WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 14

It was late at night and our group was back at our room in the Antiquity Inn. Alexis had offered us a room at her branch office, but I didn’t think any of us wanted to mooch off her kindness. Plus we wanted to enjoy time to ourselves.

“Eryk,” Fay suddenly said. “Can I ask why you acted so violently when you interfered with the battle today? I understand why Fritz’s actions would make you angry because I feel the same way myself, but I feel like there’s more to what happened than you simply releasing your anger on him.”

I was sitting on a couch made from soft cushions and the fur from some kind of Demon Beast. The fur was silver, so I suspected it might be a Demon Beast with a water or ice elemental nature. Sitting with me was Fay and Siv. Kari and Lin were currently at the Battling Valkyries branch office discussing some matter with Alexis.

Siv had placed her head on my lap, and I was currently stroking her hair and also rubbing her horns. Fay was leaning into my shoulder. Her hair was still wet from her shower, and the gentle fragrance of her shampoo made me distinctly aware of her presence.

“You’re right. There is a bit more to it than that,” I admitted. “I’m sure you noticed what Fritz was doing. Spiritual Drain is the Spiritual Darkness Technique he had been about to use on Karen. It is the same technique that was used on Rinne.”

“You suspect Fritz might be the person who killed Rinne?” Fay nibbled on her lower lip for a moment, pondering my words. “But why would he do that? To get rid of the competition? Isn’t he supposed to be at the Third State of Spiritualism? In that case…”

“In that case, there isn’t much point in him getting rid of Rinne,” I finished when Fay trailed off. “I don’t think this is about getting rid of the competition. Fritz wouldn’t want to do that anyway. From what I saw the other day, he is a showoff. He’d want to show everyone how powerful he is. I believe there is another reason he’s doing this, but I don’t know what that reason is. That’s why I decided to make him angry.”

Fay did not have Kari’s cunning mind. Unlike my first wife, who was ten times more devious than me, Fay was straightforward and honest, but that didn’t mean she was a fool. None of my wives were. Give any of them a bit of time and I knew they would be able to see what I was hoping to accomplish.

“You are hoping that by making him angry, he will reveal his hand earlier than intended,” she said at last.

I smiled to show her that she was right, then said, “When people get angry, they are unable to think logically. They act on their emotions and rarely consider the consequences of their actions. I’m hoping that by so blatantly antagonizing him, I can draw him out and get him to attack me. At the very least, I’m hoping his anger will make him sloppier and reveal his true intentions.”

There was something off about Fritz. I couldn’t say what it was, but I always trusted my instincts, and they were telling me to watch out for that guy, that he was dangerous.

Fay didn’t speak as she considered my words, leaning her head on my shoulders. I could feel her breasts pressing against my arm. That reminded me that we hadn’t had sex in a good while. Maybe I could take this opportunity to have some alone time with her…

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Or maybe not.

I sighed and looked at the door as someone knocked on it, wondering who it could be as Siv and Fay sat up and also stared at the door. It wasn’t Kari and Lin. If it had been them, they would have just entered, meaning whoever was on the other side was an uninvited guest.

With a soft sigh, I stood up, walked over to the door, and reached out with Spiritual Perception. The person on the other side appeared before me like a bright, shining flame. The flame was a vibrant but pale blue. Whoever they were, they had a lightning affinity, and they had reached the Third State of Spiritualism, which narrowed down my prospects.

I opened the door, curious to know who was on the other side.

I blinked.

“Eryk Veiger, Alexis told me I could find you here,” said Commander Ashten of the Midgard Spiritual Knights.

I wouldn’t say his appearance was completely unexpected after the display I put on, but I would admit that I did not expect him to meet with me so soon. Now he was standing in the doorway. What should I do? Well, I guess there was nothing I could do except see what he wanted.

“Commander Ashten,” I said in a polite tone. “I assume you are here to speak with me. Please come in.”

“Thank you.”

