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Ch203-Twice Is Coincidence

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“You seem upset,” Ria said, as Sylver scratched his chin and pretended to look around.

After their conversation with the woman, Abril, they had gone their separate ways. Except Abril had sent her people to secretly follow Sylver. Sylver didn’t mind, they kept pace with him even when he used [Fog Form]. 

“I was hoping they would be a cult,” Sylver tapped out in response.

“Why did you want them to be a cult?” Ria asked.

As Sylver had guessed, the organization Abril was part of, was a “rebellion.” The emperor and his archaic system, where corruption runs rampant, and the strong oppress the weak and blah blah blah. 

It was as classic as a rebellion could get.

On the bright side, they called themselves “Bucklers,” which Sylver was overjoyed to hear, considering they were somehow associated with the girl with the shield ancestor heritage.

Abril needed time to contact her superiors, so they could decide if Sylver could be trusted or not, and they agreed to meet at Faust’s sect if they decided Sylver was trustworthy.

“With political movements things are complicated. Are they revolutionaries or terrorists? Do they know what they’re doing? Do they have a point? Cults are way easier to deal with. They say their god, demon, spirit, or what have you, says do this and this, and there’s absolutely no point discussing anything with them, you can’t change their minds.

“Either you agree with their god and his teachings, or you don’t,” Sylver explained, as he stretched his arms out, and realized his outer spine was still curved from when he had been pretending to be an old man.

He leaned back and gained another couple of inches of height as his outer spine straightened out.

“What do you mean by “easier to deal with?” How many cults are there anyway?” Ria asked.

The suns were just about to start setting at this point in time. Between getting to Abril’s house, and then chasing after her, Sylver would have to travel all night to get home by sunrise.

“I mean, a cult might have a very interesting view regarding how people should dress, act, how they pray, all that is fine, no problems there. But then they have a fun little detail, like, “drinking hot sauce out of a child’s skull will grant you eternal life,” or “raping a toddler’s corpse will cure all your ailments,” or “why don’t we pour liquid metal into-”

“Why is it always children? Every single time, from gods to demons to cults, why is it always children?” Ria interrupted, as Sylver gave himself a moment of pause to consider how to word his answer.

“If you’re asking about the practical reason, it’s because dark magic is easier if you use an untainted soul, and the vast majority of children’s souls are untainted. Think of it like drawing a picture on an empty page, as opposed to a page where someone has already drawn something on it. If you’re an idiot that can’t incorporate the drawing into your drawing, using a blank page is better,” Sylver explained, as Ria nodded along.

“Yes, you’ve said this before,” Ria said.

“Without getting into the moral aspect of things, I like child-killing cults because when I defeat them and then experiment on them, no one at the Ibis bats an eye. I just say, “They killed and raped children,” and regardless of what I’m doing, no one tries to stop me. Children are universally loved, and those that hurt them are universally hated,” Sylver explained, with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I see… Yes, I imagine that if you defeated a political faction and tried to experiment on them, your peers might empathize with them…Evil child killers are easier to justify,” Ria said, as Sylver shook his head.

“I never said anything about evil… I don’t… Look, I’m a bit tired of explaining myself. Here’s something for you to consider Ria. When that dragon is freed, these people will lose their main means of defense. Monsters might attack them, a foreign country might try to invade them, and between just those two things, there’s a fair chance some children will die,” Sylver explained.

“I’m aware of that, yes,” Ria answered.

“Then what about-”

“I know where you’re going with this, “there’s no good or evil, just people doing their best to help themselves and their loved ones.” I just… I can’t understand destroying a whole country to save one person,” Ria said with a grimace in her voice. 

Almost as if the words were causing her pain. 

“First of all, I’m not destroying it. Once I’ve secured my victory, I’ll even go as far as to warn everyone, so they have time to prepare. But as I’ve said multiple times already, I’d kill them all with my own two hands, if I had to… I’ve lived long enough that I’ve already had this choice presented to me,” Sylver said.

“And you’ve found out the hard way that you’re more comfortable with the blood of thousands of children on your hands than you are with the blood of one single dear friend,” Ria said. 

Her tone was vague enough that Sylver couldn’t tell if she meant it in an accusing way, or if she was simply asking a question.

“Yes. Because even if you feel like absolute garbage for doing it, eventually there will come a point in time where the blood will wash off, and you’ll forget about it, and move on… With a close friend, you’ll spend the rest of your incredibly long life regretting it,” Sylver said.

Ria made a sound that Sylver understood meant she wanted to ask a question but changed her mind when she realized what exactly she was about to ask.

“You want to make the world a better place, right?” Sylver asked.

