The Court of Souls?_Volume 2_Agent of the Realm?

by Andur

  Yes, that’s my man. I am the cute little goddess from next door. No need to call for an interrogation. Though when Marcus said that Charles should let us handle the matter, I am sure that Marcus meant he would handle it.

  Then Marcus adds another argument. “And don’t forget that Seria didn’t summon the vines on her own. She wouldn’t have been able to do it without Adea’s mana pool to kickstart the spell.”

  Charles’s attention turns to Adea who is lying next to me. “The girl? Why her? Is she really that powerful, or had it something to do with the spell?”

  I squirm. This conversation is going in a direction which I don’t like at all. But at least it’s directed away from me. “Adea has extraordinary access to her mana pool compared to other gods. She can channel much more power in a certain time frame than any other divine I have ever seen. But it doesn’t make her almighty. Her gift comes at the price of control. I knew her in one of her previous incarnations. Even at her peak, she only knew how to do things with brute force, rather than any complicated spells.”

  “You knew her in a previous life? How strange. I’ve never heard of people meeting each other again. The multiverse is a much too big place for that. Do you share a soulbond?” Charles’s inquisitive gaze returns to me.

  I try to to shake off the anxiety. “No way, hahaha. I guess it was pure luck that I recognized her. We would have never found out if her ability hadn’t been so unique. She’s the only one I know who is capable of wielding so much mana.”

  Luckily, Adea groans and opens her eyes, drawing everyone’s attention. “I’ve a headache. Seria, you little bitch! You could have warned me of what you were about to do.”

  Caden, who stayed silent so far, hurries to Adea’s side. “Adea! You are alright. I was so worried when she included you in that dark ritual.”

  Adea waves a hand in the air, signalling that it’s nothing. “Don’t worry, Seria would never physically harm somebody as long as she can manipulate or blackmail them. Of course that only counts for her friends and family.”

  Of course, that returns all the attention to me. Maybe it’s time to feign being the maiden in distress and to use Marcus as a shield. Raising a hand to my temple, I flutter my eyelids. “Now that you mention it, Adea. You aren’t the only one who is low on mana. Marcus, why don’t you bring me home? I suppose that the school activities are on ice for now?”

  “Of course.” He is immediately at my side and picks me up in a princess carry. Smiling, I bury my face in his chest so that nobody can see my expression of victory. I would take a bet that he is already getting dirty thoughts just from carrying me around. Which means that he will double his efforts in getting me away from his father.

  “One moment!” The king’s sharp voice destroys all my hopes of getting away without a loooong explanation.

  Though I really don’t know what’s there to explain? I seriously have no idea what makes Dedessia different from this realm. And that will be the only important question once I tell them about my home. They will want to know how to control their spirit forms. But I don’t know. And if I can’t tell them, I could end up as some kind of guinea pig. Not gonna happen. I really have to talk to my parents about this problem before this realm learns anything about Dedessia.

  “Nobody is getting away until I at least have this Trebor! Wasn’t he the one who is supposed to be behind all of this?” Charles’s voice makes it clear that this isn’t up for discussion.

  I stiffen up. It was so clear that it would end with this. When I have my expression back under control, I look up from Marcus’s chest. “I caught him in his office. If nobody freed him, then he should still be there… and if the spirits didn’t decide to snack on him.”

  Marcus sighs. “You didn’t wait for me. You caught him single handedly to interrogate him, didn’t you?” He starts walking towards the school’s office wing. Strangely enough, it seems to be largely intact. Charles and the rest of the group follow us.

  “There was no reason to wait. He has his hands in the affair, though I didn’t manage to get the whole story. According to him, he and his family were working for a party which is trying to take over the country. From his description, they have help from someone with a lot of power, though he didn’t know who exactly he was working for. What he could tell though, was that the entire matter went on for years. Trebor was regularly instructed to set up incidents with spirits. According to him, his unknown master used those incidents to gain power and influence. I also noticed that his mind was under a strong compulsion. Someone must know Trebor’s true name...”

  I continue my explanation of some minor details until I reach the point at which the portal opened above the academy grounds and I was forced to interrupt my little chat with Trebor. I continued until the last possible moment in hopes of learning how to close the portal. When the portal became too large, I left to search for Adea.

  My story isn’t completely told, when we enter Trebor’s office. He is indeed still there, though the blood loss caused him to lose his consciousness. But that’s no problem since I included a strong regeneration spell in his binding. The silence is slowly turning disturbing as everyone stares at the mess on the floor, so I decide to wake them up. “What!?”

  Caden hurries to the window and starts puking, Charles slaps his own forehead and Adea points at Trebor. “That looks painful. I understand the need to bind him since he is a demigod, but was the thing with his innards really necessary?”

  I study the work of art which I left on the ground. Dad would have been proud of me. Even as I watch, the innards which are placed out in a flower pattern, are slowly being pulled back into Trebor’s body. His latent self-regeneration is hard at work to restore him.

  A human body has about thirty metres of innards, so he looked much worse when I left him. Had to. Otherwise he could have broken the binding and escaped.

