With Mirina's devious help, we constructed a believable narrative for the events. Strengite took away after the duel. Everyone saw that. We went to the Headmaster's offices. So saw it but anyone could add two plus two and put at the cri scene. Therefore, I had to be either the criminal or the victim. The one with the most appeal was obvious. Why would demon worshippers take a maiden of prodigious magical power to their summoning party? The story basically wrote itself.
Mirina suggested not dragging Isengar down with them. The [Prince] needed to retain so of his already dilapidated prestige and social capital if he were ever to get any money to pay his debts from the duels. The astronomical sum, if I were to convert into USD using the basic asure of one gold coin having buying power roughly equivalent to thirty-five thousand dollars (it could support a family for a year), Isengard owed close to two and a half-billion dollars.
It was cheaper to hire an army and invade Windere to kill than pay that sum.
In the official story Mirina and I told everyone, I was taken to their summoning ritual, bound, bled, and halfway through I managed to conjure a spell and escape. They lost control of their summoned demons and the result was the carnage the other Academy staff found. I sought Her Highness for succor and she sheltered . It bound to Mirina as I now owed her a great amount but we were co-conspirators already. It also sheltered from retaliation should the Isengar-Torgo duo decided to move against .
I used my Perks to shapeshift a rough gash along my left forearm, where they cut with a cursed ritual dagger to draw blood. I just needed to swap a small strip of skin for sothing rougher like elephant hide.
"That's hideous," Mirina comnted when I showed my altered forearm to her. "Just perfect," she added. "Tie a scarf over it and make a show of covering it in sha. Here, use one of mine."
The scarf she tied around my arm had her initials and Lonid's coat of arms embroidered. She made sure to leave those quite visible on my arm.
"You're insufferable, Mirina," I lanted with a grin.
"Thank you, my liege," she grinned back. "May Galbarar's gavel strike down if I fail to take care of the one holding my oaths. Nobody will touch you with this on your arm and risk my wrath. Allow to do this much for you. And make sure of showing that hideous scar to your close confidants. Tell them you trust only them."
She was a natural scher. The perfect storm of cunning, good looks, education, a strong personality, and self-serving callousness when it suited her interests. We checked the details of our stories so we didn't contradict each other. Then one of the Academy guards ca to pick up.
"It's ti for your hearing. Good luck and try to not exterminate all of them."
"Hey!" I protested. "I'm not a psychopath. At least not most of the ti."
"Thankfully," she wished under her breath.
"Wish luck on my interrogation."
"I'll pray for Galbarar to grant you temperance instead, my lady."
"You don't seem like a person who bled enough to summon those demons, miss Stouthamr!" A rude professor slamd on the desk before .
The Academy staff made repeat the story several tis, looking for discrepancies. I inserted so of them because it would be absurd to expect a normal person to rember everything.
"I don't know what to say! I know a spell to restore blood and I used it after I escaped. And I won't suffer another round of 'did so, did not' with you. You saw defeat Isengar's pet mage."
"You seem to have a Perk for each occasion. We want your full Status!"
"Story of my life. You and everyone else in the world. Can I go now?"
Soone knocked on the door. One of Mirina's knights entered. "Her Highness summons Miss Haru Stouthamr. Now."
"We're not done yet!" A female wolfkin teacher shouted. Their loyalty was legendary but sotis misplaced, like now.
The guards were escorting the knight outside when he turned and pushed the two away with an Ability that sent them flying. The doors opened and Mirina entered with Euric right behind her.
"I think you are done here, gentlen," the [Princess] commanded. She didn't force it with {Royal Order} but her expression demanded obedience.
"I don't care if you are a [Princess], [Queen], or [Empress]" the wolf-kin teacher replied. "We're not done here!"
"I think you are. Haru is shaken from her harrowing experience, and you've held her here for two hours already. It's more than enough ti to retell the story a dozen tis. What you are after is obvious," She accused then glided a step to the side to let Euric speak.
"Demonic cultists don't work in pairs, they work in cells. If there are two cultists in the Academy, it is obvious there's more. Even out there, in Windere. This is a matter of our security. With Isengar incapacitated, we will take matters into our hands. We kindly ask the teaching staff to step away and allow us to search your personal effects for items related to diabolism."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The teachers reacted explosively, quickly denying involvent. Mirina shouted "Silence!"
Royal Order doesn't work on Royalty.
"If you do not comply, ladies and gentlen, we are ready to denounce the whole Academy as a facade for a demon cult," She threatened. "The nobles out there are already warned. Do not attempt anything against us. There won't be a place in this world where you'll be safe from our wrath."
She was probably ntioning .
"Guards!" Euric commanded. "Secure the teachers and keep watch over them. We're starting the search. Haru, you co with us."
"Yes, Your Highnesses," I stood up. "Teachers, I hope this misunderstanding ends soon."
I left with the two Royals. Outside, Mirina gave the good and bad news.
