WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 18

Kari woke up two days after I did. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as I did when she finally opened her eyes. I had been miserably waiting for her to finally wake up, and each day that she didn’t had been another spear piercing my soul.

While I was relieved that she finally awoke, not everything was good. I was forced to inform her about what happened to the boy who’d been with us, the last survivor of our group, who had died from dehydration and heat stroke. Like me, Kari had shed bitter tears of regret, which made me cry again. I held her in my arms that day as we cried ourselves to sleep.

However, life continued on. So long as you were alive, a person could do nothing but to continue struggling, and that was just what we did.

Zane had been incredibly gracious to us both. Not only did he express a genuine joy that Kari had awoken, but he provided us with food and water, even though I knew his people did not have much to offer. We gratefully accepted his aid, though. As much as it pained me to take from people who were already struggling, it wasn’t like we had a choice. I promised myself that I’d help him as much as possible once my strength returned.

Our bodies were a wreck, our spirits exhausted, and our hearts heavy. We had found a home, but it had been cruelly taken away from us. We had fled into the desert and nearly died. The heat combined with a lack of food, water, and sleep had weakened Kari and I greatly. It took six days before we were even fit to walk nevermind help protect their caravan.

On the seventh day, Kari and I decided we’d finally had enough sitting in the carriage and feeling sorry for ourselves. We asked Zane if there was anything we could help with.

“Currently there is not much help that you can offer,” he admitted. “At the moment, we are traveling to a city several hundred kilometers west of here. It will take us about 24 more days to reach it, provided nothing untoward happens.”

Kari and I were walking alongside Zane at the head of the caravan. There were several other people present, but most of them were directing the strange creatures that were pulling the carts. They were very odd birds with long legs, fluffy bodies, and large necks. The feathers covering them were a light brown like the desert sands.

“What about Demon Beasts?” I asked. “Are you not afraid of being attacked?”

Kari and I had been attacked several times when we fled through the desert. Those strange creatures with powerful dorsal fins that swam through the sand and leapt out had killed several of our comrades. I couldn’t believe they weren’t a threat.

“They would normally be a problem, but we have a way around that.” Zane grabbed a pouch dangling from around his neck and undid the strings keeping it tied together. He flipped the pouch over and a small round pill fell onto his palm. It was dark black and seemed to absorb the light. “This is called a Barrier Pill. It creates a scent that can be detected by Demon Beasts within a twenty meter radius. They hate this scent so much that none dare come near us. Ha ha! Oddly enough, if a Demon Beast were to eat it, this thing would act as an aphrodisiac. This pill also has a liquid form that can extend the radius of effect, but the effects ware out more quickly.”

While the information was interesting, that one sentence of his made me grimace. I had no desire to imagine two horny Demon Beasts going at it.

“Does that mean there are no threats to you in the desert?” asked Kari.

She looked a lot better now than she had upon first waking up. Her face still looked shallow, her body still thin, but the strength and vitality that I’d come to know her for was slowly returning. She was currently wearing a dark cloak that hid her body was from the sun. It was likely very hot, but it would keep her from getting burned.

“You mean aside from the heat and dehydration?” asked Zane, a slight smile on his face. “There are a few dangers. Between here and Alab there are several groups who would gladly attack a caravan like ours. There’s a group of bandits calling themselves Red Scorpion who are known to attack caravans on sight and kill everyone traveling with it. They’re bloodthirsty thieves. Beyond that… the greatest threat would definitely be the Lamias.”

Kari and I glanced at each other.

“What are Lamias?” I asked for the two of us.

“They are snake-people,” Zane explained. “They live deep within the Endless Desert and horde many of the oasis located from here to Alab. Fortunately, they are small in number. However, each one is extremely powerful, able to perform incredible Spiritual Techniques, and they are highly intelligent. Their leader is a woman named Queen Medusa. She is a legendary figure in these parts. No one has seen her for several years, but the last time she showed up, she completely destroyed one of the outlying towns by herself.”

“This woman sounds pretty dangerous,” I muttered.

“She is indeed dangerous.” Zane nodded. “A truly powerful foe who I hope we never meet.”

As we continued walking along the dessert, I adjusted the hat on my head to shield my eyes from the sun and tried to imagine what a Lamia would look like. Zane said they were snake-people. I imagined a terrifying snake dozens of meters long, with fangs that could release deadly venom, and a mouth large enough to swallow a person whole.

