"Mono/Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
Narration
[Message/communication apparatus]
Date: Late April 1084
Location: Northern Rim Billiton.
POV: Narrator
The sound of a heavy and perhaps gargantuan machinery had caused an ashen haired figure to stir awake from their slumber, the cracks of light that shone through the curtain also encouraged the figure to stretch themselves. The figure had been driving for days on end, thus they decided to take things a lot slower than usual.
“… Morning already?” Said figure is none other than the Grey Serpent. After stretching some more, she stood up from her comms link chair turned bed and opened up the vehicle’ curtains. There she sees a megacorporation’ landship that is scouring the lands for mineral. Her eyes can also see several smaller vehicles coming in and out of the landship.
“This is Rim Billiton huh?” She is amused with this land of theirs, the Cautus’ homeland was what she kept being told it was. She then tried to recall another lecture by none other than Doctor Kal’tsit, a complete motor mouth who can’t shut up, and Kal’tsit herself doesn’t deny Nyx’ opinion. She did however added several extra paragraphs of monologue that made the Grey Serpent thankful and irritated.
“Let’s see… Rim Billiton is Terra primary source of minerals export, originium or otherwise.” Despite Nyx growing annoyance at how long can the Feline doctor keep on talking, Nyx is still beyond grateful that the busy and now really grumpy Feline even deigned to teach her regarding what to expect in Rim Billiton.
Kal’tsit had drilled into her skull regarding a fact that Rim Billiton is a nation of that relied on export of Originium and its absolutely hungering for manpower mining sectors. When Nyx asked about how the infected was treated there, Kal’tsit answer was a complete silence and barely restrained scowl full of disgust.
That’s enough as an answer for Nyx, the infected miners are not under indentured servitude but instead a full-blown slavery using a lot of things she can think off. One of them is surely promise of medication and healthcare, something that would be jacked up to high hell. Then there is also the matter where actual slavery happened, but they are then “freed” and being slapped with bills they must pay off with working in the mines.
There are still a lot of things in mind, but she decided that the rest is hardly better anyway. What Nyx also comprehended from her lecture was that Rim Billiton is some kind of Megacorporation that acted like a nation, this megacorporation also donned the same name or perhaps Rim Billiton was taken from said megacorporation.
“If that’s like that then… ugh… the corporate warfare between its subsidiaries and competing landships would be ugly as all hell…” Nyx theorized that the corporate warfare between them will require a lot of mercenaries, thus causing even more convoluted mess of a situation that actually made Victorian’ Grand Dukes feud to be an easy to understand mess.
It doesn’t mean that she believe that every single one of them are some mustache twirling villain and tyrannical overlord. There should be people who understand that mistreatment will only cause problems further down the road, it is just that those people would be really trying to blend in since it can be perceived as a weakness.
One particular warning also stuck with her however.
Flasback
“Nyx, there is one thing you must be really careful with when you’re in Rim Billiton.”
“And that is?”
“You must be cautious when dealing with them. Especially when economy and financial venues are concerned. You’re not invincible, and Rim Billiton has more than enough to exhaust you in a battle of attrition. That whole region is filled with landships that are tirelessly excavating for resources, not to mention their actual mobile cities. These landships can be turned into mobile headquarter and fortress.”
“Got it… So these miners disliked it when I dug too deep huh?”
“Indeed. Rim Billiton is an abyss that keeps on hungering for manpower… no matter who it must drag down the abyss to unearth its riches.”
End of Flasback
“Welp, time for my daily physical training.” She decided to postpone her brainstorming on what needs to be remembered and left the confine of her van. Nyx also needs to go to the meeting point with Notarial Hall’ agents. The Guardian Guns that she has amassed, numbering in dozens of originium guns, would attract unnecessary problem otherwise.
She is not going to Laterano proper since she cared more about the Nearls than some allegedly heavenly city that is blessed with divine providence. Of course, she will visit it sometime in the future, but said future is not anywhere near.
Nyx opened the door of her van and stepped outside. There she is greeted with a mix of arid scenery and savanna. That is not to say there isn’t any greeneries such as forested landscapes however, she is on one of them after all.
Nyx had her van parked on top of a plateau overlooking the arid land that is filled with several landships as far as her eyes can see. No matter how many times she sees it, Nyx still find hard to believe that something on their technological level can construct this insane feat of engineering.
Once having her fill of gazing at the scenery, she starts her daily regiments. This regiment consisted of 700 sit-up, push-up, pull-up, and running for 2 hours without stopping. This whole thing can be accomplished before noon, an astonishingly high feat considering that she is still a lazy slob when there is no job being undertaken.
This activity was already started, albeit on a lighter duration at first, just a few days before she entered Kazdel, surprising a certain lime-haired Feline because of how fast her body can reacclimatize. After being checked to be physically hale and able once more, she was allowed to add more and more until her usual training quote was achieved.
Nyx’ temporary personal doctor then asked her to conduct several tests… with result that further confused the Feline. So much so that the unflappable Kal’tsit can be seen to be tearing several papers of her own hypotheses to comprehend this alien situation.
One of the test was when Nyx is starting to fell less and less burdened with extreme physical activity. She is honestly lost at just what is happening on her body. This also brought another puzzlement, because despite of the extreme physical labor, her body is as lean as ever… but when Kal’tsit pried her flesh open, she can see that her patient’ nerves and musculature had visibly tighten. This shouldn’t have happened so visibly, but it does for Nyx.
Her Feline doctor was even forced to redo Nyx’ flesh sampling, since another astonishing change is going on with her body. Thankfully, her blood was left unchanged, else Kal’tsit would without a doubt restrain her for a while to give herself a better understanding on what Nyx actually is.
“Phew… that was nice… but, damn… I can’t have any muscle on me… Kal’tsit assured me that muscle has little to do with actual physical strength but come on… Even I want to show off…” She is honestly annoyed that she can’t have a pristine cheese graters of her own.
Then there is another anomaly that both thrilled and made The Grey Serpent starts to be afraid of herself. After finishing her training, she start to look and scan all around her for ensuring that no one is spying. The thing she will do now is something she had been curious ever since that deadly duel and subsequent beat down by the Emperor’s Blade.
“Hmm…” She pulled out an ordinary, non-military grade, dagger and use it to slice open her palm… it did little more than like gliding across her skin. It felt smooth, unnaturally so…
“What the hell is happening?” Her ordinary and unremarkable dagger left nothing on her skin. Nyx is nowhere near knowledgeable with scholarly or theoretical facets on how things are supposed to be done. Thus she conducted this extremely primitive, and barbaric, method of comparative research to understand herself in lieu with Kal’tsit much more scientific one…
But hey? At least it worked….
