WIEDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 28

The palace where Ammon resided was quite extraordinary. It was a massive complex made of large stone blocks, featuring numerous gigantic columns that were at least four times thicker than myself, and was decorated with many intricate drawings. Something I noticed about the drawings was they all featured depictions of the man who had killed my wife and daughter.

My blood boiled.

I didn’t remember these palaces being so big when Kari and I were living here before, but I guess these four families had grown in power since I left the Endless Desert all those years ago.

Crouched low behind some fronds that decorated the outer courtyard, I observed the guards that were standing before the door and patrolling the grounds. I counted at least one dozen. After several seconds of observing, I used Spiritual Perception to confirm that there were indeed only twelve guards outside. The rest were inside.

Now that I knew how many people I was up against, it was time for me to act.

I stepped out from behind fronds and pointed at the two guards near the entrance. They had noticed me, proving they were quite quick on the uptake, but it was already too late.

My Spiritual Power surged as I channeled it through my fingers, shooting two bolts of lightning that curved through the air and slammed into them. Each bolt was so powerful that it ripped their chests clean open. The guards were dead before they hit the ground. I watched in silence as their smoking corpses flew backward and struck the stone courtyard.

“What the—we have an intruder!”

Of course, my actions caused the other guards to notice me as well. That was fine.

Reaching behind my back, I tugged on the Dragon’s Tail Ruler, bringing the massive weapon to bear. Lightning crackled along its length as I thrust it forward. The segments quickly detached from each other and flew along the path my will dictated. It moved so quickly that my first victim could do nothing as he was impaled through the chest. Then the blade quickly curved around, impaling another through the back.

I used the Dragon’s Tail Ruler with just one hand. The other hand I pointed at a guard coming in from my left. Like the rest, he was wielding a pair of khopesh and dressed in dark clothes.

When he saw the lightning crackling to life on my palm, he tried to stop running toward me, but I sent a blast of lightning before he could get away. The sphere of powerful and bright energy exploded against him. His scream echoed across the courtyard as his insides were fried. Smoke rose from his body as it turned black and burnt. Then, with a few twitches, he fell backward onto the courtyard. At the same time as this man died, I maneuvered my Dragon’s Tail Ruler to impale another guard.

I had just killed six of the twelve guards who’d been outside.

Unfortunately, we had made far too much noise. More guards were streaming out from the main entrance. Not all of them were Spiritualists, but quite a few were. It seemed most of them had either an earth or a fire elemental affinity.

Even as he watched them, these Spiritualists began stamping their feet in a unique rhythm that caused their Spiritual Power to surge into the ground. Several of them also smacked their hands against the courtyard. As their powers reached a crescendo, the earth suddenly rose up around me and encased every part of my body, save my head.

“Who are you?!” a man wearing a slightly different uniform than the others asked. His outfit was a little more ostentatious than the rest, leading me to believe he was a commander of sorts. “Answer me now! Who are you?! Who sent you?! Are you working for the Samawai Family?! If you do not answer me right now, then do not blame me for being ruthless!”

If I was not mistaken, the Samawai Family was one of the four most powerful families in this city. I myself had never dealt with them, but the mercenary company Kari and I used to belong to had done jobs for them on occasion. They always paid well.

I had no intention of answer this man’s question. With a soft grunt, I released my Spiritual Power, causing it to pour out of my body in arcs of lightning and jets of water. The earth encasing my body was instantly destroyed. Soon, the lightning and water changed from arcs and jets to rings and swirling cyclones.

“W-what in the nine realms is this?!”

“What’s going on?! How can anyone have such power?!”

The men who had come to attack me were on the verge of panic, their eyes wide as they stared at the elements I was controlling with but a thought. Many of them looked like they wanted to run. However, the man in charge merely raised his khopesh and started shouting.

“Do not falter, men! This man is obviously using some kind of trick to make himself seem strong! Deal with him the way you would deal with any other mercenary scum!”

Had I faced these people before Kari died, I would have been impressed by how this man managed to get his forces back under control. Many of them were still frightened, but they didn’t turn tail and run, instead choosing to stay and fight. However, I was not impressed now. I was annoyed. These people were in my way.

