Chapter 130: History.

The sounds of fighting continued as I breathed in deeply of the blood and ash. People gradually began to notice that Sharon was dead, and word quickly spread. The news brought joy, and it brought despair. The true bandits tried to run away, and the people they had oppressed for so long chased after them.I cut off Sharon’s head once I had recovered enough for that was an additional request for the quest.

Some of the bandits made it out, but many were caught, and those who were unfortunate enough to survive had the same cruelties they had once doled out now visited upon them.

I threw a fireball once things escalated into rape.

The former slaves and commoners tried to fight me for it, but the cooler and better heads used this opportunity to use us to calm down their fellows and prevent them from crossing that line.

Maybe it was an arbitrary line. I did not stop them from doing torture.

But I did not care.

I was a demon and I saw something I didn’t like.

I did what I wanted.

“H-hey…” A sniveling voice came to me. It was mildly familiar, but I could not quite put a finger on it, so I just looked at the source instead of consulting my memory core.

It was the same weak centaur that had told us about this brewing rebellion. I was already annoyed.

“What do you want?”

“Ah. Ah… S-sorry. It’s just. You’re really not killing all of us?”

“I almost did. Good thing you still had some cooler heads among you.”

“Ah… Yes. That… would’ve been bad.”

“You mean like what you did?”

“...Yes.”

I scoffed and walked away with my friends, but the centaur stopped me.

“W-wait!”

“W-well,” he shrunk back, but seemed to gather his courage. “W-what do we now? Even if you spare us, more people will come. More adventurers. What do we do??”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Figure it out.”

He froze. “B-but… That’s… Was it all meaningless, then? Will we all die anyway?”

I looked back at him, and then saw Sharon’s headless body that was being defaced behind. She was a right bastard, but it isn’t wrong to say that they only survived this long because of her. They would die very soon now that she was dead.

I shrugged. I supposed I could talk some more.

“I don’t know shit about meaning. But I would’ve just killed you if you had not done this. You’ve managed to make me stay my hand. Quite an achievement.”

“That’s…” he chuckled bitterly. “True enough. I don’t why that makes me feel better.”

I shrugged again. “Don’t ask me. But, well, good luck with everything.” I looked towards the darkening sky, and decided to give some genuine advice in parting. “Run, hide, scatter, fight. You have many options available to you. And if you still think that it’s useless, then just do what you feel is best. would choose to fight, for there is value in that final struggle, even if you were to lose in the end. Why not give them hell, if you’re going to die anyway?”

I pointed in the general direction of New Grandera, and left.

We arrived back at Licarl city, cashed in our quest, and then went straight to the Licarl manor. This was where our prize could be found, because Duke Astro’s library had been built in this manor instead of his own. The city that Astro mainly resided in was a warfront fortress after all, so he had entrusted his books to a relative in a safer but still nearby location.

“The Count will be with you shortly,” the templar woman led us to a sitting room much like before, and once again we were made to wait. After almost an hour, wherein I almost stormed out, the count arrived. We personally delivered to him the box containing Sharon’s severed head.

“Ah. Wonderful. You were successful.” He smiled at me after taking the box from Therick. “As expected of the granddaughter of a hero.”

“I only did my job.”

“And you did a splendid job at that.”

“Thank you.”

An awkward silence stretched on.

“Well, I’m sure you must be here for the reward,” Licarl said, unbothered. “I assume you’ve already gotten the gold from the adventurer’s guild?”

“Yes,” Therick confirmed.

“Very good. That’s really nothing compared to the knowledge you might gleam from my uncle’s collection.” He stood up and walked towards the door. “Come, follow me. I shall lead the way.”

We did as he asked, and we walked across the halls of his central mansion once more, until we came upon a pair of large and ornate doors. Two human templars were guarding it, and Licarl informed them that we were allowed to visit.

“Ah, but I can only allow Therick, Haell, and Moonwash entry I’m afraid. The place was not built with anyone lower than a human in mind, and we don’t want the books to get dirty or damaged, now do we?”