Then The Grey Serpent pulled out a military grade dagger. This dagger was a custom made one she had commissioned years ago, yet it still lose out with the her first dagger that was found on that mobile facility turned subterranean graveyard that was also her “birthplace” all things considered.
She stabbed it on her with high level of strength. Her skin and flesh was penetrated, unsurprisingly… albeit no more than a few centimeters deep. Yet that’s not what she was aiming for actually.
“… Again, why does the pain felt… so… so… disappointing? Did that Pursuer asshole’ eldritch energy fucked up my pain receptors or something? Hah…” That’s what she is looking for. Nyx had discovered this when she was injured in Kazel, and every time she does, it gets progressively less painful.
“Ngh…” She pushed it deeper and its starts to sting more, but it didn’t caused her to scream. If we use a comparison, it is like getting your hand stuck on a branch while running, that’s the level of pain she currently feels. Some people might think that feeling less pain is something worth celebrating… Nyx think the opposite.
‘I can regenerate yeah, but who knows that there are something out there which can counteract it. If there is something like that and my pain receptors are not working… then I can just bleed out like an idiot. I wonder if Kal’tsit has a fix on this… but I can’t go back to Kazdel now… ah screw it, I should return back home. The Nearls would still needs me…’
Nyx decided to stop with her experiment and rinse on a nearby basin she had found yesterday. She still needs to return the Sankta’ guardian guns after all…
Location: Milites Valley, Northern Rim Billiton – Eastern Siracusa Border Zone.
[Milites Valley, a name that was gained not from the fact that a place was a home of courage militias or the like… no. The place was known to be the graveyard of those militias. To comprehend the nature of this name, let us dive back on the time when Siracusa was not yet the Siracusa we know of today.]
[There was once a powerful famiglia of Siracusa called the Cisalphine-Socii. This famiglia was once the richest and the most prolific in terms of raw power between the Mafioso, and they thrived during Siracusa’ era of total anarchy. “How could they achieved such a level of power?” one might ask. The answer is simple, they have themselves 5 mobile landships that was turned into a singular land-dreadnought]
[This land-dreadnought is improvised with the crudest and the most effective set of weaponry imaginable, originium artillery and liquid throwers. These weapon system was created by their very bare hands and ingenuity that made even the pre-Columbian green with envy. This monstrous dreadnought had stoked the Don of Cisalphine-Socii, Don Tiberios Maximilian Cisalphini, ambition to unify Siracusa… but he needs resources, so what’s better than to stake their claim on the wilderness and badlands of Rim Billiton?]
[Thus he steered his “army” away from Siracusa, and onwards towards Rim Billiton.]
[Once there he subjugated several independent settlements and nomads. His conquest was a brutal affair, there was even a record where he used his land-dreadnought, now baptized in the flames of war with the name of “Il Crogiolo Dei Lupi” for its rabid nature of flattening settlements that refused to bend the knee. Of course, this caused the surrounding settlements to unite into against the foreign incursion.]
[Coalition of Free Settlements, or perhaps more like an alliance of convenience, had convened and must act swiftly. Unlike the hated and dreaded Crogiolo, of which being filled to the brim with plundered supplies, they are on a time limit since the Mafioso conducted raid after raid with blitzing speed. This situation goes on for a while before the Coalition had apparently managed to sabotage the fortress in an unfavorable terrain, in a valley that is taller than the dreadnought itself.]
[CFS then amassed whatever vehicle they had to overwhelm the land-dreadnought from the valley entrances and having the rest of their thousands of militias, mercenaries and volunteers to drop down from the cliff side. The dreaded castle is seemingly hopeless now, their dead engine made them a sitting duck and the amount of artilleries and liquid spewers barely over the second digits.]
[The Don was not a fool however, and knows that without proper planning, this dreadnought of his can be overwhelmed with numbers and proper planning. Not to mention that the size of his mobile castle will force it into an unfavorable position, thus her concocted a plan that will turned the terrain as his weapon and the land-dreadnought as the bait.]
[One thing CFS didn’t know was that Tiberios deliberately allowed the mobile fortress engine to be damaged, thus laying in the bait. You might wonder why he did such a bold gamble, the answer is simple and that said answer is the valley itself.]
[What was Rim Billiton specialty? Mining minerals and originium. What are the commonly known location ideal for mining? Hills, mountains, valleys, and even the river. Thus Tiberios send out his prospector to look over the predicted ambush point quietly. As luck would have it, and misfortune for CFS fighters, the soon to be known Milites has 11 originium veins.]
[When the CFS fighters just a hairbreadth away from the land-dreadnought, explosions rocked the valley and the sheer amount of originium imbued particle caused simultaneous manmade catastrophe to be triggered. The valley was brought down with explosions while the sky darkened into a rain of orignium dust that ate up whatever is left of the CFS fighters.]
[Such a thing should have spell the doom for Cisalphine, but this is where The Don unveiled his final card. With a flick of a switch, and the primary power generator still working, the land dreadnought brought forth its originium resistant walls. This piece of engineering is crude compare to Yumen, but it is thicker and much more disposable.]
[Thus while the CFS are succumbing to oripathy and death, Cisalphine-Socii mobsters are having the celebration of their life. They sang in pure jubilation while a volunteer is having their limbs turned into pure orignium. They drank the most savory liquor while the CFS’ mercenaries are choking on their own bile. Lastly they seek greater carnal pleasure of flesh while the militias are biding each other the final warmth and before their inevitable rest.]
[When the storm dissipated, the land quieted down, and the sky turned bright once more… the Dreadnought, Il Crogiolo Dei Lupi, rumbled the earth once more while shedding its dead skin. Several mafiosos then donned their originium resistant gear and forced whatever remnant of CFS to mine the Milites Valley. Those corpses were turned into fuel and being sold.]
[Thus came to be the Cisal-]
“Pfft… neutral documentary my ass.” An ashen haired Pythian scoffed seeing the documentary that she is currently watching on a television. She is reclining on a rather rough bench, but it is expected since this place is in the wild anyway.
“Indeed, no matter how they tried to sugarcoat and deny the facts… this documentary was clearly funded by the Siracusan.” A Sankta man chimed in with his opinion, he is none other than the leader of several dispatched Executors sent by Notarial Hall. It was done because their current collaborator is a person of interest.
“Eh, can’t blame em really. Siracusa primary fighting force are the Mafioso, they had no standing army. So they resorted to dick waving contest to maintain their prestige…” The Sankta man grimaced a little from her choice of word and while he did find some logic to it, Siracusa is anything but weak.
“I would word it better, but if I can advise you do not be fooled with their appearance.”
“Yeah, yeah…” While the two are conversing with topic surrounding Sircusa, numerous footsteps are heard behind them. Executors and civil servants of Notarial Hall are hard at work in documenting all the recently returned Guardian Guns that belonged to Laterano. All of these are gathered by none other than The Grey Serpent.