“Since you do not wish to get out of my way, I’ll just have to sweep you all away.”

“I’d like to see you try!”

Oh. I must have said that out loud. I thought I had been talking inside my head, but maybe I had begun talking to myself. I was sure that was a bad sign.

“Use the Great Phoenix Formation!” The commander shouted.

At his words, several men moved to the front while the others moved to the back. The men at the front stomped their feet into the ground, timing their movements with each other. Their synchronicity was impressive, and the results of their movements were several fire spears that gathered together above their heads. Each one was maybe a meter or two in length. All of them shot toward me after the Spiritualists made throwing motions.

Too bad for them I had no intention of staying still.

My body flickered briefly before the spears traveled right through it like it wasn’t even there. Of course, all the spears had struck was my afterimage. The real me was already right next to my first victim.

The man’s eyes widened in shock as I swung my weapon, but that was all he could do before my blade sliced his body in half. I must have used more force than I intended. His upper half spiraled through the air while his lower half flew in the opposite direction. Both hit the ground with a wet splat.

I ignored the sight and moved on.

The next person I appeared beside was a young man who was staring at his now dead comrade in horror. When he noticed I was next to him, he screamed and tried to swing his khopesh at me, but I struck him in the face with the pommel of the Dragon’s Tail Ruler. This normally wouldn’t have done much. It might have stunned him at most. However, just then I was using lightning and water to enhance my attack power.

I could feel the cartilage of this man’s face breaking, but more than that, I felt the lightning coursing through his body, frying insides so completely I imagine he’d looked like overcooked beef if someone cut him open. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

By this point, the guards were beginning to panic again.

“He’s too strong!”

“We’re all going to die!”

“Run away!”

“Don’t give up, men! Once the Great Phoenix Formation is complete, this man will die!”

I didn’t know what this Great Phoenix Formation was, though it sounded like a Spiritual Technique. Maybe it was one of those combination techniques I’d learned awhile back. Kari and I didn’t have any combination techniques because we had different affinities, but we had discussed them in great detail before.

It turned out, I was right. While I was systematically slaughtering the guards at the front, the ones in back finished their technique.

I heard it before I saw it, the loud cry of a great bird, and then came the almost unbearable heat. It was so sweltering that my body instantly broke out in a sweat. I had to channel the water element through my body to keep cool. Not only was I suffering from this heat, but the people around me were also in incredible distress. I was actually pretty lucky. The guards who had been fighting me all dropped to the ground as the heat sapped their strength.

I looked over at the commander and his men. All of them were dancing in synch, their movements generating massive amounts of Spiritual Power that erupted from their palms as the fire element. Streams of fire swirled around above their heads. This fire quickly agglomerated into a massive sphere above them, and then the sphere took shape. Another bird cry echoed through the courtyard as the fire transformed into a massive Phoenix.

The Phoenix was a legendary S-rank Demon Beast and one of the few that was said to be benevolent. It traveled the world, spreading its wings, and with each flap, it emitted the Flames of Life, a powerful fire that was said to bring life to desolate lands.

I had no idea if any of that was true. What I did know was that this technique was definitely powerful.

Not that I cared.

The commander made a gesture as if he was throwing something, and then the Phoenix shot toward me so fast anyone else would have lost sight of it. I did not. High-speed movement was my forte, and this Phoenix was nowhere near fast enough to defeat me.

With but a thought, I dismissed the lightning element and focused fully on the water element. My body transformed. I could feel it changing from solid to liquid. My hands, arms, legs, and torso suddenly became semi-transparent as it turned into water.

Now an element, my body quickly exploded, growing into a massive tidal wave that was ten times larger than this Phoenix. I didn’t sweep over the creature, however. I surrounded it on all sides and enclosed my now watery body around it. Steam emitted from my body as the Phoenix tried to burn me away, but my Spiritual Power was stronger than this technique, and after nearly ten seconds of struggling, the Phoenix gave a single cry before I closed around it, snuffing the fire from existence as though it was nothing.

