The paladins ended up spotting us two hours before dusk. We were still too far apart for any communication but there was a good spot for the night not far from us. Thus, our caravan was the first to stop, letting the carriages and riders close in. The villagers had set up and the edge of a pond with a few tents, their carts placed behind them. The mercenary cart stood a little closer to the road with Joachim and Cerberos standing ready to hail the Paladins.

Two riders detached from the vanguard and closed in. It looked like both were male but it was difficult to make out under their armour. They wore steel cuirass painted red and black, full helmets with a T-opening in front surrounded by a golden border and what seemed like dark leather underneath. Their legs were covered in black boots and shin guards. Their weapons were pikes and swords.

One of them stood back a few steps while the other raised a hand in greeting.

“Hail, travellers. The Cathedral blesses you.”

The voice was a deep baritone.

“Hail!”, Joachim answered, “Thank you, Paladin. Why don’t you join our camp for the night? I’m sure we can exchange some useful information.”

“A tempting offer. Where are you coming from?”

“Greypeak.”

The riders looked at each other. There was a nod and the one standing back returned to the carriages.

“We’ll take you up on that offer”, the remaining Paladin said and dismounted.

He took his horse by the reins and slowly walked forward. Just as he was a few steps away, he took off his helmet. The man was very… normal. Slightly messy dark hair with a rough face that could use a shave. There was a scar running over the corner of his left eye but the expression was friendly and warm. His deep blue eyes scanned the group carefully. They lingered on me for a moment before moving on.

“Greypeak, huh? That’s where we’re headed”, he said eventually.

“I assumed so”, Joachim said, “We heard a squad was dispatched right before setting out.”

“So you’re the… Plains Brigade?”

“Yes. I’m Joachim, the leader. This is Cerberos, my second.”

“Gale”, the Paladin said as they shook hands, “I don’t got much say here so you’ll have to wait for our commander.”

Joachim nodded and they fell into small talk.

Circe leaned over to me.

“He’s so cool!”, she whispered.

I was about to answer but was distracted by the carriages rolling off the road. There were a total of eight riders and two horses each for the three carriages and the cart. They were massive animals made of pure muscle. I was tempted to [Identify] one but held back for the moment.

When the carriages stopped, the riders dismounted and the doors opened. The front and back carriage spewed a few scrawny people in grey robes onto the grass. I heard complaints about hurting buttocks and annoying travel accommodations but one of them just silently stared at me. From the middle carriage came a woman in fancy red armour with gold linings. There was a stylized golden cross with arms of even length on her chest plate with a black pattern in the centre. It was a spiral of thin lines crossed by a large six-pronged star. The tips were surrounded by a circle. Now that I looked closer, the golden cross was on every Paladin’s pauldron as well.

The woman wore no helmet and long red hair spilt out all over her armoured back. She looked to be in her thirties and had a stern look on her face. A sheath hung on her hip, straight and slim. From the end of it poked what I immediately identified as a wand cap. She was a [Thaumaturge] or had one providing her with a wand. The cap was the telling purple of thaumium.

The dismounted Paladins stood at attention as her eyes roamed the assembled group. Behind her, two more people in armour emerged from the carriage. They wore the same armour as everyone else but had a red cloth draped over the front and back, clearly showing the golden cross off once more. They too had wands strapped to their hips.

“At ease”, the woman said. Her voice was soft but clear. At once, the Paladins relaxed and started busying themselves. Tents were set up and gear was taken off. Gale walked up to the woman and saluted.

“Commander. These are the Plains Brigade escorting villagers from Greypeak. They have information for us.”

“Thank you. Dismissed.”

Gale walked off to join the camp preparations as the commander turned to us. She waved over one of the scrawny robed people over. The man that had been staring at me the whole time.

“Pytos, with me.”

Together, they walked up to greet Joachim.

“Honoured Paladin”, Cerberos bowed while the mercenary leader just gave a deep nod.

“Be at ease. I am commander Eternity. You can call me Jane.”

“Miss?”, Cerberos seemed confused.

“Our titles are a bit… overboard. I prefer my name.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Jane. I’m Joachim, leader of the Plains Brigade. Cerberos here is my second. He’s from Cathedral.”

The woman sighed.

“I see. Don’t worry, boy.”

She patted his shoulder.

I looked over at the robed man, Pytos. He was still staring at me. He had not even taken off his eyes as they were walking over. The others were noticing his odd behaviour as well.

“Pytos?”, Jane asked, “What’s wrong?”

Her hand slid to the wand on her hip.

“Huh?”

The man turned to face his commander.

“Oh! Look!”

He pointed at me with a spindly hand.

Everyone’s eyes converged. I tilted my head.

Hoot.

“What do you see?”, Jane asked.

A mad grin spread on his face.

“Warp. A shit ton of warp.”

The commander narrowed her eyes. The next second, I felt a familiar pull on my soul. [Identify]. For a short moment, I thought about shifting behind the cart to break the Skill. But I decided to let her have it and used the Skill on her.

