[“It was like a haze,”] the former onnikai boss began. [“I wandered through the years without a real goal. All I could think about was the anger and pain I felt during my death. I never thought I would turn into what you call ‘onnikai.’”]
The reborn spirit explained the memories of its time during the “War for the Faefolk” were mostly gone, having either degraded through all its time as an onnikai or from self-preservation to slightly quell its rampaging emotion. It confessed that it has lashed out at anything in its surroundings, as inflicting pain on others made it feel happy. Once it experienced this sadistic tendency for the first time, it knew from instinct that it had to continue to calm down its raging heart.
However, it never went to the extent of the attack on Rashan Village. It rarely went to the extreme of killing others, but it was most of the time tame little pranks like breaking a vase, making somebody trip, just harassing adventurers with noises. It also had a phase where it would take over the corpses of monsters and humanoids of various races, but due to its pitiful weakness, it rarely got to actually kill anything.
In other words, its anger wasn’t directed purely on humans back then, it felt compelled to attack everything. Its instinct told it to spread pain to relieve itself of its agonizing memories, but it never really killed.
It wasn’t a happy life, it admitted, but it was all it could do. A spirit was a simple thinking fae—like a small animal—and it inherited this trait once it transformed into an onnikai.
The spirit continued, “I have no idea when but, eventually, the haze suddenly disappeared when a human captured me with a net. From my memory, I believe they mentioned that it was a mana-woven net.”
If I remember correctly, Tasianna and Princess Schuri were captured in a mana-woven net, too. That means those nets are a standard tool for fae hunters, then.
[“The mist in my mind was cleared up by … more pain and anguish,”] the yellow light of the spirit began to flicker like a broken light bulb. [“I detected many more of my kind. I was put inside that orb! I felt my life sucked away to the point it awakened my repressed memories of that time! B-but it was nothing but the memory of my death! Aaaarghhhh! My DEATH! My deeeaaaaaathhhhh! Argghhhhh!”]
The spirit began to darkened and a red hue started taking over its yellow body. The flickering also started becoming more aggressive like a firecracker, sparkling so bright that it was blinding me slightly.
Zephira noticed this and immediately acted on it. She held up Silva’s staff and her rainbow-colored butterflies swarmed around the spirit. The light dulled around the spirit and all the red disappeared.
“Memories. Repressed …” Zephira pursed her lips a bit, before stopping once she remembered people were watching her intently. I believe her true self wanted to break out.
[“I-I’m sorry. I can’t control it; I can’t control it. I don’t want to remember …”] the spirit meekly uttered, squeezing my heart a bit as I saw it.
Was it right of me to demand somebody to remember and then reveal the pain of their past? No, it wasn’t. It was selfish of me to do it to the spirit when it was just released from its onnikai self. However, what should I do then? For the safety of my party, I had to know about the onnikai before even considering bringing these garms with me. They clearly wanted it, so I had to at least think about it.
And without any information on the subject, how could I make an educated choice? Knowing their past and what their future goals would be was paramount for me to make plans. Make sure things worked correctly. And, honestly, I was becoming dreadfully curious the longer I was denied the truth.
Seemingly figuring out what I was thinking, Tasianna grabbed my shoulder and looked at me with a “let me handle” look before transforming back into her fairy form. She then flew over to the spirit.
“Sievulei, although it might not compare to yours, I have felt a similar pain to what was afflicted to you. Those humans … did they watch you with those greed-filled eyes as they ridiculed you?”
Oi, what is she planning?!
[“G-greed … Hehehikhikhikhikhahaha!”] Similar to what happened before, the spirit’s body began to flicker after it burst into laughter. I was nervous it would turn back into an onnikai but Zephira stood still. “They laughed! They laughed at me! Hahahahikhikhikhik! Their words, [‘We’re getting paid a bagful just for throwing a net! This is the easiest job ever!’ I can remember! I remember their words, aarrrrrghhhh!”]
The color of the spirit was now a mix of black, red, and yellow. My eyes were wavering, eyeing Zephira, and Tasianna in a rotation. I could feel my tail hair standing up as I looked at the glow the spirit was emanating, and I could only wonder why Zephira wasn’t doing anything. She would act if something were to go out of hand, right? Right?
As the light of the spirit began to look like a haze, it suddenly calmed down. [“… But you felt the same anguish. You lost somebody. How? How are you so calm? You cried, you cried, you crieeeddd; I saw. I heard. I feel displeasure and sadness, but where is the anger, fairy?”]
Before the spirit actually told us its past, it explained to us how it was able to control the onnikai around it. Somehow, the orb it stayed in amplified its intelligence and power to the point it was able to overwhelm the other onnikai through its mana alone.
However, instead of controlling the others through force, the spirit was able to attract the other onnikai by feeding them mana to help them grow stronger. Most of the onnikai were driven by a desire to inflict pain or obtain revenge, so a source of “nutrients” was important for them. Besides, as these onnikai were all victims of the same cruelty, they most likely could relate to each other and realized that it was better to further their goals by working together.
Due to this mana, the boss spirit was able to attract not only onnikais, but also turn faefolk that shared any intense emotions with it. Due to this reason, any onnikai Silva purified were immediately turned back into an enemy as the emotions and memories it had couldn’t be erased, so they were easy pickings for the spirit to turn back. The purification was simply a way for the onnikai to gain its sanity and rationality back.
As such, once we destroyed or got rid of the catalyst it was inside, this “onnikai spread” effect would stop. It wouldn’t have the ability to do so without it.
It did make me wonder, though. If this was the Tasianna from when Hestia and I first met her, would there be a chance for her to transform into an onnikai or something similar? The sheer disgust she had for humans was suffocating back then.
“… Let it out, sievulei.” Tasianna answered. “I do not know if this will help you, but it helped me. My hatred for humans was like a fire before I met my current mistress and Miss Saori here. It became bearable the more I allowed myself to share my burden with them, and they reciprocated it with kindness. Share with us your suffering, sievulei. Do not let your anger control yourself when you finally have a chance to break free.”
Although hues of black and red were still visible on the spirit’s body, the flickering dimmed. The onnikai stayed silent for a while until it finally spoke. [“… I gained consciousness once I felt the same sensation as when I died. The draining. My mana leaving my body as I was stuck in a dark place. I felt so weak, so meek, so lonely. Drain, rest, drain, rest, drain, rest, the cycle continued, continued with no sight of the end.”]
