I continued looking at the village for a few more moments trying to find someone even using my thermal vision (yes, now I know the proper terminology) but I could barely find anyone... which is really suspicious... or how was it... ¿sus? in any case, I moved the horse towards the village.
Xenovia was seated right in front of me, on the horse looking around before noticing my somewhat serious look on my face looking at where the village is at, she couldn't really see what I can see... for obvious reasons... and we were still far enough to not be able to notice many changes visually, but she got the gist of it and she became...more... alert.
as we continued my vision started to get filled with letters all over it we were getting closer to what would be considered the edge of the village and now you can truly see what might have occurred everything was deserted and some of the farm animals were on the ground on their side, fences were broken, it all looked as if they left in a hurry... the closer we got I started to smell really bad... it smelled kind of... rotten?
Ultima- warning unknown pathogen detected infection probability at current position... 0.1% external NBC gear complement... unavailable...internal NBC sub-system active, self-sealing systems prepared, containment system ready... suggestion, prepare minimal nose-mouth clean cloth cover to reduce infection probability.
I stopped the horse and thought about what I just heard... if my memory of what I read is correct a pathogen is what causes people to get sick I don't know what NBC gear is... but... I think I will be immune.... but I should do what I was told and cover Xenovia and me... I don't know if she will be naturally immune
after giving it a thought and looking now at the hooded Xenovia in front of me that was looking at me I opened one of the bags that was beside me carried by the horse and brought out two big clean cloths that are normally used for covering up wounds
Alice- here... cover your face with this cloth... I don't want to risk you getting any infection and having to face your father because of it...
she laughed a bit at my comment before graving one of the cloths and putting it covering her mouth while I was finishing the knot on mine she was struggling with the knot so after I finished with mine I tied hers and placed it so that it covered her nose too.
after giving her a pat on her head I put on my hood back up and continued on towards the village proper.
Alice- stay on the horse...
I said while getting down from my mount and grabbing the reins to guide it beside me.
we came closer to the village central well. I threw the bucket inside before using the winch system to bring it back up... the water seem normal... clear... even testing it showed no reaction from Ultima... so this was fine and I used the opportunity to fill my water skins... of course always making sure after each bucket that the water was safe...
also, I don't know how I didn't hesitate to drink water that might have been poisoned... but moving on... although it took me little time to fill up my water reserves thanks to my newfound strength... in all that time not one single person appeared... but I continued and saw the fields in the distance from where I was and they were harvested.
some bundles of the harvest were close to the fields, but there was the trail that goes from the food storage building towards where there is smoke... which was relatively close to where I was... so that was my next target, then the smoke.
it didn't take too long to get there but the massive wooden door was closed so there was a need to open them... these doors are designed so that they can't be opened easily and are normally left open during the day and closed during the night because at least 2 people are needed per door... why? that way you can't steal from these places... there are inconveniences... but it's better than losing food.
I looked at the doors and I felt like I could open them on my own so I gave it a try, so I got close to where the handles were and... accidentally rip them from their mounts while pulling... but it left enough of a space to place my hands and continue to try to open the door...
slowly at first then faster as my body turned slightly red the doors were flung open enough for me to pass through unimpeded once inside I noticed that it was empty there were only remains of what was once here... I also gave it a taste test to the remains and nothing it was just normal grain...
*CRUNCH*
that wasn't me... it came from behind me... but looking in the direction I was nothing... weird... I decided to come out of the building and close the doors.
Xenovia- you are back did you find anything?
Alice- aside from the place being pretty much empty?... nothing... but best be careful I got a feeling like there is something watching us...
she nodded at me and we continue to the outskirts of the village following the trail where the smoke came from... and... you could smell it... the smell of iron... the smell of blood
the closer we got the stronger it got until we passed an alleyway beside a house and I could see the hanging rotting bodies of some of what I presume were the villages... with big puddles of blood right below them...
I was scared... less so than what I should be... but still scared... Xenovia wasn't any better... even the horse started to get scared... but we continued and finally, we could see what appeared to be a makeshift encampment, and the closer we got the better I could see from what came the smoke...
it came from a destroyed house burning in a giant makeshift bonfire... that was cooking something that I don't want to even think about... because... I could clearly see some human remains...
