Trapped in Another World With No Magic
Author: Silas_Kriegsende
Chapter 232: Pieces Coming Together
Rikuto studies the map of the various territories around Mornistae while the advance team sets up the camp that will be used by the full convoy when they arrive. Centerhold is located roughly in the middle of the Kingdom of Ahmpur, a bit southeast of the City of Urflasdat, which is a name that has come up in various trade documents and other tax-related decrees that he has signed over his time as King of Mornistae. It’s the capital of Ahmpur, but more importantly, serves as a sort of trade hub between the major factions of the east.
As such, it’s an extremely crucial lifeline for trade and a driving force for the international economy of the east. If Urflasdat falls, it could cripple trade and drive the rapid growth of exploitative and even black market trade, shattering the stability of prices.
Tulaxxas is still in Mornistae as Rikuto’s deputy, but more importantly, he’s meant to make a note of Greydald’s actions to try to root out what the King Father is planning to do. Greydald has a greater amount of petty pride, and is still rather incensed about the Peace Treaty with the Fievegal after the compromises Mornistae had to make, with very little tangible good returned from the agreement. He has no idea of the scope of nuclear weapons, especially if they can disable magic for any meaningful amount of time, which is the backbone of strength that Mornistae has.
thinks the young Japanese man as he looks around. Most of the advance team are knights and laborers who are following the quartermaster’s instructions for laying out the encampment for the relief convoy being led by Rikuto and Heralesse together. She is staying with the main unit, which has a stronger guard and more distinct royal banners to ensure the threat remains minimal to them.
A familiar gatonine walks by carrying a crate. The two make eye contact, but say nothing. At the moment, they are nothing more than the King of Mornistae and a bugler boy.
But, in truth, she is Rikuto’s undercover knight and Zenkon’s first unofficial ninja, Larravu. The ‘bugler boy’ gives a respectful nod to the young King, and Rikuto dips his head in subtle reply. Larravu continues helping unload carriages.
Officially, Larravu is on leave to visit family. Unofficially, she is helping Rikuto with a very
training regimen in exchange for him teaching her what he knows about ninjitsu; both historical and fictional. She is quite good at stealth now, and since gatonines are rather androgynous while they’re young for the most part, she is extremely good at blending in as a younger boy when she’s disguised as stable boys, buglers, and other small-framed laborers, which generally draw even less attention than comparable female roles, who might be flirted with or harassed by male laborers.
The Japanese man returns his gaze and his thoughts to the mana fire, studying the map.
Sir Chebnom approaches Rikuto, saying softly, “Your Majesty, her Majesty the Queen is arriving with the main detachment.”
“Good, good,” replies Rikuto. “If you would, please ask her to meet me here.”
“Of course, your Majesty.”
The camp is mostly established already, so the advanced team didn’t fail in the direct sense, but they can probably adjust the range a bit if need be, since it is still a bit early in the evening.
thinks Rikuto.
“Your Majesty,” states a female voice as she approaches.
Rikuto turns to face Heralesse, who is flanked by her lady in waiting. Both of them are wearing their respective riding uniforms, since it’s a relief expedition. “My Queen,” replies Rikuto, stepping closer to her as she kisses his cheek in accordance with the basic protocol they’re supposed to follow in public.
That said, he does ask her something he meant to ask before the expedition actually started, “Would… we be able to address each other only by names from now on? J-Just for the expedition, at least.”
Heralesse smiles, somewhat amused and bashful about the request. “We do still have to abide by royal protocols,” answers the young Queen.
“I understand the ceremony, but…” Rikuto glances around. In
, everyone around them is on their side. But, in practice, there are likely spies, all around them, both serving the nobles of Mornistae and infiltrators from foreign nations.
And, if Rikuto’s suspicions are correct, there is a non-zero chance of the Fievegal installing a stealth golem to spy on Rikuto, since he’s fairly certain a stealth golem delivered the letter to Erimaya.
“I just think it would be better to minimize our statuses out in the field. On Earth, when rifles started becoming more accurate at longer ranges, officers would be targeted early on. Royalty would be even more likely targets.”
Shock spreads across her face, and she glances around. “Y-... You think the Fievegal might attack us?”
“N-No, not the Fievegal. But, ironically enough, American sharpshooters used exactly that strategy with some of the earliest rifles. I won’t force you to wear different clothing, but I would prefer us keep a more casual presence where possible.”
Heralesse nods in agreement. “I suppose the Fievegal practices something similar. Daniel said something like ‘I don’t want my head to get scooped off if I can help it,’ but I thought he was just making a morbid joke.”
Rikuto scoffs lightly. It’s a little disappointing that he’s behind Daniel once more, but if he constantly focuses on competing with Daniel, he’s just going to end up in a cold war and strain the already-suffering economy of Mornistae, which is going to take time to recover after Yaulander’s betrayal.
“I can’t speak for certain on his reasons, since he doesn’t seem to take his own position seriously, and he’s setting a pretty bad example for the Empresses, but I imagine part of it was that. Though, Daniel and I are pretty recognizable no matter what we do.”
“True. So, what were you doing?” asks Heralesse, observing the map.
“I was planning out how to deploy our units.” He points towards Centerhold, where the fire is effectively centered, assuming it is spreading radially. “I understand that the Empire controls Centerhold, though I’m not sure how or why Ahmpur has left an exclave like this alone.”
Heralesse studies the map for a moment, thinking. “Ahmpur and the Empire have had a very amicable relationship through most of history, especially since the exclave was formed. But, you’re right. I suppose it is odd that it has stayed that way.”
“If I may,” offers the more mature woman serving as lady in waiting to the young Queen.
“Please do, Haeva,” replies Rikuto with a nod of approval. He is grateful that she paid attention to what he said about the ranks.
She steps forward on Heralesse’s opposite side, pointing at a spot on the map southwest of the Centerhold fortress. “I’ve heard stories in the past, though they rarely come up anymore. I believe it’s widely rumored that the Centerhold land is cursed.”
“Cursed?” asks Rikuto.
“I don’t know the details, but virtually all farming and settlement attempts have failed. Only the fortress itself seems unaffected. And, this region is the worst, if memory serves.”
Rikuto ponders this information. ‘Curses’ could be literally that in this world, but it’s also in that grey area where it could still be something that’s not fully understood, like some sort of fungus that contaminates and kills plants in the area, some kind of pest native to the region, aggressive, smothering plant life, or even contaminants in the soil or water. The possible simple explanations are numerous even before magic should be considered.
“It won’t matter much if the fire destroys it all,” remarks Rikuto quietly. “I want to send the bulk of our force to the northwest to intercept the fire before it reaches Urflasdat, and if the worst comes to pass, start evacuations.”
“We can send the fire mages to start controlled burns from our approach towards the south,” replies Heralesse. “Wind mages can also try to slow the flames down by pressing in on the perimeter.”
Haeva replies gently, “There aren’t very many mages left after the summoning of Miss Zuzia, particularly those skilled in water and wind magic. It may be wise to keep the majority of them focused on protecting the city.” She softens her expression, adding, “Forgive me if it’s not my place. But,... even a small fire can be unpredictable…”
Rikuto nods in agreement.
“Either way, you should write up dispatches for the various teams for when we cross the border,” states Heralesse. “
we would need permission to deploy emergency aid to other nations from their rulers.”
Rikuto chuckles nervously, knowing she’s making a jab at his clandestine mission to pursue Yaulander. While that mission failed, Mornistae’s involvement seems to have been suppressed. There are undoubtedly people among Yaulander’s allies who know about it, but to formally condemn them, Yaulander would also need to elaborate on his own movements, which he likely is trying to keep relatively quiet.
He agrees with her suggestion, though. “I’ll start drafting those right away. I do expect we’ll be stopped at the border of Ahmpur, though.”
Heralesse jokes, “Maybe one of the golems can relay a request for aid from the Empire to us, since everything’s shifting now.”
“We’ll see, I guess,” murmurs Rikuto. Nothing happens immediately, though that doesn’t necessarily mean there is no golem present. If it’s meant to protect Heralesse or hold her ‘invisibly hostage’, they won’t reveal its presence for sure.
“Once we do reach the border, I plan to have us split up with the two main units.”
Heralesse ponders the map as well, and she finally speaks after a moment. “I suppose that’s the right move. But, the King should probably have the larger guard.”
