Chapter 166 - Civilized (Patreon)

Okay, let's not send mana towards the man. Seeing question marks, he should be in the level range between 150 and 300. Sentient being with high stats and plenty of levels in skills.

Something much more dangerous than a beast with mostly limited intelligence.

While Tess and Hadwin talk to the man, I continue to observe him with my eyes only and also examine the city behind him.

It's beautiful, yet I see no movement down there. Parks are empty, there is no one on the street. No matter how much I look, I don't notice anything. The city seems dead.

I feel the man move and hold myself back from attacking him, even though I collect more mana inside my body.

The man called Edwal appears in front of me, trailed by golden lightning. He moves so quickly it nearly looks like he teleported here. His face is so close I could easily headbutt him.

“I missed your name,” he says as his pale blue eyes stare at me. He is still smiling.

“Nathaniel, it's a pleasure to meet you, the third warrior of the last king, Edwal,”

He laughs a bit, yet his eyes do not move from me. He is not even blinking, and his smile becomes bigger and bigger, “Pleased to meet you, Nathaniel,” a short pause during which I gesture at Tess to not do anything.

I'm sure Edwal noticed it, yet he doesn't do anything.

“I like the look in your eyes, Nathaniel,” he says and finally breaks eye contact, turning to others, talking a bit louder now, “It's been a long time since we've had visitors from behind the wall!” The tone of his voice is happy, “Even though if you got here from this way, it must mean you have killed his majesty's pet animals. Two wolves, deer, boar, and bear.” He pauses and scratches the side of his head.

“I don't remember their names… it's been a long time…” he laughs again, “well, I stopped feeding them a few dozen years ago, so they've probably already died and been taken by Decay.”

He turns to us, his eyes unblinking at all and his smile showing his white teeth, “Well, that's a bit annoying. His majesty really wanted to make Miss Saint happy and even built that garden so a few animals could stay there for her to watch,” another pause and a giggle, “he even sacrificed one of the water sources to water the area and for animals to have something to drink.”

The man is crazy. Totally gone. His eyes keep flicking around; he is smiling way too much, and the tone of his voice indicates he may snap at any time, “Anyhow! Please follow me,” he says with a tone that leaves no doubt that we will do just that.

Then, unlike before, he starts walking along the wall, us trailing behind him silently.

Hmm, I think I can take him on. Should I do just that? It could be dangerous for some others, but with Tess as support, killing the man should be doable enough.

I think it over as we walk behind him along the wall. He is walking slowly, sometimes stopping for a moment, taking in a deep breath, and smiling brightly. Then he continues to walk again.

Let's do it. He is just a shadow. A fake of the person that existed long ago.

“Oh Nathaniel?” The man stops once again and turns to me. His armor shines as if there is a light landing on it even though there is no sun, and the sky is cloudy as always, with not a single piece of blue sky visible.

The man's eyes change, and he looks somehow formidable. The handsome blonde man with piercing eyes. One of the three chosen warriors, protectors of the king and the saint.

“If you decide to attack me, I will ignore you and the girl bearing two javelins,” he takes a step towards me, the smile gone from his face, “I'll focus on that petite brunette you often check on as if she is important to you. The one that bears powers so similar to Miss Saint.”

He pauses once again, moving closer again, “Then I will go after the little girl who has so much hot air around her and who continues to use [Empathy] on me. After that, I will kill the creature that reminds me of the dogs noble ladies used to keep. After the dog, I will tear apart that young black-haired boy who keeps looking at you as if you are his older sibling.”

A hint of a smile appears on his face, “I won't do it with pleasure, obviously. I will do it only if you decide to attack me.”

I don't say anything, and he continues, “It's hard to fight when there are people you need to protect, right? Trust me, I know that very well, too well!” He spreads his hands, and the armor folds around his body, “So let's be civilized, yes? There is no need to fight. You people are my guests until you get an audience with my king.”

I still don't say anything.

“I like the look in your eyes,” he says only that, and then the smile reappears on his face, his eyes becoming less focused, looking at us without blinking.

“Yes, let's be civilized,” I say and follow him, quickly joined by others.

***

Edwal leaves, saying that according to decorum, we will be let in front of the king three days later. Without any worry in the world, he disappears, only giving us a short warning not to leave the inner city. Otherwise, we are free to go wherever we want, with the exception of the tower.

The place where he leaves us is a giant mansion. All the buildings are made from bright white stone with attention to detail, making them beautiful. Even a simple column looks like it took dozens of hours to ornament and polish.

