Dawn- An age of Darkness

I opened up the door and Lianne was outside. She was dressed in a nightgown. Her face wasn't covered. She actually looked pretty good.

She came inside. I didn't lock the door. I had no intention of brewing a misunderstanding. 

"So…?"                           

She went to the terrace. I followed.

"I'm sorry."

I actually hadn't expected that. I knew she'd apologize eventually. But this was just too sudden. Or maybe I was still a bit flustered about the whole Susan fiasco.

"I know you can't trust me anymore but-"Her eyes shimmered. "I really am sorry. It's just… I didn't have another option. I just-"

"It's okay. It's not like brooding over it would change anything." It wasn't like I'd forgotten about it but I had to put up an act. Holding things back would have just made both me and her sad in the long run. "It's okay."

And more importantly, I'd be out of here soon anyway.

"Thank you." She smiled faintly. Even with what little light there was, she looked divine. 

Don't fall for her looks! 

Don't fall for her smile!

Don't fall for her! 

She was exactly my type. 

I shook my head and forced myself to come to my senses. I wasn't going to commit myself to someone from this world. After all, I would just return to my own world if I survived. But if I don't- wouldn't I just cease to exist? So it was better to not think things romantically. 

Why should I ruin someone else's life for happiness that wouldn't last?

And even if everything worked out, Lianne would live a lot longer than me, meaning she'd continue to feel lonely. 

I didn't want that. "It's getting late. I think I need some rest. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?"

"I-" She stopped. She thought about something. "I'm really sorry. And thank you. Good night Daarc." She left. She was hesitant to say what she was about to say. And in the end, she didn't say it.

Why does everything tonight have to go so horribly wrong? 

I didn't understand women. I guess I needed to make some more effort. 

With a sigh, I looked up. There were plenty of stars playing hide and seek with the clouds. I kind of missed the moon but honestly, I just felt lonely.

'Guess I'll visit Galbatia.'

***

Susan was gone the next morning. I kind of knew why. I was the reason no doubt. The grand monster was still in the castle. No one knew how they'd dispose of it. But I had a plan. And I had no idea if it'd work or not.

"He's been like this ever since." A soldier showed me the corpse of the grand monster, Xerphas.

We were out in the courtyard of the castle. The sun hit my face and it actually kind of felt good. The grass of the courtyard wasn't too bad either. Actually I liked the smell of the soil here rather than the scented rooms of the castle.

But the grass did bring back a lot of memories I wanted nothing to do with. 

Both Lianne and Jori were out here as well. Lianne was the princess so it wasn't a big deal. But I was a little weary of Jori. So far he hadn't tried anything shady. And yet I still couldn't trust him.

The corpse of Xerphas was like any other corpse. But one thing was different. It didn't rot. It was as though he was asleep. I went closer and checked his pulse. There wasn't a beating heart. He didn't breathe. The scales and the whole body was motionless, just like a corpse. Looking at it like this almost made me wonder if he could actually come alive. But after what sort of things happened, I couldn't really wonder all that much, now could I?

"Are you sure we can't just burn it solid?" Jori interjected. 

"He's literally the god of fire, how do you plan on burning him? That reminds me. What the hell are you doing here?" This was the perfect way to ask him- at least that's what I thought.

"How rude! I am here as a representative of the guild and as your friend of course!"

"You mean you stand to gain profit here."

"I can't-d-deny that." He stuttered. Looked like I hit the nail pretty hard.

"So what kind of profit are you aiming for? Getting closer to the next duke? Or-"

"I guess you are sharper than I thought. Getting your favor would be the best thing the guild could hope to gain. Normally we'd have to tribute a lot of money to the royalty for us to do our things. Of course, we'd continue to do that but-" He was actually being awfully honest about this.

It was just a guess though.

  "You'd be able to claim as being the friend of the duke and do as you please within the city borders."

He almost blushed. People like that never did things unless it profited them after all. "Besides, we might finally be able to open a guild branch within Alfeim."

No wonder I didn't see any guild buildings in Affeime: there were none.

"Sorry to pop your bubble. But Lianne would be running the show. And I'm pretty sure she won't be that lenient." I crossed my arm and glared at the soldier. "What about the other corpses?" 

"Even so, you would always be an adventurer first. You'd be the pride of our guild branch. Oh did I forget to mention I'm promoting you to first-class?" Jori smirked with his poker face. "Oh and we bought all the corpses."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't register. And who sold this?" I was supposed to be the duke and no one even asked me anything.

"Don't be so cold. I've already ordered a status plate for you." He smirked devilishly. I almost felt the urge to punch him.

"The previous duke did, my lord." The soldier looked at the ground, I guess I couldn't fault him. 

I sighed. "Status plate?" I already knew this kind of stuff from games and all that, but I still had to ask. 

"It's a special kind of ID. You'll be able to use it as proof you're an adventurer if you think you'd rather not disclose your identity as a duke to the public." He whispered. His smile didn't falter. I only gave him a cold glare. But deep inside I couldn't have hoped for something better. I was a nerd at heart after all.

This actually isn't bad…

Needless to say, I was getting a lot more excited than necessary.

"But honestly, I've never heard of people actually defeating grand monsters. So I can't really say what we can do either. I've heard that they are immortal but…." Lianne was unsure as well. But did she really have to change the subject?

It was better than speaking with the cross dresser, so I played along. "Well why don't we ask him?" Both of them were startled when I suggested that. The castle guards looked at me with utmost disbelief. 

Calm down people, I wasn't joking. 

"Let me rephrase that. Why don't we wake him and talk things through with him. It'd only be a bigger pain if we didn't negotiate things with him while he's the weakest."

After all, if he recovered fully and then decided to have a second round, that'd literally be the end of us. 

"Wake him up? Negotiate! Are you out of your mind?" Jori held my shirt and shook me back and forth in an attempt to pound sense into me. 

Sorry, but I was pretty senseless, to begin with.

"Are you sure?" Lianne said placidly. She didn't seem all that worried. 

I nodded. Jori backed off. The guards seemed weary but they didn't stop me. I guess it was their job to follow orders blindly.

Lianne continued. "What did you mean by waking him up? He's-"

"With this of course!" I focused and brought out the mystic blade. I didn't care if I spooked the soldiers but I didn't have much choice. An eerie glow began to emanate from the blade. 

Immediately there was a reaction from the corpse. It began to twitch. 

Well, it's working.

Jori placed his hand against his head. "I should have suspected as much."

Before the corpse could open its eyes I slid the sword back in the ring. I for once didn't want to deal with an angry God complaining about a damn sword every single time.

It groaned and groggily woke up. The soldiers yelped and took steps back in instinct. They were well trained if nothing else.

"Don't be alarmed. And no one would attack even if he does. That's an order!" I never knew acting high and mighty could be so satisfying. No wonder all the villains in games and movies loved being all high and mighty. If this continued, I might actually consider turning into a villain. Life would have been so much easier.

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