WIEDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 48

I finished that woman’s second request. It took days to slip into Nevaria undetected while carrying her body through the streets. Since my goal wasn’t to get into a confrontation, and I didn’t want to run the risk of her body being torn apart, I had to carefully sneak through the city using the Flash Step until I reached the base of the mountain upon which the Imperial Royal Palace once sat.

The Imperial Royal Palace was still technically there, but it had long since fallen into ruins. Many of the walls were missing, having crumbled into dust, and the roof had gaping holes that even I could see during my journey through the streets. It was hard not to notice the damage done do it, given that it sat on the tallest place within the city.

After reaching the base of the mountain, I began digging a grave for the woman, whose body I had wrapped in Everlasting Leaves. They were a fairly abundant leave despite their pretentious name. They weren’t used in alchemy, but they did have a well-known usage, which was keeping items wrapped inside of them fresh. I didn’t want the woman’s body rotting when I buried her.

Digging a grave took longer than I thought it would. I had no shovel with which to use, so I was left to dig the hole with my own hands. It didn’t hurt at all. My skin—my entire body—had been refined with alchemy pills. However, the process was laborious. Sweat covered by body by the time I was done.

The evening sun was setting as I lifted the woman’s body and gently set her inside of the grave. I didn’t bother removing the Everlasting Leaves that covered her body, and instead I moved the dirt back into place. My heart felt strangely placid as I worked. Part of me wondered if I had simply become numb to loss, but it didn’t feel quite like that. My emotions still felt like they were intact. I could still feel.

After finally packing the dirt as densely as I could over the woman’s body, I stood back and tried to compose my thoughts as best I could.

“You might have been content at the end of your life, but I am sorry that I couldn’t do anything to help cure you. No matter what you might have said to me, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for not being able to save you… but I also know you wouldn’t want me dwelling on the past.” I paused for a moment, only to chuckle when I realized something. “I just realized it, but you never once told me your name, did you? Did you know you would die and decided not to tell me so I wouldn’t get too attached?”

I was spouting meaningless theories now. This was a question I would never get answered.

With a final sigh, I turned around and used the flash step to make my way out of Nevaria, avoiding the areas that were heavy in Demon Beast traffic to slip outside unnoticed. I began my trek back to the cavern the woman and I had been living in.

It was still the same as it always had been. Nothing had changed. The table with the alchemy set remained in the center, the cookware was off to the side, a bed was situated on the other side, and a bookshelf filled with ancient tomes remained resting against the far wall. I glanced around at this place for a moment, feeling equally warm and cold. This place could almost be considered my home now. However, that home felt empty.

I didn’t let these feelings dwell within me for long.

I made my way to the bookshelf.

It took a moment to find the book I was looking for. Running my fingers over the dusty and worn leather, I recalled a time so very long ago when the feeling of a book’s spine caressing my fingers was something I enjoyed. How long ago was that? It felt like a lifetime ago.

Finding the book I wanted didn’t take long, despite the fact that it didn’t have a title on the spine, and I was soon bringing it over to the chair. I sat down, set the book on my lap, and began flipping through the pages, which contained alchemy recipes. I was looking for one recipe in particular. It took me a while before finding what I wanted.

The Yin-Yang Spiritual Enhancement Pill.

This pill gathered the natural Spiritual Power permeating the world around the one who consumed it, allowing them to take that Spiritual Power in, refine it, and make it their own. This was necessary to reach the Fourth State of Spiritualism. However, the pill itself required very specific ingredients, and those ingredients could differ depending on what the Spiritualist wanted to accomplish.

A good example would be if I wanted to gain the Spiritual Power derived from lighting. To correctly refine a pill that would allow me to draw upon the Spiritual Power within the lightning element, I would first need to get the core of an S-rank Lightning Demon Beast. That was the key ingredient needed to refine the Yin-Yang Spiritual Enhancement Pill with the lightning element.

There were not many S-rank Demon Beasts in this world to begin with. They were rare and near-legendary existences, with powers akin to those of a god and intelligence that wouldn’t lose out to a human. I’d read a story that once claimed S-rank Demon Beasts could talk. I didn’t know if that was true or not.

Before I gathered the key ingredient, however, I should gather up the rest of the ingredients necessary: lif flowers, death knell klunger, spirit bone milk, lysende moss, drage stem, spirit essence, naturally purified water from a 1,000 year old spring, lightning chimera scales, essence blood of a Thunder Leopard… the more I read the list, the harder I realized it would be to find all these ingredients. There were over thirty ingredients, and while some of them were common, more than half of them were incredibly rare—to the point where some people had questioned their existence. Not even the Alchemist Association in the Northern Plains had these ingredients on hand.

