Sasha passed me yet another mana potion, and I accepted it gratefully. How many was this now? Six? Seven? Too many. In small quantities, they were a useful aid and could bridge the gap between periods of rest. But combined with my dosing the days prior, I was beginning to hurt. It was like I had consumed too many energy drinks without eating; my knees were starting to feel funny, and my stomach was churning.
“...Thank you.” It was important to hide that fact, though; the men with me, and Sasha as well, they could not be allowed to see that I was beginning to falter.
“Your majesty, the far building. The one with the pagoda structure on its roof.” Lord Alris gave me my next target, his voice was stony and a bit cold.
He had to know what was going on with me of all people. He had far too much experience not to know about the side effects of mana potions.
For that part, Sasha definitely knows as well.
And yet, neither of them was saying anything to me. Neither of them was attempting to stop what I was doing.
I took a long, hard look at the specified rooftop, then at the back of Emmanuel’s head. This wasn’t a trap, of that I was certain. If it was, then it had been horribly ineffective. There was also the fact that his men were fighting hand in hand with Drakan soldiers and knights as we made our slow crawl up the city’s many winding streets. My carriage had been long abandoned at this point, its defensive charms and implements now replaced by a cadre of mages from the knight core. It had been too big of a target, and the constant assault upon us had threatened death by a thousand cuts.
No, we were bogged down in urban warfare, moving from building to building. Any civilians unlucky enough to cross our path beat a hasty retreat, or fell in behind us; none were resisting, and most seemed glad to see Emmanuel. It begged the question of what he had said in these past few days, what had gone on to elicit such a response. The only resistance came from the numerous personal guards who worked directly for Emmanuel’s father, the Chair of the city.
In other words, we were only fighting the people who were most likely to have a demonic parasite. Regardless of the case, I didn’t have time to waste; the more I delayed, the longer it would take to reach the Estate. As it was, we had already lost more time than I would have liked to.
Well, let’s do this then.
I took sight of the building. Like many others before it, there were a number of enemies using it as cover. Like the others, there were probably civilians there being used as human shields. That said, my foe was not so cooperative. While effective, my magic was flashy, and that meant it was easily seen from other structures. The fireball had only worked thrice before our foes stopped lingering on the roofs. Instead, they had begun taking shots from windows and moving after only a couple. That meant I had to change spells.
My advantages over the average mage were many, but versatility was the greatest of these. While I still memorized incantations and even used the rote norm from time to time, in battle my ability to modify chants or even make new ones was paramount to my performance. At least in this battle.
“O wind, this pillar of wood and stone conceals those who bear the mark of my foe, collapse and gust around them. For three minutes, shift around and deprive them of your life-giving splendor. If any should seek to harm another, erect a sturdy wall of safety. [Wind spell number two].”
I had defaulted to naming my impromptu spells in English, and had ceased putting any effort at all into it. Over the past two hours, I had come up with nine progressively more creative ways of clearing a building of hostels. Naming each and every one of them was liable to make my head explode, especially with how drawn out I was. The most recent spell was one I was actually quite pleased with, and one I could hopefully use for a bit longer then the others.
Since it used Wind Element magic, it was largely invisible. It defined the whole building as a target, which meant it was a bit more expensive, but the actual effect was rather subtle. That combination caused the mana cost to balance out to be more reasonably achievable. As to that effect, the spell had two components. First, it drew the air away from my defined targets, thus suffocating them. Second, if my targets sought to lash out, a barrier would form around them to deflect the attack and shield their target.
“Your Majesty…?” Of course, Lord Alriss could not see the effect of the spell either.
Casting about my gaze, I selected a suitable spot on the side of a wall and collapsed into a small heap, “Give it a minute or two, then have men sweep the building. The aggressors should all be dead.”
I noted Sasha’s disapproval of my actions, and she was correct. But only those mages charged with my protection, Lord Alriss, Franklin, Taya, and herself, were here at the moment. Nobody who was untrustworthy; the story would not spread, and I needed a moment to recuperate. Lord Alriss made a point of not looking directly at me.
