Marked Soul

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Summary:
The story of a mere commoner the Gods and Goddesses have chosen. That person then went through many trials. The struggle was difficult and life-threatening. In the end, the journey brought change to the world, for better or worse.

The legend of a person with unknown origin summoned as a cry of help in time of despair. A sacred mission then given to that person. Attacked and tempted along the way, the person finally completed the mission and the disaster that threatened the world was avoided.

The myth that a soul called again after finally finished its worth of life. Blessed with precious memory and skill, they are inspired to bring a better living to the person they hold dear. Through long and dangerous ordeal, they finally managed to not only rescue their loved ones, but also make a legacy in the world.

Different stories. Different times. Different people. Different souls. But each and every one of them has at least one thin similar. And that is the fact that their souls are different. Their souls are marked, one way or another.

So let’s follow one of them. A man that has seen more than his ‘eyes’ should ever see. Walk with him as he fulfills his duty as the ‘The Watcher’, the one who will deal with the trouble the other Marked Soul encounter.

Genre:
Action , Adventure , Fantasy , Mature , Romance

A/N:
This is my currently in work novel besides Behind The Masked Villain. I update this on a weekly basis. I have already uploaded this in the RoyalRoad (you can see it in my signature). If you want to read the latest chapter, you can find it there. You might find a slight difference between the ones in the RoyalRoad than the one I posted here. The story is still the same.
The reason I'm uploading this here is to get some review. In RoyalRoad, I got mixed review. Not that I don't like the mixed review, but I want to see whether I can get more review here since I want to improve my writing. And also, if anyone interested in being the editor for this series, please contact me. I'll really appreciated it since I tend to make a lot of grammar mistake, hehehe...
Please give me your most honest review for this. The grammar, the character, the story pace, everything. Any review will be very helpful. Thank you!

Self-review:
This is a slow story and tend to explain on the little detail. If you want to find a fast paced story with OP MC in a lot of battle and Harem MC, this is not one of that. The story is viewed from many perspective.

Settings:
Fantasy world where the multiple races existed.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 “Everyday Morning”
Chapter 2 “Morning Walk”
Chapter 3 "Disturbing News"
Chapter 4 “Scene Investigation”
Chapter 5 "Private Meeting"
Chapter 6 "Reunion"
Chapter 7 "Misunderstanding"
Chapter 8 "Night Outing"
Chapter 9 "Night Brawl"
Chapter 10 "Night Conversation"
Chapter 11 "Watcher's Discussion"
Chapter 12 "First Lead"
Chapter 13 "Confrontation"
Chapter 14 "Convincing Process"
Chapter 15 "Inflicting Pain"
Chapter 16 "Inflicting Pleasure"
Chapter 17 "Fatigued Visitor"
Chapter 18 "A Knight's Story"
Chapter 19 "A Knight's Tavern Talk"
Chapter 20 "A Knight's Friendly Battle"
Chapter 21 "A Knight's Magic"
Chapter 22 "The Disaster Approaches"
Chapter 23 "The Knight and Huntress"
Chapter 24 "The Disaster Appears"
Chapter 25 "Terrible Battle"

 

Chapter 1 “Everyday Morning”

After letting out a yawn, I walked toward the window and then opened it immediately, revealing the shutter that has done its job keeping the cold outside the house last night. With a creaking sound, I pushed open the wooden shutter from the inside. Thankfully, it was not too heavy, making it an easy task in the morning for me each day. And with that shutter opened, the last barrier that kept the air outside from entering the house has been removed, allowing the fresh smell of the morning dew carried inside by the cool morning breeze.

“Nice morning today,” I said as I slowly breathed in the fresh air. And with that, I started my morning chores.

After a few sit ups and pushups for a quick exercise, I marched toward the kitchen of the house and proceeded directly to check on the stock of food placed inside the cupboard. The job didn’t take long due to the relatively low amount of stuff inside it.

“Hmm, I still have a few more apples and a few slices of old bread.” I tapped my chin as I realized that I nearly don’t have enough for the next day if I splurged on it in one go. “Ugh, I guess I have to eat less again then.” And with that decision, I eat my breakfast which consisted of a single apple. I think I can leave the bread for later since the apple might spoil much faster.

Although that was still far from one would deem a filling breakfast, my daily lifestyle has made me able to survive for a long time with a meager amount of food without affecting my overall health. Some might say that I have become a miser. I prefer the term survivalist. I don’t have enough money to always eat luxurious food, you know? Well, that’s not exactly correct. I have enough for that. But I don’t have enough for that to last long. With that in mind, I prefer my current lifestyle.

*knock, knock*

“Hmm?” Just barely finished the apple in my hand, sound of knocking came from the door downstairs. “Who could it be?” I said to myself as I descended the stair quickly to avoid upsetting the one waiting outside. When I arrived, I opened the door and I was greeted by a rather energetic voice.

“Good morning there, Nerva!!” The voice was so loud that I instinctively took a step back to lessen the impact of the voice against my ear. “I have a delivery for you!”

“A-Ah, yes, good morning, Bardo.” I said to reply my guest’s hearty greeting. “A delivery?”

“Yup, from my old man! Here you go!” And with that sentence, a loud sound of impact could be heard coming in front of me together with a very huge vibration on the floor of my porch. “This morning trip to the forest was a bountiful one. We got a lot of berries that are almost too ripe. They practically fell over the trail as we trek on.” The sound of rustling came to my ear as he opened the sack. The moment he did that, a familiar scent attacked my nose.

“Berries, eh? I guess that’s reasonable since it is almost the end of its season.” I guess they really did fell on the ground as the scent was somewhat overly sweet than the usual scent.

“ Yes, yes, you got it! Since there’s a lot even after we left some for the wild animal, the old man said to give them to you since you look like you could use some. Aren’t you happy, my friend?” asked my guest to me while giving me a strong pat on my shoulder rather excitedly. As always, he doesn’t know how to hold back on his own strength, which I was reminded quite painfully as I winched under the force of his strong hand. But I honestly couldn’t hate him since he was just expressing himself truthfully. I could never hate a person like that. An honest and a straightforward man that refuse to say anything but the truth. Although that often made him to be seen by other as an uncouth and tactless man, they who have known him will know that he is anything but that. Fortunately, I’m one of the later and I can and would give that exact opinion about him whenever someone asks me.

“Well, I better get going again. The old man might break his back if he is left around to lift the heavy sacks in our storehouse alone.” As I know very well that his ‘old man’ is not so old and frail, I really doubt that is the case. But he is a very caring and loving son, although a bit overprotective sometimes. In fact, I seem to remember that his ‘old man’ is a man with a large muscle that possessed strength comparable to a bear. I might be exaggerating, but the point is that that man is far from weak. “I’ll see you again, Nerva!”

“Ah, yes, of course. Give your father my thanks for these lovely berries. I would share some jam that I will make later.”

“Hahaha!” A hearty laugh escaped his mouth. “The old man will be delighted to hear that, my good friend! Farewell!”

“See you later, Bardo.” I waved at him as he left my porch. As always, I questioned why he always has to speak in a very loud voice all the time. Come to think of it, his father also does the same. Maybe it’s a hereditary trait? I might ask his father later if my curiosity still persist. “Okay, let’s get this inside.” I grabbed the large sack and then hauled it inside to store it in my kitchen right away. With the berries, my stock of food has become slightly better. I need to cook them soon or it might get spoiled though. Anyway, it still counts as a very welcome addition to my dwindling supply of food.

With most of my morning task– which one might guess is not much– is done, I only have one more thing to do. And that is to wait for my employer. Well, not exactly my employer since that would be strange. I guess you could say that he sent one of his subordinate to pick me up and also to watch me so that I don’t skip my job. I’m not lazy, I can at least tell you that. But the thing is–

“Good morning!” Oh, speak of the devil. The one I was waiting for has arrived. I guess I have to get ready sooner than I thought. “I’m coming up!” And with that, the sound of the door being opened rather hurriedly came from downstairs.

“Got it!” As usual, that fellow didn’t even try to knock on the door and just barged in like that. Not that I’m complaining, though. I just hoping that a little warning would be nice. But I guess that first greeting was meant to be the warning. So I have nothing to complain, eh? So while listening to the sound of footsteps on the stair, I reached my bag that was always put conveniently under the kitchen table. While I’m doing that, I had a certain idea as I sniffed the scent of the berries. I picked up one of my leather satchel and then filled it with a few dozen berries. A snack wouldn’t hurt, right?

“You ready?” Just as I was tying up the string of the satchel, the footsteps had stop a few steps away from my current location and a voice called out to me.

“Ready.” I tie the satchel to the belt of my pants and then faced my guest. “I only need my walking stick and my–“

“This, right?” The fluttering sound of a small object being thrown on the air reached my ears. I instinctively grabbed the object mid-air with my dominant hand. The rolled up object inside my fist felt very familiar to me that the moment my finger made contact with the object I could immediately recognize the object’s identity without opening my hand.

“You pick this one for today?” I open the rolled up object and stretch it in front of me. The leather material felt soft and quite smooth on my finger. I could feel the craftsman’s skill on this small object. “Does the company have something formal scheduled for today?”

“We are going to inspect the new recruit and also to give ranks and reward for their achievement.” The person walked toward the stair, but then turned around just after taken a single step on it. “Do you need help?”

“Hmm? With putting this on?” I gave a smile after hearing that.

“Err, I mean with walking down the stair.” I was taken aback slightly. I could felt my expression changed for a split second. But I managed to regain my composure immediately. “Ah, I don’t mean anything by that.” It seemed that I have failed to do it fast enough since my companion managed to notice that split second change. I guess I am not fast enough. “It’s just…err…” The sentence came out dripping with awkwardness. At that, I let out a small snicker. “Hey! Don’t laugh!” And I was awarded with a scolding right away.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry about that.” I’m sure I sounded far from sincere since I still let out a small laugh between my sentences. And judging from the ‘hmph’ sound I heard, I’m quite correct. “Let me just put this on and you can help me in walking downstairs.”

“Hey, I’m not forcing you to accept my kindness.” Oh, that sounded like a very bitter statement. Although the voice sounded calm, I could sense the bitterness in it. “You don’t have to accept my goodwill if you don’t want to.”

“I said I’m sorry, didn’t I? Don’t take it into heart.” I tried to calm down my companion rather bad mood. Well, the reason was partially mine, I admit that. “Or do you want to help me walk downstairs first and then I can put this on? It would be much better to do that when I’ve reached the first floor, you know.”

“I said that you don’t have to…Ah! Forget it!” And with that the sound of footsteps could be heard in front of me. “I’ll wait downstairs!”

I shook my head as the footsteps disappeared under the stairs. My companion really possessed a rather fiery temperament. And I really have a knack in getting someone else’s skin really quick. I need to change that aspect of mine soon. As I ponder that, I opened up the rolled object to its maximum length. With that, I placed the long object over my eyes and circled them over my head several time, covering my eyes completely. Yes, the object that was handed to me –or thrown to me, you be the judge for that– is a leather blindfold. So why was I wearing a blindfold? Well, that’s simple. That’s because I need to cover the pair of empty socket on my face. So yes, I’m blind. Did I forget to mention that?