I would be incredibly surprised to learn that my vision of a Lamia was nothing like the real thing.

***

Several days passed since Fay bought me that nice set of clothes. I hadn’t worn them since that first day. They were the only set I had, and I didn’t want to ruin them by not washing them properly.

My days were spent in a myriad of ways, which was my way of saying there was never a dull moment. Some days I would train with Fay, other days I would teach Feinrea how to create alchemy pills, and some days I would open or close the library. On days where I closed the library, I would usually spend that time talking with Kari.

Thanks to my instructing of Feinrea, I had been allowed full access to the Alchemist Association’s stash of ingredients, which allowed me to refine Body Forging Pills and Three Way Spiritual Widening Pills. I didn’t want to take advantage of their kindness, however. That was why only made enough for two more months. Judging from the way my Spiritual Pathways were growing and my body was strengthening, I determined both pills would be useless by that point anyway.

Even though I had created enough pills for my purpose, I still planned on going through with the plan to sell my pills. The Alchemist Association had helped me a lot. What’s more, this could help Fay with her problem. To make matters even better, bringing Alchemy back to Nevaria could only be a good thing. It would strengthen the city as a whole.

Of course, I still needed to wait for Fay to tell me I could meet with her father, the Head of the Valstine Family. He was apparently very busy right now. According to what Fay had told me while we were training, she had barely been able to see him this past month. There was some kind of crisis happening within the family.

I was currently in the library, which I had opened like usual. The snake had decided to come with me again despite Ms. Nadine’s warning. I’m pretty sure it forgot all about that woman’s threat.

“Is it just me, or have you grown much bigger?” I asked the creature that was hanging from the rafters. The snake just hissed at me. “Don’t give me that. I know you’ve been drinking the Body Forging Pill water from my bath. I’m pretty sure that’s somehow made you larger than you were before. You’re getting fat.”

The snake didn’t seem to take my comment on its increased size well, for it hissed some more in an angry manner. Several of the patrons sitting at the table far from us looked over and shuddered. I wondered if they were afraid of the snake or me.

“U-um,” a timid voice suddenly reached my ears. I looked to my left and found a young woman with frightened eyes splitting her attention between me and the snake.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Er… I’m looking for a, uh, a book… but I can’t find it,” the young woman said. She was more of a girl really. At a guess, I’d say she couldn’t be older than fourteen.

I nodded and wandered over to the girl, who seemed to shrink back. Really now. That was a pretty rude thing to do. I get that the big, bad snake was a bit scary, but was I that frightening too?

“Do you know the title? If not the title, then just tell me what it’s about and I’ll cross reference my memory to try and find it.”

The girl nodded and hurriedly gave me the book title. It was called Son of Skorn, which I recognized as a historical reference textbook about the legendary son of a man called Skorn the Berserker. He was a classic figure during Nevaria’s darkest age after the Catastrophe.

I went to where the book should have been, but it wasn’t there. The girl told me that she had checked this spot, too, thinking it would be there. After thinking about it for a minute, I remembered seeing a book with similar bindings being put away on another shelf. I went to that shelf. Lo and behold, it was indeed the book she was looking for.

“Here.” I handed her the book.

“T-thank you very much!” The young woman gave me a quick bow before scurrying off.

I watched her go, then returned to the counter. The snake saw me and hissed several times in what sounded suspiciously like laughter.

“Laugh it up,” I muttered. “You’re the reason she’s so afraid of me.”

The snake didn’t seem to take well to that, for it flicked its tongue and turned away from me. I sighed.

Even though I had grown used to this snake, I still felt like there was something incredibly off about it. Aside from the fact that it could understand me, the snake seemed to possess a very haughty and arrogant personality. It lounged around my house like it owned the place, drank my bathwater without a care in the world, followed me whenever it pleased, and rarely ever listened to a thing I said. Really, it acted like one of those incredibly rich and self-entitled nobles.

Another hour passed before Ms. Nadine arrived to relieve me. She took one look at the snake hanging from her rafter, and then she looked at me.

“Is this yours?” she asked.

“No,” I said back immediately.

“Hmph!” Scoffing as she eyed the massive snake, which eyed her right back with a challenging—at least, that was what I assumed—stare, Ms. Nadine looked back at me and said, “I thought I told you not to bring this thing. I promise you, the next time you bring this snake here, I really will chop its head off and grill it for dinner.”