“And I will need to make difficult choices if I plan to do that, I know... I would like to stop this conversation here, if that’s alright with you,” Ria said, as she shifted inside Sylver’s robe. Sylver nodded at her.

There was a different group following them.

They weren’t as good as Abril’s people. Even if Sylver didn’t have an army of shades constantly searching for people following him, he would have felt their souls focusing on him.

Abril’s guys at least suppressed their souls and presences.

Now, Sylver could lose all of them, it wouldn’t be that hard. He didn’t necessarily need them, the two books Sylver had given to Abril as a sign of goodwill, had just a few drops of a dark purple liquid soaked into the pages.

That liquid was what Sylver called his “blood,” and apart from his backups back in Arda, he was the only person with this very specific “blood” in the area surrounding the Schlagen mountains.

Meaning that, hypothetically, if the Bucklers decided he wasn’t trustworthy, Sylver could track down the two books, which would hopefully be accompanied by Abril, and if he was lucky, would be sitting inside their headquarters.

Of course, he preferred that they decided to trust him, and they worked together for their mutual benefit, but Sylver was somewhat used to not getting what he wanted and did his best to prepare accordingly.

As to the question of what exactly Sylver wanted from the Bucklers, the answer was that he wanted to find and free Fobur Plateforged. Or at least that was what he had said to Abril, and now couldn’t say he was just trying to guess a combination of words to get her to trust him.

And after he found and freed Fobur Plateforged, Sylver probably needed help finding someone else. 

Depending on the specifics of the organization, Sylver might be looking for a man completely unrelated to a girl coming here by boat.

But if, hypothetically, the Bucklers were waiting for a little girl to arrive, then coincidentally their goals would align, as she was the reason Sylver came to the Schlagen mountains in the first place. Her life was in danger unless she did some convoluted bullshit, that it just so happens only Sylver would be able to help her with.

From there Sylver would offer her a potion that would make it impossible for her to continue her bloodline.

If she refused to drink it then…

First Sylver had to find her.

***

They were keeping their distance, and oddly enough, didn’t appear to be armed.

Then again, cultivators were like mages. Even butt naked, they were still “armed.”

Nevertheless, Sylver made it to Faust’s sect without anyone hassling him. During his travel he figured out that they weren’t tracking Sylver, they were following some kind of trail. 

Sylver had double-checked himself and his clothing, but he didn’t find any Ki enchanted stones or anything, and he was fairly certain he would have felt it if Abril had tried to use a Ki technique to mark him.

Xalibur was sitting outside the sect gate, and a hairless Dog was chewing on a bone that didn’t belong to a human.

“I’m waiting for the seamstress to make him a sweater,” Xalibur said, with a giant smile on his face.

“What’s your angle Xalibur? Now that Dog is healed, what are you planning on doing?” Sylver asked as the man’s whole body tensed up.

Even Dog froze, and Sylver realized his tone of voice bordered on furious. He swallowed the metaphorical lump in his throat and forced himself to relax and calm down.

Ria was young and inexperienced, Sylver was misinterpreting ignorance as distrust. And it wasn’t her fault she touched a subject Sylver normally went out of his way to avoid.

“I would like to stay here. If that’s alright with you,” Xalibur answered, in a very understandably defensive voice.

“That’s your short-term plan, sure. What’s your long-term goal?” Sylver asked, as Xalibur just stared at him, with a completely blank expression on his face.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Xalibur said, with such a careful tone that it further pissed Sylver off.

Like he was some kind of manic tyrant that needed to be approached with caution.

“Fair-” Sylver swallowed another anger-induced metaphorical lump in his throat, and mentally moved along. “Fair enough. I’m glad to see Dog is doing better,” Sylver said, as he walked between the man and his beast, and entered Faust’s sect.

“He is, thank you,” Xalibur responded flatly.

If not for the fact that Sylver had just spoken to Xalibur, he would have thought he came to the wrong place. He was gone for a day.

And yet the sect looked unrecognizable.

Previously there was only 1 building, that was empty and disheveled, and now it had a fresh coat of paint, another floor, and there were oddly shaped wooden training dummies littered throughout the courtyard that had been divided into rectangular sections.

There were 6 rectangles in total, and all 6 were occupied with children repeating the exact same series of motions, in near-perfect sync. Every single time they hit the training dummy, even though their fists moved slowly enough that nothing should have happened, the target spun as if they had punched it properly.

If anything, the targets were spinning significantly faster than what their small bodies should have been capable of producing.

