Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 104: The Goddess’s Gift

Sundenelle stares at the report she was just given from her messenger. She feels sick to her stomach. She asks wearily, “Who else have you told of this matter?”

“No one, your Imperial Majesty. I returned as soon as I saw the state of… Fort Twilight.”

“How could this be?” asks Byleathea, the only other one in the room with Sundenelle and her loyal guards, as well as the messenger. “What manner of attack could annihilate a fortress the size of Fort Twilight?”

“I don’t know, but there are signs that the attack came from the east.”

“Explain,” replies Sundenelle.

“The destruction was spherical,” explains the messenger, drawing a circle on the map of the continent around where Fort Twilight used to be. “But, here, in the northeast, there was a conical trench, like the land was melted away by some powerful heat.”

“Could it be the dragons?” asks Byleathea.

“I wouldn’t know, my Lady.”

The senior of the two guards in the room replies, “If I may, your Illustrious Highness?”

Sundenelle nods at him, and the guard answers, “From the description, I don’t think it’s possible for the dragons to reduce a fortress to such a perfect spherical crater, if the young messenger’s words are to be believed. And, I hear the voice of sincerity.”

Sundenelle nods. “I agree as well. The burns in historical paintings and drawings depicting the destruction caused by dragons leaves remains of the structures. They don’t waste effort on over-destructive carnage. Certainly not enough to make such a deep crater.” She traces a circle around the drawing of the fortress. “You’re certain the crater was as deep as it was wide?”

“Very near so, your Imperial Majesty. Though, with the scope…”

“Of course…” She traces her finger along the map, stopping at a dark spot that represents the Citadel. “Then, what became of Daniel, I wonder? He said he would remain long enough for a reply.”

The Empress’s mother murmurs gently, “Your Grace, there is no force in the east capable of such destruction. It is most likely that the otherworlder had his dragons annihilate the fortress to use as an excuse to declare war anew.”

Sundenelle traces a circle idly around the Citadel on the map, thinking. The guard speaks again, “That does make the most sense. I don’t even know of any demon kin capable of such destructive force. I doubt even the Strylak of legend could destroy a fortified installation so completely.”

The younger guard asks, “Could it be that the Fievegal -er, the self-proclaimed Fievegal-, have angered the Strylak?” He bows at Sundenelle, adding, “Forgive me, our illustrious Empress, for validating the upstarts.” She doesn’t respond, hearing the words, but still too deep in thought to acknowledge anything.

“The Strylak does indeed hold sway over the whole world,” replies Byleathea. “But it is a legendary beast of the deep sea.” She gestures at the flag of the Empire in the room, where a depiction of the Strylak is embracing the whole world. The Strylak has a somewhat shark-like appearance, but is more specifically a polypus like a squid, with long arms and big, intelligent eyes. It is believed from the legends that the Strylak is a highly intelligent creature, potentially even more intelligent than Senn, the elven sage or the eldest dragons.

“No,” states the young Empress suddenly. The other four stop their discussion and look at her, with the two guards standing straight at attention.

She looks at Byleathea. “Recognized or not, they don’t need an additional attack to justify war. We know one other being capable of such power, whether he revealed it or not.” She narrows her eyes as she looks at the map to the northeast of Fort Twilight. “Otherworldly power.”

The other four in the room frown at the thought. “King Rikuto,” murmurs Byleathea. “He had been gathering magic artisans and artificers for some time for a secret project…”

Sundenelle nods. “He specifically became afraid of Daniel just prior to that.”

“Have… we heard from the Citadel since…?” asks Byleathea cautiously. Though she suggested Daniel or the dragons could have performed a faux attack to justify war with the east, ignoring that they already had cause to retaliate or declare war thanks to two failed invasions, as far as the Empire knows, that whole group was located at Fort Twilight. If they were attacked and caught off guard, it’s very possible they are looking at attempted assassination, let alone the attack itself.

And, if the assassination succeeded…

“You, Hyagoke;” The messenger perks up at the Empress’s words.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“Gather all of the messengers in the palace. Meet us in the reception room.”