The pull on my soul was stronger than ever. I had only felt this way when Ludwig identified me but even then, it was not as bad. And then it stopped. A scream ripped through the gathering. Pytos doubled over, his shout turning into cackling. I noticed the other robed people all turning to stare, their expressions filled with madness. And Jane was shaking. She was terrified. Her trembling hand pulled the wand out of its sheath. I idly noticed it was made from silverwood as well. Such an expensive item.

Then, Circe fell off the cart next to me. I blinked and the world turned dark. When the light returned, familiar shapes were moving my friend into a sitting position. Tendrils. No. These were purple. And they were not vaporous. They were solid. These were tentacles. Strobing stripes of black and red ran along the limbs. And they came from behind me.

I spun my head. Behind me was a familiar sight. An iris in all colours of the rainbow. A sclera around it as if staring into an infinite moonless night. And in the centre of it all, a dark purple pupil, all-seeing, always. And then, it only saw me.

“Hello.”

I did not know if I said the words or if I sent them with [Telepathy]. Truth answered the greeting.

“I think you’re freaking out the normal people”, I said/sent.

Apologies.

I was waiting for him to explain what was going on. Why he was here. Then, his eye focused on something behind me. I heard a crack and turned my head around. In front of me, an icicle hovered. It was shattered into a million pieces held together by a see-through field of gold.

No stealing.

And it was over. Truth was gone. The Paladins collapsed. The robed people were furiously scribbling on any surface they could find. Wood, skin, paper, dirt. One of them had a Thaumonomicon and was ripping pages out of it.

“All stupid! We’re all STUPID!”, she screamed and laughed.

The villagers were knocked out. Kranos and Jasper were just waking up. I looked down at Circe. My friend was smiling up at me. She tried to say something but her throat only produced a dry rasp. Instead, she gave me a thumbs up.

“What. The. Fuck!”

Commander Eternity was on her knees. Her wand lay uselessly in the grass. She stared at me, wide-eyed. Pytos had found a quill somewhere and was writing on the back of her armour.

I activated my arcane speaker.

“Hello. I’m Fio Catori. Resident owl [Witch].”

“…”

The woman was speechless. The impacts of the quill on her back seemed to bring her out of her trance.

“Fuck off!”

She shoved the offender back and he started writing on the cloth of the fully armoured Paladins. They stood perfectly still as if frozen in time.

Jane stood up and stomped over. She jabbed a finger at me, stopping nearly an arm’s width away.

“What the fuck are you? What did you just do? What! The! Fuck!”

I tilted my head.

“Calm down, Lady. I’m not your enemy.”

“Hey!”, Circe croaked.

The girl tackled the commander from the side, barely moving the armoured woman. When she noticed how little effect she had, she started punching the metal.

“Get away from my friend!”

The woman started patting Circe’s head with an armoured hand. Slowly, sanity returned to her vision.

“You good?”, I asked.

Jane shuddered and sunk to her knees. She pulled Circe in for a hug. I saw tears build in her eyes. With a loud sniff, she held them back.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll… be fine.”

“What did you do?”, I asked, “I thought you were just using [Identify]?”

Jane looked up.

“Oh no. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault!”

The Paladin with the cloth that was not being used to write on stepped up and held her shoulder.

“Nobody could expect that”, he said.

“But it said ‘No stealing’. I used my full Skill!”

The hand on her shoulder tightened.

“You are well aware your Skill needs special permission to use on sapients.”

“I… know.”

“Your punishment will be decided once we return.”

With that, she was left alone. Circe had stopped punching the armour and was trying to wriggle out of the strong arms confining her.

“Wait, I thought you were the commander?”, I asked.

“Yes. Of this Paladin squad. The Crimson Knights are of a higher rank. They are [Thaumaturge]s and Paladins.”

“… I see. Mind telling me what your ‘full Skill’ does?”

“My [Identify] is altered. It can steal memories.”

Circe squeaked. It was supposed to be angry but instead, I laughed at the cute noise. Then I narrowed my eyes at the woman.

“Mind letting my friend go?”

“Oh. Right. Forgive me. I never use my Skill on people. I didn’t know…”

“You could just go with the normal version?”, I suggested, “That would tell you if I’m sapient or not? And the fact that your [Thaumaturge] figured out I was warped should tell you the very same.”

“That’s… Is that how it works?”

I nodded.

“Animals get tainted, not warped.”

“Actually!”, Pytos piped up, “Animals can get warped. Though it will never last for long since the moment it would be noticeable, their brains will get taken over by taint.”

The Crimson Knight whose cloth he was writing on nodded. He had taken it off and was using the other end for his own notes. The one that had admonished Jane had found a notebook instead.

“Well…”, Jane began, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think. But… what was that… thing?”

At her question, all the furious scribbling stopped. Everyone’s eyes were suddenly on me.

“A friend?”, I tried.