14 — Parting Ways

14 — Parting Ways

After Galba’s coup, the wolf brothers urged me to return to the Healer’s Guild, but I chose to stay with them. I felt that I needed to see things through to the end.

“It’s not going to be fun, I assure you,” Galba insisted, taking out a list of Yenitian citizens, organized by race. He reeled off a list of the offenders to Gulgar, and the reckoning of Substance X began. But there were too many to cook for at the moment, so that idea was shelved for the time being.

While Gulgar officiated the consumption of Substance X, Galba explained the right of imposition to me in greater detail.

“...so the wolf-people won’t be worse off because of it. The right will reset once new leaders are chosen.”

“But the other beast races could theoretically use it to gang up on one race, couldn’t they?”

“Technically, yes, but it requires a majority. In this case, we needed to gather all of the elders and prove them guilty, because criminals lose their voice in the matter.”

“You thought this all through. So when the explosion happened, you tried to use it to rout them out. To wipe Yenice’s slate clean all at once.”

“That’s right. Thank goodness we and the dragonewt guildmasters go back. We only just spoke to them yesterday. This was supposed to go a lot smoother and happen about a month later.”

“Huh. Even you make mistakes.”

He chuckled. “More than you know.”

It was a messy, steamroller of a judgment, brought down by a single fist taking advantage of the situation. But the rioters couldn’t complain. A single mug of Substance X was all that stood between them and freedom. They took it gladly...and then passed out, of course.

37 dragonewts, 217 dog-folk, 163 cat-folk, 211 rabbit-folk, and 349 tiger-folk was the substance casualty count. Only a handful of fox-folk were convicted and none of the bird-folk. Several wolf-folk also drank Substance X, while the ones who had attacked the Healer’s Guild (including Orga) were made slaves for their crimes. The dog-, cat-, rabbit-, and tiger-people representatives, along with their subordinates, were to relinquish their positions and be similarly enslaved, to be transferred to Grandol, the Land of Labyrinths. My morbid guess was that they would be used as meatshields for the dungeons.

Representative Jhak and his office hadn’t participated in the riots and had even tried to stop their people from joining them, yet still, it wasn’t enough. They too were made criminal slaves and left in Goldhus’s custody.

“You’re sure about this?” I asked Orga. All he’d been was a man with good intentions and a genuine love for his country.

“Of course not,” he replied. “But I have to become a slave. It would set a bad example if I didn’t own up to my mistakes.”

He must have resented himself after the incident with Shahza, for not stopping him when he’d had the chance.

“But what about Sheila?”

“I’ve made arrangements with Galba and Gulgar. It hurts. It does. But it’s what I have to do to make amends.”

He downed his mug and promptly passed out.

I looked at him and muttered, “It hurts me too. Seeing people I know suffer these consequences.”

“It always does.” Galba patted my shoulder. “But there’s a difference between kindness and indulgence, and it’s up to leaders to understand that and shoulder the burden. That goes for you too, Luciel.”

Then he shouted instructions to the adventurers and left with the criminals for the nearest slaver.

Yenice was starting to change.

New representatives were chosen from a variety of candidates, both self-nominated and put forth by others, and subsequently elected. The new council members swore under contract to lead honestly and hold themselves to the same laws they protected. Their two-year terms would begin once the procedures for taking over office were settled. Bryan was among these new representatives.

The officials had plans for preventing another political disaster from happening in the future. Checks and balances were to be put in place, and there were even plans to invite the exiled beast races back to the country and build a whole new place for them. Personally, I was far more interested in all that than the trouble on my side of the fence.

＊

Eight months into my term, the school I had envisioned from day one was finally about to see fruition. Dhoran huffed as he erected a memorial at the entrance, commemorating its opening. Pola assisted nearby.

“Hardening... Done,” she said.

And the construction was complete.

“Great work! All of you!” I raised my fist in the air. “The school is hereby finished!”

A cheer broke out not only from the dwarves but from the people who’d been eagerly awaiting this day for so long. The street was filled with excitement.

The days that followed “the incident” had been anything but easygoing. For one, our honey-making pros beneath the guildhall had been outed to the whole city, and its people were clamoring over Yenice’s new source of revenue. But a statement from the vespians’ leader hushed them right up.

