I thought I had signed the death warrant when I asked Captain Rayden about her execution of Morton, not that I felt bad about his death, on the contrary, I was glad. It just seemed strange to me that she didn’t let him surrender, that she didn’t want to interrogate him.
Under her disapproving look, I waited anxiously for her answer, afraid I won’t like it.
After a moment, she snorted and looked in disbelief at the other city guards, “Traina’s tits, didn’t I teach you anything?! He was a mind mage, for f*** sake. Do you think they grow on trees? Morton was no master, but neither some rogue mage. For a mind mage to reach his level, he needs training, needs guidance from a more experienced mind mage. Otherwise, he would destroy his own mind before reaching the level he had. I don’t know what relationship they have with each other, whether it’s his teacher or master, but what I do know is that these people don’t want anyone to talk about their secrets, not excluding their “students”. I have no idea if Morton knew, but he had these “mind mines” in his mind that went off the moment he decided to surrender. At that instant, his mind began to crumble, I felt it!”
She frowned, pointing at me, “Before you say anything, you know very well that I can touch the minds of others, calm them. The same skill allows me to know the state of the other’s mind. So when I say we wouldn’t learn anything from him, I f****** mean it. I just spared him the suffering!”
Lord Egerton sighed, “It would make it a lot easier if we could question him, but my father told me the same thing about mind mages. He managed to capture several of them, but each time he forced them to tell him something, their minds collapsed before they said another word.”
“The late Lord Egerton was a great man, a great general,” the Captain remarked nostalgically.
The Baron smiled, “Yes, father was a great man.”
Lord Egerton simply ignored the fact that Captain Rayden did not intend to praise his father, but the man she knew. Knowing that she had served in the army, I deduced it must have been the general under whose command she was and perhaps the reason she was in Castiana.
“I wish the bastards wouldn’t have killed him,” Lord Egerton added, to which she nodded quietly.
Wondering if this was one of the reasons she hated mind mages so much, I began to see the Captain in a different light. She seemed a little arrogant to me, but it could only be my feeling. She had a good reason for what she did, no matter how disgusting it seemed to me. Although I disagreed with the use of collars, I could not deny their benefits at the time.
Morton’s capture was also not a cold-blooded execution of a man who surrendered as I thought. If it was true what she said, she spared him a terrible fate.
The Baron looked at me, gesturing I could leave, “That will be all for now, miss Grey.”
I began to panic again, I still had many questions, but most of all I had no idea how to say goodbye to Lord Egerton. So, in the end, I chose a mere bow without words, turned on my heel, and left the room through the door Travis had opened for me, almost tripping over my own feet, which were stiff from standing for nearly two hours.
But before he could close them, swordmaster Blaine appeared in the hallway,
“Grey, wait!” he called to me.
Not wanting to upset him, I stopped and turned to face him. Actually, I faced his chest and had to look up to see his face.
Thinking how f****** tall he was, I asked, “Yes?”
“Rayden wants to talk to you, but it will take a while,” he said, pointing to the room behind him. “Don’t leave the barracks until then!”
“Okay,” I said, taken aback. “Couldn’t Travis tell me that?”
“I have a slightly more personal thing to tell you,” he touched the back of his head nervously. “Do you remember that assassin from last night?”
My heart skipped a beat at the mention of this woman. With my voice stuck in my throat, I just nodded silently.
“Her name is Roe Blackthorn, we…I didn’t catch her. We chased her out of the city, but we lost her in Graal Forest. I thought you should know after what she did to you.”
“What?!!” I growled at him, realizing that my fangs were back.
Before I could react, the swordmaster grabbed me by the throat and slammed me against the wall. I howled in agony, which paralyzed my body.
As fast as he grabbed me, his grip on my neck loosened. I looked at the swordmaster, who was as confused by his own actions as I was by mine. But I had an excuse, it was only a few hours I learned to control [Beast]. As it turned out, it required more training, but I would think that a man of his level would have more control of his actions.
He put me down, let go of my neck, and took a step back. Taking a deep breath, I suppressed [Beast] while I kept my eyes on the man.
“Are you okay?” he asked me, obviously thinking about what just happened.
With my perception, I quickly checked my body, finding that nothing was broken. By the time I finished, the pain was almost gone. When I thought about it, he didn’t slam me into the wall so hard, probably realizing at the last moment what he was doing.
Wary of him, I nodded, “I am.”
“I’m ashamed. The moment you growled at me, I reacted instinctively. In the past, I had some…brushes with death,” he explained, pointing to the scars on his face.” It hasn’t happened to me in years. You really are a beast hybrid, and you have to have powerful beasts in you.”
I smiled sadly, “Yeah, Dungreen spared no expense.”
Swordmaster just raises an eyebrow in question.
“I know the essences he used on me belonged to powerful beasts, but I have no idea which one,” I explained with a sigh.
He nodded thoughtfully, “I see, yet, at that moment, I felt like I was standing in the presence of a two hundred fifty level beast.”
