Shapeless Hero

54 - Messes

Still restrained by Rev's magic, Liszka and I watch him place one candle after another on the cobblestones of a carefully chosen back alley. The scented candles gradually taint the air with an earthen sweetness.

"This should fool their noses. No need to fight them all, let alone their leader.", Rev explains in lieu of our curious looks.

Liszka takes another sniff. "None of our... deterrents."

"Well, it's my own concoction. So, last but not least..." Rev spreads his arms, palms facing down. A few words chanted, arcane circles light up at both entrances of the alley and fade into invisibility. I count about twenty magic traps on each side with my mana vision.

The last magic circle done, he turns to me. "Now then, what's your true story?"

I bite my lip. How can I spin it without admitting to being a monster? I could lie about it, but judging by Rev's prior job, even convenient omissions of facts are risky. He likely possesses a great intuition, a lie detector-gadget-thingy or some other method to discern truth from deception - perhaps a combination of all those.

"If it helps, the adventurer's guild is not duty-bound in terms of reporting criminal acts or possession of illegal items." adds Rev after my prolonged silence.

"I don't have to tell you that I'm not from here, right?", I begin, my words chosen with care.

"I know! I couldn't even find a single entry about you or your relatives in the public register! I checked, validated and checked again, thinking I might have skipped a page or two!"

"I presume that's because I wasn't a noble a month ago."

"Ah, the register takes a while before it's up to date, doesn't it..." He nods, content with my answer. However, a new question lights his eyes up. "How did you become a noble in the first place?"

"Simple: I swore the imperial oath."

"Oh, that's why that imperial commander is around... Although, 'simple' is not a word I would use in your case."

"No? I think the ritual was pretty straightforward."

"That's not what I mean. See, if you're an imperial noble, then you're setting a very interesting precedent."

Rev produces a trinket from his pocket. I recognize it from the tour in the storage area of the guild. It's glowing. My fox-kin ears droop.

"You know what those are, right? If the right mana circuit is close enough..."

"I'm aware. they are usually tuned to find specific creatures."

"Exactly. So how come, the imperium would allow for a creature like you - whatever you are - to become a noble? Aren't they usually very strict about it?" Rev moves the trinket closer to Liszka and it dims. Bringing it back to me, the trinket glows up again. He repeats the motion, but his eyes stay this time on me, urging me to explain.

I begin anew. "As you already figured out, my skills allow me to change sh... disguise myself."

"That's quite the understatement. What kind of rank is your skill, that you can lose so much body mass? Where does the excess go? Are you a vampire? Oh! Perhaps a dragon even? I would say shapeshifter, but those were erased quite some time ago." His gaze drills into me with furious curiosity.

"The skill is rank S." I respond.

Rev chuckles at first, but then the corners of his mouth drop. "Hold on... you're serious."

I would've played it off as a joke, had he not believed me, but Rev sounds too certain, meaning some skill for lie-detection is likely active. One would think, I could see its magic happening with my mana-vision, but he knows about my sight, so he would definitely prepare some countermeasures. Chances are, the scented candles are part of it.

Rev walks in circles around me, lost in thought. He doesn't react to some not-so-distant, rushed footsteps.

Liszka and I share a glance before our eyes turn towards the alley's noisier exit. None of the traps have gone off yet.

"Fine. I'm out of ideas.", Rev proclaims, "So, which skill makes it possible on rank S? What within your mana circuits is activating this trinket?"

"..."

"Listen, either you cooperate, or I will let the wolves have you."

"I'd rather fight the wolves than tell you.", I respond. "Have you forgotten how strict the laws are regarding skill inspections? Asking me to reveal my spells in such a situation is practically the same!"

"Extortion!", Liszka adds, the pronunciation barely correct.

Our captor blinks twice, then shakes his head to clear his mind again. The Rev I know is a principled person and his hesitation shows it to be true still, so I keep pushing.

"I get your interest, I really do. I've seen you clear up dozens frauds with that drive of yours.", I continue, "But you should know better than me, that misplaced information can cause harm to innocent individuals, no matter how truthful it is. Yes, I have secrets, but I only keep them secrets as to live my life in peace! Please don't make me a victim of your curiosity!"

He shakes his head, a determined look, on his face. "I'm sorry, this won't do. I won't risk people getting harmed again, because I didn't act with due diligence."

Rev puts away the trinket and pulls another gadget out of his pockets. He pushes a button at the edge of the palm-sized, flat device, awfully similar to the tablet screens I know from my old world. It lights up accordingly.

A few heartbeats later, thin strands of mana caress my skin and clothes. His eyes widen as he takes in the contents of the tablet screen.

With a distorted hum, followed by a loud explosion, one of the alley entrances blows up. An unusually cold wind blows past us.

The chains that were restraining Liszka moments ago fall to the ground, clinking with an ethereal echo. She escaped.

Rev clicks his tongue, snaps his fingers, and my consciousness disappears as the tightening chains destroy my body at his command.

###

Alya opens her eyes and inhales air for the first time in many days. Once her breathing steadies, she takes a look around the room she just woke up in. "The adventurer's guild?"

"G-good day...", greets Karl, standing on one corner of her bed.

"What happened?"

"How much do you remember?"

"I think I was on the way back to Ryelo- Wait, you can talk?!"

"Gods, this will take a while..."

"Oh! You were there too! There were two of you! Huh?"

Alya touches the sides of her head, right where her elven ears should have been. Her hands travel upwards, until they reach the tips of her new, more animalistic ears.

"So, there was a bit of a mishap, when some wolf-kin cast a powerful area spell in the guild-hall..."

"Those aren't my ears! Where are my real ears!?"

Karl lowers his head. "That's the best I could do. To be fair, you should've been dead!"

"What?!"

"Sorry that was phrased poorly. Let me try again!"

For the next ten minutes, Alya's shouting can be heard from the lodgings area, but the adventurers are too occupied with stopping wolf-kin rogues from breaking into the guild hall to help - or even notice.