Rikuto shakes his head. “I am King of Mornistae, but you are royalty by blood. You’ll have an easier time speaking to the lord of Urflasdat if the fire can’t be held back.”
Heralesse starts to speak, but she hesitates. Rikuto, Daniel, and Zuzia represent extreme rarities in the world of Zenkon because they come from another world and are more directly ‘touched’ by the Divine. Depending on how they use these gifts, they have the power to reshape the world, for better or worse. In theory, Rikuto’s voice should carry weight, but Heralesse knows in practice that, between his youth, the recent events with the Fievegal, and the unknown ‘nobility’ of his blood, a Queen born of royal blood on Zenkon is likely able to wield greater authority in his place.
“I understand,” replies Heralesse seriously. “I will give this role my all.”
***
Floria coughs as she finally awakens. The last thing she remembers is Kernuules, also known as Koggus Gristak by the goblins of Grendel Six. She was in its grasp and losing feeling in her body as her consciousness faded.
Now, something feels… off. She manages to lift her hands, which are her normal goblin-shaped hands. The room she’s in is dark, but goblins have little trouble seeing if there’s even a little light. The difference is the level of color, which is more difficult to discern.
Even so, her skin tone seems different than it was; lighter and a shade other than her normal fair green.
“Have you awakened?” asks a mature woman’s voice with a slight hint of hollowness from how her voice is generated.
The goblin field medic looks over at Xyreko, who is operating some magical devices nearby. Floria is among the most educated goblins in history simply by learning what medical knowledge she could from the various sources she could, including their otherworlder Emperor.
“Minister Xyreko… Am… I… a golem, now?”
Xyreko’s voice giggles softly, replying a little bluntly, “Very nearly so. Instead, we learned a great many things in the last twenty nine hours.” Xyreko’s posture shifts, and Floria can tell something very serious has happened.
“Corpsman Floria, before I explain your current condition, I’ll simply say this much;” She gestures to the side, where a brunette woman that the goblin doesn’t recognize is standing nearby. She’s about Aramellianna’s age, but wearing a different style of dress that has some strange, dark grey square plates layered like loosely-attached fish scales. She is sweating, and her eyes are a glowing golden color.
“This is Lady Byleathea, mother to the Empress of the Grand Zenkon Empire, and it was thanks to her that we were able to save your life.” Xyreko then adds a little more dryly, “In addition to our Emperor, since I am required to have his permission to experiment.”
Floria does her best to sit up, and she can feel a sort of strange… warmth in her body. Or, maybe a chill that isn’t uncomfortable. It’s difficult to describe the almost bubbly, tingly feeling she’s feeling.
“Thank you, my Lady,” replies Floria as she bows her head. “I owe you my life, though my life is not my own to give while I have pledged my service to Grendel Six.”
Byleathea replies gently, “If anything, I have merely repaid a debt.”
Xyreko explains, “I flew her in because she has a unique ability, but it requires the life of a sacrifice.” The goblin then gestures to a bed nearby where a very old goblin elder is similarly wearing a robe made of the same strange scale-plates of dark grey squares attached by small rings and overlapping, while a strange, golden mist seems to be rolling off of him. Him being gestured to seems to sadden Byleathea, who can’t look at the goblin elder.
“I… don’t seem to recall…”
“This is Huwt. He was a goblin elder of Queen Shek’s home burrow and felt his own life was very near its end because of how long he had lived. Byleathea’s unique power requires a living sacrifice, and part of my experiment was to determine whether or not that means a person’s soul or just the life force of their body.” She stands a little straighter, adding, “So far, the preliminary results are promising.”
Floria blinks a few times, unsure of what the golem Caretaker of the Citadel is saying.
“That means Huwt is also directly part of saving your life in exchange for his own. Balamae is confirming whether or not his soul was successfully captured by the Citadel, as planned, but it’s good to see that we were at least successful in reviving you.”
“How… long was I unconscious?” asks Floria uneasily. “And,...”
The lights increase due to Xyreko’s unseen hand, and Byleathea takes a seat nearby, resting from the exertion her spell seems to have placed on her.
This allows the goblin medic to see the truth.
Her skin has lost almost all of its natural green palette, and instead, she has a bit of a light violet hue. “A-... Am I… an undead?”
“Again, very near so,” replies Xyreko with a slight grimness to her tone. “The best I can make sense of, given the process by which souls are preserved within the Citadel, such as myself, is that Kernuules was trying to forcibly separate your body from your soul without actually killing your body. During this process, he was draining your mana, which acts as a sort of ‘glue’ for the soul in all but the Emperor’s case.”
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Floria feels her chest where she feels the most odd, and though her skin and flesh are still soft and possess their normal silky feel, she does feel a strange knot just beneath her breasts.
“
is the part of Kernuules that was left behind, severed before his own corruptive will could take hold. It’s… draining all of your mana at a rather rapid rate.”
The goblin notices the metallic anklet that seems to be shackling her to her bed. “And,... I’m a prisoner in case it was too late?”
“No. That is the continuous supply of mana I am feeding you via the Citadel. You will need to carry a continuous supply of mana crystals charged with refined mana to supplement what your body no longer holds.”
“I was afraid the divine curing spell would purge you, since you were being held by such a corruptive force. Especially… after what happened to his Grace,” explains Byleathea.
“Life itself is fine,” states Xyreko. “Corpsman Floria can decide what to do further.” The golem then looks at Floria. “As far as I can tell, you are still yourself in all but two ways; you need the mana supplementation constantly, or you will fall comatose again, according to what Daniel suggested your state was, rather than merely unconscious. And second, you seem to have a much deeper pool of mana as a result. Though it will constantly drain you, the shard of Kernuules seems to be acting as a sort of mana core for you, similar to the Citadel itself.”
Floria is hearing all of the words, and she thinks she’s understanding them, but it is a
of information all at once. Especially because the last thing she remembers is what she believed would be her last moments.
“Wh-... What happens to me now?”
“The experiment is mostly over,” replies Xyreko. “You are successfully alive, and I just received word from Balamae that Huwt is our newest golem, though it’ll take time before he can actually assimilate into a physical form the way I am before you now. I have also gathered a great deal of data on Lady Byleathea’s power, which will take a lot more time to analyze than I had originally thought. It possesses many layers of magic formulae and wavelengths.”
“May I take this strange mail off?” asks Byleathea.
“Yes. Though, please do treat the plates gently. There may be embedded magic in them, so I will need to store them.”
Byleathea starts removing the fish-scale-like ‘mail’ from herself carefully, and Xyreko adds, “I would recommend you rest for a day or two, normally, Corpsman, but you may actually benefit from deploying with Daniel once word arrives.”
“With the Emperor?” asks the goblin.
“Yes,” nods the golem. “The most recent event the Fievegal will be dealing with very soon is a mana fire that seems to radiate refined mana, which you should be able to absorb the same way Hekate does. You’ll need to try to be mindful for a ‘full’ feeling of some sort, lest you mutate or worse, but you may actually prove to be most useful in providing a place for some of the radiated mana to go. It’ll likely still be similar to emptying out a lake with a cup, but we may gain further valuable insight.”
“What about… Kernuules?”
Xyreko cocks her head with amusement noticeable in her posture, in spite of her head being expressionless. “Oh? Who do you think you serve, dear Corpsman Floria?”
“I… H-Her Greatness?”
“Mmm… A fair answer.” She walks away while answering, “To answer your question, since you ruined my smug reply, the Harbinger of Calamity ended Kernuules swiftly and once and for all. Kernuules has no hold on you. His remnant is too entangled with your body and soul, since it started to take root, so we won’t be able to remove it. But, as long as you keep a source of mana, you should live a long and happy life with no other immediately apparent consequences.” She retrieves a necklace with three simplistic jewels on them, each glowing faintly with a soft white light. “Each of these diamonds should last three days when charged, given the rate you’re absorbing mana. But, I’m working on light armor to fit you with a graphite base, since it will be less obviously valuable. Doephluev recommended that you have enhanced magic crystals implanted under your skin, but Daniel will require you to make a direct request if that’s the route you want to go.”
The golem hands over the necklace, which Floria asks, “H-How do I use this?”
“Keeping the crystals against your skin should be sufficient. You won’t fall unconscious instantly, but I would not wager on having even a single hour if you aren’t in contact with a strong refined mana source.”
“People?”
Xyreko nods. “Be mindful, though; you are now more akin to a living wraith. You are capable of draining a person of their mana beyond their own limits, which means possible death.”
