A Wrinkle

Cerla? She must have survived the greater monster attack, but what is she doing here??

"Master Stencil, is-is that really you?"

Damn it. What am I going to say? "No, I just happen to look and sound exactly like him?" As if. Besides, the guild master is right behind me. Even if I managed to convince her, all she'd have to do is ask him when I arrived. There's nothing for it.

"It's good to see you again, Cerla."

I assure you, it's not.

It looks like her eyes are about to pop out of her head. There's a well-dressed man standing behind her, apparently even more confused than she is. Probably the ambassador.

"I don't understand, I thought you died! I thought that monster killed you! How are you still alive?!"

"I was rescued by a friend of mine. It would have killed me, if not for her."

"What? Who?"

"Her name is Elizabeth. I've been travelling with her for the past few months."

"Unbelievable," she blurts out. "Everybody thinks you're dead, Stencil! The king and queen even attended your family's funeral."

Cerla embraces me tightly. I notice her hand wiping away some of the tears on her pretty face. She must have genuinely cared.

"I'm just glad you're okay," I hear her whisper to me, her voice cracking slightly.

The confused voice of the guild master breaks in from behind me.

"Hold on just a moment. What is this?"

Ugh, right. I look over. Both Kinn and Vol look extremely confused. This is going to be a mess to sort out.

---

"You mean YOU fought off the greater monster?!" Cerla blurts out in surprise.

"Correct."

She sinks back in her seat. She looks just as exhausted as I did last night.

The atmosphere in the room is rather awkward. Cerla and the royal ambassador seem unable to decide what to do. The king's 14-year-old nephew is still alive, and he fought off a greater monster, almost on his own. Probably a bit shocking from their point-of-view.

Vol doesn't seem too bothered by all this, but the guild master is apparently lost for words. You technically have to be 15 years old to join the guild, which I'm not, but not only did I fight off a greater monster; I'm also royalty. The man is clutching his head, apparently trying to come to some conclusion about all the new information.

"Obviously," I say, "I don't intend on returning to the royal family."

"But-," Cerla starts.

I can tell both she and the ambassador are against this decision, but there's not much they can do. According to the law in this country, they have to take orders from me. The same applies to Kinn, although I don't think he'd throw me out of the guild either way.

For now, I'm going to use my pressure as, technically, a royal, to keep this quiet. I send Cerla and the royal ambassador back to the castle. They have to report to the king about me. There's nothing I can do about that. If he's smart, he won't send for me.

"Kinn," I say.

Kinn jumps upright at the sound of his name.

I never liked this kind of treatment, even as far back as Number 2. I almost forgot how irritating it is. Fake smiles. Fake everything.

"Just treat me like you would normally. Just Sebastian. The same goes for you, Vol, though I doubt you care to begin with."

Vol laughs mildly.

"Of course, my boy. Royalty means very little to elves, anyway."

He's an odd guy, but I kind of like him. Speaking of, now would be a good time to talk to Vol about my idea.

I send the guild master out of the room.

---

After explaining my idea to Vol, he sits in silence for a bit. I've seen him do it before. He's thinking.

"An artificial mana store, huh? I have seen some tools that can absorb mana from their nearby surroundings, like that sword of yours. Maybe... possibly..." he mumbles to himself.

"Could you do it?"

"I'm not sure. It's an interesting idea, but I definitely can't do it from here. I'll return to the academy in Rosewood and look into the matter there."

"That's perfectly fine."

"Please keep in mind that this is unexplored territory, though. So I can't make any promises."

"I understand."

After our conversation ends, Vol leaves the room to prepare for his return to Rosewood immediately. He was very excited to start. I fall back into the couch with a deep sigh.

What now? I've completed every assignment the guild has to offer. Vol is researching artificial mana stores for me. Elizabeth is still unconscious, and I don't want to travel too far without her.

There's nothing worse than doing nothing.

The greater monster is still out there. It can't have gotten too far away. Considering the mess it left as it ran, and the amount of blood dripping from it, I could probably track it down. The beast is heavily injured now, not to mention partially blind. I'm also carrying Elizabeth's sword with me while she's out of commission, meaning I have the perfect weapon to kill that creature with. If there's a time to go after it, it's now. But even so... I need a distraction. Even with its injuries, a head-on attack is imbecilic.

I let out another deep sigh. I hate doing nothing.

I guess I'll... go home and rest...

---

I'm awoken by the sound of knocking on my bedroom door.

I get up groggily, stretching my neck as I head to open the door. It's the guild master. What time is it even? I look up at his face.

Hm? He doesn't look scared or angry, so it can't be another monster attack. There's a mana presence in the area, but nothing too intense.

"What?" I ask, mildly annoyed.

"Lord Sebastian, there are some adventurers here to see you."

Are you serious? That's what you woke me up for? Adventurers? Pass.

"No, thank you. I don't want to meet with anyone right now."

I'm about to close the door, but Kinn urgently speaks up.

"They say they're friends of miss Elizabeth."

...

"Fine."

Kinn leads me down the steps to the lobby. It's dark outside, but the place is bathed in an orange glow, radiating from the magic lamps on the walls. There's a group of four people waiting by the front door. Presumably, these are the adventurers that claim to be Elizabeth's friends.

One of them is a woman with purple hair, who looks to be a mage. The remaining three are men. Two of them are quite muscular and could easily be twins. As I reach the bottom of the stairs, the last man steps forward.

He's younger than the others, though clearly an adult. He has his blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and is wearing leather armor with light golden plating. The man opens his mouth to speak to me and only then do I look at his face. A familiar set of eyes look back at me.

"Nice to meet you, Sebastian. I am Jonas, Elizabeth's brother."

Well, well, well. Would you look at that?

To think, just as I was looking for a distraction, it would come walking right in.