5 Three day silence
Multiple heavy steps echoed through the corridor.
It had been three days already since the incident.
Cloudgester family's knight-commander, who was the lord Duke's personal security-chief and his third son, Adrian Aegeus Antonio Cloudgester was going to meet his father. He had been summoned to discuss about the case of Eleina Oakwood's poisoning and was going to give his report to the Duke.
Though there wasn't really much to report. The maid who had delivered the poisoned tea had been found dead inside a cabinet during the following day and that was the end of the main lead to find the suspect.
What came to Eleina, the poison had caused her muscles around her windpipe to swell aggressively. In addition, her heart rate was also accelerated by the poison to further more increase the need of oxygen. In the end, she had suffocated on her sisters arms before anyone could do anything. There was no magic used in the poison, thus making the poison's maker anonymous. Only thing that was clear, was that the maker of the poison is a professional in the arts of assassination. Luckily Mira hadn't drank the tea.
Naturally there was speculations about who might be responsible, but there was already nearly twenty possibilities as Duke himself had enemies inside the Blue Dragon Kingdom and even more outside of it. What came to Oakwook-family, they naturally being a small quite high class noble-merchant family, also had a lot of rivals. Specially when the rumors of the Duke's fourth son Johan being interested in someone from much lower class of nobles had spread. And that woman wasn't even a "real" noble but a noble-merchant. There was a word nobles used to call these neutral common-people who had been given nobility of any kind -- weed.
Mira had left with her sister's body back to the Taninburg. There wasn't much else for her to do than prepare for the burial. Eleina's body would be burned as she had died with sorrow and horror in her eyes.
Those souls who were not ready to die had a high amount of calamity inside of them causing many of the poor souls to stay trapped inside their bodies and reborn as undying beings. Normally these were zombies or skeletons, but there was quite a list of beings made out of flesh,bones and calamity. The burning burial ceremony was the most common since it secured the soul to leave its body and travel to the heaven to be judged by the Holy Dragons and reborn.
The house-magus had left the mansion earlier during the day of the assassination to meet with the royal guest before hand.
Of course the Sofia wasn't able to help Eleina at all, she didn't even know how to use a single spell nor did she possess knowledge about poisons. The two other sorcerers who were working inside the Duke's mansion didn't make it either.
The other was sleeping inside the greenhouse that was on the other side of the mansion. He was found sleeping face on the book while drooling. The other one was laying on his bed unconscious. A week ago he had accidentally stopped a chant in the midway of tier five red magic "explosion" and had made half of his right arm into minced meat and suffered multiple broken bones all around his body. One could say he was in coma.
The knights sir Tulian and sir Pecka, who had went to get the sorceress, had broken two of Sofia's ribs and thanks to them she had sprayed her vomit across the hallway. It would take three maids two hours to clean up the hallway not including washing the carpet.
The last thing Sofia remembers from that night before she passed out while leaning on the wall, was an image of an emerald eyed woman looking at her with begging expression while tears fell down on her cheeks.
Then she had heard a very familiar sound and a text had appeared:
'Piip piip!
New quest has been set: Debt to pay.'
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During the three days of the initial investigation, Sofia had rested and studied in her room.
Since she had passed out, Sofia had slept the first 18 hours.
Mira had insisted to leave as soon as possible and she left during morning while Sofia was still asleep. The knights, Tulian and Pecka, didn't have a change to talk with Sofia who slept through quite a hassle. Better to say, she was nearly in comatose state too for at least half of the time she rested.
Sir Alphonse did check on Sofia later accompanied by few knight-apprentices. When Sofia had asked why the apprentices were there, Alphonse had laughed and said that they had insisted to see the ghost of the mansion.
To this explanation Alphonse didn't get a verbal answer. Sofia had just blankly stared at him. Two people had died and this person who was a knight had guts to pull out such humor.
The Duke's mansion was one of the places were young knight's were educated. Or more so, the barracks close to the mansion were the main stage of that operation. The apprentices would learn high class swordsmanship and decorum along with archery, riding and basic Tier-magic. Tulian being an exception as he couldn't even cast tier 1 spell, but was miraculous archer.
This time period of training would take three years. And after this the apprentices would be called novice-knights who then on would finish their training with their master families. How long it would take, was depending on the novice-knight himself.
There was one woman among the apprentices, but to Sofia she was quite similar looking compared the men, probably this was thanks to the harsh battle training she was going through right now.
Thanks to sir Alphonse, Sofia had found one problem in the knight training -- apparently the brain-part of the education was lacking. Thankfully the knights understood to leave without messing around too much. Sofia didn't wish to start screaming at them, but her vocal cords were hanging on the edge.
