Chapter 5 - Section 3 - Life In The City
The following morning I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on my bedroom suite door after crawling out of bed and stumbling my way over to the door I opened it a crack to see Alfred the head butler standing there.
"Good Morning Young Master sorry for waking you but the family has asked that you join them for breakfast"
"Mhm… alright then"
Closing the door again then pulling up my Menu I initiated what I call a quick dressing since I could place or remove my equipment from the menu, so I stored away my suit which I'd fallen asleep in, along with my overcoat which was on the floor, and then equipped some of the modern general clothes that I had created.
Tailoring was a great skill but it had its drawbacks, while I could use the system to mass produce cloth armor and other things found in the menu, if I wanted something special or unique I'd have to do it by hand, that being said my sewing skills were masterful it just took a lot longer since I'd have to measure, cut, place, and then stitch everything but thanks to my self induced house arrest I had created a complete modern wardrobe for myself out various fabrics and the work was not that of an amateur utilizing skills that should've taken years to attain.
'swoosh'
In a flash my clothes were changed and I was ready to set out, leaving my room behind I strode down the hallways in a pair of Olive green pants with something equivalent to a black golf polo, and my own custom made house shoes, a pair of fur lined leather loafers.
After a quick journey through the mansion I'd made my way to the dining room where a massive table that could easily seat 30 people resided though at the moment only 3 actually were seated, lining the walls were a half dozen servants each wielding a tray with various things on them.
"Good Morning"
"Oh Good Morning Satou"
"Good Morning"
After the introductions ended I took a seat at the table next to Raisa mostly because she patted the seat next to her, I mean my only real choices would be to sit next to her or be anti-social and sit away from everyone, since choosing to sit next to someone's wife/mom while they are also at the table is a little awkward.
As soon as I'd sat a flurry of activity proceeded, servant after servant came one after the other placing cutlery, napkins, plates, glasses with water and juice, and then lastly someone who looked like a chef brought a fresh steaming plate out from the kitchen and set it down in front of me.
Not really sure exactly what it is I'm expected to eat but I'll just imagine it's some sort of omlette and grits/broken pancakes.
The food I've found in this world sadly is sorely lacking not that one really could expect too much I suppose from a medieval style world but their only common spices seem to be salt and occasionally pepper, but even they are too expensive for the masses, and beyond that protein seems to be pretty rare but at the same time it's development is lacking with only 2-3 methods of how to prepare it being found (grilling, boiling, and for commoners mincing).
But not one to complain about free food I dove into my plate and ate the meal provided, as soon as I finished the Lord raised a question I'm sure he wanted to ask last night.
"Sir Satou mind if I ask what happens now?"
"Well Milord, I'm not sure just how much you know already but, the just of it is that for now the Count should think I've left the city so for the time being I plan to disguise myself to look like someone else"
Nodding his head in agreement, obviously thinking the same technique from yesterday being employed.
"And living life normally in the city for a bit longer until I resume my journey since I'm an adventurer I'd like to… well adventure as it were, but to keep suspicions low I will be moving out today and finding my own accommodations"
"WHAT!"
Apparently this line of thinking hadn't occurred to Raisa.
"Come on darling after all the work he's gone to too hide himself, if someone saw another stranger coming and going from the mansion or hanging around you that nobody else had seen before people would connect the dots and all eyes would return to being on him again"
"It would only be for a day or two that you wouldn't be able to see each other anyway since you could just plan to bump into each other in town and act like you'd met while you were traveling to cover up and suspicions"
"hmm well I mean I guess we could do that, but what about our deal?"
"Huh well I hoped that with the pile of goods I already handed over you'd be more than set for at least a little while?"
"Bwahaha such a greedy child I raised, do not pay her any heed young sir, the goods you've provided should stock the shelves for months to come, I don't know why she would want to force your hand to fill our entire warehouse all at once"
"heh heh oh I see"
"So since you'll be a 'normal' person in town is there anything your looking forward to doing now that you're free once again?"
"Ah well I am hoping to get a chance to practice my cooking skills, and if possible work on my blacksmithing as well"
"Oh aren't you just a jack of all crafts, my daughter seems to have found herself a golden gortek (goose)"
"Well I don't know much about cooking myself sadly but I'm sure you can find a part-time job easily in town as chef or helper, as for blacksmiths I know one I use one for business myself I could write a letter of introduction for you and get him to let you use his workshop?"
"That would be much appreciated sir"
The talks ended not that much later with not a whole lot more said, the entire time Raisa was staring down at her empty plate not saying another word.
After which I returned to my room for a little bit to make sure everything I needed was safely tucked away in my inventory, just as I was about to set about with my transformation there was a small knock on the door which opened right after without me acknowledging it.
In walked Raisa.
"You are about to leave right?"
"Yes I was actually about to change"
"Oh sorry for intruding"
"Huh oh no haha not that kind of change"
"Wha oh that way I see"
I pulled the appearance change item from my inventory rolling it around in the palm of my hand.
"Oh yeah I guess I should say this now since I'm about to not be me but just to let you know but the Komtesse is going to drop by in the next couple of days looking for me, when she does can you bring her to see me discreetly of course?"
"Bwa um but why is she going to come looking for you?"
"Well to be honest she helped me to escape yesterday but it was part of a deal and I need to hold up my end of it."
"Oh I see so what did she ask in return?"
"Well she asked me to use this item on her…"
"…"
Silence fell and I just let it sink in till she was ready to respond.
