Chapter 6 “Reunion”

Sound of people rushing could be heard all around me as I walked back to my home. Some brought out feeling of exhaustion while others feeling of excitement. The scent around them also varied. Some has the scent of sun and soil. Probably from working their hardest in the field. Some has the smell of charcoal and fire. Maybe from either cooking or toiling in the front of the smithy. While others have the smell that I couldn’t really exactly point my finger at. It was a testimony of the many kinds of livelihood the townspeople have. It was an experience I quite enjoy every time I walk back to my home.

But for some reason, today’s experience is not as pleasant as usual. The reason is because of my conversation with the two ladies of the house of Reystone. Instead of just enjoying the whole lot of variety of sensation I could sense around me, I unconsciously put more effort in trying to detect something that is out of place. Something that could give any of us any kind of lead of some sort. Because of that, I was far from relaxed while walking home. Although I doubt my appearance was different from my usual one, I could feel my body tensed up, getting ready to react as soon as possible in time when I caught something suspicious.

Unfortunately– or fortunately, depending on how you see the situation–, I’ve not discovered a single sign of change in the crowd of people I swam through. It was as if the whole thing about the royal family sudden visit and the strange remains we found at the forest was nothing but a mere dream. Actually, if you think about it, there is no need to tell the town’s folks about those matters at this point. It will only bring confusion and panic for the whole town, which is the last thing we want.

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh after contemplating on those thoughts of mine. As I walked toward my house, I kept my using my walking cane to help me travel safely. Each time the cane hit the ground, the ‘view’ of my surrounding reappeared in my mind. As usual, the nearer I get into the vicinity of my house, the quieter it gets. It is very understandable since the location of my house is quite secluded. Only a couple of people lived in my neighborhood, which includes my ever spirited neighbor Bardo.

For many people, walking in this empty and quiet street is a feat they want to avoid at all cost. But for me, my everyday walk across the empty street is a very relaxing and soothing part of my day. I could thoroughly enjoy the quiet atmosphere, resting my senses along the way. As a one who used the hearing sense most of the day, this quiet time let me relieved the fatigue on my ears.

“Hmm?” A new sound entered my ears? I kept my pace while focusing my ears once again. At first, I thought I heard something entered my surrounding, but whatever it was has already disappeared from my hearing reach. Or was there actually nothing in the first place at all?

I put aside that thought and just continued my journey back home. As I finally arrived at my front door, I pushed the door and entered the house. I then closed the door behind me and then climbed upstairs. But unlike the usual, I kept my walking cane with me. The reason for that? I will surely found the reason soon enough.

I let a grin crept onto my face as I stopped walking and stood right at the center of the room. I tapped my cane several times, making a clear ‘view’ inside my mind. Although without doing that, I was convinced enough at the condition of my house. And with that out of the way, I moved on to my next move.

“My, my, my.” I muttered with a calm voice. “You do know, if you were trying to set an ambush, you are still in needs of some more training. And I mean, a lot more.” After I said that, no response came.

I tapped my walking cane several times on my wooden floor, making a slight hollow sound each time it hit it. Each time the ‘view’ came onto my mind a slight change could be noticed. I let my grin wider as I relaxed my body. I walked toward one of the chair in my living room and pulled it to the center of the room. I took a seat and then put my walking cane in front of me, supporting myself with my hands on that cane.

“Really now, if you can’t make a proper ambush against a blind man like me, I wonder how you will fair again a normal opponent. You’ll lose your life in an instance, you know?” Once again, only silence reply to me. I tapped my finger onto my cane several times, creating a constant sound. “At least you have a good head in your shoulder to not give in to my provocation. But then again, I guess that is understandable as one of the elite squad under his leadership.”

I let out a chuckle after saying that. My chuckle resounded in my house.

“Unfortunately, I am a bit tired today, so I want to apologize for ending this little game of yours.” I then leaned forward and then shifted my whole weight onto my walking cane. A slight warmth could be feel traveling from my hand onto my cane. As it hit the tip of the cane, a slight rumbling in the air happened. It was just a minuscule change, but, I assure you, the effect will be tremendous.

The air around me stiffened as if the wind refused to enter my house from the open window. The relaxing air around me has also disappeared. It was replaced by a more threatening atmosphere one would usually encounter in the battlefield before all hell breaks loose.

Then all of a sudden a very quiet moan of pain could be heard from somewhere in my house. I let out another grin after hearing that very low and easy to miss voice. I guess that means my action has taken its desired effect. With that, I need to get to my next plan. What’s that? Standing up.