Commander Ashten was quite polite, but he always came across as hard and gruff. His demeanor and bearing gave him the intimidating air of a man who would not brook any form of nonsense from other people.

He walked into the room and looked around. I shut the door behind us, then walked further into the room, gesturing for him to follow me.

Fay left the couch and went into the small kitchenette attached to the living room. It wasn’t much, but it did have a small stove that she could use to boil a pot of tea. On the other hand, Siv remained on the couch, warily eyeing Commander Ashten like he was a dangerous predator as he sat on a chair next to the couch. The moment I sat down, she pressed herself against me. Feeling her warm and soft body would normally make me set the girl on my lap, but I didn’t dare do that right now.

“Would you like some tea, Commander?” Fay asked as she set a teacup with steaming liquid inside on the coffee table, which was made of crystal instead of wood or glass.

“I would. Thank you,” Commander Ashten reached out and took the teacup. His actions were surprisingly delicate for a man clad in armor. The joints of his gauntlets clicked together as he raised the cup to his lips and took a sip.

Fay set three more cups of tea on the coffee table, then sat down next to me.

I reached out and took a sip of tea. The warmth of the liquid warmed my insides, while the slight bitterness was offset by the milk and single cube of sugar that Fay had placed inside of it. She knew my tastes quite well.

I did not speak. Since this man had come to me, I decided to wait for him to say something. This caused a slight but disquieting silence to settle upon us. Siv and Fay looked a little tense by this, but I was not bothered.

Finally, Commander Ashten sighed. “I believe I owe you an apology.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“The situation in Midgard has been rather hectic since the tournament was first announced,” he continued to explain himself. “Security has tightened and my workload has increased. To make matters worse, there have been a string of murders happening inside the city. I have been rather tense, so when I saw your power, I decided you must be dangerous and might even be related to the murders.”

“And so you wanted to try to apprehend me for questioning,” I deduced.

“Precisely.”

So that was the situation. I believe I understood now, but his words also brought a new issue to light.

“You mentioned a string of murders,” I began. “Were the people who were murdered drained of all their Spiritual Power.”

“They were. How did you know?” he asked, frowning at me.

I could only smile at the suspicion in his voice. This was definitely the Commander Ashten I remembered from my past.

“The other night, we discovered one of the Battling Valkyries who had been slated to participate in the tournament murdered. Someone had used a Spiritual Darkness Technique called Spiritual Drain, which drains a person of all their Spiritual Power and turns them into a dried out corpse,” I answered.

“So that’s how it is.” Commander Ashten sighed, but then his gaze sharpened as he looked at me in a new light. “Do you suspect Fritz is the one responsible for what happened to that Battling Valkyrie member?”

“I do,” I said with a nod.

Commander Ashten went silent and his brow furrowed as though he was thinking of something. I didn’t interrupt him.

Fay and Siv also remained silent for the entire conversation. Siv was always silent around new people anyway, but I think Fay was remaining silent simply to let us talk. Unlike Kari, who would interrupt with her own speculations and hypothesis, Fay preferred to leave matters like this to others. She was the type of woman who liked to be pointed at an enemy and let loose.

During this time, the door to our bedroom opened, interrupting the conversation and causing everyone to turn their heads. A young boy walked into the room. He was wearing blue pajamas that rustled as he walked. Rubbing his eyes, he made his way over to us.

An endearing and tender smile appeared on Fay’s face. “What’s wrong, Raul?”

“Potty,” Raul said.

“All right. Come with me. Let’s go to the potty.”

Fay stood up and held Raul’s hand as she led him toward the bathroom. I watched my wife and son for a moment, but then noticed out of the corner of my eye, Commander Ashten also staring at the two. His expression was not lecherous, so I didn’t let him bother me. Still, I wondered what he was thinking…

“I am going to tell you something confidential,” Commander Ashten suddenly said, turning back to me after Fay and Raul closed the bathroom door. “I normally wouldn’t tell this to someone I just met, but you are abnormally powerful and seem perceptive, so maybe you’ll be able to see something I am missing.”