Floria grimaces, and this prompts the golem to add, “Not to worry. As long as you wear gloves while in contact with others and keep a more efficient mana source in contact with you, like magic crystals or the graphite armor, your body will prioritize the easier mana source.” She cups her golem chin, surprisingly lifelike for being a soul-bound mobile statue otherwise. “You may also prove useful with Fal, now that I think about it. But, that should be longer term. I believe sending you to help with the fire, in whatever capacity that takes, will be our wisest course of action. Regardless, do you have any other questions?”
“I… uh… I guess… Will… Can I…?” She hesitates for a moment. The goblin clears her throat and continues cautiously, “Jazjanna vo willfolel?”
Xyreko laughs softly and gently. She admits, “There are risks involved, not least of which is your body absorbing the mana. But… No one will forbid you from trying, since we all wish for the clan to grow stronger. I would encourage you to establish a plan with the medical teams and midwives of the Chi’rinnis, Uhl’tall, and possibly Empress Senn in order to ensure as much safety as possible.”
Floria nods in agreement, managing to stand up. She can feel the trickle of magical energy entering her through the diamonds, now that she’s holding them.
“Field Marshall Klur has been alerted about your need for mana,” adds Xyreko. “I encourage you to share information and devise a strategy with the other members of Grendel Six, but your privacy is yours to do with what you wish. I only informed Klur because of his own unique circumstances that might cause him problems if he’s not careful.”
The goblin corpsman sighs. “I have a lot to get caught up on, I see. The Emperor added Lady Senn to the Empresses?”
“Officially, no. But, I have been spreading it to ensure that it comes to pass. Like the archoneldwyn, perhaps the pure bloodlines can’t be saved, but their culture and their strengths can live on. And, I exist now to faithfully serve my hus- I mean, my Master.”
Floria notices, but decides not to remark on Xyreko’s ‘flub’. The meticulous golem seems almost incapable of making actual mistakes, especially simply talking.
After saying it, the golem turns to Byleathea, “Lady Byleathea, I invite you to rest before your return trip to the Empire. I apologize for having asked to whisk you away so suddenly.”
“It’s alright. It’s… relieving to know that there is an avenue of use for my ability that does not needlessly sacrifice…”
“Indeed! Though, regrettably, that means it will be restricted to this area if we wish to preserve the souls of the sacrifices. Be sure to remind any goblins that approach you with this on their lips. They don’t tend to care about the details nearly as much as Corpsman Floria, so they won’t understand that they can’t be saved outside of this room.”
Byleathea nods. “I… didn’t expect to meet very many goblins in person in my life, and I don’t know that my life will put me in contact with many of their soldiers, but I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you.” The brunette woman bows her head to respectfully to Floria, and the goblin can’t help but bow even further to the ground, sitting on her hands and shins.
“Lady Byleathea, Mother to the Empress, thank you again for saving my humble life. If I am successful, I will name my first child after you, and my second after your daughter, if you will allow.”
“I… No, none of that is necessary. I merely returned a favor.”
Floria smiles gently as she looks up. “And, if the day ever comes, I will not forget yours.” She softens her expression. “The mercy of humans has been extended to me far more than I deserve. And, I wish to share that mercy myself.” The goblin stands up, saluting proudly. “I will use this life to continue to save lives so long as my hands work and my feet will carry me forward!”
Xyreko and a second golem, Balamae, clap from where they are watching, with the latter having arrived without a sound. It makes Floria feel a little bashful, but also proud at the same time, and she holds her head high. She may be shorter than Byleathea sitting down on a chair, but she is still the world’s first official Goblin Medic, and if she has her way, she’ll become a true practitioner of healing.
How far that will go, only time will tell.
***
Serrentuk studies the sign ahead of him with black symbols on it. Or, so it has been explained to him. To him, there is a mildly splotchy black and white blob surrounded by slightly more colorful blobs. Quite a few blobs, actually.
“Alright, Sir,” starts Daniel’s voice gently. He sounds weary, but he administers the test as best as he can. “I’m only guessing at the right way to do this, but it should get us at least close enough.”
“I understand, your Grace,” replies the elven sage warmly. If the human from another world is to be believed, his vision is about to be restored.
The blob representing Daniel approaches, and he says, “Please keep this eye patch over your right eye, and then I’ll test your others with the lenses our kobold friends have made.”
The ancient sorcerer can hear the distinct warbling of said reptilian women sounding distinctly confident and pleased with themselves.
Serrentuk waits patiently while the human puts the eye patch on him, and then starts holding up the eye lenses. “Now, just keep your eyes open normally and blink as needed.”
“Understood,” replies the archmage.
“Did you have to do this?” asks Hekate softly, distinct with her youthful voice and the only other one immediately present with distinct black hair matching Senn.
The woman known as Wenlianna replies softly, “N-Not quite… My glasses mainly help when I’m reading. I… actually don’t see far away that well…”
“Daniel! Do Wenlianna next!” exclaims the ruling empress of the Fievegal like the youthful young woman she is.
“When there’s time,” replies Daniel patiently. “Sorry, Mukori.”
“I-It’s alright!” replies the brunette human.
Daniel holds a lens in front of Serrentuk’s open left eye, and not much changes. Rather, if it does, it seems to blend the blobs together more.
“Any change?” asks Daniel.
“The blobs are more like a single colorful blob now…” replies the elven sage.
“Father…” groans Senn.
“It’s alright,” replies Daniel. “How about this one?” He presents another one, and in exchange, this one surprises Serrentuk.
“The sign… has letters?”
“That’s right,” replies Daniel. “I hope you can read Eastern Trade.”
“I could…” replies Serrentuk, blinking a few times to appreciate the ability to see again, even if everything is still blurry.
“I take it this one’s not quite there yet, right?”
“Y-Yes. But, I can tell the top one is [E], right?”
“Yes. So, let’s try…”
Daniel holds the next lens up, and Serrentuk feels the need to leap to his feet, though he manages to resist. He can’t imagine how much of a difference such small pieces of glass can make.
“We just shotgunned the process mechanically, so it might take some time. What’s the smallest line you can read?”
“I… The eighth line,” replies the elf. His eyes keep glancing at the people around him, whose faces he can make out now. It’s as good as he remembers anything could be from so long ago. He recites the letters written on the eighth line, mistaking only one that looks very similar to another letter.
“Very good,” replies Daniel.
Serrentuk takes the lens from Daniel’s hand, holding it in front of his eye as he studies everyone around him.
The human mechanic has fairly dark hair that passes for black, though it’s more of a dark brown and possesses the lack of mana glow one would expect. His face is fairly young, but weary from exhaustion.
Serrentuk recognizes Magnir, the blue male dragon, Arachne, the black giant Death Knight, and even Vaergraes, who is wearing a cape that obscures her left arm.
He can pick out some of the Empresses, who seem to be gathered in force just to watch Serrentuk regain the ability to see, which includes Wenlianna, his comrade in glasses.
And then, his eyes fall upon the most beautiful sight he has ever seen.
“Senn…”
The relatively young-looking elf with black hair and mystical silver eyes smiles, her own eyes glistening almost immediately from tears. “Father…”
Just as Serrentuk starts to walk forward, a forearm stops him. “I’m sorry, Sir, Lady Senn, but I’m afraid time isn’t on our side.”
Serrentuk sighs, relaxing. He nods in agreement as Senn laughs softly. “You may look at me to your heart’s content whenever you wish, Father,” replies the elven archmage’s beloved daughter.
He braces himself, nodding as he resists the urge to cry. He can feel his own tears blurring his vision.
“This one… Give me two of this one, please, Daniel,” states the elf.
“It doesn’t quite work like that,” replies Daniel, guiding him back into his seat. “Depending on the underlying causes, each eye likely has its own prescription. We’re lucky your vision is correctable this way, since it seems like your eyes require quite a heavy prescription.” He gently takes the good lens, setting it aside.
Serrentuk watches where it is set down, relying on his ears to confirm that Daniel sets it down and where that is specifically. “I wasn’t an eye doctor on Earth, but my own prescription is only
correctable, even as mild as my overall prescription is. And, because we don’t have a full science to it yet, we’ll need to trial and error making more lenses. But, before that…”
A blonde dragon speaks up this time with her sultry, but somewhat rough-edged voice, “From what Neith said earlier, we have an hour and a half before he has to engage. He has already informed Zuzia.”
