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Arc V Chapter 24

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26th Ignis Solar 753 AAC

Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. “Where did I leave off again? Ehm, yes, Valentia ... Right, Valentia ... I remember now. As said, Lambert and his party were on a mission. They were commissioned by the elves. Together, they were heading for Valentia. I accompanied them. We eventually reached the city, or at least whatever remained of it after all these centuries.

We were greeted by the sight of endless ruins, the ruins of a once proud city. Nothing but rubble and stone as far as they eyes reached. It was where we made our camp for the following weeks. The elven scholars tended to their duties, investigating, exploring, mapping the ruins. Lambert and his party guarded them, protecting them from any potentially unpleasant surprises. Lambert admonished me to stay cautious and not wander around on my own. As it turns out, the ancient ruins of Valentia are apparently dangerous. ”

Little Aurora tilted her cute little head. “Are they?”

A guarded smile was her answer. “Somewhat ...”

“Somewhat ...?” Little Aurora reacted visibly confused.

Aurora giggled in response. “Yes, somewhat. Especially for incautious, little girls wandering around alone on their own with their dolls without protection. Not necessarily something that I would recommend for your personal health.”

“... ... ...” Little Aurora met her with a blank, aghast stare, her eyes barely blinking.

“Come on, no need to give me this accusing look, Lady Aurora. Everything went well. It was but a minor, negligible inconvenience. I, or rather we, got attacked by a ... by a ... by a dread wolf! It was a dread wolf!”

Her words did little to soothe little Aurora. “A ... dread wolf?”

Aurora nodded, raising her index finger. “Yes, a dread wolf.”

Her doll gulped. “One of those big, evil, scary elemental beast dread wolves?”

Aurora smiled. “Yes, one of those. A fully grown dread wolf, if I might add. Quite the predicament that we found ourselves in.”

“... ... ...” Little Aurora fell silent, a sense of fear in her eyes. “Weren't ... Weren't ... Weren't you scared when facing it?”

“Scared?” Aurora furrowed an amused eyebrow. The question confused her. “How so? Why should I have been scared?”

“Because ... Because I surely would have been ...” Little Aurora started fidgeting with her hands, her head lowered. “Dread wolves are terrifying beasts. We were taught about them at the academy ... They are ... They are a dangerous enemy even for trained warriors.”

“How admirable of them ... It seems like the Royal Academy is a useful institution, after all.” Aurora mustered a polite smile. “As for your question, fear is relative, Lady Aurora. No reason to fear those beneath you. Trust me, I have seen worse. I have faced worse. I have fought worse. I have survived worse.”

Little Aurora gulped once again. “I see ...”

“Now, the expedition continued, and we eventually set foot in Valentia's citadel. The citadel was enormous, reaching deep down into the hill. The days passed, although not without another major incident. While the dread wolf incident was more due to unfortunate circumstances, the latter was primarily my fault.”

Her doll stared at her. “What ... happened?”

Aurora folded her hands defensively. Her guilt still stung sharp. “You see, I was in a bit of a difficult situation. My coffers were rather empty, and it was clear that I would require, sooner or later, some funds for personal use. I needed money, and the ruins provided the perfect opportunity to fill my war chest. So I set out on my own to explore the ruins in the hope to find something valuable. I was not disappointed. I managed to penetrate deep into the citadel, even to access some unexplored areas. The areas proved profitable, rich in gold and silver, rich in coin and jewellery. I took what I needed and filled my pockets to the brim. Unfortunately, I committed a major blunder. While plundering and scavenging the battlefield, I accidentally, unintentionally, involuntarily might have awakened an arch demon. I honestly didn’t expect an arch demon to slumber within the ruins. I broke the seal containing him and thus freed him after all these centuries. Not necessarily the brightest idea of mine, but there is little reason to cry over spilt milk. What happened, happened, right?” Aurora hoped for some external support. Instead, however, she was met with a wall of silence.

...

...

...

Little Aurora merely stared at her, stupefied shocked, mortified. “You ... did ... WHAT!? You accidentally awakened a DEMON!?”

“Not a demon. An arch demon. Big difference.” Aurora raised her index finger, quick to correct her doll. “They are way tougher and meaner than normal demons.”

“... ... ...” Little Aurora fell quiet, her pure horror palpable. Her words might have scared the poor girl a little bit too much. The girl was a shy, timid kitten and had to be treated accordingly.

“In my defence, though, it was not as bad as it sounds. Look, we all made it out alive. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? Nobody ... got severely injured. Nobody died. Everyone survived. Everyone is happy. Although the walls took some considerable structural damage, and we were lucky to get out before the ceiling would have crushed us beneath its weight. And although my personal intervention was ultimately needed to dispatch the arch demon, not without some effort. He was quite the tough fellow. The battle required more of my strength than I had expected, more than our body was frankly able to handle. In my eagerness, I slightly overburdened our body, as neither our body, nor our soul are yet ready to channel the necessary amounts of mana to a satisfactory degree. Our magic abilities are ... underdeveloped, nevertheless, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. Because it was too early for Lambert and his companions to die. Especially because of a mistake of mine, a careless mistake.”

...

...

...

“... ... ...” Little Aurora was still left speechless, unable to utter a single sound. “You are either the bravest, or the most insane girl I have ever met.”

“You know, I heard that before.” Aurora returned a smile, poking her doll's cheeks. “So, I will take that as a compliment.”

“... ... ...” Her doll went quiet.

“Anyway, that is how the expedition ended. We left Valentia, returning to Freyburg. We and the elves parted ways on the way. It was a long journey, but we eventually reached Freyburg. I successfully entered the city despite a lack of documents. We then made our way to the adventurer's guild. That is how we landed here.

The only question that now remained was, what were Lambert and his party supposed to do with me? It was clear that they couldn’t take care of me forever, a little girl without name, without identity, without history. They were tempted to get rid of me, possibly by putting me into an orphanage. Fortunately for us, I was able to convince them otherwise through cuteness and persuasion. Their hearts weren't made of stones. They weren't terrible people. They never stood a chance. I was able to convince them to take further care of me, even to champion my guild application. I decided to join the adventurer's guild and become an adventurer. They funded and supported my efforts. Lambert paid for my gear. Thanks to their help, I made it into the adventurer junior programme for starting adventurers. Now I am one among the many, one among the many aspiring adventurers, among the many hopeful souls who dream to achieve more than their humble birth ever destined them to. Now I am just a simple student, and not the heiress of the noble and proud House von Schwarz. I am even frequenting some reading and writing classes recently. They are quite ... entertaining.”

Little Aurora raised a confused eyebrow. “You are doing what? Why are you in a reading and writing class?”

Aurora elaborated, a smile on her lips, “Well, you see, they are mandatory. But that aside, it was necessary in order to hide our identity. Circumstances forced us to pretend that we couldn’t read. After all, it would be more than a little bit suspicious for a little girl they found in the middle of the forest being able to read. That would be rather uncommon for a child, a girl no less. It would immediately betray our higher education and our higher birth. That was not something I could allow to happen. Especially since they are probably already suspecting me.”

“I guess ... that makes sense”, her doll tentatively agreed.

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