Chapter 169: Another +1
🕑 Added 2024-07-16 05:19:07 +0000 UTCAuthor's Note: I had quite a sarcastic day. So, dry humor ahead.
...
Place: Kratikal, Military outpost (Leonandra)
Time: Sometime after Lorient left
Kratikal was a fascinating ecosystem of wonders, like the mystical fairy forests of the nature-dwellers, but not in a good way. The otherworldliness one experienced when stepping onto the brownish-red ground was indeed Outer Circle—a perfect depiction for many religions of where one would go when dying as a sinful person.
As such, the place could perfectly depict death, despair, and hopelessness. Even excluding all the horrific demonic monsters, nature itself tried to kill one with, for example, the temperature rising to 55°C (131°F) during the days and falling to -30°C (-22°F) at night. Other than that, there were also poisonous plants, which sometimes exploded if touched or air one could barely breathe—a genuine wonderland.
Because of that unique ecological mood, the monsters would try their best to survive and multiply or simply flee, which nobody could blame them for. However, the latter didn't only happen in singular cases and would spread to groups for numerous fascinating reasons, but were also equally stopped by sapients— a demon run.
Those sapients were usually military, and when coming to the border, they prayed that such an occasion would not occur when they serviced since it was indeed somewhat dangerous.
However, even those had exceptions, and one of those was a girl walking around in the encampment. She had everything one needed regarding equipment and preparations: a tailored leather and linen combination, incorporated with demonium using a highly volatile tailoring method by spider-kin tailors with a highly specialized [Divinity Line]. Sometimes, it also looked quite nice but wouldn't fit the dystopian flair in the area. Still, what do when one's energy would leave one also naked? It was indeed a fashionista's nightmare.
Lorient was initially excited, wanting to fight and prove herself, but it all would be for naught. Not because she immediately got injured or worse, but because nothing happened for weeks after arriving. All she had now was terrible food and drug-infused parties. Maybe the latter made it somewhat bearable, but she finally cracked when she came out of a night shift, killing only some stray Tier 1 wild demon imp, her tenth kill after weeks.
As such, she was in a massive tent before her naked Father, which was quite a regular occurrence, screaming at him, not able to endure the boringness of being a soldier.
"I can't anymore! Why is there no demon run?!" She squinted at him, thinking it was all his doing, "It was you, right? Did you bring me on purpose to the least active region?!"
Her Father sighed while putting on a new pair of cheap linen clothes. These clothes would be either way ripped apart the second he turned into a large animal. As such, he looked like some commoner most of the time or was just naked. For some, it was an enviable lifestyle.
"Lori, it is the most volatile region, with Tier 4s appearing here regularly. Why do you think I brought you with me? Just so you can annoy me? However, for some reason— " He patted through his designer stubble, thinking aloud, "—I think the demon run is over. Even the Oracle said they can't see any dangers ahead anymore."
Lorient, though, had a brief existential crisis, becoming overwhelmingly emotional since all she wanted were hordes of wild demonic beings trying to uproot their territory and feast on the souls of the living. Wild and crazed for flesh while she could protect all of those orphanages. In her opinion, it wasn't too much of an ask.
'It's... over?!—' She fletched her fangs, becoming irate, "—No! I am free after years of detention and have only fought some weaklings! I want to stay and fight! Before that, I will not go home! Never!"
The trigger for her early departure was a sense that her growth was stagnating. The mental fortitude she developed matured to a point where even Alexander's most horrific memories, which she felt through Sarah's skill, could be endured by her for minutes—a remarkable resilience. While she could become a little wild, she was still herself and not the rage-filled monster she once became.
As such, she wanted to work on herself, able to be of some use to her family, 'I can't believe I trained so hard for this... fuck!'
She expected epic battles and adventures to expedite her growth but only got a taste of them. When arriving here, she killed multiple Tier 2 demons, just some strays, and absorbed their energy. It was like a drug, making her addicted to the sensation she felt afterward.
While she could resist not going crazy when her innermost emotions wanted to break out and greed for whatever she desired screamed for liberation, the increase in strength and energy was remarkable—a tripling of her energy and growth of density by 20%. After those short weeks, she knew what Alexander felt when he became stronger by the day—ecstasy.
"Fine, do you want to become a wanderer?"
Her Father's solemn voice brought her out of her dooming thoughts, trying to find a solution. However, she had no idea what he meant, tilting her head in confusion and twitching her ears slightly.
"What's that?"
"You become a lone mercenary or adventurer, wandering through the lands and doing whatever is necessary to survive—" His smile widened, "—it was quite the experience in my younger days."
Lorient remembered all those stories of her Father trying to survive without becoming a member of the Temple. From adventurer to mercenary, he did every odd job one could think of and ultimately was taken by her Mother after a successful campaign.
However, she never fancied such romantic ideas of wandering alone for a decade or more through the lands, "It sounds more like you were vagrant."
