WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 46

The Flash Step wasn’t just something that could only be used when standing on the ground. When someone had enough Spiritual Power and skill, they could activate it in mid-air, which was what I did as I traveled toward where I sensed Lin’s Spiritual Power coming from.

Nevaria passed beneath me in a blur as I moved through the air, never staying in one spot for any longer than half a second. I narrowed my eyes and kept Spiritual Perception active. The red and yellow Spiritual Powers were bearing down on Lin’s dark purple. Furthermore, they had begun using Spiritual Techniques.

I landed on a building just as I reached where the Spiritual Powers were located. There, I found Lin being pursued by five members of the Nevarian Spiritualists. The four with red fire-natured Spiritual Power were just regular Nevarian Spiritualists, evident by their leather armor, but the one leading them was a captain. To signify his position, he had silver armor that had been polished to a shine. It looked brand new. I wondered if that meant he was a newly promoted captain or if he’d just never used this armor in battle before.

I shook my head. Such inane thoughts didn’t matter right now.

***

Lin was really regretting her decision to leave the house. If she was being honest with herself, she hadn’t believed Darling when he said traveling outside would be dangerous, but now that she was being chased by a group of Spiritualists, had alarms blaring at her from all directions, and was forced to deal with numerous Spiritual Techniques being hurled at her… well, she wasn’t left with much choice but to believe.

She should have stayed home.

“Hurry up! Launch your attacks! Kill that Demon Beast before it hurts our citizens!” the lead Spiritualist shouted.

“This princess is not a Demon Beast!” Lin shouted back, even as she lithered away as fast as her tail could carry her.

“T-the Demon Beast talks!”

“It must be incredibly dangerous! I’ve never heard of a talking Demon Beast before!”

“Kill it!!”

Before Lin could yell at them for their misunderstanding, the lead Spiritualist swung his staff around his body as he spun on his feet like a dancer. The staff came down. He slammed it into the ground, causing lightning to burst from the ground in a wave of powerful energy that rushed toward her faster than she could move.

Lin was left with no choice.

Clicking her tongue, Lin channeled Spiritual Power through her tail. She could feel her scales harden. As the lightning attack came close, she smacked the ground, creating massive cracks that spread across the dirt and disrupted the technique.

Sadly, the cracks spread further than she had intended, which caused several buildings to shake as they also received some minor damage. A cacophony of screams came from inside of the affected buildings. Lin flinched when she realized she may have just made things worse on herself.

“The Demon Beast is attacking our citizens’ homes!”

“Slay it before it can harm anyone else!”

Lin could have cried, but she didn’t have time for that. She turned a corner just as a massive fireball flew past her. It struck the ground and detonated, sending a wave of heat in her direction. She ignored it and kept going.

The Spiritualists turned the same corner as her and continued running. Their Spiritual Auras were active. Bright red flames flickered around four them, but the one charging ahead of the others had yellow arcs of lightning dancing across his body.

“Hurry up! Kill it!”

As the orders were given, the four subordinates of the yellow one shuffled across the ground in a  strange dance and launched the same technique. Four fireballs emerged from their hands. They agglomerated together, creating one huge fireball that was easily six times the size of the original four. The heat from this flaming projectile caused Lin to look behind her. The fireball was coming closer with every passing second. There was no way she could dodge, and it was too powerful for her to block!

Lin was ready to lament her fate when a shadow fell from the sky. She barely had time to contemplate what was happening before this figure slammed a fist into the fireball, punching a hole straight through it. The fireball was unable to maintain its shape after that and dispersed, detonating into many particles that evaporated on the wind.

Having realized that she was saved, Lin stopped slithering and turned to look at the broad back of her savor. He had familiar green hair that descended to the middle of his back, sloppily tied in a leather band. His clothing was different from before. She didn’t recognize his black pants and white shirt, but there was no way Lin could mistake the person behind her.

“Darling!” she cried out.

“Are you okay, Lin?” Darling asked as he turned his head.

Lin felt an unusual heat pool around her crotch as he looked at her with those concerned eyes. She opened her mouth, but found that her throat wasn’t working. Since she couldn’t talk, all she could do was nod.

“I’m glad.” He smiled, causing her cheeks to emit a pleasant heat. “Hold on just a moment, okay?”

