Descendants of Time (Role-Play Act 5: Revolutionary Moment)
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
The shop’s decoration inside consisted mostly of the color pink, as far as Roland could see. That was something he had been seeing in most shops around the area so far, but it was particularly vibrant in this place that his Master had lead him to.
There were many women, and some men around the bar. Roland could see the ladies leading some of said men to other rooms. He could take a guess about their activities but chose to ignore them altogether out of shame; the Victorian upbringing ran strongly in him.
Some of the women looked like they saw a ghost when they found Calamity Witch standing amidst them. One of the younger girls ran off in response, calling for the “Madam.”
Unlike typical bars, Roland could see prostitutes with the ears of a lioness, squirrels, rabbits, foxes, and so on. Some had tails, some had arms, and some even had the faces of said creatures.
When it’s just the ears it's quite cute… The thought idly floated through Roland’s mind before he quickly shook his head to clear it.
Despite these strange, exotic and seemingly lovable creatures, his Master stood out with her elf ears. There was also the lack of attire to consider, which put her bright skin on display.
A man tried to approach Calamity Witch with a lecherous look on his face—his intent to invite her to bed clear—but a woman from behind pulled him back with a look of utmost terror.
I wonder what kind of history she has with this place, Roland thought as he waited with her. Whatever it was, he imagined it must be quite something to elicit such fearful reactions.
A buxom tall lady in a violet dress came out from an inner hall. She was smoking from a hookah and ushered Calamity Witch to follow. Behind the bar was the door of a certain room, and they were invited inside. The two followed, entering the room. Roland could feel the stares fall on his back as he entered with Calamity Witch.
There were lamps, sofas, and some other fixtures, all of which had the one theme he had been seeing in all of this side of the town—pink.
“Well, you sure grew relaxed. Too relaxed,” the older woman began, releasing smoke into the air.
“And you haven’t changed,” said the Witch of Calamity.
The woman assessed the assets of Roland’s Master without any hint of shame. No Victorian would take pleasure in the way she looked up and down.
“You would fetch quite the money if you worked with us now.”
“No thank you, Madam. You know I hate this business.”
“Yet you picked up the habits from us.” The Madam laughed.
Calamity Witch made a forlorn look before she replied, “I needed a change is all.”
“So, what do you need from me?”
“Information.”
“What would you pay?”
“Him.” Calamity Witch pointed at Roland. “Handsome, isn’t he? You could lure some more women for once.”
“Heh, good point.”
“Please tell me you’re not serious about that.” Roland had been listening silently but chimed in at hearing himself being used as a bargaining chip, flustered by what they were implying.
“It’s just a joke.”
“I’m surprised you had to tell him that.”
The two older women laughed as if they were good friends.
“Anyway, I need to know about this person called Escott. Ring any bells?”
“Let me guess, you are after him for… the hidden labyrinth?”
“Good to know that you’re as informed as ever.”
“Yes, he was here one day, wanting information—like you—and wanted to know about…” The Madam leaned closer. “The revolutionaries.”
“You mean the disgruntled exiled nobility? Didn’t they die off long ago?”
Seems the upper classes battling for power is something that doesn’t change with location. Roland’s mind drifted to thoughts of the revolution taking place in his homeland and wondered what the situation was there.
“Not quite. They’re around, but are quite hard to get to. Surprisingly, they still care about the country.”
“What do you need as payment?”
“The boy would do.” The Madam laughed. “Well, you already know what I want.”
Calamity Witch looked down at the locket she retrieved from the tree house earlier. It was wrapped around her wrist. She unwrapped it and handed it to the Madam.
“Good, I can give you more detailed information about where Escott is, but I don’t think it changes much.”
“What? He’s also an experimental lab rat now?”
Also? Her choice of words raised several questions in Roland though he stayed silent.
“That is exactly the case.”
“So I have to go there again…”
“Unfortunately, my dear, you probably do have to go down there.”
“Great, that saves a lot of routing troubles, if anything.”
“Can you keep this man with you here?”
“Now why would you say that?”
“You know why.”
“Is there something at the destination you’d rather keep hidden?” Roland asked. From the way they spoke of the place, Roland guessed that it had some links to a past his Master would rather keep buried, but he couldn’t be sure. “If danger is the concern, I may not be the most adept, but I should be able to take care of myself if something happens.”
“If that’s what he thinks, maybe you should trust him.”
“You just don’t want a commotion among the girls for him, I guess?”
“There’s that, too.”
Calamity rubbed the back of her head in thought.
“Alright, fine.”
Whatever her hesitation was, seems I’ve gained at least a bit of her trust. The thought made him slightly happy, but he tried not to let it show on his face. “What kind of a place is it that we’re going to?”
The Madam of the house pointed downwards. “Undergrounds. Experimental grounds of the Soviet.”
Calamity sighed at the words and got up. “Well, thanks, I guess. Goodbye.”
The door was opened after Calamity Witch passed through it but the buxom woman sighed and got up, turning to the leaving figure of her visitor.
“Treanna.”
Roland’s Master turned.
Her real name?
“What?”
“Don’t come back with a corpse this time.”
“I know.”
As Roland got up to leave as well, the lady held him by his arm, and then carefully placed the locket in his right hand. The Madam gave him a wink.
“You keep that. Would be better than †˜ol me carrying it anyway.”
“I’ll keep it safe.” He wrapped it around his wrist as he had seen his Master wearing it, before sliding down his jacket’s sleeve to keep it covered up. With a respectful bow, Roland thanked the Madam for all her aid and followed Calamity Witch from the room.
There were many women, and some men around the bar. Roland could see the ladies leading some of said men to other rooms. He could take a guess about their activities but chose to ignore them altogether out of shame; the Victorian upbringing ran strongly in him.
Some of the women looked like they saw a ghost when they found Calamity Witch standing amidst them. One of the younger girls ran off in response, calling for the “Madam.”
Unlike typical bars, Roland could see prostitutes with the ears of a lioness, squirrels, rabbits, foxes, and so on. Some had tails, some had arms, and some even had the faces of said creatures.
When it’s just the ears it's quite cute… The thought idly floated through Roland’s mind before he quickly shook his head to clear it.
Despite these strange, exotic and seemingly lovable creatures, his Master stood out with her elf ears. There was also the lack of attire to consider, which put her bright skin on display.
A man tried to approach Calamity Witch with a lecherous look on his face—his intent to invite her to bed clear—but a woman from behind pulled him back with a look of utmost terror.
I wonder what kind of history she has with this place, Roland thought as he waited with her. Whatever it was, he imagined it must be quite something to elicit such fearful reactions.
A buxom tall lady in a violet dress came out from an inner hall. She was smoking from a hookah and ushered Calamity Witch to follow. Behind the bar was the door of a certain room, and they were invited inside. The two followed, entering the room. Roland could feel the stares fall on his back as he entered with Calamity Witch.
There were lamps, sofas, and some other fixtures, all of which had the one theme he had been seeing in all of this side of the town—pink.
“Well, you sure grew relaxed. Too relaxed,” the older woman began, releasing smoke into the air.
“And you haven’t changed,” said the Witch of Calamity.
The woman assessed the assets of Roland’s Master without any hint of shame. No Victorian would take pleasure in the way she looked up and down.
“You would fetch quite the money if you worked with us now.”
“No thank you, Madam. You know I hate this business.”
“Yet you picked up the habits from us.” The Madam laughed.
Calamity Witch made a forlorn look before she replied, “I needed a change is all.”
“So, what do you need from me?”
“Information.”
“What would you pay?”
“Him.” Calamity Witch pointed at Roland. “Handsome, isn’t he? You could lure some more women for once.”
“Heh, good point.”
“Please tell me you’re not serious about that.” Roland had been listening silently but chimed in at hearing himself being used as a bargaining chip, flustered by what they were implying.
“It’s just a joke.”
“I’m surprised you had to tell him that.”
The two older women laughed as if they were good friends.
“Anyway, I need to know about this person called Escott. Ring any bells?”
“Let me guess, you are after him for… the hidden labyrinth?”
“Good to know that you’re as informed as ever.”
“Yes, he was here one day, wanting information—like you—and wanted to know about…” The Madam leaned closer. “The revolutionaries.”
“You mean the disgruntled exiled nobility? Didn’t they die off long ago?”
Seems the upper classes battling for power is something that doesn’t change with location. Roland’s mind drifted to thoughts of the revolution taking place in his homeland and wondered what the situation was there.
“Not quite. They’re around, but are quite hard to get to. Surprisingly, they still care about the country.”
“What do you need as payment?”
“The boy would do.” The Madam laughed. “Well, you already know what I want.”
Calamity Witch looked down at the locket she retrieved from the tree house earlier. It was wrapped around her wrist. She unwrapped it and handed it to the Madam.
“Good, I can give you more detailed information about where Escott is, but I don’t think it changes much.”
“What? He’s also an experimental lab rat now?”
Also? Her choice of words raised several questions in Roland though he stayed silent.
“That is exactly the case.”
“So I have to go there again…”
“Unfortunately, my dear, you probably do have to go down there.”
“Great, that saves a lot of routing troubles, if anything.”
“Can you keep this man with you here?”
“Now why would you say that?”
“You know why.”
“Is there something at the destination you’d rather keep hidden?” Roland asked. From the way they spoke of the place, Roland guessed that it had some links to a past his Master would rather keep buried, but he couldn’t be sure. “If danger is the concern, I may not be the most adept, but I should be able to take care of myself if something happens.”
“If that’s what he thinks, maybe you should trust him.”
“You just don’t want a commotion among the girls for him, I guess?”
“There’s that, too.”
Calamity rubbed the back of her head in thought.
“Alright, fine.”
Whatever her hesitation was, seems I’ve gained at least a bit of her trust. The thought made him slightly happy, but he tried not to let it show on his face. “What kind of a place is it that we’re going to?”
The Madam of the house pointed downwards. “Undergrounds. Experimental grounds of the Soviet.”
Calamity sighed at the words and got up. “Well, thanks, I guess. Goodbye.”
The door was opened after Calamity Witch passed through it but the buxom woman sighed and got up, turning to the leaving figure of her visitor.
“Treanna.”
Roland’s Master turned.
Her real name?
“What?”
“Don’t come back with a corpse this time.”
“I know.”
As Roland got up to leave as well, the lady held him by his arm, and then carefully placed the locket in his right hand. The Madam gave him a wink.
“You keep that. Would be better than †˜ol me carrying it anyway.”
“I’ll keep it safe.” He wrapped it around his wrist as he had seen his Master wearing it, before sliding down his jacket’s sleeve to keep it covered up. With a respectful bow, Roland thanked the Madam for all her aid and followed Calamity Witch from the room.
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
“What kind of place is the underground?” Roland asked once they were back to walking the streets.
“The dangerous kind. They do human experimentations, among other things there.”
“It seemed the Madam said that Escott was one of them. Anything in particular to be careful of about him?”
“One of them? What do you mean?”
“Back there you said he was †˜also an experimental lab rat.’ Wouldn’t that imply there are others?”
“I think you have the wrong context in mind. Do you think anyone wants to be a lab rat? I imagine he is restrained in a cell somewhere.”
“I guess I was subconsciously hoping the experiments were a thing of the past. So the underground is still fully active?”
“Yes, it will never stop unless someone ends the whole system managing the country. The scheme is to build up their army, however crazy it sounds.”
“Seems it's no surprise a resistance formed with the leadership being what it is.”
“It’s just the people who want their political powers and positions back, though. Maybe if Great Yekaterina was still there…”
“Yekaterina?”
“Pardon me, I suppose the foreigners would address her as… Catherine the Great?”
“Ah, I have heard her name, though I am not that familiar with her legacy beyond her rule being referred to as the golden age of Russia.”
“That’s all you need to know. After that things went downhill. When I was young, I’d hear rumors of Catherine’s daughter still living, and waiting for a time to rebel… doesn’t seem like it’s actually true, though. Too many years passed since then.”
“Is there any other figure you have hope in who might be able to turnaround the situation in this country?”
“No idea. I don’t really care at this point. The military force—however strange it is—still adds to the European Alliance and together they’d fight Japan again one day. We can only hope that such a thing… actually helps in some way.”
“Is the war inevitable?”
“According to Queen Victoria, yes. About two or three years from now, the clash seems all but imminent.”
“Seems the conflicts never end.”
“Anyway, the Soviet likes to have interesting—and more importantly—powerful people, for their experimentations. I am going to guess that this Escott person falls into either of the categories. We’re going to take him out of there alive.”
“Do you have a plan for how to extract him or is the plan to go in loud?”
“Unfortunately, we can only hope that we aren’t too loud.”
“Lead the way. I’ll do my best not to slow you down.”
Taking the train once more, the pair was back to the first floor of the Steel Tower where their journey for information collection had first began.
The crowd of abnormal denizens of Russia was most congested in this floor’s pathways and Roland could now make mental comparisons just from taking a look at the streets. It had been a long day of traveling and apparently, they were to go to the warehouse without rest.
Why the warehouse? Roland was not told. The section with warehouse held as many as the eye could see, the line of houses on both sides was very long. The lack of people in this part of the Steel Tower gave an eerie feeling.
Calamity Witch turned to a warehouse that was a labeled “13” and they found many packages inside.
“Well.” She looked at the many boxes in the corners and the large boxes on both sides that appeared to be more like coffins than ordinary packages. “This sure is nostalgic.”
“What kind of history do you have with this place?”
“Nothing special, they just kidnapped me when I was a child here.”
“Even more reasons to have no qualms about causing a bit of havoc. It seems they went all out on the evil lair clichés too. If the entrance is here, they really couldn’t have chosen a more conspicuous number.”
“Well, it could be the birth of the evil lairs’ standards, you never know. Once we’re down there, though, don’t hurt the innocents.”
“Didn’t plan on it and I’ll do my best to avoid accidentally doing so.”
“You did speak about your qualms of wreaking havoc?”
“Well, I would like to think that I’m not predisposed toward chaos. Though, from what I’ve heard about this place so far, it works to assuage any guilt that might accompany causing some here. However, I have the sense to realize wanton destruction would just be a self-serving gesture.”
“If you say so. Young kids just speaks so odd these days.”
Calamity Witch walked over to the coffin-like protrusions from the floor and she opened one of them. Inside, a corpse was found. There was a gadget attached to the skull and she took it off, dusting it off with a hand and showing it to Roland.
“So, you want to dive into the system network or want me to do that?”
“That bit is probably up to you, I don’t have any familiarity with Russian technology.”
“It’s just really finding information in the virtual realm to crack a password. Either that or you fight the Machine Knights.”
“Put that way, it sounds quite interesting.” The mention of a virtual realm was sufficient to draw his interest to what it might be like to experience. “I’ll give it a shot, but is there anything to be aware of when going in? I wouldn’t want to accidentally trigger any alarms.”
“No other way than to trigger alarms if you fail I guess. We gain access either way. You’ll have about ten minutes to deal with it. If it takes you longer, the alarms will blare but then the path will open up as they’ll come for us. Inside the virtual world—there will be a lot of information floating around, and you have to find letters of the password. Not much of an adventure if you were hoping for one.”
“With the evil underground lair and hidden labyrinth ahead of us, it seems like there will be plenty of those later. Getting the password seems straightforward enough, but how do I go about diving in?”
“I’ll turn up the device and you’ll just have to wear it. The rest will work itself out. The rest is up to your perception and brain power… I guess?”
“Got it.”
“Well, make yourself comfortable around here. Surely you don’t plan to dive in while standing, right?” She pointed at the wires of the gear as she spoke.
Following her instruction, Roland sat down next to the box containing the corpse, trying hard to pay it no mind, and leaned against the wall. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself for the race against time that would occur once he would be in the virtual realm. While it was nothing major, cracking the password was the first task his Master had given him—aside from fetching ice cream—and he was determined to not fail.
“I’m ready.”
Inside the virtual world now, Roland found himself in a place that could be best described as a junk yard. The sky was as dark as it was back in the material world, but it was not fully kept away by the clouds. Around him was black water and all kinds of random items floating.
He could feel nothing, yet at the same time he was experiencing so much information coming into his mind. It was fascinating, but the information he received was very useless, since it pertained to how the aforementioned junk got into the place he found himself in. However, he couldn’t figure out how such things got into a virtual world to begin with. There were visions of people bringing them into this place, but clearly the world he was in was a virtual realm, an immaterial realm altogether.
The contradiction intrigued him, but well aware of the time constraints he was under, he left it for pondering about it later. Wasting no time, he immediately set about searching for the clues Calamity mentioned would help him crack the password.
Roland focused his mind when a screen fluttered up next to his eyes and showed a textbox where he was supposed to insert the password.
It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer in the junkyard but a sea of words, and apparently only one of them could be the password he was looking for.
Looking around at the mass of letters, he sought out any that appeared to be different from the rest.
Among the white letters was a black letter, but it hid itself as soon as he saw it. It soon turned out that he’d be racing his eyes against the speed of the moving black letters in the maze of white letters.
On the corner of his vision was the time. He had about three minutes left.
The entire realm started to collapse slowly as he searched for the letters, as the mountains of letters started to crumble and fall all around him. He panicked, but he didn’t allow it to overcome him. He dug his own hands into the plethora of alphabets and deep inside—there they were. Each of them was cleverly mixed between the spaces of a sentence. He had no time to read it, of course. He only narrowed his eyes and noted the letters, not knowing what they’d be when put together.
In the textbox, he inputted the letters and pressed a finger against a button. His vision blacked out as soon as he did so.
“The dangerous kind. They do human experimentations, among other things there.”
“It seemed the Madam said that Escott was one of them. Anything in particular to be careful of about him?”
“One of them? What do you mean?”
“Back there you said he was †˜also an experimental lab rat.’ Wouldn’t that imply there are others?”
“I think you have the wrong context in mind. Do you think anyone wants to be a lab rat? I imagine he is restrained in a cell somewhere.”
“I guess I was subconsciously hoping the experiments were a thing of the past. So the underground is still fully active?”
“Yes, it will never stop unless someone ends the whole system managing the country. The scheme is to build up their army, however crazy it sounds.”
“Seems it's no surprise a resistance formed with the leadership being what it is.”
“It’s just the people who want their political powers and positions back, though. Maybe if Great Yekaterina was still there…”
“Yekaterina?”
“Pardon me, I suppose the foreigners would address her as… Catherine the Great?”
“Ah, I have heard her name, though I am not that familiar with her legacy beyond her rule being referred to as the golden age of Russia.”
“That’s all you need to know. After that things went downhill. When I was young, I’d hear rumors of Catherine’s daughter still living, and waiting for a time to rebel… doesn’t seem like it’s actually true, though. Too many years passed since then.”
“Is there any other figure you have hope in who might be able to turnaround the situation in this country?”
“No idea. I don’t really care at this point. The military force—however strange it is—still adds to the European Alliance and together they’d fight Japan again one day. We can only hope that such a thing… actually helps in some way.”
“Is the war inevitable?”
“According to Queen Victoria, yes. About two or three years from now, the clash seems all but imminent.”
“Seems the conflicts never end.”
“Anyway, the Soviet likes to have interesting—and more importantly—powerful people, for their experimentations. I am going to guess that this Escott person falls into either of the categories. We’re going to take him out of there alive.”
“Do you have a plan for how to extract him or is the plan to go in loud?”
“Unfortunately, we can only hope that we aren’t too loud.”
“Lead the way. I’ll do my best not to slow you down.”
***
Taking the train once more, the pair was back to the first floor of the Steel Tower where their journey for information collection had first began.
The crowd of abnormal denizens of Russia was most congested in this floor’s pathways and Roland could now make mental comparisons just from taking a look at the streets. It had been a long day of traveling and apparently, they were to go to the warehouse without rest.
Why the warehouse? Roland was not told. The section with warehouse held as many as the eye could see, the line of houses on both sides was very long. The lack of people in this part of the Steel Tower gave an eerie feeling.
Calamity Witch turned to a warehouse that was a labeled “13” and they found many packages inside.
“Well.” She looked at the many boxes in the corners and the large boxes on both sides that appeared to be more like coffins than ordinary packages. “This sure is nostalgic.”
“What kind of history do you have with this place?”
“Nothing special, they just kidnapped me when I was a child here.”
“Even more reasons to have no qualms about causing a bit of havoc. It seems they went all out on the evil lair clichés too. If the entrance is here, they really couldn’t have chosen a more conspicuous number.”
“Well, it could be the birth of the evil lairs’ standards, you never know. Once we’re down there, though, don’t hurt the innocents.”
“Didn’t plan on it and I’ll do my best to avoid accidentally doing so.”
“You did speak about your qualms of wreaking havoc?”
“Well, I would like to think that I’m not predisposed toward chaos. Though, from what I’ve heard about this place so far, it works to assuage any guilt that might accompany causing some here. However, I have the sense to realize wanton destruction would just be a self-serving gesture.”
“If you say so. Young kids just speaks so odd these days.”
Calamity Witch walked over to the coffin-like protrusions from the floor and she opened one of them. Inside, a corpse was found. There was a gadget attached to the skull and she took it off, dusting it off with a hand and showing it to Roland.
“So, you want to dive into the system network or want me to do that?”
“That bit is probably up to you, I don’t have any familiarity with Russian technology.”
“It’s just really finding information in the virtual realm to crack a password. Either that or you fight the Machine Knights.”
“Put that way, it sounds quite interesting.” The mention of a virtual realm was sufficient to draw his interest to what it might be like to experience. “I’ll give it a shot, but is there anything to be aware of when going in? I wouldn’t want to accidentally trigger any alarms.”
“No other way than to trigger alarms if you fail I guess. We gain access either way. You’ll have about ten minutes to deal with it. If it takes you longer, the alarms will blare but then the path will open up as they’ll come for us. Inside the virtual world—there will be a lot of information floating around, and you have to find letters of the password. Not much of an adventure if you were hoping for one.”
“With the evil underground lair and hidden labyrinth ahead of us, it seems like there will be plenty of those later. Getting the password seems straightforward enough, but how do I go about diving in?”
“I’ll turn up the device and you’ll just have to wear it. The rest will work itself out. The rest is up to your perception and brain power… I guess?”
“Got it.”
“Well, make yourself comfortable around here. Surely you don’t plan to dive in while standing, right?” She pointed at the wires of the gear as she spoke.
Following her instruction, Roland sat down next to the box containing the corpse, trying hard to pay it no mind, and leaned against the wall. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself for the race against time that would occur once he would be in the virtual realm. While it was nothing major, cracking the password was the first task his Master had given him—aside from fetching ice cream—and he was determined to not fail.
“I’m ready.”
***
Inside the virtual world now, Roland found himself in a place that could be best described as a junk yard. The sky was as dark as it was back in the material world, but it was not fully kept away by the clouds. Around him was black water and all kinds of random items floating.
He could feel nothing, yet at the same time he was experiencing so much information coming into his mind. It was fascinating, but the information he received was very useless, since it pertained to how the aforementioned junk got into the place he found himself in. However, he couldn’t figure out how such things got into a virtual world to begin with. There were visions of people bringing them into this place, but clearly the world he was in was a virtual realm, an immaterial realm altogether.
The contradiction intrigued him, but well aware of the time constraints he was under, he left it for pondering about it later. Wasting no time, he immediately set about searching for the clues Calamity mentioned would help him crack the password.
Roland focused his mind when a screen fluttered up next to his eyes and showed a textbox where he was supposed to insert the password.
It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer in the junkyard but a sea of words, and apparently only one of them could be the password he was looking for.
Looking around at the mass of letters, he sought out any that appeared to be different from the rest.
Among the white letters was a black letter, but it hid itself as soon as he saw it. It soon turned out that he’d be racing his eyes against the speed of the moving black letters in the maze of white letters.
On the corner of his vision was the time. He had about three minutes left.
The entire realm started to collapse slowly as he searched for the letters, as the mountains of letters started to crumble and fall all around him. He panicked, but he didn’t allow it to overcome him. He dug his own hands into the plethora of alphabets and deep inside—there they were. Each of them was cleverly mixed between the spaces of a sentence. He had no time to read it, of course. He only narrowed his eyes and noted the letters, not knowing what they’d be when put together.
In the textbox, he inputted the letters and pressed a finger against a button. His vision blacked out as soon as he did so.
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
Roland was conscious again. Taking off the gadget, he got up, feeling a little light-headed and he stumbled across the floor and almost fell upon the corpse behind him.
“Oh. Welcome back,” Calamity Witch said, noting the sound he made from trying to move.
“Thanks. Did the password work?” Roland asked, leaning against the wall for support as he looked around for what might be the entrance to the underground. What he did find was the entire floor covered in Machine Knights, all knocked out thanks to his Master.
“Should be, if you’re back before the deadline.”
“Great. Where do we head next?”
“To the corpse, of course.”
At the mention of it, Roland looked over the box and body next to him but couldn’t see anything that resembled an entrance. “I’m not sure I follow. Is there something else here?”
His Master pulled the corpse out in response—or rather, what bones were left of it—and punched the bed upon which it was laid. The layer broke, and Roland saw a long passage, a hole that they were supposed to dive into, apparently.
“See? The path is open now thanks to you. Not this one that I broke, but that one down there.”
Looking down the foreboding passage, a tense mix of excitement and anxiousness grew within him, ruminating on the series of circumstance that had led up to him about to break into an underground government human experimentation lab with a scantily clad elf. While he had trained for such unexpected situations his actual combat experience was lacking at best.
“Once we’re inside is there any central hub we should seek out to find Escott’s location or do you already have an idea of where they might be keeping him?”
Instead of replying, Calamity Witch jumped into the hole.
“Woohoo! This is kinda fun.” The words echoed as he saw her slide away.
Guess I’ll find out later, Roland thought, quickly jumping into the hole after her to avoid being left behind.
When Roland came down, the room appeared to be exceptionally dark. Dusting himself after getting up, he found his mentor slowly opening a door in the corner and taking a peek outside.
“So far, so good. There isn’t anything in this room as I remember. You never know when a corpse will pass through, though.”
“Do you how to get to where they might be holding him?”
“No clue, to be honest. He could be kept anywhere.”
“Any kind of database or central hub that might have that information?”
“You won’t be able to find anything by diving here. Passwords can’t be found the same way in the databases here.”
“Sounds like no option but to search room by room?”
The two watched a guard walk by before the door. Calamity Witch closed it just in time and remained silent until the footsteps couldn’t be heard anymore.
“Unfortunately, we have no other choice. We don’t know him by face or details either. Tch, the Madam could’ve described him, but she didn’t.”
“Seems the first thing to do would be to find some holding cells and figure out how to identify him from there.”
“Let’s go.”
From there, the two wandered across the underground facility. Most of the rooms they found were either store rooms, or used for purposes they couldn’t really understand. The pathway was dark and the walls were round, which was very different compared to the layout of almost every other house Roland was acquainted with.
They’d hide in the closest room when they’d find a guard patrolling. Thankfully, most of the rooms had been devoid of people so far.
“Seems like we’re still too high up across the floors to see the weird things,” Calamity Wtich absentmindedly commented.
“More on the abnormal side of weird or dangerous?”
“I’d think both. They have creepy experiments that birth… well, you never know what they bring about.”
“Do you think Escott might be down there or would they more likely be keeping him on the upper levels?”
“Hm… the more important they are, the lower they would be. I was in the lowest floor when I was here. My intuition says we should go deeper below.”
“Alright.” Seems too much to hope for it to be so easy.
As they walked forward after conversing, the corridor naturally seemed to lead them downwards. This round-shaped corridor seemed to slowly go up or down, and one wouldn’t quite know why. After about thirty minutes of dodging guards and checking rooms, things were starting to look strange for Roland. There were scientists playing around with mana and the brain tissues of a person. The look on their faces made it seem like they were mad to him.
They found themselves in an office soon enough. An old man wearing a lab coat found them, but his mentor chopped him on the back of his head in the nick of time.
Calamity Witch sighed.
“Sorry about that, old man,” she said to the now-unconscious scientist. She smiled at Roland. “You wanna disguise as a scientist?”
“Sure. It may come in handy later.”
“I was joking.”
“Still, seems there are enough staff here that it might be possible to sneak around a bit by looking the part.”
“Pfft, it would look ironic, though. An aspiring researcher disguising himself as the real deal.”
“I may not have published anything of my own yet, but technically I am one.”
“I don’t think anyone who hasn’t published anything is a researcher, though.”
“Just wait until we get back, I’ll debut with an amazing report about the White Wolf. Also have some spell ideas to potentially submit to journals thanks to your tip back at the inn.”
“Wasn’t the White Wolf research left to me?”
“Titania seemed to put it upon you, but it was you who suggested I take on the task as a means of convincing her to also take me as a student. Though even without that motivation I can hardly stand to be ignorant of it if I intend to become a Heartbeast with it.”
“Oh. I guess I did say that. Cool, if Titania doesn’t like that, you’ll forever be labeled Scrawny.”
“Sounds like failure is not an option.”
Calamity Witch started checking the documents on the desk of the office.
“I can see the probability being against you, though. Also, you might wanna be careful with Titania.”
“Why? Is there something I should be aware of?”
“Her †˜daddy’ is the only one who is ever able to impress her.”
“Who is that?”
“Ah, right. I suppose not many know, but I did mention that Titania was partly inspired from me, right? Her supposed †˜dad’ basically created Titania.”
“This challenge just somehow became even more daunting.”
“On that note, her father is Archmage William Shakespeare. He is the legendary mage we don’t see outside the Crystal Summit. Titania was his latest creation, she is basically not an android, however. I suppose she’s what you’d call… a homunculus, yes.”
“Seems just to not get immediately dismissed may be a more realistic goal… but better to aim high and fall short than to decide on limits before trying.”
“Well, aren’t you optimistic?”
“Even the Gods of myth were once human. Not saying I’ll reach that level but if it can be done, might as well try for it.”
“Humans? The Gods? Who said that?”
“I heard it from Sherry.”
“Sherry? Who was that again?”
“Do you remember my companion who came with me to Italy?”
“Oh… her. I sorta forgot. She says interesting things, though…”
“Yeah. Even hearing it from her, it is hard to believe but seemed there was no reason for her to make it up.”
“Hm, I see.” Calamity Witch’s attention was mostly absorbed by the documents before she abruptly stopped. “Oh, here he is. That’s Escott.” She showed the document to Roland, a profile of a man called Escott. There was only a picture of him held in restraints, and some basic measurement values labeled below it.
“Seems we have the means to identify him now, is his location listed here?” He looked carefully over the picture, memorizing Escott’s features.
“Oh, great. He is listed as rank SSS. Never mind everything I said, we might have a fight on our hands.”
“Let me guess, bottom level?”
“Yeah. They have some powerful mind-control devices…” Calamity Witch’s face turned cold. “Like how I used to be controlled.” She placed the papers down. “Tch, just who is this guy…”
“What kind of people do they tend to label as SSS rank?”
“People who they can inject the Steel Demon virus into. The people with rank SSS can withstand the pressure instead of becoming monsters. Other than that… they’d keep people with high potential. You know, like an elf with high promise?”
Steel Demon? Could it be related to the things that were mentioned to be at the Boundary? Roland wondered, remembering the conversation he had overheard in Italy but said nothing of it.
“Ah, with the mention of mind-control I’m guessing we may have to face against some of them. Is there a way of disabling it?”
“Hm. If you see wires plugged into them, maybe. Otherwise, they’d be attacking out of their volition. In the end, mind-controlling devices are only used to slowly change a person. I became a mercenary before I knew it… then everyone outside the facility would get scared from seeing my face.”
“This place just keeps becoming more unforgivable.” He had been holding back his rage at atrocities committed by the underground, but hearing what they had done to her set him over the edge. A moist feeling appeared in his hand as his tightly clenched fist drew blood. “I’m surprised you’re able to hold yourself back with all the horrible things they did to you in the past. Just hearing about them I feel like I’ll lose myself to anger.”
Treanna simply flicked Roland’s forehead with her finger.
“I was made to be calm. You lose your effectiveness otherwise.”
“That’s true… but still...” Roland rubbed his head where he had been flicked. The distraction served to calm him down though he was still on fire within. “The composure to ignore all they did to you is something I don’t have.”
“It’s a matter of a person you just met a few days ago. Don’t let that get to you.”
“We may have just met recently, but I would like to think we have become a bit more than strangers, but as you wish I’ll drop it. Shall we begin making our way down to the bottom floor now that we know where Escott is?”
“Yeah, we spoke enough as it is. Let’s go.” I should stop getting personal too… what was I thinking?
“Oh. Welcome back,” Calamity Witch said, noting the sound he made from trying to move.
“Thanks. Did the password work?” Roland asked, leaning against the wall for support as he looked around for what might be the entrance to the underground. What he did find was the entire floor covered in Machine Knights, all knocked out thanks to his Master.
“Should be, if you’re back before the deadline.”
“Great. Where do we head next?”
“To the corpse, of course.”
At the mention of it, Roland looked over the box and body next to him but couldn’t see anything that resembled an entrance. “I’m not sure I follow. Is there something else here?”
His Master pulled the corpse out in response—or rather, what bones were left of it—and punched the bed upon which it was laid. The layer broke, and Roland saw a long passage, a hole that they were supposed to dive into, apparently.
“See? The path is open now thanks to you. Not this one that I broke, but that one down there.”
Looking down the foreboding passage, a tense mix of excitement and anxiousness grew within him, ruminating on the series of circumstance that had led up to him about to break into an underground government human experimentation lab with a scantily clad elf. While he had trained for such unexpected situations his actual combat experience was lacking at best.
“Once we’re inside is there any central hub we should seek out to find Escott’s location or do you already have an idea of where they might be keeping him?”
Instead of replying, Calamity Witch jumped into the hole.
“Woohoo! This is kinda fun.” The words echoed as he saw her slide away.
Guess I’ll find out later, Roland thought, quickly jumping into the hole after her to avoid being left behind.
When Roland came down, the room appeared to be exceptionally dark. Dusting himself after getting up, he found his mentor slowly opening a door in the corner and taking a peek outside.
“So far, so good. There isn’t anything in this room as I remember. You never know when a corpse will pass through, though.”
“Do you how to get to where they might be holding him?”
“No clue, to be honest. He could be kept anywhere.”
“Any kind of database or central hub that might have that information?”
“You won’t be able to find anything by diving here. Passwords can’t be found the same way in the databases here.”
“Sounds like no option but to search room by room?”
The two watched a guard walk by before the door. Calamity Witch closed it just in time and remained silent until the footsteps couldn’t be heard anymore.
“Unfortunately, we have no other choice. We don’t know him by face or details either. Tch, the Madam could’ve described him, but she didn’t.”
“Seems the first thing to do would be to find some holding cells and figure out how to identify him from there.”
“Let’s go.”
From there, the two wandered across the underground facility. Most of the rooms they found were either store rooms, or used for purposes they couldn’t really understand. The pathway was dark and the walls were round, which was very different compared to the layout of almost every other house Roland was acquainted with.
They’d hide in the closest room when they’d find a guard patrolling. Thankfully, most of the rooms had been devoid of people so far.
“Seems like we’re still too high up across the floors to see the weird things,” Calamity Wtich absentmindedly commented.
“More on the abnormal side of weird or dangerous?”
“I’d think both. They have creepy experiments that birth… well, you never know what they bring about.”
“Do you think Escott might be down there or would they more likely be keeping him on the upper levels?”
“Hm… the more important they are, the lower they would be. I was in the lowest floor when I was here. My intuition says we should go deeper below.”
“Alright.” Seems too much to hope for it to be so easy.
As they walked forward after conversing, the corridor naturally seemed to lead them downwards. This round-shaped corridor seemed to slowly go up or down, and one wouldn’t quite know why. After about thirty minutes of dodging guards and checking rooms, things were starting to look strange for Roland. There were scientists playing around with mana and the brain tissues of a person. The look on their faces made it seem like they were mad to him.
They found themselves in an office soon enough. An old man wearing a lab coat found them, but his mentor chopped him on the back of his head in the nick of time.
Calamity Witch sighed.
“Sorry about that, old man,” she said to the now-unconscious scientist. She smiled at Roland. “You wanna disguise as a scientist?”
“Sure. It may come in handy later.”
“I was joking.”
“Still, seems there are enough staff here that it might be possible to sneak around a bit by looking the part.”
“Pfft, it would look ironic, though. An aspiring researcher disguising himself as the real deal.”
“I may not have published anything of my own yet, but technically I am one.”
“I don’t think anyone who hasn’t published anything is a researcher, though.”
“Just wait until we get back, I’ll debut with an amazing report about the White Wolf. Also have some spell ideas to potentially submit to journals thanks to your tip back at the inn.”
“Wasn’t the White Wolf research left to me?”
“Titania seemed to put it upon you, but it was you who suggested I take on the task as a means of convincing her to also take me as a student. Though even without that motivation I can hardly stand to be ignorant of it if I intend to become a Heartbeast with it.”
“Oh. I guess I did say that. Cool, if Titania doesn’t like that, you’ll forever be labeled Scrawny.”
“Sounds like failure is not an option.”
Calamity Witch started checking the documents on the desk of the office.
“I can see the probability being against you, though. Also, you might wanna be careful with Titania.”
“Why? Is there something I should be aware of?”
“Her †˜daddy’ is the only one who is ever able to impress her.”
“Who is that?”
“Ah, right. I suppose not many know, but I did mention that Titania was partly inspired from me, right? Her supposed †˜dad’ basically created Titania.”
“This challenge just somehow became even more daunting.”
“On that note, her father is Archmage William Shakespeare. He is the legendary mage we don’t see outside the Crystal Summit. Titania was his latest creation, she is basically not an android, however. I suppose she’s what you’d call… a homunculus, yes.”
“Seems just to not get immediately dismissed may be a more realistic goal… but better to aim high and fall short than to decide on limits before trying.”
“Well, aren’t you optimistic?”
“Even the Gods of myth were once human. Not saying I’ll reach that level but if it can be done, might as well try for it.”
“Humans? The Gods? Who said that?”
“I heard it from Sherry.”
“Sherry? Who was that again?”
“Do you remember my companion who came with me to Italy?”
“Oh… her. I sorta forgot. She says interesting things, though…”
“Yeah. Even hearing it from her, it is hard to believe but seemed there was no reason for her to make it up.”
“Hm, I see.” Calamity Witch’s attention was mostly absorbed by the documents before she abruptly stopped. “Oh, here he is. That’s Escott.” She showed the document to Roland, a profile of a man called Escott. There was only a picture of him held in restraints, and some basic measurement values labeled below it.
“Seems we have the means to identify him now, is his location listed here?” He looked carefully over the picture, memorizing Escott’s features.
“Oh, great. He is listed as rank SSS. Never mind everything I said, we might have a fight on our hands.”
“Let me guess, bottom level?”
“Yeah. They have some powerful mind-control devices…” Calamity Witch’s face turned cold. “Like how I used to be controlled.” She placed the papers down. “Tch, just who is this guy…”
“What kind of people do they tend to label as SSS rank?”
“People who they can inject the Steel Demon virus into. The people with rank SSS can withstand the pressure instead of becoming monsters. Other than that… they’d keep people with high potential. You know, like an elf with high promise?”
Steel Demon? Could it be related to the things that were mentioned to be at the Boundary? Roland wondered, remembering the conversation he had overheard in Italy but said nothing of it.
“Ah, with the mention of mind-control I’m guessing we may have to face against some of them. Is there a way of disabling it?”
“Hm. If you see wires plugged into them, maybe. Otherwise, they’d be attacking out of their volition. In the end, mind-controlling devices are only used to slowly change a person. I became a mercenary before I knew it… then everyone outside the facility would get scared from seeing my face.”
“This place just keeps becoming more unforgivable.” He had been holding back his rage at atrocities committed by the underground, but hearing what they had done to her set him over the edge. A moist feeling appeared in his hand as his tightly clenched fist drew blood. “I’m surprised you’re able to hold yourself back with all the horrible things they did to you in the past. Just hearing about them I feel like I’ll lose myself to anger.”
Treanna simply flicked Roland’s forehead with her finger.
“I was made to be calm. You lose your effectiveness otherwise.”
“That’s true… but still...” Roland rubbed his head where he had been flicked. The distraction served to calm him down though he was still on fire within. “The composure to ignore all they did to you is something I don’t have.”
“It’s a matter of a person you just met a few days ago. Don’t let that get to you.”
“We may have just met recently, but I would like to think we have become a bit more than strangers, but as you wish I’ll drop it. Shall we begin making our way down to the bottom floor now that we know where Escott is?”
“Yeah, we spoke enough as it is. Let’s go.” I should stop getting personal too… what was I thinking?
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
Several floors below now, Calamity Witch and Roland and trudged through the underground facility of the Soviet Union. It was a facility where research and experiments ran rampant, in ways more than one. Roland saw with his eyes things that should be forbidden from the hands of humans to conduct. The acts of sacrificing human bodies to get closer to one small truth seemed like a cost so great, yet unrealized by the researchers.
Currently, they were hiding from guards and researchers who had assembled in a hall. Women were being dissected. He could hear the screams of the women who were tortured with various items being inserted into their bodies. Syringes were not often employed, meaning anesthesia was not frequently spent. Arms or legs would get intentionally cut, for automatons were considered superior.
This was the idea to mechanize people to prepare for war.
However, this was far from worse, as he witnessed people being transformed into Faeries or magical creatures via the art of fusion.
The room they hid in currently had a small mountain of the bodies, all bloody due to being failures. Apparently, proper compatibility was required for the technology they wanted to implement.
This is horrible. It’s as if they see people’s lives as nothing more than a resource to be exploited. The sights around him made Roland’s stomach churn, and he wanted nothing more than to cover his ears to block out the cacophony of screams echoing around them but that would not change the reality on what was happening there. Renewing his determination he found some solace in that, if things went well, they would at least be saving one life from the madness occurring there today.
It took about an hour before the scientists finally left. There was quite a lot of disappointment because the “subjects were failures” according to the few voices heard as they exited.
