WIEDERGEBURT Act II: Chapter 4

My first stop after learning that Fay was missing was the south gate, which was the gate Fay and I used to reach our training ground. Even our latest training ground was more easily accessible via this gate than the north or west gates.

It sucked that it took so long to reach. Nevaria was a massive city that spanned who knew how many dozens of kilometers. I had no idea of the actual length, but it took at least 6 hours to get from one side to other by walking. It was nearly dark by the time we arrived.

As Lin and I arrived at the gate, the two guards, who were in the process of shutting the gate, paused at our approach. Their eyes quickly widened when they caught sight of Lin. However, I had no intention of letting them act surprised or draw their blades.

“Excuse me,” I said, stopping in front of them. “Have either of you seen a girl long red hair and green eyes walk through these gates? She’d be about this tall and very pretty.”

“Uh…”

The two Nevarian Spiritualists tore their gaze away from Lin and looked at me, then at each other, and then at me again.

“Did we see someone who looked like that?” the one in front of me questioned himself with furrowed brows.

“Ah!” The other one, a young woman with brown hair, suddenly made an exclamation that caused me to turn toward her. “We did! It was about… I want to say four hours ago. We had just gotten on our shift when she walked past these gates. Remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” The man nodded. “I do remember that.”

“Did she ever come back?” I asked.

Glancing at each other once more, the two Nevarian Spiritualists frowned as they searched their memory. I waited, tapping my foot against the ground as I tried to contain my impatience. If something happened to Fay while these two were deliberating…

“I don’t recall seeing her return,” the woman said.

The man shook his head. “Me neither.”

“Could I ask you to wait for a little while before closing these gates?” I made my request. “The girl who passed through here is Fay Valstine, a member of the Valstine Family and a good friend of mine.”

“A good friend… wait.” The man’s eyes widened. “I recognize you! You’re Eryk Veiger!”

“Uh…” It took me a second to respond. “Yes, that’s right.”

“I saw you in the Spiritualist Grand Tournament the other day!” the man exclaimed in surprise and awe. His eyes were shining like beacons, and it was honestly a bit frightening. “You were so amazing! I’ve never seen such an incredible display of Spiritualism in my entire life! I’m a big fan of yours!”

“Er…” I wasn’t sure how to respond. I had fans? I mean, I guess that… made sense. Kind of. Kari had fans back in my original timeline. I even remembered hearing something about someone proposing to make a Kari Fan Club Sect back in Midgard, though I wasn’t sure how true those rumors had been.

“You seem to understand Darling’s greatness,” Lin finally spoke up, puffing up her small chest.

“The snake talks!” the woman exclaimed in shock.

Lin revealed her sharp canines as she glared at the woman. “This princess isn’t a snake! She is a Lamia!”

“Anyway,” I tried to get us back on track, “Fay Valstine never returned home, and you said she hasn’t come back through these gates. Would you mind not closing them until I come back?”

“Well…” The two Nevarian Spiritualists once more glanced in each other’s direction as though asking the other advice. I frowned at them, but then the man looked back at me. “I… suppose we could leave the gates open for a little while longer, but be quick about it. We won’t be able to keep them open for more than half an hour.”

“Half an hour is fine,” I said before turning to Lin. “Could you wait here, Lin? It will be faster if I travel on my own.”

Lin looked like she wanted to protest, but then she sighed and nodded. “This princess will wait for you to return.”

I hesitated for a second, then reached out and grabbed her hand. She had very small hands. Despite looking rough thanks to their darker skin tone, they were astonishingly soft.

“Thank you,” I said.

Lin’s dark face grew several shades darker. “T-this princess is only doing what you asked me to because you are her husband! D-do not make this out to be such a big deal!”

Seeing her get so embarrassed almost made me smile, but I couldn’t bring myself to with our current situation. I let go of her hand and took a step back. The two Nevarian Spiritualists were looking at us like we’d just broadsided them, but I paid neither of them any mind as I vanished within a Flash Step.

The Flash Step was a technique I had created to cover long distances in as few steps as possible as quickly as possible. This meant that to really be considered proficient with the Flash Step, a Spiritualist needed to be able to consistently use it without stopping to travel. Only being able to take one or two steps with it wasn’t enough to be considered even an intermediate user of it.