“We have confirmed this battle rifle to be under the name of Emilio Cadiz. He was deemed MIA 3 years ago on the outskirts of Victoria.”
“Please check the pattern for this pistol, then help me open this crate.”
“Several rifles, patterned too, has been documented from this box… it was procured and sanctified 40 years ago according to its serial numbers.”
“We still need to go through 3 more large crates, and 4 small boxes. Get the folks outside to prepare the transport, this will be the most expensive convoy this year…”
“Another heavy repeater gun has been confirmed. This one was issued to Angelica Artistica, she was KIA for more than 15 years ago in Kazdel. This guardian guns condition is fairly damaged, but can still be restored.”
“We have confirmed a dozen revolvers, of which all was issued under the name and identification of Marcus Solus.”
“I detected a miss identification for this grenade launcher to not be under the name of Leticia Roxaline, but to be under the name of Leticia Luxor. Do please update the database.”
“Let see… hmm… this is an undocumented guardian guns. Please contact home office that we had confirmed a violation of article regarding illegal guns creation. Ensure that it is a priority development.”
“Several Blacksteel’ guns has been recovered, thus we shall enact protocol 6 regarding reintegration and sanctification of these guns. Prepare the specialized crate, the one that will be addressed to section 11.”
“You guys are really hard at work, I can respect that.” Nyx said her praise towards the ever-hardworking Leteran, but her tone is as dry as Sargonian desert. The man that has been conversing with her soon reply with mild amusement.
“Is that really? The diligent one here is you. To recover this many pieces of guardian guns is no small feat.”
“Whatever really, I’m in it for the money and clout.”
“As blunt as ever huh.”
“Stop dancing around and ask away.”
“… You had been missing for months and suddenly surfaced from Kazdel, I must say that was truly intriguing.”
“Hmph, I follow where money goes, and Kazdel is getting juicier these days.” Nyx just reclined on her seat, still listening attentively on the television. It is now gotten to the part of Cisalphine eventual decline.
“I can’t blame you for that, those Sarkaz are always tearing themselves. How uncivilized really…” The Sankta chuckled with morbid amusement, Kazdel is a shithole and he preferred it if that blasted hell on terra stays that way. Which is why he failed to notice a sharp glint from the ashen haired Pythian that shone briefly.
“Yeah I know right? Can you imagine if they united under one banner? They would be a real menace to deal with.” Nyx masked her taunt with an opinion, something the Notarial Hall Executor definitely understood.
He let it slide however, his task is not to entertain her snarks, but to recover the guardian guns, thus his first reason. The second reason to just let it be, is that he understand it himself of how terrifying a unified Kazdel truly is. The more personal reasoning however… was the notion that this mercenary had been deemed to be as strong as Apostolic Gun Knights, no matter how ludicrous that is.
Thus the current Pope of Laterano had made the issue to be brought into attention. He only wish them all to not cause unnecessary conflict with her. It also helps that she is willing to form a positive and cooperative relationship with Laterano as a whole, along with returning Guardian Guns periodically.
“What have you been doing all those months then? Other than wreaking havoc of course.” The Executor decides to move the conversation along, especially regarding her sudden disappearance.
“Why should I tell you?” Nyx’s words was uttered with tone that has an edge into it. Such a sudden spike of hostility alarmed the more mentally attuned Executors, but the Leader just smile in a carefree manner.
“As a reference, nothing more. Your mercenary career had been quite selective, as far as rumors goes anyway.” He uttered his reasoning before reaching out for a water canteen that he brought along.
“Heh, no… those rumors are going to be useless.”
“How so?” The Sankta said before starting to slake his thirst.
“I quit being a merc.”
“Pfhhf! *cough* cough*!” He spat his drink, but thankfully the liquids were spat towards the ground and nothing else. The other Executors are also bewildered, they never thought that someone so knee deep in violence will just quit being a merc. Not to mention that her reputation for being a sadistic mercenary precedes her. Nyx had half the mind to withhold her current allegiance, but decides against it.
“I’m going back to Kazimierz, making it official to work with Catastrophe Messenger.”
“Oh…” The man felt relief wash over him, his mind was about to connect numerous possibilities and by The Law forbid she work with those devils from now on… then he laugh heartily.
“Hahahaha! I can’t imagine you end up being someone who delivers mail!”
“Yeah, yeah… very funny and mature. Who knows though? I might end up as nothing more than an ordinary mailwoman.” Nyx said with a so-done-with-this-convo tone and just turned off the TV. Her eyes are now looking at the ceiling while leaning back on the hardened steel chair.
“Heh, ordinary, yeah… sure… since when was it the norm to use Hierovan Fowlbeast to deliver letters?”
“Fun, I give you an A for trying… so how much is it this time around?” Her gaze wandered to him, he felt something suddenly nagged the back of his head but it dissipated just as quickly.
“Ah yes, almost forgot.” He turned his gaze towards a Liberi woman who is crisscrossing here and there with a paper in hand. The man inquired her about the current tally of recovered relics.
“How many relics that has been confirmed so far?”
“Let me see the inventory pages and notes… the amount of relic that has been recovered consisted of 27 bolt-action rifles, 11 semi-auto rifles, 8 assault rifles, 4 battle rifles, 3 carbines, 28 pistols, 10 spread guns and shotguns, 5 pieces of grenade launchers, and a pair of heavy repeating guns.”
‘That’s an abnormally high amount of haul… just where did she get all of these? Do I need to recommend the Notarial Hall to attach an observer to study her modus operandi? Hmm…’ The Sankta Captain made a quick mental note regarding it, the person he is dealing with is really an enigma.
“Good work, ensure that our collaborator received a remuneration she deserved.”
“Consider it done, Captain. Lady Nyx, please follow me to finalize your contract with Notarial Hall.”
“Sure, sure…”
Date: Late April – Mid July 1084
Location: Siracusa and Leithanien.
Nyx had done some last bits of clandestine contracts for the Doctor of Babel. She can’t help but feels like the Doctor present a level of danger that is nigh-unthinkable for someone that looks so harmless, but it does has some credence judging by how they seems to be really inscrutable on contracts offers.
The first one was surveying whether or not a herd of Hippelian Burdenbeast has been moving around a certain region, of which she had confirmed to be the case. Naturally she can has an inkling that Odysseus is moving up with plans in mind. The second one was regarding whether or not an abandoned fortress is clear of bandits. She headed there and found the place to be utterly deserted, not even insects can be found. The third one was regarding a mine, she was only told to go there and stay for a while… that’s it.
At that point she has no idea what the Doctor is planning.
What really unnerved her however is the fact that probing their emotion only returned a single feedback, it was an endless maze of emotions that cannot even be ciphered. The Doctor’ head didn’t move, but Nyx can feel their eyes snapping directly at her, so much so that she stumbled back.
