"Oh, you're back, what happened? You seed like you were in a lot of pain," Evin suddenly said.
[I can't tell you what I want to tell for a reason that I also can't explain to you] the voice said enigmatically.
"What's he saying?" Rith asked with interest.
"It said that it he can't tell what he wants to tell because of a reason, which he also can't explain," Evin said.
"Ah, it must be the thing. But isn't it supposed to be washed away after one dies? Why does his follow after him?" Rith and Ssatsko questioned.
Evin was undoubtedly starting to believe that to receive the education of a mage, one had to go through so unusually unpleasant procedures.
[Hey, don't call it, I'm a proper person and my na is Karan, though I don't have a last na]
"Hello, Karan, my na is Eviendra, Evin for short. How did you end up in this forest, with a crow as a host?" Evin asked out loud.
[I don't know much, but I suppose I was reincarnated and beca one of the Empress' Blessed. I can't tell you so things, but I think I can explain my general situation in a simple manner]
Then, Karan told the group about what he could talk about.
He was born as a human orphan in slums of Tower City, living life as a street urchin, begging and thieving to stay alive. One day, a number of orphans were abducted by so unidentified people and taken away to the East. He was one of such orphans, and he beca an experintal subject of that organization. Sadly, the only thing he could disclose to the group was that it was located in the East, judging by the staff and constantly dry atmosphere.
Karan could not tell what exactly they were researching, but it gave him the ability to nullify the effects of the World of Life and also ignore the invincibility of the Layeq people. He was usually heavily controlled, but thanks to an opportunity which allowed him to use his powers freely, he managed to kill a bunch of the people there and also kill himself in the process. He knew that the only way to truly free himself would be to die, so he did not hesitate to suicide.
He actually knew Elashin, as one of the combat mbers of that organization. Karan could sotis see Elashin guarding him when he was being transported from one place to another.
Evin asked Karan about how the organization could track him after he died, but Karan was not allowed to tell him. He reassured Evin that they can't know where he is exactly. They only know where his soul went to after he died. Evin was very interested in how they tracked Karan's soul. It was sothing he was trying to learn more about, since it was one of the things he was trying to research about in his new life in Alvox.
Karan then continued his story. He was unconscious for a long ti, but after so point, he finally realized that he was still alive. But for so reason, he was in control of a shifting tal body. He spent many days trying to assu the shape of a human, but every ti he tried to do so, he would find himself in unbearable pain. The only forms he could safely assu were the forms of various weapons and armor. So, giving up on taking the form of a human, he started trying out the various actions he could take in the form of a sword. He realized that he could beckon living beings closer to himself. Using that ability, he finally managed to stick on to a raven. He also tried communicating with it, but, sadly, the crow did not understand Imperial. He spent so ti with the crow while it hunted and realized that his anti-Layeq powers were still with him.
He then tried to have the crow leave its territory in search of humanoids, but he could not force it to do anything. He could only slightly influence the creature. But he still made the crow fly around its territory in search of humans, and he finally found Evin's group. He tried to detach itself from the crow, but for so reason, he couldn't cut the connections so easily. All he could do was to influence the crow to attack Evin's group.
The rest was as the group experienced. But right after the connection between Karan and the raven was forcefully cut off, he suffered an awfully unpleasant experience, which was the crow's death. That made him scream incoherently inside Evin's head for a few minutes.
After the fight finished, he tried to tell Evin about the organization, but was faced with another horridly unpleasant experience, the reasons which only Evin did not fully know.
"Will that organization co back to find trouble with us?"
[Those damn bastards will co here again to learn about what happened to the three mages they sent. But I'm having a feeling that if they don't find anything, they will give up rather than try to find trouble around here. The feeling I got from those rats was that they ticulously avoided the countries and the official organizations. They'll surely go the extra mile to uncover my position, but they can't go overboard. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I'm thinking, ] Karan said.
"Does that an if we stay low for a bit we'll be fine afterwards?" Evin asked.
[Nothing's for sure, but I do hope you're right,]
Evin explained what he heard from Karan to the other two.
"Ssatsko, can you search their bodies for a tracing object of any kind?" Rith ordered.
The old man did as ordered and brought back the mages' possessions. In total, they found 50 kilograms worth of crystal-grade lodestones, two daggers, a sword, a storage ring, so book that was written in Eastern and a symbol depicting a dozen small stars surrounding a big star.
