(New Beginnings, Chpt. 87) Running into an unfamiliar familiar face

Azrie

New Beginnings Chpt. 87: Running into an unfamiliar familiar face

Ari, Dad and I,walked through the cobbled streets of Niyer. I would get brief glances every now and then, though they weren’t too harsh. The atmosphere was still grim, but thankfully it worked out for us. I mean, the last thing we wanted was to be blocked in some way. 

I made sure to stand straight ⁠— my back as straight as a spear ⁠— with a poise that was awe-inspiring! As a Ari’s personal guard (even though I was roleplaying), it was my job to do things properly. Jer followed behind Ari silently, his aura much more intimidating than mine. 

I mean, I was just an edgy cat-kin versus a hulking nomad knight. Our little convoy looked very noble if I had to say. Certainly eye-catching, but one that made people question who was Ari, versus something else. Overall I had to rate the entire thing a ten-out-of-ten! 

As I nodded to myself in approval I saw our destination in the faraway distance. The familiar wooden gates of the southern gate, well I think it was south. I could see the rocky walls that had enchanted Jer when we had first arrived here. 

We continued walking, our group attracting occasional glances, but again; nothing harsh. Thankfully. Looks like our little plan of being a guard, and Ari being a noble worked wonders. As I walked forward with unimaginable poise. 

Chin up, make your face more arrogant, slight frown. Yes, slight frown! My aura seemed to become more and more intimidating for the people around us. We walked up to the stationed guard captain. 

His blue arm band caught my eyes. Was it the same person that welcomed us into town? I couldn’t really remember. Well, it hardly mattered. I arrogantly walked up to him, my posture, my mannerisms, everything impeccable! Truly an arrogant rogue! 

“Em…” He paused looking at me. His face doubtful. “And you’re? I don’t recall letting your group into the town.” 

“We are leaving now, no need to trouble yourself.” I nodded at him. His face seemed thoughtful as he muttered some things to himself. 

Jer and Ari quickly came up to me, as they looked at the guard, Ari seemed somewhat nervous though I didn’t really know why. I suppose that a lot of things could go wrong now… 

The guard sighed and looked at our group. “Normally, indeed we would let you go no questions asked. But you see, due to the little… incident… We need to do checks on everyone entering and leaving.” 

My face almost contorted hearing that. What now? 

“I see…”

I turned to look at Jer, only to see him shiver slightly. Why did he shiver? More importantly, what was the next thing we were supposed to do now? And then Ari shivered, her face becoming pale. 

“Y-Yami…” She stuttered looking at my eyes. “Did you just… inspect me?” I tilted my head. 

“No?” Huh? Before I could come up with something someone called from behind. 

“Hey!” It was a rather unfamiliar femenine voice, sounding rather cheerful but there was something else in it too. I turned around, following the voice and paused. 

It was a girl, about as tall as me. She was smiling widely as she walked towards us with familiarity, her pixie cut hair was a crimson shade akin to blood, her eyes were a deep red color that shifted into an amber hue deep within. Huh? 

Her face was rather pretty, a button-like nose, puffy cheeks and cheery lips. Before I could say anything in confusion she was already next to us. She leaned in, and whispered to me. 

“Hey, I’ll help you out. What’s your name?” 

My name? My disguise name? With slight uncertainty I whispered back.

“Kuro.” 

She seemed to pause for a second before nodding at me. I looked at her somewhat confused, and then my gaze landed on her clothes. She was wearing a type of leather scarf ⁠— an apron wrapped around her neck ⁠— she wore a sleeveless shirt that showed her figure, a belt around her hips with various things and skin-tight leggings. 

Her entire clothing was… High quality? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but she was weird. The girl turned to the guard captain and nodded at him. 

“These people are my friends.” Just a one liner? Her hand flicked a tag out of her hand. Though, it appeared from thin air. The adventurer tag in her hand was a pearly white, a color I had never seen before. Huh? 

“M-Mithril…” Ari stuttered. Wait… A mithril ranked adventurer?! She rushed to my ear. “Yami, we need to leave… that person is… dangerous!” She sounded doubtful, but I could hear the nervousness in her voice. 

Now mentioning it. My eyes narrowed looking at her back as she happily chatted with the guard. Ari asked if I had inspected her, Jer had shivered… She inspected both of them? And… me? I frowned. Nono, wait. I had a skill that could do the same, though it was… rare. 

I turned to Ari. “Let’s see what she does for now, worst case scenario I’ll send Jer and Fifi out, and if needed I’ll allow mana draw.” I said with seriousness.

Ari seemed at ease as she nodded at me, this time no longer as fidgety, though the doubtfulness in her eyes remained. 

The girl that had been talking to the guard turned to us with a smile. 

“Alright, all clear, let us go.” 

