James Macdonald slowly nodded. “I think I understand your point of view. But… Aren’t you worried about us finding out so much about you? Because, until recently, you were being rather secretive. You barely spoke on our last Quest, and I was questioning my choice of hiring you to help us out with getting rid of that vast horde of Goblins. Well, at least until I saw how you so easily defeated that Four-Armed-Orc. Despite that moment, you led me to believe you didn’t care if Gabriel got killed or not, but then I understood it was a tactic to make the Four-Armed-Orc angry so that he would let go of Gabriel’s foot without harming him. It totally worked, by the way.”
“In Mister Gabriel’s case, it was a dangerous move on my part, and I apologise for that. Please warn me if I ever try something like that. I don’t like to gamble with other people’s lives, but that was the best I could think of at that moment. Well, my latest request to fight those Magical Voids might have sounded a little too dangerous, but I was confident in your Party’s prowess to kill easily the Monsters that would come out of there, and if by any chance anyone got in real danger, I just had to use a lot more of my Magic. As for how much I have already disclosed about myself, it seems I am trusting you and the others way more than I normally do. I hope it’s not a mistake…”
James Macdonald immediately spoke. “By all means, Mister Alex, I think I speak for all of us. We are all glad that you trust us. I hope we never make you regret telling us so much about yourself!”
James then glanced at the female Orc at the back, who was still hiding her face under the hood with Okami riding next to her. “Talking about trust, what are we going to do about Ghar? The servants in Earl Kayden’s house can’t find out what she is, or they will spread the news around. You might think they are all trustworthy, but a female Orc walking around is not something most people will appreciate seeing.”
“I know. That’s why I asked Okami to never leave her side. I think Ghar won’t attack anyone unprovoked, but I don’t want to risk it.”
“Do you really intend to keep her close? Because even if she looks harmless, she is still a Monster.”
Alex pointed with his right thumb at the group at the back. “A long time ago, Mermaids and Fairies were seen with suspicion, and Elfians kept to themselves. Nowadays, we have one of each riding with us. Heck, there are even inter-racial couples everywhere! Who knows, maybe Ghar finds a male to her liking around here, and she gives birth to more intelligent Orcs. Or we may find a way to send her back, or more of her kind may arrive here. There are too many possibilities and too many questions. Maybe Okami is right and Ghar can make a contract with a Spirit that could act as a translator. Either way, I want to have her near, not only because I am curious, but because I am also fascinated. A female Orc and an intelligent one, nonetheless, the first to arrive in this World that collects Magic Orbs and uses two types of Magic. I wonder what we might find out about her World if we could communicate properly with her. Perhaps even find a way to prevent the Magical Voids from appearing forever.”
James Macdonald nodded and went silent, thinking about Alex’s words. He could be right, but he could also be wrong. James took a slow deep breath and decided to keep an eye on that strange Orc, preparing himself for the worst.
After nearly two hours of riding, Alex disguisedly whispered to Shinatobe, “Go to the border of Earl Kayden’s lands ahead and make sure that the strange Security Force doesn’t put a foot inside. Perhaps you can scare them a little, but without revealing to this Party who you really are. If possible, patrol the land to make sure none of them tries to enter from another direction.”
“Sure thing, Master. Kagu-tsuchi will be in charge of your protection. Don’t fail on me, you brat, or I will take your head!”
From Alex’s left ear, Kagu-tsuchi stuttered, “N-no need to t-tell me that! I will protect him!”
The tiny ball of light that was Shinatobe flew at high speed with no one seeing or sensing her.
After almost thirty minutes, the Security Force stopped in front of a line of stones on the ground on the left side of the main road, showing the beginning of Earl Kayden’s lands. In front of them stood Shinatobe in her adult form, with her head covered by a helmet that was also hiding half of her face, a chest plate, a chain cloth bodysuit, leather boots and gloves, and one lightning bolt on each hand, with the tip nearly touching the ground. The ground near the tips of the bolts was completely darkened because of the sparks that kept on coming from them.
