It took most of the week for everything to return to a semblance of normalcy. The nobles in charge of the army — the ones that were still alive, at least — retreated quickly once they agreed to fall in line. With their now-undead former peers flanking me, the negotiations went as smoothly as silk.

I didn’t do it to intimidate them, I just didn’t want a half-dozen perfectly serviceable corpses going to waste. That it kept the nobles from making demands was just the cherry on top.

  There was still a kind of apprehension in the air, stemming from how suddenly the siege was repelled — there seemed to be rumors floating about saying I had made a pact with a demon and set it loose on the army in the middle of the night.

Much of the apprehension went away after I had Kirin announce a reduction in taxes across the entire duchy. Without the duke’s lavish spending and the court mage’s costly endeavors, the Canneria could survive with just about half the taxes they used to pay — even with the treasury nearly empty as it was. I had the wights moved to a gold mine not very far away, their harvest more than enough to handle expenses until the treasury recovered.

Despite somehow having ended up in control of an entire duchy, I still couldn’t help but feel like the loser in this battle. Thaos had explicitly helped me, but I had little idea what his endgame was — and I was almost certain he was not an ally.

Whatever his reasons for helping me, I would never forget the state in which I found Shiro. With his tower gone, any clues as to what he was trying to do with the young Hero were blasted out of existence, but nothing could excuse the way he’d tortured the kid.

Still, the mystery of his purpose kept nagging at the back of my head. How did anyone benefit from the duchy becoming my domain? Was he trying to trigger a war, maybe? To unite the other nations against a common cause? It seemed plausible, to some extent, but where did his master fit in all of this?

Never in my wildest imagination would I have expected my trip to unfold the way it did. I was perhaps naïve, but all I had wanted was to get some information out of the duke, most likely by playing along with his plan until I could uncover his backer. Instead, I got myself caught in a web of intrigue, its weaver having played me like a fiddle.

Had Thaos and his master been behind the unrest in the Duchy? As far as I knew, Illvere had been duke for at least two decades, and the timing felt too unlikely to be a coincidence.

There was little point speculating at the moment. I would simply have to find the man and interrogate him — or anyone else related to him and his master.

---

With all the recent frenzy, I had forgotten that the Harvest Festival was supposed to take place soon. Back in Ravenrock, I rarely took part, preferring the solitude of my tower instead. Still, the Festival in Ravenrock was a fairly small affair — at least, when compared with the one here in Ardenburg.

I walked along one of the main boulevards — there was no carriage in sight, traffic having been suspended to make way for the sea of pedestrians. Above me, garlands made of leaves and vines hung between the buildings, creating a vibrant canopy of greens, yellows and browns. Along the way, stall after stall was arrayed, merchants of every kind peddling their wares — from glass blowers and woodworkers to brewers and bakers.

There were children wearing animal masks, and some with colorful fruits painted on their faces. Everyone was wearing their best, the crowd blending into a palette of pastels.

I felt more than a bit out of place, wearing my usual dark robe, but with how many enchantments were layered on it, trying to use an illusion to make it a different color was bound to fail.

Just as my discomfort at being surrounded by so many people was about to flare, the boulevard opened into a grand, open plaza, people splitting off in different directions. I sighed in relief, glad to have a little room to breathe.

I still wasn’t sure why I decided to check out the Festival. It was a beautiful sight, for sure, but it was significantly outside of my comfort zone.

I was distracted from my thoughts when I sensed a familiar presence not too far away. Heading into its direction, I soon came across a mop of dark hair I recognized fairly well by now. He was facing away, browsing a stall that was selling… jewelry? 

I was puzzled for a second, until I saw him turn to face a girl standing next to him — I hadn’t noticed it, but she was holding his arm. A young brunette lady, just about his own age. The kid wasn’t wasting any time, was he?

Smiling, I watched as he picked out a silvery bracelet, clasping it to his companion’s wrist. Some words were exchanged, with the girl blushing a deep scarlet as Shiro handed the merchant a heavy-looking pouch, until they finally left the stall, holding hands. 

For a moment I thought to approach the two lovebirds, to tease them a bit, perhaps, but in the end I decided against it. There was an innocent beauty in their little romance, and I didn’t want to ruin their moment.

Instead, I looked around, searching the other presence I could faintly feel. I would not even have noticed Sarah’s presence had I not found Shiro — she seemed to have developed some kind of protective instinct towards the younger boy, and tended to stay close to him.

Indeed, I found my trusty knight on the other side of the plaza, nursing a beer mug of all things, as she sat slumped against a makeshift bar. I was surprised to see her wearing a sundress, and it made an interesting contrast with her woolen boots.

“Aren’t you a little young to be drinking alcohol?” I asked as I approached.

Her head shot up, and she turned around like a miniature whirlwind, almost clipping another bar patron with her mug as she passed.

“Oops, sorry,” she told the almost-victim as he glanced at her with a bemused expression.

“No harm done,” he said as he lifted his own mug to his lips.