Every time the spirit was able to rest and regenerate its mana, it managed to take a glimpse of many other onnikai and faefolk in the room it stayed. It could remember somebody giving instructions, informing others how to do the cycle properly so the “fuel” wouldn’t die. The spirit could remember most of what happened as it was around the time it gained its current status.
In that room, it met most of the onnikai we fought. The four spirits possessing the garms were also among them. Apparently, the ones inhabiting the garms’ bodies also gained more advanced intelligence after they adapted to their new bodies due to their influence. Hestia did mention the garms she fought were incredibly intelligent, being able to communicate with her and forming strategies mid-fight.
[“And then it happened. The cycle ended but, instead of freeing me, they placed me inside that orb. The sensation was … great. I felt mana flowing into me like never before and I adapted to it. I learned the language of men, the Common tongue. Any new memories I formed weren’t hazy, and I can recall them even now. It was clarity,”] the spirit told us as its tiny wings flapped in elation. “… I remembered the monster. I remember him … roots, plants, claws, fangs, liquids, all of nature’s gifts. Staffs, orbs, glass vials, scrolls, all tools of humanoids. Thaaaaatttt one, on the Wind Mother’s and fairy’s belt. I remember theeeeemmm!”
The spirit then flew towards one of the mana potions on Tasianna’s belt, erratically moving around it like a hungry fly.
It then continued while flying around it, [“Yes, yes! Potion seller, alchemist, I remember their words! They spoke, they spoke, they spoke! I learned, I learned, I learned! They used us! Stuffed us into boxes to drain our mana! They looked at us and the creations they made with greed. ‘Money, money, money, davi, davi, davi,’ they said! They brought us heeeeere!”]
‘Brought,’ huh? For what reason, though?
The spirit didn’t mention a time or date, so it still wasn’t 100% confirmed … but I was beginning to become extremely suspicious of Melia’s words. I was 90% or something in my suspicion. I just need a name or something to identify the culprit of this situation, and then I could ask Gael for some information.
However, the question was still, “why?”
“The orb amplified my power! Increased my power, increased Goddess Ilsaphone’s gift to me! The orb amplified everything about me and the onnikais around me!” the spirit explained how it was able to form the onnikai beast. “He told me. He told me. ‘Steal mana. All the mana. Gather it all around me. Gather, gather, gather! Overflow everything!’ he said, he said. Davison. Davison. I must kiiiiiiiiill him. Revenge! Reeeeeveeeeenge! They called him Davison!”
‘Davison,’ noted. Reason? Was he planning on turning this place into a dungeon? The more mana in an area, the more likely a dungeon would spawn, right? I concluded after what the dungeon notification we all got. After all, the onnikai beast thing was only caused by Ilsaphone’s attempt to make her own patron race, so the only logical answer was this ‘Davison’ tried to turn this entire ruin into a money-printing dungeon … or a monster-printing location for vengeful onnikais.
“Where was the Wind Mother. We cried, we cried for help. I cried for help,” the spirit stopped flying around Tasianna and turned to Zephira in Silva’s body. Zephira could only close her eyes as she was stared at. “… But Goddess Ilsaphone came. Our Goddess arrived when we needed her the most. She spoke to me, she gave me a new power. My solid mana could grant life to my kin. Like me, they can gain ‘hands.’ With these hands … we aimed for vengeance. Davison. Davison. He and all the humans! They will know our paaaiiiiiiinnnnnnn!”
It then turned back to Tasianna. “Fairy … you know our pain. You understand our suffering. Our anger is true. We lingered here for so long, but our … MY wish is now impossible. I have lost Goddess Ilsaphone’s blessing and regained the Wind Mother’s soft breeze. I want revenge. I want Davison to die! I want the human race to rot! Heeeeellllppppppp meeeeeeeeeeee. Aiddd usss forsaaaken.”
“Enough!” I shouted, glaring not only at the spirit but also the garms. “I see, so following me is a convenient excuse so you may borrow my powers. I am not your pawn! Do you truly believe any of us would agree to your request when we came here specifically to foil your continued attack on the people above? I reject. I reject becoming your alpha; I am not your pack leader!”
“Miss Saori …” She gave me a worried look, as if she personally believed I was being too headstrong right now. Maybe I was, but this was exactly what I feared.
“Tasianna, before you say anything, think about this carefully. Even if we were to ignore your oath to Hestia for a moment, it is not the right action to accept these faefolk’s request. Hestia and I cannot and will not be able to accept it, you know this. Not only is Hestia dreaming to become an idol, but the friends she has made are also humans. I cannot help these faefolk because I seek a happy and fulfilling life, not one where I am the bloodhound of these psychopaths!”
Despite raising my voice, Tasianna shook her head, giving me a calm expression as she was undeterred at the fact a red mist was emitting from my eyes. “Of course, I would never betray Lady Hestia’s and your trust at this point. I wouldn’t dare do this to my … family. However … I still wish to aid this spirit. Just once.”
I went silent for a moment, but after closing my eyes and thinking it through, I let out a small sigh. I trusted Tasianna. “Reasoning?”
Tasianna smiled, looking relieved as I was willing to hear her out before scolding her. I would be a fool if I didn’t give her an inkling of my respect and trust at this point. “I am not driven by my dislike for humans, I swear to you this. What I actually want is to bring the man behind all of this to justice. You have realized it, no? The man behind all of this—the alchemy guild’s guild master. He came to these ruins a year ago and, according to the description from this spirit, this orb and it were put here for a reason. Some plot.”
She was right. At this point, if I were to call it a coincidence any longer, I would just be in denial. 90% was enough to be suspicious of somebody and the connection was too clear to ignore. It wasn’t 100% yet purely because I had no idea what the alchemy guild’s leader’s goal was. Why did he put the onnikai here? Was this dungeon creation actually his goal? What about Baron Teullon? Did he know anything about this, or was he innocent in this whole plot?
Our party needed answers, and I bet Farron would too.
Tasianna then glanced at the spirit before returning her gaze to me. “I will not follow the spirit’s revenge plot. My loyalty is Lady Hestia’s and yours alone. Even if I cannot like the human race, I do not seek their destruction anymore. Not after all that I have learned from my journey with you. After all … I do not think Princess Schuri nor Princess Hestia would approve if I were to let my anger out. I have learned that I hate killing because of this anger of mine …”
So, she finally admits it.
