by Elian Tars
Guardsman Lerk
Level 51
HP: 950/950
Chapter 20
The Mayor
Shit! That was really the same archer that I saw in Listeri. He didn’t get a good look at me back then, but what if I was mistaken? I got all the information I needed, so there was no need to stay here any longer.
I turned to Lin once again and slowly bowed.
“Thank you. I will follow your advice and continue my journey.”
Lerk had already caught up with us. I greeted him with a nod and strode in the opposite direction.
“Hi. Who was that?” the archer asked Lin.
“Oh, just some bum. Don’t worry about him. Better tell me, how was Rogue’s wedding? You spent the weekend there, right? You’re looking pretty shabby!”
I walked pretty far away, so I could not hear Lerk’s response. And I wasn’t too interested in how NPCs had fun in this game. Or people in this world... To hell with everything! The bans Lin had announced were more important. Most of what he had said was well-known, but one thing did attract my attention — “do not go to the other people’s temples.” He meant the temples of the local Gods, right? If there was a whole pantheon of Gods, it was logical that everyone had their own separate place of worship. Even though I was looking at Ekheim from the top of the tree and from a distance, I was still able to notice the differences between the temples.
Thinking about the local religions, I continued looking around attentively. Some people were in a hurry to get someplace, frowns on their faces, while the others were having fun, but that was a rather rare sight. What else could one expect from the city located relatively close to the decayed lands? Well, at least they didn’t forget how to celebrate weddings…
Past the roof of one of the houses I saw a towering green dome and, yielding to my curiosity, I decided to check out what it was. As I thought, after I had gone around the house and turned into a small alley, I came to a temple. The building reminiscent of a mosque was completely painted jade. In front of its wide porch stood a statue of a beautiful girl drawing a bowstring. The engraved inscription on the pedestal read: “Aerida. Goddess of Hunting”.
According to the Encyclopedia, this lovely creature once had a romantic relationship with the God of hunting, but at some point he began to spend too much time with his Followers. Deprived of attention, she made her claim to the gentleman. One word after another and the couple quarreled and parted. Since then, Aerida has been trying to prove to her ex that she was better than him in everything, mostly by the hands of her own Followers.
As I understood it, the will of the Gods in general was transmitted through their Followers, including the “Gleam”. I wondered where I could find my Old Man’s other Followers.
“A-a-a-r-h...” It felt like a pair of icy cold hands had squeezed my heart; my body went numb and circles floated before my eyes.
You have fallen under the aura of Aerida. You will be receiving 20 points of damage for every second spent within the range of the aura.
You have received 20 points of damage.
After reading the system message, I quickly jumped back, turned around and ran away from the statue. I felt relieved almost immediately. I stopped losing HP and the pain gradually receded.
“What’s wrong with him?” I heard a bewildered male voice from behind.
Without thinking twice, I activated the Blind Eye despite the astonished exclamations of the onlookers and got across the street to the nearest alley. Only then did I allow myself a moment to breathe and collect my thoughts.
I didn’t even get up one stair, when I started losing HP at an incredible speed. What would have happened if I were inside the temple? The guard said I couldn’t go into other people’s temples... But I doubted that there were many willing to suffer such pain. The aura of God was a natural protection of the temple. Why would this ban go alongside with “don’t block the road”? There had to be a reason for it. So, I was either making things up or -20 HP per second was purely my problem, as was inability to accept other healing techniques.
I opened the skills menu and stared at the description of my very inconvenient feature:
Part of the Old World
Level1
Passive skill
You cannot defend yourself against the destructive power of the Gods. Any manifestation of their creation power is harmful for you.
I had the Decay’s protection, which, apparently, others did not. At the same time, I was defenseless against the things familiar to the locals like healing and temple auras. I was almost finished with reading the Encyclopedia, but I never found a description of the God of Darkness in it. Why? Was it simply not there?
I had been walking down the street for quite some time and did not notice when I came to the central square and in front of the town hall, which was a beautiful three-storey building with a clock tower.
There were two guards standing by the 30 feet wide porch. A couple more were right next to the open double doors, each of which, if torn off and placed in water, could serve as a raft able to carry a dozen brown bears.
When I finished admiring the medieval architecture, I came to the first double sentry post. The guards frowned at me, but said nothing. I tried to pass by them silently, but a blade was immediately pointed at my chest.
“Who are you?” asked the owner of the sword angrily; a tall, blond man in his thirties wearing a leather helmet. All of the guards here wore helmets, which couldn’t be said about Lin and Lerk, the guards I met earlier, as well as several others that had I noticed on the city’s streets.
“Good afternoon,” I said politely. “I need to see the mayor. I have a letter from one of his men,” for clarity I took out the envelope from the inventory, turned it in my hands and put it back.
“Leave it with us,” said the blond in a cold tone, putting the sword back into its sheath.
“I was told to personally deliver it into the mayor’s hands,” I answered quietly.
The guards almost simultaneously frowned. Yeah, these guys were nowhere near as professional as their Buckingham palace colleagues.
