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Despierto a la mañana siguiente hamacado por el vaivén del barco surcando las aguas. Deirdre sigue durmiendo en la cama que esta encima de la mía. No puedo verla, pero puedo saberlo ya que Azur esta acurrucado entre sus brazos.
Si me quedo aquí seguramente la despertare por error. Así que, para no despertar a la pequeña dormilona, salgo de la habitación lo más silenciosamente que puedo.
Al subir veo que recién está apareciendo el sol en el horizonte a la vez que siento el viento matinal en mi rostro. Efectivamente, es muy temprano... pero estoy acostumbrado a despertarme temprano. No sé si el tener a Azur como compañero tenga algo que ver, ya que él nunca duerme, pero tampoco tengo a quien preguntarle.
Me doy la vuelta para dirigirme a la proa del barco, para observar como el casco de la embarcación corta las aguas, y veo que ya hay alguien haciendo eso mismo.
Solo veo su espalda, pero es una espalda muy distintiva. Solo hay una persona en este barco cuya piel es verde y esa es Charity.
"hola ¿admirando las vistas?" le pregunto al acercarme.
"¿eh?" pregunta con expresión perdida, "Ahh, si, supongo... Solo estaba pensando en cómo se ha desarrollado todo esto de la expedición de 'liberación'..."
"¿No es esto lo que buscaban?" pregunto extrañado "pareces desanimada"
"si, lo era... Pero todo ha sido más complicado de lo que pensábamos" dice suspirando "Supongo que Deirdre te habrá hablado de ello, así que no te aburriré con cosas que ya sabes"
"No. No solemos hablar mucho sobre temas personales cuando estamos en el laberinto. Cuéntame, por favor, " digo interesado.
Mientras nos ponemos de espalda en el borde de la cubierta del barco para ver como el sol se alza en el firmamento, Charity me cuenta que, efectivamente, esta expedición era el objetivo de los refugiados. Pero que, cuando finalmente los gobernantes de las 4 razas de nuestro continente decidieron que irían al nuevo continente, los nobles discutieron entre ellos sobre el asunto sin consultarle a ella o a su gente en lo más mínimo.
Lo que tenía a los refugiados muy preocupados, ya que no sabían si al haber buscado ayuda en este continente no habrían encontrado una cura que fuera peor que la enfermedad que representa la opresión del imperio orco.
Ellos habían intentado cambiar esto, pero solo se habían enfrentado con un muro de burocracia que no pudieron vencer. Ya que, cada vez que intentaban hablar con la reina o alguien de la nobleza, los guardias no los dejaban pasar y les decían que volvieran al otro día. Pero, cuando volvían, les decían que volvieran en una fecha posterior...
Por eso, el hablar con Joaquín y Lilian sobre el tema durante el torneo fue de gran ayuda para que su situación llegara a oídos de la abuela de Lilian. Lo que cambió instantáneamente la situación.
"Aparentemente, Carolina había pagado a los guardias para que no nos dejaran pasar." dice con una mirada llena de odio "Ya sabía que podía ser alguien desagradable por cómo nos trató la primera vez que nos encontramos con ella, meramente como animales, pero no imaginaba que podía llegar a tales extremos"
"¿Quién?" pregunto, desconcertado por el nombre desconocido.
"Carolina, la madre de Lilian..." dice Charity extrañada "Pensé que sabrías su nombre ya que, según Deirdre, ella y tu son muy amigos"
"Somos... Conocidos, sí. Pero no sabía el nombre de su madre." digo, aclarando el malentendido. Ahora que lo pienso, es raro que no haya conocido a su madre cuando fui a casa de Lilian... Aunque supongo que es algo normal en una casa tan grande.
"Ahh. En fin, cuando esta información salió a la luz, Carolina se excusó diciendo que no era verdad. Por lo que era la palabra de los guardias contra la de ella, pero su madre ya la tiene calada..." dice, y una sonrisa aparece levemente en su rostro "Los guardias fueron sancionados, pero Lilian se encargó de que no fuera nada realmente severo. La cosa es que... ¿Que fue ese ruido?"
"¿Que ruido?" pregunto desconcertado.
