04 — Shadow

04 — Shadow

We all gathered in the dining hall. In the kitchen was a familiar face: my very first date, Rosa. She was bustling about.

“Good evening, Rosa,” I greeted her.

She looked up, surprised at first, then smiled. “Well, if it isn’t Mister Luciel. I didn’t know you were back.”

“Only for a little while,” I said. “I see it’s as quiet as always around here.”

“I wish we’d see a few more smiling faces, but no one wants to sit down and enjoy their meal these days.”

“Guess that makes me special. I’ll take an extra-large helping as usual, please.”

“Coming right up. Hang tight.”

Rosa disappeared into the kitchen. Then, I heard Catherine’s voice behind me.

“Still friends, hm?”

“Is that so strange?” I asked. “We may have to follow rank and procedure, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re all people who deserve respect. Especially people who work on the service side of things. Plus, it’s just nice to be nice, you know? Whether we’re working or eating, we’re all living, so might as well make it a good time.”

Catherine and Lumina smiled back at me. I looked at my teammates, who were laughing and talking with each other in good spirits. It made me happy.

It was technically the second time we had all been together, counting the matter with Sagius, but I was glad they got along. We hadn’t caught a single whiff of the human supremacists either. Maybe we’d get to relax for once.

I heard the girls mention that they hadn’t gotten many opportunities to chat the last time they had met, so they were going all out now.

“Here you are, dear,” Rosa said, emerging once again. “There’s plenty where that came from if you’re still hungry.”

I thanked her with a smile, took my food, and walked to the table where everyone else sat. Catherine and Lumina sat across from me with the others a small but respectful distance away. The girls unreservedly took up seats around my team despite the beating they had received minutes earlier. Lionel and the others answered their endless questions with hints of exhausted politeness.

“It’s only been a little more than a year, but it feels so nice to be back in the Holy City,” I said.

“I heard you enjoyed a good deal of freedom in Yenice,” Lumina noted. “At least, in regard to your honey exploits.”

I could sense a ravenous hunger for sweets emanating from her. It gave me devious ideas and ample fuel to tease her with, though I had given her quite a bit of honey already. Had it not been enough? I made a mental note to supplement her supplies later.

“To be honest, I only had that freedom because people who were more qualified picked up the slack,” I confessed. “It wasn’t so easy at first.”

“People,” Catherine repeated, looking at my team. “You do have a habit of drawing them to you.”

Lumina looked straight at me and said, “Personally, I think he’s earned their loyalty.”

I fidgeted under her gaze. “Thanks,” I said. “Not to change the subject, but how have things been since the guidelines went into effect? I want to hear your opinions.”

“I don’t leave Headquarters, but according to reports, clinics aren’t happy,” Catherine said. “Mostly healers in Shurule.”

“I see.”

Then the rotten bunch of healers I’d received hadn’t been lying. The farther you went from the Holy City, the more clinics were closing their doors. But healers in other countries didn’t enjoy the special treatment those in Shurule did, and their clinics were supposedly thriving with more patients than ever. The situation here was the result of a system built to allow predators to leech off unearned authority. And I was the one who had finally pulled the plug on it.

When the system came crashing down, droves of corrupt healers no doubt rushed to shut down their businesses before the Knights could come and convict them. That must have been why most of the closures were far from the capital. Man, I probably had a lot of enemies out there.

“Don’t let it get you down,” said Catherine. “I’ve heard talk of a new generation of healers inspired by you. They’ve been training just like you did, all day, every day, until their magic runs completely dry. Our average skill levels are higher than ever.”

“That’s good, at least.”

“We’ve seen our share of hostility towards the guidelines while on our tours,” Lumina remarked, “but they’re old healers set in their ways. We’ve received even more thanks from average citizens, and crime has plummeted in towns with guild branches.”

“Crime?” I asked. “How?” I didn’t recall reforming society.

“When the prices of healing are fair, people can plan for eventualities, and they feel less afraid,” Lumina explained. “Particularly adventurers. Oftentimes, those in their occupation resort to muggings and robbery to earn coin for fear of the danger traditional adventuring brings. When there is less risk, tensions do not run so high. Or so my healer acquaintance tells me.”

“Good.” I exhaled. “It seems like the guidelines are doing better than I thought. I didn’t know what I’d do if things were looking bad. Her Holiness never kept me updated about that, so I’ve been on the edge of my seat this whole time.” I brought a bite of food to my mouth.