After a moment of silence, when looking at her surprised, her Father laughed out loud, "Guhahaha! Calling your old man a vagrant? How brave, but it will be a great experience for you—" He opened his old spatial pouch, cramming inside and only finding it after a moment, pullíng out some rusty dog tags and giving them to Lorient, "—if you decide to not only stay in Kratikal but want to venture into the world, take this."
Holding the almost ancient-looking dog tags, she was severely confused, "This is...?"
"They are dog tags. One is issued by the mercenary union and the other by the adventurer guild—" When looking at them, her Father smiled slightly, nostalgic, "—the moment they find out that you are my daughter, they will treat you well everywhere, even in the Holy Graveyard."
Not knowing too much outside their fief, Lorient raised an eyebrow, "Holy Graveyard? Sounds ominous, and the word holy means nothing good."
There was a consensus in their society that anything holy was despicable and to be hated and avoided. The Church of the First Servants always mentioned it was their holy duty to enslave the beast-kin since they were unholy. While she understood the meaning rationally, something unholy became good, and holy meant bad for most beast-kin.
His smile ceased, and he looked at her sternly, "It's how it is translated into our language, but they call it something like New Hokkaido or something. It's a city inside the human territory, mostly free from slavery, so if you go there, don't act incredulous. For once, they have a peace treaty with the Count."
"Moorgrel? Not with Mal-Gil?"
He patted her head, "Don't overthink such stuff. It's much more complicated because of our ancestors, Merlin, and whatever one of those heroes did after the first one died. So, just have fun and be careful if you decide to go."
Lorient fiddled with the dog tags, now becoming more excited at the prospect of wandering the world. She usually liked to enjoy nature for some weeks and return to a soft bed, but if wandering also meant going from city to city, she was okay with it.
'Need to ask Alex for a lot of coin, though.'
After deciding to fleece her brother, she already started to form a plan. At first, she would want to increase her strength and then leave when reaching Tier 3, when a mercenary was somewhat respected.
She didn't know where she would go, but it didn't matter for now. In the following years, she would wander around Kratikal. However, she suddenly remembered something or rather someone, "But... what about Mom?"
He shrugged, looking clueless. "What about her? You are not a pup anymore and can decide for yourself—" He nodded toward the tent exit, "—just take care of your retainers or take them with you. You are responsible for them; don't forget it."
Lorient nodded. She would send Larry back to the estate so he could train more productively and later meet with him when she was done training. When would it be? She didn't know, but one thing was sure: she could let Larry stay with her siblings, be taken care of for the time being, and think of the fun adventurers they could have in the future.
Lorient clenched the dog tags firmly, her voice silent but filled with excitement, "Thanks... I will."
...
Back to the present
After months of wandering Kratikal and significantly increasing her strength, she noticed a new smell lingering in the air, far from the sulfuric and ammoniac one surrounding her for the last months. It became somewhat disturbing not to wake up, thinking someone had thrown her into a waste pit.
As Lorient followed it curiously, the scent became increasingly familiar, only to find Alexander's retainers with the folks of the refugee camp, with whom she knew she wasn't allowed to interact. Even if they attacked a carriage, she should give them part of it to avoid any more complicated issues.
'He isn't... right?'
It was clear that her brother would dabble in politics and governance far earlier than usual, but until now, he had only done some commerce and charity. Regardless, this was different from what she expected to see.
'No, he would definitely do it.'
After remembering his statements and ideals, Lorient immediately decided otherwise. Alexander would immediately help them, but before she would do anything, she wanted to see what was going on exactly.
"So? This silence is rather ominous, isn't it?"
After the initial surprise and visible nervousness, the little group bowed down, almost forgetting their manners. Aurum was the first one to come immediately forward, smiling and opening his arms, looking as if he wanted to sell Lorient a cheap vermin-infested house in the Northern district.
"It's an honor to see you doing fine in your endeavor to accumulate military experience, Ms. Lorient."
Lorient ignored him, knowing that he would do no good when talking. He was too much of a silver tongue, which meant much concentration was needed to decipher his uselessly flowery words.
'Too jittery.'
Her tail was swinging, and her eyes twitched. She took a lot of energy from the Unique, which meant she was full, like after drinking too much refreshment tea, with her wanting to have another fight. She tried to avoid any possible annoyances until the energy settled down in her core and veins.
'She, however, will tell me honestly.'
Because of those circumstances, she decided to use someone much more direct. She walked past Aurum toward Ocilia, Alexander's disciple who became like her Master, a brutally honest asshole, with only having the minimum of decorum toward others—the perfect person to get the genuine truth out.
"So, how about you tell me the truth before Salyna 2.0 will try and lie to me with some bullshit so I go away."
Standing before Ocilia, who looked drained and battered, with some divine nature energy around her as she was healing herself with a talisman, Lorient forgot that the disciple was fiercely loyal.
"Oh? Ms. Lorient, how nice to see you. Thanks for the help since—" She looked around and back at her, obviously trying to lie through her teeth, "—you know, help us acquire demon meat for Master."
