The Armorer Ch 54. The Wager (Patreon)

“W-why did you free m-me?” The maid whispered as she looked around Saccy’s quirkily-decorated interior filled with nets, tools and colorful hanging crystals.

“Because I need more friends,” I smiled softly.

“F-friends?” The girl blinked, hazel eyes staring at me.

“Friends,” I nodded, pointing my fingers at the Vow floating above her. “Ones not bound by Astral-Ocean abominations.”

“You can see the Vows, then?” She uttered with a shudder. “Y-you’re just like the B-baroness….”

“No,” I said. “I’m not like your Baroness.”

“You’re not going to put a new Vow on me?” Voltara gulped.

She expected me to bind her into servitude.

“No,” I shook my head. “Firstly, the Baroness would see a new Vow on you and secondly I’m against binding people’s souls with such monstrous means.”

“So you’re…”

“Working for the Constabulary,” I said. “I’m an Agent and I’m investigating the Baroness.”

Voltara’s eyes darted to my gemstone mane.

“Yes,” I nodded. “I look like a dungeon monster.”

“I… see,” the maid’s eyes dropped down to the floor. “How may I be of use to you, Mistress?”

“I’ll see if the Constabulary can employ you as well,” I said. “You know this Estate well?”

“I grew up here,” the maid nodded. “My parents sold me to the Baroness when I was seven. I spent nearly a decade serving the Estate. Have you really killed my Vow?”

“Do you feel like obeying my every order no matter how ridiculous?” I raised an eyebrow.

“No,” the maid shook her head.

“Well then, there you go,” I twirled my knife. "Your Vow's toast."

“I’ve never heard of anyone killing a Vow,” the maid whispered, shaking her head. “Such a thing is supposed to be impossible.”

“I can kill anything,” I smiled.

The lace-covered servant gulped, moving away from me.

“Relax Voltara,” Dawn spoke from my dress. “We do work for the Constabulary.”

Voltara’s eyes darted to the talking dress.

“That’s my depictomancy-made partner. Her name’s Dawn,” I introduced the painted girl.

“A living painting?” the maid exhaled, coming closer to observe Dawn. “She’s… beautiful… like a ghost… woven from liquid starlight.”

“Yep,” I smiled. “She’s a cutie. Now, do you think I should free Arouetta from her Vow too?”

“It… might be unwise,” Voltara shook her head. “She is a firm believer in Saint Eunisii. I know that she prays to the goddess quite often.”

“And you?” I asked.

“My Angel and I had… disagreements,” Voltara sighed. “She often took over my body, hurt me when I disobeyed.”

"So you're happy to be free?"

"Yes, Mistress," the maid bowed. "I am happy to assist you."

"When I'm in this body, you can call me Juni," I said.

"You have… more than one body?" The maid blinked.

"Yep," I pointed at the black-haired girl sleeping in a hammock. "This is Grogtilda. She's my human body."

"W-what are you?" Voltara asked.

"I'm a nice girl who's lost everything. Someone who is trying to find herself a new home and new friends," I said softly.

"I.. I see," the maid blinked. "The Baroness won't notice that my Vow is… dead?"

"Nah," I shook my head. "I only murdered your Vow's mind. The body is still there, floating above you like a giant jellyfish."

“A jellyfish?” Voltara looked up with a gasp.

“What does it look like to you?” I inquired.

“Like a beautiful… sleeping angel with the face of Baroness Amadea,” the maid replied.

“Uh-huh,” I squinted at the phantom. “Looks like a big jellyfish from my end. Lots of tentacles.”

The maid shuddered.

"Now, will you show me around the Estate?" I asked. "I'd rather it be you than the Baroness' daughter."

"Sure," Voltara nodded.

. . .

Voltara quietly watched me as I reached out for my nightcrawler armor in the bedroom drawer.

“Do you like it?” I asked, showcasing the servant girl the obsidian-black, slightly shimmering insect-hide plate.

“Yes,” the maid nodded.

“I’ve made it from a nightcrawler, a giant black centipede from level three of the Dungeon,” I clarified.

“I had often dreamed what it would be like to be an Adventurer, to leave this place… to dive into the Chasm and to harvest monsters,” she sighed softly, touching the bone-plate.

“I’ll make one for you as well then,” I nodded. "If I can arrange it with the Baroness... I'll take you away from this Estate, show you the world outside of these halls."

“Really? You would free me completely? Make me armor?” the girl blinked. “Why?”

“Designing armors is my passion,” I explained. “I want to earn your friendship and flex my skills.”

“Would you like help putting it on?” She asked as I fiddled with the armor's leather belts.