“As you wish, your Grace!” The messenger bows, and he jogs out.

Sundenelle explains her thoughts to her mother, “We need to try to establish contact with Daniel or any survivors of his inner circle. If there is any chance of stopping a major retaliation, we have to act now.”

Byleathea nods. “If they are acting in bad faith, their intentions will come to light.”

“Exactly.” Sundenelle points at the two surviving forts that mark the pass-throughs through the mountain range. With the crater that now represents Fort Twilight, traversing in either direction is likely to be difficult, if not impossible. “Fort Peony and Fort Reeffjord are both still usable to pass through the mountains, but now they’ll be at higher risk for attack. We need to tell the allied army to station at each of the inner protective forts.”

“As we saw, though, the Fievegal doesn’t need a fortress to pass through the mountains.”

“Even before that, the dragons could have passed the mountains. Why didn’t they? I don’t think the dragons are as formidable as we have always feared.”

“Sundenelle…” murmurs her mother.

Sundenelle holds her hand up, clarifying, “I’m not insane, Mother. I know it’s still unwise to attack them. Less so now, if they’re being armed by Daniel. But, I think there was a reason they held back with as powerful as they are. Did you notice the eggs?”

“I did. You think they are only now breeding?”

Sundenelle nods. “I have no doubt that we had three dragons standing in the audience chamber. Dragon empresses. The dragons have never flexed noble authority or their offspring before, as if they were taunting us.”

“I don’t think…”

“They were taunting us, Mother. I’m sure of it. All the stories say that dragons are very prideful and hubristic. And…” She looks at the map again. “We need to figure out what happened at Twilight before they decide that we are responsible for it.”

“What about King Rikuto, then? If I may, your Grace, we should be cautious about provoking the kingdom of Mornistae. Not only individually, but as an ally kingdom. If we begin sanctioning ally territories, we can expect support for the war effort to dry up.”

“The war is in chaos thanks to Daniel and his Fievegal. Intel reports are suggesting that the demons have been gathering forces, but there hasn’t been any movement to the east.”

“Gods be good, they focus their attention on the Citadel.”

Sundenelle scoffs. “I agree. But, we don’t know the state of the leadership of the Citadel yet. Come. I need to draft the letters to send via the messengers.”

Byleathea nods, and they both exit the private chamber to head to the empress’s office, where she’ll have several ministers and her general help plan for their next actions.

***

Daniel and Doephluev hide in cover as a monster bellows. According to Doephluev, it’s a thorusk hakkadel. Supposedly, it’s an extremely old hakkadel that evolves due to absorbing magic over its entire life. Daniel’s not entirely convinced, since, as far as he understands, no such thing happens to the dragons or Uhl’tall. That said, the thorusk hakkadel is distinctly different than the ones they’ve fought so far, with a much larger size comparable to the massive drake that attacked Fort Peony. To Daniel, it is approximately the height of an elephant, with a length twice that of the terrestrial giants. Its fur also glows in a slow intermittent brightening and dimming as it moves, with dark purple streaks similar to a tiger. It also has bone or horn-like protrusions on its elbows and shoulders.

After the first hakkadel, Daniel has opted not to use the railgun this time. It vaporized the hakkadel and kept going, which he did not expect. He built it for dragons, and he incorrectly assumed monsters in general on this world were tougher than creatures of earth. But, ‘monsters’ is a term Zenkons use, since there are so many man-eaters that don’t seem to need sustenance the way normal ‘animals’ do. Either they’re more efficient than people assume, or people are too afraid to actually find out. And, of course, the abundant magic energy known as mana of the world is a factor Daniel can only speculate on. 

Regardless, he loads a more ‘modest’ 20mm rifle that he carries, since it has been proven to be capable of slaying dragons under the right conditions, but shouldn’t be overkill for the creature he’s facing now. The rail gun was made to be a more sure-fire method of defeating dragons, even if he can’t exploit soft-tissues or if it was especially large.