“What?” I asked sharply in surprise. All the excitement I felt suddenly vanished, swallowed up by the eternal ocean of rage. “They participated in and finished the quest just like me. Like all of us. Surely they have earned the prize that was promised.”

I didn’t believe for a second that he was actually concerned for the safety of the books.

“This is the library of a Surely it is understood that not anyone can just enter. You should already feel honored that we’re allowing humans in.”

“No, I don’t understand that. Nowhere in the quest did it ever mention such a thing!”

My voice raised, it turned into a growl, and I stepped forward.

Grust, the count’s personal guard, was a step ahead of me and had already put himself between the two of us.

“Now, now. There is no need to get heated.” Licarl had a condescending expression on his punchable, meltable, face. “I can see now that you truly don’t understand the simplest things that should know, and I can see that you’re frustrated. So how about this, I’ll assign tutors to those three followers of yours, and they can teach them about whatever it is that you want them to learn. Their teachers would be of my people who do have access to the library, of course, and this way they’ll actually be able to understand the contents.”

“Or how about you just let them in?” I snapped. “They can understand the books well enough by themselves.”

“They can’t. You should know that. You’ll only be sullying my uncle’s library for no reason at all.”

“Sullying? What, their mere presence is for you!?” I bared my teeth. I wanted to reach in and rip his small crown of horns off and take the shining skin of his face with it. The templars around us were close now to drawing their weapons, and only Licarl’s unbothered attitude gave them pause.

“They have an important and vital role to play in your party, like we all do in this world. But their place just isn’t here, in this library. Please don’t be unreasonable, Haell Zharignan.”

“No, you’re the one being unreasonable!”

Licarl finally frowned, and that was when I felt someone tug at my arm.

“It’s okay, Haell.” Granuel’s expression was perfectly unreadable. “We’ll take the tutors and learn from them.

“Huh? What? No, you can’t! They can’t–!”

“Please. His blank eyes told me that we would talk about this much more extensively later.

“Very good. So your companions at least do understand.” Licarl turned around before I could even respond to my friend’s plea. Like things had already been decided, like I had already agreed, without me ever being given a chance to speak my mind.

I twitched. My body pulsed in barely restrained violence. For every insult and every disrespect. For Licarl’s attitude was nothing new but the manifestation of everything I fucking hated about this place. My hearts pumped faster, and I gritted my teeth so hard that they almost shattered. I was so angry that I could taste it, feel it, it. I wanted to release the hellfire that bubbled just underneath my skin, and burn this entire manor down. I wanted to see the looks on their faces when the library they so wanted to restrict went up in flames. I wanted all to be destroyed.

I breathed. The moment passed. Granuel, Berry, and Angerly were led away. I, Moonwash, and Therick followed Count Licarl inside as the grand doors to the library opened.

I squeezed her hand.

All my grievances could not be forgotten, but I was able to momentarily set them aside as I beheld the grander library within. It was not the largest I’d seen, but the glowing white and gold colors of it screamed of splendor. Shepherds walked along the marble shelves in perfect poise and silence as they checked over the spines of books that were either so wonderfully well-preserved that it was as if they had just been made, or were so old that they gave off a certain splendor all their own. I was so excited to read so many things I may not have encountered before–even if half of them were straight bullshit–that the mind-control auras of the shepherds did not even manage to annoy me any further. Of course, I was still simmering from that earlier interaction with the count of this place, but it was steadily going down. I would not let it ruin my time here. He would only die in the future.

We began to check the books out. The shepherd librarians explained to us the rules of the place, from keeping quiet, the price of breaking anything, and the consequences of theft.

I was just ready to go read with my two friends when Licarl pulled me aside.

With a monumental effort of will, I only stared at him.

“Haell. Can you remove your armor? I’m worried that you might damage any of the books. Some of them are quite old.”

I continued to stare at him. Why could he not have the decency to just fucking leave before I did something both of us would regret? Although I did find it a tad amusing how he seemed to actually be worried about the safety of the books this time, and wasn’t just making excuses to kick out anyone he didn’t like.

“No.”

What followed was the same tiresome conversation I’d had many times. I confirmed that I was terribly traumatized and I had to have my armor on at all times. And then I had to outright deny any offers of mental ‘healing’. As if I’d allow anyone to touch my mind.