"The Komtesse… I mean I totally get it from what you've told me I just also can't believe it, but what happens after she's well changed?"
"Hm well I don't exactly have a plan per say but at the very least she'd need to leave the city otherwise there would always be the chance she'd try to return or be found out since it's hard to pretend you don't know someone or change your manner of speaking."
"Yes, so earlier when you said you were going to adventure you meant you were going to take her with you?"
"Yes at least until we reach another village or town she wants to stay at, but I'm also pretty sure that won't happen for a while since she's going to need to be taught some life skills in order to survive since I'm pretty sure nobles don't get training that useful to the rest of us regarding day to day life"
"Yeah…"
"Ok well that's the last I had to tell you, so if you'll excuse me I'll introduce you to Cyrus in a moment"
Crushing the small orb in my hand I could feel the features of my face change along with my body, changing from my normal physique to become burlier, while on my face I grew a short trimmed full beard, staring from the outside I'm sure I now looked like a mountain man, my hair changed color from black to dark brown, but I left my eye color black.
When the change finally subsided I stood there checking out my new hands before raising one in a quick wave to Raisa.
"Hey there young lady names Cyrus"
A deep gruff voice boomed out from my lips.
"Ugh really I know it's a disguise and all but seriously? You were all ugh and now your uugh"
"Um well thanks I guess, and at the same time really?"
"Well at least you're not staying like that for too long right?"
"That depends on how thing here go really, now I'd best head out from the business side or even the garage pretending to be a tradesman so I'll shoot you a message once I know where I'll be staying"
"Just how will you do that?"
"Summon: Avian"
A small magic circle formed and a bird that could sit in the palm of my hand appeared.
"This little guy will be able to carry a small scroll so if you see him just grab the scroll from his leg once you do he'll return to me"
With that the final moments with Raisa ended as I headed out of the room and then down into the common quarters before exiting faking a goodbye business conversation with the servant who accompanied me before setting off down the street.
'Phew'
[This'll mark the first time I've been alone since I came to this world, everywhere I went there was always someone or something that was along for the ride]
[[I think you've gone and forgotten about me Master]]
[Wha huh oh Shenron, right err sorry about that, I guess I'm just used to having visible companions rather than jewelry]
[[That's understandable but I did do some experimenting while you slept and even if I cast an illusion on myself at my current level I'm unable to create a genuine humanoid shape, but I should be able to manage a simple beast form but given the form you've chosen to hide as having a small pet around wouldn't match the image]]
[Well I mean if you can manage a salamander that could work, since I'm going for a sort of blacksmith vibe after all]
[[Huh why a tiny lizard?]]
[No no no, not an earth Salamander, I mean those fire breathing about oh yaay big ones]
[[Hmm I can't say for certain but once we find a home I can attempt it]]
The pair of us carried on walking down the street headed off for the main street of the city, everywhere I went people moved aside, I don't really blame them I probably look like a pro wrestler right now since my clothes are pretty tight on my body since it grew but it was not enough to worry about them tearing or anything but it just really shows the shape I'm in right now.
I'll fix that as soon as I have my own place in which to alter them, but for now I headed myself into the cities merchant guild, which was located on the opposite corner from the adventurers guild but where the adventurers guild building looked like a three story wooden tavern but conversely the Merchants guild looked more like a great bank built of off-white stone.
Walking through the main doors and entering into the nearest queue to one of the reception desks after only a short wait I reached the front desk.
"Welcome how can we help you today!"
A cheerful voice rang out as I approached.
"Hrm yes I'm looking to find a house to rent, I was told the guild could help me with that, actually if possible to rent a workshop with live in accommodation that would better"
"Oh I see, do you have a budget so I can narrow down the options for you?"
"I don't really have a financial budget but, if possible I'd like to have something with a forge, and that can be rented for a week or two nothing really long term"
"Ok one moment please"
The clerk left the window and disappeared into a room in the back after a couple of minutes she returned carrying a small book.
"We only have one location that meets your criteria, it's a 2LDK (Living room Dining Room, Kitchen) with a forge and small garden, rental of the property is minimum of 10 days, price is 5 white gold coins"
"Sounds perfect to me, I'll take it"
Taking the money out of my coin purse and placing it on the counter before the clerk who was a bit shocked either cause I actually had that money looking as I did, or perhaps because I'd thrown down the money without even bothering the check the place out, either way didn't really matter to me.
In the end she collected the coins from the counter retrieved a form for me to fill out, before handing over an iron key, and another slip of paper which contained the address of my new temp property.
Since I had no further business today I headed out from the guild and started navigating my way through the city to my new home.
As expected the location was a bit out of the way and located near the wall since anyone with a choice wouldn't live near a workshop that would be hammering metal unless they either were of the same profession or figured they could live with the repetitive noise.
Using the key to enter, the place was rather simple with the barest of furniture within, no ceramics or cutlery but at least a pair of stoves (one powered by magic stones, the other wood burning) same could be said for the forge which was stripped except for the Forge, and Anvil, the forge itself looked pretty foreign to me since I've never been around one before in my life, so short of lighting a fire within I don't know what to do so it's best to go to the workshop recommended by Mr. Salide to get a tutorial first before attempting anything myself, since I've got most of the day today however I should go out shopping and acquire the kitchen implements and I could also get the basic hammers tongs, and tools for the workshop as well.