*CRUNCH**shatter*
I could hear more sounds... this time around us
*shatter*
Alice-say... do you know any way of self-defense?
*jahaga*
Xenovia-I'm... only capable of unleashing wind, fire, and water magic but my body is in a degraded state I can't fight for long or use anything big...
I was looking around with my arm ready to move over to the handle of my bow
Ultima-Warning. threat detected. multiple hostiles.
just as I hear that my body turned yellowish-red for a second as I turned around getting my bow ready and grabbing an arrow that was coming for my head and using it on my bow sending it right back.
as the arrow flew everything around me came to a stop and I could see what was that shot it and... it was a goblin...blocking where we came from and where one is there is always more close, just then In my vision, I could see red points everywhere... points that indicated places that could be used to hide and I quickly determined that the best I could do now was to run.
having decided the world slowly started to move again and I got the strong feeling to look around quickly seeing a path between two houses that could fit the horse, the world then move ever faster as I jumped into the horse and I made it move towards the path I decided.
as soon as the horse started running more goblins appeared throwing spears and arrows our way, Xenovia quickly started using wind magic to generate a shield behind us covering us from arrows and spears
the more we ran the more goblins appeared there even appeared some hobgoblins and some orks also appeared trying to block our path, the orks thankfully were slow and we managed to give them the slip... sadly as we were getting out of the village Xenovia stopped using magic and started to get pale... paler than normal and look about to fall unconscious... she must have used up all her magic... sadly all I can do now is try to avoid any stray arrow that comes our way.
as soon as we were outside of the village limits the attacks subsided. thankfully we were on route to where we needed to go, but I still made the horse run for as long as it could without hurting it.
time skip.
I made camp near a river that passes through the place we are going... Xenovia passed out some time ago and is resting over a laid-down blanket, right now. I'm thinking about what to do next... I have to get there... if that idiot of my ex-fiance figures out that this place was loved by my family he might try to rise it to the ground, he might be an absolute moron but he is thorough...
and I can't leave Xenovia here, if I do she might get captured so she must get there to regroup with her people... and... I now know that... this is no longer my war...
I just want to get what my mother left for me and find myself somewhere to process everything that has happened... I don't care about revenge... for now, I just want some peace and quiet... maybe I could get a home on the demon continent... if it isn't raised to the ground... or I could become an adventurer and be nomadic? that sounds like fun maybe I could explore the world, see places that I have only heard of even use that time to read some of the stories I have seen ultima have stored... I'm particularly drawn to the villainess slow-life ones... they seem so... free...
but I digress right now that's nothing but a dream but it's my dream a dream that I can now follow and not get sidetracked or pushed into other ideas... I too I'm now free...
ultima-warning: emotional state declining.
yea I know... I'm just...
...*inhale*1.2.3.4*exhale*
Alice- I'm fine... I should make something to eat... but /looks at Xenovia/ will she be fine?
ultima-warning: energy signature. 1% of original value. scanning... stand by... energy signature returning at 0.1% speed... notice: unknown correlation between energy signature and body.
if she was that low on magic then it is normal that she passed out... if I could I would help her... but I know little of demon anatomy to be able to do something meaningful...
Alice-keep me posted
/3º pov change/
???-burn it
...
*explosions in the distance*
...
???2-sir the village is now in flames... the scaping monsters are being chased and set ablaze
???-...good... and the forward scouts?
???2-they have been halted due to the scaping monsters... they did report finding horse marks... they said that they look heavy and fresh so it was carrying cargo and occupants... and that they were from at least a few hours ago...
???-...mmm... send word to the cavalry and the scouts to prepare they are spearheading an opening for the scouts... inform the maid she is going with them... we must secure this area of monsters... it's her persecution so the scouts should be enough of an escort till we finish here...
