Chapter IX : Strengthen

"Ok so The Redel Empire has five regions, Region I is forever covered in winter, Region II in the west always has autumn, Region III has spring, Region IV has summer and the Central Region (Rohendel) has 4 rotating seasons. Each region is led by a Duke and the central region is ruled directly by the Emperor."

I repeated Zenius' explanation. We are currently sitting relaxed in the reading room with two cups of lemon tea on the round table. Amira also gave us ginger cookies.

He nodded.

"For the empire it would be better if you saw it during the journey, now it would be better for you to know about spirits," said Zenius.

"You already know the general outline of work and already understand, but there are several points that you must remember, first.. is about how important the timeline in the Keeper and Locker is. All living creatures that no longer have a lifespan but are forced to escape their fate will something bad happened..."

"Like what?"

"They will look like living corpses because they no longer have life to describe, people who don't die after their life ends don't get the chance to be reincarnated."

"Like zombies?"

"Yea... and it's dangerous for other creatures, they could disrupt other timelines."

"It would be better to kill them according to their time than to let them kill other people who should be able to live because of personal selfishness.. Because our job is only to ensure fate matches reality, we don't have certain powers other than age and stamina, unlike wizards or elves or others who can do magic or something, to overcome this we are given special weapons that can even kill fellow spirits. The spirits will not be harmed by human weapons or magic."

"If spirits can't use magic then what happened to the slum residents back then?"

"I will report it," answered Zenius.

"... then about those zombies... do the traitorous spirits know?" Zenius was silent for a moment, "once again they are just bunch of naive and stupid spirits."

"They say we are cruel but let a bunch of undead attack other humans??" Zenius looked annoyed.

"God of the Earth... he's not as smart as his two siblings. His mind is just filled with incredible jealousy without a brain. Even a dog could be smarter than him."

That's... a very scathing comment on the God who owns the land where we stand...

"Umm... what's next?" i asked, changing the topic because Zenius' face had darkened.

"Ah yes, because you don't have a spirit sac it seems like it will be difficult for you to take out your sword when you need it."

Oh sure... i can't imagine having to praise that narcissistic book when a Clowner is holding their revolver or sword to my head. "I think i need to bring that sword, maybe a scabbard like a knight or something... do you have any suggestions?"

"That's a good idea, i'll ask Amira to find a sword scabbard from town," i nodded then took a sip from my cup of tea. Amira's lemon tea and baked ginger cookies are really delicious, it honestly calms my feelings quite a bit.

"About your revolver..." Zenius looked into my eyes.

"Do the bullets never run out?" i asked. I was quite curious after seeing how easy it was for him to pull the trigger without having to check the availability of bullets. "Our revolvers use spirit bullets that are automatically filled and won't run out," he answered, "umm spirit bullets?" i asked again, it sounded suspicious.

"Well... it's made from the power of the Goddess of Death, she charges her energy into each revolver."

Oh, i thought it was a bullet made from the spirits of the dead people he had shot.

Zenius snorted as if he knew what i was thinking, i was now making a stupid face. "Looks like you need training," I looked at him confused, "it's about your strength and your sword skills, you should at least be able to defend yourself against spirits or creatures that are much stronger than ordinary humans."

I nodded spontaneously, as I ran as hard as I could until my heart felt like it was going to pop out. The spirits chasing me at the same speed were just their frivolous efforts. I can't imagine having to fight a spirit that is so serious, maybe i've only just taken a breath once my head is separated from my body or has a hole in it. "Before your Keeper gives you a new story, i will train you myself. There is an empty room in the mansion, we can use it as a place for you to practice."

Knock.. knock

Amira came carrying a box, "I've washed your clothes," she was talking about my mourning clothes, "and I've bought some new clothes from town as ordered," I looked at Zenius in surprise, was he really that initiative?

"Do you really want to use that forever?" he asked, I looked at the large box placed in front of me, Amira stepped back to let me open it myself.

Pajamas, shirts, jackets, pants, training clothes.. even underwear?? I looked at Zenius in horror, "that's all new," he looked at me sarcastically. "Thank you... I will use everything besides the jacket because I will continue to wear this long coat."

"Yeah that's up to you."

I smiled sincerely, the man in front of me really... cared.

"I have kept your old clothes in the wardrobe," said Amira. "Thank you, Amira. But how can you dry this in that weather?"

Amira smiled, she snapped her finger and a ball of red fire appeared on the tip of her index finger, I was stunned, so that was magic... "I also open a clothes dryer shop in town, Sir."

She looked proud and it made me unable to remove the smile from my face.

"Amira, can you buy a sword sheath for him?" asked Zenius. She nodded and gave permission to go then left the room.

"I'm quite skilled with a sword, we can start training tomorrow," Zenius stood up and went out.

***