章 173: Brume

Tycondrius pursed his lips, "You've placed Wolfbanger on the Thalia Grace, then?"

"That's right." Wroe smiled with chagrin, "Apparently, the docs found him washed up on the shore, chewed up by a chomper and nom'd on by nibblers-- but alive."

"A shame."

Tycon patiently listened to Wroe's report. Sasha, the chocolate elf, had her white hood pulled down low while she hid behind the green-haired noble. Pale looked somewhat disappointed.

"Where are we going to meet up after this, Boss?" Wroe asked. With a tilt of his head, his angelic blue hair flowed in the soft sea breeze.

Tycon took a deep breath, "After you two finish up on Saint Guinefort, meet with Sorina in Nice for word. If Dragan needs help in the Free Nation, go there... I don't expect to spend too long in the Holy Country, but I'm planning on being somewhere in the territory of Cersei's Rest."

"Aye aye, Boss," Wroe saluted with a palm to his chest.

Tycon nodded and returned the salute.

Wroe leaned in close to whisper, "Shouldn't you go home, Ivory Prince?"

Tycon had learned a bit of Wroe with his recent influx of memories. He smirked in response, "Shouldn't you, Prince of Arcanite?"

"S-sir Tycon?" Pale had kept his bearing while bidding farewell to Lone. Facing Tycon, the young man's mouth only just began to quiver.

Tycon sighed and ruffled the boy's hair, "Did you have a question, young man?"

"Do you really have to go?" Pale asked, looking up with sparkling eyes.

Tycon snickered, "Become strong. Perhaps after all this is done, we can search for your father."

A tear streamed down Pale's cheek as he nodded resolutely, "Y... yes, Sir..."

Tycon frowned.

Unworried about how anyone around him felt about it, he bent over and gave the young man a hug. Pale seemed surprised but returned the embrace. After several seconds, Tycon felt it was socially acceptable to release the hug and did so.

Sniffling and with his body slightly trembling, Pale saluted, "Death... to the enemies of Invictus."

Tycon returned the salute with a prideful heart, "Blood and thunder."

...

Lieutenant Shao Ran was responsible for taxiing Guild Invictus and the few dozen remaining civilians back to the Beaurte territory. The civilians were the remainder of the hostages rescued from the Saltspray Keep, those who did not take up the Sea Wolves' offer to join them. They were mostly too old or too young-- but there were a few amongst them who looked hale and healthy.

...There was no shame in shying away from the call of battle. The military life was similar to the adventuring life in that it was not easily adopted.

Invictus' final mission for the Sea Wolves was to escort the civilians at least to the town of Brume. From there, they could take a caravan to the city of Beaurte-proper and from there, to their own respective villages.

The Thalia Grace anchored near land and ordered his men to taxi Invictus and the civilians to the beach via longboat. The salutes and nods of acknowledgment from the Sea Wolves lifted morale. Shao Ran, the loud braggart of a man, heartily shook Tycon's hand as a sign of respect.

As loath as Tycon was to admit it, he would miss the cursed band of murderous sea creatures.

Other than that, Tycon was in good spirits. Sasarame in snake-form had her fill of a small rodent and rested peacefully in the folds of Tycon's hood.

Lone carried Wolfbanger, draped over his shoulders.

Tycon poked the weretouched boy with the base of a halberd, "Mister Levi, we have returned to solid land."

"Guohhh." The boy's response was... less than stellar.

"You know... not to threaten you, young man... but if you'd like, we can dissolve your contract."

The boy had been nothing but trouble and per his actions, Tycon was fairly certain that Levi Wolfrider did not like being part of Invictus.

"N-nah. I want to stay..." Wolfbanger groaned.

Tycon furrowed his brows at the unexpected response, "Really? ...Well, alright. On your feet, then. Let's see if fresh air and a walk will aid your convalescence."

As the dog-wolf-boy steadied himself on his feet, Tycon handed him the halberd.

"What's... this, Boss?" he asked.

Tycon smiled, "We cannot allow you to travel unarmed."

A hafted weapon would do better for Levi's fighting style-- remaining at a safe distance, but still able to utilize his strength.

"Th-thanks." Levi averted his gaze, "Hey... Boss."

Tycon raised an eyebrow. The boy rarely had anything to say to him, much less ask him a question, "Speak your mind, young man."

Levi rubbed the dirt with his pawed foot, "Why are you so nice to me?"