 

Chapter 2 “Morning Walk”

After putting on my blindfold, I walked down the stair. One might consider that a blind person like me might be having difficulty to do a simple task like that. I don’t know about the other, but I certainly don’t find it difficult to do. Maybe that’s because I have the ability to perceive everything around me quite clearly with my remaining senses. If I have to explain it, I can somehow portray the whole world around me very clearly even with my lack of eyesight. My ‘seeing’ ability is even able to help me identify the material of the object around me, although I still couldn’t identify color as that is a domain exclusive to those who can see. I know that sounded rather far-fetched and impossible, but that is really what I can do.

“Watch your step!” I could hear my companion voice from downstairs. I let out a chuckle and was going to reply with something along the line of ‘You asked a blind man to ‘watch’ his step’ but decided not to since that might worsen the damage I’ve done even more. I opted to just quicken my step while being as careful as I could.

“Thank you for waiting.” I said to my companion as I reached the first floor of my house. I then walked toward the place where I put my walking stick and grabbed it immediately. “Shall we go?”

“Yes, we should.” The sound of the door being opened reached my ear. Together with that I could also feel the blow of the cold morning breeze that made my whole body shiver. I then reached my coat since it seemed to be a bit colder than usual. It was such an old coat that l don’t need to be able to see it to know how ragged it looked. But this is the only coat I have so I won’t complain.

“Nerva.” I snapped my attention to my companion as I heard my name being called. “When are you going to replace that coat of yours?” Ah, I knew this would happen sooner than later. “I have to say that your appearance is quite… pitiful.” I guess the word ‘pitiful’ is not the term that was going to be used at me at first. The truth is probably much worse. My companion was just trying to be a bit more gentle.

“Really now?” But surprisingly, I didn’t feel offended at all. I guess I really accepted that fact. “Can you explain it to me how my appearance is?” I asked my companion as I stretched my arm to give a better view.

“What? Your appearance?” I guess that was a rather strange request, eh? “Well, in a few words, you have the look of… a neat beggar.”

“Ho? A neat beggar?” Truly a strange combination of words that is. This made me more and more curious. “Explain more.”

“Well, your coat has lost most of its color, leaving it with a very dull greyish brown. I can also see some of it has been torn and also creased so much.”

“Okay…that is a very detailed description of my old coat. No wonder I could feel a bit more draft than before. So that’s the beggar part, right?”

“Well, that and your walking stick that has chipped part here and there, I think that’s it. Now I suppose you want to hear about the ‘neat’ part?” I nodded. “Well, that’s because you are wearing your uniform for work, a grey shirt and a pair of black pants. Thankfully, they looked quite new since the company handed them not long ago. Or are they your old ones?”

“The shirt is new, the pants is old.”

“I see. Oh yeah, fortunately your hair is still barely on the neat side. But I think you should cut it soon.”

“It is getting quite long, eh?”

“Want me to cut it for you?”

“What? A mere apothecary like me, asking the great militia captain Eryell Reystone, to cut my hair? What would the whole company say?” I let out a rather exaggerated gasp after I said that.

“Funny, very funny.” She then hit me softly on my arm after replying in a rather unhappy tone. “I’m serious here. Want me to cut it?”

“Hmm, maybe later.” As I moved my hand and brushed my hair near my neck, I still think it was on a bearable length for me. “It’s still not that long yet.” I flashed a smiled at her. “But I’ll take that offer when it has gotten longer. Or if I have moved away from the ‘Neat Beggar’ image. Whichever comes first.” A slight chuckle escaped my mouth as the particular strange phrase rolled over my mouth. That phrase really did come as a surprise for me.

My companion, Eryell, often did come up with the strangest combination of word I’ve ever heard. And I’m sure that I’ve heard the same comment about her from the soldiers in her company. Even without that unique trait of hers, she was already a celebrity among the local armed force. An expert spearman and dangerous hunter, she has made her name known on this frontier town of Fouge.

Fouge is a small fortified town located on the farthest border of the Kingdom of Astiard against its oldest ally, the Meyze Empire. As usual with any other border town, the town of Fouge benefits much from the ever bustling trade route that connects the two giant countries. Many merchant caravans pass through the gate of Fouge every single day to continue their journey onto the main part of the kingdom, bringing a variety of goods and wares from and to the Kingdom of Astiard. As they pass through, the town profited much from them in the form of increased local trading, border fee, and also the use of many local facilities such as inn and stable. The town, with its relatively large population, clearly enjoys the increased activity from the trade route as best as they could.

But together with those benefits, a series of problems soon followed. There are two major problems town faces because of the bustling trade route. The first one is the problem regarding bandits and robbers that litter the whole area around the town that view the passing caravan as their prey. The bands of outlaw hide under the dark cover of the thick forests that surround the town. They lurk and tail unsuspecting merchant and then ambush them. After stripping them clean of their valuable belonging, be it human being or trading goods, they will leave them to die in the middle of the forest just like that. The other problem is the increase of crime inside the town itself. There has been report of increased amount of pickpocket and thievery inside the town. The majority of the victim was the travelling merchant and their group that either made camp or rent a room in the inn. If it is not handled properly, before it might disturb the relationship between the two great countries, the town itself will lose their peace because of the growing number of criminal.

To solve those two problems and many others that slowly piling up, the town formed a group of armed force. At first, it was made entirely from the local residents that want to help their hometown. But as time went on, the kingdom saw the urgency of the matter and sent professional soldiers and mercenaries to help the town protect one of the most important frontier towns in the kingdom. As of now, the local militia is consisted of a mix of professional soldiers, mercenaries, and local residents. With the increased of robber and crime activities inside and outside of the town, the increase of armed forces in the town is a very good news, both for the merchants and the local residents.

After the formation of the mixed militia, a new and much complex chain of command is in order to lead the growing armed forces. At first, the royal palace sent a few of their commander to lead them. But it was found to be ineffective due to their lack of knowledge and orthodox training, which made them unable to lead the soldiers on the dense forests and uneven terrain around the town. After many discussion –and a lot of pressure from the merchant that become victim of the increasing outlaw activity– the royal palace decided to adopt a hybrid chain of command. It means that the highest position is still held by an officer chosen by the royal palace, but all of the other positions should be held by experienced officer that has been there for quite some time. It was a suitable change that has gave a much better result for the past couple of years.

Among the many commanding officers in the ever growing armed force, the Reystone family has taken several important posts. It is understandable since they were the family that proposed the creation of the armed forces in the first place. Furthermore, they have been a prominent family in the area and have been known for their ability as skilled and deadly hunters. For numerous times they have roamed inside the dense forest, looking for a good hunt every now and then. But as time changes, their prey have also shifted into those who were threatening the peace of Fouge and their surroundings. Many outlaws have been the target of their precisely aimed arrows and bolts and their bodies have been left to enrich the forest’s soil to atone for their sin in their life.

One of those officers is, of course, my companion here, Eryell Reystone. She has taken command the troop that is tasked to scout and patrol the whole forest. As one of the youngest officer, and a female at that, she had a rather rough time at the beginning of her career. From what I’ve heard, she had been offered a better and easier post by her family, but she refused the offer immediately. She opted to that particular position as that position allowed her to still explore the forest in her free time with an excuse for patrol and other work related task. Thankfully, as time went on, she had the acknowledgement of her fellow officer and her subordinate. Rumor has it that it was a change that happened in only one night, but that’s another story altogether.

“Be sure to greet grandfather today, Nerva.”

“Oh, he’ll be there today?” So today really is an important day if the famous head of the Reystone family is going to be present. “I’ll be sure to do that. Let’s hope that I won’t forget it when get there.”

“Sheesh, you and your forgetfulness.” She let out a sigh after hearing my rather worrying reply. “Remember, he always wants to settle the score with you.”

“That old man really is a stubborn one, isn’t he?” I shook my head as I remembered our little ‘bet’ that day. He still bugs me about it whenever we met. But I guess that is also the thing that allowed me to still be employed there with a certain condition. “I could say the same about his granddaughter too.” I said with a snicker.

“Ah, yes, I aggr–Wait a minute!” She stopped walking for a second and then raised her voice. “You’re talking about me!?”

“Why yes, I am.” With a calm voice I reply to her while also stopping near her and faced her. “What are you doing there? We’re going to be late.”

“Oh, no! What do you mean by that last remark of yours, Nerva!?” Still with her raised voice, she demanded an explanation. Her hand was pointed at me with such speed that the wind that was produced by her gesture was able hit me in the face. I let out a sigh that probably made her a bit angrier.

“I may not be able to see your face, but along the way we walk, you probably put a sour face. Frowning all the way, maybe even until now.” Although I couldn’t see her expression, she probably widened her eyes after hearing my comment. That and also her surprised gasp told me more than enough.

“W-What!? N-No, I d-d-didn’t, I just…” The way she stuttered her speech is also one of her habit whenever someone see through her like that. “W-Wait! What does that have to do with me being stubborn?”

“You’re still bitter about my comment.” I relaxed my pose and shifted my weight onto my walking cane as I started my explanation. “After I reject your offer, you were angry. You didn’t want me to know that so you rushed downstairs, hoping that somehow you can calm that anger. Fortunately, you managed to, but only part of it.” I paused to gauge her reaction. Since she was still silent, I think I can continue. “But that anger of yours rose up again because I rejected your offer for cutting my hair jokingly. It angered you slightly.” I could hear her fidgeting and her atmosphere emitted a somewhat awkward feel. I guess being read open like that would make anyone reacted like that. “Do you want to deny that, Eryell?”

“…I won’t.” Even if she is a stubborn one and wants to deny that fact, there is another trait of hers that overcome that intention of hers and preventing her from doing that. And that is her strong belief that one should never lie, not even at the smallest thing possible. “I won’t deny that.”

“May I guess the reason of your anger?” She didn’t give any reply. I’ll take it as a yes. “The first one is that you were angry simply because I rejected and also laughed at your request. The second one is that I bring up stuff about the difference about our rank. Did I guess that right?” Once again, there was no reply. Chances are I hit her right on the sore spot. A few seconds passed without any of us uttering a single word. To my surprise, she was the one that break the silence first.

“..I hate it when you read me like that.” The voice no longer carried the same harsh tone as before. It was more akin to a little girl’s voice that’s been found out by her parents behaving badly. “I know that you are not weak. But it’s just that–“

“Forgive me, but I have to ask you to stop.” My voice cut her sentence since I don’t want to hear it. Somehow that doesn’t feel well with me. “I didn’t say you did anything wrong. If you think carefully, I should be the one apologizing.” I then walked toward her. “Should I kneel down in front of you or should I prostrate? Would that be enough?”

“W-What!? Don’t do that!” Her panicked voice entered my ears. “There’s no need to do that!”

“You are still angry. I can see, no, feel it clearly.”

Yes, I can’t see it as I am blind. There’s no doubt about that. But as I mentioned before, I could portray the whole world around me. To do that, I have a few different ways of doing that in my everyday life. One of the easiest ways –and also the simplest– is through the way sound bounces off every object and reflected back to me. All I need to do is either made a light noise with my mouth or hitting the floor beneath me with my walking cane. Since my house is built entirely out of wood, the sound my foot made each time I move around is enough for me. But when I move outside, I need another source of sound such as the tapping sound of my walking cane. I could, once again, portray them as each sound came back into my ear. As such, my ears are much more sensitive to the normal human being. Maybe even a bit better than a beast.