“Let us? You’re coming too?” I asked with slight confusion. She just nodded. 

“I have some business in Tortul after all.” The capital. I suppressed a sigh as I nodded at her. She smiled back and simply walked towards the wooden gate that was now being opened. 

Jer seemed uncertain but he had no choice as he walked, I took a second before following. Ari was now at the back of all of us. Since she was the weakest. 

No words were said as we walked past the gate, the guards looking at us with slight confusion, but the guard captain simply shook his head. Could a mithril tag be this useful? I asked myself, then shook my head. I didn’t think it was so simple, considering the whole place was supposed to be in a lockdown. 

We walked without saying anything amongst each other, soon after close to an hour the town was no longer to be seen. 

“So, I have to ask.” The mithril ranked adventurer asked. “Ah, wait.” She paused and looked at us. “It’s impolite to not say my name.” I tilted my head seeing her smiling. “I am Ash.” 

She nodded at us, I paused. 

“I am Kuro.” I said, unable to buffer a different response. 

“Right, you’re Kuro, the girl is Ari, and the undead is Jermund.” I frowned. Ari tensed up and Jer pulled out a sword out of thin air. Ash, if that was her name, seemed to stiffen a bit. 

“Ah wait! Wait!” She shook her hands in an effort to stop us. “No need to kill each other.” 

“What do you want?!” Ari asked in nervousness. I was getting ready to summon Fifi and give mana to Jer as I watched. 

“Ah right!” She nodded to herself. “At first I wanted nothing, but your group caught my attention so I decided to help out.” Huh? “You see, watching an undead traveling along with people is already rare enough. But an undead with a supreme priest? Never seen before!” 

Supreme priest? I looked at Ari, her expression seemed rather hollow. She looked at me and wryly smiled. 

“So basically I wanted to get to know how this happened. Though.” She paused and looked at me. “You’re the most curious one out of them all… Kuro, eh?” 

I frowned. “My family named me that after the Master Craftsman.” 

“Right.” She nodded. “But I cannot see your status at all! It’s weird, you know? Though I sound all threatening but…” She sighed. “I could barely kill that undead of yours, and you?” Her eyes looked at me. “No chance.” 

“Then why are you still coming with us?” Ari asked from behind. “If you will most likely die at our hands for knowing too much, why?” 

Well I wasn’t planning on killing her… But Aizen? If she prodded too hard? Maybe. 

The girl; Ash, closed her eyes. And eventually nodded. “I am just following my instincts, to be honest I’ve run out of ideas.” Run out of ideas? “You see, I am completely lost in this god-forsaken world…” She stomped, grinding her teeth. 

Eh? Before I could say anything she continued. 

“I don’t even know if any of you get it, but imagine waking up not knowing jack shit! Something that you only have vague memories of since it’s been a long time since you’ve been there. And to make it even worse, it’s closer to dementia.” Ha? 

I looked at Ari, her expression was… Odd? Baffled? Cringing? I couldn’t even tell. Jer stood like  a monolith. Right. We hadn’t even discussed player things with Ari or the like. 

“I get it, but what I don’t get is what part of running out of ideas includes, us.” I gestured around. At this point I had no clue where she was going with this though. She was a player. That I concluded. Or I thought anyway. 

Ash paused. “Well considering my appraisal was blocked by you, my instincts tell me that I must find something closer to my goal with you people.” She nodded. 

“Your goal?” I tilted my head. Ari seemed to be thinking about something, but I paid her no mind. 

Ash nodded. “Indeed. I am looking for the Master Craftsman himself, since he probably is a player too! He must know about what happened to me, and the people before me.” She nodded again, and I froze. 

How was I supposed to break it to her? The fact that I was just as oblivious as literally anybody else. 

“It probably won’t get you anywhere.” Ari said, her voice sounding certain. “Kuro, the Master Craftsman, disappeared like three-decades ago!” 

“Three decades?” Ash paused. This was getting more complex by the minute. “That can’t be… I’ve been here for three-decades…” Eh, does this mean I can’t get older? 

I mean she looked like a teenager! A very pretty one! But…

“Moreover, the disciple and family of Kuro, Dark Shadow, died in the fire at Niyer.” Ari added. Ha… 

“Eh?” Ash paused, “But I am the disciple. There was another one?” 

“Ah?” I gasped. This person was my disciple?! 

Soon there was just silence. Ari unable to continue the conversation, Jer not knowing what to say, and I just didn’t want to add anything either. In the end I just sighed. 

This is much more complicated than I want it to… And the necromancer incident on top of everything? I didn’t want to admit it but… I wasn’t looking forward to anything, whether it was the church, my disciple or even seeing what kind of things Aizen had done. 

I mean, I exploded an entire town. She couldn’t have done worse, right? 

Azrie

Controversial poll ahead.