Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 188

Old Men and Their Caprice

Sabrac puffed his way through the main streets of Greyvault an hour after lunch. He was a day late from the time he promised of his arrival to the Hero, owing to the rituals he needed to do to properly mourn the monks. The Guards did not give him any grief, as on his chest was the proof of the highest-ranking Hunter in Calendia. Even in such a remote place, the name Sabrac the Dragonslayer was known.

He had wrapped his extremely pointy spear in a cloth-shaped Artifact that allowed it to hide its bloodlust. The spear tended to sulk when forced to stay in the Item Ring, so Sabrac had to resort to such method.

As he walked, he noticed that other than the people trying to sell their wares in the market, there were also a lot of people rebuilding houses and public places. Their faces were bright and energetic despite the cold.

As he was approaching the square, he saw a giant grotesque skull, guarded by a few men in armor. There was a group of children playing in front of the grotesque skull. The weary Guards looked upon them with slight smiles on their lips.

“I am Cornelia Asterium Steelheart! The Hero Killer! Bow down before the might of my sword!” a large boy with a wooden sword raised it as high as his stubbly arms could raise. “With a slash and a cut, I slayed the Demon Bet-Zebek and saved Greyvault from his tyranny!”

“W-what’s Tyranny, George?” a snivelling boy asked.

“It’s…it’s…I don’t know! It must be something bad. I just said what the grownups were talking about!” the boy said defensively.

“Does the Lady use a sword though? I haven’t seen her with a sword on her hip like the others,” a more inquisitive boy asked. It was apparent that this boy would not be much fun as an adult.

“Maybe…maybe she hid it! You never know!”

“And you’re a boy! Lady Steelheart is a Lady! It’s in the title!” a girl with two pigtails called him out. “I shoulda be Lady Steelheart! You can be Nick!”

“Aw, no fun! He looks like my da’!”

Sabrac stopped and watched as the children began arguing about who should be Nick because no one wanted to be him.

Hmm, the young Steelheart seemed to be much loved by the townspeople. How different it is from the rumors I’ve heard.

As he was thinking that, Sabrac heard cheering coming from behind him.

It had been a few weeks since Connie had seen Greyvault. She saw that rebuilding was going slowly but surely. As she rode into town, she smiled at the people who called her name and her party members with gratefulness. The ones with her were only Illumca and Akula, as Lihua was busy with her plan to indoctrinate the Dark Elves.

When Connie reached the square, she saw a handful of children running towards her, waving toy swords and shouting her name. Riding a horse near children would be dangerous, so she got down from her horse and greeted them with cursory pats on the heads.

“So, you are the famous Cornelia Asterium Steelheart.”

An old man with a slightly hunched back and what looked like a spear wrapped in cloth spoke to her.

“…yes, I am. And who might you be, old sir?” Connie asked him.

From a brief glance, Connie could see how extraordinary the old man in front of her was. To say nothing of his body. Sabrac had hidden his powerful aura using the effect of his Meditation Skill, nevertheless, the body that had been honed for many years through deadly battles and training beyond the limit of humans could not be hidden.

As for Sabrac, what he saw in front of his eyes was nothing more than a normal youth, standing amongst high level warriors. An Unrestrained Candidate? He eyed the Dark Elf, then at the Centaur. And one that’s close to becoming one.

But that was exactly the reason why it grabbed his attention.

There were only two reasons why she felt so ordinary. One, was that she truly was nothing special. and second, was that she had achieved such mastery of her Skills that she could hide her strength. Yet, the way she carried herself, and the sharpness in her gaze told him that she was a swordsman. And there was no way someone capable of killing something like an Ur-Nagud to be weak.

That left only one answer.

Sabrac smirked.

“That’s Sabrac, Guild Master of the Hunter’s Guild in Cairula. I’ve seen his pictures,” Illumca told them.

“Oh, where did you see them?” Akula asked.

“In the Assassin’s Guild Top Bounty List,” the Dark Elf answered. “The bounty for his life is enough to feed a city for a few years. I heard he didn’t kill most of the Assassins going after his head.”

“That’s awfully nice of him!” Akula said. “If it was me, I’d just behead them as a lesson!”

“That’s just me helping Master Assassin Darius teach Assassins that are too proud of themselves to learn humility,” Sabrac commented.

“It is nice to meet you, Guild Master,” Connie began with a polite salute. “May I ask what your business is here?”

“I’ve come here to fulfil a promise. That is all,” As Sabrac said that, a mischievous thought came into his mind. “I have a question for you, Miss. This skull is something that belonged to an Ur-Nagud. I heard from rumors that you defeated this thing alone. I think you're not telling lies.”

“Oh?” Connie gave him a vague smile, ignoring the fact that she called her a Miss; without using her title. “So, what do you want to do, Guild Master?”

“I am going to test you. See if you are telling the truth.”

“Why the pretense, Guild Master? Just say that you want to fight me,” Connie laughed, her heart thumping. Yes, this person is strong. Incredibly strong. I can push my body to the limit with him. “Because frankly, I too want to find out what makes an Unrestrained strong!”

“A proud one, aren’t you?! Good! That’s how a young one should be!! The Hero was disappointing, but I think you can be an excellent distraction.”

“But not here, my people have been rebuilding. It won’t do for us to disturb them,” Connie said. “I know a place out of town that’s not going to be missed even if we have a more intense testing.”

With that, Connie turned her heel and leaped onto the roof of a nearby building.

“Please follow me,” she said, before vanishing into the distance.

“Hmh. Cheeky one, aren’t you?” the man said, before kicking the ground and leaving a crater behind from the force of his step.

