The Dragon Queen of Thelvadore

To my surprise, after I had finished my talk with Nyx, things quickly went back to normal in the small village. Despite my promise to the director to help to the best of my abilities, I was left alone. If that was because he didn’t want to rely on me, or because he was trying to prove himself, I wasn’t certain. But I wasn’t unhappy about it. After all, it really wasn’t my responsibility.

It left me with very little to do while I waited for everything to get sorted out. I had thought that it would leave me bored, but I found myself rather content. It had gotten eerily easy for me to slip into my role as Vuthe, to the point that I was contemplating what exactly that meant for me, since I really wasn’t much of an actor. That said, I, personally, was still more of a loner than Vuthe was, so having some time to myself was more of a blessing than a curse.

Nyx and Cecily returned to treating the wounded, and even Lucy was busy most of the time, doing odd jobs, helping the townsfolk, but also occasionally checking in with the guild. That last one I only noticed because I was keeping an eye on the place, ensuring that nothing else could go tits up while I was here.

I wasn’t quite sure what exactly she was doing at the guild, and I didn’t find it important enough to interrupt her and ask, but I guessed it had to do with helping the director with trying to figure out what had happened. Or perhaps some other guild related activities. While Lucy wasn’t an adventurer in the traditional sense, she was still working closely with the institution, likely due to the fact that it was the best place for a courier like herself to find work most of the time.

It made me wonder just what exactly her relationship with the guild was.

Regardless, with nothing else to occupy my time, I decided to take things slow. It wasn’t like I was in a hurry, and I did fancy the idea of exploring the village a little. To that end, I decided to wander around the place. I was a loner, sure, but this was still a village in a fantasy world, one I had devised, and that left me curious to learn more. Mind you, I wasn’t just satiating my curiosity, even if that played a big part. I also wanted to learn more about the civilization in this world, to get a better idea of what was in store for me once I ventured into bigger towns and more lively kingdoms.

A part of me was sort of expecting that I would be asked to help out here or there, but that turned out not to be the case. My display of power, and the fact that I had stepped in to save people, even if they were strangers to the townsfolk, meant that most didn’t want to ‘bother me’, even when I occasionally offered my help with minor items. In a few cases I was pretty sure it had more so to do with the fact that some of the people were a bit intimidated by me, since I had sort of blanketed the entire village with my aura. Though, even then, I couldn’t sense any outright hostilities or fear. It felt more like the townsfolk didn’t really know how to treat me, which made sense, I supposed.

In their eyes I was closer to nobility than the common folk, which wasn’t entirely untrue.

Given those circumstances, I quickly returned to my daily routine of magic and combat training, once I’ve had my fill of exploring the place. It wasn’t like the village was large to begin with, so there wasn’t too much to see. And for all my excitement about exploring, I would also lie if I said I didn’t look forward to some peace and quiet to train in.

For all I have been able to learn from Vuthe’s memories over the past month or so, I was still far from being back in top form. Something I wanted to remedy sooner rather than later. It helped that by this point keeping an eye on the village with my aura senses wasn’t occupying my attention too badly. And it was good training.

Venturing into the forest outside of the village, I looked for a nice, quiet place to train in. I didn’t want to scare anyone who might stumble across me, and this was still close enough that I could intervene quickly if the need arose.

I could’ve stuck closer to town, but I was a bit anxious about not paying enough attention and accidentally hurting someone during my combat exercises. I was getting better and better at keeping myself reigned in, but after my faux pas with my aura display, I didn’t want to invite trouble that could easily be avoided. The last thing I needed was for someone to wander in on my training and get hit by debris or something similarly stupid.

Of course, even with those precautions, I made sure I didn’t carve up the place too much. Both to prevent any accidents, and because I doubted that the villagers would appreciate me deforesting the place with my greatsword or something like that. For that reason, I decided to only train with light weapons, spending most of my time with the kusarigama.

Thankfully, the next day went by quietly, without any interruptions.

Once evening came around, I returned to the village, finding Cecily and Lucy having dinner at Margret’s. The mayor had insisted that we receive food and lodgings there free of charge, which I was only somewhat uncertain about. I didn’t like the idea of getting preferential treatment, although I did recognise that that particular feeling came mostly from Vuthe’s influence on me. I, personally, wouldn’t have minded all that much, I was only human after all.

The two of them weren’t alone, with Nyx now joining them. That surprised me a little, but only a little. The woman was certainly quite standoff-ish, but it appeared that she got along with Cecily quite nicely. To my relief, her reverent behaviour towards me had also died down significantly. Not entirely, if the look in her eyes was anything to go by, but she wasn’t annoying about it, which I appreciated.

Of course, Lucy was equally fast at befriending the woman, despite the fact that Nyx seemed a bit overwhelmed by the Catkins inquisitive nature. From what I could tell, however, Lucy seemed quite aware of that, and gave the Mothkin the space she needed without being too much of a nuisance.

As I entered the Inn, the three looked up from their meal, having found a place not far from the door, and greeted me.

“There you are! Where have you been all day?” Lucy asked, quickly waving me over.