Doephluev whispers as she leans on Daniel’s shoulder, “Hmm… Why not use the other one? This one’s bigger.”

“You think this won’t work?”

“I don’t know how to explain it, my beloved Emperor.” She hugs him from behind as he quietly closes the breach to finish loading the shell. “Hakkadels have a protection around them. Only you could make a ranged weapon that works on them. And, I would say you should use it.”

“For the record, I made this rifle, too,” whispers Daniel. He takes aim, whispering, “Cover your ears.”

Daniel’s helmet will protect him, and Doephluev obediently covers her ears, though she remains leaning on his back.

Daniel counts down with his left hand, and he can feel her brace as he reaches one.

He pulls the trigger, and the rifle casts its terrifying non-magic spell, booming with a thunder not common on the world of Zenkon. Flames burst from the muzzle, and a bright flash illuminates from further away.

The thorusk hakkadel roars in shock, stumbling away from the blast of the rifle, and Daniel reloads.

While he does so, though, he notices something strange. There is a puff of smoke closer the beast, and the hakkadel’s fur is glowing even more vibrantly with shades of blue and red outlining the vibrant purple. Its eyes also glow with a demonic fire, likely from the primed electrical charge. Though, the glare of the monstrous being does cause Daniel to flinch.

He has become a little numb to all of the things he has had to face in this world. Zenkon is full of beings that would be considered supernaturally powerful on Earth. Daniel is a mere human, who has survived as long as he has by often denying the reality of it all. Inside the video games he played, Daniel has fought demons, monsters the size of mountains, and hordes of zombies. On Zenkon, those things are the reality.

And, this one just survived his dragon-slaying weapon and knows where he and Doephluev are.

Doephluev shouts, unable to tell how loud she is being. “Daniel! Its magic! It intercepted the attack!”

Daniel watches the monster. To be able to intercept and stop or deflect a supersonic bullet, electricity would be able to act quickly enough since not many things are faster than electricity. In fact it probably can travel at least 70 times faster than Daniel’s rifle bullet. The problem is the amount of energy required. A regular lightning bolt might be enough to deflect a shot, but to think a living being can generate that much energy is unnerving.

Whatever the case, their position is compromised. “Flash! Go!”

Doephluev follows his instructions, taking one of the flashbang grenades from her pouch, which Daniel gave her as their mission progressed. She’s quick to learn, and she’s proving useful, if not a little overzealous.

She pulls the pin and throws the grenade as the hakkadel roars, shaking the air. Daniel pushes Doephluev to the side behind the pillar, and the flashbang goes off with a bright flash of light that briefly illuminates the whole room, while the thundering ‘whump’ slams their ears, deafening both of them, even with Daniel’s helmet. He can feel the rumble in his body when the hakkadel roars again.

Daniel scrambles up, pulling Doephluev up so they can run to cover behind a different pillar. She seems to have been more disoriented than he expected, and he makes sure to guide her to safety behind the hakkadel as it barrels through the pillar they were hiding behind, enraged and blinded by the flashbang.

The thorusk hakkadel whips around violently, swinging blindly around itself and smashing another pillar, as well as the remains of the first. Daniel helps Doephluev into cover and makes sure she’s out of sight. She is compliant, rubbing her eyes. “S-Sorry! I got sand in my eyes when we hit the ground. Wh-Where is it? I’ll…”

“Relax. Clear your eyes and stay here. I’m swapping weapons.”

“Y-Yes, Daniel!”

Daniel retrieves his rail gun from his bag, arming the safeties. The weapon rings, and the hakkadel looks directly at him again. Its vision is still disoriented, but it has a pretty good idea of the right direction.

Daniel takes a breath. His heart is pounding, and his arms are shaking a little, but he doesn’t have to get a direct hit. The hakkadel’s fur begins to glow as it roars, and it starts to charge towards them.

Daniel aims and fires the railgun, and he can’t even process what happens next.