“W-what the… there’s no way…”

“This is impossible!”

“I-I can’t believe it… our Great Phoenix Formation…”

As I transformed back into flesh and blood, I looked at the guards. All of them were on the ground, their eyes wide in horror and their mouths agape. Some of them were so frightened that they pissed themselves when I looked at them.

Recognizing that many of them had their spirits broken, I spoke in a loud voice that rang across the courtyard. “The one I want is Ammon and Ammon alone. Should any of you wish to flee for your lives, I will not stop you. However, if you choose to stand against me, I will crush you like I did that Phoenix.”

As my words echoed across the courtyard, the many guards sitting on the ground, their bodies unable to move, suddenly gained strength. They stood up and ran. None of them seemed to have a clear destination in mind, but all of them ran as far away from this courtyard as they could. They understood that it was impossible to defeat me.

The only one who didn’t run was the commander.

“You are either very brave, or very stupid. Or both,” I said to the man whose hands were shaking as he gripped his sword. “You know you cannot defeat me, yet you still choose to stand in my way.”

“I swore an oath long ago to protect the heir to the Malik Family,” the man said. “Unlike the others who are only in it for the money, I promised that I would give my life for the sake of my master. If this is to be my end, then I would rather die in service to the family I swore allegiance to than die as a coward who turned tail and ran like a dog.”

“I see. I understand how you feel.” Despite not wanting to, I felt some respect for this man as I readied the Dragon’s Tail Ruler. “In that case, I shall grant your wish. Die knowing that you did all in your power to protect your master from an overwhelmingly powerful enemy. Die with your honor and pride still intact.”

The man said nothing as he charged at me, but I was not in the mood to let him and I clash. I wanted to end this now.

Using the Flash Step, I ran straight passed him, feeling only a hint of resistance as I swung my weapon through his body. Appearing several meters from where I had been standing, I listened as the sound of a body dropping to the ground echoed across the now silent courtyard.

Without turning to look at the corpse of the guard commander, I began walking toward the entrance of the Malik Family’s palace.

***

Everything returned to normal after we arrived back in Nevaria.

I immediately began working the day after we returned, checking to make sure that Mikkel and the two people I had hired to keep everything in order while I was away had done a good job. Fortunately, all of the paperwork had been properly cataloged and filed. The quests and quest reports were stored neatly in a leather bound book. All the information was correctly logged as well, including who took which quests, how long it took them to cpmplete, an after action report regarding what happened, the rank, and what each quest paid.

Of course, we’d only been gone for a few days, so it wasn’t like there were that many new quests, but it was still good to know the people I hired were capable of doing my work while I was gone.

I soon learned that only Mikkel and one other person had been doing any actual work. One of them workers I hired had neglected her duties and decided to foist all the work on Mikkel and the other person. She was summarily fired.

Mikkel went back to his original duties after I returned. He secretly informed me that while he was willing to help, he preferred being free to take on quests, and that I should consider hiring someone full-time. It was a good idea, and fortunately, there was someone who was more than up to the task.

“You do good work,” I said as I sat behind my desk. The large leather bound book containing all of the quests that had been completed thus far sat in front of me, but I was looking at the man standing in front of the desk and not the book. “Your handwriting is neat and legible, and all of the information has been properly recorded. Congratulations, Felman. I’m going to hire you full-time.”

The man who stood before my desk was an older gentleman in his thirties. He wasn’t a Spiritualist, which was obvious from how he actually looked his age. His sideburns were beginning to turn gray and there were some wrinkles around his eyes. However, he still stood with a proud bearing, back straight, shoulders back, and his chest puffed out.

“Thank you, sir.” Felman bowed low. “I promise not to let you down.”

Felman proved to be a very capable worker. He took on all the tasks that didn’t require my attention, filing away completed quests in the quest book, corresponding with the receptionists whenever a new quest had been taken, and diligently working with our suppliers to buy ingredients for food and water for the baths. The only thing he didn’t do was work on our budget and correspond with the various families and groups who hired us for quests, which was my job.

