Chương 33: Chapter 32. Face the Music

Oscar woke up to find his freedom had been stripped away. Instinctively he thrashed against his bindings but stopped once he came into contact with something that refused to budge. Looking over to see what he'd hit, he saw Gita was also bound next to him.

"What the fuck did you do?" she hissed at him.

"…Nothing."

"Ah, you're awake," Bruno said. Bruno, Plank, and Ari were both on the other side of the room watching him and Gita. Plank looked confused, but also perhaps slightly amused, while Ari looked worried. No doubt for herself.

"Care to explain what you've dragged me into?" Plank asked. Bruno strolled over to the doorway and fished out of his pocket a small blue stone. He placed the stone into an oval indent in the wall that Oscar hadn't seen before. Upon insertion, the blue stone glowed faintly. His ears then popped like he'd entered a high elevation.

"I'm going to put aside the matter that we have the [Princess] of Dynarus sitting with us and instead focus on the larger problem at hand," Bruno said.

"Dammit, girl! As soon as I heard you say your name was Ari, I knew this fucker would figure it out," Plank swore at Ari.

"Any moron could piece together that Ari was short for Ariesa! Even Gita could, and she's as uneducated as a newborn child!"

"What the fuck did I do?" Gita asked sounding genuinely offended. Bruno clicked his tongue and held one finger up.

"Actually… I don't think either she or Oscar would've pieced it together no matter how much time you gave them," he said and strolled over to Oscar and peered down at him.

"You see, I was out waiting for their return. Except when they finally got back, I noticed how petrified they both looked, so... I waited and eavesdropped a bit. Can you imagine my surprise when Oscar admitted to have come from another world?" A small object thrown by Plank smacked Bruno in the forehead causing him to yelp in surprise.

"Don't play games with me, boy. Speak true! Why is it that you've brought those two to me in such a state?"

"He's not lying, Plank…" Ariesa said slowly.

"I confirmed it with [Descry Authenticity]." Plank cursed and slammed one fist onto his desk.

"First you bring to me Calus' own apostle, and now you tell me he's from another world? Even if that's true… what do you expect me to do about it?"

"I need you to convince me to not kill both of them right here and now. It's likely that Gita is the same as him."

"Everyone you found me with were all summoned to this world by Calus," Oscar said. He saw no reason to not be completely truthful now as it'd likely be his best chance of survival.

"The stipulations of his confinement stated that he couldn't interact with the world of Torralgia in any way. So he found—or perhaps created, I don't know—a spell that summoned beings from other worlds. Unfortunately for him… he accessed my world, Earth, which doesn't have magic, monsters, or classes and skills."

"Hmph, well, I don't think there's all too much of an issue then," Plank snorted.

"Bruno, you were just telling me earlier how strange it was that these two seemed to know nothing of this world. Now you have an answer. It's an unreal idea to believe… but them being from another world seems to pale in comparison to Oscar having a direct connection with Calus, no?"

"I… that's fair, but… how many of you are there? If I were to kill you, he'd try and connect with one of the others he summoned right?"

"As far as I know he can only have one connection with us at a time. As for how many of us there are… I don't know. What I do know, however, is that there are more than just the group you found me in."

"You could be lying about the one connection to preserve yourself, but I suppose it'd be safer to not risk it at the moment," Bruno said.

"But gods… another world? How did Calus find or create a spell to do that? Once we finish our business here in Dynarus, we're going to see my boss. He'll need to know this."

"Then can you untie us already?" an agitated Gita asked.

"If we're fine, then I'd really love to not feel like a hostage." Ariesa nervously walked over and cut both Oscar and Gita's bindings. As Oscar rubbed at his newly freed wrists, he watched as Plank and Bruno spoke privately. He was watching to see if Bruno was truly fine with this newfound truth, and to his surprise, the [Gambler] seemed actually fine.

"I must admit… I thought this was going to be a bigger deal," Oscar said.

"To certain people in the world, it is. That's why this can't leave this room," Bruno said.

"You're just lucky that all I care about is purging Calus and his vile influence on my world. Doesn't mean that I'm not curious to learn more about where you and Gita come from, but compared to being a pawn of Calus… it does pale in comparison."

"This Calus… I think I've heard the name before," Ariesa said, cutting in.

"He's… he's the ridiculously powerful evil guy they briefly teach us about as kids, right?"

"Well, looks like that royal education of yours wasn't for nothing," Plank said and then snapped his fingers at her.

"Is there something else you wish to say? Why do you look so troubled, girl?" Ariesa hesitated before finally responding.

