Kari killed the second Grunt, appearing before it within an instant and impaling the creature on her ranseur. She had stabbed it through the throat. After pulling out her weapon and flinging off the blood, she mercilessly stared at the creature as it fell onto its knees, and pitched forward. During the time it took her to kill that one, I had already beheaded the last of the three Grunts.
“It looks like there is still a token force here,” I said with a soft sigh.
“They must be looters,” Kari theorized, biting her lip. “Or maybe they are searching for survivors?”
“If that’s the case, then it’s imperative that we find the survivors before anyone else does,” I said.
The Explorers Guild Headquarters was located in the very center of the city, in a massive plaza marked by a fountain of Vesperia’s founder. Said fountain was currently no more than derelict ruins. The arms were missing, the head had been smashed apart, and though the body remained mostly intact, nothing about the once elegant figure appeared the same.
Similar to the fountain in the city plaza, the Explorers Guild Headquarters was no more than a ruined structure, though it appeared to be more intact than many other buildings. The windows had been shattered and a few holes had been smashed through the walls. One section in the east wing looked like it had collapsed. However, aside from that, it was in better shape than almost any other building.
“Do you think our sect mates defended this place with their lives?” asked Kari.
I shook my head. “Considering most members of the Explorers Guild don’t have any combat abilities to speak of, I can’t imagine they did.”
All members of the Explorers Guild were talented Spiritualists, but their talents laid mostly in their ability to explore and excavate ruins, not their aptitude for combat. Kari, myself, and a few others who excelled in fighting were exceptions to the rule.
“Let’s check out the inside,” I said.
“Should we split up to cover more ground?” asked Kari as she and I walked to the front door.
“No.” I shook my head. “I’d prefer it if we stuck together.”
She nodded. “Two heads are better than one and four arms are stronger than two.”
We entered through the main entrance and stepped into the foyer, which had seen better days. The tiles of the floor were cracked. Several places looked like someone had smashed apart the floor with a hammer. Several columns lay broken, their remains were strewn across the floor.
Kari and I ignored the staircase on the opposite side and entered a side passage. We passed through several rooms, then came upon a hallway lined with black tiles. As we began walking down it, a door to our left suddenly opened and an Elite walked out.
“Survivors?!”
The Elite seemed shocked by our presence, but we didn’t let him say anything more. I held out my hand, pointed two fingers at him, and launched a beam of condensed lightning and water that shot through his head. The Elite fell backward and crumbled to the floor. Smoke poured from the hole in his head.
“You’ve gotten really good at manipulating the elements,” Kari said.
“I haven’t had much choice.” I sighed and tugged on my bangs. “With everything that’s happened, it was either learn and grow stronger or die.” I raised my free hand and stared at it. “Also, maybe it’s because I’m not completely human, but manipulating the elements like this feels more natural.”
It wasn’t something I thought about often, but I was beginning to realize more than ever that I wasn’t human, that I was something else. I’d always found it odd how I could manipulate elements without channeling my Spiritual Power properly through movement like Kari and the others before I reached the Third State of Spiritualism. In the beginning, it meant very little, but now that I knew about the other eight realms, I understood a little more about what kind of unusual existence I was.
“That isn’t a bad thing.” Kari smiled at me. “Your unique abilities have saved us a number of times.”
“I know.” I smiled back.
We continued traveling through the headquarters of the Explorers Guild, killing a few more Grunts and Elites that were also searching the building. I wondered how long these Sekbeists had been searching. It seemed as if there was only a small token force, which meant they probably assumed everyone who could be used as a sacrifice had already been taken. After cleaning out all the Sekbeists, Kari and I traveled down to the third basement level and stopped in front of a stone statue.
The statue depicted a large man with more muscles than I would know what to do with. His bare chest was chiseled and his abdominal muscles, arms, and legs were covered in veins. Despite his masculine body, his expression seemed almost comforting.
This was the founder of the Explorers Guild.
Reinhard Rimor.
Kari went up to the statue and pushed in the toenail of its left big toe. A loud rumbling suddenly echoed around the room as a wall behind the statue slid open, revealing a passageway. We didn’t hesitate to travel down it. Kari produced a light sphere to help guide our steps as we walked down a set of stairs, and then came upon a door.
I knocked on it. “Hello? Is anybody in here? It’s Eryk and Kari!”
There was a brief moment of silence before…
“Eryk? Kari? Is that really you?!” a voice asked from the other end. I recognized it, but before I could say anything, the door opened and Felicia burst out. “Eryk! Kari! You’ve both returned!”
Before either of us knew what was what, the delicate-looking woman with thin arms and legs wrapped us up in a hug. We were so surprised that we couldn’t do anything. That was when the woman—who looked more like a child than an adult—began sobbing.
“Do you two know how long we’ve been waiting for you?! We were so worried! Where have you been this whole time?! Markus even suggested you were dead!”
“We’re sorry,” Kari apologized for both of us as she hugged the woman back. “A lot has happened. We can fill you in later, but for now, please tell us what happened here.”