The snake seemed to think this was a threat. It looked seconds away from lunging at the woman, but then Ms. Nadine stared at the creature, and it froze solid like it had become encased in a block of ice. The snake and Ms. Nadine locked eyes. Then, as if it had seen something truly terrifying, the snake slithered off the rafters and hid behind me.

“I told you this would happen, but you didn’t listen,” I sighed.

The snake didn’t even so much as hiss.

I glanced at Ms. Nadine, who wore a satisfied smile, and then at the shivering 6 meter long snake behind me.

“You are one terrifying woman,” I said to Ms. Nadine.

Ms. Nadine’s response was to flip her hair.

***

Thanks to having access to the Alchemy Association’s warehouse of ingredients, my training was progressing smoothly again. Each day I felt just a little stronger. Each day my body seemed a little sturdier. Each day my Spiritual Pathways became stronger, wider, and more powerful than they were before.

I could now perform most of my lower-rank Spiritual Techniques. I had found some time to train alone and tested them out. Most of them were simple techniques like Pale White Raio and Paralysis Stinger. Well, I called them that, but my techniques were really just pure elemental manipulation. They were completely unlike anything a normal Spiritualist could do. I also had the first-level of the Flash Step down as well. That said, all of them were only the equivalent of a B-rank technique, except for Flash Step, which was an A-rank due to its complexity and usage. I still didn’t have the control for any other A-rank techniques, nevermind the ones that were S-rank and above.

Fay was doing great as well. Not only could she keep up with me, but the amount of weight she had added to her vest was about triple how much she weighed. I was currently packing about 1,560 kilos in when you combined all the weight in the cylinders. Fay was working with about 460 kilos. Considering she had started later than me, that was pretty damn good.

Our exercises had just ended, and we were medidating to control our Spiritual Power and widen our Spiritual Pathways. We sat cross-legged on the ground. Fay was sitting with her hands on her knees, palms up, and currently had two leafs floating about six centimeters above her palm. I was doing that as well, but I also had ten small twigs stuck to my fingers with Spiritual Energy. The twigs were delicately balanced on each finger, tilting one way to the other without ever falling too far.

As I looked at Fay, I was not surprised to see wisps of Spiritual Power wafting off her body. Each wisp was a vibrant red like her hair. I could detect a strong fire element within her.

“It looks like it won’t be long before you can form a Spiritual Aura,” I said.

Fay opened her closed eyes. “Excuse me?”

“A Spiritual Aura.” I nodded at her. “You are close to forming it.”

Fay looked at herself and saw the moats of red energy swirling around her, causing her to gasp in surprise. She looked at the wisps in wonder. Reaching out with her hand, she tried to grab one, but it broke apart and dissipated. Then, as if her attempt at grabbing them had frightened the wisps off, they evaporated into the sky.

“You still can’t quite control it yet,” I observed. “That said, I think you will be able to release your Spiritual Aura at will in another ten or fifteen days. Once that happens, you can consider yourself a true Spiritualist.”

“Do you really think I’ll be able to form a Spiritual Aura so quickly?” asked Fay, her brow furrowing as she looked at me. “I don’t mean to sound skeptical, but even elite Spiritualists have trouble forming a Spiritual Aura. Every member of the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guards can do it, but they are trained more extensively than academy students like myself.”

I almost shook my head at how weak the people in Nevaria were. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said that someone had purposefully erased knowledge of matters like Alchemy and Spiritualism to weaken the city. It was a ridiculous notion. I knew that. Even so, the fact that forming a Spiritual Aura was considered an advanced state of Spiritualism instead of the First State was just depressing.

“The fact that your body is emitting Spiritual Power without conscious thought is proof that your Spiritual Aura is close to forming.” I paused long enough to smile at her. “Once you can form it, you and I are going to begin the next stage of training.”

“The next stage?” Fay blinked at me like I had said something unfathomable. “What is the next stage going to be.”

“Learning Spiritualist Techniques, obviously,” I answered.

“Oh…” Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a pretty O-shape. However, that look of shock was soon replaced by one of unending and unlimited determination.

“Just remember not to rush things,” I lectured when I saw the fire appearing in Fay’s eyes. “The most important aspect when forming your Spiritual Aura is to let it form naturally.”

My words caused Fay to pause. She took several deep breaths, nodded, and then smiled at me. I couldn’t help but admire how she was able to calm herself from just that. Anyone else would have been jumping for joy.

“I understand. I’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

“Good.” I sighed in relief. “Too many people try to rush gaining strength, and they end up stagnating in the end.”