Unfortunately, while Felman was indeed a great worker, there was someone who didn’t approve of him.

***

Several days had passed since we had returned. Kari and Fay were back at the academy, meaning they couldn’t always help out. I found myself relying more and more on Felman to deal with the menial tasks that I couldn’t be bothered with.

At the moment, I was sitting behind my desk and reading over a report regarding the increased food expenditure. Our sect had increased from a mere 30 members to 140 members. A lot of these members liked to eat here before they went on a quest, which meant we were consuming a lot more food now. Of course, the increase in the number of people eating here meant we had to increase the amount of ingredients we bought. Fortunately, eating at the sect wasn’t free. It was cheaper than if someone were to eat at a restaurant, but it still cost money, which was what helped pay for the food. That said, a new budget had to be drawn up to accommodate for the increased amount we were paying.

It wasn’t just the increase in food that we needed to draft a new budget for. There was the increase in Body Forging and Three Way Spiritual Widening Pills that we needed, the equipment for their training, and we needed to consider expanding our base of operations. I was actually thinking of buying out the nearby buildings to hold all of the people who now worked here. It would be convenient if they lived nearby. Of course, room and board was not going to be free.

I was not the only person working in the office, and as I leaned back to rest my eyes, I chanced a glance at Lin.

The young Lamia girl had been working even more diligently than before. I was not sure why, but she continued to read through reports, sign off on quests, and place them in the quest book with an almost maniacal tenacity. Every time she finished one task, she would immediately inform me and demand another.

“Darling, this princess has finished adding all the new quests into the quest book. What’s next?”

“This princess is done writing up the new budget for the increase in training equipment. Is there anything else she can do?”

“This princess wrote a letter to the Alchemist Association requesting more alchemy pills for training. Would you like her to deliver it for you?”

While I was happy to see her working so hard, another part of me was worried that she wasn’t getting enough rest. I felt like Lin was pushing herself to get more work done than she could reasonably handle.

“Lin, are you feeling all right?” I asked during one of our work crunching sessions.

“Of course this princess is feeling fine. Why wouldn’t she?”

Despite her words, I continued to study Lin as she drafted several letters to various companies. The one for the Alchemist Association was situated right next to her. I looked at the current one and saw that it was a letter to the Eieran Family, requesting information on any nearby buildings that were up for sale. Her handwriting was meticulous and neat as always. She was even better at writing than Kari and Fay now.

It didn’t look like there was anything wrong with her, but I still couldn’t stop from feeling like she was trying too hard.

Before I could say anything more, the door opened and Felman walked in. Lin immediately stiffened. Her tail began rattling ominously as the man approached. I kept a careful eye on her as I turned toward the older man, wary that she might leap over the desk and attack him.

“Sir Eryk, I’ve come to deliver the new expense report regarding training clothes for the newest Spiritualists who joined the Nevarian Braves.” Felman handed the report over to me. “It seems there was a slight miscalculation in the amount of money required to produce the equipment. After going over the numbers myself, I discovered that we were off by about 2,500 valis.” He shrugged. “The number itself is not significant, but if we keep on making these mistakes, we’re bound to lose money.”

The report consisted of two sheets of parchment, one containing the original report and the other containing the new report. Looking it over, I could see that, indeed, someone had miscalculated the numbers on their first try. This new one was correct. The old one was wrong.

“Thank you,” I said to Feflman. “I’ll be sure to incorporate this into the new budget.”

“Of course, sir.” Felman bowed to me before seeing himself out of the office/living room.

Silence filled the air for awhile as I set the reports on the desk and turned to Lin, who had suddenly broken out in a cold sweat and was looking anywhere but at me. Her tail was beating incessantly on the ground. The frantic pace betrayed her nervousness more than even the expression on her face.

“Lin…” I began.

“D-don’t look at this princess like that! She’s not very good with numbers yet! S-she was bound to make a mistake or two, but it was only the one mistake! She’s still much better than Felman! This princess is a bigger help than he is!”

“I didn’t say anything about your mistake, did I?”

“Urk!”