While something in her wanted to smash Ocilia's face, Lorient was now a wanderer. According to the rules, her Father told her she shouldn't get involved in politics; she should just collect experience by talking with as many people as possible and try to visit a lot of different places.
"I am for now Lorient, a wanderer. Your secret, whatever you are doing, is safe with me."
Ocilia raised an eyebrow, confused, "You became a wandering hobo? By yourself or..."
Lorient chuckled, shaking her head, "Obviously by myself, but that's unimportant. I need you to tell me why my little brother is breaking the Count's treaty and if I should teach him a lesson or help you."
Seeing Ocilia's upper spider eyes lit up into a stark red, it was clear that the little spider girl had become too loyal to Alexander. She did not care about anything, ready to probably even rip her Mother apart should it come down to it. However, Lorient only smirked at her, being happy for her brother.
"Think before doing something foolish. I came over and wanted to talk, but I could've as easily ignored you, killed the refugees, and went home to fuck Alex over. What do you think is my intention, you single-minded insect, or have your Master's experiment fried your brain?"
However, while Lorient liked Ocilia, she wanted to be respected. She expected a minimum of decorum from commoners, and such a threatening gesture was unacceptable.
Lorient's aura exploded, pushing against Ocilia, who took it without retaliating, 'I have no idea how I will talk to commoners casually, but this is for future Lori to figure out.'
Even though Lorient implicitly said it was unnecessary, she still didn't acclimate to it and did not care about her being slightly hypocritical for now. However, seeing how ostentatiously stubborn Ocilia was, it was apparent that even beating her half to death wouldn't work.
"You are really loyal. So I guess I need to do a little more—" Lorient sighed, putting her hand toward her heart while dispersing the aura, "—I swear by my second name that I will not reveal that you were here—" She looked around, smirking, "—I mean, even without you saying anything, it's not a stretch that Mom would break all your bones once she found out."
Ocilia straightened up, her bones cracking, probably getting slowly regenerated, and glared at Lorient for some time. Everybody around them became nervous, but they didn't dare to do something provocative like preparing to draw a weapon.
'The vow should be enough, though.'
Usually, swearing on the second name was the strongest vow a Moorgrelian noble could make. Looking at Ocilia's upper spider eyes turning into the usual purplish, she also knew this, becoming slowly more relaxed.
She ceased her frown and sighed, "Fine..."
Like that, she started recounting the whole story honestly. At first, Lorient thought it wasn't much. Still, after multiple escalations, it became a highly complicated plot involving the refugees, a dungeon, multiple non-Moorgrelian parties, and highly illegal weapons.
'What the fuck happened since I was gone?!'
Listening to what her brother did made her feel like a vagabond doing nothing. Even Narsiz and Sarah were involved, with only Janina and her left out.
'They don't seem perturbed, though?'
When Ocilia started to blatantly tell how Alexander wanted to use the refugees as a proxy army to raid the territory of the Essence Alliance, Lorient thought that the ones staying beside them would become irate, but it was the opposite; they became joyful, almost proud.
'That's... whatever.'
Lorient wasn't knowledgeable about the camp's situation and thought they all died out until she was reminded at the military encampment to follow certain rules when encountering them, which boiled down to that she should ignore them.
However, after Ocilia finished, Lorient thought about it for some minutes and remembered what Alexander had done for her. Usually, she would like to prevent any further doing, thinking it was for her brother's well-being, but decided otherwise.
All of this had Alexander's scent all over it. It was something she liked to call pragmatic idealism, a method in which he would try to help others while benefitting himself as much as possible. Somewhat hypocritical, in her opinion, but better than just being greedy.
"Great, I am in and will follow you and—" She waved at the night elf and scavenger, "—get to know those guys."
While she didn't want to endanger her brother, she decided also to help. There was no point in breaking apart such a complicated operation, especially when she trusted her brother.
Aurum was the first to blurt out his surprise, "Lori, you can't be serious?! Weren't you always one for that horseshit of honor, rules, etc.?!"
Lorient somewhat agreed, not liking that everyone saw her like this. While she had moments and didn't care for her conduct, she never broke any rules besides those exceptions. She always listened and did what she was told, even if she tried to argue against it.
She turned to Aurum, smirking, "Wow, calling me like that again. When was the last time? However, Alex never did something to damage the family or household and has a heart out of gold. Obviously, I will have some stern words for him, but—" She sighed, letting her shoulders slump, "—I will wait for my judgment first after listening to those guys."
While something inside her wanted to stop this, she wouldn't. Being with her Father for so long helped her understand herself better. He taught her to follow her sense of right and wrong and not overthink things like her Mother did. Ultimately, the only person judging her when lying alone at night would be herself.
Before anyone could ask anything further, she was already walking to the scavenger, "Hm, tell me, is this skin color normal for you guys or something only those in Kratikal have?"
...
Hours later, at the camp
'Alex made the right decision, this is some holy shit."