“Wouldn’t the pills you make be considered rushing to gain strength?” Fay asked, tilting her head.

I shook mine negatively. “No. The alchemy pills I created for our use don’t rush anything. They promote the natural cultivation of strength, which does help raise our strength faster, but it does so in a way that gives us a strong foundation to work with. Think of it like building a house. A house with a strong foundation will be sturdy and won’t crumble when a storm comes along. However, no matter how strong the walls are, if the foundation is weak, the house will collapse.”

Fay was listening to me with rapt attention, her narrowed eyes like a pair of emeralds as they gazed at me. That gaze of hers was enough to make my heart skip a beat. However, I dutifully ignored the feelings in my chest.

“That makes a lot of sense.” She nodded several times. “Yeah, I think I get it.”

“I’m glad. I’m not very good at explaining these things.”

“Really? I think you’re very talented. You’d make a good teacher.”

I shook my head in a self-deprecating manner. “No. I am just paraphrasing a great person I know. Everything I’ve learned comes from them.” I could see that Fay was curious, but I couldn’t tell her that what I know came from what myself and my wife from the past had discovered during our journey together. “Anyway, I think we’re done for the day. It’s getting late so we should head home.”

“Yes, I suppose you are right.”

The two of us stopped our training and stood up. I stretched my muscles a little, groaning at how stiff they were. Sitting for two hours with a perfectly straight posture really did a number on my body.

“Have you been able to get in touch with your father?” I asked.

“I have.” Fay nodded. “He says that he is willing to meet with you.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow, if possible.”

I paused at that and contemplated whether or not tomorrow would work. I didn’t have to work at the library tomorrow, and while I had planned on going to the Alchemist Association to teach Feinrea how to create the last of the six alchemy pills I was hoping to have the association sell, that could wait until after I’d spoken with Fay’s father.

“I can meet with him tomorrow,” I said at last.

“Great.” Fay placed a hand on her chest as though she suddenly felt relieved. Her smile had a similarly reassured demeanor as though I’d taken a weight off her shoulders. “In that case, I’ll stop by your place and take you to my house. He’ll want to meet you early tomorrow morning.”

“That’s fine with me,” I said.

Since our training was done and Fay had said what she needed to, the two of us headed back into the city.

***

I actually took a bath the next morning. After scrubbing most of the grime off, I bathed using some scented soap I’d bought from a shop in the Noble District. It had been more expensive than I expected at 250 valis. However, since I was going to meet with the head of a noble family, I believed it was a necessary expenditure.

Once I dried off, I got dressed in the outfit that Fay had bought for me. I smoothed out the fabrics of the sleeveless shirt and vest. I didn’t have a full-body mirror, so I couldn’t see how I looked, but Fay and Helle had approved. A woman’s approval was generally a good sign.

Just as I was finished getting dress, a knock sounded at my door. Of course it was Fay. She had chosen to wear black shorts and a blue shirt that day. The shirt was sleeveless, but it also featured a high collar that wrapped around her elegant, swan-like neck, and it closed on the sides. I could see the stitching going down the left side of her chest. Completing the ensemble were long sleeves that trailed past her hands. They were not attached to her shirt. Rather, a golden cord tied around her arms just below the shoulders kept them in place.

I took a deep breath and slowly settled my heart. It was beating several kilometers per second. Once I was sure that I had become sufficiently calm, I smiled.

“You look good,” I complimented. “Is the reason you’re dressed up like this because of my meeting with your father?”

Fay always blushed well, and this occasion was no different. The way her cheeks and ears turned a light pink was fetching. She looked away.

“More or less… yes.”

I had a feeling she was hiding something, but I didn’t say anything. A woman needed to keep her secrets.

“Well, let’s get going,” I said with a smile.

“Yes.” Fay nodded.

I turned my head and stared at the snake, which had curled up on my bed and was just lazing around.

“I’ll be back,” I said. “Try not to ruin the place.”

The snake hissed at me in a manner that I could only describe as lackadaisical. I shook my head and, after making sure I had the bag filled with my pills and the Spiritual Technique Scroll, I left my room, closed the door behind me, and locked it. I gestured for Fay to proceed me down the stairs, and then the two of us made it onto the street.

As we were walking, Fay gave me an odd look. “That snake of yours is very odd.”

“You’re telling me,” I mumbled. “I have absolutely no clue what’s going on with that creature. It seems far too intelligent to be a mere animal. I’ve heard there are some Demon Beasts that are capable of human speech, but that’s only after they’ve lived for hundreds of years. They are also ridiculously powerful.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Fay said.

