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Slayers - Volume 7 - Chapter 1




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1: The Castle Town Shrouded in Storm Clouds

A burst of light blasted away the darkness and a few trees where I’d just been standing right along with it.

It’s totally after me. Yep, knew it!

I’d been caught a little off guard by the abrupt attack at the small inn in the village where I was staying, but I’d managed to escape the initial onslaught and lure my attacker into a forest some ways away. I’d be able to break out the big guns here... Though I had my doubts as to how well they’d work on this particular pursuer.

See, it wasn’t some roughneck or bandit I was up against, but a demon. These dudes fed off of darkness, and you needed one whopper of a spell to hurt ’em.

“Elemekia Lance!” I cried.

I fired the spell I’d been chanting at my approaching opponent, which looked like white mist in a vaguely human shape. But just before my shining javelin made contact, the misty figure melted into the ground! It was more like a white shadow racing along the grass now, so my spell naturally passed harmlessly over its head (or equivalent thereof). And as it did...

“Ra Tilt!”

New words of power burst from the darkness! For a moment, the white shadow was swallowed by a pillar of blue light. It let out a nasty death rattle, and when the blue light faded... nothing remained.

Whew! I let out a sigh of relief, then turned to the mysterious caster in the darkness.

“Thanks a bunch,” I called.

“Hey, no problem,” a raven-haired girl replied as she emerged from the brush.

This was Amelia, one of my traveling companions. And she looked tense.

“There’s still one here,” she whispered, running her eyes over the area around us.

“Still?!” I exclaimed, scanning deeper into the darkness myself.

Perhaps due to her time as a shrine maiden, Amelia sometimes just knew things she had no earthly way of knowing. I couldn’t sense anything nearby myself, and the insects were singing like nothing was wrong... but if Amelia said something was there, then...

Right on cue, the insect noise stopped cold.

“Oh... I’d meant to conceal my presence. Well spotted,” said a familiar voice from behind us.

I quickly turned to catch sight of an old man melting out of the darkness. He was well kempt, with white hair that was neatly smoothed back and a warm smile on his face. His appearance was so unassuming that I wouldn’t have given him a second glance if we’d happened to pass him on a city road during the day... but Amelia and I had a history with this guy.

“Raltark...” I whispered, sweat rising on my forehead.

He may have looked like an ordinary old man, but he was a genuine demon... And from what I could tell, a pretty high-ranked one at that. I’d never fought him directly, but Amelia and I had caught a glimpse of his power in our last battle. That is, we’d seen him summon a horde of bottom-tier demons from the astral plane to possess the local wildlife. How much power did it take to do that? I shuddered to think...

Needless to say, no part of me wanted to tangle with this guy. But given the situation, I doubted he was just here to talk.

“I get it... That white thing was bait to lure me out here, huh?” I asked.

“Certainly not.” The old man shook his head with a slightly pained smile. “I was hoping he’d defeat you, and if he didn’t, we could strike at you together here... but he failed to notice the girl, and so that was that,” he said, momentarily turning his gaze on Amelia.

“But still... a surprise attack at the inn? I thought you were one for subtlety.”

“I haven’t harmed anyone uninvolved. There are circumstances, you see.” The troubled smile on Raltark’s face widened. “Nevertheless, I must be rid of y—”

Before he could get the words out, a chill ran through me. I could feel my hair standing on end.

What in the world?! A wave of some kind of alien hostility flooded the area. It was like pure darkness was pouring into me... But it wasn’t coming from Raltark.

“Huh?” Amelia perked up as well, craning her neck to scan the darkness around us.

Raltark did the same. “What?!” he cried out in shock, then withdrew into the night.

The wave of hostility likewise departed immediately, as if giving chase. That left only Amelia and me standing there, soaked in a fine sheen of sweat as we watched the demon flee.

“What... What was that?” Amelia whispered in a hoarse voice after some time had passed.

“I don’t know...” I said listlessly, shaking my head.

The truth was that I had a pretty good idea. The source of the hostility was most likely Xellos. He was the only being I could imagine capable of emitting malice potent enough to scare Raltark off.

Xellos was a tagalong to our group. He generally acted like your typical mysterious man of the cloth (you know the type—every family has at least one). In sooth, however, he was a demon—not to mention a priest in the service of Greater Beast Zellas Metallium, one of Ruby-Eye’s right hands. As I’m sure you can imagine, that was a little secret Xellos and I were keeping between us for now... Thems weren’t exactly beans I could spill to the rest of the group.

Unlike Raltark and his collaborators, Xellos was here to protect me. I wasn’t dumb enough to think he was doing it out of the kindness of his heart or anything. He clearly had some sort of agenda. But as much as I rued the idea of being someone else’s pawn... I didn’t have much choice about playing along for the time being.

“Well... I guess it’s over for now,” Amelia whispered.

