Stahlia, Twelve Years Old, Second Month of 948

“No! You have to go and talk to him! If it’s you, I am sure he would understand!”

Groaning, I sat back in my chair. I felt pity for Edith; she had been like this since I came to visit her. According to Irina, this was abnormal; normally, she was quite stable. But as soon as she had seen me, a look of anguish had crossed her face and she began to rant and cry that I should go back to Dominic. Sarala isn’t much better… Though at least she isn’t being vocal.

Indeed, the other girl in the room had looked upset upon seeing me but had otherwise not spoken a word, “Edith… you know I cannot do that… Can we not simply enjoy each other’s company, without worrying about such things?”

Edith bit her lip and screwed her eyes shut, but held her tongue. After what appeared to be a considerable effort on her part, she opened her eyes, “Alright… I don’t want this to come between us… even if you don’t realize what you’re giving up.”

“Thank you, Edith. Sarala? Are you alright as well?” What the hell? How did she get over the charm just now? I activated my divine eyes and looked Edith over carefully while being careful not to appear as though I was staring. Her mana still seemed a bit sick, the mark that Dominic’s curse was present in her. So she is still charmed… but she’s resisting it? It made sense that she would be able to do that, a duke’s daughter would probably have [Charm Resistance] after all.

“I will follow Edith’s lead, as always.” Sarala’s voice was unconflicted, but something about the way she said it gave me pause. If anything, she should be even more enthralled than Edith, since she spent a week in Ang with him. Yet, she’s going to go with Edith on this one? With no questions? I changed my target to Sarala. Thinking about it, she never really has expressed any adoration for anyone other than Edith… even when Dominic was right in the room with us, she never seemed to be overly infatuated with him…

A close study of Sarala showed that her mana was seemingly normal; unlike Edith’s slightly disturbed mana Sarala’s was closer to my own. I was now deeply intrigued by what was going on, and I strongly felt that it was something far too big to be able to safely ignore. After hesitating for a little while, unsure of if I wanted to go through with this or not, I made up my mind.

“Edith, may I cast appraisal on you?”

My voice was steady and level, I did not want to give off the wrong impression. Really, the one I wanted to appraise was Sarala, but she would probably refuse unless Edith was first. Edith froze, she had been about to cut into a pastry that Irina had given her.

“Stahlia, you can use that magic? I thought it was restricted…” She didn’t seem against the idea, more so that she was confused as to why it was an option in the first place.

Pursing my lips, I shook my head, “Well, in a manner of speaking. It is not regular appraisal magic…”

Edith narrowed her eyes, “What do you mean, ‘not regular magic’ exactly? Does this have anything to do with why you refuse to go back and apologize to Lord Dominic?”

What…? Where are you getting that from? Why would my magic have anything to do with that…? I honestly could not follow her logic at all. It didn’t make sense to me in the slightest why she would draw that conclusion. The only possibility I could think of was that the charm, combined with her present somewhat unstable state, was forcing her to somehow relate everything back to Dominic.

I… I just want to get rid of it now. I could do that, but without informing anyone things wouldn’t go well… It would also potentially turn out to be a waste; Dominic was very likely to be executed when his actions came to light, and at that time it was possible his charm would dissipate. If it didn’t… well, there would be a whole host of other issues, and there was no way I had enough lifespan to give every noble girl and woman he had come in contact with immunity.

Nor would I feel inclined to do so; Edith and Sarala were my friends, and I was willing to make that sacrifice for them. For the others though, while I felt bad for them, I wasn’t willing to give up my life over it. I fully intended to live with my friends and family after rescuing Rosial and thwarting the demons out of the kingdom.

“Edith, you should just let her. She might be able to help you…” To my surprise, the voice that called out to Edith was Sarala’s. I had actually thought she might be opposed to me peeking at Edith’s status, calling it a violation of privacy or something. After all, she always seemed to hold Edith in rather high regard.

