Guilt and Punishmen

by Sophia Schmidt

  Otherwise I'm afraid the next thing you'll hear from me would be an irrevocable divorce petition."

  ***

  The next day, all the students were gathered in the compulsory courses' class for the end of the trimester. Lith couldn't tell if this time Linjos' speech was addressed more to his students or to himself.

  "My dear students, it's my sincere hope that this past semester has taught us a lot. In this life there are some conflicts that are impossible to avoid. What matters is how we decide to face them and what we learn from their aftermath.

  I don't blame those who decided to not take part in this exam, just like I don't think less of those that despite accepting to face this challenge head on, lacked the necessary resolution to achieve success.

  Remember though, that this is just an academy. Here your choices matter, weakness is allowed and questioning yourselves is encouraged. Only idiots have no doubts. Outside these walls, life is less lenient. Sometimes you will be forced to do the wrong thing for the right reason.

  My hope is that when the moment comes, you'll remember this experience and you will be better for it. As for those who attempted to cheat, you'll hear from your parents about the disciplinary measures that await you.

  The test has taken a toll on all of us, so I encourage you to return to your homes for the ten days break before the last trimester begins. Dismissed."

  Just like the last time, the report cards appeared on the student's desks in the form of blank pieces of paper until imprinting them with mana would reveal their hidden content.

  Lith's report card was as following:

  "Principles of Advanced Magic: A+; Forgemastering: A+; Healing: S; Dimensional Magic: A-; School points gained from daily evaluation: 4,365. A complete evaluation for the second exam is impossible until I hear back from your teammates.

  Headmaster Linjos"

  "What the heck is this?" Lith couldn't believe his eyes. "I didn't perform better than the last trimester on purpose, yet all my grades went up (*). More importantly, why A- in dimensional magic? I can already perform Warp Steps, that should be plenty enough for an A.

  Once I learn how to Blink, I will have completed the course, and that's likely to happen soon. How can a student able to achieve so much so fast deserve just an A-?"

  "Well, I think they went up because of your role in curing the plague." Solus pointed out. "I am amazed they didn't give you an S+ in healing, if that even exist. As for the other professors, maybe their judgment was swayed by the royal decree."

  "Swayed my pale a*s! I bet that Rudd jerk is still mad at me for the only time I responded in kind to his taunts. Me and my big mouth."¨C

  It was still early morning when Lith left the academy, surrounded by gazes full of rage and envy. The second exam had been a total disaster. Those that had refused to participate or attempted to cheat had their grades capped at B rank.

  Those who participated and failed had their grades unchanged, but they still assumed to have been penalized because of their poor performance.

  Lith could perfectly hear them talking, whispering could not hide the truth from his heightened senses. Despite it was supposed to be a secret, his report card was actually public knowledge and so were those of everyone that had passed the second exam.

  Someone was trying to stir up troubles, further dividing the young mages not only by social status but also by their results, ruining all of Linjos' hard work.

  As soon as Lith was Warped to the capitol of the Marquisate, he alerted the Marchioness, which in turn informed the Headmaster. Whoever was behind all the recent troubles had always been a step ahead of them.

  Having a bad premonition, Lith used the now mastered Warp Steps repeatedly to arrive at the village of Lutia in a few minutes. A normal mage would have his mana depleted by the repeated use of dimensional gates, but Lith used Invigoration each time to keep his peak condition.

  Lith's intuition proved to be wrong. Aside from the panic his arrival caused, the village was quiet. As soon the villagers noticed it was him, fear was replaced by more rage and envy.

  Lith ignored them, as he had done for the past years.

  It had always been like that, the farmers loved him because he healed them at half the price and because he was one of them that had made it. In their eyes Lith's and Tista's achievements were the proof that education and hard work could lead their children to have a better life compared to their parents'.

  The merchants and artisans that lived in the village instead hated him. He was an anomaly that had shattered what they perceived as the natural order of things. A dirty poor farm boy that demanded to be paid in full, disrespecting their pact with Nana.

  Overtime the hatred had only grown stronger. Lith's household had started as a bottom feeder, but their social standing had never ceased to rise since his appearance. In their eyes, he was a scourge that was stealing from them and their children what was rightfully theirs.

  It was impossible for the merchants to accept that despite all the money and the resources they had invested in their children, none of them would ever be rich like Lith or respected like Tista.

  Raaz was the third most hated member of the family, having meddled with their business with his self righteous attitude, making them look like vultures and ruining their reputation after the so-called plague had turned out to be just a rumour.

  But the most hated was Lith, especially since he had executed Garith in public and caused Gurid Renkin's death. No matter what Nana said, they firmly believed that the merchant's heart had failed to accept his beloved son's death, following him to the grave.

  There was only one exception.

  Zekell Proudhammer, Senton's father and Rena's father-in-law loved Lith with all his heart. Thanks to the dowry that Lith had provided, he had finally managed to expand his business and buy a last name for his family.

  Because of that heaven blessed marriage, they would always receive the best treatments for free and by using her daughter-in-law name, no one dared to bully him anymore.

