Chapter 42: A Parting Gift and a New Beginning

"Are you making fun of me, Mr. Sieg?"

Riley Dovan's face was twisted in anger as he looked at Sieg, who was holding Wang Yu's gauntlet with satisfaction.

"Making fun of you? Hardly. He's the newest recruit of the Nightblades' special operations team, Wang Yu. His name's a little strange, but that's just how it is. Here's Archbishop Fang's letter of recommendation. Is there a problem?"

Sieg shrugged and showed Riley Dovan a piece of parchment. A single glance was all it took to confirm its legitimacy.

Archbishop Fang Stuart was the chief authority of the church of light in Aleisterre. He certainly had the authority to appoint new members to the Nightblades.

"No, there's no problem..." Riley gritted his teeth. There was nothing he could do at this point.

He glared at Wang Yu with resentment, then left with the rest of the noble investigation team, who were already starting to grumble about the delay.

Not only had he gained nothing from Mira Svein's estate, he would even have to pay off these freeloading aristocrats with his own resources.

Though each individual share didn't amount to much, paying all of them off was going to cost him a fortune. The more he thought about it, the more upset he was.

Once the annoying nobles had finally departed, Sieg walked up to Wang Yu. The handsome scholar introduced himself to him formally.

"Sieg Wilsbach, scribe for the Nightblades' special operations team in the capital. So far, I'm the only one who's officially taken on the role, but including you, we'll have four members total. You still have your recommendation letter, right?"

Then, he tore apart the document he had just shown Riley.

"I do, but that letter..." Wang Yu took out the recommendation letter that Garcia had given him, though he wondered if it was fine for Sieg to be tearing up his copy.

"Don't worry about it. It's just Fang's signature. Outsiders might think it's priceless, but he jots something down for us whenever we ask for anything official. We try to keep them single-use, though—don't want too many copies of his signature randomly floating around."

"I see." Wang Yu nodded. Being on good terms with a superior was very advantageous; you could throw their name around to get out of trouble.

"It's settled, then. Once you're in the capital, bring this letter to Redmaple Street. It'll guide you to the Nightblades' headquarters."

Sieg took the letter Wang Yu handed him, did something that caused it to glow briefly, and then returned it.

"Got it," Wang Yu replied, putting the letter away.

"The situation is more or less stable now, but things might escalate at any time. The capital is crawling with opportunistic factions hoping to take advantage of the turmoil, and Winstan spies are starting to infiltrate Aleisterre. You'll have to be prepared when the time comes," Sieg warned.

Wang Yu nodded. The war must have begun in earnest, then; these weren't just minor skirmishes. Large-scale war would affect cities and ordinary citizens alike.

"Until we meet again, then. Rest up. Being able to neutralize a void rift with such intense activity is impressive. You really are a natural," Sieg praised, then left with his team of riders.

After chatting with Sieg, Wang Yu returned to Avia and Mira. "Is that it?"

"Everything's settled now. I doubt they'll bother us again. Actually, nobles are prohibited from maintaining void rifts or any large-scale manipulation of void energy without prior approval. They risk huge fines and even potential demotion in status for them and their direct family. Right now, you have significant leverage over the Dovan clan," Mira explained.

These were the sort of unspoken rules that wouldn't be found in the books that Wang Yu had studied. The dealings of nobility in the kingdom's inner circle were largely unknown to those outside.

Wang Yu hadn't realized just how much thought had gone into that confrontation.

What seemed to just be a war of words was actually a high-stakes battle for leverage.

Fortunately, they seemed to have come out on top.

"Wang Yu, I really can't thank you enough. This would have gone very differently without your help. Half the recovered funds are yours," Mira Svein promised. Wang Yu's help had, after all, been invaluable.

"Thank you." Wang Yu accepted the bounty gratefully, without any hesitation.

Decaphon had taken over the estate, but he would have needed his own gold with which to pay the mercenaries. He had naturally brought a large stockpile of wealth into the estate, which he had buried underground. If not for the evil god's projection upending the entire villa and leaving one of the chests of gold coins exposed, it might have been long before they discovered the treasure.

Before he had gotten to work burying the corpses, Wang Yu had been counting the gold coins that had once belonged to Decaphon Dovan. It was a straightforward application of magic; there were roughly 8,000 gold coins in all.

Half of that was a staggering sum, especially to someone like Wang Yu who had nothing to his name.

"Alright, then. I have to get to work fixing this villa quickly. Avia and I will be staying here in the future, after all."

Mira smiled. Avia had mentioned that her mother was kind and intelligent; now that Wang Yu was meeting her in person, she reminded him of her boisterous sister, Lilya.

Mira and Avia headed off to inspect the villa and arrange for repairs. Wang Yu found himself with a bevy of free time. The mercenaries' bodies were buried, the gold was secure, and the villa's repairs weren't something he could help with.