Just as I stood up, a ‘click’ sound entered my ear. I swung my cane toward the direction of the sound and an object was repelled immediately by my cane. Judging from the sound it made, the object was a sword. The length is probably not longer than my cane, so it can be considered a short sword. As I hit the sword on the hilt, a groan could be heard from my mysterious attacker as they took a step back from me.

“Hoo?” I let out my voice as I noticed a few more presences appeared around me. “My, my, my. Five against one?” I chuckled at the situation I’m in. Contrary to what an ordinary person would react, I didn’t get tense or nervous. In fact, it somehow relaxed my body. Maybe it because I could finally noticed the presences all around me clearly. Although, I think there might be more than the ones at the moment.

“I’m flattered that you deemed it necessary to use so many people to…subdue me? I don’t know your reason, though. So I thought that is your objective.”

After saying that, I could hear a few metallic sound all around me. From what I noticed, there were at least seven different sources of sound. I tapped my cane rapidly without making myself looked suspicious and I could ‘see’ my attacker.

Just as I noticed before, there were indeed five of them. Judging from their rate of heartbeats, two of them are probably female. They were armed lightly, an evident that they were trying to avoid frontal conflict against me. Two of them are wielding dual dagger while the other three are using short sword. From what I can ‘see’, all five of them wear light outfit that prioritized ease of movement and also easy concealment than protection. In other words, those five are either a group of scouts, spies, or assassins. No wonder they were able to conceal their presence nicely. But all of their efforts were wasted as soon as I tweaked the atmosphere around me.

Remembering that, I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. And it seemed that my chuckle angered them as four of them have a notable increase in their heartbeats, a sign of getting anger. Of course, the one that attacked me the first time had the most increase rate of heartbeats, an evidence of her–yes, the first attacker is a female one– being rather a hot headed one. Not exactly what I can say a good trait to have for this line of job.

“My, my, my.” I shook my head several times. “You lot are far from calm now, aren’t you?” I provoked them further. “You’re going to make your mission a lot harder for you, you know? Ah, that’s it!” I then placed my walking cane way, leaning it on to the chair. “Now that would make it easier, right? What a terrible host am I to make my guest have a hard time? I should have known better.” I let out a wide grin that I’m sure made me looked creepy. This time, the last one that had stayed calm has a notable increase of heartbeats and also emitting a sheer amount of bloodlust. As for the other four, I can proudly say that my provocation has successfully changed their mind from angry to pure fury. A success I am proud of, if I may say so myself.

“Five armed warriors against one unarmed blind man. This is a sight to be seen, don’t you agree? But then again, I don’t have eyes to see.” I laughed a little at my own joke. Apparently they don’t approve of my joke as their anger keep rising and rising each time I open my mouth. Sheesh, what an emotional group they are. “So yes, let’s do this quickly. I’m a bit tired, so if you don’t want to start the fight,” I widened my smile while tilting my head to the side, “I’ll be one to start it.”

My opponents just stood there with their weapon pointed at me, ready to attack. But it seemed their mind have stopped them to do anything except standing there. My patience grew thin as they were hesitating. Why do you even hesitate even after getting it this far? You’ll die a dog’s death if you hesitate for a single second in this line of work. With my impatience and disappointment mixed together, I opened my mouth.

“NOW!!!” The moment I shouted at them, they all lunged forward at me at the same time. Ugh, why are you even falling for that? I’m not your leader, you know? I’m your target. Sheesh.

I kept clicking my tongue to keep my ‘view’ as clear as possible. One of them has managed to get closer to me the fastest. He brought his sword behind him and readied himself to throw a slash at me. But before he could do that, I surprised him by instead of trying to position myself to avoid it, I jumped straight at him. With the center of my body lowered, I smashed his unprotected chin with an opened palm. The hit has made a clean strike and left him thrown backward and the sound of his weapon thrown rang at the same time.

I caught his sword mid-air and then turned my body around. With an upward swing, the sword managed to hit my second opponent’s weapon. A loud and crisp metallic sound was made as the two steel made contacts with each other. The collision has made his sword thrown upward while mine downward. I smiled at this result, which I noticed made my opponent confused and suspicious evident from the change of beat from his heart. While my hand was still in motion, I let go of the sword and then pushed my elbow straight at his chest.

He managed to lessen the damage by quickly stepping away from me. But that action of his has made him changed his center of balance, meaning that I can get him to lose his balance with a single clean strike. And a clean strike I delivered by extending my previous arm landed directly to his face. After a shirt groan, he then fall and hit the floor quite hard, making a rather loud noise as his body made impact. A sound of his sword being thrown out of his hand and embedded into the floor next to him entered my ear and told me that I have managed to put two out five fighters out of the stage.

