It felt odd to borrow influence from an enemy. Everything about Bael made me uncomfortable, from his morals, to the very way he acted. But I had to admit, his help had conveniently solved every headache I was dealing with at the moment. With the black coin in hand everything seemed to fall into place.

Gawn's execution was set, that particular problem going to be dealt with in a matter of days, while the situation with Marcella was dealt with more agreeably. 

Jagen knew it was over from the first moment he laid eyes on the coin. The man looking like he had aged ten years within the blink of an eye. From his perspective, this must have the absolute worst case possible. I could choose to take the situation in whatever direction I wanted, I could have all of their heads on a whim, and leave him with nothing. Staring intently at the black coin in my hands, something that represented the very worst of the country's politics, and something he had tried his best to escape from, leaving his life in the capital behind for a more subdued life on the frontier. 

For Jagen the only thing he could ask for was to save his family some face, letting Marcella's involvement in the incident stay mostly under wraps, and as his luck would have it I didn't feel much animosity towards his daughter. The attempt against me by Gawn had been like child's play, trying to kill me with such lukewarm attempts was almost laughable. The monsters we encountered afterwards turned out to be far more trouble for me, and I did feel some lingering responsibility over that whole incident. 

Besides, I didn't have the heart nor the desire to force Jagen's family into a desperate situation. After some reflection, I knew well enough that deep down I still wanted Marcella. If not, I wouldn't have approached Cal's family in the first place.

She was both beautiful and powerful. A symbol for just how much things had changed for me after my activation of the system. Just a few months ago marrying her would have been an unthinkable dream, and yet here I was. Her murder scheme had certainly made me more cautious, but that was what the lazuli was for.

Shipments were already being ordered from the nearest source, allowing us to seal her powers for as long as was necessary. I would have her coming around to me eventually, and when she was mine her powers would be put to use for my benefit. Until then, she would remain here under house arrest. Made completely ignorant of the world around her, for the safety of all of us. 

Having settled my business, I walked through the mansion with a cheerful mood. Whistling a tune as I passed maid and guard alike, paying no mind to their stares. Leaving the estate in triumph. Ordering around Jagen had me feeling like the entire town was my own plaything,  something that made me look forward to the day when I would receive my own title and domain to go along with it. It might not be a town like this at first, but being a mage entitled me to property in the capital, enough for a house. And with the war in the west raging just a fiercely as before, there were no shortages of opportunities to earn myself ranks. A barony of my own should be no problem with my system. 

Cal following along closely as we made our way out of the mansion grounds. More curious than anyone about his father's uncharacteristic turn-about, and the crumbling equilibrium. Most of all, he wanted to know what this meant for his wish. 

Fishing the dull black coin out of my jacket's inner breast pocket and holding it up for Cal to see. His eyes popping in recognition. 

"Look's like you're more informed than I was. Does everyone know what this is?" 

I was skeptical about the coin at first, given that I'd never even heard of a coin like this before, and if I didn't know what it was then most lay-folk here probably had no idea either.

But seeing Cal just now, not to mention Jagen, it really seems that the coin was everything Bael said it was. Recalling a scene from just an hour ago when I first showed Jagen it, the man nearly spitting out the wine he was sipping before scratching at it skeptically with a dagger to test the validity. 

Cal's amusing reaction bringing me back to the present. 

"Keaton... is that real?" A hint of fear filling his eyes as he looked at me, terrified that his formerly normal friend was becoming more unbelievable by the day.

"Don't lose your head over it. I'm just borrowing it." 

Something that just left him with more questions as he continued following me all the way to my destination.

Cal could hardly contain himself, apparently in shock that his greatest wish was about to become true, while I was just enjoying the moment of freedom, no longer bound by pointless worrying and a lack of direction. I would have my debut in the capital, savor what life had to offer me there and take things slow while I enjoyed myself. Building my power, influence, and wealth before trying my luck on the western front.

When I made the choice to go to the capital, it wasn't as if the threat posed by the church didn't bother me, but putting up with them was better than going on the run over some indeterminate risk. I had a lot to gain in the capital, and after learning there were multiple gods targeting this realm, I knew conflict was no longer avoidable. It was only a matter of when. 

And to that end, I needed to grow as much as possible while they still thought I was one of them. I had twice the points, and twice the skills. It's true that I still hadn't spent all of my points yet, but on a technical level as a level 9 right now I should at least be on par with one of their level 18's and that gap would only grow in time. Seeing how leveling grew progressively more difficult, I would hit my bottlenecks far later than they would. 

I felt confident that so long as I could cultivate and grow in peace, I would be able to overcome any challenge. Killing Bael now and tipping them off would end my life as I knew it, with the church's influence all of humanity would turn against me. 

Which... speaking of Bael, I had begun to get to know him from the little we interacted. The man was deeply off-putting, his attitude being far worse than mine could ever be. He had a charismatic attraction to him that was uncanny. Despite his continual poor treatment of everyone he came across, nobody seemed to dislike him. Bordering on being a supernatural trait and leading me to believe he was a system user, something he strongly denied when asked. To him, people like me were revered almost as much as the god they served, my suggestion that he was one of them would be blasphemous if I wasn't one of those revered existences.

Making our way down the dirt road, the farmhouse Cal rented to us was finally beginning to come into view. Tammy and Belle outside hanging up laundry, airing out sheets while the weather was nice. The Spring air making outside activities much more tolerable than before. 

Kaguro

https://www.patreon.com/kaguro