The Crimson Warlock

by Paulo Meireles Junior

“They have more than enough problems right now, besides, I’ll see Sam in a few days so I’m sure I’ll eventually end up visiting the royal family”.

  I ended up going back to the location that I usually train to practice for the rest of the day. I was happy that I’ve finally found Samantha and destroyed one of the cursed artifacts, but I couldn’t make use of the spell I was in the middle of creating so that left me frustrated. I would have to chance another encounter with the minions of whoever was in the middle of trying to cause a war between Heryan and Largos. I needed to see who would benefit from said war, perhaps I could lean on Lorelai for that information, or maybe if I found suspects, one of them could lead me directly to whoever is behind the curtain.

  As I expected, Yuna was waiting for me. A clerk approached me the moment I entered the guild and told me as much. She was very attentive and silent as I explained my situation to her. I informed her that I wasn’t originally from this world and that I was summoned here with a mission that I couldn’t disclose, but I mentioned that I needed to find the people behind the royal wedding’s attack and that they were very dangerous. I also mentioned that they somehow were involved in the Hydra’s incident, although I did not have concrete evidence, I told her to be careful of the dark aura and that if it surrounded the city, that meant bad news for everyone.

  After some convincing she mentioned that she would only tell a contact of hers in Largos about the dark aura and he would investigate. Since the entity behind the artifacts only cared about Heryan and Largos, I thought it was safe to assume at this point that as long as both territories were guarded from harm that would mean that the rest of the world was also safe. That was a bit of a gamble but I trust what Mega mentioned when we arrived and what I’ve seen so far.

  I supposedly arrived somewhere near the location that the gods detected the influence of the artifact that they have. That fact combined with the interest in Heryan and Largos meant that whatever the entity behind these incidents wanted, it had a lot to do with the two nations, I suspected that they needed something from one of the two nations.

  And there she was, leaning against the walls of the guild building, waiting for me on the third day after the incident. Samantha Denvers… Or Lorelai Heryan. I felt strange looking at her younger figure. She was there alone, I don’t know how she managed since she was royalty but I knew she was powerful by now and if Earth was any indication of her abilities and tenacity, I was in for a wild ride getting to know her all over again. That actually brought a smile to my face. She was dressed like an adventurer which was actually smart since royal clothing tends to draw attention.

  “What are you wearing? Do your parents approve of your clothes?” I said as I approached and then stopped, she laughed at that.

  “Well, morning to you too Hunter… You always had a habit of throwing random comments at me... To answer your question, I don’t care about what they approve, does it matter?” she raised an eyebrow.

  “Nah, I’m cool with whatever. I was just confused there for a moment because of your two lives and how you dressed before” she nodded at that.

  “I dress comfortable whenever possible. I’m actually wearing a more stylish version of men’s clothing, have you ever seen women from this world using feminine pants? We are seriously lacking in that department… But I’m a rebel and since I didn’t really care about politics, when I was younger I usually sneaked into the training grounds of the castle until they decided to let the commander train me, these clothes make melee fighting easier”.

  “You are a piece of work here too” I said shaking my head “So, spill. How do you remember me?”

  “Come on, let’s get something to eat and I’ll tell you everything you need to know” she said grabbing my arm and pulling me in the direction of the busy avenue in search of a bistro.

  We entered the bistro and she ordered some food dropping the hints that I would have to pay for it. Honestly, I didn’t mind because she did a lot for me on Earth and food was cheap enough for me here, in any case, I felt like I was swimming in money working for the guild.

  “So… I died and was born here. When I was seven years old I started remembering Earth.” she mentioned and took a sip of tea while we waited for our food “at first my parents were concerned and that took a toll on the royal doctor as well as the court magician. Two years later and various failed treatments, the court magician found ancient texts from the elves that informed them about some of my ‘condition’, His Majesty, the King then sought high elven knowledge and after an audience with them, they informed us that some people could have memories from a past life, although it was really rare for it to happen. Especially in my case, since in my past life I wasn’t even from Sapphire” she smiled.

  “Hmm. Interesting. So… How did that change your upbringing?” I already had an idea about her powers after a talk with Mega, but her upbringing after her parents here learned about her other life was the point of interest for me.

  “I’m sure I make them crazy to this day. I was always independent and you won’t find me with a noble dress most days, even though my early education was for me to be a proper lady. I don’t care about status and I already told my parents that if they force me to marry someone just to make more money or connections for the family I’ll bolt. It’s funny actually, because I was trained by both the commander of the knight army and the intelligence team when my uncle found out I was good at concealing my presence while hiding”.

  “How good are you?” I raised my eyebrow.

  “I can completely conceal my presence” she chuckled “I’m glad my parents love me in this life because I could run anytime if they forced me to do something stupid”.

  “Interesting, tell me more”.

