by K R Zax
“You killed them yourself?”
I nodded at the receptionist’s question. Was there a problem with it? They are not an endangered species, right?
“Although the Wolves and Kobolds are D rank and goblins are classified as E rank, it doesn’t mean that a novice alone could kill that many. You would need to have a D rank party of five people at the very least to beat that number of monsters.”
Elyn sigh, she was talking to a noob after all. “Come this way, you can put the corpses on this table.”
There were a lot of broad tables lined against one of the walls. I couldn’t sense any mana from them, so they were probably just ordinary tables where adventurers can put all the materials they had, and not damage the shining counter.
“Darling is awesome!” Lina said when I took all the corpses from the Shadow Storage.
“The Guild takes 10% of the value for whole corpses,” the receptionist apologized, “We have to pay people to dismantle them, you know.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Only ten percent? Not a big deal, better than doing all the work myself. If I have more time to hunt monsters, I will earn more money.
“Alright, then I will calculate your earnings.”
While Elyn was inspecting the corpses, I turned to Lina. Something was bothering me this whole time.
“Why are you so cheerful and relaxed? You are a slave, and I doubt you even know a single thing about me.”
For a moment, the happy smile was gone and there was a resigned look on her face.
“I became a slave because I messed up. And sure, I could look moody and depressed, because that is how I really feel. So, it's better if I simply… Try to be as happy as possible, I guess.” She then let a sigh and smiled. “But you’re handsome, so its fine. I mean, what if I was sold to an old pervert? Or someone worst?”
All that act was some kind of defense mechanism. If you are on a high place and you don’t look down, you won’t be scared. Something like that.
“Sorry,” I said, but she already appeared to be a bit down. At least she doesn’t look she’s going to break into tears.
I thanked Elyn when she handed me 16 silver and 20 copper coins, and then remember the corpse of the guy I found in the forest, so I also took him out.
Elyn confirmed that he was an E rank adventurer who was on a herb gathering quest, and thanked me for bringing him back. Then we left the Guild.
“Lina,” after some time, I called out to the depressed cat girl, who was dragging herself behind me, “Can you lead me to a narrow street, one that people don’t use frequently?”
Chapter 5.
“Here.”
Lina led me away from the main street, and we were getting closer to the south part of the city. The buildings were shabbier the further we went. This must be the slum area.
After several turns, we were in a shadowy, narrow street. There was some trash lying around, and I could feel the presence of some small animals, probably rats.
“Perfect,” I smiled and could feel the adrenaline rush. And something more, something dark and evil, filling my body with excitement.
“Stupid kid,” a man laughed. There were six of them behind us, three of whom were at the guild when I was registering. The other three probably joined them outside.
“You came to the wrong place boy.”
“Right, Sand Snake? The kid’s fucking dumb!”
“Quiet, Rons. We don’t want the guards coming here.”
Sand Snake? This was the first person with a dark tan that I saw in Tsarigrad. He’s probably from the south.
“Run! I’ll buy you some time.” Lina jumped in front of me, readying herself for a fight. I could see the drunk guy, Rons, looking at her with lust.
“You are D rank.” Sand Snake said and unsheathed his sword. “But I’m C rank and these guys are all D and E rank. Both of you are as good as dead.
“What?”
The thugs were confused when I giggled. I get it that they can’t understand it, but this was the common development in novels and comics.
“You little prick! Yo’re laughing at us! I’ll fucking kill you!”
“Piece of shit! You think you’re som’ing special?”
The group was pissed. They were all holding weapons, ready to use them on us. I could feel the intense blood-lust filling the street.
“You ugly bastards! I know you. You are the ‘Desert Blades’ - a D rank party. Why are you picking a fight with us?”
Huh? So, Lina knew them. And man, she was furious.
“Darling… Why are you laughing?”
“Ah, this whole situation seems funny,” I told her and looked at the leader, Sand Snake. “What do you want?” It must be the money. They saw all the corpses I sold at the Guild, I merely need confirmation from them.
“You.” Sand Snake said, and they all laughed. Now, this was weird. What are they going to do with me?
Seeing my confused expression, Sand Snake clarified: “A Dark Mage will probably turn into a Lich when he dies. I could make a lot of money with some fresh Lich bones, and our party could even go up a rank. Sounds great, eh? I know people who would pay a good price for that kind of ingredient.”
“Darling, I told you to run.” Lina protested when I pulled her behind me. She wanted to say something else, but one look at my eyes was enough for her to shut up.
“My bones.” I wasn’t that religious, my parents were, especially Mom. And the sole thought of what she would think of this situation made me furious. I know that she is dead. I know that. But still.
Long swords, daggers, and battle-axes were held threateningly at me. Only one person was holding a bow, I guess they specialized mainly in close combat.
Their equipment wasn’t bad, but they all had ordinary clothes beneath, and that is easy to pierce. OK, then. I’ll go with a dagger.
“So, Sand Crap. Is it fine to assume that I can use your remains as fertilizer?”
Veins appeared on his forehead, and he tightened the grip on his sword.
