Chapter 195: Enmity

“She’s still not opening her eyes,” Colt asked Lucille with hidden anxiety behind his voice.

Lucille had been keeping watch of Mina’s current situation, and it had been a few hours since sundown, and she had not opened her eyes yet. She was fine externally, but what if there were hidden injuries the naked eye could not see?

“I’ve checked her vitals more than ten times already; she’s fine, Young Master.” Lucille said to pacify Colt’s worries, “If anything, she’s doing better than I thought. She just achieved Elemental Manifestation; she’ll need time to digest her mana.”

“…How long with that take?”

“I don’t know. Right now, Mina might be regulating her energy or gathering some more. But she’s not in danger.”

“…I can spare her more of my strength if she needs to.” Even with Lucille’s words, he was still worried.

He was ready to feed her the leaf of the World Tree but was stopped by the cat by the window, “Meow.” it said to him, warning him about an overload.

Like how a Fire Mage could die from being set in flames if they had too much fire attribute, Healers would turn to abominations if they have too many Healing attributes in their body.

“I-I see.” Meaning, Colt was useless.

He looked irritated, but the only one he was angry with was himself. With all his powers, knowledge, and secrets, he couldn’t use them when needed.

“Please rest, Lord Colt; we will take care of your wife’s wellbeing.” the Cardinal Mother walked into the room with two women from before, “I am here to help regulate Lady Mina’s mana.”

“Leave.” Colt unhesitatingly said.

“…” The Cardinal Mother did not speak.

“Do you think I will let you anywhere near Mina? Don’t get me wrong, as I have said before, the fight can be ignored. But, don’t think I will just let you guys get near Mina when you were keen on taking her life earlier.”

A heavy atmosphere immediately appeared inside the room. The Cardinal Mother could feel it; the aura that destroyed the throne lingered around Colt.

‘As I thought, he was faking it. The Guardian God said he holds a grudge close to his heart… he was not kidding. But, if the Guardian God chose him, we must befriend him. Not just be on a constant ceasefire.’ The Cardinal Mother could see through his anger. Sending Fluff a look, all she got was a yawn of disinterest as if telling her it was something she should do.

The cat would not interfere. It had little to do with Fluff, ‘I’ve done enough.’

The Cardinal Mother took a deep breath, “For that, we deeply apologize. We were out of line. The Valkyries did not know who you were. I assure you, such a thing will not happen again.” The Cardinal Mother lowered her and apologized.

“Now that you know my identity, you act like a meek old woman?” Colt said with a smirk as he brushed Fluff’s round body, “Stop it with the bullshit; I still don’t trust you.”

“Lord Colt, I know we have made a mistake, but your words are too much.”

“That’s right, it might be excusable because you do not know who you are talking to, but she is the Cardinal Mother. Please, watch your blasphemous words.”

The two women behind the Cardinal Mother raised their voiced their displeasure.

They were Pel, the bearer of Earth, and Ravager, the Assassin. Their voices were now more contained than before after learning about Colt, but they still could not stand to listen to his slanderous words.

They bore witness to Colt’s prowess firsthand. They heard from Fer what he’s capable of. They know the pull he has in his Kingdom, he was no ambassador, but he may very well be. But they did not fear someone who would show such disrespect to the Cardinal Mother.

“Here we go again, blasphemous? I thought I’d clarified this earlier; I don’t give a damn.”

Colt saw their eyes sharpened. The two Valkyries were on edge.

Mina might have hurt their Sisters, but they hated Colt significantly more.

The Cardinal Mother was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say to not further offend Colt. Lucille did not really care for what was happening and was just writing down something on the side.

“You three are making this room feel stuffy.” From the door, a rowdy voice sounded as a woman walked into the already tensed room. She was wearing a gray tunic and strutted into the room without regard to the people inside.

“Freyja.” the two Valkyries spoke in a chorus.

After waving at them and the Cardinal Mother, Sister Mary walked towards Colt and bowed to him deeply, “Young Master, we didn’t get to talk much earlier, but, on behalf of its citizens, I welcome you to the Holy Land.”

“Sister Mary.” Colt showed her respect.

Sister Mary motioned at them to lower their weapons, getting in between the two groups, “You two should know better, and as for you. Young Master, I know you’re agitated because your wife hasn’t woken up from seemingly something simple, but please calm down. I am not going to tell you anything about blasphemy, but you’re kind of being an asshole right now.”

“Freyja!”

The Cardinal Mother shouted in fear of what might happen. Colt was already on edge. To be insulted was not how to deal with things, “Lord Colt, it is not our intention to offend you.”

She wanted to console Colt, but he had let go of his sword’s hilt when she turned to him. Taking deep breaths, Colt calmed down.

“No, I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. Sister Mary’s right; I am not in my right mind.”

