Stage 10: An alchemist named Sandra

After the sad night that covered Medea's forest with destruction, two months passed in which I decided to take my course in order to free myself from the curse that weighed on my body. After wandering for a few days without knowing the terrain where I was, I arrived at what seemed like the beginning of what is usually called the royal road.

Unlike the town passes and rural roads, the ground was paved with leveled stone to prevent wear on the wheels of the merchant carriages. Along that road, surveillance posts in the form of detachments served as a means of deterring bandits who did not dare to commit reckless acts in the presence of members of the royal guard.

"Your wife, take off your hood and show your ID card?" – Practicing for several nights before trying my luck on the main path, I did condensation exercises with my mana core in order to be able to handle my appearance change at will.

With Amelia's red hair clearly standing out as a sign of the royal family, I strove to materialize my former appearance as a base form during the course of my journey through the far reaches of the Alberon kingdom's territory .

Among the belongings that you recover from the corpses of the soldiers, take a dog tag and alter it with the help of the oracle of the world in order to falsify my identity data. Any person who sought to enter or leave the borders of the kingdom, necessarily required those plates under penalty of jail in case they were found without it.

- "Aren't you a little fat to be a mercenary?" - Enduring Fausto's frantic laughter in my head, I lowered my face flushed while I covered myself with the hood again trying not to hit him in the face by the soldier from the surveillance post.

- "User could suggest some exercise routines..."

- "Keep speaking oracle and I will replace you with your dear bastard brother"

- "The oracle of the end and I only share a name, I can assure you that my mother was a very virtuous artificial intelligence, but I can't say the same about my father" - After hearing that I couldn't stop laughing at the astonished look of the guards, who thought he had gone mad from the horrors of combat.

Using some of the copper coins I stole from the camp, I paid for my wagon ride to a merchant on his way to the border town of Mireya. Carried by important commercial traffic and serving as an entry point to the vast grasslands that communicated with the kingdom of Casius , the walled city was for a long time the first line of defense of the kingdom of Alberon .

The landscape during my journey showed small cabins and barns that rested on the idyllic pastures that stretched around. The sound of the sheep and the mobile animals that ran freely through the fenced fields, harmonized with the flight of the birds while I rested my eyes on that bluish sky with just a little cloudiness.

- "Are you going to the city to report to the mercenary guild, miss?"

- "Yes, I've been away for a while and maybe they think I'm dead" - Clearing his throat a bit, Fausto tried to dissuade me from continuing with the entertaining talk that merchant gave me. But she was sick of spending so many days just talking to the oracle and the embittered dragon.

As we approached the city limits, the noise of the crowd gradually grew until it became a sea of voices that were heard in unison. From the shouts of the shopkeepers offering their products to the buyers to the trovas of the musicians who sang in the main square. The atmosphere of the city of Mireya gave free rein like a festival for the senses.

Walking among the street food stalls, the aromas of spices and roast meat whetted my appetite, making me look for some spare copper coins. But I had already spent everything when I paid the toll to the merchant.

- "User, I think this is a good opportunity to start a rigorous regimen"

- "Oracle, remember. Format"

- "Although thinking about it, it is still in the development stage and needs nutrients to grow"

- "Just shut up" – Feeling a slight headache, I went through my bag to make sure of the items I took from the corpses in order to find something I could pawn or sell in the city. Heading to the alleys where the pawnshops were located that, although they would not pay me fair for my loot, at least they would not bother asking questions.

As if jumping from one world to another, going from the main streets to the alleys of the slum, the facades of the buildings looked more discolored and the rancid stench of the lousy drainage made me want to vomit at times.

- "How strong you look. Don't you want to spend a warm moment with me?"

- "Get away ! I saw him first"

- "Hey! Look at me, dammit. I am a woman!"

- " Mmmm , you're a bit ugly, but if you have money I don't care" – I swear by everything that could be called sacred, that I don't remember the last time I ran so ashamed in my life. And to add more salt to the wound, Fausto's silence revealed a slight static sound paused by Oracle. As if that annoying virtual assistant was making fun of me.