Grunting in acknowledgment, she turned back to me — this time a bit more carefully.

“To answer your question, no. I’m dead, I can’t even get drunk,” she stated as she waved the mug around. “I just wanted to see what the fuss was all around. And honestly, I don’t get it. It tastes like what I imagine piss would taste like.”

“Beer is an acquired taste, I’m afraid,” I explained. “And half its charm is the drunkenness.”

“Well, that sucks. Honestly, the only reason I’m still drinking it is cause I hate throwing away food or drinks,” Sarah admitted. “It tastes so bad.”

“I can take it off you, if you want,” her drinking neighbor interjected with a sheepish smile.

“Uh… Okay, sure.” She pushed the mug in his direction, and he accepted it, doing a little bow.

Sarah hopped off the barstool and made her way to stand next to me.

“So, how’d you find me in,” she spread her arms in a wide gesture, “all of this?”

I doubted she’d appreciate a lengthy explanation about sympathetic links between people who are connected by fate, so I elected to simplify it for her. “Magic.”

“Yeah, should have expected that,” she mumbled to herself.

“How are you liking the festival?” I asked, partly to change the subject, and partly because I was genuinely curious. She’d been in this world for less than a month, and I was interested in what she thought about our traditions.

“It’s so… colorful,” she said after thinking for a second. “And lively. And genuine. There were big festivals on Earth, too, though not where I lived, but they always felt kind of staged.”

“Here it’s just… people having fun, selling their stuff, eating food and drinking together… I don’t know, but I like it,” her face broke into a grin. “I even found a nice trinket!” she exclaimed as she lifted the necklace she was wearing, bringing it closer to my face.

“A sparrow?” I asked, looking closely at the little crystal carving.

Sarah shook her head. “Nope, it’s a robin. It reminded me of a story from my dad used to tell me, where some kids get abandoned in the woods and die, then their bodies get covered by robins.” She paused, blanching. “Now that I think about it, it’s a bit gruesome. Still, it felt… fitting.”

I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the little thing. The details were lifelike, yet uncanny. It had the touch of magic upon it.

“Where did you get it from,” I asked?

“Um, there was a stall a little way thataway,” she said, pointing towards the northern end of the plaza. “I can show you, if you want. Do you want one too?”

“I have to admit, it caught my eye.”

“Of course it did! I have nothing but great taste!” Sarah exclaimed with mock grandeur as she began in the direction she had pointed to.

As we approached the end of the plaza, I finally noticed the stall we were headed to. It was an odd little thing, about half as wide as its neighbors, just a pair of wooden boxes stacked next to each other, and two thin poles on the sides holding a banner that read “Rive’s Animal Friends.”

Compared to the rest of the festival, this little stall was unadorned, yet the crystal figurines that were spread out on top of the boxes radiated a rainbow of colors as they refracted the afternoon autumn sun.

It was a mesmerizing sight, and I couldn’t help but stare wistfully at the view.

“Pretty, right?” Sarah asked as she picked up a pair of crystal frogs, putting them in front of her eyes. “Rrrribbit!”

“Ah, you have returned! And with a friend…?” the owner of the stall asked as rose from squatting behind the boxes. He was an older man, his eyes glassy and milky white.

“Yup!” Sarah answered, then turned to me. “Do you want a bird too? Something like a crow, cause they’re cree— actually forget I said anything,” she backtracked, wincing.

At that point, though, I wasn’t paying attention to her. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something special about the figurines.

Only now realizing the man was most likely completely blind. “How do you make these…?” I wondered aloud.

“Heh. An old man’s gotta have his secrets,” he answered with a grin. “Though, if you look closely enough, you might figure it out.”

I blinked, surprised by his words, and activated Soul sight on a whim.

A moment later, I squinted as the table in front of me exploded in a shower of blinding light. The figurines were all absolutely glowing under the magical perception — I had thought they’d been shaped or carved with Matter magic, but I couldn’t have been further from the truth. The figurines were magic, somehow, made physical — and despite not seeing any of it, their flavor had a hint of Origin.

Dumbstruck, I glanced at the stall owner, but aside from a satisfied grin, he appeared completely unremarkable.

“Like what you see?” he asked, and I knew full well he knew what I was seeing. “I think you might be especially interested in that one, he said, pointing to an orange bundle of light in the left corner of his table.”

It shone twice as bright as anything else around it, and I couldn’t see its shape through the magical sight. I turned to a side, squinting to get a better view of the figurine, when I remembered that I could, in fact, just look at it with normal sight.

Releasing the spell on my eyes, I finally understood what the owner had meant. The figurine in my hand was a small, delicate little thing, depicting a fox.

I heard Sarah let out a surprised gasp, and I turned towards the stall, but the man and his wares were already gone.

No, not completely gone. The two boxes remained, and each held a figurine in the middle.

On the left stood a raven, perched on a branch and a bauble in its beak. On the right, a crane, its wings spread wide in flight.