I nodded in response. “Shall we head back to the inn?” I asked and turned, my cape swishing.

It was then that I heard Gourry and Zelgadis’s voices calling from afar, drawing nearer.

A little late, fellas!

“So, what exactly is the deal?”

It was Zelgadis who asked me that question the following morning as we set out on the main road the next day. As per his usual, he had most of his face covered with white cloth. Only his eyes peeked out from underneath.

“With what?” I asked, still walking.

“Xellos,” he prompted.

That brought me to a halt, but I managed to keep my voice calm and casual as I replied, “Same old same old, right? He’s always popping in and out unannounced...”

And as it just so happened, Xellos was currently “out.” He was with us for dinner the previous night, but when morning came... he was nowhere to be found. We even searched the inn high and low for him. I’d suspected that he’d gone off after Raltark... But since everyone present knew Raltark was a demon, I couldn’t just come out and say that. Instead, I’d suggested, “He probably left on some whim, and I’m sure he’ll return the same way.”

Amelia had bought it, and Gourry was the same blank slate as always. That left only Zelgadis to doubt me.

He looked at me dubiously for a few moments before pressing me, “Okay. What are you hiding?”

“What could I possibly be hiding?” I replied innocently.

Zelgadis stared at me a little while longer, then finally relented. “I don’t like this,” he grumbled to himself, though I could still hear him.

Hmm... he’s starting to catch on.

No matter how hard I tried to hide the fact that Xellos was a demon, the truth would come to light eventually. What would Zel do then? I doubted he’d turn on me in a rage, but there was a chance he’d leave the party on principle.

I mean, it wasn’t exactly like he was traveling with me because we were friends. The guy had been transformed into a chimeric fusion of golem and brow daemon against his will a while back, so his main purpose in life was searching for a way to regain his humanity. Such things were beyond the purview of regular sorcery, which forced him instead to seek out whatever answers he could find in obscure lore and legend. And since legendary trouble always seemed to find us whenever we hung out together, he was sticking with me out of pure convenience.

So, yeah, the whole state of affairs was annoyingly precarious. I only had one recourse—getting to the bottom of things. Why were Raltark and his goons after me? Why was Xellos trying to protect me? I still didn’t know, and even if I did, fighting guys on Xellos and Raltark’s level was way beyond my power.

I was hoping what lay ahead in the capital of the Kingdom of Dils, land of legends, would afford me a little leverage to regain control of the situation. Gyria City, here we come...

The city was lively as we walked through it that afternoon. There were people coming and going, rows of stalls lining the streets... All your typical big city sights. In that regard, the only unusual thing about the view was the higher-than-usual ratio of soldiers to civilians out and about.

Folks, I present to you Gyria City, the capital of Dils!

How come demons couldn’t get enough of me lately? What kind of infighting did they have going on? We were here in the home of demon legends to solve those mysteries! At least, that was what I’d told my team...

We’d arrived just a little before noon, secured an inn, and gotten a meal, after which we’d decided to start gathering info in earnest.

“But how exactly are we supposed to find all that out?” Amelia asked me as we walked down a large avenue flanked by stalls. “I doubt anyone in town is just gonna have the lowdown on the latest demonic schemes...”

“Hmm... Good point.” I thought for a minute. “Let’s see... For now, let’s keep an ear out for any rumors at all about demons. Talk to the guards who watch the Kataart Mountains and see if there’s been any movement on that front. Also, word is there used to be a manuscript in the area, so we’ll see if we can track down any remnants of that, and ask the sorcerers’ council for anything they might know. It’s not like I expect to uncover their whole plot immediately, but we might find some clue about what they’re up to or how we can fight them... I know it’s a slim hope, but it’s our best shot. You’re sick of just waiting for them to show up at our doorstep too, right?”

Those were my honest thoughts and feelings, but I could only share them now that Xellos wasn’t present... even though he’d agreed we should come here to Gyria City.

See, in addition to protecting me, he’d been tasked with bringing me to the location of a certain item: the Claire Bible, a book said to enumerate magical techniques from other worlds (though it was frequently regarded as nothing more than myth by society at large). Not that he’d told me what he was expecting me to do with it, mind you.

Now, as for what that had to do with our layover in Gyria... Xellos and I both knew we couldn’t just “accidentally” stumble upon the Claire Bible without the others getting suspicious. As subterfuge, then, I’d proposed to him the idea of first stopping in the city and having everyone do a little sniffing around. And when the time was right, Xellos would come up with “a hot lead” he just happened to hear, and then guide us all to the place in question.

Of course, this little proposition of mine was all just pretext. My real objective here, as I’d told Amelia, was to seek out something I could use against the demons. I wasn’t expecting it to just fall into my lap... but truth be told, I’d found the seeds of a certain legendary forbidden spell here once before. That is to say... passed-down knowledge about the Lord of Nightmares. Judging from Xellos’s behavior when I mentioned that name, I was hoping it might just be the key to what I was looking for.

