Chapter 10 - Soulweaver's Deck
In the morning, someone, either from the Seer's side or the Chancellor's, delivered a formal suit for her that she had to wear for lunch.
It was a simple, button-up suit with embroidered buttons. A short collar sat snug to her neck, and the left arm sleeve was slit on the underside. A red frilled cloth extended down from it. It was awkward, and from afar, it seemed like she was bleeding and that the blood was set on fire. That was the intended effect, which appeared well during a parade, but for a formal occasion, Liesel imagined it was better without it. It was a representation of the unyielding flame that servants of the empire held in their hearts.
The worst part of the formal dress was the need to do her hair. It took a while, and she had to buy shampoo because it was sticky and impossible to comb otherwise.
Of course, she also felt like a functioning human in weeks. A false sense of dignity filled her chest.
Liesel arrived at the Saffron House two hours earlier than the decided time because she had been somewhat restless about the meeting as well as the bad weather that might have delayed her indefinitely, which would have been worse than waiting in the reception room.
She was worried partly because of the formal suit. It meant the meeting was more than just a customary greeting to satiate their curiosity about her outrageous story, or to assess if she was worth using as a political tool.
What can I be useful for?
That was the part she didn't understand. She hoped that as soon as the Seer saw her, he would decide she was not worth his attention.
After another ten minutes, she was led out of the reception room and up another floor, which was a giant dining hall. An impressive dining table, with enough chairs to accommodate a hundred people, stretched across the water-like reflective floor that rippled with each step she took. There was no wall, only two rows of pillars supporting the ceiling.
The rain had started again. From this height, Liesel could look down upon the entire city. An invisible barrier kept the rain from entering the room.
Liesel frowned as she followed the maid.
The maid guided her to the table and pulled back a chair for her to sit. It was second to the seat at the head.
"Lord Sarn will see you in a moment."
Liesel nodded. She was somewhat tense. Maybe the mental Fortitude was helping her more than she realized, though she had no similar experience to compare against.
The Seer strolled into the hall like a Shadow Stalker. Liesel barely caught an afterimage as he walked past her, circled around the dining table, and settled in front of her. Two of his caretakers trailed behind him, almost wheezing for breath. Two stubs of metal below their left eyes marked their allegiance to the Seer and to the Laks at large.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Wyrn."
"It's an honor, sir," Liesel uttered, almost distracted as her attention was wholly drawn by his confidants. She dragged her attention back to the Seer.
He had the appearance of a young man, clad in a simple robe that Liesel didn't think was part of the Empire's traditional clothing. It might be specific to this region, perhaps. On his head was a circlet, shaped like a faux crown. Runes were inscribed into jewels etched into a silver frame.
"Your uniform suits you."
"Thank you, sir."
"Let's start with a first-hand account of the event inside the dungeon," he said.
She rambled about it for the third time, and this time she didn't pause once to gather her thoughts. The only thing she was hiding, really, was that she knew about the dungeon and met with the Custodian... as well as slaying the Mindeater, which would only make her appear more suspicious than vouch for her honesty. That was one accomplishment that she didn't think she was ever allowed to tell anyone without sounding like a liar.
"Quite an ordeal. Speaks volumes of your competence, beyond anything else," the Seer smiled. "Is there anything else you might be skipping?"
Liesel shook her head.
"You can be honest," the Seer said.
"I have nothing to hide, sir. I was simply fortunate enough to have survived the dungeon."
"I am not arguing the hand of fortune. Without it, we are all bound to die in our mother's womb, when you think about it. Nine months, and even a minor accident can end our lives. But fortune is only that: survival against the mere accidents that you never face, but could have. When you stand in front of a beast, no amount of luck will save your life. It is fixed. Such that, when you are inside a dungeon, alone, with no outsider to interfere, no comrade to rely on, fortune ceases to be part of the equation. It is only you."
The Seer was still smiling, observing her.
"I don't have a witness to prove my story, sir."
"We ask for none. So long as you can ratify your story with enough truth that I can shrug it off."
"I have only told you the truth."
"Then, we are missing the story where you might need to lie."
"I have nothing more to say. If something else happened, I have no recollection of it."