When talking to Sister Mary, Colt’s expression softened. He may have been still angry at the people of the Dracian Fate, but no matter what happened, Sister Mary helped him for years, and Colt wouldn’t forget his debts.

“I’m sorry for my words. Despite everything that had happened, I was rude to someone older than me… I apologize.” Colt lowered his head to apologize.

“No… it’s fine.” The Cardinal Mother was shocked that cursing at Colt actually worked.

The Valkyries were just as confused.

Was it possible?

Could Colt Edgeworth actually be – Reasonable?

“Don’t worry about it; completely understandable. I’m just happy you didn’t go through with it – oh yeah, Lord Fluff, thank you for saving us earlier.”

“Nya.” Fluff raised its paw with disinterest and went back to sleep.

“He demands food for his services.” Colt translated.

“It will be sent to you later. Shall I prepare one for Reis?”

“Mew?” Fluff thought about it for a while before coming up with an answer, “Nyaaaa.”

“Why not, he said.”

“All right, I shall have it delivered to you later. I have something to say, Young Master Colt. Can you please allow the Cathedral Mother to help? All things considered, she’s not a bad person. She won’t do anything to hurt the Young Miss. She’s one of the oldest People on the Continent, and with age, she’s accumulated a lot of knowledge. In terms of mana manipulation, she might even be better than Miss Cille here.”

Colt glanced at Lucille.

“I mean, I’m by far a better artificer, though… but yes, when it comes to Spells and Mana manipulation, she’s better. And from what I calculated, Mina might even benefit if we can have someone of her experience to help us.” Lucille pettily added.

Looking at the Cardinal Mother, Colt asked to make sure, “Can you really help Mina?”

“Yes.” The Cardinal Mother nodded with confidence.

“Then… please help me.” Colt bowed deeply to ask for a simple request.

“I will ensure no harm comes to your Wife, Lord Colt.” The Cardinal Mother promised.

***

Colt and the rest left the room. Only the Cardinal Mother and Lucille were left inside.

Their reason was not something Colt could speak against.

“The room will be isolated from all sense of power. Young Lord Colt’s presence is too strong; Lady Mina’s mana might react violently if you remain.”

“Please take care of her.” such were his parting words.

After giving Mina’s hand a squeeze, he left with the rest.

In the hallway outside the room, Colt and the others stood idly.

Fluff jumped out the nearest window in all its fatty glory, “Nyaaa, meow.”

“I’ll leave them to your care.”

Fluff left to look after the children.

Colt, Sister Mary, and the two Valkyries remained outside the room.

Colt could feel the enmity of the Valkyries on him, but they disappeared in the dark before he could even say anything.

‘They hate me.’ Colt thought to himself.

“They still hate me.” Sister Mary said it out loud.

“You know them?” asked Colt.

“Yes, I was one of them before retiring to become a Nun,” she answered with a dry laugh.

“Have they always been like that?”

“They’re usually kind, but to outsiders, or they see them as enemies, they were trained to be cold and hostile. They are especially antagonistic to potential enemies of the Faith… or traitors.” a pair of melancholic eyes surfaced from Sister Mary’s eyes, “Hey, you want a drink? I know a good place.”

“Yeah, why not.” After such a long day, Colt needed more than a couple shots. ‘Can I even get drunk with Reis’ Gift? I need several bottles.’

***

“FUCK! That hurt, fucking mosquitoes! What are we doing here exactly? Let’s go back to the camp!” A soldier wearing blue steel armor complained as he scratched the mosquito bites.

He complained to the man he was following.

“Don’t complain; we just need to finish our rounds. Then, we can return.” another responded with a helpless sigh.

“Come on, you know there’s no one going to be here. There was no one before; there’s no one now. Ack! Shit! I want to return to the Capital.”

“Well, at least you can show a little respect to the Border Patrols who do this regularly.” The one holding the lamp cheekily answered, “We’ll meet with Allen’s group and return to the camp soon after.”

The two men going around the Forest were two men acting as the Border Patrol were not actually ordinary guards. No, they were Disciples meant to undertake “noble duties,” sent to the borders to embolden the lacking manpower of the Coalition.

During the time of the disease’s rampant spread, the first ones to suffer were the border guards. Because they were the first to encounter people from outside their Countries, many of them died from those trying to escape lands ravaged by the Red Vein Disease.

The North East regions of the Dragon Blood Warrior Coalition were heavily affected. The Red Vein Disease affected the North and the East most.

Tens of thousands died, and the military took a massive blow.

Currently, the number of deaths went down because of the cure distributed by Colt Edgeworth. But, it remained factual that the number of soldiers under their command lessened.

The Dragon Blood Warrior Coalition was a territory created by the most prominent Martial Arts Academies and Organizations gathered under one banner to oppose the Hellbane’s desire to control Martial Arts.