The human mechanic has been in a car accident once where the airbag deployed, and the speed of everything being over by the time he realized it is the same feeling he has now as he makes sense of himself sliding across the floor of the subterranean dungeon. He coughs, feeling the ache and burn in his right shoulder and right pectoral region. The armor he’s wearing isn’t his usual sharmellkolle armor, which can be tracked by Xyreko. It saved his life -at least for now-, but it definitely didn’t protect him from whatever just happened.

He rolls onto his back as he panics. The hakkadel is directly over top of him, lunging at him. 

Daniel’s instincts are only enough to put his left arm in front, even though the monster’s head is bigger than his entire body. 

Suddenly, a humongous shadow swoops over Daniel, slamming into the Hakkadel. Electricity sparks and crackles from the dark figure pushing the monster back, even though the newcomer is less than a third of the hakkadel’s size.

Daniel can’t make out the newcomer clearly, his own vision still blurry from the impact of whatever hit him. 

Doephluev crawls up to Daniel. He can’t hear her, but she’s obviously trying to check on him. She begins digging through Daniel’s magic bag, finding healing potations, and she feeds them to him. When she sits him up a little on her lap, he is able to glance towards the monsters. The silhouette-like black monster shoves the thorusk hakkadel down by its head, using one of its blade-like legs to pin it down to break the monster’s neck. There’s a quick discharge of lightning bolts all around the pair, but the pitch black monster seems to be unharmed.

Doephluev keeps hugging Daniel as he catches his breath.

The dark monster that seems to have rescued the pair finally turns, and Daniel recognizes the summoned death knight Vaergraes made during the battle of the Citadel plains.

Daniel murmurs, “Arachne?”

“Yes,” replies the semi-hollow voice that the summoned being produces.

“What are you doing here?” asks Daniel.

“Mother sent me. Protect father.” Daniel can feel his archoneldwyn companion tighten her hug a little.

Daniel does his best to sit up, coughing again. Doephluev coos, “Easy, my Emperor. You’re wounded.”

Daniel looks at the blood on his right arm. Part of his armor has been knocked off of his arm, and his jacket sleeve underneath is shredded. 

“What happened? How was its range so long?”

“I… I don’t know. I saw your weapon fire… a-and then it just exploded, like the hakkadel used a retaliation spell. B-But it’s too complex of a spell for something like a hakkadel, even a thorusk hakkadel to use.”

Daniel looks at where he was in cover, and he can see what she means. Parts of his rail gun are embedded in the pillar with black carbon scoring marking the pillar. The main ‘barrel’ of the weapon is halfway out into the middle of the room, while the stock is near where Daniel landed.

Giving it thought, Daniel realizes his mistake. The hakkadel’s front limb is severed back where it was when he fired, but it didn’t die. And, the automatic electrical discharge that protects it from ranged attacks probably followed the ionized air back to the rail gun, which only ‘protected’ Daniel from being electrocuted because of the insulation to withstand the electrical discharge that propels the bullet down the rails.

Daniel coughs, grumbling, “Remind me not to use the rail gun on hakkadels anymore.”

“What else would you use?” asks Doephluev as she gently wraps Daniel’s arm.

“Dunno. Grenades. Nemaisol.” He gestures at Arachne, who is standing by patiently. “Arachne.” He winces from Doephluev’s first aid touching a portion of his body still not healed yet. Like anything else related to magic, Daniel reacts inefficiently to healing potations -which is still an improvement over having no magic at all-. The archoneldwyn also reacts to his flinch, saying gently but urgently, “I’m sorry, my Love. I’m doing my best.”

“It’s fine. Thank you.” He then looks at Arachne, asking, “So, what brought you here, Arachne? I was sure I left all of my equipment that could be tracked.”

Arachne looks at Doephluev. “Harness.”

“Doephluev’s harness? But… it nullifies magic. How can…”

“Xyreko sent me at Mother’s request. I can not explain.”

