Arc#4 Chapter 65: Setting Out Once Again (Patreon)

A few weeks passed after the mildly successful first step of Reivan's siege of Mira's favor.

As previously agreed upon, they went to the store secretly owned by his people and he helped Mira negotiate for more of the books that were supposed to just serve as an aesthetic display. The store unfortunately couldn't sell her as many as she wanted because there might be complications with Arkhan's tax laws. They weren't a bookstore, after all, but a carriage rental and touring service. But the store did agree to let her borrow them for a few days, making it very clear that it was only because Reivan negotiated vehemently for the right.

The store employees caught on fast. This was but one of the things they did to help him with his endeavor of gaining Mira's favor.

Reivan understandably obtained Mira's gratitude, and she was a lot more amiable in agreeing to his invitations — of which he'd extended quite a lot despite the strain it caused his finances. That said, she was still quite adamant about keeping their growing connection a secret. Finding nothing wrong with that, he'd acquiesced.

And just like that, time passed peacefully. Reivan and the others learned spells in their free time, often with Mira's very helpful input. The others, like Reivan, were starting to realize that their captain wasn't just a lazy bum — she was a lazy bum who could sometimes be useful. Aldimir, as usual, chased skirts. Kantor kind of did his own thing, earnestly trying to be the best version of himself. Alini, for her part, was steadily coming out of her shell as she got used to interacting with everyone. Inaria still maintained the no-bullshit attitude they'd come to know her for, which was quite a ways from how Reivan knew her to be in private. And Mira floated around and did whatever she wanted, as usual, though with the added caveat of going out with Reivan from time to time.

As they improved their skills and got along with each other, all of their spirit beasts eventually woke up from their spirit dew-infused power naps. It happened at various times, with Aldimir and Kantor's spirit beasts waking up before the others, but for Reivan, it happened just as he was going to bed.

'What the...'

Reivan froze in place, barely stopping himself from swallowing a mouthful of cleansing solution that was basically this world's version of mouthwash. His brows shot up as he gazed at the purple orb he'd placed on his bedside table. He rushed to the attached bathroom in his room and spat out the mouthwash before hastily wiping his mouth and returning to his bed — only to discover that the beast inside had already come out and was proudly sitting on his pillow.

"Sen. You're awake." He smiled and walked up to the diminutive white panther before picking it up and placing it somewhere else on the bed that normally wasn't in contact with his face. "Don't rub your butt on my pillow. We talked about this."

'Well, I talked about it, mainly. Because you can't talk. But you get the idea.'

Sen snorted and hopped off the bed, strutting around in a circle before sitting in front of him, her chest puffed out. Without saying a single thing, she managed to boast. And if that wasn't enough, she sent all sorts of little signals through their shared connection, conveying how much she'd grown stronger. There was a part there that roughly meant something along the lines of "You should be glad we can't fight because I'd smash you to bits!" that he opted to ignore because of just how incredibly untrue it was.

That said, she did have cause for celebration, given how she'd just gone from roughly 30 Might to 160, even going as far as unlocking her qi — though that was apparently an automatic thing for spirit beasts, unlike humans who actually have to work for it.

'Huh. They said the first dose would be particularly more effective than subsequent ones, but wow.'

Sen had drunk three vials of the stuff, but even then, it had taken her a mere three weeks to raise her physical prowess by about 130 Might.

"I'm glad to have you back, buddy." Reivan smiled and reached down, patting Sen on the head. His hand grew more enthusiastic when he saw that she actually seemed to like it. "Want more?"

Without missing a heartbeat, Sen delivered a stream of affirmation through their connection, jumping onto his lap and meowing in excitement.

"Cute," he couldn't help but say out loud before schooling his expression and clearing his throat. "Well, Sen, if you want more of the stuff, you'll eventually have to form a permanent bond with me, you know? We only have a year otherwise. And you're going to spend most of that time digesting the dew, fast asleep. Then we'll have to complete missions before getting more dew, which might take weeks or months depending on what the missions entail."

She growled in annoyance but deflated in acceptance of the fact. Reivan was then treated to the rare sight of a feline creature looking conflicted. It was strange how evocative her bestial face could be at times.

“Eh. Well, don’t feel pressured to do it now. We still have time. Think about it.”

Reivan rubbed her head the same way he used to do so with his lovely hounds before laying down on the bed and curling up in preparation for his regular trip to the land of dreams. But when he felt a small feline form squeeze its way into his arms, he smiled and embraced Sen, letting a yawn escape his lips.