From the small slit open to their storage room, Calamity Witch noted some people coming, the guards carting the rest of the so-called failures. For the pair that hid behind the doors, they were unnoticed as the men dumped the last of the bodies and took leave. They waited for some moments before Calamity Witch gestured with her fingers that they were going to leave the room—pointing at the opening of a corridor at the corner of the hall.
Thus, Treanna and Roland left the bodies. The corridor that they subsequently snuck off to seemed to be empty, contrary to the other one that apparently lead upwards—a path the researchers and the guards took. They were heading downwards on the other hand.
“Okay, this should be the last floor that we’re reaching now. You alright there?”
“Yeah,” Roland was visibly shaken by the sights and sounds they had passed on their way but in his eyes burned a fierce resolve. “Let’s go.”
There were no rooms on either side of the walls of the passage that they progressed through. A set of doors lay in wait at the very end and their journey had finally come to an end.
Calamity Witch pushed the door open. A bright green light greeted them as soon as she did.
There were hundreds of spheres on display, all carrying a person inside them, otherwise full with water. Some tubes were longer vertically but still round, and these were for the more older people. Roland noted many children stored in the smaller “cells.”
“Keep an eye out,” she said. “We’re here for Escott only.”
Recalling the appearance of the man from the profile, Roland nodded in affirmation and began to search. Each tube he checked sent pangs of sorrow rebounding within him. He wished he could save them all, but it was not feasible. All he could do was offer a silent apology to each he passed over as he searched for Escott.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
Roland turned to the voice of his Master, finding Calamity Witch facing the direction opposite to the one he was facing. He followed the direction of her gaze and thus found a girl with silver hair and attire. Horns, an eye blue and an eye red. A devilish smile—a menacing gaze. From a glance it was a girl, one who was almost as short as Sherry, but it took some moments for Roland to realize that it was a grown short woman. The maturity was very clear from the facial features.
“Treanna… welcome back. We have been waiting.”
Calamity Witch took a step and placed Roland behind her.
“I thought we escaped together, Astakhov…” She turned an eye to Roland. “Go, I’ll hold her here,” she spoke in a hushed tone to Roland. “Go find him.”
Hearing an urgency in her voice that had never been there before, Roland didn’t bother to question who or what the stranger was. With their stealth already blown, Roland broke into a run as he searched frantically for Escott.
“I was brought back. My memories are back… it is so enlightening… ahaha. Ahahaha… HAHAHAHA.”
The roars of laughter intensified and the form of the person Calamity Witch once knew changed drastically.
Roland could only hear this insane voice echo across the halls as he looked over the tubes, but he could still not find Escott. Soon, he reached the wall, the supposed end of the line, and ended up moving to the side to a different row of spheres. This was where he came across an ominous door.
Taking a moment to press his ear against the door, he heard nothing but the low humming of an engine. Stealthily but swiftly, he cracked it open and took a peek inside.
What Roland found was a large wall of steel in the room, about twenty meters away, with a vault-like door in it. With the sounds of battle echoing behind him Roland decided to move forward. Running over to the vault door he turned the handle, hoping what lay behind would be their goal and not some of the monsters his Master had warned him about.
A creaking noise was heard and Roland turned. The door was wide open, and a woman in the attire of a maid stood before it. Her hair held the shade of platinum blonde. The pair of violet eyes gave a piercing stare. The smile was the same as the one he had seen earlier, except that his instincts told him that this person was much deadlier.
Mind-altered soldiers? Roland wondered, noting the uncanny similarity. Every fiber of his being told him trying to fight the woman in front of him would be fatal. With the entrance blocked he turned to the only other exit of the room. Taking just a moment to enhance his focus with magic, he unleashed a high pressure stream of freezing water at the vault door.
The steel groaned and buckled as the spell bored into it and pulverized it from within but held firm. Immediately after, he heard footsteps behind him as the unknown woman charged him. So far so good. Chanting a spell as he turned to face her, he focused on the now unguarded doorway but there his plan fell apart. His spell began to go out of control and try as he might, he could not tame it. His body felt as though it were burning as, instead of turning into a mirage of petals to reappear just outside the doorway as intended, petals sprouted on his limbs breaking the skin.
From the body of the maid came out large blades of steel, skewering Roland in less than a second. The blades tore not her cloth or her skin but they did came out from her. It looked extremely odd and of course, the aspiring researcher could not even register the phenomena as it occurred too fast. It was all he could to do throw up his arms to protect his vitals from any incoming attacks.
The maid danced, spinning round and round. The blades crossed him all the same, in tune with her motions. Roland’s arms and upper-torso were generally bloodied from the many cuts he received.
The intense flurry of slashes nearly sent Roland reeling but he managed to hold his stance. If not for his spell shunting the mental stress that would normally accompany the excruciating pain he was in, he would likely have already been on the ground. However even with it active he could feel his damage accumulating, each additional wound reducing his already slim chances of escape. Finding a small opening, he broke away from the maid and gathered what remained of his mana to shoot another pressurized stream of water at the vault door in the hope whatever lay behind might be able to shift the course of the battle.
From beyond the broken vault leaked black lightning. Bursting the steel walls open, cracks marred it before it connected with the blades of the maid that acted as her arms—extensions.
The howl of a man and the lightning was one and soon the maid’s screech was heard as she was electrocuted.
“Tch, stupid lock…!” the maid grumbled.
The smoke soon started to clear and Roland witnessed a man wearing a long brown trench coat. His hair and eyes jet black, he was shrouded by lightning that no magic could mimick. The restraints could be seen broken past the vault door already. He was waiting for someone to break the door itself.
It was Escott, Roland could recognize his face from the picture he had seen before.
“Escott, I presume?” Roland questioned to be sure. “I’m here to save you but…” He glanced over at the angry maid still sparking from the lightning that had hit her. “It seems our roles got a bit reversed.”
The blades and the thunder fought toe to toe. Tendrils of lightning formed to match up to the size of the steel blades and Escott’s power reigned supreme.
For the moment, they both stopped. Not because they could no longer compete for supremacy, but because of the earthquake. Grass formed on the floor as Calamity Witch stood just outside the door of the room. Vines climbed up from the grass and ensnared the maid.
It all ended with a simple chop at the back of her neck and the maid fell unconscious.
“That’s Escott?” Calamity Witch inquired, and Escott only gave a nod. “Alright. Good job, kid.”
“Glad to have been of help.” Roland put up a strong front but was pretty sure he looked like a bloody mess from both the maid’s onslaught and his own out-of-control spell. With no more immediate danger he braced himself and released his spell, waves of pain wracking his body as he experienced the mental accumulation of all the damage he had received. When it subsided he went to work on cleaning himself up, yanking out the petals that had appeared on his limbs and turning his tattered clothes into makeshift bandages. “Is there anything else to be done down here or should we get going?” he asked as he worked.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“I do not know who either of you are, but I thank you for freeing me,” Escott spoke, having walked out of the place he had been held in.
Calamity Witch slid a finger down from the top in the air, the fabric of the dimension ripping apart and opening a portal.
“Let’s go. We’ll use the Void for an emergency escape. We can’t take on all the Steel Demons.”
Looking at the one in the corner she had taken out with such ease, Roland wondered how true that was but kept the thought to himself as he followed her through the portal.
Exiting the portal, Roland and Calamity Witch came back to the inn room with Escott. The inn lay far outside the Steel Tower, the oppressive place beyond which was the town full of mundanes.
As the portal closed, Calamity Witch sat down on her bed with a big sigh, followed by a yawn.
“I cannot say †˜home sweet home,’ but I’m glad to be back,” Roland’s Master said. She was already easy-going seeing as she was on a bed—apparently ready to fall asleep.
“I’m with you there.” Roland fell upon another bed. Ow. He was exhausted and his entire body ached from being cut half to death though he was determined not to show weakness to the other two.
Escott only looked around the small room.
“Again, thank you for saving me. May I know who you both are, though?”
“Calamity Witch, an Archmage.”
“Nice to meet you… Miss Calamity.” Escott could not quite wrap his head around such an epithet. Is this supposed to imply that she is a dangerous magus? Why would anyone pick such an uncanny name? It only gives people reason to raise the alarms.
“I am Roland, a student of hers. Well, new student. It’s actually been less than three days since I started.” Flipping over and sitting up he turned to Escott. “In honesty our breaking you out wasn’t a completely selfless act and is related to that. We were hoping you could help us out with information regarding a certain place partially for the sake of furthering my apprenticeship.”
“It surprises me that you both would help me instead of seeking alternatives to identify the location. Please let me know how I may help to return the favor—what is this place that you seek?”
“The hidden labyrinth of the White Wolf.”
“The White Wolf? I cannot say that I have heard of its name before, but I have been to a labyrinth in my stay in Russia.”
“Hopefully that is the one we’re after. Though we can speak more of this after some rest. It would seem my Master has already fallen asleep and it would be best to have her around while discussing it.” Roland heaved his tired body off the bed and settled into a chair. “Feel free to use the other bed. I imagine after being locked up there you might be longing for a soft place to sleep.”
“Oh no, I would be fine with the chair. Please use your own bed.”
“Don’t worry about it, I insist.”
“No, I shall insist instead.”
Roland chuckled, remembering the similar conversation he had with Sherry not so long ago. He had been beaten then and had a feeling it would be just as futile to continue this one. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, you win. At least let me give you some blankets so you might make yourself comfortable though.”
“Thank you,” Escott said with a small bow.
Currently, they were hiding from guards and researchers who had assembled in a hall. Women were being dissected. He could hear the screams of the women who were tortured with various items being inserted into their bodies. Syringes were not often employed, meaning anesthesia was not frequently spent. Arms or legs would get intentionally cut, for automatons were considered superior.
This was the idea to mechanize people to prepare for war.
However, this was far from worse, as he witnessed people being transformed into Faeries or magical creatures via the art of fusion.
The room they hid in currently had a small mountain of the bodies, all bloody due to being failures. Apparently, proper compatibility was required for the technology they wanted to implement.
This is horrible. It’s as if they see people’s lives as nothing more than a resource to be exploited. The sights around him made Roland’s stomach churn, and he wanted nothing more than to cover his ears to block out the cacophony of screams echoing around them but that would not change the reality on what was happening there. Renewing his determination he found some solace in that, if things went well, they would at least be saving one life from the madness occurring there today.
It took about an hour before the scientists finally left. There was quite a lot of disappointment because the “subjects were failures” according to the few voices heard as they exited.
From the small slit open to their storage room, Calamity Witch noted some people coming, the guards carting the rest of the so-called failures. For the pair that hid behind the doors, they were unnoticed as the men dumped the last of the bodies and took leave. They waited for some moments before Calamity Witch gestured with her fingers that they were going to leave the room—pointing at the opening of a corridor at the corner of the hall.
Thus, Treanna and Roland left the bodies. The corridor that they subsequently snuck off to seemed to be empty, contrary to the other one that apparently lead upwards—a path the researchers and the guards took. They were heading downwards on the other hand.
“Okay, this should be the last floor that we’re reaching now. You alright there?”
“Yeah,” Roland was visibly shaken by the sights and sounds they had passed on their way but in his eyes burned a fierce resolve. “Let’s go.”
There were no rooms on either side of the walls of the passage that they progressed through. A set of doors lay in wait at the very end and their journey had finally come to an end.
Calamity Witch pushed the door open. A bright green light greeted them as soon as she did.
There were hundreds of spheres on display, all carrying a person inside them, otherwise full with water. Some tubes were longer vertically but still round, and these were for the more older people. Roland noted many children stored in the smaller “cells.”
“Keep an eye out,” she said. “We’re here for Escott only.”
Recalling the appearance of the man from the profile, Roland nodded in affirmation and began to search. Each tube he checked sent pangs of sorrow rebounding within him. He wished he could save them all, but it was not feasible. All he could do was offer a silent apology to each he passed over as he searched for Escott.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
Roland turned to the voice of his Master, finding Calamity Witch facing the direction opposite to the one he was facing. He followed the direction of her gaze and thus found a girl with silver hair and attire. Horns, an eye blue and an eye red. A devilish smile—a menacing gaze. From a glance it was a girl, one who was almost as short as Sherry, but it took some moments for Roland to realize that it was a grown short woman. The maturity was very clear from the facial features.
“Treanna… welcome back. We have been waiting.”
Calamity Witch took a step and placed Roland behind her.
“I thought we escaped together, Astakhov…” She turned an eye to Roland. “Go, I’ll hold her here,” she spoke in a hushed tone to Roland. “Go find him.”
Hearing an urgency in her voice that had never been there before, Roland didn’t bother to question who or what the stranger was. With their stealth already blown, Roland broke into a run as he searched frantically for Escott.
“I was brought back. My memories are back… it is so enlightening… ahaha. Ahahaha… HAHAHAHA.”
The roars of laughter intensified and the form of the person Calamity Witch once knew changed drastically.
Roland could only hear this insane voice echo across the halls as he looked over the tubes, but he could still not find Escott. Soon, he reached the wall, the supposed end of the line, and ended up moving to the side to a different row of spheres. This was where he came across an ominous door.
Taking a moment to press his ear against the door, he heard nothing but the low humming of an engine. Stealthily but swiftly, he cracked it open and took a peek inside.
What Roland found was a large wall of steel in the room, about twenty meters away, with a vault-like door in it. With the sounds of battle echoing behind him Roland decided to move forward. Running over to the vault door he turned the handle, hoping what lay behind would be their goal and not some of the monsters his Master had warned him about.
A creaking noise was heard and Roland turned. The door was wide open, and a woman in the attire of a maid stood before it. Her hair held the shade of platinum blonde. The pair of violet eyes gave a piercing stare. The smile was the same as the one he had seen earlier, except that his instincts told him that this person was much deadlier.
Mind-altered soldiers? Roland wondered, noting the uncanny similarity. Every fiber of his being told him trying to fight the woman in front of him would be fatal. With the entrance blocked he turned to the only other exit of the room. Taking just a moment to enhance his focus with magic, he unleashed a high pressure stream of freezing water at the vault door.
The steel groaned and buckled as the spell bored into it and pulverized it from within but held firm. Immediately after, he heard footsteps behind him as the unknown woman charged him. So far so good. Chanting a spell as he turned to face her, he focused on the now unguarded doorway but there his plan fell apart. His spell began to go out of control and try as he might, he could not tame it. His body felt as though it were burning as, instead of turning into a mirage of petals to reappear just outside the doorway as intended, petals sprouted on his limbs breaking the skin.
From the body of the maid came out large blades of steel, skewering Roland in less than a second. The blades tore not her cloth or her skin but they did came out from her. It looked extremely odd and of course, the aspiring researcher could not even register the phenomena as it occurred too fast. It was all he could to do throw up his arms to protect his vitals from any incoming attacks.
The maid danced, spinning round and round. The blades crossed him all the same, in tune with her motions. Roland’s arms and upper-torso were generally bloodied from the many cuts he received.
The intense flurry of slashes nearly sent Roland reeling but he managed to hold his stance. If not for his spell shunting the mental stress that would normally accompany the excruciating pain he was in, he would likely have already been on the ground. However even with it active he could feel his damage accumulating, each additional wound reducing his already slim chances of escape. Finding a small opening, he broke away from the maid and gathered what remained of his mana to shoot another pressurized stream of water at the vault door in the hope whatever lay behind might be able to shift the course of the battle.
From beyond the broken vault leaked black lightning. Bursting the steel walls open, cracks marred it before it connected with the blades of the maid that acted as her arms—extensions.
The howl of a man and the lightning was one and soon the maid’s screech was heard as she was electrocuted.
“Tch, stupid lock…!” the maid grumbled.
The smoke soon started to clear and Roland witnessed a man wearing a long brown trench coat. His hair and eyes jet black, he was shrouded by lightning that no magic could mimick. The restraints could be seen broken past the vault door already. He was waiting for someone to break the door itself.
It was Escott, Roland could recognize his face from the picture he had seen before.
“Escott, I presume?” Roland questioned to be sure. “I’m here to save you but…” He glanced over at the angry maid still sparking from the lightning that had hit her. “It seems our roles got a bit reversed.”
The blades and the thunder fought toe to toe. Tendrils of lightning formed to match up to the size of the steel blades and Escott’s power reigned supreme.
For the moment, they both stopped. Not because they could no longer compete for supremacy, but because of the earthquake. Grass formed on the floor as Calamity Witch stood just outside the door of the room. Vines climbed up from the grass and ensnared the maid.
It all ended with a simple chop at the back of her neck and the maid fell unconscious.
“That’s Escott?” Calamity Witch inquired, and Escott only gave a nod. “Alright. Good job, kid.”
“Glad to have been of help.” Roland put up a strong front but was pretty sure he looked like a bloody mess from both the maid’s onslaught and his own out-of-control spell. With no more immediate danger he braced himself and released his spell, waves of pain wracking his body as he experienced the mental accumulation of all the damage he had received. When it subsided he went to work on cleaning himself up, yanking out the petals that had appeared on his limbs and turning his tattered clothes into makeshift bandages. “Is there anything else to be done down here or should we get going?” he asked as he worked.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“I do not know who either of you are, but I thank you for freeing me,” Escott spoke, having walked out of the place he had been held in.
Calamity Witch slid a finger down from the top in the air, the fabric of the dimension ripping apart and opening a portal.
“Let’s go. We’ll use the Void for an emergency escape. We can’t take on all the Steel Demons.”
Looking at the one in the corner she had taken out with such ease, Roland wondered how true that was but kept the thought to himself as he followed her through the portal.
***
Exiting the portal, Roland and Calamity Witch came back to the inn room with Escott. The inn lay far outside the Steel Tower, the oppressive place beyond which was the town full of mundanes.
As the portal closed, Calamity Witch sat down on her bed with a big sigh, followed by a yawn.
“I cannot say †˜home sweet home,’ but I’m glad to be back,” Roland’s Master said. She was already easy-going seeing as she was on a bed—apparently ready to fall asleep.
“I’m with you there.” Roland fell upon another bed. Ow. He was exhausted and his entire body ached from being cut half to death though he was determined not to show weakness to the other two.
Escott only looked around the small room.
“Again, thank you for saving me. May I know who you both are, though?”
“Calamity Witch, an Archmage.”
“Nice to meet you… Miss Calamity.” Escott could not quite wrap his head around such an epithet. Is this supposed to imply that she is a dangerous magus? Why would anyone pick such an uncanny name? It only gives people reason to raise the alarms.
“I am Roland, a student of hers. Well, new student. It’s actually been less than three days since I started.” Flipping over and sitting up he turned to Escott. “In honesty our breaking you out wasn’t a completely selfless act and is related to that. We were hoping you could help us out with information regarding a certain place partially for the sake of furthering my apprenticeship.”
“It surprises me that you both would help me instead of seeking alternatives to identify the location. Please let me know how I may help to return the favor—what is this place that you seek?”
“The hidden labyrinth of the White Wolf.”
“The White Wolf? I cannot say that I have heard of its name before, but I have been to a labyrinth in my stay in Russia.”
“Hopefully that is the one we’re after. Though we can speak more of this after some rest. It would seem my Master has already fallen asleep and it would be best to have her around while discussing it.” Roland heaved his tired body off the bed and settled into a chair. “Feel free to use the other bed. I imagine after being locked up there you might be longing for a soft place to sleep.”
“Oh no, I would be fine with the chair. Please use your own bed.”
“Don’t worry about it, I insist.”
“No, I shall insist instead.”
Roland chuckled, remembering the similar conversation he had with Sherry not so long ago. He had been beaten then and had a feeling it would be just as futile to continue this one. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, you win. At least let me give you some blankets so you might make yourself comfortable though.”
“Thank you,” Escott said with a small bow.
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
When Roland got up, the prisoner they saved from the Soviet Union’s vault was missing from the chair, and the room itself. On the other hand, Calamity Witch was sleeping peacefully as usual.
Roland was curious as to where Escott had disappeared to but not overly worried, considering the positive tone of their previous conversation gave little reason to believe he had run off. With a wide yawn he got up and looked around the room to see if there was anything to shed light on where their new companion had gone. Finding no clues and his Master still in a deep slumber, he left the room to see if Escott might be elsewhere in the inn.
Just as he exited the room, he could see Escott coming up to the door, crossing a staircase.
“Off to somewhere?”
“Not in particular. Seems it may still be a while before Calamity Witch wakes up so I’d figured I’d look for you to see if you wanted to grab something to eat.”
“No, I am fine, thank you. I was only out to get some fresh air. I apologize if I had worried you.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be on my way then.” Roland turned to go down the stairwell Escott had just come from but stopped suddenly as he remembered Escott hadn’t arrived at the inn with them. Turning around again Roland called out to him. “Wait, you’ll need this to get back into the room,” Roland said handing Escott his copy of the room key.
“Thank you.” Escott accepted the key with a nod and proceeded to the room.
Parting with Escott there, Roland made his way to the inn’s dining area. Getting himself a bowl of a porridge the locals seemed to call Kasha, he settled at a small table to eat. His mind was elsewhere as he did so, barely tasting the food as he mechanically placed one spoonful after another into his mouth.
In his head he was back in the underground, staring into the menacing smile of the maid as she moved to end his life. The thought of what might have happened if it hadn’t been Escott in the vault made him shudder. He put down the spoon, the meal barely half finished but his appetite gone. Only when facing Solomon had he felt so close to death before but unlike that time, this was from an enemy of a level he was likely to encounter elsewhere rather than a ruler of a Realm. In his travels he had never slacked off in his training, but it was clear that his own efforts were not enough. Frustrated by his weakness, he resolved to ask his Master to also train him in combat at the next available chance and quickly made his way back to the room.
Opening the door to the room, Roland found Escott in the chair, only looking at the window as if he was waiting for something to happen.
Of course, the person had no better place to look at. How could he? There was a beautiful—and defenseless—woman who barely wore anything, and was sleeping just before him. Certain thoughts attempted to distract him, but he had the tenacity to keep them at bay.
“Welcome back,” Escott said, without looking back to Roland, after hearing the creaking noise of the door.
“Thanks.” Roland sent a sympathetic gaze Escott’s way, recognizing the behavior from his own actions. Pulling up a chair he joined Escott by the window and offered conversation to distract him. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up imprisoned in the Underground?”
“I suppose I underestimated the Soviets, nothing much to say, to be honest—I was careless.”
“Are you in Russia to search for someone? The madame who told us where to find you mentioned you had also gone there for information, and I’d wager you’re also an Englishman from your mannerisms.”
“I would wager that you are one yourself.” Escott shrugged. “I had a favor to fulfill, for which I came. To complete that, however, I happened to gain a client who had a particular request for me.”
“If it isn’t too personal, might I ask what it was?”
“As a professional, it is in my principles to never divulge such information.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. Though when you say you are a professional, what is it that you do?”
“I am a detective.”
“I see…” An uncharacteristically dark look fell over Roland’s face, and he was silent for several moments. When he spoke again it was with hesitation and uncertainty. “Might I ask… that you investigate something on my behalf too?”
“If you would be able to pay for my services, I would be happy to help.”
“What kind of fees do you charge?”
“Depends on the case, and its general difficulty. If you are in lack of money, however, there may be alternatives for you to strike a deal. It depends on what you hold in your possession.”
“I will offer everything I can but unfortunately I do not possess much wealth. My daily expenses are taken care of by research funds, but it would be unethical to use that on a personal matter. Could you hear me out to let me know how much to expect it to be?”
“You have my attention.”
Taking a deep breath Roland steadied his voice and spoke, “I want you to find the truth of a murder my mother committed.”
Over the next hour Roland told Escott of all he could about the situation. His meeting with King Solomon in the Faerie Realm. The year he spent sleuthing for clues. Memories of his childhood. Leaving nothing out, he told him anything that might help the slightest bit in digging up the truth. He did not know what possessed him to confide in the man he had met not even a day ago. Maybe it was trust after having had his life saved in the Underground. Maybe it was frustration at going a year with nary a lead. Whatever it was, Roland laid everything bare before Escott.
“A meeting with the King Solomon… in the Faerie Realm… while I cannot say that I am knowledgeable of the Magic World, there are many strange places there. It is interesting, to say the least, and I understand why you would seek me to take on your case. This is quite perplexing, however, that I may need to go to Japan to investigate…”
“Is going there a cause of concern for you?”
“You speak as though going to Japan is normal. Passport issues aside, it is a country that has the—” That Geneva. “All those people that are against the rest of the Magic World, no?”
“To be honest I don’t keep up to date on politics. I do know that relations are strained but that did not seem to cause me trouble entering the country on my last trip which was only a few months ago.”
“It is hardly a matter of politics when they are at war. I suppose the illegal routes are still open. Magic Trains and the Magic Portals, was it?”
“I was not aware those routes were illegal but yes, that was always how I entered. Seems I was a fugitive during the time I attended the Academy there in that case.” Roland let out a small chuckle at the thought.
“They are not? I mean, they have to be, right?! Why else would the government allow such a pathway to exist that lets their enemies enter their territory?”
“For Japan I can’t give you a definitive answer, but in England they are definitely legal. Maybe it was deemed cutting off the flow of information would be a greater threat than allowing a relatively minor amount of people to enter their country?”
“No, I understand that it is legal for England and Russia, for they are apparently the inventors of this ingenious system. It irks me, that for Japan to neglect it… feels as though they are setting a long term trap, or a method to make use of it.”
“Maybe, I don’t know anything that would support or disprove that theory. Though, if the trains are illegal, what is the proper way of getting into the country?”
“I would assume there is none. It is a country shrouded in mysterious clouds, is it not?”
“That’s true, but governments are privy to the Magic World which has means to traverse them. Even if there is no system for the mundanes, I imagine there would be one for the coming and goings of their mages and other involved personnel.”
“Let us say that is indeed true, then why would the governments allow these portals to stay? If the clouds were unsurpassable then it would be the ultimate protection to Japan, would it not? There would never be a war to begin with.”
“The potential to create portals to bypass the clouds already would violate much of the protection offered by them against an enemy utilizing magic. Attempting to cut themselves off completely would likely be a futile endeavor and make the situation worse. There are countless examples in history to show how ignorance breeds conflict.” Roland let out a sigh, slightly depressed by the thought. “It may be hopeless optimism but maybe if the opposing sides could better understand each other through cultural exchange, war could be avoided.”
“Is the war not fueled by a prophecy and not cultural differences, though?”
“The war may have begun as a hunt for a Descendant that Japan had taken in, but the Descendants were once human too and should be possible to empathize with. I may be wrong but I can’t believe they would want to end the world by their own will. Leaders may wage wars but it is men who fight them. If leaders couldn’t rally their soldiers because they saw themselves within the enemy they are presented with, maybe it would serve to end conflict. After all, what is a prophecy but a prediction of events to come? As long as free will exists, changing the future should be possible.”
“I mean no offense to you, but your innocence is on the level of absolute childishness.”
Roland smiled sheepishly. “None taken, I hear that quite often. Even if it is naive I would like to believe people are innately good and conflicts are caused by victims of circumstance.”
“I realize we have been struck with quite the tangent. We were speaking of your case. It would not be so difficult if not for having to go to Japan.”
“Are you averse to taking the Magic Train?”
“It is the passport, not the train. I need identification even in the Magic World, getting myself to Russia had been hard enough.”
“Hmm. I’ve never experienced that trouble when traveling personally, though it may have something to do with the status of my benefactor. If it were possible to resolve your passport troubles, would you be willing to accept the case?”
“Getting the passport issues out of the way is one thing, but there is also the issue of traveling expenses. Everything in Japan is also very expensive. I would be required to have their currency to buy food as well.”
“I will do whatever I must to raise the funds to cover your expenses.” Roland thought of the tavern he inherited from his mother back in London, the only wealth he had in his name. It tore his heart to consider selling it, but it seemed the only means he had to have a chance at paying Escott’s fees. “My family’s tavern is located in a busy area of London’s dock district. If I sell that I may be able to cover your fees.”
“Are you sure about that? Is that not important to you? I would assume it is your home—the place to return to in London.”
“It is, but it is also currently the only means I have to afford your services. Maybe one day I can try to buy it back but for now, I cannot stop moving forward until I learn what caused the gentle woman who raised me to commit such a heinous crime.”
“I suppose, but would that be enough?”
“While the property is not large it is located in a prime location for a business so it should be able to draw a decent amount. The greater problem would be converting to Japanese currency. To be honest I don’t know where to exchange pounds for Yen. When I was studying in Japan it was all handled by the Academy.”
“He’ll do it.”
Calamity Witch abruptly spoke, getting up from her bed.
“Otherwise, I will let out your little secret,” she added.
“Secret? I am not sure what you are speaking of,” Escott said.
“It was in your document when I was going over them in the Soviet Union, Mister Capricorn.”
Celestial Spirit Capricorn?! Then that strange black lightning was… A look of surprise appeared on Roland’s face followed by a small inward smile as he realized the irony of some of his previous remarks about the Descendants, but he quickly reset his face to neutral.
Escott made a face that was mixed with utter confusion and terror. “I still do not—”
“Are you sure it’s fine to keep playing dumb?”
The detective fell silent in contemplation.
“You’re a professional, right? He’ll still pay. My student isn’t so bad that he’d just force you through blackmailing—like me, that is—I’ll take care of the Yen part for him.”
Roland nodded. “I don’t wish to take advantage of you. I’ll pay all fees as if I were any other client. Though even if you don’t take the case I have no intention of leaking your secret. I do still owe you for saving me back in the Underground.”
“No, I will take the case. We shall speak of the matter of payment later.” Otherwise your Master will haunt me to death. “I suppose I will have to find out where to start in Japan.”
“Thank you.” Roland turned to Treanna. “Seems I keep making more trouble for you, thank you too.” Shifting his chair, he positioned himself so he could look comfortably at both of the other residents of the room. “With everyone up shall we move on to the main order of business, the hidden labyrinth?”
“Ah, I almost forgot about that,” Calamity Witch said. “Why were we looking for that again?”
“To find the White Wolf which might be Fenrir for Heart—” Roland cut himself off as he remembered she told him Lost Forms were supposed to be secrets. “—training and research purposes.”
“Heart training and research?” Escott asked curiously.
“Something like that…” Roland glanced towards his Master for a sign of whether it was okay to tell him about the Lost Form or not.
Calamity Witch shook her head. “Anyway, just lead us there.”
“As you wish,” Escott said in defeat. It was clear that Roland was hiding something, but he had no reason to ask.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing sinister,” Roland reassured him. “Just a master teaching their student one of their secret techniques.”
“Uh huh.”
Roland was curious as to where Escott had disappeared to but not overly worried, considering the positive tone of their previous conversation gave little reason to believe he had run off. With a wide yawn he got up and looked around the room to see if there was anything to shed light on where their new companion had gone. Finding no clues and his Master still in a deep slumber, he left the room to see if Escott might be elsewhere in the inn.
Just as he exited the room, he could see Escott coming up to the door, crossing a staircase.
“Off to somewhere?”
“Not in particular. Seems it may still be a while before Calamity Witch wakes up so I’d figured I’d look for you to see if you wanted to grab something to eat.”
“No, I am fine, thank you. I was only out to get some fresh air. I apologize if I had worried you.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be on my way then.” Roland turned to go down the stairwell Escott had just come from but stopped suddenly as he remembered Escott hadn’t arrived at the inn with them. Turning around again Roland called out to him. “Wait, you’ll need this to get back into the room,” Roland said handing Escott his copy of the room key.
“Thank you.” Escott accepted the key with a nod and proceeded to the room.
Parting with Escott there, Roland made his way to the inn’s dining area. Getting himself a bowl of a porridge the locals seemed to call Kasha, he settled at a small table to eat. His mind was elsewhere as he did so, barely tasting the food as he mechanically placed one spoonful after another into his mouth.
In his head he was back in the underground, staring into the menacing smile of the maid as she moved to end his life. The thought of what might have happened if it hadn’t been Escott in the vault made him shudder. He put down the spoon, the meal barely half finished but his appetite gone. Only when facing Solomon had he felt so close to death before but unlike that time, this was from an enemy of a level he was likely to encounter elsewhere rather than a ruler of a Realm. In his travels he had never slacked off in his training, but it was clear that his own efforts were not enough. Frustrated by his weakness, he resolved to ask his Master to also train him in combat at the next available chance and quickly made his way back to the room.
Opening the door to the room, Roland found Escott in the chair, only looking at the window as if he was waiting for something to happen.
Of course, the person had no better place to look at. How could he? There was a beautiful—and defenseless—woman who barely wore anything, and was sleeping just before him. Certain thoughts attempted to distract him, but he had the tenacity to keep them at bay.
“Welcome back,” Escott said, without looking back to Roland, after hearing the creaking noise of the door.
“Thanks.” Roland sent a sympathetic gaze Escott’s way, recognizing the behavior from his own actions. Pulling up a chair he joined Escott by the window and offered conversation to distract him. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up imprisoned in the Underground?”
“I suppose I underestimated the Soviets, nothing much to say, to be honest—I was careless.”
“Are you in Russia to search for someone? The madame who told us where to find you mentioned you had also gone there for information, and I’d wager you’re also an Englishman from your mannerisms.”
“I would wager that you are one yourself.” Escott shrugged. “I had a favor to fulfill, for which I came. To complete that, however, I happened to gain a client who had a particular request for me.”
“If it isn’t too personal, might I ask what it was?”
“As a professional, it is in my principles to never divulge such information.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. Though when you say you are a professional, what is it that you do?”
“I am a detective.”
“I see…” An uncharacteristically dark look fell over Roland’s face, and he was silent for several moments. When he spoke again it was with hesitation and uncertainty. “Might I ask… that you investigate something on my behalf too?”
“If you would be able to pay for my services, I would be happy to help.”
“What kind of fees do you charge?”
“Depends on the case, and its general difficulty. If you are in lack of money, however, there may be alternatives for you to strike a deal. It depends on what you hold in your possession.”
“I will offer everything I can but unfortunately I do not possess much wealth. My daily expenses are taken care of by research funds, but it would be unethical to use that on a personal matter. Could you hear me out to let me know how much to expect it to be?”
“You have my attention.”
Taking a deep breath Roland steadied his voice and spoke, “I want you to find the truth of a murder my mother committed.”
Over the next hour Roland told Escott of all he could about the situation. His meeting with King Solomon in the Faerie Realm. The year he spent sleuthing for clues. Memories of his childhood. Leaving nothing out, he told him anything that might help the slightest bit in digging up the truth. He did not know what possessed him to confide in the man he had met not even a day ago. Maybe it was trust after having had his life saved in the Underground. Maybe it was frustration at going a year with nary a lead. Whatever it was, Roland laid everything bare before Escott.
“A meeting with the King Solomon… in the Faerie Realm… while I cannot say that I am knowledgeable of the Magic World, there are many strange places there. It is interesting, to say the least, and I understand why you would seek me to take on your case. This is quite perplexing, however, that I may need to go to Japan to investigate…”
“Is going there a cause of concern for you?”
“You speak as though going to Japan is normal. Passport issues aside, it is a country that has the—” That Geneva. “All those people that are against the rest of the Magic World, no?”
“To be honest I don’t keep up to date on politics. I do know that relations are strained but that did not seem to cause me trouble entering the country on my last trip which was only a few months ago.”
“It is hardly a matter of politics when they are at war. I suppose the illegal routes are still open. Magic Trains and the Magic Portals, was it?”
“I was not aware those routes were illegal but yes, that was always how I entered. Seems I was a fugitive during the time I attended the Academy there in that case.” Roland let out a small chuckle at the thought.
“They are not? I mean, they have to be, right?! Why else would the government allow such a pathway to exist that lets their enemies enter their territory?”
“For Japan I can’t give you a definitive answer, but in England they are definitely legal. Maybe it was deemed cutting off the flow of information would be a greater threat than allowing a relatively minor amount of people to enter their country?”
“No, I understand that it is legal for England and Russia, for they are apparently the inventors of this ingenious system. It irks me, that for Japan to neglect it… feels as though they are setting a long term trap, or a method to make use of it.”
“Maybe, I don’t know anything that would support or disprove that theory. Though, if the trains are illegal, what is the proper way of getting into the country?”
“I would assume there is none. It is a country shrouded in mysterious clouds, is it not?”
“That’s true, but governments are privy to the Magic World which has means to traverse them. Even if there is no system for the mundanes, I imagine there would be one for the coming and goings of their mages and other involved personnel.”
“Let us say that is indeed true, then why would the governments allow these portals to stay? If the clouds were unsurpassable then it would be the ultimate protection to Japan, would it not? There would never be a war to begin with.”
“The potential to create portals to bypass the clouds already would violate much of the protection offered by them against an enemy utilizing magic. Attempting to cut themselves off completely would likely be a futile endeavor and make the situation worse. There are countless examples in history to show how ignorance breeds conflict.” Roland let out a sigh, slightly depressed by the thought. “It may be hopeless optimism but maybe if the opposing sides could better understand each other through cultural exchange, war could be avoided.”
“Is the war not fueled by a prophecy and not cultural differences, though?”
“The war may have begun as a hunt for a Descendant that Japan had taken in, but the Descendants were once human too and should be possible to empathize with. I may be wrong but I can’t believe they would want to end the world by their own will. Leaders may wage wars but it is men who fight them. If leaders couldn’t rally their soldiers because they saw themselves within the enemy they are presented with, maybe it would serve to end conflict. After all, what is a prophecy but a prediction of events to come? As long as free will exists, changing the future should be possible.”
“I mean no offense to you, but your innocence is on the level of absolute childishness.”
Roland smiled sheepishly. “None taken, I hear that quite often. Even if it is naive I would like to believe people are innately good and conflicts are caused by victims of circumstance.”
“I realize we have been struck with quite the tangent. We were speaking of your case. It would not be so difficult if not for having to go to Japan.”
“Are you averse to taking the Magic Train?”
“It is the passport, not the train. I need identification even in the Magic World, getting myself to Russia had been hard enough.”
“Hmm. I’ve never experienced that trouble when traveling personally, though it may have something to do with the status of my benefactor. If it were possible to resolve your passport troubles, would you be willing to accept the case?”
“Getting the passport issues out of the way is one thing, but there is also the issue of traveling expenses. Everything in Japan is also very expensive. I would be required to have their currency to buy food as well.”
“I will do whatever I must to raise the funds to cover your expenses.” Roland thought of the tavern he inherited from his mother back in London, the only wealth he had in his name. It tore his heart to consider selling it, but it seemed the only means he had to have a chance at paying Escott’s fees. “My family’s tavern is located in a busy area of London’s dock district. If I sell that I may be able to cover your fees.”
“Are you sure about that? Is that not important to you? I would assume it is your home—the place to return to in London.”
“It is, but it is also currently the only means I have to afford your services. Maybe one day I can try to buy it back but for now, I cannot stop moving forward until I learn what caused the gentle woman who raised me to commit such a heinous crime.”
“I suppose, but would that be enough?”
“While the property is not large it is located in a prime location for a business so it should be able to draw a decent amount. The greater problem would be converting to Japanese currency. To be honest I don’t know where to exchange pounds for Yen. When I was studying in Japan it was all handled by the Academy.”
“He’ll do it.”
Calamity Witch abruptly spoke, getting up from her bed.
“Otherwise, I will let out your little secret,” she added.
“Secret? I am not sure what you are speaking of,” Escott said.
“It was in your document when I was going over them in the Soviet Union, Mister Capricorn.”
Celestial Spirit Capricorn?! Then that strange black lightning was… A look of surprise appeared on Roland’s face followed by a small inward smile as he realized the irony of some of his previous remarks about the Descendants, but he quickly reset his face to neutral.
Escott made a face that was mixed with utter confusion and terror. “I still do not—”
“Are you sure it’s fine to keep playing dumb?”
The detective fell silent in contemplation.
“You’re a professional, right? He’ll still pay. My student isn’t so bad that he’d just force you through blackmailing—like me, that is—I’ll take care of the Yen part for him.”
Roland nodded. “I don’t wish to take advantage of you. I’ll pay all fees as if I were any other client. Though even if you don’t take the case I have no intention of leaking your secret. I do still owe you for saving me back in the Underground.”
“No, I will take the case. We shall speak of the matter of payment later.” Otherwise your Master will haunt me to death. “I suppose I will have to find out where to start in Japan.”
“Thank you.” Roland turned to Treanna. “Seems I keep making more trouble for you, thank you too.” Shifting his chair, he positioned himself so he could look comfortably at both of the other residents of the room. “With everyone up shall we move on to the main order of business, the hidden labyrinth?”
“Ah, I almost forgot about that,” Calamity Witch said. “Why were we looking for that again?”
“To find the White Wolf which might be Fenrir for Heart—” Roland cut himself off as he remembered she told him Lost Forms were supposed to be secrets. “—training and research purposes.”
“Heart training and research?” Escott asked curiously.
“Something like that…” Roland glanced towards his Master for a sign of whether it was okay to tell him about the Lost Form or not.
Calamity Witch shook her head. “Anyway, just lead us there.”
“As you wish,” Escott said in defeat. It was clear that Roland was hiding something, but he had no reason to ask.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing sinister,” Roland reassured him. “Just a master teaching their student one of their secret techniques.”
“Uh huh.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
In the Khimki Forest outside the city of Moscow now, Treanna, Roland, and Escott were out in the cold wilderlands where the snow was—thankfully—falling at a gentle pace. They had to wait some time for the blizzards to calm down before they could head out.
The Archmage and the supposed Descendant may have been able to trudge through the thick and restrictive layers of snow that coated the landscape, but it was a tad troublesome for Roland to deal with both the ground and the air just to get to the labyrinth.
“Mind you, I only found this place while I was lurking about out of curiosity,” Escott stated as they approached an snow white mountain. “There is no guarantee that this is what you folks are trying to discover.”
“I cannot tell whether I should question your lurking here out in the cold or the nature of being curious like a certain someone here…” Calamity Witch commented. Escott only looked down at the Archmage’s attire—or lack of—and then back to the mountain.
“We all have our quirks,” Roland replied, brushing off the comment with a shrug but not denying it. “For now let’s just be glad his wandering may have saved us a search.”
“Oh, and a word of warning,” Escott began. “You will not find an entrance there. Not a clear one, that may be the reason why it remained undiscovered for so long. The entrance is frozen—all the way—with solid ice.” He looked at Calamity Witch but averted his gaze. “But I suppose this will not be an issue to a powerful mage such as yourself.”