All of a sudden, a very thick and intense amount of bloodlust struck me from my side. I slid to my side, evading the strike. The only damage the strike able to give to me was a wind that hit my face. I hit the arm of my current opponent, disabling her in an instance. I then grabbed her immediately and without waiting for her to realize what had happened, I turned around and then using my back as a leverage I flipped and threw her onto the direction of one of my attacker as I sensed him trying to attack me. It seemed both of them were too late to notice what had happened and the sound of impact could be heard as two bodies collided with each other. They were propelled backward only to stop as they hit the wall.

Unfortunately, I have no time to rest as I heard rapid footsteps coming from behind me. The sound of object being thrown in succession entered my ear. I quickly picked up the previously dropped sword near me and then slashed away the dagger that is trying to hit me. A crisp sound resounded followed by the sound of the dagger stabbed in to the wall of my house. Realizing that my weapon has been distanced away from the center of my body, the last attacker tried to utilize it and rushed toward me. I smiled at the perfectly ordered plan of hers. Unfortunately for her, as soon as she got into my reach, I flipped backward while kicking my legs upward, hitting her straight in the chin. That action of mine not only made me able to avoid her attack, but also made her lost her balance. I threw the sword in my hand at her and she managed to parry it out of the way, only to let her defense opened.

As our role switched, I rushed toward her. In a split second, I grabbed her hand that was using the dagger and then threw her into the ground while my other hand was placed onto her slender neck. A slight groan of pain accompanied the sound of her hitting the floor below me. As I tightened my grip on her arm, she let go of the dagger, letting it drop and producing clinking sound as the blade hit the floor. With that, my last attacker was subdued.

“Aren’t you going to help your subordinate?” I said that without taking my focus off my last attacker. “You are lucky I’m not in the mood of shedding others blood at the moment.”

A moment of silence was the only reply to my question. But after a few seconds, a voice answered me.

“Since when did you notice me?” The question was delivered with a rather gruff voice. I grinned as I finally got a response, although it was barely audible.

“The moment I shout, your heartbeats changed and give away your presence in a split second.” I then released my grip on the poor fighter on the ground, letting yet another groaning voice from her followed by a slight coughing. I stood up and then walked calmly toward the chair. I picked up my walking cane and then take a seat. “Now are you going to introduce me to your friend or subordinate or…I don’t know. What do you call them?”

“They are called Shades.” Unlike before, the gruff voice sounded much clearer. After that, a hollow sound came from the floor as I noticed the presence walked closer to me.

A very slight fluttering sound of fabric and clinking sound came from the figure. Those sounds were almost impossible to be noticed. I could only do that because I have a honed my hearing sense much more than an ordinary person would. Against my sharpened sense, the fact that it was still barely audible was a testimony of how proficient the figure is at concealing his presence. Truly a magnificent skill that’s not an average person could possess.

“Shades, eh?” I tapped my cane as I let the word rolled out of my tongue. “Moving in the dark shadow, concealing oneself, both in sound and appearance. Blending completely into ones surrounding.”

“Precisely.” Then the walking sound stopped right in front of me. In a split second, the hard to detect presence flickered and appeared completely in my ‘view’, as if removing its protective layer in one swift motion. “It is nice to see you again, Nerva.”

“Likewise, Reiyes. How you’ve grown.” I shifted my weight to the chair as I leaned back in a relax manner. “The last time I see you, you were still undergoing a strict training. But then again, I couldn’t really see. Well, you get the meaning.” I smiled at his direction after I said one of my usual jokes.

“As usual, your jokes still remain the same.” The gruff voiced man spoke with a hint of irritation. Was he irritated by my joke or was that his usual way of speaking?

“So what brings you here to see this blind fellow?”

“Before we continue, can I ask you to release your influence first? My personnel are still affected by it.”

“Hah! If they couldn’t get pass that simple trick, how could they do their job?” I let out a laugh at him. “Surely you’re joking, Reiyes?”

“I’m not. I ask you to lift that influence of yours, Nerva.”

“And if I don’t lift it?”

“I will convince you to do it.” His tone became serious. I could also feel some pressure from his figure. “One way or another.”

“Really now?” I smiled at his action and words. It seems following his action is not a bad idea. “Then should I also convince you to accept my decision? Whatever it is?” After saying that, the two of us didn’t say anything. But I could feel a lot more pressure coming from him. My smile widened as I also increase my own in this little duel of ours.

A few minutes passed. None of us were showing any sign of giving up any time soon. I could feel the air became much stiffer than before. The wind has definitely stopped blowing into my house. Silence filled the house. But then a low groan came into my ear. I traced the presence and found that all five of my previous opponents were on the ground, writhing in pain. It seemed that our little game has made them feel much worse than simply uncomfortable.