“We are making honey for our savior, Sir Luciel,” Honeur had told them. “Our contract places us under his employ—no one else’s. If anyone expects us to be providing for Yenice, we will take our business elsewhere.”

“Nooo!” Bryan cried, exploding into his enlarged state. “Anyone who wants to give the vespians trouble has gotta go through me! Come on, I’ll take on every last one of you!”

With the bird-folk’s backing as well, everyone’s hopes were shot down pretty quick. The fox-people were rather reluctant, but resigned themselves to finding new sources of income on their own.

The road here hadn’t been simple, but although somewhat delayed, the school was done at last. Parents wasted no time submitting requests to have their children attend, and the first class was looking to already exceed three hundred students. But considering how few people had been aware of its existence at Galba’s speech, we could probably expect that to swell to sixteen hundred before long. The plan was to start with a curriculum of general education, and those who passed could move on to specialized areas of their choosing from there. Two days per lesson, the third day off, then another two days in a new subject. Hopefully that way we could accommodate everyone’s styles and speeds of learning.

I had been thinking that reading, writing, and arithmetic would be a good place to start. We could begin with teaching them how to write their names, then the names of their families, then common words, until everyone could write their own letters. For arithmetic, the four basic operations would be plenty.

From there, we could have lessons in medicine from the Doctor’s Guild or healing magic from the Healer’s Guild for students with holy magic affinities, which Jord had graciously agreed to supervise. I had considered teaching other affinities for combat purposes, but that was a wide field that I felt unprepared to handle. The sky was the limit in terms of what could be taught as long as Yenice continued to seek out new possibilities. There could even be combat lessons or recreational activities outside the classroom, but I figured I’d leave that to the headmistress to decide.

“Now there’re just the students and their interviews to finish,” I said. “I have full confidence you’ll do great, Headmistress Nalia.”

“Thank you, Mister Luciel.”

I smiled. “Let’s nix the ‘mister.’ You’re not a slave anymore.”

“I believe it was you who relieved me of that duty and bequeathed me with one that I’m wholly undeserving of.”

“That’s not true. No one else is as smart and gifted at teaching as you are. You’re perfect for the job.”

“Well, that’s just absurd.”

“Seriously, don’t be so humble. And Jord can use Dispel now, so when the slaves you were instructing are fit enough for the job, you can speak with him and hire them if they don’t end up working at the guild.”

“Understood.”

“Good luck, Headmistress. Yenice’s educators and pupils are in your hands.”

“Sir Lionel entrusted me with safeguarding your legacy, Mister Luciel. So that is what I’ll do.”

“Thank you.”

One month prior, I had summoned Nalia to the guildmaster’s office. Lionel and Ketty were with me.

“Nalia, I’m freeing you from enslavement.”

“What’s the meaning of this?” she asked.

I ignored her and continued. “I’ve heard tales of a general of the empire. An Illumasian without peer on the battlefield, who they call the Lion of War...otherwise known as Lionel Grust Elphens. One day, at a camp away from the battlefield, he was betrayed, poisoned, and crippled—the tendons in his legs severed—when a cat-woman named Kettia, more widely known as the Nightgleam, appeared just in time to save him. But the emperor considered the two guilty of treason, so they were punished accordingly.”

I paused for a moment and then went on. “This was only a pretense, though. An excuse to deal with a nosy general who’d been investigating human experiments taking place in the empire as well as rumors of the presence of demons. And meanwhile, while Lionel and Kettia had been made slaves for their crimes, there was a woman named Lunalia. Lunalia had been in the service of the Elphens house for years, and when she attempted to buy the two back, the slaver tricked her. Suddenly, she found herself in chains, in the same Yenice-bound carriage as the people she’d tried to save.”

Nalia looked at Lionel, then Ketty, and nodded silently.

“But what I want is you, the Nalia I know, to be the school’s headmistress,” I said. “I want you to teach people like you taught the slaves we took in.”

“Lunalia served the Elphens house well,” Lionel said gently. “But her time is over. Nalia’s duty is to educate and to nurture. Do so, so that I might journey in peace, knowing that what Luciel has built is safe with you.”

“Leave the boys to me,” Ketty added. “I’ll cover for ya.”

Nalia was quiet for a moment. “It seems the decision’s already been made.”