“I see … so you did slay those bandits back then, right?” I asked, always having this suspicion when she took so long to regroup during our party’s first Quest.
“… Yes. I am sorry, I should have followed the plan. I admit that my anger got the better of me and I killed them purely because of my hate. I apologize for neglecting your words,” Tasianna bowed deeply.
While it was obvious to Hestia and me after we saw Tasianna’s status after the battle, we weren’t willing to bring up the subject when the person most affected by it hadn’t said anything. Tasianna was smart, so she must have considered us knowing through her leveling up after killing the bandits she lured away from the camp.
The original plan was to simply lure them away so the saurians could storm the camp to allow Hestia to rescue the imprisoned villagers from Carine village. Tasianna would use Hestia’s bombs to cause a distraction and simply allow them to return to the camp where the saurians and Hestia would take care of them. As Tasianna wasn’t very proficient in combat yet, she shouldn’t have fought them.
However, she did, and she slew them. Her level and a few of her skills rose after she returned to us. While I was glad that she came back safe and showed promise in battle, I was afraid it might have affected her mentality. Unlike Hestia and I, she wasn’t a monster. Her mind wasn’t affected by bestial instincts, so I was worried when she started acting meeker than usual.
“Well, I am glad you finally shared this with me. Thank you,” I said to reassure her I wasn’t angry. “So, can I assume you will not follow this onnikai’s path?”
“Yes, I swear on my name that I will not. I have come to learn to not condemn a whole race just because of a few black sheep. When the time comes, I will only direct my anger at the ones responsible for Princess Schuri’s death, and no one else. I wish to do the same for this spirit,” Tasianna’s eyes were sharp and unclouded, convincing me she had conviction behind her words. “Draining faefolk for their mana is not only outlawed, but it will undoubtedly cause diplomatic problems for Artorias if Saelariel were to learn about this.”
“Ahh, I see, that is smart.” I nodded my head, not realizing this fact. “However, there isn’t any evidence for Davison’s crimes yet. That orb doesn’t seem to have any, at least. Davison is also supported by an arcanuess, if I remember correctly. We could have Hestia ask for help from the royal family with her status … you know what, this is a national problem for the kingdom, and I am not a politics expert despite my history knowledge. Let us speak with Ellaine about this before we make a move. We should inform Hestia before we go on with this, though, as this is a party decision.”
“We could always have Lady Hestia make some chaos. She should have some diplomatic immunity,” Tasianna suddenly suggested, joking about it. I had to immediately shoot that idea down, as Hestia would definitely do something like that if left to her own devices.
After the spirit overheard what we said, it couldn’t help but scoff at our decision, but still showed its thanks as we were still willing to help it get its revenge on the one who caused this whole event. I then turned my head to the garms.
“Do you four understand what was said? If you wish to come with me, then you will listen to me. I do not care what your opinions on humans are at all. You will not attack any of them, otherwise, we will have an issue,” I glared at them, exuding my [Terror Aura] to express my authority.
[“Pack … Leader’s orders are absolute.”]
[“We follow, Alpha … Belzac’s successor’s words are law.”]
[“Pack will listen. Enemies of … Alpha are our enemies. Allies of Alpha a … re our allies.”]
[“Pack … will live for Alpha. Our … lives are yours.”]
… This is creepy, urgh.
I then summoned a wolf familiar using [Shadow Pack] and allowed the onnikai to possess it. I was expecting it to fail, honestly, but it seemed Zephira’s guess was correct. The onnikai successfully left the crumbling garm corpses and entered my shadow wolf. To my surprise, though, something else happened.
Two words: fuck off. That was my very first custom spell! Kuso! (Shit!)
Never would I have thought that I would join Hestia in the “those who lost their custom spells” club. I could finally understand how Hestia felt when she lost [Imperial Hellfire]. The very first custom spell that I put so much effort into was gone …
“… I cannot bring more than three with me,” I said after mourning the loss of [Shadow Pack].
[“Please, take us three first … we can feel Alpha’s skill [Shadow Pack],”] one of the four similar looking spirits responded.
Meanwhile, the fourth decided to sit it out. [“I will follow … Alpha as a spirit until then. I shall follow … Alpha.”]
It seems I can look at their profile without needing to use [Identify]. I’ll put that for later. I should get out of here first.
“Your path chosen,” Zephira smiled as everything was finally resolved. “End of bargain. Reward. Hard work.”
Zephira then turned towards the orb, raising Silva’s staff as she directed her butterflies at it. It took only a moment before the color of the orb turned into a clear blue. “Replicated Ilsaphone’s technique. Better blessing. God’s divine equipment; rare. Take care. Help.”
Zephira handed me the orb before looking at Tasianna to reveal a sweet smile. “Tasianna. Your punishment?”
“Uck!” Tasianna flinched back as she remembered what she told Zephira.
“Not like fellow Origin Goddesses. Punishment; dislike. No wrong, Tasianna. However, oblige.”
Cold sweat began to form on Tasianna’s face as she closed her eyes. Unbeknownst to her, Zephira was showing a mischievous smug.
“Punishment—follow Hestia and Saori.”
Yup, like Goddess, like faefolk. Of course, the patron goddess of the fae would act like this.
“Huuuuh?” A high-pitched voice escaped Tasianna’s flabbergasted face.
“Aurena; plans for Hestia. Adventure, dangerous. No betrayal. Oath. Serve well. Find forgiveness for yourself. Understand?”
Tasianna was dumbstruck for a moment before wiping her sweat away to kneel. “Yes! I, Tasianna Marina Silverpond, have heard the Wind Mother’s words! … Although, isn’t this more like a reward, than a punishment?”
After returning the spirit’s color to pure yellow, Zephira told us to be careful if we wanted to continue exploring the ruins before the goddess left Silva’s body. Due to the energy needed to have Zephira stay in her body, Silva immediately lost consciousness, so I had to carry her to the surface on my back.
The spirit, telling us it would “lend us its power,” entered the orb as a safe space, including the one garm spirit who couldn’t become my shadow beast. While they were inside the orb, we could accumulate their mana and also allow them to materialize magic circles if we wanted to. In other words, they could act like Hestia’s parallel minds when it came to spelling casting.
