Chapter 208: Curiosity
I placed my hand on the device floating in midair among the trees. Erani and Ainash looked at it interestedly, while the Goblins standing among us seemed more concerned with whether Ainash was angry or happy with the recent development.
Making contact with the “Beacon,” I tried pushing my Mana into it once again to see what it could do.
Beacon requires at least one other placed Anchor Point to be activated.
Unplaced Anchor Points remaining: 1
“Uhh,” I said, “okay, so I need to place an ‘Anchor Point.’ How do I do that?”
“Since you activated the Beacon, you should automatically have placing privileges,” Index responded. “It should be instinctive, like casting a Spell.”
“Alright, so…” I closed my eyes and mentally searched for the trigger. After a moment, I found it residing within my mind, as though it had always been there. I hadn’t even noticed its appearance, but now that I found it, I had easy access. I flipped the switch, excited to finally see how the thing worked.
Could not place Anchor Point. Anchor Points must be at least 10,000 paces away from all other Anchor Points.
I sighed. “Well. Okay.”
“Is something wrong?” Erani asked.
“There’s some sort of additional requirement before I can use it. Gotta be entire cities away from here. Index, you can explain more now, right? Now that I’ve interacted with it?”
“I still can’t tell you what it does. But you should be careful about where you put down that Anchor Point. You won’t be able to move them around once placed, so pick somewhere good. Don’t just wander off in a random direction until you’re far away enough to place it down.”
“Well, how do we know what’s a good spot?”
“Hm. That’s a question. Uhh…Actually, when you get to that capital city you’ve been trying to teleport to, try throwing one down in a secluded place. A place that nobody will find it, obviously; remember, you can’t move it.”
I grunted. “Not sure I’m too big a fan of blindly putting down these things in random spots without even knowing what they do, especially if all I have is the one.”
“Technically, there’s always the possibility you can get more. If you find more of these Beacons, they can join in with the main network as additional Anchor Points.”
“What? Where would I—wait, what even is this thing? Where’s it from?”
“It’s made from highly-specialized, high-Level Enchanters. You probably wouldn’t find any specced into that path around here—honestly, chances are you wouldn’t find anyone anywhere who could make them. Just statistically.”
“Well, if we found one, that means its maker has to be around here somewhere, right? If that Dragon had it in its hoard, the Goblins had to steal it from someone.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. It could be that the Goblins just found it buried in the forest somewhere, or that the Young Dragon was the one to bring it along into the forest, having gotten it from ancient ruin in the mountains. Could be hundreds of years old.”
“So, what, just ignore it for now? Until we get to the capital and then we set down the other point?”
“Keep an eye out for now. But yeah, probably not a priority.”
“Well. One more thing to add to the agenda then, I guess.”
Erani looked over at me once I was done talking with Index. “So? What’d you learn?”
The next day, we prepared to head off into the mountains. Our goal was to find those missing border guards off in the south, which would hopefully be a good bit of money for relatively little work. Though, really, it was closer to gambling and hoping we stumbled onto their location—dead or alive.
Over the night, Erani and I had retired to our bedroom at the guild, so I was free to use Light Plate for Noxious Grasp training all night long. By the time I woke up, I was up to 3.39k out of the required 3.71k Spell XP for Noxious Grasp to hit Rank 19. And, of course, my leftover Time Loop uses got converted to Stat Points at midnight, as well.
Time Loop has refreshed its uses.
Recycled Loop has activated. Due to 3 uses being leftover, you have gained the following Stats:
+1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Conjuration
7 Stats remain until you must Level up.
With my most recent Level-up, I had ten more Stats I could gain from Recycled Loop, and it felt quite nice to see that notification once again after going a while with my maximum reached for Level 20.
Once we woke up, Erani and I first met up with Sylvie, then left with her to meet with Ainash—leaving her Goblin army behind—and the four of us started on our journey to the border of Empire’s Edge.
Erani and I wanted to double-check with Aliss and Boy to make sure they didn’t want to come along before we left, but they were nowhere to be found. We saw Entismo at the guild lobby, but he wanted to stay back in case they came by—he didn’t know where they were, either—so that just left Sylvie, who seemed more concerned with making money than with figuring out what that pair of her teammates were up to.