[Human – Winter Constellation – 54]
[HP: 17,410 – 61%]
[MP: 0 – 0%]
[Stamina: 1,340 – 4%]
[Corpse – Inferior]
[Soul – Petty]

[Human – Star Of The North– 63]
[HP: 13,662 – 52%]
[MP: 0 – 0%]
[Stamina: 3,711 - 6%]
[Corpse – Inferior]
[Soul – Common]

The 3 kids on the left side of the path that led to the house all had the [Winter Constellation] class, while the 3 on the right had the [Star Of The North] class. They looked significantly better than the last time Sylver saw them, but there was something off about them.

He didn’t know how to put it into words, but they moved almost as if they didn’t weigh anything. As if they were ethereal. Their eyes were unfocused in a way that suggested they weren’t fully here, and yet their souls felt perfectly fine.

Sylver turned around as two girls carrying a heavy-looking box politely nodded at him. Sylver’s [Dead Dominion] perk let him know there were 9 small bundles inside the box that felt to be some sort of organ. He stepped out of the way, and they quickly disappeared into the house.

Mora was sleeping behind the house, and Sylver decided not to disturb her.

With a furrowed brow, Sylver used [Fog Form] and materialized in the underground room that hadn’t been there yesterday.

The walls were perfectly flat. They had been dug, and then clay had been used to smooth them out. Similarly, the floor was made out of glossy clay, as was the ceiling. There were 2 holes for ventilation and a single ladder that provided a way in and out of the boxed-in room.

Off in the corner, Faust was mumbling something to himself, as 9 spherical glowing organs floated around him, and gradually condensed until the apple-sized glands became as small as a grape. They disappeared into the cauldron Faust was standing over, and he finally turned his head to look at Sylver.

“How did it go?” Faust asked, as Sylver materialized himself a seat out of his shadow and did the same for Faust as he walked over to him.

“I’m waiting for them to decide if I’m trustworthy or not. They are a rebellion and call themselves Bucklers. I messed up and now I’m going to have to find and rescue Fobur Plateforged. That guy we were supposed to meet when we came here,” Sylver explained, as Faust nodded along.

“On the bright side of things, the emperor is 100% dead. I know you didn’t believe me the first time I said it, but they wouldn’t deceive people like this. Playing dead is for- these people wouldn’t do that,” Faust explained, and Sylver could make an educated guess as to what Faust had initially wanted to say.

“Have you seen his corpse?” Sylver asked as Faust shook his head.

“I haven’t… But I genuinely don’t believe they would fake it Syl.  They have delegates from the west arriving today, there is no conceivable reason as to why they would embarrass themselves in such a way,” Faust said, as he turned his head to look at the bubbling cauldron, but then turned his head back to face Sylver.

“To hide their sick emperor?” Sylver offered with a tired voice.

Delegates, fantastic, more moving pieces to worry about.

“The succumbing to poison thing, that might be bullshit. But they would sooner actually kill him, than fake his death. The new emperor has already been initiated, it’s official Syl,” Faust explained, as he patted his robe, but couldn’t find the sheet of paper he was looking for.

Sylver sat up so quickly that he nearly catapulted Faust away from him.

“You said the delegation is coming from the west?” Sylver asked, as Faust walked over to one of the wooden tables and searched through the papers that were spread out on it.

“Southwest. They’re from Longaeva. Doesn’t say anything else, just that they will be walking through the southern path,” Faust read out, as he handed the sheet of paper to Sylver. 

Sylver read the words on the sheet 10 times as he closed off his sight and concentrated. Most of the text was regarding the various stalls that would be available on the southern path. Given how closed off this whole place was, every single official guest was cause for celebration.

“I’ve heard that name before… It’s… What else is there Southwest of here?” Sylver asked.

He was certain he had heard that name before, it was at the tip of his tongue.

“I honestly have no idea,” Faust said, as Sylver felt a tug in his stomach.

“You know I’m on the lookout for the shield girl coming here, why didn’t you warn me?” Sylver asked, as Faust just shrugged his shoulders.

“You said she’s coming through the northern river, I didn’t think you meant she’s coming here today. And-”

“I didn’t say anything, an ancient dragon said it. Its sense of distance and time might not be perfect. Especially since I got the feeling it got all of its information from some kind of clairvoyancy. For all I know, the girl is already here. 

“Except I can’t find her if she’s already here, because that would require inspecting the shoulder of every single woman in this whole region,” Sylver explained, as he was already in the process of sending a tendril of fog out of the room, and towards the sect entrance.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” Faust asked, and the question caused Sylver to lose whatever anger he may have felt towards the man.

“That’s a very fair point… I’m sorry for shouting, I’m going to go see the delegation. Are you alright? Is there anything you need help with?” Sylver asked, as Faust just shook his head.

“We’re good Syl. I should be strong enough that we won’t need Mora in a couple of days,” Faust said, as Sylver nodded at him, and disappeared.