Before setting out into the city once again I performed my fowl summoning and sent the slip I was provided by the guild off into the air headed off for Salide Manor.
The rest of the day was spent traveling from shop to shop purchasing plates, bowls, cutlery and other cooking tools; from the general stores I picked up a selection of hammers, tongs, charcoal and buckets, and last but certainly not least important was the wholesale purchasing of fruits, vegetables, and meats of all types.
After an exhausting day of buying more than I ever had bought before back on earth thanks to my ample supply of funds all thanks to the power of my skill I finally returned home just as the suns were about to finish dipping behind the city walls.
Ah home sweet home, walking into my humble abode, first things first I pulled out some simple items from my inventory and set about dusting and cleaning the kitchen top to bottom.
Once that had finally finished prep work started on my first otherworldly cooking, at first I pulled open the menu hoping to use the system to create some meals but the system only recognized a handful of the food items I had purchased so for the time being my choice of meals is either what I can manage to make with a mixture of purchased items from this world and others obtained from my ingame store.
For this first meal I fired up the magic stone stove since becoming a conjurer magic items I just touch become powered on, I should look into how to properly control my mana since accidentally firing up a potentially dangerous item could be fatal, and the one good thing to come out of my 'arrest' was the sensation of feeling my own mana when it was released and allowed to flow within me once again.
Dropping some monster fat into a pan and letting it sizzle, until placing a sizeable pair of simply seasoned wolf skirt steaks, good steak basics to only use Salt and pepper can't go wrong even in another world except I was using the much higher quality versions which were pure from Yggdrasill.
As an accompanying side I threw together a simple crock dish of lemon pepper potatoes and placed it into the oven compartment.
Since their tech level is considerably lower than earths I had to keep my eyes on both dishes all the time since there was only two states for this stove On/Off with no temperature adjustment possible.
After our dinner, Shenron detached from me and settled down comfortably for the night meanwhile I continued working into the night cleaning, but thankfully not alone since I had access to my summons, they weren't fantastic but five mini birds could do some basic dusting sped things up, the sixth escaped this duty by fulfilling its own job of remaining at the Salide manor to allow for communication between us.
After which I settled down and did some mending on a week's worth of my clothes to better fit my new size and stature.
And at last my 'newest' life began
_________________________
Two weeks have passed since then and the friendly neighborhood blacksmith who'll fix anything just for the opportunity to practice was a staple in the city now, Iliana visited the Salide manor three days after my departure concealing her identity.
I was informed immediately whereupon I sent out Shenron still in his miniature form to go cast an illusion and guide the young miss to our humble abode.
Raisa followed dropping by shortly after, creating an excuse to drop by with a haul of iron work under the cover of it all needing repairs.
Right after this the Komtesse's appearance and name were changed with a pair of orbs I provided as per my side of the deal.
Iliana at that moment became Primrose, her last name was erased after which she elected to live at my rented home until she could accompany me on my journey to another city agreeing with both Raisa and I that staying in the city for too long would be beyond dangerous.
In those weeks life returned to relative normalcy waking whenever I wanted, practicing cooking and experimenting with all the new foods and ingredients I'd never seen before all the while raising my cooking skill level, in the afternoons working in the workshop my blacksmithing skill was just as limited as my other skills, since I earned the skill just by smelting a handful of iron ore, completely unskilled more than half the iron turned to slag and I only managed to create a single iron ingot by pouring the molten iron into a sand mold I had created.
After which point I was able to use the system to process Iron, and Copper into ingots, but the other metals never had the option, and each time I attempted to smelt them they completely turned to slag.
Untold numbers of rare metals were lost during my experimentation.
Even restricted as I was, I still managed to create all manner of goods and equipment from the large stores of copper and iron I'd acquired from the dungeon, and gained hands on skill by performing repairs on pre-existing goods brought to me by the neighbors and later on other people of the city seeking cheap repairs.
That first visit to the recommended workshop was an eye opener, I went in for a tutorial to see what all the various process's of a professional workshop were like but instead wound up becoming something of a whiz kid, the shop foreman showed me a bit of everything and then set me loose in the shop to try and do what he'd shown, only to see that I could smelt multiple ingots out of ore that he and his crew could only create a single, and of course the creation of items a beginner should not have managed especially not in so little time.
I wasn't even doing it on purpose the system assist just made everything flow when I had a piece of hot iron sitting on an anvil and a picture in my head of what I wanted to make, the system assisted me in exactly where to hit the metal, how hard, the rhythm and when to reapply heat, and lastly how to harden the blade.
This last step drew much attention from my surroundings as I quenched the blade and pulled on a file from my coverall pocket running it along the blade to test its hardness.
Finishing the process by shaving it all down sharpening the blade on a grindstone.
Once the sword was completed I setup a simple test to check the sword out so I swing it into a log of wood which split easily, but that wasn't the thing that surprised the shop most what did was how the log was split, rather than chopping from the top running with the grain I sliced across and the blade met with little to no resistance.
All the smiths present were flabbergasted as to why the blade was so sharp but at the same time remarking on how it was possible the blade did not shatter on impact.
But after that first day I never returned since staying there would only generate a new wave of rumors so I practiced at home instead, and offered free repairs to the neighbors at first only releasing a friendly simple rumor about myself so as to not being too popular, but still from that workshop rumors of a master smith being present in the city started to spread.
