"But I have no money as well."
An awkward silence rang like a thunderbolt in the alley.
Hedin had thought of hitting two birds with one stone, helping the girl get her things back and getting some very useful information and some money out of it.
Furthermore, hoping to get monetary compensation ought to alleviate a person's wariness about the other party's intentions.
And that was the reason Emilia's words led him to be caught off guard.
Her attire seems to consist of the finest quality of silk and even the flower at her head seems like it'll sell for quite a bit. With clothes like that, you tell me she has no money? Is it because she's a sheltered princess of some noble household?
She's never had to carry money on her because she's never had to go out and buy things herself?
Hedin shook his head, getting rid of these thoughts as he once again locked eyes with the girl.
"Um, are you not from a noble house?"
Emilia gave him an awkward smile and lightly tilted her head.
"Actually..." Just then, a high pitched voice sounded once again.
"Of course not!" A floating cat once again emerged from behind her, throwing up it's paws and exclaiming with a loud voice. "Emilia doesn't belong to any noble house." He continued. "But I'll let you in on a secret.
"She does have ties with a Margrave. So, if you can actually help her find her lost belonging, you shall be rewarded handsomely. I can assure you of that."
Margrave? Isn't that equivalent to a military advisor to the royal crown? From my knowledge, it should be just slightly below the conventional rank of a "duke". In an instant, bouts of information filled Hedin's mind as his eyes shone with understanding.
Just then, Emilia turned to the cat and exclaimed, "Wait a second! I didn't consent to this! I don't need his help!"
"It's alright, Lia!" Puck smiled at her. He gestured to Hedin with his paws and used the other paw to stoke his chin like he was stroking a long beard. "I sense no ill intent, barely even a sliver of it. The only thing I can say for sure, is curiosity and genuine desire to help."
His words made Hedin's ears perk up.
An empathic ability?
Puck turned to Hedin.
"Isn't that right? Hedin?"
With a small nod, Hedin bowed a bit.
"That is correct. Although I do seek some monetary gain from this, the desire to help stems from my own will. I wouldn't have offered my help were it too troublesome for me."
Hedin's words seemed to give Emilia some clarity over the subject, but from her expression, Hedin could still see that she was quite troubled.
"But..." Emilia muttered under her breath.
"I assure you my lady, my help will be quite valuable. It is better than searching alone."
He said. Just then, he smiled softly and looked up, where faint light escaped from the confines of the alleyway.
Emilia followed his gaze with a confused gaze. Just then, the sound of wings entered the alley.
And so, a winged creature descended down from the light, covered in dark feathers and a terribly sharp beak. The creature's red tinted eyes were empty yet they seemed to have a calculating intent behind them. Under Emilia and Puck's watchful gaze, the avian being landed atop Hedin's shoulder and croaked softly in greeting.
Hedin smiled and stroked the chin of the creature. He met Emilia's curious eyes and said, "This is my trusted companion. A Raven.
"With their help, I have no doubt I would be able to locate the thief in no time."
"But... I'm a half-elf..." Her voice was reduced to a meek whisper, but Hedin heard her clearly.
Elf? Like the ones from Norse mythology? Or ones from folklore, that live in the Elflands and are immortal, spiritual beings? Feeling more inclined to believe the former, Hedin looked at her with a confused expression.
"I don't see why that should change my decision to help, though?"
"Eh?" She seemed surprised, almost shocked.
But hearing his words, Emilia gave him an unsure look. She glanced at Puck for help who nodded at her.
"Alright..." With her confirmation, Hedin could not help but feel a weight lift off his shoulders.
It seems his worries about finding work for the time were quenched.
A Margrave ought to give him some coins for his help, right?
...
The royal capital was an interesting place.
White towers, bathed in sunlight were erected from the ground that looked like they wanted to meet the sky. Banners hung from their brick walls, fluttering softly in the gentle breeze.
Hedin and Emilia passed through the densely packed streets, maneuvering through the crowd with practiced ease.
The street they were on was filled with an air of motion. Clamour and chatter created a symphony of noise that rang in their ears. An amalgamated smell of freshly baked bread, spiced meat and that of freshly forged metal lingered below their noses, stimulating their olfactory senses.
Close to them, a dark skinned lady with cat ears on her head gestured in an animated way as she haggled over the price of a pouch of saffron. Vendors screamed aloud their prices, hopeful to attract any passerbys they could.
A small child rushed past the crowd with a smile on his face, closely followed by a friend.
It was a bustling environment, not unlike the streets that Hedin protected from the blasphemy of the great ones.
The sound of their footsteps were drowned out by the cacophony of noises. Raven flew overhead, guiding Hedin and Emilia to their destination. In the distance, one could see a lot more of ravens flying about, keeping a lookout on the capital.
"Are you certain that raven is leading us in the right direction?" Emilia asked, her tone tinged with slight worry. Her voice was a bit meek, as if purposefully quieter so as to not serve as offensive in any way.
"Absolutely." Hedin's confident remark seemed to alleviate her worries somewhat, but a lingering doubt still remained.
It seemed that whatever was stolen from her was of extreme importance, Hedin mused quietly.
Mustn't have been an expensive piece of jewellery. A girl sponsored by a noble can get jewellery pretty easily, I imagine. So what could it have been?
Regardless of his curiousness, he wasn't going to get any answer by staying quiet.
Just then, a change seemed to happen in the environment.
The sun, which had gone below the midpoint in the sky – signifying the time as somewhere in the late afternoon – seemed to become a bit brighter.
The light shimmered in the air as it fell on both Hedin and Emilia. But Hedin's own form was almost glowing, though it couldn't be gleamed, unless observed thoroughly.