"Father… he talks to Calus sometimes. Or at least that's the name he says. Sometimes I spy on him and overhear him seemingly talking to someone despite the room being empty."

"That's impossible, Calus can't interact with anyone born in Torralgia," Oscar said.

"Whoever he's speaking to… it's not Calus."

"Why would you be spying on the [King] of Dynarus, girl?" Plank asked.

"Is that why you ventured down to the lower city in the first place?" Ariesa nodded her head.

"For awhile now—around when mother died—father has been acting strange. He's erratic, his mood swings drastically, he's more cruel and uncaring. He's just not my father most days. His condition has been getting worse over the years and lately it's reached such a level that I felt like I needed to leave the upper city to find a cure… or something."

"Romulus has become mad?" Bruno asked. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Gita coughed loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Um, so this [King] guy has suddenly been speaking to a man he believes is Calus, while also becoming increasingly more and more insane. I don't know much about the soulstone holders, but doesn't he sound like a possible candidate?"

"W-What's a soulstone?" Ariesa asked, but was ignored.

"Shit! That does make him sound likely… but how? A soulstone bearer becoming [King] sounds impossible unless it's someone who inherited the stone outside of the bloodline. But there's a clear line of succession with Romulus Hargrave having taken over the crown after his father's tragic passing," Bruno said.

"I suppose this is just something we'll have to discover the truth about before we can leave. I was hoping to tell my contact within the city about Ardeo and leave, but looks like we'll have to stay a bit longer."

"Still no word from your person?" Plank asked.

"Nope, gonna have to look for information on them."

"Son, if you're thinking about bothering her …" Bruno held his hands up in a mock surrender.

"Of course not! Goodness, Plank, why would I do that?"

"Can we return to the topic about my father?" Ariesa asked.

"Whatever you think he is, I can assure you he isn't. His malady is just a disease of the mind and one that I'm positive can be cured."

"I won't say definitively that your father is the person we seek, but neither will I rule him out. It's something that'll have to be looked into and since you're now involved in this… I promise to include you so that you're not in the dark," Bruno said with far more care than Oscar had ever heard him use before.

"This has been... a lot. I think I should head back home before it gets too late. I… will keep what you said in mind, but I believe you all to be wrong," Ariesa said.

"Oscar, thank you for your help today, and… sorry for," she gestured wildly around her, "all of this."

"Oh, it's fine… I think. This was bound to happen at some point, and I suppose it's a bit of a relief having this burden off my shoulders." Ariesa gave him a meek smile before exiting the room. Oscar and Gita spent a while longer giving various reassurances to Bruno and Plank about their situation before finally heading to bed. It was ridiculous to him that this reveal had gone that smoothly. He'd been so convinced that Bruno was going to execute them that he forgot to tell them about what had happened.

Oh well, it could wait until the morning. Slowly, a picture was becoming clear, and if Oscar didn't know any better then he might believe that slowly but surely… he was being dragged into the center of it all.

The window to Ariesa's room sung a horrendous song as she creaked the entrance to her prison open. Honestly she didn't know why she bothered so much with being so sneaky. It wasn't like anyone really cared about what she was doing. The noble courts were always just gossiping about her father and whatever he'd done of late to cause ire amongst their lives of comfort. Even still, she remained vigilant.

Changing out of her [Thief] outfit and into a plain but comfortable flowy skirt and top, Ariesa left her room and headed for her fathers. It was rare for her to go and see her father so soon after the last visit, but she needed to see if she noticed anything off about him. Or… anything more off about him. The doors to his room was shut like always. Given the late hour she also reckoned it to be locked. Father often did his weird chats late into the night.

He seemed to rarely sleep these days and when he did, it wasn't for long. Being a [Thief] had it's perks though. Most locked doors were nothing but a meaningless afterthought when she had skills for the situation. Kneeling down on one knee in front of the keyhole, Ariesa placed her index finger in front of it.

"[Handy Key]," she whispered, causing her nail to stretch out into the lock. This skill was a weird one to feel. As her nail molded itself to the shape of the key, she was forced to feel the scraping and scratching against the rough, metallic frame. A minor inconvenience for such a luxury of being able to open most doors… but she was a [Princess] and had been for most of her life. She tried her best to adapt to living like the commoners, but it takes time to shed the skin of a pampered girl.

With a click the door unlocked, allowing her to creep inside. Father's room was of course a room fit for a [King]. With any other room she might've feared being caught immediately upon entering a room with such little care, but with Father, she knew he was likely in his study. The room she entered was a casual lounge room for him with bookshelves full of casual readings. Her mother had been the one that provided most of the books in here.