In the end, we compromised, and I agreed to take off my gloves and gauntlets while in the library. It was a pain in the ass most days, but it was a good thing that I still bothered to put makeup on most of my body, just in case.

Moonwash grabbed the True Angelic Scriptures of The Angelic God. It was the main price for the very dangerous quest of killing Sharon in her home territory, and the shepherd librarians knew this so they had very eagerly led us to the book. I did not allow myself to be annoyed, for I could tell that Moonwash was the most excited out of all of us, and I sat right next to my girlfriend so that we could claim the prize we had earned together.

The ornate book smoothly flipped open, and past the great depictions of The Angelic God and His Angels came a tale that began on a world that was already created. It spoke of a cruel place filled with only evil, where people may as well have been beasts unable to speak, for they could not They had no sense of justice, no morals, no order, and no sense of common decency. All they knew how to do was to devour and cheat each other in an endless orgy of chaos.

I lamented that I couldn’t make the joke. A librarian had ‘nonchalantly’ begun rearranging books on a shelf near us, and I was as sure as my faith in angels that it was just a coincidence and she was not trying to keep us under surveillance. Not at all.

I compensated by sending Moonwash a smoldering look, and she understood. I think.

The origin story continued, and God finally showed himself to the people he had created. He reprimanded them for their horrible and terrible ways, and then took direct control.

This led to a perfect utopia and an endless paradise. It was the creation of Heaven. A separate plane of existence, an endless and infinite realm, and a planet in the Heavenly Galaxy we were currently in.

But there were other worlds out there, which this God also created apparently. He knew just how foolish the common people could be, and he just knew that they would fuck it up somehow, so he created his angels to spread his blessings across all the worlds. And that was how the Heavenly Hegemony was created.

Through countless victories and miracles.

“That was…” I thought over my next words. “I’m speechless.”

It wasn’t technically a lie. The shepherd who was still rearranging the same books near us nodded imperceptibly. Clearly, she felt the same way.

The rest of the book proved to be very educational, and to my surprise, entertaining. Battles were described in detail, and so long as they held a kernel of truth, then they actually informed the reader of the various magical elements and powers that could be found across the galaxy. From the rare time magic which I did not even have the option to obtain, to poison magic being used to supercharge a disease into wiping out an entire planet. There were so many things out there we had yet to encounter, or might not even exist on this planet, for there was a great deal of variety in the many worlds.

“I’m surprised that poison magic work with disease,” I idly commented.

“How so?” Moonwash asked back, casually. “They’re very similar, aren’t they?”

I should’ve talked to her about the difference already, although we had also discovered that things might not work the same in this world or the universe as a whole at all. But she denied that the conversation ever happened. That was when I remembered our observers, and how we could not use a sound barrier right now because that would be terribly inappropriate in this setting. It was a library and we were being quiet! How was that not a good thing?

“No. You’re right. I just thought they’d be different somehow. They’re called different things after all!”

A librarian shushed us, and we went back to reading the book.

There were worlds permanently on fire, ones that constantly rained acid, others that were only water, and many more. Not every world had life in them, but there were plenty of planets that should have been hostile to life but instead had thriving ecosystems that rivaled if not surpassed Varyala’s own.

From the various conquests in this book, it appeared like the angels were only mainly interested in conquering worlds that had sapient life on them, and that was rarer than worlds just having life in general. I learned of the variety of species this sapient life could take, and it appeared like humans were indeed the most common, but they weren’t the only ones that occurred regularly on multiple isolated planets. Ogres and mermaids were the next most common, meanwhile dragons were rare and infamous. They were ungovernable heretics that should be killed on sight.

Shepherds were introduced to every conquered world at some point, for they were The Angelic God’s personal creation. The one miracle of evolution that He had ushered into the world himself.

The book then went on to talk about the fountans and the ishkawtans, and how the hard work of The Angelic God’s greatest Seraphims had created the first of their kind. The text spoke of them kindly, if firmly, though it was at the same time clear to anyone with a modicum of reading comprehension who the angels valued more.