"Escuche algo parecido a una madera siendo astillada... Lo que, estando en un barco, es bastante preocupante..." dice, mirando hacia la cubierta del barco preocupada "en fin, deber haber sido mi imaginación. Como te decía, la cosa es que todo ha sido mucho más compli... ¿No lo oyes?"
Sabiendo el tipo de sonido al que tengo que prestar atención, me concentro en intentar oír lo que esta mencionando Charity. Y, a los pocos segundos, yo también escucho el chasquido de una madera siendo astillada.
"yo también lo oigo... Aunque no sabría decir de donde viene con todo este viento" digo preocupado "¿crees que..."
"Shh, creo que viene de algún lugar cerca de nosotros..." dice, tapándome la boca con una mano y mirando alrededor con preocupación "esta... ¿Detrás de nosotros?" Charity se da vuelta y mira por el borde de la cubierta "¡mierda! ¿Qué mierda son esas cosas?"
Yo imito a la orca y veo que debajo del barco hay lo que parecen ser pedazos de carne con forma de estrella del tamaño de una persona pegados al mascaron del barco. Mientras miramos vemos como uno de los 6 animales, si es que se los puede llamar así, mueve una de sus extremidades y la despega de la madera del barco para volver apegarla un poco más arriba. Las extremidades de los seres parecen tener púas con las que se aferran a la madera de la embarcación, produciendo el sonido que escuchábamos.
"¡Nos van a destruir el barco! Deberíamos pedir ayuda, pero creo que podemos encargarnos de ellos" dice, sacando un gran arco y un puñado de flechas de una de la bolsas que lleva en su cintura.
"bien" digo, preparando unas balas de mana y disparándolas hacia la criatura más cercana. Pero, tan pronto mis proyectiles tocaron el cuerpo del ser, mis balas de mana fueron absorbidas por el cuerpo carnoso, que se estremeció levemente y empezó a brillar con una luz tenue azulada. "¡la magia no sirve! ¿Tienes otro arco?"
"No. Ve a pedir ayuda, yo sola voy a tardar un buen rato en eliminarlos y, cuanto más tardemos, más daño le harán a la embarcación." dice disparando flecha tras flecha al cuerpo de los seres que, aunque sí que parecen sufrir daño de los ataques físicos, no retroceden en lo más mínimo. Para empeorar las cosas, desde que dispare las balas de mana parece estar mucho más desesperados por subir a cubierta, moviéndose cada vez más rápido, con lo que incrementan el daño que le causan al casco de la embarcación "Que monstruos más raros. Nunca en mis 23 años de vida había visto algo así"
'¿23 años? ¡pero sí parece de 30 al menos!' pienso al correr para bajar al interior del barco para buscar ayuda, pero entonces recuerdo los comentarios de Deirdre sobre que los orcos se desarrollan mucho más rápido.
Necesito bajar ya que en cubierta solo hay unas pocas personas, que no tienen capacidad para combatir puesto que son los encargados de hacer funcionar el barco.
Tan pronto como bajo unos pocos peldaños de la escalera, Azur aparece volando hacia arriba por el pasillo y sale al exterior mientras comienza a cambiar de tamaño.
Supongo que él será más que suficiente para encargarse de esas 'cosas'.
Le transmito a Azur a través del vínculo que no los ataque con magia mientras busco la habitación de Lilian para avisarle del problema, ya que deberíamos avisar al resto de los barcos para que estén alerta.
...
Como lo había imaginado, Azur fue más que suficiente para eliminar la amenaza. Y, tan pronto le avise a Lilian, esta se encargó de comunicar, a través de su anillo, a las otras embarcaciones el mensaje de que debían estar alertas.
Charity, Azur, y yo estamos al borde de la cubierta mirando como el agua es cortada por el casco del barco, que ahora tiene unos cuantos arañazos, mientras escuchamos los gritos de Lilian, que está reprendiendo a los pocos que estaban en la cubierta por no haber notado el problema.