“Take off the hood,” demanded the second guard with short hair and a scar on his left cheek. I didn’t hesitate to do what as he had asked. I let them have a look at my face. “Wait here,” the man nodded and quickly walked to the hall, where he exchanged a few words with his friends at the door and went inside.
He returned almost immediately in the company of another guardsman and took his former place.
“Come with me,” waved the newly arrived guard, “and no funny business.”
After passing the bright empty hall of the building, we went up a wide staircase to the second floor and walked along a very long corridor with a seemingly endless number of doors until we ran into a massive double-door.
Next to it stood another guardsman on duty. Glancing at me, he ordered me to wait on a wooden bench, and disappeared into, as I understood it, the mayor’s office. I heard the man give a report on me. He then returned back to his post, letting me go.
Hell, everything was so realistic — a bunch of formal workers, meaningless waiting…
I waited for the audience for quite some time. I had already gotten bored when the doors opened again, and a pretty girl in a gray dress and a bonnet invited me in. Her appearance could not confuse me. Upon asking the system: “Who is that?” I immediately got the following message:
The city secretary, Anda
Level 96
HP: 4342/4342
In a world where anyone could see your strength in numbers, the presence of such an assistant said a lot. And, if you thought about it, this was the highest level I had met so far. What a decent bodyguard for the mayor. Very few people would think about attacking him in broad daylight when the she was near.
However, my thoughts seemed ridiculous and naïve when I saw the mayor.
The Mayor of Ekheim, Godwin Elliot
Level 125
HP: 8765/8765
/> “You wanted to see me, young man?” he spoke with a velvet voice.
The tall, broad-shouldered man with a short, reddish beard and a broad face looked too much like the English king Henry VIII. Even his clothes resembled the period’s outfits - a black beret with a white ermine trim, a rich fur coat and a gold chain, thick as a finger, around his neck.
Godwin Elliot sat in a gold-plated chair behind a huge table at the far end wall of the spacious office. The secretary was standing next to the mayor’s chair, her head lowered.
On the other side of the huge table were two more chairs, but I was not offered to sit down. A ragged person like me, apparently, was to stand in the center of this huge room, covered in luxury from all sides, and shrink into a pathetic quivering lump. I was a little uncomfortable, but that was all.
“That’s right,” I said calmly, looking into Godwin’s brown eyes. “You see, I met a certain Grace…”
As soon as I said the name of the man that had died in the decayed lands, the mayor’s eyes widened. A moment later he spoke as if nothing had happened.
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “The thing is, Grace is dead.”
This time Godwin frowned, not hiding his emotions.
“Are you sure?” he asked coldly, piercing me with his gaze.
“Absolutely,” I answered in an even tone. “Before he died, Grace had told me few things. He ran from the Iron Faced through the territory of Decay, but spent more than ten hours in those lands. When he was able to get to the living part of the forest, where I met him, the effects of Decay were already irremovable. He literally died in my arms. Of course, I tried not to touch him. I burned his body once he breathed his last. You never know what kind of an infection could spread from the decayed...”
As they say, the more details you mentioned, the more truthful the lie sounded. But in this case, it was important not to overdo it, everything would have backfired otherwise.
“That was the right thing to do,” said the mayor. He looked at me thoughtfully and asked, “Where exactly did you meet Grace?”
I had already prepared an answer to this very obvious question.
“I met him in the forest, between Gelbera and the territory of Decay,” I recalled the village nearest to the hunting lodge.
“What were you doing there?”
“Hunting,” I said calmly. Even if they didn’t believe me, I didn’t care. Considering what I wanted to ask the mayor, I wouldn’t be able to pretend that I was the usual village dummy.
“Well,” Godwin Elliot smiled kindly, “I understand, Bale, that Grace gave you a letter for me,” the mayor extended his hand. “You can give it to me.”
Just like that…?
“I can,” I returned the smile. “But later, once we have discussed my reward.”
The mayor chuckled. Surprisingly, he liked my answer.
“Sit down,” he waved his hand at one of the two free armchairs. “Anda,” he looked at the secretary, “sweetie, can we get some wine?”
She nodded and took a stoppered bottle out of her inventory. Having filled two glasses, she put them in front of me and the mayor.
“You know, Bale,” Godwin raised his glass; I followed his example, and we drank. It was very tasty. It was obviously much more expensive than the drink Ilsa had given me. “You may be telling the truth, but I don’t believe you. Take, for example, the ‘irremovable effect of Decay’ that had, supposedly, killed Grace. This phenomenon undoubtedly exists. The effect that does not pass with time and against which the standard methods of healing are useless, but the probability of catching it is extremely small. Besides, according to you, Grace had used the Glozeysk Crystal. Well, he did have the artifact… But do you know that while the crystal is working, its holder will not get attacked by creatures of equal level or weaker? Grace was a level 52. You would need to get quite deep into the territory of Decay to stumble upon level 53 creatures, which attacked him and left him with the irremovable effect.”