“You little shit. Talking big and prideful. I don’t care if you came from a good family. You were out of luck the moment you stepped into this part of the city.”
“Boss, he did kill a lot of monsters,” one of the guys said, he was the only one who seemed a tad nervous.
“Bullshit!” Sand Snake pointed at me with his sword. “Just look at him. Barely a man, he lied about his age. 18? He must be sixteen at least! No scars, even his clothes look brand new and clean! He’s like a lordling, fresh from his mother’s tit!”
The thugs yelled in approval, convinced that their Boss was right on the money.
“Yeah!”
“Right!”
“It must be his teach’ who gave ‘im da co’pses!”
“And money! He looked at the silver he got, like it was nothing. He must have gold on him!”
“Darling,” Lina whispered worriedly, shaking from all the murderous intent.
I patted her head, her hair was so smooth and nice. That was one of the dreams that millions of Anime fans had – patting a beautiful cat girl. Sadly, I'll have to leave that for later.
“Darling, I did prepare my heart, but now is not the time.” Lina blushed while her ears twitched happily.
“Don’t worry, kid.” One of the tugs licked his lip, “We’ll take good care of your gal.”
The thugs came one by one, already tired of all the talking, and wanted some action. It’s time to give it to them, then.
“Let’s start with the small fry first.” I summoned the Darkness and the whole street became my domain. There was still enough light to see, but the shadows were covering everything. Some places were darker than others, it looked unreal.
“What is arghh...” I stabbed the nearest guy in the neck with my dagger, and twisted the blade. He fell down like a bag of meat. For them, it must be like I was a ghost, floating through the air instead of running. In my Shadow Domain, direction wasn’t an issue. The only problem is th
at I can’t influence a large space. Right now, my Domain could cover an area as big as an average house.
“Kill him! Kill the coward!”
“No! Don… Ughhh...”
The determination they displayed previously seemed to have vanished, as more of them fell dead on the ground.
I avoided the arrow that came flying at me and threw my dagger. It pierced the archer's leather equipment like it was made of paper, burying itself deep in his chest.
Rons' eyes adapted to the darkness, and he swung his battle axe at me. This was interesting, I could feel his fear as he approached me. No, not just him, the fear and panic of all of them. It tasted good.
“Demon! He’s a Demon!”
I took out my staff, put mana in it and change its appearance.
Since the first battle this morning, I considered various names. 'Trinity' was the one I liked the most. It does sounds nice and, well, fitting.
Trinity axe cut Rons in half, and then transformed into a spear, piercing another guy’s chest.
Sand Snake wielded his long sword frantically, unable to hit me. I only needed to move my body slightly to avoid his attacks.
“No! Go away!” All his bravado was gone, only deep fear remained. There was a dark spot on his crotch and right leg.
I parried his sword, pushing it away and then pierced his chest. These guys were a joke compared to the kobolds and Twin-Tail Wolves.
Snake had a horrified expression as he fell on the ground, dead like the rest of them.
I went from corpse to corpse, pale blue light enveloped them as I Absorbing their life force and abilities, then put the bodies away in my Storage.
Once I finished my business, I went to check out on Lina. She was sitting on the ground, scared.
“It’s fine now.”
Lina still didn’t move, she was merely staring at me. Was it that unbelievable?
“D… Demon,” she whispered after some time, “Are you a Demon?”
“No, I was just using magic.” I was confused. Is it perhaps the first time she saw some Dark Magic of that scale? “Magic, you know? You saw magic before, right?”
“Just magic?” Lina was breathing hard now. “You were flying around like a ghost, your eyes were blazing in blue light and you laughed.”
She shuddered as if remembering a nightmare. “The way you were laughing, it was evil. And then… Then you took their souls.”
I did remember laughing, but glowing eyes? “Don’t other Mages have glowing eyes when they do some magic?”
“Yes. Undead ones. But I heard that their eyes glowed with green light, not blue.”
OK, Doc messed up big time. I can’t go around with such eyes.
“What about now?” I made a Darkness Ball and looked at Lina.
“No, you look normal now. Handsome and normal.” She slowly stood up and dusted her clothes off. She calmed down a bit, but was still eyeing me warily.
My eyes probably reacted to the enormous magical power I released. I’ll go with that theory for now. It shouldn’t be because I’m part Demon. Or so I hope.
“Here,” I handed her the note Vlard gave me. “Do you know this place?”
***
It was dark by the time we found the inn. The streets were littered with magic lights, and there were still a lot of people outside.
The thing that amazed me the most, were the moons. There were two of them in the sky, the old one, and a slightly bigger Red Moon.
“Are we going in?” Lina brought me back from my thoughts, and I looked at the Inn.
It was a four stories tall building and looked clean, like the rest of this part of the city. Two black wings were drawn on a signboard above the door, encasing the words ‘Night Bird’.
The sturdy wooden door didn’t make a sound when I opened it. Since it was night time, there were already people having dinner. The first floor had tables and a large bar. Most of the customers were finely dressed. Merchants and some nobles, I guess.
“Welcome to the Night Bird Inn, I am Svetlana - the owner. Are you here for a pleasant meal, or perhaps you want a room for the night?”