“Her Holiness, the archbishops, and I have a clear picture of the situation. Don’t be so anxious,” Catherine said. “You know, another thing I heard was how you were drowning in deskwork back in Yenice. But I see you never slacked on your training.”

“You can never be too prepared,” I stated. “Also, my friends there like their sparring. They’d kill me before they let me skip a day of training.”

Catherine’s face hardened. “About that. I think it’s time you told us exactly how a former Illumasian general ended up joining you. How does the empire’s strongest soldier become a slave?”

Was it just me or was Lionel something of an idol to Catherine? Was it admiration or caution towards an enemy military leader? I thought they had been informed of the situation, but perhaps they were lacking the details. Or perhaps she only asked for the sake of filling in the others with us.

“I’m sure you read the report, but I found them being sold at a slaver’s shop,” I said. “That much is true, as is why I bought them. I just thought they might be of some use if I could heal their injuries. I think I told you all this, right, Lumina?”

“Yes,” she answered. “I told Lady Catherine as well, I believe.”

Had Catherine thought she was mistaken? No, that was impossible. She had surely heard it from Her Holiness too. So was this interrogation just to inform everyone else? There were rumors, after all, and rumors had a tendency to be exaggerated. Whatever Catherine’s opinion of Lionel, it was obvious that she had placed him on a pedestal.

“You two don’t understand,” Catherine murmured. “You never saw him on the battlefield. He earned his title for a reason. He was a hero. Their hero, at least. It would not be hyperbole to say that Illumasia swallowed up its neighboring countries so quickly solely because of the Lion. Do you see what I’m saying, Luciel? Do you understand—really understand—what that means?”

Catherine was certainly our senior on the matter, but I just couldn’t imagine Lionel in the role of hero, although he might have fit the picture of a demon who fed on despair for some. As long as you weren’t the enemy, anyway. I didn’t know what I would do against him in our matches without healing magic.

I’d always known Lionel was a marvel, but hearing a friend speak about his feats, the lion-like ferocity with which he fought, made it feel more real.

“As hard as it might be to believe,” I said, “everyone with me, other than Estia, was enslaved when I found them. Lionel couldn’t even walk. So while I do understand he has a complicated past, right now he’s my most trusted follower.”

“That just makes it even more unbelievable. Lionel? An invalid?”

Her reaction was understandable for someone who had seen him in action before, and you wouldn’t have known it to look at him now. But it seemed that what Catherine was interested in was how he had become a slave, though she likely wouldn’t have been convinced if we simply told her he’d been betrayed. And I wasn’t going to force Lionel to tell her anything.

“What piques my curiosity,” Lumina interjected, “is why you sought to purchase slaves the moment you arrived in Yenice. I thought your Order was sufficient.”

“I remember the report saying it was because the guild was in the slums,” Catherine said. “And you were in danger. Is that right?”

It felt like I was being subjected to a military tribunal. Would it have killed them to talk a little more casually?

“Things were rockier than expected,” I explained. “After one of the representatives tried to take my head off the moment we arrived, I decided we needed more security...which was a wise decision, if I do say so myself.”

“You mean to say the situation devolved quickly,” said Lumina.

“It was only a matter of time, really. I couldn’t have the Order on watch around the clock without overworking them, and I needed a personal bodyguard.”

I was doing a lot of explaining, but better to set the record straight about just how much I had gone through. Especially for anyone who happened to be eavesdropping. Strangely, the looks of the knights and healers who were staring at me felt more pointed than before.

“How did you decide who to choose?” Lumina asked.

I stopped glancing around and returned to the conversation. “I spoke with anyone who didn’t flinch at me and bought the ones who expressed an interest in joining me.”

“I know that much, but how did you gain their trust?” Catherine asked.

“Luckily, I was able to heal them, and once they were in fighting condition again, they agreed to defend me,” I answered.

“Luck,” Catherine echoed. “Yeah, that was some luck, all right.”

Lumina frowned, her expression somewhat pained. “Indeed, slaves are only people. A simple fact, but one easily forgotten.”

“Right,” I agreed. “I didn’t buy them to be slaves but to be my comrades, and I treat them as such.”

According to Lionel, I indulged people rather than treating them as anything in particular, but Catherine and Lumina didn’t need to hear about that.

“So, now that you’ve been out of the country, do you see why Shurule is where all the healers are?” Catherine asked.