  Thieves and swindlers kept away from his shop, to the point he could leave the door open at night and find everything where he had left it. Sure, there was the occasional death threat every time Rena would get a scratch or a bruise during the daily activities, but it was Senton facing Lith's wrath, not him.

  All in all, Zekell's life was damn good.

  "Lith, my boy! It's so good to have you back!" He yelled as soon as their eyes met.

  "Thanks." Lith replied with a half-smile. He never liked Senton or his family, but since he never liked any of his sisters' suitors, in his mind Zekell was a decent man. No one of the Proudhammer household had ever given Lith a good reason to kill him, after all.

  "No, thanks to you, young man. I'll never thank you and your Locrias friend enough for saving my whole family!"

  "Who did what now?"

  Chapter 182 Tickle

  It happened a week ago. The day had started like usual, with Senton and Rena opening the front shop while Zekell heated the forge to take care of the repair jobs. Because of the plague panic, most villagers and farmers were already armed to the teeth, making his business slow.

  Except for travellers and local hunters no one bought his weapons, leaving him with only menial jobs to do. Zekell wasn't a greedy man, so that kind of quiet life didn't bother him much.

  Repairing farming and kitchen tools was an easy and quick job that allowed him to cover for the daily expenses. It also left him a lot of time to hone his skills and teach Senton all the secrets of their trade.

  After getting married the boy had bloomed into a man, taking his responsibilities much more seriously than before.

  While in the past Senton would try to complete his tasks with the minimum effort to go out and goof off with his friends, now he put his utmost dedication in every piece he worked on, never being satisfied with the result and often asking his father for advice.

  Such change of attitude had made Zekell really proud of his son. A
ll the yelling at him for his laziness and the whacks upside his head were just a bad memory, now he didn't have to worry anymore about what would happen in case he died.

  The shop had remained empty most of the day, so when the closing time neared, Zekell sent Rena and Senton back home while he finished cleaning the floor. He gave them all the free time he could afford.

  With advancing age and Senton's new character, Zekell couldn't wait to have a grandson or two. He wanted to witness the Proudhammer's next generation and maybe teach them to love the art of turning a bland piece of metal into a masterpiece.

  He was about to lock the door when a well dressed handsome youth entered the shop, looking at his merchandise with great interest. Zekell almost bit his lower lip in frustration.

  The young noble and his escort wore the insignia of the Rath family, a bunch of well known troublemakers.

  The noble purposely cut himself with one of the weapons and used the pretext to demand for a compensation. To Zekell's horror, the youth 'casually' had with him a contract of transfer for the workshop.

  Zekell tried to defend his life's work threatening to denounce the noble to Count Lark or to Nana, but to no avail. The Rath family had a Great Mage in their ranks and the name of a fallen outcast like Nana held little importance to them.

  Lith's name mattered even less, the noble didn't even know of his existence. Fearing to lose everything and his family, Zekell had almost signed the document, but a firm hand stopped him.

  It belonged to Captain Locrias of the Queen's corps, dressed like a country constable and royally pissed off. He and his team had managed to remain incognito for months and now the idiot had forced their hand, blowing up their cover.

  "No need to sign anything. This man is under arrest." Said the Captain with a sigh.

  "How dare you? You don't know who I am!"

  "I think I do." Vykaros, the liaison with the Mage Association, had collected intel about him since the moment the noble had stepped into Lutia.

  "You are Tikin Rath, second son of Baroness Rath. With pending charges for murder, r*pe, arson and embezzlement of taxes. You sure like to keep yourself busy, kid."

  "My family, what about my family?" Zekell was still panicking.

  "Your family is safe." Locrias said.

  "All of Lord Rath's men are already dead, now it's his turn." A small dagger appeared in Locrias left hand, while the right one was holding Tikin's collarbone with the strength of a vise.

  "You can't do that!" Now it was Tikin's turn to become pale and to panic. "I demand a fair trial!"

  Zekell sighed with relief but suddenly fear reappeared on his face.

  "He is right, you can't kill him!"

  "Don't worry, neither the so called Great Mage or his mother will see tomorrow's dawn." The knife plunged into Tikin's chest, piercing his lung and heart instantly killing him.

  "What have you done?" Zekell screamed, while the corpse fell to the ground with a thud and a thick dark pool of blood spread on the floor.

  "Good sir, I'm Captain Locrias of the Queen's corps. You have no reason to be afraid anymore. You and your family are under our protection." He said puffing his chest with pride, feeling wronged by the artisan's lack of trust.

  "Glad to hear it, but that's not what I'm talking about! You could have killed him out of here, or at least give me the time to put a carpet on the floor. The bstard sht himself dying. Between this stench and the blood stains, no one will enter my shop for weeks!"

  ***

  "Luckily he used a magic something to make the corpse disappear and clean my floor." Zekell was all laughs and smiles like it had all just been a bad dream.

  "Either this guy is even more thick skinned than me or he is raving mad." Lith thought. ¨C

  "If it wasn't for you, Captain Locrias wouldn't have intervened. I'm once more in your debt. If there's anything I can do for you, you just need to ask."