Hearing this name settles Serrentuk’s desire to reclaim the many lost years of not seeing his daughter, which almost became permanent.
Aramellianna remarks from nearby as Daniel shifts the eye patch over to Serrentuk’s left, “Wenlianna’s glasses required a specialist mage to identify the appropriate glass shape to use, and her lenses are significantly heavier.”
“I-It’s okay, Mother,” replies Wenlianna. “I am very thankful that you obtained them for me…”
“It was pretty well a science on Earth,” replies Daniel, testing lenses on Serrentuk. He had Xyreko clone any one lens using the Citadel so that it would be a perfect match, allowing him to use them as a prescription gauge as he cycles through. “They could pretty much take some measurements with special instruments to gauge the dimensions of the eye, and then flip through some lenses the way we are here to narrow down the perfect magnification and focus. Or something.” He chuckles. “I only know this much because of my own prescription.” He playfully grumbles, “If only I had them on me when I was drinking myself to sleep that fateful day…”
“Can you not see very well?” asks Treia.
“Sitting in the chair, I can’t even read the fourth line completely. But, I can tell they’re letters. Aiming a rifle does benefit from good eyesight, but the scopes with focus adjustment actually allow the user to dial it in the same way the device optometrists use help narrow down a person’s prescription.” He looks at Aramellianna between lens switches, using Serrentuk waving his hands as a cue for the current failures.
“Mother, if you can find a mage or artisan who does specialize in glasses here on Zenkon, I would like to employ them to refine our process.”
“It’ll be expensive,” replies Aramellianna matter-of-factly. “The Stalvaltan family doesn’t even have any on contract as it is, since they’re even more rare than a typical magic artisan. They command virtually any price they desire.”
“I would like to not be too wasteful, so if you can find any, even amateurs, be sure to clarify that our goal is to make glasses more readily available to anyone who needs them.” He tries another lens, and Serrentuk hums.
“Ahh, that’s pretty close… In fact, I think it’s even better than the left eye…”
“This one has a stronger prescription than the first one,” replies Daniel. “We can try a few more, but reading line eight from here is meant to be relatively good eyesight… I think. I’m just guessing, of course.”
“Is it really that hard?” asks Hekate as she approaches and stands behind Serrentuk. “That bottom line just has a bunch of letters. [O, N, Z, H, G, C, E, D, K, B, P], right?”
Daniel clears his throat, replying, “Y-Yeah, that’s right.”
Serrentuk squints even with the good right eye lens Daniel is still holding, and from what he can tell, there are a total of twelve lines, but lines eleven and twelve are so small, he can barely tell that line twelve is even present.
Gwenesphia remarks, “Um, I can read line eight from back here…”
“Mukori…” starts Reignleif.
“I get it,” replies Daniel. “My human eyes are very human. The goal is to get Lord Serrentuk to where he can recognize faces at least. We’ll need smarter people than me if we want him to see as well as you ladies.”
Wenlianna adds, “I envy you being able to see so well naturally, Hekate. I have to be careful when I’m being active for fear of dropping my glasses, even with the frame Daniel made.”
Hekate puffs her chest up, instantly proud of her superior vision, and Daniel’s revenge is swift and merciless. “A shame, if you needed glasses, I was going to make extremely adorable ones, since glasses are my favorite accessory.”
Daniel tries the next lens for Serrentuk, and the elf chuckles as he acknowledges the pressure around them all of a sudden.
“Mukori!” shouts Geirahoel. “I can barely make out your face! Make me some glasses this instant!”
“I’ve seen you spot ants from a hundred feet away.”
The orange dragon is frozen in shock at being immediately retorted against, but her brain reboots more quickly than Hekate, who is still scowling at Daniel, trying to think of her own response.
“I-I could smell them,” counters Geirahoel, trying to mask her insecure answer behind a veil of confidence.
Daniel, still focused on Serrentuk’s glasses, replies just as stoically, “You snapped your line of sight to them like an FPS aimbotter pretending to be skilled.”
“Eff… pee… ess…” murmurs Wenlianna, who, as usual, is taking notes.
“More importantly,” interrupts Daniel just as he’s about to be bombarded with petitions to have glasses made for them, while Doephluev puts on the fake glasses she already owns. “Serrentuk, this is just a temporary frame, but try these on.”
Daniel clips the two lenses into a simplistic frame he made, and he offers them to the ancient elven sage.
Once they’re on, Serrentuk has to blink several times to clear his vision.
Or rather, to make sense of his newly clear vision in both eyes.
He can see everything in almost perfectly clear detail. Everyone is wearing various expressions; most of Daniel’s consorts have some sort of exasperated or pouty expression on, while Senn and Veiranoei are watching the archmage as he sees everything clearly for the first time in a long time.
“How’s it look?” asks Daniel.
“Good…” murmurs Serrentuk, his gaze mostly locked on studying the black haired elven woman. “Very good… I… I can’t thank you enough.”
“Oh, trust me, you can,” replies Daniel.
Jeavana snickers, clarifying for him, “Neith’s going to need backup soon. She already killed you once.”
Serrentuk nods. “I have pledged my life to Lady Zuzia, so I will do anything I can to help free her.”
Vaergraes speaks up this time, “Collars are a bit different than the contract that you’re under. But, according to Amalaskae, she has a high degree of magic resistance, which should help us remove it from her.”
“‘Zuzia Spolskia’ isn’t her name,” states Daniel. “If she’s willing to cooperate, we should be able to use the same strategy as we’ll try on Serrentuk.”
“Just her full first name may not be enough,” replies the Uhl’tall archpriestess. “A family name can form a strong bond.”
“And, I’m telling you her family name is almost definitely
‘Spolskia’. I don’t know much about her language, but ‘Polskia’ is probably a combination of ‘Polski’ and ‘Polska’, which are two of the ways her home country is spoken in the Polish language. [Declensions] or some linguistic sorcery like that. She almost certainly recognized the risks of giving her real name, whether by luck or being informed.”
“Can you tell me what happened to the mercenaries?” asks Serrentuk. “They may know a bit more about her, since they travelled together for a time after Lady Zuzia first arrived.”
“They’re healed and staying in guest quarters for now,” replies Ryuogriar. “They are scheduled for the audience tomorrow. We’ll-...”
Ryuogriar halts, and when everyone looks at her, Hekate’s ears are twitching and rigid.
All five of the female dragons present, Ryuogriar, Reignleif, Geirahoel, Jeavana, and Roetta all press their ears to the eggs they are either carrying themselves or in strollers with them.
Ryuogriar declares with a grin, “Mine.”
“M-Mine too!” exclaims Geirahoel.
Reignleif softly pets her own egg, saying, “Take your time, sweet child. Mama will be waiting for you.”
“Mukori, it is time.”
“Head to the hatching room we set up,” replies Daniel as he approaches them. “I have to shift the contract on Serrentuk first.” He kisses each of them, and Geirahoel grips his shirt after hers.
“Don’t waste too much time, Mukori. Onii-chan can just work harder if he has to.”
The mechanic chuckles softly. “Our sweet children are hatching while the world is possibly ending. Please allow me to make sure they have a world to play in.”
Geirahoel hums with a slight pout. “Destroy our enemies so this will not happen with your eggs, Mukori. You and Onii-chan seem to be slacking.”
“Oof!” jokes Daniel. “No pressure, apparently.”
Geirahoel kisses him again, and she walks briskly after the other dragons.
Hekate fidgets, and Daniel says, “You can go with them if you want, Hekate.”
“I… I was actually going to offer to do the contract for you so you can go…”
“I promised I would do it.” Daniel looks at Senn and Serrentuk, adding, “I’m sorry I have to rush you out to battle right away…”
“Pay it no heed, Daniel,” replies the elf father. “I shall bring your newest wife with the utmost haste.”
Daniel scoffs. “Please don’t tell Zuzia that. We’ll be moving to the contract station.” The mechanic states the latter for the others, who are still observing, and the five kobold women celebrate the success of the glass lenses they made, while the Empresses offer to accompany Daniel, since most of them will need to help defend against any contract demons if any appear. Hijacking a contract the way Daniel is about to shouldn’t summon them, but it’s better to be safe.
“I’ll find Amalaskae and Ryukana to request their assistance,” states Xyreko, disappearing in a flash of light.
Doephluev approaches with the anti-magic harness, which they’ll use until the last moment, since they can’t let Serrentuk be under the magic slave contract’s influence long enough to overcome his willpower and force him to return to his master.
