WIEDERGEBURT Act II: Chapter 31

I watched as Kari disappeared down a random passage, wondering if she would be okay. It didn’t seem like this particular ruin had any traps, which were created in case the Sekbeists ever invaded this base. I suspected that this particular base hadn’t been used very much during the war. Or maybe there was no need for traps for some reason.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let her run off like that?” asked Fay as I wandered over to the slightly elevated platform and sat down. “I mean, you could have just used the Flash Step to reach her.”

“Kari knows that,” I replied as I turned my head and looked at all the entrances on that side. She’d be coming out of one of those. “I’m pretty sure she decided to run off before I could say anything because she knows that. In which case…”

Fay quickly caught on to what I was saying and sighed. “In which case, she likely took off in such a hurry because it gave her an excuse to explore more of the ruins.”

“Probably.”

After standing awkwardly in that one spot for about a minute, Fay wandered over to the platform and sat down beside me. She seemed a bit uncomfortable being surrounded by these giant statues. However, her attention was mostly focused on me.

“How is it that you know so much about Kari?” asked Fay.

I tilted my head. “What do you mean? Isn’t it natural to know a lot about someone you love?”

“Maybe, but…” Fay frowned, her face scrunching up. “It seems like you know her too well. It’s like… like you have spent years together rather than just a few months.”

I almost flinched. I think I did an admirable job of not flinching, but really, for Fay to hit the nail so hard on the head was astonishing. Hm. But then again, it wasn’t like I had done anything to keep my knowledge of Kari and her personality a secret. Now that I was thinking on it, I’d pretty much abused my knowledge of Kari to make her fall in love with me.

Did that… make me a bad person?

Just as I was thinking about this, Kari emerged from one of the entrances. She’d only gone down one floor and there were about four between us starting from the floor she was on now. After glancing around for a moment, she looked down at us, and then smiled.

“I’m going to try one of the other passageways!” she shouted before running off.

“And there she goes,” I murmured with a fond smile.

Fay could only giggle as the blonde disappeared. “That’s our Kari.”

It took Kari about 20-ish minutes to finally reach the first floor. She ended up taking several wrong passages that took her to the higher levels, had to reverse direction, and then needed to go through about six or seven more passages. However, at long last, Kari came racing out of one passage on the first floor.

“ERYK!”

I stood to my feet just in time to receive Kari’s glomp, which would have knocked me off my feet if I hadn’t been prepared. Even being ready, I still needed to spin around several times to absorb the impact, which probably would have hurt her just as much as it did me. After our spin, I set the girl on her feet.

“Kari, I’m glad you’re—”

I couldn’t finish my sentence before she leaned up and kissed me. With her hands on my shoulders, she stood on her tiptoes, and pressed her lips to mine. Her kiss was filled with a desperate relief. It was like I could sense all the emotions that had been swirling inside of her, the worry and heartache and uncertainty, suddenly coming to the fore through our contact. Even after she finished taking her emotions out on my lips, the girl refused to let go. She tucked her head under my chin and hugged me with enough strength that my ribs felt like they were gonna break.

It was a really good thing I had strengthened my body with weight training and alchemy pills.

Now that my lips were no longer hampered, I could speak. “I’m glad to see you’re safe.”

“I’m the one who should be saying that.” Kari had buried her face in my neck, so her words sounded a little muffled, but I still heard them just fine. “I was really worried. Even though I was confident in you, I still… couldn’t help but feel worried. You and Fay were all alone, and I… wasn’t able to help you at all.”

I began running my hand over her head, tenderly stroking her hair. It was… nowhere near as soft as it used to be, but I blamed that on a lack of shampoo and other hair care products. I doubt Kari even had time to bathe properly since the Demon Beasts overran our camp.

“You had to protect the others,” I said, trying to sooth her emotions. “Someone had to.”

“I know. I know that. I just…”

“I understand.” I spent a few seconds just soothing the girl as she let out the torrent of emotions she’d no doubt kept in check until now. But I knew we also needed to move this along. “But you know… Fay is also here.”

