Chapter 4 - Entering the City

  Once he was certain the man was out of sight, Franz deflated, leaning forward with his arms against his legs. His back was drenched with sweat.

  An archmage! He had to be.

  Without question, that young man was an archmage, or at least a powerful grandmage. And not a simple one, either.

  Franz had faced plenty of archmages before, but he could count the number of times he had been threatened like this on a single hand. Most frequently by his mother, but even her mana paled against that of this seemingly young man.

  The ancient formations, passed down through dozens of generations, might not be enough to restrain him.

  He will have to cause a lot of trouble for me to interfere… I’ll have to speak to Mother.

  But now, Felicia waited for him on the ship. He needed to calm himself and regain his composure. She was more perceptive than most people thought.

  He walked back to the airship, then headed straight for the bridge and sat in the captain’s seat. Felicia was seated next to him, silently playing with a ring between her fingers.

  Franz sighed, wondering how he should discipline her this time. It was hardly the first time she had snuck out to the mountain, but the lesson refused to stick.

  “Sir, we have found no disturbances in the barrier surrounding the grounds!” One of the guards reported, taking his mind elsewhere.

  “No disturbances?” Franz asked, mostly to himself.

  It wasn’t the strongest barrier in the world, but it should be impossible to break in without using force. Teleporting should be blocked, and nearly all forms of bypassing had already been tested.

  “Check again once we return,” he commanded, storing it in the back of his mind. “We’re ready to take off.”

  His eyes returned to Felicia, who almost seemed to sense his attention on her, taking a nervous breath. Either that, or she still hadn’t gotten over her fear of flying. Understandably so.

  “Why were you up there, Felicia?”

  She swallowed, taking a bit too long to answer. “I… needed some space.”

  “Did you, now? Is it too crowded in your private floor, or in the study halls? Or in the dining hall, where you were supposed to be learning etiquette with your siblings today?”

  He kept his tone firm, making sure she understood how little tolerance he had for this kind of thing. Especially the fourth time it happened.

  She stayed silent, which was the right answer. There was plenty of space, which made her excuse a sorry one. But as long as she understood, it was fine.

  “I know your mother used to take you up there, Felicia. I understand the place is important to you. But it’s not a place you should go to alone—especially when you have other obligations. Besides, you—”

  He stopped himself. She knew better than anyone that she couldn’t see the view.

  “I will tell Thomas to make himself available if you want to go up there on the weekends. But you are not to go alone. Understood?”

  “...Could I take Liz instead?”

  “She’s busy, as you know. Thomas has time whenever Mother doesn’t need him.”

  She nodded, though there was hesitation in her expression. It would have to do.

  His voice softened. “Did you talk to that man?”

  “...Yes.”

  “What about?”

  “...Magic.”

  She was clearly not in the mood to share, but Franz needed answers. Hansen was a potential threat. A grave one.

  “Oh, magic? Anything interesting?”

  “...Did you know it’s possible to see with magic?”

  “See with it?” Franz asked, furrowing his brows. He had never heard of anything like that. “How so?”

  “I don’t know, but he showed me it was possible. Then he said I could find more information about it in the forbidden section of the Novanny Academy of Magic.”

  Hah, that’s an easy way to make an unfalsifiable claim. No one ever gets access to that place.

  “Are you sure he didn’t trick you? Perhaps he had mirror magic or something to fool you?”

  “No, he told me the exact number of stones on this ring, while I was holding it inside my fist.” She held the ring up to him, showing a lovely silver ring with twelve stones on the surface. “He was about to tell me more about it when you arrived.”

  Her voice had a tone of longing in it, indirectly telling him he should have come later. But at least she was sharing more openly now.

  “Hmm, that does make it hard to fake. I just find it strange that I’ve never heard of such a technique. But he did seem foreign.”

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  She nodded as she put the ring back on her finger. “He told me he was from Velomaris. I don’t believe him, even if his accent was strange.”

  “Velomaris? That does seem unlikely. But he wasn’t from around here, that’s for sure.”

  “Right. It was like he had been living under a rock for decades, or even centuries. He even thought the Harrowblooms were blacksmiths.”

  “Oh, that’s ancient history.”

  Her attention snapped to him, clearly surprised. “We were?”

  “It’s one of the things you’d learn if you paid attention in your studies. Our founder worked his way up to the position of royal blacksmith. That is at the start of our now thousand-year history.”

  “...Everything is a thousand years old today for some reason.”

  Right, back to the magic vision. What blind girl wouldn’t dream of such a thing?

  “I’ll ask your Grandmother about this magic sight thing. And if she doesn’t know, she might be able to ask Harrox about it.”

  “Our family spirit?”

  At least she knew that much.

  “Yes, the very same. If it’s knowledge from a thousand years ago, he might know.”

  She almost smiled this time. “Thank you, Father.”

  But the hesitation in her voice was still there, like a step taken onto thin ice.

  The ship descended toward the landing platform on the roof of their mansion, soon touching the ground again. Once it did, Franz heard a small sigh of relief from Felicia. A light creaking sound came from her seat as she released her grip on it.