See, back in the day, I’d tagged along here with my big sister. She apparently knew some big shot in the city, so we were shown around the palace for a bit and heard all kinds of things in the process...

“That’s it! Amelia, do you know anyone in the palace here? Could you get us an ‘in’ with them?” I proposed. Amelia was in line for the throne of the Holy City of Saillune, after all. She might have some connections to the royal family here.

She thought about it for a minute and replied, “I think some people here would know Dad, but I doubt they’d recognize me. We don’t have all that many dealings with this kingdom.”

“Hmm, I see,” I whispered, arms folded. If Amelia didn’t have any influence in the local court, a royal audience was out of the question. “In that case... so be it. Amelia, you go ask around at the temple. Say you’re abroad to study different lands’ legends about demons.”

“Roger.”

“Zel, do you think you could ask around town?”

“Sure. I don’t exactly have anything better to do,” he responded with a small nod.

“I’d like to go hit up the sorcerers’ council myself. The trouble is...”

There, I stopped and looked over at Gourry, who was just walking along in silence. Meet my traveling companion who’d lately been doubling as my swordsmanship instructor. He was an incredible fighter, not to mention tall, blond, and handsome to boot... Yup, his face was first-rate. It was the brain behind it that was the problem! If you want a quick reference point for how bad it was, let’s just say that in an IQ contest, he might eke out a tie with a skeleton!

Now, all my (hilarious) grumbling aside, the bottom line is that I knew I couldn’t trust Gourry to do any recon on his own, so...

I thought for a while and then suggested, “Let’s see... Gourry, you team up with Zel to talk to the townspeople. Zel probably won’t take off his mask in the city, which might put the people on guard.”

“That is true,” Zel said, agreeing. “And it’s not like Gourry could handle a proper investigation on his own...”

“That’s also true.”

Jeez, Gourry, at least put up a fight...

“Well... so, anyway, the plan here is to combine Gourry’s serviceable looks and Zel’s functioning brain. Here’s my thought—Zel will do all the talking, while Gourry just flaps his lips silently! That should cover it!”

“You mean like... a ventriloquist dummy?” Gourry said doubtfully.

“I feel like... that would be terrifying to watch...” Amelia likewise objected.

“Fine, go about it however you like. Just get the job done. We’ll meet back up at the inn around dinner.”

“But are you sure about this, Lina?” It was Gourry offering up doubts for once.

“Sure about what?”

“Well, with the way things have been lately... the demons’ll probably come after you again. Are you sure you should be going off on your own?”

No sooner had those words left his mouth than...

“Woooooooow!” Zel, Amelia, and I all cried out in shock.

“Master Gourry! You actually offered an insightful input for once! I’ve never seen that before!” Amelia exclaimed.

“It’s been ages since you last said something smart! Did something kick your brain into gear?!” I echoed.

“Indeed, that was a surprise. I hope it keeps up,” Zel said quietly.

Gourry just scratched at his head in response to our glowing praise, muttering, “Um... guys...”

Yeah, okay, so maybe it wasn’t that impressive, but still...

“A-Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said carelessly. “It’s true they’ve attacked us in the daylight a few times... but they at least seem reluctant to drag innocent people into things. They could’ve just blown up the whole inn last night, but they went out of their way to pinpoint me... I figure they won’t try anything so long as I’m in a crowd.”

“I hope you’re right,” Gourry whispered, clearly still worried.

“Don’t sweat it! If I worried that much about every little thing, I wouldn’t even be able to go to the little girl’s room on my own.”

Theoretically, Gourry could have accompanied me to the sorcerers’ council, but that’s precisely what I was trying to avoid. I’d visited a local council with him once before, and as we sat in their chilly, dank library... What else? The big lug went right to sleep.

Annoyed, I’d slapped him upside the head with the book I was reading—which turned out to have a metal-reinforced cover. It turned into a whole thing. I mean, you smack a guy with one measly little 500-page book, and he just starts going on about, “Hey, you got me with the corner!” It naturally blew up into an argument, and in the end, the local council provost tossed both of us out on our butts. Not my finest hour!

“Seriously... I’ll be fine. We’ll meet at the inn at sundown!” I called to the group, then turned on my heels and set out on my own.

I glanced back to see everyone splitting up and going their separate ways, apparently having accepted my proposal, when...

Whump!

“Huh?!”

“Wagh!”

The minute I rounded the corner, I ran into a young boy. He looked about eleven or twelve years old, and had silky black hair with a slight wave to it. I mistook him for a girl at first, actually...

“Sorry...” he mumbled, then turned to run away.

“Hold it,” I said, snatching him by the back of his collar.