Darling didn’t give her a chance to respond as he turned toward the five Spiritualists, who had skidded to a halt and were staring at him in shock. One of them, the leader, recovered more quickly than the others and stepped forward.

“You! What did you do that for?! Do you want that Demon Beast to escape and wreak havoc on Nevaria?!”

An intense Spiritual Pressure erupted from Darling the moment those words left the Spiritualist’s mouth. It felt like the area around him had suddenly become heavier. The air felt constricting and thick. A strange pressure pushed against Lin’s shoulders as a pillar of powerful blue energy erupted from Darling and towered over the entire city.

The fact that she could feel it at all told Lin how powerful this pressure was. She wasn’t even the recipient of it. The Spiritualists who had attacked her were in far worse shape. The leader in silver armor had fallen to his knees and was struggling to remain upright, while the other four were lying flat on their stomachs, looking for all the world like something had squashed them into the ground.

“You people are idiots,” Darling said at last, and his voice rang clearly enough that Lin was sure the citizens looking out from their windows could hear him as well. “This girl is not a Demon Beast, and the fact that you could mistake her as such just because the lower half of her body resembles a snake is pathetic.”

“You… who are you?” asked the lead Spiritualist.

“Eryk Veiger,” Darling answered.

“Eryk… Veiger…?” The lead Spiritualist’s eyes went wide. “Wait. Aren’t you… the one who just took f-first place… in the Spiritualist Grand Tournament…?”

“That’s right,” Darling said. “Since you know who I am, that will make things easier for me. Stop attacking Lin. She isn’t a Demon Beast and she’s not dangerous. She’s my guest, and any attacks on her will be perceived as an attack on me. Is that understood?” None of the Spiritualists spoke up, causing an even more intense Spiritual Pressure to make their bones rattle. “Is. That. Under. Stood?”

“Y-yes…” their leader said through gnashed, jittering teeth.

“Good.”

The Spiritual Pressure and intense Spiritual Aura suddenly disappeared. Darling walked up to her and reached out with his hand.

“Come on,” he said. “We’re leaving.”

“Are we going back home?” Lin asked as she placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her along.

Darling shook his head. “Given what just happened, I believe we should head to the Imperial Royal Palace and talk to Empress Hilda. The sooner we make it known that you aren’t a Demon Beast, the better off we’ll be.”

Lin nodded, but she didn’t say anything as they moved through the streets. She slithered slightly behind him as he led her by the hand. Alarms were still blaring all over town, but he seemed unconcerned by the noise. She wasn’t that bothered either. However, there was one problem that she was dealing with.

Her heart. It was slamming against her chest.

“Darling… this princess, she is sorry… for leaving the house when you told her not to,” she muttered in a regretful tone.

“Don’t worry about it. You left the house because you were worried about me when I didn’t return home, right?” His words stunned her, but when Darling turned his head and looked her way, all Lin could do was nod. Her cheeks felt warm when he smiled. “I assumed as much. This incident was as much my fault as it is yours, so you have nothing to apologize for.”

“This princess understands,” Lin said softly. “Thank you, Darling.”

“Don’t mention it.”

***

I took Lin all the way to the Imperial Royal Palace, which took almost two hours to reach. Part of the reason was because of just how far the Imperial Royal Palace was my home. However, the biggest reason was definitely because of how many times we were stopped by Nevarian Spiritualists who thought Lin was a Demon Beast. I couldn’t rightly blame them for thinking this way, but honestly, anyone who actually looked at her should have realized that she wasn’t a Demon Beast.

How many Demon Beasts had the upper body of a beautiful girl? None.

When we at last reached the top of the mountain upon which the Imperial Royal Palace sat, we came upon the gate that kept random people from entering. Several people were already waiting there. Dante, Rainer, Valence, Empress Hilda, and Kari were all present as I walked up to them.

It was almost amusing how, immediately after verifying who I was, their eyes strayed to Lin. I really couldn’t blame them. I couldn’t. Lin was a Lamia, a race that had never been seen in Nevaria before, which of course meant her snake lower half was quite exotic. The fact that she wasn’t wearing a top and her smallish breasts were bouncing free for everyone to see probably didn’t help.

“I’m sorry for causing all of you to worry,” I said as me and Lin reached the gate.