As long as they’re quick about it, they should be able to finish the contract rewrite such that Daniel becomes his new master before he is forced to return to Nesparu of the Empire.
From there, the mission to keep Zuzia from returning to Yaulander will swiftly begin.
***
As such, it’s an extremely crucial lifeline for trade and a driving force for the international economy of the east. If Urflasdat falls, it could cripple trade and drive the rapid growth of exploitative and even black market trade, shattering the stability of prices.
Tulaxxas is still in Mornistae as Rikuto’s deputy, but more importantly, he’s meant to make a note of Greydald’s actions to try to root out what the King Father is planning to do. Greydald has a greater amount of petty pride, and is still rather incensed about the Peace Treaty with the Fievegal after the compromises Mornistae had to make, with very little tangible good returned from the agreement. He has no idea of the scope of nuclear weapons, especially if they can disable magic for any meaningful amount of time, which is the backbone of strength that Mornistae has.
thinks the young Japanese man as he looks around. Most of the advance team are knights and laborers who are following the quartermaster’s instructions for laying out the encampment for the relief convoy being led by Rikuto and Heralesse together. She is staying with the main unit, which has a stronger guard and more distinct royal banners to ensure the threat remains minimal to them.
A familiar gatonine walks by carrying a crate. The two make eye contact, but say nothing. At the moment, they are nothing more than the King of Mornistae and a bugler boy.
But, in truth, she is Rikuto’s undercover knight and Zenkon’s first unofficial ninja, Larravu. The ‘bugler boy’ gives a respectful nod to the young King, and Rikuto dips his head in subtle reply. Larravu continues helping unload carriages.
Officially, Larravu is on leave to visit family. Unofficially, she is helping Rikuto with a very
training regimen in exchange for him teaching her what he knows about ninjitsu; both historical and fictional. She is quite good at stealth now, and since gatonines are rather androgynous while they’re young for the most part, she is extremely good at blending in as a younger boy when she’s disguised as stable boys, buglers, and other small-framed laborers, which generally draw even less attention than comparable female roles, who might be flirted with or harassed by male laborers.
The Japanese man returns his gaze and his thoughts to the mana fire, studying the map.
Sir Chebnom approaches Rikuto, saying softly, “Your Majesty, her Majesty the Queen is arriving with the main detachment.”
“Good, good,” replies Rikuto. “If you would, please ask her to meet me here.”
“Of course, your Majesty.”
The camp is mostly established already, so the advanced team didn’t fail in the direct sense, but they can probably adjust the range a bit if need be, since it is still a bit early in the evening.
thinks Rikuto.
“Your Majesty,” states a female voice as she approaches.
Rikuto turns to face Heralesse, who is flanked by her lady in waiting. Both of them are wearing their respective riding uniforms, since it’s a relief expedition. “My Queen,” replies Rikuto, stepping closer to her as she kisses his cheek in accordance with the basic protocol they’re supposed to follow in public.
That said, he does ask her something he meant to ask before the expedition actually started, “Would… we be able to address each other only by names from now on? J-Just for the expedition, at least.”
Heralesse smiles, somewhat amused and bashful about the request. “We do still have to abide by royal protocols,” answers the young Queen.
“I understand the ceremony, but…” Rikuto glances around. In
, everyone around them is on their side. But, in practice, there are likely spies, all around them, both serving the nobles of Mornistae and infiltrators from foreign nations.
And, if Rikuto’s suspicions are correct, there is a non-zero chance of the Fievegal installing a stealth golem to spy on Rikuto, since he’s fairly certain a stealth golem delivered the letter to Erimaya.
“I just think it would be better to minimize our statuses out in the field. On Earth, when rifles started becoming more accurate at longer ranges, officers would be targeted early on. Royalty would be even more likely targets.”
Shock spreads across her face, and she glances around. “Y-... You think the Fievegal might attack us?”
“N-No, not the Fievegal. But, ironically enough, American sharpshooters used exactly that strategy with some of the earliest rifles. I won’t force you to wear different clothing, but I would prefer us keep a more casual presence where possible.”
Heralesse nods in agreement. “I suppose the Fievegal practices something similar. Daniel said something like ‘I don’t want my head to get scooped off if I can help it,’ but I thought he was just making a morbid joke.”
Rikuto scoffs lightly. It’s a little disappointing that he’s behind Daniel once more, but if he constantly focuses on competing with Daniel, he’s just going to end up in a cold war and strain the already-suffering economy of Mornistae, which is going to take time to recover after Yaulander’s betrayal.
“I can’t speak for certain on his reasons, since he doesn’t seem to take his own position seriously, and he’s setting a pretty bad example for the Empresses, but I imagine part of it was that. Though, Daniel and I are pretty recognizable no matter what we do.”
“True. So, what were you doing?” asks Heralesse, observing the map.
“I was planning out how to deploy our units.” He points towards Centerhold, where the fire is effectively centered, assuming it is spreading radially. “I understand that the Empire controls Centerhold, though I’m not sure how or why Ahmpur has left an exclave like this alone.”
Heralesse studies the map for a moment, thinking. “Ahmpur and the Empire have had a very amicable relationship through most of history, especially since the exclave was formed. But, you’re right. I suppose it is odd that it has stayed that way.”
“If I may,” offers the more mature woman serving as lady in waiting to the young Queen.
“Please do, Haeva,” replies Rikuto with a nod of approval. He is grateful that she paid attention to what he said about the ranks.
She steps forward on Heralesse’s opposite side, pointing at a spot on the map southwest of the Centerhold fortress. “I’ve heard stories in the past, though they rarely come up anymore. I believe it’s widely rumored that the Centerhold land is cursed.”
“Cursed?” asks Rikuto.
“I don’t know the details, but virtually all farming and settlement attempts have failed. Only the fortress itself seems unaffected. And, this region is the worst, if memory serves.”
Rikuto ponders this information. ‘Curses’ could be literally that in this world, but it’s also in that grey area where it could still be something that’s not fully understood, like some sort of fungus that contaminates and kills plants in the area, some kind of pest native to the region, aggressive, smothering plant life, or even contaminants in the soil or water. The possible simple explanations are numerous even before magic should be considered.
“It won’t matter much if the fire destroys it all,” remarks Rikuto quietly. “I want to send the bulk of our force to the northwest to intercept the fire before it reaches Urflasdat, and if the worst comes to pass, start evacuations.”
“We can send the fire mages to start controlled burns from our approach towards the south,” replies Heralesse. “Wind mages can also try to slow the flames down by pressing in on the perimeter.”
Haeva replies gently, “There aren’t very many mages left after the summoning of Miss Zuzia, particularly those skilled in water and wind magic. It may be wise to keep the majority of them focused on protecting the city.” She softens her expression, adding, “Forgive me if it’s not my place. But,... even a small fire can be unpredictable…”
Rikuto nods in agreement.
“Either way, you should write up dispatches for the various teams for when we cross the border,” states Heralesse. “
we would need permission to deploy emergency aid to other nations from their rulers.”
Rikuto chuckles nervously, knowing she’s making a jab at his clandestine mission to pursue Yaulander. While that mission failed, Mornistae’s involvement seems to have been suppressed. There are undoubtedly people among Yaulander’s allies who know about it, but to formally condemn them, Yaulander would also need to elaborate on his own movements, which he likely is trying to keep relatively quiet.
He agrees with her suggestion, though. “I’ll start drafting those right away. I do expect we’ll be stopped at the border of Ahmpur, though.”
Heralesse jokes, “Maybe one of the golems can relay a request for aid from the Empire to us, since everything’s shifting now.”
“We’ll see, I guess,” murmurs Rikuto. Nothing happens immediately, though that doesn’t necessarily mean there is no golem present. If it’s meant to protect Heralesse or hold her ‘invisibly hostage’, they won’t reveal its presence for sure.
“Once we do reach the border, I plan to have us split up with the two main units.”
Heralesse ponders the map as well, and she finally speaks after a moment. “I suppose that’s the right move. But, the King should probably have the larger guard.”
Rikuto shakes his head. “I am King of Mornistae, but you are royalty by blood. You’ll have an easier time speaking to the lord of Urflasdat if the fire can’t be held back.”