We rushed to the exit of the ruins as we had recovered our stamina during the whole talk. My legs still hurt a bit, but the wounds were pretty shallow now. I should ask Hestia to heal them before they turn into scars.
As we approached the castle, we noticed some smoke coming from it. Once we were there, we noticed the terrible state the castle was in. The front walls were cracked and a part even collapsed as if an explosion caused it. The front gate was broken down and the field before it was filled with the bodies of monsters, with some of them having turned into charcoal from fire.
Once we hailed the overly cautious sentry, we entered the castle grounds and noticed the solemn atmosphere. Blood pools and debris littered the grounds, soldiers and villagers crying for their loved ones, and guardsmen looking through the broken-down wall parts for people.
“M-my goodness. T-this is—” Tasianna stuttered as she watched a female soldier crying over the corpse of her father.
“Hmph, it seems we failed miserably. We couldn’t even kill all the humans,” the spirit callously stated.
“…” I stayed silent while looking at the fallen. I gave them a small prayer, wishing them a peaceful rest, before looking for Hestia.
I don’t like that spirit …
After locating what looked like an impromptu infirmary, we finally found our dragoness. With her hair tied together in a ponytail, she was realigning the bones of a wailing soldier before healing him with a spell.
“Realign their bones, cut off any burned or rotting flesh, and keep them hydrated until I can personally take care of them! I stopped them from dying, but that doesn’t mean they are alright!” Hestia ordered the medics with a forceful voice. “Huh? Ahh! Saori! Tasianna! I’m really glad to see you two, but I can’t hug you guys just yet! A lot of these soldiers have stones and other stuff in their body. I need to take care of them first! Good work! Oh, you can put Silva over there, I’ll take care of her as soon as possible.”
According to Hestia, after the onnikai beast dissipated when Zephira purified the onnikai boss and sent her a message, she immediately left for the castle. There, she noticed the tragedy that happened with the soldiers and the militia.
Apparently, she found out that captain Zik nearly died after an explosion appeared on the walls, sending the captain flying from it before it collasped. He received a broken arm and back, and was on death’s door when Hestia arrived. He would have died if she had come any later.
Considering Hestia’s personality, she probably was so serious about being a healer because of that accident. It wasn’t her fault, and she did give Zik instructions on how to use it properly, but Hestia just had such a personality. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t think it would do her any good at this moment. Healing the injured would probably help her destress better.
After evening came, Hestia was done taking care of all the injured. Most of them were easily taken care of with her healing spells, but many of the more serious cases needed surgery of some kind. Stones and claws buried deep in their flesh, necrotic flesh due to poison, healed broken bones aligned weirdly, there were many reasons for Hestia to personally take care of them instead of using [Sanctified Blaze].
Her healing spells regenerated the bodies of the people back to normal and restored their health, but it didn’t get rid of objects stuck in their bodies or strange afflictions too damaging to heal with. Hestia was diligent when she could have done it more lackadaisical.
With our party reunited, Tasianna and I explained that the problem was solved and the ruins were free of enemies to Dan as he was the only authority figure left after the seneschal fled the castle Zik was still unconscious. He felt relieved about the situation and promised to give us the paper of confirmation for a Quest well-done, but that he couldn’t do it now due to the situation of the castle.
Due to Hestia’s status as a noble, the servants of the castle gave us a room to stay in for the night, but couldn’t serve us any proper meals as they needed to feed the soldiers and villagers, too. We, of course, didn’t mind as we had our own food. Instead, the servants gave us the seneschal’s personal liquor storage as our recompense.
Well, it was whatever for me. Inside the room, we laid Silva on a free bed and gave Hestia the whole story while eating our dinner.
“Ah, I see, well, I’m just thankful that everybody is alright. Saori, you should really be less stingy about stuff. Those wounds would have turned into scars in no time,” Hestia scolded me, before turning her eyes to the orb, specifically the spirit. “So, you were our enemy, huh? I’ll say it now, so we won’t have a misunderstanding in the future. We will help you get revenge on the person who did this to you, but that will be it. You will not harm any humans while journeying with us, you will stay inside that orb, and you will keep your honeyed words to yourself. Do you understand?”
“… Yes, Champion of Aurena,” the spirit uttered, unable to speak back to his former ultimate enemy.
“Good. Tasianna, the orb is yours. Good job today, I’m proud of you,” as if she had a switch, Hestia’s facial expression changed drastically the moment she turned to Tasianna. She glared like a predator down at the spirit, pressuring it with her [Draconic Aura], but she gave Tasianna a girlish smile.
“The catalyst? No, no, Lady Hestia, this is your reward from the Wind Mother, so I shouldn’t—” she wanted to decline but it was ignored by Hestia.
“Nah, no chance. You deserve this more than any of us. I’m honestly glad to hear about what happened at the bandit attack, and I’m proud to hear you finally start to like humans.”
“Wait, Lady Hestia, I still do not like humans at all. It is only a couple of humans that I can tolerate. A stranger still irritates me.”
“Good! That’s better than nothing at all, Tasianna. Besides, that orb actually will benefit you more than me. I do need a catalyst, but you need it more urgently, I bet. Read its description later because it seems the orb can still solidify mana. Use it with your wind or ice magic and you can make a wind drill or ice sword, or whatever. It will help your [Cryokinesis] without a doubt.”
Unable to argue back, Tasianna bowed and thanked Hestia, “I promise I will return your trust with power. I will become stronger so I can protect you from everything, even yourself.”
After I started drinking the free wine, Hestia and Tasianna went to sleep. I was left alone, but I didn’t exactly feel like it. I was happy. Happy that we survived this Quest and that we could spend more time with each other.
… It also taught me that I needed to become stronger. Random Quests turning into a life-and-death battle if we were unlucky like this time could happen again and again. It was the life of adventurers, after all. Hestia’s idol dream and my dream to explore this world demanded strength.
… I need to evolve, as soon as possible!
I needed to train and level up.
Once the bottle of wine was empty, I fell asleep. After dawn came and Silva woke up, we went back to the ruins. This time it wasn’t to fight, but to explore.
‘Ruins of the Fenrir’s Eclipse’ was the name, correct? I have my apprehension, but that sadly can’t stop my history-loving side.
