Chapter XXXV (35)

  “What do you mean I don’t necessarily unlock new aspects of spell on level ups? You made it sound like that was the entire point of leveling up!” Mitsuko stalked through the city after hours of rowing. Then she quickly amended her statement. “And that’s not my question! Don’t think of sneaking in a pointless answer.”

  “Leveling your spells will always make them stronger,” Sterling said, padding after her. “Anything else you believed was utter conjecture fabricated by your wandering mind. And I’ll have you know, no answer I give you will ever be ‘pointless.’ Every word I state should be considered with the wisdom deserving of a sage.”

  Mitsuko barely refrained from kicking the cat with her newly reattached foot. In fact, she strongly considered doing that simply because she could again. It felt incredibly refreshing to be able to walk normally again without a peg. She could also wander through the city’s streets again without guards chasing her down. She refrained from kicking the cat in an effort to keep everything that way. The last thing she wanted was to get locked up on a charge of animal abuse. And besides, it wouldn’t have been fair to the poor cat Sterling stole the body of to get abused as a result of him being an ass.

  Nobody paid her any mind as she chatted with the cat that walked beside her. Normally, it likely would have stood out; however, with everyone in shock from the dome appearing, all eyes were pointed skyward.

  “Now that your gnome pal has been disposed of properly, would you like to attempt a question?”

  “First. Holly is getting the inn arrangements ready. Don’t say ‘disposed of.’ It makes it sound like we murdered her.”

  “Fine. Preoccupied.”

  “Second,” Mitsuko continued. “Yes I have a few questions, but first I need to visit a few spots in Crocus City and see if people are where they should be.”

  “That’s surprisingly forward thinking of you.”

  “Third. I want clarification on what happens to you when I die. You mentioned it before, so that’s not my question.”

  “Yes, yes. Fine, I'll gift you that tidbit of information. Simply because I am a benevolent mentor.” Sterling flicked his tail. “It’s quite simple really. Everything ceases to exist the moment your heart is meant to stop. It is instead transferred to the start of the loop and we begin again. So if you hoped to gain information from me about the fallout and reactions as a result of your death, I am afraid I have nothing for you.”

  Mitsuko had assumed as much, but it was good to get confirmation from Sterling.

  They entered a pub, the noises of soft strumming from an instrument accompanied their arrival. Coleo sat in the corner, strumming his instrument. Depressed townsfolk gulped down drinks. It was exactly as she remembered it.

  “Oh. The bitelas musician,” Sterling commented upon seeing him. “Did you know he would be here? I wasn’t aware you were acquainted with him before his circus audition.”

  Mitsuko ignored the cat and sat down in the same stool as before. She snagged the attention of the busy bartender.

  “Beer for me.”

  Sterling hopped up into her lap. “And I will have the finest wine in the establishment. I prefer red, however, if there is a significant age gap between the oldest available drinks, I will settle for the aged white. Unless of course they have something more interesting. There are certain species of berries found in—”

  “And can I get a small saucer of milk for my cat?”

  The bartender nodded brusquely and returned to work preparing drinks, completely oblivious to Sterling’s slew of complaints.

  “Sailor?” Gina, the drunken gossip from Mitsuko’s first loop, sat beside her again. She swayed slightly in her seat, her messy braids swinging like a broken metronome.

  “No. Just passing through. Got caught off guard by the barrier overhead.”

  “Oh? Passing through with a purpose?”

  “I’m looking for someone.”

  “A boy!” the drunk woman declared. “To chasing boys!” She raised her glass.

  “Cheers.” Mitsuko, who did not yet have her beer, simply raised a fist and clinked it against Gina’s glass in a show of solidarity. The woman then downed the last half of her drink.

  She then pressed her forehead against the wooden counter, burped, and moaned softly.

  Mitsuko waited until after the bartender delivered her drink before speaking to Gina again. Meanwhile Sterling changed his complaints to ones about uncouth company.

  “You’re Gina, right?” Mitsuko asked, taking a sip of her ale. Still as foul as she remembered it from her first loop.

  “I am!” She sounded delighted that Mitsuko knew her name.

  “I was wondering, Gina, I’m new to town and I was hoping I might find someone to give me some information.”

  “I know everything that goes on on Mauve! Not a sliver of gossip slips by Gina the Wise!”

  “Really?”

  “For a price, of course.” The drunk woman sat up, wobbled, and flashed her a smile.

  “Hm.” Mitsuko made a show of skepticism and she looked around the pub. “Okay, prove it first. What’s the history of the bard in the corner?”

  “Psh. Coleo? He’s washed up. He plucks and strums at that beast of a violin for coins. His dead father left it to him. He’s chronically depressed and a wretched conversationalist. Completely unlike Gina the Great!” She finished the statement by pointing at her chest with a thumb.