I was beginning to form a theory about how the angels actually worked and what their goals were, but I could not be sure until we could kill and dissect one. It would just have to wait.

Moonwash focused hard on the book once the possibility of regrowing lost body parts were mentioned. Holy magic could apparently do it, although it had never happened on Varyala, except on the angels themselves. They could heal and regrow their own limbs, that was well-known, but I didn’t know it was possible to do it for someone else, someone who wasn’t an angel. From the miracles talked about in the holy book, it appeared like only seraphims or a select few archangels could pull the feat off.

anyone’s

My girlfriend nodded her head upon learning of the new information, and I squeezed her hand under the table. She was still, and had been for the past decade, looking for a way to heal Baston and Luine back to full functionality. And Berry and Therick as well, for they too had suffered some permanent injuries.

We learned more about holy magic as time passed and we read through more of the massive book. And the more I heard about it, the more I furrowed and raised my brows in doubt. Because if this holy book was to be believed, then it could actually do From causing thunderstorms, to flattening cities with telekinesis, and more! It was the supreme element with unlimited possibilities! That was unbelievable!

Then again, the book did claim that the Angelic God created the entire galaxy from the start, so maybe I should not be surprised. I just wanted to know if these other alleged possibilities with holy magic were actually legitimate or not. It had never been used in Varyala as far as I knew, but it was once again an alleged ability of the strongest angels. There was no way to confirm. I wanted an unbiased source goddamit!

“W-wow. Amazing.” I breathed, disguising my growing frustration with sheer and utter awe.

The shepherds watching us nodded heavily, for they thought they felt the same way. And yes, plural. There were more of them now, and I was beginning to think that some of them just wanted to personally watch us read the damned holy book instead of trying to actually gleam some important information.

I didn’t know whether to be creeped out or flattered.

I decided on the former, and moved on to finish the entire book before the night was over.

I had a thought. A mere suspicion.

It was a stupid paranoid thing, but because of that simple possibility, I was left to sit on the chair tonight instead of being on the bed with Moonwash. My armor was still clad along my body, and my eyes were closed as I tried to fall asleep. I breathed, I tapped my foot impatiently, and then I gradually came to realize that my annoyance was not only due to the situation I had put myself in.

The was another presence here.

Not the room that Licarl had lent for our use, but just outside the windows barred by the thinner curtains.

My entire body tensed for a moment as my head almost snapped towards the intruder, but I managed to stop myself. I couldn’t believe that the bastard sent someone to spy on us. This was unacceptable, and it was only adding to the mountain I had about the shepherd. I just wanted to crush him under the weight of all my wrath soon.

But, we were here for a reason. And, all things considered, even if I attacked now, the spy might escape and I would have no proof. Even if I caught them, it would only turn into a massive and terrible scandal that was more trouble than it was worth. Not when we planned to leave soon.

So I kept on sitting. I would be the weird and eccentric woman who never took off her armor. But there would be reckoning for this. For all the nights that I didn’t get to spend cuddling Moonwash.

Licarl was now on The List.

…I make a list.

Maybe.

The following months were spent in furious study. The library contained many more books about a variety of topics, although I had to admit that none were quite as informative in regards to things outside of Varyala than the big holy book.

For my three friends who could only reap a portion of their proper rewards, I sought out books upon their request. I flipped through all the pages as fast as I could without arousing suspicion, so that I may dictate to them the contents later. I only needed a glance for each image to be saved into my memory core forever.

Granuel wanted stuff on economics, Berry just wanted some fun stories, and Angerly wanted to know of the many other lands that we could explore. I obliged all their requests, and Moonwash and Therick helped me find the books. I did learn a few things for myself during this process, but what I loved the most was where all their requests intersected along with my own interests. Duke Astro’s library had books on the many lands of the Isla Tropics.

It was a massive archipelago continent far to the northwest of Grandera. I knew the crorcas (great white sapient crocodiles) lived there, but more than that, those island nations contained more species of sapient people than all the other continents combined. From big cats that could talk, to bug hiveminds, and more. They all had a rich history, different cultures, customs, and even unique kinds of magic that I’d never even heard of before.