I crossed the distance between the south gate and the training ground Fay and I used within five minutes. When I arrived, I could already tell that something had happened. The ground had scorch marks, there was a large crater, and the scent of burning ozone filled my nostrils.

“There was a battle…”

Closing my eyes, I took a calming breath and used Spiritual Perception. The world around me faded away as I narrowed my focus. Small lights danced within my mind before I opened my eyes and glanced at the clearing.

My sense of vision had changed.

Most of the world now appeared before me as several shades of gray, which varied in brightness based on shadows and lightning. However, several sections of this world possessed colors. There were three predominant colors around me: Red, green, and bluish yellow.

Red was the most prominent. Fay had a fire affinity. As I looked around the clearing, I noticed the sections that seemed to possess more red than anything else.

“It looks like there was another fire user here,” I muttered as I traced several lines of red Spiritual Residue. “This fire user was the one who showed up first.” I glanced at the crater, from which green miasma wafted. “The wind user was the next to show up, and then…” I frowned at the ground. Kneeling, I placed my hand against the ground, which had a very light layer of bluish yellow covering it like a soft carpet. “They had a lightning user.”

During Fay’s battle against Finn in the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, her opponent had discovered a method of stopping her from using the Flash Step. I hadn’t taught her the counter methods yet since she’d only just begun learning this technique. It looked like someone had used her lack of countering ability to their advantage.

“So there were three Spiritualists who attacked Fay…”

I stood up and glanced around, quickly spotting the trail of Spiritual Residue left over from the battle. It looked like everyone had been using a Spiritual Aura. There wouldn’t be so much residue otherwise.

Moving along, I followed the trail of Spiritual Residue until I reached another clearing centered around a massive crater. There was a lot of Spiritual Residue in this area. Green and red mixed together, forming a murky brown color. As I gazed at the area, which looked like it had been hit by a massive explosion, I tried to deduce what happened.

“There’s a bit of bluish yellow mixed in here.” I wetted my lips as I walked around the crater. “It looks like the lightning user was here. Fay knew that she couldn’t retreat if someone was stopping her from using the Flash Step, so she sought to take out the lightning affinity Spiritualist first. However, either some time before or after she took care of the lightning user, the two other Spiritualists combined their Spiritual Techniques to create a powerful explosion that destroyed this area.”

I didn’t know what had happened to Fay, whether she’d been knocked unconscious after this or was still awake, but I knew that she had been taken by her attackers.

And I already had a number one suspect.

After learning what I could from the battle sight, I returned to the gate using the Flash Step. While the two Nevarian Spiritualists gave shocked exclamations of surprise, Lin stared at me with a frown, and then spoke.

“You did not find her?” she asked.

I shook my head. “It looks like Fay was ambushed and kidnapped by three Spiritualists.” I glanced at two guards. “You two wouldn’t happen to know if Grant Leucht also passed through this gate, do you?”

“You mean your first opponent during the tournament?” The man tilted his head, and then shook it. “No, he didn’t come through here.”

“Which means he probably entered through another gate,” I muttered with a frown. Resisting the urge to sigh, I directed a short bow to the two Nevarian Spiritualists. “Thank you for your assistance.”

“Oh, no!” The man waved his arms back and forth as an embarrassed blush spread across his face. “Think nothing of it! I’m happy I was able to be of assistance to you!”

“If you believe this Fay Valstine has been kidnapped, I recommend heading to the nearby Nevarian Spiritualist barracks,” the woman suggested. “We take kidnapping cases very seriously, so they will assist you.”

“I’m actually going to meet with Kari—I mean, with Princess Kari,” I said. “She should already be talking to the Nevarian Spiritualists. Lin?”

“This princess is coming,” Lin said as she slithered over to me.

The two of us walked off. We turned onto one of the main avenues in the southern district of Nevaria, and then continued moving. My goal was the Nevarian Spiritualist Headquarters located in the northern district. I was hoping Kari would be there.

“What should we do now?” asked Lin.

“For now, all we can do is meet up with Kari and see if she learned anything,” I said with an empty smile.

***

Seeing how I had never studied Nevaria’s military structure, I only knew the basics about the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guard, which meant I didn’t know how many barracks and headquarters there were. That said, I at least knew where the one in the northern district was.