I could feel my back straighten a little as I focused more fully on the man sitting in the chair. Commander Ashten had great instincts. It was how he’d been able to rise to such a prominent position. This man was the leader of the Midgard Spiritual Knights. You don’t reach such a lofty height by being stupid.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I knew Fritz from several years ago,” he confessed. “At the time, he was a member of the Midgard Spiritual Knights, but he quit about two months after joining. He was dissatisfied with the status quo and left to eventually form Thor’s Hammer with two other people. Do you know about the legend of Thor?”

I shook my head.

“Thor was a powerful Spiritualist from before the Catastrophe. Legend states he had godlike powers over lightning, that with a single swing of his hammer, he could invoke the wrath of the heavens and create powerful thunderstorms that were capable of destroying mountains.” Commander Ashten paused here. “The legends themselves are not important, however. What is important is that Thor was stated to be a powerful Spiritualist with an affinity for lightning. Do you know why Fritz’s sect is called Thor’s Hammer?” I said nothing as the man smiled. “It is because Fritz is a lightning user, or he was. He did not have an affinity for the darkness element back when he was a member of the Midgard Spiritual Knights.”

As the man hit me with this surprising information, I suddenly realized that the situation here in Midgard was a lot more complex and mysterious than I thought.

***

I was still thinking about what Commander Ashten told me the next morning as our group made its way toward the arena. Fritz originally had an affinity for the lightning element, not the darkness element.

It was certainly possible to gain an affinity for a second element. Some people were naturally born with two affinities, though a dual affinity Spiritualist was rarer than a dragon. Myself and Lin were the only people I knew who had a dual affinity. The second method for gaining a second affinity was training your Spiritual Powers into accepting that affinity, usually by meditating and refining your Spiritual Power near that affinity.

For example, if someone wanted to gain an affinity for water, they could meditate under a lake. Being surrounded by the element would allow them to touch and understand that element. If a Spiritualist trained hard enough, they would eventually gain a second affinity.

But no one ever bothered doing this because it was impractical. Training a second affinity required years if not decades just to reach the point where a Spiritualist could use that second affinity. Forget the First State of Spiritualism. They would be lucky if they could do basic F-rank Spiritual Techniques. Reaching the First State of Spiritualism would require another few decades of training. It was better to focus on practicing the affinity you were born with instead of trying to gain a second one.

And yet Fritz had gained a darkness element and was not only proficient in its use, he had reached the Third State of Spiritualism with it.

Something was very wrong with this scenario.

When our group arrived in Alexis’ private viewing booth, we were shocked to discover that not only was Commander Ashten present, but the other leaders of the Six Great Sects—technically five right now—were also there.

“Eryk,” Rainere said with a broad smile as he stood next to an annoyed-looking Alexis. “So good of you to come. We have been waiting for you.”

“Have you now?” I asked as I walked into the room alongside Kari, Fay, Lin, Siv, and Raul. “Did you have something you wished to talk to me about?”

“No. No.” Rainere laughed as though I’d said something funny. “We just wanted to get to know you and your wives better. That is all. I heard from Alexis here that you five—excuse me—that you six are not from the Northern Plains. I’m rather curious to know where you come from and what your home is like.”

I glanced at Alexis, who refused to look me in the eye, and suddenly realized these people had probably barged into this viewing booth earlier and strong armed her into giving them information on me.

Alexis was, of course, aware that we were not from the Northern Plains. I was certain Erica told her any and all pertinent information about us. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman to kiss and tell, but it was another story if the leaders who sat on the Council of Six demanded the information. As of right now, the Battling Valkyries were not a part of the Six Great Sects. She didn’t have the authority to refuse them.

Fortunately, telling them about where we came from wouldn’t matter. In fact, I would have to do that at some point anyway since I wanted to establish friendly relations with the Northern Plains. Alexis didn’t know it right now, but she’d actually done me a favor.