I grinned at her. “That is because they only teach the most basic knowledge on Demon Beasts at school. I’m sure you know the Demon Beast classification system, right?”

“Of course.” Fay nodded. “Demon Beasts are classified from F to S based on factors like their overall strength, defensive power, and deadliness. S is the highest rank a Demon Beast can go.”

“That is correct, but there are some Demon Beasts out there whose strength is simply incalculable.” I looked off into the distance as I recalled my last battle with the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plane. “While they are still classified as S-rank, that is only because we have no higher classification to give them. However, if I were to give these Demon Beasts that are capable of speech a classification, it would be SSS-rank.”

Fay was so startled she almost tripped after hitting a small piece of the cobblestone road with her foot. “That’s very interesting, if true.”

“You don’t believe me?” I asked.

“I didn’t say that.” Fay shook her head. “It’s just that I’ve never heard this before.”

“Most people haven’t,” I said. Even I didn’t know how many Demon Beasts had reached this level. The only ones I knew were the seven Elemental Birds who represented the seven elements.

After reaching the Merchant District, Fay hailed down a passing carriage and had it deliver us to the Noble District. The estate that Fay led me to after we had hopped off the carriage was a lot like the others I could see. We stopped before a steel gate that was large, imposing, and had a symbol known as the “Sign of Four” located in the center. It was a reversed 4. This symbol was often used by merchants as their Coat of Arms, so to speak. That the Valstine’s were using this as their family symbol told me a lot about them as a family.

“I just realized that your family is primarily a mercantile family,” I said.

“Not quite.” Fay shook her head. “It is true that we have a lot of businesses that deal with buying and selling, such as our Auction House and various stalls and shops, but like every noble family, ours values strength of arms above all else.” She paused, sighed, and then ammended her previous statement. “Well, it used to. We don’t have the training methods or techniques to stand up to many of the other noble families, especially not the Heavenly Families like the Leucht Family.”

“Hmm…”

“Anyway, please follow me.”

There was a young man guarding the gate, someone who I guessed was a branch member of the Valstine Family if I were to judge by the crest on his clothing, which bore a striking resemblance to the one on the gate. When he saw us, he greeted Fay with something of a blushing stutter.

“M-M-Miss Fay! It is good to see you!” he squeaked.

“It’s good to see you as well,” Fay greeted. “Can you please open the gate? I’ve brought the man my father is meeting today.”

“O-of course!”

The boy hurriedly opened the gate and let us pass. We walked further into the estate, the gate closing behind us, and I glanced at the boy one more time before turning to Fay.

“I think he likes you,” I said.

“He only likes my appearance,” Fay muttered in a despirited tone.

“Well, you are very pretty,” I teased.

Fay didn’t blush this time. She smiled, but it was a sad smile.

“Maybe, but I don’t want to be with someone just because they find me attractive. I want someone to love me because of who I am and not how I look.”

Her words caused me to sober up. “I understand. I guess women have it rough.”

“We do, and don’t you forget it.” Fay smirked at me. It was the first time I’d seen her look smug.

The Valstine Family’s mansion consisted of a single building, which was quite large. Judging from the number of windows I could see, it was three-stories. It wasn’t designed in any specific shape like a square or a rectangle. Instead, it looked like many shapes combined. The center was a square with a crenellation that allowed people to shoot arrows down at attackers. Connected to this section were two other sections that vaguely resembled the shape of an L.

While the mansion was fairly impressive, the grounds were also a sight to behold. Fay and I walked along a straight path. As I looked around, I spotted several gardens further out. These gardens were dotted by winding paths and gazebos. Of course, given how space in Nevaria was somewhat limited, the gardens were not large by any means—at least, not when compared to some of the gardens I’d seen before.

Someone stood by the front door to the main building. He was a man with numerous wrinkles lining his face. I couldn’t rightly guess his age, but he was obviously very old. He wore a refined black tunic and pants. The tunic had long sleeves, and I noticed that he was wearing gloves. Was he a servant?

“I see that you have returned with the boy,” the man said in a crackly voice. The man turned his attention to me. His sharp eyes reminded me of a Greater Hawk Lion—an A-rank Demon Beast that made its nest in very high mountaintops. “He is the one who you said can help our family return to its former glory? I do not recognize you, boy. However, you have a good look in your eyes. I sense a great strength within you.”