Primrose meanwhile was slowly adapting to her new life, at first she was irritated by just about everything since she now had to fend almost completely for herself, that first day after she awoke I thought she was depressed or sick but it turned out she just sat there in bed waiting for someone to come in and dress her, but in the end hunger won out and she did it herself before laying into me at lunch as to why these things hadn't been done.
This sparked an educational reform where a series of books were provided by me to showcase how common life was lived, and just what exactly she had gotten herself into.
After a week she'd started to accept the situation and even offered to lend a handing during meal prep, but I think it was more interest in the various meals I kept making and experiments since she still didn't know about my true skill the spices and foods I concocted were as she declared better than anything her Family chef had ever made.
Anything beyond cooking sadly fell short of the mark as she showed little interest in tailoring, or blacksmithing, at there was minimal good news with regards to self defense training, as she started practicing with a wooden sword I carved, along with a shield which I was surprised to find fell into the category of my blacksmithing skill which increased the overall quality of the finished product.
At first she stressed that a lady doesn't fight but instead is protected, Raisa changed that opinion though and she started to train moderately at first only when Raisa herself came to visit and provided the training later on she started taking my instruction daily, though if it was my choice I'd have opted to have her train with a bow just like Raisa, since my summons could take the vanguard position.
After less than two weeks of training Prim started pestering me to test her skills for real out in the field, since in the city the best mock battle she could have was either against me which she always lost, or against my rank F magic summons which were barely a real challenge even to her.
Due to her new bodies low tone, and musculature thanks to being a noble with the preconceptions that this is how a woman must look, and then trying to retain her figure during the transformation throwing her into a fight as a front-liner could be dangerous, but she wore me down and so I broke down and agreed.
I didn't just toss her in with the wolves instead I spent an entire day creating custom Hard Leather scale armor which would be counted as high grade light armor.
Combine the defense of two types of armor hard leather, and scalemail, so it had protection but also flexibility and limited weight when compared to metal.
A complete set of Gauntlets, Body Armor, Greaves, Pauldrons, and Helmet.
A high purity iron which by appearance looked close to steel.
A midsized sword between the length of a Long sword, and Shortsword, and then a kite shield made out of the same metal.
Lastly a pouch set containing a handful of various healing and status potions.
Once she was geared up I threw on gear of my own which I hadn't made myself but instead purchased from the game store, not my color of choice but trying to stand apart from who I was before I selected an Ambermist set, being a Conjurer the only armor type I can equip is cloth, so my apparel consisted of a cowl, amice, mantle, robe, corded belt, leggings, treads, cuffs and gloves.
The color scheme being predominantly blood red with Golden yellow accents and green emerald like gems every so often.
To round it off a moonbeam wand attached on my belt it was a 1 ½ foot long composite rod with a yellowish-orange gem mounted on one end, while my main equipped weapon was a 5ft tall gnarled black wood staff, it's name was appropriate
Lastly was the black long sword I'd found in the dungeon boss's treasure chest equipped to my other hip.
With our equipment chosen and path set we as a two man party set out from the main gate and walked as a pair of seasoned adventurers from the city towards the forest for Prim's first experience at real combat, under the guise of a blacksmith and his apprentice going towards the forest and mountains on an expedition to gather wood and ore.
_________________________
The combat in the forest was ended after only after an hour long excursion the suns had only passed high-noon in the sky, Prim had gotten to experience 3 bouts of combat first against forest rats, but the last fight was against a handful of goblins who must've survived by being absent from the settlement, I stood back as much as I could until I finally had to step in to allow her to experience true combat and the feel of the fight for the first time but most of the creatures in this forest came up on my heads up as being only Rank F at best.
Much of her ego and ambition withered with the first fight as she came to terms with having actually killed a living thing, but that escalated after killing her first humanoid so I decided to end it there for the day before adding to the trauma further.
Choosing to pick her up and carry her back piggyback so as to rest and come to terms with things in her own time.
Just over halfway back to the city while traveling along the grasslands I received a warning from Shenron who was separated from us flying incognito high in the sky up above to stay on guard as a possible fight was on its way.
Only a quarter hour later just when the city walls were coming into view, and coming over the last rise in the meadows a host of near a thousand soldier was positioned in line formation fully armed and armor blocking our advance towards the city.
Quickly I jostled my shoulder to wake Prim and drop her down to the ground.
"You BASTARD!"
A shrieking scream sounded out across the grass from a man in full plate armor that looked to be forged of pure gold riding atop a pure white horse.
"Daddy?"
A hushed whisper response came from behind me, I meanwhile offered neither side any response.
"Don't you deny it you vagrant, the city is aware of your wrongs! First the kidnapping of my beloved daughter!, and crimes against the state of freeing the treasonous heretic, only to be compounded by your funding and arming of the commoners in preparation for a rebellion!"
"Ugh Prim, I'm sorry about this but it looks like I'm going may have to hurt your father but I promise I will not kill him, afterwich we will need to leave this city"
"Ugh I know you told me things about him but to actually see him spouting all these lies like this it just shows me how much this man is no longer my father"
"SOLDIERS! Capture this traitor in the name of the King!"
'Fwoosh'
All in one grand motion the line of soldiers took stance with their weapons drawn. This is the entire elite guard of the Count supported and trained by the Count and his retainers to act as his own private army in time of war, and for personal security and defense.
[Hm 1001:2 seems like the odds are not in our favor huh?]
[[Well I'll make an appearance if needed but I think you should deal with this yourself for now]]
"Fine then just remember you all chose this course of action yourself, if you lower your weapons and return to the city you shall be spared!"