“It is… no concern.” Empress Hilda’s eyes had yet to leave Lin, who for once actually looked uncomfortable as she hid behind me. “This is… a Lamia, if I am not mistaken.”

“You’ve seen them before?” I asked.

Empress Hilda shook her head. “Not in person, no. However, there are several books documenting Lamia in my library. They don’t go into extensive detail, but the books describe Lamia has being extraordinarily beautiful men and women who have the lower body of a snake.”

“That sounds about right.” I nodded. “In any case, would you mind if we all traveled back inside? I’d like to discuss this matter somewhere more comfortable. Also, Lin hasn’t had dinner yet.”

As if my words were prophetic, Lin’s stomach chose that moment to rumble. Everyone stared at the snake girl as her face became beat red. Huh. She never got embarrassed when that happened around me. While Dante and Rainer chuckled, Valence coughed into his hand as though trying to hide his amusement, while Kari and Empress Hilda merely smiled.

“Why don’t we head back to the dining hall then?” Empress Hilda suggested. “We can have a dessert wine while our chefs prepare some food for your friend.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” I said.

“Y-yes! Um, thank you!” Lin replied, mimicking me. “This princess is very grateful.”

As the seven of us walked toward the house, Kari wandered up to my side, the one opposite Lin, and looked between the two of us.

“You mentioned your name was Lin, right?” Kari said with a smile. “Do you mind if I ask how you know Eryk?”

“Darling saved this princess’ life,” Lin replied.

“Darling?” Kari glanced at me, frowned, and then looked back at Lin. “Why do you call him ‘Darling’?”

Warning bells went off in my head, prompting me to open my mouth. Nothing good could come from letting Lin answer Kari’s questions. I had to beat her to the punch and say something first.

I was too late.

“Darling is this princess’ husband,” Lin declared proudly, puffing out her small chest.

“Her husband, huh?” Kari glanced at me.

“That’s correct.” Lin nodded with an imperious demeanor. “After Darling rescued this princess from a couple of boars, she decided to make Darling her husband. This princess even gave him the Ring of Marji.”

“Ring of… Marji?”

“This.”

At Kari’s uncertain look, I raised my hand and showed off the tattoo around my ring finger. It looked like a ring of thorns wrapped around my ring finger. Next to it were two puncture marks that hadn’t healed even now.

“So this is the Ring of Marji? I remember seeing that before.” Her eyes narrowed. “I thought you said it was nothing.”

I sighed at her accusing tone. “At the time, I thought it was nothing. I didn’t even know what it was until quite a few days later. I’ll explain everything soon, so please be patient with me.”

Kari looked at me with a frown, but she didn’t say anything else, causing me to sigh in relief.

We adjourned back in the dining hall. Empress Hilda ordered one of the chefs to prepare a meal—one with plenty of meat after I mentioned that Lamia were primarily carnivores. As the seven of us sat around the table, a maid brought out a bottle of wine and seven glasses. While she did pale upon seeing Lin’s snake tail thumping against the floor, she did an admirable job of masking her fear as she poured our wine.

“Now then,” Empress Hilda began as she sat at the head of the table, “I would appreciate if you explained what a Lamia is doing in Nevaria and how you know her.”

“Right,” I said with a sigh. “You’d better brace yourselves because this is going to be a long story.”

Now that I finally had an opportunity to explain Lin’s case, I didn’t hesitate to inform the empress, her husbands, and Kari about how Lin and I met. I told them about how, when I found her, she was just a snake being attacked by a group of wild boars, how she bit me and gave me the Ring of Marji, and how she followed me home. I made sure not to leave anything out. I even told them about how I woke up one morning to find her sleeping in my bed in her Lamia form. By the time I was done, our wine was finished and Lin had scarfed down six plates worth of lamb.

“That is quite a story.” Dante stared at his empty wine glass as though expecting it to automatically refill itself. “If it wasn’t for the evidence sitting right in front of me, I’m not sure I would have believed any of it.”

“Who could have imagined there would be another race of creatures aside from humans and Demon Beasts,” Rainer mused as he stroked his jaw. “And to think they live in the desert that borders Nevaria. Several brave men and women have journeyed into the desert, but none have ever returned. It was later declared too dangerous to travel and so no one has ever been allowed to enter.”