Soon, his consciousness faded and his gentle breath filled the room.

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The next morning, Reivan discovered that his spirit beast wasn’t the only one to have woken up, as the rest of his squad’s spirit companions finished digesting the spirit dew too. It was obvious, because all of them were gathered in the common room, talking about one thing or the other while their spirit beasts played around. The big ones were in their energy-saving forms, thankfully, so they didn't damage furniture with every other movement. Most noticeable were Mr. Kip and Inaria's lion, who was named Johny — which was probably because the name Reivan used to interact with her was John Doe, for lack of creativity.

Really, he still cursed himself out for feeling particularly lazy about thinking up another name for yet another one of his secret identities. Where was the random name generator when he really needed it? Oh, the things he would do to have access to the internet again.

“Morning, everyone,” Reivan lazily greeted as he stepped off the teleportation platform in what had now become his after-training attire. The baggy clothing he now called his training attire was in the space within his belt buckle, absolutely soaked with sweat from his morning routine.

“Good morning.” Kantor greeted him with a wave from where he was seated, a grimoire on his lap. On his shoulder was a tiny bird. His gaze then went to the ting white panther trailing along behind Reivan. “Oh, your spirit beast woke up too? Great. That's all of us now, I believe.”

“Happened last night, for me.” Reivan nodded, accidentally catching Mira’s gaze. He smiled and winked at her. “Good morning, captain.”

Mira’s shoulders jumped before she hastily checked if anyone had noticed. With a subtle sigh after realizing that nobody did, she glared at him for a moment before crossing her arms. “Good morning, vice minion.”

“Like I said, don’t call me that. It makes me sound lower than Aldim.”

“What…” Aldimir looked up from the grimoire he’d been studying after Kantor and Alini bugged him into learning more spells. “I was just minding my own business over here!”

“Sorry.” Reivan unapologetically apologized, making sure to grin just in case his lack of remorse wasn’t clear enough.

"Fuck you, Clover."

"Yeah, yeah. You too. We still up for drinks later though, right?"

Aldimir nodded. "Of course. I even convinced Kantor to come!"

Reivan glanced at Kantor and smiled when their shortest friend nodded with a hint of shyness. "Looking forward to it. Anyway, I’m gonna go rest for a bit. Everything hurts and I'm in pain.”

“Wait a minute,” Mira called him back, rising from her own seat. “The elders need to be informed that our spirit beasts are all awake. That way, we can be assigned a new mission.”

“Okay. Good luck with that, captain.”

“You’re obviously coming with me, vice-captain. You need to know how it’s done. Your salary's higher for a reason, y'know?”

Reivan groaned, his fingers unconsciously scratching the back of his head. “Fine. Just let me put on something more decent.”

Mira raised a brow and looked him up and down. “You look fine. Let’s go.”

“Are you blind? Do you not see the absence of a robe on my body?”

“Fine. Just hurry up.”

“I left my robes in my room, just give me a minute.” Reivan gestured to her own clothes. “Or rather, you should wear your robe too.”

Mira snorted and snapped her fingers, a robe appearing on her body. “There. See? Hurry up.”

“I’m going, I’m going…”

Reivan turned around and rolled his eyes before briskly walking into his room and hastily taking one of the two official robes he’d been bestowed.

He should technically keep it in his Tower-issued belt buckle, but the space inside was extremely small. There wasn’t a lot of room left for unofficial equipment. That was why he had made it a habit to leave some unessential stuff behind so he had available space. Just in case he had to take something with him that was far too cumbersome to carry around — like his sweaty clothes right after working out.

Lately, it had come to contain books he was bringing over and returning to the store with a serpent-inspired name just like every branch company Ouroboros secretly owned. It was a theme, at this point, to name things that way. And really, they’d have to stop one day. Reivan liked it though. It was cool. Courtesy of Zouros, snakes had climbed very high on his list of favorite animals. Dogs were still there at the top, but still, he now liked snakes very much. Hence, the serpentine theme they were going for with all these company names pleased him.

One of these days, he’d name one after a dog.

“There we go…” Reivan smoothed over his thick robes one last time before stepping outside, only to find Mira impatiently waiting by the platform with her arms crossed. “Sorry for the wait.”

“Hurry up.” She frowned before stepping onto the platform itself.