  “You are overreacting. Keep in mind that I had just a few pencils, blood, and duct tape to secure him. Tell me who else would have managed to bind a demigod with such meagre resources.”

  30. ~Quarrel.~

  “What’s normal? What’s sane? Well, the stuff which is done by the majority of people is normal and sane. Doesn’t matter if they are assisting murder and child labour. Doesn’t matter if they have no clue what they are voting for. The majority says so, the majority is right.”

  The Journey to the Afterlife

  Kingdom Newerth, Capital City

  Seria

  “Nononono! You are doing it wrong! This exercise is about meditation. You have to let go of your other senses and feel the magic. I'll hit everyone who thinks that he can solve this test by closing his eyes and sleeping for an hour or two. You have to actively feel the magic, eyes closed and ears muffled,” I lecture my students, not giving a shit about being nice. The classroom is perfectly silent, but I can still hear that some students are trying to bide their time with more interesting things.

  Like talking to each other, or exchanging paper messages.

  They have to learn to rely on their ability to sense and manipulate mana. It should be particularly easy right now. The entire school-ground is empty of power. Yggdrasil didn't only suck the mana out of the portal, but the network also took any residual magic. The mana has yet to flow in from the surrounding area. That makes this sort of training easier than it would be normally.

  “You can do it. Just concentrate on the people around you. This place is almost empty of residual mana. It would be hard to spot a small candle in a room which is lit by daylight, right? Guess what, right now it's dark outside and the lights are off. You should be able to see the candle right away. Rely on your mana sense.” I take a look at the watch which is hanging above the classroom's entrance. Clapping my hands, I end the lesson. “But I am afraid that our time is up. I expect that all of you train this in your free time. It's important to be as skilful as possible at sensing mana.”

  The students grumble and start packing their things. They clearly didn't
like the new training. It's something that's being taught to children. I nonetheless forced them to hone their skills in this area. Since I became their teacher, I noticed that a high percentage of this class is lacking the skill to sense small amounts of magic. That directly results in mistakes when handling complicated spells.

  You can't manipulate a spider's web with a club.

  The only student who stays behind is Adea. She is holding her bag in front of her chest and looks at me in dismay. “You aren't angry. Are you?”

  I raise both eyebrows in surprise. “Why should I be angry?”

  Adea shrugs her shoulders. “Just because I let so much slip in front of Marcus and Caden. About our relationship and the wishes... and all that.”

  I twirl my hair around my index finger, studying her. “Don't worry about it. Our relationship was an open secret from the beginning. If anything, then I am the one who should apologize. You surely went up a few steps on the king's radar because of your involvement in a spell which was able to close a portal.”

  Adea sighs and pulls out one of the chairs to sit down. “Yeah, but the one you should be careful of is Marcus. After yesterday's report, he searched me out to ask a few questions about your previous life.”

  I draw in a deep breath and exhale. “Not surprising. What did you say?”

  Adea tilts her head. “I tried to keep it vague. Just that we belonged to the same pantheon aeons ago and that you adore me, while I can hardly remember anything about our relationship. Only that I was something like a guardian to you.”

  I laugh. “Oh, aunty. There would have been no need. I am not trying to hide my past. Though it’s best not to boast about it. Mom and Dad would be angry.”

  Now it's Adea's turn to look surprised. “So I was right that your parents are still around? It struck me as strange that you were reincarnated without them. I remembered a lot since the last attack, including your soulbond. I wonder why you are hiding them. Are we still on the same side, Seria?”

  I close my eyes and sigh. This is the conversation I avoided so far. “Of course we are. But you also have some loyalties which I don't have. If you are suspecting that I am not telling you everything, then you are right.”

  Adea's expression turns clearly worried, so I hurry to continue. “You are the Immortal Empress somewhere deep down inside. You seek peace and are fiercely loyal to those who you regard as yours. I sincerely hope that it won't happen, but if I tell you everything right now, it might put you into a conflict of loyalties. Do you still want to know?”

  The girl squints her eyes at me and suddenly there is something old and wise in her eyes. “So your parents are still around. Are they in conflict with this kingdom?”

  “No.” Not yet.

  “So you are here as a spy. Surprising. There must be some extraordinary circumstances behind it.” Adea fumbles with her fingers, looking down at the floor.

  I attempt to speak, but Adea cuts me off by raising her hand.

  “It's fine. I don't need to know more. People with our life experience tend to change slowly over time, but they mostly stay the same. From what I remember by now, I knew you for a very long time. You aren't a person who is out to do evil because of some petty reason. Everything you did for me and my new mother was good. I am not back to my old self, but you've been helping to correct that. So I'll trust your judgement for now.” She drops her hand again, allowing me to talk.

  A grin spreads on my face. “That's so shrewd of you.”

  Adea furrows her forehead. “What do you mean? Don't confuse me.”

  I step closer and poke her with a finger. “You said that I don't do evil things without a reason. You didn't say that I am not capable of doing evil.”

  Adea purses her lips. “Seria, you are, in body and soul, the daughter of a mad scientist and an evil witch. Your father is chaos and magic personified, while your mother is a zealous fanatic who craves order. And I saw your father's true face, once. You are the spawn of the devil, no matter the mask you wear.”