“I learned firsthand that Shurulian healers are spoiled, that’s for sure. It really was good luck that Merratoni was the first city I visited and that Lumina was there to meet me. I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if I had started my career in Yenice. Hopefully things there will start cooling down, though, and it’ll become more like Merratoni. It’s nice to see change.”

Lumina hummed and Catherine chuckled.

“About the mock battle tomorrow,” the captain of the guard said, “would your followers be willing to hold one-on-one duels?”

I didn’t like this swift and sudden turn our conversation had taken. Was she testing our capabilities? Certainly a solid judgment, given her position.

“Lionel, Ketty, Kefin, are you up for it?” I asked.

“If you wish it, sir,” Lionel said. “Personally, I would relish a prelude to my rematch with the Whirlwind.”

None of the others protested either. Ketty and Kefin simply nodded, and it was decided, but not before I noticed a twinkle in Catherine’s and Lumina’s eyes. Our victory today had lit a fire in them, so it seemed we’d be staying at the Church for a few more days.

Dhoran and the other crafters abstained from the fighting, instead choosing to conduct some market research—a prospect that sounded very appealing to me over the alternative. They weren’t slaves anymore, so as long as they were willing to continue making useful things for us, I was happy.

“Oh,” I said, “I mentioned this in the letter I gave to Granhart, but on the way from the Kingdom of Dwarves, we heard reports of a band of healers who forced magic on some townsfolk, then stole their horses.”

“Luciel,” Catherine sighed, “you tell me this now?”

“Er, I thought it was Granhart’s field,” I said. “And you kind of made a dramatic entrance, so I sort of just went with the flow.”

“Oh, Luciel,” she sighed again. “Somehow, I’m glad that you’re still such a ditz. The knights are currently cracking down on corrupt healers. Progress is slow but moving.”

“I had no idea. In that case, I’ll detail it in another report and send it to you.”

“Please do.”

“Speaking of criminals,” Lumina said, “I had something I wanted to talk to you about regarding the bandits you ran into.”

She was probably referring to Sagius, albeit in a roundabout way. I told her I would stop by her quarters after delivering the report to Catherine.

“We don’t have a new room prepared for you yet,” said Catherine. “Should I send someone to handle that?”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “We’ll only be here for a few days at most, so my old quarters will work fine.”

“I thought you’d say that.”

I laughed. She certainly got me. I wouldn’t know what to do with some great big room, and she knew that darn well.

Some time later, we finished dinner. I returned to my quarters, and Lionel and the others retired to theirs. My room was exactly as I’d left it, which in itself was a pretty bold and thoughtful gesture. I had to learn how to pull off that kind of courtesy myself. Not that it would amount to much in this case, since I wouldn’t be using my room for much at all.

I set to work on my report for Catherine, including details about the changes caused by the guidelines that I noted, and went to deliver it. After hammering out some details regarding the mock battles for the following day, I left her room and started heading towards Lumina’s.

Upon entering, I took note of how little it had changed, mostly on account of how little there was to change. It was very simple, or more politely, very functional. What little furniture there was seemed to have been crafted with extreme care. I had failed to notice it during my first visit—I had been too nervous—and I silently chuckled at my past self.

Lumina poured us some tea, and we sipped it together.

“So,” I began, “by ‘bandits’ I assume you mean Sagius’s men?”

“Correct.”

“Could this be about the charity restaurant in the slums I heard the Valkyries funded?”

“You know about that?” she asked.

“The guard at the gate told me. I have absolutely no problem with it, of course. I left them in your hands, after all.”

The one thing I was worried about was that Lumina would be the one to assume responsibility if anything happened.

“Thank you,” she said.

“But I do want to ask, if you don’t mind, why you took such an interest in Sagius and his men.”

“He’s...” Lumina thought for a moment. “I am part of the reason Sagius fell to brigandage. I’d like to leave it at that.”

There was something sad in her expression that kept me from pressing her further. “I understand. Thank you for telling me,” I said. “Now, surely you have no problem with me paying them a visit sometime?”

“Of course not.”

For the first time, I felt like I had caught a glimpse of Lumina’s past, and what I saw wasn’t the strong woman she was now. She wasn’t always this way. She had grown into it.

I thanked her for the tea and excused myself. It had gotten awfully late, and I was getting antsy, but as I started to head towards the Labyrinth of Trials to clear my thoughts, I remembered that I hadn’t taken Forêt Noire out of the hermit key. I wanted to have Yanbath look after her and the other horses while we were here, so I took a detour to the Valkyries’ training grounds.

