Starchild Crusaders

by J. J. Pavlov

  "Oh, ye haven't exchanged it yet. Da rate is one fidiyaton to one point two asimi." He explains, and I'm surprised to learn that the dhakka is worth more here than where it's from. At least I'm assuming that they're both the silver coin denomination.

  "So it's ten fidiyaton?" I pull out the leather purse from my pocket and take out the coins. That still leaves me with five fidiyaton and two dhahaba, which might be worth more here as well.

  "Ya, dat's it." The clerk takes the coins and puts them in a cash box before bowing his head to us. "Thank ye for da business. It was an honor to serve a Fata."

  "Good sir, could you tell us where we may find a store that sells maps?" I ask him before we leave.

  "When ye exit, three houses to da left." He explains while gesturing at the door. I was looking out for any place that potentially sells them while coming here, but it seems to have been further down the road still.

  "Thank you." I nod in gratitude, and the three of us leave the optician's store behind. Once outside, I glance at Hestia looking around with her new glasses on, an expression of wonder on her face. It seems her eyesight was pretty bad already, and now she can see well again. I'm glad to see her like this.

  We make our way to the place described to us three doors down the road. A bronze shop sign hangs from the wall and shows a stylized ink bottle with a quill dipping into it. The large window has all kinds of medieval stationery on display, though there are also ring binders made from leather and metal. I doubt those existed until maybe a hundred years ago in the world I came from.

  Unlike in the previous store, this one doesn't have a bell to announce customers. The interior smells of old paper and ink, a heavy scent that feels suffocating when one first steps in from the fresh outside air. There's little space for walking, as long scrolls stick out from the shelves and the sheer amount of books has spilled onto the floor in piles. Hestia stays at the entrance while Asoko and I make our way through the cluttered interior toward the desk at the very back of the store attended by a slim, elderly woman wearing square glasses.

  "Hellow, dear customas? How can ah help ye?" She calls out to us when she notices our presence and looks up from her work. I'm blocking her view on Hestia, so she's treating us like regular customers.

  "I would like to purchase a magical world map. You do sell them here, right?" I ask while suppressing the feeling of hope rising in my chest; I can't expect that they have such commodities in this small town. An ordinary world map isn't nearly as useful, but at least it will be better than nothing.

  "Aye, ah do." The clerk smiles and stands up from her chair to walk into an aisle to our right. Moments later, she returns with a large sheet of soft leather and rounds her desk again. Making some space on it, she unrolls the map before us and mutters the incantation to display its contents - or so I thought. "Cartis."

  It seems the Mineva Republic has a different word for the same spell. The first thing I note is that half of Ceogath is missing. It's the continent where the Dominion is located, so it makes sense that humans weren't able to explore it in full. But the map Maou-mama gave me had all of it, and that must have fallen into the hands of the academy.

  I really hope it doesn't have any critical information, such as the Dominion's hidden fortifications or mountain passes.

  I remember the approximate location of the Kingdom of Lares, and the red dot that signifies our position shows me that we're about one-third of the distance that Kongenssoevn is from Arkaim. That means it's still going to be quite a while before we return. But at least it doesn't feel as daunting anymore, now that we basically have GPS navigation.

  "Can I pay with dhakka here?" I ask preemptively and pull out my purse. Hopefully, I can afford it with what little I have left; I don't want to spend time searching for criminals and repeating what I did in Almadinad.

  "Ye shoulda exchanged it at da bank before coming 'ere." Her attitude toward us changes when she finds out that we're from the sultanate. Maybe people from across the border come here all the time without bothering to use this nation's currency. She glances at Asoko and then eyes me suspiciously. "Where do ye plan on traveling?"

  "To the Kingdom of Lares." I answer truthfully since I see no harm in doing so, but add something on top. "We're originally from there and went on a journey. But on our way through the desert, we lost most of our luggage, including our map."

