Chapter 22 “The Disaster Approaching”

“Rago, Gire.” I called my two assistants. The sound of them running toward me reached my ears. “How is the preparation?”

“Everything is ready, Master!”

“We have packed extra raw ingredients too just like you told us, Master.”

“Hmm, good, good.” I nodded several times as I heard their report. “Then why are you still here? Isn’t the troop going to depart soon?”

“Ah, yes, Master. This is the last bundle and then we will go with them soon.”

“That’s good to hear. Rago, Gire.” I called their name once again. “Be ready for anything. I will not be with you so the whole responsibility for treating them will be all yours, do you understand that?”

“Yes, Master!”

“We will not disappoint you!”

“Very good,” I said to them as I nodded. They have matured much more than I expected. “Then you can all go now. I’ll be here waiting for good news from the two of you.”

“Yes, Master!” A unison reply came from them.

It has been several days from the night of my battle with Ingolf. After that day, he has been training diligently to prepare himself for the awaited day as I pointed his mistake from time to time. And it is finally the time for the royal family to execute their ‘experiment’ in the nearby forest. It seems that they are doing it on the days where the number of merchant is a lot more than usual. With that, it is safe to say that they really want to show off their military might. Their action is proof enough for us that our prediction is true. If it is truly an experiment for their newest weapon, then they would probably choose where the number of spectator will be as few as possible or even none at all since they will want to keep it a secret until needed. But by doing this instead, they are truly going all out in their show of might.

With the pretense of guarding the royal family, most of the militia’s personnel have been stationed near the forest. Eryell is also included since her unit is the one responsible for patrolling of the inner forest. The whole base is busy and bustling with sound as they prepare themselves for the upcoming job. It is also one of the reasons why I send out both of my assistants, Rago and Gire, to them.

Just as Lady Constie instructed, I have prepared a lot of medicine, especially for burn wound, since the experiment they are doing is involving an Arcane Puppet that is specialized in using fire as its primary weapon. Together with the fact they are doing it in the forest, the chance of them starting a fire is quite high. Although I heard that the royal family will also bring with them a group of water mage, we can never be so sure.

If you are asking why I am staying behind, it is because I have a direct instruction from Lady Constie. She ordered me to stay behind and just let my two assistants follow the militia. The reason behind that is because it might be seen as an insult if a blind man like me follows their group. Of course, the militia is already accustomed to me and they already know my real skill. But we don’t know what the royal family and their soldiers might think about it.

Actually, it is not fair for me to not say that I am actually the one that keeps asking her to do that. Yes, it is my idea. She felt that my skill will be crucial in the time of emergency. But I keep pushing her to not include me with the guarding group and instead just left me in the base by myself. I said to her that I will be available to help from the base and even bring extra medicine while moving the reserve group that is stationed in the base in case of something happened. She finally approved my idea, although not without some doubt and hesitation.

Well, to be honest, I have another intention in mind for asking her to let me stay in the base. And that is because I have another urgent job to do. And that job cannot be done when I’m with the field. I need to do it in the base. Well, it doesn’t have to be the base. But at least not in an open place.

I then moved into one of the room inside the base. Since the whole personnel are on a mission, almost no one is here. The reserve troop is stationed all over the town and only a handful of them are left and even they are not inside the base. They are either training or getting ready to move when the needs arise. That is actually a good thing for me since it left me without the need of dealing with them. I said ‘dealing’ not in the sense of killing them or something along that line. I mean ‘dealing’ as in trying to be stealthy or anything.

I opened the room and the door let out a soft creak. I guess it is expected since this room is one of those rooms that is almost no one using it. Apart from the condition that has been rather neglected, it is located too far away from the entrance and could be called almost abandon. From what I’ve heard, Lady Constie is thinking of repairing this particular room and using it as an added storage. But the plan has been postponed due to various things that came up all of a sudden.

“You’re late, Nerva.” Immediately after I’ve opened the door, a voice greeted me. That didn’t surprise me since I also expected that.

“Well, I need to prepare a lot of stuff for my assistants to bring onto the forest,” I said as I closed the door. “And I need to make sure that I have some more stuff prepared in case something really happened.”

“Hmm, understood.”

“By the way, Reiyes.” I turned around and faced the direction of my comrade. “Your presence is well hidden, as usual. But he,” I pointed toward another direction with my cane, “still needs a lot of practice.”

“Uhm,…I’m sorry, Master Nerva.” A familiar voice reached my ear. The moment he added ‘master’ to my name, I unconsciously frowned. It just didn’t sound right for me.