Like an old habit that refused to leave, her eyes flicked to the bookshelf nearest the fireplace. The bright red binding stood out like a flame in the dark of night. She longed to steal the book but resisted. There wasn't a whole lot she had to remember her mother by aside from the clothes she'd left behind. Father had forbade her from taking any of her jewelery even though she knew mother would've wanted her to have it as all of it had been passed down from her modest family for generations. That red book, though?

She'd tried to take that many times during the months that followed her mother's death. Father had been even more angered at the idea of losing Erina's book of poems. Of course, she knew almost all of her mother's poems by heart. Not all were good—actually, they were all pretty bad. However, say one thing about Erina Hargrave, then it must be said that she put love into everything she did. Now wasn't the time for her to reclaim that precious book of memories.

Should her father find out it was missing, he very well might burn the whole city down. So, she pushed onward. From inside her father's chambers, Ariesa could hear him stirring inside. He was pacing back and forth in a frantic pace, muttering about something. She thought he was alone until she heard someone else speak.

"Your progress… has been excellent… I can feel the dawn approaching… have the churches been…. cooperating?" the foreign voice said. The voice sounded inhuman, almost like a monster imitating what it believed a human to sound like. The pitch fluctuated from high pitch to low, from male to female. Ariesa had never heard something like it before.

"Yes, the churches have ceased any resistance thanks to [Archbishop] Reginald's help. They've been steadily dosing their congregation's wines with the new Desire X. The only district that remains untouched is District Seven. With their church closed, we can only hope that they attended church elsewhere."

"If one district is weaker than the rest… that is fine… you've done well, Romulus."

"Please, you don't have to call me that. Calus, how long have we known each other? Despite how we once began… now we're aligned. Romulus might've been the iteration that finally understood you, but please call me by the name that you first knew."" I know that man far less than the one I know now… let the past be the past…"

"As you wish, Calus. Now, it's getting late, and I have much to do tomorrow in regard to setting up the amplifying glyphs. Not much longer, friend… not much longer."" Yes… not much longer at all… soon you shall see Erina again…"

"And one day, you too shall be freed. Once I see my love again… I promise to do all I can to free you. And of course after you walk this world once more, then we can work on the ultimate goal of helping this world remember who God really is."

"With what you're doing… I am inevitable …" Ariesa had heard enough. She scrambled away from the door and quickly crept towards the exit. On her way out, she stopped and plucked the book off the shelf with shaky hands. As she was one foot out the door, a booming voice stopped her." Ariesa? What are you doing up at this hour?" her father asked. Ariesa froze, her brain submerged in mud as she tried to search for a lie.

"Uh… I couldn't sleep," she turned out and held the book out towards her father.

"Mother used to read her poems to me… I thought maybe it'd help ease my worries and help me sleep."

"Ah, I see…" Romulus said.

"You know what that book means to me, but… I'll allow it this once. I'll have Oda retrieve it from you in the morning."

"T-Thank you, father. Goodnight," she said, and went to exit once more.

"You know… you're mother was the strongest woman I ever knew. She was capable of such grace and compassion, but also able to be the fierce [Queen] when she needed to be. I wonder how she'd react to see what you've become." Ariesa stopped and cocked her head at her father.

"What do you mean?" Romulus chuckled at her.

"Oh, forgive me. I've had some drink… and I fear it has… inspired some emotions within me upon seeing you with that book." He let out a deep sigh and then ran his fingers through his thick hair.

"It's just hard to see your daughter look like the woman you loved most and then be forced to come to terms that she's just a pale imitation of her. I hope the best for you, Ariesa, I truly do… but if I had to choose between you and her… Forgive me, but I've already made my choice." Tears welled up in her eyes, causing her to slam herself through the doors. How often must this happen before she learned her lesson? Every visit always ended in a loss of tears, and an increase in hatred for this new father of hers.

And yet… she continued to find herself coming back for more. At what point could someone rightfully give up on someone they used to love? Surely she'd reach that point. Who could fault her for giving up on someone so needlessly cruel to their own blood? Well, if there was someone, then she didn't plan on sticking around to find out. She'd rather be a [Thief] than continue being [Princess] to a [King] that wished she were dead.

So, upon entering her room, she wrote a note for the one man that she trusted and knew would care to know she was leaving for awhile. They could communicate via her relic, but only in a vastly limited capacity. She'd knew that she'd see him again, but he deserved the note more than anyone lest he were to worry. This time, when Ariesa opened her creaky window, it didn't sing a harsh song of confinement. No, what she heard now was the song of freedom. Level Decrease!

[Princess Level 15 — Princess Level 13] Skill Lost! Skill [Regal Waltz] has been removed!