The Developer Reborn As Archmage

They left the island colony 981 before the storm hit. Seris had already done what she could with the elder with her lethal sweetness. Everyone in the house of elders was sad to see her go. The best Darya received was concerned looks at her tightly wrapped arm. Some of them had the nerve to blame the toddler for it without knowing anything.

Lurim clung to her like a koala, trying to come along with them. It took a lot of coaxing to pry him off and leave him with the adults responsible for him. Seris managed to sweet-talk him for a bit and sealed the deal with a bribe. She gave him a magical trinket from her pouch. It was a small crystal orb with some of her green mana swirling inside. The elder successfully lied to the boy that it was a magic thing that could bring the good Dovarist ladies back if he behaved well and prayed hard enough. Darya didn’t feel good about lying to him, but it was necessary.

She made sure to tell the elder to keep a closer eye on the boy. If he escaped again, there was a good chance of his swimming out to the open ocean looking for them.

Fominel was already on the ship by the time they returned to the pier. He had prepared the Desert Rose to leave. They waved farewells to a crowd of at least a hundred merfolk who came to see them off.

Fominel navigated the ship to the right, sailing along the skirt of the island as if they were heading towards something on the other side. They watched the crowd disappear behind cliffs as they rounded the island, reaching the opposite shore where the abandoned pier was.

He took the boat there to bring the two corpses that he’d already prepared earlier.

Seris healed Darya’s hand while they watched him from the weather deck. Luckily, none of her bones were actually broken.

It was a few joint misalignments that Seris was able to fix without mana. Darya ended up howling into the wind.

“Serves you right!” Seris said, pressing her fingers everywhere. “What were you thinking! brawling with pirates!”

“Quick! ow ow ow! numb it! ouch! Seris!” Darya clenched her teeth as Seris poured a clear potion on her wounds that made her skin smoke faint blue.

“I’ll fix it in one go, no need for anesthetics!” Seris said, grabbing her hand with both hers. She placed Darya’s limp hand on her chest and began her breathing exercise. Green mana burst from her skin pores.

Her cracked skin mended itself, closing all wounds within the next minute. Seris kept touching and squeezing everything until Darya stopped wincing or moaning in pain.

“You’re scary!” Darya said, taking her hand away from the evil elf.

She laughed when she was done. “That’s what you get for doing stupid things!” She dabbed Darya’s tear-filled eyes with a handkerchief and kissed her cheek as if that could make things better—

Unfortunately, it did.

Damn it, me and my elf weakness.

Fominel returned shortly afterwards, and they helped him bring the boat back into the ship with the ropes. He stored the dead pirates under the boat.

“What do we do with them?” Darya asked as they tied the ropes.

“I’ll toss them somewhere they won’t be found,” he said, wiping his hands on his robe. “How’s your hand, princess? Is it working like before? I don’t know what you hit him with, but I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Darya flexed her hand in front of his face.

“You’re doing all sorts of weird stuff now!” Seris complained.

“Hm. It’s my super punch! It can one-shot any enemy!” Darya said, clenching her fist.

Fominel raised an eyebrow and shook his head in disapproval.

“Super punch?! Ridiculous! You’re a mage! Don’t ever use it again!” Seris warned.

Fominel cleared his throat. “Wait, I only noticed now. Where’s the ring, princess?”

Seris’s mouth hung open. “By the light, don’t tell me you lost it!”

“No, no! It’s right here!” Darya said, patting the gloves hanging by her belt. She dug in, took out the ring, and wore it on her middle finger again.

“Curse you to hell! bandit! I will curse your entire bloodline! May the plague be upon you and your family! May your children shrivel like raisins!” Sarka was yelling at the top of his voice.

“Huh?” Seris leaned back.

“Sarka, it’s me! calm down!” Darya said.

“Ah—wait!” Sarka cleared his throat. “I assumed I had fallen into the hands of some idiot bandit!” he let out an uncomfortable laugh. “Oh, how relieved am I to be on your beautiful finger again, princess!”

Fominel sighed, clapping his hands. “It’s about to rain, and we should sit down and talk everything over.”

He quickly adjusted the sails and set the ship on course. Travel was slow with the calm winds before the storm.

Back in the living room, Darya was pleased to find Enta curled up asleep on a silk cushion that she had put him on. She resisted the urge to pet him again. It was better not to pointlessly waste the little guy’s precious three stamina points.

She placed the Sea Crystal necklace that Lurim gave her on the table and sat down. Fominel was pouring hot tea for everyone. He paused when the blue crystal slid across the table.

“Is that a Sea Crystal?” Fominel asked, pulling it by the necklace. “I haven’t seen one in ages! Did those pirates have this?”

“No, the little boy gave it to me,” Darya said. “You two know how to use it?”

“I used one years ago for a trial back when I was in the mage academy in Rhakali,” Seris said, blowing on her teacup.

“Good! We need this thing to find where the girl is,” Darya said.

“What girl?” Fominel asked with a frown.

“The little boy who was with me gave this to me. Now I have to find his sister, who was kidnapped by some RCMF pirates. The merfolk Seer we wanted had gone looking for the girl; he’s also missing.”

Fominel’s mouth fell open. “What! Alright, what have you two gathered? Where should we even begin?” he asked.

“I think I’ll start,” Seris said.

“Permission to speak, princess!” The deep voice of Sarka startled all three of them.

Darya looked at her hand. “Sure, go ahead.”

“I believe I’ll have the most to tell you all. I’ve not been able to see, but I heard hundreds of voices talking about things that they weren’t supposed to.”

“That’s brilliant!” Seris said. “Wait! You can paint the full picture!”

“Look at that! Apologies for doubting you, magus Sarka!” Fominel said.