“That’s right!” Kari suddenly let go of me as if just now remembering that I wasn’t alone. She swerved around me, and I turned just in time to see Fay getting glomped by the overly enthusiastic Kari. “FAY! I’m so sorry! I’m sorry I forced you to be the one who acted as a distraction! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Fay’s expression softened as she hugged Kari back. Ever since that night after the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, and maybe even before then, Kari had begun displaying a wide range of emotions. It was like the dam on her feelings had broken. Comparing her to the future version I’d lived with, I’d say this Kari was more expressive, but she was still the same person I remembered.

After Kari calmed down, the three of us convened a short meeting and informed each other about what happened with our respective groups. Fay and I learned about how Kari’s group had run all the way to these ruins without stopping, and she learned about the A-rank Demon Beast I had been forced to fight.

“You… you killed an A-rank Demon Beast?! On your own?!” Kari looked like she’d been punched in the stomach.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

She pressed a hand to her face and took several deep breaths. “I would tell you that was incredibly reckless, but I think you were aware of that when you fought it.”

“I didn’t have much choice,” I admitted with a shrug. “We’d entered its territory. I doubt it would have let us leave.”

“You do have a point,” Kari admitted.

“There’s not much to be said about Eryk’s battle,” Fay suddenly interjected. “More importantly, we need to discuss the reason those Demon Beasts were all drawn to our camp.”

Kari nodded. “I still find it a little hard to believe that Dyr was somehow responsible, but if what you said is true, then it means the Leucht Family might be plotting something even more nefarious than just this.”

“It also seems to me like the reason they attacked us is because of Eryk,” Fay added.

Her words brought me up short, but that was because I saw the logic behind her idea. “You believe they see me as a big enough threat to whatever they’re planning that they decided to remove me as a threat. That’s what you are saying, right?”

“Yes.” Fay raised a single hand in the air and extended her index finger. “You won the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, which would have determined whether or not Grant Leucht would be able to force Kari into an arranged marriage.” She extended her middle finger next. “You then rescued me after I was kidnapped and Grant Leucht was killed during the rescue. They probably assume you were the one who finished him off rather than Kari.” She extended her ring finger. “And finally, you are powerful enough that you can defeat even B and A-rank Demon Beasts on your own. I don’t know what they are planning, but you are clearly their biggest obstacle.”

“The question we should be asking now is: What are they planning?” said Kari.

Her words made me freeze. I hadn’t really been thinking about it at the time because I’d been so busy, but now that I really had a moment to think, and now that the question had been brought up, the answer I came up with froze my blood.

The Demon Beast Invasion.

I had always wondered how and why the Demon Beast Invasion happened in my previous life. Nevaria had existed since before the Catastrophe. The Demon Beast Mountain Range had always been a place filled with danger, and the creatures who made it their home had never once tried to invade the city-state.

Demon Beasts were an interesting collective of monstrous creatures that stuck to specific regions that made up their territory. Barring extreme circumstances like sudden changes in weather patterns, they never left their territory for any reason, so it would take something extreme to cause the Demon Beasts to suddenly invade Nevaria.

Something like a girl who had the power to draw Demon Beasts to her.

“We need to return to Nevaria,” I said. Kari and Fay both stared at me like what I told them was obvious, but I didn’t just mean eventually. “I mean we should leave as soon as possible. We can’t afford to stay here any longer.”

“Ah.” Kari opened her mouth and released a strange sound like she wanted to say something but was stopping herself.

“Now that we know where this place is, we can explore it together later,” I told her, already knowing exactly what she wanted. “I think I know what the Leucht Family is planning, and if I’m right, then it could mean Neveria’s destruction if we let it happen.”

Neither Fay nor Kari could say anything to that. Those words were like the ultimate argue stopper. With Nevaria’s safety on the line, Kari quickly changed from the enthusiastic dungeon explorer to the princess of a city-state. She led us to where her group was currently staying (I didn’t ask about the corpse of Finn) and announced our presence to the Spiritualists who, upon our arrival, looked to be on the verge of panic over something.

“DARLING!!!”

The first one to greet me after our surprise appearance was Lin, who I sadly did not have the strength to stop. She launched herself at me with her tail acting as a spring. The power behind her surprise attack blasted me off my feet and into the wall of the hallway beyond. While the wall held strong, my back groaned in protest as I slid down it and onto my butt. Despite the pain, however, I didn’t complain as I wrapped my arms around the crying Lin and hugged her close.