“Stop adding ‘master’ to my name.” I let out a sigh after I said that. “I’m not your master or anything.”

“But you are Master Reiyes’ friend.” Ugh, there he goes again. “There’s no way I could address you so impolitely, Master Nerva.”

This guy…is rather too much for me. I never expected him to become like this. So a little explanation is in needed, right? As I mentioned, after our brief…meeting, I have both Mena, the captain of the underground movement, and Adart, the underground movement’s officer in charge of information circulation, under my command. Literally. Due to the spell I implemented into their soul, they can’t lie to me and I have been using them to collect extra information besides the information I have from Reiyes and his Shades. I have also asked Reiyes to train him since the two of them are working in the same field. Along the way, he had deemed Reiyes as his teacher, his master. That, as one who knows Reiyes, clearly annoyed him. But since the boy didn’t show a single intention of stopping that and it is done without a single ounce of malicious intention, Reiyes seemingly have given up on asking him to stop doing that. And…it seems that I have to do the same too.

Really, this guy is getting a bit too uptight for his own good. Or is it his way of trying to get stronger? I know that when I have our meeting that time, even without him saying it, I could feel that he is lamenting a bit on his weak self that allow not only him, but also his superior and object of love being caught and…uhm…’convinced’ a bit too much. That reminds me, I never heard their story after we part way. But it seems that the two is in a steady relationship. I’m happy for them.

“Nerva, enough talking about useless stuff.” Oh, it is clear as day that he is irritated with the current topic. Not that I don’t understand it though. I guess even the stoic and usually calm Reiyes will feel that if being faced with the kind of uptight person as Adart for a long time. “We should get straight to topic.”

“I know, I know.” I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle after hearing him said that. And for that, I earned myself an annoyed groan from him. “Actually, where is that fellow?” I just realized that the room is missing one more person.

“That fellow,” ugh, Reiyes’ voice is clearly sounded more annoyed the moment he mentioned her, “is still busy with her own stuff and she said she will come here when she likes it.”

“…Goodness.” I let out a heavy sigh after hearing it. As usual, Cyrielle is not someone that could be counted for due to her lack of discipline. Not that she is incompetent or anything, but she is just a person that prefers to do everything in her own pace. I suppose there is nothing I can do about it. “Well, let’s just start right away.”

“Good. Adart.”

“Yes, Master!”

“…Tell us what you’ve gathered.” Reiyes surely have it tough. I guess that is in a sense a way for him to train himself to be more patient. Not that he needed to be more patient.

“Very well. From what I’ve gathered, there is a single rumor that might be useful at the moment after hearing Master’s explanation about the knight’s prophetic dream.”

“And that is?”

“There is a sighting of a strange beast from the village in the west of Fouge. The village location is quite far from us and since the number of merchant that came through that particular village is not much, the rumor is not widely circulated.”

“Hmm, I see, I see.”

“I can confirm what he said is true.” Reiyes added. “From what I’ve heard from the Shades, it is exactly as he stated.”

“Unfortunately the information is clearly lacking as the story stopped at the point where the witness was unable to recognize the beast. With that in mind, the rumor stopped circulating since the public view it uninteresting and boring. They just dismissed it away as the one seeing it is making a mistake.”

“Hmm, this is interesting. But the fact that the information is lacking is truly regrettable.” I said to Adart as I tapped my chin. I know that the fact he picked that rumor is due to Reiyes’ teaching that stated every piece of information is useful in its own way. From rumor to news to idle chatting. There is a need to collect them and we can filter those out later. “Is there similar rumor?”

“There is, Master Nerva.” I felt the corner of my eyes twitched as I heard that. Really, he has to stop doing that. “But the content is the same. Strange beast without anyone having a good look at its feature. And there is no significant damage. Only a few remains of dead animal that is seemingly eaten normally.”

“So the only thing that can be considered strange from those stories is the fact that the beast is not normal or strange, although no one has been able to take a good look at said beast.”

“Correct, Master Reiyes.”

“No wonder the rumor is not circulated. It is clearly boring and uninteresting.”

“Ah, but there is one version that has a slightly different detail.”

“And that is?” I quickly asked him to explain in detail.

“Let’s see, the story is from the farthest village in the west of Fouge. Very, very far away. The story came from a merchant that is just passing said village by chance due to him in need of getting some more water for his journey. The story, just like the other version, stated that a strange beast is being seen in the forest near the village. But the difference is that the beast had a small knife embedded onto its back.”

“A knife embedded on its back?” This is clearly different from the other ones and it is much more interesting. “And?”