Together with Ten Great Masters of Ten Styles, the Dragon Blood Warrior Coalition was formed. These ten Great Masters were called the Council of Ten and decided the Coalition’s actions.

They were doing the rare thing of disregarding the number of people with weapons and finally distributing food to the masses.

The current resources of the Coalition were being depleted and could not support everyone. They were self-sufficient to a degree, but they were a City that received imports from all across the Continent.

Because of the travel ban, crossing the border became almost impossible, and resources such as food, spices, and other everyday necessities became scarce. If not for the Genesis Family, many more would die from hunger.

The Coalition and the entirety of the North were suffering heavily.

But because of their insufficient manpower, the Council had the Town Lords send out their Disciples to reinforce the borders.

A few months back, there would have been no need. But because more and more people were recovering, the Council feared they would be too weak to stop an invasion from enemy Countries.

The entire North was also recovering thanks to the Genesis Family’s influence. The distribution of the medicine was accelerating, and more and more were getting them. The Coalition would suffer heavily from an attack.

They did not have enough resources to go to war. Thus, they had to resort to their Disciples taking more “lower missions” to alleviate their worries.

Luckily, the bandits who did not receive the cure were mainly dead. They had already been disposed of, and most of the borders were clear from most danger outside the regular monster outbreaks.

The two Disciples walked around the Forest as they were told to do. They expected no one as the previous nights had been.

But as one of them complained, the one holding the lamp stopped dead in his tracks.

“Ron, stop talking.”

“Hey, watch where-“

The man named Ron bumped his nose on his companion’s back. He hit his nose on steel armor, but he was too bewildered by what they saw in the middle of a clearing.

In front of them, there was a boy with dark brown skin. His arms and face were covered in numerous scars. Together with his long black hair touching his ankles, the boy looked nothing less than a Feral animal.

Looking at him alone, one would find him cute. But, what was around him made their mouths stuck gaping wide.

The boy was young, not even in puberty. But his clothes, like his hair, were unkempt and dirty, and the scenic view around him was tainted dark red by the blood of the other Disciples they were supposed to meet.

The wind blew past them, carrying the stench of the dead.

From the boy’s bloodstained hands, it was clear who killed the men. It did not matter how or why. All that was known was that the boy was strong enough to take on a group of Disciples alone.

The boy smiled at the beautiful moon, and the two Disciples felt their hearts being squeezed tightly yet at the same time rampaging like a wild horse.

They could hear their own heartbeats reverberating from inside their chests. They swore that their ribcage amplified its sound, for the boy cracked his neck and turned towards their direction.

The boy saw them, and his blank expression slowly curved into a smile, “Yay, more of them.”

The boy’s slit eyes glowed golden as he smiled with delight. His smile was bright and welcoming, yet the two Disciples did not react as one should when met with the smile of a kid.

They felt the sweeping gust of dread that washed over their bodies.

The Disciples were very much like Knights of the South. They were prideful of their strength. They would die to prove their worth, yet the two Disciples turned their backs on the boy.

It was not coordinated. There was not a single mention of it before they left for patrol.

It was instinctual.

The moment they exchanged eyes with the boy was the moment their souls screamed at them to run away, and so they did.

The motto of the Disciples from the Coalition was to never run away from a fight.

The two Disciples were thankful because they knew that against the boy, it would not be a fight.

It was simply suicide.

“RUN!”

Shouted the man with the lam as he threw it with aggressive disregard.

The name of the Disciple holding the lamp was Marc.

He was a Disciple of the Thorin Institute, specializing in light movement techniques.

All the light movement martial arts he had learned for the past five years were put to the test.

The wind shrieked as they cut through the cold night wind. They gave it their all. After just three simple steps, they were sweating buckets. After five steps, their feet wanted to give out.

The explosion of gound and the air and the encroaching death. Marc planted his right foot on the earth for his seventh step and moved forth with explosive speed, but he felt a hand grab him on the shoulders.

“MARC!”

Ron, his friend, called out to him in distress.

Marc could see the dread on his friend’s face. Marc wanted to reach out for help. He wanted to believe in the hope that he could return home to where his family awaited his return.

He wanted to go back. Marc did not want to die, but his entire arm was severed in three segments, and his field of vision spun wildly.

He fell to the ground on his knees, and his body fell to the ground where he watched Ron, his friend, suffer from the same fate.

As Marc died, he watched the boy drag Ron away after confirming his demise. Walking toward Marc, the boy picked up the bigger segment of the severed hand and bit into it as he walked, stopping before him.

The boy tilted his head, “Huh? This Magical Beast has a strong will to live.”

The boy said with amazement before proceeding to crush Marc’s neck.

High-Class Mob