From Sofia's perspective it felt like she had been a punching bag, at least the stomach area. All her energy was gone. That was because of her mana pool was still small and low at the moment. She had wondered about her mana pool increasing... that 10%... it would fit the classification of a magi better than sorceress.
That day she didn't open the logbook. Just laid on bed watching the ceiling.
Reading felt like pain.
Moving felt like pain.
Even breathing felt like pain.
She had spent her dinner watching out of the window. The look on her eyes had made Lisa buzz around her like a bee comforting it's queen.
"Why are you so full of energy all the time?" Sofia had asked when Lisa's tail had accidentally peeked under her outfit. Alphonse didn't seem to have tail himself or it was stubby. Lisa had dark brown fox tail with snow white tip.
"Eeeh? I think that I am not", had Lisa answered with smile and added, "smiling and working keeps me sane. It's all I have." She smiled with eyes closed.
That had hit something inside Sofia. She was the same. This body she now controlled, it's real owner was the one holding the hand on the lips to prevent her from saying exactly the same words: "Smiling and working keeps me sane. It's all I have." Ah, that little fox was pushing herself all this time. The real Sofia was still there, somewhere.
She would take it easy. No logbook. No what ever that was that slept inside her clothes.
Just rest.
"Um..."
"What is it?"
"Isn't this way of speaking too rude.... I mean... I am speaking so commonly with lady Rivermore... I didn't really think. I was told by my superior that..."
"It's fine. This is actually preferable to me. Just relax for now. You will go insane if you push yourself constantly without giving yourself time to rest."
"Y-yes. Relax. Kuru kuru... You want some tea?"
'She got quite familiar... "you"? Ha!'
"Yes. One cup won't kill me."
"Huh?"
"Umu. Sorry, but don't put so much honey in it this time."
'Oh fuck, that shit "Umu" that Alphonse uses is contagious?'
"Oh... sorry. Thehehee."
'That one's bad too!'
So the maid and the sorceress sipped their tea in silence.
Those emerald eyes at the living room could one day belong to Michael if (s)he didn't (wo)man up.
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Apparently Sofia was way more tired than she thought, because as she woke up, sun was setting again. The second day was closing to its ending before it had even said "morning" to her.
But she could feel it, the mana pool was full. So much energy!
'It will be hard to sleep this night.'
Lisa was sleeping though while laying her upper body on the bed end. Her tail was going up and down while peeking behind her every now and then.
'Did she work herself to that state while I was sleeping?'
"Hhmmmh. Mommy. Kuru kuru."
Sofia crawled slowly closer.
'It's only evening. She is sleeping on duty!'
"Kuru."
'...not that I mind.'
"...cute."
Now as Sofia thought about it, Lisa was probably even younger than Sofia. If she had to guess, she would have said 16, but Lisa was a demi-human so Sofia didn't really trust her intuition. Do you count demi-human's age with human-years or is a half of it fox-years?
Sofia decided to check on the logbook since there wasn't anything else do and she had no idea what name to give to that scythe-thingy.
'Would be nice if this had camera function.'
"Kuru kuru."
'Missions:
"New!* "Debt to pay", 1%:
Solve the mystery behind lady Eleina's death - In progress.
Notification: If you fail to complete the forced mission in a year, a penalty will be issued. Time remaining 384/385 days."
'I need to become the Sherlock Holmes now? I am not a detective! What's with that name "Debt to pay"? Ah, such a pain. I am in debt to them because they brought me here out of the wilderness? Fair enough, mister world wide.'
Sofia struggled with her one working arm to put the blanked on the maid, but eventually succeeded.
'Also a year is longer here... I see. 24 hour-days approximately, but longer years. It would be nice to see the night sky, but every evening and night it's cloudy and rainy.'
There was many things, specially things considering common knowledge that Sofia wasn't informed by anyone. But why would she be, it's not like she had "forgotten" how to speak, of course people would assume she "knew" common things, at least something.
She opened the curtains and sat on the chair. It was raining again, but it was silent. No thunder and no heavy rain. The view opened into the left side of the mansion where the garden's edge could be seen. The garden was behind the mansion. Then there was, about two hundred spears away from the building, the woods. The forest was full of leafy trees and no wonder, it was raining a lot and during day, it was quite warm. But it wasn't a jungle, not even close, but there didn't seem to be any softwoods.
There would eventually be snow at this region. Sofia had learned that winters were harsh in Blue Dragon Kingdom. Lisa had explained that there was a current coming down from the north that brought cold water to the south and wintertime, it would freeze the whole harbor at least for few months.