“And a word of warning to you as well, Mister Escott,” Treanna said. “Don’t go west of here, there is a barrier that will inevitably halt your progress, if you do get curious.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“I suppose this is where we part ways.” Roland offered his hand to Escott. “Thank you for leading us here. Is there a way to get in touch with you later for that case?”
Escott shook hands with Roland but was not quite sure how to answer the question himself. “All you really need to do is approach me in London… assuming you go back there any time soon. I may not always be there, especially due to the job you gave me. You will have to try your luck, as I assume you lack a steam phone.”
“Do you have a residence there? With only the name †˜Escott’ to go on I imagine it would be difficult to find you in the city.”
“Visit Baker Street.” Escott leaned down to Roland’s ear. “Ask the urchins about Sherlock Holmes.” He distanced himself from Roland again. “And you will find my place soon enough.”
The great detective himself?! He does match the rumors… A brief look of surprise flashed across Roland’s face for the second time that day before being hidden likewise.
He could only nod in response, not trusting himself to open his mouth after hearing the true identity of the man in front of him. Behind a poker face, he was suddenly bursting with questions but it was neither the time nor the place. Seems my case couldn’t be in any better hands.
Escott gave the two a bow once more. “I thank you two for everything, and wish you luck on your venture.”
“Likewise,” Roland responded returning the bow.
Seeing the visage of the leaving detective, the Witch turned back to the mountain and so did her student.
“Well… let’s go, shall we?” Calamity Witch rubbed the back of her head. “This will be a long day it seems.”
“Yes, let’s.” Roland turned to the mountain. “I suppose the first order of business would be to find the frozen entrance.”
“Sounds like a pain. Don’t you think the labyrinth is… right under us already?”
“Could be, I don’t know any magic to sense it through the ground though. Thinking of just making an entrance instead?”
“Like so!”
And so, the Archmage who was reputed to send the earth parting two ways had done so again. With a single drop of her foot to the snow-covered earth, the tremors sent across the lands made the birds aflutter and the animals roaring and fleeing.
Of course, no prior warning was provided to Roland, and thus the two fell straight down into the abyss that his Master had created.
The Archmage and the supposed Descendant may have been able to trudge through the thick and restrictive layers of snow that coated the landscape, but it was a tad troublesome for Roland to deal with both the ground and the air just to get to the labyrinth.
“Mind you, I only found this place while I was lurking about out of curiosity,” Escott stated as they approached an snow white mountain. “There is no guarantee that this is what you folks are trying to discover.”
“I cannot tell whether I should question your lurking here out in the cold or the nature of being curious like a certain someone here…” Calamity Witch commented. Escott only looked down at the Archmage’s attire—or lack of—and then back to the mountain.
“We all have our quirks,” Roland replied, brushing off the comment with a shrug but not denying it. “For now let’s just be glad his wandering may have saved us a search.”
“Oh, and a word of warning,” Escott began. “You will not find an entrance there. Not a clear one, that may be the reason why it remained undiscovered for so long. The entrance is frozen—all the way—with solid ice.” He looked at Calamity Witch but averted his gaze. “But I suppose this will not be an issue to a powerful mage such as yourself.”
“And a word of warning to you as well, Mister Escott,” Treanna said. “Don’t go west of here, there is a barrier that will inevitably halt your progress, if you do get curious.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“I suppose this is where we part ways.” Roland offered his hand to Escott. “Thank you for leading us here. Is there a way to get in touch with you later for that case?”
Escott shook hands with Roland but was not quite sure how to answer the question himself. “All you really need to do is approach me in London… assuming you go back there any time soon. I may not always be there, especially due to the job you gave me. You will have to try your luck, as I assume you lack a steam phone.”
“Do you have a residence there? With only the name †˜Escott’ to go on I imagine it would be difficult to find you in the city.”
“Visit Baker Street.” Escott leaned down to Roland’s ear. “Ask the urchins about Sherlock Holmes.” He distanced himself from Roland again. “And you will find my place soon enough.”
The great detective himself?! He does match the rumors… A brief look of surprise flashed across Roland’s face for the second time that day before being hidden likewise.
He could only nod in response, not trusting himself to open his mouth after hearing the true identity of the man in front of him. Behind a poker face, he was suddenly bursting with questions but it was neither the time nor the place. Seems my case couldn’t be in any better hands.
Escott gave the two a bow once more. “I thank you two for everything, and wish you luck on your venture.”
“Likewise,” Roland responded returning the bow.
Seeing the visage of the leaving detective, the Witch turned back to the mountain and so did her student.
“Well… let’s go, shall we?” Calamity Witch rubbed the back of her head. “This will be a long day it seems.”
“Yes, let’s.” Roland turned to the mountain. “I suppose the first order of business would be to find the frozen entrance.”
“Sounds like a pain. Don’t you think the labyrinth is… right under us already?”
“Could be, I don’t know any magic to sense it through the ground though. Thinking of just making an entrance instead?”
“Like so!”
And so, the Archmage who was reputed to send the earth parting two ways had done so again. With a single drop of her foot to the snow-covered earth, the tremors sent across the lands made the birds aflutter and the animals roaring and fleeing.
Of course, no prior warning was provided to Roland, and thus the two fell straight down into the abyss that his Master had created.
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
When Roland woke up, he found a layer of ice in every direction. As his vision was cleared of the blurriness, and his eyes adjusted to the apparent darkness of the underground frozen labyrinth, he could not make out where they even came in. Quite literally, he was locked in a cage of ice. After he pulled himself up, he found his Master leaning against the wall as if waiting for him.
“Had a feeling you were about to do something like that,” Roland spoke, brushing snow off his clothes. Though a bit more warning would have been appreciated. “Was I out for long?”
“Some minutes. Had a nice dream about my cleavage?” his Master asked with a wink.
Roland thought he had almost managed to get used to his Master’s appearance, but the comment brought her bountiful assets back to the forefront of his mind causing him to look away with a blush. He responded with a noncommittal, ”N-No…”
“How boring.” Treanna clenched her fist and had her knuckles bang against the icy wall, breaking it into small pieces in an instant. Roland could see the ice slowly reforming before him. “Seems like this is the reason why no exits can be found… or entrances, for that matter.”
“An elaborate labyrinth made to never have a way out… Seems like it was designed to keep something permanently wandering within it.”
“It may just be a poor little puppy wanting to be left alone too, don’t you think?”
“Maybe. Though in that scenario the labyrinth seems to be a bit excessive considering how this place was already hidden away. But if the latter does turn out to be the case, seems we’ll owe him an apology for breaking into his home as we did.”
The Master broke the reformed frozen wall again. “Anyway, the deed is done. Let’s go.”
The two escaped from the room that they were locked in, and thus a cavern unfolded before their views. They couldn’t tell where the light was coming from, but despite being underground, the walls were strangely visible to the naked eyes.
After a few steps, Roland came to realize that the floor was very slippery, and if he’d get into a battle he’d need to use his abilities as an Aquam mage to his advantage. Looking at his Master, all seemed painfully well on her side. The entire cave that they were in appeared to be hollow and empty, and it didn’t make the situation any better that there was no passage visible in any direction. It was simply an empty expanse surrounding the pair.
“Seems this place is less a labyrinth than a series of rooms connected by magical ice.” Roland walked to the edge of the cavern and tried knocking on a wall to see if the area behind it was hollow. His investigation was inconclusive, and if there was anything behind the ice, it was too thick to tell. Taking another look at the ice upon which he stood, he noticed there was water flowing beneath. Returning to Treanna’s side, he reported his findings.
“The walls of ice of this cavern seem to be too thick to find a path without breaking them aimlessly but the water flowing beneath us seems as though they can lead somewhere.” As he spoke, he prepared himself to be not caught unaware if she did suddenly smash the ground beneath them again.
“Let’s follow this stream then…” Treanna looked down at the floor, and it appeared that the current was indeed flowing somewhere.
Their eyes traced the direction of the running water, and it appeared to run east to them. Calamity Witch followed this trail, and they soon turned themselves before a wall.
“Now, whether to break the floor or the wall…”
“I would opt for the wall. It’s hard to tell how far we would fall after breaking the floor.” Winding up, Roland struck the wall with his all his might in an attempt to mimic how his master had broken the previous walls only to get nothing but a bruised fist for his efforts.
“How do you make such destructive power look so easy?” he asked as he rubbed his hand.
“Like this?” The floor was broken, albeit all they could see up ahead was more ice to shatter. The Master’s fist hardly appeared to be red. In fact, Roland noted that there was none upon closer inspection. “Hoho, this is just the rewards for hard work.”
“Another item on the long list of things to try to learn from you I guess.” Going up to the next wall, he tried again. Getting into a stance he pulled his arm back and threw a flawless straight with all his might but again got nothing but a few minor cracks and a bruise on his other hand for his efforts. “Still, I feel bad being of almost no help after dragging you here to help me.” He spoke as he nursed his other hand.
“Your damned fault for not picking the good old ancient dragon like me.”
Roland stopped and a blank look appeared on his face. “I never actually considered the possibility of simply choosing the same creature,” hurriedly adding after, “but hey, now that we’re already here doesn’t it excite you to investigate a legend?”
“Nope, not really. Only lunatics like you get that excitement. Then again, people wouldn’t learn much without you folks, so I guess weirdos can come in handy, huh?” Well, I was like him but who cares? Thank God I moved on from that lunacy!
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The Archmage sent another fist against the icy walls and their path ahead was paved, revealing yet a new section of the cavern. There were various pillars of ice ahead of them as they progressed deeper into the labyrinth.
They skirted the pillars and looked past it. A large expanse was revealed as the Master and student looked down at an endless pit. Waterfalls could be spotted, and it turned out that the running water they witnessed had its trail end here. The other side of the wall beyond the apparent abyss was linked by only a frail-looking bridge of ice. This bridge was at least a hundred meters long, and unlike any other bridges Roland knew—aside from the one in the Faerie Realm he saw—there was no railing. One would have to walk behind the other to pass it, for they would fall otherwise.
“Hey researcher, you wanna try going down to check?” Treanna asked sarcastically.
“I prefer to at least be able to see the bottom of any abyss I leap into,” Roland quipped back. “Though hopefully a lack of sure footing doesn’t force me to investigate it anyway.”
“You could just see where it leads you, though. Like, after jumping down. I’m sure it’s safe to do that.”
“Well, with all those waterfalls pouring into it, the bottom probably is flooded so the way down might not be so bad. But climbing all the way back up after being dunked in freezing water might just be a bit of an issue.”
“I thought the researchers cared not of danger? I mean look at you, you came all the way down here. It’s not much of a difference now if you go a little more below, is there?”
“If I didn’t care about danger I wouldn’t have begged you to come with me. Reckless is one thing but I’d rather not push my luck with suicidal.”
“At least play along sometimes, God dammit.”
“Every duo needs a straight man.”
“Oh I’m sure I played that role better than you in this country.”
“Maybe, but I hope you’ll at least let me hold onto a bit of my pride amongst your teasing.”
The nonchalant conversation made him smile, clearing the anxiety he had felt when first looking upon the abyss they had to cross.
“Pride and jokes don’t fall hand in hand, though.” Treanna turned to face behind them. “I wonder if they agree with me too.”
Roland too, turned, and found that the pillars that they walked past had transformed into icy golems soundlessly. Their yellow eyes glowing in the darkness of the cavern, they gave a low growl, leering at them as the pair noted their presence.
“I doubt they have much of a sense of humor or pride.”
“Hush, straight man.”
Engaging the ice golems, Roland kneeled and placed his hand on the frozen ground. Sending a burst of mana through his palm, an ornate ice fountain slowly rose up beneath the golems. Not quite what I was going for…
“We decorating the golems now?”
“Just my attempt at being the funny man. Let me try this again.” Putting both his hands on the ground and focusing more acutely than before, he attempted his spell again, determined not to make a fool of himself twice. Alas, it was not to be and the spell went out of control once more creating another ice fountain.
Roland could now see other golems crawling out of the icy walls, their enemies multiplying very fast as he was running his parlor tricks, wasting mana all the while.
Treanna sighed. “You go on ahead, I’ll hold these off.”
“Sorry,” he muttered downcast, unable to meet her eyes after his pitiful display, and hurried across the bridge.
He tried not to look down at the abyss below them. Below them was absolute darkness where water eternally ran down. The echoes of the battle caused vibrations underneath the fragile bridge he was on and thus his tension spiked, yet he carried onwards.
When he finally crossed over to the other side, Roland found golems of various shapes forming from the floors and walls on both sides. Straight ahead lay a path that was extremely thin, but he could take solace in the fact that he could still go onwards. It’d be quite the grievous moment if they’d come across another dead end here.
He heard a barbaric roar from behind and saw his Master flying across the cold lone space, a green and gruff wing spawned from behind her right shoulder on her back. Her arms were long and extended, possessing now the talons of the dragon that carried the golems up and released them into the abyss underneath the bridge. Not all golems were taken care of by the time she took to the air and reached Roland on the other side; it didn’t really matter. She’d think about it if they’d have to return to the side later, or they came chasing. It appeared that the golems were going to form endlessly as the entire place was formed of ice, anyway—as long as they’d stay where they’d spawn. The best choice of action would be to leave such dangerous parts of the cavern.
Treanna’s arm sweeped across the floor before the apprentice could make a move, sending the newly formed golems out into the pit below as well. As she landed with grace, her wings eased back into her body, and her left arm reverted to its original form while the right arm only decreased its massive size. She cracked her knuckles and a creaking noise of her bones echoed far.
“You alright there, kiddo?”
When Treanna asked, Roland noted that her right pupil was completely green, all the way to its edges past its lens.
“Yeah, just disappointed in myself for such a pitiful showing.” My first time using magic in front of her and I just had to botch it… twice.
“We all have these moments.” Treanna looked up to the path ahead of them. “You’d best remember your moments of shame if you don’t want to repeat them.”
“Duly noted. Let’s hurry ahead before I have the chance to create any more though.”
Roland and Treanna thus progressed ahead. A pair of golems were forming along their path and the Archmage pulverized them with powerful kicks. The slim path was as narrow as the bridge that he had crossed some moments ago. Due to this narrowness Treanna had to go in first before Roland snuck into it behind her.
Soon, they found a large expanse unfolding before them. No golems were noted, letting the mentor of Roland sigh.
On the walls, Roland could see large pillars of ice. The floor here appeared to be particularly thick, as he could find no running water under them. At the same time, it was unceasingly smooth, as if someone painstakingly made it that way; a field of smooth ice where true control of balance would be required due to it being possibly slippery.
While examining the lair—winds full of snow blew unceremoniously—Roland could pick out bits of mana in the air. This was followed by a loud howl—the cry of the White Wolf.
Roland saw a large wolf—whose fur was as white as the snow—dyed crimson in blood, its skin was ripped open in several places, mostly around its stomach. A blade was pulled out and thus came more blood with it. Before the acclaimed wolf was a figure in jet black. When he turned to the visitors of the lair, they found him to be an Asian man wearing Eastern attire with an eyepatch over his right eye. He held in his hand the katana; it was infused with mana from what one could see.
Roland’s first instinct was to rush over to help the wolf, but he held back. The unknown armed man before them had the skill to take down the beast, suggesting it would be ill-advised to make any sudden movements. Judging by the man’s weapon, it seemed he was Japanese, though the wind and snow made it difficult to accurately discern his ethnicity at a distance. Gambling on that deduction, Roland called out to him in what he hoped was the man’s native tongue.
“Who are you and why have you attacked the White Wolf?” Roland questioned. As he spoke his hand stealthily slipped into his jacket, tracing the edge of the small blade that was hidden there. Eyeing the stranger carefully, he prepared for if the man opted for a physical response rather than a verbal one.
He could see the man whip the blood off his blade after calling out to him; the stormy gale ending at the same time. His sword sheathed, he turned to Roland for one look and then turned back to the wall of ice behind the wolf.
“You are a little too late, boy.”
With those words, he walked up to the ice and touched it, his hand sinking into it. Slowly, he was absorbed into the ice. Soon, Roland could no longer see him.
As soon as the man disappeared, Roland rushed over to the wolf lying on the ground. Its size was abnormally large, at least enough to match a two-storey house. Even from a distance he could tell the beast’s injuries were severe, and he had no time to waste pondering the man’s cryptic actions. Kneeling by the wounds in the wolf’s stomach he examined them to see what he might be able to do to repair the damage. He knew not whether the wolf was friend or foe or even still alive after being inflicted with such grievous wounds, but there would be time for finding the answers to those questions after he had done all he could.
“Do you know any magic that can heal him?” he called out to Treanna.
“Yeah. Do me a favor and move out of the way.” Treanna took up her hand. It glowed with markings that were etched with her skin. The wolf lashed out and roared at them at her presence, and Calamity Witch could be seen making a frown at this reaction.
Roland sympathized with the wolf. From his own experience he knew how painful it had been to have minor wounds repaired with healing magic and could only imagine the torment that would be experienced by the repair of such large injuries. Standing his ground, he stared unflinching into the wolf’s eyes to try to see if there was intelligence beneath the current animalistic rage.
When Treanna placed a hand on the wound, the wolf growled. The wound could be seen closing at a very slow pace while the outflow of blood ceased. The White Wolf did not sound as though it was in pain but sounded more as if speaking to a companion.
For the first time, Treanna was heard giving out a similar growl, communicating with the beast. Their exchanges continued, much to the exclusion of Roland from this talk. All was going well as they spoke with composure until the passing of some minutes. The Witch of Calamity got up abruptly and shouted.
“I am not one of her broods!”
“Your ears and pale skin are proof, wench! Don’t deny the truth, for I have once met the Eight Zodiac before!”
Telepathy—an ability to speak out the thoughts via ancient magic. As Treanna spoke in a different language, so did the wolf.
“No… I…” Treanna looked down at her palm with uncertainty. The markings written in Latin on her skin ceased to exist as the glow was unlit with the concentration of mana coming to a stop.
“If I may interject, what does her appearance have to do with the Eighth Zodiac?” Roland asked, directing the question at the wolf and stepping forward. Virgo? He did not know the circumstances of their conversation, but seeing Treanna becoming uncomfortable, he felt he had to try to step in.
“The Zodiac are the primordial parents of the mutated forms of man. It is the proof that they have ascended themselves from their former human shells. Their descendants carry these traits… as if making it clear to the mortals who they are—so that they would know their place and the difference in status. Lack of knowledge, however, changes all of these factors in this time and age.” The wolf seemed to scoff at Treanna. “Her sight itself is a sign of ignorance—arrogance!”
The revelations revealed sent Roland’s mind racing. If that is where the term †˜Descendant’ comes from, does that mean the Celestial Spirits were also once human? Unless it is just an older term for the representatives created by them. But if the Zodiacs are the source of elf features, what link could Treanna have with them…? He glanced over at her, his normally indomitable master looking very small in her insecurity. He shook his head to clear away the stray thoughts. What mattered at the moment was defending her. Personally he agreed with the wolf about the inherent arrogance of the system spoken of, but in his experience dealing with Sherlock and Treanna, it was not present. Turning back to the wolf he spoke, trying to choose his words carefully to avoid directly contradicting him.
“Even if her traits allude to a system of inherent arrogance, she is not part of it. I may have not known her long yet but she has treated me well and I would stake my honor to defend her.”
“Heh, that is just what I’d expect of a child. Now begone from my lair lest I vanquish you both. Do not underestimate me simply because I am injured.”
“We’re not here for a fight though we have traveled a long way to seek you out. Though I guess saying †˜we’ would be a bit inaccurate. In reality I was set on finding you and dragged her along so I would have a better chance at surviving. May we please stay to speak with you for a while?”
“Tch, parasite.” The White Wolf sat down and seemed to lean against the wall behind him, letting out a breath. “Everyone intrudes my home as they damn please regardless of my will since the ancient times anyway.”
You try finding and surviving this hidden, magically sealing, golem infested, bottomless pit containing underground lair with no entrance on your own in my shoes. This is starting off quite badly. Roland smiled and bowed, showing no sign of his thoughts on his face.
“Thank you. If there was a way to have contacted you and obtain your permission in advance I sincerely apologize for not taking that route. Getting directly to the point I am here for two reasons. First is to investigate the identity of the legendary White Wolf, that I am assuming is you, and second is to hopefully borrow your power in becoming a Heartbeast.”
“Why would I prepare a method for one to speak to me when I wished to indulge my solitude? And if that is all you want then the answer is simple: I refuse. Now go away.”
“May I know why you have such a strong desire for solitude?” Roland asked casually, ignoring the request to leave.
“I said get out, child.”
Roland let out a long sigh. This is getting nowhere.
“Is there nothing I can do to obtain your acknowledgment? I didn’t come here with such a weak resolve to give up after just a few rebukes. I wish to be amicable and if you’ll lend me just a bit of your time, I swear I will never bother you again. Otherwise, the only way I’ll be leaving is if I’m fleeing for my life.” Swallowing his pride, Roland got on his hands and knees and prostrated himself. “Please at least give me a chance to prove myself before you chase me away.”
The wolf grumbled and looked away.
“Fine, have it your way.”
“Thank you.” Roland got back to his feet, brushing snow off his clothes. “To start may I know your name?”
“Fenrir.”
Roland could not resist making a small gesture of victory upon hearing the wolf speak the name he was hoping for.
“The same Fenrir of Norse mythology?” he asked, waiting with bated breath for the wolf’s confirmation or denial.
“They label it as such nowadays? If you are looking for the same wolf who was tortured by the Gods, that would be me.”
Roland fought the urge to celebrate, finding it would be inappropriate upon hearing Fenrir mention his tragic past, but inside he was ecstatic. He bowed his head respectfully before speaking.
“I am sorry for any earlier disrespect, I’ve wanted to meet you ever since I heard your legend as a child. My pity may not mean anything to you but I’ve always thought your plight sorrowful, particularly your binding. Having done nothing wrong, tricked and bound just because they feared you based on a prophesy and your father. It’s a little embarrassing to admit but as a child I dreamed of finding and freeing you.”
The wolf blinked at Roland. “I am free, thank you. I am in no need of aid, and I certainly don’t want anyone’s pity.”
“Figured, still wanted you to know how much I have looked forward to meeting you though.”
“And? Surely you don’t believe all the drivel they feed you in your childhood, do you?”
“Of course not. That is why I wanted to meet you myself.” Learned my lesson on separating legend from life back with Solomon. “A bit grumpier than I imagined but dealing with uninvited visitors and nearly being killed just a moment ago, you can hardly be faulted for that.”
“Tch! That won’t be enough to kill me.”
“Let’s call it grievously wounded then, though I imagine that would still be enough to put a damper on one’s mood, but I digress. I came here not to argue semantics but to somehow earn your acknowledgement to borrow your power. While it would have been a simpler matter to gather some of your spilled blood and try to escape while you were recuperating, such an act would have been dishonourable and disrespectful to you whose power I have traveled here to seek.”
“You want my power… of all things? How would you attain my power via my blood?”
“Specifically it may be something more akin to integrating your essence rather than borrowing your power. I am being taught an ancient magic that involves infusing myself with the blood of a powerful beast. Having been somewhat of a fan of yours since childhood I could not resist seeking you out for it when given the choice.”
“I have fulfilled enough selfish wishes to last millenniums worth of time—I am not interested in doing so again.”
“I am not so arrogant as to seek you out believing you would grant my request simply because I ask for it. If I cannot somehow earn your acknowledgement to receive your blessing in this endeavor then let us make an exchange. I know not what I might be able to offer but I believe I have made my determination quite clear and will fulfill any request I am capable of.” Which hopefully is not simply to leave.
“It is not a matter of acknowledgement or exchange, brat. I simply have no intention of doing anything for anyone. Be it parting with mine own blood, my skin or my honor…”
“Is there anything, anything at all, that might cause you to reconsider?” Roland asked with a sigh.
“If it is something you wish to have—fight for it.”
“Straightforward and simple.” A small smile appeared on Roland’s face as he stepped back to create space between them. “I hold no delusions of grandeur regarding my strength but still it would be dishonorable to begin while you are still injured. Shall we begin once your wound has healed?”
“Heh, we may begin as soon as your partner there is able to free me of my agonies.”
The Witch of Calamity, who had been brooding about her fate all this time looked up. “Only if I get to smash you to bits along with my student.”
“Fine by me.”
As much as I hate to admit it that is likely the only way I’ll stand a fighting chance. Swallowing his pride, Roland nodded to Treanna.
“Very well, glad to have you on my side.” With the terms of the match settled, he sat nearby in the snow. The conversation with Fenrir completed, the anxiety he had been suppressing while facing the great beast returned, and he could not stop his body from trembling slightly with a mix of fear and excitement.
“Alright, that should do,” Treanna started, retracting her palm from Fenrir’s wound.
The White Wolf’s injuries were not completely healed. The power of the Animal Form magic was a rather basic spell but with the Archmage’s latent abilities, and the particular spell she knew to fix the wound of animals; the process was at least ten times faster than that of an ordinary user of the same Form.
Despite the harsh words of Fenrir, it appeared to be the case that he didn’t mind a so-called “brood” of Virgo tending to his wounds. At the sight of a battle, the wolf would disregard any factors, even those relating to his own pride.
“That shall do,” Fenrir groaned, the wounds now healed, he felt as good as new, and thus stood up, looking down at the pair.
Stepping back from the White Wolf, Calamity Witch concentrated, an evergreen aura ran along her skin, her deep green eye reverting to its original state, and her body cleansed of the “stance” spell of the Lost Form of Bjornaer. This would allow her to use her other spells once more. She stretched her fingers. Cracking of bones were heard as she massaged her knuckles, taking a battle-ready stance.
With an affirmative nod, Roland got to his feet. Taking a deep breath to center himself, he pounded on his legs to stop their trembling, but he almost fell over due to the slipperiness of the floor. The time for idle thoughts such as fear or admiration over, the great wolf was now simply a foe to face with all his strength. Reaching into his jacket, he withdrew a large knife attached to a length of rope and got into a stance alongside Treanna.
“Let’s go, kiddo!” Treanna said as the White Wolf howled, a storm erupting all around the caverns. An aura of evergreen surrounded her, the right eye that held the color of deep green reverted to its original state; her eye was cleansed, sealing the Lost Form of Heartbeast.
At the wolf’s howl, Roland charged straight towards Fenrir, arm raised ahead of him to ward off the buffeting wind and snow. Approaching the front, he dropped back on the ice to slide narrowly beneath a swipe of Fenrir’s massive paws and flung his weapon at the wolf’s undefended throat. The fur of the wolf clattered softly with the knife as if they were made of a certain brand of tender steel, before making a light cut on the skin of Fenrir. Blood leaked just barely and he could swear that the wolf grinned at him.
Letting down his jaws, Fenrir unleashed his breath upon the pair of adversaries. A cold breeze blew, soon shaping itself into a perilous blizzard that could very well sweep a town dry in but moments.
Sweeping his arm upwards, a makeshift wall of ice rose from the frozen floor before Roland, but it lasted mere moments before giving way and he was blown back to the bosom of his Master, who could only sigh and move him aside, letting him fall on his back instead. Her mood was particularly worse today. So cold…
Before Roland could bring himself back up, his Master placed her heel against the solid icy floor. One would expect a resounding clack, but what was heard instead was the herald of a total disaster—it was no surprise that her moniker implied as such. Cracks formed under her feet and the ground shook, tremors rupturing the ice underneath the layer they stood upon. A chorus of all the fragile substances losing their original shape and form rang ceaselessly, making it seem as though the world was ending. At the same time, glacial spikes impaled the White Wolf as a result, being forced out from the floor thanks to the powerful pressure of the Archmage’s heel.
Fenrir shouted with great anger, demonstrating his strength. The glacial pillars torn apart with brute strength alone, he roared as the grass around the battlefield grew, a product of the Archmage’s Wizard’s Sigil. The mage smiled as a hunter would when the deer would be in the perfect location for making a shot.
Third time's the charm.
Seizing the opening, Roland planted both his hands firmly on the ground and sent a wave of mana coursing towards Fenrir. Unlike his previous two attempts of the spell against the golems, this one erupted in a massive geyser, the force of which sent even the huge wolf skyward.
Treanna’s hands joined for a resounding clap before her well-endowed chest, the grass sprouting forth with terrifying length as they reached for the God Eater that was Fenrir, wrapping, and eventually constricting the creature. The wolf struggled with primal desperate; thrashing about to be free as if he was dealing with Gleipnir once more—the caverns shook as if in fear from its thunderous roars.
Undaunted by the wolf’s thrashing, Roland ran nimbly along one of the many vines and leapt at the wolf. Learning from his previous attack, this time he held the blade firmly with both hands and thrust it into the wolf with all his weight behind it.
“Do not underestimate me!” Fenrir gave yet another thunderous shout.
A burst of mana erupted from the beast and the vine-like strands of grass burned as though they were on fire. Gracefully, he landed upon the floor of ice that was now full of cracks thanks to the spell of Calamity Witch. The wolf flapped its fur, giving away the myriad drops of water that inhabited its fur thanks to the geyser.
However, the Witch gave Fenrir no time to launch a counter attack. As soon as she saw the gust of blizzards converging before its mouth, her heel thrust hard against the frozen field with such force that a network of lines formed, generating a maze—at least a pattern of it. It was comparable to a depiction of a spider web as the ice parted under her feet as if they were mere glass, and the entire field was thus torn apart. All of them fell as soon as this action was taken, and the spell was far too powerful for the cavern grounds to hold them.
Falling deeper into the frozen earth, they soon landed upon the largest chunk of ice that barely remained unscathed. They had fallen into the abyss, and this pillar was the final piece of land remaining. On its top was mere field of fifteen meters in length but it was sturdy enough for them to continue. Rains of frosty shards fell unceasingly but to them—the battle held more prominence.
Roland could spot more injuries on the wolf immediately, the shards of ice and the tremors having dealt more injuries than he himself could deal.
Yet despite the efforts of his Master, the one thing she couldn’t stop the wolf from doing was gathering the whirlwind of ice before his mouth. An orb formed from this collection of mana and natural frozen particles.
“Freeze and shatter!” Quickly gathering his mana, Roland generated his own icy orb between his palms and thrust it forward, sending an amorphous beam of freezing water at the magical singularity being created by Fenrir, but the spell was swept away by the vortex of winds swirling around the wolf.
Treanna set about casting magic. “O guardians of the evergreen forests. I call upon thee!” Roots and vines materialized under her command and came to aid in providing defense and protection to the two as it was deemed impossible to put a stop to the White Wolf’s casting. A layer of ice too, formed as Roland gathered his hands before him. When the powerful winds that could easily rival those of a cyclone were launched from the wolf, Roland quickly learned that these spells were not enough to restrain the force of the double White Wind. The winds perilous and grave, they shattered his shield of ice as they did the Thorny Wall that his Master had erected.
As soon as the wind touched the skin of Roland, he could feel it being covered with ice immediately. Before he knew it, Treanna stood vigil before him, suffering the rest of the blizzard in his stead. The same evergreen aura seemed to shroud her form, and he would likely remember the green in a world dyed purely white with snow and ice like a beacon of hope for the times to come.
The skin on her hand took on the shade of deep brown like the earth and the veins popped; the aura of green focused upon her fist as she held the power of said hope. Bursting into a dash, she braved through the blizzard of the God Eater wolf. Despite sending the wave of frosty death through his breath, the wolf spoke thus with telepathy:
“How dare you?!”
“Take this, you overgrown wolf!”
The Supreme spell Terra Fist was active, and she dipped said fist onto his unguarded throat, after grabbing the pawn that tried to slash at her. Before the wolf could even think of retracting the paw, the Witch crushed very bones with unnatural strength. Thereafter, the uppercut forced the jaws shut and the icy winds of doom with it, making Fenrir give away a slight groan of pain as the mana of the earth spread throughout its body, infecting the many cells of the creature.
The legendary God Eater could hardly even move by the time the effects of the spell had ended.
With the blizzard thus silenced and shut off, the victory of the pair was secured, and so Treanna sighed a breath of relief while the White Wolf laid on the corner of the pillar’s top they stood upon. She set her sight upon the defeated wolf.
“You may have eaten a God before, but I’d prefer it if you don’t underestimate the Administrator of the Space Police.” She bat an eye and let out words of mockery, “Oh yeah, and a descendant of the Eighth Zodiac too.”
“Tch, I see that the talents of your ancestors dwells well in you too.”
“I see you want more of this.” The Witch cracked her knuckles, while the wolf wondered just what type of a witch would use their fist instead of a broom.
“But very well, seeing as you two have won, I have no reason to refuse. Take my blood if you will,” the wolf said, giving Roland a glance.
“Thank you.” Picking himself off the ground where he fell after taking the brunt of the last white wind from the wolf, Roland walked over to the wolf. Withdrawing a vial out from his pocket, he held it beneath one of the wolf’s many cuts, letting the blood spilling out slowly drip into it. Though he obtained what he came there for he was unsatisfied, frustrated by his weakness again. Even at my best I was more of a spectator than a serious combatant in the battle… Once the bottle was full, he capped it with a stopper and placed it back into his pocket before walking back to the front of the wolf.
“Though we were opponents moments ago, will you let us heal your wounds again? Provided my master is willing to do so,” Roland asked, glancing to Treanna.
Treanna faced away. “He is a big guy, he can heal on his own.”
Roland looked back to Fenrir to see his reaction, but there was no response, as if he was simply waiting for him to do what he was supposed to do. Having offered what he could to no avail Roland sighed and turned to leave.
“If you’re sure.”
“Had a feeling you were about to do something like that,” Roland spoke, brushing snow off his clothes. Though a bit more warning would have been appreciated. “Was I out for long?”
“Some minutes. Had a nice dream about my cleavage?” his Master asked with a wink.
Roland thought he had almost managed to get used to his Master’s appearance, but the comment brought her bountiful assets back to the forefront of his mind causing him to look away with a blush. He responded with a noncommittal, ”N-No…”
“How boring.” Treanna clenched her fist and had her knuckles bang against the icy wall, breaking it into small pieces in an instant. Roland could see the ice slowly reforming before him. “Seems like this is the reason why no exits can be found… or entrances, for that matter.”
“An elaborate labyrinth made to never have a way out… Seems like it was designed to keep something permanently wandering within it.”
“It may just be a poor little puppy wanting to be left alone too, don’t you think?”
“Maybe. Though in that scenario the labyrinth seems to be a bit excessive considering how this place was already hidden away. But if the latter does turn out to be the case, seems we’ll owe him an apology for breaking into his home as we did.”
The Master broke the reformed frozen wall again. “Anyway, the deed is done. Let’s go.”
The two escaped from the room that they were locked in, and thus a cavern unfolded before their views. They couldn’t tell where the light was coming from, but despite being underground, the walls were strangely visible to the naked eyes.
After a few steps, Roland came to realize that the floor was very slippery, and if he’d get into a battle he’d need to use his abilities as an Aquam mage to his advantage. Looking at his Master, all seemed painfully well on her side. The entire cave that they were in appeared to be hollow and empty, and it didn’t make the situation any better that there was no passage visible in any direction. It was simply an empty expanse surrounding the pair.
“Seems this place is less a labyrinth than a series of rooms connected by magical ice.” Roland walked to the edge of the cavern and tried knocking on a wall to see if the area behind it was hollow. His investigation was inconclusive, and if there was anything behind the ice, it was too thick to tell. Taking another look at the ice upon which he stood, he noticed there was water flowing beneath. Returning to Treanna’s side, he reported his findings.
“The walls of ice of this cavern seem to be too thick to find a path without breaking them aimlessly but the water flowing beneath us seems as though they can lead somewhere.” As he spoke, he prepared himself to be not caught unaware if she did suddenly smash the ground beneath them again.
“Let’s follow this stream then…” Treanna looked down at the floor, and it appeared that the current was indeed flowing somewhere.
Their eyes traced the direction of the running water, and it appeared to run east to them. Calamity Witch followed this trail, and they soon turned themselves before a wall.
“Now, whether to break the floor or the wall…”
“I would opt for the wall. It’s hard to tell how far we would fall after breaking the floor.” Winding up, Roland struck the wall with his all his might in an attempt to mimic how his master had broken the previous walls only to get nothing but a bruised fist for his efforts.
“How do you make such destructive power look so easy?” he asked as he rubbed his hand.
“Like this?” The floor was broken, albeit all they could see up ahead was more ice to shatter. The Master’s fist hardly appeared to be red. In fact, Roland noted that there was none upon closer inspection. “Hoho, this is just the rewards for hard work.”
“Another item on the long list of things to try to learn from you I guess.” Going up to the next wall, he tried again. Getting into a stance he pulled his arm back and threw a flawless straight with all his might but again got nothing but a few minor cracks and a bruise on his other hand for his efforts. “Still, I feel bad being of almost no help after dragging you here to help me.” He spoke as he nursed his other hand.
“Your damned fault for not picking the good old ancient dragon like me.”
Roland stopped and a blank look appeared on his face. “I never actually considered the possibility of simply choosing the same creature,” hurriedly adding after, “but hey, now that we’re already here doesn’t it excite you to investigate a legend?”
“Nope, not really. Only lunatics like you get that excitement. Then again, people wouldn’t learn much without you folks, so I guess weirdos can come in handy, huh?” Well, I was like him but who cares? Thank God I moved on from that lunacy!
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The Archmage sent another fist against the icy walls and their path ahead was paved, revealing yet a new section of the cavern. There were various pillars of ice ahead of them as they progressed deeper into the labyrinth.
They skirted the pillars and looked past it. A large expanse was revealed as the Master and student looked down at an endless pit. Waterfalls could be spotted, and it turned out that the running water they witnessed had its trail end here. The other side of the wall beyond the apparent abyss was linked by only a frail-looking bridge of ice. This bridge was at least a hundred meters long, and unlike any other bridges Roland knew—aside from the one in the Faerie Realm he saw—there was no railing. One would have to walk behind the other to pass it, for they would fall otherwise.
“Hey researcher, you wanna try going down to check?” Treanna asked sarcastically.
“I prefer to at least be able to see the bottom of any abyss I leap into,” Roland quipped back. “Though hopefully a lack of sure footing doesn’t force me to investigate it anyway.”
“You could just see where it leads you, though. Like, after jumping down. I’m sure it’s safe to do that.”
“Well, with all those waterfalls pouring into it, the bottom probably is flooded so the way down might not be so bad. But climbing all the way back up after being dunked in freezing water might just be a bit of an issue.”
“I thought the researchers cared not of danger? I mean look at you, you came all the way down here. It’s not much of a difference now if you go a little more below, is there?”
“If I didn’t care about danger I wouldn’t have begged you to come with me. Reckless is one thing but I’d rather not push my luck with suicidal.”
“At least play along sometimes, God dammit.”
“Every duo needs a straight man.”
“Oh I’m sure I played that role better than you in this country.”
“Maybe, but I hope you’ll at least let me hold onto a bit of my pride amongst your teasing.”
The nonchalant conversation made him smile, clearing the anxiety he had felt when first looking upon the abyss they had to cross.
“Pride and jokes don’t fall hand in hand, though.” Treanna turned to face behind them. “I wonder if they agree with me too.”
Roland too, turned, and found that the pillars that they walked past had transformed into icy golems soundlessly. Their yellow eyes glowing in the darkness of the cavern, they gave a low growl, leering at them as the pair noted their presence.
“I doubt they have much of a sense of humor or pride.”
“Hush, straight man.”
Engaging the ice golems, Roland kneeled and placed his hand on the frozen ground. Sending a burst of mana through his palm, an ornate ice fountain slowly rose up beneath the golems. Not quite what I was going for…
“We decorating the golems now?”
“Just my attempt at being the funny man. Let me try this again.” Putting both his hands on the ground and focusing more acutely than before, he attempted his spell again, determined not to make a fool of himself twice. Alas, it was not to be and the spell went out of control once more creating another ice fountain.
Roland could now see other golems crawling out of the icy walls, their enemies multiplying very fast as he was running his parlor tricks, wasting mana all the while.
Treanna sighed. “You go on ahead, I’ll hold these off.”
“Sorry,” he muttered downcast, unable to meet her eyes after his pitiful display, and hurried across the bridge.
He tried not to look down at the abyss below them. Below them was absolute darkness where water eternally ran down. The echoes of the battle caused vibrations underneath the fragile bridge he was on and thus his tension spiked, yet he carried onwards.
When he finally crossed over to the other side, Roland found golems of various shapes forming from the floors and walls on both sides. Straight ahead lay a path that was extremely thin, but he could take solace in the fact that he could still go onwards. It’d be quite the grievous moment if they’d come across another dead end here.
He heard a barbaric roar from behind and saw his Master flying across the cold lone space, a green and gruff wing spawned from behind her right shoulder on her back. Her arms were long and extended, possessing now the talons of the dragon that carried the golems up and released them into the abyss underneath the bridge. Not all golems were taken care of by the time she took to the air and reached Roland on the other side; it didn’t really matter. She’d think about it if they’d have to return to the side later, or they came chasing. It appeared that the golems were going to form endlessly as the entire place was formed of ice, anyway—as long as they’d stay where they’d spawn. The best choice of action would be to leave such dangerous parts of the cavern.
Treanna’s arm sweeped across the floor before the apprentice could make a move, sending the newly formed golems out into the pit below as well. As she landed with grace, her wings eased back into her body, and her left arm reverted to its original form while the right arm only decreased its massive size. She cracked her knuckles and a creaking noise of her bones echoed far.
“You alright there, kiddo?”
When Treanna asked, Roland noted that her right pupil was completely green, all the way to its edges past its lens.
“Yeah, just disappointed in myself for such a pitiful showing.” My first time using magic in front of her and I just had to botch it… twice.
“We all have these moments.” Treanna looked up to the path ahead of them. “You’d best remember your moments of shame if you don’t want to repeat them.”
“Duly noted. Let’s hurry ahead before I have the chance to create any more though.”