The mansion is surrounded by a giant garden full of trees. There are places to sit, and there's even a small river flowing through it with a few boats nearby.

Inside the building is just as luxurious and well taken care of. Everything seems new; there is no dust anywhere and not a single door creaks.

Yet there are no people.

The grass seems freshly cut to the perfect length, and the flowers are beautiful.

But there isn't a single animal around, not a single insect.

The entire mansion and the city with it are eerily quiet, and there is no wind at all.

“Fuck this place,” Sophie says, and to my surprise, Izzy doesn't even complain about her cursing. She just snuggles closer to her older sister while looking around with big eyes.

She doesn't seem that scared; what Sophie did to her to prevent such overwhelming feelings from affecting the little kid and from causing trauma. Yet she seems nervous, to the point of starting to panic.

The little empath must be feeling fear from everyone around her, the nervousness of her sister as well.

“Izzy,” I say, and her big eyes look up to me. “Focus on my feelings,” I continue.

Right after, I feel her mana desperately reaching up to me, looking for some feeling of safety, and I let it happen. Her eyes widen in surprise when she feels my feelings, and slowly she calms down. More and more, and soon enough, she even smiles at me.

“You good?”

“Yes, I am now!” she says, almost back to the cheerful devious girl that I got used to.

“Good, now then. I will be taking the master's room and taking a long shower. I saw something like that in there,” I say out loud to this bunch of weirdos I ended up with. Just like Izzy, they are nervous.

But what is there to worry about?

The feelings I let little Isabella sense from me were calm and expectation, the feelings I actually feel.

I do not worry.

I'm not scared.

***

The shower was amazing. Feeling hot water on my body, the smell of the soap that is still somehow good, and then the soft towel as I dried my body was something I would exchange a rare piece of equipment for at any time.

After examining the way the water heating works - with the help of a few mana stones, I leave the shower-like room.

The clothes I used to wear, I burn in yellow flames, not caring about the marks the flames leave on the carpet and the wall.

Then I spend half an hour going through the massive amount of clothes in the wardrobe room with a giant mirror.

I end up wearing simple yet expensive-looking black pants. A white shirt with long sleeves that I roll up, and a pair of somewhat comfortable shoes.

There is some stuff that can be either rat poison or hair gel that I take a little bit of and use it to fix my now annoyingly long hair.

I then spend some time examining my image in the mirror.

The face I knew so well now looks different from before, and my figure has slightly changed as well. I also notice that there are fewer imperfections on my body and my eyes seem to have a shine to them, as if showing the inner power of my mana.

And my face… it's expressionless like I’ve gotten used to. The face that for some people seems bored, to others uninterested, to some arrogant.

But I quite like it, it's my face.

Then I send my mana through the mansion and locate the room where most of the people are, and I slowly walk down there while looking around the mansion.

When I notice paintings that show the blonde man who led us here, I burn holes into them or scratch them with my mana.

I enter the room, and the others look up at me.

“Oh, you are finally here. We just…” Hadwin starts, but then he trails off, at a loss for words. His eyes move up and down my body with something that I identify as surprise.

“Wow, Nat, that kind of clothing really fits you!” Kim reacts first with a smile on his face.

Lily is still not here, but everyone else seems to be already after a shower and in new clothes. Tess, Sophie, and Maya are wearing men's clothes as well, as they seem to be apparently easier to move in than dresses. Yet each of them took some effort to make them look a bit more womanly.

The boys and Hadwin went a similar way, and the clothes they are wearing seem comfortable. I even notice a few sets of clothes nearby, ready to be put into the bag and taken away. That's a good idea, I should do it as well.

“Sorry for being late!” Lily says as she opens the door and walks in. “I'm not used to this kind of clothing…” She then cuts off and freezes as her eyes land on me.

Poor Lily, bless her soul, is wearing a full-blown dress. A silly young girl dressed up like she is going to a ball or lunch with a noble. Her dress is simple yet quite pretty. Pale blue and without sleeves, showing her shoulders and her strikingly pale white arm that is similar to mine and that she refuses to fix the color of.

Seeing her so shocked makes me want to tease her, so I just utter, “So pretty,” and then I watch as she lets out a quiet squeak, and her eyes tick around, looking for help.

“Nathaniel, please, don't bully Lily,” I hear Tess sigh behind me. “Also, Lily, come with me. We will get you some more comfortable clothes.”

***

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