Together with that, I could also gauge people’s emotion as my experience told me that each emotion is strongly connected to their body language. For normal people, those ‘language’ are visible and could be seen by their eyes in the form of expression and gesture. Although I couldn’t see a person’s expression, I could still ‘see’ their gesture by using my ability. But there is another aspect that I deemed much better to reflect someone’s emotion. I ‘see’ them by hearing their heart rate. Different heart rate indicated different emotion. And that, as I have also experienced, is much harder to be faked then faking one’s expression and gesture. Because of that, I could clearly ‘see’ that my companion here has been struggling to keep her anger from exploding from the time we got out of my house.

“But there’s no need to do it to that extent!” I could feel her hand on my shoulder as she said that, probably stopping me from doing any of the things I’ve said before. I promptly smiled at her.

“If you are angry because of my joke and teasing, it is entirely my fault. It is all fun and play until someone got offended, right? Besides…” As I moved my left hand toward hers, I could felt the heat from them. “If something like this could appease your anger, I wouldn’t mind doing it.”

“What do you mean appease?” She let out a sigh after saying that. “Am I a god or something?”

“To me,” I paused and bring her hand toward me and kissed it lightly on the back, “a Goddess is more likely.”

“W-W-W-What!?” The combination of my words and my action has surprised her so much that her heart rate became much more erratic than before. It has turned wildly and the interval between each pulse has varied so much that it has no longer made a perceivable pattern for me. In a short time, she experienced a combination of panic, confusion, and embarrassment. What a very colorful person she is.

And if one was wondering whether I was just lying about her being a Goddess to me, they would be mistaken. That was my true and honest feeling about her. To me, Eryell Reystone is like a Goddess to me. Maybe she is just a normal human being for everyone else. But to me, she is anything but that.

“H-H-How could you say something like that so easily!?” Still with her raised voice, she literally screamed at me. Thankfully, I didn’t notice anyone on the road near us. Either that or they hid themselves quite perfectly, which is a quite noticeable feat considering I could sense them with my sensitive hearing.

“Saying something that is nothing but the truth is always easy for me.” I pulled back her hand again and kissed it again. “Especially toward someone I have opened my heart to.”

“Ugh…” If I could see her face right now, I could swear her face would be redder than anything. I could say that since I could senses her heat has risen considerably just from touching her hand and also her heartbeat has risen much more than before. I think I should stop this or her heart would explode. “Do you…plan to do this every time I’m mad?”

“If that is enough, and it is to your liking, then yes. If not, then I’ll gladly lower myself to prostrate in front of you.”

“…Damn you.” Even though it was a cursing word that came out of her mouth, I didn’t contain the usual feeling one would feel when hearing that. And to add to that, it was delivered with a rather quiet voice. “I could never win against you.” As she said that, she averted her face from mine.

“So do you forgive me, my dear Eryell?” For a few moments, she went silence. Then she retracted her hand from mine.

“There’s nothing to forgive for. Let’s just…forget about that.” Hearing that, I chuckled. “What?” Oh, she was getting angry again. What a temperament girl she is.

“Nothing, my dear.” Another though of teasing her came into my mind but I decided not to. Her heart beats has normalized and it seemed that she has calmed down. Provoking her would bring nothing but troubles. “I am thankful for being forgiven.” I bowed at her.

“Stop talking and acting like that when we’re alone.”

“If you say so, my dear Eryell.” I smiled at her again. For a few moments, she went silence again. But this time, there’s no change in her heart beats. It did raised a bit when I said that last sentence, but then it normalized immediately. This time, I’m the one that is confused. If the change is too little, not even I could understand it. “What is it?”

“Erm…do you sensed anyone around us?” What did she mean by that?

“Hmm? Around us?” I concentrated to heighten my sense slightly. Even after that, I failed to notice anyone except little critters such as birds and squirrels on top of the tree. After all, the path that led to my house is anything but popular due to the small number of buildings. “No, there’s no one.” I said as I shook my head.

“I see….” Another pause. This repeating event has made me rather awry and tense. “Then turn around and face that way.”

“Which way?” Did she forget I can’t see?

“Err…sorry. Just turned around.” I tilted my head slightly to the side at her order. But before I could voice my mind, an order was barked at me. “Just do it!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” I instinctively replied and turned around at the same time. “Is this all right–Waahg!”

“Just b-b-be quiet!” The thing that made me let out a rather uncharacteristic scream was none other than her hand being wrapped around me while her head rest on top of mine. She could do that easily since Eryell is much taller than me. At my full height, I only reached her shoulder. She did say that she herself was much taller than the average female while I’m in the average, so it didn’t really bother me. Well, in the first place, our differences are much more than just simply body structure, so it didn’t really bother me at all. “Let me do this in silence.” After that, she kept hugging me, pressing her shapely breast onto my back and making me feeling her warmth being transferred to me. Her hair also draped over me slightly, allowing some of the scent of her favorite soap that was left on her hair tickled my nose. It smelled pleasant for me. Such a shame I couldn’t see her hair. But feeling it was enough for me. Overall, the whole experience is a very pleasant one for me.

“Uhm…my dear Eryell.” After being in her grasp for quite some time, something tickled my curiosity.

“…What is it?” Ah, she sounded a bit upset. I seemed to have disturbed the mood for her.

“Mind enlightens me why do I have to turn around?”

“…I don’t’ want you to see my expression when I do this.”

“I can’t see, you know?” I said with a-matter-of-fact tone.

“…Quiet.”

“…Yes, my dear Eryell.” It seemed that she was just too shy to see my face head on. She is, as always, act a bit spoiled whenever we’re alone, not that I have anything to complain about it. The least I can do is to warn her whenever someone’s going to see us. Fortunately, she had decided to let go of me first before anyone could see us. I guess she’s content enough.

“…Thank you.” After saying her thanks, she coughed a bit to regain her composure. “We should get going, Nerva. We’re going to be late.” And with that last sentence, the sound of her boot came to my ears as she walked in front of me. I let out a small smile as I walked behind her to follow her. Until now, it has been a rather pleasant start of the day for me. And judging from my companion’s steady heart beats, she seemed to share my opinion.

 

Chapter 3 “Disturbing News”

At the moment, I’m very regretful that I have to say that I am feeling rather…Impatient? Angry? Annoyed? I am quite puzzled about it even if it is my own feeling. Maybe I can just say that my emotion contains at least those three at the moment.

“I-I-I’m sorry, Master!”

And the one that made me feel those emotions stood in front of me, repeatedly bowing his head at me with a very panicky voice. His movement was so fast that the air in front of me turned into a slightly pleasant breeze against my skin.

“You too! Apologize to him!” The same voice from before uttered a command to the person next to him.

“E-Eh? Y-Yes! Sorry, Master!” And with that, in front of me stood two bowing machine, making me felt more and more annoyed. As I kept tapping my finger on to the desk, I let out a rather loud sigh. This simple action made the two flinched. It was so clear that even a blind man like me was able to notice their action just by the sound they made. I don’t even need to rely on my sensitive ear much to know that.

“Sit down and calm down.” I said to them while trying to use the calmest voice I could muster, which I must say was not very convincing as their heart beat still beats too fast after hearing my words. Both of them were fidgeting, probably unsure of what to do. “…I said sit down. Now.” It is very hard to calm one’s anger. I have to admit that I am not one who had perfect control of it even until now. As a result, my previous request for them came out all cold and unforgiving, making the two in front of me immediately sat down onto the cold wooden floor with a rather loud ‘thud’ sound. Hearing that, I shook my head.

“M-Master, I, w-we, didn’t mean–“

“Enough.” I stopped the boy’s incoherent rambling. “The two of you didn’t mean that. Just…clean up and prepare a new batch. That will be enough for now.” A few seconds passed and the two in front of me didn’t make any reaction to my sentence. “Did you not hear me or are you deaf now after inhaling that smoke?”

“Y-Yes, Master!” They replied at the same time.

“Then start moving!” I hit the desk with my hand as I said that, making a loud noise that made the two of them jumped in surprise.

“Y-Yes, Sir!!” And with that, the two left running all around the place and finally doing the task I asked. Once again, I shook my head while hearing the noise my two assistants made. I turned my chair toward the desk and continued my work for today, which is making medicinal compound and preparing bandage. As the company current apothecary, it is my job to treat any injury of the soldiers.

According to Eryell, the number of injury of the company is not that high. But it still happened every now and then, making it quite necessary to have an apothecary ready to treat in case of emergency. In the big city, they usually employed physician and surgeon that charged quite a high fee for their service. Although quite a few handfuls of them reside in the town, their service is not what the company could really afford on a daily basis. With that in mind, my service as an apothecary is quite needed. Since my service could treat minor injury up to performing simple surgery and also relatively cheaper than those two previous professions, it is very fitting for the situation. Although the higher official has agreed to it, there are some that didn’t believe my ability since I’m blind.

And that is where my two assistants, Rago and Gire, come in. Both of them are war orphan that has been adopted by the company as a permanent helper. The two of them used to be slaves that were going to be smuggled into our town. As the town managed to track and capture the smugglers, they also took the smuggled goods in custody. Among those goods were these two, chained and malnourished to the point where they said that their bones were showing through their skin. Actually, there were more than a dozen slaves that were going to be smuggled. Sadly, only Rago and Gire were still alive after the bloody battle between the town militia and the heavily armed smugglers. After that traumatic event, the two were hired– or adopted– to become the company errand boys. With nowhere to live and no other choice, they took the offer right away. Although, isn’t that a form of slavery too? I guess not since they are paid and they are treated quite nicely. At least that is what the boys had told me. And thankfully, I didn’t sense any lies from them at that time.

From what I heard, before I came into the company, these two have already experienced handling minor injuries suffered by the soldiers. But with their minimal understanding of human anatomy and medical knowledge, the quality of their treatment is at the same level of any normal soldier on the battlefield could give. It is very understandable since the one that taught them were the soldiers in the company that has no medical knowledge whatsoever.

After I came into the company, they became my assistants. One could say that they have become my eyes and hands. They have also improved as they studied very diligently under my guidance. Along the way there were a few problems, but I could still say that I’m very grateful for their work.

Besides preparing medicinal material and other stuff, I also want to teach the boys proper medical knowledge. My goal is that in my time of absence in the future due to any kind of unforeseen reason, they could treat the soldiers, even saving their life if possible. It is also my hope that I could at least equip the two former slaves something that could support their life in the future. It was just on my own whim and certainly no one is forcing me to do it. Well, I might hope that as they continue their study, they would lighten my load slightly. I guess that’s the most I could get from my good deed, although I’m starting to regret my decision.

And now what did those two assistants of mine did that made me angry? Well, not long ago, I asked each of them to prepare a salve that could be used to treat burn injury. Usually I didn’t even bother asking them to make more since I could make enough by myself. Unfortunately, the amount in order is quite large due to the recent daily inspection done by the militia that led to a very nasty encounter against a group of smuggler. The smuggler apparently had hired a few mage that are adept in summoning and controlling Arcane Puppet –various construct creature that is similar to puppet– in battle. With them on the opposing side, the usually normal inspection had become a small battlefield that resulted in few burn injuries cause by the powerful fire claw and fire spit of the Arcane Puppet. Fortunately, there are no casualties, at least on the local militia side. The smuggler side, on the other hand, has been ruthlessly taken care of, leaving only the ring leader alive, barely. After that event, I was summoned that day and I had to dispense a lot of salve to the guards which have depleted the whole stock. Seeing that the stock for that particular medicine is empty, I have to refill the shelves real soon before a similar event happened.