Training was out of the question until his wounds healed; overexerting himself would only make things worse. He could work on some wizardry runes, but there was a more pressing question that Wang Yu wanted to answer: whether he had a soul at all.

As the sun began its gradual arc downwards, two groups of craftsmen arrived, both summoned by Mira to work on repairs for the estate. Unlike the remote villages that Wang Yu was familiar with, this region was far more populated, and hiring workers was merely a matter of money.

Wang Yu spent the afternoon deep in thought, seated on the trunk of a fallen tree.

At sunset, the sky turned a vibrant red. Wang Yu looked up at the sky—it really was a pretty sight.

Despite earnest effort, he hadn't managed to answer his question to his satisfaction. After all, he certainly had mental energy.

Wasn't mental energy supposed to come from the soul? Even so, no matter how much of it he used, he never felt mentally fatigued.

On the other hand, he couldn't project his soul outside his body like other wizards could. That was supposed to be a basic ability for a wizard.

In essence, he possessed attributes associated with a soul, like mental energy, but seemingly lacked the physical manifestation of a soul.

The whole question still puzzled him.

Sighing, he decided that he wouldn't be able to figure out this conundrum on his own. Once he arrived at the capital, there were surely some erudite scholars who could help him—or even his own future colleagues.

For the moment, however, the sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention.

At this point, the only person in the villa who would seek him out had to be Avia. He turned around and confirmed his guess.

Avia's hands were clasped behind her back. Her expression was unreadable.

Instead of saying anything, she sat down on the trunk beside him. Because she was quite a bit shorter than Wang Yu, she was able to swing her legs in the air.

Breaking the silence, Avia asked, "Where will you go next, Wang Yu?"

"To the capital, I suppose. Once I recover, I'd like to explore more of this world."

"Is that so? I'd like to join you, but my mother needs to teach me wizardry and magic, and I'll have to help her rebuild the villa. Later on, though, when I'm free, would you mind if I come to find you?"

She initially sounded a little dejected, but her tone became eager near the end.

"Of course. I won't stop you," Wang Yu replied in a straightforward fashion.

"Great!" Avia smiled cheerfully, then hesitated again.

"Um, I have another question for you, if you don't mind..."

"Go on."

"Ah, okay. Wang Yu, you said that you came from a faraway place, that you'd like to return one day. Is that right?"

Wang Yu raised an eyebrow. He was surprised by her question. He thought that it would be something he would struggle to answer, but this was straightforward.

"That's right, but it's more of an eventual goal than anything else. We all need a direction in life, don't we?" Wang Yu replied honestly.

"Oh, I see... Could you tell me more about where you came from?" Avia was clearly still hesitant, worried that Wang Yu would be upset by her questions.

In truth, Avia was overthinking things. Wang Yu didn't mind revealing his origins. So what if he was a transmigrator? That didn't mean he was some amazing bigshot.

There were all sorts of strange beings in this world, gods and demons alike. In comparison, being a transmigrator didn't seem like much.

All Wang Yu could offer were the cultural and intellectual developments from his past life. Other than that, he doubted he had anything of value compared to the geniuses of this world.

He had never thought much of himself as a result; he counted a sense of perspective as one of his strengths.

Even the old knight Reynard hadn't ever asked Wang Yu about his origins, though if he had, Wang Yu would have told him right away. He was one of the people Wang Yu trusted most, after all.

What else was he supposed to do, lie? Whether or not the old knight could tell he was lying, Wang Yu knew that his lies would only proliferate from there.

There was no point, really. Rather than act like his background was some awe-inspiring secret, he'd much rather be open about it. It was hardly a matter of life and death.

If he trusted someone, then he would be frank and honest. If something happened, it would only prove that he had been a poor judge of character.

"It's not a problem at all. I'm happy to tell you about it, but I don't recommend spreading it around."

Avia nodded, her eyes shining in excitement. She was very curious. There were too many peculiarities about Wang Yu that set him apart.

After spending a whole year together, she noticed that he often used some words or phrases that felt foreign, and his view of social and cultural norms frequently contradicted mainstream beliefs in Aleisterre.

These differences were hard to hide; values, knowledge, and inculcated beliefs shaped over time formed an integral part of one's personality.

Someone with a keen eye like Avia would easily notice something amiss. Wang Yu was very curious if Reynard had suspected something but had chosen not to bring it up. On his part, Wang Yu hadn't tried to hide his differences.

Avia had clearly noticed his peculiarities, but she had remained silent out of tacit understanding. Since they were about to part ways soon, though, Avia couldn't help but ask.

She wanted to get a fuller understanding of the young man who had served as her squire and attendant for a year, to learn more about him.

"The place I'm from is called Earth. I don't know if you guys have the concept of planets here, but it's quite an interesting place. As for me..." Wang Yu began, without any pretense of grandeur. After two years here, he hadn't faced a "will of the world" or anything of the sort out to get him. Given his meager abilities, he'd be dead by now if someone or something considered him an actual threat.