While the others were musing on Lin’s origins, Kari looked like she had a bazillion questions for the girl. I imagined Lin would be getting interrogated about her home soon enough.

“This is definitely intriguing information.” Empress Hilda had not drunk all of her wine. She swirled the little bit left in her glass as she studied Lin, who looked so content as she patted her stomach that it was hard to take her seriously. “However, I don’t think this information is something we can do anything with right now, so let us shelve it. The important issue is figuring out what to do with you.”

At the mention of “what to do with Lin” arose, the snake girl quickly leaned over and plastered herself to me.

“Lin is staying with Darling,” she declared as if that was the end of the discussion.

Empress Hilda, Dante, Rainer, and Valence all shared a look. All of them except for Valence, who remained stern, looked amused by her quick response.

“That isn’t what we were talking about,” Empress Hilda assured her. “Your presence will be something of a shock to the people of Nevaria, so we need to figure out how to introduce you to them so our Spiritualists don’t chase you like they did tonight.”

“Oh…” Lin seemed relieved. “Can’t you just have me walk around in broad daylight with Darling? He’s the champion of that tournament thingy, right? I’m sure people will realize I’m not dangerous if they see us together.”

“A fair point. I guess that’s about all we can do for the moment anyway.” Empress Hilda nodded after musing on that idea for a while. “We’ll begin coming up with something more concrete tomorrow. For now, I think you two should spend the night here. It would be safer for you both.”

I couldn’t disagree with her on this point, and so the two of us agreed and were shown to our rooms, though we didn’t head inside right away. Kari wanted to speak with Lin, so we headed into her bedroom and talked. Well, I say we talked, but I really meant Lin and Kari talked. Kari asked Lin all kinds of questions about her home, about her people, and about anything else she could think of. The girl was practically starry-eyed.

Of course, Lin had no trouble at all talking about herself, though she didn’t have much information to give. It seemed she’d been forced to abandon her home when she was fairly young and only remembered bits and pieces. Her knowledge wasn’t clear enough to give Kari a full picture, but it was more than enough to satisfy her adventurer’s curiosity.

I was happy to see that Kari and Lin were getting along. Of course, there was a bit of an issue when Kari mentioned how Lin needed to wear some clothes. That resulted in an argument over common decency, a concept that Lin didn’t seem to understand. However, for the most part, the two of them seemed to find a lot of common ground despite having only met.

The excitement of the night must have been too much for Lin because she eventually fell asleep on Kari’s bed. She was sprawled across the sheets in what must have been the most lackadaisical posture ever. Me and Kari listened to her soft snoring as we stood by the window.

“It seems you are carrying even more secrets than I realized,” Kari said as she rested her hand on the windowsill.

“I’m sorry for not telling you about Lin.” I toyed with one of my bangs. “I always intended to say something eventually, but since she was a Lamia… I kinda figured I should wait until after I won the tournament.”

Kari nodded. “The fame from the tournament would grant you the clout you need to protect Lin and let her leave your house.” She smiled and tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “I am beginning to understand how you think. You’re a very kind person.” She glanced over at Lin who was dozing off on the bed. “You always put others first, even people you’ve just met. That must be what attracted her to you.”

“If you have the power to help someone, then you should put that power to good use.” I also looked at Lin and felt my chest grow a bit lighter. “Someone I know once told me that.”

“This person sounds very wise,” Kari said.

“Aye. Very wise.” I smiled at the irony, wondering how Kari would feel if she knew those were her future self’s words to me. “Anyway, I still don’t know what I should do about Lin or this Ring of Marji yet. I’ve been wracking my brain, but I’m honestly at a loss.”

“Do you need to do anything?” asked Kari.

I frowned at her. “Isn’t that obvious? That girl has it in her head that I’m her husband. I can’t just keep stringing her along like this.”

“Who said anything about stringing her along?” Kari returned my frown with her own.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

The two of us stared at each other, and I had this really bad feeling that we were not on the same page. Kari seemed to realize that as well.

“I think… you aren’t understanding what I’m trying to tell you.” Kari glanced back at Lin and a warm smile suddenly lit up her face. With the moonlight spilling in through the window, her appearance seemed even more radiant than usual. “That girl… she really loves you. She’s even gone so far as to give you that Ring of Marji, which seems to link you two at a spiritual level. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to return her affection.”