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[“It was like a haze,”] the former onnikai boss began. [“I wandered through the years without a real goal. All I could think about was the anger and pain I felt during my death. I never thought I would turn into what you call ‘onnikai.’”]
The reborn spirit explained the memories of its time during the “War for the Faefolk” were mostly gone, having either degraded through all its time as an onnikai or from self-preservation to slightly quell its rampaging emotion. It confessed that it has lashed out at anything in its surroundings, as inflicting pain on others made it feel happy. Once it experienced this sadistic tendency for the first time, it knew from instinct that it had to continue to calm down its raging heart.
However, it never went to the extent of the attack on Rashan Village. It rarely went to the extreme of killing others, but it was most of the time tame little pranks like breaking a vase, making somebody trip, just harassing adventurers with noises. It also had a phase where it would take over the corpses of monsters and humanoids of various races, but due to its pitiful weakness, it rarely got to actually kill anything.
In other words, its anger wasn’t directed purely on humans back then, it felt compelled to attack everything. Its instinct told it to spread pain to relieve itself of its agonizing memories, but it never really killed.
It wasn’t a happy life, it admitted, but it was all it could do. A spirit was a simple thinking fae—like a small animal—and it inherited this trait once it transformed into an onnikai.
The spirit continued, “I have no idea when but, eventually, the haze suddenly disappeared when a human captured me with a net. From my memory, I believe they mentioned that it was a mana-woven net.”
If I remember correctly, Tasianna and Princess Schuri were captured in a mana-woven net, too. That means those nets are a standard tool for fae hunters, then.
[“The mist in my mind was cleared up by … more pain and anguish,”] the yellow light of the spirit began to flicker like a broken light bulb. [“I detected many more of my kind. I was put inside that orb! I felt my life sucked away to the point it awakened my repressed memories of that time! B-but it was nothing but the memory of my death! Aaaarghhhh! My DEATH! My deeeaaaaaathhhhh! Argghhhhh!”]
The spirit began to darkened and a red hue started taking over its yellow body. The flickering also started becoming more aggressive like a firecracker, sparkling so bright that it was blinding me slightly.
Zephira noticed this and immediately acted on it. She held up Silva’s staff and her rainbow-colored butterflies swarmed around the spirit. The light dulled around the spirit and all the red disappeared.
“Memories. Repressed …” Zephira pursed her lips a bit, before stopping once she remembered people were watching her intently. I believe her true self wanted to break out.
[“I-I’m sorry. I can’t control it; I can’t control it. I don’t want to remember …”] the spirit meekly uttered, squeezing my heart a bit as I saw it.
Was it right of me to demand somebody to remember and then reveal the pain of their past? No, it wasn’t. It was selfish of me to do it to the spirit when it was just released from its onnikai self. However, what should I do then? For the safety of my party, I had to know about the onnikai before even considering bringing these garms with me. They clearly wanted it, so I had to at least think about it.
And without any information on the subject, how could I make an educated choice? Knowing their past and what their future goals would be was paramount for me to make plans. Make sure things worked correctly. And, honestly, I was becoming dreadfully curious the longer I was denied the truth.
Seemingly figuring out what I was thinking, Tasianna grabbed my shoulder and looked at me with a “let me handle” look before transforming back into her fairy form. She then flew over to the spirit.
“Sievulei, although it might not compare to yours, I have felt a similar pain to what was afflicted to you. Those humans … did they watch you with those greed-filled eyes as they ridiculed you?”
Oi, what is she planning?!
[“G-greed … Hehehikhikhikhikhahaha!”] Similar to what happened before, the spirit’s body began to flicker after it burst into laughter. I was nervous it would turn back into an onnikai but Zephira stood still. “They laughed! They laughed at me! Hahahahikhikhikhik! Their words, [‘We’re getting paid a bagful just for throwing a net! This is the easiest job ever!’ I can remember! I remember their words, aarrrrrghhhh!”]
The color of the spirit was now a mix of black, red, and yellow. My eyes were wavering, eyeing Zephira, and Tasianna in a rotation. I could feel my tail hair standing up as I looked at the glow the spirit was emanating, and I could only wonder why Zephira wasn’t doing anything. She would act if something were to go out of hand, right? Right?
As the light of the spirit began to look like a haze, it suddenly calmed down. [“… But you felt the same anguish. You lost somebody. How? How are you so calm? You cried, you cried, you crieeeddd; I saw. I heard. I feel displeasure and sadness, but where is the anger, fairy?”]
Before the spirit actually told us its past, it explained to us how it was able to control the onnikai around it. Somehow, the orb it stayed in amplified its intelligence and power to the point it was able to overwhelm the other onnikai through its mana alone.
However, instead of controlling the others through force, the spirit was able to attract the other onnikai by feeding them mana to help them grow stronger. Most of the onnikai were driven by a desire to inflict pain or obtain revenge, so a source of “nutrients” was important for them. Besides, as these onnikai were all victims of the same cruelty, they most likely could relate to each other and realized that it was better to further their goals by working together.
Due to this mana, the boss spirit was able to attract not only onnikais, but also turn faefolk that shared any intense emotions with it. Due to this reason, any onnikai Silva purified were immediately turned back into an enemy as the emotions and memories it had couldn’t be erased, so they were easy pickings for the spirit to turn back. The purification was simply a way for the onnikai to gain its sanity and rationality back.
As such, once we destroyed or got rid of the catalyst it was inside, this “onnikai spread” effect would stop. It wouldn’t have the ability to do so without it.
It did make me wonder, though. If this was the Tasianna from when Hestia and I first met her, would there be a chance for her to transform into an onnikai or something similar? The sheer disgust she had for humans was suffocating back then.
“… Let it out, sievulei.” Tasianna answered. “I do not know if this will help you, but it helped me. My hatred for humans was like a fire before I met my current mistress and Miss Saori here. It became bearable the more I allowed myself to share my burden with them, and they reciprocated it with kindness. Share with us your suffering, sievulei. Do not let your anger control yourself when you finally have a chance to break free.”
Although hues of black and red were still visible on the spirit’s body, the flickering dimmed. The onnikai stayed silent for a while until it finally spoke. [“… I gained consciousness once I felt the same sensation as when I died. The draining. My mana leaving my body as I was stuck in a dark place. I felt so weak, so meek, so lonely. Drain, rest, drain, rest, drain, rest, the cycle continued, continued with no sight of the end.”]