“That’s it. Nothing more. The rest continued out the same. Remains of dead animal being eaten normally and such and the sighting of a beast that no one has ever seen before.”

“Hmm…Reiyes?” I shifted my head toward him. “Do you have anything else to add?”

“Since the rumor is not widely circulated, it is easy to trace the sighting. And from the small number of similar rumors we have collected, the beast is travelling straight to here.” This is getting more and more interesting and worrying at the same time. “And it is getting closer judging from the latest rumor.”

“How close?” I ask them.

“It is from the village about a week journey from here.” Adart gave his report. “And the merchant came into the town just two days.”

“Hmm,…this is troubling.” I know that I shouldn’t move just on rumor only. Let’s confirm it again. “Adart, Reiyes, is there no other rumor that is a match with the prophetic dream I told you?”

“No, Nerva.” Reiyes immediately replied. “The only thing that is suitable for that is that very rumor. Since the other rumor tend to move around the fact about the royal family and their so called ‘experiment’, nothing else is suitable.”

“I see, I see.” I guess the only thing I need to do is confirm it. But should I use it, I wonder? I just don’t really like to rely on ‘that’ too much.

“What are you thinking, Nerva?” Reiyes who noticed I became quiet asked. “We have to move fast in the case the prophecy is true.”

“I know, I know.” I let out a heavy sigh after that. “Reiyes, you have put one of your Shades near the experiment site, I presumed?”

“I have. But so far there is no–wait…” Huh? Why did he become silent all of a sudden? I then noticed that his heartbeats turned higher slightly. It is a sign that something has happened.

“What is it, Master Reiyes?”

“There…is a report from one of my Shades through my magic line.”

Oh, no wonder I didn’t notice that. His magic line is so subtle that the amount of energy from it is very hard to be detected. It is one of his skills. That very skill of his is very useful in maintaining so many of his subordinates efficiently. He can get real time information without the risk of the information leaking along the way. Very impressive. Is he going to teach Adart that too? If he is, Adart might become a very powerful spy in the near future.

“From your reaction, the news is anything but pleasant.” The sound of his groan reached my ear. Figures. “Well, tell us.”

“They have picked up a moving magic energy signature not far from the town’s border. And the destination is…the royal family experiment site.” I could hear Adart let out a gasp of worry. Okay, that last news has decided my next action.

“Adart, go outside and be sure to warn us when someone is getting near. Wait for us out there. Don’t let anyone get near us.”

“Understood, Master Nerva.” After I heard him making a bow, I then heard the sound of him moving outside and closing the door. Without saying anything else, I could feel the magic energy in the room vibrated a bit and then it stopped to a very silent still. I let out a smile toward Reiyes.

“I suppose that is what you might want me to do.” I nodded at Reiyes. Yes, he just erected a ‘Sound Shield’ without me asking. As expected of him. He understood what I was going to ask before I even say it. “Then are we going to use that spell?”

“Yes, we are.” I said as I nodded to him. “I will have you use one of your wide range spell to search the whole town and its vicinity, including the surrounding forest. I will also use mine to search for a particular sign.”

“This is getting a bit too much than I expected.” He let out a groan again. “I hope that it is worth the trouble.”

“If in the end we didn’t managed to find anything, doesn’t it mean that the prophecy of that knight is just a false alarm? Then it is good, you know?”

“If it is a false alarm, then we have to search again for another lead. But if it is not a false alarm, then we have to deal with it.” Oh, his voice is clearly filled with irritation. “How is that a good thing to you? No matter the result, we have a lot of things to do.”

“Hmm, true, true.” I let out a small chuckle. I guess Reiyes is right. “But that is our responsibility as a Watcher, you know? There is nothing we can do about it.”

“That’s why I asked you what’s so good about it?” He then let out a sigh. I have to say, after taking Adart as his apprentice, Reiyes mood is often on the bad side. I didn’t really expect him to be like that. Well, let’s just say that it is for his training again. “Let’s do it then. You go first.”

“Very well then.” I then took a relaxed stance with my cane planted firmly on the ground. I removed my blindfold and stored it inside my pocket. After taking a deep breath, I started to open my mouth. “Remember thy form. Remember thy might. Remember thy purpose. I call thee to answer without fail. Let thy form come back and thy purpose fulfilled.”

After I finished my incantation, I could feel the magic energy in the room swirled around me as its center. Then surge of power filled my whole body. It continued to fill my body to the extent that I could feel my blood boiling with excitement. I then hit my cane onto the ground as I feel a certain degree of power has accumulated inside me. “Give me power to see the unseen. Let me be the one to give the proper judgment.”