Breathing in through my nose, I stared at Kari. “Are you suggesting I court her as well?”

“Well…” Kari smiled at my expression, which must have looked quite incredulous. “I have already suggested courting myself and Fay at the same time. Would it really be so bad if we added another girl to the mix?”

“I… if that is what you think is best, then I don’t mind.” I glanced at Lin, then looked back at Kari. “Are you sure about this?”

Kari wore a wry smile as she stared at me. “If we did not do things this way, you would begin to feel incredibly guilty about choosing me over them. I don’t want you to go through that. Furthermore, I don’t want Fay to suffer anymore than she already has. Also, you are all that girl has.” She gestured to Lin. “She’s all alone and has no one else to rely on but you. That means you need to take responsibility for her.”

“You’re right. I know you are. It’s just…” I scratched my head and sighed. “I feel like I’m betraying my feelings for you by accepting them.”

Kari’s eyes grew soft even as her cheeks turned red. She raised her hand, hesitated, and then gently placed it on my chest. I could feel the warmth of her skin through my clothes.

“You do not know how happy it makes me to hear you say that,” she muttered, looking up at me with eyes that were somewhat wet with emotion. “It really does make me so… so incredibly happy. But it is because you feel this way that I want you to accept them. I know that you would never betray your feelings for me. Having spent so much time talking to you, having watched you fight in that tournament for my sake, I understand your feelings better than anyone. I also know that for as much as you try to deny Fay’s feelings for you, your feelings for her aren’t so black and white as you’d like to believe. I think you know that.” Kari nodded at Lin. “It’s the same for her, isn’t it?”

While I was used to the future Kari being able to see right through me, it was somewhat stunning that the current Kari already knew me so well. We had only known each other for three months. 189 days was not a very long time. However, she was already able to see through me like we’d known each other for years.

“You really are incredible,” I muttered, placing my hands over Kari’s.

She took a step closer, long locks of blonde swaying as she shook her head. “I am not the one who is incredible. In just three short months, you’ve turned my life around. I never could have imagined that the quiet young man I met in the library three months ago would change my life so thoroughly. Thanks to you, Mother is going to let me explore the world outside of Nevaria, I’ll hopefully be able to rekindle my friendship with Fay, and I met a Lamia, something thought to only exist in legends. You have given me so much. To be honest, I feel a little guilty because I haven’t been able to do a single thing for you.”

“Just being with you is enough.” I wrapped my fingers around her hand as a warmth filled my heart. “If I can remain by your side and see your smile, that’s all I need to be happy.”

I was wondering if maybe that was laying it on a little thick. Kari’s face had lit up like someone smashed a Spiritual Fire Technique into it. However, the wide smile on her face wiped away my worries.

“You might be satisfied with that, but I want to do more for you.” She took another step forward and stood up on her toes. Her hands slid from my grip and went to my shoulders. “There are a lot of things I’m not ready to do yet, but there are some things I wouldn’t mind us doing right now.”

Kari’s blue eyes were so close I could see my reflection in them. My heart was thumping against my chest like a Kangaboxer—a C-rank Demon Beast with powerful legs. Her eyes slowly fluttered closed as she tilted her head up.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I placed my hands on her hips and leaned down. Our lips finally met, and I felt like I was going to cry. These were the same lips I remembered, the same lips I had shared my first kiss with. Kari’s mouth was warm and soft. As we continued to kiss, I couldn’t stop myself from leaning in just a bit and nibbling on her lower lip.

“A-ahn!”

A startled gasp made me jerk back. I stared at the blushing Kari in concern.

“Was that too much?”

“N-no,” she mumbled, embarrassed. “It wasn’t too much. I was just surprised.” Her cheeks gained even more color. “It… actually felt kind of good.”

“Then would it be okay if we kept kissing?” I asked.

“J-just for now. Um, you know it’s late, so we have to go to bed eventually…”

Just for now was enough for me. I snaked my arms around her waist and pulled her closer, pressing my lips against hers. Kari seemed shocked for a moment. Her body became stiff, but then the tension in her shoulders and spine relaxed as she leaned into me and kissed back.

That night, the twin moons, the stars, and the still dozing Lamia girl were the only witnesses to our passionate embrace.