“Sure,” I nodded. “The back plates are a bit of a pain.”

I noticed that the maid kept glancing at my Dawn dress, her eyes boring into the shining Art Nouveau tree that glittered next to the painted girl.

“Do you want to wear Dawn?” I asked.

“You… would allow me to wear her?” Voltara gasped.

“Totally,” I nodded, looking at her slim, curvy figure. “I plan to make a lot of Dawn dresses, a whole line of them. I think… I found my perfect model for them. I’ll have to adjust her a bit so she fits you better. Don’t worry, it won’t take too long. I’ve got my sewing kit in my bag."

Voltara blushed, looking very happy.

“Can I carry your bag for you?” Voltara asked, when we stepped out of Saccy once again. She was now wearing Dawn and I had my nightcrawler armor on.

“Sure,” I said. “Her name’s Saccy.”

“Saccy?” the maid tilted her head at the bag curiously. “Is she an artifact like Dawn?”

“Nah,” I shook my head. “She’s a Folding Seed. A beastie from the Dungeon.”

Voltara gulped.

“Still want to wear her?” I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t worry, I carved out her allure.”

“Yes,” the maid nodded, looking determined.

“When Amadea assigned you to me, what did she say?” I inquired.

“The Baroness told me and Arouetta to make you as happy as we could, to protect, observe you and to stay by your side at all times,” Voltara said.

“I see,” I mulled.

. . .

In about ten minutes we met the other maid at the end of the hallway.

“Arouetta, you’re dismissed,” I said, tapping her shoulder. “Feel free to return to your job at the Estate or whatever. Your services are not required.”

“Dismissed?” The maid opened her eyes and looked at me with an aghast expression. “Have I displeased you somehow, Mistress?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m not into girls who worship Eunisii.”

“Huh?” the maid blinked, not expecting my statement.

“You see, I know Eunisii personally,” I said. “She’s not a god. She’s my teacher.”

“W-what?!” Arouetta gasped. “You… know the Saint?”

Voltara looked just as shocked.

“She’s not a saint,” I shook my head. “She taught me lots of useful stuff about magic, but she wasn’t nice about it. Whenever I screwed up she hit me. I doubt that such things are written in the book of Eunisii or whatever other nonsense you’ve read.”

“You… you’re messing with me,” Arouetta stepped back. “The Saint is perfect and pure and…”

“Someone I know well,” I said, shaking my head. “Someone with flaws and faults, not a perfect being. Unless you can accept that, you’re dismissed.”

“I… Erhm,” Arouetta fretted.

She looked broken. Her job was to serve and observe me and her belief in Eunisii was interfering with this. I could see an internal battle taking place in her mind between her job and her faith.

See, I didn’t need the knife to cut apart a belief! Wait, could I use the all-ending knife to cut apart a belief in Eunice? Was this possible? No, I couldn’t see nor define a belief, especially since I didn’t believe in Eunisii myself.

“Feel free to ask Baroness Amadea if I know Eunisii,” I winked at the twitching Arouetta as Voltara and I departed.

As we walked down a gothic, insanely detailed, opulent stairwell I curiously looked around. The architecture of Palais De La Solstice was very impressive, a mind-boggling mixture between gothic and art nouveau styles.

“Mi... Juni? Do you really know Saint Eunissi?” Voltara asked.

“Yep,” I nodded.

“That was a bit cruel,” she sighed, looking back at Arouetta.

“Cruel but necessary,” I shrugged. “I have to break someone first to rebuild them anew.”

Dawn sputtered from Voltara’s chest.

I winked at my bestie with a smile. Dawn shook her starlight-wreathed head at me.

We circled around a large, gold statue that looked like a depiction of Baroness Amadea that sat upon a throne made up of naked humans carved from black stone that held up her form. I shook my head at the tacky display of Baronial power as we entered into a new opulent hallway.

The wall in front of us covered in painted flowers suddenly wobbled, warped outwards. I thrust the end-knife into the air in front of me in a defensive position, ready to cut apart any hostile magic. Nothing attacked me, nothing tried to get into my head this time.

A silver-haired, approximately twelve-year-old girl stared at me. Her eyes were of an unnatural shade of silver and her green and the pupils were diamond-shaped like mine. Long, sharp ears peeked from between shimmering, silver curls that looked almost crystalline. Her hair strands cast colorful, rainbow-tinted reflections as the light from the stained glass passed through them. A lace choker covered in diamonds sat upon her neck and a white dress hugged her body, diamonds woven into fanciful lace flowers. She resembled Amadea ever so slightly.