Heralesse starts to speak, but she hesitates. Rikuto, Daniel, and Zuzia represent extreme rarities in the world of Zenkon because they come from another world and are more directly ‘touched’ by the Divine. Depending on how they use these gifts, they have the power to reshape the world, for better or worse. In theory, Rikuto’s voice should carry weight, but Heralesse knows in practice that, between his youth, the recent events with the Fievegal, and the unknown ‘nobility’ of his blood, a Queen born of royal blood on Zenkon is likely able to wield greater authority in his place.
“I understand,” replies Heralesse seriously. “I will give this role my all.”
***
Floria coughs as she finally awakens. The last thing she remembers is Kernuules, also known as Koggus Gristak by the goblins of Grendel Six. She was in its grasp and losing feeling in her body as her consciousness faded.
Now, something feels… off. She manages to lift her hands, which are her normal goblin-shaped hands. The room she’s in is dark, but goblins have little trouble seeing if there’s even a little light. The difference is the level of color, which is more difficult to discern.
Even so, her skin tone seems different than it was; lighter and a shade other than her normal fair green.
“Have you awakened?” asks a mature woman’s voice with a slight hint of hollowness from how her voice is generated.
The goblin field medic looks over at Xyreko, who is operating some magical devices nearby. Floria is among the most educated goblins in history simply by learning what medical knowledge she could from the various sources she could, including their otherworlder Emperor.
“Minister Xyreko… Am… I… a golem, now?”
Xyreko’s voice giggles softly, replying a little bluntly, “Very nearly so. Instead, we learned a great many things in the last twenty nine hours.” Xyreko’s posture shifts, and Floria can tell something very serious has happened.
“Corpsman Floria, before I explain your current condition, I’ll simply say this much;” She gestures to the side, where a brunette woman that the goblin doesn’t recognize is standing nearby. She’s about Aramellianna’s age, but wearing a different style of dress that has some strange, dark grey square plates layered like loosely-attached fish scales. She is sweating, and her eyes are a glowing golden color.
“This is Lady Byleathea, mother to the Empress of the Grand Zenkon Empire, and it was thanks to her that we were able to save your life.” Xyreko then adds a little more dryly, “In addition to our Emperor, since I am required to have his permission to experiment.”
Floria does her best to sit up, and she can feel a sort of strange… warmth in her body. Or, maybe a chill that isn’t uncomfortable. It’s difficult to describe the almost bubbly, tingly feeling she’s feeling.
“Thank you, my Lady,” replies Floria as she bows her head. “I owe you my life, though my life is not my own to give while I have pledged my service to Grendel Six.”
Byleathea replies gently, “If anything, I have merely repaid a debt.”
Xyreko explains, “I flew her in because she has a unique ability, but it requires the life of a sacrifice.” The goblin then gestures to a bed nearby where a very old goblin elder is similarly wearing a robe made of the same strange scale-plates of dark grey squares attached by small rings and overlapping, while a strange, golden mist seems to be rolling off of him. Him being gestured to seems to sadden Byleathea, who can’t look at the goblin elder.
“I… don’t seem to recall…”
“This is Huwt. He was a goblin elder of Queen Shek’s home burrow and felt his own life was very near its end because of how long he had lived. Byleathea’s unique power requires a living sacrifice, and part of my experiment was to determine whether or not that means a person’s soul or just the life force of their body.” She stands a little straighter, adding, “So far, the preliminary results are promising.”
Floria blinks a few times, unsure of what the golem Caretaker of the Citadel is saying.
“That means Huwt is also directly part of saving your life in exchange for his own. Balamae is confirming whether or not his soul was successfully captured by the Citadel, as planned, but it’s good to see that we were at least successful in reviving you.”
“How… long was I unconscious?” asks Floria uneasily. “And,...”
The lights increase due to Xyreko’s unseen hand, and Byleathea takes a seat nearby, resting from the exertion her spell seems to have placed on her.
This allows the goblin medic to see the truth.
Her skin has lost almost all of its natural green palette, and instead, she has a bit of a light violet hue. “A-... Am I… an undead?”
“Again, very near so,” replies Xyreko with a slight grimness to her tone. “The best I can make sense of, given the process by which souls are preserved within the Citadel, such as myself, is that Kernuules was trying to forcibly separate your body from your soul without actually killing your body. During this process, he was draining your mana, which acts as a sort of ‘glue’ for the soul in all but the Emperor’s case.”
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Floria feels her chest where she feels the most odd, and though her skin and flesh are still soft and possess their normal silky feel, she does feel a strange knot just beneath her breasts.
“
is the part of Kernuules that was left behind, severed before his own corruptive will could take hold. It’s… draining all of your mana at a rather rapid rate.”
The goblin notices the metallic anklet that seems to be shackling her to her bed. “And,... I’m a prisoner in case it was too late?”
“No. That is the continuous supply of mana I am feeding you via the Citadel. You will need to carry a continuous supply of mana crystals charged with refined mana to supplement what your body no longer holds.”
“I was afraid the divine curing spell would purge you, since you were being held by such a corruptive force. Especially… after what happened to his Grace,” explains Byleathea.
“Life itself is fine,” states Xyreko. “Corpsman Floria can decide what to do further.” The golem then looks at Floria. “As far as I can tell, you are still yourself in all but two ways; you need the mana supplementation constantly, or you will fall comatose again, according to what Daniel suggested your state was, rather than merely unconscious. And second, you seem to have a much deeper pool of mana as a result. Though it will constantly drain you, the shard of Kernuules seems to be acting as a sort of mana core for you, similar to the Citadel itself.”
Floria is hearing all of the words, and she thinks she’s understanding them, but it is a
of information all at once. Especially because the last thing she remembers is what she believed would be her last moments.
“Wh-... What happens to me now?”
“The experiment is mostly over,” replies Xyreko. “You are successfully alive, and I just received word from Balamae that Huwt is our newest golem, though it’ll take time before he can actually assimilate into a physical form the way I am before you now. I have also gathered a great deal of data on Lady Byleathea’s power, which will take a lot more time to analyze than I had originally thought. It possesses many layers of magic formulae and wavelengths.”
“May I take this strange mail off?” asks Byleathea.
“Yes. Though, please do treat the plates gently. There may be embedded magic in them, so I will need to store them.”
Byleathea starts removing the fish-scale-like ‘mail’ from herself carefully, and Xyreko adds, “I would recommend you rest for a day or two, normally, Corpsman, but you may actually benefit from deploying with Daniel once word arrives.”
“With the Emperor?” asks the goblin.
“Yes,” nods the golem. “The most recent event the Fievegal will be dealing with very soon is a mana fire that seems to radiate refined mana, which you should be able to absorb the same way Hekate does. You’ll need to try to be mindful for a ‘full’ feeling of some sort, lest you mutate or worse, but you may actually prove to be most useful in providing a place for some of the radiated mana to go. It’ll likely still be similar to emptying out a lake with a cup, but we may gain further valuable insight.”
“What about… Kernuules?”
Xyreko cocks her head with amusement noticeable in her posture, in spite of her head being expressionless. “Oh? Who do you think you serve, dear Corpsman Floria?”
“I… H-Her Greatness?”
“Mmm… A fair answer.” She walks away while answering, “To answer your question, since you ruined my smug reply, the Harbinger of Calamity ended Kernuules swiftly and once and for all. Kernuules has no hold on you. His remnant is too entangled with your body and soul, since it started to take root, so we won’t be able to remove it. But, as long as you keep a source of mana, you should live a long and happy life with no other immediately apparent consequences.” She retrieves a necklace with three simplistic jewels on them, each glowing faintly with a soft white light. “Each of these diamonds should last three days when charged, given the rate you’re absorbing mana. But, I’m working on light armor to fit you with a graphite base, since it will be less obviously valuable. Doephluev recommended that you have enhanced magic crystals implanted under your skin, but Daniel will require you to make a direct request if that’s the route you want to go.”
The golem hands over the necklace, which Floria asks, “H-How do I use this?”
“Keeping the crystals against your skin should be sufficient. You won’t fall unconscious instantly, but I would not wager on having even a single hour if you aren’t in contact with a strong refined mana source.”
“People?”
Xyreko nods. “Be mindful, though; you are now more akin to a living wraith. You are capable of draining a person of their mana beyond their own limits, which means possible death.”
Floria grimaces, and this prompts the golem to add, “Not to worry. As long as you wear gloves while in contact with others and keep a more efficient mana source in contact with you, like magic crystals or the graphite armor, your body will prioritize the easier mana source.” She cups her golem chin, surprisingly lifelike for being a soul-bound mobile statue otherwise. “You may also prove useful with Fal, now that I think about it. But, that should be longer term. I believe sending you to help with the fire, in whatever capacity that takes, will be our wisest course of action. Regardless, do you have any other questions?”