After that bitter drink, as I predicted, the owner of the pawn shop did not ask any more questions regarding the valuables that I threw on the counter table. But even in the face of all those jewels, the wretch only gave me five silver coins and fifty copper coins in return.

The price per night in the city's inns ranged from eighty copper to one silver coin per day. That's not including food or running water for bathing, which added an additional cost that I couldn't afford at the time.

- "Human, I don't want to tell you in a very rude way. But you've been scammed

- "I know Faust . Believe me I know" – Whimpering with what little I had left of my intact dignity crawling on the filthy floor of the alley, I decided that I had lost my appetite and preferred to go directly to a cheap inn of those that were near the wall.

With a wall more than twenty meters high, five meters wide and stretching about a kilometer long. The formidable wall of the merchant city of Mireya rose imposingly before the gaze of locals and strangers.

The land bordering that mass of rock was destined for stables, some brothels that served as meeting points for merchants and the few inns that offered cheap rooms for only twenty copper.

- "User, even an artificial intelligence like me has certain standards for the places where my host should be"

- "Oops, I'm sorry Mr. Refined. But in case you haven't noticed, we need all the money possible to travel to the next kingdom" – Gritting my teeth somewhat annoyed, I walked through the narrow corridors of the buildings when suddenly, a hand held me firmly by the wrist.

- "Look what we have here. A mercenary girl. Tell me miss, are you available for a subjugation mission? There is a violent snake in my room that…" – That stale alcoholic breath was about to make my insides turn with disgust.

The guards at the main gate used to exchange every twelve hours with their peers and it was common for some of them to go directly to the canteens inside the brothels.

That guy looked like he didn't have enough money to pay for a prostitute after spending it all on liquor. So his little brain under the effects of the alcohol stupor made him think it was a good idea to mess with me.

- "User do not do it"

- "Amelia restrain yourself"

- "Mommy!"

- "Wait to?" - The trembling voice of a little girl who came to hold me by the waist, took me by surprise. At the time I saw how two guards were just around the alley and rushed to take their partner under arrest. If only that brat had delayed a few seconds, the soldiers would have found me covered in the blood of that remains of a man.

- "Girl, you can let me go. Thanks for helping. I promise I'll buy you some sweets but you must go with your mother."

- "! Nooo ! Mom wants to leave Sandy! I promise to be a good girl, but don't abandon me" – With the gazes of the guards pointing like daggers at me, I took the girl's hand and went as quickly as possible to the first inn I found.

- "It would be forty copper for both of us" - Feeling cheated once again, I hit the coins against the counter and took the room key, dragging the girl by the hand as she went up the stairs.

- "It is incredible that such an ugly woman has such a beautiful daughter"

- " I'm listening to you!" – Shouting at the owner of the inn, I slammed the door of my room while throwing the girl on the mattress of the bed.

- "Hey, don't be so rude to me, I just saved your skin. If it wasn't for me, the city guards would have seized you for killing their partner." – Changing her tone of voice for a less childish one, the little girl in front of my eyes took a pedantic attitude that gave the impression of being an adult in the body of a child.

- "Listen to me. I appreciate what you did for me, but you have crossed the line with that act of the abandoned daughter" - Feeling that my mouth was dry from anger, I took the jug that was on the table in the room and poured some water in a jar to drink it. Spitting it out immediately upon feeling its muddy taste.

Getting up from the bed while fixing the wrinkles in her skirt, the girl walked up to me and placed her hand on the jug of water while drawing a symbol that glowed for a few moments.

- "Drink it up"

- "She's crazy? This crap shouldn't even be considered for human consumption."

- "Just shut up and drink it" - Feeling self-conscious by the firmness with which the girl gave me that order, I poured myself some water again and this time, its taste was as pure and refreshing as if it were spring water.

- "How did you do that? It's impossible for a brat to use magic due to her lack of mana."

- "Are you confusing me with a pathetic magician? Clean your ears, fat cow" – Taking an impulse to place herself on the table, that girl put her hands on her waist and with a superb appearance she appeared before me.

- "My name is Sandra, the most famous alchemist of the people of Crom in the kingdom of Siegfried . And I have chosen you to escort me back to my home" – During the days that I spent studying magic with the sorceress Sara, I had heard fleetingly about the alchemists while I was taking my classes on runic enchantments.