She shouted, with so much Magic in her voice, that the horses froze, and the riders went pale, “Who goes there? Who dares approach Earl Kayden’s lands?”
Commander Sebastian Cox answered while staring at the lightning, “We… we are the Security Force of Baron Rowan Harvey. Who are you and why do you stand in our path?”
Shinatobe shouted and raised a little the lightning she was holding. “Stop your questions, fool! You are facing an extremely powerful warrior armed with lightning, and you dare to question me? Do you have a death wish or are you just plain stupid?”
“N-no… I mean, we are escorting Earl Alex Brim… He is a few metres behind…”
Shinatobe lowered the lightning bolts and tilted her head. “You should have said my Master was arriving, you damn fool. Step aside, I must greet him properly!”
Commander Sebastian Cox signalled to his men to go back and, at five metres from that strange woman warrior, they stopped and cleared a path for Alex and his group.
When Alex went through them, Shinatobe immediately dispersed the lightning bolts and put one knee on the ground, surprising the Security Force and everyone else except Alex. “Welcome, Master. Earl Kayden waits for you.”
“Thank you. Make sure these fine members of the Security Force don’t follow us. They are not allowed in Earl Kayden’s lands. Or my own, by the way.”
Shinatobe slowly got up and created her lightning bolts again. She stared at the dumbfounded group and asked, “What shall I do if they dare to trespass, Master?”
“Kill them and vaporise their bodies so that they can never be found, and no one finds out what happened to them.”
“As you wish, Master.”
Alex looked at the pale Commander. “Continue with your patrol, Commander, and don’t forget my warning. Neither of you dares to put a foot here or on my lands, or we will never meet again because you will all be dead.”
Commander Sebastian Cox gulped, “I… must warn my Baron about your warning. He will definitely not be pleased.”
“Like if I care if a mere insect is pleased or not. Do as you like, but try to avoid getting near me again if you continue to work for Baron Rowan Harvey, or the next time we meet will be our last.”
The Commander turned away after a slight bow, and as he was riding back to his Baron, one of his men asked, “Commander, are we going to leave like this? That boy doesn’t know what actual power we now have in Beliersia. We could…”
“We could do nothing, fool! Did you ever see someone creating lightning bolts and using them as swords, just like that? We must return and tell the Baron all of this. That Earl Alex Brim is in for a surprise when he gets to the Chamber of Lords and faces the Baron’s supporters!”
While the Security Force kicked their horses’ sides to make them run at full speed, Alex was staring at them leaving, and James Macdonald was looking at the scary warrior armed with lightning.
The disguised Shinatobe noticed his stare and asked, “You see something you like?”
“N-no… I mean… I am sorry for staring, I am just surprised! I never saw anyone using lightning bolts as weapons!”
Shinatobe answered while looking at the Security Force that was already at a distance, “Now you see. Move along, you are distracting me from my duties.”
James Macdonald tapped his horse’s back and followed Alex. As the others were riding past that strange woman warrior, they kept on staring, but she didn’t move an inch. She kept on looking at the cloud of dust caused by the riders of the Security Force.
At the front, James asked, “Mister Alex, who is that woman? How can she create lightning just like that?”
“She is one of my bodyguards. As for the lightning, I have no idea. When I asked her to teach me that, she laughed and said that I was not worthy of carrying lightning bolts around because they were not mere swords. She then stared at me in such a way that I never asked again. If you make that surprised face just by seeing her, you are in for a couple of surprises with everything around here. Do you mind if we make the horses run? I am rather worried about Earl Kayden.”
James nodded and kicked his horse’s sides, and they all followed his lead. While riding in the direction that Alex pointed out, James couldn’t avoid becoming amazed at the view. They were riding along a paved road since the edge of the dusty main road, which they had been travelling on for a couple of days. An immense cropped wheat field flanked that perfectly paved road on both sides, ready to harvest.