Perhaps the will of the world here was unusually friendly, or his identity as a transmigrator was insignificant—or there was no such thing in this world to begin with.

"In high school—like the equivalent of your magic academy, I suppose, it's meant for fostering talent—my grades were just average." Wang Yu sat casually on the fallen trunk and shared his life story with Avia.

Though he wasn't a great storyteller, the novelty of Earth was more than enough to capture Avia's attention. She realized that the place he came from was indeed a dazzling world.

Under the setting sun, Wang Yu continued to recount stories from his past life as the young woman beside him listened intently.

Time flew by. Soon, the sun had set completely, and the moon slowly rose in its place. Though she was fascinated, Avia couldn't help but yawn as sleepiness overtook her.

Noticing how drowsy she was, Wang Yu decided that hearing too much about Earth's ideas in one go might not be beneficial for someone raised with this world's beliefs in mind.

He would have to nurse his injuries for some time, and had plenty of time to spare. They could continue this conversation at a later date, so he nudged her to go to bed.

Without much fuss, the young woman waved and bade him goodnight.

Just then, Wang Yu remembered something. "Ah, I have a parting gift for you! Though I won't be leaving for quite a while yet... It's something I came up with today."

Wang Yu revealed a semi-transparent cube floating in his palm. He had made it earlier that day while attempting to test whether he had a soul. Somehow, part of his mental energy had condensed into... whatever this was.

After some experimentation, he discovered that if someone were to activate it in their mindscape, it would form a strong barrier that shielded them from mental interference. Strangely enough, the cube contained an exact replica of his bedroom from Earth.

Since he had already shared stories of Earth with her, he thought this would make an ideal farewell gift.

"What is this?" Avia looked curiously at the object in Wang Yu's hand. Despite her extensive knowledge, she couldn't identify what it was.

Wang Yu didn't understand it fully himself—but as long as it was useful, that would suffice.

"It's a mental barrier of sorts. Place it in your mindscape, and you should be able to activate it at will. I think free will is one of our most precious assets. This will stop anyone from influencing your mind."

"Hm?" Avia inspected the cube and glanced at it, perplexed. She wasn't certain whether it was part of the physical or mental realm, but it easily entered her mindscape.

If Wang Yu were observing her mindscape, he would have noticed the cube floating in the castle that formed her mental domain.

"Thank you!" Avia was overjoyed. She hadn't expected such a thoughtful gift from the usually straightforward Wang Yu.

Then, on impulse, she darted forward, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then ran off. Her hurried retreat hid her flushed face.

Wang Yu touched the spot where she'd kissed him. He shrugged and smiled a little. "What was that about..."

Avia quickly ran back to the room she shared with her mother. As soon as she opened the door, she found her mother watching her with a curious look and an amused smile.

The young woman blinked in surprise as she noticed her mother's knowing grin, which only made her cheeks turn even redder.

Avia's mother prodded her in a teasing fashion. "So, what did your knight have to say?"

Avia, feeling a bit lost, didn't quite know how to respond. When had her mother become so much like Aunt Lilya?

"He's going to the capital," Avia replied.

"Oh? Do you want to accompany him? Right away, I mean—rather than staying in the estate."

Avia glanced at her mother, torn. She felt like she should stay and help, but ultimately nodded.

"Go ahead. Don't worry about it. It was just like you at your age. If you want to do something, then you should set your mind to it." Mira smiled, a wistful look crossing her face as if she were reminiscing about something from her past.

Avia glanced at her in surprise. Had her mother had such an experience as well...?

"Don't worry about it. Go on, you should sleep." Her mother smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Goodnight, Mother," Avia called out, climbing into bed."

"Goodnight, dear. Rest well," Mira replied. She turned off the crystal lamp, leaving the room in darkness. She shut the door to her daughter's room, walked into the living room, and sat down in front of a full-length mirror.

The peculiar smile returned to her face, the same one Avia had initially seen, which made her look wryly amused. Avia had been too preoccupied with Wang Yu to notice.

Mira spoke softly, as if in conversation with herself, "You haven't given up yet, have you? No matter how much you try to push your daughter away, your family's fate won't change."

"How can I give up? She's my only daughter..."

"It's useless. A demon's debt is always reclaimed. The stronger your void affinity, the greater the price. Haven't you sensed it yet? No matter how much you resist, you'll eventually be one with the void."

"An ancestor made that pact. I refuse to acknowledge it and shoulder that burden!"

"It's not up to you. If you want to make a deal with a demon, you'd better be prepared to put everything on the line—including your descendants. I can't even begin to imagine the price your daughter's void affinity will exact, haha!"

"And if the void affinity is intrinsically her own?" Mira demanded.

"Ha! That's impossible. Do you really think her one of those pathetic evil gods? Even if her void affinity is from natural talent, the price still has to be paid. It's a demonic deal, after all. You should worry about how long you have left yourself."

"..."

The sinister conversation petered out, leaving the room in dead silence.