Tycon was troubled. How was he supposed to respond to that? "...I treat you like a normal person. I don't actually think I've gone out of my way to be nice to you, at all."

The dog boy's ears drooped. Tycon assumed that meant he was... unconfident?

Tycon decided to say something sagacious, possibly bordering on plagiarism. Tycon cleared his throat, "We're all different, Mister Levi. Strive to be judged by the content of your character, not the color of your... fur."

Dropping his gaze, Levi smiled and nodded.

...

Guild Invictus led the way to Brume without incident. On the way, Tycon utilized the most powerful skill in his repertoire: delegation.

Wolfbanger had the (questionably) highest martial ability in Invictus. He was assigned to felling one of the many wild rams in the area and carrying it back. With the weretouched boy's ability to *carry* the greathammer he once used, Tycon foresaw no issues with the command.

Its meat would be tasty and the blood would be useful.

Barza Keith, the Lone Shadowdark-- Tycon assigned him to take any capable archers and hunt for deer, plentiful in the area. He lent out half-a-dozen crossbows. He hoped the peace of mind achieved from not feeling useless would be a good motivation.

The deer meat would be tasty and the fat could be used to make tallow candles.

Sasha, he ordered to hunt some prey larger than she was. A squirrel would be appropriate. The girl remained shy-- preferring to stay in her snake form and hidden in Tycon's clothes than be a part of a group. Tycon needed to instill self-confidence in the girl.

He could use the small skull and bones for... something. Tycon didn't know what, but he'd figure it out once his silver daughter succeeded.

With the supplies Invictus had, the travel was pleasant. The pace was comfortable, the danger was nominal, and morale remained high. Thanks to everyone's efforts, both Invictus' and the civilians' bellies remained full.

Lone and Wolfbanger seemed a bit uncomfortable about the peacefulness... but Tycon advised them to savor the calm.

The group had reached the town of Brume after only a couple of suns. A caravan had been prepared ahead of time, paid for by Kingdom coin. Tycon checked the caravan master's credentials-- everything was in good order.

More tearful goodbyes were had. The civilians thanked Guild Invictus as if their rescue wasn't a collective effort of Lang Hai and hundreds of his Sea Wolves. Lone and Wolfbanger were praised as heroes. Tycon decided not to take that away from either of them.

After they left, Tycon got a couple of rooms at the local... Unicorn Inn. He browsed the small selection at the local general goods vendor. And he got to work outdoors on a small project, making candles.

クリエイターの想い
CouchSurfingDragon

Tycon - “I need 10 volunteers.”

Lone - “For what, Boss?”

Tycon - “I need 9 volunteers.”

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章 174: Sanctuary

In the morning, Tycon took Invictus to Brume's local temple.

Sasha had been appeased early that morning, with a hearty meal of Tycon's specially made bacon, eggs, and potatoes crisped in pork fat. The young elf stuffed herself until she was bloated. Tycon took her by the hand and they walked about-- he wouldn't let her revert to snake form until she had digested a bit of her meal.

"Guild Invictus! Thank you for visiting our temple," a balding, middle-aged temple priest greeted. "The local saviors of Brume. You honor us with your presence."

"It seems word travels quickly, Sir Priest." Tycon politely introduced himself as Invictus' leader and elf-Sasha as his young ward.

The small temple was able to fit a congregation of 100 in its main hall, though Guild Invictus were the only visitors. A large central shrine held a retinue of major gods and a collection bin was set out, filled with a few paltry silver and copper coins. Tycon found it odd that the Tempe wasn't the largest building in Brume. Religion seemed a slight more important in the Free Nation and the Holy Country.

"Please, my name is Villiers." The priest smiled, a perfect picture of affability. "Are you searching for the half-elf that went messing a moon prior?"

[Villiers, Unranked Human Priest]

"We are here for a different issue." Tycon prodded the white-haired chocolate elf, "Go ahead, Sasha. Just like we practiced."

The young girl pouted, trying to hide. Tycon kept a gentle grip on her wrist and humanely held the back of her coat so she couldn't escape. The priest, as a credit to his profession, patiently waited, watching with a good-natured smile.

Sasha shyly looked up to the priest, her long ears twitching, "Sssss... Snake god. Offering."

She held up a squirrel skull. Tycon had guided her the previous night to melt the flesh away with elementary magic, leaving only the ivory.

The priest clapped his hands, "A wonderful offering, little Miss, to the... snake god, you say?"