  “Yeah? Well, for one, I was trained really early when they found out that I was impossible to handle. The training calmed me, I’m sure I’m not as good as you with magic but I can use my fair share, I tend to lean towards the wind element. I sometimes still train with my cousin, the princess” I nodded “I also seem to have a higher magic pool than any member of the royal family and they think that my memories of an old life has something to do with the fact that I can learn faster than normal people from here” she was definitely right about that.

  “I think that’s possible” I commented not hinting what I knew.

  “Anyway, they treat me like a royal but sometimes they look at me weirdly, especially if I pull something like this” she waived around “I mentioned to them that I would see you but not informed them the day or the time”.

  “You are definitely impossible...” I shook my head “by the way, what the heck do I call you?”

  “I don’t care, Lorelai, Samantha, Denvers, whatever” she shrugged.

  “I think I can get accustomed to Lorelai, especially if someone is with us”.

  “Imagine the heart attacks or the funny faces if you call me Samantha in the royal castle” she laughed “I don’t think Samantha is a common name here.” she drank the rest of the tea just as one of the attendants brought us our food “so anyway, spill, how the hell are you here?”

  “Oh well...”

  I proceeded to tell her a condensed version of my journey leaving a few details out of it, when she questioned me I told her I wasn’t about to tell her everything here in a public place where anyone could hear us.

  She mentioned that the King wanted to meet me to thank me for saving them a few days before. Apparently that wedding was supposed to be intimate according to her, so only a few people were invited, but an event like that attracts a lot of attention, even if only a few people are allowed to see it. There were a lot of people in front of the church waiting, although, I think the panic attracted a lot of additional people.

  As we ate, we also made small conversation, talking about living here and the difference between Earth and Sapphire. Comparing the two, I would always choose Sapphire over Earth due to the amount of stability a person could have and the safety behind the city walls. Su
re, I would miss the technology on Earth and the convenience of long distance contact but since I had 『Teleport』, that wouldn’t affect me too much. Another thing I would miss was the amazing food I couldn’t reproduce here because of the ingredients that didn’t exist or the music readily available with portable music players.

  “So, wanna meet the fancy royals?” Lorelai pulled me out of my thoughts by suggesting a meeting. Might as well meet them now.

  “Sure”

  I paid for our food and we went in the direction of the noble district, I could have teleported us there but that would kill the time for the small chat that I was used to having with her, we mostly made fun of situations and talked about all kinds of stuff while we were out working on cases on Earth. She made a point to tell me about the royal family. They’ve been busy in the last few days… According to her, His Majesty was ‘cleaning the house’, which meant that he sent his agents to look for a traitor inside of the royal court, whether he would find it or not wasn’t my problem but Lorelai would be in danger if a noble was in fact affiliated with that priest and whoever was his master.

  The castle was gigantic. A couple of weeks ago I would have been excited to visit a place like this, but given the situation, I had a whole world of problems to solve and looking at a castle wouldn’t help. Still… I took time to admire the beauty of the high walls and the expensive looking decorations, some showing the family crest along with their colors, favoring red, which reminded me of something, the colors were also related to the color of my mantle since the scarlet tones were everywhere in the noble district, often contrasted with a yellow, gold or white. I could see all of that in the designs inside the halls of the castle as Lorelai navigated us, some times briefly talking to a knight or dismissing them.

  After a few minutes bypassing halls, there we were, outside of the castle’s audience room, a knight went inside to inform His Majesty that Lorelai was in the castle and she brought a guest. We also didn’t wait long, the knight came back moments later and told us to proceed. We then stepped inside the room.

  While I wasn’t in the mood to stick around when I saved the royal family a few days back, I realized that I was more worried about the danger and I didn’t had the time to really look at any or all of the members of the royal family, apart from Lorelai, of course.

  Inside there were a lot of people, the King was easily found sitting on a throne while looking at us, his hazel eyes showing surprise as his long brown hair was slightly blown to his right side. His clothes were fit of a king, expensive and intricate. That was King Lucius Alfaerr Heryan in all of his glory. His wife, Queen Jeanne Laul Alfaerr Heryan was positioned at his left was wearing a beautiful red and white dress, a pendant contrasting her pale skin. She was looking at us with an expression of interest on her face, her long purple hair was neatly made.

  The two Princes and the Princess were there too. The first Prince, Luc Alfaerr Heryan, was wearing clothes similar to his father and his expression mirrored that of his brother, some surprise and perhaps something akin to gratitude. The second Prince, Lann Alfaerr Heryan, was wearing somewhat different clothes than those of his brother, his clothes also favored the red and white colors of the kingdom. While the first prince seemed to be in his late twenties, the second looked to be in his early twenties.

  Princess Alexis Alfaerr Heryan was wearing a beautiful red and golden dress, her dark hair contrasted her eye colors that shined as she was looking at our direction. Although she appeared to have a blank expression on her face, that didn’t changed the fact that she looked gorgeous. She appeared to be in her late teens.