“I… uh… I guess… Will… Can I…?” She hesitates for a moment. The goblin clears her throat and continues cautiously, “Jazjanna vo willfolel?”
Xyreko laughs softly and gently. She admits, “There are risks involved, not least of which is your body absorbing the mana. But… No one will forbid you from trying, since we all wish for the clan to grow stronger. I would encourage you to establish a plan with the medical teams and midwives of the Chi’rinnis, Uhl’tall, and possibly Empress Senn in order to ensure as much safety as possible.”
Floria nods in agreement, managing to stand up. She can feel the trickle of magical energy entering her through the diamonds, now that she’s holding them.
“Field Marshall Klur has been alerted about your need for mana,” adds Xyreko. “I encourage you to share information and devise a strategy with the other members of Grendel Six, but your privacy is yours to do with what you wish. I only informed Klur because of his own unique circumstances that might cause him problems if he’s not careful.”
The goblin corpsman sighs. “I have a lot to get caught up on, I see. The Emperor added Lady Senn to the Empresses?”
“Officially, no. But, I have been spreading it to ensure that it comes to pass. Like the archoneldwyn, perhaps the pure bloodlines can’t be saved, but their culture and their strengths can live on. And, I exist now to faithfully serve my hus- I mean, my Master.”
Floria notices, but decides not to remark on Xyreko’s ‘flub’. The meticulous golem seems almost incapable of making actual mistakes, especially simply talking.
After saying it, the golem turns to Byleathea, “Lady Byleathea, I invite you to rest before your return trip to the Empire. I apologize for having asked to whisk you away so suddenly.”
“It’s alright. It’s… relieving to know that there is an avenue of use for my ability that does not needlessly sacrifice…”
“Indeed! Though, regrettably, that means it will be restricted to this area if we wish to preserve the souls of the sacrifices. Be sure to remind any goblins that approach you with this on their lips. They don’t tend to care about the details nearly as much as Corpsman Floria, so they won’t understand that they can’t be saved outside of this room.”
Byleathea nods. “I… didn’t expect to meet very many goblins in person in my life, and I don’t know that my life will put me in contact with many of their soldiers, but I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you.” The brunette woman bows her head to respectfully to Floria, and the goblin can’t help but bow even further to the ground, sitting on her hands and shins.
“Lady Byleathea, Mother to the Empress, thank you again for saving my humble life. If I am successful, I will name my first child after you, and my second after your daughter, if you will allow.”
“I… No, none of that is necessary. I merely returned a favor.”
Floria smiles gently as she looks up. “And, if the day ever comes, I will not forget yours.” She softens her expression. “The mercy of humans has been extended to me far more than I deserve. And, I wish to share that mercy myself.” The goblin stands up, saluting proudly. “I will use this life to continue to save lives so long as my hands work and my feet will carry me forward!”
Xyreko and a second golem, Balamae, clap from where they are watching, with the latter having arrived without a sound. It makes Floria feel a little bashful, but also proud at the same time, and she holds her head high. She may be shorter than Byleathea sitting down on a chair, but she is still the world’s first official Goblin Medic, and if she has her way, she’ll become a true practitioner of healing.
How far that will go, only time will tell.
***
Serrentuk studies the sign ahead of him with black symbols on it. Or, so it has been explained to him. To him, there is a mildly splotchy black and white blob surrounded by slightly more colorful blobs. Quite a few blobs, actually.
“Alright, Sir,” starts Daniel’s voice gently. He sounds weary, but he administers the test as best as he can. “I’m only guessing at the right way to do this, but it should get us at least close enough.”
“I understand, your Grace,” replies the elven sage warmly. If the human from another world is to be believed, his vision is about to be restored.
The blob representing Daniel approaches, and he says, “Please keep this eye patch over your right eye, and then I’ll test your others with the lenses our kobold friends have made.”
The ancient sorcerer can hear the distinct warbling of said reptilian women sounding distinctly confident and pleased with themselves.
Serrentuk waits patiently while the human puts the eye patch on him, and then starts holding up the eye lenses. “Now, just keep your eyes open normally and blink as needed.”
“Understood,” replies the archmage.
“Did you have to do this?” asks Hekate softly, distinct with her youthful voice and the only other one immediately present with distinct black hair matching Senn.
The woman known as Wenlianna replies softly, “N-Not quite… My glasses mainly help when I’m reading. I… actually don’t see far away that well…”
“Daniel! Do Wenlianna next!” exclaims the ruling empress of the Fievegal like the youthful young woman she is.
“When there’s time,” replies Daniel patiently. “Sorry, Mukori.”
“I-It’s alright!” replies the brunette human.
Daniel holds a lens in front of Serrentuk’s open left eye, and not much changes. Rather, if it does, it seems to blend the blobs together more.
“Any change?” asks Daniel.
“The blobs are more like a single colorful blob now…” replies the elven sage.
“Father…” groans Senn.
“It’s alright,” replies Daniel. “How about this one?” He presents another one, and in exchange, this one surprises Serrentuk.
“The sign… has letters?”
“That’s right,” replies Daniel. “I hope you can read Eastern Trade.”
“I could…” replies Serrentuk, blinking a few times to appreciate the ability to see again, even if everything is still blurry.
“I take it this one’s not quite there yet, right?”
“Y-Yes. But, I can tell the top one is [E], right?”
“Yes. So, let’s try…”
Daniel holds the next lens up, and Serrentuk feels the need to leap to his feet, though he manages to resist. He can’t imagine how much of a difference such small pieces of glass can make.
“We just shotgunned the process mechanically, so it might take some time. What’s the smallest line you can read?”
“I… The eighth line,” replies the elf. His eyes keep glancing at the people around him, whose faces he can make out now. It’s as good as he remembers anything could be from so long ago. He recites the letters written on the eighth line, mistaking only one that looks very similar to another letter.
“Very good,” replies Daniel.
Serrentuk takes the lens from Daniel’s hand, holding it in front of his eye as he studies everyone around him.
The human mechanic has fairly dark hair that passes for black, though it’s more of a dark brown and possesses the lack of mana glow one would expect. His face is fairly young, but weary from exhaustion.
Serrentuk recognizes Magnir, the blue male dragon, Arachne, the black giant Death Knight, and even Vaergraes, who is wearing a cape that obscures her left arm.
He can pick out some of the Empresses, who seem to be gathered in force just to watch Serrentuk regain the ability to see, which includes Wenlianna, his comrade in glasses.
And then, his eyes fall upon the most beautiful sight he has ever seen.
“Senn…”
The relatively young-looking elf with black hair and mystical silver eyes smiles, her own eyes glistening almost immediately from tears. “Father…”
Just as Serrentuk starts to walk forward, a forearm stops him. “I’m sorry, Sir, Lady Senn, but I’m afraid time isn’t on our side.”
Serrentuk sighs, relaxing. He nods in agreement as Senn laughs softly. “You may look at me to your heart’s content whenever you wish, Father,” replies the elven archmage’s beloved daughter.
He braces himself, nodding as he resists the urge to cry. He can feel his own tears blurring his vision.
“This one… Give me two of this one, please, Daniel,” states the elf.
“It doesn’t quite work like that,” replies Daniel, guiding him back into his seat. “Depending on the underlying causes, each eye likely has its own prescription. We’re lucky your vision is correctable this way, since it seems like your eyes require quite a heavy prescription.” He gently takes the good lens, setting it aside.
Serrentuk watches where it is set down, relying on his ears to confirm that Daniel sets it down and where that is specifically. “I wasn’t an eye doctor on Earth, but my own prescription is only
correctable, even as mild as my overall prescription is. And, because we don’t have a full science to it yet, we’ll need to trial and error making more lenses. But, before that…”
A blonde dragon speaks up this time with her sultry, but somewhat rough-edged voice, “From what Neith said earlier, we have an hour and a half before he has to engage. He has already informed Zuzia.”
Hearing this name settles Serrentuk’s desire to reclaim the many lost years of not seeing his daughter, which almost became permanent.
Aramellianna remarks from nearby as Daniel shifts the eye patch over to Serrentuk’s left, “Wenlianna’s glasses required a specialist mage to identify the appropriate glass shape to use, and her lenses are significantly heavier.”
