Corpse Dance under Ashes is a co-written web novel with chapters alternating on two individual yet intertwining stories.
***
“Gray Hazeldine. No, Gray.”
Perhaps, an impulsive decision; perhaps, one out of spite. Whichever, it was a consequence.
“You have tarnished the Hazeldines. We will no longer accept someone who isn’t a top student at the Alyona Academy.”
A consequence for my lack of accomplishments. I have yet to understand the exact expectation — but it was clear it was a bar too high.
“We are officially calling off the marriage. No longer will you have the support of the Hazeldines.”
Gray Hazeldine. No. Former Hazeldine. Age 20. I was to return to the world of the commons.
***
The day I turned 12, as young as I was, was still a vivid picture for me.
“Marion, this is your fiancé. Introduce yourself”
It was a strange cozyness. One I haven’t felt ever since that day of the war when I lost my parents.
I found my body uncomfortable, injured — perhaps — under a snow-like blanket pulling me down. I was at the center of a large room unlike any I’d seen before. The room was void of any color. No furniture but the bed. A simple, chilling white.
As I turned, struggling to pull up the blanket just a little higher, colors entered my sight.
It was a man and a girl. A frightening presence of a muscular man broken up by the adorable puffed cheeks of the hazel brown bob haired, frilled dressed girl.
“Father, are you sure? He looks homeless.”
“No he isn't. Treat him well. This guy has a lot of potential in him."
"Ehh…"
I found myself in a state not too far from confusion. It was before caution of any sort. A suddenness that disconnected me with the surrealness of the situation. There was, however, that tinge of relief — that strange warmth of not having to sleep outside — that kept me from panicking.
As time passed, this confusion died down. But neither was I cautious. Meals that completely filled the table with dishes or the maids that cleaned my room and catered me snacks quickly convinced me to plant my roots here.
This was the day I became the fiancé of the 3rd daughter of the Hazeldines — Marion Von Hazeldine.
It wasn’t a decision I had regretted; the Hazeldines lived a life I could only seek.
They were Dukes of the southern lands of Alyona. This meant a former homeless kid such as myself was never able to be shown to the public until I developed “nobility.”
Throughout my stay, I spent each day learning swordsmanship with the knights of the family. Other days, Marion taught me the basics of nobility — mannerisms, attire, and such. She always kept a stingy attitude, yet her lessons were never taught frivolously.
Even until today, other than the times I went to the academy, I had yet to leave the mansion. Perhaps that’s why there were drops of sweat nervously falling off my head as I headed towards the unfamiliar exit.
No. It was probably because of who I saw on my way out.
It was the young girl who was always frustrated about my ‘unnoble-like’ behavior. The girl that always made me sweat, fearful of what mistakes I could’ve made this time. She was standing 3 meters away from me, stuck to the hallway walls amidst the luxurious paintings and flower vases letting me pass by.
She was no longer the adorable child. No longer in her frilled dress or her bobbed hair. That appearance that stuck me since the very beginning was now gone. What remained was a sense of strictness — a coldness that dropped the very temperature of the room. Her icy white hazelnut colored hair reached towards her shoulders. The iconic, unfittingly cute, ribbon on her hair was the only type of brightness you could see from her.
But now, unlike her normal confident self, her head faced straight towards the floor.
Her expression was hidden. But I’d imagine it to be one of contempt; disgusted to the point where she was unable to even look towards my direction.
“Hah…”
I gave off a sigh.
I didn’t expect anything from someone who would even avoid talking to her fiancé throughout the first year of the Academy. But it seems as though my dragging footsteps were looking for a simple goodbye.
“Gray…”
“You must be happy huh? You finally don’t have to waste your time with a dirty commoner like me.”
It was a response slightly filled with anger. Yet it was nothing but the truth.
…Maybe that was a little mean.
“Well, I will see you at the academy… Thanks for everything.”
As I added on, my escorts guided me out towards the front door. Despite my long stay in the mansion, it was still a maze to me. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, it wasn’t something I had to navigate any longer.
“Well then, we wish you the best of luck.”
Bang.
The servants loudly closed the door as they walked back into the house.
I was screwed.