“Darling! Darling! This princess is so glad you’re safe!”

As I was hugging Lin, who was not only crying into my chest but also rubbing herself against me like she was trying to mark her territory, Catalyna and Marko emerged from the hallway alongside Fay and Kari. Marko looked like he wanted to murder me. However, Catalyna was giving me an amused smirk.

“It seems you’re a hard man to kill,” she said.

“I certainly like to think so,” I quipped back, but then I hardened my expression. “We need to talk.”

Catalyna slowly nodded. “Yes, I imagine so.”

By this point in time, everyone had woken up and was now peeking out of the doorway to see what the commotion was about. Many eyes widened upon seeing me and Fay. However, no one said anything since our group was holding something of an impromptu meeting.

Lin eventually calmed down, but she refused to let me move, so I ended up sitting on the floor with her on my lap as she entwined her tail around my left leg. I thought about just telling her to get off, but I didn’t. It was fine this way. I stroked her left arm in a comforting manner as Fay and I informed Catalyna of what we’d discovered. I’m sure I looked silly, but that was also okay. I didn’t particularly care.

Silly or not, Catalyna took my words at face value. I could sense the concern radiating from her as I, Kari, and Fay informed her of what we’d discussed and the potential ramifications of what it could all mean if true.

“This is definitely serious,” she said. “But it’s not like we can just leave yet either. Let’s wait until tomorrow at least before packing up and leaving.” She paused. “Do you think it’s safe?”

I moved my hand down until it was resting on the junction of Lin’s hips where skin shifted to scales. There was something pleasant about the sudden difference in texture, an exotic quality that made Lin’s attractiveness unique among the people I knew. As Lin released several soft hissing noises that were like a Lamia’s version of a pur, I came up with my answer.

“It should be safe,” I replied. “From what I’ve seen, all that power does is attract the Demon Beasts to a specific location. If you still have the map, I can plot us a course that will take us around the jungle we passed through to get here, which is where the ritual was enacted, and we can travel that way. It might take a bit longer, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I doubt the Leucht Family will do anything right this minute anyway. They would have already acted if they could.”

Perhaps it was in response to my stroking, but Lin’s tail had curled around my legs almost completely now. They weren’t cutting off the circulation yet. However, I really hoped they didn’t get much tighter. Lin’s tail was strong enough to crush rocks, and while my body had been strengthened by a lot of alchemy pills, I had no desire to test how it compared to a Lamia’s tail.

“I suppose that means we should plot out a route now,” Catalyna muttered. “I’ll get out the map.”

Catalyna started talking to herself as she wandered back into the room. The people who’d been listening in backed away so she could travel to her bag. Marko glared at me before following his sister.

“We should follow her,” Fay said.

“Agreed.” I nodded, but then I paused and gave her and Kari a helpless smile. “Ah, but before that, could you help get this girl off me? She fell asleep.”

As I pointed to the sleeping Lin, now thoroughly wrapped around my lower half, Kari and Fay giggled at my plight.

***

Plotting a new route took most of the night. The course we would take was one that swerve around far to the east, bypassing both the Vapid Jungle and the Pteranodon Valley. I did need to change the route several times when I learned about a large group of dangerous B-rank Demon Beasts making their home in one territory or another. I didn’t want to deal with those right now. Killing Demon Beasts took time, and even if the Leucht Family couldn’t enact their plan right away, that didn’t mean we had time to waste.

The next morning, our group packed up whatever meager equipment they had left. Most of the equipment was just weapons. We had left almost everything in the Vapid Jungle. The only thing Catalyna had now was the bag of alchemy pills I had given to her, and it looked like they’d already consumed a third of them just to reach these ruins.

Kari was disappointed to be leaving the ruins, which she had expressed several times by looking back at them with an expression of such longing it made me think of a woman who was leaving her lover, but she also understood why we couldn’t stay and explore. I promised her that after the matter with the Leucht Family was settled, we would return. That seemed to cheer her up a little. Fay and Lin also agreed to come back when that happened, which further improved her mood.