Roland and Treanna thus progressed ahead. A pair of golems were forming along their path and the Archmage pulverized them with powerful kicks. The slim path was as narrow as the bridge that he had crossed some moments ago. Due to this narrowness Treanna had to go in first before Roland snuck into it behind her.
Soon, they found a large expanse unfolding before them. No golems were noted, letting the mentor of Roland sigh.
On the walls, Roland could see large pillars of ice. The floor here appeared to be particularly thick, as he could find no running water under them. At the same time, it was unceasingly smooth, as if someone painstakingly made it that way; a field of smooth ice where true control of balance would be required due to it being possibly slippery.
While examining the lair—winds full of snow blew unceremoniously—Roland could pick out bits of mana in the air. This was followed by a loud howl—the cry of the White Wolf.
Roland saw a large wolf—whose fur was as white as the snow—dyed crimson in blood, its skin was ripped open in several places, mostly around its stomach. A blade was pulled out and thus came more blood with it. Before the acclaimed wolf was a figure in jet black. When he turned to the visitors of the lair, they found him to be an Asian man wearing Eastern attire with an eyepatch over his right eye. He held in his hand the katana; it was infused with mana from what one could see.
Roland’s first instinct was to rush over to help the wolf, but he held back. The unknown armed man before them had the skill to take down the beast, suggesting it would be ill-advised to make any sudden movements. Judging by the man’s weapon, it seemed he was Japanese, though the wind and snow made it difficult to accurately discern his ethnicity at a distance. Gambling on that deduction, Roland called out to him in what he hoped was the man’s native tongue.
“Who are you and why have you attacked the White Wolf?” Roland questioned. As he spoke his hand stealthily slipped into his jacket, tracing the edge of the small blade that was hidden there. Eyeing the stranger carefully, he prepared for if the man opted for a physical response rather than a verbal one.
He could see the man whip the blood off his blade after calling out to him; the stormy gale ending at the same time. His sword sheathed, he turned to Roland for one look and then turned back to the wall of ice behind the wolf.
“You are a little too late, boy.”
With those words, he walked up to the ice and touched it, his hand sinking into it. Slowly, he was absorbed into the ice. Soon, Roland could no longer see him.
As soon as the man disappeared, Roland rushed over to the wolf lying on the ground. Its size was abnormally large, at least enough to match a two-storey house. Even from a distance he could tell the beast’s injuries were severe, and he had no time to waste pondering the man’s cryptic actions. Kneeling by the wounds in the wolf’s stomach he examined them to see what he might be able to do to repair the damage. He knew not whether the wolf was friend or foe or even still alive after being inflicted with such grievous wounds, but there would be time for finding the answers to those questions after he had done all he could.
“Do you know any magic that can heal him?” he called out to Treanna.
“Yeah. Do me a favor and move out of the way.” Treanna took up her hand. It glowed with markings that were etched with her skin. The wolf lashed out and roared at them at her presence, and Calamity Witch could be seen making a frown at this reaction.
Roland sympathized with the wolf. From his own experience he knew how painful it had been to have minor wounds repaired with healing magic and could only imagine the torment that would be experienced by the repair of such large injuries. Standing his ground, he stared unflinching into the wolf’s eyes to try to see if there was intelligence beneath the current animalistic rage.
When Treanna placed a hand on the wound, the wolf growled. The wound could be seen closing at a very slow pace while the outflow of blood ceased. The White Wolf did not sound as though it was in pain but sounded more as if speaking to a companion.
For the first time, Treanna was heard giving out a similar growl, communicating with the beast. Their exchanges continued, much to the exclusion of Roland from this talk. All was going well as they spoke with composure until the passing of some minutes. The Witch of Calamity got up abruptly and shouted.
“I am not one of her broods!”
“Your ears and pale skin are proof, wench! Don’t deny the truth, for I have once met the Eight Zodiac before!”
Telepathy—an ability to speak out the thoughts via ancient magic. As Treanna spoke in a different language, so did the wolf.
“No… I…” Treanna looked down at her palm with uncertainty. The markings written in Latin on her skin ceased to exist as the glow was unlit with the concentration of mana coming to a stop.
“If I may interject, what does her appearance have to do with the Eighth Zodiac?” Roland asked, directing the question at the wolf and stepping forward. Virgo? He did not know the circumstances of their conversation, but seeing Treanna becoming uncomfortable, he felt he had to try to step in.
“The Zodiac are the primordial parents of the mutated forms of man. It is the proof that they have ascended themselves from their former human shells. Their descendants carry these traits… as if making it clear to the mortals who they are—so that they would know their place and the difference in status. Lack of knowledge, however, changes all of these factors in this time and age.” The wolf seemed to scoff at Treanna. “Her sight itself is a sign of ignorance—arrogance!”
The revelations revealed sent Roland’s mind racing. If that is where the term †˜Descendant’ comes from, does that mean the Celestial Spirits were also once human? Unless it is just an older term for the representatives created by them. But if the Zodiacs are the source of elf features, what link could Treanna have with them…? He glanced over at her, his normally indomitable master looking very small in her insecurity. He shook his head to clear away the stray thoughts. What mattered at the moment was defending her. Personally he agreed with the wolf about the inherent arrogance of the system spoken of, but in his experience dealing with Sherlock and Treanna, it was not present. Turning back to the wolf he spoke, trying to choose his words carefully to avoid directly contradicting him.
“Even if her traits allude to a system of inherent arrogance, she is not part of it. I may have not known her long yet but she has treated me well and I would stake my honor to defend her.”
“Heh, that is just what I’d expect of a child. Now begone from my lair lest I vanquish you both. Do not underestimate me simply because I am injured.”
“We’re not here for a fight though we have traveled a long way to seek you out. Though I guess saying †˜we’ would be a bit inaccurate. In reality I was set on finding you and dragged her along so I would have a better chance at surviving. May we please stay to speak with you for a while?”
“Tch, parasite.” The White Wolf sat down and seemed to lean against the wall behind him, letting out a breath. “Everyone intrudes my home as they damn please regardless of my will since the ancient times anyway.”
You try finding and surviving this hidden, magically sealing, golem infested, bottomless pit containing underground lair with no entrance on your own in my shoes. This is starting off quite badly. Roland smiled and bowed, showing no sign of his thoughts on his face.
“Thank you. If there was a way to have contacted you and obtain your permission in advance I sincerely apologize for not taking that route. Getting directly to the point I am here for two reasons. First is to investigate the identity of the legendary White Wolf, that I am assuming is you, and second is to hopefully borrow your power in becoming a Heartbeast.”
“Why would I prepare a method for one to speak to me when I wished to indulge my solitude? And if that is all you want then the answer is simple: I refuse. Now go away.”
“May I know why you have such a strong desire for solitude?” Roland asked casually, ignoring the request to leave.
“I said get out, child.”
Roland let out a long sigh. This is getting nowhere.
“Is there nothing I can do to obtain your acknowledgment? I didn’t come here with such a weak resolve to give up after just a few rebukes. I wish to be amicable and if you’ll lend me just a bit of your time, I swear I will never bother you again. Otherwise, the only way I’ll be leaving is if I’m fleeing for my life.” Swallowing his pride, Roland got on his hands and knees and prostrated himself. “Please at least give me a chance to prove myself before you chase me away.”
The wolf grumbled and looked away.
“Fine, have it your way.”
“Thank you.” Roland got back to his feet, brushing snow off his clothes. “To start may I know your name?”
“Fenrir.”
Roland could not resist making a small gesture of victory upon hearing the wolf speak the name he was hoping for.
“The same Fenrir of Norse mythology?” he asked, waiting with bated breath for the wolf’s confirmation or denial.
“They label it as such nowadays? If you are looking for the same wolf who was tortured by the Gods, that would be me.”
Roland fought the urge to celebrate, finding it would be inappropriate upon hearing Fenrir mention his tragic past, but inside he was ecstatic. He bowed his head respectfully before speaking.
“I am sorry for any earlier disrespect, I’ve wanted to meet you ever since I heard your legend as a child. My pity may not mean anything to you but I’ve always thought your plight sorrowful, particularly your binding. Having done nothing wrong, tricked and bound just because they feared you based on a prophesy and your father. It’s a little embarrassing to admit but as a child I dreamed of finding and freeing you.”
The wolf blinked at Roland. “I am free, thank you. I am in no need of aid, and I certainly don’t want anyone’s pity.”
“Figured, still wanted you to know how much I have looked forward to meeting you though.”
“And? Surely you don’t believe all the drivel they feed you in your childhood, do you?”
“Of course not. That is why I wanted to meet you myself.” Learned my lesson on separating legend from life back with Solomon. “A bit grumpier than I imagined but dealing with uninvited visitors and nearly being killed just a moment ago, you can hardly be faulted for that.”
“Tch! That won’t be enough to kill me.”
“Let’s call it grievously wounded then, though I imagine that would still be enough to put a damper on one’s mood, but I digress. I came here not to argue semantics but to somehow earn your acknowledgement to borrow your power. While it would have been a simpler matter to gather some of your spilled blood and try to escape while you were recuperating, such an act would have been dishonourable and disrespectful to you whose power I have traveled here to seek.”
“You want my power… of all things? How would you attain my power via my blood?”
“Specifically it may be something more akin to integrating your essence rather than borrowing your power. I am being taught an ancient magic that involves infusing myself with the blood of a powerful beast. Having been somewhat of a fan of yours since childhood I could not resist seeking you out for it when given the choice.”
“I have fulfilled enough selfish wishes to last millenniums worth of time—I am not interested in doing so again.”
“I am not so arrogant as to seek you out believing you would grant my request simply because I ask for it. If I cannot somehow earn your acknowledgement to receive your blessing in this endeavor then let us make an exchange. I know not what I might be able to offer but I believe I have made my determination quite clear and will fulfill any request I am capable of.” Which hopefully is not simply to leave.
“It is not a matter of acknowledgement or exchange, brat. I simply have no intention of doing anything for anyone. Be it parting with mine own blood, my skin or my honor…”
“Is there anything, anything at all, that might cause you to reconsider?” Roland asked with a sigh.
“If it is something you wish to have—fight for it.”
“Straightforward and simple.” A small smile appeared on Roland’s face as he stepped back to create space between them. “I hold no delusions of grandeur regarding my strength but still it would be dishonorable to begin while you are still injured. Shall we begin once your wound has healed?”
“Heh, we may begin as soon as your partner there is able to free me of my agonies.”
The Witch of Calamity, who had been brooding about her fate all this time looked up. “Only if I get to smash you to bits along with my student.”
“Fine by me.”
As much as I hate to admit it that is likely the only way I’ll stand a fighting chance. Swallowing his pride, Roland nodded to Treanna.
“Very well, glad to have you on my side.” With the terms of the match settled, he sat nearby in the snow. The conversation with Fenrir completed, the anxiety he had been suppressing while facing the great beast returned, and he could not stop his body from trembling slightly with a mix of fear and excitement.
***
“Alright, that should do,” Treanna started, retracting her palm from Fenrir’s wound.
The White Wolf’s injuries were not completely healed. The power of the Animal Form magic was a rather basic spell but with the Archmage’s latent abilities, and the particular spell she knew to fix the wound of animals; the process was at least ten times faster than that of an ordinary user of the same Form.
Despite the harsh words of Fenrir, it appeared to be the case that he didn’t mind a so-called “brood” of Virgo tending to his wounds. At the sight of a battle, the wolf would disregard any factors, even those relating to his own pride.
“That shall do,” Fenrir groaned, the wounds now healed, he felt as good as new, and thus stood up, looking down at the pair.
Stepping back from the White Wolf, Calamity Witch concentrated, an evergreen aura ran along her skin, her deep green eye reverting to its original state, and her body cleansed of the “stance” spell of the Lost Form of Bjornaer. This would allow her to use her other spells once more. She stretched her fingers. Cracking of bones were heard as she massaged her knuckles, taking a battle-ready stance.
With an affirmative nod, Roland got to his feet. Taking a deep breath to center himself, he pounded on his legs to stop their trembling, but he almost fell over due to the slipperiness of the floor. The time for idle thoughts such as fear or admiration over, the great wolf was now simply a foe to face with all his strength. Reaching into his jacket, he withdrew a large knife attached to a length of rope and got into a stance alongside Treanna.
“Let’s go, kiddo!” Treanna said as the White Wolf howled, a storm erupting all around the caverns. An aura of evergreen surrounded her, the right eye that held the color of deep green reverted to its original state; her eye was cleansed, sealing the Lost Form of Heartbeast.
At the wolf’s howl, Roland charged straight towards Fenrir, arm raised ahead of him to ward off the buffeting wind and snow. Approaching the front, he dropped back on the ice to slide narrowly beneath a swipe of Fenrir’s massive paws and flung his weapon at the wolf’s undefended throat. The fur of the wolf clattered softly with the knife as if they were made of a certain brand of tender steel, before making a light cut on the skin of Fenrir. Blood leaked just barely and he could swear that the wolf grinned at him.
Letting down his jaws, Fenrir unleashed his breath upon the pair of adversaries. A cold breeze blew, soon shaping itself into a perilous blizzard that could very well sweep a town dry in but moments.
Sweeping his arm upwards, a makeshift wall of ice rose from the frozen floor before Roland, but it lasted mere moments before giving way and he was blown back to the bosom of his Master, who could only sigh and move him aside, letting him fall on his back instead. Her mood was particularly worse today. So cold…
Before Roland could bring himself back up, his Master placed her heel against the solid icy floor. One would expect a resounding clack, but what was heard instead was the herald of a total disaster—it was no surprise that her moniker implied as such. Cracks formed under her feet and the ground shook, tremors rupturing the ice underneath the layer they stood upon. A chorus of all the fragile substances losing their original shape and form rang ceaselessly, making it seem as though the world was ending. At the same time, glacial spikes impaled the White Wolf as a result, being forced out from the floor thanks to the powerful pressure of the Archmage’s heel.
Fenrir shouted with great anger, demonstrating his strength. The glacial pillars torn apart with brute strength alone, he roared as the grass around the battlefield grew, a product of the Archmage’s Wizard’s Sigil. The mage smiled as a hunter would when the deer would be in the perfect location for making a shot.
Third time's the charm.
Seizing the opening, Roland planted both his hands firmly on the ground and sent a wave of mana coursing towards Fenrir. Unlike his previous two attempts of the spell against the golems, this one erupted in a massive geyser, the force of which sent even the huge wolf skyward.
Treanna’s hands joined for a resounding clap before her well-endowed chest, the grass sprouting forth with terrifying length as they reached for the God Eater that was Fenrir, wrapping, and eventually constricting the creature. The wolf struggled with primal desperate; thrashing about to be free as if he was dealing with Gleipnir once more—the caverns shook as if in fear from its thunderous roars.
Undaunted by the wolf’s thrashing, Roland ran nimbly along one of the many vines and leapt at the wolf. Learning from his previous attack, this time he held the blade firmly with both hands and thrust it into the wolf with all his weight behind it.
“Do not underestimate me!” Fenrir gave yet another thunderous shout.
A burst of mana erupted from the beast and the vine-like strands of grass burned as though they were on fire. Gracefully, he landed upon the floor of ice that was now full of cracks thanks to the spell of Calamity Witch. The wolf flapped its fur, giving away the myriad drops of water that inhabited its fur thanks to the geyser.
However, the Witch gave Fenrir no time to launch a counter attack. As soon as she saw the gust of blizzards converging before its mouth, her heel thrust hard against the frozen field with such force that a network of lines formed, generating a maze—at least a pattern of it. It was comparable to a depiction of a spider web as the ice parted under her feet as if they were mere glass, and the entire field was thus torn apart. All of them fell as soon as this action was taken, and the spell was far too powerful for the cavern grounds to hold them.
Falling deeper into the frozen earth, they soon landed upon the largest chunk of ice that barely remained unscathed. They had fallen into the abyss, and this pillar was the final piece of land remaining. On its top was mere field of fifteen meters in length but it was sturdy enough for them to continue. Rains of frosty shards fell unceasingly but to them—the battle held more prominence.
Roland could spot more injuries on the wolf immediately, the shards of ice and the tremors having dealt more injuries than he himself could deal.
Yet despite the efforts of his Master, the one thing she couldn’t stop the wolf from doing was gathering the whirlwind of ice before his mouth. An orb formed from this collection of mana and natural frozen particles.
“Freeze and shatter!” Quickly gathering his mana, Roland generated his own icy orb between his palms and thrust it forward, sending an amorphous beam of freezing water at the magical singularity being created by Fenrir, but the spell was swept away by the vortex of winds swirling around the wolf.
Treanna set about casting magic. “O guardians of the evergreen forests. I call upon thee!” Roots and vines materialized under her command and came to aid in providing defense and protection to the two as it was deemed impossible to put a stop to the White Wolf’s casting. A layer of ice too, formed as Roland gathered his hands before him. When the powerful winds that could easily rival those of a cyclone were launched from the wolf, Roland quickly learned that these spells were not enough to restrain the force of the double White Wind. The winds perilous and grave, they shattered his shield of ice as they did the Thorny Wall that his Master had erected.
As soon as the wind touched the skin of Roland, he could feel it being covered with ice immediately. Before he knew it, Treanna stood vigil before him, suffering the rest of the blizzard in his stead. The same evergreen aura seemed to shroud her form, and he would likely remember the green in a world dyed purely white with snow and ice like a beacon of hope for the times to come.
The skin on her hand took on the shade of deep brown like the earth and the veins popped; the aura of green focused upon her fist as she held the power of said hope. Bursting into a dash, she braved through the blizzard of the God Eater wolf. Despite sending the wave of frosty death through his breath, the wolf spoke thus with telepathy:
“How dare you?!”
“Take this, you overgrown wolf!”
The Supreme spell Terra Fist was active, and she dipped said fist onto his unguarded throat, after grabbing the pawn that tried to slash at her. Before the wolf could even think of retracting the paw, the Witch crushed very bones with unnatural strength. Thereafter, the uppercut forced the jaws shut and the icy winds of doom with it, making Fenrir give away a slight groan of pain as the mana of the earth spread throughout its body, infecting the many cells of the creature.
The legendary God Eater could hardly even move by the time the effects of the spell had ended.
With the blizzard thus silenced and shut off, the victory of the pair was secured, and so Treanna sighed a breath of relief while the White Wolf laid on the corner of the pillar’s top they stood upon. She set her sight upon the defeated wolf.
“You may have eaten a God before, but I’d prefer it if you don’t underestimate the Administrator of the Space Police.” She bat an eye and let out words of mockery, “Oh yeah, and a descendant of the Eighth Zodiac too.”
“Tch, I see that the talents of your ancestors dwells well in you too.”
“I see you want more of this.” The Witch cracked her knuckles, while the wolf wondered just what type of a witch would use their fist instead of a broom.
“But very well, seeing as you two have won, I have no reason to refuse. Take my blood if you will,” the wolf said, giving Roland a glance.
“Thank you.” Picking himself off the ground where he fell after taking the brunt of the last white wind from the wolf, Roland walked over to the wolf. Withdrawing a vial out from his pocket, he held it beneath one of the wolf’s many cuts, letting the blood spilling out slowly drip into it. Though he obtained what he came there for he was unsatisfied, frustrated by his weakness again. Even at my best I was more of a spectator than a serious combatant in the battle… Once the bottle was full, he capped it with a stopper and placed it back into his pocket before walking back to the front of the wolf.
“Though we were opponents moments ago, will you let us heal your wounds again? Provided my master is willing to do so,” Roland asked, glancing to Treanna.
Treanna faced away. “He is a big guy, he can heal on his own.”
Roland looked back to Fenrir to see his reaction, but there was no response, as if he was simply waiting for him to do what he was supposed to do. Having offered what he could to no avail Roland sighed and turned to leave.
“If you’re sure.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
(OOC: And back to England.)
The mother and child were at the Eridge Green, Sussex, facing the Eridge Castle from some distance away. This was the location of their next assassination mission. Sussex was the south-east rural county in England. This was where the Marquess of Abergavenny was located. His name was William Nevill. More specifically, he was the Earl of Abergavenny now. He was considered loyal to Queen Victoria, and was also an honourary Colonel of the West Kent Yeomanry.
“To think we would be assassinating such a famous figure…” Charlotte commented as she looked up to the mansion of the Earl. There seemed to be some guards, but it was not heavily guarded.
“You’ll get used to it. Now here’s the plan. He is probably in the tallest tower right there.” Weiss pointed at the tallest tower, with the lights still on in the middle. “He must still be awake since he’s that afraid. There are two ways that we can do this. First method is to come in guns blazing, second is we come in using my Commandment. Hiding within the walls and go directly into his room and quickly kill him before his reinforcements show up.”
“Then I suppose you are not killing the Earl with your sniper?”
“There’s no good vantage point, but I can still scan the building using my artificial eye. That castle is the only tall building here.”
“So you are going to be using a sword I assume?”
“Yes,“ Weiss showed her Gear Sword and continued. “I have some new tricks to test out too.” Weiss grinned.
Charlotte placed a hand and her fingers traced across the fine steel of the blade. It seemed like currents of electricity flowed silently after she did so.
“With this, we can inflict paralysis on him. Just in case.”
“Alright, now take my hand. We’re going underground.” Weiss offered her hand to her daughter.
“I shall be in the care of your capable hands then, Mother.”
“That’s just adorable.” Weiss took her daughter’s hand and activated her Commandment. They both sank underground. They both floated as if they were weightless. Weiss ran while holding her daughter’s hand. They both easily went past the security.
Inside the castle, they could spot many magical charms placed on the walls and even Weiss’ eye couldn’t distinguish between all of the heavy security setups. However, Charlotte’s left eye was special, as it was a Commandment itself, and she guided her mother to what was supposedly the study of the Earl. The study was full of shelves both left and right. There was a desk, behind which the Marquess was scribbling away on papers with haste, his face full of tension and worry.
Weiss unsheathed her blade from her back, and the gears started to spin albeit slowly. “Get ready, I’m going to surprise him,” Weiss whispered to Charlotte as they appeared from the ground.
She plunged in a matter of moment and tried to stab the Marquess’ heart, but his arm was in the way and managed to stop the blade midway. With a groan and a wave of magic, he tried to push Weiss back, but her natural resistance to magic nullified his application. He took out a pistol from his coat and shot at her repeatedly, making Weiss jump back.
The Earl chanted for magic and Charlotte’s left eye glowed navy-blue.
“All mana shall be expelled as per the decree of the ruler. No longer shall they commit taboo and invoke the name of false Gods.”
With her Commandment active, a blue wind blew inside the room, breaking the window from the sheer force. The Earl almost seemed to fall off due to it.
The gears on Weiss’ sword started to let out a high-pitched grinding noise as they spun with greater intensity; the maximum speed, in other words. Weiss held the hilt with both hands and delivered an upward diagonal slash, hitting the Marquess’ body.
The Marquess awkwardly stepped back with a big diagonal wound on his body. He tried to stand by the window but his hand slipped. He plummeted down the tall tower to his death.
“I suppose this was easier than we thought. Shall we retire for the night, mother?”
“I guess they were not as strong as I thought. Let’s go back.” Weiss took her daughter in her arms and sank into the ground, leaving the building as fast as they came.
The dying Marquess faced the sky, holding his heart and crying out in pain.
“Re...gi...nald… Vio...let… I leave… the rest… to you two…”
The mother and child were at the Eridge Green, Sussex, facing the Eridge Castle from some distance away. This was the location of their next assassination mission. Sussex was the south-east rural county in England. This was where the Marquess of Abergavenny was located. His name was William Nevill. More specifically, he was the Earl of Abergavenny now. He was considered loyal to Queen Victoria, and was also an honourary Colonel of the West Kent Yeomanry.
“To think we would be assassinating such a famous figure…” Charlotte commented as she looked up to the mansion of the Earl. There seemed to be some guards, but it was not heavily guarded.
“You’ll get used to it. Now here’s the plan. He is probably in the tallest tower right there.” Weiss pointed at the tallest tower, with the lights still on in the middle. “He must still be awake since he’s that afraid. There are two ways that we can do this. First method is to come in guns blazing, second is we come in using my Commandment. Hiding within the walls and go directly into his room and quickly kill him before his reinforcements show up.”
“Then I suppose you are not killing the Earl with your sniper?”
“There’s no good vantage point, but I can still scan the building using my artificial eye. That castle is the only tall building here.”
“So you are going to be using a sword I assume?”
“Yes,“ Weiss showed her Gear Sword and continued. “I have some new tricks to test out too.” Weiss grinned.
Charlotte placed a hand and her fingers traced across the fine steel of the blade. It seemed like currents of electricity flowed silently after she did so.
“With this, we can inflict paralysis on him. Just in case.”
“Alright, now take my hand. We’re going underground.” Weiss offered her hand to her daughter.
“I shall be in the care of your capable hands then, Mother.”
“That’s just adorable.” Weiss took her daughter’s hand and activated her Commandment. They both sank underground. They both floated as if they were weightless. Weiss ran while holding her daughter’s hand. They both easily went past the security.
Inside the castle, they could spot many magical charms placed on the walls and even Weiss’ eye couldn’t distinguish between all of the heavy security setups. However, Charlotte’s left eye was special, as it was a Commandment itself, and she guided her mother to what was supposedly the study of the Earl. The study was full of shelves both left and right. There was a desk, behind which the Marquess was scribbling away on papers with haste, his face full of tension and worry.
Weiss unsheathed her blade from her back, and the gears started to spin albeit slowly. “Get ready, I’m going to surprise him,” Weiss whispered to Charlotte as they appeared from the ground.
She plunged in a matter of moment and tried to stab the Marquess’ heart, but his arm was in the way and managed to stop the blade midway. With a groan and a wave of magic, he tried to push Weiss back, but her natural resistance to magic nullified his application. He took out a pistol from his coat and shot at her repeatedly, making Weiss jump back.
The Earl chanted for magic and Charlotte’s left eye glowed navy-blue.
“All mana shall be expelled as per the decree of the ruler. No longer shall they commit taboo and invoke the name of false Gods.”
With her Commandment active, a blue wind blew inside the room, breaking the window from the sheer force. The Earl almost seemed to fall off due to it.
The gears on Weiss’ sword started to let out a high-pitched grinding noise as they spun with greater intensity; the maximum speed, in other words. Weiss held the hilt with both hands and delivered an upward diagonal slash, hitting the Marquess’ body.
The Marquess awkwardly stepped back with a big diagonal wound on his body. He tried to stand by the window but his hand slipped. He plummeted down the tall tower to his death.
“I suppose this was easier than we thought. Shall we retire for the night, mother?”
“I guess they were not as strong as I thought. Let’s go back.” Weiss took her daughter in her arms and sank into the ground, leaving the building as fast as they came.
The dying Marquess faced the sky, holding his heart and crying out in pain.
“Re...gi...nald… Vio...let… I leave… the rest… to you two…”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
The noise of the wheels grinding against the cobblestone streets of London was heard continuously. The coach could be heard humming despite the weather of the country being so gloomy. It was afternoon when they reached the city. Their mission was completed back at the Eridge Castle and half the day seemed to have passed. It seemed to take particularly long to travel in England. Despite taking a train to London, they were late. They wanted nothing more than to rest at the estate now.
“It seems like we have been so busy with hunting down problematic members of the nobility that we have been lacking the time to search for my sibling,” Charlotte began, speaking absentmindedly. She looked down at all the people seemingly passing by on the road.
“Indeed, I was expecting to at least get hints from the assassinations. Turns out none of them knew.” Weiss sighed.
Charlotte chuckled. “And how would one gain clues about a missing daughter from assassinations?”
“I assumed that your sibling was adopted by one of the Royalties.” Weiss looked out. “It’s still a possibility.”
“R-Royalty? Why would any of the Royals require a child of low birth to fill in as a possible Princess?”
“I guess you’re right.” Weiss sadly sighed.
“What are the possibilities that she has…” Charlotte didn’t want to bring it up but mustered her determination to face the truth regardless. “She has… passed away?”
Weiss didn’t answer. She only looked down.
“…I am sorry.”
“It’s alright, it’s still a possibility.” Weiss tried to force a smile on her face.
“Now that I think about it… I still cannot imagine how we would know even if we find her. What would be a way to identify my sibling?”
“Physical features can still be used to identify her. DNA testing will take too long. I know nothing about magic but maybe there’s a magic to identify someone.”
“I know no way of using magic for identifying family members aside from Mage’s Sigil… that is assuming my sibling is a mage, though.”
“Maybe she is a mage.”
“But what if… actually, assuming that she’s stayed alive for so long… what if a hospital was holding her? Or some type of an asylum? Searching blindly sure is not working so far.”
“That is also true. I’ve been hesitant to search the hospitals or asylums.”
“Why?”
“Because I prefer to see her alive and well.”
“But we may never meet her at this rate.”
“Alright, I’ll start searching the hospitals and asylums.”
“No, allow me. I would not want to hurt you any further, Mother.”
“It’s alright, my dear. Besides, two heads are better than one. We can cover more ground and search for her faster.”
“I suppose… that shall be a plan. Shall we change course or go home to rest first?”
“The faster, the better. Let’s change course.”
The place they had arrived to was the place of ends, rather than the place of continuation. Weiss and Charlotte looked down at a set of beds, all occupied by various patients. There were various corridors leading to small rooms like these. Crowded and busy, many were being treated while many awaited treatment. It seemed like the people couldn’t enjoy the experience of being treated with anesthesia in this era generally and the surgeries were extremely painful. So it was not strange to find the wails of the patients filing the rooms and the corridors.
“This… this is something people would call hell on earth,” Charlotte said with a grimace.
“They’re doing their best to treat these patients.” Weiss looked at the ones that were waiting. “As a nurse, watching this makes me want to jump in and treat each and every one of them.” She sighed. “But for now we must search for your sister.”
“Allow me to take a look, mother. Please treat them, I feel bad for them… unlike us who have immortality, they are weak and frail.”
“Thank you, dear.” Weiss quickly went into a nearby broom closet. Luckily, there were some unused nurse outfits inside. She changed her clothes and hid her former clothes behind an unused table. She stepped out and began attending the ones that were waiting in line. It was not seen as strange as many such strangers with no proper license and identification would show up from time to time to provide a helping hand. Other than that, the staff was too busy to notice Weiss’ meddling.
Charlotte passed by the children, men, and women. There were many small rooms and each of them were full due to the shortage of space.
The surgeries gave about painful screams, reverberating across the wooden walls almost every second. She checked the countenances of the patients carefully; they were mostly full with pain and hope. Hope of getting better, for which the pain were tolerated. Even as she tried to note the facial features, she kept feeling pity for the people. She shook her head as if to remind herself the purpose of the visit.
Eventually, she came back to her mother.
“No one looks even a little similar to either of us…”
Weiss stood up after helping a child. “I see. Did you check every room, even the ones that no one can enter?”
“Of cours—well, maybe not the ones that no one may enter.”
“Not even a peek? Don’t worry, I’ll go check.” Weiss walked off to each intensive care room. She easily got in because of the costume that she wore. In the last room, she found a doctor taking care of a patient who was strapped on Life Support. It looked very primitive to her, considering the development of healthcare in England, this was only natural. Maybe I should ask him, he might know about the patients here.
Thus, Weiss came back to the room where Charlotte awaited her. She only shook her head to her daughter before approaching a doctor and tapping his shoulder.
“Excuse me, doctor?” Weiss began.
“Yes?” the male doctor said, turning to find Weiss in the nurse uniform. “Are you a new face here?”
“Yes, I’ve heard that the hospital was short handed so I was assigned here.”
“Well, out with it. I am busy as you can see.”
“Ah yes, I’m sorry.” She cleared her throat. “Have you heard or seen a child with silver-hair and who is over two hundred years old?”
Charlotte tilted her head. Silver hair? Now that she thought about it, her mother did have that colour of hair, but it was odd, should she not have asked for a blonde too? Considering Charlotte herself had fair, wavy blonde hair and it was said to have been inherited from the father. The other daughter could very well have the type of hair she possessed.
“What? Two hundred years? What side of the bed did you get out of today? No one lives past—oh, wait… there was that overgrown child but…” The doctor looked over to a nurse close by. “Where did the case of the Collapsed Child land in the end again?”
“Wasn’t that some odd name called †˜Singapore’? No clue, honestly,” the nurse claimed.
“S-Singapore? That’s way over in South East Asia!” Weiss exclaimed.
“What is Asia?” the other nurse asked, making a strange face.
“Who knows, likely a place beside Sussex or some such. If there’s nothing more, leave us be.”
“Thank you!” Weiss rushed to her daughter’s side. “I know where she is, she’s in Singapore!” An obvious excitement in her tone of voice.
“Ah, yes. I was listening.” Charlotte smiled. At least it was one clue. While it didn’t necessarily mean that person of the Collapsed Child would be their last family member, her mother’s excitement simply made her happy. “But is that really our missing family?”
“The doctor said about an overgrown child when I mentioned a silver-haired child that was around two hundred years old. He also mentioned a case about a Collapsed Child.”
“Yes, yes he did. I wonder what the Collapsed Child term implies, though. I cannot tell if he mentioned it due to the colour of the hair, it may rather be the age itself. Either way, this means that we cannot go after her immediately, since the revolution must reach its end first before we venture out of the country.”
“Agreed, my contract still holds. I know it’s rather cold to forget about my family for now but as a professional, I must fulfil my contract.”
“I am aware. Let us go home, Mother, this trip has borne enough fruits for now.”
They walked out of the big busy room as they spoke, the groans of pain were still evident across the walls.
“Just let me take my clothes from the broom closet, I’m keeping the nurse outfit too.”
“Huhu, you do not look the best in that outfit. I believe the ones portrayed in fiction are much more… daring. This feels rather plain in contrast.”
“You read too many R-18 fanfics.” Weiss pouted.
“I-I would not say that I read such materials.”
“Pssshhh, you still have lots to learn, my child.”
“Hush, you perverted mother!”
Weiss laughed as she patted her daughter. She took her hidden clothes in the broom closet and walked out.
“Come on, let’s go home.” She smiled happily.
“It seems like we have been so busy with hunting down problematic members of the nobility that we have been lacking the time to search for my sibling,” Charlotte began, speaking absentmindedly. She looked down at all the people seemingly passing by on the road.
“Indeed, I was expecting to at least get hints from the assassinations. Turns out none of them knew.” Weiss sighed.
Charlotte chuckled. “And how would one gain clues about a missing daughter from assassinations?”
“I assumed that your sibling was adopted by one of the Royalties.” Weiss looked out. “It’s still a possibility.”
“R-Royalty? Why would any of the Royals require a child of low birth to fill in as a possible Princess?”
“I guess you’re right.” Weiss sadly sighed.
“What are the possibilities that she has…” Charlotte didn’t want to bring it up but mustered her determination to face the truth regardless. “She has… passed away?”
Weiss didn’t answer. She only looked down.
“…I am sorry.”
“It’s alright, it’s still a possibility.” Weiss tried to force a smile on her face.
“Now that I think about it… I still cannot imagine how we would know even if we find her. What would be a way to identify my sibling?”
“Physical features can still be used to identify her. DNA testing will take too long. I know nothing about magic but maybe there’s a magic to identify someone.”
“I know no way of using magic for identifying family members aside from Mage’s Sigil… that is assuming my sibling is a mage, though.”
“Maybe she is a mage.”
“But what if… actually, assuming that she’s stayed alive for so long… what if a hospital was holding her? Or some type of an asylum? Searching blindly sure is not working so far.”
“That is also true. I’ve been hesitant to search the hospitals or asylums.”
“Why?”
“Because I prefer to see her alive and well.”
“But we may never meet her at this rate.”
“Alright, I’ll start searching the hospitals and asylums.”
“No, allow me. I would not want to hurt you any further, Mother.”
“It’s alright, my dear. Besides, two heads are better than one. We can cover more ground and search for her faster.”
“I suppose… that shall be a plan. Shall we change course or go home to rest first?”
“The faster, the better. Let’s change course.”
***
The place they had arrived to was the place of ends, rather than the place of continuation. Weiss and Charlotte looked down at a set of beds, all occupied by various patients. There were various corridors leading to small rooms like these. Crowded and busy, many were being treated while many awaited treatment. It seemed like the people couldn’t enjoy the experience of being treated with anesthesia in this era generally and the surgeries were extremely painful. So it was not strange to find the wails of the patients filing the rooms and the corridors.
“This… this is something people would call hell on earth,” Charlotte said with a grimace.
“They’re doing their best to treat these patients.” Weiss looked at the ones that were waiting. “As a nurse, watching this makes me want to jump in and treat each and every one of them.” She sighed. “But for now we must search for your sister.”
“Allow me to take a look, mother. Please treat them, I feel bad for them… unlike us who have immortality, they are weak and frail.”
“Thank you, dear.” Weiss quickly went into a nearby broom closet. Luckily, there were some unused nurse outfits inside. She changed her clothes and hid her former clothes behind an unused table. She stepped out and began attending the ones that were waiting in line. It was not seen as strange as many such strangers with no proper license and identification would show up from time to time to provide a helping hand. Other than that, the staff was too busy to notice Weiss’ meddling.
Charlotte passed by the children, men, and women. There were many small rooms and each of them were full due to the shortage of space.
The surgeries gave about painful screams, reverberating across the wooden walls almost every second. She checked the countenances of the patients carefully; they were mostly full with pain and hope. Hope of getting better, for which the pain were tolerated. Even as she tried to note the facial features, she kept feeling pity for the people. She shook her head as if to remind herself the purpose of the visit.
Eventually, she came back to her mother.
“No one looks even a little similar to either of us…”
Weiss stood up after helping a child. “I see. Did you check every room, even the ones that no one can enter?”
“Of cours—well, maybe not the ones that no one may enter.”
“Not even a peek? Don’t worry, I’ll go check.” Weiss walked off to each intensive care room. She easily got in because of the costume that she wore. In the last room, she found a doctor taking care of a patient who was strapped on Life Support. It looked very primitive to her, considering the development of healthcare in England, this was only natural. Maybe I should ask him, he might know about the patients here.
Thus, Weiss came back to the room where Charlotte awaited her. She only shook her head to her daughter before approaching a doctor and tapping his shoulder.
“Excuse me, doctor?” Weiss began.
“Yes?” the male doctor said, turning to find Weiss in the nurse uniform. “Are you a new face here?”
“Yes, I’ve heard that the hospital was short handed so I was assigned here.”
“Well, out with it. I am busy as you can see.”
“Ah yes, I’m sorry.” She cleared her throat. “Have you heard or seen a child with silver-hair and who is over two hundred years old?”
Charlotte tilted her head. Silver hair? Now that she thought about it, her mother did have that colour of hair, but it was odd, should she not have asked for a blonde too? Considering Charlotte herself had fair, wavy blonde hair and it was said to have been inherited from the father. The other daughter could very well have the type of hair she possessed.
“What? Two hundred years? What side of the bed did you get out of today? No one lives past—oh, wait… there was that overgrown child but…” The doctor looked over to a nurse close by. “Where did the case of the Collapsed Child land in the end again?”
“Wasn’t that some odd name called †˜Singapore’? No clue, honestly,” the nurse claimed.
“S-Singapore? That’s way over in South East Asia!” Weiss exclaimed.
“What is Asia?” the other nurse asked, making a strange face.
“Who knows, likely a place beside Sussex or some such. If there’s nothing more, leave us be.”
“Thank you!” Weiss rushed to her daughter’s side. “I know where she is, she’s in Singapore!” An obvious excitement in her tone of voice.
“Ah, yes. I was listening.” Charlotte smiled. At least it was one clue. While it didn’t necessarily mean that person of the Collapsed Child would be their last family member, her mother’s excitement simply made her happy. “But is that really our missing family?”
“The doctor said about an overgrown child when I mentioned a silver-haired child that was around two hundred years old. He also mentioned a case about a Collapsed Child.”
“Yes, yes he did. I wonder what the Collapsed Child term implies, though. I cannot tell if he mentioned it due to the colour of the hair, it may rather be the age itself. Either way, this means that we cannot go after her immediately, since the revolution must reach its end first before we venture out of the country.”
“Agreed, my contract still holds. I know it’s rather cold to forget about my family for now but as a professional, I must fulfil my contract.”
“I am aware. Let us go home, Mother, this trip has borne enough fruits for now.”
They walked out of the big busy room as they spoke, the groans of pain were still evident across the walls.
“Just let me take my clothes from the broom closet, I’m keeping the nurse outfit too.”
“Huhu, you do not look the best in that outfit. I believe the ones portrayed in fiction are much more… daring. This feels rather plain in contrast.”
“You read too many R-18 fanfics.” Weiss pouted.
“I-I would not say that I read such materials.”
“Pssshhh, you still have lots to learn, my child.”
“Hush, you perverted mother!”
Weiss laughed as she patted her daughter. She took her hidden clothes in the broom closet and walked out.
“Come on, let’s go home.” She smiled happily.
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
The former priest stood before a tall establishment. The majestic towering structure he was invited to was apparently the Ritz Hotel. Despite the fact that it was still the nineteenth century, Michael could tell that it was fancy enough to rival some of the best hotels from the New World.
He received the invitation from Princess Louise, but it mentioned that he was to meet the assassin he was to work with for his next target. Walking inside, it turned out that the hotel did lived up to its name. Various portraits decorated the walls. Indeed, the hotel was exclusively meant for mages with special privileges. The portraits seemed to show magic as well, something mundanes would never see in their lives. They were rather beautiful, with the depiction of mana and magical powers.
It was a fleeting moment for Michael, as he got bored looking at the paintings rather quickly. He decided to not waste any more time, lest his contact find him unprofessional. He walked towards the elevator, taking note at the unique design it had compared to the ones he saw in America. He entered the floor number that was written on the piece of paper he carried, which contained both the floor number and the room his contact would be in.
A few minutes later, he was standing in front of the room that contained the number he was given. His journey towards the room was rather uneventful, save for the torture that was the music blaring in the elevator; which made him vow to just take the stairs when he descended. He took a moment to fix his clothes, removing his overcoat in the process, before knocking twice on the door.
“Who is it?” a voice asked from inside.
“Miss Charlotte sent me,” he replied.