Groups of people waved at them from the sides of the road, as they were carrying utensils and were followed by a long line of open wagons, probably to take care of the wheat.
James Macdonald noticed some weird waggons with wheeled apparatus attached at the back, and he wondered what those could be. He looked at the distance to the left and right, and he could only see wheat everywhere.
The fact that so much grain could be taken from all that wheat would also mean a lot of manual labour. Then, he noticed a high and large hill on the right, near the line of the horizon, with four weird rotative constructions. He made a mental note to ask Alex about that, and also why the open waggons were pulling those strange devices, following just a bunch of people to harvest such an enormous field.
As they were approaching the end of the paved road, James couldn’t prevent the shock. A huge manor could be seen with two levels and full of windows, showing an unbelievable number of rooms. Four gigantic trees were on each side of the manor, and two people were standing in front of the main door. When Alex stopped his horse, a group of young Dog-kind boys came running from the trees from the left side and held the reins of the horses as the group dismounted, taking the horses with them.
Alex gave a slight smile at Suijin and at the elderly woman next to him, who made a slight bow and spoke with a kind voice while smiling at him, “Welcome, Alex. Finally, remorse struck, and you returned! What have you been up to lately, you annoying brat?”
“I am glad to see that old age didn’t make you an angry elder, Miss Olive Andrews! How is life treating you? Still without a husband, I suppose? No wonder, no one would be fool enough to fall in love with you, you nasty old woman!”
Olive Andrews made a weird smile and answered, “I see you still haven’t learned how to treat an elderly woman. Maybe I need to slap your butt again. It seems you already forgot what happened to you the last time you mocked me. You know very well that my life and heart belong to Kayden and no other man deserves to be at my side.”
Alex spoke while hugging her, “I missed you, you mean old woman! How is the Earl?”
“In a pretty good shape, thanks to Suijin here. If I didn’t know, I would have thought that Kayden still had a bunch of years ahead of him, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. He had already said goodbye to everyone who works and lives on his land and thanked them for everything they had done over the years. Come, he is waiting for you in the dining room.”
She then froze and turned to the group that was near them and stared directly at Ghar, who was still hiding her face under the hood, right next to the serious Okami. “Alex… What is that… thing doing here? You made it… your pet or what? Are you stupid? What were you thinking by letting it live? Didn’t I teach you well enough so that you wouldn’t do such a reckless thing?”
“I know what I am doing, Miss Olive, don’t worry. Okami is making sure that Ghar behaves. Try not to look at her so angrily because she might think you are her enemy and attack you.”
Olive Andrews blinked in surprise. “Her… you mean it’s a female? How is that possible?”
“Beats me. She is also intelligent, a pretty good fighter, and can use Fire and Water Magic. She is acting friendly until now, so try not to antagonise her before I can find out more about her, okay?”
“I guess… but if she even looks at anyone as if she is about to eat them, I will slice her into tiny pieces!”
Olive Andrews made a slight bow to the curious group. “Welcome to the lands of Earl Kayden Burke. I am the housekeeper and the one in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly in this manor and on the surrounding land. You may address me as Miss Olive Andrews. I don’t care if any of you are a Noble, a commoner, or one of Alex’s friends or servant. You will all give me the proper respect I deserve and do everything I tell you to do without questioning me, understood?”
Anika Wright shrugged. “I don’t mind being polite to the elderly, but doing everything you say without questioning, that’s a little too much, no?”
Alex closed his eyes because he knew what was coming. He got a slap on his head, and then he heard a body falling to the ground a few metres ahead. He rubbed his head and stared at Anika Wright, who was a complete mess on the ground, with her body in a weird position and completely knocked out.
Everyone looked at Miss Olive Andrews, who was rubbing her right fist when she asked, “Anyone wants to say something stupid, or was it just that rude overgrown fish? No? I thought so. As for you, Alex, if one of them answers me back again, get ready for your well-deserved punishment for not warning them in advance. Got it? Someone grabs that stupid Mermaid before I call someone to throw her out.”