"es raro... cuando vinimos no nos encontramos con este tipo de criaturas. Aunque, basándome en lo que vi cuando les disparaste con tu magia, tal vez los atrajo el mana de los magos que hay en los barcos. Eso explicaría por qué nosotros no tuvimos ese problema. Ya que en el grupo con el que vinimos a su continente sólo hay unos pocos chamanes, y tampoco es que sean muy buenos para manejar el mana..." dice Charity, con aspecto cansado "en fin, me voy a la cama... Quiero dormir un poco"
'¿Chamanes? Es la primera vez que oigo que alguien se refiere a las clases que aparecen en mi interfaz... Pero debe ser una coincidencia…'
Author Note:
I have a patr eon page. If you want to support my work, please visit it. There you could find 6 chapters in advance for patrons.
https://www.patr eon.com/finlegost
You can find the character concepts here:
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When she finishes arguing with the poor sailors, Lilian steps up to speak.
"I knew it would be good to have you around. I should tell my asshole cousin what happened so he'll learn to listen to me, although I'll have to wait until we get ashore..." says Lilian, leaning back against the spot on the edge of the deck where, until a while ago, Charity was standing.
"You don't seem to get along despite being family. Was it always like that or is there some other reason?" I ask her quizzically about her relationship with her cousin.
"Yeah, sort of." she says, sighing "We never got along very well, but ever since he found out his father was removed from office and sent away from the capital because of me, our relationship has gotten worse. Anyway, it was what had to be done. In our family, women are the ones who have the privilege of succession as heads of the family. As a result, my uncle has always been a little resentful of my mother and, logically, of me. That's also why, although he is older, he has a lower rank in the family than me, and as I thought he should have some punishment for what he did to Julia, I sent him away.... But I never thought that it could lead to his death... if he's really dead."
"Does Victor know what happened to his father's group in the forest?" I ask, understanding better now the episode we saw as we boarded.
"Yes, I guess he senses it, although we haven't talked about it." She says, turning around to look at the sea, "but let's change the subject.... I should reward you and Charity in some way for helping us save the ship, but we can't spare anything until we get home, so the reward will have to wait."
"I don't need any reward. I could help, and I did," I say, turning to look at her. "Besides, I was also saving my life and Deirdre's by taking out those creatures."
"You appear to get along really well with that therian. Are you two a couple?" She asks, not taking her eyes off the sea.
"What?!! no.." I ask, unintentionally raising my voice "Why do you say that?"
"I don't know. Since you're always hanging out together... I thought maybe you were dating," said Lilian distractedly.
"Following that logic, I could ask you the same thing about Sebastian," I tell the girl, while I hit Azur to stop him from sending me images where Deirdre and I are hugging.
"Sebastian has been my bodyguard for as long as I can remember..." explains Lilian, still not taking her eyes off the sea "His family has always had a friendly relationship with ours, and that's why most of Sebastian's relatives work for my family in one way or another. When I was born, my parents wanted to assign me a bodyguard who was around my age so that I would have someone to keep me company since I am an only child. It had to be someone a few years older, though, so that the person selected would have time to train. And it had to be someone my family trusted.... Anyway, Sebastian met all those requirements.... The fact that he can't talk didn't quite fit my parents' idea of a 'friend/guardian' for me, but they accepted him anyway."
"Fine, but one thing doesn't take away from the other." I say, smiling, "You seem to be getting off topic on purpose."
"Don't be stupid, I was just explaining our situation to you..." she says, turning around to look at me with a slight frown, "but if you're so interested, we're just friends.... He's almost like a brother to me."
"Ok, but you're the one who started it. I just played along," I say, averting my gaze to the sea. "Let's talk about something else..."
After that, our conversation returned to the topic of the ship and its repair. After which Lilian began to give me details about how they had managed to combine, with Charity's help, the technomancy of our continent with the technology of the new continent. And how obtaining new innovations that allow the development and prosperity of the inhabitants of our continent is another of the main reasons for the expedition, besides eliminating the threat of the orc empire and allowing the liberation of the oppressed races of the new continent.
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We've been sailing for two months now, and according to Charity, we should be about to reach the new continent, which is great because there's not much to do on the boat.
The only interesting thing that has happened during this time is that, from time to time, we've been attacked by the same kind of star-shaped creatures that attacked us the first time. But now that we are familiar with them, we get rid of them quickly every time they attack us again.
During all this time, I entertained myself by training my magic, since I couldn't physically train with Deirdre or Charity for fear of breaking part of the ship. Thanks to that, my mana bomb and mana piercing bullet skills leveled up, both to level 6.