In Martell’s room in the Mayor’s mansion, the young boy was sitting still while Rhoddes was treating him. There was a bright light as Rhoddes staggered back and fell onto the floor, his breathing became heavy and painful.

“H-how is it, Rhoddes?” Martell asked.

“I’m sorry to say that the curse that has taken hold of you is stronger than I expected, Ungku Nadi,” the Nankhudi spoke while steadying himself. “A contact with it damaged me more than I expected. Thankfully, something else was holding it back, a Divine power I could not explain.”

“Can you do anything about it?”

“Sadly, no. It would take someone much stronger than me to even dare to attempt to break it.”

Suddenly, Martell felt a brief moment of rage. “Then what use are you?!” when he realized what he just did, he embarrassedly asked for forgiveness. “Dammit! Sorry. Ever since I woke up, I can’t seem to control my emotions!”

“I think that whatever happened to you back at the shrine had destabilized the curse. Unfortunately, it’s too deeply entrenched in your soul and will soon regain its grip.”

“How long until I return to…normal?”

“I don’t know. A day, a week, or a month? Curses like this one is not something we often see.”

“Ugh,” Martell was not used to have to feel emotions, so controlling it was harder than he thought. “…so, what happens now?”

Rhoddes was silent for a few breaths, his finger tracing a large scar on his other arm. “The only way we can release you from this curse is to get rid of the source. And as it so happens, I have seen a similar curse like yours in my pilgrimage five…six years ago. Its victim was a powerful warrior who had been reduced to a mindless murderer, killing anything and everything in his path. His first victim was…his family,” Rhoddes said without any attempt of sugarcoating it. The thing that the boy would face in the future would be worse. It would be no use trying to soften the blow. “The way it was casted, and the power laid within curse...there is only one Demon I know that can do it.”

“Who is it?” Martell asked.

“Serah-Khunud,” Rhoddes spoke with a heavy heart. “The one who cursed you is the Maluk Sedi of the Profaned Piety Banner. The mastermind of the wretched Gelded Flayers. The one known as the Mind Flayer, Fearmonger,” he paused, and mouthed another name. “The Shadowy One.”

There was much spite in his words. A rare thing from such a kind soul.

“Who…What is he?”

“An evil thing, craven and old. His creations haunted the Races to this very day. He likes to stay in the shadows, whispering temptations. Corrupting even the most pious person to serve as his thrall. That you could resist his curse without turning into one of his is already outstanding,” Rhoddes looked at him and placed a sincere hand upon his shoulder. “Would that I could replace you, I’d have done so in a heartbeat. But this…is something beyond my control.”

He then placed a hand upon his chest and spoke loudly. “I swear to you, Ungku Nadi. I will find a way to remove this curse from your soul, even if I have to go to Sud-Ghazid itself.”

Martell felt warmth from the man’s words and shook his head, feeling an urge to cry. He chuckled as he got off the chair, wincing as the pain on his broken arm stung him. “One step at a time, Rhoddes. With the way things are going with my Mistress, I would not be surprised if we’ll be going there too.”

As they were speaking, Nick came in with three glasses of mulled wine. Just right for such a cold day.

“That reminds me, your Mistress has been gone for a long time. Do you think we should be concerned?” Rhoddes asked as he took a glass.

“Knowing her, she’d be offended if we do,” Nick blew on the hot mulled wine. “Anyway, she has those monstrous women with her. She’ll be just fine.”

Just as Nick was taking a sip of the spiced wine, an explosion of sound surprised him, causing the hot wine to spill all over his clothes.

“Agh! Hot!! Hot!!” Nick cried out in pain.

“W-what was that? Is it an attack?” Martell looked out the window and saw a plume of dust coming from the Square. Immediately, he put on his jacket and went out. “Come on Nick, something’s happened.”

“Dammit, ruined my white shirt too!” Nick cursed as he followed him out.

The two of them arrived at the Square, only to see a small crater and broken tiles with Illumca and Akula standing nearby. At some point, Akira and Hannah had joined them as well. The two of them were staring blankly at the crater left by Sabrac.

“Zalkhin Altanghazar, Illumca?”

“Oh, hey! You look good, Martell!” Akula greeted him. “And what happened to you?” she asked Nick, whose clothes were stained red.

“Forget my shirt,” he answered gruffly. “What happened here? We heard a loud noise and came over here as fast as we can.”

“She said Guild Master Sabrac wanted to test Connie to see if she really killed the Demon whose skull is here,” Akira said, scratching his head. This mission was more trouble than its worth. “I forgot the name.”

“It’s Bet-Zebek,” Illumca added the information off-handedly. “That loud boom you heard was the sound of the two of them darting out of town.”

“…”

Connie’s party looked at each other with the same, knowing look.

“Do you think they’ll return before dinner?” Nick said, as he shrugged. “Dammit, and we just fixed those tiles.”

“I’ll prepare for a small banquet to be held in celebration of the Mistress’s return,” Martell said, before turning to Akira. “You’re welcome to join us if you wish.”

“Ooh, do we have roasted beef? I’m so tired of eating stewed meat all the time,” Akula asked with a grin. “Illumca’s people can’t cook worth a damn.”

Hearing Akula blurt the information, Illumca glared at the Hero and his paramour. When she saw that the outsiders had not reacted to her words, she averted her gaze.

“W-wait. Aren’t you worried about her?” Akira asked, perplexed at how callously they were acting.

“No,” Illumca answered. “It’s just par for the course with her,” she then tapped on Martell’s shoulder. “Don’t forget the sweet pudding with wine syrup.”

“Mad! You’re all mad!!” Hannah said out loud.