Many seamen had drowned in its waters as it was unpredictable during spring and autumn. Sometimes ships simply went missing in it. There was also a rumor of a sea-monster swimming in that current, but it was only a legend as there was no records of it.
There was teapot on the table with other commodities. Sofia took few salt-sticks and chewed them while reading her Logbook.
"The Dark Fate, 0%:
Slay the Evil Soul - In progress."
'I have been wondering, what this one is. I seem to be getting missions when something is happening around me. Tutorial probably opened when I woke up the first time. It was midday on that grass field... hmmh. I have been here for quite a while haven't I... aah. A week or so soon. If these missions are my guide lines to "grind experience", then this "Dark Fate" is my main quest line? "To vanquish evil, the kingdom summoned a hero bla bla bala", sounds like some serious bullshit. I have a job that doesn't really fit with that type of a story. Can I .... open my job? Open job - The Grim Reaper. Password too? I go with the same as last time -- 16. 08. 2013.'
'Main job: The Grim Reaper.
The Grim Reaper's main passive skill: "Devour":
Eating a soul gives The Grim Reaper 5% of the levels the soul has as long it is stronger level-wise than The Grim Reaper. While soul eating occurs, The Grim Reaper increases its soul-mass by 5%.
The Grim Reaper's second passive skill: "Blessed by Death":
The Grim Reaper has an unnaturally high regeneration rate and has to be "executed" to die. This includes decapitation, complete destruction of Reaper's head or complete destruction of Reaper's heart.
The Grim Reaper's third passive skill: "Gifted sage"
The Reaper has five times more mana regeneration than an average soul.'
"I-immortal?"
'Wait no... but something between... soul-mass? If I don't get killed, I do not die of old age? And what in the hell is that Gifted sage. Wait. Does this mean that simply talking to that damned scythe takes five times... five times!? ... more mana than these people around me have? If something, that is a cheat. Was a damn needle in a haystack to find the information though.'
"Hmmmh, kuru kuru. One more plate..."
'Sub-job: Novice-Sorceress.
The main passive skill: Beginner's mana-control and gathering:
Novice in the arts of sorcery, the sorcerer owns low mana-gathering rate and low-skill to control it.
The novice sorcerers have to master at least ten spells from each tiers one, two and three to have right to call themselves apprentices.'
'Nothing new on the western front I see. Would be nice to learn a single spell though.'
Then there was still the last thing -- the status.
'Status. Using preferred units.
Level 3, 49% -- Mana 98% -- Stamina 89%***
Height: 165cm Weight: 33kg
Left arm healing process ongoing.
Four ribs almost healed -- torso prioritization.
Small internal wounds healed.
Sleep deprivation cured.
Pain numbing in maximum capacity, -50%.
Control on automatic.
Strenght 00.80 times average.
Regeneration 10.40 times average.
Endurance 00.90 times average.
Total mana generated 05.00 times the average.
Mana pool 01.15 times the normal.
WARNING!*** An emergency experience gain is active until level 15 has been reached.
All the experience is multiplied by three. This causes sleepiness and powerlessness. Low level causes low strength and low endurance in comparison to body's maximum capacity.
WARNING!*** If not been kept alive due the skill "Blessed by Death", person in question would not be alive! Thanks to the unnaturally low level of the adult body, the bone density is set at 0.5 times average. Body is kept together with mana. The approximated level-goal to reach the normal bone density: level 10. After level 10, the bone density will rise with the normal rate of 1% per level. This causes sleepiness and powerlessness'
'But why am I so light? Because of the mana is circulating inside me or my bones? Only 33 kg, isn't that closer to a walking skeleton than living human. I seem to regenerate a lot more mana than I can hold in. This does fit better the classification of magi than sorcerer, but I suppose I cannot have the magi-job... because I don't know how to use Dragon magic. Does Lisa sense the mana leeking from me or is this some privilege for magic-users? Every time I check this logbook, more and more cows rain from the heaven. Aren't I with all this extra... hey.. wait.. I am the damned ghost of the mansion... Fuck that Alphonse and his apprentices!'
Snap!*
Salt stick's other half dropped on the floor.
What came to the leaking mana, Sofia had constantly this strange feeling like she was surrounded by some from of mist. But nothing visible was there, only the slight pressure on her skin, like she was wrapped inside the thinnest silk there is.
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It was the third day of the investigation.
Kop Kop*
"Miss Rivermore? It's Lisa. I brought you breakfast."
.
.
.
"I am coming in miss Rivermore!"
"Hnnnngh. Huoh. So what's the menu?"
"The usual. And I got some Makiara breads for you too. It's quite late morning actually."
