Emerging from the cover of trees, four knights appeared, forming a protective square around his client. She was dressed in all black, possibly in mourning for her husband, but most likely to keep up appearances, to separate herself from his actions. Alex flipped up his hood, the cloth casting a perfect shadow across the top half of his face.

  Turning towards Elyza, who had risen from her seat, her eyes narrowing at the company, anticipating a fight. “Do you have a mask?” he asked, to which she nodded, and a gesture for her to don it followed, forcing all humour from his voice as he further instructed, “Stay here and don’t do anything suspicious. The sooner we finish, the sooner we move on to my plan for you.”

  As he started to walk toward the approaching group, he noticed that the captain of the city guard was one of the women’s escorts. As a precaution, and not to waste any more time, a flick of the hand caused the air in front of his face to turn to mist and then follow his spell’s whims. He felt the magic creep over his face, constantly changing his features, ensuring that they would never able to focus on the grin beneath.

  _Another mask for the collection._

  Alex pushed the thought towards the back of his mind, storing it with the rest of his unwanted notion of the world. He didn’t have time to dwell on its meaning, either; the knights drew their swords the moment he got in range, causing him pre-emptively raise his hand to stop Elyza from drawing hers. He stared at the black-clad women, his tone laced with concern as he remarked, “I know we both are from different parts of the world, but this is generally considered a threat in my country.”

  The Countess remained silent, the captain seemingly speaking on her behalf, stepping forward in an attempt to articulate his threat, “Do not play games with us. You were hired only to rescue Liliana, yet you saw fit to kill the Earl. Did you really think I wouldn’t see through your treachery? I should have your head right here.”

  “The Earl’s dead? My condolences to the Countess, though truth be told he was getting up there…” Alex replied, bowing to his client, switching his tone to one of concern, “But I swear on my life that I took no part in his death.”

  “Do not lie to me, Nemo,” the captain growled, stepping further forward to tower over him, trying to use his gigantic stature as an intimidation tactic, his stare broadcasting his intentions with the accused killer.

  Yet Alex stood his ground, addressing the Countess through him, “If milady believes that to be the case, why don’t you use that trick of yours to prove that I’m being dishonest.”

  “So be it,” The captain relented, his voice dripping with disdain, taking a step back while muttering a chant under his breath. Circular runes started to appear in the air as the words continued to flow, with Alex acting as their centre, faking a yawn as he waited for the questions to be asked. As it neared its end, the runes started to merge into one, creating a circle of magic that cast a golden glow upon his figure. As the spell finished its construction, the Captain commanded upon him, “Under the gaze of Lady Veritas, speak the truth lest you face her wrath.”

  “Don’t be shy, ask what you must…” He remarked with a grin, completely unbothered by the spell swirling around him.

  “Did you kill the Earl?”

  “No, didn’t feel like it.” Alex replied, keeping his voice steady and devoid of emotion.

  The Captain tensed up, bracing for the spell’s reaction, for a great light from the skies to obliterate the man within the golden circles. However, nothing happened, there was no magnificent pillar of flame, no noose wrapped itself around Alex’s head, and the spell didn’t fracture or explode; it simply dispersed, its purpose fulfilled, the truth extracted.

  “What!?” The Captain finally broke through his shock, “How is this possible? I know you lie, yet…” His words trailed off as his mind scrambled for an explanation.

  “Well,” Alex responded as he clapped his hands, grinning to add salt in the wound, “This was a nice break from my norm, but I’m afraid I have somewhere else to be, so I’d like to request my payment.”

  Something seemed to have clicked in the Captain’s head, as soon enough his sword was at Alex’s throat, “This is one of your illusions! A trick to play me as a fool.” The accusation made him roll his eyes, controlling his need to retort, unfazed by the blade at his throat. Thankfully, someone other than him realised what had primed to occur if the threat continued, and a glance to the Countess ensured that they were on the same page.