When I looked at her, with my surprise obvious on my face, she shrugged, “I am a bit irritated about that charm as well; if you can remove it, I would do anything.”

No longer shy or slightly reserved, she was looking at me seriously. Ok, what the hell is going on? “Sarala…?”

The girl looked at me with eyes filled with determination, “You are our friend, Stahlia. Both Edith’s and mine, and I think it is time that I stopped keeping my own secrets from you. Especially not now that you have made your standing clear.”

Edith was watching the two of us with a completely confused face. To be honest, seeing the usually well-informed and confident girl so blatantly out of the loop, was just a bit adorable. Then again, I don’t really know what the hell is going on either! Sarala took hold of Edith’s hand and gently dragged it over to me, before placing it in my own.

“Edith, if you trust me, let Stahlia do what she needs to.”

With Sarala’s plea and assurance, Edith took a deep breath and nodded, “Alright… I still do not understand how you know restricted magic, but I will let you cast the spell.”

“Thank you, Edith. …And Sarala.” While giving Sarala a confused look of my own, I grit my teeth against the pain and moved some of my mana into Edith. Her status floated up into my vision, largely showing what I expected to see.

Name/Age: Edith von Claurence, 11

Species/Level: Human(Pureblood), 11

Ability Values:

* Strength D: 60

* Endurance D: 60

* Dexterity C: 100

* Intelligence B: 140

* Charisma D: 60

* Mana D: 60

Special: Spirit’s Liege

Talents[Page 1/5]: Spirit Touched V, Memorization V, Analytics V, Thought Acceleration III, Charm Resistance II, Water Magic II, Ice Magic II, Noble Finesse II, Impeccable Manners I, Mental Math I, [Expand]

Skills: Language Proficiency[Central Human], Blessing of the Ice King, Accelerated Reading, Connection Correction.

Reading through her status, my eyes came to a rest on the “special” section. Spirit’s Liege? Then the talent that goes along with that, “Spirit Touched” at level five… And [Blessing of the Ice King]…? As I thought, she has [Charm Resistance], but what are these three? My eyes naturally landed on Sarala. She stared back, meeting my stare with her own steady gaze. The plot thickens…

I focused on the skill, [Blessing of the Ice King] first, her other skills were ones that I could assume were from her class, which she had once confided in me was “Scholar”, a precursor to most mage classes and respectable enough for a noble.

“[Blessing of the Ice King]: Mark of one who is under the protection of Cocytus, King of the Ice Spirits. Enables the acquisition of Spirit Magic, and the contraction of a Spirit Familiar.”

The term “Spirit Magic” meant nothing to me, but I had a sneaking suspicion that there was somebody nearby I could ask. Later though, for now, the talent.

“[Spirit Touched]: Talent possessed by one who is close with a contracted spirit. Increases loyalty of contracted Spirits, and enables sharing of mana with contracted spirits. Effects increase with level.”

Neither of them showed me a Life Point cost, which meant I wouldn’t be able to buy them for myself. Though that would be as expected, considering that both of them list special acquisition conditions… Protection of the Spirit King, and close with a spirit… Sarala, who, or rather what are you?

I was still connected to Edith at the moment though, and while I wasn’t going to give her charm immunity, I could at least safely lay the groundwork in case I had to. Right, how many Life Points do you have? Invoking my authority, I felt the expected pain in my head. Tuning it out, I checked the new line that had been added to her status.

“Life Point Balance: 112”

It was more than I had expected, but still around the point where it would cost me at least a year to add the skill. And two weeks or more in a coma. Yea, I can’t do that just yet. Separating my hand from hers, the status window vanished. Feeling the cold trickle of blood running down from my nose, I hurriedly wiped it away before thanking Edith for her cooperation, “Thank you for going along with me, Edith.”

Other than the spirit stuff, I had found exactly what I was expecting to find. Though her charm resistance was a bit high, that could be attributed to it constantly working against the curse Dominic had put in her. My own was nearly level three, and it was leveling at a steady pace; a fact I attributed to my authority and blessing further resisting it. Now for the real question. You said you were hiding a secret, but what exactly do you mean by that…?