“But my level is only ninety-two,” I objected.
Swordmaster shrugged, “That’s what I felt.”
“Could it be my skill?” I asked after a moment’s hesitation.
“You mean [Beast], I know the skill,” he told me. Before I could ask how he knew I had the skill, he shook his head, “[Beast] has those who have a beast in them.”
“Like me,” I said.
To my surprise, the swordmaster shook his head, “People don’t have to go through experiments like you to get [Beast]. Everyone has a beast in them. You just have to free it, embrace it.”
I couldn’t help but notice that his words didn’t differ much from the description of the skill, which made me wonder if he had the skill himself.
“I don’t have it,” he replied before I could ask. “But I know a few people who had or have it, and none of them have been able to evoke in me the feeling you did.”
“So what’s wrong with me?” I thought.
“Nothing, you got the skill another way and be glad for it,” he said simply.
I looked at him cautiously, “Why?”
“The few I met weren’t sane, most of the time. They embraced the beast,” he said and added for clarification, “They went feral!”
“Aha!!” I nodded, understanding what he was telling me. I was lucky in that regard, but I wasn’t sure if going through hell was worth it.
But one thing still bothered me, “But why is it so strong?”
The swordmaster shrugged, “You’re asking the wrong guy, but if I have to guess, it’s because the beasts that are part of you are so powerful.”
I thought about it, and I had to admit that what he was saying made sense, but at the same time, I wondered why the mutations didn’t make me physically stronger, why they only strengthened my presence. Remembering Denholm’s last moments, as I unintentionally returned his roar, I realized that I had probably misinterpreted his last words. He didn’t just react to my growling but rather to my presence. I must have looked like a level 250 beast to him.
I could be wrong, the guards and the Captain did not reacted to my roar.
“If you learn to control it, it can be useful,” the swordmaster commented. “Some beasts at lower levels freeze in fear in the presence of a strong beast, others run away – some attack immediately?”
“How do I know which will do what?” I asked, excited by the discovery.
He smiled, “The hard way.”
“Aha” I sighed, a little disappointed, but the thought of intimidating some monsters in this way was strangely pleasing.
“But you should learn to control [Beast] very quickly. Some people, it doesn’t matter if it is the city guards, imperial soldiers, adventurers, or deekers, can react just like me. Before you know it, you’ll have a sword in your guts,” he warned me.
I swallowed, realizing that this skill had both advantages that could save my life and disadvantages that could deprive me of it. Not that I die from the pierced belly. I had a knife in my heart, for f*** sake. It’s painful, uncomfortable, terrifying, but I didn’t even lose consciousness when it happened.
But the thought brought me back to why the swordmaster approached me in the first place. Roe Blackthorn.
“How much should I be afraid that the assassin will return to Castiana?” I asked him.
He grinned, “Slim.”
“But it’s possible!” I said.
“I can’t deny it. She’s good,” he said. “But she would have to slip through the guards, through enchantments. She would risk a lot just to get to you. After all, there is a warrant in all Sahal on her with a pretty fat reward.”
My racing heart calmed down a bit, the swordmaster was right. However, I couldn’t help but think about how her whole gang got to Castiana despite being wanted. It forced me to question the security of the city and the capabilities of the city guards. Besides, I heard in the morning that the enchantments were in poor condition.
“I don’t know the price on your head, though. It could be enough motivation for her,” added the swordmaster.
At this point, I had no idea if he was trying to help me or cause me a heart attack. First, he tells me how unlikely it is that the assassin would get into the city then that she has enough motivation to try it. I really wanted to punch him but didn’t do it, afraid of his reaction.
“Well, it was an interesting meeting, little beast.” The swordmaster smiled. “But I said and did more than I intended.”
Ignoring the name he called me, I wondered whether to thank him for his advice or be upset about his inability to catch the assassin woman.
“Thanks for the information!” I said after I figured he didn’t have to tell me about Roe Blackthorn’s escape, he felt responsible for it and saw it as his failure.
He made a strange hand gesture by his face and turned on his heel. Not sure if it was a salute or just an attempt to say goodbye, I watched him return to the room.
The thought of the assassin weighed heavily on my mind, but so did the upcoming meeting with Captain Rayden. After that meeting with the city lord, I thought I got it over with. I should have assumed it wouldn’t be so easy to get out of their clutches.
I had to admit it, I was afraid to meet her.
Despite the many questions I had, meeting her alone, there was nothing I was looking forward to. In addition, I had no idea where she wanted to meet me? The swordmaster forgot to give me any instructions in this regard.
At first, I thought of her office. On second thought, I was pretty sure it exploded last night, and I had no idea where she had her new office, or if she had one at all.
Having no idea when she wanted to meet me, I decided to leave it to her to find me, or one of the guards, just like in the morning.
I didn’t want to wait for her in the hallway in this dark and cold hallway, and the infirmary full of moaning people was the last place I wanted to be right now. So I decided to find a place in the barracks where I could relax.