Letting my voice be carried by the wind towards the now hostile host .
A wave of chuckles resounded through the small army from those who could hear my voice carried by the wind.
[Well there's nothing for it then my only option is to attack with weapons, summons, or my magic but I'm limited to only shadow and fire magic… hmm oh! I know let's use that this would be a perfect time to experiment and it should also help keep casualties to a minimum]
[[Mmm yes Master, that should work nicely]]
[Maximize Magic: (Shadow Magic: Curse) Agony]
My outstretched arm wielding my staff pointing towards the charging army.
A massive purple magic circle formed in an instant under the army's feet before fading away as if the spell I tried to cast had failed.
"Bwahaha an immature caster like you cannot do anything with facing the might of thi… aaarrrggghhh!"
The Count doubled over clutching his stomach falling from the back of his horse to the ground, all around him the soldiers all doubled over as well, even the animals were collapsing and writhing around on the ground.
Cries and Shrieks of pain and terror erupted as the entire armed force was incapacitated in a matter of seconds.
"Wha, What did you do to then sir?"
"Hmm, oh just a mass area of affect curse magic called agony, it's a simple tier 1 shadow/dark magic spell that will cause intense abdominal pain as if someone has eaten rotten food, the pain is all relatively imaginary so there is no real harm once the effect has worn off."
"To be able to cast such a massive spell and incapacitate an entire army just who are you really mister?"
Choosing that now is not the time to reveal my secrets, I used my
[Shenron if you will]
[[My pleasure master]]
'Vwooop'
A golden shimmering barrier surrounded the three of us, soon after I cancelled my curse on the field the army was slow to recover and return to their feet, grabbing up all their fallen weapons and trying to come to terms with what had happened as no wounds presented but the memory of the pain still ever present.
Now kneeling on the ground before our feet the Count realized his own position, snarling and foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog he quickly jumped to his feet reaching for a knife on his belt lashing out in revenge for this humiliation.
'Smack'
Bringing my staff down in a simple swing against his oncoming arm.
'snap'
Upon contact a cracking sound was heard and the dagger quickly dropped imbedding into the grassy field, his hand now loosely hung down bent at an irregular angle.
"Ooowah! My Hand you demon you broke my hand!"
"Demon? Well I'm only human but then again safe to assume that considering the curse I just used against you and your army"
"See you admit it you fowl beast!"
'Whack'
Once again bringing my staff down this time without much force onto the crown of his helmet letting a ringing ping resound. After being struck for the second time the Count fell onto his behind tears and snot streaming down his face.
Prim at this point chose to step forward.
"To think you would dare call this man a demon. To think I once looked up to you and thought the world of you. I cannot say now how happy I am to renounce the Farvenall name, and be rid of the stain you've caused upon these lands… Father"
"Urk.. you, you dare…. Wait is that… Iliana? How dare you! If you truly are her, how dare you hire this man to humiliate and operate against me! I am your Father you owe me!"
"Owe you? For what? I know your crimes, what you planned to have done to me, and now you target the man who saved me? I owe you nothing, I want nothing from you, and now I know you are nothing"
"What would you like to do with him?"
Turning my gaze for the first time to Prim she's formally cast off her former life now, without a hope for return but the next move is squarely in her court while at the same time our hands are forced if we leave him alive since she just revealed who she truly is and the Count is sure to spread rumors of her possible identity.
"Do you have any methods in which you could make him into a good person?"
"Sadly no my curses can only cause various forms of harm not result in reform, so my only real option left would be to use fear of reprisal to guide him on a path of the straight and narrow"
"Fear I think would be the only thing this man would understand"
"And you're ok with that?"
"So long as he doesn't break the agreement it's fine and if he does then he asked for it"
"If you say so"
Stretching forth my free arm opening my hand holding my outstretched palm toward the still sniveling Count, a smallish purple magic circle formed on my palm and wrapping its way up my arm.
"Shadow Magic: Curse: Inevitable Demise"
The purple magic which had been crawling up my arm now extended tendrils out before enveloping the Count, frozen in fear he did not move or even breathe.
After being wrapped up in the tendrils the magic started to seep into his skin leaving an embedded geometric pattern before fading away as it sank deeper into his body.
"W, wha, What did you just do to me!"
"Weren't you listening, I just cast a Curse on you, I set conditions so now if you do, command, or say anything that crosses the line even just a little bit too much the curse will activate and you will suffer in an unimaginably horrible way for the rest of your miserable life"
"uwah…"
A whole new level of fear took over the Count's face, and an acrid scent rose up.
Both Prim and I brought our hands to our faces to cover our noses.
"And if you still act out after that the curse has another layer upon which you will be living hell on this Terra (Earth)"
[Please remove the pair of barriers it's time to send the Count home, and see how this will end]
[[Understood Master]]
After dispelling the barrier, once again using
"Do you really think this'll be the end of it?"
"No but I had to give him a chance, he is your father after all, and well he isn't all bad if he was he couldn't have created you as you are"
"…"
"You Heard Me Kill That BASTARD!! Uwagh"
An overpowering scream was launched followed by a cry of unimaginable pain.
"Well looks like you were wrong about him afterall"
'Sigh'
"He didn't even make it five minutes, that is so sad"
"He'll have a day of living with the current level of pain if he continues to act up then it with get worse for him as I'd stated before when the curse can accelerate, but if he never learns eventually he will die from the curse…"
"Serves him right!"
