Chapter 61: A Mistake

Chapter 61: A Mistake

It was late afternoon. The suns torched the sky of blocky clouds reddish as they neared the finale of their daily arc. The moons and stars trailed in, chasing away the dying tyranny of the twin suns.

Zarian was outside the Bramblevale Keep’s front entrance with the ladies. He was looking down at a small rectangular case he’d taken as a trophy from Lord Cassian’s desk.

He looked up when a group notification appeared.

<Congrats! You’ve completed a Rare Side Quest: Continue Operation Domination or let the White Rose give you the VIP treatment?>

Zarian leveled up from 38 to 39. He was one more away from reaching his first class advancement.

Looking over, he saw Naomi was now Level 35. Bianca was now Level 34.

This had turned out to be a fruitful event for them, especially for Naomi. Maybe if she was fortunate enough, she would wake up with new stats tomorrow morning. Maybe she would even get a new trait.

Zarian nodded in satisfaction before looking back down at the case he’d stolen. The case was made from green wood with red rose patterns on the front and back.

He popped it open and smiled down at eight tightly rolled cigars waiting inside. Zarian’s smile grew wider when he used Identify and explained to the ladies what he saw:

<High Rose Bramblevale Cigars (Rare): A high-quality product made in a farm fortress in the Bramblevale region. Smoke this and sacrifice some Agility for a partial boost in Willpower and Wonder. The effect is temporary and also fades quickly after sleep.>

“I don’t have much Agility but I’m willing to lose some.” Zarian looked at the girls.

Naomi didn’t have to say a word. She was all in. Bianca looked unsure. Maybe she would buckle once they peer pressured her.

“Smoking isn’t good for your health,” Bianca said, cringing.

Zarian and Naomi shared a look. They shook their heads at the young woman. Zarian removed a magic cigar before shutting the case and putting it in Para’s pocket dimension.

He used a blade of sharpened darkness to cut off the front end before having Bianca use her abilities to light it up.

Zarian suckled for a few puffs until the burning end could maintain itself just fine. Then the trio walked down the steps covered in metallic silver flowers while the remnants of the former barricade was left in mostly discarded ruins.

Zarian and Naomi passed the cigar between them, enjoying the soothing and confidence-raising effects despite the Agility-debuff.

Bianca frowned at them before turning up her nose. “A princess mustn’t smoke.”

“I don’t give a damn if I become queen of bumble-fuck-all. This is some good stuff here,” Naomi said between swirling gray puffs. “Would’ve been better if I had it with whiskey at night and coffee in the morning.”

“We still have more coffee in the can. We’ll make some tomorrow morning.” Zarian blew out a long draft when it was his turn.

He stopped when they reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to look back. The sunset was behind the keep and drew a vast shadow going forward.

Zarian luxuriated in the shadow even though it wasn’t exactly darkness just yet. He scanned the field of silver metal flowers and noted the lumps where the bodies of the Level 50s remained.

“He’s not that strong,” Naomi said. “Well, I don’t think he’s really strong upfront. But he’s definitely skillful. He’s got that old man wisdom, extra stats from all the years he lived and trained, and the right abilities to cut down a hundred men without taking a hit. Yeah, he’s skillful. But I think you can break him, sir.”

Zarian shrugged. “He’s the weakest of the seven. I guess he has to fight smart.”

Bianca frowned at the smoking pair. “Should we really call him the ‘weakest’ or describe him as not strong when he could kill us? Well, he can certainly kill me. I don’t think good +3 can stop him after the initial shock.”

“Think relatively, Bianca. If things work out as we like, we’ll get closer to his level. Then we’ll have a real measurement of our abilities compared to his,” Zarian said.

“I think Zarian can take him out now,” Naomi boasted.

He shook his head at the instigating woman. “Stop hyping me up. You’re going to get me in trouble.”

Naomi responded with a mischievous smile. She was a naughty, naughty woman when the mood struck her.

Bianca huffed. “Well, there are six other White Roses. I’m glad everything worked out, but Arnold gave me a feeling that we aren’t exactly safe just yet. What if the White Rose of Purgehunt or Purehome shows up and goes after you, Zarian?”

Hours earlier, Zarian and the ladies had waited for Cassian to recover from sinning too heavily while good aligned. Then they’d ironed out the legality of their statuses and the many rewards Cassian needed to pass onto the Heroes of the Eternal Garden Kingdom.

Of course, Zarian and Naomi pushed for everything they could get plus more. Way more. They’d left that meeting room like bandits who robbed the crown’s heirlooms and rare treasures, leaving a very defeated Cassian and amused Arnold, the latter staying behind to have further talks with the Bramblevale Lord.