The door was opened and a woman clad in a maid’s uniform was revealed. “Please come in.”
Michael was surprised the maid wasn’t hostile to him, which made him pause before he could respond, “Oh. Thank you.” He entered the room and hung his coat on the coat rack that was by the entrance. When he finally entered the living space of the room, he saw Claudia sitting on the sofa and she hadn’t noticed him yet. Michael’s face visibly cringed, and a part of him just wanted to return to Charlotte’s estate and cancel this meeting.
He mustered his will as he spoke, “Lost the tiara, huh?”
Claudia turned an uninterested eye toward the man and raised a brow, noticing the colour change in his eyes. Silver and blue, an uncanny mix between Mary’s eyes, and that of Jesus Christ’s, which was more than enough to bear a reminder.
“Is that how you usually greet people? You suddenly think you are above others now that you found out you’re the son of Jesus, huh?”
“No, just you.” He felt awfully satisfied from pissing her off.
“Good day to you.” Opposite to Claudia a blonde noble lady sat, having tea. From what Claudia could see, she seemed to find their exchange amusing.
“Good day to you too, my lady.” Michael bowed towards the blonde. She seemed familiar, and her presence was unlike Claudia’s, so he correctly assumed that this was Princess Louise.
“You are Judgement Oppressor, yes? It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Princess. Please, call me Michael,” he replied as he beamed towards the Royal Princess.
“Oh dear, would you not wish for me to address you by your given title by your Mistress?”
“I have accomplished nothing yet to deserve being called an aspect of judgement. And besides, hearing a wonderful lady such as Your Highness say my name is a treat by itself.”
“I see.” Princess Louise placed down her cup of tea on the saucer. “Please join us. We have much to discuss today.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” he replied as he sat down on the chair nearest to him. He noticed that the Princess wasn’t with anyone except for Claudia. “What happened to Your Highness’ guard, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“After gaining back his title he leads his own life. Albeit, he chose to help me in my quest of revolution. Silly man.”
“Ah, one would wonder why he would decide to remove himself from the presence of a woman as lovely as Your Highness. In any case, we have more important matters to discuss, yes?”
“Yes.” Princess Louise made the cold face that Aleksander was used to seeing. She pointed to the table where several papers were placed. “These are all profiles of the nobles that are to be assassinated. There are only about four here, but they are not easy opponents.”
“May I?” Michael asked, and the Princess gestured. He skimmed through the papers presented to him. It didn’t really matter to him who to choose, considering they all would be assassinated eventually. “Does Your Highness place any priority among the four?”
“No. Pick them at your own leisure. You are to be working together with Claudia Virtusio de la Farris as I believe it would be faster. She is currently the only capable person available to support you.”
“Old enemies working together? That is simply irony at its finest,” Claudia commented, folding a leg over the other. “I seem to remember swearing on your death, but at this point, I do not care about any of that anymore.”
“Why? Your new haircut cleared your mind?” Michael smirked as he returned to reading the documents in his hand.
“No, but not thinking about your mother for the past year did.”
“Ah, so not thinking it is.” Michael noticed a name, Aberdeen, who used to be a figure in politics but nowadays spent his days as an Earl. He noted the extensive information the document contained about the Earl, and figured he could start alphabetically. “How about him?” he asked as he pushed the document towards his two companions.
Claudia leaned forward and noticed the name too. It gave no particular meaning to her, only that it was the type that belonged to a noble, obviously. “I see no other reason not to,” she said with a shrug.
“He is particularly strong,” Princess Louise remarked. “Be very careful with him. He is on this list for you two Representatives for only this reason. If you cannot take him out; leave him be.”
“Kill or incapacitate, then. I have an idea on how to approach, but I’ll take the leap and ask for your suggestion,” he asked Claudia, lacking the mocking tone he had earlier, as his executor switch was turned to full power.
Currently, the documents about the Earl mentioned that he was once a great athlete, starring as a favourite in the jousting tournaments. The Earl was also once a Magic Magister in his young years and was famed for inventing several mechanics in the Magic Trains that were often used by people nowadays.
“He is an athlete, yes? Then I suggest disabling his limbs, bit by bit until he is unable to move, then we finish him there,” Claudia added, allowing the sadist in her to run free. “As a Representative, you must have received a Commandment, too. We could both use ours to overwhelm the Earl.”
Michael just sighed and laid the document flat on the table, which was flipped to the estate’s blueprints. “My idea is this. We scout the area, particularly the regular comings and goings of the servantry. We take one that is off their shift, or one who isn’t expected to return soon. Afterwards, we use that scythe of yours, or our persuasiveness to take from them information about where the Duke resides and any gaps in their security we could exploit. If possible, we can use the same person to create the gap we need, infiltrate the mansion and remove the security before we confront the Earl, who will now have no back up and us having surprise as an advantage.”
He leaned back and took a moment to catch up with his breath. “Or we can bust through the front door, kill everyone in sight, and hope for the best.”
Claudia appeared surprised, and showed this much with her slightly widened eyes. “I will admit, Pri—I mean, Mister Kallweit. Planning assassinations must be your forte as a former executioner. Colour me impressed.”
Michael smiled. “Actually, it was my reckless determination to finish a job. I suppose your earlier assassinations have you searching the target’s estate without at least having scouted it first?”
“Not that the information given would always be accurate anyways. As long as the job is finished, it matters not to me how rocky the outcome is,” Claudia said, shrugging again.
“It’s a matter of leaving our other targets in the dark. If we cause too much commotion, their paranoia would make them increase their security, therefore making our jobs harder as we go on. The cleaner we do our jobs, the easier it is for us later.” He almost completely forgot he was teaching the one who injured his mother. “If the Princess approves of my plan, shall we proceed?”
“Well, it is the only acceptable plan, so why not?” Louise said.
“If there is nothing wrong with the first option, why make another? I am all for it,” Claudia said, nodding.
“Plan B is to take hostages then take him out. But that might piss him off more than we can handle. So yes, I suppose we all concur with the first plan.” He arranged the documents back to how he found them initially, but kept the one about the Earl Aberdeen. “That is all, Your Highness. Have we any other matter to discuss?”
“Just one… what do you know of my mother?” Louise asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You were seen in the Buckingham Palace recently, coming out from my mother’s room.”
He quirked his eyebrow. After finding out someone managed to see through his wraith form, he couldn’t help but be surprised. “That was… It was me that asked about my own circumstances, a favour from the Queen, if you will. I visited her to pay my dues.”
The Princess hummed, still holding the cold face. “If you say so.”
“If you were to ask me… There is a good reason to consider that this is still within the Queen’s expectations. Her Majesty is a very shrewd woman, and her powers seem that they are beyond compare.”
“It likely is. It would not surprise me. She is confident about taking us all on by herself.”
“Then if Your Highness would listen to this one’s advice, the rebellion must do something out of the ordinary, something that the Queen might not expect from the Royal Princess.”
Princess Louise gave a smirk. “Do not worry, I was ahead of you on that before I even started taking actions. There are several pawns I have prepared specifically for Her Majesty, and the knights that protects her.”
“If that is so, then we shall deal with our targets with efficiency.”
“I expect good tidings.”
He received the invitation from Princess Louise, but it mentioned that he was to meet the assassin he was to work with for his next target. Walking inside, it turned out that the hotel did lived up to its name. Various portraits decorated the walls. Indeed, the hotel was exclusively meant for mages with special privileges. The portraits seemed to show magic as well, something mundanes would never see in their lives. They were rather beautiful, with the depiction of mana and magical powers.
It was a fleeting moment for Michael, as he got bored looking at the paintings rather quickly. He decided to not waste any more time, lest his contact find him unprofessional. He walked towards the elevator, taking note at the unique design it had compared to the ones he saw in America. He entered the floor number that was written on the piece of paper he carried, which contained both the floor number and the room his contact would be in.
A few minutes later, he was standing in front of the room that contained the number he was given. His journey towards the room was rather uneventful, save for the torture that was the music blaring in the elevator; which made him vow to just take the stairs when he descended. He took a moment to fix his clothes, removing his overcoat in the process, before knocking twice on the door.
“Who is it?” a voice asked from inside.
“Miss Charlotte sent me,” he replied.
The door was opened and a woman clad in a maid’s uniform was revealed. “Please come in.”
Michael was surprised the maid wasn’t hostile to him, which made him pause before he could respond, “Oh. Thank you.” He entered the room and hung his coat on the coat rack that was by the entrance. When he finally entered the living space of the room, he saw Claudia sitting on the sofa and she hadn’t noticed him yet. Michael’s face visibly cringed, and a part of him just wanted to return to Charlotte’s estate and cancel this meeting.
He mustered his will as he spoke, “Lost the tiara, huh?”
Claudia turned an uninterested eye toward the man and raised a brow, noticing the colour change in his eyes. Silver and blue, an uncanny mix between Mary’s eyes, and that of Jesus Christ’s, which was more than enough to bear a reminder.
“Is that how you usually greet people? You suddenly think you are above others now that you found out you’re the son of Jesus, huh?”
“No, just you.” He felt awfully satisfied from pissing her off.
“Good day to you.” Opposite to Claudia a blonde noble lady sat, having tea. From what Claudia could see, she seemed to find their exchange amusing.
“Good day to you too, my lady.” Michael bowed towards the blonde. She seemed familiar, and her presence was unlike Claudia’s, so he correctly assumed that this was Princess Louise.
“You are Judgement Oppressor, yes? It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Princess. Please, call me Michael,” he replied as he beamed towards the Royal Princess.
“Oh dear, would you not wish for me to address you by your given title by your Mistress?”
“I have accomplished nothing yet to deserve being called an aspect of judgement. And besides, hearing a wonderful lady such as Your Highness say my name is a treat by itself.”
“I see.” Princess Louise placed down her cup of tea on the saucer. “Please join us. We have much to discuss today.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” he replied as he sat down on the chair nearest to him. He noticed that the Princess wasn’t with anyone except for Claudia. “What happened to Your Highness’ guard, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“After gaining back his title he leads his own life. Albeit, he chose to help me in my quest of revolution. Silly man.”
“Ah, one would wonder why he would decide to remove himself from the presence of a woman as lovely as Your Highness. In any case, we have more important matters to discuss, yes?”
“Yes.” Princess Louise made the cold face that Aleksander was used to seeing. She pointed to the table where several papers were placed. “These are all profiles of the nobles that are to be assassinated. There are only about four here, but they are not easy opponents.”
“May I?” Michael asked, and the Princess gestured. He skimmed through the papers presented to him. It didn’t really matter to him who to choose, considering they all would be assassinated eventually. “Does Your Highness place any priority among the four?”
“No. Pick them at your own leisure. You are to be working together with Claudia Virtusio de la Farris as I believe it would be faster. She is currently the only capable person available to support you.”
“Old enemies working together? That is simply irony at its finest,” Claudia commented, folding a leg over the other. “I seem to remember swearing on your death, but at this point, I do not care about any of that anymore.”
“Why? Your new haircut cleared your mind?” Michael smirked as he returned to reading the documents in his hand.
“No, but not thinking about your mother for the past year did.”
“Ah, so not thinking it is.” Michael noticed a name, Aberdeen, who used to be a figure in politics but nowadays spent his days as an Earl. He noted the extensive information the document contained about the Earl, and figured he could start alphabetically. “How about him?” he asked as he pushed the document towards his two companions.
Claudia leaned forward and noticed the name too. It gave no particular meaning to her, only that it was the type that belonged to a noble, obviously. “I see no other reason not to,” she said with a shrug.
“He is particularly strong,” Princess Louise remarked. “Be very careful with him. He is on this list for you two Representatives for only this reason. If you cannot take him out; leave him be.”
“Kill or incapacitate, then. I have an idea on how to approach, but I’ll take the leap and ask for your suggestion,” he asked Claudia, lacking the mocking tone he had earlier, as his executor switch was turned to full power.
Currently, the documents about the Earl mentioned that he was once a great athlete, starring as a favourite in the jousting tournaments. The Earl was also once a Magic Magister in his young years and was famed for inventing several mechanics in the Magic Trains that were often used by people nowadays.
“He is an athlete, yes? Then I suggest disabling his limbs, bit by bit until he is unable to move, then we finish him there,” Claudia added, allowing the sadist in her to run free. “As a Representative, you must have received a Commandment, too. We could both use ours to overwhelm the Earl.”
Michael just sighed and laid the document flat on the table, which was flipped to the estate’s blueprints. “My idea is this. We scout the area, particularly the regular comings and goings of the servantry. We take one that is off their shift, or one who isn’t expected to return soon. Afterwards, we use that scythe of yours, or our persuasiveness to take from them information about where the Duke resides and any gaps in their security we could exploit. If possible, we can use the same person to create the gap we need, infiltrate the mansion and remove the security before we confront the Earl, who will now have no back up and us having surprise as an advantage.”
He leaned back and took a moment to catch up with his breath. “Or we can bust through the front door, kill everyone in sight, and hope for the best.”
Claudia appeared surprised, and showed this much with her slightly widened eyes. “I will admit, Pri—I mean, Mister Kallweit. Planning assassinations must be your forte as a former executioner. Colour me impressed.”
Michael smiled. “Actually, it was my reckless determination to finish a job. I suppose your earlier assassinations have you searching the target’s estate without at least having scouted it first?”
“Not that the information given would always be accurate anyways. As long as the job is finished, it matters not to me how rocky the outcome is,” Claudia said, shrugging again.
“It’s a matter of leaving our other targets in the dark. If we cause too much commotion, their paranoia would make them increase their security, therefore making our jobs harder as we go on. The cleaner we do our jobs, the easier it is for us later.” He almost completely forgot he was teaching the one who injured his mother. “If the Princess approves of my plan, shall we proceed?”
“Well, it is the only acceptable plan, so why not?” Louise said.
“If there is nothing wrong with the first option, why make another? I am all for it,” Claudia said, nodding.
“Plan B is to take hostages then take him out. But that might piss him off more than we can handle. So yes, I suppose we all concur with the first plan.” He arranged the documents back to how he found them initially, but kept the one about the Earl Aberdeen. “That is all, Your Highness. Have we any other matter to discuss?”
“Just one… what do you know of my mother?” Louise asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You were seen in the Buckingham Palace recently, coming out from my mother’s room.”
He quirked his eyebrow. After finding out someone managed to see through his wraith form, he couldn’t help but be surprised. “That was… It was me that asked about my own circumstances, a favour from the Queen, if you will. I visited her to pay my dues.”
The Princess hummed, still holding the cold face. “If you say so.”
“If you were to ask me… There is a good reason to consider that this is still within the Queen’s expectations. Her Majesty is a very shrewd woman, and her powers seem that they are beyond compare.”
“It likely is. It would not surprise me. She is confident about taking us all on by herself.”
“Then if Your Highness would listen to this one’s advice, the rebellion must do something out of the ordinary, something that the Queen might not expect from the Royal Princess.”
Princess Louise gave a smirk. “Do not worry, I was ahead of you on that before I even started taking actions. There are several pawns I have prepared specifically for Her Majesty, and the knights that protects her.”
“If that is so, then we shall deal with our targets with efficiency.”
“I expect good tidings.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
It was the evening now. Michael and Claudia stalked the mansion of the Aberdeen family from a distance. They had particularly a lot of land owned around the area, so much that there were hardly any other houses in sight outside the gates. Which really made it dawn upon them that they were going to kill someone very high on the echelon. This man seemed to lavishly enjoy his riches much more openly than Duchess Caroline.
There seemed to be many guards patrolling the grounds beyond the walls and the gates even this late at night past the curfew. They were vigilant, and likely cautious about the assassination attempts.
“We’ll meet back here in half an hour,” Michael reminded Claudia. “Remember, we first need to turn it into our advantage, we can’t fight all these people.”
Like on her previous mission, Claudia covered her face with the scarf she wore, using it as a makeshift mask. “Of course, Mister Kallweit. I will keep that in mind,” she said in her usual dry manner.
She nodded to Michael, an inward gesture for the man to follow her lead, and jumped over the gate, landing softly in the mansion’s perimeter.
“Capture and interrogate…” she recited, making sure her mission’s objective was absolute in her words.
As far as she saw, she had a myriad of guards or servants to choose from. She couldn’t be picky, however. Anyone knowledgeable of the mansion’s security would do. She ducked in the bushes for a moment to await a passerby servant to make the mistake of approaching her direction, gauging at their numbers along the way.
A few minutes passed and a servant eventually came around, to which Claudia took advantage of his cluelessness. She called upon her Lost Form and used Undertaker’s Lithomancy from the safety of the bushes. The man was in a daze, as if every bone and muscle in his body was being controlled by Claudia.
“Follow,” she ordered, stealthily making her way back to the outskirts of the mansion.
Michael was already waiting at their meeting point, and she could see that he was frowning until he saw her. “Managed to get a servant? I took too much time just to infiltrate and had to pull out quickly.”
With a wave of her finger, Claudia gestured for the aforementioned man to approach, stopping just a distance beside the two. “It was surprisingly trivial on my end.”
Michael smiled apologetically towards Claudia. It seemed like his long hiatus had really taken a toll on his abilities, but at least he was back in the field now. “How much control do you have over him?”
“Just enough to get the answers we need out of him.”
“Alright. Just as we discussed, we need to know when the guards change shifts, where the Earl is residing, and where can we find a gas tank in this estate.”
Claudia nodded and turned to the servant, she summoned Lachesis’ Fang and dug the tip of the blade just a little on his flank. “Tell me everything you know.”
“I was born in Thornton, about twenty-two years ago. My name is Thomas—” Michael interrupted the servant by gripping his neck and raising him up.
“Ask your question properly, idiot.” He then released the servant.
Claudia sighed. She dug the scythe just a little deeper, blood flowing down. “Alright… tell me, first, when do the guards change shifts throughout the mansion?”
“Once every two hours.”
“And your master, the Earl?”
“Where is your master?” Michael clarified.
“In his room on the third floor, the third door to the right after crossing the stairs.”
“How many guards are there?” Michael decided to take over the interrogation.
“I do not know.”
“Ask him to make a commotion, set the servant’s quarters aflame.” How he wished he still carried grenades. “We take the Earl’s life tonight,” Michael said as he abruptly changed his plans.
“We need a distraction. Find anything flammable and get everyone’s attention by burning your servant’s quarters to the ground,” Claudia clarified. She turned to Michael with an afterthought, noting the sudden shift. “Growing impatient, Kallweit?”
“We’d either have to take another servant, and risk getting caught or we take the chance we have now. I won’t compromise on this. Tell him to kill himself.”
“How brutal. I was half expecting you to want me to wipe his memory,” Claudia mused.
“That never sticks.”
“Very well,” she said, turning back to the servant. “After the deed is done, I want you to slit your own throat.”
The servant gave a nod, and walked away.
“And now we wait. Be ready to attack the Earl, we must be swift and deadly. Like a deadly swift.” One would see Michael trying hard to not to laugh at his own joke.
Claudia stared blankly at the man and shook her head. Clearly she didn’t get it as much as she would have liked. “I wonder if Virgo has a very good sense of humor, because I don’t get it.”
There was a fire, and the servants raved due to the emergence of the situation. There were still many servants lurking across the fields and the two took longer than expected to reach the mansion itself. Inside the mansion—due to the servants being distracted—the third floor was relatively empty, with only one servant standing before the aforementioned set of doors of the Master’s room.
Michael summoned Caladbolg and bashed the servant with the flat of the blade, sending him flying down the hallway. He sliced open the doors, and it was unlit inside. Various furniture and fixtures that showed extravagance littered the room, and on the bed was someone who was asleep, which he assumed was the Earl.
Michael sneakily approached the bed, preparing his greatsword to stab the Earl. When he reached the side of the sleeping Earl, he raised his sword as high as he could and thrust the sword downwards, drawing the blood of the Earl. A groan escaped, and it seemed like he wasn’t dead. When Michael attempt to stab again the man raised his arm, the sword stopped before it could finish him.
“Good morning,” Michael said as he pulled back his sword.
“He’s a stubborn one,” Claudia remarked. “Anyone else would have died right there.”
“Heh. Stubborn indeed.”
With a wave of magic the Earl rose up from his bed, the air surrounding him burning with magic, lighting up the room. When Michael and Claudia attempted to strike with their weapons, the entire room exploded as a white flame blazed through the floors. These flames seemed to extend from before his bed. The Earl casually took up a bottle of wine from beside his bed and poured it onto a glass. The wound seemed to close up as he drank from the glass, the other hand applying healing magic on the cut.
“Was wondering where the light in the room was,” Michael said as a silver shroud of mana enveloped him. In a matter of moments, in front of Earl was a silver wraith whose form he could not distinguish. It seemed that there was no single instance that it retained a form as parts of it constantly flaked off, resulting in another form. There was something absurd about the lack of a consistent form of the wraith that tapped into the Earl’s primal sense of fear. Michael was indistinguishable to observers now.
“Your Commandment?” Claudia assumed.
“...No,” It replied in a garbled voice.
“Then what on earth is that?”
“Spell. Would you focus?” Seems like this is still too incomplete for use in the field, huh?
The Earl took up his hand from healing and another wave of white flames swathed over the two.
Seconds passed, and before the Earl could conclude that the assassins were burnt to a crisp, three figures bursted through the fire, catching the man off-guard. They were Claudia’s dogs from Hell, fulfilling their purpose.
Despite releasing more flames at the hounds, the beasts swallowed them whole and pushed the Earl into the wall and crushed him, breaking past it—ravaging the mansion as they took him down. The noises of destruction reverberated for some moments. The floor shook with the intensity of the force and it was only getting hotter due to the white burning flames that surrounded them.
When the smoke cleared, the two looked up and a tower of cyclic water rose up from the wreckage, with the Earl at its centre.
“Do not grow conceited, filthy assassins.”
Michael and Claudia looked up past the head of the house of Aberdeen. Two enormous dragons made out of water loomed in wait of the noble’s command. The dragons danced and intertwined in the dark sky, as if they had already received the Earl’s intentions.
With a loud roar, they dived into the mansion—into where Michael and Claudia were standing. The flames were extinguished and now they felt bone-chilling coldness as they were sent deep into the mansion’s grounds. The force broke down the entire mansion and a lake was formed all across the area, all the way up to its walls, effectively drowning some of the guards too.
Michael suffered the brunt force of the dragon’s impact, and briefly passed out, cancelling his shroud. However, he was snapped back to reality with him drowning inside what seemed to be a large basement. It appeared that the force and pressure was so powerful that it pushed him and his companion into the deepest depths of the newly formed lake. He struggled as he began drowning, water slowly filling up his lungs.
Eventually, he managed to contain his panic and with the help of him being a Representative now, his body and mind were able to withstand this onslaught. Ignoring the immense pain he was experiencing, he swam back up and eventually managed to break the surface and hungrily breathed in air. He looked around and tried to find the Earl or Claudia but he could only see the damage done by the Earl’s spell. If these were the kinds of targets the Princess wanted to be gone, it looked like he would need to use his full arsenal to even the odds. Wonder if she’d think this is a holy cause to use her bow for.
Water. Claudia hated water.
She struggled to keep her lungs from shriveling up from how long she had her breath held. The Representative attempted to swim up to the surface, but alas in her dazed state, she had no clue where up was. She was turned upside down and unable to gather her bearings. With this, the Earl probably took this chance to escape. Fuck…
Eventually, the vampire regained her sense of direction and promptly swam upwards. Of all the things to die from, she refused to let water be the cause of that.
Emerging from the manmade pool, Claudia gasped hard. It took her a moment to regain her composure and actually begin to care about Michael, wherever he was.
There seemed to be many guards patrolling the grounds beyond the walls and the gates even this late at night past the curfew. They were vigilant, and likely cautious about the assassination attempts.
“We’ll meet back here in half an hour,” Michael reminded Claudia. “Remember, we first need to turn it into our advantage, we can’t fight all these people.”
Like on her previous mission, Claudia covered her face with the scarf she wore, using it as a makeshift mask. “Of course, Mister Kallweit. I will keep that in mind,” she said in her usual dry manner.
She nodded to Michael, an inward gesture for the man to follow her lead, and jumped over the gate, landing softly in the mansion’s perimeter.
“Capture and interrogate…” she recited, making sure her mission’s objective was absolute in her words.
As far as she saw, she had a myriad of guards or servants to choose from. She couldn’t be picky, however. Anyone knowledgeable of the mansion’s security would do. She ducked in the bushes for a moment to await a passerby servant to make the mistake of approaching her direction, gauging at their numbers along the way.
A few minutes passed and a servant eventually came around, to which Claudia took advantage of his cluelessness. She called upon her Lost Form and used Undertaker’s Lithomancy from the safety of the bushes. The man was in a daze, as if every bone and muscle in his body was being controlled by Claudia.
“Follow,” she ordered, stealthily making her way back to the outskirts of the mansion.
Michael was already waiting at their meeting point, and she could see that he was frowning until he saw her. “Managed to get a servant? I took too much time just to infiltrate and had to pull out quickly.”
With a wave of her finger, Claudia gestured for the aforementioned man to approach, stopping just a distance beside the two. “It was surprisingly trivial on my end.”
Michael smiled apologetically towards Claudia. It seemed like his long hiatus had really taken a toll on his abilities, but at least he was back in the field now. “How much control do you have over him?”
“Just enough to get the answers we need out of him.”
“Alright. Just as we discussed, we need to know when the guards change shifts, where the Earl is residing, and where can we find a gas tank in this estate.”
Claudia nodded and turned to the servant, she summoned Lachesis’ Fang and dug the tip of the blade just a little on his flank. “Tell me everything you know.”
“I was born in Thornton, about twenty-two years ago. My name is Thomas—” Michael interrupted the servant by gripping his neck and raising him up.
“Ask your question properly, idiot.” He then released the servant.
Claudia sighed. She dug the scythe just a little deeper, blood flowing down. “Alright… tell me, first, when do the guards change shifts throughout the mansion?”
“Once every two hours.”
“And your master, the Earl?”
“Where is your master?” Michael clarified.
“In his room on the third floor, the third door to the right after crossing the stairs.”
“How many guards are there?” Michael decided to take over the interrogation.
“I do not know.”
“Ask him to make a commotion, set the servant’s quarters aflame.” How he wished he still carried grenades. “We take the Earl’s life tonight,” Michael said as he abruptly changed his plans.
“We need a distraction. Find anything flammable and get everyone’s attention by burning your servant’s quarters to the ground,” Claudia clarified. She turned to Michael with an afterthought, noting the sudden shift. “Growing impatient, Kallweit?”
“We’d either have to take another servant, and risk getting caught or we take the chance we have now. I won’t compromise on this. Tell him to kill himself.”
“How brutal. I was half expecting you to want me to wipe his memory,” Claudia mused.
“That never sticks.”
“Very well,” she said, turning back to the servant. “After the deed is done, I want you to slit your own throat.”
The servant gave a nod, and walked away.
“And now we wait. Be ready to attack the Earl, we must be swift and deadly. Like a deadly swift.” One would see Michael trying hard to not to laugh at his own joke.
Claudia stared blankly at the man and shook her head. Clearly she didn’t get it as much as she would have liked. “I wonder if Virgo has a very good sense of humor, because I don’t get it.”
***
There was a fire, and the servants raved due to the emergence of the situation. There were still many servants lurking across the fields and the two took longer than expected to reach the mansion itself. Inside the mansion—due to the servants being distracted—the third floor was relatively empty, with only one servant standing before the aforementioned set of doors of the Master’s room.
Michael summoned Caladbolg and bashed the servant with the flat of the blade, sending him flying down the hallway. He sliced open the doors, and it was unlit inside. Various furniture and fixtures that showed extravagance littered the room, and on the bed was someone who was asleep, which he assumed was the Earl.
Michael sneakily approached the bed, preparing his greatsword to stab the Earl. When he reached the side of the sleeping Earl, he raised his sword as high as he could and thrust the sword downwards, drawing the blood of the Earl. A groan escaped, and it seemed like he wasn’t dead. When Michael attempt to stab again the man raised his arm, the sword stopped before it could finish him.
“Good morning,” Michael said as he pulled back his sword.
“He’s a stubborn one,” Claudia remarked. “Anyone else would have died right there.”
“Heh. Stubborn indeed.”
With a wave of magic the Earl rose up from his bed, the air surrounding him burning with magic, lighting up the room. When Michael and Claudia attempted to strike with their weapons, the entire room exploded as a white flame blazed through the floors. These flames seemed to extend from before his bed. The Earl casually took up a bottle of wine from beside his bed and poured it onto a glass. The wound seemed to close up as he drank from the glass, the other hand applying healing magic on the cut.
“Was wondering where the light in the room was,” Michael said as a silver shroud of mana enveloped him. In a matter of moments, in front of Earl was a silver wraith whose form he could not distinguish. It seemed that there was no single instance that it retained a form as parts of it constantly flaked off, resulting in another form. There was something absurd about the lack of a consistent form of the wraith that tapped into the Earl’s primal sense of fear. Michael was indistinguishable to observers now.
“Your Commandment?” Claudia assumed.
“...No,” It replied in a garbled voice.
“Then what on earth is that?”
“Spell. Would you focus?” Seems like this is still too incomplete for use in the field, huh?
The Earl took up his hand from healing and another wave of white flames swathed over the two.
Seconds passed, and before the Earl could conclude that the assassins were burnt to a crisp, three figures bursted through the fire, catching the man off-guard. They were Claudia’s dogs from Hell, fulfilling their purpose.
Despite releasing more flames at the hounds, the beasts swallowed them whole and pushed the Earl into the wall and crushed him, breaking past it—ravaging the mansion as they took him down. The noises of destruction reverberated for some moments. The floor shook with the intensity of the force and it was only getting hotter due to the white burning flames that surrounded them.
When the smoke cleared, the two looked up and a tower of cyclic water rose up from the wreckage, with the Earl at its centre.
“Do not grow conceited, filthy assassins.”
Michael and Claudia looked up past the head of the house of Aberdeen. Two enormous dragons made out of water loomed in wait of the noble’s command. The dragons danced and intertwined in the dark sky, as if they had already received the Earl’s intentions.
With a loud roar, they dived into the mansion—into where Michael and Claudia were standing. The flames were extinguished and now they felt bone-chilling coldness as they were sent deep into the mansion’s grounds. The force broke down the entire mansion and a lake was formed all across the area, all the way up to its walls, effectively drowning some of the guards too.
Michael suffered the brunt force of the dragon’s impact, and briefly passed out, cancelling his shroud. However, he was snapped back to reality with him drowning inside what seemed to be a large basement. It appeared that the force and pressure was so powerful that it pushed him and his companion into the deepest depths of the newly formed lake. He struggled as he began drowning, water slowly filling up his lungs.
Eventually, he managed to contain his panic and with the help of him being a Representative now, his body and mind were able to withstand this onslaught. Ignoring the immense pain he was experiencing, he swam back up and eventually managed to break the surface and hungrily breathed in air. He looked around and tried to find the Earl or Claudia but he could only see the damage done by the Earl’s spell. If these were the kinds of targets the Princess wanted to be gone, it looked like he would need to use his full arsenal to even the odds. Wonder if she’d think this is a holy cause to use her bow for.
Water. Claudia hated water.
She struggled to keep her lungs from shriveling up from how long she had her breath held. The Representative attempted to swim up to the surface, but alas in her dazed state, she had no clue where up was. She was turned upside down and unable to gather her bearings. With this, the Earl probably took this chance to escape. Fuck…
Eventually, the vampire regained her sense of direction and promptly swam upwards. Of all the things to die from, she refused to let water be the cause of that.
Emerging from the manmade pool, Claudia gasped hard. It took her a moment to regain her composure and actually begin to care about Michael, wherever he was.
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXnWfx6bIVE)
The two still found some of their clothes wet.
Now in the Ritz Hotel, Michael and Claudia were back, resting. Some hours had passed since they pulled themselves out of the water and escaped the grounds of the mansion, all of which was completely flooded by the Supreme Spell of the Earl. Needless to say, the mission ended in failure.
Cosette came to Claudia and Michael with two towels.
“My Lady… what have you gotten into this time?” Cosette enquired as she rubbed her hair with the towel. Since there was no hair dryer in Victorian England that was situated in the nineteenth century, a towel was the only good thing to get the water off the hair.
“An assassination for Princess Louise... it appears Mister Kallweit and I bit off more than what we could chew,” Claudia replied dryly.
“...It was my fault. I decided not to follow my own plan, and got too cocky,” he spoke for the first time since the time they both got out of the water. He was berating himself the whole time, how once again let his cockiness cost him his prey. “I apologize.”
Claudia stared at the man from across the room for a moment and blinked a few times. “...It could have happened to either of us, especially myself.” She stood up and approached Michael, jabbing him in the shoulder. “Getting down on yourself is another folly. Don’t do that.”
“No, it isn’t that. I was out of fighting form and thought myself ready just because I was granted power by Dana. If it was back when I was hunting for the Church, I would’ve been killed— and made the problem worse,” Michael corrected Claudia.
“If you’d allow me, my Lady, I could assist next time with the assassinations, as I have years of experience in the field. As a mercenary, I have received assassination missions before. It could help reduce the chances of such… failures,” Cosette offered.
Michael turned towards Cossette, who was just recently introduced to him. “It appears that we would be depending on you, Miss Cossette. And if I may be allowed to intrude upon your hospitality further, may I borrow your bathroom and some clothes? Or perhaps another towel?”
“I would be happy to help, but the owner of this room is Lady Claudia. I would ask that you redirect the question to her.”
Michael just turned to Claudia and shrugged, showing how wet his clothes still were.
“Be my guest,” Claudia said, shrugging.
“Great, thanks. But wouldn’t you prefer to go first?”
“I’ll be fine. Go on ahead.”
“I’ll be going then,” he stood up and unbuttoned his vest as he headed towards the bathroom. His coat already hung outside to dry.
Claudia in turn unbuttoned her coat and hung it up, same as Michael, and sat down onto the couch with a sigh. As she rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, the thought of her sworn enemy using her bathroom crossed the woman’s mind. The man who killed Marco. It was awkward for sure, but it hadn’t really hit Claudia until now.
“Are you really fine with letting that man inhabit your living space, my Lady?” Cosette asked as Michael went to the bathroom.
“Personally, I don’t like him. He grates my very soul,” Claudia answered simply. “But, it is the will of the Countess, and it would cause us more trouble than it is worth to brew up another fight between us. So as of now, I will let it go.”
“I thought you would be fighting him the very moment you saw him, as I was told that you vowed to take revenge for your lover.”
“...I am no longer the Claudia you saw that day. She is gone.”
“You really have improved. No longer the piece of shit, it’s rather astounding. Your trainer is, I mean.”
Claudia turned an eye to Cosette for a moment. The red in her pupil shined brightly as the Representative’s silent anger flared up so briefly. “I would prefer if you watched your tongue around me.”
“But it was you who wanted me to be more truthful than dutiful. Do you not remember?”
“As I said, I am no longer that Claudia you knew that day. That person was swallowed into the abyss, where she so belongs. You will share her fate if you continue to disrespect me.”
“Sounds rather ironic, but as you wish, my Lady—”
Cosette’s speech was cut-off as her master’s boot swiftly found her gut, sending the maid crumbling toward the ground.
“Silence. Your conduct will not be tolerated.”
“You know, one would think you’d take that chance and kill me… but it seems like you two would rather kill each other first,” Michael suddenly said, having finished with his quick shower. He only wore a towel wrapped around his waist, and he was using one that hung around his neck to wipe his hair.
“Your fate is no longer any of my concern, Mister Kallweit,” Claudia supplemented, walking away from her grounded maid. “I see you lack extra clothing...” She looked the man up and down plainly, shaking her head.
“Quite. Please forgive my appearance.” Michael plopped back down on the sofa, not giving much thought about manners since it was just Claudia there. He wanted to apologize to Cosette, but his urge to mess with Claudia was greater. “How do we go from here, return a failure to the Princess or muster another attempt at the Earl’s life? Either way, assassination would be harder from here onwards.”
Cosette seemed to get back up with her own strength, scoffing before she started the process of cleaning up the mess. Despite being battered, she seemed to work as normal.
“The Earl would be expecting us to track him down again. If it weren’t for it having to be us in particular to assassinate him, I would appoint someone different,” Claudia said. “I will not return to the Princess with a failure. That will only lower our credibility.”
“There are other possible safe houses that were included in the documents provided to us. If it weren’t for the Princess’ desire not to do harm to other nobles, we could’ve taken the Earl’s family and used that to our advantage. Will bringing Miss Cosette be favourable for you?”
“My maid often forgets who she is loyal to. Though… as she said, it would double our chances of doing the deed,” Claudia said, watching as Cosette worked in the background with an uninterested look. She placed a hand under her chin and pondered her options. “I might as well.”
“Considering how you treated her? I’m not surprised. In any case, I doubt you’d want me to lecture you, so I might have an idea I want to try before we proceed.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I may have a way to contact the Watchers, don’t ask, and they might be able to help us locate the Earl.”
“Any option is better than none. Be my guest.”
“Fight the urge to kill me while I’m talking, eh?” Michael joked as he stood up and knelt, preparing to send a prayer to the Watchers.
O Watchers of old, heed thy servant’s plea. Bless him with thy presence, and may your light show him the path.
A blue light seemed to form around Michael, reminiscent of the time Uriel had descended. The angel was upon him, responding to his will.
“Speak, Saint of the Human World, and we shall answer.”
I seek the location of the Earl Abedeen, for it is my duty to bring him judgement.
“The Heavens do not recommend this endeavour, seeing as he serves the Queen well. However, should you believe in thy sense of judgement, Aberdeen may be found in the place known as the Westminster Palace.”
I thank you greatly for enlightening me with the Earl’s location. Please witness my path as I trudge through this bloody path for the greater… good of this world. If these sins must be committed for my ultimate goal, then allow me to carry these burdens.
The lights disappeared around Michael and he could no longer feel the presence of the angel.
“Westminster Palace. The Earl is at a highly-guarded area now. If we want to assault the palace, we’d need more than Miss Cosette to be successful.” Michael stood up and faced the two women.
Claudia was already smoking on her hookah while Michael was busy conversing with the angel. She spared her attention to the man and hummed.
“Figures.” Claudia blew smoke near Michael’s face, propping her head up with her hand. “So either we run head first towards our deaths, or we pursue a different target.”
“I don’t mind either way. If the Earl is stuck in the palace for the time being, it’s the same as incapacitating him. We can check later if we can find a weakness of his that we can exploit.” Michael rubbed his chin in contemplation, not noticing his towel had already fallen off.
“...Kallweit.” Claudia looked dead at the other Representative and pointed below, warning him of his only covering being lost. She was hardly phased, but she would rather not have seen her former sworn enemy in the buff like that.
Cosette seemed to only give Michael a peek before she turned away to cleaning the floor, hiding her blushing face.
“Oof. Pardon me,” Michael said as he quickly wrapped the other towel he had around his waist. “M-Maybe my clothes have dried. The trousers at least.”
“For shame, Kallweit. Showing yourself to two unsuspecting women. Perhaps under that thick skin, you might be a pervert in truth,” Claudia remarked, appearing lethargic with that joke.
“Am I a handsome lech, at least?” Michael joked as he winked towards them. Sometimes, when he bottled his emotions, he would do it too much; enough to joke around with the one who indirectly caused his mother’s kidnapping.
Surprisingly yes. “No, you swine.” Claudia scoffed and turned away from Michael, scowling like usual.
“You wound me so!” He acted as if he was offended, but his smirk was telling the two women otherwise. He walked towards his trousers which were hanging on the balcony. They were a bit damp, but wearable.
“Is this really the man I fought a year ago? I recall you were a lot more uptight… and angry back then,” Claudia said, unable to believe her former enemy felt so comfortable standing in front of her like this. If I were still...that person, I would be all over him, suffice it to say…
“And you were more axe-crazy. It seems we all have to grow up sometimes, eh? Considering your Master, she must’ve been quite strict if she was that proud of you.” Maybe if she was like this then… maybe I could have been able to reason with her to go back to Mary.
“Yes, Master Rafflesia was… not as lax compared to Moth– the Countess, I mean. She actually would have killed me if I had not grown wiser and discarded my pride.” Claudia turned to Michael when she saw that it was safe to look—not that she would usually avert her eyes from something like that, anyways. “Where were you this past year?”
“Well, the results turned out to be rather attractive.” Michael smirked as he wore his pants. “It was complicated, but that past year you could say we were both under the Countess.”
“I could say we were? Complicated indeed, Kallweit.”
“Yeah, I even learned to cook and bake. Very useful, those skills.”
Claudia stared at Michael for a long time before speaking, “…Were…were you a butler?”
“Yes.” Michael’s face noticeably became more somber. “I was.”
Instead of making a joke out of the topic, Claudia realised that she probably stepped on a sore subject and backed off in turn. “I see.”
“We should rest, and then think about our options,” Michael suggested as he wanted some time alone too, to meditate and think about things.
“Not a bad plan. Meet here in the morning, then?”
“If you don’t mind. I’d try to see if Miss Charlotte can provide us with assistance.” Michael took his clothes, and said his goodbye.
Claudia waved as Michael exited, then plopped onto the couch once she was sure that he was gone. The night had left the woman exhausted more than anything.
The two still found some of their clothes wet.
Now in the Ritz Hotel, Michael and Claudia were back, resting. Some hours had passed since they pulled themselves out of the water and escaped the grounds of the mansion, all of which was completely flooded by the Supreme Spell of the Earl. Needless to say, the mission ended in failure.
Cosette came to Claudia and Michael with two towels.
“My Lady… what have you gotten into this time?” Cosette enquired as she rubbed her hair with the towel. Since there was no hair dryer in Victorian England that was situated in the nineteenth century, a towel was the only good thing to get the water off the hair.
“An assassination for Princess Louise... it appears Mister Kallweit and I bit off more than what we could chew,” Claudia replied dryly.
“...It was my fault. I decided not to follow my own plan, and got too cocky,” he spoke for the first time since the time they both got out of the water. He was berating himself the whole time, how once again let his cockiness cost him his prey. “I apologize.”