  “Enough, Gertrude,” the black-clad lady finally broke her silence, continuing on, without letting the captain defend himself, “I allowed you to check your theory, and it was proven false. Do not delay my reunion with Liliana because of your ego.”

  There was a delay in Captain Gertrude’s action, but nevertheless he was forced to sheath his sword. He closed his eyes with a grimace, and when they opened, his entire demeanour had shifted. The captain was handed a roll of paper, and he handed it over to Alex, remarking through gritted teeth, “This contains most of the locations you requested.”

  Opening it and scanning through it, the knowledge the scrolls contained lining up with the findings that the papers he had lifted from the Earl’s study room, yet his eyes refused to stop. “Sufficient?” The Countess’ question reminded him where he was, and he responded with a nod, prompting her to issue another order, this time to her entire escort party, “Make sure Liliana’s okay. All of you.”

  The rest of the knights looked uncertain, and Gertrude voiced their hesitancy, “Countess, I cannot leave you alone with the likes of him…” But one look from her made him understand what would happen if he refuse, made him start walking towards the shack, the rest of the knights reluctantly following their commander.

  After they were sufficiently out of earshot, the Countess turned to Alex to ask, her voice devoid of the command she showcased moments before, “How is she?”

  Motioning Elyza to come over, he remarked, “She’s a bit dazed, which I may have something to do with. No visible signs of struggle, which is a good, though you’d have to have a death wish to try something with her. Probably have to work on her trust a bit, but other than that she should be fine.”

  Relief washed over the Countess’ face as she expressed her appreciation, “Thank you, Nemo. I don’t know what I would have done if I let that monster hurt her.”

  He responded with a sly grin, “Shame, you would have been a spectacular fight, milady,” Following the jest with a curtsy bow, causing her to sigh before she left to care for her niece, and as he turned on his heels, he saw Elyza give her wide berth.

  She opened her mouth, ready to say something, but Alex beat her to it, “Now I can finally attend to the woman leaving us lowly beings behind on this mortal plane.”

  She sighed in response to his antics, “Yes, let us see to your grand plan.”

  Alex gave her a grin as he readied himself to step to the destination, his shadow bubbling beneath them as he focused, “I’m going to do it again, alright?”

  Elyza sighed even more deeply this time, giving her reluctant approval, “Fine, if I have no other choice.”

  With a mischievous glint in his eye, he couldn’t help but retort, “Oh, you always had a choice,” as he visualised the location they needed to go. He commanded the shadows to envelop them both, and as they both sunk into the liquid darkness, they found themselves being pushed out of the shadowy realm under his will.

  The rays of the sun blinded him, having to blink a few times before he could look down at the view of Bakelv from atop a neighbouring cliff, a couple of kilometres away from the shack, the fresh air causing him to smile. As he tried to take a step forward, he found his legs unwilling, staggering before he forced them to keep his balance. He was surprised at how much mana the transport had actually taken, but as he recovered his footing and the mana expended by the journey, the sheer amount that was consumed was peculiar. It was exponentially bigger than he was used to while stepping through the shadows on his own, but his mind was more enamoured by the thought that there were limits to his magic he hadn’t spotted before.

  But those thoughts could wait for later, as he remembered that at the moment, he needed to convince a person who seemed just as stubborn as he was. No one, other than him, had ever used or wanted to use his particular method of teleportation this many times in such a short period. Even when he had company, he made an effort to restrain its use. So he turned to Elyza, keeping in mind to be more careful as he chose his words, and noticed that she appeared fine, relatively speaking. Her face still bore traces of unsettlement, which quickly turned to confusion, her skin holding a slight shade of green beneath as her expression reflected as she realised the same reality.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “That did not feel as bad as it did after last time.” Elyza stated, looking at her hands as if unsure if they were hers, her forest eyes flicking upwards to stare daggers at him as her tone quickly shifted to a more accusatory one, “Why?”

  He had nothing to say, so he shrugged, unable to hide the excited grin that had spread across his face, “I truly don’t know. My best guess is that I’m getting better at breaking your body down.”

