(2.2) Unintended Consequences

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LE: 55  HP: 200

MP: 150/250

SP: 50

[Cold: Physical and mental reactions reduced by 50%]

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"I'm using way more mana than I need to. What would Zed say?" She smiles in spite of herself and stops at the edge of the roof.

She cautiously looks down at the streets. Luckily there's no one in sight. "I have to relax. If I put too much mana in my spells, I'm done for."

She takes a second to still her breathing before clambering down the side of the building. She's still far from the village gate, but at least she can use the dark alleys and vacant side streets as cover.

Aki runs past many vacant homes and businesses, abandoned but not entirely rundown as she'd thought when she first arrived. Those with glass windows had been shattered. Water buckets sat empty of their purpose. Even some buildings that appeared to have been recently whitewashed were cracked.

Barely visible in the shadows between two buildings, Aki spots a silhouette. She slides to a halt and raises the pitchfork threateningly.

The silhouette doesn't move, so Aki carefully approaches it. She nearly drops the pitchfork once she gets close enough to distinguish it.

The enshadowed figure was actually a cat sitting atop some planks of wood.

It was dead.

She frowns and clenches her jaw, stressed. The cat was frozen, but even she could tell the cold hadn't killed it.

Dehydration did.

The cat's body was extremely thin, but she couldn't see any frozen blood spots. No, it was as if it had been wrung dry of its blood beforehand.

Aki places a hand on the building to steady herself from the sight. Her hand stings with cold pain, and she recoils. There's a dry cold to the wall, as if the moisture had been sucked out as well.

"When I free-cast water manipulation… did it affect more than just me and the village centre?" Aki looks around at the other damaged buildings and the broken windows, contemplating the extent of the damage she could have done.

"There! By the old guardhouse! She's still in the village!" says an old woman behind Aki.

"I can think about it when people aren't trying to kill me." Aki raises the pitchfork once more and collects mana once more. "Minor Illusion."

The street stones rise up to blockade the path behind her and hide her from view. The wood of the pitchfork in her hands begins to crack from the effort, but at this point, it matters little. She tosses it aside and continues. The exit isn't too far from where she is now.

With a second large illusion, Aki can tell without looking her mana is nearly depleted. A growing headache as a perfect testament to that.

The gates are left completely unguarded. However, many deep footprints trail around the path out and head into the village. Looking back, she sees the illusory fire she created is still bright and visible from where she stands. Aki lets out a deep sigh, practically home-free now.

An arrow strikes the gate border level with Aki's face. Two more arrows land on the snowy ground at her feet. Following this, the sound of crunching snow and laboured breathing hits her.

Looking back, Aki sees a mob of armed villagers and the village chief approaching quickly. Five men at the front hold bows at the ready while others carry more lethal-looking tools.

"Cornered. I still have my shield spell, but would they notice? This wouldn't be a problem if I could passively keep a physical defence spell on me."

Aki raises her hands, defeated. "So I guess this is how you're gonna get out of paying someone for their help?"

"Help, is it?" shouts an older woman that appears to have muscled her way to the front. She brandishes a kitchen knife at Aki but takes care not to approach beyond the circle made by the rest of the mob. "Is that what you call the destruction of property? Hurting our pets? Hurting our children?"

"Well, she killed the vermin, too, right?"

"Yeah, that rat infestation in the town hall was all dead this morning."

Some positive things can also be heard from the mob of people, but the majority lean towards a bad opinion of her.

"Enough chatter!" the village chief stamps his cane, but the snow level noticeably dampens the effect. The talking dies down as he clears his throat.

"Your fight with the shadowgeist happened to result in a lot of collateral damage. Add to the fact you've destroyed a street, put holes in our roofs, and set fire to one of our buildings… it's no doubt you're a swindler! A cheat, I say! No better than an Otherworlder for all the help you say you've given! So how are you planning on paying for all of it?"

A young woman grabs him by the shoulders and tries to calm him down. His granddaughter, by the sounds of it.

"No way! First off, those were illusions. I did not destroy or burn any part of this place. If anything, your guys were the ones falling through a roof. One!" Aki shouts back. "Secondly, that was definitely not a shadowgeist. It was a wraith! You're the ones that falsely stated what it is. I am not giving you any money for that."

"Don't lie! You're lucky we gave you a night of peace after the damage you caused." The chief counters. "All our hardworking people pitched in to get rid of that thing, and you come and try and weaken our hardy souls to rob us blind with your evil magic, using that shadowgeist as an excuse! How do we even know it's gone, eh?"

"W-what?! There's no way I'd ever-"

"We are taking the 150 Leaf reward as reparations and demand you pay another 150 in reparations for all those suffering from your evil magic!"

"No way!" Aki takes a defiant step towards them, making the archers raise their bows in kind. She grits her teeth and steps back, arms up. "The 150 was for a shadowgeist, not a wraith. I was willing to compromise and still accept that price if you threw in some travel rations and new boots, but I guess not anymore!"

Some villagers were starting to get agitated and began to yell obscenities she'd never heard while others demanded one thing or another. The village chief is much the same, demanding Aki pay.

A flurry of much warmer air than expected whips up as the sun rises. The temperature change is enough that people get shaken up and quiet down.

Mana pressure suddenly washes over everyone like a slow wave. Despite the slow gentleness of it, anyone with half a sense can instinctively pick out the power difference between themselves and the culprit. Even Aki feels the hairs on her neck rise as soon as the mana hits her.

Her own power is seriously dwarfed by it.

The mob splits in two, allowing Julius to walk calmly toward Aki. Funnily enough, he is holding a revalin child in his arms.