“As you command, Sir Franklin, please make the arrangements.”
Over the course of this campaign, my opinion of Franklin changed considerably. For the first couple of exterminations, he had been lukewarm and had balked at the scale of the destruction I wrought. Now, he had grown accustomed and was even going into battle. Though he had yet to personally wet his blade, what was most important was that the proclaimed Champion of Summer was seen aiding the Drakans. Lord Alriss’ opinion as well, it seemed; the two had grown quickly close, but it was to the point where he was now delegating missions to my old friend.
Sasha reached into one of her pockets and produced a small cooking set. It was something I had never noticed before, but it did explain a lot; her uniform was actually an enchanted magic tool in its own right, with space-warping properties. Nothing like a bag of holding, and really nothing super expansive in any definition. But her pockets were ever so slightly bigger on the inside, and the weight of their contents reduced. It was an advantageous property for a maid, but I suspected that it likely cost a fortune.
If I was less exhausted, I would make a mental note to look into it if I ever happen to find the time; I could stand to put that on my combat dresses, to carry more daggers and other things…
Of course for me, it was a moot point; my Blood MAgic enhancements meant that I could already carry a lot of extra weight. It would probably be more practical to simply hide the extra weapons on my person than put them in a big pocket. That would leave enchantment potential for the various other things I had grown accustomed to…
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“...Your majesty…” A voice I’d not expected to hear addressing me directly spoke from right above me; Taya.
My head jolted up, and I winced as the light from a nearby window illuminated her in a halo-like silhouette. It was night by this point after all, and my eyes had grown adjusted to the dim brightness of the city, so looking directly at a light source was a tiny bit painful. Or maybe that was just another symptom of my exhaustion.
“My apologies,” I quickly straightened myself out, “What can I do for you, a member of the Champion of Summer’s party?”
Taya grimaced, “For starters, you could just call me Taya, or commoner, or whatever. Anything but that long title. But, that aside, I wanted to apologize; I was definitely wrong.”
I blinked, “...Miss Taya, then. I am afraid that I must apologize as well; I do not follow you at all.”
“Haaa… Look, I know a bit about magic, not a lot, but it’s pretty damn obvious that you’re taking great care to hold back, and you’re not doing it on account of what you told me you would. More like, you told me you would try to avoid casualties because you were already planning to do that. So, thanks, and sorry for doubting.” With that said, she backed off and moved out into the street proper; it was likely her intention to participate in the clearing with Franklin.
Well… That’s nice.
Taya’s opinions carried very little weight in my mind, and she was quite wrong about my intentions and reasoning; I was only holding back because I couldn’t afford a war with the Alliance at this point, and things had already spiraled nearly out of control from my earlier actions. I could not afford to let events continue. The second reason was Franklin; I didn’t want him to think of me as some bloodthirsty monster after only one battle. Especially when there would be many, many more; I needed him to be willing to work with me. If anything, my own conscience was only the smallest of factors, if it was a factor at all.
After a moment longer, I leaned forward and stood up. Or, rather, I tried to stand only to find my legs and balance weren’t working properly. So as to avoid falling on my face I quickly through my weight behind me. My back against the wall, my lungs strained to catch air and, for the briefest moment, I considered that my spell might be targeting me for some reason. The errant thoughts of an exhausted mind were quickly dismissed.
The wall provided my salvation, as I was able to use it to support myself and drag my body up to my feet.
“Here, my lady, eat this please.” Sasha pressed a small bowl filled with a watery soup into my hands.
Without questioning it too much, I brought the bowl to my lips and took a sip of the broth. It lacked flavor, but the distinct warmth briefly spread through my limbs before fading back into that cool atrophy that accompanied extreme exhaustion.
“Slowly, mind.” I nodded to her warning and continued to sip the energizing liquid.
Eating will only forestall the effects in the end. We need to end this soon. I need to rest, find Jacqueline, deal with any remaining parasites, deal with Eris… Felicity, find the remaining champions there’s just too much to do, and the war starts in just a handful of months.
