Chapter 22: Conscience

I successfully cast the spell on Amberstone. But for some reason, she's so terrified of my presence. Did I over-do it?

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked and reached out my hand to her, but she immediately moved backwards.

Thud

The sound of the impact can be heard around the room. Trying to dodge my approach, she fell to the ground. Crying and trembling in fear.

"Um, I told you I wouldn't do anything bad to you." I tried to calm her down, but it didn't seem to work.

"Uwah, you made a girl cry," teased Jonathan.

"That's not my intention!" I said.

What should I do? Should I cancel the spell? But I can only cast this once a week... I just want to experiment it on someone. I want to try it on Neerial, but she might die from this spell. But since she's from a bad organization, I thought I could use her for an experiment.

Out of curiosity about what's happening inside, Neerial peeked out of the door. Seeing Amberstone on the ground, still tied to the chair, and crying from fear. She looked at me and immediately figured out what happened.

"Uwah, Christ made a girl cry. You're the worst," teased Neerial.

Yep, rubbing salt on my wound. Neerial being Neerial.

"Neerial, take care of her. We'll get out of here, and this woman will lead us to where their little sister is," I said.

Still giving me a glare, Neerial followed my words and carried Amberstone in her arms. They look like a prince carrying his princess, which is kind of funny.

I decided not to cancel my spell. I have to know how this spell works, its ability, its limits, and its flaws. Someone has to be my guinea pig. Having it be you is simply pure bad luck, Amberstone.

.

.

.

We headed back to the forest where we used to meet up and brought Amberstone there. We'll use her to find the sister of Nova and Jonathan. Our enemy is the same, so I'm using them to gather additional information about the shadow pledge and figure out how I'll accomplish my quest.

"Tell me where the girl with pink hair is," I ordered Amberstone.

"Th- the buyer is one of the nobles in Conheart City. He's a regular at buying slaves and uses them as his plaything and stress reliever. His name is Nicholas Jackson," said Amberstone.

Good, she followed my order. It seems like she still has reasons to live. I'll gladly take advantage of that.

"A noble..." Muttered Nova.

"Those scums! They don't have a shred of humanity in their blood!" Screamed Jonathan.

In this world, people who have power can do anything they want. It can be either good or bad. If they eliminate all witnesses to their bad deeds, they will get away from their crimes. This is one of the reasons I hate following the orders of the higher-ups. The reason I fled from my responsibility as the five-class adventurer.

"Amberstone," I called.

"Yes?" asked Amberstone, with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Starting today, you can't run away from me, and you can't attack any of us. That's my order," I said.

"What?!" screamed Amberstone.

"You have a problem with that?" I asked.

"No—no, sir," said Amberstone.

I might be taking it too far, but I don't want her to attack us. Considering her level, I have to be careful about how I handle her.

"Hey, Christ. Can I talk to you for a bit?" asked Neerial.

"Neerial. Sure, what is it?" I said.

She pointed behind her, signaling that she wanted us to talk privately. It seems personal, or maybe she has something to request. I'm sure I gave her money to last for a month, though.

We moved quite far away from Jonathan and Nova. Not too near for them to overhear us, and not too far so we can still see them. Neerial turned around and looked at me with a serious face.

"Cancel the spell, now," said Neerial.

"Huh?" I wondered.

"That spell that you used came from killing 50 adventurers, right? Dispell is right now," said Neerial.

"But why? This is a good opportunity to test its abilities," I argued.

"You don't need that spell! Trust me! That spell will eat you alive. It's not something that should be used lightly," said Neerial.

"What are you talking about? Are you forgetting who I am? My classes are nothing to laugh at," I said.

"You're being too arrogant; that kind of spell is harmful even to its user. It's a curse!" said Neerial.

"Curse or not, it's still something that might save us in the future. That's why I'm testing it on others first to know its strengths and weaknesses. It's for our sake," I said.

"For our sake?" said Neerial.

Neerial looked down and clenched her fist. I don't know what to do. She just stood in front of me, and her hair was covering her face. I couldn't see any of her reactions. But a sparkle of water fell to the ground. I looked at Neerial and realized that she was crying.

"You killed your own kind for me. You became a murderer for me. You killed innocent people to protect my existence. A demon who's considered a monster for humans. You killed for me. Isn't that enough?" said Neerial.

She looked me in the eyes, as if asking why I protected her. I can see through her that she's feeling guilty due to my actions. I just did what I thought was right and ignored the laws of this world. Forgetting that I am a human. I forget that I have huge responsibilities to shoulder in this world.

"I ask myself every day if you did the right thing that day. I ask myself if it's okay for me to be at your side. But I know those questions won't change what happened. So if it's not necessary, please avoid killing anyone. Humans are not guinea pigs. You shouldn't use them as experiments even if they're strangers to you. I can protect both of us even without that death spell. Please trust me... the same way I trust you," said Neerial.

After I saw Amberstone's reaction to my death spell, I knew that something was wrong. But I did my best to ignore the signs. I want to believe that what I'm doing is right. I convinced myself that what I'm doing is for the sake of Neerial and me. However, I'm wrong.

"Okay, I'll cancel the spell," I said.

Neerial gave me a look of satisfaction with a smile on her lips. Even though she's crying, she's still shining brightly. This girl is my friend and companion, but at the same time my conscience. She's ready to tell me if I'm wrong without any hesitation, and that's exactly what I need.

"Let's head back," I said.

"Yes," said Neerial.

"Oh, but I'm not going to tell Amberstone that I cancelled the spell," I said.

"Huh? Why?" asked Neerial.

"So that she'll do what we'll tell her to do. She'll do what I say without any hesitation because she wants to live," I said.

I'll cancel the spell but make her believe that it's still active. That way, Amberstone will fulfill any of my requests. Hehe... This will be interesting.

In my words, Neerial gave me a sigh. "Fine, using the death spell is my only problem anyway. Whatever happens to that girl is none of my business," said Neerial.

.

.

.

We head back to Nova and Jonathan. It seems they already received information about this noble who took their little sister.

"What took you guys so long? She already told us where we can find this Nicholas bastard," said Jonathan.

"Sorry about that; where are we heading?" I asked.

"In a place called Outerd Kone, it's a place where most nobles of Conheart City live. It's on the west side of Conheart," said Jonathan.

"We're going to head there and infiltrate his castle. Hopefully she hasn't done anything bad to Seraphina yet. Or else," said Nova.

Their anger is clearly visible in our eyes. They are willing to do anything for their sister, even killing. Doing something bad for someone's sake. That's the thing I think we have in common.

"Alright, we'll come with you," I said.

"We'll help you both if things don't go as planned," said Neerial.

"Thank you; it's much easier with you two on our side," said Nova.

We packed our things and headed to Outerd Kone. Amberstone went with us through the castle, guiding our way to what she called the buyer.

I'm hoping that helping them will soon give us additional information about the shadow pledge.