While we were casually discussing the army opposing us was divided in two more than half the men were backing off in a tactical retreat towards the city, the rest had reformed and were preparing a new charge against us.
'Sigh'
"Well at least most of them learned their lesson…"
[Alright Plan B Shenron, please grace us with your Divine Presence and please make it flashy]
[[Understood]]
[
Holding my staff above my head and casting a super enhanced form of lifestyle shadow magic a massive ball of pure light was projected into the sky, almost as if one of the suns themselves had descended to the ground below.
From this Orb of light came the shadowed form of Shenron in his full size emitting his own holy light and floating there as herald arbiter of the gods.
At first upon seeing my spell the both sides of the army ground to a halt holding their breath expecting their total extermination only to have those thoughts betrayed by the arrival of a divine being most stood in shock others dropped to their knees in pleading prayer.
[Target Magic: Translation]
Quickly applying another spell to allow Shenrons speech which can only be heard by those who understand earth language, to instead be transmitted into the local one.
"Mortal beings! Not once, but now twice you have spat in the faces of the gods by harassing, imprisoning, and now even ordering the attack of our chosen!"
"…"
"Interfere with our chosen again and you, and this entire country shall suffer the gods divine punishment!"
Having ended his threat Shenron lowered himself down to the ground now facing towards myself and Primrose, she who knew not of the truth quickly lowered herself into a bow.
""How was that Master?""
"Your performance was superb now we just wait for their reaction." Turning to look at Primrose.
"Oh and Prim you can stand up you know, for you are one of the chosen, and Shenron here doesn't actually like it when people bow or fawn before him" ""A pleasure to finally meet you Milday"" Performing his best interpretation of a bow.
"Wa, mister mister how do you know this Divine Beast? And moreover please make it stop bowing to me before I faint!" "Huh oh well we'll get to that later, but to put it simply he's always been with me, pointing to my neck" "Huh you've been wearing a divine creature as a necklace this whole time??" "Well it's the perfect hiding place when ones hiding in the city isn't it?" Our back and forth banter continued for a little while all the while chaos was breaking out in the ranks of the enemy, but on the other hand Shenron also indicated another problem approaching on the horizon.
While the Count was again bringing his face to the grass, writhing around in agony a second host of soldiers came marching towards us making their way around the other side of the city, the key difference being that the Count's army has Red Flags, emblazoned with a black inverted warhammer, meanwhile to newly approaching force had Blue Flags, with a Rooster-like bird in an aggressive stance but had a dragons tails, and leathery wings rather than feathered.
"What the…" A look of confusion washed over Prim as she saw the approaching company.
"Do you know who they are? And better yet should we be expecting trouble?" "If I'm not mistaken at least from that crest those should be Marquis Petkov's soldiers" "A Marquis? So he could be the one who ordered your father then?" "Oh no far from it, Daddy's been defying the Marquis for quite a while now even before this so more than likely his troops are here to put him back in line" A grey sturdy horse easily 30% larger than a normal one left from the Marquis's army and rode it's way over towards us and not the Count's forces. Coming to a stop about 100 feet from where we stood.
"Good Afternoon Marquis Petkov give you salutations on this auspicious day and asks that you allow him to deal with the reparaid causing trouble here." After saying his peace the messenger who could've been a knight since he was dressed in full iron plate armor, no weapon in hand but wearing the Marquis colors and crest on his armors tabard just sat there on his horse.
"Oh uh we don't mind, should we just wait here then?" "Much appreciated Sir, I shall inform him at once. We shall deal with this quickly so we shant keep you waiting long" With that the rider spurred his horse before riding back, completely ignoring the Count's forces which were now in complete disarray having sighted the newly oncoming army and friendly looking exchange between us and the messenger.
"Well now we have time on our hands what should we do?" "Not much we really can do without making a much bigger deal out of this I mean you did just agree to let them handle it" ""Hopefully this Marquis's men will be far more competent… err Apologizes Milady I did not mean to speak ill of your Father"" "Don't worry about it, you're a divine beast so by my rights you can do anything you want, and besides he's not my father anymore" Raising a hand to pet Shenron's scaly body.
I took a seat on the grass.
[Summon: Beast x5]
In a quick flash five wolf pups appeared rising from magic circles, they all approached me and lined up.
"Alright guys head out and bring back some twigs, branches and rocks ok?" "Arf" With that simple command they scattered.
"Awwww" Having turned to see who I was talking to a voice of displeasure left her lips as she watched the passel of pups running away.
Can't blame her really since she only just saw a pack of super cute wolf puppies running away from her without getting to play or pet them at all, this was the first time I'd summoned the pups for her having chosen to use my other summons when doing her combat training.
One by one they'd return with whatever they'd found, dropping it off before once again returning to the hunt, after they'd all done this once, they changed the routine ever slightly dropping the scavenged materials at my feet before approaching Prim to get a receptive pat on the head along with a "Good Boy/Girl" they'd bark back softly before rushing back out.
I meanwhile remained seated on the ground having pulled a dagger out of my inventory feigning grabbing it from an inside pocket of my robe.
Using my woodworking skill I whittled the branches and twigs before assembling into various constructions, some into woven baskets, others into log cabins just to pass the time.
Once there were a dozen stones in a pile before me I reached out to one and started to carve some lines into it.
