Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 172

Akira's Daily Life

A boar twice the size of an adult male ran through the forest, trudging through the snow with heavy breaths. It was a she, and she was afraid. A two-legged creature had found her while she was out scavenging for food.

Then, she saw another two-legged creature standing before her, making all kinds of racket. She rushed to attack the creature in desperation, but before she managed to reach him, a spear ran through her torso and her body collapsed into the snow; the momentum caused by its charge making her scrape against the snow a few meters away.

“Good shot, Hannah!”

“Of course! I’m improving everyday.”

After finishing their mission of subjugating the local monsters with the Knights under the command of Klein, the two had slunk away with his permission. Though not without a wink and a nudge by the suave young Captain.

Eleanora was also supposed to have come along with them, but she had said that she was feeling feverish. But the two knew that it was just a ruse. She had most likely chosen to sequester herself in her Master’s tower; warm and snug by the fireplace, surrounded by her true love, tomes and books of magics instead of being out and about in the cold.

It suited them just fine. The two almost never had time to be alone, especially after Akira volunteered to follow the Knights in their daily training and missions to start again from the basics.

After field dressing the boar, they put the boar atop Akira’s horse. The two then rode leisurely along the main road and down to the beach below the cliff.

“This is the first time I’ve seen snow falling this close to the sea,” he commented. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Hannah agreed. “However, the snow does not stay long in the beach because the salt from the sea melted them before they properly form. But when I was little ago, Courandhel saw the coldest winter since the founding, and the beach here was blanketed with the purest white snow. My mother took me to the beach to play, even though she rarely went out of the mansion,” the girl spoke with fondness, before turning to Akira. “I wish you could see it. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m sure we will, one day,” Akira said, his eyes returning her looks of adoration with wholehearted promise. “Race to the gate?”

“I’m already ahead of you!” Hannah laughed as she pressed her knees onto her horse’s torso.

In Courandhel, Winter had finally arrived in its full glory. Its icy hand crawling into people’s home, forcing them to light fire in their fireplace. The people wore thicker clothes and mostly worked indoors. Even the Hunters became less active due to the cold.

When Akira and Hannah arrived in front of the massive gate of Courandhel, the Guard came over and stopped them.

“Sir Hero! Welcome back!” he said with a crisp salute. “I have a message from the Palace. They want you to go there as soon as you can.”

“Alright, do you know what it’s about?”

“I don’t know, Sir. I’m not paid to know these things,” the man said straightforwardly without any trace of sarcasm.

He turned to Hannah, who said. “You go on ahead. I’ll bring the boar to my house. The Head Cook makes fine roasts.”

Akira squeezed her hand with a smile before riding towards the Palace.

Once Akira arrived at the Palace, he was quickly ushered to the office of the King by a Knight on duty.

When they were walking along the long hallway beside the Audience Chamber, Akira furrowed his brows when he saw four men a few meters in front on him. It was Duke Gladstone and three of his fellow Nobles. He had no wish to meet the man and persuaded the Knight to go around to avoid him.

To his displeasure, he heard the man calling out his name, “Ah, if it isn’t the Hero of Calendia.”

Akira clicked his tongue inaudibly as he saw Gladstone coming towards him with the other three walking three steps behind her like whipped dogs.

“Duke Gladstone, how are you this fine afternoon?” Akira said with a stiff smile. He noticed that the Duke looked tired and his skin was sallow.

“Very well, and you? I heard that you’ve been very active with your little…gathering lately,” the man said with words dripping with sarcasm.

“I’m a Hero after all. I must do my share of the burden to protect those that needs protection from those that might harm the innocent.”

“Yes. Yes. The innocent. Then tell me, is there any reason why you raided one of the upstanding stores that belonged to Marquis Moresby a week ago?”

“The store is suspected to be one of the sources of the spread of the Infidelity Disease. I’m sure that you’ve already been informed.”

Since a few weeks ago, there was an ongoing trend among the Nobles of rash and fatigue of the body. At first, Akira thought that this was simply because of the change in the seasons as the air become drier and colder. However, he overheard one of the Blue Dragons complaining about the sores on his penis that made the maid he was seeing lose interest.