  "There is actually something I could use your help for. Based on what you told me, you have lots of free time, right?"

  Zekell nodded in response.

  "I need to perform some experiments with Forgemastering, but I know nothing about blacksmithing and I don't have the time to learn it. I'd like you to provide me the things listed here."

  Lith handed him a piece of paper that Zekell read immediately.

  "That's a lot of stuff, kid. They are all common items though, so I can make them relatively quickly. Give me a couple of days."

  "I just need a first batch, there is no need to rush it. I am willing to pay you for your work." Not only had Lith asked for many things, the quality of their materials also varied from poor to very good.

  Before receiving the Crown's reward for the plague, he could not have spent so much money without affecting his family's quality of life. Also, his experiments required Solus' tower form to be conducted and he never had the opportunity to use it again since the first trimester's break.

  "The work is on the house, but I'll have to charge you for the materials. Some are quite rare and I can't afford to have an empty warehouse."

  Lith didn't want to abuse his gratitude, so he promptly closed the deal with a handshake.

  After leaving Zekell, a call to Count Lark allowed him to make sure that the Rath family wouldn't bother anyone anymore. They had all been arrested several days ago and their properties assigned to a newly promoted household.

  Lutia had always been a quiet village, but since the corps officially showed their presence, the worst crime that would take place was a kid stealing a fruit or a candy. After Garith's death Tista had learned her lesson.

  Now her suitors knew by experience that her no meant no, while Lightning Bolt meant "Never approach me again".

  Lith spent the first part of the morning catching up with his family, before attempting to contact his teammates again.

  "I can't call Quylla, she is still not over her crush and I don't want to give her false hope. Friya and Yurial are off-limits too, they are likely to be traumatized and I fear their reaction after I basically ghosted on them until it was too late.

  This leaves me only one option."¨C

  Lith used his communication amulet and called Phloria, who responded immediately.

  "Sorry for never returning your calls." She apologised.

  "I spent most of these last two days in the bed."

  Lith inwardly sighed with relief. She didn't seem to be mad at him, which made it even harder to say what he had to.

  "I'm glad to see you are all right and the fact that you answered so quickly means a lot to me. Yet I think you should wear something besides a white nightgown before picking up your amulet." He said diverting his eyes like a true gentleman.

  In the new world there were no underwear and with the increasing summer heat, she was wearing a thin cloth while sitting cross legged as always.

  Phloria emitted a high pitched scream while the amulet made a thud sound, like it had been tossed away.

  Only after a minute or two Phloria's image reappeared, this time wearing the academy's uniform. Even the hologram couldn't hide her beet red colour.

  "What did you see?" She asked with the cutest and most feminine voice he had ever heard her talk with.

  "Almost nothing" Lith lied through his teeth. "I swear it on both my brothers' heads."

  The answer seemed to calm her a bit, allowing them to resume their conversation.

  "How are you feeling?" He asked.

  "Embarrassed, I mean terrible. I barely get out of my room. I feel guilty not taking care of Yurial and Friya but I already have too much on my plate."

  "Yurial is at your house?"

  Phloria nodded.

  "He and his father. Our dads think that having shared a similar experience they can help each other overcoming their trauma."

  "That's a great idea." Lith too remembered how he had needed therapy back on Earth to try to get better. Too bad he never managed to find a Murderers Anonymous association.

  "Why don't you call th
em too? I'm sure they would appreciate the thought."

  "Phloria let's be honest, when it comes to feelings, I'm a bull in a glassware shop. I'm afraid I would only make things worse."

  After a bit of small talk, Lith closed the call and went into the Trawn woods for his experiments. Until Zekell provided him with the items he needed, he could still practice on rocks or study the boxes more.

  After reaching the mana geyser, Solus was able to take her tower form, revealing that the first floor was almost completely rebuilt.

  Alas, almost.

  Once inside, the access to the upper floor was still barred by debris.

  "Sorry, I have no control over any floor until its complete. I do not know why."

  Months had passed since Lith had actually heard Solus' voice instead of her mind, yet he didn't miss the change.

  "Solus, your voice has become much clearer and more human like than before. I can even hear some kind of accent, even though I don't recognize it."

  "You noticed!" He could feel her joy in his mind, she was walking on air. That's why he avoided adding that it was hard not to, since her previous one sounded like a customer service' answering machine.

  "And that's not the only change. Ta da!"

  The tower's walls started to glow of a faint radiance. The light slowly detached from the stone, forming a wisp the size of a tennis ball that started to spin around Lith's head.

  "Now not only can I accompany you, but also you have someone to talk to instead of looking at the walls or the ceiling."

  "It's a great news! Is it solid or¡?"

  "I wish." Solus sighed. "It's just light."

  Lith waved his hand inside the wisp without it encountering any resistance. There was nothing inside nor substance to it. It was indeed just an oversized firefly.

  Solus started laughing out loud, surprising him quite a bit.

  "I like your attitude. I was afraid you would get even more depressed and¡"