When I refocused back to Sarala, I saw that she was holding her hand out to me, waiting patiently. So she knew where this was going to go. Well, let’s see then. I took her hand and attempted appraisal.

Name/Age: Sarala, 6

Species/Level: Frost Wisp, 13

Ability Values:

* Strength E: 22

* Endurance E: 22

* Dexterity D: 66

* Intelligence B: 154

* Charisma D: 66

* Mana A: 220 +20

Special: Spirit Familiar(Edith von Claurence)

Talents[Page 1/3]: Winter Magic II, Ice Magic VI, Water Magic III, Mana Efficiency V, Acting V, Spirit Body V, Manifest Corporeal From III, Independent Action III, Mana Recovery Speed II, Mana Capacity II[Expand]

Skills: Language Proficiency(Central Human), Language Proficiency(Fey), Child of The Ice King.

Sarala was, predictably, the spirit referenced by Edith’s skills and talents. A quick inspection of her skill, [Child of the Ice King] revealed her identity to be that of the daughter of the high spirit Cocytus. Based on her special section, it seemed that she was also the familiar of Edith. As for her talents, pages two and three were mostly things that everyone seemed to have, like reading, writing, cooking, and other generic stuff.

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Winter Magic was one that I recognized; it was a higher form of Ice Magic, with a focus on area of effect spells. Though I had to admit that seeing it owned by someone who was only level thirteen was a bit surprising, she was a literal ice spirit, apparently. Spirit Body seemed to allow her to adopt a body of pure mana, a literal body made of spirit. The cost and duration scaled with the talent level though I couldn’t determine if this was indicative of her “true form” or not.

Lastly, [Acting], [Manifest Corporeal Form], and [Independent Action]. The first two were likely responsible for how she was able to pass as a human. [Acting] was self-explanatory; it gave a bonus to her ability to act, with the bonus being tied to Charisma. The fact that she had this talent at level five would help mitigate her low Charisma stat. Meanwhile, [Manifest Corporeal Form] let her assume a physical body, and Independent Action allowed her to move a distance away from Edith without suffering ill effects; this was how she had been able to follow me to Ang.

Before I had a chance to reveal Sarala’s Life Points, she pulled her hand back and my appraisal ended. She looked towards Edith forlornly before turning back to me, “I would prefer not to have the power of a god used on me… it would be uncomfortable.”

Considering the history that spirits had with the twelve gods, I could imagine why she might feel that way, but it didn’t explain why she was willing to let me use it on Edith. Edith touched her chest over her heart with an odd look on her face, “Stahlia, did you do something? I felt cold.”

Well, that’s interesting, Jacqueline didn’t say anything about how she felt when I used my authority on her. Then again, I never asked so that’s more or less my fault. So it feels distinctly different when I use authority versus a regular appraisal… No, I need to focus on the big question. Refocusing on Sarala, I locked my eyes with her, “No, Edith. I was not able to remove the charm.”

“I’ve told you! I’m not charmed!” Her outburst was a bit expected, but I wasn’t speaking to her. I was actually speaking to Sarala. Edith’s apparent familiar had used very specific language, referring to “her secrets.” Likewise, Edith had not remarked at all about how I was going to learn anything mind-blowing. Those two things led me to one conclusion; Edith did not know that Sarala was her spirit familiar. Though how something like that was possible, I had no idea.

Sarala gave me a sad smile, then seemingly reverted back to her usual demeanor, “Come on, let’s just eat! Then later, Stahlia can tell us how school is going… I hope I won’t fall too far behind with magic!”

What do you mean, ‘fall too far behind’? [Ice Magic VI] is the highest magic talent I’ve seen! My own Ice Magic is only at level Five! Of course, I knew she was just putting on an act for Edith’s sake, but I still found her assertation silly. I hadn’t actually seen that many magic talents. It wasn’t like I was appraising everyone I met, in fact I could count on two hands the number of people I had appraised.