“Um… thanks, I guess,” I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I shrugged.

“This is Eryk Veiger,” Fay introduced with a gesture of her hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said with a nod.

“A pleasure indeed. I hear you’ve helped our Lady Fay quite a bit this past month.” The man chuckled a little as if he was privy to an inside joke. “All of us were quite shocked when she revealed that the Spiritual Power clogging her Spiritual Pathways were healed. However, she wouldn’t tell us who had done it or how for the longest time. Her father was almost ready to begin sending out people to tail her.”

“My father didn’t even know my Spiritual Pathways had been healed until just a few days ago,” Fay muttered in a bitter voice. “How could he send out people to spy on me when he didn’t even know what was happening to me?”

The old man gave her a conciliatory smile. “He has been dealing with a number of serious matters as of late. You shouldn’t judge him too harshly.” When Fay’s expression remained stern, he sighed. “In either event, please allow me to lead you to Lord Valstine. He is eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

The man opened the door and revealed a wide, spacious entrance hall. I glanced around as we walked into the marble hallway. There weren’t any decorations like I had expected. The old man led us to a staircase that split in two directions. However, we did not take the staircase. Instead, he entered a side door that led into a wide hallway.

“Lord Valstine is currently in his private study,” the old man told me. “By the way, my name is Bertrand. I am a branch member of the Valstine Family.”

I nodded. “Where is everyone else? This place seems a little empty.”

“Most of our members are currently trying to keep the family afloat,” Bertrand admitted. “With the Auction House unable to auction items due to a distinct lack of valuable materials to auction, our family has been forced to take a more active role in the market. Except for the elderly and the young ones, everyone else is working.”

That explained it. I stopped talking after hearing that and focused on following Bertrand as he took several turns, walked past a number of doors, and eventually ended his brisk walk at one door in particular. Fay and I stood behind the man as he knocked on the door once.

“Lord Valstine, it is Bertrand. I’ve come with Lady Fay and the young master Eryk, who you have promised to meet with today.”

“… Send them in,” a deep, baritone voice said from the other side.

Bertrand opened the door and gestured for me and Fay to proceed him. “Please enter.”

I stepped inside, Fay behind me, and glanced at the private study. It was a well-furnished room with several couches situated around a long table and a number of chairs. There was a bookshelf on one side. Several strategically placed lightning monster core lamps were hanging from the wall, illuminating the room.

Over to our immediate right was a desk. The lacquered finish told me it was an expensive piece of furniture. Currently, that desk had several books sitting on top of it. A man sat behind the desk. It looked like he had been studying something, but he looked up when Fay and I walked inside.

I wouldn’t say he was a big man, but he did have a broad chest and shoulders, thick arms, and an athletic build. Like Fay, he had red hair, though his seemed to contain more brown than red. He also had a full-beard. He was dressed in a dark robe that had fur lining the inside. At the moment, his massive hands were pressed against the desk, but I could see a sword within easy reaching distance of his left hand.

“So you are the boy who helped Fay,” the man said. Now that there wasn’t a door between us, his voice sounded like the rumbling of distant thunder. “I suppose I should thank you.”

“I don’t know why you would.” I squared my shoulders. “I didn’t help her for you. I helped her because I wanted to.”

“You’re awfully cheeky for a child.”

The man stood up more fully, allowing me to see that he actually was very large and imposing. I was rather tall for a 17 year-old. No one my age could match me in height. This man was at least a head and shoulders taller than I was.

“If you say you don’t need my thanks, then I won’t thank you,” the man said, his green eyes blazing.

“Father!” Fay snapped in shock.

“What?” Fay’s father shrugged. “If he doesn’t want my thanks, then I won’t thank him.” A cunning gleam entered his eyes as he stared at me. “Besides, you aren’t here to receive my thanks, are you?”

“No, I’m not,” I admitted.

“Fay told me you have some items you believe would help our Auction House come alive again.”

The man didn’t tell me to show him the items, but his meaning was clear enough.

I walked over to his desk, reached into the bag I was carrying, and began pulling items out one by one. As I did, he stared at the small bottles with the pills that I set on the desk, his eyes gleaming with unabashed interest. Seeing that I had his attention, I began explaining what each item was.