And then the swirling of magic energy ceased and the surge of power stopped. I opened my eyelid and I can see the whole room with its dilapidated condition clearly. Yes, I have regained my vision. I can also see Reiyes stood not far from me looking at me with a slight frown on his face. But not only that. I can see the form of his soul completely.

I did mentioned some time ago that I could portray the whole world using several ways. The simplest way is the one way I used in my daily life. That is using the sound around me. If there is no sound, then I make the sound by either tapping my cane or clicking my tongue softly. Then there is the other way. Using magic. In this case, not only I have regained my vision, but I also have the ability to see the form of the soul a person have inside them. I don’t use this method often since the amount of magic energy it consumed is quite high and it is quite tiring for me to do. Even after training my own body and skill, the spell still took a quite an amount of energy that I refrain from using it too often.

If Lady Constie and Eryell often teased me with the nickname ‘The All Seeing Eyes of Nerva’, than this is the real deal. At the moment, that nickname suited me perfectly. The eyes I have right now really have the attribute of able to see absolutely everything, even to the core soul of a person.

“Ah, you haven’t really change, Reiyes.” I said as I look at his appearance. As usual, even his choice of clothing is the same as the last time I see him. I have guessed that just by the sound he made near me, but seeing it now really confirmed it.

“And you still haven’t changed. The fact that your eyes glowed still remained, Nerva.” Yes, it is also another reason that I don’t really like using this skill. That is the fact that my eyes glowed with a reddish glow, making them very menacing.

“I can’t do anything with that.” I shrugged. “Well, your turn, Reiyes.”

“Understood.” He nodded and spread his arms. “Above the soil. Over the sky. From the highest mountain to the deepest ocean. Everything in between. None shall escape my sight.” The moment Reiyes finished his incantation, the floor glowed with a dim bluish light. Then a yellow line started to appear from under his feet and moved to encircle him. Many letter started to dance along the moving line. His eyes then started to glow too. But instead of the reddish glow like mine, it has the similar blue glow like the magic circle under him. “It’s done.” I nodded and approached the magic circle near him. I tapped my cane onto the circle and put my own magic power into it.

“I asked thee to let me grab what is not mine. I asked thee and thou will comply without fail.” Then the circle started to vibrate slightly. The glow also turned slightly reddish. Together with that, the line that has turned into a complete circle started to branch slightly toward me and formed another different circle altogether. Just like before, many letters started to dance around the circle around me.

I closed my eyes and a different view entered my vision. I concentrated as I stayed in silence. After a while, I could finally see what I wanted to see. Not wanting to waste unneeded magic energy, I tapped my cane onto the circle. Immediately after that, the sound of something shattered came to fill the whole room. What followed is the sight of the magic circle shattered and disappeared into the floor. I could also see Reiyes’ eyes stopped glowing and returned to their usual appearance. And that is the last thing I saw before my vision darkened again. Once again, I became blind.

“I would really appreciate it if you just asked me to stop the spell.” I could hear Reiyes’ annoyed voice as he complained.

“There’s no time to do that.” I said to him as I pulled out my blindfold from my pocket and proceeded to put it on like before. “We need to move fast.”

“I suppose what we feared is true?”

“Unfortunately, it is.” I nodded and then shifted my attention toward him. “We need to call Cyrielle as soon as possible and head toward the forest as quiet as possible. Move your Shades from the forest to avoid casualty. Use them to get the militia forces and also the royal family away from the forest. The last thing we need is them disturbing our job and becoming useless corpses in the process.”

“And then we can finish this troublesome task?”

“And then we can finish this troublesome task. Once and for all.” I let out a heavy sigh. “Really. The situation is far more dangerous than I expected. How worrying.” I shook my head several times. I then heard the sound of him letting out a groan again. “What is it?”

“You don’t really look like to be worried or concerned.” Hmm? “Your smile.” Oh…that’s right. I was smiling. He’s right. My current expression really didn’t suite what I just said.

“I see. Well, there is a reason behind that.” This time, I let out not only a smile, but also a rather lough laugh.

“And that is?”

“I am quite excited to see one person that have his soul marked and be either stupid enough or weak enough to be in need of being rescued.” Once again a laugh came out my mouth. “Really. To be that stupid and weak is an insult to Marked Soul everywhere.”

Author Note:Please give me comment and opinion for this story, or even critique so that I can improve my writing. Do tell me if you find something strange or wrong with the chapter. Thank you for reading!

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