry mumbled when I got to the point where [Luck] directly interfered with the creation of [Auromon]; or at least the abridged version, where it was changed into a [Spell] that contacted the [familiar] and bound it as a [summon], instead of directly bringing it to life.
Unexpectedly of her, this was only the third question that she asked me, even though it was probably the first one she wanted to make, instead she opted to start by asking about how many [Affinities] and [Abilities] I had, and if there was direct correlation between the two. The question seemed harmless enough, especially since she didn’t ask what they were, so I responded easily enough, causing the Elf to fall into a contemplative silence immediately after.
I already knew that I had more [Affinities] and [Abilities] than was considered normal, but it seemed to me that she took it in a more analytical way than the more surprising stuff I’ve been showing off in front of her so far; a welcomed change of phase, to be sure, and yet something still felt off.
It almost definitely was that it was kind of out of character for her, and it could be explained by the simple fact that I didn’t know her enough to know every single facet of her personality, but even realizing that I had this nagging feeling that there was something else that I was missing.
“Do you keep open communication with the [True Gods]? And if so, with whom?” Cherry snapped out of it just for long enough to ask her fourth question.
“Don’t you think you should be answering another one of mine first? I only got to ask one!” I said, failing to fight off the smile that was tugging at my lips.
The second question had been asked right after her first one, and as per my usual, it was an uncomfortably direct one that I really didn’t expect to receive an honest answer to.
“What do you have against [Anomalous] and [Aberrant] people?”
That was it. No need to beat around the push if you plunge into it head-first, with a machete in your mouth.
“Have people ever told you that you’re terribly tactless?” Cherry had immediately shot back, looking mighty defensive.
“Yes, plenty of times, but going back to our original topic, I’m not going to consider that your fifth question only if you answer the one that I made you”, I had nonchalantly replied, knowing from my [Aura] that while she may have appeared irked, her reticence was quickly crumbling.
Eventually, she came clean and… her story didn’t paint a nice picture: Not wanting to think too much about it I simply analyzed how she told me of her hometown, where, one fatidical day, the majority of the inhabitants were mercilessly slaughtered by a group of furious people, only later recognized as the [Anomalous] citizens that had been banished by the local council, who had feared to lose the popular support if they had left them simply be. Unfortunately for everyone, they eventually decided to come back with a vengeance, hell-bent on making those that had stripped them of what was rightly theirs pay with interest.
A story of overreactions where personally I thought everyone was at least partially to blame, and I made my stance known.
“Maybe someone that didn’t live through it could have such an opinion, but believe me when I say that that day I was forcefully made to realize what those like you were capable of doing… but I also know that I can’t generalize everyone with your same condition, but just know that, because of this, I’ll probably never be able to fully trust you.”
Her words were harsh, but I could understand what she was trying to get across: I, too, had gotten everything I knew ripped out of my grasp, and I had been unbelievably angry at first, understandably so at the time, or at least I thought so; only later, with help from the various people I met, was I made to accept what had happened and start looking at the future.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that if it weren’t for Undine and Sheeno, I could have done something drastic along those lines, and even felt righteous about it.
“That’s fine, I didn’t think I’d be so easily trusted by a stranger anyway, and that’s why we’re talking right now”, I said in response, noticing that Sheeno was slowly but surely edging ever further away from us, probably in order to give us some semblance of privacy.
“You really think you can so easily change my opinion of you?” She asked, with a healthy dose of doubt.
“Well, not ‘easily’, but eventually yes. Also, what you have of me is a preconception born of past experiences: I doubt that your actual personal opinion of me is that bad…”
Now, I wanted to come across as more sure of myself than I actually was, but my low self-esteem raised its ugly head right there in the end, ruining the effect that I was trying to achieve.
“Mhh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that: You can be quite grating on the nerves to be around”, Cherry muttered what I would have found hurtful if I couldn’t feel that she was mostly just trying to tease me with some kind of attempt at friendly banter.
And yet, that ‘mostly’ still dealt some critical damage.
“That is… fair, all things considered…”, I said, scratching the back of my head awkwardly.
Well, I made some progress, so I mentally patted myself on the back, idly chatted a little more with Cherry so I could end the conversation a little more naturally, and less abruptly, and then I finally went back to my [Party], while the tiny triplets surrounded the Elf and started speaking in hushed whispers.
“Everything alright back there?” Sheeno asked as soon as I was within hear-shot.
“Not as well as it could have been, but realistically it went better than I thought”, I replied with a half-shrug while watching Undine wash the last poultry of its blood and guts by twirling it inside a floating bubble of water.
“Huh, I was sure that it would have gotten to blows…” my girlfriend joked in a mock whisper.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“And you would have let her hit your precious mate?” I asked while giving her my best puppy eyes.
“If you deserved it, yes!” Sheeno exclaimed, soon followed by a guffaw, to which even Undine ended up snorting.
We ended up bantering for a little while longer, even involving the others when the opportunity arose, to the [High Priestess] delight and the Elf’s pout. After cleaning the area a bit of the magical residues, in order to not overly affect the local wildlife, it was time for us to depart again, so I and the Gnomes summoned our combined vehicle and everyone boarded it, albeit Cherry did so apprehensively, and only after I promised that I wouldn’t jerk it around again.
And so, our intrepid heroes embark on a voyage that would end up testing their wills, resolves, and strengths, where they would discover that the true reward was the friends that they made along the way.
“Hey! Narrating things inside my head is my thing!”
* * *
{RUBICON’S POV}
The [Guild Master] sat in his isolation chamber, after having tried futilely to find a moment to stop worrying about things, tiredly massaging his meninges in an effort to stave off the incoming headache.
It should have become impossible for him to feel ill from something so minor at his [Level], especially given his past experiences, and yet here he was, lamenting his situation, but hanging on by virtue of the thread called Doris.
