I stepped out of my room feeling considerably more human.
Clean clothes.
Face clean. The ink stains finally gone.
Just as I was about to head directly for the door when I noticed Scarlet sitting on my bed.
She was eating from a bowl, which looked like stew and bread.
Her fox ears were visible, twitching occasionally at sounds from outside. Tail curled around her side. The glamour was down, which ant she felt safe enough here not to maintain it.
I paused mid-step.
She glanced up, chewing, and swallowed.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
I raised an eyebrow. "You never asked before."
Her ears flattened slightly, and she growled.
"Whatever. Go to hell."
And went back to her food with exaggerated focus, pointedly not looking at .
I sighed, shook my head, and headed for the door.
The walk to Chief Zen’s house was short, he lived near the center of the village in one of the better-constructed hos.
I knocked.
A house servant, an older woman with grey hair tied back neatly, opened the door and bowed.
"Young Master. The Chief is expecting you. This way."
She led through a well-kept entryway and down a short hallway to what was clearly the dining room.
The door opened, and I stepped inside.
Then blinked.
Chief Zen sat at the head of a long table, smiling broadly.
But he wasn’t alone.
Tessa sat to his right, wearing a nicer dress than I’d seen her in before, deep green with embroidered flowers along the collar, her hair braided and pinned with small wooden ornants.
She looked up as I entered and smiled.
Rowan sat beside her, cleaned up and wearing what had to be his formal clothes, simple but well-made, his hair actually combed for once.
Sira sat across from Tessa, looking healthier than I’d ever seen her, her eyes bright and alert.
And filling the rest of the table were several elderly people, three n and two won, all dressed formally, all watching with expressions ranging from warm to curious to openly grateful.
Village elders, I realized.
This isn’t just dinner.
"Young Master Raith!" Zen stood and gestured to an empty chair near the middle of the table. "Please, sit. We’ve been waiting."
I sat slowly, suddenly very aware that I was being watched by everyone in the room.
The table was covered with food. Roasted ats, fresh bread, vegetables prepared three different ways, what looked like berry pastries for dessert.
"Since I wasn’t able to thank you properly earlier," Zen said, settling back into his chair, "this is for that. For everything you’ve done for our village. For our people."
He smiled, genuine and warm.
I just raised an eyebrow, picked up my fork, and started eating.
The food was excellent, better than anything I’d had at the inn, better than the simple als Agnes had prepared.
Whoever had cooked this knew what they were doing.
"The dicine you created," Zen continued after a mont, his tone shifting to sothing more serious, "saved four lives. Four people who would have died slowly, painfully, watching themselves waste away. Not only that, but also stopping i from spreading to other person."
He looked at directly. "You must be a genius to have developed sothing like that."
I waved my hand dismissively, swallowing a bite of roasted at.
"I’ve just been studying it for a long ti. Trial and error mostly."
"Even so," one of the elderly n said.
"To create sothing like that with the resources available here, in just a few days? That’s remarkable."
I looked at Tessa, who was watching with quiet amusent.
"Well... If we’re giving credits, then know this. Your granddaughter is the real genius," I said to Zen.
"Not only did she help gather materials faster than I could have alone, she also successfully created the compound on her third attempt." I t Tessa’s eyes. "Most trained alchemists would take a dozen tries minimum."
Tessa’s face colored slightly, and she looked down at her plate.
The elders made impressed sounds.
Zen’s smile widened, pride clear on his face.
"That’s my granddaughter," he said. "Sharp as a blade and twice as quick."
Rowan was watching Tessa with an expression that was equal parts pride and sothing softer.
One of the elderly won leaned forward slightly.
"Young Master, might I ask what you liked most about Tessa’s work?"
I thought about it while chewing.
"Her pattern recognition," I said finally. "She didn’t just follow instructions. She understood the why behind each step, which ant by the third attempt she was catching errors before I could point them out."
Tessa was now distinctly red, still not looking up.
Zen chuckled and looked at the other elders.
Then he turned back to , his grin widening.
"You seem quite impressed by her."
I nodded, taking another bite.
"Yeah. She’s really talented."
I kept eating, not thinking much about the question.
Zen’s grin grew even wider, taking on a quality I didn’t quite understand.
"Today’s al was also cooked by her," he said casually. "Do you like her? Her food, I an?"
I looked at the spread on the table, at the perfectly cooked at and the bread that was still warm.
"Yeah. It’s really delicious."
I looked at Tessa directly and nodded in awe.
"You’re very talented."
She managed a small smile, her face still flushed.
Zen nodded sagely, looking at the other elders again with that sa knowing expression.
"She’ll make sobody one hell of a wife soday," he said, his tone light but weighted with sothing.
"Agreed," I said, and took another bite.
Good food. Good company. This is actually pleasant.
Then Zen cleared his throat and looked at the other elders, who all nodded in unison like they’d rehearsed this.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.
It was kinda dark tal, maybe iron or steel, with intricate engravings along the band that caught the lamplight.
A single stone set in the center, deep blue and faintly luminescent.
He held it up between thumb and forefinger.
"This," Zen said, "Is the only thing of value I have left that could possibly match what you’ve given us."
I activated my debug vision reflexively, focusing on the ring.
The information that appeared made my breath catch.
[ITEM_SCAN]
object_id: "ring_of_the_warden"
classification: RELIC (Ancient)
quality: LEGENDARY
durability: INFINITE
enchantnts: {
effect_01: "mana_pool_enhancent" → base_MP 150%
effect_02: "mana_regeneration_boost" → regeneration_rate 65%
effect_03: "spell_efficiency" → all_mana_costs -35%
}
restrictions: {
binding: "soul_bound_on_equip"
transfer: "voluntary_only"
ownership_history: 9_previous_owners
}
Holy shit.
A relic.
User Comments
0 comments from readers