Chapter 80 - Unexpected Revelations (3)

Alone inside a room in the First Manor House with Baroness Calina, I gave her my report. “One hundred and twenty men died, Calina, but the request for aid from the Grim Hunters was successful. We killed five Devourers, but one, a female Matriarch, escaped,” I said, purposely not adding her title.

Baroness Calina disliked formalities, especially with me, but necessity dictated she keep that pretense up, especially in the presence of other people, or in public places. But we were the only ones in the room right now, discounting the guards outside the room.

Calina walked toward me, giving me a small, but forceful hug. It was slightly awkward since I was still in my armor and since she only came up to my shoulders. A few more seconds passed before Calina finally released me, her grey eyes looking upward.

“Never leave me, Verath,” she said in a soft voice, “I command it as your baroness and request it as your...friend.” There was a slight pause before Calina said that last word, but I pretended not to notice.

“Of course, Calina,” I said, fully knowing that I was lying to her. I had told her a lie, a sweet, soft lie, which caused her to stand taller. She took support from the belief that I would never leave her, that I would stay by her side, bearing her burden as baroness to more than three hundred thousand people in the northern region of Shail Kingdom.

We spoke for some more minutes as Calina told me of her happenings and news of the other regions. To put it metaphorically, the eastern region, it seemed, was still slowly stabilizing, as shit was being shoveled out of the creek by one of the king's personal generals. The headmaster of the Mage Academy, Alzeroth, had also visited Calina via teleportation, which, by the way, was a specialty magic of the old headmaster. Along with his wind magic, the old man would have made a great mage assassin.

Most important though, King Balan had ordered another meeting of all the prominent nobles. It was a summons which none could ignore. Every noble who had received the officials messages would have to travel to the central region without fail. There was to be a court held for the election of the eastern baron.

Calina would, without exception, have to leave for the central region the day after tomorrow to arrive in time. Court meetings were unpredictable. It could take as little as one day to more than a week. It was also wise to leave early. One did not keep the king waiting if he or she wished to remain in his graces. As such, I had been told that I would jointly be in charge with the two generals, the six Grandmasters, and the two Ministers of War.

Two of the Ministers of War had been hunted down and beheaded personally by me after a thorough investigation, the third and fourth traitors being killed by General Ochram and General Lavok. One of the three generals retained by the Serle family was a secret traitor and had, likewise, also been killed by me. The six Grandmasters, however, were loyal to the Serle family. They were the closest and personal retainers of the Serle family.

I could have been made into a general by Calina, since one of the spot was open, but that would have cause unrest. I was still young and lacking experience. Thus, I was only made a Gold Knight Commander.

Our conversation over, I bid Calina a farewell and left her room, quietly exiting out the door emblazoned with the wolf tabard of the Serle family. The two guards nodded respectfully, their fists going toward their hearts, their knuckles outward. It was the gesture of respect soldiers gave toward their commanders. There were other gestures, of course, but this one was the most respectful.

It had been more than half a year since I arrived at Shail Kingdom, my birth kingdom, and over the months since I had known Calina, she had become a sort of sister to me. Perhaps this was what having a sister would have felt like? I had a green dragon sister, but she had died a few days after her birth. A blessing for me, I suppose—it would have been distasteful to kill her in the first tribulation.

I heard soft footfalls behind me as I was walking through a hallway in the First Manor House. They were purposeful, and I recognized those distinct steps. I turned around, seeing the masked face of the contracted Shinobi, the personal guard of the dead Iona Serle, the eldest of the Serle family.

“Greetings Kina,” I said to the female form clad in a black attire with hints of chain armor shirt showing underneath. Only a pair of blue eyes could be seen as the rest of her face was hidden by a black hood. As usual, she wore slightly curved twin swords with white straps behind her back. They were her twin weapons called Wakizashis.

“Verath,” she said, her voice colder than winter snow, even though it only became a soft muffle against her cowled mouth.

She was still angry since she had failed to guard Iona Serle's life from a mage assassin. The mage assassin soon died afterward, killed by the Shinobi, and Iona left parting words for Kina to guard the rest of her family. Thus, for the remaining days of her contract, Kina guarded Gustav, the youngest of the siblings, and the only son of the Serle family.

Failure for a contracted Shinbo meant death, but I had stopped Kina from killing herself when her contract was over. Some force had been used but Kina eventually relented, especially after I had quickly confiscated her weapons, including her hidden weapons, and forcefully restrained her.

This was how I came to know her real name and some of her background. A curiosity of mine satisfied, I suppose.

“I still have not forgiven you for stopping me,” Kina said. She removed the piece of clothing which covered her mouth, revealing a set of lips that slightly titled downwards. “You have forced me to go against all of my teachings.”

“Your teachings involve killing yourself after a failure?”