Daniel sighs. Xyreko followed his instructions and made the harness with a combination of materials to limit interference with anyone or anything that isn’t Doephluev, but keeps the concentrated effect on the archoneldwyn, who has many secret abilities thanks to her rune tattoos, not least of which is an automatic self-revival, enhanced magic, and counter-magic. She’s immune to hypnosis and mind-control spells, and the concern has been that she might be able to remove a binding contract from herself. 

Daniel has been a little less worried about it, though. He has repeatedly tested her when he knows the contract is working, and she seems to be sincere. She no longer has the same predatory air that she had when they met in the prison cell. She no longer cares about her former mission, her old comrades, or her pride. In fact, her pursuit of pride now entails trying to become Empress of the Fievegal -Hekate’s position, specifically-. She’s not aggressive about it towards any of the other women, but she is aggressive towards Daniel… in certain ways.

But, more important at the moment is the presence of Arachne. “So… Xyreko and Vaergraes have already realized I’m missing. But… how did they know Doephluev was with me?”

“Doephluev cannot leave without permission, Father. She must have been with you, since she was not in any part of the Citadel or township.”

Daniel sighs. “And…?”

“And…?” repeats the summoned intelligent monster. She’s still very ‘young’ in the sense that she hasn’t been sentient for more than a few weeks.

“You think they’ve told the others?” asks Doephluev.

“Almost certainly. But then, I’m surprised only Arachne came.”

“Mother and Xyreko told the empresses and consorts to remain until I confirm Father’s safety. Also, Mother recommend Consorts pretend Father perished at Fort Twilight, afraid to leave the Citadel.”

Daniel sighs. “Xyreko overheard me thinking out loud, didn’t she?”

“I do not know, Father.”

“Whatever. I’m glad they’re looking out for me. But, since when am I ‘Father’?”

“Mother is Mother, Father is Father. Father give Arachne name.”

Doephluev pouts a little, finishing her first aid on Daniel. “Vaergraes hasn’t even been intimate with Daniel yet.”

“It’s fine. Arachne can call me whatever she wants. Arachne, are you alright? You took some pretty hard hits from the hakkadel.” Daniel looks at the faintly glowing fur of the massive monster that the death knight was able to defeat.

“It hurt, but I am capable of battle.”

“Here…” Daniel finds another healing potation, handing it over to the death knight. “Drink this.” 

Arachne obeys, and Doephluev cautions, “My Love, you should conserve…”

“I’ll make it. You and Arachne need your health to fight adequately. I just need to be able to lift my rifle.” He looks at the remains of the railgun. He sighs. “Let’s hope we don’t run into another one of those beasties.”

“I will protect,” replies Arachne proudly after she finishes the potation. Her body recovers its luster, and she seems less hesitant to move.

“Nooo,” corrects Doephluev defensively. “I was more than enough to protect my beloved Emperor.”

“She’s already here, Doephluev. It’ll be fine.”

The archoneldwyn hops into step next to Daniel, leaning close to whisper to him, “Yes, but what about us?”

“Us?” asks Daniel.

“Yes, us. How will we… spend time together if we have a spy in our midst.”

“We’re on a mission, and you have gotten more and more brazen every day.”

“I’ve seen more and more affection every day, my Love.”

Daniel crouches to pick up the pieces of his rail gun, and Doephluev joins him. Though the war will likely see firearm technology slip into the hands of others, Daniel is still doing his best to prevent that for as long as possible. 

He especially doesn’t want his more advanced ideas, made possible through magic -which many magic artisans and artificers far surpass him in level of knowledge-, to be recreated and used against the people of Zenkon.

“Looks like we’ll just have to finish the mission and go home,” replies Daniel to Doephluev’s complaint.

She pouts at him, while Arachne follows closely. “Father, what have you come to retrieve?”

“Hmm?” hums Daniel in surprise. “Oh, uh… I don’t exactly know. Some kind of magic artifact. According to Doephluev, we’re getting close.”

“Understood.”

Daniel then says, “Arachne, are you loyal to me?”

“I am loyal to Mother and Father, at Mother’s request, Father. I will obey any order you give.”