After leaving the mountain range, we traveled east. Nevaria was located in a valley south-west from our current position, so we’d be moving further away from our home at first, but we needed to move around the Vapid Jungle. I wasn’t sure how Dyr’s power worked, but going on what I knew from the Demon Beast Invasion, it was like Dyr released pheromones into the air that drew Demon Beasts to her location. She was long gone now, but I imagine some residue remained. After all, several Demon Beasts had made Nevaria their territory after the invasion.

The area past the jungle was mostly dry and arid landscape with little in the way of food and water, which meant it had very few Demon Beasts as well. I called it a no-man zone. While the lack of anything edible made traveling through the rugged terrain difficult, I taught the Spiritualists journeying with me a trick to dealing with heat and hunger. I also made liberal use of my Spiritual Power to draw moisture from the air to create water for people to drink. Heat and hunger could be ignored to some degree. Dehydration could not.

There were a few animals that we managed to catch and cook. Arid lands like this might have been dry, lacking in water and vegetation, and generally inhospitable, but that didn’t mean they were completely without life. We occasionally uncovered an oasis that several animals had made their home. Of course, we cooked and ate all of them. The only thing I refused to let people eat were the snakes. I kept picturing Lin every time we came across one and couldn’t bring myself to kill it, or let others kill it.

Despite my no killing snakes policy, we managed to reach the end of the desert without anyone dying, and then we passed the backyard that made up the eastern half of the Pteranodon Valley before curving our way back onto the original route that Catalyna had plotted. The entire journey had been twelve days, which was three days longer than the original estimated length. Despite this, we hadn’t lost a single person and were able to return to Nevaria a day later.

The guards at the gate looked shocked to see us. I didn’t know if it was our ragged and dirty appearance or something else, but one of them had quickly stuttered something about going to inform the commander before running off. I tried to tell him not to bother, but he wouldn’t listen.

“I think we’re going to hurry back to the Kriger Family mansion and let our family know what we discovered,” Catalyna said. “I’m sure they will get in contact with Empress Hilda soon. If what you say is true, then all of us are in great danger.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” I said.

“Be sure to let your mother know that she should keep an eye on the Leucht Family mansion,” Kari added.

“We will,” Catalyna said before walking off.

“Don’t think this is over yet,” Marko said to me. “I haven’t given up on Lin.”

“This princess doesn’t understand what you mean,” Lin said before I could respond. “What about her haven’t you given up on?”

“N-nothing!” Marko shouted with a blush before pointing at me. “Anyway, be prepared to settle the score later!”

Marko turned on his heel and hurried to catch up with his sister. I felt like massaging my temple as a slight headache pounded my skull. Thinking about this man and his infatuation with Lin irritated me.

“It seems someone has a huge crush,” Kari said with a giggle. “It’s too bad he has no hope of convincing Lin to ever consider him marriage material.”

“Why would this princess ever marry someone like Marko?” asked the confused Lamia, who I could have sworn had several question marks hovering over her head.

“No reason.” Kari giggled some more.

“We should head to the Nevarian Outpost where Lord Dante is,” Fay suggested. “I’d like to rest, but I believe we should inform him and Lord Rainer about what happened before doing anything else.”

“You’re right,” I agreed.

All of us were tired, but we agreed that we couldn’t let this matter rest until we’d done everything we could. That was why we headed to the headquarters where Dante was normally stationed. I was sure we looked like crap. Heck, the two Nevarian Spiritualists guarding the gate to the headquarters gawked at us like they couldn’t believe a group of half-naked teenagers covered in grime, blood, and dirt were knocking on their door.

“P-Princess Kari!” one of them shouted when he realized who was standing before him. “W-what happened to you?! Your clothes! They’re—”

“Would you mind if we met with my father?” Kari asked, too tired to let them continued. “We have urgent news for him.”

“Of course!” Both Nevarian Spiritualists snapped off a salute as the spokesperson shouted in a high-pitched voice. “We will inform Commander Rainer that you are here. Please wait inside the entrance hall. We’ll also get all of you something to wear…”

“Thank you very much.” Kari bowed as one of the Nevarian Spiritualists rushed in through the door.