  I straighten my back. “My father's true face? What do you mean? And I am not a bad person, just one who gets things done.”

  A mad laugh escapes Adea's lips and it takes a few moments until she calms down. “Good and evil, white and black. Those are just things we make up for our own convenience. Don't be troubled when someone attaches those labels to you. I meant that you fit as his daughter. What I tried to say was this. I... experienced... your father when someone stepped on his trigger and it wasn't nice. Your Mom and I huddled in a corner until it was over and then we vowed to never talk about it.”

  Adea's eyes wander off to something only she can see, but only for a moment. “Let's just say that you definitely adopted a part of his personality. I am not sure if it's because of what you experienced in the meantime, or because the soulbond is doing something to the three of you.”

  I snort. “Now you are over-dramatizing things. Let's just say that I am fine with being the monster in a good horror movie.”

  She laughs, but this time it's a heartfelt, warm laughter. “You are certainly right. Being the monster isn't bad. The monster doesn't have to fear being eaten. Just being slain by the hero in the end.”

  I snort and gesture for Adea to move on. “Those are the bad monsters. I am one of the things which can only be locked away at most.”

  “You certainly don't lack confidence.” Adea gets up and heads out of the classroom. I follow her onto the corridor, where we run right into Marcus.

  I put on my best smile. “Hi! Didn't see you since yesterday! Did Trebor spill any additional information?”

  Marcus purses his lips, but says nothing. Then his gaze turns to Adea, sending her a silent message.

  Adea gets the message and bows to us. “I'll bunk and bide my time at the shop. Have a nice day, you two.”

  My attention returns to Marcus as Adea hurries down the corridor. “So what's so important that Adea can't hear it?”

  Marcus takes my hand and guides me slowly away from the other people who are roaming the corridor. When we are outside the building, he finally decides to talk. “Ah, nothing that interesting. I just thought it might be better for her to concentrate on her training. That much power has to be brought under control. The sooner, the better.”

  “Okay?” I punch my palm with my fist. “So how went the interrogation? Do we know who needs a beating? I am eager to bring them down for what they did to the school.” My eyes turn involuntarily to the damaged buildings and the crushed administrative section. I was about to get my own office there. Not that it would have meant much, but my own office is my own office. Such things have meaning.

  “We are hunting for everyone who was associated with Trebor, but they went into hiding, which probably had to be expected. At least we confiscated their properties and destroyed the magical cornerstones there,” Marcus explains.

  Now, if that isn't a surprise. “Who in this day and age would use cornerstones to summon a portal? The magic formation is unstable on such a large scale. And the method is old… and by old I mean antiquated.”

  Marcus nods. “But it’s cheap and did the job. That's why we see it as proof that they were working in direct consent with the spirits. Trebor was very helpful when my father threatened to give him to you. He may think that he was working for some political faction of this country, but that's idiotic. The cornerstones must have been able to stabilize the portal for not much more than a few seconds. That would be too short for anyone to home in on the signal. The spirits must have known where and when the portal opens.”

  The corner of my mouth twitches upwards. “I can have Trebor?”

  The expression of my friend turns icy. “No. He talked, so you can't have him. You can exercise your skills on his family head, Braun. Once we find him.”

  Judging by Marcus's voice, he doesn't know where to find this Braun. “But you know where he is?”

  He shrugs. “Not yet, but soon enough. I have a lead to investigate, so you can go hom
e for today.”

  As he turns around, I grab his arm to stop him. “One moment! Not so fast, sir. I thought we are a team by now. We investigate together.”

  His expression turns troubled and I catch him avoiding my eyes. “I don't think you should follow me on this one. The person who I need to question runs a rather dubious enterprise and I am not certain that we should be seen there... together.”

  I put on my best ice queen expression and stare at him. “What are you hiding from me?”

  He glares at me. “Not much more than you. It's not like you are forthcoming either. Why do you pull this act on me when I want to keep one of my secrets, Seria? Are you the only one who is allowed to have them?”

  My expression falters. Somehow I knew that this would happen sooner or later. But right now? “Which secret are you talking about?”

  He crosses his arms in front of his chest. “How about starting with an easy one. What's that appearance and disappearance skill of yours? At the battle you materialized out of thin air. There wasn't even a trace of mana and I followed your trail several times, just to have it vanish as if you deleted your existence.”

  That's easy to answer. “It's called flash step. A physical movement skill which uses only inner mana manipulation. It relies on moving the air around your skin to avoid friction. Of course it has drawbacks compared to teleportation, like limited range, and line of sight is required. It's good to get rid of stalkers. Like you.” I couldn't help myself. I had to add that last one, though it probably wasn't smart to say that.

  Marcus clenches his teeth, but keeps his cool. “Okay. That’s neat. Next one. Who are your parents?”

  The silence stretches out for several moments as I try to find out why he decided to ask that one. Did Adea give him a hint when he talked to her? If so, it must have been an accident. The other question is which name I should give to him. It’s not like Mom and Dad are going by only one alias.