[Salvos] 619. Searching... (Patreon)

619. Searching...

***

The news about the Wyvern stalking through the night streets of Mavos Academy spread across the campus like wildfire. Everyone was talking about it. Even the faculty were whispering about it… although they denied such a rumor when asked by any of the students.

It became such a big deal, Headmaster Clayton Skyshredder himself had come out to assuage the fears of the students. He vehemently rejected the idea that there was a Wyvern hiding somewhere in the campus, going around and eating students.

Rachel found it odd. Not the claims of a wandering Wyvern, but the way the Headmaster of Mavos Academy had gone about making that statement. It was almost worded with such specificity to avoid alarming any truth-detection spells of a lie. After all, there were many different rumors going around, and the idea of a Wyvern going around and attacking students was one of the more ridiculous ones.

Most of the rumors were rather mundane in comparison. Some said that there was an [Illusionist] going around and playing pranks on people, while others were saying that a [Beastmaster] had tried to bring a Wyvern back to Mavos Academy to tame it. However, the story which Rachel believed the most was how every night at the stroke of midnight the ghost of a baby Wyvern would appear at the fringes of the Central Square, haunting those who had been responsible for slaughtering its flock.

Rachel didn’t believe in ghosts. Supposedly, they were the evolved versions of a lich— surpassing any corporeal form and fully taking on the body of an unkillable ethereal being. It sounded too ridiculous to be true, and it was a study of necromancy that had long since been debunked as an impossibility. However, the concept of ghosts lived on in the minds of children, passed on by parents trying to scare their sons and daughters into going to sleep at night.

Considering that Rachel’s parents never quite cared for her, she never heard the stories about ghosts until she was older and wiser. And she was very wise right now.

She quickly determined that the true story was not told in these ridiculous rumors, although there had to be some truth in at least a handful of them. There were enough high-leveled [Mages] in Mavos Academy that someone should have detected an illusion spell being cast, so the [Illusionist] stories were probably false. Meanwhile, all the high-leveled [Beastmasters] within the campus had denied the allegations that they were hiding a Wyvern.

So that meant only one thing— there had to have been a baby Wyvern roaming around Mavos Academy unattended. And Rachel had her own theory that she tried not to spread around beyond her close friends.

“It’s Salvos’ children!”

Rachel beamed as she sat down before Valda. The President of the Demon Research Club blinked, looking up from the table.

“Uh, what?”

“You know, the baby Wyvern!”

Rachel explained, waving a hand dismissively. Valda glanced around the room— once again, the club room was mostly empty. The day was ending, and most of their members had gone off to grab dinner. Not that there were very many club members in the first place.

In total, there were a dozen members of the Demon Research Club, and half of them were Valda’s closest friends. The others were interested in learning more about Demons after hearing the rumors about Salvos, and Rachel was pretty sure that the last member was secretly a [Cultist].

His name was Iwan, he had white hair, wore a black hood, had creepy tattoos, and he always kept to himself. He was definitely a [Cultist].

Anyway, only Jonas was present, helping with cleaning the club room. He was one of the seniors— the same guy who invited Rachel to join the club. He was at the back of the room, and he overheard what Rachel said, but he barely seemed to pay attention.

Valda raised a brow, still wearing a quizzical look on her face. Rachel sighed.

“You’ve heard about the rumors, right?”

“The [Illusionist] that’s been running around and pranking other students? I guess I’ve heard about it…”

The President of the Demon Research Club furrowed her brows as she spoke. But her response made Rachel scoff. The Child Wonder rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair.

“It’s not an [Illusionist]! It was a baby Wyvern! And you know what that means?”

Valda hesitated, answering slowly.

“Not… really?”

“It means that it’s Salvos’ children!”

Rachel exclaimed, repeating herself from earlier. She gesticulated wildly as she explained.

“Salvos’ children are here in Mavos Academy! And Headmaster Skyshredder is hiding them!”

Valda just stared blankly back at the young girl.

“Salvos has… children?”

“I told you about this, remember? Salvos has children! Three baby Wyverns! And they’re super cute and super tiny!”

Rachel groaned, palming her forehead. Valda shook her head slowly.

“No. You told me that you were reading a dubious secondhand account by a [Bard] about the life of Salvos in a book published by a shady family notorious for being greedy. I took everything mentioned there as fiction, not fact.”

The President of the Demon Research Club rose to her feet, speaking simply. Rachel crossed her arms and harrumphed.

“Well, I’m telling you it has to be true! How else can you explain all these sightings of baby Wyverns wandering around Central Square at night?”

Valda didn’t even bat an eye before responding.

“...an [Illusionist] thinks it’s funny to go around pranking other students?”

“Ugh!”

Rachel threw her hands in the air, exasperated. She looked at Valda in the eyes and pouted.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Very evidently, I do not.”

Valda replied. Rachel scowled, crossing her arms in defeat.

“I’m telling you it’s true…”

The two girls remained silent for a long moment. Finally, the silence was broken as Jonas strode from the back of the room up to Valda’s side. He met the club president’s gaze, before they nodded at each other.

Rachel looked up at him with a frown.