The [Princess] wasn't idle while I spent hours being interrogated. She summoned the noble ladies of the academy and set them loose on the gossip mill. Before I finished my first retelling before a McCarthyist [1] council of teachers, the whole Academy knew of my plight and daring escape in graphic details. She made sure to drag the reputation of the two down to the depths of the Dungeon and allude they might be from the other side of the Scorched Continent. She also cast a slight shadow of doubt on the teaching staff, hinting that the Academy might be breeding grounds for demonists or have a demon army in its basent already. Mirina was a scary person not only able to manipulate the masses but also fictive, inspirational, and crooked enough to do it without weighing on her consciousness.
"Oh, and if you are wondering about why Euric joined us," she explained, "The rascal here has a Perk called {Detect Royalty}. He had you figured out since day one."
I glanced at Euric. The levelheaded [Prince] gave a charming smile and put his finger to his lips to signal he kept his silence.
"Welco aboard, Euric," I chuckled and smiled back.
"If you allow one question, milady, of which country you're royalty of?" He asked.
I kept my smile. "Of course. Laconia, Fulgen, Aquilonia, Windere, Ackerton, and Atlantis."
He froze. Then he sucked in a huge breath. "That should be impossible."
Mirina was troubled too. "I didn't know all that."
"It's the truth, though," I shrugged. "We're even for the rescue of the teaching staff."
"What? The staff?" Euric gasped.
Mirina laughed. We reached her quarters. She raised a hand. "From here on, ladies only. I hope you understand, Euric my dear."
He bowed courteously, "of course, my ladies. If you need , I'm yours."
Once back in her room, we talked about what each of us did while separated.
I asked, "What about the crown?"
"I sent one of my knights running back ho days ago. It should be in my father's hands as we speak."
The System and the inflated Attribute values made so concepts turn upside down. High-level people ran faster than vehicles, all the ti, and low-leveled mounts. For this reason, they weren't too keen on dosticating strange animals and monsters. There was no need. Horses and oxen did the job when you could afford to go slow, strong people for all other purposes.
"I hope it works and dissuades them from attacking, Mirina."
She grasped my wrist. Despite being almost a psychopath, Mirina wasn't insane and still loved her family. " too. If you grant a boon, my liege, even if they attack, please spare my relatives."
I held her hand with mine and quoted Warhamr forty-kay. "Mirina, those that stand with shall be my brothers. And sisters. Be faithful to and your boon is granted. Your family will be safe even from the ravages of death. Speaking of which, there's one guy I think may help you."
I summoned the doll holding the soul of Rerin's auctioneer, the one I infiltrated disguised as a wolf-kin.
"You wanted to live again, didn't you?" I asked the doll.
It opened its button eyes and ca alive. "I do, my lady. Restart again from level zero. I still await the day you grant this boon."
"Do you have any problems living again as a female?"
"None. I barely rember my forr body."
"This is [Princess] Mirina of Lonid. You'll serve her as a maid or in any other capacity you can."
"It'll be my honor."
The soul of the auctioneer was fading. I had three choices. Reincarnate him, contract them and bind the soul to a true golem body, or just ascend them and let Pandora take his soul. The person was knowledgeable and educated. And they wanted to reincarnate.
I brought a rectangular long table and started to weave. Mirina gasped but didn't hinder my work or got on my way. The body of a silk-folk female ford on the table as each of my fingertips wove a different strand of thread, entwining, knotting, and crocheting a living body.
"Help make her beautiful, please?" I asked the [Princess].
She obliged. Together we created a stunningly gorgeous adult woman. The soul of the auctioneer approved their new form. I didn't make her a child because the soul would be reincarnated with its mories and knowledge intact. Finally, I transferred the soul from the doll into the body, making sure to show Mirina the spirit by materializing it.
The reborn auctioneer opened her eyes and gasped for air. I could sense the {Living Thread} in the body tamorphosing and awakening, giving the crochet organs true life and function. Silk-folk needed to eat, breathe, and hydrate as any other living creature but instead of cells, they had strands or tiny clumps of living thread. They just needed more carbohydrates and less fat than normal people but were able to perform all chemical transformations of living creatures.
They obviously couldn't exist without magic but magic was ubiquitous in Yznarian.
We helped her get dressed in the finest clothes from my item box and allowed her to have her first al.
"Satisfied?" I asked the newly-woven level zero silk-folk.
"I am, my lady. Thank you for this new chance at life. I'll cherish it and serve Mirina to the best of my ability."
"Good! I'm sorry it took this long to bring you back. I was... rather busy. Enjoy your life and don't let Mirina push you around like a doll. And you get to pick your own na. Make sure to choose right!"
Mirina finally broke her silence and spoke her mind. "You are the creator of the silk-folk! I can't believe it! You aren't a dragon, you're [King] Locksley!"
"I told you. I do have titles of Royalty in all the countries I ntioned. And these two things aren't mutually exclusive, For Your Information, I pointed out."
"You're right." The usually levelheaded girl probably blew a fuse right now. I could explain but I decided to keep an air of mystery. It would keep her interested. "I'm leaving her in your care. I must go now."
I already knew from the dead Headmaster and Ibarin which teachers were sold to several parties struggling for the control of Windere. It was ti to plant so damning evidence and play a Uno Reverse card on their McCarthism. Let's see how they like so of their own dicine.
[1] sen.wikipedia/wiki/McCarthyism - "McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason, [...] It was characterized by heightened political repression and fear mongering [...]"
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