???2-sir, yes sir
(???2) moves away from (???) who just stays and looks at the carnage and burning houses
???-it's always sad to lose a village to monsters... yet... no demons present... not even a trace... is it true... that they are responsible... or is it just a convenient scapegoat...
/hours later/
/pov change 3º person/
Alice was on her horse holding the still unconscious Xenovia as they were moving through a forest on a dirt path that while not completely abandoned you can see the state of disrepair that it now is in after all this path was separated from the main one... a sort of secret path if you will...
now as she was moving through toward her objective Alice couldn't help but start thinking about what she would do afterward... that idea of hers to get herself a nice place to live was still on the table... but something told her that that would become boring quickly so she was more inclined to the adventurer's lifestyle...the only problem being the luggage... but she had found a nice solution to the problem recently on her last resting place after going through some of ULTIMA's bast library she found the concept of quantum entanglement... that in essence was connecting two of the building blocks of the world together so that they could transmit information in the form of energy... and is capable of doing it instantaneously and she is pretty much sure that it is possible regardless if it is on another plane of existence and that! is exactly the solution to her problem... after all, she only needs to know where her stuff is and be able to maintain the barrier... there is but one problem tho... she can't make it with what she has right now... but she'll get to that when she finds the time and the resources.
for now... she is more worried about what will she find in a few moments as the end of her road is coming up and keeping Xenovia safe until her family comes takes priority Alice thinks as she crosses the threshold being blinded by the sunlight as the sun is getting close to is the final place where the sky is blue before turning to yellow over the horizon.
/pov change Alice/
*the place*1
Alice -finally... I'm here... and this view... never ceases to amaze... isn't that right mother...
I said with a small laugh as I simply stopped the horse just beneath the shadow of a tree while looking up into the sky while a somewhat calm feeling and relaxing breeze washed over me...
Alice- it's been a long time since the last time I came here... *hump*
I got down from the horse and picked up Xenovia on a princess carry before looking for a good place to place her but before I could even start looking the horse sat down on its side and looked at me almost prompting me to leave her here to rest and so I did placing her head on the horse belly and getting a sheet of thick clothing we had used for sleeping cover to cover her body while making sure the hood stayed on... just in case.
Alice-cute... ...now... where to start?
as I was already expecting it to happen at that moment in the corner of my vision the drawing from the letter appeared while at the same time a grid pattern appeared on it, using it to position myself exactly where the drawing was made and my vision changed yet again his time a grid appeared on what I was seen and small red markers appeared on were any significant difference with added tags on what the differences are.
I instantly thought in a sort of exasperated manner: "I don't need to know if the grass is longer or the tree is more leaf dense what I need to know is what is here that shouldn't be here" at that moment all of the markers disappeared...
all except for one... and that single one that was covered by a few others and the moment they disappeared I finally could see: *unknown, ground scan required* simply nodded having a bit of an understanding already.
ULTIMA-initializing gound scan...
I could see how a "wave" came out with my body as its center and just as it was going to reach the edge of the cliff it bounced back
ULTIMA-Search results-
ULTIMA-identified: iron, coal, gold, silica, oxygen
ULTIMA-projecting 3D image
my vision became more blueish as the grid superimposed itself over all of the terrain showing me a detailed what I understood is an underground map I could see the different roots of the trees for a few moments before it stopped at a specific point just under the marker where I could clearly see the outline of a box blinking.
I blinked and my vision returned to normal the only thing that remained was the marker right on top of where the box was buried and I couldn't help but smile a little as there was actually something here even if it is only a letter from my mother I know it might at least calm my heart to some extent and allow me to move on.
I crouched down right on top of it and started digging with my hands as it was just a bit under the surface. what surprised me the most was that the dirt simply fell off my hands even if I was just pushing aside my hands look like there would be a lot of dirt left on them and hard to remove but no... it simply fell off.
but that stopped mattering after a minute as I finally found it... the corner of something yellowish and after removing more dirt I noticed it was the corner of a dark glass box with steel reinforced and gold decorated edges
Alice- so this is where it has been all this time...
Thanks for the chapter
Glad you're back and still alive. Loving this story. Aaannyways thanks for the chapter