“So,” Erani spoke to her as we walked down the road, “you don’t care about seeing if Aliss and Boy are okay?”
Sylvie chuckled. “Didn’t think you’d try to convince me to stay back. Don’t want me here?”
“No, no, I’m just curious. You and Entismo are friends at least, correct? So I was a little confused when you didn’t stay back with him.”
“Nah, he’s just being a baby. Couple people disappear for a day. Probably just going to do some exclusive job that they just now got the Levels to be allowed by the guild to do it. Not my problem, and it shouldn’t be his. Entismo needs someone to lead him by example a little bit. So if that means leaving him behind to sit in a bar alone while I get to do all the fun, I say it’s good for him.”
“Well, I don’t know if it’ll be all that much fun,” I said. “We probably won’t find shit.”
“Don’t be so sure. Won’t be as much competition as you might think. Not too many people like venturing so close to Empire’s Edge, and especially not so close that they’re up with the border guards.”
“That scared of the Dragons, huh?”
“To an extent. But the guards are also pretty bad.”
I frowned. “Wait, what? I thought they worked for the empire. Aren’t they there to protect you?”
She looked between me and Erani. “We’re going to an outpost where you say you’re friends with the guards, right?”
“Uh, friends is a little too familiar a term. We know them.”
“Still, that means you’ve talked with some of the guards. So you should know what I’m talking about, right?”
“Well, I guess they’re pretty weird, but I didn’t think that would extend to every single guard along the mountain range. Though, I guess if they’ve all been isolated for years, that’d induce some craziness in anyone.”
Sylvie frowned. “What? No. Did you seriously not hear? The reason those people in particular were chosen for the punishment to become border guards.”
“Oh, right,” I said, remembering what I’d heard from Bon and Jannin. “They were critical of the new emperor, Etrin, right? Something about how he killed the old one, Lyra, and they were still loyal to her. What, are you a fan of that Etrin guy? Feels like it’s a pretty harsh punishment to put on someone just for having a difference of opinion.”
She scoffed. “Well, that’s one way to put it. Another way to put it is that every last one of the border guards is a terrorist. They were trying to overthrow the flamin’ emperor, man. And it wasn’t just a regular coup! They wanted to kill Etrin and leave nobody to replace him. Throw the entire country into chaos just because their golden girl died.”
“Terrorists?” Erani asked. “They weren’t blowing up buildings, were they?”
“No, not that far. But they were spreading dissent, starting riots…People died. The good guards, the ones that had to keep the empire safe from the protestors, a lot of them lost their lives when things got bad. And plenty of protesters died, too.”
“Couldn’t you say that’s Etrin’s fault, though?” I asked. “I mean, he was the one who killed and replaced Lyra, right? Can’t imagine he didn’t expect there to be some political unrest after that.”
Sylvie rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Seems like you’ve only ever talked about this with those fanatics, the way you talk about baseless rumor as though it were confirmed fact. Nobody can prove Lyra was murdered. And I know that because if those terrorists could get their hands on proof, it would’ve been spread around the entire empire like a plague within a week. Here are the facts: Lyra died tragically from an unknown disease when she was pregnant with her first child. Some people claim that the progression of that disease was suspiciously similar to a known poison, however only one person who saw her during her time bedridden actually claims this, and everyone else says it had nothing to do with any poisons they knew of. Etrin was a noble that quickly took up the mantle of leader the moment she showed signs of weakness, convincing the people to choose him as a new emperor. At best, he’s a quick thinker, one who single-handedly saved the country from the imminent disaster that comes when an empress dies with no heirs to inherit the throne. At worst, he’s an opportunistic man who claimed the power that fell into his lap. But none of this implies him to be the murderer.”
“Well, I at least see the case being made,” I said with a shrug. “There was a suspicious death, timed conveniently to leave no heirs, and a man who seemed more than prepared for a circumstance that nobody could have prepared for. But that’s not to say I wholeheartedly believe it. Just seems like a good idea to leave a little room in your mind to question those coincidences when they happen.”