Thankfully, we were able to have the rest of our little get-together just fine, without bringing up Dominic or his charm. Whenever it seemed like we might stray toward that topic, Sarala would gently guide Edith away from it. Now that I knew her secret, the amount of subtle manipulation she was doing towards her supposed liege was a bit unsettling. I really wanted to have a private chat with her; there was no way I could broach these topics with Edith present.

Though, if it turns out she’s being malicious, then I have to tell Edith… Even if I don’t want to doubt Sarala, I should at least acknowledge that possibility… It was frustrating and unfortunate, but I wasn’t really able to set aside my worries. I had been hoping to simply spend time with my friends, but the shadow of the charm and the coming strife was hanging over my head like a smog, clouding my attitude and darkening my mood.

As I was leaving, Sarala followed me out into the hall. Apparently, the girls were not being held expressly in their rooms, because neither the guard nor Irina moved to stop her. Coming up to the room, I had passed another set of guards at the staircase. Presumably, that was the point that Edith and Sarala were not allowed past. Still, I had a feeling I knew why she was tailing me, so I entered a side room.

Sure enough, she followed me in. Nodding to her, I quickly cast a silence spell so that we could talk freely. Sarala sat down and seemed to deflate, “…So you couldn’t do anything?”

I could both see and hear the genuine sadness in her voice, tinged with desperation. Sitting across from her, I shook my head, “No, I could remove the charm right now… but there would be consequences. Severe ones; when I did it for Jacqueline, I was in a coma for almost a month and lost a year of my lifespan.”

Sarala’s eyes widened, “I noticed you were older… your mana was more refined. I didn’t think that…” She trailed off. A moment later, she looked up with a resigned expression, “Obviously you can’t repeat that. I’m sorry for asking.”

Frantically waving my hands in denial, I quickly moved to correct that misunderstanding, “No, you misunderstand; I would do it in a heartbeat. For both of you, it’s just… things are moving fast right now. I take it you know about the demons?”

She nodded and tightened her facial expression, “Not everything. I know Lord Dominic carries demon blood. Unfortunately, my own knowledge is a bit limited since I ran away from home so soon after being born.”

I froze with my mouth stuck open. Demon blood? He carries demon blood? “…Sarala, what do you mean by that? Dominic is a demon?”

Looking at me incredulously, she shook her head, “No, a half-demon. Did you not know? I thought that was why you leaped at the opportunity to get out of the engagement.”

I could only frown, “No… I knew he had demonic mana. I didn’t make the connection that it would mean he was also descended from a demon.” Count Francois, it has to be. I saw Marguerite’s mana, and she was normal. Count Francois’ mana was totally concealed though, just like the parasite. “Sarala, how did you know though?”

I would definitely need to speak with Gustav, and honestly, I should probably try and tell the prince directly, this was too big to leave to a messenger. Even one as talented as Gustav. But for now, I had several questions to ask of the young spirit. A few minutes wasn’t going to harm anyone, and realistically I wouldn’t be able to see Gustav until tomorrow at the earliest anyway, no matter how immediate my need was.

“I didn’t realize until Ang, actually. When the two of you came back with Jacqueline missing her arm… I realized that I was happier to see Dominic unharmed than you. From there, a close examination of my mana revealed the manipulations. It took a while, but as you saw earlier; I am a spirit. As a creature derived directly from mana, I was able to excise his foul curse. Unfortunately, I proved unsuccessful with Edith…”

Sarala was looking off into the distance forlornly. After giving her a moment, I ventured a question that had been nagging me since witnessing Sarala’s deft manipulation of my other friend, “What, what exactly is your relationship with her?”