“Wh-What?!” he yelped, looking up at me fearfully.

“Hand over that purse you just snatched from me, or else. You want a visit with the guards?” I taunted with a grin.

The boy quickly changed his tune, offering up the coin-laden pouch from his pocket as he shouted, “F-Fine, take it! Just don’t turn me in! You can even beat the crap out of me! Just don’t hand me over to that band of weirdos!”

“Band of weirdos?” That phrase put a furrow in my brow. Even people who hated the town guard generally didn’t call them “weirdos.”

“Yeah! The town guard has been really weird lately!” the boy insisted.

“Hmm...” I thought for a while. “Okay. I won’t hand you over. In exchange... tell me everything you know about the guard.”

“They’re all just really weird. And the king first among them...”

We were now camped out in the corner of a small eatery nearby. The boy sipped away at his orange juice and cut straight to the chase without even introducing himself.

“What kind of ‘weird’ are we talking about here?”

“Well... lately, he’s been gathering up freelance sorcerers. And tons of soldiers to boot.”

“What?! Seriously?” I gasped, trying to keep my voice down. “Like he’s preparing for a war?”

“How would I know? He started recruiting fighter-types a few years ago... and now he’s bringing in more sorcerers. Rumor has it that he’s teaching black magic to ordinary soldiers.”

“Black magic?!” I parroted, the furrow in my brow deepening.

I could understand teaching soldiers attack spells, but black freakin’ magic?! If I were gonna teach a spellcasting newbie some practical arcane offense, I’d pick an easy fire spell... Flare Arrow, for instance.

Yeah, yeah. Call it boring or cliché or whatever you want, but the classics only become clichés because they’re so tried and true! Flare Arrow wouldn’t work on incorporeal beings like ghosts or demons, but it was sure effective against humans. Since it set whatever it hit aflame, you could get some bonus practical effects against buildings too. Moreover, it was one of the easiest attack spells to learn.

Never in a million years would I have thought to teach someone black magic. Yeah, sure, it was more powerful than shamanistic attack spells like Flare Arrow. It could even damage ghosts and demons... But it was tricky to learn, and it didn’t come with any nifty secondary effects like incidental conflagration. Even the easiest black magic spells out there still required a degree of focus and mental control. You also needed to perform certain gestures while chanting them. Overall, they were just kind of a pain in the butt.

In short, it was hard enough to teach black magic to people who already knew their way around spellcasting. It really wasn’t the kind of thing you’d throw at a total greenhorn. I thought everyone knew that, but...

“Is all this really true?” I asked the boy.

“I don’t know. It isn’t like I saw it with my own eyes,” he replied, taking another sip of his orange juice.

“Fair enough...”

“But that’s what the rumors say. The king’s been acting weird ever since this guy called General Rashart arrived. They say he’s even been sending messengers to the dragons and the elves.”

“Huh? To the dragons and elves?”

“Well, to the big elf village west of here. And Dragons’ Peak to the north, between here and the Kataart Mountains.”

Curiouser and curiouser. Even if the king was planning to go to war with another country, dragons and elves would never get involved in human affairs...

Wait...

“You don’t think—” I cried out, standing up as I made the connection.

“Don’t think what?” the boy asked, looking up at me.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Nothing at all...” I replied, shaking my head. “Now, you said this was all rumor, but where’d you hear it?”

“I dunno. Just around,” he said indifferently, gulping down the last of his juice.

Figures...

Still, I couldn’t just write this off. I was trying my best to remain calm, but I could feel cold sweat running down my back. If my hunch was right...

Could Dils be planning an attack on the residents of the Kataart Mountains—on the demons?!

“An attack on the Kataart Mountains?!” shouted Amelia, lover of justice and peace, as she sprang to her feet.

Her theatrics set the room abuzz. The other patrons all turned their eyes to our table.

“H-Hey, Amelia! Keep it down! Everyone’s staring!”

“This is hardly the time for discretion, Lina! The city is mired in evil’s grasp!”

“Yeah, it might be! But that theory’s just hearsay and a little guesswork on my part for now! Keep your fires of justice at a smolder until we have some proof!”

“Well... I suppose...” Amelia sat down, but still looked unsatisfied.

It was now later that night. We’d met back up at the inn as planned, and we were currently discussing our findings for the day over dinner. When I shared my take on what I’d heard from the little pickpocket, Amelia was unsurprisingly inflamed.

“The part about the king rustling up soldiers and sorcerers is true, at least,” Zelgadis added in. “Word on the streets is that he’s recruiting them in large numbers. I didn’t hear anything about black magic, elves, or dragons, though. You said you heard that part from a young boy... Are you sure he’s trustworthy?”

“I mean, kids do have wild imaginations, but it’s hard to imagine one creating a story like that out of whole cloth...”