“But the people who escalated the questions into full-scale riots are horrible,” Erani said. “I mean, it’s one thing to be curious. It’s another to act before knowing whether your suspicions are correct.”
Sylvie scowled. “No, even the ones asking the questions are to blame. Every nodding head encourages the radicals more to do something stupid. No matter your beliefs or your questions, you can’t let them get away with spouting their flamin’ shit. If people had called it out the moment it started, told the morons there’s no reason to hate a man who saved us, then a lotta people would be alive today. And those border guards are no exception. They were the ones to spread half the flamin’ rumors in the first place. Hope you don’t take offense, but I’m not too excited to meet any of ‘em, even if a couple are your friends. Or acquaintances, or whatever they are.”
I shrugged. “Not sure I agree with what you’re saying, but I can respect it. You obviously know more than me about the situation, that’s for sure. But, uh, we really aren’t friends. With the guards, I mean. Like, we barely know them.”
“So then what makes you so confident they’ll give us any information, even if they do know it?”
I exchanged a look with Erani. How was I supposed to express our relationship with Bon, Jannin, and Poppins? We’re frenemies? Friends that used to be enemies? Enemies that used to be friends? Maybe I could just say I’d threatened their lives enough times that they would probably do what I said if I came knocking, and that would suffice as an answer. Though, admitting to doing that would probably be a bad idea.
“We’ve had some disagreements in the past with them,” Erani spoke for me in a diplomatic tone. “They might believe some strange things about us, but we’ve mostly cleared the air, so we’re hoping they’ll be understanding enough to answer our questions.”
“Well, it should be quick enough that as long as they don’t hate you guys, we’ll be fine,” Sylvie said. “All we’re really gonna be asking is whether or not they’ve heard about the disappearances, and if so, whether they know what happened.”
“I sure hope the conversation is that short,” I muttered.
“Father,” Ainash sent me a mental message, “if Humans try to tell this one about you, try to turn her into bad guy, should I kill them all?”
“I’d sure hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said.
“...So do I kill them?”
I sighed. “Just…if they’re telling her about my identity, sure. Kill the guards. But leave our ally alive. At least, leave her alive until she proves herself to be an enemy. I’ll probably just use Time Loop to undo it all, anyway.”
“Okay!”
Eventually, we arrived at the guard outpost. It was silent this time, despite the hour not being so late that they would be asleep. In fact, the sun had only barely begun setting behind the mountains. But I supposed they couldn’t all be shouting over each other every night; after years together, they had to run out of conversation topics sometime.
I led Erani, Ainash, and Sylvie over to the stone box, glancing up at the shut-tight windows. Hopefully this place would give us some sort of answers regarding the other missing guards. If I remembered correctly, Bon and his gang were only a few outposts away from them, so it wasn’t entirely unlikely. Not that I had my hopes that high, of course. These guys always seemed to prove less useful than I hoped.
I stepped up to their door with my companions behind me, and swung it open.
Inside were Bon, Jannin, and Poppins, all sitting around their living room table like usual. Only, when I looked at them, I saw them staring at me with surprise and fear. Well, I supposed that made sense; I had implied the last time I saw them that, if they ever met me again, it would be because I was there to kill them.
“H-hey,” Jannin said, holding sweaty hands up to me before I could even take a step into the building, “we didn’t tell her anything, okay? Promise.”
“What?” I glanced behind me to look at Sylvie before turning back to them. “Have you met her before?”
Jannin continued frantically, “I-I don’t know if you came here for her, but I swear, we didn’t say anything, man. Flamin’ nothing!”
“What are you talking about? Came here for who?”
Jannin continued stuttering on as the other two guards stared at me in fear, and I took a step forward to walk inside.
But just as I did, the blade of a battleaxe came swinging out from behind the wall, straight at my face.
Then it collided right into my nose.
You have been sliced. 56 damage.
Your Health is 624.
You have been inflicted with Burning Blood.
For the next 10 seconds, you gain the following effects:
You lose 1 Health every second.
Whenever you take damage from a physical source, that source deals an additional 50% damage, up to a maximum of 25 additional damage.
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