Looking at this girl almost made me sigh. Lin was trying so hard to be helpful, and she was doing her best. There was no way I could fault her for this simple mistake.

In truth, a simple mistake like this wouldn’t affect our numbers right now, though if we kept making them as our sect increased in size, then it could cause serious problems. It would probably be a good idea to nip this problem in the bud right now.

“Lin… are you jealous of Felman?”

I waited for Lin to answer me as she stared at her hands, which now rested on her lap. Her tail had gone silent. The expression on her face was one of struggle and conflict. Her eyebrows were squinted together and she was biting her lip with her longer than human fangs.

“This princess… is trying really hard to become useful to you,” Lin finally said in a quiet voice. “She wants to be someone you can rely on, someone who can do things for you that other people can’t. But that Felman does a better job than her. He’s consistently doing better work than this princess. He’s helping you more than this princess can. It’s infuriating!”

As she spoke, her voice growing louder with each passing second, Lin clenched her fists, tightly gripping the fabric of her skirt. Her arms were shaking. This must have been eating away at her for the last few days.

I didn’t speak at first as I stood up and stepped over her tail. Kneeling before the girl, I placed my hands over hers and looked at her from my new position. Now that I was lower than her, I could see her face and eyes turning red with frustration. Lamia didn’t have aqueducts in their eyes, so they couldn’t produce tears.

As someone who was still relatively new to Nevaria, Lin had not been around for that long, but even so, she had learned our written language in just a few months, could read even the most complicated books as though she’d been reading her whole life, already knew basic math, and had some of the best handwriting I had ever seen. She worked very hard to learn these skills. It must have been frustrating for her to see someone do a better job at something that she was putting her whole heart into.

“Lin,” I began, “it is true that Felman does an excellent job.” There was no getting around that, so I didn’t bother saying otherwise. It wouldn’t have helped. “However, Felman works specifically as a secretary. He has years of experience that you do not have. Yet despite the fact that he’s been doing this kind of work for years, he’s not that much better than you are. The only thing he has on you is experience. He doesn’t have your innate talent, or your incredible dedication.”

Lin’s hands were a little cool. As a cold-blooded species, Lamia could not produce their own body heat. I kept my hands firmly on top of hers and used them to warm her up.

“What’s more, these tasks are all Felman can do,” I continued when Lin’s eyes flickered to me, letting me know she was paying attention. “He can’t train our sect members with me like you can. He will never travel into the Demon Beast Mountain Range with me like you will. Where he can only do this one job, you have a multitude of jobs, and you are good at all of them. There is not a single person within this sect who can replace you.”

Lin’s lips and golden eyes trembled as she stared at my face, searching for something. Was it reassurance she was seeking? I didn’t know. However, she sniffled once.

“Does that mean this princess is useful?” she asked.

“Very useful,” I answered.

“More useful than Felman?”

I laughed. “I can easily find someone else to replace Felman.” I squeezed her hand. “There is no one in all nine realms who can replace you.”

Lin took several deep breaths and sniffled some more. It appeared her nose was a little stuffy, which I found slightly amusing. It looked like she was going to start crying, but since she couldn’t produce tears, the effects gave a different sort of aesthetic. Finally, Lin straightened her back and puffed out her chest.

“Well, of course this princess is irreplaceable,” Lin announced, her pride now back in place. “There is only one of her, after all.”

“That’s right,” I said. I didn’t point out that there was also only one Felman, as such a comment was completely unnecessary. “So no more tears, okay?”

“Lamia can’t cry, Darling.”

“… It was a figure of speech.”

Since it looked like Lin was no longer feeling jealous of Felman, she and I went back to work. I still had to write several correspondence letters to various noble families who wanted to hire our sect for a variety of quests. Meanwhile, Lin was still writing letters to the companies we had business deals with.

As we worked, the door suddenly opened and Felman walked in.

“Sir Eryk, I had a question regarding the allocation of funds and—”

“This princess will do it! Whatever the problem is, this princess will take care of it!”

As Lin leapt from her seat and tried to take the document in Felman’s hands, I released a weary sigh. The sound of my palm smacking my face echoed through the office.