“You don’t believe me either, do you?”

Jonas chuckled, before scratching the back of his head.

“I won’t comment on the rumors myself as I haven’t really paid much attention to them. But I believe a healthy amount of skepticism is always better than believing everything you hear.”

It was a simple statement. Jonas smiled as he said it, and Rachel looked between him and Valda. The Child Wonder snorted.

—--

“They don’t believe me…”

Rachel strode through Central Square with a scowl on her face. It was now night, and most of the students in Mavos Academy were done with their classes for the day and heading back to bed. So the streets were mostly empty, although the young girl still spotted a handful of people passing by every other minute or so.

She should have gone to bed herself. In fact, her dorm had an instituted lights out time where students could no longer leave their room, so she had to head back soon. However, instead of preparing to sleep, she was out here, wandering the campus, searching for a baby Wyvern.

“I’ll prove it to them.”

Rachel told herself as she clenched a fist. No one believed her when she said that the rumors of the baby Wyverns meant that Salvos’ children were somewhere here in Mavos Academy. In fact, many of them refused to believe that Salvos had any children at all.

But the young girl knew it was true. It had to be true. So she stayed up, stalking through the streets and blending in with the shadows. She didn’t want to get caught wandering around late at night, considering that many people would recognize her due to her size and her reputation.

Unfortunately, even as she waited for the clock to strike midnight, nothing happened. Nothing showed up. There was baby Wyvern. There was no ethereal ghost. There was no illusion. There was no [Beastmaster]. There was nothing.

“This can’t be right…”

Rachel gritted her teeth as she hid in a dark alleyway right by Central Square. It was quieter now than even before. She only spotted a few members of the faculty wandering around, and they seemed to either be drunk or about to pass out from exhaustion.

Her cheeks flushed as she swept her gaze around, seeing no baby Wyvern.

“I’ll wait just a bit longer.”

She steeled herself, trying to remain steadfast. So she waited as the night went on. The stars continued to spin in the night sky, and the moon rose to the top of the dark dome overhead. It was now past midnight.

Again, nothing.

But Rachel refused to give up. She waited, even as Central Square cleared for the night. There were no longer passersby every few minutes. Perhaps there was one or two members of the faculty walking alongside the pavement every half an hour or so. Other than that, it was dead silent.

The young girl could hear her own breathing. The magical lampposts lining the square dimmed. She felt her eyes grow heavy. She wanted to sleep.

However, she shook her head.

“I’m sure the baby Wyverns will show up soon.”

Rachel knew it wasn’t just a rumor. She believed in herself— she knew that the book she read was not a fabrication. Because she knew Salvos.

Everything described in the book matched up perfectly with what Rachel knew about Salvos.

The young girl continued to wait. And the moon began to set. The stars slowly faded away as an orange glow showed itself on the horizon.

“It’s already morning…?”

Rachel blinked, before realizing how dry her eyes were. She rubbed her eyes as she stepped out of the shadows. She spotted a small crowd beginning to gather in the Central Square of Mavos Academy, and she bit her lower lip.

“And no baby Wyverns.”

She whispered softly. The realization hit her like a [Blacksmith]’s hammer. The fact that she got no sleep didn’t bother her in the slightest. It was the fact that she couldn’t find Salvos’ children that upsetted her.

Rachel just stared in a daze at the crowd that was now buzzing through the Central Square. She closed her eyes for a moment.

“I want to meet them, but…”

She thought of Valda’s words. And Rachel gritted her teeth.

“Are they even real?”

The young girl wondered aloud. She looked up towards the Central Square as the sun was now rising from the horizon. She didn’t move for a moment. She just stood there, hoping to get an answer.

And that was when she spotted a blue glow moving through the amber-illuminated pavement of the square.

Rachel’s eyes went wide as she saw Willy flitting out of the Office of the Headmaster. He was floating over the passing students and teachers, heading towards the Tower of Truth. The young girl paused to stare for a moment, remembering what she knew of the [Will O’ Wisp].

“If anyone knows anything about Salvos… it has to be him.”

The Child Wonder nodded to herself as she took a step forward. She was tired— she was incredibly sleepy. But it didn’t matter to her.

She wanted answers, and she resolved herself. Rachel quickly made her way towards the [Will O’ Wisp], deftly sidestepping the crowds. She called out to him as he paused, hearing his name.

“Willy!”

Rachel waved at him, running up to his side. He came to a halt as he turned to face her, replying as curtly as ever.

“Hm?”

His flames blew with the morning breeze, still the cool pale blue they usually were. He took a moment to take in the bag’s under Rache’s eyes, before floating down towards her as she caught her breath.

“What?”

“I have a question!”

Rachel piped up as she straightened to face him. He waited silently, and she took it as an opportunity to speak. Shifting uncomfortably, the young girl asked the question that was bearing down her shoulders.

“Do you, um, know if Salvos has any children?”

And the [Will O’ Wisp] froze.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the late chapters. I've been busy with Dragoncon. I even met fans which is cool. If you wanna meet me in person, I'll probably still be hanging around the Aethon Booth at around 12pm tomorrow (Monday).

What thonk?

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