"People, people! What's with this kind of violence so early in the morning!" He stops in front of the village chief for a moment. "Shouldn't you all be preparing for whatever small-town duties you must be attending to?"

Julius sets down the child and pats their head gently. Once the revalin child scurries back to their parents, Julius pulls out a pair of books Aki recognises from the night before and hands them to the village chief.

"Look through those, won't you? You'll find that her words are quite true. Your problem was indeed a wraith. Moreover, if the text is to be believed, the wraith had quite a vendetta against all of Flats."

Julius paces nonchalantly in front of Aki, yet a significant amount of mana emanates from him. As if daring anyone to try to break the mob and let their own personal feelings take hold.

"Oh, and don't bother trying to destroy them. For security reasons, I had the books transcribed. The Hunter's Union and the Adventurer's Association have both been made aware of the contents and should be sending some people to figure things out here."

"You nasty little -"

"Ah, but I'm not done, dear chief." Julius flourishes his arms for emphasis. "To think you're all neglecting this changing world! After all, we've had two Storms of Arrival within a single year of each other. We all know the dangers a single storm brings but two? I am no scholar, but if the mysterious - yet honourable - island of Mune decided the world has become dangerous enough they sent someone this young as an Acolyte, then skies protect us."

"An Acolyte of Mune, is she?" an older woman carrying a basket of dried food and travel supplies steps up next to the chief. "Fortunes be you old fool! You hired and lied to an Acolyte, didye now?"

The old woman smacks the chief across his head and scowls at the rest of the mob. "If you menfolk weren't such blubbering idiots jumping at the chance for some action and thought things through, we wouldn't be in this mess ta begin with!"

She turns to Aki and Julius then and holds up the basket. Julius bows, takes it from her, and passes it to Aki, who also gives the old woman a bow.

"A thousand apologies for my husband, Lady Acolyte. I heard the ruckus and wanted to pay you, even with the damages."

Aki grimaces. Of course, the harm she unintentionally caused would be at the forefront of everyone's minds. It's all there is to think about now that the danger is gone. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do any harm. It's just that plans changed, and I had to act fast once I realised it was a wraith."

"Oh, I ain't blaming you, my lady. I saw you free-cast. Your dedication to keeping us safe by risking your life to that length touched my heart, it did." The chief's wife turns to the mob and waves a fist at them. "So I'll see to it you also get proper remuneration for your troubles!"

"Wait!" Aki shakes her head vigorously, trying to pass on the urgency to the chief's fiery wife. "It's fine. Keep the money. I saw a little of how badly my water spell affected you all. I admit I did destroy a bit of Flats by accident, too, so… I think you'll need it more than me."

There's grumbling and some complaints, but a glare from the chief's wife and a cold look from Julius dispelled the mob. Only Julius, the chief, his wife, and two men who were likely the morning gate guards remained.

"Your graciousness is lovely as you, lady Acolyte." The old woman smiles broadly and bows. "If I may… your cloak denoting your allyship is… reversed."

"Reversed?"

Julius chuckles at this and nods towards her cloak. "I was also sceptical of your claimed allegiance since it is all green with no markings. In this light, however, it is easy to see your brooch and the symbol inside your cloak. Not to mention the stitching meant to be on the inside."

Aki looks down at her shoulder and peeks within her cloak. "Ah, crap! He's right? How long have I been wearing it like this?"

"Oh, thank you. It's embarrassing that I didn't notice."

The chief's wife nods and bows once more before taking hold of her husband and dragging him back into Flats proper. She can be heard berating him about proper etiquette and how unworldly he is, even as they get more distant.

Julius closes the gap between them and offers to hold the basket while Aki adjusts her cloak. Once done, the brilliant white symbol of a three-pronged sun eclipsed by a black waxing crescent shines gloriously under the morning sun.

She awkwardly pins the black and white brooch depicting the head of a spear piercing a waning crescent to her cloak while he smiles at her.

"Thanks for helping me. I don't think I would have been able to talk my way out of that."

"Not at all, not at all. The resolve you had in the face of great danger and being able to stand on your own was admirable." He extends a hand and gives Aki a polished metal amulet, inlaid with the river stone she had lost the previous night. "This may be of some help to avoid losing it next time."

"Th-thank you? I really appreciate this." Aki starts. She pauses, feeling the metal in her hand. "Uh, how much was this? I don't really have the money."

"No payment necessary. Instead, I would ask a favour of you." He pulls out a scroll and a folded parchment paper. He then pulls out a small pouch that clinks in his hand when he hands it to her.

"This scroll is a letter of introduction allowing you free access to the Hunter's Union building in New Pinacca, and this is a job the city has been struggling with. Normally only adventurers and hunters could accept it, but you are an Acolyte with an introduction. Plus, an advancement of half the reward. You'd surely accept this request for me since I will be cleaning up the damages of this job, lady Acolyte."

"I- oh, okay. It's not like I've got a choice in the matter, huh?" Aki sighs and haphazardly puts everything into her bag. "New Pinacca, right? Just point the way, I guess."

"Fantastic!" Julius claps happily. "Head straight south from here and make for the Star Canal. New Pinacca sits against the Star Sea and controls the canal from there. A large city like that would be a good change of pace for you and a much healthier environment for a growing girl."

She frowns at his final statement but ignores it since he's offered a lot for being complete strangers.

"Whatever you say. Thanks for this and… I guess goodbye?" Aki offers him a handshake, already anxious to leave.

"May we cross paths again in the future, Lady Acolyte."