Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 173

Sabrac and the Five-Colored Crystal Anecdote

After having dinner of a good roast from the result of their hunt that day, Akira returned to his quarters with a package in hand. He opened it and took out a tattered coat that stunk of dirt and animal. The coat belonged to Sabrac, who had discarded it. He could see a few holes in it, each of which had dried blood caked into the edges.

He sat on his bed, ruffling his black hair as he gazed upon the tattered coat. He was beginning to regret his decision.

“Here goes. Psychometry,” he declared.

As soon as he said that, his head jerked back and his eyes bulged as if it was about to pop out of their sockets. He saw flashes of scenes that lasted only for a few seconds. He saw himself walking across a forest. Then the scene changed to one where he saw the back of a lanky man standing atop a hill. He was talking to someone small in stature with a large wooden box behind his back. For a split second, he saw the small figure turning towards him and saw his face.

“GAH!!”

The black-haired Hero placed a finger under his nose and did not feel the nosebleed that usually came after using his Skill. “That boy…,” he muttered. “It was the Beastfolk in her party. How is he there?”

“Well, that complicates things,” Hannah said. “Are you sure that you saw that boy?”

Akira had gathered the members of the group that would go with him to search for Sabrac in a private room in the Palace, and explained the visions that he had seen when he used his Skill last night.

“Yes. I’m sure. He was talking to the Guild Master. I saw no hostility between them, so I think that our best option to be able to meet Guild Master Sabrac is to talk to Martell.”

“How does he know him, though?” Klein questioned Akira.

“Perhaps it’s not a matter of him knowing Sabrac, but that he will meet him. My visions do not have clear explanations on what I see, unfortunately. It’s up to us to interpret it. Unless, we can find out where the forest I saw in my vision is.”

“Is there anything unique about the forest?”

“There are Pine trees around us, and the ground is speckled with snow. Other than that, nothing.”

“There are many forests where Pine trees grow in South Calendia. Trying to pinpoint where that exact place, without having any other landmark that we can rely on, would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack,” Klein said. “There’s no other way then. We have to head to Greyvault. That’s where they were going to, last I heard.”

“So, we are going to meet them?” Eleanora said excitedly. Out of all members of Akira’s party, the Genius Mage was the only one excited about the prospect of meeting Connie and her party. She saw the women in Connie’s party as her role models.

“I doubt they’d be happy meeting us, though,” Hannah sighed as she reclined back in her seat.

“Sorry, it seems that I’m very out of touch with the news. Can you explain it to me why it would be inconvenient for them to meet us?” Donovan asked.

“Have you heard about the Hero Killer, Cornelia Asterium Steelheart?” Klein began to explain. “That boy we are talking about is one of the members of her party.”

“We…have a complicated relationship with her,” Hannah said as she uncomfortably touched her stomach. Remembering what the vile girl had planted inside Akira’s and her insides.

“Are you enemies?” Donovan nodded as he began to understand their meaning.

“No. Not exactly,” Akira avoided going into details as he was afraid of divulging too much details. “But we are not friends either. I had a good conversation with Akula, but as for the others, we might as well be strangers.”

“Well, then we should at least be able to have a discussion, correct?” Donovan smiled. “As a friend of mine once said, “You can’t choose your family, but you can damn well choose your friend”!”

He thumped his chest proudly. “Just leave it to me! By the end of it, we’ll be gathered around a table and drink wine until we pass out.”

Akira and Hannah looked at Klein, who shrugged his shoulders with a helpless smile. “Regardless, we now have a destination for our journey,” he then advised them. “Bring winter clothes and thick cloak. And make sure that you have padding between your armor and bare skin,” Klein said as he gestured with his thumb and forefinger. “If not, have at least this much gap between your skin and your armor, unless you want to be picking bits of skin off it. Winter in the South is harsher than here.”

Akira and his party, joined by Sir Donovan and Klein, left in the morning two days after. Five of the Knights under Klein also came with them.

They arrived at Barandur Pass before lunchtime.

“Let’s have something warm in us before we continue. It will be another long ride before we reach Lady Cornelia’s territory,” Klein said. “And I’m sure that our Mage here needs a nice hot drink before she froze into an icicle.”

“Y-yes please. The wind here is m-more biting than I thought.” Eleanora, wrapped in thick fur that made her look like a small bear, quickly ran towards the only tavern in that small square.

“Are you coming?” Akira asked.

“You go on in,” Klein said as he handed over the rein of his horse to one of his men. He had spotted a rough looking man who was looking at him suspiciously from a small open-sided shed. When their eyes met, he quickly returned to his work. “I…need to talk to someone.”

Klein walked towards the man nonchalantly, and leaned on the side of the wooden shed.

“Afternoon, friend. My name’s Klein. Mind if I ask you something?” he asked with a relaxed tone.

“You a Knight from the Capital?” the man asked without looking at him. He was sharpening a large knife with a coarse leather belt.

“That’s right. And you’re a local Hunter?”

“How’d you know that?” he asked with narrowed eyebrows. Then he saw Klein nodding at the direction of the coat hanging on a hook. His badge was peeking out from the side pocket.

“Hah! Alright, whaddaya need? I’ve got to take care of this before the day goes dark.”

“Alright. Then, have you seen an old Beastfolk wielding a spear that looks…bone-like before? He should’ve passed here about a month ago.”

“Oh, you mean Guild Master Sabrac?” the Hunter said, letting a grunt out as he stripped the skin of the boar with his hands. “Yeah. Hard not to, with how famous he was. Gives me the heebie-jeebies, he did. Last I saw him was when I was returning from my daily hunt. He’s headed down that way,” he said, waving vaguely at the direction of the way South with hands still wet with fat and blood.