“The plots don’t stop with the emperor. Heaven knows how much of the imperial court could be implicated. Perhaps even the chancellor,” Lionel said. “The threat of demons is imminent, and who can say how much of the spirit’s portents are trickery. Should the worst come, we would feel assured knowing there are allies here.”

Oh. Right. I’d forgotten about that whole spirit prophecy whatever. And hold up, what was that about demons? With the empire? Uh-huh, noted. Stay away from Illumasia. Will do.

“I understand.” Nalia gazed into his eyes. “All I ask in return is that you come back to me safely.”

Lionel gazed back. “I will.”

Forbidden love. How moving. The emotion welling up between the two was palpable.

“Yeah, sorry to ruin the mood, but we’re still gonna be here for, like, several more months,” I interrupted.

The two of them stared at me blankly for a moment, then laughed awkwardly. It didn’t do much to hide their embarrassment.

The next day, I nullified Nalia’s slave pact in front of everyone, then she signed her contract, which officially made her headmistress.

“With this, Nalia is the first to take the step beyond slavery,” I declared. “She’ll be heading the school as her own woman. There will be more of these to come as I distribute jobs, and you’re free to speak to me directly any time you’d like to be freed on your own terms.”

As I ascended the stairs, I heard Nalia’s old students congratulate her. I looked back and saw their smiling faces.

“It’s been a whole month,” I muttered. “Looks like she’s found a new purpose.”

With Nalia at the school’s helm, everything else was starting to take shape. The vespians were producing honey at their usual rate, but at a premium quality that would sell to our new buyer for a hefty price. The ursans’ hard work in the fields was bearing fruit in the clothing and cloth they weaved from the cotton they harvested, with many prospective clients on the horizon according to Forence.

Speaking of which, he’d apparently gone nuts when he had seen the vespians during the riot just minutes before our arrival, and that was what had landed him in slavery. I felt bad for the guy, though, so I’d ended up buying him. He was way too shrewd of a merchant to ever get into any bad business, so I felt comfortable trusting him with managerial responsibilities. Currently, he was putting his all into his work for his wife with such passion that he refused when I said I would free him once he found a successor to take his place. So I ended up flat out ordering him to find one and set his pact to expire in ten years, to renew again if he didn’t have a substitute by then. And then he groveled on the ground. Why? I wish I knew.

As for Orga, Galba wound up buying him as well as taking in Sheila, to the ex-representative’s tearful gratitude, and Gulgar took Walabis. The first two were supposedly busy investigating a few things, while Gulgar had already left for Merratoni, with a bit of pep in his step, I might add. He had much Substance X research to conduct with his new tanukin assistant, who left with decidedly little pep in his step on account of being unconscious.

I’d only heard things here and there about the elders’ executions, but they were slowly being carried out. The remains were being taken care of by their respective races. Galba never let me anywhere near them.

“Your job is to heal,” he’d said. “It’s not something you should see. But I hope you’ll still pray for their happiness in the next life. Assuming there is one.”

Kefin had taken my place in the proceedings, on Galba’s instruction, so if nothing else, I was at least certain that things were moving along.

“There’s just the central healing office in the medical district, passing on the plans to attract adventurers to the new representatives, and my job’s finally over,” I said to myself. “One last push. We can do this.”

Memories raced through my mind—reminders that complacency would only end up burning me.

Back when only a few days had passed since the arson in the medical district, the beastfolk were getting busy. Everyone knew what had happened, and they’d all wanted to see the district reach completion. Some time after construction of the schoolhouse resumed, Yenitians from all over the city had started volunteering to help clear the rubble.

The people had been given a lot to think about after the day of the incident. Specifically, how they could do their part to make Yenice a better place. And this was their answer. Thanks to them, by the time the school was finished, the ashes and debris had been cleared. The council was quick to request my assistance once again, with a new, generous budget from their freshly filled coffers.

Reconstruction of the medical district began immediately after the school’s completion. With Dhoran at the helm, Verdel’s team took the lead in helping to teach Dolstar’s halflings, as well as many other beastfolk, about the process. Contracts were made with everyone involved, and several measures were taken to prevent a repeat of last time, but they all shared the same goal. The halflings worked as equals.

Meanwhile, after many trips to and from the forest and the quieted labyrinth for resources, the preparations for the school’s opening were continuing.