  Still not over flying. But with what she had been through, he could hardly fault her. Even he felt some fear for a while after the accident.

  …But wait.

  Living under a rock for centuries? Creating a void flame as black as death itself, and immensely powerful? And thinking the Harrowblooms were blacksmiths?

  Franz chuckled lightly to himself. Of all the imitators of Artorias throughout the years, this Daniel fellow had been the best actor yet. Unfortunately, the Void Flame alone would never be enough to convince anyone.

  Still, a small part of him wondered… what if?

  Daniel had plenty to think about on his way down the mountain.

  So Artorias became some kind of magical Jesus… And pilgrims travel to this mountain as a holy destination? I guess that’s what they thought I was really there for.

  The guards were almost suspiciously nice as they led him through the fortified gates and into the city. Even went so far as to bow respectfully as he left.

  Franz must have told them he was to be treated with respect. It seemed out of character, Daniel thought, but he likely didn’t want to instigate a fight.

  After I showed some force, maybe he realized it would be bad if we clashed?

  The meeting on the mountain was quite interesting, both with Franz and Felicia. It was unfortunate that her father had arrived before he could help her. Now he had no choice but to find her again.

  Felicia’s magic didn’t seem related to how I arrived here, either. Or how Artorias woke up from the seal.

  A mystery for another day.

  Once outside the gate leading to the mountain, he passed a group of what appeared to be travelers in ragged robes. They were kneeling and praying toward the mountain, some sending him curious glances as he walked by.

  Pilgrims… I wonder how they would react if they knew who I was.

  In a bothersome way, most likely. He had no intention of revealing himself to the world—at least not yet. Perhaps when he had a better understanding of everything, and after meeting Elania.

  A thousand years would be long, even for an elf… But I can’t imagine her dying.

  Knowing her, though, she would keep to herself. It would be a challenge to figure out her whereabouts, which is why the academy was a great place to start.

  But before journeying to the other side of the continent, he wanted to explore this city. He had watched it grow larger on his way down from the mountain, craning his neck as he looked at the great white towers stretched toward the sky.

  Airships were coming and going at the opposite edge of the city—hundreds a day by his estimate. It must have replaced a significant portion of sea traffic and trade.

  Airship merchants… Now that’s a cool concept. I wonder how they function.

  He had many things he wanted to explore, but most of all, he was curious about how the magical formations had developed over the centuries. Before anything else, Artorias was a genius of formations.

  Daniel could feel the same intuition racing in his mind, of the system he had put so much effort into creating.

  After a few seconds, he had three working schematics for how to make an airship maneuver and propel itself forward. But the lift confused him. They were moving too slowly to utilize wings, and propellers would require too much energy.

  All in due time. Let’s start closer.

  Shops, taverns, and all kinds of services lined the wide streets, with what seemed like residential apartments built above. Significantly more modern than in his books, but still far from the cities of the 21st century. And further still from the 20th, which in his opinion looked much better.

  Carriages lined the main streets, but instead of being drawn by horses, they were self-propelled, much like cars. It seemed to be a public service, though, as all of them had drivers sitting on the front wearing the same clothes.

  Daniel looked down at his own clothes. The black suit and overcoat with fancy gold decorations stood out among the masses, but he felt better dressed than most.

  I do need a few shifts, though… Money would be nice. I doubt I could access the bank account Artorias left behind, if it still exists. And selling any of my equipment would be a mistake.

  He walked through the streets, taking in the sights. A great building in white and blue stood near the center of the city, looking like either a fancy cathedral or a mansion. It could be where the Harrowblooms lived, but it felt more like a church of some kind.

  …I’ll have to visit that place as well, I guess. Figure out what this Artorian religion is all about.

  He really hoped there wasn’t some prophecy that foretold his return, because that would prove them at least partially right. And, in the worst case, that would mean there was a reason he came here.

  Daniel shuddered at the thought of being an actual savior. Sure, he was planning to make sure his disasters were under control, but that was mostly for his own peace of mind.

  And maybe a tiny bit because he felt guilty about creating them.

  Teeny tiny bit.

  Passing by a few more stores, he saw plenty of interesting constructions. A quaint shop with a blue-aproned girl in the doorway called Sunglow Bakery. A tavern with a little pixie as its mascot called The Adventurer’s Beginning. A forge where two girls were busy putting out a fire, called Gorton’s Blacksmith.

  Then one that made him stop in his tracks.

  “Cobblestone Index Shop?!”

  The only person in the world who knew how to make indexes was Artorias, and he had only made four—one for each member of their party.

  He couldn’t help but laugh as the pieces fell into place. “That greedy bastard.”

  Sebastian Sieverman, the third member of their party, was indeed a greedy bastard. If anyone were to use Artorias’ invention for his own gain, it would definitely be him.

  It was, frankly, shocking that the invention had survived for a thousand years without becoming obsolete. But that could only mean it was as useful as he had hoped.

  What kind of improvements could have happened since then? Had they figured out exactly how it worked?

  He had to go inside.