“Yeah, yeah…”

Reivan climbed onto the platform too, and just before they teleported, he caught Aldimir’s gaze. The other man was looking at him with schadenfreude, probably wondering what he’d done to put their usually lax captain in such a bad mood.

With a shrug, Reivan and Mira vanished from the room in a flash of light.

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The moment his vision returned, Reivan found himself in the middle of a large open hall, with various doors arrayed around them. It looked roughly like a ballroom, with sparse furniture scattered here and there for people to sit and converse, though nobody was doing so at the moment.

He did notice plenty of people coming in and out of the rooms placed all around them.

“C’mon, follow me.” Mira took his hand and pulled him off the platform. “Also, didn’t I tell you we have to keep things a secret?”

Reivan chuckled and let himself get dragged. “I knew nobody was looking when I did it.”

“Still…”

“Besides, we’re just going on dates from time to time. It’s not like we’re together, no? We’re not even sure if something will come of it. There’s nothing bad about what we’re doing, so why even hide?”

Mira frowned, letting go of him. “Maybe you’re right.”

Sensing her annoyance, Reivan shrugged as he fell into step beside her. He decided to employ one of the age-old tactics of mankind when they accidentally said stupid shit to womankind: changing the subject.

“Anyway, what do we do here, exactly?”

Mira didn’t answer for a few moments, but she must have realized that she couldn’t not tell him. It was a work question, after all, and she would be extremely unprofessional if she left him unanswered for personal reasons. “This is a multi-purpose floor, filled with meeting rooms. Officers can give mission reports here, receive missions, and be briefed on them too.”

“Interesting.”

“Well, that’s what I was told, anyway. This is the first year I’ve had access to the place. I wasn’t an officer last year.”

“Gee.” He tapped his cheek and feigned confusion. “I wonder why that is? Ah—Wait, it was a joke!”

Mira pinched his arm even though she normally wouldn’t have been offended by that, given her general understanding of her own shortcomings. The sadistic satisfaction of seeing him in pain must have gotten rid of any remnant annoyance from earlier, because her frown was replaced by a playful smirk. “Anyway, now that you know where it is, I’m going to delegate tasks that have anything to do with this place to you. Be thankful.”

“Why the hell should I be thankful…?” Reivan grimaced, rubbing where she’d pinched him. “Also, you can’t just do that. The captain should be present for this sort of thing. Also, it’s unfair. An abuse of authority, even.”

“If you don’t, I’ll never go out with you ever again.”

Reivan glanced at the testily impish grin on her face and realized she wasn’t all that serious about the threat. As such, he decided not to treat it too seriously either. “Honestly’, it’s your loss. I'm, like, the catch of a century.”

“Wow. Look at this guy. I wish I had your confidence.”

“This was really nice, Clover,” Reivan said in a somewhat raspy attempt at imitating her beautiful voice, his hands clasped together as he blinked deliberately. “I wouldn’t mind doing this again, Clover. I love you, let’s be together forever.”

“Okay, I did not say that last part.” Mira lightly punched him in the arm and broke into a fit of giggles. “And is that supposed to be me? There’s no way I sound like that.”

“I am understandably inexperienced in the art of sounding like a woman. After all, I’ve only ever been a man. One can even say that I specialize in being a man, seeing as I’ve been one my whole life.”

Reivan decided not to think about that one time when he tried being a woman though. For science and discovery, of course.

“Pff.” Mira stifled a laugh, nodding in mock seriousness. “I see. Alright, I find your reasoning acceptable.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

“Very good, minion. For your sharp wit and colossal confidence, I now promote you to the position of Lesser Footrest. Be thankful and work hard.”

“I don’t want to be the Lesser Footrest. Can’t you at least remove the Lesser part…?”

Mira shook her head with a serious expression. “You aren’t experienced enough for that position.”

“I see. I have a long way to go, then.” Reivan struggled to stifle a grin. “Lesser Footrest, huh…?”

Some people with certain fetishes would have been killed for the position, given how pretty Mira was and how presumably nice her feet would be. Sadly, he had more normal tastes, and hence, couldn’t be too happy about his new position.

‘Wait a minute….’

“So since I’m now the Lesser Footrest… doesn’t that mean I’m not the vice-captain anymore?”

Mira groaned, realizing that he had a point. “You’re right. I guess I’ll have to rescind the promotion, vice-captain. Sorry.”

“I’m sure I’ll get over it.” Reivan shrugged before gesturing at the doors around them. “Oh, right. Can we just go in any of these?”