“I’ve got plenty of spare parchment, but I’m glad you two finished in time,” I said.

“Your ideas were incredible.”

“Inspired!”

The rival artificer duo, Pola and Lycian, had successfully crafted the magic sheets and pens.

“You can write and rewrite as many times as you want with these,” Pola remarked. “Perfect for learning.”

“When literacy improves, we’ll have a brand new generation of poetry admirers,” Lycian added. “And dishonest merchants will find far fewer victims as understanding of mathematics grows.”

“I can only hope so,” I said. The two were practically inseparable, and they made a good pair. Living proof that birds of a feather do indeed flock together. “That about wraps up the work I need from you two. Now, we should talk about your intentions moving forward.”

“I’m with grandpa.”

“And I go where my rival goes,” the elf stated. “However, I’m not at all opposed if you care to hire my services as a researcher. Similar to what you did for Nalia.”

She’d been harping on that for a good while now.

“Talk with Dhoran about it. He’s handling the hiring of specialists,” I replied. “If he says no, I’d like to have you oversee the fields, which you’d be compensated for, of course. And I wouldn’t mind you pursuing magical research on the side.”

“I see you can’t be swayed.”

But my obstinacy came out on top yet again. “You can’t bear the responsibility for others’ lives when you don’t even have your own together, so I’m leaving the detailed stuff to people more qualified than me. I trust Dhoran fully to handle it.”

“Trust?” Pola echoed.

“You both were a real headache at first, I’ll admit,” I laughed, reminiscing. “But your skills were never in question, and you’ve really gotten much more organized lately. So I can trust you guys with more responsibility now.” Pola looked away, also remembering her past antics. “Anyway, for the time being, I want you to help Nalia and Dhoran with anything they need. After that, make a list of what you want to make, and I’ll go through and approve stuff.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll excuse ourselves.”

The two happily trotted off.

“Which one of us is the stubborn one again?” I muttered with a dry smile.

That night, I called Dhoran to the guildmaster’s office.

“You asked for me?”

“Yes. Please, take a seat.”

He plopped down in the chair across from me, and our discussion began.

“How are things progressing with the central healing office in the medical district?”

“Just needa hammer it out with Jord ’n Smick and stock the place up with facilities and whatnot.”

“That’s good to hear. Once that’s finished, my term here will be up. What are your plans after that?”

“Follow you, o’ course. What else?”

There wasn’t a shred of doubt in his eyes, which took me by surprise.

“You don’t want to go back home? Where other artisans like you are?”

He grunted. “Ya mean where I blew my forge to high heaven and they made me a debt slave? Ain’t got no home to go back to.”

“Really? I was actually hoping you might set up shop there and be my personal smith, but if you say so.” The dwarf bit his lip. “How would that sound? Being free? Being an S-rank healer’s research and development lead?”

Finally, he croaked, “Pretty damn spectacular.”

“Then do we have a deal? We might stop by Merratoni first, though.”

“Deal.”

“Appreciated. I’ll free you and Pola whenever you like. Just say the word.”

“Let’s save that for when we’re home, if ya don’t mind.”

“All right. Until then.”

“Until then.”

Dhoran left the room.

“He sure puts up a front,” I said to myself. “The graves of his family are there. He could stand to speak his mind more.”

His son and daughter-in-law had left for the mine one day but never returned. Rumors had spread that an explosion might have sealed their fate, and while rescue efforts had continued with little success, Dhoran and his granddaughter had been left alone.

I’d learned all this from my correspondence with Grand, the master blacksmith. Once he had heard about Dhoran’s presence, he had supposedly spruced up the dwarf’s forge all new, just for him. He and others had apparently tried to look for Dhoran and Pola after hearing about the accident but could never find him.

“Only Kefin left.”

I crossed my arms and thought as I returned to my private room. After some magic circle practice, I hit the hay.

I had already freed Milphene from slavehood some time earlier, and she was currently working in the honey business. She’d seemed oddly restless ever since Nalia’s promotion to headmistress until one day, when I called her to my office, she spilled everything to me, including her mission regarding a certain Spiritsworn. The guilt had been too much for her to handle the secrecy.

“You treated me no differently despite how I wronged you,” she’d said. “I simply couldn’t keep it to myself any longer.”