“Did he say anything about where he’s heading or something like that?”

“How should I know? If you’d seen the look in his eyes…” the man shivered as he remembered his glare. “That’s all I know. Now, leave me be. I don’t get paid to talk to strangers.”

Klein placed three Silver Coin by the man’s coat and promptly left.

Hmm, it matches Akira’s information. At the very least we’ve confirmed that he is indeed headed South.

Inside The Blind Boar, the party had warmed up considerably and was enjoying a quick drink as they waited for their stews. With a new person amidst them, Akira worried that they would be too stiff with each other. He found that that this worry was unneeded. Donovan was an honest, lively man who made quick friends with everyone.

Akira also could not help but be interested in him as he was the first Unrestrained Candidate that he had ever met. So, Akira asked a bit about the man's history.

The man did not hesitate to share his story and told them how he was originally a Vorzennian orphan who was adopted by Marquis Wordsworth when he caught him and his mother trying to escape Vorzenny due to debts. He also told them bits about his life in the Frontline.

“I’ve also met Guild Master Sabrac a few times back when I was a trainee Knight. He is…a very peculiar person.”

“Really? Can you tell us what he’s like?” Akira said.

“How he's like, is it?…he’s a very opinionated person.”

“I-is Guildmaster Sabrac hard to please?” Eleanora asked.

“Hmm,” Donovan rubbed his chin with a difficult expression. “He…has a set of values that does not fit the norm. For one thing, he is someone who stands by contracts. To excessive degree,” he emphasized the word with a gesture of his hand. “Let me tell you an anecdote I heard straight from my fellow brother-in-arms, one of the men who was there when it happened.”

“A few years ago, when the former Maiden of Water chose Lady Allenca Viandros to be her successor, the King submitted a personal request to the Guild for Guild Master Sabrac’s help in acquiring a Five-Colored Mana Crystal. To be given as a congratulatory gift,” he saw the look on Akira’s face and further explained. “Five-Colored Mana Crystal is a rare type of Mana-dense crystal that could emit power from the five elements. It can only be found in places where Mana is plentiful. It so happens that the place where it had been confirmed is in a valley to the East called Rockwood Valley; a dangerous place teeming with wyverns, where even the strongest warriors might not return. Following me so far?”

“Guild Master Sabrac took the Quest and returned two months later with a Crystal the size of half an adult’s arm. The price for such an item could buy half the city,” he paused and had a sip to drink before continuing. “He came straight to the King, as per the King’s request. He then he asked for his Quest reward,” the man shrugged. “I don’t know exactly how much the reward actually was, but I’m sure it was an astronomical sum. The point is, when he asked for the reward, the former Royal Treasurer - Duke Andrew Folke - tried to haggle.”

“Former?”

“Oh I’ve heard about this,” Hannah said. “Didn’t he resign due to his health?”

“Hohoho, yes. They told you that, didn’t they? I’m getting to the good part,” the man said mischievously. “The Guild Master took out the signed Quest Missive and proclaimed that the Quest was signed and agreed upon by both sides. The Duke said in return that it should only be right that a beast follows the word of a human.”

“Oh.”

“Indeed; Oh. After hearing that, the Guild Master made his way towards the Duke, then guess what he did?” he quickly followed with a warning, his face showing so much glee that he was smiling ear to ear. “This one is a bit crude to the ears of the fair ladies, so you might want to close your ears.”

Hannah promptly put her hands on both of Eleanora’s ears, to the smaller girl’s annoyance.

“Ready? He…shoved the crystal up the man’s ass so far up there that he shat blood for months!” Donovan enjoyed the look of bewilderment on everyone’s face and continued his story. “Guild Master Sabrac then tore up the Missive and said to the King. “There’s your crystal. Free of charge.”.”

“That’s…horrible! I can’t believe he did that to a Duke!” Hannah said in horror.

“Whoa, do we…really need to find him?” Akira said, as he started to regret accepting the request.

“I don’t think you have to worry. My father who knew him back in the day – when he heard the story - said that, if it was the old Sabrac, he would’ve just killed the man, regardless of the result. He just learned to be more patient after becoming a Guild Master.”

“Did – did the King not get angry?” Akira asked with confusion.

“How can he get angry? Imagine, getting angry at an Unrestrained, without another Unrestrained by his side? He alone could have taken down the whole Palace without breaking a sweat,” Donovan shrugged. “Of course, we never know. Perhaps the King does not feel the need to show all his cards? Or if he really did not wish to upset Guild Master Sabrac any further? Regardless, the King chose to apologize. That night, Duke Folke was sent to his fief and he was succeeded by his son. Can’t very well have a Dukedom lost for a moment of stupidity, right?” Donovan winked. “Of course, you didn’t hear this from me.”

“Then, what happened to the Crystal? Did the King give it to the former Maiden of Water?”

Donovan’s eyes opened wide as if Akira was asking if the sky is purple. “Are you crazy? Of course not. No matter how precious the crystal was, you cannot gift something that had been in someone’s ass to the Faith, right? And he can’t very well give it to anyone else. Do you want to be given a weapon and then you say, “Oh, we found this up this guy’s bumhole. Don’t worry, we cleaned most of the shit up.”.”

He then put down his tankard and wiped his chin with a handkerchief. “So, it’s now basically shoved in the Palace Treasury, never to see the light of day. That, my friends, is why we don't play around with Guild Master Sabrac.”