Chapter 35: Goodbye

Basil POV:

Fix Boran or never return. That was what the High Mage of Arkano had ordered me to do. Now Boran was not fixed, no, no one could ever call it fixed. The people were now demons, damned in the demon realm. It was not like we could bring them to the human realm. 

They were demons. Demons needed human flesh to sustain themselves outside of the demon realm. A problem which Mike now shared.

"Mike?" It would hurt him, but honestly, I liked the kid. He had the right to live, marry his soulmate, and adopt a ton of kids. Or dogs. Or cats.

The important thing was, that I had the solution to his problem. It is not like I wanted to live until the end of eternity.

"Yes, Basil?" He was smiling, yet his stomach was growling. Nymphs were a mix between demons and nature spirit. The same problem which stood before the people of Boran now stood before him.

He was getting hungry. I had to act fast.

"Come over here, please," it was high time I started aging again. It was high time that Rowan and I got to kiss in public, without being scolded by some busybody granny who was knitting at the side of the route. Something that all grannies seemed to do in Lergo.

"Why? Ah, sorry, sure," as soon as he reached me, I laid a hand over him. My magic transferred the curse that the witch laid on Rowan and me to him. He was two meter high, already looked around twenty, what with the hard life in Lergo and all.

He would survive. From the corner of my eye, I saw Rowan's stern look, but I just winked at him. Jean would not be affected by the curse. How could he, when there was a hole in his soul, where his true self once shone and hummed? The curse could finally fill that hole, and Rowan could finally grow tall and lean, like his already well-build body promised. 

Man, I could already imagine us in a hot tub. Maybe in two to five years. The busybody grannies had to be appeased, unfortunately. Even if one was actually more than 500 years old. Sigh...

There was one thing I couldn't do, though. Mike will forever look like a nymph. The wolf could change his mana, but not his coat. The kid had a difficult life ahead of him, but at least his neighbors wouldn't have to worry he'd go to them not for a cup of sugar, but for an eyeball or two. Maybe even a leg, if he got the munchies.

"Kids, Papa and Mama are leaving," I patted Mike on the shoulder, turned around, and then...

"Basil, wait!" Nate's voice made me blink. I thought he didn't like me. He always behaved so, as if he found me amusing, but like a distant uncle. 

"I can feel mom's mana on you," darn it all, after all these years, the mana of that witch was still on me? Oh, whatever...

"I am not sorry," I couldn't tell him a lie. Not even to make him feel better. "Your mother would have destroyed the world. You are a good kid, Nate. Do you know how you can be even better?"

What I wanted from him was too much to ask. But honestly, if he really wanted to make amends, then he could pay the price. Even when it wasn't fair to him. 

"Yes?" Poor naive boy.

"Basil! You can't ask it of him!" Rowan was such a mother hen. Honestly, one day, when we finally grew older, I would talk our kids into calling him mother. 

Because I was evil.

"Sure, I can! People died, Rowan. He can make it all right. If Boran's population finally comes back, if they can return home, then he would be viewed not as the son of that evil witch," I wanted to say bitch, but something told me that Nate could figure it out himself at this point. "But as a prince who cares about his people."

Lergo was in such dire straits, that I was sure they were one scream away from overturning that demonic, blood-sucking, robbing crowd which called themselves their politicians. 

Not that they were any better in Arkano or Naschestan. It was just that Lergo was ripe for a revolt. 

"I will do anything you want of me," brave boy, should really learn not to promise things to strangers. 

Still, if he could feel Sybil's mana on me, then that meant only one thing. He knew that she imprinted on me, so he could recognize me one day as her killer. And yet, there was no hate in his eyes. No thirst for vengeance.

Was it not ironic that even someone like Sybil could produce a good son?

Some people would have told him what he would lose. Others would have let him reconsider. I was a bastard, so I just ripped the mana which he had inherited from his mother, let it slip into the earth. The streets filled themselves with people. The people of Boran hugged each other, cried, laughed.

Nate still looked muscular, but now he didn't look so, as if he could snap someone in half. Maybe his body could have kept more muscle, if he wasn't starved for most of his life.

I took Rowan's hand, a gentle smile on my lips. 

"Basil, the first thing we are doing, is to get you new boots," Rowan whispered. I sighed.

"The iron on the soles is a fashion statement," which was not a lie. It was a fashion statement. About 200 years ago, when long hair and tattoos were all the rage.

"Don't argue, please. Let us just return to our lives."

A better promise I couldn't expect from him. 

And what happened with Lars and Nate, Mike and Jean? They grew up. The guild master gave up giving them quests with killing missions, for they returned with pets and friends each time. Basil was right, and the people of Lergo viewed Nate not as Sybil's son, but as Stephen's heir. 

His rule was full of atonement and goodwill. Arkano and Naschestan never grew to trust him completely, but with Lars easy-going nature, Mike's loyalty, and Jean's calmness, he managed to rule for more than 30 years, before he gave the crown to his adopted son, Stephen the Fourth, and returned to the life of an adventurer.

The End.