***
Despite what it may seem to be, the capital of Eudocia — Alyona — was a monster: slowly growing in size as it devoured everything surrounding it. Those who weren’t to fuel its growth were pushed to the land of poverty — a land destroyed from war.
Today, I was experiencing the heartlessness of Alyona.
The autumn rain was frigid.
Drops of rain bouncing off my skin mixing with the sweat drenched clothes created a coldness I can never get used to.
Upon leaving the Hazeldine building, I dragged myself to Alyona Academy; a trip that took surprisingly long without the carriage I was used to. Despite it being a couple of days before the new semester started, the abnormally large campus was empty.
Seeking cover, I stationed myself under a tree right in front of the central building of Alyona Academy — a building characterized by its large arch shaped entrance side by side with a tall standing clock tower right by it. A design so clean and modern yet beautifully antique.
I quickly checked my pockets in hopes of finding something I can use; but all I have left was bits of pocket change — maybe 500 Lira or so — that I frantically packed while leaving the house.
Wait. Is this considered robbery?
Fortunately, my next destination would allow me to seek cover while allowing me the best shot to survive at Alyona.
Ironically, it was the Academy.
Alyona Academy was a place meant to create the people who ran through the blood vessels of the monster that was Alyona.
Amidst the harshness of war, the country of Eudocia created a gigantic education facility to train potential soldiers with talent from a young age.
Now that the war was over, graduates of Alyona Academy either worked as Royal Guards that did missions for the country or got a free pass at any lucrative jobs around.
There was no telling what would happen to a non-noble in Alyona. Eventually, you were to leave Alyona to live the life of poverty outside.
I had to graduate.
I checked my pockets once again only to give off a sigh.
Yep. Money. Money was the biggest problem. I had to pay for meals, clothes, and most importantly, tuition.
Other than the first semester tuition that the Hazeldiens paid a few weeks before releasing me, I didn’t have any plans to address any of these in the near future.
But I wasn’t like I didn’t know what I had to do. The Academy wasn’t just a place for nobles; there were actually a lot of commoners who attended the academy. These were people who were deemed to have some type of talent that can help Eudocia flourish. They would get tuition through scholarships and use the less luxurious dorms for students. More importantly, they would get part time jobs to get the money for food.
It was a clear path, just an extremely exhausting one.
I gave off another deep sigh.
I guess I should find a job first huh…
The brightly lit central street of Alyona Academy looked dimmer than ever.
***
“Sorry, you aren’t welcome here.”
“...What?”
Scratching his beard, the owner of the weaponry shop three minutes down the central building of Alyona answered. It was the first thing I heard entering the building.
“Even if you say you are gonna work for free, we can’t hire you right now. Sorry, it's tough on us too.”
“...”
“Sorry man, but we don’t wanna buy the rage of the Hazeldines. There’s also some rumor going about you insulting the royal kingdom or something too. Anyways, we won’t be able to hire you.”
With that I was kicked out of the building — the fourth I’ve visited today. I was in the shopping district of Alyona Academy, a path leading towards the dorms. A brick road filled the path as various small shops stood side by side. It was a place that was always bustling with students looking for materials during the school season.
It was long after the rain died down but the bleakness from the passing cloud didn’t help my dejected mood.
I expected there to be some type of cautiousness about me, but I didn’t expect to have flat out rejections all in a row like this. And what’s this about insulting the royal kingdom? When did I do that?
Maybe the Hazeldines spread this rumor…
The next thing that came to mind was to ask some friends for some help.
But surprise! I have no friends!
You can’t expect me to have been socializing normally after not having taken a single step outside the Hazeldine mansion for the last 10 years.
More shops I guess…
As I walked to the next store, a silhouette approached me. I saw a girl with long brown hair — braids tied on the side. She was wearing a beige skirt with the reddish knitted jacket — the standard Alyona Uniform. But since the weather was pretty cold, she was also wearing a padded jacket.
I took a quiet sigh of relief seeing this. For a second, I thought the Hazeldines sent someone to assassinate me for the 500 Lira.
“Hello! Are you looking for your dorm too?”
The girl asked as she approached me. It seemed as though she was a new student starting this year. This was pretty odd since it’s a little early for students — especially freshmen who start class later — to arrive but odd people come here every year.
Seeing someone willing approach me made me oddly happy.