  “So…he’s a local. You know him.” Mitsuko glanced down at Sterling who was lapping up milk. He returned the look to her.

  “Of course he is not the guardian,” Sterling replied. “He is a mediocre musician. Why waste a guardian position on someone like him?”

  Gina went off on a tirade about Coleo and Mitsuko regretted bringing it up. Apparently, the drunk woman had tried, on more than one occasion, to woo the bard. And failed spectacularly every time.

  “He always goes on about biological differences in our species. I say that’s the fun part.”

  “He won’t date you because you’re human?” That surprised her. Coleo hadn’t come off as someone who would discriminate. But maybe that was just his excuse to rid himself of Gina’s affections.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Wants children,” Gina muttered. “What good are those? Why not at least have some fun?”

  Most humanoids could breed across species, like different breeds of dogs. Kemon, Tainted, even Gnomes.

  “Life originated on the archipelago differently than the other continents.” Sterling teased her with just enough information to make her want to ask a question. She glared at the evil cat.

  “Did I pass your test?” Gina asked.

  “Ah. Yeah. Definitely.”

  “Good, good.” Gina leaned forward, almost topping off her stool. “What is it you want to know?”

  Mitsuko considered. She thought back to her conversation with Gina in her first loop. She recalled one comment in particular that now worried her.

  “Do you know of any witches in the area?”

  Gina grinned broadly, showing off her missing teeth.

  “Oh. That’s a tidbit I most definitely know of. The white haired woman from the Hon Basin?”

  Mitsuko barely resisted wincing at the mention. Instead, she pulled out her money purse and slid a couple gold doubloons across the bar to the gossip. Gina snatched them up with a glint of greed in her eye.

  “Ya definitely made the right call coming to me. I just got more info on her this morning before the dome drop threw everyone in a tizzy.”

  “You can start with her name,” Mitsuko said.

  “Fuku,” Gina replied.

  Mitsuko closed her eyes and let out a breath. This was extremely bad. Exactly the absolute worst person to run into out here. But at least Mitsuko knew of the danger ahead of time now.

  “She’s from the Hon Basin. Wears a pointed black hat, just like all the witches always do. Looks young. Maybe your age. But got white hair like snow and some people are muttering about a snowy owl following her about. My money is that it’s her familiar. Witches love familiars. Anyway, she’s been spotted in the east side of town. An inn known as The Lucky Apple. Run down shack of a building. Barely held together after the last typhoon passed through a couple months back.”

  “It’s an albino barn owl,” Mitsuko muttered under her breath.

  “What’s that?” Gina leaned in closer, excited by the prospect of learning new gossip.

  “Nothing. Anything else you can tell me? Like when she arrived in town. Or what she’s been up to in her free time. What areas she frequents.”

  Gina looked a bit put out that Mitsuko wasn’t more impressed by what she’d already shared, but she immediately launched into answers.

  “She got here maybe a week back. Eight days? Maybe nine. And she mostly spends her time in the woods with that creepy owl collecting tree branches and purple mushrooms. But my pal also spotted her talking with this chap. Taller than us with black hair. Looked like he might be from Hon. Skin was more tanned than most though.”

  That barely narrowed down the list. Though, more than likely, Mitsuko didn’t even know this person. It would probably be best to completely avoid Fuku as much as possible in all future loops. She was one of the few normal people who could seriously mess up Mitsuko’s progress.

  “She likes going down to the docks during the day and watching the ships come in. I think she might be waiting for someone. A lover maybe.” Then Gina’s eyes grew as she connected something in her head.

  “She’s not waiting for me,” Mitsuko said hurriedly. Maybe a bit too quickly. “She’s someone I’m vaguely acquainted with. That’s all. I was just surprised to hear any of the witches from Hon crossed the ocean to get here, of all places.”

  “Of course, of course,” Gina said, but her smirk showed that she didn’t believe Mitsuko at all.

  “Next question for you,” Mitsuko said, sliding over a couple more gold coins. “Has anyone popped up recently that surprised everyone?”

  Gina nodded. “Oh yeah. A man from Tross accidentally spatially jumped to our beacon in town a week ago. Completely overshot Hon and ended up here. Lucky he didn’t get the coordinates off by any more or he’d be swimming in a leviathan’s tummy right about now.”

  “I meant more recently than that,” Mitsuko said. “As in, someone who came to town earlier today.”

  “Hm. Well, you fit that.”

  “I just got into town less than an hour ago. Our boat sank on the way here. I mean someone here before even that.”

  “Nah. Nobody comes to mind. Everyone’s been too busy staring up to get me any info on what’s going on today. It’s all big news, no little news today. But nobody bothers to buy big news because they already know it. So it’s ass cheeks for business.”

  That was unfortunate. But Mitsuko decided to ask a bit later in the loop next time if she hadn’t already discovered the guardian’s identity.