Fortunately, I also noticed that Reiyes had realized the same thing. Because of that, the two of us put down the pressure we have been releasing onto the air. Immediately after that, the stillness on the air dissolved, returning the atmosphere to normal. Sound of coughing and also a slight groaning came from all around us. Following that, I could also hear some thumping sound that came from the other five. It seemed that they were slowly gathering their strength. At that, I couldn’t help but letting out a sigh.

“So, care to tell me the purpose of this late visit, Reiyes?” I tilted my head to one side while keeping both my hand on top of the cane. “Since I’ve remove the influence of my power, it is fine to start now, isn’t it?”

“…It is now.” I could ‘see’ him looking around to check for his subordinates’ condition. For a short while, his heartbeats returned to normal. “We have been informed that a Marked Soul is being led out of his string of fate into a dangerous path.” His voice grew serious again together with his heartbeats that changed from its relaxed state.

“…Marked Soul, is it?” I tapped my cane as I heard that name. “And?”

“It is prophesized that it will meet its demise in this town,” said the man in front of me while pointing downward. “And the time for that is also not long from now. They have sent for some Watcher to deal with it.” It’s been a while since I heard the term Marked Soul and Watcher.

Marked Soul is a term for a soul that has been, just as its name, marked by a powerful entity. The entity in question might be a demon, angel, god, or goddess. As long as they have power against soul, which is a power that is in the domain of the immortals, they can mark a soul. The reason for marking a soul is also various. One might become one because the owner of the soul in question has a very complicated history with the one who marked it. The complicated history might be that the soul has established a very genuine love relationship or it might be the opposite; it has a strong hatred for each other. Those two examples were the rarer kind of reason.

Usually the reason is just simply because the immortal being has taken a liking or interest to the soul. They will usually marked the soul and then alter their fate to make it interesting to watch. Most of the time the immortal beings would only direct the soul without interfering right away, although some cases has them live together with the soul in question, making it much more interesting for them. For them, rather than just watching their live unfold like watching a theatrical show, diving into the soul’s life will be the same as playing the role together with the soul they have marked. They will sometimes be their allies while other times they will play the role of their rival and enemy.

Because of having their thread of fate interfered, the Marked Soul’s fate is much fragile than a regular being’s fate. Besides being fragile, their soul of a marked on usually gave a very unique characteristic to their body. Powerful magic capability, charming aura, incredible wisdom. Those were only a few examples of what unique ability a Marked Soul could possessed. With the combination of a fragile fate and unique characteristic that could make them become a target of attention, it was not an exaggeration to say that a Marked Soul attract trouble more than it could actually handle. But whatever the trouble is, the soul should never be destroyed or it will change the balance of the world.

The one who is tasked to watch after those souls when their fate is skewed is simply called Watcher. They are also beings who held Marked Soul inside their body, but they have a higher stability in their own thread of fate. The reason for that particular condition varied for each individual. Some is because they are simply abandoned by their marker after being deemed not amusing anymore while others are because they have finished the task they have given or any other reason. The list for those reasons is endless. Although the ones who marked those souls could intervene directly, for the purpose of their own selfish amusement, most prefer to be in the sidelines, watching their ‘actors’ play their own story. But in some extreme cases, a direct approach is needed. For the ones who already play an active role in their soul’s fate, they can just delve into the world and fix whatever is wrong. For others, they choose Watcher to deal with the problem. I and Reiyes are one of those individuals.

“…Are you the only Watcher sent to this task?”

“No.” He shook his head slightly. “There is another one besides me.”

“I see.” I nodded at him. “Before we continue, a question from me. When did you arrive?”

“I, no, we arrived just this evening, Nerva.” After hearing that, I couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh full of resignation. It seems my fear has become a reality. “From your reaction, you seem to know the other party.”

“Sadly…I have a hunch. Is the other party the bearer of Igneous Hatchet?” Reiyes nodded at my question. Ugh, it’s her.

“The bearer of Igneous Hatchet, Cyrielle Natine. That…fellow.” Reiyes then let out a sigh too. It seemed that our opinion on her is on the same. “I am actually not that surprised to why I, no, we are paired with her. It’s just that working together with her is rather…tiring.”

So it is an official order that I have to work with them, eh? Can’t really say that I’m glad with the composition of the team, but I guess that’ll do. Although, the fact that three of us is needed to solve this problem is rather…worrying. I guess I’ll set that thought aside for now.

“I agree, Reiyes. I couldn’t agree more with you.” I scratched the back of my head while showing a wry smile. “She is a very troublesome person. Although her ability is indeed not one to mess with, the fact that working together with her tend to be tiring is not something that any of us could deny.”