Every time the spirit was able to rest and regenerate its mana, it managed to take a glimpse of many other onnikai and faefolk in the room it stayed. It could remember somebody giving instructions, informing others how to do the cycle properly so the “fuel” wouldn’t die. The spirit could remember most of what happened as it was around the time it gained its current status.
In that room, it met most of the onnikai we fought. The four spirits possessing the garms were also among them. Apparently, the ones inhabiting the garms’ bodies also gained more advanced intelligence after they adapted to their new bodies due to their influence. Hestia did mention the garms she fought were incredibly intelligent, being able to communicate with her and forming strategies mid-fight.
[“And then it happened. The cycle ended but, instead of freeing me, they placed me inside that orb. The sensation was … great. I felt mana flowing into me like never before and I adapted to it. I learned the language of men, the Common tongue. Any new memories I formed weren’t hazy, and I can recall them even now. It was clarity,”] the spirit told us as its tiny wings flapped in elation. “… I remembered the monster. I remember him … roots, plants, claws, fangs, liquids, all of nature’s gifts. Staffs, orbs, glass vials, scrolls, all tools of humanoids. Thaaaaatttt one, on the Wind Mother’s and fairy’s belt. I remember theeeeemmm!”
The spirit then flew towards one of the mana potions on Tasianna’s belt, erratically moving around it like a hungry fly.
It then continued while flying around it, [“Yes, yes! Potion seller, alchemist, I remember their words! They spoke, they spoke, they spoke! I learned, I learned, I learned! They used us! Stuffed us into boxes to drain our mana! They looked at us and the creations they made with greed. ‘Money, money, money, davi, davi, davi,’ they said! They brought us heeeeere!”]
‘Brought,’ huh? For what reason, though?
The spirit didn’t mention a time or date, so it still wasn’t 100% confirmed … but I was beginning to become extremely suspicious of Melia’s words. I was 90% or something in my suspicion. I just need a name or something to identify the culprit of this situation, and then I could ask Gael for some information.
However, the question was still, “why?”
“The orb amplified my power! Increased my power, increased Goddess Ilsaphone’s gift to me! The orb amplified everything about me and the onnikais around me!” the spirit explained how it was able to form the onnikai beast. “He told me. He told me. ‘Steal mana. All the mana. Gather it all around me. Gather, gather, gather! Overflow everything!’ he said, he said. Davison. Davison. I must kiiiiiiiiill him. Revenge! Reeeeeveeeeenge! They called him Davison!”
‘Davison,’ noted. Reason? Was he planning on turning this place into a dungeon? The more mana in an area, the more likely a dungeon would spawn, right? I concluded after what the dungeon notification we all got. After all, the onnikai beast thing was only caused by Ilsaphone’s attempt to make her own patron race, so the only logical answer was this ‘Davison’ tried to turn this entire ruin into a money-printing dungeon … or a monster-printing location for vengeful onnikais.
“Where was the Wind Mother. We cried, we cried for help. I cried for help,” the spirit stopped flying around Tasianna and turned to Zephira in Silva’s body. Zephira could only close her eyes as she was stared at. “… But Goddess Ilsaphone came. Our Goddess arrived when we needed her the most. She spoke to me, she gave me a new power. My solid mana could grant life to my kin. Like me, they can gain ‘hands.’ With these hands … we aimed for vengeance. Davison. Davison. He and all the humans! They will know our paaaiiiiiiinnnnnnn!”
It then turned back to Tasianna. “Fairy … you know our pain. You understand our suffering. Our anger is true. We lingered here for so long, but our … MY wish is now impossible. I have lost Goddess Ilsaphone’s blessing and regained the Wind Mother’s soft breeze. I want revenge. I want Davison to die! I want the human race to rot! Heeeeellllppppppp meeeeeeeeeeee. Aiddd usss forsaaaken.”
“Enough!” I shouted, glaring not only at the spirit but also the garms. “I see, so following me is a convenient excuse so you may borrow my powers. I am not your pawn! Do you truly believe any of us would agree to your request when we came here specifically to foil your continued attack on the people above? I reject. I reject becoming your alpha; I am not your pack leader!”
“Miss Saori …” She gave me a worried look, as if she personally believed I was being too headstrong right now. Maybe I was, but this was exactly what I feared.
“Tasianna, before you say anything, think about this carefully. Even if we were to ignore your oath to Hestia for a moment, it is not the right action to accept these faefolk’s request. Hestia and I cannot and will not be able to accept it, you know this. Not only is Hestia dreaming to become an idol, but the friends she has made are also humans. I cannot help these faefolk because I seek a happy and fulfilling life, not one where I am the bloodhound of these psychopaths!”
Despite raising my voice, Tasianna shook her head, giving me a calm expression as she was undeterred at the fact a red mist was emitting from my eyes. “Of course, I would never betray Lady Hestia’s and your trust at this point. I wouldn’t dare do this to my … family. However … I still wish to aid this spirit. Just once.”
I went silent for a moment, but after closing my eyes and thinking it through, I let out a small sigh. I trusted Tasianna. “Reasoning?”
Tasianna smiled, looking relieved as I was willing to hear her out before scolding her. I would be a fool if I didn’t give her an inkling of my respect and trust at this point. “I am not driven by my dislike for humans, I swear to you this. What I actually want is to bring the man behind all of this to justice. You have realized it, no? The man behind all of this—the alchemy guild’s guild master. He came to these ruins a year ago and, according to the description from this spirit, this orb and it were put here for a reason. Some plot.”
She was right. At this point, if I were to call it a coincidence any longer, I would just be in denial. 90% was enough to be suspicious of somebody and the connection was too clear to ignore. It wasn’t 100% yet purely because I had no idea what the alchemy guild’s leader’s goal was. Why did he put the onnikai here? Was this dungeon creation actually his goal? What about Baron Teullon? Did he know anything about this, or was he innocent in this whole plot?
Our party needed answers, and I bet Farron would too.
Tasianna then glanced at the spirit before returning her gaze to me. “I will not follow the spirit’s revenge plot. My loyalty is Lady Hestia’s and yours alone. Even if I cannot like the human race, I do not seek their destruction anymore. Not after all that I have learned from my journey with you. After all … I do not think Princess Schuri nor Princess Hestia would approve if I were to let my anger out. I have learned that I hate killing because of this anger of mine …”
So, she finally admits it.