The Nevarian Spiritualist headquarters was a two-story structure made of stone and wood. The triangle-shaped roof was made of wooden shingles. It was not a particularly extravagant building, but it did appear functional. It was surrounded by a gate to keep people from just wandering through.

I wandered up to the gate with Lin at my side. The young woman decked out in the leather armor of a Nevarian Spiritualist looked at my companion like she was staring at a Hydra—an S-rank Demon Beast with three heads. I sighed and snapped in her face.

“Is Princess Kari at this headquarters?” I asked.

“Princess Kari?” The woman blinked several times, and then her eyes flashed. “You’re Eryk Veiger!” She coughed into her hand, adjusted her armor, and smoothed out her pleated skirt before looking back at me. Her cheeks were stained red. “Yes, Princess Kari is currently speaking with Commander Dante. We were told that you and your… companion… were to be led to the commander’s office if you showed up.”

I did not appreciate the way she looked at Lin, nor the way she said “companion” as if it was an insult, but we didn’t have time to argue. Relying on my previous life as a former sect leader, albeit a figurehead, I commanded her to take us to the commander’s office.

The Nevarian Spiritualist led us through the gate and up to the wooden front door. She held the door open for myself and Lin, though I think she was surprised by how long she had to hold it open. Lin did have a 6 meter long snake body. Once we had entered the main foyer, where several more Nevarian Spiritualists were staring at Lin like she was something to be feared, we were led to the second floor, down a stone corridor, and stopped in front of a door without any adornments.

“Commander Dante?” The Nevarian Spiritualist called out as she knocked. “Eryk Veiger and his, uh, companion have arrived.”

I twitched again at how she hesitated when she said “companion.” The more people responded to Lin with negativity, the angrier I seemed to get. It had only been one day and I was already sick of this. It was too bad a voice spoke up from the other side before I could say anything.

“Send them in,” I recognized Dante’s voice.

The Nevarian Spiritualist opened the door and gestured toward us. “Please go on in.”

“Thank you.”

I paid the woman no more attention as Lin and I walked through the door, entering a large room that looked like a combination of office and war council room. Most of the room was taken up by weapon racks and shelves. Near the back was a small desk with a stack of papers on it, while in the center was a table, which several people were already surrounding.

I only recognized Dante, Kari, and Hellen Brynhild. There were three others whom I didn’t recognize, but all of them were wearing gleaming steel chestplates, vambraces, and greaves, which meant they were captains of the Nevarian Spiritualists.

“You two have arrived, I see,” Dante said as he stood beside Kari. His silver armor with gold acents was far more extravagant than anyone else’s, making me realize it was the armor worn only by a Nevarian Spiritualist Commander. “I’m glad you’re here. Kari has already informed me about Fay’s disappearance. We’ve gotten in touch with the Valstines and are trying to get whatever information we can out of them. However…”

“You haven’t discovered anything new,” I said as Lin and I came to stand beside Kari.

“Pretty much.”

“I just got back from the south gate,” I told them. “Fay did pass through there a few hours ago, but she never returned. We used a clearing past the gate as a training ground. When I arrived, the clearing looked like the sight of a battleground. Fay was already gone, but I was able to discover that she was ambushed by three Spiritualists and kidnapped.”

Kari gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes welling up as she thought about her friend. I could easily figure out how worried she was. Dante, on the other hand, was cupping his chin and giving off a serious vibe that I wasn’t used to seeing on him.

“So she has been taken,” he sighed. “That’s a big problem. However, an even bigger problem is the lack of suspects…”

“We have a suspect,” I interrupted, causing Dante and everyone else to look at me.

“We do?” Hellen Brynhild questioned.

I nodded. “I wasn’t able to confirm it yet, but I believe if you talk to someone who was guarding the north or west gate, you’ll discover that Grant Leucht passed through one of them.”

“Grant?” Kari’s eyes widened before she clenched her hands into fists. “You think he kidnapped her?”

“I know he kidnapped her,” I answered. “I have an ability called Spiritual Perception, which allows me to detect Spiritual Power and the Spiritual Residue left over when a Spiritual Technique is used. Not only does this let me see other people’s Spiritual Powers, but I can memorize the unique signature of their Spiritual Power. Grant Leucht was definitely at the scene when Fay was kidnapped.”