“Indeed, I must be handsomely rewarded for this feat!” Sarka laughed. “Here is the tale, based on what I knew about merfolk and what I heard them muttering while you were there.” Sarka cleared his non-existent throat for dramatic effect.

“The merfolk’s troubles begin when the Greybone Towers fell. They scatter into tribes, which you may already know. This becomes relevant later,”

“The place we visited, the 981st Colony, was a refugee population of merfolk. They do not identify with tribes. They’re part of the human kingdom of Galtea. I’m unclear on how they became official subjects, but there was a fond mention of a Galtean king. They likely spilled over to Galtea when the merfolk kingdom fell.”

“Things had been the same for them for decades. They’re fishermen, happy to fish for Galtea for the trade and benefits it offers. Recently, as in, five or six years ago, things changed. The current baron of Galtea suddenly changed his mind. All halfbreeds in Galtean territories are now considered subhuman.”

“What?!” Fominel leaned in. “How is that possible?”

“We would’ve heard about it in Karossa if Galtea was bringing slavery back!” Seris said. “The baron was one of the abolitionists himself!”

“Then it is a great puzzle how this happened. It seems the baron has a way to intimidate his new slave population. This is what made the elder frustrating to talk to, princess. They were unwilling to say a single word against Galtea. The girl who told you about the pirates received harsh punishment from other girls. I heard it all.”

Darya leaned on her hand. “I see. I figured they were afraid of pirates, but they’re afraid of Galtea itself?”

“I assume the pirate force of Galtea has free rein over enslaved populations. People whispered about other times things went wrong. Five or six years is a short time to beat this level of fear into a population. Their methods would have to be cruel.”

“I know why,” Darya said. “I got that information out of the pirate I beat. The villagers are actually paying the Golan pirates for protection. Thirty percent. When they can’t pay, the pirates take their people away.”

“Take them where?” Fominel asked.

“Sounds like they sell men to other colonies for labor. Women and girls are sold in Galtea. The villagers can buy their people back, but only adults, men, or women. Girls apparently get sold for good.”

“That’s horrible!” Seris remarked.

“He said the girl we’re looking for is rare and expensive. I wonder how?”

Sarka started speaking. “This is where tribes become relevant,” he said with a sigh. “Tribal divisions still exist in enslaved populations. The boy that you met, his sister, and the seer you wanted are three members of the same tribe called the Enarem. They’re more adapted to living underwater than more humanoid merfolk.”

“Enarem!” Seris exclaimed. “I know them! No one knows where they come from, though.”

“Indeed. The Enarem were reclusive even back in my day. They were called moon gazers and star watchers. They make good Seers. There has to be a reason three of them took refuge in a fishing colony when they could go anywhere else in the ocean. I assume they’ve been exiled.”

“Interesting. Things got more complicated,” Darya said, placing her teacup on the table.

She remembered a merfolk character from Vainfall lore that she was interested in, a mermaid warrior princess with horns and big breasts. Her tribe was an underwater nomadic one that rode the planetary current called the Great River. As far as she knew, this Enarem tribe wasn’t a huge part of the VRMMO. They had to be a smaller one if they were producing Seers instead of warriors.

“Did you hear anything about the incident itself, Sarka?” Darya asked.

“The villagers didn’t talk much about it. Whatever it was, it had happened around two weeks ago. The girl had been captured. The villagers didn’t know how it happened because they’re not allowed to go near the place where the boy took you. They believe the seer can send spirits to curse and haunt the village if they disturb his space.”

“The seer is called Master Lam, or Salvator. He had been away at the time, and when he returned, he went after the pirates. He was never heard from again. The villagers now fear his vengeful spirit returning to haunt them.”

“What’s the girl’s name?” Darya asked.

“I heard many. The word ‘Neri’ was the closest I heard that could be a name. I believe other words I heard in reference to her were merfolk slurs.”

“Why are they so horrible to their own?” Seris frowned. “Someone tougher than us should visit them! I’m going to add that to the letter. Withhold funds until they’re ready to stop this tribal idiocy. They can’t be children of God if they talk about a poor kidnapped girl with slurs!”

That’s not a bad idea. Glad to see her sweetness has some terms and conditions.

Darya tapped the Sea Crystal. “Seris, how do you use this thing?”

“Like this,” Seris said, grabbing the necklace. “Avoid touching the stone or wearing this, or your mana signature overwrites the stored one.”

She dangled the heavy pendant from the necklace. It circled for a bit, but it seemed to settle in a definite direction, as if pulled by an invisible magnetic force.

Ah! interesting! I’ve seen something like this in those fake ghost-hunting videos!

“That’s pointing northeast,” Fominel said at a glance.

“How do we know if we’re getting close?” Darya asked.

“The crystal pulls harder the closer you get,” Seris drew the line along the necklace. “Have to watch the angle of this line. If it becomes fully horizontal, you’re there.”

Darya clapped her hands. “Galtea’s in the northeast from here, right?”

“Yes, princess,” Fominel said, standing up. “The RCMF is based in the port of Vulture Point.”

There was an urgency to Fominel’s voice that Darya didn’t miss. “What should we do?” she asked.

“If we hurry, you two can catch the ferry to Galtea before the storm, and I can hide the ship on an island nearby beyond the RCMF line,” he said, pointing at the map. “Unless you want to fight them, of course.”

“S-sounds like a plan! Right, princess?” Seris said eagerly. She was trying to beg without words to avoid another fight with pirates.

Darya considered her options. Their priority was finding the Seer and the girl. Infiltrating Galtea was a better option than fighting them. She didn’t want to potentially damage her precious ship.

“Yes, I don’t want to fight them until we have what we want. What should our disguises be this time?” Darya asked, tugging at her white Dovarist dress.