Our group was directed inside of the Nevarian Spiritualist Headquarters, where all of us were given some basic cloaks to put on over our clothes. Considering all of us were practically naked with our naughty bits just barely concealed by torn fabric, I couldn’t necessarily blame them for responding so quickly to protect our modesty. I actually felt a little bad. These three girls had been walking through Nevaria practically nude. The number of looks we’d gotten on the way here was enough to make even me self-conscious.

We stood off to the side so as not to disrupt the flow of traffic. Our group drew a number of stares, but at least with our cloaks covering us, no one outright gawked. Most of them looked at us as though unsure of what our purpose there was, but that was all.

Rainer came walking down the stairs about ten minutes after we were given these cloaks, coming to stand beside us and frowning as he observed our no-doubt exhausted expressions.

“I am glad to see you four have made it safely from the Demon Beast Mountain Range,” he said as an opening line. “It looks like you have been through a lot. Perhaps we should head to the Imperial Royal Palace where you can freshen up?”

“Thank you, but no,” I said, raising my hand to forestall his argument. He looked like he was about to say something anyway, but then he saw that I was only wearing torn pants under the cloak and closed his mouth. “We do want to freshen up and relax, but there’s something important that we have to tell you before we can do that.”

Rainer looked like he was debating with himself, but he eventually sighed and gestured for us to follow him. “When Edgard told me about the state you four were in, I had planned on taking you back to the palace, but if you insist, then we should head to the commander’s office. I assume what you have to say isn’t something you want to be heard by others.”

“That’s correct,” Kari said with a tiny smile. “Thank you for understanding, Father.”

Rainer returned the smile before gesturing for us to follow him.

The commander’s office looked the same as always, though it seemed a little weird without Dante lackadaisically sitting behind the desk. Rainer moved behind the desk instead. Once he sat down, he clasped his hands together and gestured for us to relax.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened? Please start from the beginning.”

This would be the third time I’ve spoken of this matter, but that just meant I was an old hand at explaining the situation now. The four of us tried to make as detailed a report as possible. We told him about our journey, about how I found Torgny Leucht and a man in a cloak enacting a ritual with Dyr, how we were attacked by Demon Beasts, and everything I could think of. Fay, Kari, and even Lin offered their own experiences as well. Kari also informed Rainer about Finn.

“This is… a lot to take in.” Rainer rubbed his forehead with both hands as though our story had given him a headache.

“Please believe us, Lord Rainer!”

“We’re telling the truth, Father!”

“This princess wouldn’t lie about something like this!”

As Fay, Kari, and Lin adamantly told Rainer they were telling the truth, the man raised his hand. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I believe everything you have said. I’m just saying that this information presents a lot of problems. I’m honestly not even sure how to solve them.”

“I think you should start by having Empress Hilda issue a Royal Edict that allows the Imperial Royal Guards to search the Leucht Family mansion,” I said. “With Torgny Leucht’s presence at the ritual site, there is more than enough evidence to implicate them. Even the other members of the Three Heavenly Families won’t have cause to complain, especially the Kriger Family. Both Catalyna and Marko were almost killed during this expedition thanks to him.”

Rainer ran a hand through his short hair and sighed. “I suppose that is all we can do. All right. We’ll need to head to the Imperial Royal Palace so I can inform Empress Hilda of this matter.” He paused and gazed at us, or more specifically, our cloaks. “The four of you will be coming with me.”

His words offered little in the way of room for negotiation, but it wasn’t like any of us were going to argue now. We had done what we needed to do. Rainer now knew of the situation, so we could hopefully leave this matter to him.

Rainer purloined one of the carriages located near the stables. It wasn’t an imperial carriage like Kari often road in but a regular one with a large cart that could fit all of us inside. That said, two Mares needed to be attached because Lin simply weighed too much for one Mare to pull. We sat with Lin near the front, and then myself in between Kari and Fay. The three of us had Lin’s tail stretched on top of our legs.

“Eryk,” Fay suddenly said as the carriage slowly trudged down the street.

“Yeah?”

“What do you think is going to happen now?”

“I don’t know, but I can tell you this.” I took a deep breath and released it as I looked at the three girls with me. “The trouble that started when Grant Leucht tried to force you two into marrying him hasn’t ended just yet.”