Chapter 4 – Making Mistakes
White Fang by TomatoRoux
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Chapter 4
 
 
“Light! Light!”
 
“Hey, take it easy Willow,” I gave the younger girl a pat on the head, stopping her before she made herself hoarse trying to copy my light spell. It was the lowest level spell in the game, one that anyone capable of spellcasting could use, but that was in the game. This was real life, people couldn't just obtain magic by picking the right class and swinging a stick at wild boars.
 
“Say, Alex,” I turned towards the front of the wagon. “You said you saw a spellcaster light a candle once right? Is that someone I could meet?”
 
“There is a spellcaster living in Olmvyre, not far from us. I could introduce you, why do you ask?”
 
“I just... want to confirm some things, for Willow's sake.”
 
“Alright then, as soon as we get home, I'll introduce you.”
 
“You here that Willow? I'm going to go tall to the spellcaster Dad knows, so don't do any more practice until then okay?”
 
“Can I not learn magic?” Willow looked at me with upturned eyes, a solitary tear streaking down her cheek.
 
“You can learn magic,” I replied wiping her tear away with my thumb. “I promise, I'll make it happen. We just need to make sure we're not missing anything, after all, you're a special girl, so you'll need a special training regiment made just for you, okay?”
 
For as much as I loved novels where the protagonist would get wisked away to a fantasy world and found themselves with unimaginable powers, I couldn't remember the specifics. Not enough to create a plan for how to actually teach Willow, a completely normal girl, spells that I got for free thanks to being a game character. Hopefully, if I learned how real magic worked I could weave the two together into something she could use.
 
“We're entering Northpost now girls.”
 
As a town that had started its life as a trading post, Northpost still had what appeared to be a worn-down wooden fort at its heart. The rest of the town was a bunch of wood buildings, most of them appearing far more recently built, with several farms stretching out from the town's center. Willow and I waved at the farmers in their fields as we traveled past.
 
“Stop!” A male voice shouted from the road. Turning my attention to the wagon's front I found that a group of five soldiers had stepped out to block Alex's wagon.
 
“Something bothering you lieutenant?” Alex replied grinning down at the man who'd shouted for us to stop. I got the feeling the two knew one another.
 
“By decree of the count, all wagons traveling north are required to be searched for contraband. If you don't mind, I'd like for you and your passengers to disembark.”
 
“Eh? You heard him girls, go ahead and get out.”
 
I climbed out first before turning around to help Willow alight from the wagon. “Come on Willow, let's go stand by Alex.”
 
“Okay, Onee-chan.”
 
Oh god... my heart.
 
Wrapping my arms around Willow I lifted her up in a princess carry, surprising the soldiers and Alex alike. Despite looking like a dainty flower, I still had the strength of a max-level paladin, even if I looked like I should struggle with Willow's weight, she felt lighter than a feather to me.
 
“Onee-chan!” Willow squeaked, smiling in delight.
 
“Hehe, you're too cute little sis.”
 
“Alex, who is that girl?”
 
“She wasn't with you when you headed south.”
 
“Liz, would you like to introduce yourself to the soldiers?”
 
“Hmm? I'm sure you'd do a better job than me Dad.”
 
“Dad? Alex... you dog.”
 
“It's as you imagine, Liz is an illegitimate daughter of mine. I met her mother in Calthary, and had her foisted onto me.” Alex smiled at the soldiers. He looked comfortable and spoke so clearly that if I didn't know better, I doubt I'd have believed he was telling anything but the truth.
 
“She looks nothing like you.”
 
“Liz inherited her grandmother's appearance. It shames me to say this, but she's inherited little more than her hard head from me.”
 
“The wagon's clean,” The man Alex had called Lieutenant walked over to us, his eyes narrowing when he gazed down at my waist, inspecting White Fang which hung in its sheath from my belt. “Did I overhear correctly that this girl is your daughter?”
 
“That's right Lieutenant, she's mine.”
 
“Have you fallen so low as to force an underaged girl to serve as your guard? Where is Allen?”
 
“Allen died on our way back. The sword at Liz's side is a heirloom of her mother's family. She insisted on bringing it.”
 
“Girl, remove the sword and scabbard from your belt so that it can be properly bound.”
 
“Eh?” I blinked and gazed at the Lieutenant in confusion. Bound? What the heck did he mean bound? Was there something wrong with the way I had it?
 
“You know that's a tradition hardly enforced outside the capital Theo,” Alex said, moving to stand between us. “You can't honestly believe that one of my daughters is going to go around swinging her sword at civilians do you?”
 
“Northpost is under my care, you have no right to tell me how to enforce the law Alex.”
 
