After saying my goodbyes to Sannah and her daughter, I’m carried outside by John, where I see Rayla sitting in the back of a cart covered in a blanket, “Thoma! Are you okay!?”
Sher Aka then somewhat forcibly puts her back under the blanket, “Sit back down Rayla, you still haven't recovered.”
John places me down in a makeshift bed next to hers and Rayla gives me a hug, tears streaming down her face, “I was so worried! They didn’t let me see you!”
“That’s because both of you idiots needed the rest, I can’t have you moving around undoing all the healing,” John barks at us.
“Still! I missed you so much, oki.”
“I missed you too, ane!”
We rub our cheeks together and nuzzle up in the cart bed, to which John just rolls his eyes. We then start our journey back to Rostock. It seems that during the time I was out, the leaves on the trees had become beautifully orange and small wind spirits play with them as they spread the autumn winds. Two days of travel pass without problem and we arrive back in Rostock. The fruit merchant was even kind enough to drive us in front of the Guild. Sher Aka then picks me up while John picks up Rayla and we enter the guild.
Klara the dwarven secretary is the first to notice us, “By the Gods what happened to you lot!?”
Rayla coldly answers, “We were set up. Can you please call the guildmaster?”
“Of course! Wait here, no sit down first. Can you sit?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, I’ll go get her!”
Shortly after, the guildmaster runs down the stairs and gives me a hug, “Are you alright Thoma Ahad? I was so worried.”
“Not yet, but I’m getting better.”
“Come on, let me get you to the infirmary.”
She picks me up and looks at John and Sher Aka who look quite perplexed, “Are you their new party members?”
“Yes…”
“Good come with me then. Miss Sher Aka you pick up Miss Rayla.”
“O-Of course!”
In the infirmary, Rayla and I are put to bed and Uli asks, “So, what happened? From what I know you got in trouble with some racist, registered two new party members and then didn’t show up for your escort quest to Rostock and disappeared for almost two weeks.”
“What!? We did show up! And they set us up to die!”
“Set you up to die? What happened?”
Rayla then recounts what happened and shows Uli the paperwork.
“I will have to confirm all this in my function as guildmaster but as a person I believe you. This paperwork here, it’s forged. It’s a well made forgery and I don’t blame you for not noticing but whoever did this did not get approval from the Guild. I’m assuming the bomb you were talking about was filled with female Forest Ork xxx to attract the Orcs there. How were you able to escape?”
Rayla answers bluntly, “We didn’t, we killed them all.”
“What? How?”
“Sher Aka and I, with John’s help, managed to kill about ten, Thoma then used his dark crown and took out the rest.”
“What!? Thoma Ahad, can you manifest the Dark Crown already!?”
“Yeah, I did it the first time in Rostock with the help of a song the Woodelves sang when I danced. In the fight with the Orcs I got overwhelmed though, I had to finish the ritual in John’s Dark Bomb spell and it felt like I was drowning in the darkness but I barely managed to do it despite it and passed out after.”
Sher Aka adds, “He was completely covered in darkness, bleeding out of all his xxx when I saw him collapse out of the Dark Bomb. He was bleeding all over his body, Rayla had internal bleeding and a broken rib. Thanks to John’s healing we managed to stabilize them enough to carry them to Salat. Thoma Ahad was unconscious for four days and woke up not even able to speak. Thanks to the help of a local doctor, we managed to help both of them recover.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Uli seems a bit shocked hearing all of this then turns to me, “Thoma Ahad, never ever try to force a Spirit King ritual again. The symptoms you xxx were those right before death. Had you kept it up for a few more seconds you would have died.”
“Okay…I’m sorry Uli.”
Brushing over my cheek, she adds, “Don’t apologize, you had to do it in that situation and I am immensely proud of you that you managed to manifest the Dark Crown this quickly. Spiritblood truly must run thick in your veins. I also ought to send a thank you letter to those Woodelves you spoke of, if they managed to help you achieve your first successful ritual.”
Looking away, I answer, “I…I’d rather you not.”
“Why?”
Sher Aka and Rayla then explain what happened to a surprisingly calm looking Uli.
“I see…Perhaps I should give the capital a visit,” She then looks at Ralya and John, “Do you have a place to stay yet?”
“No, we have not, guildmaster.”