  All of it is somewhat the truth. The journey wasn't a voluntary one, and the map was the equivalence of lost the moment we were sent to the desert. By saying all this, she will no longer think of us as people from the Khurut Sultanate.

  "What are ye doing so far out 'ere?" But instead of improving her opinion of us, her suspicion only grows. "Not much ta see fer tourists."

  "Is there a problem?" Suddenly, Hestia appears from the side and asks. She could hear everything we were talking about and squeezed through an aisle that must have been less cluttered. Her wings can't spread fully here, but they're still imposing to look at. It has just as much of an impact on the old woman as it did on the optician, but her expression tells me she won't be so easily deceived when it comes to the color of her wings.

  "Black wings?" She mutters with round eyes, staring at the result of my corruption without knowing that I'm the one responsible for it. "What are ye?"

  "I am a Fata." Stating with a downward gaze filled with superiority, Hestia puts on the unmistakable air of a race standing above another. She told me that her people are the ruling class in the Fatas Triarchy, while humans are subservient to them. That contemptuous behavior is something she must have picked up from watching the adults around her. It's so convincing that even I feel intimidated.

  "Dat is impossible." The elderly clerk claims in an almost accusatory tone but shrinks under the fallen angel's glare. Now that I see it, her new glasses do accentuate her intimidation factor. Do they give a buff to her divine presence passive?

  "So, how much is the map in dhakka?" I take the opportunity to ask, now that her mind is preoccupied with Hestia's appearance.

  "Ah, two dhahaba." Blinking in surprise, she replies absentmindedly. Then she realizes the situation, and her eyes snap between the angel girl and me. "Do ye two know each other?"

  "Yes, we're together." I put the two dhahaba on the table while Asoko takes the map and rolls it up. Those are the last two gold coins I have left over. I'll gladly part ways with them to get this most useful tool into my hands, but I fear for our travel expenses from here on out. Guess we'll have to play vigilante again sometime soon.

  "Wait!" The elderly woman calls out to me, just as I turned around and was about to walk away. "Are ye Chloe Marcott?"

  Chapter 65 - Nomads Of Ogin

  The Strutting Stallion, an inn located in a dark alleyway off the main road, doesn't live up to its name and has a plain exterior. Square windows filled with small circular glass panes signify that this establishment isn't affluent enough to afford the proper see-through glass. Only the shop sign indicates that this may be an inn, showing a black horse with one front leg raised.

  "So that's it? It looks pretty shady." Asoko states while looking around to scan our surroundings for potential dangers.

  "That was to be expected." I stare at the storefront but can't make out any movements beyond the distorting windows. The interior is completely dark as if abandoned.

  This is the inn the old woman in the scribe's store told us to go to when I asked her how she knew my name. Apparently, somebody here is looking for me. Judging from her expression, she didn't know anything beyond that, so there was no point in trying to question her.

  "Well, here goes nothing." With these words, I motion to push open the door, only to find it locked. It's getting dark, but that's not a reason for an inn to be closed; in fact, they should be thriving at such an hour. This only makes it more suspicious. I exchange a glance with Asoko, then knock on the door.

  "Who's there?" A pleasant female voice coming from the other side asks in an unpleasant inflection.


  "Chloe Marcott." The store clerk pointed me this way for a reason, so whoever is inside should know it too. And just as expected, there's a surprised gasp and rustling, then the sound of locks and bolts being removed from the door.

  It opens to reveal a face with mauve purple skin, and my eyes widen in surprise.

  "Kamii?!" I push against the door without controlling my strength and bang it against the person behind it, causing her to stumble back. Then an arrow hits me in the forehead, followed by another through my throat. Ignoring them, I step inside the dark room and activate my night vision.

  There are five individuals, and each one of them is a dark elf. One is the girl on the floor whom I mistook for Kamii. She's staring up at me with a terrified expression, not understanding how I'm still alive with the arrows stuck in my vital spots. Her overall appearance is quite similar to my beloved little dark elf's, but there are some marked differences a quick glance didn't reveal earlier. One of those is the fact that her eyes are the color of the deep sea rather than amethyst-colored galaxies.

