Chương 60: (59) 2.12. A Slate Wiped Clean

Vin got to experience being beaten by an elderly woman in a foot race for a second time that day as they ran off in the direction the guard told them. Despite the lack of sun, Raulfa was easy to spot thanks to the cluster of warriors on the edge of the village holding glowing gems high above their heads. Pushing their way through the throng of distracted warriors muttering amongst themselves, Vin gasped as he finally broke free.

Directly in front of him, with a proud grin on his narrow face and looking as adorable as ever, was Reginald. Sitting atop the corpse of a horrific creature. There was no question the dead creature was the one Scule had seen, or at least another member of the same race. Only about two feet tall, the creature looked like a toddler's horribly proportioned drawing come to life. Its thin, spindly arms were nearly as long as its entire body, ending in three fingered hands tipped with nasty looking green claws.

A dark purple tongue hung loosely out of a far too wide mouth filled with crooked, misshapen teeth, and its skin did in fact look like a bubbly grey mess that was pulled far too taut over the creature's skeleton. Vin waited a beat to see if he'd get a notification for spotting the creature, but when none came, he stepped forward, joining the elder and a monster of a woman clad from head to toe in stone armor. Only lagging a few seconds behind the elder, he managed to catch the tail end of the woman's explanation.

"... just appeared, somehow dragging the creature behind itself with its tail. Luckily the warrior that first spotted it recognized it as the animal the tiny man was riding when they came into town and had enough sense not to attack on sight. It's just been sitting there ever since, waiting."

"Thank you Raulfa, you have no idea how much this helps," the elder said, relief washing over her face. Turning to find Vin beside her, she grinned." That is enough to get your friend released. He sure is lucky to have such a faithful companion."

"I doubt Scule would want you giving Reginald such a big head," Alka chuckled, floating by overhead.

"You got that right! Give him a single compliment and he never lets you hear the end of it!" Scule called out, darting out from under the crowd's legs and running over to give Reginald a big hug.

"I take back every bad thing I ever said, you're the best rat a guy could have!"

"How..?" The elder asked, her eyes widening in shock.

"What, the cord?" Scule asked, snorting at the elder's expression that transcended language barriers as he scratched Reginald under the chin.

"Lady, I'm a Rogue. You might as well have asked me politely not to leave for all the good that cord was going to do."

"Scule apologizes for leaving the cell," Vin interpreted, stepping between Scule and the handful of warriors that immediately lowered their spears at the petian when they realized he was free.

"When he heard his animal companion was back, he was desperate to see him."

"Reginald!" Shia shouted, breaking out of the mass of people and running over to scoop up the rat, knocking Scule over in the process.

"Never scare us like that again, you hear me!" She scolded, clutching the rat against her chest. For his part, Reginald let out a high pitched squeak that sounded positively apologetic to Vin's ear, before actually saluting with his tail. Just how intelligent is Reginald anyway… Vin wondered as an unfamiliar face forced itself to the front of the crowd.

"What is the meaning of this?!" An older man in a grey robe and desperately in need of a beard comb asked, his eyes flying back and forth between Scule and the elder.

"Why is the murderer out of his cell?" In response to his outburst the elder frowned, tapping her cane against the ground like Vin had seen her do dozens of times before. Only this time, when her cane touched the rocky ground, the very earth erupted in motion. Panicked cries went up as the surrounding warriors and curious onlookers struggled to stay on their feet, many stumbling to the ground or grabbing a nearby structure for support.

Vin barely managed to keep his own balance by windmilling his arms, and he watched as the older man's eyes widened before he crashed to the ground, his robe flaring out from under him. After a few seconds, the shaking stopped and the dust settled. Ignoring the hushed voices spreading throughout the crowd, the elder stepped toward the fallen man, looking angry for the first time Vin could remember.

"I warned you once about spreading false information, Eithan," she spoke, her voice somehow booming out across the village despite her low tone. Her stunt with the miniaturized earthquake had instantly quelled all the different discussions going on around them, and the elder was now the focus of everyone's attention.

"People of Sakis!" She announced, her voice continuing to boom loud enough for even those on the other side of the village to hear.

"No doubt you already heard earlier today of the tragedy that struck our village. One of our very own Stone Mages, Toby Hilkom, was attacked and killed in his very home." She paused, as if giving everyone a chance to digest her words.

"Thanks to the brave efforts of our same allies that ventured out and brought Samtha's team back safely, we now know exactly what creature was responsible for Toby's death, and have killed it in kind. The creature's body will be displayed within the jail cell until tomorrow for those who would like to see it with their own eyes." The elder ignored the collective wince from the onlooking crowd as she tapped her cane against the ground once more, turning toward Raulfa.

Vin hadn't missed the fact that out of everybody, warriors and regular villagers alike, the stone clad woman had been the only one that seemed completely unfazed by the sudden earthquake, having not moved so much as a single step throughout all the shaking. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Raulfa, have some of the warriors bring the creature's body to the cell, and station a few guards to keep watch over it," she ordered, giving the creature one last look of disgust.

"Hopefully that will be enough to satisfy the apprentices' growing dissent. I'll figure out what to do with it after that."

"Elder," the woman nodded, knocking her gauntlets together and immediately barking orders to the group of surrounding warriors, berating the ones that had fallen to the ground. Sighing, the elder turned her attention back to the older man who was only just now getting to his feet. Brushing the new layer of dust off his robes, he returned the elder's annoyed gaze with one of his own.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked, stroking his beard and somehow managing to make the messy thing even worse. Vin was pretty certain he could even see a few rocks sticking out among the salt and pepper hairs.

