Chapter 8: Evil pursuer

Silvea

My 'perfect pursuer' skill allows me to find the general area where a person is located no matter how far away they try to run or what they do to hide, however, it doesn't tell me the exact location of the target, all I can tell is that the queen of darkness is somewhere in the town of Kelna, so now we'll have to search for her the normal way.

We all start asking the townsfolk if they have seen anyone who fits her description, normally it takes a while to get any hints by just asking people randomly, but this time there are a lot of people who claim to have seen a very tall woman walking around covering her face with a hood, I guess it must be difficult for someone like her to walk around unnoticed.

Apparently, several people witnessed her assaulting a patrolling guard who is still unconscious right now, the owner of a traveler's shop also claimed that she saw her trying to take away her child, I wonder why, in addition to that, she was wandering around the lake that this town gets its water from, that sounds worrying.

We also hear about an illness that began afflicting the people of this town around two days ago, that's around the time she should have arrived if she came directly here.

Just what is she trying to accomplish? We thought that she only came here to get ready for her travel, but she seems to have something else planned.

"Everyone get here, I have something to tell you"

Paula has a worried expression on her face, I wonder what she found out.

"I've observed that those who have suffered from the illness have traces of dark mana inside their bodies, I believe they had the 'corpse puppet' spell cast on them, but there was something unusual about it, also, there was another spell I could not identify"

Not only can Paula sense mana but she can even tell the spells that it was used for, very few people are able to do that.

"Isn't 'corpse puppet' a spell used to manipulate dead bodies? Why would she use it on living people?"

The captain points out something strange, why would she use a spell that only works on the dead if they were alive, wait... could it be that she was planning to kill everyone? Is that what the illness was for?

That's horrible! How can she be so heartless?

"For the time being, let's go take a look at that lake"

We enter a building that hosts a magic circuit for the water, it's amazing that there are people who can understand how any of this works, my head hurts just from looking at it.

"The royal knights?"

The man in charge of the place seems surprised to see us, hehehe, I know that I should not think this way, especially since I'm just an apprentice, but I like how everyone knows about us.

"How can I help you?"

The captain gives him a description of the queen of darkness, it seems like she really did come here.

"That young miss was amazing! I have never seen anyone as talented in magic as her!"

When he says that, the other knights exchange glances with each other and then restrain him with ropes.

"Eh!? What are you doing!?"

I'm just as confused as he is, but then Paula comes to explain.

"An excessive amount of praise towards someone that he should not know well is an indication that his mind is in an early stage of being altered with dark magic and since he also has remains of dark mana in his body, we cannot overlook that possibility"

When Paula takes a look at the circuit, she notices a dark magic circle that was not supposed to be there, but she can't tell what it's for.

"Doesn't that mean that the rest of the townsfolk are also in danger of being controlled? We need to do something!"

"Then we should just try to find our target as quickly as possible and take her down, that should solve the problem"

As always Roul is advocating for a direct approach, but this time the captain seems to agree.

"Even if it's dangerous we'll split up to find her faster, if any of you sees her do not try to confront her without warning the others"

As I'm about to leave with the others the captain stops me.

"Silvea, you'll stay here to see if she comes back, stay hidden and do not come out no matter what"

Oh, I see, if I don't need to come out I can stay hidden so this is the safest role for me. I don't like to feel like I need to be protected but I understand why he does this.

After just I few minutes I hear someone running this way.

Did something happen? Why are they coming back? I run outside to meet them, but I crash into someone.

"Ah, sorry"

It seems to be a very tall lady, from this angle her breasts are blocking my view of her face.

Wait, a tall lady... it can't be, I take a step back to take a look at her.

"Have we met before?"

It's Her!!! And she just recognized me!

No no no, I messed up again, the captain told me not to come out no matter what, but when I heard someone running I didn't imagine that it could be her, she does not seem like the type to run around by herself.

Is... is there any way I can get away from here? Before I have time to think I see her hand moving towards the top of my head.

She's going to kill me!

"EEEEEK!!!"

I start running as fast as my legs can carry me, I cannot die in a place like this.

"Ah, she's not following me"

I look behind me and don't see her, but just as I was about to breathe in relief I see that's she's running alongside me!!!

"Please, don't run, I just want to..."

"NOOOOOOOO!!!"

I think my heart just skipped a few beats, speed is my highest stat at 275, and judging from her form she is not used to running at all, yet she's still easily able to keep up with me, just how high must her level be?

I activate my 'super sprint' skill, doubling my speed stat but only for running towards or away from something, it's a great skill for escaping from danger, even if I become exhausted afterward.

I think I have escaped after I turn around a corner, but then I see her approaching from the other side.

"Listen, your rib..."

"AAAAAAH!!!"

I know! Since she does not seem to be used to running around the streets, I can probably shake her off if I take a route where it's harder to move around.

I jump over a fence, get into some narrow alleyways and through some bushes, I think I finally got rid of her, but then I look above me.

She's... flying over the houses, on her back, there are a pair of jet black wings, wings so deeply dark that it's impossible to discern their shape, they are so sinister that it feels like my soul will get sucked if I keep staring at them.

Despair grasps my heart and I fall on the ground, I give up I can't escape from her.

"Ah, are you going to listen now? Good!"

She lands in front of me and just as I thought that she could not possibly be any more terrifying I see her face twist into something that I can only reluctantly call a smile, a smile that reveals the unimaginable malice and cruelty of its owner, this is simply not an expression that any creature of this world should be able to make.

This only lasts for an instant as tears start flowing from my eyes she goes back to her usual expressionless face.

"Please don't cry! You have the wrong idea about me, I don't want to hurt you"

There's no way she can expect me to believe that, especially not after showing me a glimpse of her true nature just now, does she really need to mock me on top of everything else?

"Please don't kill me... I have not become a proper knight yet, Roul still owes me 50 silver coins and I have a pet mouse that needs me... I don't want to die..."

I only barely manage to talk without swallowing my own tears.

"No, I just wanted to..."

"Stop right there!"

But then, the captain and the others rush into the scene.

"Get away from her!"

Roul and Paula jump in front of me to protect me, are they not afraid?

No, they are probably scared, but they are true brave knights unlike me. They are placing themselves in danger to protect me, I love them so much...

"Surrender yourself!"

And now the captain is also unsheathing his sword, making me smile in relief.

I'm saved...

forli