My first stop was the canteen, though. There I finally watered my dry throat and grabbed some snacks. Free food was one of the few benefits of my stay in the barracks, and I had to take advantage of it as long as I had access to it.
I myself was surprised at how quickly I starved after a double portion of breakfast. However, it was a sign that my body was regenerating, and I verified this with my perception. The wound on my lower back quickly healed, growing new skin and wing joints.
My second stop after the canteen was the courtyard. It took me a while to find my way to it, but when I went out, the warm rays of the sun flooded my face, lifting my spirits. It was a balm to my soul. I found a sunny spot unaffected by the night attack, a place where I did not obstruct the guards clearing the buildings’ ruins in the courtyard and seeing no bench sat down on the gravel, leaning against the building’s wall behind me.
The view of the courtyard reminded me of my visits to castles and chateaux on Earth open to tourists. Those were good times, I sighed.
As I sat there, admiring the sight of sweaty muscular men … and women clearing the rubble of buildings, I forgot for a moment my worries. I was just enjoying the view.
Later, when I was led to Captain Rayden, I didn’t feel so nervous after my little rest but somewhat reconciled with what was to happen. I was determined to endure the meeting just as I endured everything else.
The guard guided me into a small room where Rayden was sitting behind a table. She didn’t smile or frown when she saw me, just pointed to the chair opposite her.
“Sit down!” she ordered me.
So I sat down, realizing only now that at this moment, it was easier for me to sit on chairs and even lean back. At breakfast, I was too busy with food and my uninvited companions. The feeling was weird, but I found it liberating. At the same time, I missed my wings.
With a deep sigh, the Captain folded her arms across her chest and fixed her gaze on me, “To be clear, I don’t like you. We’re not friends!”
I nodded softly, confused by how this conversation had started. I expected shouting and accusations.
“But I would like to thank you. If it weren’t for you, if it weren’t for the attack, I wouldn’t have gotten through that fool’s thick skull.” She told me.
“You mean the Lord?” I asked to make sure who she was talking about.
“Yeah, him. Don’t let him fool you. Before you came, he was pissed, threatening to send all the master guards and senior guards behind bars and turn me into a slave.” She described to me what had happened before my arrival.
When I first saw Baron, he was upset but kept his emotions in check. After hearing my story and the testimonies of the witnesses, people I met, he treated me I would say decently.
She snorted, “”I’ll have the bitch executed.” Those were his words, when he first heard about you. Without blinking, would have you executed or made you a slave again. He cooled down a little before you came. Even you must have noticed how he changed his approach to you when he received the news of Lord Delamere’s arrival.”
Thinking about it, I had to nod. It was true. After his assistant whispered something in his ear, his attitude changed. His suppressed anger disappeared.
“He sees it as an opportunity to get in favor of Delamere. Although he does not have a noble title, Imperial Chief Healer is on par with the Duke. He will try to meet all his requirements, he will kiss his ass, just for the chance to rise in noble society. Moron, his father must turn in his grave.” She shook her head.
After a moment’s silence, she smiled, “It has a bright side. He promised to restore the city walls’ enchantments, and even that the city guards would receive more money from the city budget.”
“Okay. Are city guards really paid so little?” I asked cautiously, not wanting to believe that the city lord neglected the city’s protection so much.
Captain Rayden laughed, “Do you know where seventy percent of our budget comes from? From sold monster materials killed and processed by city guard squads in the labyrinth. I send them there for training, and they should focus on that, but due to lack of funds, they have to collect materials in the labyrinth. I wish they didn’t have to do it, but I have no choice..”
She paused for a moment, then shook her head slightly, “Think of me what you want, but I wish something like this had happened.”
“So you let me into Castiana, knowing this could happen?” I asked in horror.
“Traina tits, of course not. If I knew the agent was in fact a mind mage, I would kick his ass the moment he entered my office!” she said sharply.
I believed her in that. From what I’ve seen so far, she hated mind mages, and I shared her opinion on them.
But who the hell was Traina? Some goddesses? Then why did Rayden use her name as a foul word, though?
“No,” she frowned, shaking her head. “After the interrogation, I had only strong suspicions, I hoped I was wrong. Although Morton acted like a fool, he proved himself with the right credentials. If he were a real agent and I attacked him, it would be treason, and at best, I would end up with a collar around my neck. I could only prepare the guards for what I thought would happen. Minimize casualties. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wrong. I definitely didn’t want one hundred and sixty-three citizens to be mind f***, to go through what you went through or worse.”
“But you knew he was a mind mage when he attacked me in the interrogation room,” I objected.
She waved it off, “Who would believe me, I had no proof!”
“What about the memory orb?” I asked, remembering how upset Morton was when he saw him.
“There was nothing on it. If the idiot thought a little about it, he would realize that the rooms were designed so that most of the magical tools inside would not work, not excluding the memory orb.” She laughed.
I froze, surprised that she was just bluffing about the orb.