The air still and the colours almost became more saturated. The street vendors and the shop owners found themselves overcome with a sudden excitement as they spoke aloud, eager to attract more customers. The passerbys felt their taut nerves relax as a sense of profound serenity assaulted their minds. And then, it was replaced with a feeling of glory.
In just a moment, the entire street was overcome with a sudden zeal as everyone's mind turned, if a bit, cheerful.
Hedin smiled and turned halfway to glance at Emilia. The girl was undoubtedly the one impacted the most – being someone who was the closest to Hedin.
Emilia momentarily closed her eyes as she felt worries slipping away. No. They weren't slipping away. The matter still occupied her mind, staying there like a sword planted in stone. It was just... clearer.
Her mind was more focused, more up to the task now.
She turned to Hedin, her amethyst eyes gleaming with slight surprise.
"Was that you?"
"Yes." Hedin didn't bother hiding it. He had seen her use magic anyways. He held up his hand and began to explain.
"This is my special ability." He continued. "It allows me to magnify the aspect of 'glory' in the minds of everyone, akin to a rising sun."
Emilia tilted her head as they continued to walk.
"Glory?"
"Yes." He nodded. "Glory lies in everyone's heart. My power draws it out. It fills people with courage and is useful at calming everyone down, or filling everyone with a collective emotion. Though I can't say I'm too adept at using it in such a manner, it works to ease off the nerves."
"Oh~ that's useful!" Emilia exclaimed softly.
Just then, Puck peeked out from the void, once again appearing in the air.
"It is quite impressive. It gives off a similar feeling to Yang Magic." He said. His bead like eyes turned to him, "The phrase 'akin to a rising sun' isn't just a metaphor right? Are you adept at Yang Magic or is it an application of a Divine protection?"
Hedin nodded.
"That's right. You're pretty knowledgeable. But I'm afraid I've never delved into any sort of magic. This is an ability that's been with me since birth."
"Hmm. So a divine protection, most likely." Puck said with a sagely nod.
Hedin suddenly perked up and looked at them.
"More importantly, I'd like to know more about spirits." He said.
"What would you like to know?" Emilia was quick to respond, while Puck simply looked on without a word.
"Supposedly everything." Hedin shook his head. "I'm ashamed to admit that I don't have much knowledge about spirits. Where I'm from, there's not a lot of records about such beings. At best, they're talked about in fairy tales."
"I see." Puck purred. "Well, spirits are basically beings of magic. They're made entirely out of mana, though some exceptions can be gleamed if one were to go looking.
"They're made out of the magic of a specific element, meaning there are 6 different types of spirits. They are given life by Od Laguna, and are manifested through mana, which they all have the aptitude to influence.
"Each spirit starts from being a lesser spirit, at which point, they don't even have much of a self awareness. After enough power accumulation, they become quasi-spirits and eventually develop into full fledged spirits. That's about the gist of it. If you want a full course, you'll have to find someone else."
"Hmm... that's curious." Hedin hummed in satisfaction. He figured he would need to study in depth about spirits someday, alongside the curious entity - Od Laguna that Puck had mentioned in between. It must be something similar to a God? A Deity pertaining to magic and mana? Just like how the Miracle - a natural force is responsible for granting boons, here, another natural force governs the magic in the world?
Thinking over it - not for more than a few heartbeats - Hedin felt that it was quite plausible for that to be the case. Of course, right now, he could only speculate. Puck talked about such things with a tone that suggested it was common knowledge. Hedin could not embarrass himself by asking obvious bouts of information.
"Hedin." Emilia's soft but melodious voice cut through his thoughts. He looked over at her, broken out of his reverie.
"What?" He uttered.
"You seem like a warrior." She spoke. Her tone was unsure, as if she was afraid to intrude into his personal space. "But your weapon... it doesn't seem to be anything I've seen used in any of the neighbouring countries to Lugunica. The best comparison seems to be the demon cleavers held by Eight Armed Kurgan, which are prevalent in Vollachia."
Hedin turned his head halfway, looking over his shoulder to glance at the handle of his weapon. His lips tugged up into a small awkward smirk.
"Well... it's meant for the combatment of a very specific type of being." Hedin said, trying to downplay the weapon.
Of course! It's only meant to combat the entities corrupted by the Great Ones. It shouldn't matter if said entities can belong to any group in the animal or plant kingdom right? It is meant to rend corrupted flesh as efficiently as possible...
"You mean witch beasts?" It was Puck who asked the question.
"You could say that." It was now that Hedin realized that this world seemed to have it's own troubles, in the form of whatever these 'witch beasts' were. For a moment, his jaw tightened and his eyes turned sharp.
Don't tell me... there's corruption here?
That thought was crushed as soon as it came. He could entertain such things later.
"Where I come from, beasts are plenty abundant. There are hunters who take it upon themselves to hunt such foul beings." He said, flexing his arm a bit. "They use their gifts to combat such beings, protecting the normal people from harm."
Emilia expressed her awe as a smile appeared on her face.
"That's very noble of them! You are one of them right?"
Hedin's nod gave her the confirmation.
Emilia hummed to herself and nodded. "Can I know of the name of your hometown? From your words, it doesn't seem to be a part of the four great nations. Perhaps a city on the outskirts? Near Vollachia Empire from the looks of your weapon?" She tilted her head, putting a finger on her chin.
Just then, before Hedin could reply, something caught Emilia's attention.
...
(Image here)
A/N: Read up to 10 advanced chapters on my patreon.
Link: patreon . c o m/Yesnth Just remove the spaces from between.
Also, throw some stones.