My wives all began doing their own thing.

Lin, being a lamia who could use incredibly strong poison, slithered on over to Àn Shen and Ming Shen to discuss poison with them. Poison was a combination of the darkness and earth element, so I was sure she felt curious to know how those of his Poison Sect could use poison.

Siv was watching our son. She had no interest in these people and did not even want to be near them, so she took it upon herself to look after Raul, who was a bundle of energy and running all over the private viewing booth. I loved the smile she wore as she chased the squealing little boy.

While Siv watched our son, poor Fay was dragged into a conversation with the mistress of the Alchemist Association. Cathrine Hildre was very interested in the alchemy pill Fay had refined, the Mind Healing Pill, and began asking if she knew any other alchemy pills. Being the straightforward woman that she was, Fay didn’t even hesitate to list all the pills she could create. While several were originals, more than half of them were legendary pills whose recipes had been lost to history.

“Y-y-you can refine a Yin-Yang Spiritual Enhancement Pill?!”

“Er… yes. Eryk and I have made several before—”

“W-what is the recipe?! How do you refine it?! Are there any secret techniques or—oh, my. I cannot believe there is someone who knows how to refine such a legendary pill!”

Poor Fay. Cathrine was literally getting in my wife’s face, completely ignoring any and all personal boundaries. I couldn’t remember ever seeing this woman get so excited. Then again, I didn’t really know much about Cathrine since she and I never really interacted in my previous life—and we were in the middle of a war back then.

Among my wives, the only one who remained by my side was Kari. She wore a polite and refined smile as Rainere talked to me about our home. When I mentioned that Kari was actually a princess, he ended up asking her questions regarding Nevarian customs, which fortunately weren’t much different from the customs found here. The only real difference was that Nevaria was a monarchy, while the Northern Plains was an oligarchy.

During our conversation, our group was interrupted by Morrigan. I didn’t know much about her. Morrigan Arsland was the sect leader of the Spiritualism Research Sect. They were a group who was dedicated to the study and preservation of Spiritualism. In other words, they researched Spiritualism in all its aspects, from the studying of ancient text to experimenting on new ideas and creating hypotheses to further their knowledge. They were also responsible for the creation of many Spiritual Techniques. It was their creation of Spiritual Techniques that led to them becoming one of the Six Great Sects.

After all, every sect needed Spiritual Techniques to survive.

While all these conversations were taking place, the person this viewing booth belonged to silently stewed in her chair. Alexis’ face had turned bright red. She looked seconds away from blowing her top, and the longer everyone continued talking, the angier she seemed to become. It soon reached a point where I was certain I saw steam rising from her head.

“All right! That’s it! All of you! Get the hell out of my viewing booth! The tournament is about to start!” she finally shouted, standing up and glaring at the sect leaders invading her booth.

“Come on now, Alexis,” Rainere said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “We just wish to speak with our new friends some more. Surely you could—”

“Do that on your own damn time! Get out! Out!”

I was a little surprised to see this woman acting like such a spitfire. I was certain she was more of the calm and composed type from our first meeting, but it seemed she could become quite excitable when enraged.

The five sect leaders who had been with her since before we arrived all looked at each other and decided to leave. That was also a little surprising. After all, these people were the leaders who were in charge of all policies and laws set down in the Northern Plains. Their authority was far higher than Alexis’. It wasn’t like they had to listen to her, but they did anyway.

“It’s because Alexis is the youngest person to ever reach the Third State of Spiritualism,” Kari said, accurately reading my thoughts from my expression. She smiled.

“That does make sense,” I said with a nod.

Power was everything, regardless of whether you came from Nevaria, the Endless Desert, or the Northern Plains. Those who had power were respected and revered.