But then an accident came when they were busy making my order. One of them, probably because of being too rough in handling the pestle and mortar, knocked down one of the candle placed near them. Fortunately, since I can’t see, there is no candle placed near my work area. Unfortunately, because of that, they took the candles and then they were placed near the pile of dried herbal leaf. It seemed that one of them moved it there so it would make it easier for them to grab more ingredients to put in their mortar as soon as they are done with their current batch. As a result, the fire immediately licked the easy to lit dried leaf, producing smoke right away. In their panic, the two failed to give a proper reaction, opting to panic while shouting. But at least the fire could be put down quickly after I threw a wet cloth over it as soon as the smell of burning reached my sensitive nose. I’m glad that the worst disaster could be avoided, although that small mistake has made a few of the ingredient burnt and become unusable. And because of that, the number of ingredient for the order decreased slightly. After all of that event, I started to think that my two assistants are still far away from being able to be left on their own. At that thought, I shook my head.

“What is it, Nerva? Something’s bothering you there?” I stopped my hand after hearing that familiar voice. It seemed that I was concentrating too much on my work that I failed to realize that someone was coming into the room. It was either that or I was feeling to frustrated after the accident. “You’ve been sighing a lot for quite some time.”

“Please bear it no mind as it is a mere minor setback that was caused by my lack of supervision.” I turned around to face the voice. “So how can I be of service today, Lady Constie?”

“My, your ability to recognize a person just by the voice never failed you, Chief Apothecary Nerva.”

“I do not think a humble ability such as mine deserves such praise. But I am grateful for your compliment, milady.” I let out a smile as I said that to my guest.

“Such ability does deserve praise. Do not take light of your own ability, Nerva.”

“I will gladly keep that in mind, milady.” And with that I gave a bow while still on my chair. Usually I would stand immediately and gave a much more polite greeting as I get her a chair for her to sit on, but the woman in front of me has asked me to refrain from doing that whenever we’re not in public. Strange as it may sound, I have decided to respect that wish of hers.

The one I called Lady Constie is none other than another lady from the Reystone clan. She is Eryell’s older sister to be exact. From what I’ve known, Eryell has about three older brothers, one older sister, and one younger sister. Among the three sisters, no, among all of those six siblings, Lady Constie is considered to be the smartest and the wisest of them all. Lady Constie Reystone, just like her little sisters, is a very famous individual in this town. Known for her vast knowledge and wise mind, she took the role of strategist and also chief administrator for the whole town. In the company of local militia, she is also my direct supervisor.

“Judging from the ingredient sprawled on that table of yours I assumed that you are working on resupplying the salve,” said my guest as she walked toward my desk, making a few stepping sound as her shoes made impact on the floor. Judging from the rather dampened sound, she is probably using her boot. I guess she was on her round to check each division’s progress.

“Correct, milady.” I nodded at her.

“How much longer will it took?”

“From my previous estimation, we will take about two more days. But…” I shifted my head toward the place where the previous fire incident happened. “We have a minor setback.”

“I see.” She let out a sigh after that, probably while looking at the burnt mark at the wooden floor. “Your current estimation?”

“I need another day. I will send one of them to collect more material from the town storage this day. If they are available, I will ask them to deliver it immediately.”

“Although ‘immediately’ will probably mean the soonest you will get it deliver is tomorrow evening.” She let out another sigh after saying that. “And if there are not readily available? You will ask them to collect it from the nearby forest?”

“Unfortunately, that is the plan, milady.” From her movement, I could sense a feel of impatient. She was fidgeting and her whole body language told me she was anything but calm. Although it was hardly far from noticeable, to my heightened sense it was clear as day. “Forgive me for being blunt, milady. Are milady’s feeling of impatient has something to do with the replenishment of the company’s medicinal stock? If that is true, I want to apologize for not making it sooner.”

“Hmm? Impatient?” She paused for a while. After that, a slight chuckle came from her mouth. It was a very pleasant voice although it was filled with a slight feeling of frustration. “Forgive me, Nerva, as I had somehow forgotten that you are not a man that could be fooled easily.”

“I am just a simple man, milady. Well, a simple blind man, to be exact.”

“Really now?” She let out another chuckle. “I guess there’s no hiding it from your ever seeing ‘eyes’, Nerva.” Ah, she often used that phrase at me. I guess it was inevitable since from what I’ve heard I’ve able to perceive her mood correctly for a couple of times and somehow also able to guess the content of her mind even before she says anything. I guess that is because instead of seeing the expression on her face, I was sensing her emotion by noticing her heart beats and just guessing from my instinct. And for the part about guessing her mind, it was just a simple deduction from my part. “The truth is, we might probably need it sooner than expected.”

“And why is that, milady?” Does the smugglers from before appeared again? Or maybe a revenge from the slain mages’ comrade? I guess that is a possibility if the whole smuggling ring wasn’t eradicated completely.

“We have been notified that a guest from one of the royal families would like to visit this town.”

“A guest from the royal families?” I tilted my head to the side as I didn’t really catch the connection to out medicine problem right away.

“He is from the Grese Royal Workshop, Count Ferre Grese.” At the mention of that family name, I let out an ‘ah’ voice. “I see that you understand the reason for our problem.”

“If that Grese means the Grese family that dealt with magic artifact and the manufacturing of Arcane Puppet, then I might understand the problem, milady.”

“You’re correct. The Grese Royal Workshop has been producing a lot of them in order to supply the army with a constant supply. And,” she paused for a while and then let out another sigh, “he decided that the forest near our town is the perfect place to conduct an experiment for their latest design.”

“An experiment? In the forest near our town?”

“Correct. And to make matter worse, the letter said that it will be a large scale experiment.” She let out another sigh. Even without using my ability to perceive her heartbeat and her aura, one could easily discern her state of mind. “Furthermore, the experiment will be dealing with fire based Arcane Puppet.”

“…Fire based…” As soon as she mentioned that, I put my hand on my chin. Many thought came into my mind. I could hear her snickered as I did that. For a second, a different feeling emanated from her figure. “What is it, milady?” Although I have a hunch, I still decided to ask.

“I’m glad.” She let out another chuckle and then continued to explain her reason. “I can be sure that I’m not the only to think that there is something wrong.”

“The only one? Pardon me, milady, but have you present that particular letter to someone else?” She gave a nod. “Then surely they responded the same was as I did, right?”

“Unfortunately that is not the case, my dear apothecary.” At that, I raised one of my eyebrows. They didn’t feel the same? No one questioned the possibility of a connection among those two events? “They all just said that it is just mere coincidence. The reason for their full trust is probably because of the Count’s very clean and honorable reputation.”

“Just because of that?” I know that the Count is known to be a very honorable person. It is even widely known that he had put a considerable amount of money for charity purposes. In fact, there is almost no negative rumor about that particular nobleman. For me, that lack of negative aspect had become a sole reason for me to suspect him more than anything. “Surely there’s something else that made them thought like that.”

“If there is something else, it is probably because they are too scared of him. After all, the Grese family holds a very important and powerful role in the royal military as a sole producer of their Arcane Puppet.”

“That is a very troublesome problem we have, milady.” I let out a wry smile as I said that. “Then is there something I can do for you to prepare ourselves for that particular event, milady?”

“For now you can concentrate on your task, Nerva. Although…” She paused for a while. Her posture suggested that she was thinking about something.

“What is it, milady?”

“Hmm…could you help me think a few things that might become the reason for his sudden visit? I know that we shouldn’t accuse him without any concrete evidence. But we couldn’t afford to be careless either.”

“I understand, milady.” As expected of the wisest one of the three sisters. She had thought to that extent. I’m honestly impressed. “I presumed that the Count will probably come this week, correct?”

“Correct. It is written on the letter that he is on his way riding his fastest Arcane Puppet built especially for swift travelling.”

“I see. He sounded in quite a rush.” I gave her my opinion after hearing another part of the letter. “Then I will report you this night at the latest. Is that acceptable, milady?”

“I was honestly expecting it to be sooner than that, but then again you have your task first.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head from one side to the other, probably pondering about my previous reply. “I suppose that would be acceptable. Just don’t be late.”

“Understood, milady.” I gave a slight bow as I answer her.

“Good.” She nodded. “I have high hope that you will give me a useful answer.”

“Milady, I will do my best to answer your expectation.” Once again, I bowed toward my superior.

“I certainly hope so.” She then turned around, ready to leave the room. But before I could turn around to resume my job, I notice that her footsteps has ceased. After that, the footsteps continued, but its direction was aimed toward me once again. “I almost forgot, Nerva.”

“What is it, milady?”

“How’s your situation with my little sister?” Although it was a question delivered with a gentle tone, I could feel anything but that from it. In fact, I feel her aura has gone cold and unforgiving. “I hope you didn’t hurt her.” That reminded that Lady Constie Reystone loved her little sisters so much that she would gladly turn into a ferocious dragon whenever her sister is involved. And from her view, the one who could hurt her little sister is not the bandit around our town, but the one who is closest to her. And that very person is me.

“I wouldn’t even dream of it, milady.” I wore my usual calm expression while giving her an honest answer. Although I seemed to have gotten into Eryell’s bad side at that time, I have apologized immediately. I hope that doesn’t count as hurting her. Besides, Eryell is far stronger than what she thought, both physically and mentally. “And I hope to continue to avoid hurting her in the future too.”

“Ah, how many times have I heard that line of yours, my dear apothecary?” She then approached me closer. “But I don’t know the reason for this slight feeling of anxiety that surfaced in the back of my mind each time I heard that honest answer of yours.” Her hand gently moved toward my chin and with that she forced my head to turn upward facing her face. I could feel her breath hitting my face as our face getting closer. “Is it because I couldn’t see your eyes? As eyes are the window to one’s heart and mind, it is as if the blind you have barricaded your own window, preventing anyone to see into you. Each time I approached you, you become much and much more unpredictable.” She paused and put her face closer again, making it a bit too uncomfortable for me, especially since she was still gripping my chin with a slight force. While keeping my face on place, she threw another question. “Do you have anything to say about that, my dear apothecary?”

At first, I was quiet as I sensed her emotion has somewhat turned a bit onto to the fiery side. Her heartbeat has turned calm, but her body language told me the emotion that dwelled inside her has slowly reaching into a rage. Usually one would feel fear after realizing that they are being held by a creature governed by pure anger. Fortunately I am still able to calm my own emotion, thus allowing me to prepare my answer with composed mind.

“One may think that the eyes are the windows to one’s heart and mind. But just by looking past the window it would not be enough to discern the real content of one’s house. The window itself might limit the whole view for them who want to know the inside of the house. It might even distort one’s way of perceiving the real content of the house. ”

“So by being blind, you are actually covering the whole window.” It was a sentence delivered with a voice filled with accusation.

“That is one way to see it. But there’s another way to see it, milady.”

“And that is?”

“I didn’t cover the whole window. In fact, there are no windows in the first place.”

“No windows?”

“Correct, milady. There is no window at all. For the one on the outside, they couldn’t look inside. But for the one in the inside, they are also the same. They couldn’t look outside.”

“What a nonsense. You can easily know the whole world around you.” Hearing her anger filled voice against my rather contradicting sentence, I only gave a slight smile and continued.