Digging through my memories, I walked through the labyrinthian halls. As I came up to the paladins’ field, I spied Estia. What was she doing here?

Actually, this could have been my chance to confirm what Her Holiness had told me. I desperately didn’t want answers to many of my questions, but at some point I would need them, so I tailed her.

She never went to the Valkyries’ grounds, but rather entered the stables through the official entrance that I never even knew existed.

“What’s she doing there?” I muttered. “Is she looking for Forêt?”

I had seen her having what looked like conversations with the horse before, but Forêt, of course, was still in the hermit key.

I followed her. Thinking positively, she was just a horse girl, but knowing the truth about her relationship with the Spirit of Dusk made me suspicious.

I opened the door and squinted through the darkness. The magic lanterns provided minimal yet serviceable lighting. Pacing forward, I found Estia peeking into each of the stalls, presumably looking for a horse, if not Forêt specifically. Yanbath and the other stablehands were nowhere to be seen.

Questions flitted through my mind; then, Estia sagged her shoulders and let out a disappointed breath before turning back my way. I threw myself into the nearest open stall I could find.

Wait, why was I hiding?

Estia left the stables before I could answer that most recent puzzle. I took a quick look around the building before going after her and found all the horses in a deep sleep.

“Did Estia do this? With the Spirit of Dusk’s power, maybe,” I mused. “Well, at least they look relaxed.”

What reason could she have for putting a bunch of horses to sleep? Then, I found Yanbath and two stablehands unconscious.

“Was this Estia too?”

I cast Recover and nudged Yanbath awake.

“Wha...” he yawned. “Oh. Well, hello there, Luciel.”

“Good evening, Yanbath. Napping on the job?”

“Napping?” he asked. “Me?”

“Still half-asleep?”

“Shoot! Boys! Wake up, boys!” Yanbath shook the stablehands awake and went to check on the horses.

Had Estia put them to sleep or was it the spirit? I had to investigate further, find out if she was acting intentionally or not, and report to the pope. Her Holiness hadn’t mentioned anything about Lihzalea even though I had spoken about her via arclink crystal, so I had to make sure to bring her up next time.

The worries occupying my mind sapped any motivation I had to visit the labyrinth, so I said goodbye to Yanbath and returned to my room. What awaited me at my door made me stop in my tracks.

“Estia?”

“Oh, Mister Luciel,” she said.

“Good evening,” I replied. “Can I help you?”

She seemed to think something over, then said, “I have a favor to ask. I want to see the horse again.”

“You mean Forêt Noire, I assume.”

“Yes. The black steed you ride.” She bowed her head.

“A proper reason might convince me,” I said.

She stuttered for a moment. Whatever it was, she clearly didn’t trust me enough to say, but I stood my ground.

“I’ll be clear. I don’t fully trust you right now.”

Her head jerked up, genuine shock on her face. If it was an act, it was either a damn good one or I was a bad judge of character. Hopefully the former.

“I’d be glad to explain why,” I went on, “but it would be more accurate to say it’s the Spirit of Dusk I don’t trust, not you specifically.” Fear joined the surprise in her expression. I ignored it. “There’s something I never told you about. You see, in the Kingdom of Dwarves, we met a girl. A girl who claimed to wield the Spirit of Dusk’s power.”

“What?” she finally said.

“She could manipulate people’s memories and completely hide her presence. She seemed to excel in covert operations.”

“Manipulate memories? But that’s...” Her reaction was all the proof I needed to know that she shared the same ability.

“The truth is, I heard a little about why the pope endorses you. And a little about your past. It matched this other girl’s story to an unsettling degree.”

“How is that...” She hesitated.

“I also saw you at the stables earlier,” I continued. “Whatever you gave Yanbath and the horses was pretty strong stuff. So you see why I’m a little torn over what to make of you.”

Whether or not the spirit was helping Estia in some way, if it was using her with malicious intentions, something had to be done. Whether Estia was complicit in that would drastically change the measures that needed to be taken as well. And the only one who could do anything was the one person she couldn’t affect: me.

In either case, she was the Order of Healing’s responsibility. I readied myself to deliver my judgment when an uncharacteristic sigh from Estia stopped me in my tracks.

“Listen, Luciel,” something using her voice said. “That is your name, isn’t it? What will it take for you to let me see my sister? My blessing?”

“What?” I blurted. “Who are you?! You’re not Estia!”