  Two more girls are standing behind the counter with wide-open eyes of similar colors, frozen in fear with their bows in hand. And two boys are on either side of the door with short curved swords in their hands, equally petrified at my sight. They also have blue eyes, leaving me to wonder if all dark elves typically have them.

  It would make sense; both Kamii and Daica are cursed, so maybe just as in Hestia's case, theirs changed colors too.

  "W-what are you?!" The first girl crawls away backward from me while screaming. That seems to return the other four to their senses; the two girls nock another arrow each, while the two boys swing their weapons at me.

  I dodge the one coming from the left with a light step and trip him up during his awkward lunge. In the same motion, I grab the blade of the other with my bare hand and twist it out of his grip. A split second later, I turn my head and cover the side of it in hard bone, causing the arrow coming my way to bounce off impotently.

  The second projectile pierces my upper arm and embeds itself into my side. It would have ruptured my lung if I were a human. But to the horror of the five dark elves, I pull the sword as well as the arrow inside my body as if I'm a bottomless swamp.

  "Chloe!" Hestia peeks in from outside and sees the arrow still stuck in my head. She instantly overcomes her shock, and anger fills her gaze instead. Her crimson irises begin to light up behind her new glasses.

  "Stop!" I spin around and bring my palm up toward her face, causing her eyes to close in reflex and the curse effect to be dispelled the moment she opens them again. "I'm fine."

  "B-but-" She begins to protest, and I signal Asoko to take her aside in case the dark elves still want to fight; she could get hit by a stray arrow, and even if I can use light magic to heal her, I don’t want to risk it.

  "And you should stop, too. You've seen that it's useless." I turn to the five inside the dark reception room, whose wills to fight are half-broken after the display of my strange body. I'm sure they've never seen a being that not only doesn't die from an arrow to the head but acts like it isn't even there. "Clearly, you know who I am."

  "I don't even know what you are!" One of the two behind the counter spits at me and nocks another arrow, but her frustrated expression tells me that she knows the futility of it.

  "I'm Chloe Marcott. The shopkeeper in the scribe's store just around the corner told me to come here." I stand in the doorway, unmoving, to ease the tension that permeates the room. It's not that I need to be afraid of physical attacks of this level, but if we keep fighting, somebody's bound to get hurt. "I don't know what you've heard about me, but this is who I am."

  "I-is that t-the truth?" The girl still cowering on the floor asks in a stutter that reminds me of a certain cursed dark elf who looks more mature than she really is. Then the scales fall from my eyes.

  "I see! It's Daica!" I drop my fist into my palm in a gesture of enlightenment, and the five dark elves stare at me in surprise. Who other than she would know about my existence and contact dark elves to find me? But if she's searching for me, does that mean Kamii is safe too?

  "How do you know that name?" One of the boys asks with a suspicious undertone in his voice, and I glance at him. Another fact dawns on me: All of them are adults.

  Due to Kamii's behavior in conjunction with her appearance, I've been thinking of her as a child or teenager at best - even though she has shown me glimpses of her mature side that she seems to keep well-hidden. But Daica did say that dark elves don't usually grow to her size and shape, so her older sister is a better example of an average adult of their species.

  "She's my lover." I come right out and reply. Daica and I haven't gone the whole way, but our hearts are connected as strongly as they can be, even if we've only seen each other once in the past half a year.

  I miss her.

  The dark elves begin to murmur among each other while casting sideways glances at me. Although I can hear what they're saying, I don't understand a word. It sounds completely different from Imperian or the Khurut language and could be that of their people. I haven't heard Kamii and Daica talk in it before, which means they either can't speak it or never had something to hide from me.

  "She does look like the girl in the picture." One of the boys mutters in Imperian and looks up at me. Even though he's undoubtedly a grown man of his people, I can't help but project human values on his appearance. And I have to admit, even the male dark elves are cute. "But her face looks far more wicked."

