Aarlborg’s famous mushroom stew did not disappoint. Hearty, rustic, and intensely flavorful, it is traditionally made with wild mushrooms and herbs.

―Karla Hahnemann, “Cook Like a Local: Aarlborg,” Epicure Today

Asteria

Quest complete!

Oren, Katja, and Israfel were out of the sewer in less than an hour. They gave the missing pieces to Sofia who used her ancestor’s notes to fix the artifact. It’s a good thing that the legendary shield artifact was self-repairing once all the pieces were put in place and anima was channeled through it.

“It’s whole,” I said.

The artifact was glowing with a soft white light. Complex diagrams had appeared on its surface when Sofia infused it with her anima. I circled the artifact to check the patterns that reminded me of the spell structures in the spiritual plane. I couldn’t read the entire diagram, but I could tell that it was describing a shield spell of immense size. The spell was surprisingly simple, but it would require using an enormous amount of anima.

The artifact had been gathering anima for hundreds of years, so it had enough to power the shield for weeks. The problem was that the person activating the artifact would have to channel vast amounts of anima. Use of the artifact was restricted to Sofia’s bloodline, so she’d have to be the one to do it.

I had a bad feeling about this.

“Sofia, tell me, how many priests activated the shield spell the last time it was used? What happened to them afterward?” I asked.

Sofia looked down at the floor and mumbled something.

“What?!” Katja, who was nearest her, recoiled in horror.

The ELs must have heard her because Uriel and Sariel frowned. Israfel uttered an expletive.

Seraphiel didn’t react except to move closer to me. I could tell from the way his face had gone blank that he was furious with me about something, but now was not the time to quarrel. We had more important things to worry about.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear it,” said Oren.

“Eight priests. They melted,” said Sofia. Her voice was still soft, but we all heard her this time.

“Melted,” I said. That was what happened to a magician’s body when it channeled more anima than it could handle.

“It’s okay,” said Sofia. She was gripping her staff so hard that her knuckles were white. “My mother said that I’m the strongest priest she’s ever heard of. I can do it.”

Alfred spoke for the first time. “Kraej can provide magicians.”

“Only those of the Parian priesthood’s bloodline can use the artifact,” said Sofia. “You’re welcome to try, but it won’t do you any good.”

I knew it was true. I was the only exception to this rule since I derived authority from the goddess.

There wasn’t much to discuss, so we all went back up to the temple. Monsters were expected to start attacking Kraej City in three days. Sofia reluctantly agreed to let more people examine the artifact. She would spend the time before then meditating and studying the spell to activate the artifact.

Since Oren, Katja, and I were civilians, we would stay with Sofia and help her with whatever she needed. The others would return to their posts.

“I’ll walk you out,” I said to Seraphiel. His golden eyes were fixed so intently on my face that I was afraid they were about to bore holes into my skin.

“...” As soon as we exited the temple building, Alfred went on ahead and disappeared into the trees. He must be in a rush to report back to his master.

Uriel, Sariel, and Israfel tactfully kept silent as we walked to the forest’s gate. They attempted to walk ahead of Seraphiel and me, but I ran to catch up to them. Seraphiel looked like he was about to explode, and it might help if there were other people around.

“Why didn’t you call me first?” asked Seraphiel.

“What? Call?”

“Why did you call Magnus instead of me?”

I scratched my head. Why had I done that? “I don’t know. It was still too early in the morning and I didn’t want to wake you. Besides, I didn’t call Magnus; I called the private Kraej hotline.”

“Why didn’t you call me after that?”

“Eh? They made me promise to keep it a secret.”

“A secret. From me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. He was right, that was thoughtless of me.

“For goodness sake, give the poor girl a break! She was probably scared shitless,” said Sariel. He was wearing yet another outrageous outfit. This one was orange-red.

Thanks for the distraction, Sariel. I’ll remember this. I ran and hid behind him.

Uriel stopped and crossed his arms on his chest. Israfel walked away to give us some privacy.

“Why are you mad at me? I’ve been running around all day trying to save everyone!” I said to Seraphiel.

“You should have called me,” said Seraphiel.

“Oh yeah? You knew where I was. Why didn’t you call me?”