At first I hoped the system would lend me an assist but nothing happened as I continued to engrave what I could remember of a rune it was easy to remember since it was the exact same as the Greater Than symbol from math.
Once the carving was etched deep enough into the stone at first I was unsure what I had done wrong since neither my menu nor the stone itself seemed to react.
"Mmm perhaps this worlds runes are different from the ones in the game?" Shenron who'd coiled up laying down beside me received my sentiment.
""Since runes are deemed magical items in most cases perhaps infusion of mana would be required?"" "It's worth a shot" Holding the engraved stone with both hands I tried to let a trickle of mana flow from my left to right hand as if passing water between them this was something I had practiced after being able to identify what actually was mana within my own body, as I did the stone's etching started to glow a faint orange as more time passed the etching became solid red, but still nothing had changed neither the AR saw the stone as a runestone, nor did my menu show an increase in skills.
"Hm so that's part of the puzzle, but what would be the last piece… how about Kaunan" At my say so the red etch rune emitted red light and a small flame erupted and burned in a straight line for a few seconds before stopping.
The stone remained but the etching now was faded down to where it was a simple orange once again.
'Ping'
[Runecraft Level 1]
""Well done master!"" "Thanks, but compared to the rest, this one sure required quite a few steps, I bet Synthweaving is going to be a real pain when I get to it" ""Well in following the pattern you would need to most likely cast enhancement magic, or buffing magic on the clothing in question which as a Conjururer at present you cannot do master, unless you just need to craft something with magic thread"" "Fair point, but that being said I haven't tested whether my Summons can do that for me to gain the skills?" 'Clatter Clatter'
From behind me rose the sound of metal grinding on metal, turning my head slightly the side peering out from beneath my cowl I saw 5 knights making their way in a slow walk towards the three of us.
Quickly I dispelled the five pups still out in the field somewhere, while slowly gathering myself up and getting back to my feet, Prim meanwhile took shelter behind me gripping the sleeve of my robe, Shenron floated himself back up into a dignified vertical pose with his wings fully extended outward as if he were a living painting, the halo floating above him flashed slightly giving off it's true brilliant radiance which had been toned down while he was alone with us.
Four of the knights immediately took a knee while the fifth who was leading the others merely bowed down slightly from the waist.
"…" Unsure what to do our side just stood there in silence watching the proceedings, from behind the knights various events were taking place between the two sets of soldiers from the look of it, the Marquis men were rounding up and binding some of them, others were being separated and made to wait while under guard, and the final group was just being pushed and ushered back towards the city.
"Apologies for the wait, it took longer than we anticipated due to resistance"
"Uh I don't really mind but I would like to get home sometime today if at all possible" The four knights lifted their head and I could feel their eyes glaring at me from behind their closed visors.
The lead knight meanwhile straightened himself up and just continued speaking without any added malice.
"Thank you, it is a sad thing that something like this occurred I can only offer my sincere apology"
[Uh can you ask this guy who he is? If I do it he's liable to get mad] [[Certainly]] ""And you are?"" 'Ohhh' With a sharp inhalation the accompanying knights all gasped after hearing Shenron reply.
"Oh dear me, I forgot to introduce myself"
Having released a clasp on his neck and pulling off his helmet holding it in his left hand while bringing his right hand up in a fist resting it against his chest.
"I am Marquis Senko Ivov Markov Petkov I humbly stand before your divine personage" Such a long name, great didn't expect that since the Count's name wasn't that long he only had a First and Last name but perhaps as you climb the noble ranks you gain further names, at least he didn't follow-up with a long winded monologue of all his associated titles.
"Nice to meet you Milord, sorry for not knowing about whom you were, I am Cyrus a mere blacksmith, and this youngling here is Primrose though I've taken to calling her Prim as of late, she works for me as an apprentice." "Hmm I see" As he gave a rather slow response back his eyes were locked on prim as if he was trying to see through to who she was underneath, not even giving me a second glance.
"Young lady would you mind lifting your right hand for me?" Grasping her hands together tightly in front of her chest with a worried look on her face.
"Mhrm mind if I ask what is going to happen if she complies?" "Oh yes I see, this wouldn't be something commoners would know much about, I merely wish to confirm her identity" Raising his own hand to jerk his thumb over his shoulder at the round-up operation.
"The Count over there seems to be of the impression that this young lady is his abducted daughter, stated adamantly in fact, if that's the case we'll need her to accompany us for the duration of our investigation into the Count's actions until we can find all the guilty parties" Prim was clearly worried so much so she was practically shaking, but she finally separated her hands and held up one outstretched before her with her palm facing the ground
The Marquis stepped forward.
" ꙰ ꙲ ꙲ ꙰ ꙱ : Reveal" After a quick chant of a language I didn't recognize the Marquis tapped a finger on the back of Prim's hand a white line appeared on the back of her hand, from which a card rose up out of her hand.
Standing there shocked watching what I could only attribute to sleight of hand magic as a playing card sized, metal card rose up out of her hand before coming to a stop hovering gently in the air above her hand.
"Now miss if you would please say the word 'Share' for us" "S,Share" The card which up till now looked like a smooth bronze card now had symbols and words written all across it, with a tree settled in the centre.
His hand still outstretched the Marquis grabbed the card and gave it a once over before his eyebrows lowered and his smiling face disappeared into an almost scowl.
"Problem?" Questioning the marquis was a cover for my own uneasiness since her name could have changed but I did not know what was written on that card, since this was a process I did not know.