“I see … so you did slay those bandits back then, right?” I asked, always having this suspicion when she took so long to regroup during our party’s first Quest.
“… Yes. I am sorry, I should have followed the plan. I admit that my anger got the better of me and I killed them purely because of my hate. I apologize for neglecting your words,” Tasianna bowed deeply.
While it was obvious to Hestia and me after we saw Tasianna’s status after the battle, we weren’t willing to bring up the subject when the person most affected by it hadn’t said anything. Tasianna was smart, so she must have considered us knowing through her leveling up after killing the bandits she lured away from the camp.
The original plan was to simply lure them away so the saurians could storm the camp to allow Hestia to rescue the imprisoned villagers from Carine village. Tasianna would use Hestia’s bombs to cause a distraction and simply allow them to return to the camp where the saurians and Hestia would take care of them. As Tasianna wasn’t very proficient in combat yet, she shouldn’t have fought them.
However, she did, and she slew them. Her level and a few of her skills rose after she returned to us. While I was glad that she came back safe and showed promise in battle, I was afraid it might have affected her mentality. Unlike Hestia and I, she wasn’t a monster. Her mind wasn’t affected by bestial instincts, so I was worried when she started acting meeker than usual.
“Well, I am glad you finally shared this with me. Thank you,” I said to reassure her I wasn’t angry. “So, can I assume you will not follow this onnikai’s path?”
“Yes, I swear on my name that I will not. I have come to learn to not condemn a whole race just because of a few black sheep. When the time comes, I will only direct my anger at the ones responsible for Princess Schuri’s death, and no one else. I wish to do the same for this spirit,” Tasianna’s eyes were sharp and unclouded, convincing me she had conviction behind her words. “Draining faefolk for their mana is not only outlawed, but it will undoubtedly cause diplomatic problems for Artorias if Saelariel were to learn about this.”
“Ahh, I see, that is smart.” I nodded my head, not realizing this fact. “However, there isn’t any evidence for Davison’s crimes yet. That orb doesn’t seem to have any, at least. Davison is also supported by an arcanuess, if I remember correctly. We could have Hestia ask for help from the royal family with her status … you know what, this is a national problem for the kingdom, and I am not a politics expert despite my history knowledge. Let us speak with Ellaine about this before we make a move. We should inform Hestia before we go on with this, though, as this is a party decision.”
“We could always have Lady Hestia make some chaos. She should have some diplomatic immunity,” Tasianna suddenly suggested, joking about it. I had to immediately shoot that idea down, as Hestia would definitely do something like that if left to her own devices.
After the spirit overheard what we said, it couldn’t help but scoff at our decision, but still showed its thanks as we were still willing to help it get its revenge on the one who caused this whole event. I then turned my head to the garms.
“Do you four understand what was said? If you wish to come with me, then you will listen to me. I do not care what your opinions on humans are at all. You will not attack any of them, otherwise, we will have an issue,” I glared at them, exuding my [Terror Aura] to express my authority.
[“Pack … Leader’s orders are absolute.”]
[“We follow, Alpha … Belzac’s successor’s words are law.”]
[“Pack will listen. Enemies of … Alpha are our enemies. Allies of Alpha a … re our allies.”]
[“Pack … will live for Alpha. Our … lives are yours.”]
… This is creepy, urgh.
I then summoned a wolf familiar using [Shadow Pack] and allowed the onnikai to possess it. I was expecting it to fail, honestly, but it seemed Zephira’s guess was correct. The onnikai successfully left the crumbling garm corpses and entered my shadow wolf. To my surprise, though, something else happened.
Two words: fuck off. That was my very first custom spell! Kuso! (Shit!)
Never would I have thought that I would join Hestia in the “those who lost their custom spells” club. I could finally understand how Hestia felt when she lost [Imperial Hellfire]. The very first custom spell that I put so much effort into was gone …
“… I cannot bring more than three with me,” I said after mourning the loss of [Shadow Pack].
[“Please, take us three first … we can feel Alpha’s skill [Shadow Pack],”] one of the four similar looking spirits responded.
Meanwhile, the fourth decided to sit it out. [“I will follow … Alpha as a spirit until then. I shall follow … Alpha.”]
It seems I can look at their profile without needing to use [Identify]. I’ll put that for later. I should get out of here first.
“Your path chosen,” Zephira smiled as everything was finally resolved. “End of bargain. Reward. Hard work.”
Zephira then turned towards the orb, raising Silva’s staff as she directed her butterflies at it. It took only a moment before the color of the orb turned into a clear blue. “Replicated Ilsaphone’s technique. Better blessing. God’s divine equipment; rare. Take care. Help.”
Zephira handed me the orb before looking at Tasianna to reveal a sweet smile. “Tasianna. Your punishment?”
“Uck!” Tasianna flinched back as she remembered what she told Zephira.
“Not like fellow Origin Goddesses. Punishment; dislike. No wrong, Tasianna. However, oblige.”
Cold sweat began to form on Tasianna’s face as she closed her eyes. Unbeknownst to her, Zephira was showing a mischievous smug.
“Punishment—follow Hestia and Saori.”
Yup, like Goddess, like faefolk. Of course, the patron goddess of the fae would act like this.
“Huuuuh?” A high-pitched voice escaped Tasianna’s flabbergasted face.
“Aurena; plans for Hestia. Adventure, dangerous. No betrayal. Oath. Serve well. Find forgiveness for yourself. Understand?”
Tasianna was dumbstruck for a moment before wiping her sweat away to kneel. “Yes! I, Tasianna Marina Silverpond, have heard the Wind Mother’s words! … Although, isn’t this more like a reward, than a punishment?”
After returning the spirit’s color to pure yellow, Zephira told us to be careful if we wanted to continue exploring the ruins before the goddess left Silva’s body. Due to the energy needed to have Zephira stay in her body, Silva immediately lost consciousness, so I had to carry her to the surface on my back.
The spirit, telling us it would “lend us its power,” entered the orb as a safe space, including the one garm spirit who couldn’t become my shadow beast. While they were inside the orb, we could accumulate their mana and also allow them to materialize magic circles if we wanted to. In other words, they could act like Hestia’s parallel minds when it came to spelling casting.