“For the one on the inside, all they can try is to guess the world outside by hearing whatever little sound came from behind the wall of their house. Be it a joyous laugh, or a saddened cry, or even a shout of anger. Even that, they couldn’t really understood right away the meant of those sound. Maybe the joyous laugh is a forced laugh to make them looked happy in front of their superior. Maybe the saddened cry is actually a cry of happiness seeing their dearly beloved one coming back from war alive. Maybe the shout of anger is not just anger, but it is a worried shout from a mother seeing their children getting too close to a blazing fire of a fireplace.”

“Are you saying that all these times you are only guessing? Are you trying to fool me?”

“Milady, I am not trying to fool you. May the heaven strike me so if I have done that to you.”

“Words are cheap, Nerva.”

“I couldn’t agree with milady more. As the one inside the house, I couldn’t agree more that words are cheap, milady.”

“Then how am I going to know the content of that house, Nerva?” At her question, I let out an honest smile. “What is it?”

“Your question has been answered by your dear sister, milady.” At the mention of her sister, my supervisor tightened her hold on my chin unconsciously– or maybe consciously, I couldn’t really tell. “Eryell Reystone has answered that question of yours, milady.”

“And the answer is?”

“Knock on the door, ask the owner to let them in and see it for yourself. Isn’t it much better than trying to peek into someone’s house from the window?”

At first, Lady Constie didn’t give any reaction to my answer. She just stood still, that’s all. I tried to sense her heartbeats and found nothing out of the ordinary.

“…as expected.” Then after that I heard a small muttering from her, which of course sounded loud enough for me to be able to discern it without a miss. “She’s done it again.”

“Excuse me, milady?” Although I did hear that, I tried to feign ignorance.

“Nothing. Never mind.” She shook her head. “I guess that’s the natural thing to do, right? Knock on the door and asked the person inside to let them in.”

“Precisely, milady. And Eryell has done that. She asked me to open it and I let her into my humble abode.”

“I hope that humble abode is suitable for my little sister.”

“For a person like her, she deserves the best.”

“Does that mean yours is not good enough?”

“It means that I will have to work harder each day of my life to make it suitable for hers, which would mean a lifetime works. And even that, in my mind, is never enough for her. She deserves the best of the best, milady.”

“So you are not suited for her?” I felt a slight ache in my heart as her question was thrown at me. I know that I might not be the best one for her. The ever dazzling Eryell surely deserves more than a blind man like me. But as I felt a surge of negative feeling attacked my mind, a new voice came.

“He does.” At the new voice that entered the room, both of us moved our attention to the source of it, although I have a bit of difficulties as my face was still on her grip. “What are you doing here, sister?”

“Oh, Eryell dear.” My supervisor’s voice turned gentler. “I was just discussing work related matter with our chief apothecary here.”

“Ho? So does that discussion have to be done in such a way that you have your hand on his chin like that, my dear sister?” Her voice came out with a tinge of anger.

“Oh, this?” Lady Constie turned her attention toward me again and immediately released her grip on me. “This is just a symbol of our closeness.”

“Sister, may I remind you I despise lies?” The sound of her footsteps filled the room as she approached her older sister. “And I also despise someone who constantly trying to meddle with my affair.”

“Don’t be so angry, Eryell dear. I was just confirming my own opinion against our chief apothecary here.” Although Lady Constie voice was calm, I could sense a slight uneasiness as soon as Eryell entered the scene. I guess she didn’t expect to meet her while she was in the middle of … discussion with me.

“Lies, dear sister. Next time, try to tell a believable one” After she was only a few steps away from my place, she continued. “Or even better. Don’t even try to.”

For a few seconds, the atmosphere around the three of use tensed up. Even without the ability to see the two of their faces, I could sense that they seemed to shot daggers at each other. The two’s heartbeats actually seemed beats in the same pattern, as if resonating against each other. I guess that is the evidence of their closeness. Although I was supposed to be the focus of their conversation, I felt somewhat left out, which of course is not something I could complain off.

“…Okay. I understand.” While I was in the middle of evaluating those two, Lady Constie let out a heavy sigh and then muttered out something. “Don’t glare like that, Eryell dear. It ruined your beauty.”

“From the rumor I heard, it says otherwise as they mentioned my glaring is as fierce of a gallant lion, dear sister.”

“And that’s exactly why I said it ruined your beauty.” She let out another sigh after hearing her younger sister’s reply. “A woman has to remain beautiful and dignified even while angry. Didn’t I always say that?”

“Don’t worry, dear sister. Your lesson has been engraved in my heart and mind.”

“Although practicing what you learn is another different matter.” I let out a comment with a slight chuckle.

“Hey!” The two of them shouted at me as soon as they heard my comment.

“Don’t insult Eryell!” ”How dare you!” And with a simple comment, the two of them united against me in an instant. It’s a wonder how a mere comment would be able to made two opposing person forget their differences and focus on the same thing in a split second. The power of words is, as always, magnificent.

“I beg your forgiveness if my comment is seen as an insult, milady.” I bowed to the two of them. “Although I would ask you, where is the mistake in my word? Please enlighten me as I could avoid doing the same mistake again in the future.” I have to say that I couldn’t help myself to tease the two of them. A bad habit of mine that is surely hard to let go. Thankfully, I managed to avoid making a grin on my face or it might anger them further.

“…” “…”

And just as I expected, they only looked at me in silence. But then I felt a slight tugging my ears. The slight tugging then changed into a full force that pulls away my ear.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow!” Pain attacked my ear lobe as it was being pulled away from my face. “M-M-Milady, w-what are you doing!?”

“Nothing.” It seemed that Lady Constie is unable to find any appropriate answer to my question. But as she still felt irritated at my action, she opted to punish me.

“E-Eh!? W-Why– OOOW!” I let out another scream as my other ear joined in giving me pain as it is being pulled by Eryell. “W-Why!?”

“Nothing.” The same answer came from Eryell. She probably felt the same. Fortunately, the two let go of my poor ears after just a few seconds. It was a just few seconds of pain, but it was a few seconds full of pain, I tell you. As I rub my two ears, I could feel that the two sisters have somehow cheered up. There was no trace of anger or irritation left on them. What a strange and interesting pair of sister they are.

“Well, I guess I should get back to my office,” said Lady Constie as she stretched her arms a bit. “I need to prepare our town for that particular matter.” Seconds after that, she pointed her finger at me. “Nerva, don’t forget your task.”

“I will do as you asked, milady.” I gave her a slight bow again.

“Good.” My supervisor gave me a slight nod. “Then I’ll see you at dinner, Eryell dear.” She then left the room without waiting for her sister to reply. As the sound of footsteps gone out of the room, I shifted my attention to my recent most guests.

“What can I do for you, my dear Eryell?” I let out a smile to accompany that sentence.

“…Let me see your ears.” She said as she walked closer to me. Ah, she’s worried about me.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” I waved at her casually. “So what’s the reason for your visit?”

“Can I visit you without any reason?” At that, I felt quite surprised. But my surprise lasted only a second as she quickly continued. “Is what I was hoping to say. But the truth is far from that.” Her voice had told me that whatever reason that made her come to me is anything but pleasant. I guess that was also the reason her previous conversation with her older sister become too heated than usual.

“What is the matter?” My tone quickly grew serious without the trace of the previous relaxed manner from before. “Tell me.”

“The 3rd Rangers have found some…disturbing remains on their recent patrol on the outskirt of our forest.” The Rangers she mentioned previously is a group of seasoned soldiers that roam the forest to search for any sign of unwanted outlaw or intruders. They are numbered based on their proximity to the town. At the mention of that ‘remain’, her voice and heartbeats told me that it was not something she is comfortable with. And I could guess the reason. First is, of course, for the unknown state of the remains which is probably far from being normal as they have summoned me personally. Usually they would just bring the item in question here and I will identify it together with the other apothecary. And second is because of the code number of the Rangers which ranged from 1 to 7. The 3rd corps of the Rangers is relatively close to the town. It means that whoever or whatever responsible for that has managed to pass the detection of the other corps.

After hearing that statement, my mind immediately went into my previous conversation with Lady Constie. If this event is related, then we have at least three strange events that might relate to each other. The question is in what way do they relate? I let out a ‘tsk’ sound after forming that question inside my mind.

“Take me there.” I stood up immediately as I felt a slight uneasiness if I don’t move right away. “Tell me the detail on the way.”

“Understood.” She then faced the exit, but she didn’t move right away. I sensed something is not right, but before I could ask she opened her mouth again. “Uhm…I have to apologize for that last action, Nerva. Both for my and my sister’s action.” Ah, so that what’s bothering her? I let out a slight chuckle as my previous tense moment immediately dissipated. “What?”

“Don’t think about it. We can talk about it later in our free time. I’m sure you are also curious about what my conversation with your dear sister, right?” She nodded right away, not bothering to hide her curiosity. “Then we would have a good conversation later. For now,” I took my walking cane and my coat, “we have something much more important to do.”

“Understood,” said my dear Eryell with a nod.

“Rago! Gire!” Before I took a step, I called for my assistants. I know that all these time they were silently watching my conversation. From what I could perceive, they were a bit afraid to do anything, so they hid themselves behind the shelves and try to eavesdrop on my conversation. I don’t really know how much they heard but I know what task I need to give them before I leave. “Finish your task! And don’t say a word about anything you heard!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Good! I’ll leave for now and when I come back I want to see your task finish!” With my last order, I joined Eryell who has already stood near the door. “Let’s go.”

“As usual, you are strict with your disciple.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“It is.”

“Then thank you. I already planned to be strict with them even if anyone said otherwise.”

“Then just keep doing that. Shall we go then?”

“Lead the way, my dear Eryell.” And with that, we left the apothecary room toward our next destination.

 

hi

 

Chapter 4 “Scene Investigation”

“Is this the place?” I let out a question after my guide, Eryell, ceased walking. We are all alone if we didn’t count the two Rangers who were hiding themselves under the heavy thicket of leaves on top of us with their weapon at the ready. Even without looking at them, their feeling of worry was clear for me. In fact, the only feeling I could sense hanging on the air is only anxiety. I could really understand the reason very well after hearing Eryell’s explanation along our way to this very place.

It seems that the founding of the so called disturbing remains just came in less than an hour ago. After noticing every squad to increase their vigilance, Eryell immediately returned to the headquarter to warn the squad responsible for the town’s interior security. At that moment, the idea of asking me for help surfaced in her mind and she immediately walked toward my workshop only to find me in a heated ‘conversation’ with her older sister. At first she didn’t realize the content of the conversation, but she then felt a slight feeling of uneasiness and she also spotted my two assistants cowering on the farthest end of the room. That was evident enough that the conversation was anything but pleasant and she decided to intervene. What a nice girl she is.

“Yes, this is the place.” She then moved to a certain direction and then the sound of her tapping something entered my ear. From the sound, I could recognize the object as a slab of stone. “This is the remains I was taking about. Come closer.”

After moving closer I tapped my walking stick to create a constant sound. It then bounced at my surrounding and a ‘view’ is created on my mind.

“Hmm? This is…” I put my hand on the slab of stone. The surface felt smooth on my finger. I could also feel a small crack that ran along to the edge of the slab as I traced it with my finger. “This is… a part of an Arcane Puppet, isn’t it?”

“I see that you have the same prediction as mine.” But is something like this can be found in the middle of the forest? I traced my finger on the edge of the slab and found that it has a size as big as a regular shield. The edge also felt smooth on one side where the crack ended but felt jagged on the other side.