Claudia stared at the man from across the room for a moment and blinked a few times. “...It could have happened to either of us, especially myself.” She stood up and approached Michael, jabbing him in the shoulder. “Getting down on yourself is another folly. Don’t do that.”
“No, it isn’t that. I was out of fighting form and thought myself ready just because I was granted power by Dana. If it was back when I was hunting for the Church, I would’ve been killed— and made the problem worse,” Michael corrected Claudia.
“If you’d allow me, my Lady, I could assist next time with the assassinations, as I have years of experience in the field. As a mercenary, I have received assassination missions before. It could help reduce the chances of such… failures,” Cosette offered.
Michael turned towards Cossette, who was just recently introduced to him. “It appears that we would be depending on you, Miss Cossette. And if I may be allowed to intrude upon your hospitality further, may I borrow your bathroom and some clothes? Or perhaps another towel?”
“I would be happy to help, but the owner of this room is Lady Claudia. I would ask that you redirect the question to her.”
Michael just turned to Claudia and shrugged, showing how wet his clothes still were.
“Be my guest,” Claudia said, shrugging.
“Great, thanks. But wouldn’t you prefer to go first?”
“I’ll be fine. Go on ahead.”
“I’ll be going then,” he stood up and unbuttoned his vest as he headed towards the bathroom. His coat already hung outside to dry.
Claudia in turn unbuttoned her coat and hung it up, same as Michael, and sat down onto the couch with a sigh. As she rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, the thought of her sworn enemy using her bathroom crossed the woman’s mind. The man who killed Marco. It was awkward for sure, but it hadn’t really hit Claudia until now.
“Are you really fine with letting that man inhabit your living space, my Lady?” Cosette asked as Michael went to the bathroom.
“Personally, I don’t like him. He grates my very soul,” Claudia answered simply. “But, it is the will of the Countess, and it would cause us more trouble than it is worth to brew up another fight between us. So as of now, I will let it go.”
“I thought you would be fighting him the very moment you saw him, as I was told that you vowed to take revenge for your lover.”
“...I am no longer the Claudia you saw that day. She is gone.”
“You really have improved. No longer the piece of shit, it’s rather astounding. Your trainer is, I mean.”
Claudia turned an eye to Cosette for a moment. The red in her pupil shined brightly as the Representative’s silent anger flared up so briefly. “I would prefer if you watched your tongue around me.”
“But it was you who wanted me to be more truthful than dutiful. Do you not remember?”
“As I said, I am no longer that Claudia you knew that day. That person was swallowed into the abyss, where she so belongs. You will share her fate if you continue to disrespect me.”
“Sounds rather ironic, but as you wish, my Lady—”
Cosette’s speech was cut-off as her master’s boot swiftly found her gut, sending the maid crumbling toward the ground.
“Silence. Your conduct will not be tolerated.”
“You know, one would think you’d take that chance and kill me… but it seems like you two would rather kill each other first,” Michael suddenly said, having finished with his quick shower. He only wore a towel wrapped around his waist, and he was using one that hung around his neck to wipe his hair.
“Your fate is no longer any of my concern, Mister Kallweit,” Claudia supplemented, walking away from her grounded maid. “I see you lack extra clothing...” She looked the man up and down plainly, shaking her head.
“Quite. Please forgive my appearance.” Michael plopped back down on the sofa, not giving much thought about manners since it was just Claudia there. He wanted to apologize to Cosette, but his urge to mess with Claudia was greater. “How do we go from here, return a failure to the Princess or muster another attempt at the Earl’s life? Either way, assassination would be harder from here onwards.”
Cosette seemed to get back up with her own strength, scoffing before she started the process of cleaning up the mess. Despite being battered, she seemed to work as normal.
“The Earl would be expecting us to track him down again. If it weren’t for it having to be us in particular to assassinate him, I would appoint someone different,” Claudia said. “I will not return to the Princess with a failure. That will only lower our credibility.”
“There are other possible safe houses that were included in the documents provided to us. If it weren’t for the Princess’ desire not to do harm to other nobles, we could’ve taken the Earl’s family and used that to our advantage. Will bringing Miss Cosette be favourable for you?”
“My maid often forgets who she is loyal to. Though… as she said, it would double our chances of doing the deed,” Claudia said, watching as Cosette worked in the background with an uninterested look. She placed a hand under her chin and pondered her options. “I might as well.”
“Considering how you treated her? I’m not surprised. In any case, I doubt you’d want me to lecture you, so I might have an idea I want to try before we proceed.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I may have a way to contact the Watchers, don’t ask, and they might be able to help us locate the Earl.”
“Any option is better than none. Be my guest.”
“Fight the urge to kill me while I’m talking, eh?” Michael joked as he stood up and knelt, preparing to send a prayer to the Watchers.
O Watchers of old, heed thy servant’s plea. Bless him with thy presence, and may your light show him the path.
A blue light seemed to form around Michael, reminiscent of the time Uriel had descended. The angel was upon him, responding to his will.
“Speak, Saint of the Human World, and we shall answer.”
I seek the location of the Earl Abedeen, for it is my duty to bring him judgement.
“The Heavens do not recommend this endeavour, seeing as he serves the Queen well. However, should you believe in thy sense of judgement, Aberdeen may be found in the place known as the Westminster Palace.”
I thank you greatly for enlightening me with the Earl’s location. Please witness my path as I trudge through this bloody path for the greater… good of this world. If these sins must be committed for my ultimate goal, then allow me to carry these burdens.
The lights disappeared around Michael and he could no longer feel the presence of the angel.
“Westminster Palace. The Earl is at a highly-guarded area now. If we want to assault the palace, we’d need more than Miss Cosette to be successful.” Michael stood up and faced the two women.
Claudia was already smoking on her hookah while Michael was busy conversing with the angel. She spared her attention to the man and hummed.
“Figures.” Claudia blew smoke near Michael’s face, propping her head up with her hand. “So either we run head first towards our deaths, or we pursue a different target.”
“I don’t mind either way. If the Earl is stuck in the palace for the time being, it’s the same as incapacitating him. We can check later if we can find a weakness of his that we can exploit.” Michael rubbed his chin in contemplation, not noticing his towel had already fallen off.
“...Kallweit.” Claudia looked dead at the other Representative and pointed below, warning him of his only covering being lost. She was hardly phased, but she would rather not have seen her former sworn enemy in the buff like that.
Cosette seemed to only give Michael a peek before she turned away to cleaning the floor, hiding her blushing face.
“Oof. Pardon me,” Michael said as he quickly wrapped the other towel he had around his waist. “M-Maybe my clothes have dried. The trousers at least.”
“For shame, Kallweit. Showing yourself to two unsuspecting women. Perhaps under that thick skin, you might be a pervert in truth,” Claudia remarked, appearing lethargic with that joke.
“Am I a handsome lech, at least?” Michael joked as he winked towards them. Sometimes, when he bottled his emotions, he would do it too much; enough to joke around with the one who indirectly caused his mother’s kidnapping.
Surprisingly yes. “No, you swine.” Claudia scoffed and turned away from Michael, scowling like usual.
“You wound me so!” He acted as if he was offended, but his smirk was telling the two women otherwise. He walked towards his trousers which were hanging on the balcony. They were a bit damp, but wearable.
“Is this really the man I fought a year ago? I recall you were a lot more uptight… and angry back then,” Claudia said, unable to believe her former enemy felt so comfortable standing in front of her like this. If I were still...that person, I would be all over him, suffice it to say…
“And you were more axe-crazy. It seems we all have to grow up sometimes, eh? Considering your Master, she must’ve been quite strict if she was that proud of you.” Maybe if she was like this then… maybe I could have been able to reason with her to go back to Mary.
“Yes, Master Rafflesia was… not as lax compared to Moth– the Countess, I mean. She actually would have killed me if I had not grown wiser and discarded my pride.” Claudia turned to Michael when she saw that it was safe to look—not that she would usually avert her eyes from something like that, anyways. “Where were you this past year?”
“Well, the results turned out to be rather attractive.” Michael smirked as he wore his pants. “It was complicated, but that past year you could say we were both under the Countess.”
“I could say we were? Complicated indeed, Kallweit.”
“Yeah, I even learned to cook and bake. Very useful, those skills.”
Claudia stared at Michael for a long time before speaking, “…Were…were you a butler?”
“Yes.” Michael’s face noticeably became more somber. “I was.”
Instead of making a joke out of the topic, Claudia realised that she probably stepped on a sore subject and backed off in turn. “I see.”
“We should rest, and then think about our options,” Michael suggested as he wanted some time alone too, to meditate and think about things.
“Not a bad plan. Meet here in the morning, then?”
“If you don’t mind. I’d try to see if Miss Charlotte can provide us with assistance.” Michael took his clothes, and said his goodbye.
Claudia waved as Michael exited, then plopped onto the couch once she was sure that he was gone. The night had left the woman exhausted more than anything.
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
The whole month had been uneventful. Kaitlyn followed the few leads she had but there was nothing so far. Elizabeth hadn’t done anything overly suspicious recently. However, she couldn’t be sure, as she was still going out alone here and there without her notice.
The curtain of the night had fallen, Kaitlyn cracked her eye open before rubbing an empty space on the bed. They decided quite some time ago to share the bed together, so it was awfully odd for so much space to be found on it.
Of course, Elizabeth was missing from it.
Not even her mother’s death had changed her habits. I swear, if I get my hands on the lurkers taking advantage of her… Kaitlyn blinked. Just a month ago and she wouldn’t have thought that way. This was no longer just another job for her, but when the lines had begun to blur was hard to say.
Kaitlyn felt something she was all too familiar with. Useless. She clenched her fist. There was nothing she could do, not until Elizabeth told her more.
Kaitlyn got up and stretched, groaning.
She soon turned, someone knocked on her door. She doubted if it was Elizabeth, she would have bothered. Kaitlyn grabbed her sword where it hung from a peg next to her coat and strapped it on. She donned the enchanted coat next. Preparing herself for anything, she opened the door.
A man with short blonde hair stood in the doorway, wearing a jet black suit. He had a handsome face, but somehow she could tell—perhaps from experience—that he was a cunning man. That aside, she had seen and heard of the gentleman recently.
The Earl of Aberdeen.
To add, this man had recently been targeted for assassination too.
“Good evening,” Aberdeen greeted. “Pardon me for intruding at an hour so late, but is Lady Cavendish Bentinck here?”
Kaitlyn kept herself planted firmly in the middle of the doorway. She made sure her hand hung at her waist within easy reach of the hilt of her sword. Earl or not, people didn’t come knocking in the middle of the night with good news, especially when they were looking for someone who was supposed to be in hiding.
“She’s unavailable,” Kaitlyn said.
“Do you have any idea as to where she was taken to?”
Taken to? “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”
“Very well. I shall find her myself. Good night, I apologise for intruding so late.”
“Uh, good night.” There was no question now. The Earl was involved in this somehow, but was he friend or foe? Being targeted by the assassin didn’t necessarily mean anything. For all she knew, it could have been staged to make him look innocent.
Kaitlyn palmed her forehead. “Get a hold of yourself. You’re probably overthinking this way too much.”
The curtain of the night had fallen, Kaitlyn cracked her eye open before rubbing an empty space on the bed. They decided quite some time ago to share the bed together, so it was awfully odd for so much space to be found on it.
Of course, Elizabeth was missing from it.
Not even her mother’s death had changed her habits. I swear, if I get my hands on the lurkers taking advantage of her… Kaitlyn blinked. Just a month ago and she wouldn’t have thought that way. This was no longer just another job for her, but when the lines had begun to blur was hard to say.
Kaitlyn felt something she was all too familiar with. Useless. She clenched her fist. There was nothing she could do, not until Elizabeth told her more.
Kaitlyn got up and stretched, groaning.
She soon turned, someone knocked on her door. She doubted if it was Elizabeth, she would have bothered. Kaitlyn grabbed her sword where it hung from a peg next to her coat and strapped it on. She donned the enchanted coat next. Preparing herself for anything, she opened the door.
A man with short blonde hair stood in the doorway, wearing a jet black suit. He had a handsome face, but somehow she could tell—perhaps from experience—that he was a cunning man. That aside, she had seen and heard of the gentleman recently.
The Earl of Aberdeen.
To add, this man had recently been targeted for assassination too.
“Good evening,” Aberdeen greeted. “Pardon me for intruding at an hour so late, but is Lady Cavendish Bentinck here?”
Kaitlyn kept herself planted firmly in the middle of the doorway. She made sure her hand hung at her waist within easy reach of the hilt of her sword. Earl or not, people didn’t come knocking in the middle of the night with good news, especially when they were looking for someone who was supposed to be in hiding.
“She’s unavailable,” Kaitlyn said.
“Do you have any idea as to where she was taken to?”
Taken to? “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”
“Very well. I shall find her myself. Good night, I apologise for intruding so late.”
“Uh, good night.” There was no question now. The Earl was involved in this somehow, but was he friend or foe? Being targeted by the assassin didn’t necessarily mean anything. For all she knew, it could have been staged to make him look innocent.
Kaitlyn palmed her forehead. “Get a hold of yourself. You’re probably overthinking this way too much.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
The next morning Michael came back to Claudia’s hotel room, but this time he had Charlotte Brontë along with him. After explaining what had transpired the night before, she agreed to lend aid to the two. On the way, Michael discussed various mundane things with Charlotte and found out that she also cooked. Now, they sat on the sofa as they started to plan their assault on the palace.
“I don’t suppose there would be emergency exits built in the palace that we know?” he asked.
“If there were such exits I imagine only the nobles working there would be privy to such details,” Charlotte answered.
“This seems bleak. If not the Earl, we would need to pick another target, and that looks to be the most sensible move we can do for now. What do you think?” Michael looked at Claudia.
Claudia, who was now in an even worse mood than last night looked to her former enemies with a huff. “Not like we can get close to the Earl anyways. For now, I say we find someone else.” The Representative called Cosette to bring her a stack of papers, the same ones that relinquished information on the Nobles of London.
The maid of Claudia, Cosette, laid the documents out on the table in front of the two and rolled up her sleeves. “Here are what’s left...”
“I’d defer to your choices. Hopefully, someone who stays dead when stabbed.” Michael decided against picking a target, considering the last time he just basically picked at random. Now that target was safe inside a palace wall.
“Allow me to take a look,” Charlotte said, taking up the documents. She seemed to take only one moment before she stopped. “Why not just go after Caroline Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone? This should be easy for you as you know her, Claudia.”
“Do I?”
“Is she not the Countess’ official †˜mother’ at the moment, the Marchioness of Abergavenny?
Claudia pursed her lips as the name and face joined together. “Right… that Caroline.” She scratched at her scalp and sighed. “Why not? At least I’m sure that she won’t shrug off a stab in the back. I doubt that Moth—Countess, I mean, will mind at this point.”
“If these papers of her made it here then I doubt it matters either. If what they say about the methods of the Countess is true, it would be easier to get past their securities.”
“Meaning the workers there being turned into vampires? I have visited the Duchess’ estate only once, and could see vividly they were no longer human. Considering they would be loyal to the Countess, I assume they would be the same to a Representative.”
“Then it seems like she’d be the easiest and best target for us now, considering the groundwork has already been taken care of.” These were methods he would outright reject if he still worked at the Church, but he already found out how that Organization really operated. In the end, it was just results that mattered now. “I suggest we strike at dusk, before they can fully prepare for a siege. Well, more so now that an Earl was recently attacked.”
Charlotte gave a nod. “If the Countess’ influence is still there this should be a walk in the park. Let us be cautious regardless, though. We never know what will happen.”
“We would take the necessary precautions, of course. But should we be optimistic and prepare another target in case this assassination works well?” he asked, still hoping to make up for their earlier failure.
“I suppose we could.” Charlotte looked down at the papers again. “There is this Violet listed here. A newly appointed Magic Magister from the Royal Academy who is still in her final year. She is somewhat low on the list of priority—oh, she is the daughter of our current target.”
“Where is her residence?”
“The Viscountess currently resides in the same location as we are going to apparently… I suppose this is a two-in-one situation.”
“Even better. We’d have to face them both probably, but at least we can finish two jobs at once. If we have the servants’ support, I suggest we attack them in the dead of the night while they sleep.”
“Yes, of course. We have three Representatives so we should have a good opportunity. We may even be able to split up.”
“I shall be depending on you too then, Miss Charlotte. And once again with you, Claudia and Miss Cosette.”
Claudia silently nodded to Michael. “Here’s to a successful assassination, I suppose.”
Charlotte continued in response, “In the event that we split up, I suggest that I go with whoever wants to assassinate Miss Caroline, since it says here that she may exercise strong Aurum spells. I am able to nullify magic altogether.”
“What do you mean nullify magic?”
“When my Commandment is active all magic is nullified, at the same time no one may cast for some time. If Virgo had granted you a relic it should be good enough for the task.”
“That she did, she lent me Caladbolg to use. I suppose I can’t use Sain—Miss Saint’s spells while it’s active. Maybe I might find pointers on how to use a Commandment while we’re at it, too.”
“Ahaha… I see you have not learned to use it yet. It depends on your instincts more than skills to use it.”
Claudia nodded in agreement. “The way I see it, you have to feel the instinct come to you. No matter what, you cannot think about it, just do it,” she said. It didn’t really sound like that good of an advice as she had hoped, but perhaps that was how she generally performed her Commandment.
“So I was correct in that I have lost my edge.” Michael’s cheerfulness diminished as he realised how easy it was for him for his instincts to dull by just being away from battle for a year. At the very least, he retained the techniques and experiences he had. “Well, unless I fight a table, that is. I mastered killing furniture the past year.”
“I don’t suppose there would be emergency exits built in the palace that we know?” he asked.
“If there were such exits I imagine only the nobles working there would be privy to such details,” Charlotte answered.
“This seems bleak. If not the Earl, we would need to pick another target, and that looks to be the most sensible move we can do for now. What do you think?” Michael looked at Claudia.
Claudia, who was now in an even worse mood than last night looked to her former enemies with a huff. “Not like we can get close to the Earl anyways. For now, I say we find someone else.” The Representative called Cosette to bring her a stack of papers, the same ones that relinquished information on the Nobles of London.
The maid of Claudia, Cosette, laid the documents out on the table in front of the two and rolled up her sleeves. “Here are what’s left...”
“I’d defer to your choices. Hopefully, someone who stays dead when stabbed.” Michael decided against picking a target, considering the last time he just basically picked at random. Now that target was safe inside a palace wall.
“Allow me to take a look,” Charlotte said, taking up the documents. She seemed to take only one moment before she stopped. “Why not just go after Caroline Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone? This should be easy for you as you know her, Claudia.”
“Do I?”
“Is she not the Countess’ official †˜mother’ at the moment, the Marchioness of Abergavenny?
Claudia pursed her lips as the name and face joined together. “Right… that Caroline.” She scratched at her scalp and sighed. “Why not? At least I’m sure that she won’t shrug off a stab in the back. I doubt that Moth—Countess, I mean, will mind at this point.”
“If these papers of her made it here then I doubt it matters either. If what they say about the methods of the Countess is true, it would be easier to get past their securities.”
“Meaning the workers there being turned into vampires? I have visited the Duchess’ estate only once, and could see vividly they were no longer human. Considering they would be loyal to the Countess, I assume they would be the same to a Representative.”
“Then it seems like she’d be the easiest and best target for us now, considering the groundwork has already been taken care of.” These were methods he would outright reject if he still worked at the Church, but he already found out how that Organization really operated. In the end, it was just results that mattered now. “I suggest we strike at dusk, before they can fully prepare for a siege. Well, more so now that an Earl was recently attacked.”
Charlotte gave a nod. “If the Countess’ influence is still there this should be a walk in the park. Let us be cautious regardless, though. We never know what will happen.”
“We would take the necessary precautions, of course. But should we be optimistic and prepare another target in case this assassination works well?” he asked, still hoping to make up for their earlier failure.
“I suppose we could.” Charlotte looked down at the papers again. “There is this Violet listed here. A newly appointed Magic Magister from the Royal Academy who is still in her final year. She is somewhat low on the list of priority—oh, she is the daughter of our current target.”
“Where is her residence?”
“The Viscountess currently resides in the same location as we are going to apparently… I suppose this is a two-in-one situation.”
“Even better. We’d have to face them both probably, but at least we can finish two jobs at once. If we have the servants’ support, I suggest we attack them in the dead of the night while they sleep.”
“Yes, of course. We have three Representatives so we should have a good opportunity. We may even be able to split up.”
“I shall be depending on you too then, Miss Charlotte. And once again with you, Claudia and Miss Cosette.”
Claudia silently nodded to Michael. “Here’s to a successful assassination, I suppose.”
Charlotte continued in response, “In the event that we split up, I suggest that I go with whoever wants to assassinate Miss Caroline, since it says here that she may exercise strong Aurum spells. I am able to nullify magic altogether.”
“What do you mean nullify magic?”
“When my Commandment is active all magic is nullified, at the same time no one may cast for some time. If Virgo had granted you a relic it should be good enough for the task.”
“That she did, she lent me Caladbolg to use. I suppose I can’t use Sain—Miss Saint’s spells while it’s active. Maybe I might find pointers on how to use a Commandment while we’re at it, too.”
“Ahaha… I see you have not learned to use it yet. It depends on your instincts more than skills to use it.”
Claudia nodded in agreement. “The way I see it, you have to feel the instinct come to you. No matter what, you cannot think about it, just do it,” she said. It didn’t really sound like that good of an advice as she had hoped, but perhaps that was how she generally performed her Commandment.
“So I was correct in that I have lost my edge.” Michael’s cheerfulness diminished as he realised how easy it was for him for his instincts to dull by just being away from battle for a year. At the very least, he retained the techniques and experiences he had. “Well, unless I fight a table, that is. I mastered killing furniture the past year.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
Michael, Claudia, Charlotte and Cosette snuck into the mansion of the Marchioness of Abergavenny. Unsurprisingly, they could not depend on the maids. Turned out that the current staffing consisted of humans, which was unexpected for Claudia. She could only smell one vampire and she wasn’t sure where it was.
“Somehow I had a feeling that it would not be so easy,” Charlotte began. “But these servants are likely going to sleep soon. They are mundanes from what it seems and are untrained in the way of magecraft, according to my eye.”
“Mundanes, you say?” Michael asked as he readied his shroud spell. He hadn’t tested it against mundanes so far, and didn’t really plan to until this opportunity presented itself.
“They are irrelevant, then. We must find the Duchess, quickly,” Claudia said, burying her face into her scarf.
“Well, it’s not like she’d leave the estate suddenly. Did your connections tell us where her room is?” His voice became garbled in the middle of his sentence as a silver shroud surrounded him once again, making him indistinguishable once more.
“The documents had the blueprints. There are only three bedrooms that are notably large compared to the ones for the guests. Only one of them would be vacant as the Countess is missing from this place,” Charlotte responded, observing the wraith that was Michael with a bit of interest. “We should split up as we enter. One of the bedrooms resides on the right, while the other two are on the left according to what I had seen of the third floor.”
“Well first thing’s first; Mister Kallweit should go with Charlotte on the right, while Cosette and I shall comb the left,” Claudia suggested, briefly acting as a leader for once in her life.
“We’ll have Lady Violet down in no time, she is still a relatively new Magic Magister,” Cosette stated with a nod.
“Alright then, shall we?” he said cheerfully. He offered his arm to Charlotte as if they were about to dance in a ballroom and not attempt an assassination. Charlotte accepted his offer, as he put an arm around her waist, shrouding her too with the wraith’s form. They both became unidentifiable with the wraith constantly shifting forms, but now it appeared more massive. One second, it appeared like a mass of tentacles shaped like a massive man, the other it appeared like a tattered piece of cloth vaguely shaped like a fat woman with silver mist coming out from the bottom.
Claudia only shook her head, watching as the two made their way to their objective. As usual, she summoned her scythe, held it over her shoulder and beckoned her maid to follow.
“Come.”
“Yes.”
Michael and Charlotte’s adventure to the bedroom of the Marchioness was very uneventful, which was a saving grace for them. A maidservant patrolled in the dark corridor just once holding a lamp, a tiny Engine light that was likely designed to replace a candle. The wraith was unnoticed as they passed by.
“This room should be the room of the Marchioness,” Charlotte said faintly, standing before the doors of the bedroom.
“You know the last time I did this, after stabbing the Earl in his bed, he dropped a lake on top of us,” Michael said casually as he half turned the doorknob. “Ready?”
“No need to fear magic with me in the vicinity. Let us proceed.”
He nodded and opened the door. That’s when he saw that the Marchioness was sleeping at her bed. He felt a sense of déjà vu, but he decided against a repeat of what happened with the Earl as he immediately casted Chrono Phantasma. With a flicker of silver light, he appeared beside the sleeping noble and stabbed her in the heart.
His white blade was stained by the noble’s crimson blood as it spouted from the wound, making him think that the noble has already fallen. However, in her last few moments, the Marchioness suddenly struggled, as if to cast one last spell. Charlotte held the hand the Marchioness raised to cast and her spell was stopped. She wailed and writhed in pain as blue electricity fried her innards afterwards.
“That was easy,” Michael told Charlotte, pulling his sword out when the blood stopped spouting from the wound he inflicted. Even in his Wraith form, his partner could see that he was completely covered in blood.
“A job well done. Shall we visit Claudia’s side to see if it is done now?”
“We might as well, hopefully they are also done,” he replied as his relic dispersed.
Claudia and Cosette progressed through the hallways, keeping vigil for anyone coming their way. So far the Engine lights were off and the servants were asleep.
“It seems like the security here is indeed lax,” Cosette commented with a whisper. “Not a soul on the walk.”
“How careless. There are assassins running amok in London and they haven’t the common sense to steel themselves for an attack. Foolish.” Claudia’s eyes narrowed in disgust. Watching the dust blow through the halls, the Representative was disappointed in the Countess’ so-called mother for the lack of guard detail.
Hearing some footsteps soon enough after she spoke, Claudia held Cosette in her hands and jumped up, her feet landing on the ceiling. Vampires were able to stick with the ceiling after all. However, Cosette scoffed. She could do the same herself, but her vampiric qualities were often ignored as she was a dhampir.
A maid holding what appeared to be a lamp passed by the otherwise dark corridor.
The two waited as she soon left and got back down.
“If that was the janitor then the way should be open now, for real this time.”
“Then now is our chance to move on.”
Some moments had passed before they approached an intersection in their pathway. There was a light, presumably from an Engine light and a shadow approaching again, which was completely unexpected too.
“For the lack of security, there are an awful lot of people passing by here,” Claudia said, jumping up to the ceiling again.
“I do not remember being part of the security detail, Claudia dear.”
Claudia looked down, finding no one on the floor. On the same ceiling where she stood, her eyes fell upon a very familiar figure, an old friend she hadn’t met for a year. Unlike the last time, she wore a chemise instead of a dress for a party.
“Rose…” Claudia was astonishment, mind half telling her to greet the woman, if it weren’t for the wonder of why she was there of all places prodding at her. “What are you doing here?”
“Why else? It is my home. Why are you here?”
“To assassinate the Marchioness of this home,” Claudia answered simply. She raised her scythe as emphasis to this. “Under strict orders from the Countess.”
“The Countess or the Princess?”
“What does it matter?”
“It does not indeed.” Rose seemed uninterested herself. “…Whatever, I can lead you to my sister’s room… that’s who you want, right?” she said with a scowl, looking away.
“That is all we desire… then we will leave. Forgive us for the intrusion.”
Rose said nothing in return before she dropped down on the floor, Claudia and Cosette doing the same in turn. They walked some distance and a bedroom’s door was in front of them. Rose stepped aside for Claudia to proceed.
Claudia gave a silent nod to her friend and was the first to enter, scythe raised, hoping to find the lady of the house. Her eyes widened in realisation when she looked down at the room. The bed was empty. Cosette shielded her lady when a rapier was blocked.
Lady Violet struck with battle-fervor—having anticipated an assassination attempt—while Rose caring to the situation that unfolded; only providing a glance. With a fireball forming, Cosette was removed from the way and her fencing sword clashed with Claudia’s scythe. The Representative demonstrated her strength, pushing Violet back immediately. She looked down at Violet, who wore a purple dress and had purple long hair. Her name truly was befitting of her. If it was a year ago she’d definitely call her †˜hot’.
“Sister, do not just stand there!” Violet told Rose, who seemed to cringe but face away.
Claudia’s expression was full of ire, practically burning a hole in the back of Rose’s and Violet’s heads. She immediately struck at her target, anger flaring up.
“Silence; eyes forward. Your opponent is right in front of you.”
Violet blocked the strikes as any swordsman would skillfully, but with Claudia’s strength and the weight of the scythe combined it was nearly impossible. Claudia pushed her a few paces back. Cosette shot out shards of ice, which distracted her. It was followed by another swing of Lachesis’ Fang and Violet was disarmed with the sword falling on the floor.
“Sister!” Violet called out with a louder voice, facing Claudia’s blade. Tears flowed down from Violet’s face—she resigned to her fate.
“Fall,” was all Claudia said as her blade let loose.
Violet opened her eyes, surprised that her head was not yet severed, for Rose’s rose-tipped wand collided with the brunt of Claudia’s slash, holding off the scythe due to her act of betrayal.
“I apologise, but perhaps my committance had indeed met its end,” Rose claimed, her face lacking the usual expression of amusement, and full of gloom.
“Your attachment to earthly sentiments such as family will prove as your downfall, traitor.”
“How ironic as ever. Is the Countess not an earthly attachment too?”
Claudia thrusted her scythe forward. “Hold your tongue about the Countess, wretch…you no longer have the right to even speak her name.”
“I never did, I suppose. Unlike you, I never had a choice to get into this mess…”
Claudia swung her scythe and Rose’s wand blocked once more. With a flurry launched, the two fought tooth and nail while Violet retreated and Cosette gave chase. Claudia attempted to pursue, exiting the room into the hallways, but Rose managed to deter her once more.
Rose cast a spell with her other free hand and an explosion made the floor cave in and Cosette fell down to a floor below. Claudia thought she gained an opportunity and struck at Rose, but it only served to create some distance between them.
The two walked in differing directions, bidding for their time to make an attack.
“Even to this day I cannot understand how a woman can choose to become a terrorist out of their own will like that. You disgust me.”
“And so the true emotions are finally released after so long,” Claudia said lethargically. “My reasons for joining BLoodLuST are none of your concern.”
The two heard rapid footsteps coming towards them, as Michael who was still in his wraith form, ran towards the two. He was holding his relic in his hand, stopping just before he got in the middle of the two. “What’s happening here? Why is Miss Rose… Why did you reveal yourself?” Michael specifically faced towards Rose with his last question. Not that she’d know he was facing her as he was still a Wraith.
“Perhaps you require a teaching regarding the appropriate times and places for things, bloody newcomer.” Rose faced her wand at Michael too, not knowing who he was thanks to appearing as a Wraith. “Reveal myself? How about you reveal yourself first?”
“It’s me. Michael,” he said as the shroud slowly flaked off into pieces, looking like it burnt under an invisible flame.
Rose held her mouth with her other hand and cringed once more with a look of disgust, seeing Michael drenched in blood, and taking in its fresh scent, the desire to drink blood welling up inside her. She somehow summoned her courage to fend off her instinctive desires.
“No point keeping it any longer anyway. Miss Mary is gone. I might as well be too.”
“I will save her. I will… I will save you too. You are Flora’s friend!” Michael said as he slowly walked towards her, releasing the grip on his relic. “Don’t throw your life away in despair.”
Rose started to step back, shaking her head with a defiant look.
“No… no, I do not need your help.”
Claudia scoffed. “Do not go and feel sorry for yourself now… perhaps it is too late for you indeed, Rose.”
“You might as well feel sorry for yourself.” Rose too, scoffed.
“Is our target dead?”
Michael, who continued to stand between the two with Charlotte, asked with his back still facing Claudia.
“No. The foolhardy vampire took it upon herself to step in my path.”
“This is your chance to find her. I shall deal with Miss Rose.”
“...I sense you, by chance know Rose as well. If I find out you betrayed me as well, I–”
“The more you dally here, the farther the target gets. So go!” Michael raised his voice.
Claudia pursed her lips and proceeded to bite them. With a snarl, she turned tail and sprinted towards Violet, retreating. Before she could pass by Rose, her wand gave away the familiar glint and an explosion occurred just before Claudia, sending her flying backwards. When Claudia looked up, Rose was already gone.
“Go. Find your target!” Michael said as he chased Rose.
Michael got out of the mansion with Charlotte. It seemed like there was a commotion when they left, the servants waking up to the tragedy that had taken place thanks to the assassins.
“Are you sure that we should be going after her?” Charlotte asked from behind the former priest. “She could very well do better being left alone now that Claudia is off her back… I believe.”
“I will need her help if I am to save Mary.”
“And here I thought you genuinely cared,” Charlotte said with a chuckle, “but I suppose I shall help if that is true.”
“I do care, she was Flora’s friend, and she helped us against Dana back in America. She seemed to be genuinely wanting to lose her vampirism, but her urges will take over her if she just starves herself. I believe I have a solution to both our problems if Mary is saved,” he explained as he tried to track where Rose went. “If I need to feed her my own blood for sustenance, I won’t mind. I need her help and her freedom of movement now that she’s left the Countess.”
“Very well, I shall lend my aid, Mister Michael.” Charlotte looked forward, her left eye burning navy-blue. “I see the mana in her body… Miss Rose is hiding behind that house dead ahead. Behind the ends of its chimney.”
“Let me talk to her alone. Be ready… just in case,” he said as he used a piece of cloth he nabbed from the estate to wipe the blood from his face. He headed towards where Rose was hiding with no intent of hiding his presence.
“Rose... It’s me again. Can I come over?” he asked, when he knew he was near enough that she would hear him even if he spoke not too loudly.
He waited for a while, but he heard neither a reply nor any sound of movement. There was only deathly silence. He decided that he had waited enough. He continued until he saw her; she was sitting in a fatal position with tears in her eyes, fidgeting, and was biting her finger. She was starving.
“Come. I need you to be rational,” he spoke as he once again loosened his blood-soaked shirt, exposing his neck for the vampire to see.
“No!!” The vampire moved back, her voice high-pitched. It was as if she was being told to go and get herself killed, that was the kind of terror that wrought the facial features of the one he had known as Rose.
Michael wordlessly summoned his relic, and sliced a wound open on his wrist. He walked towards the weakened vampire and forced her head into his wounded wrist. “Drink.”
The eyes of Rose burned crimson at the sight of fresh blood so close. Her logic and reasoning broke as the winner of the fight in her head was instinct. Opening her mouth, her fangs were revealed, and she bit on the offered wrist, relishing the taste of blood, drinking a copious amount of it ravenously. Some seconds with Rose gulping passed, and she threw the arm aside, coming to her senses once more, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
“Are you awake?” Michael started wrapping a piece of cloth around his wound.
“...More or less.”
“What do you plan on doing now? The Countess would see to it that you are killed, and Claudia would not hesitate to do it.”
“Just kill me now. End me while I am still sane.”
“No. I need you alive. If you truly want to be cured of that condition of yours, and Mary has the way to a cure… then our goals intertwine. If you choose death, still, then live for my sake. If you crave blood, I’d give it. If you seek a cure, then I will find it. And if you find yourself wallowing in despair, then I shall become your final hope.”
It took some time for her to process these words, Rose staying silent.
“Is it alright to…” Rose’s eyes turned normal again as she finally spoke. Indeed, there was hope when she needed it the most. “Trust you?”
“Did I talk about your treachery? I need you alive. All I am offering is a mutually beneficial relationship,” Michael replied as he offered her his hand to shake.
Hesitantly, Rose’s hand reached Michael’s hand, finally grasping it. It felt cold and was fidgeting.
Michael immediately pulled the vampire closer to him, and pushed her nearer with an arm to her back. “How many times must you drink blood? Do you have a place you can hide from the Countess?” he whispered, his voice lacking hint of any emotions in his tone.
“Once in awhile is fine… No place to hide.”
“I will ask Miss Charlotte if she can give you a place to sleep. But be wary, she cares a lot about Mary, perhaps far too much,” he said as he released her. “We will need you to get information for us, since we won’t have time to do so if we’re working for Dana… Virgo. Now, come.”
He walked out the back of the shed, with Rose in tow, as he pulled her by the hand.
“She has agreed to work with us in saving Mary, Miss Charlotte. But she is currently unsure where she could reside. Might I suggest that we bring her along with us? I promise to be the one responsible for her.”
“It is fine, I may provide shelter in my estate. The more the merrier,” Charlotte said with a welcoming smile. As long as she could get a step closer to freeing Mary, anyone—anything would be welcome.
“That’s very good, then!” Michael mimicked Charlotte’s smile. It was as if the man who talked to Rose earlier and the one who held her now were different persons. “See, I told you she’d agree to it, Rose!”
Rose looked with a scowl and disbelief at Michael before she looked back at Charlotte.
“Thank you.”
“Should we go home? We finished our side of the job, got a new ally, and I think the blood is starting to smell,” Michael said as he gestured towards the the state of his clothes. It seemed like he didn’t mind Rose scowling at him.
“Yes. Come, come, I cannot wait to let mother know about you. It shall get livier at home… for once.”
“Somehow I had a feeling that it would not be so easy,” Charlotte began. “But these servants are likely going to sleep soon. They are mundanes from what it seems and are untrained in the way of magecraft, according to my eye.”
“Mundanes, you say?” Michael asked as he readied his shroud spell. He hadn’t tested it against mundanes so far, and didn’t really plan to until this opportunity presented itself.
“They are irrelevant, then. We must find the Duchess, quickly,” Claudia said, burying her face into her scarf.
“Well, it’s not like she’d leave the estate suddenly. Did your connections tell us where her room is?” His voice became garbled in the middle of his sentence as a silver shroud surrounded him once again, making him indistinguishable once more.
“The documents had the blueprints. There are only three bedrooms that are notably large compared to the ones for the guests. Only one of them would be vacant as the Countess is missing from this place,” Charlotte responded, observing the wraith that was Michael with a bit of interest. “We should split up as we enter. One of the bedrooms resides on the right, while the other two are on the left according to what I had seen of the third floor.”
“Well first thing’s first; Mister Kallweit should go with Charlotte on the right, while Cosette and I shall comb the left,” Claudia suggested, briefly acting as a leader for once in her life.
“We’ll have Lady Violet down in no time, she is still a relatively new Magic Magister,” Cosette stated with a nod.
“Alright then, shall we?” he said cheerfully. He offered his arm to Charlotte as if they were about to dance in a ballroom and not attempt an assassination. Charlotte accepted his offer, as he put an arm around her waist, shrouding her too with the wraith’s form. They both became unidentifiable with the wraith constantly shifting forms, but now it appeared more massive. One second, it appeared like a mass of tentacles shaped like a massive man, the other it appeared like a tattered piece of cloth vaguely shaped like a fat woman with silver mist coming out from the bottom.
Claudia only shook her head, watching as the two made their way to their objective. As usual, she summoned her scythe, held it over her shoulder and beckoned her maid to follow.
“Come.”
“Yes.”
***
Michael and Charlotte’s adventure to the bedroom of the Marchioness was very uneventful, which was a saving grace for them. A maidservant patrolled in the dark corridor just once holding a lamp, a tiny Engine light that was likely designed to replace a candle. The wraith was unnoticed as they passed by.
“This room should be the room of the Marchioness,” Charlotte said faintly, standing before the doors of the bedroom.
“You know the last time I did this, after stabbing the Earl in his bed, he dropped a lake on top of us,” Michael said casually as he half turned the doorknob. “Ready?”
“No need to fear magic with me in the vicinity. Let us proceed.”
He nodded and opened the door. That’s when he saw that the Marchioness was sleeping at her bed. He felt a sense of déjà vu, but he decided against a repeat of what happened with the Earl as he immediately casted Chrono Phantasma. With a flicker of silver light, he appeared beside the sleeping noble and stabbed her in the heart.
His white blade was stained by the noble’s crimson blood as it spouted from the wound, making him think that the noble has already fallen. However, in her last few moments, the Marchioness suddenly struggled, as if to cast one last spell. Charlotte held the hand the Marchioness raised to cast and her spell was stopped. She wailed and writhed in pain as blue electricity fried her innards afterwards.
“That was easy,” Michael told Charlotte, pulling his sword out when the blood stopped spouting from the wound he inflicted. Even in his Wraith form, his partner could see that he was completely covered in blood.
“A job well done. Shall we visit Claudia’s side to see if it is done now?”
“We might as well, hopefully they are also done,” he replied as his relic dispersed.
***
Claudia and Cosette progressed through the hallways, keeping vigil for anyone coming their way. So far the Engine lights were off and the servants were asleep.
“It seems like the security here is indeed lax,” Cosette commented with a whisper. “Not a soul on the walk.”
“How careless. There are assassins running amok in London and they haven’t the common sense to steel themselves for an attack. Foolish.” Claudia’s eyes narrowed in disgust. Watching the dust blow through the halls, the Representative was disappointed in the Countess’ so-called mother for the lack of guard detail.
Hearing some footsteps soon enough after she spoke, Claudia held Cosette in her hands and jumped up, her feet landing on the ceiling. Vampires were able to stick with the ceiling after all. However, Cosette scoffed. She could do the same herself, but her vampiric qualities were often ignored as she was a dhampir.
A maid holding what appeared to be a lamp passed by the otherwise dark corridor.
The two waited as she soon left and got back down.
“If that was the janitor then the way should be open now, for real this time.”
“Then now is our chance to move on.”
Some moments had passed before they approached an intersection in their pathway. There was a light, presumably from an Engine light and a shadow approaching again, which was completely unexpected too.
“For the lack of security, there are an awful lot of people passing by here,” Claudia said, jumping up to the ceiling again.
“I do not remember being part of the security detail, Claudia dear.”
Claudia looked down, finding no one on the floor. On the same ceiling where she stood, her eyes fell upon a very familiar figure, an old friend she hadn’t met for a year. Unlike the last time, she wore a chemise instead of a dress for a party.