"Don't think I'm done with you Eithan," the elder frowned, thrusting the end of her cane at his chest. The color immediately drained from the man's face as he stared at the cane like he was looking down the barrel of a gun.

"You're still standing on hot rocks for rushing things and not letting me do my job."

"Yes, well…" the man cleared his throat, at least having the decency to look embarrassed. His eyes flicked back to the dead creature as the warriors hauled it away, and he sighed.

"I'm sorry Ar- elder. I know better than anyone just how high tensions are right now between the mages and the apprentices… I just didn't want to see anyone else get hurt."

"And in your haste to give the apprentices a target for their anger, you nearly sentenced an innocent man for the crime of trying to save Toby's life." Eithan flinched at the elder's emotionless comment, seeming to withdraw into his own robes. Looking ashamed, the man turned toward Vin and his group, pressing his fists together so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Please forgive me for acting in such haste. As I'm sure the elder informed you, tensions are running high across the village these days. Even so, that's no excuse for my actions, and I should have given your friend there the benefit of the doubt. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you as a reward for trying to save Toby and taking down the monster that actually caused this, please just say the word."

"Ah, don't mention it," Scule said after Shia translated, waving away the mage's apology.

"Spending a few hours alone in a cell isn't really much of a big deal. Besides, I would have left if I was actually uncomfortable. Your guys' opinion of a jail is pretty much a joke."

"Scule appreciates your apology, but says he's just happy to be free once more," Vin translated, frowning at his friend. He was starting to wonder if getting him a translation ability would honestly be more a hindrance than help at this point.

"Surely there must be something?" Eithan continued, his eyes flicking to the rune covered cane still pointed threateningly at his chest. Sweat began beading on his forehead as the runes started glowing slightly, and he began stammering.

"Please, I'm the head of the village's Stone Mages, just say the word and I'll figure it out. I could conjure up a house for you on the edge of town, or perhaps create a simple runic object for you?" Vin continued acting as translator and Scule paused, scratching his chin.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea. These guys seem to specialize in stone magic, right? Ask him if he can create something that will increase Reginald's defenses. He's the real hero of the day after all." He gave Reginald a big smile, and Vin discovered that rats could blush as Reginald's ears turned a pinkish hue, the rat scuffing his paw in the dirt.

"Oh, and have him teach you some magic or something," Scule threw in offhandedly, hoisting himself up into Reginald's saddle and patting the rat on the head.

"That sounds like it'd be useful, yeah?"

"Are you sure?" Vin asked.

"You might be able to ask for another runic object instead."

"Eh, think of it as a thanks for sticking with me," Scule said, giving him a sheepish smile.

"I know we haven't been traveling together for long and the evidence didn't really favor me, so I appreciate your guys' faith in me that I didn't kill that guy. As a Rogue, we're not really given the benefit of the doubt all that much." Vin couldn't hide his giant smile, and the petian's face turned a similar shade of pink as Reginald's ears, the small man grumbling to himself about them being a bunch of saps.

"Hey, where's our reward for believing in you?" Alka asked, frowning down at him.

"I argued for you as well, you know."

"If I ever find a way to kill you, I promise I'll do it first chance I get."

"Thank you," she grinned, drifting back over to Vin. Shaking his head in exasperation at the ghost, Scule directed Reginald to turn away from the cluster of people. Glancing up at Shia, he spotted the elf's own expectant grin and he clicked his tongue.

"I'll ask Reginald to gnaw the weird points off your ears later when he's not busy." Before Shia's face had even finished turning to outrage, Reginald shot off, and Scule called out over his shoulder as he disappeared into the night.

"Gonna do some reconnaissance on the creatures! Be back soon!" As soon as the petian vanished, Shia stomped her foot, scowling in the general direction he'd gone.

"How many ants would it even take… Ten? Twenty?" She began muttering to herself, lost in her own thoughts of revenge as she started counting on her fingers. Vin made a mental note not to sleep near Scule in the foreseeable future as he relayed the Rogue's requests to Eithan.

"Ah, a fellow mage, are you?" Eithan asked, looking far more confident now that he had actual requests to fulfil and the elder's cane was no longer aimed at him.

"I don't mind working with you for a few days while I put together something for his mount, but I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. Unless you want to take on an earth affinity for your mana, I won't be able to teach you very many spells."

"That's fine, I'm just happy to learn more magic," Vin said, grinning at the thought of adding to his repertoire of spells. Maybe he'd finally get something he could use in actual combat other than Entangle. Making a plan to meet Eithan first thing in the morning, the elder finally led them to one of the spare houses and told them she'd check in on them sometime tomorrow. Vin was pleased to discover that while small and barely furnished, the house was still rather comfortable.

The runic carvings on the walls seemed to be doing exactly as promised, and Vin claimed one of the two beds for himself, dropping his pack on the ground and letting out a groan after all the excitement of the day.

"Tell me about it," Shia chuckled, plopping down on the other bed and stretching, letting out a big yawn. She'd either already gotten over Scule's comment about her ears, or was just biding her time until the petian returned. For his sake, Vin prayed it was the former.

"Ready to learn some more magic tomorrow?" She asked, giving him a pointed grin.

"Not yet…" Vin said, his heart already starting to race as he came to terms with what he was about to do. Like magic, the fatigue in his body seemed to wash away and he practically began vibrating with excitement.

"First I need to prestige."