“Need I spell it out? I never have trusted you humans, but here I am. I want to see my sister. You control the means to make that possible, so I’m speaking to you through Estia.” The entity added an edge to Estia’s voice that had never been there before.

“I, uh, wasn’t aware spirits could possess people’s bodies,” I said. “Is that safe? For Estia, I mean.”

“You worry for her. You are not as stupid as you look.” A second voice overlapped Estia’s and she began to speak with an ominous echo. “I am quite fond of Estia. I would not put her in harm’s way.”

“What are you after?” I asked. “Who is your sister? And to what end, exactly, are you using your powers in this way?”

“You ask too many questions,” the two voices said at once. “Estia is in no danger. She is shy, so I placed the men on the way to the stables into a slumber. No one was hurt.”

“This might come as a surprise to you spirits, but we mortals call knocking people out a crime. You really don’t see how that could potentially be bad for her?”

“Yes, yes, you’ve made your point. I apologize. I only want to see my sister.” The spirit inside Estia lowered her head.

Witnessing such a proud entity humble itself took me aback for a moment. But it was overshadowed by my disbelief at who the spirit claimed was her sister.

“Let me get this straight,” I said. “Your sister is Forêt Noire?”

“Yes,” the voices replied. “I implore you.”

I free cast Sanctuary Circle, Dispel, and Recover on Estia in quick succession. Just in case.

The spirit cracked a smug grin. “Testing me for evil? You are a cautious one.”

“Hm,” I said. “Nope, doesn’t work.”

“People are quick to correlate darkness with the wicked, but alas, I am not.”

“So it would seem.”

“May I see my sister now?”

“This is probably pointless, but can you swear not to cause any harm to Forêt?” I asked.

“You think I would do such a thing to my own kin?” she replied with a hint of human-like offense. “I swear.”

I took her word, took out the hermit key, and opened the door right in the middle of the hallway.

“You’ll have to settle for this. If she doesn’t want to come out, then—” Before I could finish my thought, Forêt barreled out of the door and into Estia. “Whoa, girl! Easy! Don’t take it out on her body.”

I rubbed and patted her neck until she settled down. Estia groaned in her usual voice, but it was unclear if she was back in control. If she wasn’t, Forêt would probably get upset again, so I continued to soothe her as I cast Heal on Estia.

She shook her head as if refusing to switch back. She looked exhausted. A black aura glowed around her body, followed by a white aura around Forêt, and the two went still. Staring at one another. I could only assume it was some kind of communication.

Forêt had never reacted so violently to Estia in the past. Maybe she had been throwing a tantrum over her supposed sister outing her identity. With no other options, I simply watched the lights in silence until the glowing auras faded back into their bodies.

“Thank you,” said the spirit inside Estia. “Take care of Estia, and when my powers have returned, I may offer their aid.”

“Wait, I need to hear about Lihzalea!” I exclaimed.

“I’ve never given my blessing to such a girl. It’s likely she was a victim of cruel experimentation. Offering her any salvation will be difficult.”

She left no room for argument, and a moment later, Estia collapsed into me like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Forêt trotted back into the hermit key’s stable.

“Can I just have one break?” I groaned.

I pulled Estia up onto my back, many expletives regarding the current situation running through my head. There were a lot of suspicious things going on, and I remembered it was Granhart’s job to look into such matters, so I decided to bring her to his office. But when I got there he was busy, so I grudgingly asked where her quarters were and trudged to her room.

Once Estia was in bed, I recalled the spirit saying it had put everyone on the way to the stables to sleep. I followed the route myself and found no less than twenty Church members conked out on the floor. After waking them up, I went back to my room, locked away the day’s events deep in the back of my brain, and passed out the moment my head hit the angel’s pillow.

＊

Catherine was not afforded a restful slumber. The Church’s strongest, the Valkyries, had lost to Luciel. That wasn’t to say the healer wasn’t formidable in his own right—he certainly led a respectable team consisting of some of the world’s strongest fighters—but she could make excuses all day. They had lost, even with a great advantage in numbers.

The Knights of Shurule were weak. That was the lesson their captain had learned that day. That was why she had challenged the healer to a duel. She had to gauge his skill herself, accurately, and the result had given her the same answer: the Knights of Shurule were weak.

They had to be stronger. Catherine hoped the next mock battle would be the first step towards that goal.

“It’s not levels or stats that Luciel has over them,” she muttered to herself. “It’s experience. They have to see that with this match. They have to.”

The Knights were lacking something, and Catherine spent much of the night worrying herself mad over the solution.