“This is Tender Healing Pill. It can heal minor and serious injuries, including broken bones and stab wounds. It has its limitations. However, if you do not have someone with a water or light element with you, this can act as a great substitute. The one beside it is the Spiritual Booster Pill, which temporarily increases a person’s Spiritual Power to twice the amount he or she normally has. That one is the Temporary Enhancement Pill, which enhances a person’s physical abilities for a limited period of time. The Clarity Pill next to it gives someone the ability to see Spiritual Power. Of course, like everything else, it can only do so for a brief period of time before the effects expire. The last two are the Endurance Pill and the Elemental Pill. The Endurance Pill will increase your endurance, while the Elemental Pill will give you the ability to temporarily resist every element regardless of whether it is a naturally occurring element or one created from a Spiritual Technique. This will, in effect, dampen the amount of damage done by elemental techniques from both Demon Beasts and Spiritualists.”

I observed Fay’s father as I spoke about each item and had the pleasure of watching his eyes widen the longer I talked. He was practically salivating by the time I was done.

“These pills of yours are indeed quite useful.” His eyes flickered to my face. “If what you say about them is true.”

“I made five of each pill,” I said, gesturing to the bottles. “You can have someone use one to verify whether it’s true or not.”

“I’ll definitely do that.” He studied the pills some more before looking at me again. As he stared at my face, he reached out with a massive hand and stroked his beard. “It’s not that I do not trust you. You did save my daughter from her affliction. However, it is important to verify whether these pills work or not myself before auctioning them off.”

“Of course.” I nodded. “Seeing is believing. It’s better to know that something you’re going to sell works by seeing it with your own eyes. It will also help you sell it because you’ll believe in what you are selling.”

“You’re a smart kid,” the man rumbled. I didn’t roll my eyes, but that was only because I was inside of my 17 year-old self’s body. It wasn’t like I could blame him for calling me a kid. “However, you should know that just these pills aren’t going to be enough to rake in the big crowds. We need to advertise something that will catch the attention of the noble families.”

A smile worked itself onto my face. “I know, which is why I also have this.” I pulled out a goatskin scroll and handed it to Fay’s father. “This is an A-rank Fire Technique. Five Finger Fire Whip. It creates a powerful whip of compressed fire that’s hot enough to melt through steel. A skilled Spiritualist can even change the density of the flame and the temperature so it doesn’t kill.”

As I explained the Spiritual Technique, the man read the Runes that I had transcribed into the goatskin scroll. There was a fire in his eyes. I could tell he wanted this technique, but I didn’t think he wanted it for his Auction House.

I glanced at Fay, who felt my gaze. She looked back at me as I gestured toward her father with a nod. Fay turned her gaze to her dad, looked at his face, and then covered her mouth as she tried to stifle her giggles. She wasn’t quite successful. Fortunately, her father didn’t appear to have heard her.

“An A-rank Spiritual Technique.” The man sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm down. He slowly rolled the goatskin scroll back up. “If this is a true A-rank technique, it will definitely attract the attention of the nobles. People will be clawing each other’s throats out to get their hands on this.”

“That was my hope,” I admitted.

“This will certainly help my family out a great deal.” Fay’s father admitted. There was a frown on his face as he stared at the scroll. “But this is only a temporary solution. This scroll might be able to attract a large crowd, but after that, we’ll be back where we started.”

“Which is why I was also hoping you’d enter a deal with the Alchemist Association after the successful auction,” I said.

“Oh?” The man raised an eyebrow.

Taking a deep breath, I kept myself from breaking out into a cold sweat and continued. “The reason I wanted you to auction these pills off is because that will help advertise their usefulness. Once people realize how useful these pills are, I plan on having the Alchemist Association release them into the market. However, if we want to keep up a steady supply, we’ll need to have groups constantly heading into the Demon Beast Mountain Range to gather ingredients, and we will also need someone who can help distribute and sell these products.”

“Which is where my family comes in.” Fay’s father nodded as he figured out where I was going with this. “You’d have us act as distributors and sell them. Boy, were you aware that our family owns several merchant stalls?”

I glanced at Fay, who gave me a shrug, and then looked at her father. “I did not. Fay didn’t mention that to me. I only know that you own the Auction House and are the patron for a few clothiers.”

“If all we had was the Auction House and those few clothing stores, our family would have lost its noble status a long time ago,” he said. “Aside from having a group of Spiritualists who travel into the Demon Beast Mountain Range to gather monster cores and ingredients, we also have a group dedicated to selling various products. That said, most of what we sell is barely enough to keep us afloat.”