“And children will sometimes admit to things adults won’t!” Amelia insisted. “We should track down this boy and ask him for more information! Where did you find him, Lina? What was his name?”

“Well, like I said, I kinda just ran into him... Come to think of it, I never did get his name...”


Obviously, I’d omitted the fact that he was a thief. Amelia, our resident proponent of all things justice, wouldn’t have taken it well... We’d risk her trying to track him down in a righteous rage or something.

“In other words, no way to corroborate it,” Zelgadis said, his voice comparatively cool.

“We’ll just have to confirm it ourselves!” Amelia declared, clenching her fork with shredded shrimp and fried egg skewered upon it. “At the very least, we cannot simply sit back and watch! Attacking the demons... It’s a noble cause, and certainly a brave one, but it’s too reckless! All the more so if they’re being manipulated into it by some weird general!”

“I agree,” I replied with a nod.

“Is it really that reckless if they’re getting help from elves and dragons?” Gourry asked unconcernedly.

“Totally, even then,” I responded.

“How come?” he asked in curiosity so idle that it almost physically hurt me.

“Well... it’s true that elves and dragons are stronger than humans, but demonic power is on another level entirely. Legend says that during the Incarnation War, when Ruby-Eye incarnated in the Kataart Mountains a thousand years ago, one single demon destroyed hundreds of dragons all by its lonesome. That might be an exaggeration, but the sentiment behind it—that is, ‘the demons mopped the floor with the dragons’—is most likely true. What I’m saying is that, even with elves and dragons on the city’s side, this offensive would just be the equivalent of kicking a hornets’ nest.”

“And I’m not sure elves and dragons would even want to join in on a human brawl with demons,” Zelgadis put in.

“Yeah. One way or another, it’s a reckless plan.”

“Hmm...” Gourry thought for a minute. “If it’s really that dangerous, why is the king doing it?”

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to figure out!”

“Maybe he means to avenge his father,” Zelgadis muttered.

Aha... That would explain it.

About twenty years ago, the previous king of the realm, Dils II—known as the Resolute King or Dils Rwon Gyria—mustered up an army to strike at the demons in the Kataart Mountains. He rode with an elite force of five thousand men specializing in magical tactics, and they bravely—rather, foolishly—crossed Dragons’ Peak en route to the mountains in the north...

They were never heard from again, leaving their legacy to rumor. There was no telling which stories were true and which weren’t, but the trip to the Kataart Mountains itself was a documented fact. Perhaps the currently reigning Dils III—Dils Quolt Gyria—knew the demons had done something to his father. Perhaps he’d been nursing a hatred for them all these years because of it. Perhaps that hatred had come to a head.

Or... perhaps someone had put him up to it.

“We have to investigate!” Amelia declared with passion in her voice once more. “I’ll bet you it’s that General Rashart! He’s infiltrated the kingdom and is exploiting the royal family’s personal weaknesses in the name of some foul plot! I won’t stand for it!”

“Well, we don’t know that for certain—”

“But we can’t just look the other way! Now that we know it’s a possibility, we must seek out the truth!” she insisted, interrupting me.

Ah, of course... I finally realized what had her so riled up. Her home, Saillune, had also been disrupted by a demon infiltrating the palace.

Here too, a mysterious figure had appeared out of nowhere, effecting great, uncertain changes within the kingdom... Amelia was probably comparing what was happening in Dils with the nightmare she’d faced herself not long ago.

“You will all help me, won’t you?!” she implored us, looking first to me

“Er...”

I found myself hesitating. This situation could spiral out of control all too quickly. I wasn’t exactly anxious to go inserting myself into the middle of it... but I also knew Amelia would never accept an answer like, “This seems like a pain in the ass. Let’s stay out of it.” And so...

“S-Sure,” I agreed, backed into a corner.

Amelia gave a satisfied nod, then turned to Zel.

“I’ll go along. I have no reason not to,” he said bluntly.

“Master Zelgadis is in, then! And Master Gourry probably isn’t thinking very deeply about any of this, so he’ll agree out of hand.”

“Sure will!”

Don’t prove her right, Gourry!

“So it’s settled, right?” she asked with a pleased smile.

“Shouldn’t we at least confirm the rumors first?” I questioned.

“Don’t be naive, Lina!” she countered. “There is a plot afoot! My justice sense tells me so! That means we have no time to waste confirming things! We must root out this intrigue at once!”

“How, pray tell?” I interjected numbly. “If we want to go straight to the source, we should head for the palace. The best thing to do would be to meet this general and feel him out ourselves... but you don’t have the clout to get us an audience, and sneaking in is probably out of the question. None of the palace folks I talked to would confirm or deny anything, either...”

“Uh... hmm.” Amelia folded her arms pensively.

“How about we get arrested on purpose?” Gourry offered up—the stupidest idea yet. “We’ll start some kind of ruckus in town and let ourselves get arrested. Then we’ll get to meet the general in charge of the guard, right?”