“I'm not telling you how to enforce the law, I just want to know how long that broomhandle has been stuck up your ass for?”
 
“I'll have you arrested and your daughters sent to a convent if you don't watch your tongue, Alex.”
 
“Charm Adversary,” Pointing my finger at the Lieutenant I named a spell I'd always been envious of. Charm Adversaryallowed those with the Mystic and Sorcerer classes to turn any foe, mortal or beast, into an ally, as long as that foe was at least five levels lower than the caster. It didn't work on boss monsters, but I couldn't imagine Lieutenant Theo counted as a boss.
 
“Theo?” Alex gazed befuddled at the Lieutenant as he pitched forward, a glassy-eyed expression on his face.
 
“Sit, please.” I commanded, causing the Lieutenant to drop to his knees in front of me. “Now, bark.”
 
“Woof.”
 
“Good boy,” I sat Willow down and gave the Lieutenant a quick pat on his helmet.
 
“Liz you're terrifying everyone,” Alex mumbled, his eyes glued to the obediant Lietenant, “what have you done to him?”
 
“He was starting to make me mad, so I charmed him. The effect only lasts for five minutes... usually.”
 
There was a special condition with Charm Adversary that allowed Mystics to keep charmed creatures indefinitely, but I didn't know what it was. None of my alts had ever been a Mystic, because they were restricted to humans and orcs only, and I never felt inspired to create a character of either race.
 
“She charmed him?” One of the soldiers looked from Lieutenant Theo, to me, to Alex, then back to the Lieutenant. “Your daughter is a witch?!”
 
The soldiers, and some of the passing civilians all began to stare at me, the word 'witch' echoing between them.
 
“So Dad, am I going to be burned at the stake now? Everybody's looking at me in a really creepy way.”
 
“Burned at the what now?” Alex pinched his nose. “Nobody's going to do anything to you.”
 
“Well... what do they mean when they say witch?”
 
“You don't want to know,” Alex turned his attention to the forming crowd. “My daughter has received a powerful gift from the Goddess Atlarya. She is no witch, nor is she a herald... please don't gaze at her so harshly, she's still a young girl who has no idea how to use what the goddess has given her.”
 
“Is it really okay to tell everyone that?”
 
“Liz... this is the best option, I promise. Gregory, can you guide my wagon to the inn? I'm going to take my daughters there now.”
 
“Er... Sure... will the Lieutenant?”
 
“You heard my daughter didn't you, it only lasts five minutes, he'll be perfectly healthy and pissed here soon. Which is why I'd like to go now, if you don't mind.”
 
“Right... go on Alex, I'll do something about the crowd.”
 
“Come on you two,” Alex took Willow and me by the hand and began guiding us into town. “Seriously Liz, next time you want to use magic on someone, give me a warning okay?”
 
“He said he was going to arrest you and send us to a convent, doesn't that make you angry?”
 
“He...” Alex sighed, “That's just how that guy gets his kicks. We always argue when I come to town.”
 
“Really? So... you're friends?”
 
“I guess we are. Seriously though, he's all bark and no bite, so I want you to apologize if you get the chance.”
 
“Why? I didn't hurt him!”
 
“Liz... please.”
 
“Fine. What about the goddess you named, who's she?”
 
“Let's talk about that later, when we're out of town and there's less of a chance of us being overheard, okay?”
 
“Ah, sure.”
 
I hung my head, feeling pretty crummy that I'd accidentally misread Alex and Theo's interaction and ended up doing something stupid. Still, I just couldn't imagine saying such things were okay, even jokingly. Perhaps I just didn't understand friendships between men.
 
“Hey, Liz,” Alex released my hand and tousled my hair. “It was funny to see that guy barking like a dog. I'll probably bring that up every time I see him, for as long as the two of us live. So, stop with the pouty face, okay? You're making me feel bad.”
 
“I'll try,” I forced a smile. “Still... what would've happened if everyone thought I was a witch?”
 
“Well... you see,” Alex's face twisted, looking as if he was thinking about something really disturbing. “The nation to the south, the one we're at war with... is ruled by someone who has titled herself 'The Witch Queen'. I haven't heard any rumors of their soldiers using magic anywhere near as powerful as yours, but they like to pretend their queen has some unique eldritch ability. In my opinion it's all hogwash. After seeing what you can do, I know their queen can't be that powerful, she'd have crushed our entire army by now if she was.”
 
“Oh! So if I was a witch...”
 
“You'd be a southerner, an enemy of the state that snuck behind enemy lines to sew chaos.”
 
“That's crazy,” I got the feeling there was more to being a witch that Alex wasn't telling me, but I decided not to ask. I figured I could get the information out of him later, preferably once we'd skipped town.
 
 
 
 
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