“Rose…” Claudia was astonishment, mind half telling her to greet the woman, if it weren’t for the wonder of why she was there of all places prodding at her. “What are you doing here?”
“Why else? It is my home. Why are you here?”
“To assassinate the Marchioness of this home,” Claudia answered simply. She raised her scythe as emphasis to this. “Under strict orders from the Countess.”
“The Countess or the Princess?”
“What does it matter?”
“It does not indeed.” Rose seemed uninterested herself. “…Whatever, I can lead you to my sister’s room… that’s who you want, right?” she said with a scowl, looking away.
“That is all we desire… then we will leave. Forgive us for the intrusion.”
Rose said nothing in return before she dropped down on the floor, Claudia and Cosette doing the same in turn. They walked some distance and a bedroom’s door was in front of them. Rose stepped aside for Claudia to proceed.
Claudia gave a silent nod to her friend and was the first to enter, scythe raised, hoping to find the lady of the house. Her eyes widened in realisation when she looked down at the room. The bed was empty. Cosette shielded her lady when a rapier was blocked.
Lady Violet struck with battle-fervor—having anticipated an assassination attempt—while Rose caring to the situation that unfolded; only providing a glance. With a fireball forming, Cosette was removed from the way and her fencing sword clashed with Claudia’s scythe. The Representative demonstrated her strength, pushing Violet back immediately. She looked down at Violet, who wore a purple dress and had purple long hair. Her name truly was befitting of her. If it was a year ago she’d definitely call her †˜hot’.
“Sister, do not just stand there!” Violet told Rose, who seemed to cringe but face away.
Claudia’s expression was full of ire, practically burning a hole in the back of Rose’s and Violet’s heads. She immediately struck at her target, anger flaring up.
“Silence; eyes forward. Your opponent is right in front of you.”
Violet blocked the strikes as any swordsman would skillfully, but with Claudia’s strength and the weight of the scythe combined it was nearly impossible. Claudia pushed her a few paces back. Cosette shot out shards of ice, which distracted her. It was followed by another swing of Lachesis’ Fang and Violet was disarmed with the sword falling on the floor.
“Sister!” Violet called out with a louder voice, facing Claudia’s blade. Tears flowed down from Violet’s face—she resigned to her fate.
“Fall,” was all Claudia said as her blade let loose.
Violet opened her eyes, surprised that her head was not yet severed, for Rose’s rose-tipped wand collided with the brunt of Claudia’s slash, holding off the scythe due to her act of betrayal.
“I apologise, but perhaps my committance had indeed met its end,” Rose claimed, her face lacking the usual expression of amusement, and full of gloom.
“Your attachment to earthly sentiments such as family will prove as your downfall, traitor.”
“How ironic as ever. Is the Countess not an earthly attachment too?”
Claudia thrusted her scythe forward. “Hold your tongue about the Countess, wretch…you no longer have the right to even speak her name.”
“I never did, I suppose. Unlike you, I never had a choice to get into this mess…”
Claudia swung her scythe and Rose’s wand blocked once more. With a flurry launched, the two fought tooth and nail while Violet retreated and Cosette gave chase. Claudia attempted to pursue, exiting the room into the hallways, but Rose managed to deter her once more.
Rose cast a spell with her other free hand and an explosion made the floor cave in and Cosette fell down to a floor below. Claudia thought she gained an opportunity and struck at Rose, but it only served to create some distance between them.
The two walked in differing directions, bidding for their time to make an attack.
“Even to this day I cannot understand how a woman can choose to become a terrorist out of their own will like that. You disgust me.”
“And so the true emotions are finally released after so long,” Claudia said lethargically. “My reasons for joining BLoodLuST are none of your concern.”
The two heard rapid footsteps coming towards them, as Michael who was still in his wraith form, ran towards the two. He was holding his relic in his hand, stopping just before he got in the middle of the two. “What’s happening here? Why is Miss Rose… Why did you reveal yourself?” Michael specifically faced towards Rose with his last question. Not that she’d know he was facing her as he was still a Wraith.
“Perhaps you require a teaching regarding the appropriate times and places for things, bloody newcomer.” Rose faced her wand at Michael too, not knowing who he was thanks to appearing as a Wraith. “Reveal myself? How about you reveal yourself first?”
“It’s me. Michael,” he said as the shroud slowly flaked off into pieces, looking like it burnt under an invisible flame.
Rose held her mouth with her other hand and cringed once more with a look of disgust, seeing Michael drenched in blood, and taking in its fresh scent, the desire to drink blood welling up inside her. She somehow summoned her courage to fend off her instinctive desires.
“No point keeping it any longer anyway. Miss Mary is gone. I might as well be too.”
“I will save her. I will… I will save you too. You are Flora’s friend!” Michael said as he slowly walked towards her, releasing the grip on his relic. “Don’t throw your life away in despair.”
Rose started to step back, shaking her head with a defiant look.
“No… no, I do not need your help.”
Claudia scoffed. “Do not go and feel sorry for yourself now… perhaps it is too late for you indeed, Rose.”
“You might as well feel sorry for yourself.” Rose too, scoffed.
“Is our target dead?”
Michael, who continued to stand between the two with Charlotte, asked with his back still facing Claudia.
“No. The foolhardy vampire took it upon herself to step in my path.”
“This is your chance to find her. I shall deal with Miss Rose.”
“...I sense you, by chance know Rose as well. If I find out you betrayed me as well, I–”
“The more you dally here, the farther the target gets. So go!” Michael raised his voice.
Claudia pursed her lips and proceeded to bite them. With a snarl, she turned tail and sprinted towards Violet, retreating. Before she could pass by Rose, her wand gave away the familiar glint and an explosion occurred just before Claudia, sending her flying backwards. When Claudia looked up, Rose was already gone.
“Go. Find your target!” Michael said as he chased Rose.
***
Michael got out of the mansion with Charlotte. It seemed like there was a commotion when they left, the servants waking up to the tragedy that had taken place thanks to the assassins.
“Are you sure that we should be going after her?” Charlotte asked from behind the former priest. “She could very well do better being left alone now that Claudia is off her back… I believe.”
“I will need her help if I am to save Mary.”
“And here I thought you genuinely cared,” Charlotte said with a chuckle, “but I suppose I shall help if that is true.”
“I do care, she was Flora’s friend, and she helped us against Dana back in America. She seemed to be genuinely wanting to lose her vampirism, but her urges will take over her if she just starves herself. I believe I have a solution to both our problems if Mary is saved,” he explained as he tried to track where Rose went. “If I need to feed her my own blood for sustenance, I won’t mind. I need her help and her freedom of movement now that she’s left the Countess.”
“Very well, I shall lend my aid, Mister Michael.” Charlotte looked forward, her left eye burning navy-blue. “I see the mana in her body… Miss Rose is hiding behind that house dead ahead. Behind the ends of its chimney.”
“Let me talk to her alone. Be ready… just in case,” he said as he used a piece of cloth he nabbed from the estate to wipe the blood from his face. He headed towards where Rose was hiding with no intent of hiding his presence.
“Rose... It’s me again. Can I come over?” he asked, when he knew he was near enough that she would hear him even if he spoke not too loudly.
He waited for a while, but he heard neither a reply nor any sound of movement. There was only deathly silence. He decided that he had waited enough. He continued until he saw her; she was sitting in a fatal position with tears in her eyes, fidgeting, and was biting her finger. She was starving.
“Come. I need you to be rational,” he spoke as he once again loosened his blood-soaked shirt, exposing his neck for the vampire to see.
“No!!” The vampire moved back, her voice high-pitched. It was as if she was being told to go and get herself killed, that was the kind of terror that wrought the facial features of the one he had known as Rose.
Michael wordlessly summoned his relic, and sliced a wound open on his wrist. He walked towards the weakened vampire and forced her head into his wounded wrist. “Drink.”
The eyes of Rose burned crimson at the sight of fresh blood so close. Her logic and reasoning broke as the winner of the fight in her head was instinct. Opening her mouth, her fangs were revealed, and she bit on the offered wrist, relishing the taste of blood, drinking a copious amount of it ravenously. Some seconds with Rose gulping passed, and she threw the arm aside, coming to her senses once more, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
“Are you awake?” Michael started wrapping a piece of cloth around his wound.
“...More or less.”
“What do you plan on doing now? The Countess would see to it that you are killed, and Claudia would not hesitate to do it.”
“Just kill me now. End me while I am still sane.”
“No. I need you alive. If you truly want to be cured of that condition of yours, and Mary has the way to a cure… then our goals intertwine. If you choose death, still, then live for my sake. If you crave blood, I’d give it. If you seek a cure, then I will find it. And if you find yourself wallowing in despair, then I shall become your final hope.”
It took some time for her to process these words, Rose staying silent.
“Is it alright to…” Rose’s eyes turned normal again as she finally spoke. Indeed, there was hope when she needed it the most. “Trust you?”
“Did I talk about your treachery? I need you alive. All I am offering is a mutually beneficial relationship,” Michael replied as he offered her his hand to shake.
Hesitantly, Rose’s hand reached Michael’s hand, finally grasping it. It felt cold and was fidgeting.
Michael immediately pulled the vampire closer to him, and pushed her nearer with an arm to her back. “How many times must you drink blood? Do you have a place you can hide from the Countess?” he whispered, his voice lacking hint of any emotions in his tone.
“Once in awhile is fine… No place to hide.”
“I will ask Miss Charlotte if she can give you a place to sleep. But be wary, she cares a lot about Mary, perhaps far too much,” he said as he released her. “We will need you to get information for us, since we won’t have time to do so if we’re working for Dana… Virgo. Now, come.”
He walked out the back of the shed, with Rose in tow, as he pulled her by the hand.
“She has agreed to work with us in saving Mary, Miss Charlotte. But she is currently unsure where she could reside. Might I suggest that we bring her along with us? I promise to be the one responsible for her.”
“It is fine, I may provide shelter in my estate. The more the merrier,” Charlotte said with a welcoming smile. As long as she could get a step closer to freeing Mary, anyone—anything would be welcome.
“That’s very good, then!” Michael mimicked Charlotte’s smile. It was as if the man who talked to Rose earlier and the one who held her now were different persons. “See, I told you she’d agree to it, Rose!”
Rose looked with a scowl and disbelief at Michael before she looked back at Charlotte.
“Thank you.”
“Should we go home? We finished our side of the job, got a new ally, and I think the blood is starting to smell,” Michael said as he gestured towards the the state of his clothes. It seemed like he didn’t mind Rose scowling at him.
“Yes. Come, come, I cannot wait to let mother know about you. It shall get livier at home… for once.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
Claudia eventually returned to her room in the Ritz Hotel. Another failed assassination was under her belt, and she had no one else to blame but herself.
She stumbled in and clapped a hand to her forehead in shame. Her first thought was to unbutton her coat, toss it callously onto the floor and plop exhaustedly onto the couch. The thoughts of Rose’s betrayal and the target’s escape, especially when her death was inevitable, flowed into her mind. She was right there! And the foolish vampire decided to interrupt. As always, the operation did not go as Claudia had hoped.
Such was her life.
“No… I must calm myself…”
She sat crossed legged on her couch and closed her eyes. The anger and repressed emotions somewhat clearing from her mind. With a single, relieved sigh, she had forgotten all about tonight’s events and returned to her stoic disposition right then and there.
“My Lady…” Cosette said with a faint voice. She was also battered from Rose’s explosion spell. “The Mistress has sent word. You are to meet with her as soon as possible.”
“...Very well,” Claudia said.
“I suppose we should get changed.”
Humming, Claudia stood from the couch and walked into her room, yearning for something that wasn’t tattered from a failed assignment. Her coat was out of commision at the moment, so a simple white button-up shirt, black skirt and thigh highs would suffice. She allowed Cosette to change her attire from the neck-up, then they immediately departed.
Claudia entered the room of the Blood Countess that was some rooms away from her own in the Ritz Hotel. It wasn’t usual that she could intrude and converse with the Countess now. She seemed to have her own agenda as usual, hidden from most, and certainly from Claudia. Either the Countess felt no need to speak of her other activities or she simply didn’t like to speak of them. Whatever the case, Claudia never quite questioned her Countess before.
Thus, Claudia could only come if she was called. Otherwise, the Countess may be missing, and it’d simply be rude. Especially to the current Claudia who had been taught to respect others’ privacy unless required.
Claudia came to a complete halt and bowed.
“Pardon me Mother, but you have need of me?”
“I wanted to know how the work was going. Come, join me for a drink.”
Claudia hummed. “Certainly, fair Mother.”
The Representative approached, and sat next to the Countess, taking up a glass and being the first to start drinking. The burn from the alcohol was not much, but a good enough substitute for punishment for her recent failure, knowing the Countess would not do it herself.
Letting loose, Claudia sighed.
“I’m afraid work is… bleak as per usual.”
“Well, not that it’s a big deal,” Catherine said. “The Princess still gets her rebellion at the end of the day.”
“I am unsure if that makes me feel any better,” Claudia said, scratching her scalp with a melancholic smile. “Would leaving one of the nobles alive hinder her plans at least a little?”
“She needs the nobles alive. However, she needs some of them gone. This is a plan to weaken the Diogenes. I’m sure you’ve heard of them at least once?”
“I’ve heard some word of them, yes. But nothing concise enough to make assumptions.”
“The Diogenes are the truly powerful maguses solidifying the rule of the Queen. They are very smart and cunning people, and they have many supporters as well. The Princess wanted to weaken the links of the Queen’s protection. The Princess would not face much of a threat until at least… the two of them are gone. Even then, I doubt Victoria will understand fear until the event reaches its climax.”
“And from what I know, at least one or two have already been eliminated,” Claudia added. “Above all, it will be my pleasure to assist in instilling that fear into Victoria, my dear Mother.”
“I hope you can. Currently I cannot go face Victoria.”
“For what reason, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I have a promise with her. I will not fight her till she is at her full strength.”
“So at the moment, Victoria is not suited for battle, and without this promise binding you, you could kill her right this second?” Claudia appeared amused by this as her lips slightly curved.
“Not quite, there could be other things up her sleeve. She can still summon the Sun with the Diogenes in place. However… well, let’s just say that this is not the real Victoria that I want to savour killing.”
“I see… so like you, she also possesses a form that reveals her true power.”
“It’s a little different from my case. Bear with me, I cannot talk about this matter openly myself.”
“Understood. Forgive me, Mother.”
“It’s fine, you’ll know when the time comes. This information is extremely important so I have to be careful…” the Countess said, giving the walls a short look. “You’re forgiven, of course. I don’t exactly mind curiosity.”
Claudia hummed and gave her Countess a nod. “By the by, I meant to speak to you about a matter of Rose…” The Representative’s fist clenched in between the glass she held as the previously cast aside foul thoughts returned to her psyche. “Rose, she… she is a traitor. As I yearned to eliminate Violet—one of our targets—she jumped in my path.”
“Hm? So Rose finally gave in? About time, I see.”
“You have forseen this?”
“Of course. Why would I not?”
“Most people do not take too well to betrayal… I assumed you were no different, especially if it is one of your Representatives.”
“One of my Representatives you claim?”
“...Was Rose not a Representative?”
“Now why would you think that?”
Claudia blinked a few times. She was no doubt confused.
“This entire time, with her, Marco, Ansel, and George sided with us—myself included—I thought we all were Representatives to be working so closely to you. Perhaps I misunderstood….”
“A year of misunderstanding I see. You were the only Representative, my dear.”
The one and only Representative instinctively poured herself another glass of alcohol and chugged it all down in one go, hoping the momentary burn in her throat would help with this. She felt stupid for one—or in anyone else’s case, stupider—and felt like slapping herself right there.
“Forgive me, Mother. I promised myself that I would be more intuitive this time around, but I cannot do even that...”
“Now, now, it’s fine. You can calm down and relax.” Catherine laughed, holding her stomach, like usual. “Hm, but seeing that Rose knows quite a lot of internal detail, I suppose it may be best to be rid of her.”
Claudia sighed, forgetting that this wasn’t Crimson Rafflesia she was talking to. “Excellent. I had no initial intentions to spare her.”
“Make her low on the priority list, but if you find a chance, show no hesitation—show her what it means to betray BloodLuSt.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Oh and have this.” Catherine handed a letter. “A gathering is to be hosted by Princess Louise.”
“A gathering? For the revolution?” Claudia took the letter in both hands and peered at it.
“For the big fireworks, you need quite the assortment, yes?”
“Fireworks?”
“Of course. They are going to blast the doors open for this.”
“I see…” Claudia said in an intrigued tone. “What shall I wear to this gathering, I wonder?”
“A fabulous dress to celebrate the fall of the Queen, what else?”
“Indeed,” Claudia said. “I cannot shake the feeling that something may go wrong, however. Perhaps that is personal experience talking.“
“That is the running trend for us, apparently. Hopefully not with Princess Louise in direct control of her operation. She is a fox for sure, a cunning one at that.”
“Cunning? From my first time meeting her, she hardly seemed like the type to act as such… but then again, no daughter would hold a revolution against their mother.”
“Someone who had taken measures to send the Diogenes to the Buckingham Palace by having assassins assault them. It was a rather ingenious tactic. She has been playing chess, this entire time, for sure.”
“That is true. So far, I am impressed by how far this plan has gotten us. May it succeed in the end… I would rather avoid another catastrophe.” Claudia asked politely before she began to smoke from the hookah the Countess was using. “But enough of grim matters for now. How have you fared recently?”
“I had been faring fine, my dear. I have been trying to track down Aries. He is a rather eluding fellow.”
“Blayze?” Claudia had to be sure that name still wasn’t dead on her compared to all else. The woman nearly choked on her smoke when he came up again. “He is still running amok and causing trouble?”
“As always. He is one free-spirited child who cannot get tired of his mischief.”
“As expected. I fail to see why I was so interested to fight him alone back then.”
“Ahahaha… no one knows that except your old self.”
Claudia almost snorted, but held herself back with all her might. “Wherever she is…” She hummed, as if a lightbulb had popped over her head. Since her old self and Blayze was mentioned, Claudia unconsciously remembered a promise she made long ago. “By the way, Mother, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about Marco’s sister?”
“Marco’s sister…? Ah, her. What about her?”
“I made a promise to Marco, long ago, that I would find and watch over her. Now that he is gone, I think sooner or later would be the best of moments to search for her.”
“Mn… she should be in the home of Marco that was burnt down. She was supposedly roaming there. That is all I had last heard.”
“Once this is over, that will be the first place I search, then.”
“You can have fun in America, I suppose.”
“I will. Thank you, Mother.”
She stumbled in and clapped a hand to her forehead in shame. Her first thought was to unbutton her coat, toss it callously onto the floor and plop exhaustedly onto the couch. The thoughts of Rose’s betrayal and the target’s escape, especially when her death was inevitable, flowed into her mind. She was right there! And the foolish vampire decided to interrupt. As always, the operation did not go as Claudia had hoped.
Such was her life.
“No… I must calm myself…”
She sat crossed legged on her couch and closed her eyes. The anger and repressed emotions somewhat clearing from her mind. With a single, relieved sigh, she had forgotten all about tonight’s events and returned to her stoic disposition right then and there.
“My Lady…” Cosette said with a faint voice. She was also battered from Rose’s explosion spell. “The Mistress has sent word. You are to meet with her as soon as possible.”
“...Very well,” Claudia said.
“I suppose we should get changed.”
Humming, Claudia stood from the couch and walked into her room, yearning for something that wasn’t tattered from a failed assignment. Her coat was out of commision at the moment, so a simple white button-up shirt, black skirt and thigh highs would suffice. She allowed Cosette to change her attire from the neck-up, then they immediately departed.
***
Claudia entered the room of the Blood Countess that was some rooms away from her own in the Ritz Hotel. It wasn’t usual that she could intrude and converse with the Countess now. She seemed to have her own agenda as usual, hidden from most, and certainly from Claudia. Either the Countess felt no need to speak of her other activities or she simply didn’t like to speak of them. Whatever the case, Claudia never quite questioned her Countess before.
Thus, Claudia could only come if she was called. Otherwise, the Countess may be missing, and it’d simply be rude. Especially to the current Claudia who had been taught to respect others’ privacy unless required.
Claudia came to a complete halt and bowed.
“Pardon me Mother, but you have need of me?”
“I wanted to know how the work was going. Come, join me for a drink.”
Claudia hummed. “Certainly, fair Mother.”
The Representative approached, and sat next to the Countess, taking up a glass and being the first to start drinking. The burn from the alcohol was not much, but a good enough substitute for punishment for her recent failure, knowing the Countess would not do it herself.
Letting loose, Claudia sighed.
“I’m afraid work is… bleak as per usual.”
“Well, not that it’s a big deal,” Catherine said. “The Princess still gets her rebellion at the end of the day.”
“I am unsure if that makes me feel any better,” Claudia said, scratching her scalp with a melancholic smile. “Would leaving one of the nobles alive hinder her plans at least a little?”
“She needs the nobles alive. However, she needs some of them gone. This is a plan to weaken the Diogenes. I’m sure you’ve heard of them at least once?”
“I’ve heard some word of them, yes. But nothing concise enough to make assumptions.”
“The Diogenes are the truly powerful maguses solidifying the rule of the Queen. They are very smart and cunning people, and they have many supporters as well. The Princess wanted to weaken the links of the Queen’s protection. The Princess would not face much of a threat until at least… the two of them are gone. Even then, I doubt Victoria will understand fear until the event reaches its climax.”
“And from what I know, at least one or two have already been eliminated,” Claudia added. “Above all, it will be my pleasure to assist in instilling that fear into Victoria, my dear Mother.”
“I hope you can. Currently I cannot go face Victoria.”
“For what reason, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I have a promise with her. I will not fight her till she is at her full strength.”
“So at the moment, Victoria is not suited for battle, and without this promise binding you, you could kill her right this second?” Claudia appeared amused by this as her lips slightly curved.
“Not quite, there could be other things up her sleeve. She can still summon the Sun with the Diogenes in place. However… well, let’s just say that this is not the real Victoria that I want to savour killing.”
“I see… so like you, she also possesses a form that reveals her true power.”
“It’s a little different from my case. Bear with me, I cannot talk about this matter openly myself.”
“Understood. Forgive me, Mother.”
“It’s fine, you’ll know when the time comes. This information is extremely important so I have to be careful…” the Countess said, giving the walls a short look. “You’re forgiven, of course. I don’t exactly mind curiosity.”
Claudia hummed and gave her Countess a nod. “By the by, I meant to speak to you about a matter of Rose…” The Representative’s fist clenched in between the glass she held as the previously cast aside foul thoughts returned to her psyche. “Rose, she… she is a traitor. As I yearned to eliminate Violet—one of our targets—she jumped in my path.”
“Hm? So Rose finally gave in? About time, I see.”
“You have forseen this?”
“Of course. Why would I not?”
“Most people do not take too well to betrayal… I assumed you were no different, especially if it is one of your Representatives.”
“One of my Representatives you claim?”
“...Was Rose not a Representative?”
“Now why would you think that?”
Claudia blinked a few times. She was no doubt confused.
“This entire time, with her, Marco, Ansel, and George sided with us—myself included—I thought we all were Representatives to be working so closely to you. Perhaps I misunderstood….”
“A year of misunderstanding I see. You were the only Representative, my dear.”
The one and only Representative instinctively poured herself another glass of alcohol and chugged it all down in one go, hoping the momentary burn in her throat would help with this. She felt stupid for one—or in anyone else’s case, stupider—and felt like slapping herself right there.
“Forgive me, Mother. I promised myself that I would be more intuitive this time around, but I cannot do even that...”
“Now, now, it’s fine. You can calm down and relax.” Catherine laughed, holding her stomach, like usual. “Hm, but seeing that Rose knows quite a lot of internal detail, I suppose it may be best to be rid of her.”
Claudia sighed, forgetting that this wasn’t Crimson Rafflesia she was talking to. “Excellent. I had no initial intentions to spare her.”
“Make her low on the priority list, but if you find a chance, show no hesitation—show her what it means to betray BloodLuSt.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Oh and have this.” Catherine handed a letter. “A gathering is to be hosted by Princess Louise.”
“A gathering? For the revolution?” Claudia took the letter in both hands and peered at it.
“For the big fireworks, you need quite the assortment, yes?”
“Fireworks?”
“Of course. They are going to blast the doors open for this.”
“I see…” Claudia said in an intrigued tone. “What shall I wear to this gathering, I wonder?”
“A fabulous dress to celebrate the fall of the Queen, what else?”
“Indeed,” Claudia said. “I cannot shake the feeling that something may go wrong, however. Perhaps that is personal experience talking.“
“That is the running trend for us, apparently. Hopefully not with Princess Louise in direct control of her operation. She is a fox for sure, a cunning one at that.”
“Cunning? From my first time meeting her, she hardly seemed like the type to act as such… but then again, no daughter would hold a revolution against their mother.”
“Someone who had taken measures to send the Diogenes to the Buckingham Palace by having assassins assault them. It was a rather ingenious tactic. She has been playing chess, this entire time, for sure.”
“That is true. So far, I am impressed by how far this plan has gotten us. May it succeed in the end… I would rather avoid another catastrophe.” Claudia asked politely before she began to smoke from the hookah the Countess was using. “But enough of grim matters for now. How have you fared recently?”
“I had been faring fine, my dear. I have been trying to track down Aries. He is a rather eluding fellow.”
“Blayze?” Claudia had to be sure that name still wasn’t dead on her compared to all else. The woman nearly choked on her smoke when he came up again. “He is still running amok and causing trouble?”
“As always. He is one free-spirited child who cannot get tired of his mischief.”
“As expected. I fail to see why I was so interested to fight him alone back then.”
“Ahahaha… no one knows that except your old self.”
Claudia almost snorted, but held herself back with all her might. “Wherever she is…” She hummed, as if a lightbulb had popped over her head. Since her old self and Blayze was mentioned, Claudia unconsciously remembered a promise she made long ago. “By the way, Mother, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about Marco’s sister?”
“Marco’s sister…? Ah, her. What about her?”
“I made a promise to Marco, long ago, that I would find and watch over her. Now that he is gone, I think sooner or later would be the best of moments to search for her.”
“Mn… she should be in the home of Marco that was burnt down. She was supposedly roaming there. That is all I had last heard.”
“Once this is over, that will be the first place I search, then.”
“You can have fun in America, I suppose.”
“I will. Thank you, Mother.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
Michael was whisking egg yolks in Charlotte’s kitchen as he waited for the pot of cream to boil. She arbitrarily decided to have a party for Rose’s arrival and granted Michael the privilege to use the kitchen to help. That being said, Charlotte decided to bake a cake and the maid insisted on cooking a duck and the side dishes, so he was stuck with the dessert.
He had infused the cream with zest from an orange and some crushed cardamom seeds, which filled the cream with a unique savoury aroma. He sieved the cream onto the whisked egg yolks, before filling ramekins with the mixture. He then placed the ramekins onto a roasting tin, pouring hot water around it before he placed it in the oven. After the cream baked, all that was left was to let the cream to set and to caramelize the top and his creme brulee would be ready, just in time for dinner.
It was past afternoon by the time Rose woke up to find that the house was busy with a party’s preparations. Vampires were often used to sleeping in the day so it made sense why she was active more at night, enough to find Claudia prowling at her home to murder her sister.
She came out wearing a plain-looking white dress but even then it looked like she came to party, as usual, and it fit the theme for once.
“So… what is all this about? Where are the guests? Surely this is a feast not for just us,” Rose questioned, looking down at the table, and already worrying herself about her getup.
“Well, not for us. But for you.” Michael loosened his apron, with †˜Kiss the Chef’ stitched onto it glaringly off-center. He held a spoon towards Rose which contained some sort of cream, or pudding perhaps as he offered her to taste it. “Tell me if it’s too sweet, I tried to change the recipe a bit.”
“It is fine even if I do not taste it. I shall pay my due respect for the efforts.”
Michael just pouted and tasted the spoonful of cream himself. “Don’t complain that it’s too sweet later.”
“Is that supposed to be an issue? I am having enough exercises as it is already.”
“And I was just about to have a taste,” Weiss said as she appeared from the floor wearing nothing but a shirt and short denim pants.
“Mother, would you please get dressed? You are too shameful!” Charlotte chided her mother before she could speak to Rose.
“What? We’re at home, no? It’s not like there’s someone else other than young Michael and you here, my dear child.” Weiss didn’t realise that behind her was Rose.
“Our latest guest aside, there is a man! Have some sense for once! If it were other households you would instantly get labeled a deviant.”
“I suppose I should check on the duck. Excuse me.” Michael finally thought of a reason to excuse himself from Weiss and Charlotte. Somehow, Weiss didn’t think much about his presence in terms of dressing appropriately.
“Tsk tsk tsk, this is why you are still a child, Charlotte.” Weiss giggled. “Oh I’m sorry.” Weiss realised that Rose was standing behind her. Weiss bowed. “Hello there! I’m Weiss Ackerman. Nice to meet you!”
“This is not about being a child, mother.” Charlotte insisted as if she was the mother of Weiss. “It is simple decency… this is not Russia. I have lived almost as long as you if that serves to clarify,” Charlotte added with vehemence, pointing with her knife to exaggerate her point, not realising that it looked rather dangerous.
“Oh fine, I’ll wear some jeans.” Weiss, defeated, descended back into the ground.
“Nice to… meet you?” Rose could barely speak between the argument of mother and child. It was rather eerie to see a Descendant in a place like this, using her Commandment without a care in the world. What a careless Descendant…
“I’ve returned—where’s Miss Weiss? I brought more creme.” He held in his hand four ramekins, one for each of them. Hopefully, the head maid didn’t realise he’d taken them from the ones for the party.
Charlotte cleared her throat, having never the opportunity to explain. “I believe the proper term would be †˜Lady’ or †˜missus’. Anyway, I sent her away to get dressed… at least I hope my mother does.”
“I’ll try to remember that,” Michael said as he gave Charlotte and Rose the dessert, along with a spoon. “You look confused, Rose. Is something amiss?”
“I am simply wondering why there is a party at all,” Rose plainly said, still taken aback.
“I told you, it’s for you. Miss Charlotte decided to hold a welcoming party for you.” He’d ask her to not look so glum, but considering the recent deaths in her family, it would just come off as insensitive—especially considering the part where he was the one who killed the Marchioness.
“That is beside the point…”
“Now, now, let us not sweat the details, shall we?” Charlotte said with a cheerful voice. “Come, let us begin before my mother returns, huhuhu.”
“What do you mean before I return?” Weiss walked into the room normally, wearing tight jeans and the same shirt as before.
“Nothing, nothing at all, mother,” Charlotte said with an innocent face.
Michael just popped a spoonful of creme in his mouth as he watched the mother-daughter pair banter with each other.
“Very suspicious.” Weiss glared at Charlotte who was clearly hiding something. “Anyway, welcome to the group. Uhh, what’s your name again?” Weiss looked at Rose.
“My name is Rose Nevill, I am the daughter of the… deceased Marquess of Abergavenny,” Rose spoke the last part particularly sarcastically to Weiss as she gave a curtsy.
“Ah. That was my fault, not Miss Charlotte or Missus Weiss.” Michael stopped eating and raised his hand. “I killed your mother.”
“She meant her father, though,” Charlotte supplemented.
“So that means.” Weiss remembered the last assassination that she did. “Oh no.” Weiss looked at Charlotte with a concerned look.
Charlotte shrugged. “Such is life.”
Rose shrugged too. “Nothing a lady may not get over.”
“And you’re okay with this, Rose?” Weiss asked.
“I could’ve put a bit more sugar.” Michael started eating Weiss’ share of the dessert.
“And who is an assassin to ask me that?” Rose asked back.
“Ugh,” Weiss looked down. “I guess that’s the sin of Assassins.”
“Do not worry. I understand that you were hired and you had a job to do. I was never one for playing family, anyway.”
“Miss Rose is here to help us save Mary, as we help her seek the cure for her vampirism.” Michael pointed towards himself with a spoon. “I will serve as her blood bag in the meantime.”
“Wait a minute.” Weiss looked at Rose closely. “You can walk upside down yes? I think we’ve met before.”
“All vampires can. What about it?” Rose replied, giving a stoic look.
“Way back, I was infiltrating a house, Buckingham House as far as I can remember, and I think I saw you breaking prisms when I was there. Of course I avoided you since I thought you were a guard there but yeah, I clearly saw you walking upside down destroying prism traps.”
“You know… how could I be a guard if I was breaking prisms?” Rose said with a disappointed look.
“My mother does not understand what the Magic Prisms are for,” Charlotte said with a shrug. “She is ignorantly cute that way. Huhu.”
“The only magic that I know is people swinging wands at other people while chanting random words that don’t make sense. Call me old but that’s the only magic that I know and heard on radio shows.” Weiss shrugged and looked at her empty plate. ...Michael!
“Were there such radio shows?” Charlotte questioned.
“That would make you young, rather than old,” Rose replied.
“Back in my days as a human with your father. We often listened to the radio since there was no TV. Hell, you even needed to stand still for hours to have your picture taken.”
“Yes, I believe we still get those moments with the pictures,” Charlotte said. “Albeit, with steam technology things are improving. I mean, the fact that we can have hot water to bathe with is already one of its many graces.”
Michael listened with curiosity, lacking any knowledge but the bare minimum about modern technology. Even when he served Flora, apart from the appliances used to cook, he preferred training and books. He noticed Weiss looking at him weird, but had no clue as to why.
Weiss let out a big smile at Michael. “What happened to my dessert, Michael?”
“There’s more in the kitchen,” he replied as he licked the spoon clean.
Weiss narrowed her eyes. “Ohoo…” She kept glaring at Michael.
“Mhmm.”
Weiss sighed and gave up. She stood up and walked to the kitchen.
“So, I have a vague idea what a radio is… but what’s a TV?” Michael asked the remaining two women.
“It is the device that provides illustrations to various plays… I think. If you have been to the Mistress’ place you may have seen it before,” Charlotte answered.
“I should ask her after this job. I’ll keep that in mind.” Michael reached for his pocket out of habit, finding no journal there. “Are you sure you guys don’t want to eat a bit?”
“I cannot seem to find a good moment to relax and sit down.” Rose looked at Michael and his getup, then reminded herself how Weiss was dressed. Is this even a legitimate party? What a farce. She shrugged, finally deciding to play along and taking a seat.
“Hm? Something on your mind, Rose?” Michael noticed Rose as she eyed him; perhaps she was hungry again? That would cause him problems if she was. His plan for her wouldn’t work if she needed a large amount of blood to remain sane.
“No, nothing.”
“I wasn’t lying when I said you can trust me, that you can put your hopes on me. We will save Mary,” he reassured her, as the smell of roasted duck slowly wafted through the room. “We can talk about our plans later with Miss Charlotte. But for now let’s take this moment to relax, or at least rest.”
“No need to get so heated in the afternoon.” Rose rolled her eyes as she heard those words repeated.
“No. I still have no idea what you are thinking, to be honest. I don’t suppose we can be intimate soon, considering the circumstances, too.” He replaced the ramekin on the table as he looked at her eye-to-eye. “But even then, I wish for us to be.”
“I believe people will get the wrong idea if you put it that way.”
“Huhu, so that is how it is…” Charlotte said. “But I am only speaking in jest.”
“Eh?” Michael tilted his head in confusion. “Did I say something weird?”
“We only work with each other for our own benefits… there is no need for intimacy,” Rose continued, ignoring Charlotte. “Do not speak unnecessary words.”
“Alright, that’s a start. No need to force the issue for no particular reason.” Michael shrugged, but Rose hadn’t changed his mind at all. “Be wary, though. I am a man of unnecessary words.”
You are the one who started it… Rose remained silent, ignoring his last set of words too.
“Since my mother is taking too long… I suppose we may start,” Charlotte suggested, taking a seat. They couldn’t let the roasted duck get cold because a certain someone was busy with the desserts—something one dealt with after the main course.
Weiss peeked from the kitchen, Have fun you three. Weiss sank down into the floor and went to her room through the walls.
“What an inconsiderate mother—to leave her daughter who is hosting the party like that…” the maid of Charlotte remarked from the kitchen, watching Weiss go off. “The least she could do was make an excuse to them.”
He had infused the cream with zest from an orange and some crushed cardamom seeds, which filled the cream with a unique savoury aroma. He sieved the cream onto the whisked egg yolks, before filling ramekins with the mixture. He then placed the ramekins onto a roasting tin, pouring hot water around it before he placed it in the oven. After the cream baked, all that was left was to let the cream to set and to caramelize the top and his creme brulee would be ready, just in time for dinner.
It was past afternoon by the time Rose woke up to find that the house was busy with a party’s preparations. Vampires were often used to sleeping in the day so it made sense why she was active more at night, enough to find Claudia prowling at her home to murder her sister.
She came out wearing a plain-looking white dress but even then it looked like she came to party, as usual, and it fit the theme for once.
“So… what is all this about? Where are the guests? Surely this is a feast not for just us,” Rose questioned, looking down at the table, and already worrying herself about her getup.
“Well, not for us. But for you.” Michael loosened his apron, with †˜Kiss the Chef’ stitched onto it glaringly off-center. He held a spoon towards Rose which contained some sort of cream, or pudding perhaps as he offered her to taste it. “Tell me if it’s too sweet, I tried to change the recipe a bit.”
“It is fine even if I do not taste it. I shall pay my due respect for the efforts.”
Michael just pouted and tasted the spoonful of cream himself. “Don’t complain that it’s too sweet later.”
“Is that supposed to be an issue? I am having enough exercises as it is already.”
“And I was just about to have a taste,” Weiss said as she appeared from the floor wearing nothing but a shirt and short denim pants.
“Mother, would you please get dressed? You are too shameful!” Charlotte chided her mother before she could speak to Rose.
“What? We’re at home, no? It’s not like there’s someone else other than young Michael and you here, my dear child.” Weiss didn’t realise that behind her was Rose.
“Our latest guest aside, there is a man! Have some sense for once! If it were other households you would instantly get labeled a deviant.”
“I suppose I should check on the duck. Excuse me.” Michael finally thought of a reason to excuse himself from Weiss and Charlotte. Somehow, Weiss didn’t think much about his presence in terms of dressing appropriately.
“Tsk tsk tsk, this is why you are still a child, Charlotte.” Weiss giggled. “Oh I’m sorry.” Weiss realised that Rose was standing behind her. Weiss bowed. “Hello there! I’m Weiss Ackerman. Nice to meet you!”
“This is not about being a child, mother.” Charlotte insisted as if she was the mother of Weiss. “It is simple decency… this is not Russia. I have lived almost as long as you if that serves to clarify,” Charlotte added with vehemence, pointing with her knife to exaggerate her point, not realising that it looked rather dangerous.
“Oh fine, I’ll wear some jeans.” Weiss, defeated, descended back into the ground.
“Nice to… meet you?” Rose could barely speak between the argument of mother and child. It was rather eerie to see a Descendant in a place like this, using her Commandment without a care in the world. What a careless Descendant…
“I’ve returned—where’s Miss Weiss? I brought more creme.” He held in his hand four ramekins, one for each of them. Hopefully, the head maid didn’t realise he’d taken them from the ones for the party.
Charlotte cleared her throat, having never the opportunity to explain. “I believe the proper term would be †˜Lady’ or †˜missus’. Anyway, I sent her away to get dressed… at least I hope my mother does.”
“I’ll try to remember that,” Michael said as he gave Charlotte and Rose the dessert, along with a spoon. “You look confused, Rose. Is something amiss?”
“I am simply wondering why there is a party at all,” Rose plainly said, still taken aback.
“I told you, it’s for you. Miss Charlotte decided to hold a welcoming party for you.” He’d ask her to not look so glum, but considering the recent deaths in her family, it would just come off as insensitive—especially considering the part where he was the one who killed the Marchioness.
“That is beside the point…”
“Now, now, let us not sweat the details, shall we?” Charlotte said with a cheerful voice. “Come, let us begin before my mother returns, huhuhu.”
“What do you mean before I return?” Weiss walked into the room normally, wearing tight jeans and the same shirt as before.
“Nothing, nothing at all, mother,” Charlotte said with an innocent face.
Michael just popped a spoonful of creme in his mouth as he watched the mother-daughter pair banter with each other.
“Very suspicious.” Weiss glared at Charlotte who was clearly hiding something. “Anyway, welcome to the group. Uhh, what’s your name again?” Weiss looked at Rose.
“My name is Rose Nevill, I am the daughter of the… deceased Marquess of Abergavenny,” Rose spoke the last part particularly sarcastically to Weiss as she gave a curtsy.
“Ah. That was my fault, not Miss Charlotte or Missus Weiss.” Michael stopped eating and raised his hand. “I killed your mother.”
“She meant her father, though,” Charlotte supplemented.
“So that means.” Weiss remembered the last assassination that she did. “Oh no.” Weiss looked at Charlotte with a concerned look.
Charlotte shrugged. “Such is life.”
Rose shrugged too. “Nothing a lady may not get over.”
“And you’re okay with this, Rose?” Weiss asked.
“I could’ve put a bit more sugar.” Michael started eating Weiss’ share of the dessert.
“And who is an assassin to ask me that?” Rose asked back.
“Ugh,” Weiss looked down. “I guess that’s the sin of Assassins.”
“Do not worry. I understand that you were hired and you had a job to do. I was never one for playing family, anyway.”
“Miss Rose is here to help us save Mary, as we help her seek the cure for her vampirism.” Michael pointed towards himself with a spoon. “I will serve as her blood bag in the meantime.”
“Wait a minute.” Weiss looked at Rose closely. “You can walk upside down yes? I think we’ve met before.”
“All vampires can. What about it?” Rose replied, giving a stoic look.
“Way back, I was infiltrating a house, Buckingham House as far as I can remember, and I think I saw you breaking prisms when I was there. Of course I avoided you since I thought you were a guard there but yeah, I clearly saw you walking upside down destroying prism traps.”
“You know… how could I be a guard if I was breaking prisms?” Rose said with a disappointed look.
“My mother does not understand what the Magic Prisms are for,” Charlotte said with a shrug. “She is ignorantly cute that way. Huhu.”