“Perhaps his pursuers were a little lower in level, and Grace wanted to lure them to the part of Decay where he would not get attacked but the enemies would?” I quickly took over the situation. “For example, the guys chasing him were level 50. Grace decided to lure them someplace with level 51-52 creatures. However, he miscalculated and got attacked himself.”
“Maybe,” the mayor nodded. “But what about the irremovable effect...? Alright,” he said suddenly, “let’s leave it. What do you want for the letter?”
“Information…” “Well, that can be done,” Godwin grinned. “What kind of information-”
“…and the Splinter of Unity,” I interrupted the mayor.
He opened his mouth in a surprise, and a second later he laughed.
Chapter 21
The Splinter
“The Splinter of Unity?” the mayor said laughing. “Do you really think I have one?”
“I’m sure of it,” I said firmly.
Godwin stopped laughing and slammed his fist on the table. I tried to keep a straight face. I could only hope that I had managed to do so.
“Do you understand, young man,” the mayor said coldly, “that excessive boldness does not extend life? I can order to torture you until you get that damn letter out of your inventory.”
He was not lying. There was a God-Executioner in this world, which meant that his Followers had the necessary set of skills needed to deplete your HP, and extract valuable information.
“I see,” I said through my teeth. “And do you understand that I can die from torture without giving you anything?”
“Ugh,” the mayor grimaced and waved his hand, “what kind of an idiot would give up his life for such nonsense?”
“Maybe one that has more than one life?” I shrugged my shoulders.
Godwin frowned again and stared at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that his secretary had been watching our haggle with interest for some time.
“So you’re a ‘Gleam’?” asked the mayor in a business-like manner, motioning the girl to pour us more wine.
“Of course not!” I chuckled and stared out the wide window, which had a great view of the city square. “Or maybe I am. But you won’t know that until you kill me. And if I turn out to be a ‘Gleam’, I can resurrect and pass this letter to those who are as interested in it as you are.”
The mayor took a sip of wine and glared at me again. The silent confrontation lasted for quite some time. I wondered whether I had gone too far and delved into a search of weak points in my behavior. I even found some, but my thoughts were interrupted by an approving smile.
“You have no idea what’s in that letter, do you?”
“Does that change anything?” I snorted.
“You’re smart, Bale... Though I highly doubt that that’s your real name,” said Godwin Elliot, pushing the glass aside. “I like you, but I certainly can’t give you the “Splinter”.”
“So I was right… You do have it.”
The mayor nodded.
“You know... Perhaps you could lend me the artifact,” I said thoughtfully.
“What are you going to do with it?” the mayor got up from his seat and went to the window, blocking the view of the square and the scurrying merchants with his broad back. It looked like all of the carts arriving into the city had to report to the town hall.
“I would rather not talk about it,” I admitted honestly.
“Alright,” without turning back, Godwin nodded. “Where?”
“Meaning?” not understanding I continued to talk to his back.
“Where will you use the artifact?”
“In your town hall, for example… But without witnesses.”
“It won’t work without witnesses,” he said, finally turning to me. “Who knows, maybe you’re going to do something that will harm the city.” Godwin returned to his chair, and a small amber pearl appeared in his hands, “I’ll lend you the “Splinter”
for thirty minutes. Anda will look after you. She will also answer three questions. You asked for information and you’ll get it. But keep in mind that she will not say anything that could harm Ekheim or me. So, choose the right questions.”
“Okay,” I nodded, deciding not to tempt fate and be content with what they were willing to give.
“But you’ll give me the letter first. Don’t worry, I won’t lie. The Oath Keeper will not allow it,” he pointed at the amber pearl with a nod of his head and held out his palm to me with it. “Let’s shake hands.”
As soon as I shook his hand, a system message appeared before my eyes, duplicating the mayor’s and supplementing them with some details like how we shouldn’t obstruct the fulfillment of the other party’s obligations and similar. At the bottom was a postscript:
The oath has been sealed.
Under the terms, I had to hand over the envelope within two minutes. I quickly took it out of my inventory. But before I gave it to him, I asked:
“What happens if I break the oath?”
“You’ll die,” Godwin replied calmly, materializing the angular stone, glowing iridescent in the light.
Without wasting any time, I quickly handed him the letter and got the long-cherished artifact in return.
Quest complete: “Message for the Mayor (modified)”“
XP received: 30,157
Level up.
Current level: 26
Level up.
Current level: 27
Taking out a heavy ring from his inventory, Godwin put it on the middle finger of his right hand and pressed it on the envelope. It lit up red for a moment, but the glow immediately disappeared. After this procedure, the mayor carefully opened the letter. Looks like Grace wasn’t lying about the letter’s defense.
“It was nice meeting you,” said the mayor and waved to the secretary. “Anda, take our guest to your place,” he clearly couldn’t help examining the contents of the envelope, and he wanted to do this without prying eyes.
“Yes, Mr. Elliot,” replied the girl, gesturing to follow her.