A modestly dressed woman with a bun said when I approached the bar. The majority of women wore long dresses with very little to reveal, the only exception were adventurer girls. When I asked Lina about it, she told me that it was easier to fight without a dress. Her tone indicated that it was a stupid question. It is, I now remember reading about it somewhere.
“Hello, we would like a room for a few days, if it’s possible?”
She must be around thirty-five, had a bit of makeup, and a pleasant smile.
“We have a nice room with a balcony for you and your lady. We charge in advance. 4 silver coins a night. A meal is included of course. However, if you would like to stay for a longer period, say, half a month or so, the price can be reduced to 2 silver and 25 copper coins for every day.”
Lina was petrified for a second, standing there like a doll with a silly expression on her face. Apparently, this was really expensive, not something that many adventurers could afford.
I handed her two gold coins, she was surprised when she saw me using Dark Magic, and immediately pulled herself together. Vlard was right about this place.
“Thank you, I’ll have someone guide you to your room. Would you like to have dinner here, or should it be delivered to your room as well?”
“We will dine in the room.”
“Sashka.” The woman called and a young dark-skinned, elf girl dressed like a maid walked to us and bowed lightly. “Take them to room 47.”
“Yes, Madam.” The girl, Sashka, took a key from the owner, “My lord, my lady, please follow me as I lead you to your room.”
Dear God! The service here is amazing! I give it five stars!
Sashka seemed like a really young girl, but that didn’t mean a thing since she’s a Dark Elf. She led us up to the third floor, the walls and floor were covered with polished wood. Small crystals, used for illumination, were placed on the walls. Since I came to this city, I’ve seen a lot of these crystals. Do they create or mine them?
“We’re here.” Sashka unlocked the room and handed me the key. “Your dinner will be brought shortly.” She bowed briefly and walked away.
“The service is really good here.” I closed the door and inspected the room. There was a nice bed, a desk with two chairs, a wardrobe, a chest, and another door.
Is it an additional room? I was curious, so I opened the door. At first, I thought that it was some kind of storage room, but then I saw a copper bathtub and something that resembled a stone box with a hole on it. Wait, is this the toilet?
“Lina, this box...”
Lina, who was checking out the wardrobe, came when I called her. “Oh, that. Amazing isn’t it? You do not need to use a pot but can instead do your business there. Then someone will come and pour a bucket of water, and it’s all gone.”
Do the sewers work after all this time? And pipes, aren’t they rusty? I put my hand on the wall and looked for mana. Ah, I see. There are magic traces around the box, going down to the next floor. An earth magician manipulated the stone to form a ‘pipe’.
“Does every house have such things?”
“No, did your house had it?”
“Yes?” Why is she asking me? Is it weird to have that kind of thing?
“Hiring a magician is expensive,” she said in a flat tone like I’m supposed to know that. “Hiring a magician because you don’t feel like using the pot is ridiculous. Only luxury places and noble houses have this kind of thing.”
“Oh,” I scratched my chin. “So it was like that.”
There was a knock, and the door opened as Sashka brought a tray with food. Two bowls of stew, bread, cheese, and some kind of salad. A bottle of wine was included, everything looked really good. I tipped her with a few copper coins and sat down to eat.
“You’re some kind of noble, right?” Lina sat on the other chair and took a bowl of stew. “This is d
elicious.”
“I’m not a noble.”
Lina watched me like a was the biggest liar she ever saw. “You’re wearing expensive clothes, then rent a room in one of the most expensive inns in Tsarigrad, and the way you talk and behave are giving you away. I saw nobles, you’re like the average one.”
“But I’m not. Should I start behaving like a rowdy guy?”
“No,” she said simply and poured wine into her cup. “I like my Darling just the way he is.”
“Could you stop that? You can call me Alex.”
“I like ‘Darling’. Of course, I can stop if you ‘Order’ me so.”
I won’t argue with her, and to be honest, I didn’t feel like giving her orders, that would be too much for my first day here. Anyway, it was part of her charm.
“How did you end up as a slave?”
“I borrowed money to buy some good equipment, and was unable to pay it back.”
Nothing dramatic about it, thank God. For a second I thought it would be a tragic story of betrayal, and I would end up in her plans to take revenge on an evil organization or some noble.
“How much do you know about Mages?”
“Hmm, I know a thing or two, but I am no Mage.”
I ate some salad, it was unfamiliar but very good. “From what you saw today, in what rank would you put me?”
“B, but not that far from A.”
“Are there a lot of A-rank adventurers here?”
“This is the capital,” Lina’s bowl was empty so she started eating from mine. “There should be around five or six of them. There is always a hard job for strong adventurers somewhere else in the Empire, usually in a distant location, fighting strong monsters.”
We chatted for a little while, and then head to bed. Tomorrow we will go on a quest as a party, and I can try out some experiments with the bodies I acquired today.
Chapter 6.
In a room inside Rasik’s Imperial palace, a woman was reading a document. On one side of the desk was a neatly piled stack of papers, they were the ones she already viewed. Only three sheets were in her hands – the last ones she had to deal with before going to bed.