Closing the book, I stood up and walked over to the bookshelf. A small sheet of parchment sat on the second shelf. I grabbed it and went to the table, unfolding the parchment and spreading it across the free space available. What the parchment detailed was actually an incredibly accurate but very old map. Several sections of the map were circled. Some of the rarer ingredients could be found in these spots.

This map had been made by the woman I buried.

I checked the map well into the night, plotting the route I would take. It might take a long time to accomplish my goals, and I still had to complete that woman’s last request, but I felt a small fire igniting inside of me. It burned within me. I would become stronger, complete the woman’s last request, and then…

I would kill the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain.

***

The days passed by more quickly than I could have imagined, but I chalked that up to how busy I was. Between constantly attending meetings with the empress, working on the various tasks I was assigned to complete our war preparations, and making trips to the Alchemist Association, I was pretty swamped with work.

Breaks had become non-existent.

I wasn’t the only one hard at work either; Kari, Lin, and Fay were also doing their part to help me out. Kari had taken to directing our forces outside of Neveria. She was helping create the traps we planned on using to lessen the enemy forces before they arrived at Nevaria. On the other hand, Lin and Fay were doing their part by helping around the Nevarian Braves headquarters. They would go through our supplies, correspond with several noble families regarding our defenses, and help train our Spiritualists to keep their skills sharp.

Siv was the only one not working. This wasn’t her fault, however. She had asked me if I had anything she could do, but she didn’t know how anything worked. That said, when she had come up and stared at me with those big green eyes of hers, asking in her stilted speech if there was anything she could do to help, I decided to have her fly reconnaissance. I asked her to find out where the enemy army coming to Nevaria was currently located and report back to me.

“They are… in grassland… place with high grass,” she said after returning home.

She was wearing a very simple sleeveless tunic I had prepared for her. This tunic had been modified to accommodate for her wings, currently stretched out behind her back so they didn’t get squashed between her and the couch. Her legs were completely bare and she wasn’t wearing any footwear, but she seemed to prefer that. In all the time I’d known her, she hadn’t worn any boots or even sandals.

Because any clothes Siv wore would rip when she transformed, I had her transform away from prying eyes so she could remove her clothes, and then had her transform back in the same spot. I kept these clothes on me so I could give them to her whenever she needed something to change into.

Her bare feet pressed against the couch as she sat with her knees pressed to her chest, she wiggled her toes, causing the small scales to glisten as they reflected the light. She was only wearing the tunic and nothing else. I wondered if she realized I could see her the soft lips of her vagina. Well, even if she did know that, I somehow didn’t think she’d be bothered. Shy as the girl was, she didn’t understand nudity taboos very well.

“The grasslands, huh?” I assumed she meant the grassy plains just before the Pteranodon Valley. Leaning back against the couch with my arms crossed, I took a second to contemplate this information. “That means they’ve almost reached the first ambush point. I need to inform Empress Hilda so we can initiate the next plan.”

“Meet empress? Kari’s momma?” Siv tilted her head.

“Yes. She’s the one in charge, so I need to let her know what you’ve discovered.”

“Help. I… I’ll help too.”

“You can come with me if you want.” I stood up and prepared to leave, but then paused when Siv stood up. “However, we need to put more clothes on you. It would not be a good idea for you to walk around outside like that.”

Siv tilted her head like she couldn’t understand what was wrong with her current attire, but I was not going to let this girl expose herself. She might not get embarrassed because she didn’t understand. However, the idea of some man gazing at her hairless mound with lust bothered me.

I helped her put on some basic string underwear that tied at the sides, then had her wear shorts. They were fairly short. The shorts didn’t even cover her entire butt, stopping just a little before the folds of her butt cheeks. Her small and shapely rear end was still easily discernible underneath her clothes. I’d have liked to put her in something different, but she didn’t enjoy the pants I first suggested.

Most of my forces were currently out. The headquarters was very empty as we walked down to the first floor. Only the chefs, maids, butlers, and receptionists were present.

We soon left, quickly traveling through the air instead of the streets. I used the Flash Step Version 2: Jump Step, while she was simply flapping her wings. The amazing thing was that she could easily keep pace with me. While the Jump Step didn’t gift me with the incredible speed the regular Flash Step did, I still moved a lot faster than a normal person ever could.

The Spiritualists guarding the gate let us through the moment we landed, and then we traveled up to the mansion, where we were met by Garret.