I didn’t fully believe everything she had told me, but she was a hard worker and put her spirit magic to good use on the fields’ plants. Plus, she got on well with the vespians, so I let her stay.

I remembered how she’d cried from sheer joy. “Thank you. The great spirit asked me to find its chosen mystic, but I could surely never see it through.”

She wasn’t a fighter and had taken very well to the honey farm and its delicious samples.

For Creia’s part, her admiration for Nalia had driven her to try her hand at teaching. Nalia acknowledged her talents, and the decision was made. I freed her and replaced her slave pact with an employment contract. And another thing: it turned out that Creia was a strong admirer of Lord Reinstar and extremely skilled in archery and dual-wielding (when she wasn’t completely flustered). From personal experience, I could say with confidence that she was stronger than me. My sore body from all her whoopings could attest to that. The fact that my stats were technically higher didn’t mean squat.

That had been all the convincing I had needed to hire her. She’d helped me to understand what Brod had always taught me: that I had let a few level-ups trick me into thinking I was strong. I took on some extra training on the side after that. And I genuinely hoped she and Milphene found happiness in this city.

The next day, I met with Kefin. All of his men were staying in Yenice, except their leader, and remaining slaves, every last one.

“I’m going with you, sir. But my boys stay here.”

“I think you’d find a better life if you joined them.”

“Yeah, maybe. Things are changing around here. But my loyalty’s with you.”

His mind was made up.

“But what will they do without their leader?”

“That’s why I’m leaving them here. To protect your fields and school. And let’s face it, we’re criminals. You can’t free us without losing face.”

I couldn’t argue. I’d found myself with a lot of slaves over the last year.

“You know staying with me’s not going to be easy, right?”

“I know. So in five—no, ten years, when you’ve worked us to the bone, then you can free us. It’s what we want.”

They’d clearly put more thought into this than I had. As always. Yet again, I found myself acting naive, so I agreed to his proposal. But they wanted me to remain their owner, since I had such good rapport with the adventurers and they wouldn’t give them trouble. I later confirmed this with Goldhus, and I was right at the top of the top of their list of VIPs. So by extension, my slaves would be protected as well.

The Healer’s Guild and Doctor’s Guild collaboration project was complete. On the first floor of the office were the joint reception and healing rooms, the second floor was a library, and the third floor was the mess hall. From that floor up, only authorized personnel were allowed. Floor four consisted of the men’s living quarters, with the women’s housing on floor five. A workshop for synthesizing made up the basement, complete with actual ventilation this time. When they made me the official first director (for a whole single day), I learned for the first time that Jord evidently wasn’t a fan of the spotlight either.

I couldn’t believe how much time had flown. Here I was, finally at the opening ceremony of Yenice’s first school session.

“My name is Luciel, S-rank healer. On this fine, gorgeous day, I’m pleased to announce the start of Yenice’s new academy. As its founder, I’d like to express my profound gratitude to everyone who made this a reality, and my heartfelt congratulations to its first students on their admission.”

I took a breath and went on. “It was discrimination that gave me the idea for this venture. The prejudices against halflings and between the other races. You see, we are not all born equal. But we are all born with the right to an education—to learn and expand our horizons—to become inventors, doctors, merchants, whatever we want to be. And that is an opportunity I hope to extend with the founding of this school. The things that will be learned in these halls will become Yenice’s future. That is my hope, and I have confidence it will come true. I’ve seen your willingness to better your home in your assistance with clearing the old medical district.”

“I’ve been in Yenice for about a year now,” I went on, “and to be honest, my memories of the city aren’t good. I was assaulted on my first day here, our first healing demonstration was met with obstruction, I found myself delving into a labyrinth, and the obstacles didn’t end when I joined the council. There were hurdles and corruption at every turn. And then there were the riots. But all the same, I truly hope this project brings joy. I genuinely believe this will be my first good memory of the city. Congratulations again to Yenice’s first class.”

That night, Nalia gave me an earful of leg-numbing proportions. That is, I sat on my heels for so long that I could no longer feel them by the end of the lecture. But we don’t need to talk about that.

I rode atop Forêt Noire the following morning, the sun still well below the horizon. Lionel straddled his steed to my side, and Kefin manned the carriage carrying Ketty, Dhoran, Pola, and Lycian. Together, we departed the City of Freedom, bound for the dwarves’ hometown.