“Nope, I’m an incoming second year student. Do you need help finding your dorm?”
“Huh.”
The girl tilted her head slightly to the left looking confused. She was looking towards my rain-smeared outfit. I guess it didn’t make sense for someone to be dressed so messily unless they didn’t know where their dorm was.
“I don’t have a dorm room at the moment.”
“Oh, then what are you doing out here?”
I was slightly taken aback by the girl naturally asking me a question to follow up. Huh… So this is a conversation. It feels… fuzzy.
“I’m searching for a job, though no shop seems to have spots open.”
“Oh no… It must be tough…”
Wh-what? Is this the “empathy” I’ve heard so much about?
“Hm, if you need to make money, can’t you get requests? That’s why I joined! It’s so romantic that I can help people directly.”
The girl excitedly started to talk about bulletin boards. Her chest was puffed up proudly towards the sky.
Bulletin Boards huh.. I didn’t even consider that.
“Huh, thanks. I didn’t even think about that. Anyways, you should be finding your dorm if you walk straight this way,” I said as I pointed towards the city center.
“Thanks! What’s your name? I’m Eve. An incoming first year if you haven’t noticed.”
“Gray.”
“Uh… I’ll see you around!”
Eve hurried towards the direction I pointed at, carrying her heavy looking bag.
What a sweet person.
Bye bye. I’ll probably never speak to you again, but it was fun while it lasted!
***
What greeted me soon after was the large wooden arch shaped entrance to “East Alyona.”
If Central Alyona was the elegantly designed scene of education and dreams, East Alyona was a forest. Quite literally.
Some ten minutes away from Central Alyona was a preservation of nature; buildings standing one story tall peeked out every once in a while to fight off the scent of wet grass. A hint of rain hanging down the leaves emphasized the peculiar darkness of East Alyona.
East Alyona was closer to the center of Alyona, but because it was the east most part of Alyona before the capital’s expansion, it kept its name. Right now, it was practically considered a district of the Academy where older students would come to train.
Because of its unique rural atmosphere, East Alyona was the gateway to various monster filled forests, caves, or other unpopulated towns. This made the bulletin board of East Alyona more popular than anywhere else.
And I came looking for exactly that: a bulletin board.
Bulletin Boards were where different missions were posted for students to do. They had different difficulties but with monsters roaming, they were normally meant for third and fourth grade students who mastered their affinities.
But right now, going to bulletin boards was the perfect option for me here. Although I wouldn’t be able to do anything with combat, I was hoping to find a more simple mission. Since students weren’t in class right now, it felt like the best time to look for something like that.
More importantly, doing missions helped a lot with reputation and grades. Those who did optional missions became pretty famous around here for being “trustworthy” knights and at the same time, they were given additional grade points. Essentially, this was a way for me to get money, clear my name for this royal family rumor, all the while getting one step closer to scholarships.
Eve was a genius.
Filled with hope, I approached the largest building of East Alyona — the town hall where I could find the bulletin board for students.
Thankfully, the building wasn’t too hard to find; it was the only multiple story tall building peeking through the array of trees.
The wooden bulletin board stood just around the height of my shoulders. It wasn’t any wide as well, spanning just about 3 arms length. The low number of requests during the off-school season fit just perfectly. Apparently, people with affinity to wood change the size depending on the number of requests.
I looked towards the thick paper stuck towards the board. Immediately a few of them caught my eye.
‘Exterminating Edurus Hounds at Mount Charon’
Not this one. I’ll probably die doing these ones. Going at Edurus Hounds is suicide.
‘Hunting down few goblins that escape from Adella forest’
Maybe I can hunt down one goblin if I’m lucky. But a few? That’s not happening.
‘Bodyguard for trip to Liche Forest by East Alyona’
And Liche Forest? I get it’s just simple escorts but aren’t there Clyrell Mocks migrating at this time? Why would you even want to go right now? What if the Clyrell Mocks eat you. I heard you can’t even find the bodies that they eat.
The missions on the bulletin board looked way too difficult for me.
It makes sense; all the easy ones are probably taken.
Hm. I guess I’ll try to find somewhere to live first. Hopefully missions increase when school starts.
As I slowly turned to walk away, a flier at the top corner of the bulletin board caught my eye.
|
Jackpot.
