章 29: Soteria's Morning
It was at dawn...
The brilliant golden sun was slowly rising from the horizon. The crimson illumination of the sunlight, which shone over the Spectrum, gave color to the previously darkness-covered land. The ocean blue skies also gave their revelation, followed by an orange hue. The fluffy silver clouds shrouded in ivory passed through the heavens as they got carried by the tempest.
Like the events befalling over the heavens, on the earth were affairs commonly seen by the inhabitants of the realm. The tall slick grasses peeking out from the land rustled upon contact with the breeze of wind while the leaves plastered on their branches swayed. For many, it was a gorgeous day. A new day for a new beginning, and once again, novel stories would be born.
In the spirit empire dwelling in Spectrum, within the outskirts of the spoken country was a city known as Anfang. A hub for adventurers seeking out into the far lands and beyond. It was the starting point for everyone and everyone. Each of the adventures found in the legends starts in this very city.
Within the business district found in one of the 12 districts of Anfang, a maid was currently worrying about the situation of her master. She was relatively staying at the most luxurious hotel along with her master. She enjoyed her short time of activities with her master, but during their return, her master collapsed on the ground without warning.
Her first instinct was to take her master to the nearest spirit hospital. But unfortunately, the maid's logic stopped her from continuing such an action. After all, her master wasn't a usual everyday spirit but a progenitor of an entire species. If the spirits of this realm discover it, chaos will ensue, and many bastards would want her master for nefarious means.
With this in mind, the maid simply took her master back to the luxurious hotel. And since then, an entire night had long since passed. Her master still hadn't woken up, which gave quite an aching problem. The maid was now doubting her decision to not take her master to the hospital.
What if something happens to her master? Maybe she caught some foreign disease? The maid shook her head as she calmed herself down and decided to stop thinking about it. Such complications would only give her more problems, so avoiding it would be the best choice for now.
The maid sat on a chair beside the comfy and giant bed with her master laying in slumber atop it. She was reading a book related to the sickness and diseases found in Spectrum. Reading through it gave her a lot of knowledge and problems they might need to take care of.
'Even then, Lady Alastair still didn't have the symptoms found in the book. I have read at least over ten thousand problems in the spirit physique in that book. None of them correlated towards Lady Alastair's situation.' The maid thought to herself as she closed the book and looked at her master's sleeping face.
The maid had jet-black hair strapped in a ponytail. She wore a monocle and also wore a victorian maid outfit. She had an hourglass body and was extremely gorgeous. For a simple description, one could say that her beauty was enough to bring down nations. That was... Of course, if she targets the innermost part of the government.
Anyhow, she was none other than Soteria, the maid of the first Krieger, Alastair Hecate.
Soteria kept staring at Alastair's face, which was relatively peaceful and silent. It didn't have the automatic emotionless facade which covered most of Alastair's beauty. After a while, Soteria sighed in disappointment as she thought that everything was going well yesterday.
'I thought that everything was going too well. Me and Lady Alastair had enjoyed something for the first time, and then for no reason, destiny decided to bully my master. Do we need to fight against those that control destiny in the future?' Soteria questioned within her mind.
'Oh, well... It's up for my Lady Alastair to decide.' Soteria nodded to herself as such a decision was for her master to make. Despite wanting to have a peaceful take over of the city, Soteria was a bit excited about how they would conquer the settlement. Was this the effect of being right beside her master?
Soteria immediately shook her head as the -violence always solves the problem- thought had been plaguing her mind. It worked every time she did it, which made it more problematic. She would want it to fail so that she would return to her original state without such a thought deep within her mind.
"Or maybe... Lady Alastair was onto something." Soteria silently uttered as if wisdom had escaped from her mouth.
Soteria then thought about the clothes she had bought. She was pretty excited to see her master wear it. She picked a lot of them, and by a lot of them, all of them were what she meant. Such clothes were perfect for her master, no matter the size. Oversize or undersize, they were still perfect for some reason.
'Is this what beauty is? Being gorgeous at every style of clothing? That sounds a beauty only a goddess would have.' She thought to herself while imagining the clothes she had bought to be worn this afternoon. A smile formed on her face upon such an imagination.
Soteria had been adapting well to the entire thing without any problem. She had a lot of things she wanted to do with her master, and such things had been achieved one after another. However, she had thought that her wishes would be extremely hard, and yes, it was. After all, she wanted her master to stand above everything.
To protect her master, her master must stand over everyone. With this, no one would be able to hurt her master. It would be extremely hard with the scope of the realm of Spectrum. But with her master in mind, nothing was impossible.
"Though, it's nice to see Lady Alastair sleep. Such a vulnerable slumber, she resembles a silver rabbit. But, she might be a rabbit that could transform into a dragon without a second notice. Those who based Lady Alastair's power through her appearance wouldn't last long."