  Her brow furrowed at his choice of words, “What do you mean by ‘breaking my body down’?”

  Alex waved her question aside with a hand, gesturing behind her, towards the table he had prepared that morning, “Semantics, dear. Now if you can just take your seat,”

  “How did you get this up here?” Elyza asked as she turned, sounding more concerned than before at the concept that he somehow dragged up a table suited for a noble banquet up a cliff.

  “Do you really wish to hear me explain myself more?” Alex remarked, pulling out a chair and sliding it behind Elyza, catching her off guard as she plopped down into it. Pushing her to one end of the table, he snapped his fingers, and the show began. Numerous arms emerged from the table’s shadow, each bearing a plate of food covered with a cloche. They arranged everything neatly on the far side of the table before retreating and allowing another set of arms to do the same. With another snap, the cloches vanished into thin air.

  “Oh,” was all Elyza managed to say, astounded at the feast that had appeared in front of her.

  He would’ve revelled more in the ordeal, but he had already begun his explanation, gesturing towards the table, “Each plate contains, frankly speaking, poor facsimiles of all the memorable food I got to experience during my travels, but considering the time constraints, I’m quite proud of my accomplishment.”

  She was trying to listen attentively, but Alex could tell that her attention had already been robbed from him. He pulled out two bottles of wine and a single glass without a noise, placing them before her, gaining a nod of appreciation from Elyza.

  “Well, I couldn’t possibly let you die before you experience the full scope of the abilities I possess,” he remarked, as he walked towards the other end of the table, and plopped down in his own seat, adding, “Just wake me up when you’re ready to talk, I can barely keep focus normally, and I haven’t slept in three days.”

  Putting his feet up on the wooden table, he closed his eyes to let the the embrace of sleep overpower his mind, letting her continue without an audience. For what felt like mere moments compared to the events that had transpired, Alex lost himself in the tranquil expanse of his thoughts, only to be jolted awake when the table bumped against his legs down from their. His eyes fluttered open, getting greeted by the mesmerising sight of the sun about to set in front of him, and by its position he could tell that two hours had passed since his last waking moment. Turning his gaze towards his waker, he had expected at least half of the food he had prepared to still be left, hoping to enjoy some leftovers. To his astonishment, however, every single plate lay completely barren, mere crumbs left upon the ceramic plates.

  Focusing on the culprit, blinking away his hazy gaze, he saw Elyza was now enjoying the view as well, a glass of wine in hand, her green eyes reflecting the orange sky. She was keeping her thoughts well-guarded, gulping down the glass, solemnly gazing at the view, and he had no idea what path she had chosen.

  Her stained lips parted to ask a simple question, “I severed the head of the snake, how are you planning to deal with its festering body?”

  Alex cracked a smile in response to her profundity, remarking, “Never imagined you getting so metaphorical when you get drunk,” The comment did not land as he wished to, as she glared at him till he answered seriously, “I have a friend of sorts in the Royal Army, who’s already moving to deal with the remnants of the late earl’s organisation. I’ve also sent her a list of their suspected hideouts, so the matter is expected to be taken care of by the end of the week.”

  Elyza narrowed her eyes in response to his answer, trying to spot the lie she expected from him, her tone full of scepticism as she retorted, “The same Army under whose protection it emerged in the first place? Do you truly believe they will be able to handle it properly?”

  “Never in a million years…” he agreed with her doubts, still, Alex pressed on, adding, “But I do trust the person who shall be leading them to do the right thing.”

  Pouring the remaining wine in the bottle directly into her mouth, letting out a burp before remarking, “Alright, let’s hear it.”

  “Hear what?”

  “Your speech?” Elyza remarked, explaining herself, “I know you’ve got some sort of argument loaded up in your head to try and convince me not to take the path I have chosen”

  “Oh yeah, that would be useful right about now,” Alex admitted, continuing, “Till my mind finishes formulating said speech, let me ask you, why haven’t you?”

  “What?”