“That’s right.”

They eventually stopped right in front of a room and Mira boldly opened it before stepping inside. As he followed her, Reivan noticed that some of the nearby doors had glowing metal plates hanging on them, while theirs did not.

‘Glowing ones must be occupied, I guess?’

Closing the door behind him, Reivan looked around and noted that the room looked just like how he would have imagined a principal’s office in a magic school would look like. There was a desk with an old man behind it at the far end of the room, bookshelves covering the walls, and strange baubles here and there.

“Good morning. Please. Take a seat.” The old man gestured at the seats in front of his desk, a kind smile on his face. “May I have your squad number?”

Mira nodded and plopped down on a seat before answering. “Year one’s squad one, Elder. I’m the captain and this is my second.”

“Good day, Elder…” Reivan also sat down as he glanced at the bronze nameplate on the desk. “...Damos. I am our squad’s vice-captain.”

“Ah, trainees. I knew you looked young.” Elder Damos nodded with a chuckle, standing up to take a file from out of nowhere. “And no need to be too nervous. I’m just a bronze cloak. Same as you. Albeit with a few more decades under my belt. Now, I'm assuming you have something to report.”

“Yes.” Mira nodded, glancing at Reivan before continuing in what must have been her attempt at sounding serious and captainly. “As of this morning, all of our squad’s spirit beasts have awoken.”

“Ah, splendid,” Damos remarked as he read what was probably their squad’s profile. “No complications, yes? You’re all ready for your next assignment?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Very good, very good. Now, let’s see…”

The elderly sorcerer took out another, much thicker, sheaf of papers and flipped through it while occasionally sparing a glance at the first set of documents from time to time, as if confirming something. All the while, Mira and Reivan simply waited.

“I suppose this should do. The others would be too easy…” Damos picked one sheet and stowed away the rest before fixing them with his gaze. “Your squad is to head to the village of Florris, near a town called Varros.”

He took out a roll of parchment and unfurled it, showing a map of the republic and pointing at a spot on its western reaches. It was very close to Clover’s hometown, Reivan noted. Which would have been bad, so he was thankful they weren’t being sent there.

Damos continued after they both had a good look. “We received a request for deployment from the government yesterday, and given how powerful your spirit beasts have become, this mission shouldn’t be too hard of a challenge.”

According to the briefing that followed, the local wildlife, otherwise referred to as monsters, were building their nests a little too close to populated areas. This wasn’t so strange, and as far as the Tower and the village itself were concerned, it was simply time to once again teach the monsters why there weren’t already nests there before they came along.

Elder Damos also assured them that the forest wasn’t that dangerous, and the monsters themselves were left alone precisely because they weren’t much of a concern. Actually, the monsters were beneficial, in a way. As long as they didn’t build their nests too close to civilization, that is.

As such, their mission wasn’t to exterminate the monsters. It was simply to drive those monsters away from the village and then destroy the nests built a little too close for comfort.

The mission was estimated to last for a whopping two months, to Reivan and Mira’s shared dismay — though they naturally did not voice it out loud. Apparently, the reason why it would last so long wasn’t because of the job’s difficulty, but rather, because their squad had to stay nearby to make sure the monsters didn’t just rebuild on the same spot.

“Don’t worry, two months is the maximum.” Damos must have noticed their inner feelings because he chuckled. “By my personal experience, a month will do. Maybe just two weeks if you’re lucky.”

“That’s a relief.” Mira let a sigh escape her lips.

“Just remember to scry the area regularly. Once the wildlife gives up on the village’s surroundings, they’ll build their nest elsewhere instead. That would mean you’re free to go. Do keep in mind that there will be sanctions if it is later discovered that you did things sloppily. Make sure that the beasts are truly settled far away before leaving.”

Reivan nodded. “We’ll be careful, Elder.”

“Good lad.” Damos smiled in approval. “Then you have your mission. We expect you to depart within two days. You will not have a supervisor or any senior battlemages to shadow, so do take care of yourselves. Be vigilant.”

The elderly sorcerer gave them a few more pieces of advice before sending them off with what was their mission budget, an advance of two months' worth of wages in case they really got stuck there for two months, and the approval to use certain pieces of equipment.

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“Well, there you have it.” Reivan clapped his hands together after briefing the rest of their squad in Mira’s stead. “Make sure to pack plenty of clothes… Though I suppose we’ll be wearing our combat gear for the most part.”