“Alright, come with me. You’re staying as my guests. I’m going to see if we have any healers in the guild right now, afterwards I’ll send my servants to get you to my mansion. Thoma Ahad, you can stay with me until I’m done with work, I’ll carry you there so you won’t have to enter the carriage.”
“Alright, thanks Uli.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Uli then leaves together with John and Sher Aka and a bit later a light element healer comes into our room and heals Rayla, causing her to fully recover. Once Uli’s servants arrive Rayla, Sher Aka and John get sent to her mansion.
When they're gone, Uli comes back and gently picks me up, “Let’s go to my office Thoma Ahad, I have a bed prepared for you.”
Carrying me through the training grounds, to the guild multiple adventurers stare at us in complete bewilderment. They all seem like they want to ask but are too afraid to do so. In her office, she lays me down in what looks like a hastily prepared but comfortable bed.
She gives me a gentle smile and brushes over my forehead, “I’ll be right back. There is just one small thing I need to do and then I’ll spend the rest of the time here with you.”
“Alright.”
“Are you hungry? I’ll get you something from the Veterans Lounge. Is there anything you have an appetite for?”
“Uhm…I have mostly been eating liquid foods and meat these last few days so maybe some vegetables and solid foods would be nice.”
“Alright, I’ll get them for you. I’ll be right back.”
—-----------------------------------------
Leaving her office the guildmaster walks down to the veterans lounge, she seems enraged, “Listen up everybody, I have an urgent B-Ranked intel gathering quest. The Guild will offer two Big Gold Coins as a reward, who is interested?”
—------------------------------------------
Uli comes back into the office with a plate of vegetable lasagna, a smoothie and a pitcher of water.
“Here you go, is there anything else you need? Do you feel in any way uncomfortable?”
“No, I feel good thank you auntie.”
“You’re welcome.”
Sipping on the smoothie, I say, “Hey auntie, can I ask you a question?”
“You can ask me as many as you want.”
“Why don’t you get your leg healed? You have a lot of money and you know a lot of adventurers that can heal, I’m sure you could get that leg regrown somehow.”
She gives me a somber look, “Ah…Yes I could but I also can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Well…Do you have time for a short story?”
“Sure!”
Sitting down on my beside, she stares out the window as she recounts, “It was back when I was still an adventurer… On our last quest before we split up. We were tasked with busting an illegal xxx. We managed to finally catch the criminals behind it and were looking through the xxx goods. They had anything from slaves to ancient pottery hidden in those catacombs. We freed and healed the slaves and then eventually came to the most prized item of the auction, the egg of the Dragon King. When I saw it, I was filled with rage and without thinking I smashed it. Ser Adin tried to stop me by cutting off my leg before I could break it but she failed. I was able to smash the egg and lost my leg in the process. I had murdered an unborn child. We split up after that and as xxx, I swore to not have my leg restored. I then moved to the most remote region I could and used my abilities to become the guildmaster.”
“...”
“Why did you do it?”
Still avoiding, looking at me, Uli answers, “I…Four hundred years ago, the previous Dragon King destroyed an entire elven nation and a huge part of my home country. Because of it, my family died and many Elves still suffer to this day. When I saw the egg of the current Dragon King I felt like taking revenge.”
Looking down at my hands, I ask, “I see…Do you regret it?”
“To be honest, no I don’t. I know what I did was wrong, I know that I should be punished for it but I can’t make myself feel like I was wrong.”
“Were you scared that something bad might happen again if you let it live?”
“Yes. To be honest, no matter how strong I get, I still tremble when I think of the war and no matter how weak the dragon, it will fill me with rage when I see it.”
“...”
Putting my hand on her back, I say, “I don’t think you are a bad person auntie but if you keep thinking like that you will become one.”
“I know…”
Thinking for a bit, I feel a bit scared of the answer when I ask,
“What…What would you do if it turns out I’m a dragon? Will you kill me auntie?”
Turning around to look at me for the first time in a while, she answers with a determined expression, “No…I’d rather kill myself than harm you.”
“I don’t want that either. Auntie, can you promise me something?”
“It depends on the promise…”
“If I turn out to be a dragon, I want you to promise me that we still stay close. I don’t want to lose you over what I am.”
“...”
Visibly conflicted, she forms a fist, then puts her hand on my cheek, “Alright, I promise.”