I followed her invitation and sat down. One of the waitstaff, the boy I had seen the day prior, immediately slinked back into the kitchen, likely to procure a meal for me.

“In the forest, doing some training. I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself, and at some point walking around and exploring the place became a bit stale. That, and the director seems to have the investigation well in hand,” I explained with a smile. “Not to mention that the villagers didn’t seem eager to allow me to involve myself in any way, even when I offered my help.”

“Yeah, they are pretty self-reliant out here. Most small villages are,” the Catkin explained with a nod before she stuffed another large spoonful of the soup into her mouth, her tail dancing behind her happily.

It did smell quite appetising, I had to admit.

“As for the investigation, things move apace,” Cecily added in between bites. “Shouldn’t take too much longer.”

“I take it that you assist with that as well?” I asked the swordswoman, who returned a shrug.

“A bit, although Nyx and I are mostly busy healing the injured. I think we’ve got most of the taint removed, so it’s mostly her, but I did speak to the director earlier. Most of the work is done by Lucy, though.”

I glanced over at the Catkin in question. “I was wondering why you were at the guild so often.”

She shrugged, giving me a smile and swallowing the latest mouthful of soup before she spoke. “Well, it’s not like I have much else to do, and information gathering is pretty much the only thing I’m good for. It’s not easy, though, considering that the System isn’t meant to investigate crimes like this. Mostly I’m helping with questions in regards to the taint, although even then it seems unusually shy with information.”

“Unsurprising, given that it has to do with the void,” I replied with a nod.

“Yeah, although even then it seems especially tight lipped. Anyway, we are making progress. Shouldn’t take more than another day or two, I hope.”

I nodded again, then turned to Nyx, although before I could speak the waiter that had vanished earlier now came up to our table with a tablet.

“Good evening, ma’am,” he said with a smile, placing a bowl and a mug in front of me. “I do hope you enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a polite nod of gratitude, and he quickly hurried off again, leaving us alone.

Picking up my spoon, I quickly tasted the meal, unable to resist the appetising smell. It was just as good as I had hoped, if not more so.

Finally, I turned back to Nyx, giving her a questioning glance. “What about you? Things working out alright?”

The Mothkin woman nodded softly, swallowing her bite. “Yes. As Cecily said, the wounded should be all healed up soon.”

“I’m guessing Mister Shiltain is quite happy about that. After all the excitement I’m betting he is eager to get going again.”

“You can say that again,” Cecily acknowledged with a snort. “But he’s also not so anxious as to rush anyone. I have to admit, I like him. Most wandering merchants I had dealt with so far put profit above everything else. His perspective is quite refreshing.”

“Indeed,” Nyx agreed.

We ate in silence for a little while, the three of them obviously quite starved, while I simply enjoyed the flavour. Ever since I had woken up I hadn’t once felt hungry, which wasn’t really a surprise, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy some good food. Magick did have a taste of its own, something I had noticed in passing since I sustained myself from absorbing it passively, but it was quite a different experience compared to traditional meals.

Finishing the bowl, I let out a content sigh, before I turned my attention to Cecily once more, who had just finished her second bowl, leaning back in her chair with contentment.

“You up for some more sparring this evening? If not, I totally understand. We can also skip aura training if you like.” I made a last comment with a short glance at Lucy, since it involved her as well.

The adventurer sighed, then shook her head. “Nah, we can do a little light sparring. While I did exhaust my magic, I’m not so tired that I can’t do that.”

I nodded at that, then turned to Nyx, who was eyeing me curiously. “You can join if you want. Both for sparring and the aura training. It’s nothing special, and I wouldn’t mind another perspective on what I know. Regardless, I have the feeling we’ll be seeing each other quite a bit over the next few days.”

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “I don’t think I’m in any condition for a proper spar, but I wouldn’t mind learning more about aura control. I’m a bit surprised to hear that you are teaching them, although perhaps I shouldn’t be.”

I shrugged. “I have my own circumstances, so the training isn’t just for them. And it isn’t like there should be any problems with me giving them some tutelage.”

“Indeed,” the Mothkin allowed.

We finished up our dinner before we left the Inn. I led them back to where I had trained for most of the day, the four of us exchanging some idle conversation.

The spar didn’t last as long as it usually did, which I had already kind of expected. Cecily’s words notwithstanding they were all pretty exhausted. I didn’t mind, since they were all working quite hard. Not to mention that I wasn’t really in a position to complain, since I wasn’t doing much at all.

The time we saved from the shortened spar was instead spent with aura training. Nyx seemed quite intrigued by the knowledge I had to share, and while I was mostly doing this for Cecily’s and Lucy’s sake, she quickly started barraging me with questions about everything I had to teach.

I found it quite endearing, truth be told, to see her so eager to learn. Her questions, while plentiful, weren’t annoying either. It was pretty clear that she had quite some knowledge herself, although with a different focus, which I was only to be expected, given her nature. It made for quite the enjoyable time exchanging notes.

Eventually we decided to call it a day, and the three retired for the night, which was just as well. If things went according to plan, they should be finishing up tomorrow, so hopefully we could set out for Vastell soon.

Really, I couldn’t wait.

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