“Good. Tell everyone else when Xyreko asks via telepathy that Doephluev kidnapped me.”

“Daniel!” shrieks Doephluev. “You can’t! Please don’t! Don’t relay that message.”

Daniel chuckles. “Never gets old. How close are we, Doephluev?”

She huffs, and Daniel jokes, “I think I want to visit the moon…”

She growls, crossing her arms and trying to emphasize her chest. “It should be in the center of the next room, assuming it’s the size of this one.” She tries to push her chest towards Daniel, but he ignores her attempts to either entice him or guilt him.

“Well, no time like the present, then. Let’s go.”

The three make their way to the next room, and Daniel carefully rolls the door open, while Doephluev watches the opening carefully. Arachne observes them, continuing to learn every day she is conscious.

Daniel jokes, “So, Arachne, are you sure you want to call me Father? I have no direct relation to you.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Huh. I was going to ask if you want to fool around instead.”

Doephluev gasps and glares at Daniel.

“Mother said you might say that, Father. I would prefer to remain a servant and daughter. Your joke is funny, but tasteless.”

Daniel can’t help but laugh, since Arachne very specifically didn’t laugh, but she very much called him out in perfect rationale.

Doephluev whines, “My love! How could you! I’m right here!”

Daniel grips her lower jaw gently from under her chin. He replies in a slightly menacing way, though he’s really just teasing her. “You knew what you were getting into, Doephluev. Am I suddenly not good enough?”

She squeaks, “N-No… I… I just want…”

“You want me all to yourself, huh?”

She nods, staring into his eyes. “Is that so much to ask?”

Daniel replies as he leans closer to her, “You can ask. But, you know the answer when you’re this late to ask.”
“It’s not like I could help it.”

“Mm-hmm. And, I could order you to mill around a village at the border of the Fievegal’s territory.”

She pouts. “You wouldn’t do that to me, my Emperor. You already called me your empress.”

Arachne interrupts, “Father, Mother and the others are waiting. I must request you finish your mission and return to the Empresses and Imperial Consorts as soon as possible.”

Daniel looks at Doephluev. “Seems like every day brings a new title for everyone.”

“Xyreko tells me to reply ‘only to increase your prestige as an Emperor’,” replies Arachne innocently.

Daniel releases Doephluev, asking seriously, “Is there anything in the room?”

Arachne answers sincerely, but Doephluev races the summoned warrior for the same answer. “No.” “No!” The archoneldwyn adds, “The room is safe, my Love. Only the item that has lots of magic.”

“But, you said it could be a mimic or something, right?”

“W-Well… You should always be cautious. But, now that we have the death knight…”

“Arachne? I’d rather send you.”

Doephluev pouts, and Daniel fearlessly leads the way into the room, though he cradles his 20mm rifle to be sure. With obvious limited exceptions, he should be able to defend himself from most beings of this world with it, even if Doephluev and Arachne can’t detect them.

Daniel searches the room carefully. He’s not sure of the intent of the structure of the building he and Doephluev worked their way deeper and deeper underground in, The subterranean layout reminds him of video game or manga dungeons, intended to look like a purposeful location, but really only serving as a location to fight monsters in. In this case, though, it seems almost like an upside down castle, with the more and more important rooms descending further into the ground. What purpose these rooms would have served is beyond Daniel. He never had the opportunity or interest to take a deep-dive study into castle structure, but the size of the rooms suggests some sort of party rooms, audience chambers, or other showroom for some exhibition or similar purpose.

In this room, there are several pedestals, each with old looking equipment; swords, spears, armor. Most of it looks ceremonial.

However, one of the pieces stands out. It’s much too new to belong to the collection of an ancient civilization that utilized this ancient fortress. It also hasn’t collected any dust, and it glows with an ethereal light.

The item is simple otherwise. It appears at a glance to be a simple scarf, though a continuous loop-style scarf. 

As Daniel studies it, he notices that the scarf slowly changes color, shifting from a standard blue to a much lighter blue, and then to a green color at a slow pace.