“I-It’s okay, Mother,” replies Wenlianna. “I am very thankful that you obtained them for me…”
“It was pretty well a science on Earth,” replies Daniel, testing lenses on Serrentuk. He had Xyreko clone any one lens using the Citadel so that it would be a perfect match, allowing him to use them as a prescription gauge as he cycles through. “They could pretty much take some measurements with special instruments to gauge the dimensions of the eye, and then flip through some lenses the way we are here to narrow down the perfect magnification and focus. Or something.” He chuckles. “I only know this much because of my own prescription.” He playfully grumbles, “If only I had them on me when I was drinking myself to sleep that fateful day…”
“Can you not see very well?” asks Treia.
“Sitting in the chair, I can’t even read the fourth line completely. But, I can tell they’re letters. Aiming a rifle does benefit from good eyesight, but the scopes with focus adjustment actually allow the user to dial it in the same way the device optometrists use help narrow down a person’s prescription.” He looks at Aramellianna between lens switches, using Serrentuk waving his hands as a cue for the current failures.
“Mother, if you can find a mage or artisan who does specialize in glasses here on Zenkon, I would like to employ them to refine our process.”
“It’ll be expensive,” replies Aramellianna matter-of-factly. “The Stalvaltan family doesn’t even have any on contract as it is, since they’re even more rare than a typical magic artisan. They command virtually any price they desire.”
“I would like to not be too wasteful, so if you can find any, even amateurs, be sure to clarify that our goal is to make glasses more readily available to anyone who needs them.” He tries another lens, and Serrentuk hums.
“Ahh, that’s pretty close… In fact, I think it’s even better than the left eye…”
“This one has a stronger prescription than the first one,” replies Daniel. “We can try a few more, but reading line eight from here is meant to be relatively good eyesight… I think. I’m just guessing, of course.”
“Is it really that hard?” asks Hekate as she approaches and stands behind Serrentuk. “That bottom line just has a bunch of letters. [O, N, Z, H, G, C, E, D, K, B, P], right?”
Daniel clears his throat, replying, “Y-Yeah, that’s right.”
Serrentuk squints even with the good right eye lens Daniel is still holding, and from what he can tell, there are a total of twelve lines, but lines eleven and twelve are so small, he can barely tell that line twelve is even present.
Gwenesphia remarks, “Um, I can read line eight from back here…”
“Mukori…” starts Reignleif.
“I get it,” replies Daniel. “My human eyes are very human. The goal is to get Lord Serrentuk to where he can recognize faces at least. We’ll need smarter people than me if we want him to see as well as you ladies.”
Wenlianna adds, “I envy you being able to see so well naturally, Hekate. I have to be careful when I’m being active for fear of dropping my glasses, even with the frame Daniel made.”
Hekate puffs her chest up, instantly proud of her superior vision, and Daniel’s revenge is swift and merciless. “A shame, if you needed glasses, I was going to make extremely adorable ones, since glasses are my favorite accessory.”
Daniel tries the next lens for Serrentuk, and the elf chuckles as he acknowledges the pressure around them all of a sudden.
“Mukori!” shouts Geirahoel. “I can barely make out your face! Make me some glasses this instant!”
“I’ve seen you spot ants from a hundred feet away.”
The orange dragon is frozen in shock at being immediately retorted against, but her brain reboots more quickly than Hekate, who is still scowling at Daniel, trying to think of her own response.
“I-I could smell them,” counters Geirahoel, trying to mask her insecure answer behind a veil of confidence.
Daniel, still focused on Serrentuk’s glasses, replies just as stoically, “You snapped your line of sight to them like an FPS aimbotter pretending to be skilled.”
“Eff… pee… ess…” murmurs Wenlianna, who, as usual, is taking notes.
“More importantly,” interrupts Daniel just as he’s about to be bombarded with petitions to have glasses made for them, while Doephluev puts on the fake glasses she already owns. “Serrentuk, this is just a temporary frame, but try these on.”
Daniel clips the two lenses into a simplistic frame he made, and he offers them to the ancient elven sage.
Once they’re on, Serrentuk has to blink several times to clear his vision.
Or rather, to make sense of his newly clear vision in both eyes.
He can see everything in almost perfectly clear detail. Everyone is wearing various expressions; most of Daniel’s consorts have some sort of exasperated or pouty expression on, while Senn and Veiranoei are watching the archmage as he sees everything clearly for the first time in a long time.
“How’s it look?” asks Daniel.
“Good…” murmurs Serrentuk, his gaze mostly locked on studying the black haired elven woman. “Very good… I… I can’t thank you enough.”
“Oh, trust me, you can,” replies Daniel.
Jeavana snickers, clarifying for him, “Neith’s going to need backup soon. She already killed you once.”
Serrentuk nods. “I have pledged my life to Lady Zuzia, so I will do anything I can to help free her.”
Vaergraes speaks up this time, “Collars are a bit different than the contract that you’re under. But, according to Amalaskae, she has a high degree of magic resistance, which should help us remove it from her.”
“‘Zuzia Spolskia’ isn’t her name,” states Daniel. “If she’s willing to cooperate, we should be able to use the same strategy as we’ll try on Serrentuk.”
“Just her full first name may not be enough,” replies the Uhl’tall archpriestess. “A family name can form a strong bond.”
“And, I’m telling you her family name is almost definitely
‘Spolskia’. I don’t know much about her language, but ‘Polskia’ is probably a combination of ‘Polski’ and ‘Polska’, which are two of the ways her home country is spoken in the Polish language. [Declensions] or some linguistic sorcery like that. She almost certainly recognized the risks of giving her real name, whether by luck or being informed.”
“Can you tell me what happened to the mercenaries?” asks Serrentuk. “They may know a bit more about her, since they travelled together for a time after Lady Zuzia first arrived.”
“They’re healed and staying in guest quarters for now,” replies Ryuogriar. “They are scheduled for the audience tomorrow. We’ll-...”
Ryuogriar halts, and when everyone looks at her, Hekate’s ears are twitching and rigid.
All five of the female dragons present, Ryuogriar, Reignleif, Geirahoel, Jeavana, and Roetta all press their ears to the eggs they are either carrying themselves or in strollers with them.
Ryuogriar declares with a grin, “Mine.”
“M-Mine too!” exclaims Geirahoel.
Reignleif softly pets her own egg, saying, “Take your time, sweet child. Mama will be waiting for you.”
“Mukori, it is time.”
“Head to the hatching room we set up,” replies Daniel as he approaches them. “I have to shift the contract on Serrentuk first.” He kisses each of them, and Geirahoel grips his shirt after hers.
“Don’t waste too much time, Mukori. Onii-chan can just work harder if he has to.”
The mechanic chuckles softly. “Our sweet children are hatching while the world is possibly ending. Please allow me to make sure they have a world to play in.”
Geirahoel hums with a slight pout. “Destroy our enemies so this will not happen with your eggs, Mukori. You and Onii-chan seem to be slacking.”
“Oof!” jokes Daniel. “No pressure, apparently.”
Geirahoel kisses him again, and she walks briskly after the other dragons.
Hekate fidgets, and Daniel says, “You can go with them if you want, Hekate.”
“I… I was actually going to offer to do the contract for you so you can go…”
“I promised I would do it.” Daniel looks at Senn and Serrentuk, adding, “I’m sorry I have to rush you out to battle right away…”
“Pay it no heed, Daniel,” replies the elf father. “I shall bring your newest wife with the utmost haste.”
Daniel scoffs. “Please don’t tell Zuzia that. We’ll be moving to the contract station.” The mechanic states the latter for the others, who are still observing, and the five kobold women celebrate the success of the glass lenses they made, while the Empresses offer to accompany Daniel, since most of them will need to help defend against any contract demons if any appear. Hijacking a contract the way Daniel is about to shouldn’t summon them, but it’s better to be safe.
“I’ll find Amalaskae and Ryukana to request their assistance,” states Xyreko, disappearing in a flash of light.
Doephluev approaches with the anti-magic harness, which they’ll use until the last moment, since they can’t let Serrentuk be under the magic slave contract’s influence long enough to overcome his willpower and force him to return to his master.
As long as they’re quick about it, they should be able to finish the contract rewrite such that Daniel becomes his new master before he is forced to return to Nesparu of the Empire.
From there, the mission to keep Zuzia from returning to Yaulander will swiftly begin.
***