“I did call you, but you weren’t in your apartment.”

“Oh.”

Sariel yawned and said, “Hurry up and forgive her. She apologized, didn’t she? We don’t have time for this.”

Seraphiel bared his teeth in a not-smile.

“Don’t be mad. I have a present for you!” I came out from behind Sariel and gave Seraphiel a piece of paper on which I’d written “I promise I won’t die saving the city.”

“You promise?” Seraphiel’s frown smoothed out a little.

“Absolutely! I one hundred percent guarantee it. By the way, please burn that.” I handed Uriel and Sariel two pieces of paper with writing identical to the one I’d given Seraphiel.

“Good. Don’t do anything reckless,” said Uriel. His unshaven face was thinner than normal, and he looked tired.

“You’re planning something,” said Sariel.

I put a finger to my lips and looked around. Israfel was just ahead of us, and I had no doubt that Magnus had men watching us right now. “I’m going to help Sofia, but I promise it will be fine.”

I handed Seraphiel another note. Written on it was another promise, “Even if it looks like I died, I promise I’m not dead. I’ll be back.”

“No!” Seraphiel’s hand hovered above my shoulders, but he didn’t touch me.

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” I said. I gave Sariel and Uriel notes with the same promise.

“Asteria,” said Seraphiel. All he said was my name but the pleading tone of his voice made Uriel and Sariel look away in embarrassment.

“I swear I can do this. You have something important to do, and I want you to know you don’t need to worry about me.”

“You’re certain?” Seraphiel’s eyes searched mine.

“I’ve never lied to you. Trust me. It’s you guys I’m worried about. Are you gonna be okay?” I turned to Uriel. “How do you feel?”

“I’m good,” said Uriel.

“Alright. I’ll be counting on you to take care of these two.” I took all the notes and handed them to Sariel who burned them to ash with a quick fire spell.

“We’ll be fine,” said Sariel. “I was born for this. Did you know that there will be television crews reporting on the frontlines? The three of us will go down in history as the greatest heroes in a thousand years.”

Sariel was the only one of the three S-class ELs who seemed optimistic. Uriel looked as though he was going to a funeral, and Seraphiel was still looking at me with suspicion in his eyes.

“I might be too busy to watch the news, so please get someone to record it. I wanna watch the best bits later,” I said. “Do I need to worry about you, Ely?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” said Seraphiel.

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” I said. We started walking again.

“I promise,” said Seraphiel. “Now you promise.”

“Yes, I promise,” I said.

I meant it, too. The shield spell wasn’t impossible for me. I’d have to activate it through Sofia, but I was confident I’d be able to save the city. I didn’t reincarnate into this world just to see Seraphiel die in endless waves of monsters.

The entire time we walked, Seraphiel kept asking me to promise I would be fine again and again. I humored him since I wanted him to have some peace of mind when he was fighting later. We stopped at the gates, and I gave them all quick hugs despite the nauseous feeling it gave me.

Then I walked beside Seraphiel and slapped him on the ass. “By the way, have you been working out?”

“I’ve taught him the best exercises for his glutes,” said Sariel.

Seraphiel turned slightly pink.

“I like the results so far. Now I won’t be able to call you ‘flattie Ely’ anymore,” I said.

“Flattie Ely!” Sariel thought it was hilarious.

“But don’t go too far. If you exercise too much your ass will be enormous,” I said.

“What do you mean by too far?” Seraphiel was seriously considering my input about his butt sculpting exercise regimen.

My lips twitched. “You know Thorvaldsen’s sculpture ‘Adon in repose’? That’s the classically ideal body.”

“I see.” Seraphiel nodded. I could tell that he was making a mental note to take a look at the sculpture.

“Oh, and Ely…”

“Yes?” Seraphiel looked down at me.

“If you die, I’ll replace you right away,” I said.

“What?!” Seraphiel froze and stared at me with wide eyes.

Smirking, I said, “I'll date the cutest boys I can find! Think of that before you do anything rash.”

Uriel and Sariel laughed.

“Don’t say that!” said Seraphiel as he was being dragged away by the other two S-class ELs. “I promise I won’t die.”

“Good,” I said. “See you in a few days.”