Sand, cloud, and lava, to name a few. Love, despair, and boredom to name some others. They had all manner of elements at their disposal, with the records for some of them being particularly unconvincing and vague. The ones that dealt with certain emotions were particularly spotty, and I thought that the negative ones had to just be some curse-related stuff. But what about the positive emotions? Or the neutral ones! What manner of effects could they possibly have!

Another thing we learned about that had Moonwash metaphorically frothing at the mouth were the kinds of rituals that some people might have access to. One book spoke about a long-necked people who could call upon natural disasters with song, and another offhandedly mentioned some very long-limbed and flexible people dancing to bring rain upon their fields and bless their harvests to be the most bountiful of all.

Now, only one of those books even suggested that the phenomenon might be some sort of ritual. But it to be. It was a massive and powerful magical effect brought about by the artistic expression of thought and desire. I just wished the passages had more detail, because all that was missing was the mana source. Did these rituals not use the typical ritual ink? Did they make something else? How was it incorporated!? There were so many questions!!

We learned that the island nations were often at war with each other, and some of their battles and methods were described in great detail. The authors often talked about how barbaric they were… but did we not live in the same continent? The same empire? How was Edengar or any other place we had ruined with our touch any better? We’re all fucking barbarians here! Pot meet the fucking kettle!

I loved the part of history where the island nations were at peace instead of at war. They would use their powerful navies to trade with each other instead–something that never truly stopped even when they were trying to kill each other.

I was happy to find out that there were some books in the library that were straight-up authored by the people from Isla, and they were predominantly written in varyalan. Thankfully, I was very fluent in the language, we all were, and I had a blast reading about their myths and legends. They even had full novels, some being a continuous series of novels, and then the library would sometimes be missing some of the volumes in between! That was unacceptable! What the fuck was Duke Astro thinking when he made this library!! Get me those books at once!!!!

I skimmed the cut-off sequels into my memory core for later, while trying very hard not to actually read the words in front of me and spoil myself of the later plot.

The past few months were not all fun and games, unfortunately. Licarl kept pestering me to go with him to random functions that I did not care for, and it was all so very infuriating. He was the single entity I hated the most right now, and I had a lot of hate to give.

Naturally, I rejected all his advances. I made up all kinds of excuses to get him off my back, from being so enamored with the Duke Astro’s Library that I could not bear to be away, to being tired because of all the high-level learning I’d been doing recently. But Count Licarl did not let things end there. He resorted to ambushing me while I was just traveling through the manor, and I was forced to listen to his nonsensical prattlings because he would just not let the conversation end, and I really did not have the social skills to contend with him without just outright burning all bridges and getting my entire party kicked out of the library. At best.

He made a lot of small talk during these ambushes, which I just tuned out. I actually tuned out most of what he said in general, and if he asked me some question, then I would just skim the conversion so far in my memory core while staring him down. The response I ultimately gave was always curt if not barely related to the topic at hand.

One subject that kept coming up was politics, and I just did not want to talk about it. Well, I actually probably did have a lot to say about the subject, but we stood on literal opposing sides, and I could somehow divine that it would not end well if I revealed that.

Another thing Licarl loved to talk about was Grandpa’s many heroic deeds, as if wasn’t the expert on the subject between the two of us. He had his own interpretations of my grandfather’s actions, from how he… shipped him with Empress Shanayah, to how faithfully he had served over the years, to how his retirement was the angels telling him that he had done enough.

Licarl even suggested at some point that maybe I had shepherd blood in me, and that shepherd blood might just be the Empress’.

That was, uh, Not that he said of that in such blunt terms, but that was clearly what he was implying. I even repeated the conversations word for word with my friends, and they agreed.

Far as I knew, my grandmother was just some common mortal who died without even breaking through to level 20. I didn’t really know much about her, and I wasn’t keen on sharing what little Grandpa had spoken about. Licarl did not deserve to get answers about my heritage. Which was another thing that he was very weirdly interested in. He talked way too much about family trees, both his and my own. He talked about having an heir, and what kind of legacy he wanted, after which he asked me of my own plans.

I did not want any children.

Did he know what having children would entail?