“I take it you are here to see Empress Hilda?” he said with a slight bow. “Please follow me. She is currently having lunch in her study.”

“Thanks,” I said as we walked past the guards at the front door and traveled inside.

Siv kept close to me as we wandered through hall after hall, her wings now folded behind her. She reached out and grabbed my left sleeve as though she was afraid of getting lost.

Empress Hilda looked busy when we entered the study. She sat behind her desk, discussing plans with several Spiritualists dressed in the armor of Neverian Spiritualist captains and commanders of the Imperial Royal Guard. It looked like she was going over the plans for when the army of Sekbeists and Demon Beasts arrived.

“While the greatest assault will most definitely come from the north, we cannot dismiss the possibility that the Sekbeists will use flying Demon Beasts like Pteranodons to attack us from the south, east, and west. Make sure you station several men at the ballistae towers at all times, one to fire the ballistae, one to reload, and five to protect them while they work. Should a surprise attack come from these directions, we’ll be relying on them to protect our people.”

“Ma’am!” the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guards all snapped off a salute.

As she looked up from something on her desk—a map, I realized—her eyes locked with mine and a smile lit her face, though it left seconds later when she seemed to sense that this wasn’t a social visit.

“Eryk,” she called me by my first name. Siv pressed herself closer to me, which made me sigh. If she was this nervous around Kari’s mom, she shouldn’t have come. “If you’re here, I’m guessing you have some information for me.”

“I do,” I said, walking past the Imperial Royal Guards and Nevarian Spiritualists, who stepped away so I could stand in front of the desk. “Siv here just did some reconnaissance for us. It looks like the Sekbeist army is currently in the grasslands just outside of the Pteranodon Valley. Given how long it took them to arrive at this point, we can assume they will begin marching into the Pteranodon Valley within two days.”

Nodding at my words, the empress didn’t even take a moment to ponder them before making her decision.

“In that case, we will begin the first phase of our plan.” She drew her back straight, causing her chest to jiggle within the confines of her cleavage-revealing dress. She wasn’t wearing breast bindings like usual. Did that mean she’d been so busy she didn’t have time to properly bind her chest? “Take your Nevarian Braves to the Pteranodon Valley and begin the initial assault. Whittle away at their forces and do your best to stall them. The more time we have to shore up our defenses, the better off we’ll be. In the meantime, I’ll have the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guards move out to their predetermined locations.”

Offering her a compulsory bow, I quickly left with Siv in tow. My response might have been a little rude, but there was nothing I could do about that.

Time was of the essence.

***

After picking up Fay and Lin, we arrived at the main camp where the Neverian Braves were stationed just outside of the Pteranodon Valley. It consisted mostly of large tents spread across the entrance. I counted about 120 in total, which was huge for an operation inside of the Demon Beast Mountain Range. Spread across the camp were several fire pits where people were cooking.

“Siv, please set down just outside of the camp,” I instructed the girl.

Myself, Fay, and Lin were sitting on Siv’s back as she flew in her dragon form. Having a total length of about 20 meters, she was big enough that even Lin could sit on her without a problem.

Siv didn’t respond to me with words, but she did travel over the campsite, which caused quite the commotion down below. People were pointing at us—or rather, they were pointing at Siv—and shouting something that was lost to the wind.

She set down several meters outside of the camp. After Fay, Lin, and I got off, Siv transformed back into her human form. I summoned her clothing from the storage ring and helped her get dressed before anyone could come up to us. Lin and Fay were kind enough to act as our guards and block any potential viewer’s sight.

As I finished helping Siv get dressed, I noticed that Lin was glaring angrily at Siv for reasons that only Lin knew. I wondered what that was about. However, I didn’t have time to discuss this with her. Kari, Catalyna, Geirolf, Mykkel, Earland, and Bjark were coming toward us at a quick trot.

“Hey, you four!” Catalyna shouted a greeting. “What are you all doing here? I figured you’d be busy coordinating with the empress, Commander.”

“I was, but the situation has changed,” I said. “Please tell everyone to gather in the middle of the camp. I have an announcement to make.”

“Will do!” Catalyna said.

“I saw Siv flying over the Pteranodon Valley just a few hours ago,” Geirolf said as he and the others joined us in walking toward the camp. “I’m guessing she gained some info on that army you spoke of?”

“That’s right,” I said with a nod. “And it’s pretty big news.”

“If that is the case, then we had better move quickly,” Mykkel muttered.

While Catalyna, Geirolf, Mykkel, Earland, and Bjark split off to begin informing everyone to head to the middle of the camp for an announcement, myself, Kari, Lin, Fay, and Siv went toward the camp’s center and waited. During this time, Kari asked Lin and Fay a question.