Hahh... I found myself sighing. “Okay, let’s say we get arrested and get to meet the general... You really think he’ll answer our questions then? He’ll see us as common criminals!”

“Well... still...” Gourry mumbled.

Still what?

“That might be just the thing!” Amelia exclaimed.

C’mon, girl... Not you too!

“We’ll get arrested to infiltrate the palace, then break out of our cells and find indisputable proof of the plot!”

“Except if we don’t find anything, we’ll look even guiltier!” I argued.

“Huh?!” My words briefly silenced her, but it wasn’t long before she was clenching both hands in front of her chest once more. “Justice always prevails! That means we will find proof!”

Oh, for the love of...

“Again, this is all based on rumor, you guys,” I reiterated with another big sigh. “It very well may be that this stuff about some mystery general running amok in the palace is totally made up.”

“But Master Zelgadis said that he really is recruiting soldiers and sorcerers...”

“Which could just be a new general’s way of changing up the ranks. And even if it’s true he’s been reaching out to the dragons and elves, maybe he’s trying to prevent an attack by the demons of Kataart rather than trying to launch an attack on them. And if that’s the case, it’s the kingdom’s business. Not our place to interfere.

“I agree that if a new general is spurring the king into a reckless war, someone should do something about it... But you don’t just step in without good reason to think that the rumors are true. Once you have that, then you go searching for proof. In other words, our first job is to do a little preliminary investigating.

“If they’re sending messengers to the dragons and elves, they need someone who speaks those languages. And if they’re teaching soldiers black magic, they need sorcerers. In either case, the sorcerers’ council here should know more. If we’re going to investigate, we should go to them and any local info brokers.”

“Then you and I will hit up the sorcerers’ council, while Master Gourry and Master Zelgadis will ask around the city, right?!” Amelia demanded.

I sighed to myself once more.

Another fine mess they’ve gotten me into...

Two days later, I hit unexpected pay dirt.

“Are you Lina Inverse?” came a voice out of the blue.

I looked up to see two fully armored soldiers standing behind me. All eyes in the sorcerers’ council library turned swiftly on the three of us.

“Nope,” I said plainly. Nothing good could come of this. My best option was to throw them off and slip outta here ASAP.

“I believe that you are,” the soldier protested, unfooled and unfazed by my insisting he had the wrong gal.

Ugh. What a bunch of sourpusses...

For the past two days, Amelia and I had been doing research here at the sorcerers’ council. Amelia was charged with asking around, while I was scouring their records. That of course meant I wasn’t investigating current events, but rather poring over tomes of old knowledge for scraps of demon-fighting wisdom...

The hitch was that the sorcerers’ council had a visitor’s log. Someone must have seen my name written therein. No point in denying it, I guess.

“Okay, so I am,” I broke down and admitted, slamming my book shut.

“Come to the castle with us, won’t you?”

Yup, thought so... These guys were geared like royal knights. I’d sort of expected something like this to happen... meaning the real question was what they wanted with me.

“What’s this all about?” I asked.

“We were asked to bring you in and told that you would be here. Nothing more,” he answered rather plainly.

Interesting... These guys’ straightforward demeanor actually made it harder for me to protest. If he’d said something like, “You don’t need to know,” I could have weaseled my way out of it with a line like, “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why.” But now I couldn’t raise a fuss about how this was fishy without the people around us thinking I was fishy.

In other words, they had me. I figured I might as well go along without making a scene.

“...Okay. I’ll come with you, but I need to let my companion know I’m going. She’ll get worried if I just disappear.”

“All right, fine. Make it snappy,” the guard replied grumpily.

I returned my book to its rightful place on the shelf, exited the library, and went looking for Amelia. The soldiers followed close behind, but I couldn’t exactly complain about that.

I wandered all around, until eventually...

“Lina?!” In fact, she was the one who found me. She took one look at me, then at the soldiers behind me, and shouted, “What did you do this time?!”

“Hey! Don’t make me out to be the guilty party here! They wanna take me to the castle for some reason, so I figured I’d play along.”

“Play along, huh?” Amelia scowled. “Are you sure about this? You don’t want me to come with you?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” I replied with a light wave of my hand. “If they try anything funny, I’ll just bust up the castle and escape.”

“Hey!” one of the soldiers objected, understandably angry.

“Chill, man. That’s only if you try any funny business. I would never unleash holy terror against folks on the up-and-up.”

“Hmph,” the soldier grunted, but was otherwise silent. Obviously, he couldn’t tell me not to go on a rampage even if things did get shifty.

“Anyway, Amelia, just let the others know what’s up. Now, boys, let’s be off!” I said breezily enough, turning my back on a worried-looking Amelia.