Before they left, they’d even convinced the Bramblevale Lord to lower taxes for the lesser class and turn his gold-hungry attention to his more well-to-do Mid and High Roses. Zarian imagined the old man whose monocle he’d stolen was in for quite the surprise.

That pleased the black wizard greatly. He’d never thought he could get into politics and make huge sweeping changes across a district within a few days. All because he could use smartly applied violence and had a growing supply of powerful connections.

Zarian shook his head free of his musings and considered Bianca’s concerns. There was more behind her downer mood than what she was saying. It made him feel curious.

“I don’t know about the other White Roses. We’ll have to ask Arnold when he pays us a visit again. For now, we keep moving forward. Next up, the manor. Then tomorrow morning it’s me and Hannah at the library.”

The guards and soldiers leaned back in surprise and uncertainty. The talkative one lost some nerve.

Then he doubled down: “You fight me, you’re fighting all of us!”

The other off-duty guards and soldiers looked unsure. But they placed their hands on their weapons anyway.

Zarian chuckled darkly. “I’ve already fought all of you. You’re pathetic. I’ve spared your lives because it felt like fighting mere children. But if I must embarrass you again, I will.”

The interior lights lost their luster. The dark corners grew darker. The shadows deepened and stretched. A palpable force overcame the entire tavern space, infused with a darkness that was heavy and thick, smothering the light further.

Then Zarian drew more darkness from outside, especially from the alleys. They slid over the walls, along the floor, up the steps, through the windows and swirled around the tavern, scaring everyone.

Zarian held back on using his evil +2. That might be too much for them. Besides, he didn’t need it with this display.

A random patron shouted. “Just let the evil bastard pay for our drinks and feed the beggars! Who are you to stop that when you can’t fight worth a damn?!”

Once one patron started, another joined in. “Just leave him alone, okay! I don’t want to be caught up with your problems when you can’t defend our people, let alone yourselves.”

More patrons made their voices heard.

“Silence.” Zarian didn’t even have to speak loudly. His voice was clear, sharp. “Leave your town’s fighters alone. Unless any of you can fight more than you can run your mouths.”

The patrons fell silent.

The fighting men lost some more of their nerve, surprised by Zarian’s defense of them. Now they weren’t very sure of the obvious evil in front of them. They looked like they needed an out to save face.

“The rest of these fighting men’s drinks are on me. Consider it a consolation prize for trying.” Zarian flipped a gold coin through the air.

The barkeep working behind the counter caught the coin. He stashed it away in one smooth motion.

Zarian let the natural light shine through, the heavy darkness receding. “Don’t forget to feed the beggars in the lot behind you. And any others who come along. I will know if you fail to do so.”

He finished the cigar and flicked the remains into an ashtray before turning away fully. Para the Parasite Cloak flapped dramatically behind him, as expected. Naomi walked with a strut to his right. Bianca walked glamorously to his left.

Once they walked out, a huge collective sigh resounded from inside the tavern from everyone there.

“Thank you for doing that,” Bianca said with rising enthusiasm.

“It wasn’t for you,” Zarian said. “There really were a lot of starving kids. More than I can look away from.”

“Still, thank you.” Bianca beamed a smile at him.

“If there are so many kids, why isn’t the military raising them up like Spartans?” Naomi asked. “Or are they just girls?”

“Boys and girls.” Zarian waited a second before continuing. “They’re the undesirables.”

“What do you mean by undesirables?” Bianca asked.

“Ah, I see.” Naomi looked across from Zarian to Bianca. “They’re the ones people would’ve tossed off a cliff or left in the woods during the olden days.”

Bianca furrowed her brow and pouted in deep thought. After a few seconds, she finally realized what that all meant.

“O, m, gee, Zarian, you’re the best!” Bianca cheered. Now her mood was really glowing with glee.

Zarian figured doing more charity work when Bianca, or hell, Gilbert, felt bad would help lighten their moods during downer moments. Or maybe he should actually take those Spanish lessons more seriously and give Gilbert that fishing day off.

A part of his Fractured Mind stored away means to support the party’s morale for later. He wasn’t happy about what he’d done for the undesirable children and the display he made. His evil alignment was shouting at him in alarm.

“That was a mistake,” Zarian said.

“How?” Bianca was once again confused.

“Hm, I see.” Naomi caught on right away.

“Why are you guys being so cryptic? Ugh!”

Zarian sighed. “We’ll have a few more errands before we leave. Apparently, I do care about others.”

He also cared about how others would perceive his kindness and target it as ‘a weakness’ of his. Regardless of how vile and conniving the evil alignment could be, evil +2 was very aware of many pitfalls or maneuvers he or his would-be enemies could fall into. Evil +2 was especially great at predicting what lesser evil-doers would do if they thought they saw an opening at getting to Zarian.