  “Fine. What do you know about the circus in town? Anyone weird stand out?”

  That had been where she died last time. She still suspected Coleo, but at the moment he acted exactly as he had in her first loop. Mitsuko’s only other lead was a clown that had been working on the trapeze swings before her performance. But she didn’t know which clown had been performing maintenance that day. Alberto didn’t have a strict schedule for chores and it felt impossible to recreate everything leading up to that moment. Not without cutting off her foot again. An activity she never planned to participate in again.

  “Everyone in that group is weird and stands out!” Gina laughed loudly and people all around turned their heads to glare at her interruption of their self introspection and melancholy. Even Coleo frowned from his corner.

  “I meant, more than any others.”

  Gina just continued to laugh. Mitsuko got nothing else useful out of the woman. Maybe if she knew better places to prod, she might still gain information, but she was tired of people scowling in her direction. Besides, it wasn’t as if Gina was going anywhere. Mitsuko could always return in the next loop.

  After paying her tab, she walked out of the bar and found a quiet bench to contemplate. Sterling stretched, circled, and lay at her feet, basking in the sunlight.

  Mitsuko tried to remember the clown who’d auditioned for the position directly before herself. That would be the most likely one to sabotage her. He’d joined recently and been entirely unassuming. Who knew if he might have the ability to eavesdrop on a conversation or two. These guardians were a complete unknown factor. Even Sterling had admitted to not knowing who they might be.

  She did have one question available from her last level up. Sterling might have seen something in the last loop that could help her. But she didn’t like the idea of betting the question on that. Not when it could be used for something more useful down the road. She thought it better to hold on to it in case of an emergency.

  “Who’s the witch you were asking about?” Sterling asked from his lounging position at her feet. “An old friend?”

  “The opposite. Fuku was part of a cabal who kidnapped me from my village years ago. In a roundabout way, she’s the reason I know the Hon Emperor.”

  “Anything especially notable about her?”

  “She’s a mind mage. And therefore the most dangerous person I know on this island.”

  “Second most,” Sterling amended. “I am a powerful sage, after all.”

  “You got sealed away by a guy with a big sword.”

  “I did not! That’s factually untrue. The sages were sealed by…” he trailed off. He lifted his head and met her eyes. “Something else. I won’t say anything else on the subject. But a powerful magic was at play that we did not predict being used. It simply caught us off guard. Nothing actually stronger than myself. Even the greatest archmage in the world can be slain by betrayal and an antimagic knife to the spine.”

  “That implies you were betrayed. Interesting.”

  “It does not! An example! Don’t take everything so literally.”

  Sterling, now agitated, stood up and started pacing in front of the bench. A stray dog wandered in their direction but the cat glared and it retreated, tail tucked between its legs.

  “Regardless. I agree with your assessment. Do not engage with this witch girl. Avoid her unless absolutely necessary. It would be an inconvenience for me to warp the Prismatic Spiral into undoing and removing the damage to your mind. Which, mind you, is only something a sage of my magnificent magnitude would be capable of. A simple bog witch would never be able to match my accomplishments. Especially one of her age. Unless…of course she may have acquired a deaging potion. Even still. I doubt she’s more than a couple centuries at the absolute most. Still barely more than a youth playing with spells like toys.”

  Mitsuko frowned and looked at the cat. “How old are you?”

  He turned his head to meet her eyes and she thought she saw a smirk on his feline face.

  “Don’t answer that,” she cut in before he spoke. “Not my question.”

  She supposed that was the downside of sitting on an available question. One slip up, and it would be gone.

  “As you say,” Sterling said.

  In the lull in their conversation, Mitsuko and Sterling simply watched the citizens. Most remained stunned and wandered the streets like zombies with their eyes on the dome overhead, but slowly they were adjusting to the new normal. Mitsuko watched as one panicking human citizen was rounded up by the city guard. They guided him away from the spectacle he’d been creating, ranting in the streets and kicking things. Still, they spoke to him surprisingly civilly and treated him not unkindly. Most other city guards would not be so lenient. Especially under the stress they must be experiencing.

  Mitsuko opened her mouth to comment on it to Sterling when something else caught her eye. A hunched woman stumbled through the streets. She kept glancing over her shoulder, as if thinking she might be being tailed.

  “Gina?” Mitsuko said quietly. Then she looked to Sterling expectantly. The cat didn’t answer. Good, that at least meant he wouldn’t completely fuck her over for fun. His answers would probably get her something to advance her position in the Prismatic Spiral.

  “Want to see where she’s headed?” Mitsuko asked.

  “I suppose if we must. The sun will fortunately not be going anywhere for the next year, so I will have ample time to enjoy its warm embrace in the near future.”

  “Speaking to you is exhausting. Let’s go.”

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