Akira quickly asked to see the penis (to the misunderstanding of the Knight) and spent a few hours explaining himself that he was not interested in him in that way.

Akira, whose childhood had been ruined by his conservative biology teacher’s fondness of showing his class the body parts of people at different stages of Sexually Transmitted Disease, instantly knew what was happening after seeing it and informed the King about it. Though he named it Infidelity Disease, as he did not know whether it was Syphillis or Herpes.

Hearing this, the King quickly asked the Healers to discreetly inspect the conditions of those Nobles who had complaints of rashes and found out that at least thirty percent of the Nobles had been affected. He immediately asked Akira if he knew the cure, and he told him about Penicillin.

Unfortunately, Akira did not have the knowledge on how to create it. However, he knew that Kim Sooyoung, the Hero of Al-Khemiya was a Medical Student and advised him to ask for her help. For now, all they could do was stop the spread by disallowing acts of intercourse outside marriage.

“Well…” the man coughed uncomfortably. “A warning should have sufficed.”

“Next time, perhaps,” Akira said with a sneer. “I have a meeting with the King, Duke Gladstone. So, if there is nothing else…”

“Don’t let me keep you, then,” Duke Gladstone said. “Until next time, Sir Hero.”

“Until next time,” Akira said with a vague smile.

As the man made his move, Akira saw from the gaps between his gloves and the cuff of his coat, the familiar rash that those with the disease had.

As a young man aspiring to be a true Hero; and a man hopelessly loyal to his paramour, the black-haired Otherworlder could not fathom the audacity of the man. How could a married man have relations outside the binding of marriage, even after swearing an oath to be loyal to their other half before their Goddess?

He wondered how long has it been since he got infected for it to have caused him to look so fatigued.

Then he cursed inwardly as his earlier good mood dropped to the lowest level.

Inside the King’s office, the infamous Advisor Alrond and King Gerard had been waiting.

When Akira entered, he saw a servant adding firewood to the fireplace, giving the room a warm glow. As soon as the King saw him, he beckoned him over to the sofa. One of the sofas looked to be brand new and had a different style to the rest of the room. The upholstery was new and inviting compared to the old ones he saw there.

As the servant was about to excuse himself, Alrond called out to him. “Call Donovan here. He’ll be at the White Lion’s Mess Hall at this time of day.”

“Yes, Lord Advisor.”

After the servant bowed and exited the office, King Gerard began to speak. “You must be wondering why I called you here, Akira.”

The young man nodded. “Is there something you need from me?”

“As a matter of fact, there is,” he said. “Alrond, if you please.”

The Advisor continued the conversation without missing a beat. “Hero, do you know of the Guild Master of Cairula?”

“It’s hard not to. Guild Master Sabrac the Dragonslayer, right? His deeds are legendary even among the high ranked Hunters,” he replied. “I’d like to meet him one day, but I heard that he’s often on solitary journeys.”

Alrond sighed. “Correct. And that is why we called you here. When Winter ends, we of the Alliance will go to war with Vorzenny. However, in doing that we cannot avoid fighting the Vorzennian Unrestraineds. That’s why we need to find Sabrac and request his help.”

“Unrestraineds…!” Akira exclaimed. He had never actually seen one before, but judging by how reverential those in the know spoke of them, he guessed that they should be very strong.

“Yes. We have reports that the Great General Lorenzo is returning to their Capital, along with their Frontline army, ten thousand strong.”

“It is often said that Unrestrained can only be defeated by Unrestrained,” the King said, his finger tapping the surface of his shiny new desk. “And as far as history goes, this has always been truth. With our only Unrestrained Marshall General Wilhelm Rigel stuck guarding the Frontline, the only one we can depend on is Sabrac.”

“What’s the problem, then, Your Majesty? Can’t you just ask him?”

Alrond and the King looked at one another before the decrepit Advisor opened his lips. “Unfortunately, Sabrac is a private man and he dislikes the Nobility. For a good reason.”

“He was a Beastfolk slave,” the King said it outright. This made Akira blink before he nodded knowingly. He was not ignorant of what that meant. “I see. That makes it hard.”