Able to break the equivalency exchange rule that governs traditional magic, alchemists were people who for many years were considered the elite within the battle garrisons.

But due to the growing dominance of the cult of the goddess Artemis, alchemists were dismissed as undesirable to the point of being considered a fringe existence.

That girl who proclaimed herself a powerful alchemist, was offering me a job as an escort, mistaking me for a mercenary because of my appearance. While it was true that she needed the money to travel, the fact that she asked me to take her to Siegfried's kingdom was something she did not consider possible with my plans to go to Casius 's kingdom .

Firmly refusing her request, I opened my bedroom door and invited her out to find another mercenary to help her on her mission. Just at the moment that the girl was crossing the threshold of the door, the words she spoke made my blood run cold.

- "Good luck with the curse you have engraved on your body" - Saying that with eyes that drilled into my being, I took the girl by the arm and dragged her back into the room.

- "How much do you know about the curse? Does he talk snotty?

- "If you are going to ask something from a powerful alchemist like me, you should have more respect and ask for it on your knees" - With a strength that did not match her delicate appearance, the little girl knocked me down on the ground, placing herself on my chest while maintaining her grip against my wrists and from his back emerged a kind of tail with a metallic edge that protruded from the tip.

- "Amelia, I cannot release my power. This girl is blocking the mana channels in your body."

- " Tsk ... user... Tsk ... security violation... protocol not operational..." - Fearful of the unknown, I looked into the eyes of the girl who kept a serious face while passing the edge of her weapon over me face. Little by little bringing his face closer to mine, making me tremble to the depths of my being.

- "How does it feel to be at the mercy of a little girl? Do you still feel powerful you fucking fat cow? It is enough for me to transcribe a transmutation circle in your body and you would become the animal that I most wanted. But since I'm a kind person, I'll give you one last chance.

Come with me to Crom and serve as my bodyguard. This is not a request but an order. You understand me?" – Nodding my head, the girl changed her face to a smiling one as she released me from the pressure of her power.

Trying to get my thoughts together, I verified that my manaflows were stable again and that the oracle was back online.

- "Human, are you alright?"

- "Calm down Fausto, we would not be having this conversation if something had happened to me"

- "User, the life form that just attacked you does not belong to the draconic species, but its cellular composition does not completely correspond to that of a common human being" - Those words of the oracle caught my attention while I continued contemplating the girl who remained sitting in a chair looking out the window at the street.

What the hell was Sandra? It was the question that I repeated to myself as we prepared to leave as soon as the first rays of the sun arrived the next day.

While arranging our documents with the guard at the main entrance to sign our exit permit, the little girl sat silently on the bench of the carriage that would take us halfway to the city of Crom.

- "Why didn't you get a nicer carriage? This is old and smelly"

- "Sorry? In case you haven't noticed how little money I had, I just spent it getting your traveler's permit. I didn't count on having a travel companion, much less that she was a freeloader who doesn't have any money with her."

- "I told you that I will pay you as soon as we get to my town! You don't have to snarl at me like that, fat cow" – Refraining from hitting him on the head, I jumped into the carriage cabin and gave the signal to the driver to begin our journey.

While we were traveling on the royal road, I began to think about why that girl needed me to escort her during her trip. Certainly his power was so immense that he would have no trouble moving around, which made it seem rather strange to me.

- "Amelia, do you hear me?"

- "Tell me, Faust"

- "Sara had told you that a few years ago the alchemists were people for whom the kingdoms could even kill for having them. But now they are outlawed because of that same power that they carry in their bodies.

If that girl were to display her skills in public, it wouldn't take long for that news to reach the ears of the goddess Artemis' acolytes. She chose you because she trusts you, but it seems that she has a deeper secret in her application." – When Fausto told me, the doubts in my mind began to accumulate more and more like a snowball falling down the hill and getting bigger.

What mystery was that girl hiding behind those big brown eyes that left her expression fixed on the horizon looking out the carriage window. It was the incipient doubt that was making its way into my mind like a knife cutting my brains out.