“This is just a small part of a bigger one, isn’t it?”

“If that is true then the problem might be much more serious than we expected.” A ‘tsk’ sound entered my ear after Eryell said that. She folded her arms and then shifted her head toward the broken piece of Arcane Puppet on the ground. “How did something like this escaped our patrol? That is just unbelievable.”

“Yes, it is. Either the patrols were careless or the perpetrator is much more careful than we expected. It just that–, “I stopped my mouth after I found something else on the slab.

“What is it, Nerva?”

“This is…melted?”

“Melted?” I could hear her voice was dripping with confusion. I couldn’t blame her since I myself also felt hard to believe what I’ve just said. “Are you sure, Nerva?”

“Let me see…” I chuckled mentally after saying that. I can’t see, you know? I pushed that thought aside and concentrate on my current task. As my finger arrived at a certain part of the slab, I’m convinced that it really has melted. “Yes, look here.” I beckoned her to get closer to the place where I had my finger stopped. As I could feel her getting closer, I pointed to that certain part. “Look here. It is not cut like the other, but it is melted.”

“You’re kidding, right? Do you know how much magic it needs to melt stone?”

“I know it needed to be at least cast by multiple mages at once. My dear, this is getting stranger with each founding.”

“Tsk.” She clicked her tongue again, a clear sign of her frustration. “I really don’t know how the outer line patrol squad missed something as clear as this.”

I can’t really blame her for feeling that. This has gone beyond mere careless. It could even be said that they have literally let intruder entered the forest with open arms. And that is not something that the town would like to see anytime soon. But somehow in the back of my mind I feel that something really important is missing. It seems I need to be more attentive. Because of that, I tapped my walking stick to the ground repeatedly while I crouched down.

“What is it, Nerva?”

“Quiet for now. I need to concentrate.” My words seemed to make my companion’s worry increase. I could feel from her figure. But I decided to ignore that as I keep tapping my walking stick. With each hit I get a clearer ‘view’ of my surrounding. At first I could not find anything wrong. But after a few more seconds, a slight abnormality appeared. “…So many.” I muttered softly.

“What do you mean by that?” It seemed that I have not muttered soft enough as my companion apparently picked up my word. I then pointed my finger to a certain direction while still crouching.

“Eryell, you search under the bush between the two fallen barks. After that walk farther away, about two or three steps near the leaf mound there. Search the places around them. But whatever you do, don’t move whatever things you found there. Just keep it there.” After that, she nodded at my request.

“Got it.” The sound of her boot that made scrunching sounds as she walked away from my position told me that she had understand my direction. And next I could hear rustling sound from the bush I pointed to. Now as she is busy with her work, I need to do my own part too. Instead of tapping my walking stick, I flicked my finger twice.

“Tsk.” I clicked my tongue as the ‘view’ came into my mind. I stood up and then moved to a certain location not far from my current one and then flipped away a stone. Under it, a certain object could be found. I picked it up and put it into my pocket. After that I moved to a stone next to it and moved the stone aside. I tapped my walking stick again and I could ‘see’ a similar fragment as the first I inspected. As I traced my finger around the fragment’s edges, I noticed the whole piece is melted terribly on the edge. A similar crack could also be felt running onto the other edge.

“Nerva! I found a lot of those around here!” At her shout, I walked toward her. “Look there.”

“My dear Eryell, you ask me an impossible task there.” At first I could sense her confusion at my reply. And then a jolt from her shown that she understood my little joke. And together with that I also sensed her emotion turned to anger.

“This is no time to joke!” And an expected reply came from her. But facing her anger I only let out a calm smile. “Why are you joking around in this situation!?”

“Because you are getting impatient, my dear,” I said as I walked toward the object she wanted me to see. “W-What!?”

“Getting impatient in this kind of situation will not do you any good.” I traced my finger on the fragment she found and found the same characteristics as the other one. “You will risk yourself becoming careless, thus making your job much more difficult.”

“…Darn you.” I smiled at her reply. That means she understood what I mean and will try to calm her mind. I really like her honest trait.

While facing something unknown like this, people tend to get panicky, making them unable to see the real threat. The risk is even higher if the one panicking is the one leading. The result will be disastrous. As the leader, she needs to be the calm one or she might risk her subordinate’s life. That’s the last thing we need at the moment.

I know that I might not be the most suited one to speak considering that I lost my calm not long ago when I was facing my two assistants, but someone has to do it. On her shoulder rest the security of the whole town. One single mistake might lead to the end of all of us. And I will make sure that will not happen any time soon.

“Okay, I’m calm now.” Lies. Her heartbeats showed that she was still impatient. But that was perfectly understandable. I guess I shouldn’t tease her more or she might really blow up. “So, is it the same as the other one?”

“It is.” I gave my opinion with a sour expression my face. “This leads to at least two possible situations.”

“And that is?”

“Either we are dealing with plenty of small to medium sized Arcane Puppet or we deal with a single huge Arcane Puppet.”

“You’re kidding right?” She is anything but pleased after hearing my predictions. “And who controlled them in the first place?”

“Err…” I couldn’t say it.

“…Don’t tell me…” Ah, she seemed to read my reaction spot on. It seems that I have to say it either way.

“…There are at least two possibilities for that too,” I said as I put two fingers up.

“Either they are controlled by an army of mage.”

“Or the Arcane Puppet is a rogue one.” I felt the mood plummeted down even further after I said that. Her heartbeats have also increased together with a change in the feel she emitted.

A rogue one is much more dangerous than a group of controlled ones since it made the construct behaved unpredictable and wild. With a controlled one, subduing the controller will be more than enough to stop the construct. For the rogue one, the same solution can’t be used as it has no controller. The most effective way is to look for its core that supplies the whole body with magic and then either destroy it or rearrange the flow of the core. Either way, it is a very dangerous and deadly task that no sane man would like to do.

“…Great. Just great.” I could hear the sound of her slamming her palm at her face. “Just damn great!” And it was followed by an angry remark. In this situation, I couldn’t really blame her. Hearing bad news isn’t what anyone in this situation would really appreciate.

“Calm down, my dear Eryell.”

“I am calm, Nerva!” Ugh, that is not a display that I can exactly call calm. “Just…just let me think for now.”

“May I give a suggestion?” I heard a sigh came out of her mouth as I said that.

“What is it?” She said with a tone that clearly lack any evident of calm. “Let me say this first. Not one of your witty remarks, I hope.”

“No, not this time, my dear Eryell.” And just when I was going to tell her to calm down with a joke. I guess I’ll set that aside for now. I’ll go with a simple suggestion for now. “For now, I think it is better to tighten the security inside the town and the circle of patrol nearest to the wall.”

“Do you think I haven’t done that?” A slight annoyed reply came from her almost immediately. It would really help if she could be a bit calmer than this.

“If you’ve done that, then the next thing to do is to collect information. How many informant the company has deployed?”

“Informant? Why?”

“In my opinion, the next thing we need to do after tightening the security is trying to really know what we are dealing with. And, sadly, at this moment we know absolutely nothing about this.” I scratched the back of my head after I said that. At that, what her sister said not long ago came into my mind. “Just to make sure, when I said that this fragment is a piece from an Arcane Puppet, you said that you have the same thought, right?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“Why, if I may ask?”

“Hmm…I guess it is the first thing that came into my mind. Why?” She returned the question.

“Because imagine that this is just a fragment that come from a single Arcane Puppet, how large do you think the whole construction is?”

“Well…that would be…large. At least larger than the ones we have fought recently.”

“See? So why did you said that it came from an Arcane Puppet?” I pressed on that question.

“Ehm…I guess…..Err…” I could hear her started to fidget around. It is a sign that she herself is anything but understand her own reason. “…Instinct?...Maybe?”

“…Really now?” I half expected her to say that. But to actually say that? “That’s the best reason you can give?”

“Hey now! Are you insulting me!?” And another angry remark flew toward me. “So what’s your reason then? Tell me a better one!” She really needs to calm her temper. This fiery girl really needs to learn how to control her anger much better. Or is it my fault that she got angry over and over again? Maybe my remarks were…too blunt? Let’s put that aside for now. I will talk with that with her later on.

“I actually have…heard a disturbing piece of information from Lady Constie”

“My sister?” I gave a nod to answer her question. Her heartbeats immediately changed to a calmer one, although it also told me that her worry had increased the moment I mentioned her sister. “What is it?”

“Uhm, come closer.” I beckoned to her with my hand. I don’t think sharing this information on the open like this is a good idea. But at least I can try to keep it between the two of us even though Lady Constie never really did tell me to keep it in secret. She didn’t, right? I hope she didn’t.

A slight rustling sound was produced as she trampled the leaves around me and crouched down to my height. I gestured to get closer. After she was inches away from me, I started explaining what I heard from her sister.

“W-What!?”

“Quiet down!” I pulled her head down again as she was going to stand up and raised a ruckus. I know it is impolite of me to do that regarding our rank, but it was an emergency. “Didn’t I tell you that you need to keep it down for now?”

“A-Ah, yes, sorry, sorry. It’s just the news is…rather too coincidental with our current situation.”

“I know, I know.” I nodded several times. “That’s why the first thing that came into my mind is that.”

“I see, I see.” She also nodded several times after I said that. “But this just makes it much more difficult to actually found out what we’re really dealing with.”

“Don’t you think that it is actually not the other way around?”

“Huh? Isn’t the fact that a member of the royal family will limit our movement?”

“And that’s why I said that we need informant. Listen.” I took a breath before starting to explain. “If the royal family really is going to get here, then there should be abnormality in this town, right? Ask the informant to look for abnormality that happened at least in the last two weeks or so. That is enough for a start.”

“Oh, I get it. Then we can also try to find what kind of character has come into our town as the royal family is certainly going to send a dozen or so of their own informant, right?”

“Yes. That in itself is a fact that we can use. Tail them and try to look what they are looking for. Also the fact that this news of visitation is a sudden and rushed one is probably going to make those informants careless. Although, the same thing could be said about the ones on our side if not careful.”

“I guess we have to enlist our most trusted man to look at this, right?”

“And the most skilled too.” If they are just to the extent of trusted but are not skilled enough, it will not only bring danger to them but also to the whole town. “And, if we can persuade the higher ups to spend a few more coins for this operation, try to buy the service of the many information brokers inside our town. Oh, also place a few of our informants in either the tavern or the gate to see ongoing gossip and rumors. You never know what useful information we might get from people’s chattering.”

“…How did you even know that there are information brokers?” Oh, she didn’t expect me to know that? Really now? After all these years?

“Well, my dear Eryell. You’ll be surprised what people said in front of this frail and weak looking blind man.” I let out a chuckle as I remembered the times when people just open their mouth and say whatever they think without any restraint when I’m around. It seems that besides blind, they all thought that I am deaf too.

“…You are anything but frail and weak.”

“That, my dear Eryell, is not something people would agree on their first look at this blind man.” A mischievous grin appeared at my face. I’m sure combined with the fact that I’m wearing a blindfold, the grin really made me terribly creepy and weird looking.

“I get it, I get it.” She just dismissed my joke as she stood up. “I’ll get to that straight away. I’ll get back to the headquarter to report this and to enlist a few of our informant as soon as possible. I want them to get useful information as early as tonight.”

“Difficult task you’ve given them.” I also stood up and dusted away my clothes. “But not impossible. Seeing the current condition we are in right now, even if it is impossible, we need to do it. We must do it no matter what. The fate of the town rest on that.”