“You don’t have to worry about whether he accepts the request or not. We have our ways,” Alrond said with a mysterious smile. “But the first thing we must do is to actually find him. The most recent sighting we had of him was in Barandur Pass. After that, we had no news of him,” The Advisor said with a shake of his head. “The man is a gifted tracker, and if he wanted to vanish, no one can find him. Not even my network can find his trace,” he paused, looking at Akira meaningfully. “Then I remember your Blessing.”

“You…want me to find him using my Clairvoyance,” the Hero of Calendia said, pressing his thumbs together as he added two and two in his head.

“Yes. Find him and bring him back to Courandhel. That is your mission. What happens after is our business.”

Akira furrowed his eyebrows. “Wait, even if I find him…he is an Unrestrained. How am I going to bring him back if he refused? As you said before, he…dislikes Nobility.”

“Indeed. It would be almost impossible to do, but if it is you, the Hero…he might be willing to talk,” King Gerard showed an odd expression as he said so. Alrond followed up quickly

“He is an adherent of the Rokudo School of Thoughts that see Heroes in high regard. It is the same School of Thought that Monk Kaihaku followed. If there is someone that can do this, it is you, our Hero!”

“Now, hold on, Alrond. The Hero hasn’t said if he will accept the mission.”

“…” With the two most important men in the Kingdom asking him like this, how could he refuse? He knew he had to accept this mission, otherwise would they still think of him as their Hero?

After a show of silent deliberation, Akira nodded firmly. “I’ll accept the mission. But I’ll need supplies.”

“Excellent! I know we can count on you!” King Gerard said with visible excitement. “Of course, we will provide anything that you need.”

“As it so happens, I have a new Skill that allows me to see the future of someone through the medium of something that a target owned. It’s weaker than my True Clairvoyance, but does not have a blowback that will render me a slave to the bed for days. All I need is an item that belongs to the target. The more recent it came in touch with him the better.”

“I see. Then I’ll have someone fetch Guildmaster Sabrac’s belonging from the Hunter’s Guild. They should be fine if we give them a collateral. I will have it send to you before Evening today,” Alrond said. “How soon can you leave after you have his location? The sooner you leave the better, otherwise the snow would have hindered your travel.”

“I think the day after tomorrow. I still need to talk with members of my party.”

“That’s acceptable,” King Gerard said while nodding to himself. When he heard three knocks on the door, he smiled. “Ah, that should be Major Donovan. Come in!”

Then, a man with the squarest chin Akira had ever seen came in. He was rather short, but with the bulk and muscles that made him look like an immovable boulder. His bald head was cleanly shaven, reflecting the fire in the fireplace. He had a pair of blue eyes that shone with goodwill and excitement.

When he walked in, Akira could see his own face staring back at him from his impeccably polished pair of boots.

“This is Major Donovan Wordsworth. A member of the Knight of White Lions and son of an old friend. He’s an Unrestricted Candidate that comes highly recommended by the Marshall General.”

“Major Donovan Wordsworth. It’s a pleasure to see the Hero at last. I’ve heard so much about you! Might I have the honor of shaking your hand?”

The man saluted smartly with an enthusiasm that made Akira feel a bit overwhelmed.

“A…pleasure,” he said as he experienced the most reassuring handshake he had ever had in his life.

“Donovan here just returned from the borders two days ago, and he had accrued many accomplishments. One of which is defeating a hostile Unrestrained Candidate. He will be going with you on this mission, alongside Captain Klein.”

Alrond added. “We would have liked to send more Unrestrained Candidates with you, but most of our Unrestrained Candidates are either on the Frontline or dispatched to handle other duties. Also, sending too many of them might make us seem like we are threatening him.”

“Remember, you are just persuading him. Confrontation should not even be thought of,” King Gerard emphasized his words, his eyes staring at them strongly. “Sabrac won’t hurt you. I…think.”

“Your Majesty. What do you -!”

“Ah, look at the time. We have to continue our discussion soon if we want to finish before dinner, Alrond. Donovan, please escort the Hero out.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the man put a friendly hand on Akira’s shoulder and urged him out.