Everyone remained still as they absorbed my words. I could tell not all of them believed me. The three captains who I didn’t recognize looked skeptical, but Hellen, Dante, and Kari seemed to accept my words as fact. Kari, in particular, was the most expressive. Her face was a combination of anger, anguish, and determination.

“We’ll need to confirm whether or not this is true,” Dante said at last. “Give us half an hour to send some people to the north and west gates so we can get confirmation. If what you say is true, then we’ll have justification to search the Leucht Manor.”

I shook my head at his words. “Grant Leucht won’t be at the Leucht Manor. I’ve already checked using Spiritual Perception, and neither he or Fay are in Nevaria. I suspect they took a carriage out of the city.” I straightened my back and stared at Dante. “If we wait for confirmation, it may be too late to do anything. That is why I would like you to give me information on any estates the Leucht Family may have outside of the city.”

Everyone was staring at me as I remained fixated on Dante, who was studying me with an unusually solemn expression.

“Let’s say I did let you know where the Leucht Family’s estate outside of the city is located,” he began. “What would you do?”

“I would head their immediately.”

“Immediately, huh?” Dante chuckled a bit before growing serious once more. “And, what if, upon arriving there, you discover that Fay really has been kidnapped? What will you do?”

I knew what he was really asking. Dante was asking me if I would take Grant into custody or kill him. As a Nevarian Spiritualist, his job was to uphold the law. While there were crimes that warranted the death sentence, the crime of kidnapping would, at most, deliver someone a life sentence in prison.

“I believe you already know what I’ll do if I find out he kidnapped Fay,” I said. Perhaps it was the quiet sincerity in my voice, but everyone shifted as though uncomfortable.

“What you are suggesting we do would be breaking the law,” one of the captains I didn’t know said. He was a stern-looking man with a face that appeared hewn from stone and a mustache that reminded me of a pair of caterpillars.

I shrugged. “If Grant Leucht kidnapped Fay, then he has already broken several laws. Laws were meant to be put in place for people to follow, and Nevarian Spiritualists are supposed to make sure people uphold the law. If someone breaks the law, then you, someone meant to apprehend criminals, are no longer obligated to follow it if doing so would mean letting a vile criminal escape justice.”

“That form of argument is pure sophistry!” the captain snapped. “If those who uphold the law go about breaking it, then we cannot expect our citizens to follow it themselves.”

“I’m not going to argue with you.” After listening to this man talk, I decided he wasn’t worth talking to and turned back to Dante. “Tell me where the Leucht Family’s estate outside of the city is.”

Dante gave me a hard stare, but I stared right back at him. Spiritual Power started leaking from my body, distorting the air around me and letting me know that I was far more worked up than I thought. I imagined what Fay must have been experiencing right now while I stood here doing nothing. The images my mind conjured were enough to leave me with indescribable feelings of rage and helplessness.

“Father… please…” Kari reached out and grabbed Dante’s sleeve, visible between the joints in his armor. He took one look at her, at the teary blue eyes staring at him, and then he sighed.

“All right,” he relented. “Given what’s happened, I am aware that we would be too late to rescue Fay if we didn’t act decisively. I will let you know where the Leucht Family’s second estate is. In return, you will allow a squadron of Nevarian Spiritualist’s led by Hellen Brynhild to journey with you and apprehend Grant Leucht.”

I understood by how Dante emphasized the word “apprehend” that he was telling me not to kill Grant. Truth be told, I wanted nothing more than to murder the boy, but I also knew that now wasn’t the time to let myself get caught up in this matter. More important than killing Grant was rescuing Fay before something irreversible happened to her.

I could kill Grant later.

Dante was still staring at me silently, waiting for my response, as was everyone else. Kari was biting her lip, her expressive blue eyes gazing into mine. Beside her was Lin. The Lamia was the calmest of the bunch, but that was because she wasn’t as close to Fay as Kari was.

“I understand,” I said. “However, I would like to add another stipulation to this.”

“And that is?” asked Dante.

“That Kari also comes with me.”

While everyone else gave me stunned looks, Dante and Hellen looked the most shocked. Their eyes had grown considerably wider. That said, I wasn’t looking at them. I had been staring at Kari as I spoke. Her wide, expressive eyes conveyed her surprise, but that look left as my words settled in. Her pink lips trembled for a moment before she was smiling at me.