Ah, this was the second daughter of the Baroness!

“Lady Emerald,” Voltara bowed.

Emerald looked at the knife in my hand, then at me and then at the maid. I lowered the knife slightly, evaluating the girl with my cendai-sight. She didn't seem very dangerous in terms of magical resonance.

“Hrrm,” the chimera-human hybrid frowned, her tone somewhat imperious. “You were supposed to wait for me, you know.”

“I got bored,” I shrugged. “Voltara is already showing me around the place. She's lovely and knows...”

“Lovely? She’s just a human who knows nothing of value,” Emerald interrupted me, squinting at the maid and looking annoyed. “An inferior species, made to serve us.”

“I like humans,” I said defensively.

“You’re just like mother then?” The chimera-hybrid glared at me.

“No. I am not like your mother. Consider this - there are only a few thousand of us and millions of humans,” I pointed out.

"So what?"

"Bigger population leads to greater emergence of talent," I said. "Don't undervalue humans."

“Talent? What talent? There are even more bugs in the Dungeon,” Emerald scoffed. “Just because there is a lot of something doesn’t mean that it’s special. If anything, the rarity of something makes it more precious. Humans are many, sure, but they are like common rocks while we are gemstones. How do you not know this simple fact? My sister is at the top of her class, outshining every human mageling at Nemendias! They are inferior in every way to us!”

I tried not to snarl at the little silver-haired princess. My claws itched to smack the little brat. I took control of my chimera instincts.

“Are they really?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Of course they are!” the human-chimera waved her hands.

“Are you not a product of love between a chimera and a human?” I inquired. “How can you look down on humans when you’re half-human yourself?”

“Love?! LOVE?!” Emerald hissed, casting a glare at the gold statue. “Mother doesn’t love anyone! Everyone is just toys, playthings, pets to her! Besides, we can’t all be pureblood chimera like you. Some of us were born to rule humanity!” Her small fist bumped her chest, diamond flowers glittering in the gloomy hallway.

I sighed. This princess had been raised horribly wrong.

Emerald ignored my look of discontent. She offered me her hand, her eyes shining with green auroras from within. “Mother said she bought you a spot at Nemendias. Will you be my Fidus Achates? I originally planned to apply to Nemendias in another year, but I could apply now and get in at the same semester as you. It would be nice to have another chimera as my peer in every class.”

I looked at her skinny, pale hand framed by silver fingernails.

Yes, I could reject this young half-chimera due to her vile views of humanity… but the consequences of such an action would likely make her my mortal enemy in Nemendias. A wealthy, resourceful nemesis that would bother me immensely and likely inject spikes into my wheel of change of the future and projects.

I tried to understand her, tried to place myself into her shoes. The chimera-raised princess placed no value in humans. She wanted a peer, someone that could be her competitor, a study partner, a worthy rival that she could play-fight to sharpen her own skills. 

“Sure,” I smiled, taking her hand into my armored glove. “But, let our friendship be formed around a wager.”

“A wager?” Emerald tilted her head.

“Your sister’s success could have been based on your mother’s wealth,” I elaborated. “My human body is of a lowborn human with no Barony or great wealth to speak of.”

“Oh?” the little hybrid blinked. “Really?”

“Yep,” I nodded. “I am going to Nemendias as a lowborn from Undertown. Once there, I will choose a talented human and I will polish them myself, make them shine brighter than anyone,” I said. “Brighter than your sister. My bet is that I can make my human champion outdo your sister’s top grades.”

“A human… champion to best my sister's success?” the hybrid blinked, squeezing my armored hand.

“That’s right. A human, guided by me towards greatness,” I nodded, squeezing back. “...taught, lead with understanding and friendship. I wish to prove to you that humans have great value in them. That they aren’t all akin to common rocks. That they too can be brilliant, can shine brightly… if we simply cooperate with them, treat them as equals.”

“But…” Emerald frowned.

“Do you accept the terms of our wager or not?” I smirked, replicating her imperious expression. "If I'm wrong, then I will accept your world-view. If you're wrong, then you will discover the value of working with clever humans. Deal?"

“Fine,” Emerald shook my hand. “I accept your wager. Don’t expect me to give up so easily! I plan to beat my sister’s grades myself!”

I shook her hand back with a smile. I had her. The little human-chimera was hooked onto my wheel of change, trapped in the net I laid out of her. Unlike Emerald, I was an adult with a sociology degree, not a teenager without life experience.

Our hands came apart.

Emerald rubbed her elbow, looking a bit shy. “So, want me to show you around?”

“Sure,” I smiled softly. “Show me your Estate.”