Felicia nodded as she led us into the room, which had a lot more people than I realized. As the members of our guild, their families, and the people they managed to save greeted us, I breathed a sigh of relief. This incident didn’t seem like it would be a complete repeat of Nevaria.
It wasn’t much of a silver lining, but it was at least something.
When Empress Hilda claimed that someone had destroyed my home, she meant it. I had traveled to the house I had bought from the Eieran Family and discovered nothing more than ruins. The walls had all been blown out, the ceiling was gone, and the furniture had been destroyed. How Empress Hilda managed to salvage my alchemy set, alchemy pills, and the valis I kept on hand to pay for our living expenses was beyond me.
It was all very suspicious.
Since Lin and I no longer had a home, Empress Hilda had told us to stay in the Imperial Royal Palace. I already had a room there, but now that I was basically being told—ordered?—to stay with them, the room had been converted from a simple guest bedroom to my bedroom. The desk now had my beginner’s alchemy set sitting on it. A chest had been brought in to store my alchemy pills and valis. The dresser contained several sets of clothing similar to the one I had been wearing. Apparently, Empress Hilda had ordered her servants to buy those for me after discovering my home had been destroyed.
Very, very suspicious.
Most of that first day after being informed about what happened to my house had been dedicated to having all my stuff moved into this room from a storage closet in the palace. It was a solitary task. Kari, Fay, and Lin had gone off to do their own thing. I didn’t know where they were, but I guessed the two human girls were helping Lin study our writing system.
Her progress had been remarkable. She had already mastered the rules regarding the I and T-forms and was now working on stringing verbs and adjectives together to create longer sentences using both forms. This would have been considered the second step in a per
son’s primary education. That it only took her less than a month to memorize was a testament to her intelligence.
As for me, after putting away all of my belongings, I found myself in a meeting with Empress Hilda again.
Well, I called it a “meeting,” but it was more like an informal tea party.
We were sitting inside an extravagant room decorated with simple but elegant furnishings. The walls were made from stone and lacquered wood. A simple, soft carpet was underneath us as we sat at a small table with two chairs. As always, there was a maid situated by the door, ready to serve us. Standing behind Empress Hilda was Valence.
Valence was Kari’s blood-related father. He was a powerfully built man with a face that appeared to have been chiseled from stone. His medium-length blond hair went just a little past his shoulders. The color, while blond, did not have the golden hue of Empress Hilda or Kari. It was darker, more of a dirty blond than a true blond, but his eyes were the same blue as Kari’s. He was currently wearing the gold-encrusted armor of an Imperial Royal Guard commander. It was far more ostentatious than normal armor, covered in designs and runes that served no purpose beyond style.
“Thank you for meeting with me, Eryk. I wished to speak with you about those alchemy pills we discovered in your possession while salvaging what we could from the wreckage of your house,” Empress Hilda said before taking a sip of tea. She was wearing a simple red dress, elegant but also highly sensual, showing off the magnificent lines of her body.
“You are referring to the Three-Way Spiritual Widening Pills and the Body Forging Pills, right?” I asked, also drinking some of my tea. It warmed my insides and contained a blend of spices that pepped me up. I glanced at Empress Hilda over the rim of the cup as she smiled at me.
“Is that what they are called?” Empress Hilda hummed before continuing. “I’ve noticed that neither of those pills are on the market currently. The Alchemist Association has recently made serious inroads in regards to the refining of alchemy pills. It’s no exaggeration to say that they have become one of the most powerful presences within Nevaria thanks to the new pills they are selling with the help of the Valstine Family.” She paused. “You are the one who introduced those pills to them, are you not?”
“That is correct.” It wasn’t like I’d made my involvement with the Alchemist Association a big secret, so there was no point in denying it. Actually, hadn’t we already had a similar conversation after the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, or was I imagining that?
Empress Hilda nodded. “May I ask why these particular alchemy pills are not being sold?”
Her words made me consider what I should tell her, or rather, how I should put what I wanted to say gently. I would tell her the truth, of course. That said, I couldn’t afford to be rude when speaking.
“I’m sure you’ve had a chance to test those pills out yourself or have one of your husbands do it for you.” I glanced at Valence, but he offered no sign of being uncomfortable. Seeing him not give anything away made me sigh. “The Three-Way Spiritual Widening Pill is an alchemy pill that helps widen the Spiritual Pathways and recover Spiritual Power. Meanwhile, the Body Forging Pill helps the body naturally recover from exercise, thereby increasing both the speed of recovery and strengthening the body two or three times more than what can be achieved through normal exercise.”
I set the cup down and leaned back. The tea was all gone. The young servant girl who’d been standing beside the door noticed this, came up, and refilled the tea. I thanked her with a smile, but she just blushed and scurried back to the door. That made me frown a bit.
“These alchemy pills are very useful for strengthening a Spiritualist in both body and spirit,” I continued. “However, because of that, they are also incredibly dangerous.”
“How do you mean?” asked Empress Hilda.