We rushed to the exit of the ruins as we had recovered our stamina during the whole talk. My legs still hurt a bit, but the wounds were pretty shallow now. I should ask Hestia to heal them before they turn into scars.
As we approached the castle, we noticed some smoke coming from it. Once we were there, we noticed the terrible state the castle was in. The front walls were cracked and a part even collapsed as if an explosion caused it. The front gate was broken down and the field before it was filled with the bodies of monsters, with some of them having turned into charcoal from fire.
Once we hailed the overly cautious sentry, we entered the castle grounds and noticed the solemn atmosphere. Blood pools and debris littered the grounds, soldiers and villagers crying for their loved ones, and guardsmen looking through the broken-down wall parts for people.
“M-my goodness. T-this is—” Tasianna stuttered as she watched a female soldier crying over the corpse of her father.
“Hmph, it seems we failed miserably. We couldn’t even kill all the humans,” the spirit callously stated.
“…” I stayed silent while looking at the fallen. I gave them a small prayer, wishing them a peaceful rest, before looking for Hestia.
I don’t like that spirit …
After locating what looked like an impromptu infirmary, we finally found our dragoness. With her hair tied together in a ponytail, she was realigning the bones of a wailing soldier before healing him with a spell.
“Realign their bones, cut off any burned or rotting flesh, and keep them hydrated until I can personally take care of them! I stopped them from dying, but that doesn’t mean they are alright!” Hestia ordered the medics with a forceful voice. “Huh? Ahh! Saori! Tasianna! I’m really glad to see you two, but I can’t hug you guys just yet! A lot of these soldiers have stones and other stuff in their body. I need to take care of them first! Good work! Oh, you can put Silva over there, I’ll take care of her as soon as possible.”
According to Hestia, after the onnikai beast dissipated when Zephira purified the onnikai boss and sent her a message, she immediately left for the castle. There, she noticed the tragedy that happened with the soldiers and the militia.
Apparently, she found out that captain Zik nearly died after an explosion appeared on the walls, sending the captain flying from it before it collasped. He received a broken arm and back, and was on death’s door when Hestia arrived. He would have died if she had come any later.
Considering Hestia’s personality, she probably was so serious about being a healer because of that accident. It wasn’t her fault, and she did give Zik instructions on how to use it properly, but Hestia just had such a personality. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t think it would do her any good at this moment. Healing the injured would probably help her destress better.
After evening came, Hestia was done taking care of all the injured. Most of them were easily taken care of with her healing spells, but many of the more serious cases needed surgery of some kind. Stones and claws buried deep in their flesh, necrotic flesh due to poison, healed broken bones aligned weirdly, there were many reasons for Hestia to personally take care of them instead of using [Sanctified Blaze].
Her healing spells regenerated the bodies of the people back to normal and restored their health, but it didn’t get rid of objects stuck in their bodies or strange afflictions too damaging to heal with. Hestia was diligent when she could have done it more lackadaisical.
With our party reunited, Tasianna and I explained that the problem was solved and the ruins were free of enemies to Dan as he was the only authority figure left after the seneschal fled the castle Zik was still unconscious. He felt relieved about the situation and promised to give us the paper of confirmation for a Quest well-done, but that he couldn’t do it now due to the situation of the castle.
Due to Hestia’s status as a noble, the servants of the castle gave us a room to stay in for the night, but couldn’t serve us any proper meals as they needed to feed the soldiers and villagers, too. We, of course, didn’t mind as we had our own food. Instead, the servants gave us the seneschal’s personal liquor storage as our recompense.
Well, it was whatever for me. Inside the room, we laid Silva on a free bed and gave Hestia the whole story while eating our dinner.
“Ah, I see, well, I’m just thankful that everybody is alright. Saori, you should really be less stingy about stuff. Those wounds would have turned into scars in no time,” Hestia scolded me, before turning her eyes to the orb, specifically the spirit. “So, you were our enemy, huh? I’ll say it now, so we won’t have a misunderstanding in the future. We will help you get revenge on the person who did this to you, but that will be it. You will not harm any humans while journeying with us, you will stay inside that orb, and you will keep your honeyed words to yourself. Do you understand?”
“… Yes, Champion of Aurena,” the spirit uttered, unable to speak back to his former ultimate enemy.
“Good. Tasianna, the orb is yours. Good job today, I’m proud of you,” as if she had a switch, Hestia’s facial expression changed drastically the moment she turned to Tasianna. She glared like a predator down at the spirit, pressuring it with her [Draconic Aura], but she gave Tasianna a girlish smile.
“The catalyst? No, no, Lady Hestia, this is your reward from the Wind Mother, so I shouldn’t—” she wanted to decline but it was ignored by Hestia.
“Nah, no chance. You deserve this more than any of us. I’m honestly glad to hear about what happened at the bandit attack, and I’m proud to hear you finally start to like humans.”
“Wait, Lady Hestia, I still do not like humans at all. It is only a couple of humans that I can tolerate. A stranger still irritates me.”
“Good! That’s better than nothing at all, Tasianna. Besides, that orb actually will benefit you more than me. I do need a catalyst, but you need it more urgently, I bet. Read its description later because it seems the orb can still solidify mana. Use it with your wind or ice magic and you can make a wind drill or ice sword, or whatever. It will help your [Cryokinesis] without a doubt.”
Unable to argue back, Tasianna bowed and thanked Hestia, “I promise I will return your trust with power. I will become stronger so I can protect you from everything, even yourself.”
After I started drinking the free wine, Hestia and Tasianna went to sleep. I was left alone, but I didn’t exactly feel like it. I was happy. Happy that we survived this Quest and that we could spend more time with each other.
… It also taught me that I needed to become stronger. Random Quests turning into a life-and-death battle if we were unlucky like this time could happen again and again. It was the life of adventurers, after all. Hestia’s idol dream and my dream to explore this world demanded strength.
… I need to evolve, as soon as possible!
I needed to train and level up.
Once the bottle of wine was empty, I fell asleep. After dawn came and Silva woke up, we went back to the ruins. This time it wasn’t to fight, but to explore.
‘Ruins of the Fenrir’s Eclipse’ was the name, correct? I have my apprehension, but that sadly can’t stop my history-loving side.
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