Minutes passed, and before long, Franklin came back, together with Taya and a messenger. By now, I was sufficiently recovered to put on my act again, and so straightened my back. My mind was still frayed, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that at this moment. Instead, I needed to remain strong.
“Report.” Lord Alriss commanded.
Franklin gave me a sidelong glance, then shook his head, “The building is clear of enemies. Some very frightened civilians, but no collateral casualties.”
Thinking about it, maybe that spell isn’t the best; watching someone suffocate to death is definitely traumatizing. Though, watching someone die in general is probably traumatizing as-is…
“Then we advance.”
The command was given, and it quickly disseminated into the ranks before long, we were moving again. Miraculously, we made it two hundred meters before needing to once again halt. This time, it was a sort of squat building; a series of firebolts and ice spears had stormed out of the doorways and windows. It was far broader than the others so far and, at only two stories, far shorter.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps the enemy was hoping the extra floorspace would help to protect them. It would not.
“Sasha.” Sasha grimaced, but reached into one of her pockets nonetheless.
Lord Alriss held up his hand, “Stand down. Your Majesty has pushed herself far enough; you need to rest for longer than you have, leave this one to the knights.”
“I will not. If I stop now, then the men will realize something is wrong. Worse, the demons. I cannot show weakness, not here…” A sudden, sharp pain in my neck made my body and legs go all tingly, like I was being pricked by a thousand needles all over.
“No, Stahlia, you will rest; the demons have already given up the city, and Eris is gone.”
It was Jacqueline, and she had announced her return by delivering a disabling chop to the spot where my shoulder met my neck. Half in relief, and half from my now sluggish limbs, I collapsed once again. Only, this time, I was caught and gently lowered to the ground.
“Jacqueline. Then, your mission was a success?” As relieved as I was, I had to know.
She nodded, “Yes. And I have more to report, but it can wait. I swear, you are most reckless when left unsupervised.”
Out of concern for her head, I surreptitiously looked at the others. Lord Arliss had turned completely away from me, and was making a show of studying a map of the city. Taya had blanched white and was tugging at Franklin’s sleeve, trying to get him to leave with her. For his part, Franklin seemed to realize the implications and was shifting back and forth, trying to decide what to do, wether to stay or let Taya pull him away.
The real kicker was Sasha. As strict as she was, I might have expected her to try and enact justice herself. But even she had turned slightly to the side, and was not looking at me or Jacqueline.
Everyone is pretending not to see a thing…
It spoke volumes to two things; their trust in Jacqueline to do me no harm, and the fact that my acting and ruses had not been nearly as effective as I’d thought. Even with my [Acting V] Talent, I had not been able to hide my dwindling stamina. Then again, towards the end, I hadn’t been really trying either.
“...If Chair Zestent is dead, then we can proceed into phase two. Lord Alriss, I will retire to a secure position and rest.”
“As you command.” Even now, he was not able to hide the relief that I was finally standing down.
Even after resolving to avoid causing him headaches, I still managed. Well, sorry about that.
“Jacqueline, while I know you are tired, I must impose on you for a bit longer; it is largely your own fault, but I cannot quite move my legs properly. Please, support me.”
“Of course.”
She helped me stand, but that caused its own problems. Probably, the realization that things were finally over had compounded with the building exhaustion and stress; I could feel the blood rushing from my headd, and my vision briefly turned black. That itself would normally have been fine, my sight would have returned soon enough and we could proceed. But after several seconds, I was still lightheaded and blind. Worse still, I could feel a familiar cold seeping into my bones.
I had really pushed things too far.
…Not much…time…
“Jacqueline, Satha, I belief I’m about to faint.”
No sooner had the words left my mouth, my lights went out. As it turned out, four days of non-stop mana potion usage was my hard limit. It would be nearly two days before I finally woke up again, finding myself in an unfamiliar room in the newly conquered estate.