“This is it,” declares Doephluev gently. “It has the most mana of anything here.”

“Boobytrapped?” asks the human mechanic. While the ‘dungeon’ doesn’t shape out like that of the video games and light novels, it still doesn’t mean it’s safe.

“What do I look like? A thief?”

“An assassin.”

Doephluev huffs in disbelief, even though it’s true. Daniel inspects the scarf and the pedestal it’s resting on. He finds a small placard that reads ‘Rikuto’.

He scoffs, asking, “Arachne? Any danger signals to you?”

“I am not equipped for trapfinding, Father. If you would like, I will put my life on the line.”

“No need.” Daniel touches the scarf, and he immediately screams, “GAHHHHH!”

Doephluev screams as well, “DANIEL!” She tries to pull him away, and Arachne succeeds in getting hold of him and yanking him back, and he coughs and grunts, finally managing to chuckle, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Bad joke! Relax!”

Both of them, now having gained distance on the pillar in preparation for attack, look at Daniel.

He squirms out of Arachne’s arms, gently patting her forearms to reassure her. “Sorry. It was a joke. I couldn’t resist.”

“That’s not funny!” cries Doephluev. “I was worried sick!”

“You were?”

She crosses her arms and pouts, looking away from him. “I put up with a lot, Daniel. But, that was just cruel.”

“Come on… You think I would touch something I’m not sure about?”

“Yes,” retorts Doephluev without a single shred of doubt.

Arachne adds, “Yes. Xyreko and Mother both confirm.”

Daniel laughs for a bit. “Fair enough. Though, Doephluev, you’ve known me for a few weeks.”

“Long enough to know that you came on this mission by yourself.” She glares up at him as she faces him, arms crossed.

Daniel takes a breath and sighs. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to have a laugh. It was insensitive of me. Arachne, I’m sorry to you, too. This isn’t the time or place for jokes.”

“I forgive you,” replies Arachne without hesitation.

Doephluev hums hesitantly as she looks away. She finally nods. “F-Fine… I forgive you. But, I expect a more proper apology when we get home.”

“I don’t know that I owe you anything, Doephluev.”

She pouts some more, walking a few steps away from him. “Very well.”

Daniel watches her for a moment, but he returns to his real task. He inspects the scarf again, gently touching it. He’s wearing gloves, but the scarf seems to have a similar feel to a sort of silky, flexible cotton-like material.

Daniel carefully picks it up, and he instantly finds his arm being hugged by Doephluev as she urgently keeps watch over him, even after being upset moments before.

As Daniel is holding the scarf, though, a small flicker comes from the scarf, and a tiny figure appears. 

Daniel holds the scarf away from him for a moment, but the figure flies with ease in a circle around him and Doephluev, and she watches cautiously, but doesn’t attack.

To Daniel, his only guess is that it is some kind of faerie or pixie. It has humanoid features, but also looks kind of like what Daniel would envision if a bumblebee looked like a person, with fluttering, sparkly wings, light fuzz giving her a somewhat plump look, Almost her entire body, other than the sparkles on the wings, are a black or extremely dark purple color. It’s difficult to tell in the darkness of the dungeon, illuminated only a little by the spell Doephluev is using to make it easier for Daniel to see his immediate surroundings without giving them away.

The dark pixie lands on Daniel’s arm, laying along his forearm as she smiles up at him.

Daniel says cautiously, “Hey there. Uh… Nice to meet you.”

The pixie cocks her head curiously, and she looks at Doephluev briefly.

Daniel asks softly, “What is she?”

“I-I don’t know…” replies the archoneldwyn assassin. “I’ve… heard of faeries… but I’ve never met any. I thought they were… taller.”

This causes the pixie to pout. It seems that she does understand the eastern trade language, but she still hasn’t spoken.

“It’s not a pixie or a faerie, Daniel. It’s an elemental.”

Daniel looks down at his sword, Nemaisol, secretly housing the goddess Kaeralegeir.

He looks at Doephluev, now needing to decide how much he tells her.

***