Chapter 47 : New Party Member

  He slowly stands up, and with an accusatory gesture, points his finger at Valentin and me.

  "You... You are..." he murmurs in a cold voice. I grip my weapon, ready for anything, while Valentin also prepares himself, tense.

  "You are the lovely customers of my carriage! The ones traveling with the blonde girl who pays a lot!" he suddenly exclaims, all cheerful. Wow... I didn’t see that one coming.

  Valentin tries to speak again. "Uh... indeed. But... why are you covered in black cloth... and, actually, we have a lot of questions for you," he says, his voice hesitant. He looks like he’s completely lost control of the situation, poor guy.

  I decide to cut through all this awkwardness. "Do you really hate the royalty?" I ask, in a nonchalant tone.

  The man casts a furtive glance around him, checking to see if anyone’s listening, before responding in an icy voice. "I hate them more than anything in this world."

  Great. And I’m supposed to invite him to Novus Obris... If he ever runs into Alfira, things are going to go very, very badly...

  He stands up fully, slowly stepping toward us. "You see... I met a certain Llyrnoth in the past, about 863 years ago," he says, almost shyly.

  What? He met the Queen of the Void?! Valentin instinctively takes a few steps back, visibly shocked.

  "She asked me to come to Blindrock at every Snow Festival, and for almost a millennium... I’ve respected that rule. After all, I don’t have much else to do," he adds with a smile, which we can see even through the black cloth covering his mouth.

  Valentin, gathering his courage, steps forward as well. "Is it the Queen of the Void who gave you your power?" he asks, curious.

  "No, the cause of my power is a secret, even for you," he responds, all cheerful, as if he just told us a little joke.

  Well, that solves the question of inviting him to Novus Obris... It’s better to leave him alone. I doubt we’ll get any satisfying answers. And honestly, given his hatred for royalty, inviting someone like him with Alfira around is a recipe for disaster.

  "It was a pleasure to meet you, but we’ll be going now," I say, deciding it’s time to retreat. Valentin turns to me and nods, sharing my opinion. No need to play with fire.

  As we start walking away, I see Elvaria and Alfira rushing straight toward us.

  Suddenly, Elvie shouts: "Aley! Did you invite him or not yet?" Damn! At her words, I turn back toward the man wrapped in bandages. He looks at me with bright eyes.

  "Y-You want to invite me... It would be a pleasure! I haven’t traveled in 500 years...!" he murmurs in a childlike tone. His half-hidden face makes the scene completely absurd.

  Alfira approaches as well. "Oh, you’re the gentleman from the carriage!" she exclaims as she realizes who he is.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  And there it is, now the two girls have finally tracked down the man behind the lightning. Great. I need to find a solution, fast.

  Valentin tries to speak, "Actually, we can’t invite anyone for the moment—" but he’s cut off by Elvie.

  "What are you talking about?!" she exclaims, then turns her gaze back to the man dressed in black. "You want to join us!" she adds enthusiastically.

  I glance at Valentin, who’s staring at me with a desperate look. In our eyes, the reflection of doom. We’re screwed.

  Suddenly, a shout rings out.

  "Yes! With pleasure!" the man responds, all delighted. Well, I might as well ask him his name.

  "And what’s your name...?" I ask hesitantly.

  "I’m Githin!" he says, placing his hand proudly on his chest, as if he had just won a medal.

  "And... can you remove your bandages...?" asks Valentin, timidly, looking worried.

  "Oh, yes, of course, sorry," Githin replies. Then, suddenly, a flash of magic appears, and he resumes a normal form. He’s wearing a merchant’s clothes: a small purple fur jacket, wide black pants, and his face, that of a man in his twenties, with a slight beard and eyes as black as mine.

  His hair is very short, curly like a cloud of cotton.

  "Well, alright then..." I say, with a fake smile plastered on my face. Elvaria is bursting with energy and good humor, while Alfira has her eyes fixed on me for reasons I don’t even want to imagine. That girl is obsessed.

  And Valentin... well, he has a blank stare. He’s so panicked that his gaze seems frozen.

  Novus Obris is probably going to have a few difficulties, and we’re not even in Voltruite yet!

  ...

  In ancient times, during the Holy War:

  "Aleystria, plant your swords!" a woman’s voice screamed, desperate, panic piercing through her words.

  "I won’t be able to hold him back for long!" added a man’s voice, trembling under the pressure.

  The emissary of humanity and their group were at the summit of paradise, facing the annihilation of the last of the gods.

  "I’m going in!" Aleystria suddenly cried, arming his swords to deliver the final blow.

  He immediately charged forward, his gaze burning with determination, aimed straight at Orthos, the god-king. A thousand swords pierced the celestial sovereign’s body in an instant.

  Chants rose into the air, hymns from a church, of indescribable beauty, a sound so pure it surpassed anything the human mind could conceive.

  "It’s magnificent..." Elvaristria murmured, intoxicated by the divine melody.

  Suddenly, paradise shattered, bringing everyone back to reality. They were now floating in the air, each of them suspended between heaven and earth.

  Veron, Oscar, Elvi, Aley... those who had defied the heavens and triumphed. A broad smile illuminated their faces, as Orthos’ body dissolved into a myriad of shimmering particles.

  "It’s a breathtaking sight..." Oscar murmured, in awe.

  "Did you see that?! It’s splendid! In the end, this quest was totally worth it!" Aleystria exclaimed, still full of euphoria.

  "What should we call you, captain? Since we bear the suffix 'stria', I should call myself Veronstria, but... that sounds awful," Veron said, contemplating the infinite horizon of the sky.

  "Call me Aley, or Aleystria... I’ve gotten used to it," Aley replied with a light laugh.

  The world couldn’t have been more beautiful at that moment. Unfortunately, peace, as sublime as it may be, is never eternal. It’s one of the fundamental laws of this world.

  Even Orthos didn’t know, but the Will of the World had trapped them. It was inevitable, to prevent the Absolute Void from being reached.

  The group was condemned to become gods, to rule as masters over this world. And so, the Holy War had, in truth, never really ended.

  ...

  What the... Another vision? Here? There’s nothing that should be causing it... I briefly saw Veron, Oscar, and Elvaria... and I was driving my sword into a divine being, that’s all I could catch...

  Whatever. Now we have a new fool to take care of at Novus Obris.

  I move toward Elvie and Alfira to whisper in their ears:

  "Never tell Githin that Alfira is a princess, understood?" I say coldly. Elvie immediately nods, with a serious expression, followed by Alfira, who also nods... though she probably didn’t grasp the whole thing.

  "We’ll write your name on the guild register later... for now, we have to enter a dungeon," Valentin adds, speaking to our new companion.