After some small talks with Kal’tsit, along with her sternly reminding Nyx to adhere with assigned health plan especially the no-smoking part, Nyx departed from Kazdel. She was about to just blitz her way through and back to Kazimierz, but she thinks that some souvenirs would be nice to have since her van is now much emptier after returning the guardian guns. Thus starts her brief vacation and sightseeing, from Siracusa to Leithanien and only then will she return home.
Her time in Siracusa was a really weird one. For one, she has no interest to starts some sort of vigilante activity here, since their law enforcements are the mafias themselves. Thus she behaved as nothing more than a tourist. A ludicrously dangerous one, but a high paying one too. Her first stop was the historical mobile city of Sette Colli, the birthplace of Siracusa’s Lupo and Vulpo.
As per tradition, she was immediately monitored and shadowed by not only the famiglia that has influence there, but also from the Grey Hall itself, of which Nyx has no idea what even is a Grey Hall at first. Her reception was definitely mixed due to her history when dealing with syndicates, but since she doesn’t really do anything noteworthy, she was mostly left alone to wander like an actual tourist.
Sette Colli was once the center of Siracusan, at least that’s what her tour guide explained on her. It was certainly surreal that someone who always seems to be so sure of herself nodding along to whatever the tour guide told her. The tour guide was a Siracusan man, he was really affable and seems to know his stuff.
After some inquiries, the man confessed that he was a graduate from a Columbian University whom had chosen to return home. When asked why, the man just smiled and said nothing. Nyx is not blind with that social cue and instead asked more regarding the country, which surprised the tour guide of how pleasant she is to talk with.
The man told her about the one who had maintained the safety and civility of Siracusan city states, the personage was none other than Signora Sicilia, the de facto and de jure ruler of Siracusa. He regaled the tale where Signora Sicilia had once made a pilgrimage to Laterano, something that deeply intrigued the Pythian, and returned to Siracusa with the thing that made it what it is today; the legal system of Pistole et Ordine or Guns and Order.
Guns and Order exemplified that the Dodici Famiglie Siracusano must share power between them. This marked an era where the prosperity and order finally came after centuries of lawlessness following their independence from Leithania. The tour guide had, most likely being ordered to, extolled the virtue of civilized Siracusa… which she doesn’t buy even for a split second.
Her stay in Sette Colli had painted the reality of how average life in Siracusa played out. Nyx had found corpses in the alleyway in a manner that is eerily similar to harvest seasons. The shadow wars there, from what she can know, happened frequently.
When the Dons and their cadres are negotiating, the disposable mobsters are moving about towards rival establishment under the veil of secrecy. She even witnessed car bombing 3 times, with casualties that are weirdly enough not as bad as she would have thought.
If it is this bad on such a historic and significant place, then how bad would it be on newly constructed settlement? Nyx also uncovered that, infected or not, of which you’re not a foreigner who minded their own business or a Mafioso, everyone would suffer the same way under the famiglie.
She had half the mind to intervene… if not for a presence that is similar to Gareth suddenly stalked her every time she tried to. Nyx thus had her hands full of keeping an eye on that particular existence, it did added more credence towards what Gareth had said and made her more cautious when dealing with what she, tentatively, dubbed as the gods of terra.
There was only one of them at first, before she starts to feel like being surrounded and told to leave the country gently, of which she does so… after having her fill of not cursing out loud at how expensive was a wheel of Terran’ Parmesan cheese was. The thing cost her 80,000 LMD each. To illustrate such an absurd cost, an average Columbian car cost only 12,000 LMD. She is loaded with cash, but even she paused when finally learning the cost of it.
Her next stop is Leithanien, the mobile city she visited was called Graufield, the closest mobile city to Kazimierz’s own mobile garrison city of Dzwonek. Her arrival comes with an activity that has become her norm now.
This country was a bit more welcoming, even though the fact of her working with the Duke of Windermere had come to light. The reason was simple, her singing was truly captivating for the musically inclined Leithanien… which is also why she got bombarded with criticism and praises in equal measure, well the former is a lot more but she honestly enjoyed hearing their opinions on her singing that brought her a lot of satisfaction.
One of the most painful criticism she had gotten was that her singing was true, but her soul and mind seems to clash with one another. Nyx can’t lie that such a notion to be true but withholding the fact of admitting it in public. She poured her mind to concentrate on the song, thus her soul is the last one to enjoy her own performance, since if she lapsed her arts would flared up and things can go to shit.
The praises she received was more on the side of how her vocal range and musical knowledge felt so otherworldly. One anonymous critics there even noted that her speaking in old dialects seems to breathe in the essence of memories itself. Nyx froze for a split second from that theory, but thankfully her face was already conditioned to not flinch for every ‘minor’ things.
Of course, she has her share of antagonistic crowd. Her Arts ability was publicly known to be none, thus some Arts-Supremacists called her as “Defects”, yet the person couldn’t care less since when she suddenly shows right in between them, they all scattered like frightened rams.
While there she was also pleasantly surprised with the infected general treatment. Sure they’re still confined to a ghetto, but at least they actually has a community, enterprising as human being, and doesn’t need to fear getting lynched 24 / 7. This humane treatment is extremely good, even when compared with Kazimierz’ own.
Nyx then departed merely days after staying there because the amount of nobles who keeps pestering her was incredibly high. Her more personal reasoning was that of an eeriness that pervaded the air, and an unknown shadowy group who is looking at her like some kind of thing to use and discard, not even being treated as a weapon, only an object.
After purchasing some arts units for the use of orphanage children who might have some talents in it and an interesting mask that can stabilize arts usage, she left the country. Nyx made a small stop in Dzwonek, the Campaign Knights immediately welcomed her like a hero, something that made her a little stumped. The garrison and mayor strongly recommend her to use one of the empty mansion. She tried to decline, but because they insisted so much she relented.
Her stays was filled with Campaign Knights that are more than eager for sparring. She obliged after the garrison commander offered her a favor or two and the fact that she arrived in Kazimierz earlier than expected. Thus her brief tenure as both instructor and sparring partner.
After 5 days, she left the city and drive without stop towards Kawalerielki.
“Margaret, Zofia, Maria, Kiril… and Mwi… I’m going to be there again soon…”
[END OF CHAPTER]
Author’s Note:
Hello there, this is me, myself, and I, the author who finally made some progress in his undergraduate thesis. Which is why I’ll churn up another .5 chapter soon!
What do you think about that little tid bits of world building? Good? Bad? Meh? It was aight? Feel free to criticize it.
Nyx made some brief pass on the nations. She will come back later, it is just that she needs to conclude her little contract with Młynar about protecting the Nearls.