“This is also nonnegotiable,” I said. “If you don’t agree to let her come with me, I won’t agree, and if you decide not to give me the location of the Leucht Family estate, I will just storm their manor here and pry the location from their mouths.”

I glanced at all the people present, staring at them with the coldest look I could muster as a 17 year-old boy. I wasn’t sure how effective such a glare could be. However, the three captains whose names I didn’t know looked away. The only ones who could hold my gaze were Dante and Hellen.

“I can’t believe I’m receiving orders from a child,” Dante grumbled.

“Sir!” The stern-faced captain exclaimed in shock. “You can’t possibly mean you plan on doing as this boy says!”

“I do.” Dante wore an amused and exasperated smile. “I will allow Kari to go with you.” The smile vanished as his face hardened into something resembling cold steel. “However, should something happen to her…”

“Nothing will happen to her,” I declared.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Dante told me.

Since Dante had made up his mind, there was nothing anyone else could say against it. Not only was he the commander of the Nevarian Spiritualists (sub-commander, I found out later), he was also Empress Hilda’s third husband. His words were law.

With the decision to leave for the Leucht Family estate underway, a plan was made to expedite what looked to be becoming more and more of a rescue operation. Under Dante’s command, Hellen put together a squadron of Nevarian Spiritualists, which consisted of four people, including her. She told me that squadrons normally consisted of six people, but since Kari and I were going, they were only bringing along four.

Once everyone who would be taking part in this operation arrived, we were directed toward the stables.

Several Mares had already been prepared. There were six, but when I mentioned that I didn’t know how to ride a Mare, everyone had given me a look like I’d said something weird. That was when Kari suggested I ride with her. No one objected, and the sixth Mare was led back into the staple.

“I suppose I don’t need to tell any of you what your mission is,” Dante said. “Come back safely.”

I had a feeling he was talking primarily to Kari.

“We will,” she said.

As Kari was speaking to Dante, Lin slithered up to me, her hands clasped in front of her and trembling. I had the feeling that she wasn’t pleased to be left out of this mission. That said, she at least seemed to understand why I was not letting her come with me. She couldn’t travel as swiftly as a Mare. If she came along, it would slow us down.

“This princess… she will wait for you and Big Sister to return,” Lin said in a soft, helpless voice.

I was silent for a moment, unable to reply. What should I say during this moment?

As I looked at Lin, I realized that maybe, probably, words weren’t quite necessary. There were times when actions spoke louder than words.

Before Lin could respond, I leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. It was no more than a simple peck, but Lin’s eyes went wide at my actions.

“I’ll come back soon,” I said.

Her cheeks growing darker, Lin looked down and nodded once. “This princess will be waiting for you.”

I walked back to Kari and noticed Dante giving me a look that made me kind of want to punch him in the face. I wasn’t a fan of his skeezy smile. That said, there were more important things to do, like rescue Fay.

Everyone climbed onto their Mares. Kari had to help me up because I’d never done this before, and then she climbed on as well. Since I was taller than her, she was riding in front, and I was going to hold her waist from behind so I couldn’t fall off. Hellen and the other three Nevarian Spiritualists were already on their Mares.

“Line up in formation and follow me!” Hellen commanded before she cracked her reigns.

All five Mares neighed as everyone else cracked their reigns as well, bringing them into a swift gallop. We soon left the Nevarian Spiritualist headquarters. The streets passed by as our Mares trotted quickly down through the city streets, reaching the eastern gate within nearly half an hour. That seemed like a long time, but it took about six hours to cross the distance on foot since Nevaria was such a large city.

The gate was closed when we arrived. It was much larger than the north, west, and south gates. Perhaps because this one was the most used. Standing before us like an imposing giant, all I could do was look up at the watchtowers on either side, which must have been at least six or seven stories above us.

Hellen presented a pair of guards with a sheet of parchment, an order that Dante had written before we left, which granted us access to leave the city. The guard who it was shown to responded quickly. He blew on a whistle. I guessed that was to alert the person in charge of opening and closing the gates because, barely a second later, a loud cranking sound echoed around us as the gate slowly opened.

When the gate opened all the way, Hellen gave the command.

“Let’s move out!”

And thus the mission to rescue Fay was officially underway.