I could see Kina clench her gloved hands hard. “A failure,” she said bitterly, “which can never be undone. A failure which resulted in the death of my first contract owner. Now, I can never show my slighted face again to my family and clan members.” Kina put her clothing up again, covering her mouth. “I am no longer who I am,” she said in a soft, muffled voice.

The ex-Shinobi did not even wait for me to respond before she left, disappearing at the turn of the hallway.

I exited the First Manor House in silence with one more problem I needed to address added to my list.

It took most of the afternoon before I found Orik and finished seeing the states of the soldiers and knights I commanded. I had assigned Sir Rowan Valterio, the Silver Knight I had faced in the tournament, and a few other knights the task of eradicating some black elf raiders and goblins that were plaguing a few of the western towns in the region.

Dusk had fallen by then, and I proceeded toward my room in the Fifth Manor House with Efari following beside me; I had dumped her at an inn and told her not to cause any trouble while I had been doing my duties as a Knight Commander.

Along with the Sixth and Fourth Manor House, the Fifth Manor House were places where military retainers resided. The two generals, the six Grandmasters, and the two Ministers of War lived in the Sixth Manor House. The other two manors were for the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Knight Commanders. There were also some important accountants and scribes working for the ministers residing there.

Having arrived at my somewhat luxurious room, I greeted my peer who had just come out through the door from the room beside mine. “Greetings, Lana,” I said to the other Gold Knight Commander. My peer was a female of thirty years of age, though she did not look that. In fact, her appearance befitted a child, rather than that of a thirty year old woman. Her height also barely came toward my chest.

“Back already, Verath?” Lana said in her slightly child-like voice. Her small brows became furrowed as she noticed Efari beside me. “And who is that newcomer beside you?”

“Efari, meet Gold Knight Commander Lana Ashfell. Lana, meet Efari, my sister.”

Lana's extremely light, purplish eyes narrowed. It was a glare aimed at me. “Shouldn't your sister also have white hair?”

I shrugged my shoulders at her. “I think too much.”

Lana's purplish eyes narrowed even more. “I cannot tell whether you are joking or not...”

“I am Verath's mate,” Efari declared in a proud voice, letting the dragon out of the bag.

“...” Lana blinked once, twice, before looking at Efari, then back at me. “This must be another one of your inept jokes, Verath. It is not funny trying to play jokes on your elders, especially one who is twelve years older than you!”

In truth, Lana Ashfell was only a little older than me, but the sky itself would have fallen first before I would reveal that. The child-like appearance of the Gold Knight Commander was just quite amusing, so much that I frequently played jokes on her during the days of turmoil. There had been plenty of opportunities, since I had been working alongside her to control the northern region.

Interacting with Lana was also a good way to get in touch with my human side. These past months, I had felt that my emotions were becoming more dampened. It was just slightly, almost unnoticeable, in fact. But it was still somewhat alarming—it was a sign of my counterpart merging with me.

“The truth is, Lana...” My voice became softer, almost a whisper, and I gestured toward Lana to come closer. Walking a few steps, she leaned closer toward me, lending her ear. “...Efari is a stray woman I picked up on my small trip. She will be staying with me in my room for a long, long, long while.”

Moving away from me, her eyes widened noticeably, her face forming a surprised expression. There was a slight reddening of her cheeks—Lana was still “inexperienced,” and quite shy in certain regards, I had found out.

“You..you...are,” Lana sputtered.

“I am what?”

“Ugh. Forget it,” she said, turning her back toward me, before storming out of the hallway. Quite soon, her small back, upon which scarlet hair cascaded down almost toward the waist, disappeared. Known as the Red Temper, or the Small Monster, my peer was quite famous.

“You seem different with that child human,” Efari commented.

I only said, “She's amusing.”

“So are you,” Efari replied with a smile. It quickly disappeared. “You would not mind if I drain her?”

I remained silent, only opening the door and gesturing Efari to enter. Ladies (monsters, dragons, and other species also applicable) first.

“I joke, of course,” Efari said, giving a small smile that showed off her teeth. Then she entered my somewhat luxurious and spacious room.

For now, I had decided that Efari would remain with me inside the Fifth Manor House. She was too much of an unknown and dangerous factor for anything else. There would be whispered talk at her presence and I also needed to tell Calina about Efari.

All of this I would need to do tomorrow. Then I would need to give the three assassins some more vials of my blood. It was quite a waste to sleep more than an hour, as I only needed an hour of rest. But it was a facade I needed to keep up to look human. A shame, but I suppose I could practice finer control of my magic.

And Efari's already naked form would keep me busy. She was demanding another exchange.

I was not a fool though. I had already asked the effects of her life essence mixing with my own, and she had told me that it would make me a tiny bit stronger and sharper. The main thing was that it would form a bond through which we could both sense each other. Of course, I did not take her words for granted and checked for myself—I was not one to blindly trust another. The result was that I found no negative effects.

Thus, I obliged and we exchanged for a few hours.