*tunk tunk*
Rubicon’s eyes snapped to the doors, and he momentarily thought that he might have accidentally summoned her with his mind.
“You know that you don’t have to knock”, He raised his voice so he could be heard from the other side.
“And you know that I think that it’s only proper that I do announce my coming instead of barging in unannounced”, the [Mouse Kebunu] responded as soon as she pushed one of the massive doors open.
Many thought her weak, due to her short stature, faint magical signature, and apparent age, yet those many couldn’t be more wrong: After all, as one of the old monkey’s [Adventurer’s Party] members, she was in line for the second strongest person in the [Wild Guild], standing above even [Guild Masters] from other sections, like the [Mage-Guild Master] or the [Alchemist-Guild Master].
She would never dispel the misconception herself though, since it helped greatly in presenting herself as innocent and approachable as possible, which in turn helped in making her job easier than it could have been.
Rubicon could only sigh at her despondence: You could remove the woman from the adventuring life, but you couldn’t remove the [Adventurer] from her life.
“What do you have for me?”
“The situation is getting worse faster than our worst prediction had warned-”, Doris laid down the worst news possible right off the bat.
“Grrrr…” and the [Guild Master] couldn’t stop himself from growling in anger and exasperation.
“-meaning that someone extremely knowledgeable, powerful, or both, is actively working to worsen things”, she finished, saying what both of them have been thinking for a while now.
“Not only did things start off with an immediately fully matured [Demon Lord], but now someone in the upper echelons is betraying us to her madness!? What is happening here? Is it because of the [Humans]? Or is it simply a coincidence?” He couldn’t help but ask.
It may sound insensitive, but fate had started moving in the wrong direction as soon as the new [Race] had been introduced in the [Nexus].
Coincidence, most would say, balking at the thought of such a big event organized by the [Gods] being tampered with; but Rubicon had lived long enough that, no matter how powerful those considered the ‘good guys’ were, awful people always found a way to squirrel through the cracks and have it their way, planning and plotting just to make somebody else miserable, or worse.
The [Guild Master] resumed his head massaging, hoping that it would help in dislodging a decent idea from his confused brain.
“I have another thing to report, from [Knight Captain] Prise”, Doris continued, uncaring of her boss’ discomfort.
*sigh* “More bad news?” He tiredly asked, only expecting the worst at this point, throwing his head back.
“Actually no: She got some of those [Priests of Purity] we had in the subterranean jail to sing”, she corrected him.
“Oh?” The [Guild Master]’s head snapped back to stare at his secretary, “did she get something good from the ring leader?”
“Unfortunately the [Priestess] that had been captured later, who seems to be higher in their ranking, still refuses to speak about any juicy details besides spouting something about “the day of reckoning” that is apparently coming, but not all hope is lost because the guy from the [Hunter’s League] was willing to say who he was working for, and hinted at the fact that Hunter himself might soon be coming to pay us a visit”, the mousy woman explained the situation, painting a different picture from what Rubicon had started to imagine as ‘good news’.
“Doris, that’s not good news…” Rubicon lamented while throwing his head back, rolling his neck with it in exasperation.
“I never said that I had good news, just that I didn’t have bad ones”, the secretary responded with a half-shrug.
“You know, Doris, that I hate it when you’re this pedantic with semantics”, Rubicon mumbled through his teeth.
“Maybe the all-powerful leader should learn to be more careful about it. Even the little [Human] was able to trick you with it once or twice”, Doris was ready to slap him with one of his most recent shame.
Rubicon growled in distaste at the memory of the multiple discussion he had with the [Fulcrum]. If Darwin had been anything else, he wouldn’t have given him the time of day, but multiple sources kept telling him that the troubled [Human] was more than met the eye, and even though it didn’t go through painlessly, he was glad at having had the chance at shaping one of the [fulcrums] of this era.
He just hoped that what he’d given would be used for the benefit of the [Nexus], and, after days spent with the one in question, he had figured him out as someone ‘begrudgingly altruistic’; an odd personality trait, to be sure, but at least it meant that he tried to do good instinctively as long as it didn’t immediately impact him too negatively, even though he wouldn’t ever admit to being so.
“Doris, please bri-“ Rubicon started asking, but Doris anticipated him by bringing out a simple clay cup, with a steaming brownish liquid inside, and an assortment of biscuits from her [spatial ring].
“Here’s your tea and scones. I had them prepared when I was told the [Information] that I just delivered to you, I was only waiting for you to ask”, the secretary simply said, showing just how well she had come to know him, personally.
Riverfist just smiled contentedly and started sipping at the scalding hot liquid, humming appreciatively after only a few seconds.
“This flavor is new: Stronger than normal without traces of magical [Grafting]”, he said, quickly resuming his placid sipping.
“That is called ‘black tea’, and it’s from a plant found on the [Human Island]. It was brought back for study and one of the [Humans] that joined the [Alchemist Guild] recognized it and documented all its know properties from before the [Integration], then an elder took it upon himself to discern how it had subsequently changed, and let’s just say that the various types of ‘tea’ the [Humans] liked to enjoy might just become one of their greatest exports, once this whole mess blows over”, Doris explained.
“So this is also called ‘tea’, huh? A simple enough name and apt enough if the methods of preparations are the same”, the [Guild Master] mused.
“There is talk of an old method that requires for the leaves of the plant to be made into a poultice before, but the remaining processes are otherwise the same, although without the magical component that they will now have to be added.”
“Good. At least now I know that I’ll in it to earn something that I’ll actually appreciate.”
“You won’t fight the [Demon Lord] for [Humanity]’s sake, but you might for tea’s?” Doris had to raise an eyebrow at that.
“You say that like you’re surprised”, Rubicon raised an eyebrow right back at her.