  Oops, did my thoughts show on my face again just now? Hey, I'm not interested in boys!

  "No, that really is her." One of the girls behind the counter looks at a sheet of paper in her hand and compares me to it. I grow my arm longer and whip it around to snatch it out of her hands before pulling it back to its normal length.

  "W-wah!" Everybody stumbles back at my strange transformation, but I ignore them and look at the contents of the paper. It's a photorealistic sketch of me with a neutral expression. The text is all unknown runes for me, which I assume to be the written language of the dark elves. But judging by the context, the bigger words on top of the picture are my name, and the paragraph at the bottom is a short description of me. It's just like a wanted poster, though it lacks the reward number.

  Then I spot two initials in the corner of the picture, hidden in the fabric of the clothes my sketched version wears. They read O and S, both in the Roman alphabet, which doesn't exist in this world. It doesn't take me even a second to understand who the artist is, and I feel both happy and impressed.

  Ootsuki Senka seems to have made contact with Daica, and the two of them are working together to find me. And if the doll girl is safe, Kamii is most likely too.

  "Hey, everything alright in here?" Asoko comes in through the door, and the elves stare at her flabbergasted. She's a dark-skinned version of me, so it's obvious that her appearance would turn the situation more complicated than it already is.

  "What are you?!" But before I can begin to explain, they raise the weapons they have left and point them at us. They know it's useless, but doing that gives them the illusion that they can at least somewhat defend themselves.

  "Chloe?" But then Hestia shows up as well, and this time her black wings fill the doorway. Seeing that is an even bigger shock than seeing me swallow their sword and arrows through my skin, and several of their jaws drop.

  "S-she's... b-but... w-what?" The dark elf girl sitting on the floor stutters while pointing at the fallen angel, her eyes darting between the three of us. It seems the description I can't read on my wanted poster may have included a mention of me having a black-winged Fata with me. "Y-you really a-are Chloe Marcott."

  Everybody calmed down after we talked things over in a civilized manner without pointing weapons or deathly glares. One of the elves translated the flier for me, and there was no information about me being a demon. It was sent to them through the Nomads of Ogin, an information network nearly everybody of their species
is a member of. Apparently, they're even represented in the Dominion, with approval from the demon queen.

  Of course, Maou-mama would approve of them. They're a beautiful people after all.

  Included with the poster was an encrypted letter from Daica that tells me Kamii has been expelled from the academy and is living with her. My relief at hearing that is immeasurable, and for a while, I can only silently pray in gratitude to whichever god made this happen. Even though gods are real in this world and most likely had nothing to do with it. Considering the followers of one of them would even kidnap her as a curiosity to be added to his collection, I shouldn't pray to them in the first place.

  Furthermore, there was a note telling all branches to guide me to the nearest teleportation circle, so that I could return to Kongenssoevn as quickly as possible. I don't remember what the one under the academy looks like, so that won't help me much, but I hide that fact for now. There's always the option to go back to Arkaim and have Mithra send me like he did last time. Then I can also have him place me right inside Daica's store instead of the academy, to avoid another potential battle.

  "So you're a demon." Adano mutters and then sighs. He's one of the two dark elf men and the only one among the five who has met Daica in the past. Unlike in the two girls I call my own, his hair is dark purple instead of night-blue. Other than that, he's as beautiful as any member of his race.

  He also happens to be the father of Zirno, the girl I mistook for Kamii and then accidentally knocked back when I pushed the door open by force to get a better look.

  "I can't believe she would fall for one of your kind." With a glance at me and then Asoko, the other male dark elf comments thoughtlessly, and I feel somebody flare up next to me.

  "What is that supposed to mean?" Hestia's wings quiver as she asks with a false smile that could freeze hell over, even as an invisible flame seems to surround her. Without anybody around - other than another me - that dared to criticize me, she didn't have any opportunities to show her yandere side. But with people that don't serve me without question like Jalil did, she's letting her disposition shine through again.