She paused, and gave it a great deal more thought than I had expected. Slowly, she began to speak, “I… I don’t really know. Spirits might grow quickly, but I’m still a child myself; not all that different than the two of you… …I like her a lot, ever since I first ran into her out in the woods near the provincial estate… Before I knew it, we had formed a bond, as master and familiar…”

Taking a deep breath, she finished, “I don’t know how, beyond that. I, ...I like her. Though, I’m not exactly sure what all that entails… it’s the most likely answer… Does that answer your worries?”

It sounds like you might have a crush. To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if that was mutual… “Yea, that makes me feel a lot better.” Granted, with an acting talent of five, she would easily be able to fool me, but I chose to trust her; thinking back over things, I couldn’t remember a situation where she had really guided the conversation before. In a way, what she was doing now was similar to a nurse helping an invalid stay on track. Obviously obsessing over Dominic wouldn’t be healthy for Edith.

But there was one sticking point, “You should come clean, Sarala. Tell her the truth and how you feel.”

It was her turn to act flustered and wave her hands. I could tell; this wasn’t an act, she was genuinely flustered by this, “Nonono! Maybe eventually… but not now!”

Giggling, I agreed, and gave her my assurances that I would not force the issue by sharing her secret myself; I had enough secrets of my own to know how hard trusting someone was, “Of course, you should wait until after we fix the charm; either once Dominic is dead or, if that doesn’t work, after I wake up from my coma. I want to see her reaction after all!”

Sarala stopped what she was about to say, and stared at me wide-eyed, “If Dominic… dies?”

Ah, yea that does sound a little harsh… Ok, really harsh. When exactly did I just accept that he was going to die…? Still, whether or not I was actually ok with it, this was what was going to happen. Even if I were to protest, Rupert would definitely one hundred percent overrule me. And at the end of the day, for better or worse, I don’t have a problem with him dying. I might hesitate to do it myself, but that’s probably just the last vestiges of the charm talking.

“Yes, when he dies; you honestly don’t think that someone who has charmed half the women in the kingdom, including at one point the next queen, would be allowed to live? Do you?” I met her gaze with a level and composed stare.

“True… You are right, it’s just… It’s a bit scary how easily you said it, I guess.” That gave me pause, and I determined that I would need to be a lot more cautious about how I phrased things going forwards. I also need to make sure to seriously consider things like this… I still think that Dominic needs to die, but that’s a harsh penalty. I don’t want to wind up the same kind of queen as Bloody Mary.

I tried to maintain some idle chatting for a bit, but things were a bit awkward after my passing judgment. There were a few more things that I was curious about, such as how a spirit would be as advanced as her but only six years old. My understanding was that spirits started out as a low spirit, then evolved over centuries. Then again, my understanding also says that spirits come into existence from ambient mana, yet her skill clearly referred to Cocytus as her father. Either way, that information wasn’t important right now, and I didn’t want to push her too hard. All things in time.

Eventually, I gave up and said my goodnights before departing to find Gustav. I had some very concerning information to report, though, I had to do it in such a way as to avoid spilling Sarala’s secret. The kingdom wouldn’t really do anything to her for being a Spirit, but I didn’t think it was my place to inform him of that fact. Eventually, I settled for telling him from the perspective of it being a hypothesis I had arrived at after looking at all the variables. Thankfully, he took me seriously.

★★★★★★

Two days later, I found myself outside a particular door. I had been avoiding this part of the estate, for fear that the occupant would sense my presence. After all, Jacqueline had an incredibly keen sense of hearing. Even now, I was using all of my stealth abilities. Not that I really understand why Rupert is insisting I still stay hidden, when this is done, Five will know about me regardless.

Alongside me, were Gustav and Rupert, as well as a man I did not recognize but was introduced as the Mental Mage who had been attending to Rowell. While Rowell had yet to make a recovery, the mage believed that if he was present to cast magic while the parasite was removed, he might be able to prevent any serious side effects from emerging.