"Fine. I will stop here." He waved his hand, whipping out a set of cards from under his sleeve, and spread them across the table. Even the back of the card was obscured. "Pick one."
Liesel settled her finger on a random card and slid out from the rest of the group. The back of the card revealed an intricately drawn soul vein. She could feel the etching of the quill under her finger. She flipped it over. It was an eye with a bleeding red iris, seven golden rings revolving inside it—burning. It stared at her, the same eyes as the Custodian's.
"What does this mean?" Liesel asked.
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The ability of future prediction was one of the most contested forms of magic. Mostly because one school of thought argued that it was less prediction, more of an act of convincing enough individuals to make a desired future possible, and the way humans worked, if they were convinced of inevitability, they would make it true. The Laks Empire itself was a fruit of that reality. Liesel didn't think there was such a thing as a future for someone to foresee. But it could be seeing her past. That was a far easier prospect, hundreds of different ways to see it, including drawing out Liesel's
"That's only for time to tell us," he smiled like a cunning fox. He picked up the card and put it back under his sleeve, which was enchanted to be a pocket. "The Seven Ringed Eye is the most precious card in the Soulweaver's deck. So, I will consider your claim of fortune as fact."
"What if I had drawn the worst card in the deck?" Liesel asked.
"I will consider your words as fact. The Ash-Knot Soul Vein has not been drawn once in the last seven hundred years. It, too, would be equally as rare."
Liesel nodded. "I would be guilty for drawing something mundane."
"That, we can never know."
"What's a Soulweaver's Deck?"
The Seer smiled, shrugging heavily, "A gift from my mentor."
"I meant, why is it named Soulweaver's Deck?"
"That is something I will know in the years to come. On another note, the Archive has given me a task."
Liesel nodded.
"It is regarding you," he grinned. "It wants me to fix a contradiction that you have created in its database."
"What kind of contradiction?" Liesel's voice betrayed a slight impatience.
"Why don't you tell me?" The Seer looked to the side. "Contradiction Encountered: Archive Quest is created
Subject: Liesel Wyrn. Status: Mildly Injured.
Cause of Contradiction: Unknown.
Effect of Contradiction: Unknown.
As the Oathsworn Seer, you have been burdened with fixing the contradiction. Upon understanding the nature, the cause, and the solution of the contradiction, ratify the current date of the Archive."
C'mon, read the reward. Liesel blinked, taking a moment to calm her sanity. "I don't know what it's talking about."
"You do," the Seer said, "But you will not tell me. And I don't expect to figure it out today. But I am an Oathsworn Seer, not at all in allegiance to the Throne, the gods, or any person. I care only to stand neutral and work towards improving the System and the Archive's function. Whatever you may decide to tell me, it will stay with me. Not even the finest information extractor can break an Oathsworn Seer's silence."
Liesel didn't say anything. She knew an Oathsworn Seer wouldn't betray her, but that was far from enough to tell him the whole story. His neutrality was not the basis of trust.
"You can take your time. There's no urgency, I hope."
"What happens if you don't fix the supposed contradiction?"
"Nothing," he said. "It will stay as an unfinished request on my account. And the next time someone else encounters it, the Archive would ask another Oathsworn to take up the charge. Eventually, a pair would fix it, and the Archive will ratify the contradiction. If we are alive by then, we, too, will be made aware of the contradiction and its fix."
Liesel nodded, unsure how she should feel about the fact that the Archive informed someone about her situation without consulting her. She was pretty sure it would be regarding her Mind Slayer title that couldn't be affixed because of her dismal attributes.
While they had lunch, he shared some of his previous accomplishments, none of which Liesel paid much attention to. She wouldn't say she was enjoying the food served on her plate. The entire situation was stifling. If there was one saving grace, it was the overlooking city. She wouldn't mind having a room at this place. There was something beautiful about having lunch so high above the rest of humanity.
As with all bad things, lunch came to an end. At least, the Seer was delighted.
"Was it not to your taste?"
"It was new. I might appreciate it after staying in the city for a while."
"Will you?"