  “I don’t believe you truly want to die, especially because you’re sitting right here with me,” he answered, enjoying the view of the city below them.

  She appeared taken aback by his conclusion, leaning in closer to the table, her expression a mix of curiosity and surprise, “Why do you think that?”

  “Well, first of all,” Alex began, “The fact that you chose to even hang out with me, being a huge red flag in itself, suggested that you hadn’t entirely made up your mind about meeting Charon on the banks of the River Styx.”

  He paused, glancing at Elyza to gauge her reaction, but he received none, so he continued, “Then there’s the matter of you following my instructions, which you had no good reason to do so, except, if I may theorise, if you were trying to find an excuse to delay your ‘inevitable’.”

  Elyza remained silent, her eyes locked onto his as she absorbed his words, “And the greatest evidence for me, Elyza, was the fact you woke me up… You could’ve just had your fill, thrown yourself off this cliff, and I would not have had any way to stop you. Yet, you chose to wake me up, even when you knew what kind of conversation was awaiting you.”

  He began his concluding, letting his voice grow softer, “So, by deduction, I can, with some certainty, that you, or at least a small part that you’ve tried to smother with your rage, wanted to have this conversation, wanted me to convince you, to prove to yourself that you weren’t ready to die.”

  She seemed stuck deep in thought, pondering his words, or she may have been searching for a way to prove him wrong. Nevertheless, Alex knew he shouldn’t have said so much, yet the words kept coming to him.

  “All of what I’ve said is just me assuming things about you because I have no clue what else to do. Our circumstances are bound to be different. The reason I was able to step back from the edge was because of a principle that came to me at the moment I thought myself ready to take the plunge. But you may not share such a principle, but maybe you could be convinced if I told you about the friends you might never have the chance to meet, the foods you could never experience, the joy you might feel when you help another, or the justice you could never inflict on those who’ve harmed others.”

  Alex went silent for a moment, allowing his words to linger in the crisp evening air, thinking for a moment before he began once again, “If you genuinely believe that death is the path you want to take, then I won’t stop you. The choice has always been yours, and it’s not a choice between joining me or embarking on a journey to the Underworld. It’s one between fear and acceptance. You may choose to walk away from my kind of life and start anew. I’d rather have someone I know to be ‘good’ out there, rather than them rotting in a hole underground. Either way, it’s your life to pen.”

  “In fact, here,” he remarked, tossing a small black bell to Elyza who caught it effortlessly, without even looking towards him, “Whenever you need to get out of a sticky situation, ring that. It’s like a giant lighthouse in the deep stretch of darkness, to guide me to you, to help a fellow lost soul. Whatever decision you make, I always keep my word.”

  Alex did not know if his speech had got through to her, or if it was just noise for her ears to ignore, but there was nothing else he could do. He decided, instead, to enjoy the best part of the day, letting his eyes capture the magnificence of the sunset, hoping that they both found solace in the tranquillity of the moment.

  He knew exactly how much time it took for Elyza to respond, because the final rays of sunlight accompanied her actions. She tossed the black bell back to Alex, who caught it with a sigh.

  “Well, I tried my best,” He sighed, cracking his knuckles as he stood up, a smile etching itself across his face as he added, “How do you want to do this? I can offer both simplicity and a spectacle you couldn’t even comprehend,”

  “Congratulations,” she replied, her response causing momentary confusion for Alex.

  “What?” he responded, looking around to see if he was being observed, “Was this some kind of weird initiation to a secret society? Because this has happened to me before…”

  She physically appeared to disregard his joke with a sigh, continuing, “Your speech worked, while I may not have a compelling reason to live, I also lack a reason to die. So, I have decided to work with you until I find a reason for either.”

  “Oh, alright.” Alex muttered, before perking up with a grin, “Totally knew that would work. Never had a doubt to the contrary.”

  She couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle, her gaze shifting to the stars above, “I feel like I have to thank you.”

  “That’d be the first of many to come, partner. Let’s just hope you survive training.”