Soteria uttered with a calm voice as she turned her gaze towards the balcony. The life the two of them had at the moment wasn't that bad. It was neat and enjoyable. Peaceful and calm. But the two of them understood that such things wouldn't last long. They needed to prepare, or else tragedies would repeat.
A knock then echoed from the front door. Soteria immediately turned her head towards it with a cold expression plastered on her face. She wondered who it was and thought that maybe someone was trying to cause some trouble. But she shook her head and didn't continue such a thought.
Soteria stood up from the chair and walked towards the front door as the cold expression on her face had already faded the moment she left the chair. She turned the knob and opened the front door. The one who had knocked on the door had been finally revealed. Soteria had a shocked expression. After all, it was none other than Shai.
"Yo!"
Shai greeted Soteria with a smirk plastered on her face. Without any hesitation, Shai entered the room and didn't even give time for Soteria to reply. She immediately noticed Alastair having a deep slumber on the comfy bed. Shai raised an eyebrow and silently uttered.
"So that's what happened."
Shai sat on the chair where Soteria had recently sat and said with a calm voice. "It appears that the two of you have been having fun. Especially with your future plans in the realm of Spectrum." Her words echoed throughout the room as Soteria tilted her head in confusion.
"What plans?"
Soteria acted as if she didn't know what Shai was talking about. A teasing smile emerged from Shai's face after hearing Soteria's words. She looked the maid right in the eyes and uttered with a calm voice. "Well, you know... Planning to conquer the city of Anfang, creating an empire in the realm of Spectrum, invading the mining company for resources, and making your master stand in the zenith."
Soteria raised an eyebrow and replied. "Hey, the last case was simply my thoughts. It ain't a plan. But how did you even know of such fleeting thoughts? Do you not have anything to do?" The maid's words echoed throughout the room as Shai whistled without care.
"So you really don't have anything to do." Soteria was correct with her words. Shai had nothing to do, so she visited her two mortal spirit friends. She was curious about what happened after the two had left the mansion. The results she was given were relatively better than what she had expected.
To be honest, Shai, to a certain degree, half expected Alastair to start raiding towns and cities at the very moment. Or at least, that was what Shai wanted to see.
"I have a lot of things to do... It's just that I'm bored..." Shai replied with a calm voice while shaking her head. She got plagued with boredom in her own place. Soteria raised an eyebrow and said. "Meaning that, you don't have anything to do." Shai's reply didn't work against the maid of the first Krieger.
"That is the price of being too powerful. People tend to do everything for you even if you didn't ask them to. Long ago, this kind of life was my dream. But just like every dream, once achieved. You feel a little bit lost." For some reason, Shai started talking about herself and her predicament in life.
Soteria then shook her head as a nerve emerged on her forehead. "So what is the reason you visited us, Shai? Is there anything you want us to do? Or do you have important information that maybe we could use?" Soteria questioned as she was rather curious about why Shai visited.
"Well, I do have some information that Alastair might be able to use. It is regarding the max number of souls she could get from each of the soul deals." Shai answered with a teasing tone as Soteria raised an eyebrow as she was curious about it. She wanted her master to grow and was willing to do a lot of things for it.
"Hmm... Intriguing, so what is it?" Soteria questioned.
"I remembered giving you information about the price of the soul depending on the reputation and power they have over the world. A king's soul would be extremely worthful. So what if the king gets the contract? In exchange for his soul, how much can the Krieger kill?"
With this simple question of Shai, Soteria immediately understood what the lady in front of her was saying. If such information was accurate, then it would incredibly aid Alastair's journey to the zenith. Soteria then looked at Shai once again and asked. "Is there anything more?"
"Yes, but this information can be considered a warning. Souls trapped within Alastair tend to go wild the more it stays there. So it's better for Alastair to use them before things become chaotic. The collapse might be caused by such souls. Alastair's body and mind are not yet completely adapted to the astral power."
"So be sure to let Alastair use them after she has woken up. Otherwise, the symptoms would get worse. Weird things can happen in the unguided astral power. Such a thing resulted in the birth of Spectrum." Shai looked around with a calm expression plastered on her face.
She then smiled at Soteria and uttered her goodbye.
"It's time for me to go back. That was a good talk. Also, tell Alastair to take care of herself." Without any further delay, Shai faded in an instant. Soteria looked at the chair where Shai sat. She still couldn't figure out the thoughts of that lady.
A grunt then sounded from the bed as Soteria immediately turned her gaze towards it. Alastair, who was under a deep slumber, slowly opened her eyelids with a calm expression plastered on her face. She felt elated, and her body seemed to be full of energy.
It was like waking up after a good sleep despite having a strange nightmare about the past.
Alastair turned her head towards Soteria and said with a soothing voice. "Oh... Goodmorning, Soteria."
"How are you doing? I hope I didn't disrupt anything."
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