Alexis was powerful. Not only was her strength comparable to those great leaders, but she had reached that level of strength at the tender age of 14 years old, which was why she looked so young. People who had reached the Third State of Spiritualism had a lifespan of about five hundred years, give or take. They aged much more slowly than regular humans because of this.

After everyone left, Alexis ran a hand through her hair, released a weary sigh, and gestured for all of us to sit down.

“I apologize for letting you see me like that,” she said as we took our seats. “I generally do not let myself become so angry… but those rude people were insistent on invading my private viewing booth.”

“It’s fine,” I said with a shrug. “I would like to speak with them some more at some point, but I don’t think now is the time.”

“This princess wanted to talk about poisons with Àn more,” Lin harrumphed.

“You can travel to their sect after the tournament is over,” I suggested. “I’m sure they will welcome you with open arms.”

“They had better,” she muttered.

Now that all those people had left, the viewing booth was a lot quieter. About the only thing that hadn’t changed was Siv and Raul. They were no longer running around. Siv had caught Raul and was sitting on the floor, her legs crossed as the boy sat on her lap and stared at the arena floor. Silas was already there. It looked like they were about to begin.

“Ladies and gentlemen! We apologize for the other days, erm, inconvenience and hope all of you will forgive us for what happened. The arena has been repaired and we are now ready resume the tournament! I hope all of you are excited to see the next round of matches! The next match for round 1 will be between…”

I stopped paying attention after the man began speaking. Whoever they brought up to battle would only be at the Second State of Spiritualism, which meant they simply weren’t worth my time. Only Fay and Lin were actually interested in the battles.

“Kari spoke to me last night,” Alexis suddenly said.

“Oh? What did you two speak about?” I asked, looking between Kari and Alexis.

“The matter regarding what happened to Rinne.” A hard look appeared in Alexis’ eyes. “Every woman in my sect is like my own daughter. I found them, brought them up, and made them strong. And now someone has violated and killed one of my daughters. I will not let this stand.”

I studied Alexis, then looked at Kari.

“We were discussing how to catch the man responsible for what happened,” she said with a wave of her hand. “This sort of task would normally be left to the Midgard Spiritual Knights. They are responsible for internal security and dealing with criminal activity in Midgard, but they are currently swamped with other responsibilities right now.”

“I am also not the type of woman who would let something like this go unpunished, nor am I the type of woman who would leave my revenge in someone else’s hands,” Alexis added.

“Right.” Kari nodded. “That is why I came to her the other night with a proposal to let us help her catch the person responsible.”

These words did not surprise me in the least. I knew Kari wanted to discuss something with Alexis last night, and though I hadn’t known what, hearing about the contents of their conversation now only left me feeling resolute.

“In that case, I believe I have some information that you will want to know,” I said before explaining my conversation with Commander Ashten the previous night. The two women listened as I explained what he had told me. Their expressions became grave, especially when I informed them about the string of murders that had been happening, all of which were identical to how Rinne had been killed.

“I have not heard anything regarding this,” Alexis mumbled. “Ashten must be keeping this matter confidential to avoid causing a panic among the citizens. It would not be a big deal if it was just a single murder, but a string of murders? And all the people who have been killed were Spiritualists… that is quite ominous.”

Kari did not say anything at first, but I could tell what she was thinking. There was a lot more to this than someone simply murdering Spiritualists.

“I plan to see Commander Ashten after today’s tournament is over,” I said. “I am going to get more information on these murders. Can I ask you to hold off on making any plans until I am finished?”

Alexis closed her eyes, then nodded. “Yes. I will refrain from doing anything until you come to me. However—” she opened her eyes and gazed at me with a look that was sharper than a sword “—once you have spoken with Ashten, you will come to me. I refuse to let what happened to Rinne go unpunished.”

“I understand,” I said.

We agreed that I would come talk with her after speaking with Commander Ashten, then turned our attention toward the tournament. Just as I suspected, the only match worth watching had been between Janet and someone from the Brawlers Sect.

Janet had won, of course.