“May I ask why did you already know it was her? If my memory serve me correct, I’ve never mention her eve once in our short conversation.”

“That fellow…has left a trace of destruction on the outer forest.” I paused for a while to massage my temple as I felt a sudden headache surfaced. “Her action has made the whole town’s security forces in panic.”

“…Unbelievable.” He said that with a tone of disappointment while holding his head. “Utterly unbelievable.”

“So, where is she now?”

“She is currently…hunting for prey.”

“Hunting for prey? What do you–oh, no. Don’t tell me.” I put my hand on my face, clearly not amuse of what he had meant. “Is she in the–“

“Brothel.” Good grief. She never changed. “I met her just before I enter your house. She left right away saying that she is not fond of waiting.” Typical. “I suggest that you go fetch her.” I raised my eyebrow at his suggestion.

“And why should I do that? You have more men than me. Send one of them to fetch her.”

“Nerva, the number of my personnel for now is very limited. I also need to place each of them in their position as soon as possible to know the current situation of this town and also report to me each change that happened. I will not risk losing a single one of them to that dangerous fellow.” Hate to admit it, Reiyes’ argument was very correct and wise. Even in the worst scenario, I am far than enough to handle her. I just…don’t want to clear up her mess. Ugh, just great.

“…Fine, fine.” I stood up and faced him again. “Before that, would you like a review of our previous…practice?”

“…A review, is it?” He then glanced back to look at the five fighters that have made a neat line behind him. Each and every one of them had a sudden increase of heartbeats as soon as Reiyes gaze landed upon them. It was a very understandable reaction seeing that they have been subdued effortlessly by a single blind man in a five to one battle. “I would be very grateful for that.” After saying that, he step aside and the five Shades from before step forward to his previous position after he beckoned them. I approached the first one.

“You are too easy to fall into one’s provocation.” I said to the Shade that attacked me the first as I pointed my walking cane to him. “Be calmer next time.”

I then moved onto the next one. It was the girl that used dual dagger that was unfortunate enough to be thrown to her comrade. “Too many unneeded movement. Train your technique. And you,” I pointed to the next one, which was the target of my previous throw, “need to react quickly. You are simply too slow.”

As I moved onto the fourth one, which is the one that follow the attack of the first Shade, I tapped my chin. “You…are too blood thirsty. Cover that up and you’ll do yourself and your comrade a favor the next time. “

I then moved onto the last person standing. She was none other than the dual wielding Shade that threw her dagger at me. I made a smile as I face her. That reaction made her heartbeats rate increased. I could also sense a rather anxious and worried feeling coming from her. “I presumed you are the leader of this small group?” She nodded. I guess Reiyes really drilled into them to avoid talking as best as possible. In this case, nodding was clearly enough to answer my question.

“Your own movement, speed, and willpower, I have neither complaint nor compliment. But your leadership is an utter disaster. If that was a real battle, you’ll lose not only your life, but also your comrade’s life in a split second.” She nodded again. “Good, regardless of what the result, you are good and seasoned warrior. I can see that. Well, since I can’t really see, let’s just rephrase it to I can assure you on my word.” I turned around, making them face my back. “But you really need much more experience and training to even lay a single hit on me. Much, much more .”

After I said that, I could ‘see’ that each and every one of the Shade gave a slight bow and then walked away, concealing their presence once again. But sadly for them, those small and almost non-existence presences they unable to conceal were more than enough for me to locate them.

“I guess that is all then, Nerva.” This time, I could sense Reiyes preparing to hide his presence from the world. “I will contact you after we’ve set up our net in this town.”

“Understood. I’ll go fetch her and drag her here even if she was in the middle of something.”

“I’ll be grateful for that, Nerva.” And after that, his presence completely vanished. No matter how much I tapped my cane, no trace of him could be found. I also noticed that the other five Shades’ presence had also vanished completely. It seemed that he use his own presence to hide them. Marvelously done, if I may say so myself. That Reiyes truly is a master in the dark.

“Now…next is not something I’m really fond of.” I shook my head at the prospect of seeing her. I guess I have no choice at the moment. I then descended down and then went straight to the door. All I want to do is complete this task as soon as possible. Once again, I put on my coat and then opened the door.

“Nerva?”

“Eh?” There’s someone on the door? And I didn’t realize the presence at all? There’s no way I could miss something like that. Ugh…did he also hide this person’s presence too? Damn you, Reiyes!

“Are you…going somewhere?” This voice?

“…Eryell?” I called the speaker’s name with a visible sign of confusion in my voice. “What are you doing here?”

Author Note:

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