The only method of identification I've been made aware of in this world would be the Analysis stone used on us when we'd arrived and then the forms you filled out for the guilds which you could lie on.
"No… At least not for you two, seems the Count was mistaken or has just gone truly insane, sorry to bother you both we will take our leave now." Handing the card back to Prim before turning to leave without putting his helmet back on before stopping in place, turning his head only to speak over his shoulder.
"Oh and you are welcome in this country Emissary of the Divine, we hope no other nobles will interfere with you or your friends, the King himself has made a decree to the aristocracy violating this decree will surely not only bring about divine wrath on their families but also the wrath of the Kingdom for angering the gods." As the retreating Marquis faded into the crowd of soldiers before the entire host took their captives with then into the city leaving the pair of us to just stand there in the grass as the wind blew across my face, while we waited I kept staring at the card that now resting in Prim's clasped hand.
"You want to see it?" "If you don't mind, I've never seen anything like that before" "??? You have your own you know." A look of shock must've been painted across my face.
"If you want I can show you?" "Sure then we can compare cards" A light smile flitted across her face until she mimicked the exact same action as the Marquis.
" ꙰ ꙲ ꙲ ꙰ ꙱ : Reveal" Unlike on Prim's hand which only showed a single line on the back of her hand, mine displayed quite the intricate pattern but that didn't stop a similar card from rising up from the back of my hand, but again where Prim's card was bronze mine was Red a sort of metal I had never seen before either on Earth or here on Terra so far.
After it fully popped out I grabbed the card and took a look, 60% of the card showed an image of a tree, if I was guessing it would either be The World Tree, or a Family Tree but aside from the tree itself nothing else showed on that section of the display, over the top band of the card, it showed my name: Cryrus, Race: Human, Age 21,Class: Conjurer, Level 2.
The remaining ¼ of the card along the right hand side of it showed a list of various numbers, none of which really made sense to me but when I moved my thumb a bit, the entire section changed giving a full display of one of the numbers, showing it to be my Skill for Cooking and its associated level.
After checking out my own card, I quickly said "Reveal" before swapping cards with Prim I wasn't expecting much from looking at her card but also hoped to see what had caused the Marquis to knit his brows so furiously.
Looking at her card though the data shown was basic, but I did learn that the Name Change orb was capable of changing the details of these id cards, beyond that Prim only had 3 skills/professions listed on the right of her card Cooking, Etiquette, and Inscription as for my assumption that the tree display would show Family but her tree like mine was empty so perhaps it was something else entirely.
After checking her card over I offered to hand it back, but Prim meanwhile was deeply engrossed in my own card, a few minutes passed until finally she snapped out of it handing my card back, clearly she'd checked every single one of my stats or perhaps even greater details through operating the cards beyond what I'd figured out just from playing around for the first time.
Once I'd received my own card back I followed prim's lead as she inserted her own card back into her hand.
Once I'd fully pressed the red card back into the symbol on my hand it faded away.
We just stood there staring at one another, clear to me that we both had questions but neither of us wanted to be the one to ask first.
"Uh… Thank you, I mean for everything and I want you to know I wasn't involved in anything Daddy was up to I swear, and well you've seen my card already so you should know" "Huh, what do you mean I should know?" "Well you know the Bounty section where it shows a list of all crimes the person has committed" "There's a bounty section?" "Huh, didn't you just check out my card though?" "Well it's the first time I've ever seen one so I'm not really sure what their all about, so I mostly just took a glance to see how yours differed from mine since they were different colors" "Mmm… Raisa did mention you lacked common knowledge as a foreigner but she never said…, so I guess your country has no knowledge of the ID system bestowed upon us by the Goddess of Knowledge, well even I was shocked when I saw your card to be honest, I've never seen a red metal like that before, and then there were you're stats I know you're strong but to think you were that strong mister at such a low level like that, and to possess so many skills as well at your age" "Hmm am I so abnormal?" "Um.. well yes I mean at least compared to those I know at least, normally someone will possess 3-4 skills by the time their thirty but the skill's level won't be anything more than 1-2 unless they are talented or a genius" "I see so what's the highest possible skill level then?" "Hmm well the highest I've ever heard of during my studies was 5 that's the level of Master's, 1 is Novices, 2-3 are Averages, and 4 is experts" [Hmm alright well good to know but my system goes to Lvl 10 so if I cross the lvl5 threshold I should look into how to conceal my stats until I have a way of protecting myself further]
"So… um should we go back to the city? Or since the Marquis is there would it be better to leave now?" "Hmm that's a good point at the very least I think we should inform Lady Raisa otherwise she'll be upset with the both of us if we were to depart without telling her" With that the pair of us resumed our walk back towards the city, during which our talks continued Prim furtively asked questions without being direct to try and learn more about who I was, just how much did she learn from my ID Card.
I deflected most of the questions by giving only the most basic of answers but when she asked which gods I prayed to I hesitated to answer since I'd only heard of the Goddess of Water here, so instead I just said I worshipped the Goddess Hecate who was the Goddess of Magic (and Necromancy) in Greek mythology back on earth.
This was the faith I'd chosen for my character in game and if you received the goddess's blessing you'd receive a boost to Mana, Intelligence, Mentality, and any Magical abilities.
Prim tilted her head since I'd declared a Goddess she'd never heard of but didn't inquire further more than to simply whisper "huh only a single."
From that I assumed the people of this world would pray to multiple gods depending on their line of work or lives.