Deirdre has continued to try to learn to control her mana with my help, but has not had any luck in her attempts. It seems that her talent for magic is practically nil, although she refuses to give up....
I am currently going to see her because, although she usually spends most of her time practicing in our cabin, this time she skipped dinner to practice, which I find very strange since she has always been very picky about meal times.
As I enter our room, I see the little Therian lying with her back to me, "Deirdre? Are you sleeping?"
'It's weird... she has never gone to sleep without eating before.'
So, as I get no answers, I walk over with Azur on my shoulders to check if she is indeed sleeping. And, when I position myself on the side of her bed to see her face, I see that her face is furrowed with tears.
"Deirdre? What's wrong with you?" I ask worriedly, looking at her face, but she shuns my gaze.
"N-nothing..." she says between sobs "I'm just a little tired..."
"That's the first time I've ever heard of tiredness making people cry" I say mockingly, trying to force her to look at me, but Azur digs her claws into my shoulder upon hearing my comment.
"Leave me alone! I'm not in the mood for this now..." she says, looking at my face angrily, but still crying.
"And what are you in the mood for?" I ask, glad that I got her to look at me "Talk to me. If you don't, I can't know what's wrong with you, but don't insult my intelligence by telling me you're just tired when there's clearly something bothering you."
"I... I've been thinking..." she cries, and her expression changes to one of anguish, whereupon Azur leaves my shoulders and jumps onto the bed to be closer to her "What if we're not strong enough and my parents die because of this? What if we just make the situation worse? The orcs are very strong... "
"So what does that matter? You're strong too, stronger than you think. Don't forget everything we went through in the labyrinth," I tell her in a reassuring tone.
"I'm not that strong, and the orcs are many..." she says, starting to tremble and stutter "what we're trying is crazy"
"It isn't. Relax... This is just accumulated stress from being cooped up in this wooden shell for so long," I tell her, climbing onto the bed and sitting on it, after which I hug Deirdre tightly to try to calm her down. "Listen. I don't know if we can win, because I can't see the future. But I promise you this. Both you and your family will be safe. I will see to that. Even if I have to steal a ship and sail alone back to the kingdom with you. I will not let you die, under any circumstances." I say, and the memory of what happened with Joseph and Ragnar gives firmness to my voice.
'This time it will be different' I think, and Azur agrees with me through the link.
'We are much stronger than before and we will not fail to protect what we have decided to protect.'
"Thank you, master," Deirdre says, stopping her shaking. And, even though I can't see her face, Azur sends me a picture of how a shy smile gradually appears on the girl's face. "I can never repay you for all that I owe you."
When I notice that she is no longer trembling, I start to let go of her and try to sit her on the bed, but she clings to me and doesn't seem to want to let me go.
"Don't be silly; that's what friends are for," I say as I gently stroke her head and settle back to lean my back against the wall of the room, so I can see her face.
With that, Deirdre closes her eyes as she lets me spoil her, and little by little, I watch as the tension she was holding dissolves.
"Can we... Can we stay like this for a while?" asks Deirdre shyly in a whisper, still with tears streaking down her face.
"Yes, as long as you want. In the meantime, tell me about your parents. You hardly ever mention them when you're with me." I say to distract her.
"Ahh… it is just that I have other things on my mind when I'm with you..." says Deirdre in a hesitant voice, and after a few moments, she continues in a firmer voice, "My parents are great. They're kind and loving, like all parents are. And they've given me everything they could, considering our enslaved state..... They are, and I was, owned by the Armstrong family, Charity's family. They are a family of craftsmen well known in the empire, and despite that, they were never influenced by imperial customs.... Charity's family always treated us and the rest of their slaves as people, regardless of our status. Their slaves must still serve them, of course, but they are treated far better than slaves from other families...."
As Deirdre speaks, her voice grows weaker and weaker, and seeing that I ask her nothing, she stops talking.
'I let her speak to clear her mind of our impending battle against the orc empire, but I am at a loss for words.... I asked her about her family, and she ended up telling me about her former owners.... Haa… Anyway, that rotten system in which the slaves of the orc empire live will change soon.'
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