Valerian, The Legendary

258 Twisted.

Valerian walked out of his shack, but his mind was filled with images of what happened last night. Shiba had come to him last night all of a sudden and asked him directly to help her. The reason she was so forceful was also made clear by her.

Old man Fern was nearing the end of his life. He was too old. Valerian was surprised at first but when he got to know things in great detail, he understood what was going on here. Turns out that Clar-awks were magical creatures, they all had a mana core that would naturally deteriorate and will crumble apart.

Once the magic core crumbles, even a person who seems to be at the peak of his health would pass away. This was the cruelty of nature. You can have a longer life span, but it will still come to an end. Nothing in this world was eternal or infinite.

Thinking of this, Valerian came to the palace, today the Maiden was eating inside the dining hall, and when she saw the young man looking so blank, she asked, “Is everything alright, Master Valerian.”

Valerian snapped out of his daze, and said, “Everything is fine, Your Excellency, thank you for asking.”

Then he sat down on his chair and ate the food Trin served him. The young man had a plethora of thoughts in his mind and the maid asked him, “Master Valerian, I can sense that something is going on in your mind. You can tell us, maybe we can be of help.”

Valerian was hesitating at first but then he decided to tell the lady. He told her everything about his encounter with Shiba the night before. He did not leave out anything, and by the time he was finished, he found that the ladies were looking at him with strange gazes.

He asked, “Is there something wrong?”

The maiden and Trin exchanged glances and the latter said, “Master Valerian, you have some misunderstanding about the concept of the lifespan of Clar-awk.”

.....

Valerian was surprised and asked, “What do you mean?”

The maiden took over the speech this time and said, “You are correct when you say that the magic core we Clar-awks have will deteriorate over time. However, it takes a long time for it to crumble, and that too under great usage of mana.

As for Old man Fern’s mana core crumbling, I suppose that it will take quite a long time, as he does not use mana for anything at all. His skills are acquired through years of hard work and experience. Channeling mana inside his eyes and the mana barrier are the only things that he does.

You might not even believe it when I tell you, that Old man Fern has seen three maidens come and go. That is a long time you see. The things I just said are all facts proven by the laureates and wise men of the clan. You can verify these facts in the library.”

Valerian was surprised by the information he got, and then Trin said, “Do you know why Shiba might tell you all this?”

Valerian shook his head and then said, “I will be asking Shiba about her intentions later, I need to clarify a few things with that old man in the shop. I have had enough of his unclear thoughts.”

That said, the young man stood up from the chair and after saying goodbye to the ladies he left the place. His strides were calm but they were firm. After he left, the Maiden stood up and said, “Your Excellency, what do you think of this matter?”

Trin was staring at the plate filled with an unfinished meal left by Valerian and said, “Manra, set up some people to investigate Shiba, I want to know everything about her. Also, trail her in secret.”

While speaking the get up of the two ladies changed into their original appearances and then they left to deal with their own work.

…

Valerian moved through the city and came to the shop. Inside he found the old man sitting behind the counter. Fern saw the young man and nodded. He wanted to ask Valerian, why he had not come to the shop after he returned from the hunt, but before he could do that, Valerian asked, “Teacher, I would like to ask you something, and I hope that you can answer me with honesty.”

His tone was serious and his eyes were firm, this made the old man sit up straight and nod. The young prince asked, “What is it that made you detest your daughter so much that you started calling her the snake? I know that I should not have come to ask you about all this, but knowing your character, I do not think a man who is willing to serve a lady in a tree house, would discriminate against his own daughter.

Tell me, what is going on with you two, please.”

Fern was surprised, he did not expect such an outburst from Valerian. The boy was a bit too strong in his questions just now. He looked at him and asked, “Tell me, why do you wish to know?”

Valerian did not reply all of a sudden and then said, “I have met your daughter twice. I can see that she regrets whatever happened between you two and desires to come back here. I want to know why can you not accept her.”

Fern nodded thoughtfully and said, “I will tell you why, listen carefully. Twenty years ago, I began teaching my daughter about forging. At first, she excelled and I was happy. However, one day, she went out of the village on her own and did not return for a few months.

When she did come, I was happy and relieved that she was alright, but I found that she was pregnant with the seed of a Lunake. Those people who killed her mother, how could she be one of them?

I took her to the old maiden, the council, and the entire village decided to give her a chance. They allowed her child to grow up among us, while she opened another forging shop.

Sometime later, I found that she was using her mana to forge her weapons. Upon inspection, it was found that she was using a Lunake technique to channel mana through her hammer and forge weapons. This was another blow to me. However, I endured.

Then one day, she took her son out of the village, and then her son met with his father and killed seven guards. They wanted to kill her too, but in the end, a captain managed to rescue her and her son was slain right then and there. Her so-called lover ran away for his dear life.

She was bought back with her eyes dead. She sought me out, but when I met her, all she asked me was if she could go back to that man. The old maiden noticed something and found that her brain was under strong spell control. If the spell was taken off forcibly, she could have gone mad.”

He paused in his story and sighed while looking outside. Valerian asked, “What then?”

Fern said, “The old maiden cast a spell on her mind to make sure that she does not go out of the village to seek that man, or who knows, she might lead those bastards inside. However, something went wrong and it became so that as long as I accept her and forgive her, she will try to kill herself.”

Valerian was shocked and asked, “What do you mean? How do you know?”

Fern revealed a bitter smile and said, “I saw it with my own eyes. The day I allowed her in this house, she stabbed herself in the heart. I almost lost her that day.”

Valerian shook his head in bewilderment and asked, “Can that not be solved?”

Fern shook his head and said, “The more we tried the worse it became. She thinks my life is ending and wants me to forget her, but do you know that is all the side effects of the imperfect cure, and I am sure, as soon as I let her step in, she will kill herself? I do not wish to see her like that again.”

Valerian sighed and said, “I do not understand, why is it so twisted?”

He began to walk around in the shop as a man possessed, but he did not say anything for a few minutes. He asked, “What will happen to your family lineage of forging if she dies?”

Fern furrowed his brows and said, “I never cared about that. I can just train a worthy disciple and then die in peace. However, I care about my daughter, she is my flesh and blood, how can I see her die before me?”

Valerian thought of something and said, “Say, Teacher, the mind control spell will wear off, if the caster is killed, right?”

Fern nodded and said, “Yes, but why do you ask?”

Valerian sighed and said, “I will kill the caster then.”