"That's correct." Tycon nodded, carefully gauging the priest's reaction, "The young lady has come from far away. Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no, not at all. It's just quite rare."

The priest led Tycon and Sasha to an open room adjacent to the main hall. A shrine was set inside, far smaller than the one built for the main pantheon. The symbols inscribed upon it belonged to the various dark gods, not to any one in particular. Sasha respectfully placed her offering upon the shrine and closed her eyes to hiss a small prayer.

"The young girl is quite devout," the priest lauded.

Tycon shrugged, "She's had a troubled life."

"We must all go through trials and tribulations, young man," the priest nodded serenely.

Tycon did not bother correcting him. The priest did not use age as disrespect. On account that was about to ruin the poor man's week, he decided to remain polite.

Tycon stepped into the main hall with Sasha's ears bobbing as she hurried behind. Priest Villiers' jaw slackened as he saw dark candles set and lit on the shrine and the seats.

The stink of iron filled his nostrils. Blood had profaned every surface.

Lone handed Tycon the bucket of ram's blood and a brush, giving Tycon an anxious look of uncertainty. Tycon ignored it, "Thank you, Mister Lone."

"Wh-whaaaa-- WHAT are you DOING?!!" Villiers grabbed what was left of his hair as he yelled. "Invictus?? Please tell me what is going on!!"

Tycon painted a massive eight-pointed star upon a blank wall, then began to inscribe some infernal runes from his System-assisted memory, "I'm opening a Gate, Mister Villiers."

"You're opening a WHAT?!?"

Tycon paused. He turned to Villiers with furrowed brows, "...A Gate. I apologize, was I unclear?"

"Why are you opening a GATE in MY TEMPLE?!?" Villiers screamed.

Tycon frowned as he finished drawing the runes. It was a simple ritual-- which is why he was confident in its effectiveness, "This particular ritual has a higher success rate if it is performed upon profaned holy ground."

Lone's face was set into a deep grimace, "This sounds like a reeeeally bad idea, Boss."

Tycon hesitated, "Yes... yes it does, doesn't it?"

Turning to Sasha, he ruffled her white hair until a clump stuck upward, "Did you prepare that Sanctuary spell I told you about?"

Nodding obediently, she quietly muttered to herself. A thin film of protective light shrouded her. Tycon barely registered the mana disturbance. It seemed Sasarame was a naturally stealthy caster.

Tycon would have suggested Villiers do the same... but as he was Unranked, it was highly unlikely that he had a single First-Circle spell.

He took a deep breath, ignoring the priest who was holding onto his arms and pleading.

« System, display the recorded speech for summoning Lulu. »

The previous evening, Tycon had taken a passage of Infernal and transliterated it into the Common tongue to make it easier for him to speak. He spent some time cross-referencing it with the System's translations, to be reasonably certain about what he was summoning.

Thankfully, he didn't need a Mage. Lulu's spell was quite ingenious, only using the residual mana from profaning a temple. Also, he didn't need to read the script with religious fervor-- he only needed to speak the words normally. It was embarrassing enough to have to bloody a temple. Tycon would have considered a different way if he had to pretend to be a crazed devotee.

"Is-- is that Abyssal!? Are you speaking Abyssal?!?" Villiers was literally crying.

Tycon figured a normal-thinking priest would have probably tried to forcibly disrupt him with violence. Nearly any solution would perform better than Villiers' attempt to violently shake him.

Also, it was Infernal. The two languages were similar, but Infernal was more common. It was an odd laymen's mistake.

The temperature rose within the temple to skin-scalding hot. The doors shut closed and the windows revealed that the outside was filled with naught but pillars of bone amongst flames. The blood on the wall began to melt the stone, revealing infinitely long tunnels with hundreds of glowing eye glinting in the shadows.

A curly-haired platinum blonde woman emerged from the wall. Stepping onto the profaned shrine, her long slender legs were revealed by a high cut on her white robes. She licked her lips and spun the red-paper parasol in her hand, "Heya, Boss! Long time no see!"

The corner of Tycon's mouth lifted, "Welcome back, Lucifer."

クリエイターの想い
CouchSurfingDragon

Here she is, the last hinted member of Sol Invictus!

Lulu, a curly-haired blonde demoness with a parasol! She prefers to be called Luci, but if an Invictus member speaks even half of her name aloud, sometimes strange things happen...

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