Rupert was also here, though he was not waiting with us. Rather, he was in a room down the hall. Lacking the same stealth abilities as myself, it had been decided that he should hold back until Jacqueline was unconscious. In order to accomplish that, the Mental Mage approached the door and knocked before entering. From inside, I heard Jacqueline’s voice for the first time in a week.

“Who might you be? This whole situation is getting ridiculous, I have complied so far but I demand to know what is being done to find my lady!”

She sounded a bit worn out, obviously, she was concerned. After all, though she would know that I had the ability to defend myself, even if I lacked the ability to use mana at the moment. That didn’t mean that she wouldn’t have the nagging doubt that maybe the worst had happened, that I had really been kidnapped. It was that nagging in the back of the mind that would have worn on her the most.

Soon, just a bit longer and I can explain everything.

The man’s voice echoed, and I recognized the keyword of a spell. It was the Mental Magic equivalent of the sleep spell that Gustav had cast on Edith with Blood Magic.

“Yes, that is why I have come to see you, Lady Stahlia has been recovered and is on her way now… [Deep Sleep]”

A moment later I heard a thud, and when I entered the room, I saw that Jacqueline was asleep, and laid out on the table. It wasn’t a sterile environment, but it was certainly better than the dingy warehouse I had operated on Rowell in. Still, I can sort of understand how that worked; telling her I was rescued would cause her to lower her guard momentarily, but she should have still be kind of hard to put to sleep with magic… I glanced at Gustav and he intuited my question.

“We have been spiking her food with a poison that lowers the resistance to status ailments; nothing that would cause permanent harm, but it was deemed prudent.” He sounded apologetic, but I couldn’t really fault him. After all, her resisting the spell would prove very deadly for the Mental Mage.

“Thank you, should we get this over with then?” Without waiting for an answer, I turned to Jacqueline and focused mana into my eyes. My pathways seemed to be recovering, finally, as the pain was greatly lessened this time. Engaging my Divine Eyes, I looked her over until I spotted her parasite, “There.”

Looking where I had pointed, Gustav gingerly moved her maid uniform out of the way, exposing her skin. Mentally apologizing for the violation of her dignity, I held out my hand to receive the knife. With the cold steel sitting heavy in my palm, I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.

Opening my eyes, I exhaled and in one motion sliced into her back. I did my best to ignore the feeling of cutting flesh that was transmitted up the blade, and worked in much the same way as I had with Rowell. Once the opening was large enough, I slid my hand into her body, and moved it until I was close to the parasite.

Next, I grabbed hold of my mana crystal with my mind and began to shape it. This time, I was smart, and only grabbed a portion rather than the whole thing. Just enough to kill the parasite; if it survived, it would at least be stunned and I would just hit it again until it died. Feeling the familiar cold of the Divine Element, I pushed the aspected mana down my arm and into my hand.

With one swift motion, I shoved my hand further and grabbed hold of the worm, even as the mana began to emit from my palm and fingers. Since I didn’t shock it with the full volume this time, I felt it briefly struggle. I simply squeezed my hand tight until the movements stopped. Pulling my hand back, I drug out the white demon and dropped it in the bucket Gustav held out to me.

Rupert came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder, “You did good. Everything is out of your hands now.”

I wasn’t sure when exactly he had made his way over to the room, and I knew that he was only offering platitudes, but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel good to hear. Subconsciously, I reached up and found myself gripping his hand on my shoulder. Gustav had finished applying the healing potions, and her wound was now closed up. Motioning to the Mental Mage, he told him to lift the spell.

To be honest, I had not noticed the mage doing much of anything, but I had been hyper-focused on not messing up my own role so that wasn’t surprising. What came next though, was downright soul-crushing. The mage waved his hand over Jacqueline’s forehead while murmuring the word “Waken”. Jacqueline’s eyes snapped open and she looked around in a panic before locking eyes with me. Her face immediately softened, and she reached her arm towards me, “Ah… My sister, Alysha…”

Her gentle whispering of an unknown name assaulted my ears and caused my heart to fall into despair.