That’s all really…
Update as usual
Ciao
"Mono/Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
Narration
[Message/communication apparatus]
Date: Late April 1084
Location: Northern Rim Billiton.
POV: Narrator
The sound of a heavy and perhaps gargantuan machinery had caused an ashen haired figure to stir awake from their slumber, the cracks of light that shone through the curtain also encouraged the figure to stretch themselves. The figure had been driving for days on end, thus they decided to take things a lot slower than usual.
“… Morning already?” Said figure is none other than the Grey Serpent. After stretching some more, she stood up from her comms link chair turned bed and opened up the vehicle’ curtains. There she sees a megacorporation’ landship that is scouring the lands for mineral. Her eyes can also see several smaller vehicles coming in and out of the landship.
“This is Rim Billiton huh?” She is amused with this land of theirs, the Cautus’ homeland was what she kept being told it was. She then tried to recall another lecture by none other than Doctor Kal’tsit, a complete motor mouth who can’t shut up, and Kal’tsit herself doesn’t deny Nyx’ opinion. She did however added several extra paragraphs of monologue that made the Grey Serpent thankful and irritated.
“Let’s see… Rim Billiton is Terra primary source of minerals export, originium or otherwise.” Despite Nyx growing annoyance at how long can the Feline doctor keep on talking, Nyx is still beyond grateful that the busy and now really grumpy Feline even deigned to teach her regarding what to expect in Rim Billiton.
Kal’tsit had drilled into her skull regarding a fact that Rim Billiton is a nation of that relied on export of Originium and its absolutely hungering for manpower mining sectors. When Nyx asked about how the infected was treated there, Kal’tsit answer was a complete silence and barely restrained scowl full of disgust.
That’s enough as an answer for Nyx, the infected miners are not under indentured servitude but instead a full-blown slavery using a lot of things she can think off. One of them is surely promise of medication and healthcare, something that would be jacked up to high hell. Then there is also the matter where actual slavery happened, but they are then “freed” and being slapped with bills they must pay off with working in the mines.
There are still a lot of things in mind, but she decided that the rest is hardly better anyway. What Nyx also comprehended from her lecture was that Rim Billiton is some kind of Megacorporation that acted like a nation, this megacorporation also donned the same name or perhaps Rim Billiton was taken from said megacorporation.
“If that’s like that then… ugh… the corporate warfare between its subsidiaries and competing landships would be ugly as all hell…” Nyx theorized that the corporate warfare between them will require a lot of mercenaries, thus causing even more convoluted mess of a situation that actually made Victorian’ Grand Dukes feud to be an easy to understand mess.
It doesn’t mean that she believe that every single one of them are some mustache twirling villain and tyrannical overlord. There should be people who understand that mistreatment will only cause problems further down the road, it is just that those people would be really trying to blend in since it can be perceived as a weakness.
One particular warning also stuck with her however.
Flasback
“Nyx, there is one thing you must be really careful with when you’re in Rim Billiton.”
“And that is?”
“You must be cautious when dealing with them. Especially when economy and financial venues are concerned. You’re not invincible, and Rim Billiton has more than enough to exhaust you in a battle of attrition. That whole region is filled with landships that are tirelessly excavating for resources, not to mention their actual mobile cities. These landships can be turned into mobile headquarter and fortress.”
“Got it… So these miners disliked it when I dug too deep huh?”
“Indeed. Rim Billiton is an abyss that keeps on hungering for manpower… no matter who it must drag down the abyss to unearth its riches.”
End of Flasback
“Welp, time for my daily physical training.” She decided to postpone her brainstorming on what needs to be remembered and left the confine of her van. Nyx also needs to go to the meeting point with Notarial Hall’ agents. The Guardian Guns that she has amassed, numbering in dozens of originium guns, would attract unnecessary problem otherwise.
She is not going to Laterano proper since she cared more about the Nearls than some allegedly heavenly city that is blessed with divine providence. Of course, she will visit it sometime in the future, but said future is not anywhere near.
Nyx opened the door of her van and stepped outside. There she is greeted with a mix of arid scenery and savanna. That is not to say there isn’t any greeneries such as forested landscapes however, she is on one of them after all.
Nyx had her van parked on top of a plateau overlooking the arid land that is filled with several landships as far as her eyes can see. No matter how many times she sees it, Nyx still find hard to believe that something on their technological level can construct this insane feat of engineering.
Once having her fill of gazing at the scenery, she starts her daily regiments. This regiment consisted of 700 sit-up, push-up, pull-up, and running for 2 hours without stopping. This whole thing can be accomplished before noon, an astonishingly high feat considering that she is still a lazy slob when there is no job being undertaken.
This activity was already started, albeit on a lighter duration at first, just a few days before she entered Kazdel, surprising a certain lime-haired Feline because of how fast her body can reacclimatize. After being checked to be physically hale and able once more, she was allowed to add more and more until her usual training quote was achieved.
Nyx’ temporary personal doctor then asked her to conduct several tests… with result that further confused the Feline. So much so that the unflappable Kal’tsit can be seen to be tearing several papers of her own hypotheses to comprehend this alien situation.
One of the test was when Nyx is starting to fell less and less burdened with extreme physical activity. She is honestly lost at just what is happening on her body. This also brought another puzzlement, because despite of the extreme physical labor, her body is as lean as ever… but when Kal’tsit pried her flesh open, she can see that her patient’ nerves and musculature had visibly tighten. This shouldn’t have happened so visibly, but it does for Nyx.
Her Feline doctor was even forced to redo Nyx’ flesh sampling, since another astonishing change is going on with her body. Thankfully, her blood was left unchanged, else Kal’tsit would without a doubt restrain her for a while to give herself a better understanding on what Nyx actually is.
“Phew… that was nice… but, damn… I can’t have any muscle on me… Kal’tsit assured me that muscle has little to do with actual physical strength but come on… Even I want to show off…” She is honestly annoyed that she can’t have a pristine cheese graters of her own.
Then there is another anomaly that both thrilled and made The Grey Serpent starts to be afraid of herself. After finishing her training, she start to look and scan all around her for ensuring that no one is spying. The thing she will do now is something she had been curious ever since that deadly duel and subsequent beat down by the Emperor’s Blade.
“Hmm…” She pulled out an ordinary, non-military grade, dagger and use it to slice open her palm… it did little more than like gliding across her skin. It felt smooth, unnaturally so…
“What the hell is happening?” Her ordinary and unremarkable dagger left nothing on her skin. Nyx is nowhere near knowledgeable with scholarly or theoretical facets on how things are supposed to be done. Thus she conducted this extremely primitive, and barbaric, method of comparative research to understand herself in lieu with Kal’tsit much more scientific one…
But hey? At least it worked….