“Agreed,” said Eryell as she nodded at me. “I just hope that in the end this thing is not as horrible as we all thought.”

“I doubt that it will be what we hope. I’m sorry to say that.”

“Don’t be. I prefer to hear the bad news right away so that I can prepare myself to handle it.”

“Good mindset. I like it.” I said to her with a smile on my face.

“So shall we get back to the headquarter now? Or do you have any other plan?” Ah, she has seen my expression and able to deduce that, eh?

“I’ll stay here for now. I want to look for a few more clues.” I then chuckled slightly after realizing what I just said. “Well, not ‘look’ as I can’t do that. You get what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I heard her rather annoyed reply with a swishing sound from her head as she shook her head at hearing my statements. ”You and your horrible jokes.”

“I can’t really help it. It just came out that way.” I shrugged my shoulder as I said that.

“Whatever. See you back at the headquarter. Be careful.” She waved at me as she moved walked away from the forest. I wait for a few minutes and then I also felt that the two Rangers have moved away from their previous location, probably trying to get a better position for their ongoing patrol. I heard a few rustling sound around me but I didn’t found any heartbeats that belong to any kind of humanoid creature. I guess it is safe to say that I have been left alone for the moment. It is an opportunity that I gratefully welcome at the moment.

Just to make sure, I tapped my walking cane a few times, producing the same sound over and over again. After being convinced that the condition is just as I wanted, I pulled out the object that I picked up moments ago.

“Tsk! As usual. That fellow is very flashy.” I muttered out a complaint at no one in particular. As I rubbed the small object, I was convinced enough that it was just as I predicted. After letting out a groan of annoyance, I put the object back into my pocket. I then walked back to the first fragment that Eryell asked me to identify.

A few thumping sound was made as I hit the large fragment with my walking stick several times. I then transferred the stick to my left hand. I walked closer to the fragment again and then put forward my right hand. A few snapping sound was made as I snapped my fingers a few times.

“…How flashy.” I muttered yet another complaint as the ‘view’ appeared on my mind. But this time the ‘view’ is not from the bouncing sound. “Too much magic inside the fragment.” Yes, it was from the resonating magic wave from the magic wave that remained inside the fragment. I put my palm toward the fragment and felt the smooth surface and also the crack vine that ran from edges to edges. “Haaa….” I let out my breath and then a warmth feeling started to build on my palm. If one could see my hand at that very moment, they would noticed that my hand have let out a dim glow. Although I couldn’t see, the feeling of resonating magic has told me enough.

After a few seconds, I pulled my hand and then curled my hand into a fist in one swift movement. From that move alone, the air around me moved, making a gale that disturb the tranquility of the forest and replacing that very silence with a few rustling sound from the moving leaves.

“…Good grief.” I then waved my hand away, letting my warm hand cooled down. “This is going to get troublesome soon.” I then headed toward the direction of the town. “Very soon, I’m afraid.”

 

Hiya! Thanks for reading! Any comment so far?

 

Chapter 5 “Private Meeting”

After I finished my investigation, I returned back to my workshop to found that my two assistants have done their job splendidly. With half of the order has already been made, the rest of the order needs to wait for some more ingredients. I have sent the two to separate place to find the remaining ingredients. Rago will go to the town’s warehouse to check for ready to be delivered ingredient and ask them to deliver it as soon as possible while Gire will check the marketplace for the ingredients. In the morning they will report their task to me and then I will decide the next action. If the ingredients from the town’s warehouse are enough, then I can focus on getting the order ready as soon as possible. If not, then I will buy them from the marketplace. Of course, the amount I can buy might not be much since I will need to use the company’s money, which is very limited.

With my current task done, my next task in hand is to report what I have in my mind regarding the news Lady Constie has brought not long ago. And with that in mind, I stood in front of the mansion of my direct supervisor.

“Halt!” A shout filled with hostility is thrown at me. “Beggars are not allowed here! Leave immediately!” It was the greeting I received the instant I arrived in the front gate.

Ah, beggar, is it? I guess I couldn’t really blame them as my appearance is probably similar. In fact, I think I might look exactly like that, not that I worry about it since this is my regular clothes. And just like Eryell said, my regular outfit combined with my appearance really gave me that beggar appearance. Well, if I could borrow her word, it will be a ‘Neat Beggar’, but beggar none the less. And because of that, I was denied of entry to the mansion even from the start. And that was a considerably troublesome obstacle for my current task.

“Ah, but I have a meeting with Lady Constie Reystone.” I tried to give them my reason.

“Huh? Preposterous!” And it was rejected right away. “There’s no way our lady has any business with the likes of you! Now go away and don’t make us throw you out forcefully!”

Hmm, this is troublesome. I could ‘see’ the two guards were starting to get angry and irritated at me. Their heartbeats were pretty high and the feel they gave was hostile. They might really throw me out rudely if I don’t do anything soon. I scratched the back of my head as I showed a wry smile.

“Geez, I hate using this.” I mumbled to myself as I put my hand into my pocket.

“What are you still doing here! I said–!” One of the guards that shouted to me stopped mid-sentence. The reason was that he saw the object I pulled from my pocket. “W-Wait!? T-That is!”

“I see that you know what this is, gentlemen.” I let out a smile. I don’t know what kind of smile I made that time. But I hope that it is not an evil looking one. To be honest, I have to confess that hearing them surprised like that really gave me a bit of satisfaction. So I slightly worried that my smile came out as an evil one instead of an honest one.

“W-Why did you have that emblem? Only a member of the militia could have one!” Sheesh, why the dumb question? The object that I have shown them is a small medallion that bears the symbol of the local militia, which are a sword and a shield on top of each other.

“Because I am a member of it, gentlemen.” I threw the emblem at them. “You can check it if it is a real one or not. If it is, tell them their Chief Apothecary need to meet their lady by her request.” Ugh, I hate using that kind of tone. It made me remember many uncomfortable memories.

“Y-Yes, sir!” And stop with the stuttering, would you? It’s getting irritating. I could hear the two of them immediately left the gate. Why do you have to leave the gate empty like that? Can just one of you get inside while the other stays on guard here? I really need to talk about this with Lady Constie about their amateurish guard.

==================================================================================================================

After waiting for a few moments, I finally entered the mansion and the sound of quiet footsteps accompanied by fluttering sound of fabric came near me. I faced the source of the sound and found it was one of the residence maids and an acquaintance of mine, Lena.

“We’ve been expecting you, Master Nerva.” A soft and feminine voice entered my ear.

“Thank you. It’s been a while, Lena.” I gave a smile at her as I faced her.

“Please follow me.” She then turned around to face the other way, making her shoulder length hair produced a swishing sound. As she started to walk away, I followed her shortly.

While we were walking toward my supervisor’s study room, I decided that the silence between us is not pleasant for me. And because of that, I started the conversation with something simple.

“Are you well?”

“I am well, Master Nerva.” She gave a bow after saying that. “Thank you for asking.”

“If it is just us two, you can leave the formality. I am, after all, just a commoner.” A small chuckle escaped my mouth. “To be called ‘Master’ is funny, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t even dare to do that, Master Nerva. You are an esteemed guest and the whole house of Reystone has seen your ability.” Her tone was filled with nothing but honesty. Or at least, it sounded like that to me. Either she was telling the truth or she was just being polite. At that, I decided to not pursue the matter further. It would be impolite of me to deny her goodwill. “I hope that you are doing well, Master Nerva. I haven’t been seeing you for quite some time. When was the last time you visited us?”

“Hmm, probably last Winter Festival if I’m not mistaken. Besides, it will be better for everyone if I didn’t show up too often.” I let out a chuckle after saying that.

“…Please don’t say that, Master Nerva.” Her tone, although it sounded like a calm one, I noticed a hint of sadness in it. Or is it disappointment? Those two emotions feel quite similar for me. “Some people will be saddened by that.”

“Saddened or not, it is the truth that no one, not even the head of House of Reystone, will be able to deny.” I said that with a firm tone as I know the true feeling of those around me.

While I have quite a lot of people that view me as a reliable and talented person, the general public can only see me as a weak blind man unable to do anything. I’m not even surprised if some will see me as a good for nothing trash that leech the goodwill of the noble family of Reystone. That is a saddening fact that I have lived my whole life with. At first, it was very painful. But as time went on, I could even laugh at that fact without feeling a bit of sadness in me. Either I have gone stronger or my heart has become too numb by the amount of pain it received. Either way, I felt that it was for the best that I could endure that painful public opinion. Although, for the people that has different view of me, they could still feel that pain. It was as if they took the pain for my sake, which is not what I really wanted. And it seems that what happened after I said to Lena. I could feel a bit more sadness coming from her compared to before. I need to watch my words more careful next time. Saying the truth just like that may bring others pain. “Let’s forget about that, shall we? Now tell me, how has Lady Constie been?”

“…She has been rather busy.” Ah, she has done a good job covering her emotion. If only she could do the same with the aura she emitted. If I could see her face, she probably tries her best in covering her expression. But overall, I have to give her credit in trying to do it in the first place and feeling sympathy for someone like me. “She has locked herself in her study right ever since she got back.”

“Is that so?” It seems that Lady Constie is really worried about the royal family’s sudden visit. Her reaction, in my opinion, is a wise one since the reason behind their action is quite suspicious. And the fact that the other higher officer has given no suspicion at all is making it even more suspicious. It was as if they had predicted their action or deliberately want turn a blind eye at their movement. “Has anyone visited her yet since she got back here?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Hmm, so she probably had no information about our finding yet. I guess I will tell her.

“Is Lady Eryell here?”

“No, Master Nerva. She hasn’t got back.”

“I see. She has been pretty busy as in lately.” I let out a small smile.

“She is. Some of the maids are pretty concern about her well-being. It is not good to overwork one’s body even if the situation tells you so.”

“A wise word, Lena. But you don’t have to worry about it too much. She is a good and smart girl that knows her own limit.”

“I hope that Master Nerva will be there to assist her in her time of need. Also to tell her if she really does overwork herself.”

“It will be my pleasure to do so. Although, I doubt that she will need me to remind her. But I’ll keep an eye on her. Even if I don’t have any eyes to do it.” A small chuckle came out my mouth as I make that joke.

“…Please don’t make that kind of joke, Master Nerva.” Ah, she is not pleased with my joke. Well, it is rather dark. Not everyone can see its value. Oh, another one! But better not said it out. It will just worsen the mood even further. “But I feel grateful if you will really help Lady Eryell there.”

“As I said before, it will be my pleasure.” I smiled at her again. Hmm, that reminds me. “By the way, Lena, are the guards in front of the gate new?”

“The guards? I...think they are. Probably from the last few months or so.”

“…No wonder they don’t recognize me.” Because if they came from that time, the will certainly find it hard to forget my rather unique appearance.

Lena stopped her feet and then she knock on the door in front of her three times.

“Milady, Master Nerva is here to see you.” A few seconds later, a very familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

“Let him in.”

“Please excuse me.” After saying that, Lena opened the wooden door and then stepped aside, letting me inside. I walked inside and I immediately noticed the smell of paper and ink in the room, especially after I could feel the door is closed behind me. I tapped my walking cane several time and the ‘view’ of the whole room came into my mind. It was…how should I say it? Very chaotic and very organized at the same time. I know that sounded rather strange, but that is the feeling I had when I could ‘see’ the condition of the room. And judging from the smell of dust that lingered on the air around me, she probably refused the maids that come into this room for quite some time. As usual, my supervisor habit of overworking is still there and I don’t see any sign of it going away any time soon at this rate.