“A focus on sundries for personal care, then,” Kantor suggested. “Villages aren’t known for their abundance of amenities.”

Aldimir raised his hand. “Do they have toilets out there? You know, ones that disintegrate my crap for me.”

“Aren’t you underestimating villages too much?” Inaria crossed her legs and looked at Reivan. “Well? Do they have toilets there?”

Reivan shrugged. “Hell if I know.”

“Huh?” Kantor tilted his head. “I could’ve sworn you were from the countryside, Clover. I think you mentioned it one time?”

“Clover came from a town near Sayal,” Alini eagerly answered in his stead. “He wouldn’t know about village life.”

‘Hm. Come to think of it, nobody here would know.’

Aldimir wasn’t anyone important in the Adamantes clan, but he must have still lived a good life in one of the republic’s cities. Alini apparently came from a good family too. Kantor was born and raised in Vel Ayala. Inaria and Mira had apparently shared a portion of their childhood in the countryside, but at the same time, one was a prominent politician’s daughter while the other was the spoiled little princess of a restaurant successful enough to establish a branch in Vel Ayala — they lived in mansions or large manors on the countryside, basically.

Clover wouldn’t have known either, even if he was here. While he may have been born in the countryside, he wasn't that far. As for Reivan, he obviously never felt the need to know about the tiny little settlements dotting the republic’s lands, unmarked in most maps. There was mostly nothing to gain from interacting with such small communities from the standpoint of a foreign royal like himself.

Most of the Magitechnocratic Republic of Arkhan’s advancements were most prevalent in their cities, while the towns, like the one Clover and Mira had grown up in, were developing settlements that were aiming to reach the same level of development as cities.

Villages, on the other hand, weren’t even trying to catch up.

Still, they were part of the republic. They voted, they paid taxes, and they occasionally birthed a mage talented enough to be accepted into the Tower. As such, the government and the Tower couldn’t utterly ignore them. Apparently, a lot of battlemages even retire to villages to enjoy the peace and quiet they offer.

Reivan, despite himself, was a bit excited at the notion of visiting one. Aizen no longer had villages in the traditional sense, as most land was already occupied. It was to the point they were resorting to the creation of underground cities just so they could keep on supporting their growing population. And because of the First King’s antics, there were all sorts of stuff integrated into the culture that absolutely ruined the medieval aesthetic.

Of course, he loved the kingdom. But he’d always been a bit disappointed at being denied a medieval environment after getting reincarnated.

Arkhan wasn’t any better, with its magitech and the influence of Aizen in its history. But the villages, from his experience of visiting one a few months ago, were underdeveloped to the extent that they should be properly medieval.

And Reivan found himself looking forward to the experience of living in one.

‘It’s probably going to be extremely inconvenient though.’

He held no delusional grandeur for the medieval lifestyle. In fact, despite his disappointment, Reivan was very glad to have grown up in a country of swords and knights influenced by knowledge from modern Earth.

After all, he'd read all sorts of web novels. Some of them depicted medieval life very realistically and he was very glad he’d never have to live in a country where people didn’t wash their hands regularly or threw the contents of their chamber pots on the streets. Bread was soft and delicious, people weren't overly superstitious, and criminals weren't left hanging from a noose in the town square for weeks.

For all the inconveniences he anticipated, he was still looking forward to it.

His main reason was something else, however — the mission would give him a chance to get away from the Tower, keeping him safe in the unlikely event that his brother decides to light the proverbial powder keg of war without warning him first.

‘Eh. He probably won’t. Not yet, at least.’

First off, they still had to try to get Argonia to join in. And secondly, the Star of Fortune probably hadn't been informed about anything yet, given how their businesses in Vel Ayala still ran as they normally would. He'd taken Mira out a lot these past few weeks, so he managed to check.

Still, the clash with the Sage King wasn’t a question, it was already a certainty. As such, Reivan appreciated any excuse to be as far away from the Tower as possible. Ironically, it was one of the most dangerous places in the continent at the moment, because at any point, a bunch of Transcendents were going to be fighting nearby. And really, who the hell would want to be around that? He did not have the same mentality as the random cultivators in the peanut galleries that appeared whenever the main character of Xianxia stories had a fight in public. Watching god-like entities fight was interesting, but more than likely, you wouldn't even comprehend what was happening. Then before you knew it, you were dead.

Ascendants fighting was bad enough. Reivan could only imagine the cataclysmic destruction that Transcendents could wreak.