Then The Grey Serpent pulled out a military grade dagger. This dagger was a custom made one she had commissioned years ago, yet it still lose out with the her first dagger that was found on that mobile facility turned subterranean graveyard that was also her “birthplace” all things considered.
She stabbed it on her with high level of strength. Her skin and flesh was penetrated, unsurprisingly… albeit no more than a few centimeters deep. Yet that’s not what she was aiming for actually.
“… Again, why does the pain felt… so… so… disappointing? Did that Pursuer asshole’ eldritch energy fucked up my pain receptors or something? Hah…” That’s what she is looking for. Nyx had discovered this when she was injured in Kazel, and every time she does, it gets progressively less painful.
“Ngh…” She pushed it deeper and its starts to sting more, but it didn’t caused her to scream. If we use a comparison, it is like getting your hand stuck on a branch while running, that’s the level of pain she currently feels. Some people might think that feeling less pain is something worth celebrating… Nyx think the opposite.
‘I can regenerate yeah, but who knows that there are something out there which can counteract it. If there is something like that and my pain receptors are not working… then I can just bleed out like an idiot. I wonder if Kal’tsit has a fix on this… but I can’t go back to Kazdel now… ah screw it, I should return back home. The Nearls would still needs me…’
Nyx decided to stop with her experiment and rinse on a nearby basin she had found yesterday. She still needs to return the Sankta’ guardian guns after all…
Location: Milites Valley, Northern Rim Billiton – Eastern Siracusa Border Zone.
[Milites Valley, a name that was gained not from the fact that a place was a home of courage militias or the like… no. The place was known to be the graveyard of those militias. To comprehend the nature of this name, let us dive back on the time when Siracusa was not yet the Siracusa we know of today.]
[There was once a powerful famiglia of Siracusa called the Cisalphine-Socii. This famiglia was once the richest and the most prolific in terms of raw power between the Mafioso, and they thrived during Siracusa’ era of total anarchy. “How could they achieved such a level of power?” one might ask. The answer is simple, they have themselves 5 mobile landships that was turned into a singular land-dreadnought]
[This land-dreadnought is improvised with the crudest and the most effective set of weaponry imaginable, originium artillery and liquid throwers. These weapon system was created by their very bare hands and ingenuity that made even the pre-Columbian green with envy. This monstrous dreadnought had stoked the Don of Cisalphine-Socii, Don Tiberios Maximilian Cisalphini, ambition to unify Siracusa… but he needs resources, so what’s better than to stake their claim on the wilderness and badlands of Rim Billiton?]
[Thus he steered his “army” away from Siracusa, and onwards towards Rim Billiton.]
[Once there he subjugated several independent settlements and nomads. His conquest was a brutal affair, there was even a record where he used his land-dreadnought, now baptized in the flames of war with the name of “Il Crogiolo Dei Lupi” for its rabid nature of flattening settlements that refused to bend the knee. Of course, this caused the surrounding settlements to unite into against the foreign incursion.]
[Coalition of Free Settlements, or perhaps more like an alliance of convenience, had convened and must act swiftly. Unlike the hated and dreaded Crogiolo, of which being filled to the brim with plundered supplies, they are on a time limit since the Mafioso conducted raid after raid with blitzing speed. This situation goes on for a while before the Coalition had apparently managed to sabotage the fortress in an unfavorable terrain, in a valley that is taller than the dreadnought itself.]
[CFS then amassed whatever vehicle they had to overwhelm the land-dreadnought from the valley entrances and having the rest of their thousands of militias, mercenaries and volunteers to drop down from the cliff side. The dreaded castle is seemingly hopeless now, their dead engine made them a sitting duck and the amount of artilleries and liquid spewers barely over the second digits.]
[The Don was not a fool however, and knows that without proper planning, this dreadnought of his can be overwhelmed with numbers and proper planning. Not to mention that the size of his mobile castle will force it into an unfavorable position, thus her concocted a plan that will turned the terrain as his weapon and the land-dreadnought as the bait.]
[One thing CFS didn’t know was that Tiberios deliberately allowed the mobile fortress engine to be damaged, thus laying in the bait. You might wonder why he did such a bold gamble, the answer is simple and that said answer is the valley itself.]
[What was Rim Billiton specialty? Mining minerals and originium. What are the commonly known location ideal for mining? Hills, mountains, valleys, and even the river. Thus Tiberios send out his prospector to look over the predicted ambush point quietly. As luck would have it, and misfortune for CFS fighters, the soon to be known Milites has 11 originium veins.]
[When the CFS fighters just a hairbreadth away from the land-dreadnought, explosions rocked the valley and the sheer amount of originium imbued particle caused simultaneous manmade catastrophe to be triggered. The valley was brought down with explosions while the sky darkened into a rain of orignium dust that ate up whatever is left of the CFS fighters.]
[Such a thing should have spell the doom for Cisalphine, but this is where The Don unveiled his final card. With a flick of a switch, and the primary power generator still working, the land dreadnought brought forth its originium resistant walls. This piece of engineering is crude compare to Yumen, but it is thicker and much more disposable.]
[Thus while the CFS are succumbing to oripathy and death, Cisalphine-Socii mobsters are having the celebration of their life. They sang in pure jubilation while a volunteer is having their limbs turned into pure orignium. They drank the most savory liquor while the CFS’ mercenaries are choking on their own bile. Lastly they seek greater carnal pleasure of flesh while the militias are biding each other the final warmth and before their inevitable rest.]
[When the storm dissipated, the land quieted down, and the sky turned bright once more… the Dreadnought, Il Crogiolo Dei Lupi, rumbled the earth once more while shedding its dead skin. Several mafiosos then donned their originium resistant gear and forced whatever remnant of CFS to mine the Milites Valley. Those corpses were turned into fuel and being sold.]
[Thus came to be the Cisal-]
“Pfft… neutral documentary my ass.” An ashen haired Pythian scoffed seeing the documentary that she is currently watching on a television. She is reclining on a rather rough bench, but it is expected since this place is in the wild anyway.
“Indeed, no matter how they tried to sugarcoat and deny the facts… this documentary was clearly funded by the Siracusan.” A Sankta man chimed in with his opinion, he is none other than the leader of several dispatched Executors sent by Notarial Hall. It was done because their current collaborator is a person of interest.
“Eh, can’t blame em really. Siracusa primary fighting force are the Mafioso, they had no standing army. So they resorted to dick waving contest to maintain their prestige…” The Sankta man grimaced a little from her choice of word and while he did find some logic to it, Siracusa is anything but weak.
“I would word it better, but if I can advise you do not be fooled with their appearance.”
“Yeah, yeah…” While the two are conversing with topic surrounding Sircusa, numerous footsteps are heard behind them. Executors and civil servants of Notarial Hall are hard at work in documenting all the recently returned Guardian Guns that belonged to Laterano. All of these are gathered by none other than The Grey Serpent.