“The only magic that I know is people swinging wands at other people while chanting random words that don’t make sense. Call me old but that’s the only magic that I know and heard on radio shows.” Weiss shrugged and looked at her empty plate. ...Michael!
“Were there such radio shows?” Charlotte questioned.
“That would make you young, rather than old,” Rose replied.
“Back in my days as a human with your father. We often listened to the radio since there was no TV. Hell, you even needed to stand still for hours to have your picture taken.”
“Yes, I believe we still get those moments with the pictures,” Charlotte said. “Albeit, with steam technology things are improving. I mean, the fact that we can have hot water to bathe with is already one of its many graces.”
Michael listened with curiosity, lacking any knowledge but the bare minimum about modern technology. Even when he served Flora, apart from the appliances used to cook, he preferred training and books. He noticed Weiss looking at him weird, but had no clue as to why.
Weiss let out a big smile at Michael. “What happened to my dessert, Michael?”
“There’s more in the kitchen,” he replied as he licked the spoon clean.
Weiss narrowed her eyes. “Ohoo…” She kept glaring at Michael.
“Mhmm.”
Weiss sighed and gave up. She stood up and walked to the kitchen.
“So, I have a vague idea what a radio is… but what’s a TV?” Michael asked the remaining two women.
“It is the device that provides illustrations to various plays… I think. If you have been to the Mistress’ place you may have seen it before,” Charlotte answered.
“I should ask her after this job. I’ll keep that in mind.” Michael reached for his pocket out of habit, finding no journal there. “Are you sure you guys don’t want to eat a bit?”
“I cannot seem to find a good moment to relax and sit down.” Rose looked at Michael and his getup, then reminded herself how Weiss was dressed. Is this even a legitimate party? What a farce. She shrugged, finally deciding to play along and taking a seat.
“Hm? Something on your mind, Rose?” Michael noticed Rose as she eyed him; perhaps she was hungry again? That would cause him problems if she was. His plan for her wouldn’t work if she needed a large amount of blood to remain sane.
“No, nothing.”
“I wasn’t lying when I said you can trust me, that you can put your hopes on me. We will save Mary,” he reassured her, as the smell of roasted duck slowly wafted through the room. “We can talk about our plans later with Miss Charlotte. But for now let’s take this moment to relax, or at least rest.”
“No need to get so heated in the afternoon.” Rose rolled her eyes as she heard those words repeated.
“No. I still have no idea what you are thinking, to be honest. I don’t suppose we can be intimate soon, considering the circumstances, too.” He replaced the ramekin on the table as he looked at her eye-to-eye. “But even then, I wish for us to be.”
“I believe people will get the wrong idea if you put it that way.”
“Huhu, so that is how it is…” Charlotte said. “But I am only speaking in jest.”
“Eh?” Michael tilted his head in confusion. “Did I say something weird?”
“We only work with each other for our own benefits… there is no need for intimacy,” Rose continued, ignoring Charlotte. “Do not speak unnecessary words.”
“Alright, that’s a start. No need to force the issue for no particular reason.” Michael shrugged, but Rose hadn’t changed his mind at all. “Be wary, though. I am a man of unnecessary words.”
You are the one who started it… Rose remained silent, ignoring his last set of words too.
“Since my mother is taking too long… I suppose we may start,” Charlotte suggested, taking a seat. They couldn’t let the roasted duck get cold because a certain someone was busy with the desserts—something one dealt with after the main course.
Weiss peeked from the kitchen, Have fun you three. Weiss sank down into the floor and went to her room through the walls.
“What an inconsiderate mother—to leave her daughter who is hosting the party like that…” the maid of Charlotte remarked from the kitchen, watching Weiss go off. “The least she could do was make an excuse to them.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
When the feast was over, Weiss left the table to take a nap. Charlotte had many things to say about doing things unladylike, but her mother only had one excuse: “That’s why you’re a child,” and it only served to make her wonder who was truly the child among the pair.
The three were still around the dining table with the chandelier burning brightly now. The maid was dismissed.
Charlotte and Rose seemed to be enjoying wine. Charlotte tried to crack some small talk but it was rather hard to get along with Rose, who liked to dodge most topics.
“I suppose if Miss Rose isn’t one for small talk, then we go straight to business?” Michael held the wine by the bottle, completely looking uncouth. A small tinge of pink just hinted on how much he had drunk already.
“Go on,” Rose replied tersely.
“As we have established, it is to all of our best interests if we can separate my Fa—Father… from Mary. Now, there was that thing… now this is just from what I’ve heard, but Mary has feelings for him. Or stays with him.” Michael took another swig of the bottle. It was one of the few times he could enjoy wine, and enjoy it he did. “Now, considering that she also is his Representative… there’s only one course of action that we can take.”
“Kill your father, you mean?”
“Exactly. Now the snag in this plan of ours is that small thing with the Descendants… and how they tend to not die. At all.”
“Unfortunately, unless a Descendant battles him, I cannot see us winning in any way,” Charlotte stated. “Either convince our Mistress or have a Duke or a Duchess use their special spell.”
Michael snapped his fingers as Charlotte finished talking, completely forgetting about his manners as he got into the mood. “Exactly. Unless we take a Descendant to his doorstep, we can’t do much about it. But considering the power of the Church, I doubt we could convince anyone to do so. So might I suggest, we take him to a Descendant’s doorstep, instead?”
“We could wait for the war,” Charlotte said. “I believe I have read a statement in the news where the †˜Pope’ claimed that he would help his loyal followers in the war against the Japanese. If this means that he would step onto the battlefield, or even close to it, we may as well have him battle the Japanese Descendants.”
“What fortuitous news! If that is so, we need to make sure of three things. His attendance on the battlefield, his engagement with the Japanese Descendant… and him having all the disadvantage that we could give him. This is where you come in, Miss Rose.” Michael looked at her, a smile plastered on his face still. “We need to keep an eye on the Church. We can assume that he’d start to mobilize the Organization if he’s planning something. We need to be able to be in the know, and intervene if necessary. While me and Miss Charlotte are doing jobs for Virgo, we’d need you to keep the information coming.”
“It is not something that will be easy, especially if it is the Church,” Rose replied, her tone cold. “There are many trained to sense Infernal creatures in the Church and the only way to be in the know reliably is to become a spy in the Organization.”
“Well, you’re looking at one. And that’s true, if you encounter an Executor, your chances will be slim. But we don’t have a good way to acquire a mole in that Organization at the moment; unless you ladies have an idea. No, what I propose is we look at what they are hitting. The Church is his muscle, and the Executors his sword. We need to see what they are targetting, see if we can come up with a pattern.” He replaced the now empty bottle on the table. “And if we come across a disabled Executor, we’d have our mole.”
“So, you want me to bait the Executors and find a disabled one?”
“You don’t even need to be the bait. Find out who their recent targets are and I’d know their deployment pattern. Let’s use your knowledge of the Countess’ Organization to lead them to suitable targets and let them clash; let’s take the spoils after. What do you guys think?”
“Finding out their targets is not easy…” Rose murmured, going into deep thinking. “If I can lead anyone to suitable targets, though… it could work out. Slim chances, though.”
“We likely do not need to find out their deployment patterns if Miss Rose can simply manipulate them by spilling just the right amount of information,” Charlotte added. “Her knowledge would definitely be essential.”
“Yes… That’s right. But do not worry, Miss Rose. If you find an Executor, or even a squad, I can help you lead them on. We just need to bait them into something they cannot handle.” He recalled attacking the auction with Emilia. That’s where he first met White Lotus—Flora.
“How do you plan to lead them on, exactly? Everyone thinks that you died in the Church, just so you know. The Pope sure tried to sound sad when he claimed that the Countess killed you in the shard of the moon.”
“Not exactly me—do you recall the spell I was using beforehand?”
“So, you would use it to make them think you are an Infernal?”
“Exactly,” Michael replied as he shook a bottle that was near his person. Seeing that it had a gulp or two left, he immediately guzzled its contents. “Won’t be that hard to make them think I was an Infernal.”
Rose shrugged. “Whatever works.”
Michael nodded at what he believed was Rose’s way of saying †˜yes’, and turned his gaze to Charlotte.
“Hm?”
“We really are going to do this. We’re going to save her and drag her back with us, if we have to.” No matter the cost, which he left unsaid.
“I am aware. On that note, I shall keep an eye out for the Boundary that I think she is held in right now,” Charlotte replied.
“Does she remain in suspended animation?”
“As far as I know, yes. Until she is freed she will be in that state.”
“Hmn. I don’t suppose she gets freed if we kill him? What about her injuries? She was badly injured when he took her.”
“I do not know. There is a chance that killing him may free her from his bind. Considering the possibility that she becomes the next Descendant under his Zodiac Sign.”
“Wait, do you two really believe that the Pope is a Descendant, though?” Rose questioned.
“He is. Trust me.” Michael bore a completely serious expression; she could even sense some fear in him.
“He is… the Libra,” Charlotte revealed. “I have had three confrontations with him before.”
“I assume they didn’t end well.” He uncorked another bottle.
“The Libra…” Rose pondered for some moments. “Libra should have died about four centuries ago. The Fortune Teller, remember?”
“That was simply a ruse created by Jesus Christ, the ancient Descendant of Libra,” Charlotte stated. “She was one of his Representatives, sacrificed to mask his presence in the Magic World. She was also the previous Virgin Mary—mother of Mary… but yes, none of my confrontations ended well, in fact, he used them to terrorise Mary’s mental state.”
“I know. Even when her memories aren’t exactly there in its entirety… you were used by him to motivate her.”
“Not exactly… Jesus Christ made me a lab rat for some time and created a clone. He trained Mary by having her murder clones of myself. He used many other strange methods to enslave her. I was not freed until Mistress came along, or rather, her clone did.”
Michael’s grip on the bottle suddenly tightened, crushing the bottle in this hand. The shards pierced through his skin and bled, but his face only showed fury, the same fury he had managed to keep hidden for quite a while now. “...I’m going to get something to clean this mess,” he spoke after a while, excusing himself.
“So, he completely has a grasp on her mind… what do we do if she sternly refuses?” Rose enquired.
“As Michael said, we will bring her back no matter what. I shall break her bones even if I have to before she is dragged out alive,” Charlotte answered resolutely.
The three were still around the dining table with the chandelier burning brightly now. The maid was dismissed.
Charlotte and Rose seemed to be enjoying wine. Charlotte tried to crack some small talk but it was rather hard to get along with Rose, who liked to dodge most topics.
“I suppose if Miss Rose isn’t one for small talk, then we go straight to business?” Michael held the wine by the bottle, completely looking uncouth. A small tinge of pink just hinted on how much he had drunk already.
“Go on,” Rose replied tersely.
“As we have established, it is to all of our best interests if we can separate my Fa—Father… from Mary. Now, there was that thing… now this is just from what I’ve heard, but Mary has feelings for him. Or stays with him.” Michael took another swig of the bottle. It was one of the few times he could enjoy wine, and enjoy it he did. “Now, considering that she also is his Representative… there’s only one course of action that we can take.”
“Kill your father, you mean?”
“Exactly. Now the snag in this plan of ours is that small thing with the Descendants… and how they tend to not die. At all.”
“Unfortunately, unless a Descendant battles him, I cannot see us winning in any way,” Charlotte stated. “Either convince our Mistress or have a Duke or a Duchess use their special spell.”
Michael snapped his fingers as Charlotte finished talking, completely forgetting about his manners as he got into the mood. “Exactly. Unless we take a Descendant to his doorstep, we can’t do much about it. But considering the power of the Church, I doubt we could convince anyone to do so. So might I suggest, we take him to a Descendant’s doorstep, instead?”
“We could wait for the war,” Charlotte said. “I believe I have read a statement in the news where the †˜Pope’ claimed that he would help his loyal followers in the war against the Japanese. If this means that he would step onto the battlefield, or even close to it, we may as well have him battle the Japanese Descendants.”
“What fortuitous news! If that is so, we need to make sure of three things. His attendance on the battlefield, his engagement with the Japanese Descendant… and him having all the disadvantage that we could give him. This is where you come in, Miss Rose.” Michael looked at her, a smile plastered on his face still. “We need to keep an eye on the Church. We can assume that he’d start to mobilize the Organization if he’s planning something. We need to be able to be in the know, and intervene if necessary. While me and Miss Charlotte are doing jobs for Virgo, we’d need you to keep the information coming.”
“It is not something that will be easy, especially if it is the Church,” Rose replied, her tone cold. “There are many trained to sense Infernal creatures in the Church and the only way to be in the know reliably is to become a spy in the Organization.”
“Well, you’re looking at one. And that’s true, if you encounter an Executor, your chances will be slim. But we don’t have a good way to acquire a mole in that Organization at the moment; unless you ladies have an idea. No, what I propose is we look at what they are hitting. The Church is his muscle, and the Executors his sword. We need to see what they are targetting, see if we can come up with a pattern.” He replaced the now empty bottle on the table. “And if we come across a disabled Executor, we’d have our mole.”
“So, you want me to bait the Executors and find a disabled one?”
“You don’t even need to be the bait. Find out who their recent targets are and I’d know their deployment pattern. Let’s use your knowledge of the Countess’ Organization to lead them to suitable targets and let them clash; let’s take the spoils after. What do you guys think?”
“Finding out their targets is not easy…” Rose murmured, going into deep thinking. “If I can lead anyone to suitable targets, though… it could work out. Slim chances, though.”
“We likely do not need to find out their deployment patterns if Miss Rose can simply manipulate them by spilling just the right amount of information,” Charlotte added. “Her knowledge would definitely be essential.”
“Yes… That’s right. But do not worry, Miss Rose. If you find an Executor, or even a squad, I can help you lead them on. We just need to bait them into something they cannot handle.” He recalled attacking the auction with Emilia. That’s where he first met White Lotus—Flora.
“How do you plan to lead them on, exactly? Everyone thinks that you died in the Church, just so you know. The Pope sure tried to sound sad when he claimed that the Countess killed you in the shard of the moon.”
“Not exactly me—do you recall the spell I was using beforehand?”
“So, you would use it to make them think you are an Infernal?”
“Exactly,” Michael replied as he shook a bottle that was near his person. Seeing that it had a gulp or two left, he immediately guzzled its contents. “Won’t be that hard to make them think I was an Infernal.”
Rose shrugged. “Whatever works.”
Michael nodded at what he believed was Rose’s way of saying †˜yes’, and turned his gaze to Charlotte.
“Hm?”
“We really are going to do this. We’re going to save her and drag her back with us, if we have to.” No matter the cost, which he left unsaid.
“I am aware. On that note, I shall keep an eye out for the Boundary that I think she is held in right now,” Charlotte replied.
“Does she remain in suspended animation?”
“As far as I know, yes. Until she is freed she will be in that state.”
“Hmn. I don’t suppose she gets freed if we kill him? What about her injuries? She was badly injured when he took her.”
“I do not know. There is a chance that killing him may free her from his bind. Considering the possibility that she becomes the next Descendant under his Zodiac Sign.”
“Wait, do you two really believe that the Pope is a Descendant, though?” Rose questioned.
“He is. Trust me.” Michael bore a completely serious expression; she could even sense some fear in him.
“He is… the Libra,” Charlotte revealed. “I have had three confrontations with him before.”
“I assume they didn’t end well.” He uncorked another bottle.
“The Libra…” Rose pondered for some moments. “Libra should have died about four centuries ago. The Fortune Teller, remember?”
“That was simply a ruse created by Jesus Christ, the ancient Descendant of Libra,” Charlotte stated. “She was one of his Representatives, sacrificed to mask his presence in the Magic World. She was also the previous Virgin Mary—mother of Mary… but yes, none of my confrontations ended well, in fact, he used them to terrorise Mary’s mental state.”
“I know. Even when her memories aren’t exactly there in its entirety… you were used by him to motivate her.”
“Not exactly… Jesus Christ made me a lab rat for some time and created a clone. He trained Mary by having her murder clones of myself. He used many other strange methods to enslave her. I was not freed until Mistress came along, or rather, her clone did.”
Michael’s grip on the bottle suddenly tightened, crushing the bottle in this hand. The shards pierced through his skin and bled, but his face only showed fury, the same fury he had managed to keep hidden for quite a while now. “...I’m going to get something to clean this mess,” he spoke after a while, excusing himself.
“So, he completely has a grasp on her mind… what do we do if she sternly refuses?” Rose enquired.
“As Michael said, we will bring her back no matter what. I shall break her bones even if I have to before she is dragged out alive,” Charlotte answered resolutely.
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
(OOC: Forgot about this bit totally too kek. This happens a little earlier as well.)
Alek was now back at the house of Charlotte from the Void Realm. He was finally allowed to take his sleep mask off when he was having breakfast. There were bacons, eggs, and some pancakes drizzled with honey on the table some moments ago. It was strange, but Charlotte never once allowed Alek to come out of the Realm, and brought over the food to the Realm for him instead. He’d eat blind too.
Unfortunately, Alek had never once managed to accomplish what he was supposed to do. Learning to travel in the Void Realm was surprisingly very challenging.
Now that he was back, he found out that his servants were extremely worried. He was unsure if they were worried about him or their jobs. Regardless, they seemed relieved to see him return.
Alek felt pretty terrible about his worthless amount of progress, to say the least. He’d tried as hard as he could, all month long and had precisely zilch to show for it. It was clear that Charlotte had done everything she could to teach him, and he’d done everything he could to learn properly, but in the end it just wasn’t enough time to really make any headway. He looked up to Charlotte after they had both finished eating.
“When will you be able to spare more time to teach me?”
“After the revolution is over. I may have to leave the country after some time, but I shall make some time for you regardless, do not worry.”
“It bugs me that I wasn’t able to make more progress on it, like I let you down… I’m sorry Master.”
“That is fine.” Charlotte waved her hand dismissively. “I took half a year to get it down myself.”
“I see. Well, I suppose I should show my face at the Academy again before too much longer, to keep up appearances…” He stood. “Was there anything else I can do for you before I excuse myself?”
“No, I shall be taking leave myself soon. Have a safe journey.”
“Very well, thank you for taking the time to teach me, Master. I appreciate your hard work.”
Alek was now back at the house of Charlotte from the Void Realm. He was finally allowed to take his sleep mask off when he was having breakfast. There were bacons, eggs, and some pancakes drizzled with honey on the table some moments ago. It was strange, but Charlotte never once allowed Alek to come out of the Realm, and brought over the food to the Realm for him instead. He’d eat blind too.
Unfortunately, Alek had never once managed to accomplish what he was supposed to do. Learning to travel in the Void Realm was surprisingly very challenging.
Now that he was back, he found out that his servants were extremely worried. He was unsure if they were worried about him or their jobs. Regardless, they seemed relieved to see him return.
Alek felt pretty terrible about his worthless amount of progress, to say the least. He’d tried as hard as he could, all month long and had precisely zilch to show for it. It was clear that Charlotte had done everything she could to teach him, and he’d done everything he could to learn properly, but in the end it just wasn’t enough time to really make any headway. He looked up to Charlotte after they had both finished eating.
“When will you be able to spare more time to teach me?”
“After the revolution is over. I may have to leave the country after some time, but I shall make some time for you regardless, do not worry.”
“It bugs me that I wasn’t able to make more progress on it, like I let you down… I’m sorry Master.”
“That is fine.” Charlotte waved her hand dismissively. “I took half a year to get it down myself.”
“I see. Well, I suppose I should show my face at the Academy again before too much longer, to keep up appearances…” He stood. “Was there anything else I can do for you before I excuse myself?”
“No, I shall be taking leave myself soon. Have a safe journey.”
“Very well, thank you for taking the time to teach me, Master. I appreciate your hard work.”
1
Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
With the collaborations with Claudia over, Michael was now back to Charlotte’s estate in London. The last two days seemed to last longer than he thought they would. After these busy days had passed, it felt odd that it was peaceful here for some reason.
At the moment, it seemed like Charlotte was resting while Weiss was out of the house. The maid was doing her work as usual. It was odd how the maid would feel worried about Charlotte resting. It seemed like she had fear about Charlotte herself sleeping.
The doorbell rang and the maid left to check. It seemed like a maid had appeared with a lady, and a footman accompanied her as she came out of the carriage, and to the estate momentarily.
The maid herself seemed confused.
“Miss, I must ask if there is someone you are here to meet? I was not informed of your arrival, otherwise I would have been prepared.” She wondered if Charlotte simply forgot to inform about a guest yet again. This was becoming quite the trend lately, the most recent being Michael’s arrival.
“Pardon for the sudden visit. I came to see Michael, is he here?”
The maid turned and found Michael, reading a novel on a sofa, very relaxed. She made a mental note to send him to the family’s parlour next time.
“Yes, he is over there, Miss,” the maid tersely answered, gesturing towards the entrance hall. She walked up towards Michael as she lead the guest inside. “Mister Kallweit, this lady here has come to meet you.”
“Thank you, you’re dismissed.”
The maid gave a bow and walked away. At the same time the lady’s servants seemed to disappear as they retreated to the exit too.
Michael looked at their new comrade and saw a woman with blonde locks, standing almost as tall as he was. She wore a blue dress that accentuated her curves, and her expression enhanced how enticing the dress looked on her. She almost—almost caught him off-guard, but at this point, he was mostly used to seeing beautiful women in front of him. He lived with Dana after all.
“Please, have a seat.”
“Good morning, Michael.” Svetlana took a look at Michael who she felt she had seen before. He had white hair which the front was longer than normal. He simply wore a white shirt with a black vest on and a pair of trousers. “Were you not Lily’s companion?
“Lil—how do you know her, and me?” Michael leaned towards the lady, who still hadn’t introduced herself. Somehow, she knew both him and Lily, his deceased partner.
“I am Duchess Svetlana Astakhov Alicia. Lily was my friend from Russia, and I met you when she and you came together to Japan and interrupted one of my classes.”
“That can’t be possible. Miss Svetlana was small.” He once again looked at the lady in front of him, and he didn’t even need to look past her chest. This wasn’t Svetlana. He abruptly returned his gaze to her face. “Small.”
“If you do not mind, please keep your gaze at my face. You stared at my chest for a good minute there. As hard as it might seem to believe, I am that same Svetlana, just that I grew up in a year.”
“Hit a growth spurt, huh? In any case, I apologise but I had to check for sure.” Michael smiled at her, finally remembering about the tiny—or at least she used to be—teacher. “Did you bring Miss Isabelle with you? Has she abandoned her search for revenge?”
“My Sister is here in London with me, safe. No, I doubt she will. Which is why I will handle it myself.”
“While we all mourn Miss Alicia’s death, she should not waste her future on revenge. She is unlike us, still untainted.” Michael sighed. “So you would be my partner for this job? I wonder why you have sided against the Queen.”
“You can blame that wretched Princess who decided that blackmailing was the best way to go with. How about yourself? Or did you simply join of your own free will?”
“It is of my own free will.” If only she knew he served Virgo now.
“Then I do not need to care if something happens to you. When should we start the mission? I just want to get this over and done with as soon as possible.”
“Well, you should contain your excitement, Duchess. We will at nighttime. Unless you want the whole of London to descend upon you, that is.”
“Not that it matters to me, I only care for my Sister’s safety. Do not think this brings excitement to me. I simply wish to go back to my normal life with my Sister, whatever is left of it at this point.”
(GM’s Comment: Sister’s safety, she says.)
Michael took up the new set of documents that arrived. There were three targets this time. Unlike the time with Claudia when they had five targets to cover, this either meant that there were simply fewer people to take out, or that they were given the toughest of the bunch while the rest worked on the small fries. “Well, take your pick.”
Svetlana checked the documents herself now.
The first target seemed to show a very handsome man wearing a black suit. He had golden eyes and long black hair tied in a ponytail. His name was Lewis Honeysett. He seemed young but he was apparently a Duke who was a parliamentarian, and was a very important figure. In his background information, there was a mention of him getting thousands of people killed via a spell of plague that he was experimenting with and accidentally released on Sussex. He seemed to go on trips very often and only recently came back to Sussex.
Their second target was Irene Jameson. A professor at the Royal Academy who was also a Countess. The picture showed a plain-looking short woman in clothes that made her look like a scholar indeed. She seemed to have various connections that would be a thorn to Princess Louise’s path. The woman was also a famous scholar who created some Supreme Spells as a child. Typically, she was currently a Magic Magister even now.
The final target was a Marquess who was close to the Queen. He seemed to be promoted as the Royal Sculptor and was a rising star in the Royal Court. Apparently, a Royal Sculptor had more implications in the Magic World than to the mundanes, not that the two was aware, they simply knew their job. He seemed to be the easiest of the targets.
“I’ll let you handle what we do. I will just see if you know what you are doing.”
“How would you even—” He decided against arguing with her, lest she’d attack him when he was vulnerable later. “Let’s do with the Duke Honeysett, he seems like a likable sort,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Michael and Svetlana faced a small cottage in Sussex, the historic county in the south east region of England.
It was rather unbelievable that a Duke was living in such a place. There were only lush green fields painted dark by the cloudy night sky all across the area. Let alone guards, there was hardly a solid wall to stand in their way.
“Is this really the right place?” Svetlana said as she wore a shorter black dress than usual. It showed more of her legs and one could see more of her cleavage.
“It should be, we should remain vigilant. He should be ready for enemies, despite this defenseless cottage. This may be a trap, for all we know.”
“Then I shall let you take the lead. I will support you from behind.”
“Can’t we blow this cottage up, instead? Do you have a spell like that?”
“It would be obvious it was me, idiot. I really doubt many have a spell like that.”
“What? You think the Queen doesn’t know you’re helping the rebels?” Michael sighed, as he prepared to enter the cottage.
“If she knows why is she not stopping this then?”
“Who knows? She let me go even if I was going to assist with the rebellion. I am afraid that I might still be working within her schemes.”
Michael used his eye and knowledge in trap making in order to spot the possible areas where someone would put surprises for unwanted visitors. He noticed there were prisms hidden from plain sight, signifying a barrier that protected the cottage.
“You might want to stay back,” Michael said.
Small particles of light converged onto his hand and started forming a silver ornate bow. He drew the bow and swiftly shot all the prisms in succession, in one fluid motion. Satisfied with his work, he slowly and carefully approached the cottage, crouching beneath the window sill as he peeked inside. Their target seemed to be inside it, sitting in a chair, looking down at a trombone that he held. It looked fairly simple inside, with ordinary furniture like a table and some chairs and a bed, nothing fancy like a noble. At least the picture of the target matched.
“Well, is it safe to approach?”
“He’s there. I’ll shoot him from here. You do know you would still have to use your magic if we’re going to fight him, right?”
Michael drew his bow once again, aiming at where his target sat. He released the arrow, which promptly destroyed a good part of the cottage’s wall. However, it seemed that the same could not be said for his target, as the Duke remained safe, albeit surprised.
Upon seeing the Duke, Svetlana readied her Flame Spear spell, which she fired at the Duke, but it hit a wall instead, setting the house aflame in the process.
“At least we managed to destroy his fortress,” Michael joked.
“Now, that was rude.” Duke Lewis Honeysett seemed to look at his cottage with melancholy but was otherwise unperturbed.
“Well, the doorbell did not work,” Michael replied.
The Duke shrugged with a wry smile, still holding the trombone.
“I command for the curtains of the night to fall.”
A black dome formed around the three, locking them in the space. Golden swords seemed to form on the black walls in every direction the assassins looked.
“Come at me with whatever you have. I am not going anywhere.”
Michael took the time as the dome formed to chant another spell from the Heavenly Sacrament Lost Form, which cleansed his mind from various influences. This improved his focus as his sigil remained shining around him. He took up his bow and aimed straight at the Duke, a blinding light forming at the tip of his fingers as he nocked. The projectiles shot out with a deafening screech, clashing against Lewis and exploding.
Svetlana’s Blazing Wind spell was active a moment later, sending a wave of scorching flames at the Duke too, mixing with the light of the holy arrows of Michael.
The soothing song of the trombone was heard, the flames were extinguished, and the silver arrows seemed to be stuck in front of Lewis.
“A Lost Form… interesting,” the Duke expressed, touching the bulb of light that was Michael’s arrow with his gloved hand. “You still have a long way to go.”
“Ah, well. I have time.” Michael shrugged, as he nocked another arrow.
“Tch, guess this one will not be as easy,” Svetlana said.
The arrow made a hole on the Duke’s left shoulder. He didn’t seem to care about the pain he felt, still holding a melancholic smile.
Taking up the trombone, the music instrument changed into a baton. The golden swords from the black wall all flew up behind him, each turning into golden fairies holding musical instruments as an entire orchestra formed. With a wave of his baton, a powerful song was orchestrated, sending Michael and Svetlana to the black wall. There was no pain as their backs collided, simply an invisible wall of air stopping them in place. Before they could pull themselves back together, another beat of music pressed against them, noises of cracking bones ringing out.
“If you have other targets to assassinate, I would recommend going after them instead,” Lewis said calmly. “It would be in your best interests to not waste any of our time here fighting someone who is on par with the Archmages.”
“If it’s all the same to you,” Michael stood up, his earlier spell mitigating a good deal of damage from the Duke’s attack, “I would take you up on that offer, but I fear that my Mistress wouldn’t accept me retreating.”
“I would just let him go, it is obvious we will not leave this fight without serious injuries,” Svetlana said holding her arm.
“You do know at this point, it’s him that is letting us go. But any case… I apologise, but we need to take more of your time.”
“I thank you for your understanding,” Lewis said, giving a courteous bow. As Michael fell to the ground, the baton pressed past the back of his neck, with its tip exiting from the front of it.
“Be my guest if you want to die, I will not help you.”
“Great. Fight an opponent beyond my abilities and they gave me the most useless partner in London.” Michael cursed as he got angry at the ground for no reason. “Well, you might as well kill me now.”
“I am not gonna waste my energy on a fight I did not even want to be part of. If he is offering to just leave, that is fine with me. I will only go all out if he continues.”
“No wonder my partner died,” he spat towards her.
A purple flame formed around Svetlana’s palm as she aimed her fist straight at Michael’s stomach. “Do you really think I held back then?!!” Svetlana shouted in anger.
The flames shaped in the form of a fist was soon extinguished before it reached Michael, as he absorbed the mana Svetlana had gathered with the spell known as Spellbreaker, a silver glow emanating from his hand.
The Duke took the baton out of Michael’s neck after the little bout was over, some more blood spurting out as he did so. The black dome seemed to fade away momentarily, bringing back the original surroundings. The orchestra too, vanished.
“Now, now, I think fighting each other would be the least of the Princess’ wishes.”
A portal to blackness opened before the Duke. A portal to the Void Realm.
“Farewell.”
“Whatever, I will handle the other two myself,” Svetlana said as began to walk away.
“Oh sure, better retreat when they look at you funny too. That would be hilarious.”
Michael pressed a handkerchief to his neck to minimize the blood flow. He then left on his own, not wanting to bother with her. He lost all semblance of respect for the girl, who was unlike Lily, who had the resolve to finish what she started.
At the moment, it seemed like Charlotte was resting while Weiss was out of the house. The maid was doing her work as usual. It was odd how the maid would feel worried about Charlotte resting. It seemed like she had fear about Charlotte herself sleeping.
The doorbell rang and the maid left to check. It seemed like a maid had appeared with a lady, and a footman accompanied her as she came out of the carriage, and to the estate momentarily.
The maid herself seemed confused.
“Miss, I must ask if there is someone you are here to meet? I was not informed of your arrival, otherwise I would have been prepared.” She wondered if Charlotte simply forgot to inform about a guest yet again. This was becoming quite the trend lately, the most recent being Michael’s arrival.
“Pardon for the sudden visit. I came to see Michael, is he here?”
The maid turned and found Michael, reading a novel on a sofa, very relaxed. She made a mental note to send him to the family’s parlour next time.
“Yes, he is over there, Miss,” the maid tersely answered, gesturing towards the entrance hall. She walked up towards Michael as she lead the guest inside. “Mister Kallweit, this lady here has come to meet you.”
“Thank you, you’re dismissed.”
The maid gave a bow and walked away. At the same time the lady’s servants seemed to disappear as they retreated to the exit too.
Michael looked at their new comrade and saw a woman with blonde locks, standing almost as tall as he was. She wore a blue dress that accentuated her curves, and her expression enhanced how enticing the dress looked on her. She almost—almost caught him off-guard, but at this point, he was mostly used to seeing beautiful women in front of him. He lived with Dana after all.
“Please, have a seat.”
“Good morning, Michael.” Svetlana took a look at Michael who she felt she had seen before. He had white hair which the front was longer than normal. He simply wore a white shirt with a black vest on and a pair of trousers. “Were you not Lily’s companion?
“Lil—how do you know her, and me?” Michael leaned towards the lady, who still hadn’t introduced herself. Somehow, she knew both him and Lily, his deceased partner.
“I am Duchess Svetlana Astakhov Alicia. Lily was my friend from Russia, and I met you when she and you came together to Japan and interrupted one of my classes.”
“That can’t be possible. Miss Svetlana was small.” He once again looked at the lady in front of him, and he didn’t even need to look past her chest. This wasn’t Svetlana. He abruptly returned his gaze to her face. “Small.”
“If you do not mind, please keep your gaze at my face. You stared at my chest for a good minute there. As hard as it might seem to believe, I am that same Svetlana, just that I grew up in a year.”
“Hit a growth spurt, huh? In any case, I apologise but I had to check for sure.” Michael smiled at her, finally remembering about the tiny—or at least she used to be—teacher. “Did you bring Miss Isabelle with you? Has she abandoned her search for revenge?”
“My Sister is here in London with me, safe. No, I doubt she will. Which is why I will handle it myself.”
“While we all mourn Miss Alicia’s death, she should not waste her future on revenge. She is unlike us, still untainted.” Michael sighed. “So you would be my partner for this job? I wonder why you have sided against the Queen.”
“You can blame that wretched Princess who decided that blackmailing was the best way to go with. How about yourself? Or did you simply join of your own free will?”
“It is of my own free will.” If only she knew he served Virgo now.
“Then I do not need to care if something happens to you. When should we start the mission? I just want to get this over and done with as soon as possible.”
“Well, you should contain your excitement, Duchess. We will at nighttime. Unless you want the whole of London to descend upon you, that is.”
“Not that it matters to me, I only care for my Sister’s safety. Do not think this brings excitement to me. I simply wish to go back to my normal life with my Sister, whatever is left of it at this point.”
(GM’s Comment: Sister’s safety, she says.)
Michael took up the new set of documents that arrived. There were three targets this time. Unlike the time with Claudia when they had five targets to cover, this either meant that there were simply fewer people to take out, or that they were given the toughest of the bunch while the rest worked on the small fries. “Well, take your pick.”
Svetlana checked the documents herself now.
The first target seemed to show a very handsome man wearing a black suit. He had golden eyes and long black hair tied in a ponytail. His name was Lewis Honeysett. He seemed young but he was apparently a Duke who was a parliamentarian, and was a very important figure. In his background information, there was a mention of him getting thousands of people killed via a spell of plague that he was experimenting with and accidentally released on Sussex. He seemed to go on trips very often and only recently came back to Sussex.
Their second target was Irene Jameson. A professor at the Royal Academy who was also a Countess. The picture showed a plain-looking short woman in clothes that made her look like a scholar indeed. She seemed to have various connections that would be a thorn to Princess Louise’s path. The woman was also a famous scholar who created some Supreme Spells as a child. Typically, she was currently a Magic Magister even now.
The final target was a Marquess who was close to the Queen. He seemed to be promoted as the Royal Sculptor and was a rising star in the Royal Court. Apparently, a Royal Sculptor had more implications in the Magic World than to the mundanes, not that the two was aware, they simply knew their job. He seemed to be the easiest of the targets.
“I’ll let you handle what we do. I will just see if you know what you are doing.”
“How would you even—” He decided against arguing with her, lest she’d attack him when he was vulnerable later. “Let’s do with the Duke Honeysett, he seems like a likable sort,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
***
Michael and Svetlana faced a small cottage in Sussex, the historic county in the south east region of England.
It was rather unbelievable that a Duke was living in such a place. There were only lush green fields painted dark by the cloudy night sky all across the area. Let alone guards, there was hardly a solid wall to stand in their way.
“Is this really the right place?” Svetlana said as she wore a shorter black dress than usual. It showed more of her legs and one could see more of her cleavage.
“It should be, we should remain vigilant. He should be ready for enemies, despite this defenseless cottage. This may be a trap, for all we know.”
“Then I shall let you take the lead. I will support you from behind.”
“Can’t we blow this cottage up, instead? Do you have a spell like that?”
“It would be obvious it was me, idiot. I really doubt many have a spell like that.”
“What? You think the Queen doesn’t know you’re helping the rebels?” Michael sighed, as he prepared to enter the cottage.
“If she knows why is she not stopping this then?”
“Who knows? She let me go even if I was going to assist with the rebellion. I am afraid that I might still be working within her schemes.”
Michael used his eye and knowledge in trap making in order to spot the possible areas where someone would put surprises for unwanted visitors. He noticed there were prisms hidden from plain sight, signifying a barrier that protected the cottage.
“You might want to stay back,” Michael said.
Small particles of light converged onto his hand and started forming a silver ornate bow. He drew the bow and swiftly shot all the prisms in succession, in one fluid motion. Satisfied with his work, he slowly and carefully approached the cottage, crouching beneath the window sill as he peeked inside. Their target seemed to be inside it, sitting in a chair, looking down at a trombone that he held. It looked fairly simple inside, with ordinary furniture like a table and some chairs and a bed, nothing fancy like a noble. At least the picture of the target matched.
“Well, is it safe to approach?”
“He’s there. I’ll shoot him from here. You do know you would still have to use your magic if we’re going to fight him, right?”
Michael drew his bow once again, aiming at where his target sat. He released the arrow, which promptly destroyed a good part of the cottage’s wall. However, it seemed that the same could not be said for his target, as the Duke remained safe, albeit surprised.
Upon seeing the Duke, Svetlana readied her Flame Spear spell, which she fired at the Duke, but it hit a wall instead, setting the house aflame in the process.
“At least we managed to destroy his fortress,” Michael joked.
“Now, that was rude.” Duke Lewis Honeysett seemed to look at his cottage with melancholy but was otherwise unperturbed.
“Well, the doorbell did not work,” Michael replied.
The Duke shrugged with a wry smile, still holding the trombone.
“I command for the curtains of the night to fall.”
A black dome formed around the three, locking them in the space. Golden swords seemed to form on the black walls in every direction the assassins looked.
“Come at me with whatever you have. I am not going anywhere.”
Michael took the time as the dome formed to chant another spell from the Heavenly Sacrament Lost Form, which cleansed his mind from various influences. This improved his focus as his sigil remained shining around him. He took up his bow and aimed straight at the Duke, a blinding light forming at the tip of his fingers as he nocked. The projectiles shot out with a deafening screech, clashing against Lewis and exploding.
Svetlana’s Blazing Wind spell was active a moment later, sending a wave of scorching flames at the Duke too, mixing with the light of the holy arrows of Michael.
The soothing song of the trombone was heard, the flames were extinguished, and the silver arrows seemed to be stuck in front of Lewis.
“A Lost Form… interesting,” the Duke expressed, touching the bulb of light that was Michael’s arrow with his gloved hand. “You still have a long way to go.”
“Ah, well. I have time.” Michael shrugged, as he nocked another arrow.
“Tch, guess this one will not be as easy,” Svetlana said.
The arrow made a hole on the Duke’s left shoulder. He didn’t seem to care about the pain he felt, still holding a melancholic smile.
Taking up the trombone, the music instrument changed into a baton. The golden swords from the black wall all flew up behind him, each turning into golden fairies holding musical instruments as an entire orchestra formed. With a wave of his baton, a powerful song was orchestrated, sending Michael and Svetlana to the black wall. There was no pain as their backs collided, simply an invisible wall of air stopping them in place. Before they could pull themselves back together, another beat of music pressed against them, noises of cracking bones ringing out.
“If you have other targets to assassinate, I would recommend going after them instead,” Lewis said calmly. “It would be in your best interests to not waste any of our time here fighting someone who is on par with the Archmages.”
“If it’s all the same to you,” Michael stood up, his earlier spell mitigating a good deal of damage from the Duke’s attack, “I would take you up on that offer, but I fear that my Mistress wouldn’t accept me retreating.”
“I would just let him go, it is obvious we will not leave this fight without serious injuries,” Svetlana said holding her arm.
“You do know at this point, it’s him that is letting us go. But any case… I apologise, but we need to take more of your time.”
“I thank you for your understanding,” Lewis said, giving a courteous bow. As Michael fell to the ground, the baton pressed past the back of his neck, with its tip exiting from the front of it.
“Be my guest if you want to die, I will not help you.”
“Great. Fight an opponent beyond my abilities and they gave me the most useless partner in London.” Michael cursed as he got angry at the ground for no reason. “Well, you might as well kill me now.”
“I am not gonna waste my energy on a fight I did not even want to be part of. If he is offering to just leave, that is fine with me. I will only go all out if he continues.”
“No wonder my partner died,” he spat towards her.
A purple flame formed around Svetlana’s palm as she aimed her fist straight at Michael’s stomach. “Do you really think I held back then?!!” Svetlana shouted in anger.
The flames shaped in the form of a fist was soon extinguished before it reached Michael, as he absorbed the mana Svetlana had gathered with the spell known as Spellbreaker, a silver glow emanating from his hand.
The Duke took the baton out of Michael’s neck after the little bout was over, some more blood spurting out as he did so. The black dome seemed to fade away momentarily, bringing back the original surroundings. The orchestra too, vanished.
“Now, now, I think fighting each other would be the least of the Princess’ wishes.”
A portal to blackness opened before the Duke. A portal to the Void Realm.
“Farewell.”
“Whatever, I will handle the other two myself,” Svetlana said as began to walk away.
“Oh sure, better retreat when they look at you funny too. That would be hilarious.”
Michael pressed a handkerchief to his neck to minimize the blood flow. He then left on his own, not wanting to bother with her. He lost all semblance of respect for the girl, who was unlike Lily, who had the resolve to finish what she started.