“In that case, I think there is plenty of room for all of us to help each other out,” I said. “You’ll want to get in touch with Feinrea Kuunis of the Alchemist Association to work out the details of the selling aspect. She’ll be the one in charge of creating the pills once I’m satisfied that she and her people can create them to my standards.”

“It certainly seems that we can indeed help each other out. Should these pills do as you’ve told me, I’ll be sure to get in contact with this Feinrea woman you’ve spoken of.” Fay’s father nodded before finally stretching out his hand. “My name is Stelys Valstine. It will be a pleasure working with you.”

“Eryk Veiger. The pleasure is all mine.” I shook the man’s hand and noticed how truly massive his hands were. His hand completely engulfed mine as we shook.

“Before you go, I have a question for you,” Stelys said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“What do you think of my daughter? She’s pretty cute, right?”

“Father!” Fay shouted with a face that looked ready to explode.

***

After speaking with Stelys Valstine, me and Fay found ourselves back in front of the gate. The young guard who’d let us in was still there. He glanced at Fay when she appeared, but then he looked away as though afraid he’d be discovered if he kept looking. He still occasionally peeked at her, though.

“I’m sorry about my father,” Fay said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Shaking my head, I offered her a conciliatory smile. “I think he’s just being a parent… I think.” I didn’t have parents, so I wouldn’t actually know. Shaking my head to dispel that thought, I looked back at the mansion. “That said, I thought you were currently being married off as Grant Leucht’s Second Wife.”

“I already told you: Nothing is set in stone yet.” Fay crossed her arms and huffed. “The Leucht Family is currently trying to pressure my father into marrying me off. He’s doing what he can to stall them from pushing the issue, but they’re making it very difficult for him. I’ve heard from one of the elders that the Leucht Family has hired some thugs to harass our stalls. We’ve been forced to divert our Spiritualists to the stalls to protect them. However, this means they aren’t going into the Demon Beast Mountain Range.”

“I can see how that would be a problem,” I said.

“It’s more than just a problem.” Fay frowned at me. “Because of how powerful the Leucht Family is, we don’t dare slight them despite being harrassed. What’s more, we can’t actually prove they’re the ones sending those thugs to harass us.”

I cupped a hand to my chin and thought about what she was saying. It sounded to me like the Leucht Family was secretly hiring people to harass the Valstine Family’s stalls, and then coming up to offer their “protection” in exchange for agreeing to marry Fay off as Grant Leucht’s Second Wife.

“Has Grant Leucht talked to you at all?” I asked. “I think he is in your class, right?”

“Not yet.” Fay shook her head. “He’s looked at me a few times, but we haven’t spoken. I think he’s focusing most of his attention on Princess Kari. There’s been a rumor that the Leucht Family is trying to arrange a marriage between them as well.”

“Which explains why they want you as his Second Wife.”

“Exactly.”

I rubbed my jaw and frowned. This situation was different from what I remembered, but I also didn’t meet Fay in my previous life. For all I know, she died of Spiritual Poisoning, which had caused the marriage between her and Grant Leucht to fall through.

I said my goodbyes to Fay and left, though I headed toward the Alchemist Association instead of my residence. I needed to inform Feinrea about my meeting with Stelys Valstine. There was also the fact that I needed to teach her how to create the Elemental Pill.

As I walked, I thought about Fay's and Kari’s situation. The Leucht Family was trying to force Fay into marrying their heir as his Second Wife, and they were apparently negotiating with the Astralia Royal Family to try and convince them to have Kari wed that same heir as his First Wife. I wasn’t sure what they were planning. It didn’t seem like a political maneuver. Having Fay as a Second Wife wouldn’t grant them anymore political power than they already had, nor could they offer anything of monetary value, especially since the Auction House was currently not performing well. It seemed almost like the Leucht Family was indulging in their heir’s lecherous desire to have a beautiful woman on each arm.

Fay and Kari. Both of them were gorgeous in their own right. Kari was a classic beauty with an elegant demeanor and fair features that put the princesses spoken of in tales of yore to shame, while Fay was a firebrand who I would have best described as seductive. Both of them had their good points. I could honestly see why someone would want them.

That said, forcing them into this sort of arrangement was cruel, and I wouldn’t stand for it. Kari was the woman I loved. While I had only met Fay a little over one month ago, I was quickly growing to respect and admire her. There was no way I’d let either of them be forced into something they didn’t want.

I had no idea why or how I had been sent back into the past. However, I was here, now, and that meant I had a chance to make things right, so that was exactly what I was going to do.