“We have confirmed this battle rifle to be under the name of Emilio Cadiz. He was deemed MIA 3 years ago on the outskirts of Victoria.”
“Please check the pattern for this pistol, then help me open this crate.”
“Several rifles, patterned too, has been documented from this box… it was procured and sanctified 40 years ago according to its serial numbers.”
“We still need to go through 3 more large crates, and 4 small boxes. Get the folks outside to prepare the transport, this will be the most expensive convoy this year…”
“Another heavy repeater gun has been confirmed. This one was issued to Angelica Artistica, she was KIA for more than 15 years ago in Kazdel. This guardian guns condition is fairly damaged, but can still be restored.”
“We have confirmed a dozen revolvers, of which all was issued under the name and identification of Marcus Solus.”
“I detected a miss identification for this grenade launcher to not be under the name of Leticia Roxaline, but to be under the name of Leticia Luxor. Do please update the database.”
“Let see… hmm… this is an undocumented guardian guns. Please contact home office that we had confirmed a violation of article regarding illegal guns creation. Ensure that it is a priority development.”
“Several Blacksteel’ guns has been recovered, thus we shall enact protocol 6 regarding reintegration and sanctification of these guns. Prepare the specialized crate, the one that will be addressed to section 11.”
“You guys are really hard at work, I can respect that.” Nyx said her praise towards the ever-hardworking Leteran, but her tone is as dry as Sargonian desert. The man that has been conversing with her soon reply with mild amusement.
“Is that really? The diligent one here is you. To recover this many pieces of guardian guns is no small feat.”
“Whatever really, I’m in it for the money and clout.”
“As blunt as ever huh.”
“Stop dancing around and ask away.”
“… You had been missing for months and suddenly surfaced from Kazdel, I must say that was truly intriguing.”
“Hmph, I follow where money goes, and Kazdel is getting juicier these days.” Nyx just reclined on her seat, still listening attentively on the television. It is now gotten to the part of Cisalphine eventual decline.
“I can’t blame you for that, those Sarkaz are always tearing themselves. How uncivilized really…” The Sankta chuckled with morbid amusement, Kazdel is a shithole and he preferred it if that blasted hell on terra stays that way. Which is why he failed to notice a sharp glint from the ashen haired Pythian that shone briefly.
“Yeah I know right? Can you imagine if they united under one banner? They would be a real menace to deal with.” Nyx masked her taunt with an opinion, something the Notarial Hall Executor definitely understood.
He let it slide however, his task is not to entertain her snarks, but to recover the guardian guns, thus his first reason. The second reason to just let it be, is that he understand it himself of how terrifying a unified Kazdel truly is. The more personal reasoning however… was the notion that this mercenary had been deemed to be as strong as Apostolic Gun Knights, no matter how ludicrous that is.
Thus the current Pope of Laterano had made the issue to be brought into attention. He only wish them all to not cause unnecessary conflict with her. It also helps that she is willing to form a positive and cooperative relationship with Laterano as a whole, along with returning Guardian Guns periodically.
“What have you been doing all those months then? Other than wreaking havoc of course.” The Executor decides to move the conversation along, especially regarding her sudden disappearance.
“Why should I tell you?” Nyx’s words was uttered with tone that has an edge into it. Such a sudden spike of hostility alarmed the more mentally attuned Executors, but the Leader just smile in a carefree manner.
“As a reference, nothing more. Your mercenary career had been quite selective, as far as rumors goes anyway.” He uttered his reasoning before reaching out for a water canteen that he brought along.
“Heh, no… those rumors are going to be useless.”
“How so?” The Sankta said before starting to slake his thirst.
“I quit being a merc.”
“Pfhhf! *cough* cough*!” He spat his drink, but thankfully the liquids were spat towards the ground and nothing else. The other Executors are also bewildered, they never thought that someone so knee deep in violence will just quit being a merc. Not to mention that her reputation for being a sadistic mercenary precedes her. Nyx had half the mind to withhold her current allegiance, but decides against it.
“I’m going back to Kazimierz, making it official to work with Catastrophe Messenger.”
“Oh…” The man felt relief wash over him, his mind was about to connect numerous possibilities and by The Law forbid she work with those devils from now on… then he laugh heartily.
“Hahahaha! I can’t imagine you end up being someone who delivers mail!”
“Yeah, yeah… very funny and mature. Who knows though? I might end up as nothing more than an ordinary mailwoman.” Nyx said with a so-done-with-this-convo tone and just turned off the TV. Her eyes are now looking at the ceiling while leaning back on the hardened steel chair.
“Heh, ordinary, yeah… sure… since when was it the norm to use Hierovan Fowlbeast to deliver letters?”
“Fun, I give you an A for trying… so how much is it this time around?” Her gaze wandered to him, he felt something suddenly nagged the back of his head but it dissipated just as quickly.
“Ah yes, almost forgot.” He turned his gaze towards a Liberi woman who is crisscrossing here and there with a paper in hand. The man inquired her about the current tally of recovered relics.
“How many relics that has been confirmed so far?”
“Let me see the inventory pages and notes… the amount of relic that has been recovered consisted of 27 bolt-action rifles, 11 semi-auto rifles, 8 assault rifles, 4 battle rifles, 3 carbines, 28 pistols, 10 spread guns and shotguns, 5 pieces of grenade launchers, and a pair of heavy repeating guns.”
‘That’s an abnormally high amount of haul… just where did she get all of these? Do I need to recommend the Notarial Hall to attach an observer to study her modus operandi? Hmm…’ The Sankta Captain made a quick mental note regarding it, the person he is dealing with is really an enigma.
“Good work, ensure that our collaborator received a remuneration she deserved.”
“Consider it done, Captain. Lady Nyx, please follow me to finalize your contract with Notarial Hall.”
“Sure, sure…”
Date: Late April – Mid July 1084
Location: Siracusa and Leithanien.
Nyx had done some last bits of clandestine contracts for the Doctor of Babel. She can’t help but feels like the Doctor present a level of danger that is nigh-unthinkable for someone that looks so harmless, but it does has some credence judging by how they seems to be really inscrutable on contracts offers.
The first one was surveying whether or not a herd of Hippelian Burdenbeast has been moving around a certain region, of which she had confirmed to be the case. Naturally she can has an inkling that Odysseus is moving up with plans in mind. The second one was regarding whether or not an abandoned fortress is clear of bandits. She headed there and found the place to be utterly deserted, not even insects can be found. The third one was regarding a mine, she was only told to go there and stay for a while… that’s it.
At that point she has no idea what the Doctor is planning.
What really unnerved her however is the fact that probing their emotion only returned a single feedback, it was an endless maze of emotions that cannot even be ciphered. The Doctor’ head didn’t move, but Nyx can feel their eyes snapping directly at her, so much so that she stumbled back.