Liesel shook her head. "I don't know. All the mercenary jobs ask me to spend half a day travelling, and I am not sure I am suited for that kind of work."
"What kind of work are you interested in?"
"Killing demons," Liesel said with a sigh.
"That's... quite the bold idea. After going through what you did, I would have expected a little rest."
"I need to earn my living, regardless. And there's only one thing I am good at."
"That's a lie. If you are from the Hallowed Hills, as you claim, I am sure you were brought up to be more than a mercenary."
"I never graduated from the academy. And the currents of time have rusted all my skills, except for my sword."
"I will take your word for it," he smiled. "But, if you are a little more than that... I have another offer, if you are willing to listen."
"What is it?"
"You are." He raised a brow with glee.
"I don't know."
He stood from the chair and walked over to the edge of the floor. His finger rested on the glass-like barrier, and then it phased through it. He caught a handful of rainwater. "This rain, these gusts, and those clouds are unnatural. The Celestial Graveyard was disrupted. We don't know what happened in the godless realm. Our people can no longer communicate with them. This untimely monsoon brews as... as an aftershock of sorts. The Saffron Aurora Realm is cut off from the Hallowed Realms. Perhaps, that is true for all the realms like us, but in some way, we are stranded with the guidance of the wisdom of our Emperor."
"Was it demons?"
"We hope so, but it might have been an act of the divine. The Empire counters the demonic invasion at all levels. For a catastrophe of this level to take shape, either they have outwitted us greatly or our strength fell short of those of evil's spawn. Between those circumstances, we can only hope it was the act of the gods and not our archenemy."
Liesel could understand the sentiment. But who was to say the gods were not of a similar mind? They certainly hadn't uprooted the demons. They might even foster it in some manner.
"What do you need me for?" Liesel asked.
"The day of the accident, the day you were deserted in the Necropolis Ruins, and the day of the Contradiction Quest were the same."
She had already figured that much. The Custodian had the strength to do something like that, she imagined. And he was resting because of exhaustion, so it could've been him. "I am not sure if I fit into an equation so vast. I am barely a Nebulous Core Ascendant. It has to be merely an unfortunate coincidence."
"I would hope so, but I feel our fates are twined. Yours and every human in this realm," He withdrew his hand and turned to face her. "I am not implicating you, Miss Wyrn. On the westward front, our armies hold the invading demon army that wishes to cross our realm and claim the Necropolis."
"What?" Liesel's heart raced. "Why?"
"The Necropolis manifests from the Tomb of a Greater Demon Lord. Upon its death, the Saffron Realm was established as a stronghold of humanity, but the power within its body couldn't be let into the world. It would have destroyed the balance of the Iron League."
"The tomb seals its power and body?"
"There's a leak," The seer uttered in a grave voice. "The demons sense it. They want to claim it, and if they do, one of them would be born with power that no one in the Iron Realm can withstand."
Liesel didn't know where this was going. She certainly was no help there.
"Of course, we had asked the Inceptus for help, and they were going to send envoys who would open a passage in the Necropolis to the tomb, and then the next month, the Scholar from the Heaven Fortress would arrive to seal it. Those envoys were doing a job in the Celestial Graveyard when the Shadequack destroyed everything."
It couldn't have been the reason the Custodian did it, right? But Liesel's gut was sinking. She felt it could. He operated a banal slaughterhouse of humans.
"I am glad you understand the desperation of our situation," The Seer said. "The passage for the Scholar is still open, and we believe they might still arrive. But the job of opening a passage to the tomb is now resting upon us. Unfortunately, our army and all the strong personnel are tied in a forced stalemate on the Western Front."
"You want me to open a passage?" Liesel asked.
"If the tomb is sealed again, the demons will withdraw. They wouldn't be able to hold strong for enough time to break a seal. Of course, I am not asking you to go alone. We have an expedition team, but they have not faced the dangers the unknown realms pose. Your experience as the Vice Captain of the Soul Seekers will assist them greatly."
"Sure," Liesel said. "But I am not doing it for free."
The Seer blinked, probably surprised by her willingness.
She was going to the ruins regardless, and if she could have a team with her to assist in exploring the Necropolis, it would make things significantly easier.