As I walked through the front gate, I was greeted by an expansive green lawn. At the end of a white flagstone path stood a large, staid, yet sturdy-looking palace made of dark stone. The lawn, encircled by castle walls, was dotted with standalone buildings and annexes. To my left, rows of knights were doing drills led by what I could only guess was the captain of the guard.

“This way,” the soldiers insisted, leading me away from the drilling knights to a rather large standalone building. There were a few scattered soldiers posted around it.

I’d been part of a setup like this before. The whole thing stank of an enemy ambush.

“We brought Lina Inverse!” one of my escorting soldiers proclaimed once we reached the building’s entrance.

“Let her in,” a voice replied.

“Sir!” the soldier responded, then pulled open the door.

Inside was a generously sized room, outfitted to host meetings. Three men sat at the large table at its center. One of them was dressed like a sorcerer. He was a rather funny-looking man in early old age. The other two looked like military men: one rough and middle-aged, the other young and handsome.

“So you’re Lina Inverse, are you?” the coarser-looking military man asked with a beaming smile as he rose from his seat. “I’ve heard all about you. It’s an honor to meet you. I do hope you’ll forgive us for calling you here so abruptly.”

His manner was as friendly as could be. Not... exactly what I was expecting.

“Serving as general to the Kingdom of Dils, I’m Rashart.”

“What?!” I shouted before I could think.

Rashart blinked in surprise, asking, “Is there something odd about my name?”

“Er... No, of course not. I just used to know someone with the same name, is all...” I covered hastily.

For real, though! If you wanna pull the rug out from under a girl, just let her know the absolute gentleman in front of her is the guy she suspected of being an evil mastermind! Life can sure throw some mean curveballs...

“Now then, Mistress Lina, allow me to tell you why I summoned you here. I have a favor to ask. Won’t you have a seat?” General Rashart invited.

I did as he suggested, taking the chair across the table from the three men. The soldier closed the door behind me.

“As I’m sure you already know... to the north of the Kingdom of Dils lie the Kataart Mountains, home to demons,” the general began once I was seated. “You could say we’re under constant threat of attack. We’ve been spared a major invasion so far, but that doesn’t mean such a thing will never happen. Yet in spite of this eventuality, the kingdom’s preparations for it have been painfully underwhelming.”

One of the soldiers brought drinks, but I passed. Just in case they were, y’know, drugged or something.

“All they’ve done is build a small fortress near the mountains and station men there as lookouts. While they may be able to stop the occasional local loose cannon from storming into Kataart, they can do nothing to stop demons from coming the other way. The best they could do would be to send a soldier to the city with a warning. They don’t stand a chance of holding off demons themselves.

“This got me thinking... what if we could teach the men magic for exactly that purpose?” There, the general paused for a moment and cast a glance at the old sorcerer. “Of course, we went to the local sorcerers’ council for aid. The vice chairman here has taught us a great deal, in fact. But there are certain things about attack spells one cannot grasp except from a mentor with ample field experience.

“And it just so happened that someone caught sight of your name in the visitor’s log at the council library. Your reputation precedes you. Surely you have some experience fighting demons. That’s why I’ve called you here. So... what do you say? Would you teach our soldiers some practical attack spells?”

“Gee... well...” I folded my arms in thought. This wasn’t at all what I’d been expecting. My gut feeling had been that, once we were alone, General Rashart would reveal himself to be a demon, show his true form, and detail his deepest, darkest plans in cackling excess... after which Gourry and the others would come running to my aid, having somehow figured out what was going on. “Kinda going off-script here,” I muttered.

“Script?” the general asked, somehow managing to overhear.

“Huh? Er, just kidding. There’s no script... Now, I don’t have any particularly urgent travel plans at the moment, but I can’t exactly say I’m not busy. I’d rather not get tied down here. I’m not traveling alone either, so...” I quickly tried to cover.

“Oh, I would never dream of keeping you for long,” the general assured me, waving both hands. “A month... No, a week. If that’s too much, just two or three days would suffice. Of course, I don’t expect you to teach the men all the ins and outs of casting in such a short time. Just give them pointers on what to watch out for, what demons are really like, how they tend to fight... that sort of thing.”

“Well, still...”

I took a minute to think about this. Let’s say Rashart actually turned out to be a demon or something nasty like that. If he wanted to lure me into the castle and get my guard down, stringing him along to expose him later might not be the worst idea in the world. And let’s say he turned out to just be some harmless old general. If all he really wanted was what he was asking for... Well, it was a noble enough position, but I had no intention of sticking around and being a teacher forever. That said... two or three days might not be so bad.

At any rate, I couldn’t do this without first letting the others know. Amelia in particular would be convinced the evil general kidnapped me if I didn’t come back. Heck, she might even storm the castle herself.

“My companions are in town, so I should probably get back and discuss this with them,” I explained.

“I can’t allow that.”