They would be literal monsters, and I didn’t think any amount of good parenting could change that.

I dodged the question by saying I was too busy being an adventurer, and that all I could think of right now was how to make our lands safer from the monsters.

“You really take after your grandfather,” he commented. “A hero.”

“Yep,” I blandly confirmed.

I made the mistake of sitting down on a bench near the training grounds to watch the templars train. Now Licarl had invited himself over to sit right next to me, and he began to talk about the weather or some shit. It was a bright summer day today, which was admittedly very nice, especially for this part of the world.

“What do you think about the library? How have you been finding my uncle’s collection? I was very pleased when he asked me to have it built here, and I myself have spent many countless nights studying the plethora of knowledge stored within. Even just the same book seems to keep on giving you insights no matter how many times you read it.

“I agree,” “It’s good and very insightful.”

His eye twitched at my continually curry respones, but he still continued to make small talk, and I continued to be the blandest bitch he’d ever met.

you

Finally, he got to the meat of why he called for this meeting, and I almost killed him right then and there. This final adventure was really testing the patience that I had built throughout the past few years of travel.

“Haell Zharignan. What do you think about marriage?”

“It’s alright,” I shrugged.

“Isn’t it? I think so as well! It would only be a wonderful union if my heritage could be joined with yours!”

I blinked. My facade fell for just a moment. “Huh? What the fuck?”

Licarl’s enthusiasm swiftly turned into annoyance and the big templar behind him tensed along with the shift in all our moods. “I’m asking to join our families in marriage, Haell. Surely you understand that.”

“What is there to understand? How did even get here? I thought you were just asking about marriage in general.”

“Ah. Well, no. Honestly, I’ve been very impressed about your achievements so far, but you would really need to be trained on manners of well… , and proper etiquette, if you have not even picked up on my intentions at all, among other things. I’ll make sure to teach you properly, don’t worry.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m quite fine. I like being an adventurer and killing monsters. And saving the lives of our people.”

“And that’s all very noble. But I cannot have my wife be so… boorish, and unable to function in social gatherings. You don’t have to be a master, but I question why you were not taught even the basics.”

“My parents love me and respected my interests. Clearly, you should find someone else. I’m taken in any case, so I must… decline.”

“Ah, you mean that Moonwash girl?”

Now my voice dropped to a growl.

“Now, now. There is no need to get emotional here. You can keep her if you want. It’s quite normal for people like us to have a concubine or two. You’ll just need to learn how to be more… subtle.”

“I don’t have to be fucking subtle! That’s my answer to your stupid and inane proposal. Now leave me the fuck alone.”

I was standing now, and Grust had somehow put himself between me and the count. I huffed and moved to leave, my mood completely ruined, when I found the templars who were previously training having now surrounded us in a loose but tightening circle.

Licarl sighed from his seat, as if still completely unbothered. “Must you really be so difficult? All I want is the best for our kingdom, and to have a rising star like you active would be very beneficial for our forces. Even just your presence alone would increase the troops’ morale, but you have not once taken any of the quests regarding that, even when many have tried to give your party personal quests to do so. You did not even take any of the bandit-subjugation quests other than my own.”

“I don’t want any of that. I want to help people, but war is too complicated. Leave me out of it.

“And that is why you must follow me,” He stood up and turned away, back towards the main building. “Come. You have gone without any guidance for long enough, and your talents are being wasted by being just some free-spirited adventurer.”

“No.”

“Come again?” he turned his head to look back.

Some pathetic and puny excuse for anger crossed his face. “I am not asking.”

“Neither am I. Leave it be, count. We can still be at peace.”

“And we will be. Right after I give you some proper guidance. Angels know you need it, from how you’ve acted towards me this past few months.”

A templar grabbed my arm. Their encirclement had me fully surrounded now. I allowed them to get closer. The pressure built further. It was the weight of all the wrath that I had been building. From my time in this city, from the decade that came before, from the entire life that I lived,

For a moment, I tried, one last time. Maybe there was still a way to end this peacefully. Maybe we could just leave.

That moment passed.

The pressure snapped, and hellfire exploded out of me in all directions.