Oh, is that why Lena mentioned about Eryell is overworking herself? Well, they do share that particular habit. I guess I also need to add my supervisor to my list of people to warn when they overwork. Although, it will be quite difficult since my supervisor has this tendency of going…violent and grumpy when being told off. I guess I still have to bear the risk. If those two overworked themselves to sick, the whole town will be affected. And that is not what everyone want now, do they?

“Take a chair and sit,” said my supervisor without stopping his hand that made scribbling noise. “I’ll be with you after this one last paper.”

“Understood, milady.” I took a chair near me and then placed it in front of her desk. After I sat on the chair, I started to tap my walking cane softly to avoid disturbing her concentration. The more I tap, the clearer the view in my mind is. And the clearer the view, the more I sigh at the condition of the room. Why, you might ask? It seems that I have noticed a lot of books and scroll littered on the ground as well. At first, I only though that the books and scrolls were on the desk. But it seems that my supervisor has ran out of space and decided to use the vast and empty space on the room to its maximum potential. Sadly, I could sense that the book case behind her desk is in a relatively empty state. Chances are, she emptied the whole book case into the desk and floor. At that thought, I couldn’t help but shook my head with a rather wry smile on my face. I just hope she didn’t notice that.

“Okay, I’m done.” The sound of flapping paper could be heard as she placed the paper on the stack near her. “Let’s get straight to business. You have a possible reason for the royal family sudden action?”

“I have, milady.” I said with a nod at her. “But please allow me to give you some more information that your sister has investigated recently.”

“Eryell? Do you think there is a possible connection between the two?”

“I’m not really sure. But at this moment, we might as well consider every little information we have, don’t you think so, milady?”

“Hmm, very well. Explain it.” She then gave a nod.

As I explained the whole finding Eryell and I found in the forest not long ago, I couldn’t detect a change in her behavior. Lady Constie remained calm and composed throughout the whole session without a slight change in her heartbeats. It was as if she purposely hardened her heart and refused to react to anything that come out of my mouth. Maybe she will give her opinion after I finished the whole explanation. A wise choice, if I may say so myself.

“…Is that all?”

“Yes, milady.” I gave a nod. “At least that is all I know. I don’t know if any further investigation has been taken by the company or any informant have any further lead about the situation.”

“…I see.” She then leaned her body forward. The sound of her elbows placed on the wooden desk entered my ears. “So tell me now, Nerva. How is that connected with our…situation?”

“The royal family that will visit us is strongly connected to the production of the kingdom’s Arcane Puppet. That is the first one.”

“The second one?”

“The second one is that their purpose of testing fire based Arcane Puppet. From my observation of the remains we found on the site, they were melted. The process of melting something is closely related to the fire attribute.”

“I see…” She tapped her desk a few times after she said that. “Is there anything else?”

“The third is the forest. They mentioned it specifically in the letter that the forest in our town is suitable for their experiment. That is a very suspicious thing to mention for me.”

“I agree at that since our forest have no particularly unique aspect whatsoever that could make them special.” She then leaned backward, making the chair produce a slight creaking sound. “Is that all?”

“That is all.” I nod at her. “That three reasons alone have made me able to make at least a few possibilities. Does milady want to hear it?”

“Go on.” She put her hand forward. “At this stage, I need to hear any possible reason for their action, no matter how strange and weird it is.”

“Very well.” I took a breath before giving my first possible scenario. “First is, just as they stated in the letter, they are just here to carry out an experiment. No string attached, milady. If that is the case, then we only have to look for a few magic users that can use any element except fire. The water mage can use their magic to douse the fire. The earth mage can raise soil to cover the fire. And, lastly, the wind mage can control the air flow so that the fire will be controlled enough to avoid burning more area.”

“Hmm, that is one of the best possibilities. As much as I would like that to happen, I think we really need to get that out of our mind at the moment.”

“I agree, milady.” Another nod came from me. “Then the next one is this. There is a chance that their intention is connected with our recent encounter with the smuggler. For what way they are connected, it is far too many to list, milady. They could be looking for some slave or they might even be the one that funded the whole operation.”

“Or they might be trying to cover their dealing with the military grade Arcane Puppet.”

“That is also a possibility, milady.” I agree with her opinion. “And to add more to the matter, there might be some survivor of those smugglers. If it is true, then more reason popped out more than we can count.”

“Do you think the slave smuggling is just a cover for their main operation?” Hmm, that is possible. I didn’t thought of that at first. “They might try to deliver something illegal and cover them with something…less illegal. That is such a strange way of doing things.” I could hear her letting out a sigh after saying that.

“Unfortunately that is a still possible reason, milady, no matter how strange and crazy it might sound.”

“Ugh, it is as if the trouble is not enough at the moment.” She shook her head as she said that. I could feel the stress emanates from her more and more each time the conversation progress. “Got any more predictions?”

“I do have one more…but it is somehow–“

“Excuse me.” My words were stopped as a voice came from the other side of the door.

“What is it? I’m busy.” Lady Constie said that with a rather irritated tone. That is very understandable since it disrupt the whole conversation flow. But it seemed that the other party, probably Lena, decided to ignore that and continue.

“Apology, milady, but it is your sister.”

“Huh?” Before an answer could be given from the other side, the door to the room opened. A thumping sound from the wooden floor filled the room. It was a familiar sound that came from none other than the boot of the company’s famous captain.

“Excuse me for barging in, sister.” It was none other than Eryell. She closed the door and then walked toward us. “But I have urgent request and report.”

“Urgent request and report?” My supervisor parroted her last part of the sentence with a confused tone. “What do you mean?”

“I need to request for some additional funding for our informant. I believe that Nerva here has already explained it to you, right?”

“Informant? Is it so urgent that you need to ask it now, my dear Eryell?” Although it was delivered in a calm manner, I could feel the irritation in her words. I could support her request, but I think I will wait for her to explain it further.

“Then I guess the report first then. We have several of our informants found out that…the information brokers has been…” Few seconds passed as she stopped her sentence, which made me questioned her finding more and more. “Silenced.”

“Silenced? As in–“

“Killed?” I said the word that my supervisor wanted to say. That earned me a slightly annoyed glare that I could feel quite intensely. Eryell nodded at my question. “All of them?”

“Fortunately, some still remains. And they asked quite a high amount of money for their information and also for their safety before they will open their mouths.”

“This is…an unexpected turn of event.” It seems that the situation has worsened without our knowledge. “Are our informants still roaming the street?”

“They are.”

“Any casualty from our side?” This time the question came from Lady Constie. Eryell shook her head, which is a good sign. “That’s good, for now.”

“Most of our sentry and rangers didn’t found any strange movement outside the wall. Either there really is no danger outside the town’s wall or it might have entered the town completely undetected.” The last part of her report was given with a grim tone. “If it is the later one, we are in deep trouble.”

“Ugh, more and more trouble as if it is not enough.” I could ‘see’ Lady Constie massaged her temple with a very bad expression on her face. I don’t want to bring more bad news into the table, but it seems it is a necessary move at the moment. So I opened my mouth and deliver the bad news.

“Forgive me for this, milady, but I have much more bad possibility at hand after hearing Eryell’s report.” At that moment, I could hear the two’s heartbeats risen, a sign of them being more anxious than before. Ugh, I hate to do it, but it is much better to be prepared for the worst at this time.

“…Just tell me what you think, Nerva.” My supervisor let me continued. Her voice is filled with fatigue and frustration. It seemed that the stress of the situation has caught up with her with the addition of Eryell’s latest report.

“Very well, milady. At first, I think it is much too farfetched to be considered a possible reason. But after hearing the report…it sounded much more plausible.”

“Is this about the royal family reason for their sudden visit?” Ah, I forgot to tell Eryell that this is about that. I nod at her to give her answer. “Okay, go on. I’ll ask the other reasons later.”

“Understood. The letter might be some sort of…hidden instruction. For who it was directed to, I don’t know. For what, I also don’t know.”

“That is…do you suggest that the remains that we find in the forest is a result of that instruction?” My face soured up at Eryell’s question. I nodded at her.

“The smuggling accident might also be another thing that is instructed by the letter. The possibility is endless. And if this prediction is the correct one, then the level of danger we face is far too much than we can handle since it means that we are dealing with one of the royal family directly.”

The atmosphere in the room darkened after I said that. It was the worse possibility among the other possibilities. In the end of the day, we are just a frontier town equipped with a local militia. Furthermore, a few of the officer in the local militia are closely connected with the royal family due to the importance of the town. No matter how strong the house of Reystone grip on the city and the militia, it is incomparable to the influence the royal family has in their hand.

“At the moment, I have only a few suggestions.” I tried to break the tense atmosphere.

“…What is it?” Eryell’s voice lacked her usual vigor.

“First, we should order the informant to keep lower profile than before. They risked losing their life if trying to find too much information at this stage. And also abandon the idea of asking the information brokers. The information they yield will not only be costly, but also might endanger ourselves. The moment the other side knows that we have information leading to them, no matter how small it is, they will start to hunt us. The last thing we want to achieve is increasing the danger to our town.”

“…Next suggestion?”

“Secondly, try to increase the patrol in the inner circle. Concentrate the force in the weakest part of our defense. We have already lost the momentum to avoid letting them inside our town. We need to at least hold them up from getting out too easily. Prepare for some losses for our men that are stationed there. As sad as it might sound, the possibility of it is too high.”

“…I actually hate that suggestion, but I can’t give any argument about it at the moment.” My supervisor voiced her opinion with a tired voice. “Any more suggestion?”

“Yes. This is a personal one. Take some rest, both of you. Even without seeing you, I could feel that you two have been pushing yourself too much.”

“Huh? No we’re not!” As usual, the hot blooded Eryell was the first to voice her objection. “At least I’m not!”

“Eryell dear, are you suggesting that I have?” And it seems that my supervisor didn’t take that objection kindly. The two heartbeats had risen to show their anger. Before the two start to argue, I continued.

“If it is not the case, then it is good. But words of advice from this blind man. The two of you hold the responsibility of leading many men and women to protect this city. At the moment, there are no substitutes for the two of you. And remember, I’m not the only one that is worried about you. The maids felt the same way as I did. And I’m sure the others also felt the same.” I then stood up. “That is all I can say at the moment. Is there anything else, milady?” The two didn’t give any immediate answer. Although their heartbeats had calmed down, it seemed that their emotion is still not. I’ve said what I need to say. It is their decision to follow it or not.

“…Not that I can think of. I’ll send someone to get you if it urgent.”

“Very well then. Please excuse me, milady, Eryell.” I bowed to each of them and then opened the door. I stopped before I exited the room. “Please take care of yourselves. And please don’t forget, don’t carry that burden all by yourselves. You have the whole town ready to assist you.”

“You don’t need to tell me that, Chief Apothecary.” Her tone seemed to be dripping with irritation. But it dissipated in a matter of seconds as a new emotion filled her next words. “Thank you.” It was pure gratitude. I could also feel the same emotion from Eryell who still stood near her. At that, I turned back and smiled at them.

“It is my pleasure to do so.” I exited the room and closed the door, leaving the two sisters alone.