Makiara was a fresh water fish that was unique to the Blue Dragon Kingdom's inner waters. It's meat resembled something between salmon and pike. It was predator fish that could grow to the length of one spear and weight around twenty boots of sand, one boot being around 4.5 kg. Though growing that huge would take years and years.
"Eh. How much is the clock?"
"Eleven."
"What?! How did I sleep that long?"
"I did try... to wake you up but... but..."
"Huh, but what?"
"Miss.. umm what were you doing in the night? When I um... woke up, you were laying on my tail... I dragged you on the bed. I know that I failed my duties as your assigned maid because I passed out, but... to ... t-t-touch my tail like that please next time ask a permission before you do things like that."
"That indicates there is going to be a next time. Right?"
"Mo-uh. Please miss, stop bullying me. I already got yelled at by the head-maid. Again."
Lisa's ears were down and her cheeks were red like a strawberries, but tail doesn't lie. It was wiggling right to left and back to right like she was sweeping leaves from the floor.
At that moment Sofia had a nasty thought, but she did her best to sweep it aside. Slight red blossomed on her cheeks. The whole idea inside her mind was already enough disturbing and Sofia didn't initially have intentions to flirt. If that maid was a lesbian, this could lead to really strange misunderstandings. After all, Michael was not going to desecrate Sofia's body.
"I woke up when it was raining. I think that I got a little bit carried away as I put the blanket on you while my eyes were barely staying open. All I remember is that there was something soft so I laid my head on it. And that's that."
"I-I see. I am sorry, I didn't mean to sleep like that on my work time." Lisa handed Sofia a teacup. Her hands were shaking a little bit.
"I don't mind. Just let it be. It's not like a tornado did sweep the house away. I wouldn't mind if you come here to drink tea with me after your duties end. That is, if you have any time left. After all, it's quite lonely here."
In the reality, Sofia had done exercises in the darkness of the night while Lisa was sleeping in the same room. What sort of exercises -- Squats, light x-jumping, sit-ups and so on. Though she didn't dare to try push-ups with one hand. Sofia's body being already in tip-top shape and supported by mana, controlling her own weight wasn't such an issue. She only got a small fracture on her knee while accidentally landing on one leg. The body itself was already such a cheat as Michael wasn't the one who had bled sweat and tears for it.
But it was worth it, the training, even though urge to move was ignited by overflowing mana that couldn't stay inside her, since she had gotten level four and 10% more strength and minor upgrades on other stats. It was like she had drank three cups of coffee before going to bed. Now she was sitting on 60% mana. From this Sofia had come to conclusion that for normal person, it would take a week or two to regenerate their almost fully lost mana back. She was amazing!
"I would like to do that. Thehehee. But now miss, there is a one other thing."
"Eeh, what's that?"
Lisa went out of the room and after a blink of an eye she came back with a shining baroque styled red dress with gold butterfly sewing blinking on the lower edges.
"Not that again..."
"Uh, but the lord Duke has summoned you. And I thought you did like this one. It's the same you wore last time after all."
"Ah, such a pain. It is already set that I am not a noble. Nor I am not a princess of any kind. I am a sorceress."
'And a Reaper!'
"Well um... being a sorceress isn't that far away from low tier noble and the lord Duke said that there is going to be other people too."
"Huoh. Fine, but where am I exactly been summoned? Is this a second interrogation? And my arm is still done for." Sofia tried to move her left fingers without results.
"Umm as well as I am aware, it's just a normal evening with food and some activities. But there is a royal guest present so it's a must for you to wear this dress miss Rivermore, for the Duke's sake. And don't worry about the hand, you are beautiful even if it was cut off."
Sofia looked at the dress. Then the grinning foxy behind it.
The dress.
The fox.
The dress.
'God fucking dammit!'
The maids had brought it to her the first time when she went to meet the Duke... just in case if she was a noble to give the Duke good impression. Even though Sofia was gorgeous as the black hair and burning red dress gave off an aggressive and high status aura, this whole situation was a nightmare to begin with. The first time wearing that dress was already pushing Sofia down to an early grave from embarrassment, but now, they would start to shovel the soil on her too.
"At what time do I need to attend this... what ever it is?"
"Ah, 5 o'clock when the sun is starting to set."
"Great. I got 6 hours."
"Not exactly."
"Huh?"
"Miss needs to clean herself up very well for this."
"... you mean the whole set... from bath... to make up?"
"Yey! I bring few other maids to help you with it. So don't worry. You don't seem to be experienced in embellishing yourself."
"That one I must admit."
After all, the first time she was going to meet the Duke, Sofia put on no make up and almost gave the maids heart attacks. Thankfully the Duke didn't mind, more of he seemed to find it hilarious back then.