After some small talks with Kal’tsit, along with her sternly reminding Nyx to adhere with assigned health plan especially the no-smoking part, Nyx departed from Kazdel. She was about to just blitz her way through and back to Kazimierz, but she thinks that some souvenirs would be nice to have since her van is now much emptier after returning the guardian guns. Thus starts her brief vacation and sightseeing, from Siracusa to Leithanien and only then will she return home.
Her time in Siracusa was a really weird one. For one, she has no interest to starts some sort of vigilante activity here, since their law enforcements are the mafias themselves. Thus she behaved as nothing more than a tourist. A ludicrously dangerous one, but a high paying one too. Her first stop was the historical mobile city of Sette Colli, the birthplace of Siracusa’s Lupo and Vulpo.
As per tradition, she was immediately monitored and shadowed by not only the famiglia that has influence there, but also from the Grey Hall itself, of which Nyx has no idea what even is a Grey Hall at first. Her reception was definitely mixed due to her history when dealing with syndicates, but since she doesn’t really do anything noteworthy, she was mostly left alone to wander like an actual tourist.
Sette Colli was once the center of Siracusan, at least that’s what her tour guide explained on her. It was certainly surreal that someone who always seems to be so sure of herself nodding along to whatever the tour guide told her. The tour guide was a Siracusan man, he was really affable and seems to know his stuff.
After some inquiries, the man confessed that he was a graduate from a Columbian University whom had chosen to return home. When asked why, the man just smiled and said nothing. Nyx is not blind with that social cue and instead asked more regarding the country, which surprised the tour guide of how pleasant she is to talk with.
The man told her about the one who had maintained the safety and civility of Siracusan city states, the personage was none other than Signora Sicilia, the de facto and de jure ruler of Siracusa. He regaled the tale where Signora Sicilia had once made a pilgrimage to Laterano, something that deeply intrigued the Pythian, and returned to Siracusa with the thing that made it what it is today; the legal system of Pistole et Ordine or Guns and Order.
Guns and Order exemplified that the Dodici Famiglie Siracusano must share power between them. This marked an era where the prosperity and order finally came after centuries of lawlessness following their independence from Leithania. The tour guide had, most likely being ordered to, extolled the virtue of civilized Siracusa… which she doesn’t buy even for a split second.
Her stay in Sette Colli had painted the reality of how average life in Siracusa played out. Nyx had found corpses in the alleyway in a manner that is eerily similar to harvest seasons. The shadow wars there, from what she can know, happened frequently.
When the Dons and their cadres are negotiating, the disposable mobsters are moving about towards rival establishment under the veil of secrecy. She even witnessed car bombing 3 times, with casualties that are weirdly enough not as bad as she would have thought.
If it is this bad on such a historic and significant place, then how bad would it be on newly constructed settlement? Nyx also uncovered that, infected or not, of which you’re not a foreigner who minded their own business or a Mafioso, everyone would suffer the same way under the famiglie.
She had half the mind to intervene… if not for a presence that is similar to Gareth suddenly stalked her every time she tried to. Nyx thus had her hands full of keeping an eye on that particular existence, it did added more credence towards what Gareth had said and made her more cautious when dealing with what she, tentatively, dubbed as the gods of terra.
There was only one of them at first, before she starts to feel like being surrounded and told to leave the country gently, of which she does so… after having her fill of not cursing out loud at how expensive was a wheel of Terran’ Parmesan cheese was. The thing cost her 80,000 LMD each. To illustrate such an absurd cost, an average Columbian car cost only 12,000 LMD. She is loaded with cash, but even she paused when finally learning the cost of it.
Her next stop is Leithanien, the mobile city she visited was called Graufield, the closest mobile city to Kazimierz’s own mobile garrison city of Dzwonek. Her arrival comes with an activity that has become her norm now.
This country was a bit more welcoming, even though the fact of her working with the Duke of Windermere had come to light. The reason was simple, her singing was truly captivating for the musically inclined Leithanien… which is also why she got bombarded with criticism and praises in equal measure, well the former is a lot more but she honestly enjoyed hearing their opinions on her singing that brought her a lot of satisfaction.
One of the most painful criticism she had gotten was that her singing was true, but her soul and mind seems to clash with one another. Nyx can’t lie that such a notion to be true but withholding the fact of admitting it in public. She poured her mind to concentrate on the song, thus her soul is the last one to enjoy her own performance, since if she lapsed her arts would flared up and things can go to shit.
The praises she received was more on the side of how her vocal range and musical knowledge felt so otherworldly. One anonymous critics there even noted that her speaking in old dialects seems to breathe in the essence of memories itself. Nyx froze for a split second from that theory, but thankfully her face was already conditioned to not flinch for every ‘minor’ things.
Of course, she has her share of antagonistic crowd. Her Arts ability was publicly known to be none, thus some Arts-Supremacists called her as “Defects”, yet the person couldn’t care less since when she suddenly shows right in between them, they all scattered like frightened rams.
While there she was also pleasantly surprised with the infected general treatment. Sure they’re still confined to a ghetto, but at least they actually has a community, enterprising as human being, and doesn’t need to fear getting lynched 24 / 7. This humane treatment is extremely good, even when compared with Kazimierz’ own.
Nyx then departed merely days after staying there because the amount of nobles who keeps pestering her was incredibly high. Her more personal reasoning was that of an eeriness that pervaded the air, and an unknown shadowy group who is looking at her like some kind of thing to use and discard, not even being treated as a weapon, only an object.
After purchasing some arts units for the use of orphanage children who might have some talents in it and an interesting mask that can stabilize arts usage, she left the country. Nyx made a small stop in Dzwonek, the Campaign Knights immediately welcomed her like a hero, something that made her a little stumped. The garrison and mayor strongly recommend her to use one of the empty mansion. She tried to decline, but because they insisted so much she relented.
Her stays was filled with Campaign Knights that are more than eager for sparring. She obliged after the garrison commander offered her a favor or two and the fact that she arrived in Kazimierz earlier than expected. Thus her brief tenure as both instructor and sparring partner.
After 5 days, she left the city and drive without stop towards Kawalerielki.
“Margaret, Zofia, Maria, Kiril… and Mwi… I’m going to be there again soon…”
[END OF CHAPTER]
Author’s Note:
Hello there, this is me, myself, and I, the author who finally made some progress in his undergraduate thesis. Which is why I’ll churn up another .5 chapter soon!
What do you think about that little tid bits of world building? Good? Bad? Meh? It was aight? Feel free to criticize it.
Nyx made some brief pass on the nations. She will come back later, it is just that she needs to conclude her little contract with Młynar about protecting the Nearls.
That’s all really…
Update as usual
Ciao