Then Rith fiddled with the storage ring and opened its contents. The group was shocked with what was contained in it. Dozens of bodies of young children, mostly newborns, littered the storage ring.
"What's this?" Evin couldn't help but ask.
"I've heard from the guard at the gates that there were several cases of missing children in the town. To think that these easterners were the cause behind them..." Ssatsko said.
"What?"
"I'd guess that they realized that Karan had beco a Child of the Empress. Where do you think they would search for first?" Ssatsko asked.
"Then does that an that when they ca to my house, they were actually looking to kill ?"
"Well, obviously the ti period between Karan's death and your age don't add up, so they probably did not intend to kill you," Ssatsko said.
Other than that, the storage ring contained food, camping equipnt, spare daggers, another 70 kgs of rock-grade lodestones and a bunch of miscellaneous and personal objects.
The amount of lodestones the mages possessed suggested that they were quarter-core mages.
The last two possessions were taken from Elashin's body, and Kalan started reading the book.
[Religion of the Ascendants? What's this shit? ] he cursed out.
Evin explained how he first t Elashin and how the man tried to pull him to his new religion.
Hearing the answer, Karan fell unusually silent.
"What happened?" Evin asked.
[I realize that I cannot tell you about this religion as well, ] the man said in an unnaturally proper way. The man would always curse whenever he talked, so such a way of talking made Evin abnormally terse.
This behavior hinted at sothing sinister to Evin. The fact that the Religion of Ascendants were sohow connected to that organization that captured Karan was quite unexpected.
Evin told Rith about Karan's new answer. The Cosmic seed like she did not expect the answer, but still knew sothing about the matter.
"Well, there's nothing we can do for now. And I've also checked their belongings, they didn't have any tracing devices, so what do you want to do with them?" Rith asked, back to her Cosmic, professional personality.
"Ssatsko, what do you think? I an, we did just murder so foreigners in a forest. Hopefully, no one knows about it, but I still feel like there are risks," Evin asked.
He did not feel very confident about this matter at all. First of all, was it really okay to just murder a few people which had so conflict with you. Not even ntioning morals. What were the political implications for this action?
'Well, I guess politics shouldn't really matter for us, since they've literally killed a few dozen children
"These things aren't as rare as you're making it out to be. I don't know how it was like in your World, but here, only the strong are right. Two parties wanted that sword, and ultimately it led to violence. Nothing unusual. Especially so since they're from another country. And as Karan said, these people aren't really affiliated to the East, so there's also that," Ssatsko explained.
"Then let's burn the bodies and go back to town. We didn't find anything interesting, so there's no need to dawdle on this topic. Let's go back ho," Evin said.
"What about the children's corpses?" Ssatsko asked.
"Ugh, shit... Although I'd love to let the families know about them, I feel that it's best for us to keep our involvent hidden. We'll carry the storage ring back to town and try to give it to the Mage Association anonymously," Evin said and the three proceeded with the agreed plan.
After finishing the dark work, they went on their way ho.
While on the journey, Evin asked Karan a few other questions.
"Can you turn into sothing a little more low-profile?"
[I don't think I can. Strangely enough, when I beco smaller, my weight also gets reduced. Look,] Karan replied and turned into a dagger.
Just as he said, Karan's weight beca much more bearable for Evin.
"How does that work?"
[I don't know, I've just been able to do it naturally, but I don't know the exact reasons. And also, when I turn into sothing that's not ant for battle, I feel extrely unpleasant. So I don't want to do that]
Hearing the answer, Evin replied after a few minutes.
"Do you know there're rings that are made for assassinations? They put a small prick on the ring and coat it with poison. And if you shake hands while wearing that ring, you can inconspicuously poison soone without them knowing it. Try turning into that"
[Sure, let try]
Karan did as instructed and turned into a ring which had a little spike on it's outside.
[Hey, that worked, I'm not feeling weird, like last ti. I don't get this shitty fucking race. Why the hell are they so hellbent on hurting people, that they refuse to take on a form that doesn't try to kill soone in one way or another,] Karan grumbled.
Evin wore the ring and found that it didn't weigh as much.
"Your weight changing ability is so mystical. With this, you can lay low for the ti being," Evin said and walked on.
Rith then ca to Evin and told him that his bank profit money is starting to accumulate.
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