I tugged on my bangs. “Let’s say I gave this recipe to the Alchemist Association and had them create these pills and sell them on the open market. Now these pills are available to everyone, including mercenary groups, criminals, and sketchy nobles like the Leucht Family.”
“And so, you wanted to keep them off the market to avoid inadvertently helping people who may do harm to Nevaria.” Empress Hilda nodded as she followed along with my reasoning.
“Right now, Nevaria is in a precarious position,” I began. “We’re beset by Demon Beasts on the outside, and while we appear unified on the inside, that isn’t really true. There are many people and factions who would gladly destroy this city if they thought it would help them achieve their goals. The Leucht Family is the greatest example of this. We can’t afford to let people like that gain any more power.”
“I understand your reasoning, but you must also admit that keeping these pills to yourself will only hurt Nevaria in the long run,” Empress Hilda said.
A sigh wanted to escape me, but I held it in as I ran my hand through my hair. “I know. While I have probably let my paranoia get the better of me, there is another reason I kept these alchemy pills from everyone.”
“And that is?”
“Kari and Fay.” I leaned forward just a little and looked Empress Hilda square in the eyes. “I’m sure you’ve realized by now that I’ve been helping Kari with her training since before the Spiritualist Grand Tournament. At first, I gave her those alchemy pills to help increase her physical strength and Spiritual Power while she was being trained by Hellen Brynhild—and before you ask, no, that isn’t the only reason she’s grown so strong. It takes more than alchemy pills to make someone strong.”
Empress Hilda placed the ring and index finger of her left hand against her lips and giggled, her blue eyes crinkling with mirth. “I was not going to say anything. I am aware of how much potential Kari has. Outside of yourself, I am perhaps the only one who knows how truly powerful she can become with proper time and training.” She set her hand back on the table and gently tapped her index finger against the surface. “So what you are saying is that you wanted Kari and Fay to reap the benefits of these pills before anyone else. Am I understanding this correctly?”
“Kari, Fay, and Lin mean more to me than life itself.” I shrugged. “What sort of man would I be if I didn’t want the people I love to be stronger than anybody else?”
“You are doing everything for their sake, aren’t you?” said Empress Hilda with an almost wistful sigh. “You really are a dedicated young man. I’m almost disappointed you aren’t at least a few years older. I’d gladly marry you if you were.”
I glanced at Valence, who still said nothing. What did he think of his wife making such statements? Then again, he already had two brothers—the term used to describe husbands who were married to the same woman. I guess it didn’t matter to him if his wife decided to add another husband to her harem.
“Even if I were a little older, I’d still be in love with Kari,” I said.
My words caused Empress Hilda to break out in honest to goodness laughter. I personally didn’t see what was so funny, but maybe my flat-out rejection of her, the empress, was something she found refreshing. I couldn’t say for sure.
“Truly, you are an amusing young man.” Empress Hilda wiped several mirthful tears from her eyes as she calmed down, and then got back to business. “I understand your reasoning, but I would still like you to release the information on how to refine those alchemy pills. I believe the benefits to be had from such pills far outweigh the potential repercussions, especially now that the Leucht Family has disappeared.”
I still felt leery of releasing these alchemy pills into the open market, but I did see where Empress Hilda was coming from. There was also the fact that she was the empress. It wasn’t like I could just deny her. I honestly respected this woman for coming to me like this. She could have ordered me to release the refinement process for these alchemy pills, but she was trying to convince me instead. That showed her sincerity.
“Then how about this,” I began. “Instead of releasing them into the open market, I will first give these pi
lls to the Astralia Royal Family. You, your husbands, and your sons can use them to further strengthen yourselves, and then you can release them to select individuals among the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guards who you know are loyal to Nevaria. Once you’ve gained the benefits of these pills, we’ll have the Alchemist Association begin selling them.”
Kari, Fay, and I had already reaped all the benefits that could be had from these two alchemy pills. Our bodies could not be strengthened any further by the Body Forging Pills. Likewise, our Spiritual Pathways could no longer grow any wider. We had plateaued.
There were a few other alchemy pills I planned on refining that would strengthen us both physically and spiritually, but that was in the future. A lot of the ingredients I needed for those pills were harder to come by. It would take several expeditions deep into the Demon Beast Mountain Range to acquire the ingredients I needed.
“I believe that is an acceptable compromise,” Empress Hilda said after taking several moments to consider my counter-proposal. “In fact, I quite like this idea. By having myself and people I trust reap the benefits before anyone else, I can further cement my power amongst the populace. You are very cunning, aren’t you?”
“I just want to protect the people I love,” I said.
“I understand.” Empress Hilda’s smile became gentler, more tender. It made my stomach squirm a little in discomfort. Was this what a mother looked like when she was staring proudly at her son? I didn’t know, but I’d seen similar expressions on Kari’s face when she looked at our daughter in my previous life. As this thought caused my chest to ache, Empress Hilda continued speaking, unaware of my emotional dilemma. “Also, you will be pleased to know that we have begun producing those crossbows and ballista from your blueprints. We do not have the money to build watchtowers like the ones you showed us, but it might be possible in the future.”
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