“Oh?” The general’s stark protest made me raise an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“We’re keeping this information from the general public for now,” he replied calmly. “Our plan is meant purely as a measure against demons, but there are those who would interpret our actions as preparation for war against another kingdom. To avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding and panic, I’d like to keep this private until everything is in place. Thus, I must ask you to refrain from sharing what you’ve learned. Of course, I wouldn’t mind you discussing this with your companions if they can promise to keep it a secret... But not in the city.”

Hmm... Okay, fair enough.

“So, given the circumstances, would you mind if I summoned your companions here? I’ll send messengers to retrieve them, so I invite you to wait here in the meantime.”

“Well, in that case... don’t mind if I do,” I said, nodding in agreement.

“Here you are.”

I’d been shown to a room within one of the standalone buildings. It wasn’t particularly luxurious, but it was perfectly adequate for guest quarters. It was reasonably sized, and furnished with a bed, a black oak table in the center with a pitcher of water on it, and two chairs.

“We’ll call you when your companions arrive. Until then,” the soldier who guided me said, closing the door behind him as he left.

I listened as his footsteps drew farther and farther away... until silence fell over the room.

“Whew,” I sighed, flopping down on top of the bed. Pretty comfy, if I do say so myself.

But what the heck is going on here? I turned the question over in my head as I lay on the bed, watching the ceiling...

Before long, footsteps approached. It seemed way too soon for the gang to be here... I sat up and looked toward the door. In a matter of moments, the footsteps halted in front of it. Then there was a soft, metallic clank from the other side.

Crap! They locked me in?! I sprang to my feet, but just then...

“Heh heh heh... this will be the end of you, Lina Inverse,” came a voice from all around me. One I’d never heard before.

And then... Fwooooom! An explosion shook the room! Dust billowed around me as the stone wall collapsed inward!

Everything went dark.

Eventually, the shaking quieted down. I couldn’t sense anyone nearby anymore.

“Blergh! Ack!” While choking on the lingering dust cloud, I got to my feet in the center of the now-trashed room.

Just as the blast had rocked the place, I’d dived underneath the oak table with a freshly cast wind barrier. I’d chanted it while whoever was outside stopped to lock the door and declare their victory.

The durability of the table and my wind barrier—as well as perhaps a slight targeting miscalculation on the enemy’s part—had been my salvation. I was completely unscathed, but...

So this really was a trap, huh?

I hadn’t heard one word of an incantation from outside the door. The blast came immediately after their petty proclamation of triumph. The only beings in this world that could cast spells without a chant were demons.

Was General Rashart one after all? Either way, my top priority right now was getting the heck outta here! Fortunately, the blast had blown open the outer wall, so I had an easy exit.

Now, to regroup with the gang...

I stepped through the hole in the wall and out onto the lawn. I could see soldiers coming my way from a distance. I knew I couldn’t let them catch me, but I also couldn’t just knock around a bunch of innocent mooks who probably weren’t in on the plot. In other words, time to make tracks! I began to chant a fast-flight spell...

“You’re still alive?!” hissed a voice from on high.

I quickly looked up to see a figure floating in the air above me. Obviously, it wasn’t human... Its form was humanlike in size and shape, but its body was as black as charcoal, twisted and warped, with a single spot of white for a face. On it were two wide-open eyes and two blood red streaks down each cheek. Yup, totally a demon!

Is this General Rashart’s true form?! I wondered, but the voice wasn’t right. This floating figure sounded exactly like the voice I’d heard in my room.

To be fair, powerful demons could change their appearances to look exactly like humans... Changing their voices probably wasn’t too much of a stretch.

At any rate, this development forced me to shift gears. I’d have to bust my way out now!

“Then this time... I won’t show any mercy!” the demon hissed, and a moment later, countless pale white orbs appeared around it. “Die!”

With that command, the balls of light began raining down around me!

“Waaagh!” I quickly took off in a run.

Vwoosh! One orb exploded behind me. All right, I’d managed to dodge the opening attack! I kept running at full tilt, heading for the castle’s front gate.

“You won’t escape!” the demon cried, releasing more balls of light.

They tore through the ground, blew out part of the castle wall, and sent innocent soldiers flying! The demon’s orbs were tearing out in all directions, wreaking indiscriminate destruction.

Holy crap! Show a little restraint, dude!

I moved in a zig-zag pattern, dodging the demon’s attacks by a narrow margin, then made a break for the hole the guy had just conveniently made in the wall! Keeping pace, I glanced back over my shoulder to see him doggedly pursuing me.

“I told you, you won’t escape!” the demon railed, conjuring even more balls of light than before.

No... No way!

“Don’t do it!” I shouted as I came to a stop.

But... whether my voice reached him or not, the result was the same. The aimless orbs of light streaked out and turned Gyria City into an inferno.



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