“How was it flying on Siv’s back? Was it fun?”

The blonde girl looked really inquisitive and excited, eyes sparkling like gemstones as she gazed at her two friends.

“It was certainly a unique experience,” Fay admitted with a slow nod.

“T-this princess did not think it was that fun.” Lin crossed her arms and huffed.

“You not… like riding on my back?” asked Siv, who’s dragon wings actually slumped as though expressing her abject depression.

“I-it’s not that this princess didn’t like it.” Lin panicked and backtracked. “She just… didn’t think it was all that fun. She prefers remaining on the ground. Lamia are a race born of the earth, and so… it’s like… we prefer being on the ground instead of in the air. W-when we Lamia are in the air, we cannot feel the earth beneath our scales, which makes us feel a sense of loss… or something, and so this princess can’t get comfortable on your back. It’s like that.”

Siv didn’t quite seem to understand, and the depressed expression she wore only caused Lin to panic more as she tried to explain herself, but that just resulted in the girl digging herself into an even deeper grave.

I ignored them for now and instead focused on the people entering the clearing. They appeared from within tents, walked around from further outside, and a few even appeared to have come from the Pteranodon Valley itself. The scent of fire and food filled the air, along with that of several hundred unwashed bodies. I guessed these people probably hadn’t had much of a chance to bathe. Even Kari was smelling a little rank.

Once everyone had gathered, I began speaking.

“We’re short on time, so I won’t beat around the bush. The army traveling towards Nevaria has reached the grasslands. We suspect they will arrive in the Pteranodon Valley within two days, which means it is now time for us to begin phase two of our plan.”

The Spiritualists listening attentively to me shifted on the balls of their feet, creating a cacophony of rustling noises that permeated the campsite. Several people began muttering. It was too low for me to understand what they were saying. However, if I were to judge based on the nervous reactions they gave, I could pretty much guess what they were talking about.

I waited for a few moments to give them time to settle down, then raised my hand for silence.

Everyone went still.

“Empress Hilda has tasked the Nevarian Braves with whittling down the enemy forces before they reach Nevaria. Those traps you set up all along the Pteranodon Valley are a part of that war effort. Our plan is to activate the traps from a distance using crossbows with Rune inscribed arrows that will activate the explosive mixture you all dumped into those ditches. The crossbows are on their way here and should arrive some time tomorrow.”

I paused for a moment to catch my breath. Speaking so much like this was not something I was used to, though I had been finding myself making speeches a lot more often recently.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kari watching me with a smile on her face. She didn’t appear worried about the army. I hoped the reason for that was because she had confidence in me.

Shifting to put more weight on my left leg than my right, I gazed back at the sea of faces, at the people staring at me as they waited for me to continue.

I took a deep breath. It was time to end this.

“Empress Hilda has made this an official quest for our sect. Due to the importance of this quest, it is being considered an A-rank quest. The payment for the successful completion of this quest will result in each person here being paid a total of 10,000 valis, so make sure you do your best.”

At those words, the large group of Spiritualists broke out in deafening cheers.

***

Day turned to night. As the sun went down and the stars came out, Lin found herself sitting by one of the many campfires dotting the campsite. The heat from the fire kept her from freezing, though her back felt kind of cold.

Darling was busy speaking with all the captains of the Nevarian Braves, creating battle plans and contingency strategies. Lin was not well-versed in tactics. She couldn’t really help him out, so she had opted to simply sit down and sulk. Staring at the blazing fire, the image of Siv suddenly appeared in her mind and caused her to violently shake her head.

“So this is where you wandered off to,” a voice said behind her.

“Big Sister…”

Lin turned her head to gaze at Kari as the blonde girl sat down beside her. Kari was wearing simple pants and a tunic with boots. Her armor and ranseur were nowhere to be seen. They were probably inside of her tent.

“I’ve noticed this for a while now, but you’ve been sulking quite a bit,” Kari said. “Is it because Eryk hasn’t been able to spend much time with you? You do realize that he hasn’t been able to spend much time with any of us, right?”

“Everyone except Siv, you mean,” Lin said with a small huff.

Kari tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she studied Lin. “Do you not like Siv?”

“It’s not that this princess does not like her,” Lin interjected with a sulky sigh. “She just feels threatened.” Lin continued to stare into the fire as she let her thoughts wander. “There is an old legend passed down among this princess’s people. It says that the lamia were born from a dragon who had committed a sin so great that she was stripped of her wings, had her arms and legs torn off, and was forced to live on the ground instead of in the skies. Dragons are what the lamia wish to become, even though we know it can never happen.”