  Lining the steps near the King’s throne there were a few people too. Someone that had the same characteristics as the king and a few similar features as Lorelai, that was probably her father, Pluto Alfaerr Heryan, he was wearing clothes just as magnificent as the ones that the royals that lived here in the castle were wearing. Near him I could see someone that was probably a general of the army, he was defending the King in the wedding, he now wore a better version of the knight’s armor, his blonde beard was the most distinguishable feature and reminded me of a dwarven beard from fiction back on Earth. I could also see a woman in her late thirties that screamed confidence and had a lot of magic power, she was wearing a red and white robe and a white witch’s hat while holding a wooden staff, she was probably the court magician and the one that invoked the barrier that protected His Majesty at the wedding.

  We approached and when I saw Lorelai kneeling in front of the King, I did the same, the last thing I wanted was to make enemies even if the situation was a little bizarre from my standpoint, I had never met a member of a royal family before. As soon as we knelt, the king then spoke.

  “Please stand, you shouldn’t be kneeling after saving us. Lorelai, please, if you would” His Majesty said was we stood, he spoke confidently and calm.

  “Yes, Your Majesty. This is a friend of mine from my past life. His name is James Hunter, as you know, he has a mission to complete here. James, these are the members of the royal family” she then proceeded to make the formal introductions mentioning the names that I already had read in books from the capital. She introduced the commander of the army as Sir Freed Montes and the royal magician as Emilia Fay. Fay? Why does that surname sounds familiar to me?

  “It is a pleasure to meet you” I said in the most polite tone I managed.

  “There’s no need for formality as well, although this is an audience room, we are not conducting official business for the kingdom right now” the King said and smiled “Firstly, I would like to thank you for saving us, your actions were very noble and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart” the other royal members nodded to that.

  “You’re welcome” I said.

  “Now, tell me hero, how do you like our kingdom so far?”

  That was a strange question. I expected him to ask all about what I was doing in the church and what was my mission, I guess my expression gave it away by what he said next.

  “Is something wrong?”.

  “No, I just expected Your Majesty to ask about my mission or what I was doing at the church a few days back, not asking about what are my impressions of this kingdom”.

  “Ah!” the king laughed “I know better than to ask a hero sent here by the gods about his mission. I know part of it you might not be able to tell us and I’m not here to make your life harder. Although… If you could tell us something about it, that might help us prepare in case of emergency. But, I’m interested to hear what you think about this kingdom” this king is somewhat eccentric.

  I then told them a little about my travels from Saurian to Sunnara and the scenery that I saw along the way, also dropping small comparisons with my old world and complementing on how this kingdom was prosperous.

  “Lorelai told us so much about your old world that I feel like we traveled there before. It is quite strange though. Having the two of you here now”.

  “It’s not strange. One of the reasons I was the one chosen to be the hero for this world was the fact that Lorelai was here and we knew each other in our last lives. You probably can attest to her power and discipline better than I, but souls are a powerful thing...” And I left that hanging to not tell them to much.

  Mega was the one that informed me last night about the possibility of people who remembered their last lives being more powerful in their current life. Apparently souls were quite a powerful source of energy, capable of storing all memories of past lives but almost never allowing people to peek or see into them. When she remembered her last life, she also learned how to read, write and speak English; she remembered every important detail of her everyday past life and to adjust the past and present memories, her body was reinforced, that gave her not only more magic power but sharper reflexes and a stronger overall body, and although she was not as strong as me, she was probably one of the most powerful people in this kingdom.

  I told them about the incident and a little bit about my mission
with the intent that the king would make use of the information to strengthen his kingdom against our common enemy. I did not mentioned needing to destroy the artifacts because they yield too much dark power and given that the royal court was recently breached, I wasn’t keen on that information getting out.

  “If you had to guess, in how much danger are we?” the question came from Sir Freed.

  “Not immediate danger, but they will probably try something again. Although I have no proof to support my theory, I think the entity behind the incident a few days back wants something from either this kingdom or Largos. What worries me is the war that they wanted His Majesty to start” I responded. He was pensive for a moment and I took the opportunity to inquire a bit “have you questioned the priest? Anything you can share with me?” the response came from the royal magician, she looked at the king and after receiving a nod she then turned to me to start talking.

  “We weren’t able to find much about who is behind this. The priest first came to the capital a few years ago and we checked his background since he operated in the noble district, but he didn’t raised any flags until this recent incident.” she looked at the king again and after a second nod she continued “when I tried using suggestive magic to make him prone to tell us everything... he died”.

  “So, a dead end?” Lorelai questioned.

  “Not necessarily” said the king “although I shouldn’t be telling you this” he gestured to me “you probably can guess that we are currently running a background check going back a few years, the targets are any nobles and everyone that has an affiliation with us”.

  “Yes, I imagine this is standard” I nodded, in our old job background checks were very helpful to evaluate a suspect if we could get them in a legal way.

  “We had to reschedule the wedding to a later date, in the moment I’m more worried about the kingdom and the threat that this poses to us” the King then looked at me and leaned forward on his throne before continuing “we are increasing the patrols in the city and trying to prepare for another attack”.