“I had no idea there was a story like that among your people,” Kari said.

Lin shrugged. “It’s just a story. This princess does not know if it’s true, but it has been passed down among the lamia for as long as she can remember. Her mother would tell it to her almost every night.”

Kari nodded and gazed silently at the fire for several moments. Lin didn’t interrupt her thinking. She just curled her tail around herself.

“So, basically, you’re jealous,” Kari said after another moment had passed.

“Wha—that isn’t it at all!” Lin suddenly exploded. “This princess has no reason to be jealous! She’s just—”

“Jealous of the fact that Siv is a dragon and seems to be getting more attention from Eryk at the moment than you,” Kari said.

“That’s not it at all!” Lin huffed and crossed her arms, feeling something red and boiling rage beneath the surface of her skin. “This princess just doesn’t like how a dragon, a race known for their incredible strength and power, is being so… so dependent on Darling for protection. She’s constantly hovering around him, holding his clothes like a lost little girl! Isn’t she a dragon?! She’s supposed to be a creature that us lamia have revered since ancient times as the origins of our race, so why does she act like such a simpering and scared little girl?!”

Lin huffed and gasped for breath as she finished screaming, her shoulders shaking from the emotions boiling inside of her.

Several people aside from Kari turned in their direction. However, after a few moments, they looked away from Lin and renewed their own conversations.

Kari sighed after Lin finished her rant.

“So that’s what is bothering you?”

“Wouldn’t that bother you?” asked Lin, feeling more than a little cross. “If you spent your entire life hearing your mother tell you about dragons, about how they are the ultimate power, and that we lamia are a race who had been born from one of those powerful beings, would you not be disappointed if the first dragon you met was a scared little girl who hides behind your husband?”

“Maybe, but I think you should also look at things from her perspective,” Kari said.

Lin furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean your race may hold dragons up as this great power that should be revered, but did you ever think that maybe the dragons do not feel that way?” asked Kari, which caused Lin to freeze. “Also, you haven’t taken Siv’s past into account. Her father was killed by Sekbeists, and she spent who knows how many years being treated as their slave. She also seems to be quite young. I doubt she was very old when the Sekbeists enslaved her. You are putting a lot of expectations on a girl who suffered horribly until Eryk rescued her just because she is a dragon. Don’t you think that’s a little unfair?”

“Well… maybe,” Lin reluctantly admitted. “This princess didn’t think of it like that, but she just… can’t help it. She was so excited to finally meet a real dragon. She was so happy, but the dragon turned out to be this timid little girl who cannot even stand up for herself. She can’t help but feel disappointed.”

“I understand that, but you shouldn’t take your frustration and disappointment out on Siv. She’s already suffered more than enough.” Kari looked up and turned her head to gaze at something, then spoke in a soft voice. “Besides, it is quite possible that girl will become your sister like me in the near future. It would be better for everyone if you two could get along.”

“It’s not like this princess treats her poorly,” Lin muttered.

She thumped her tail against the dirt. The soft ground gave way underneath her strong tail, forming a tiny indent. Dirt shifted underneath her scales.

“Perhaps not, but you haven’t called Siv by her name even once since she arrived, and you’ve been glaring at her a lot. Eryk might be too busy to say anything, but I’m sure he’s noticed.”

Lin felt like shrinking in on herself as she listened to Kari talk. Had she really been that bad? She thought she had been doing a rather good job at keeping a lid on her emotions. Even after her disappointment in Siv’s timid personality set in, she still continued to teach the dragon how to speak, read, and write the human’s language. Surely that proved she was doing her best, didn’t it?

Apparently, Kari didn’t think so.

“Anyway, I’m going to grab a meal. Do you want anything?”

“This princess is fine. She will eat later.”

“All right then. Be sure to think about what I said.”

Lin watched as Kari turned around and walked toward one of the campfires where someone was cooking. Then she turned her head away and gazed at the rest of the camp. As she did, she caught sight of Eryk. He was standing beside Cataryna and Geirolf, talking and making wide hand gestures to emphasize whatever points he was trying to make. Standing close behind him was Siv.

Is this princess being too hard on her?

Doubt filled Lin’s mind as she continued to study Siv, who seemed to sense her gaze and began looking around. She also scooted a little closer to Eryk, interrupting his conversation with the two Spiritualists.

Lin turned away.

This princess will try to be a little nicer to her starting tomorrow.

Making this promise to herself, Lin soon stood up and slithered over to where Kari and Fay were eating.