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Chapter 95

I was still looking at the mark on my arm. It was something I noticed after finishing the oath magic. It was Erika who ultimately explained how it worked. The tattoo worked as a storage space not dissimilar to my luminal space. I could insert currency into it, and then the Mirage would be able to receive it on her side. Once the prerequisite amount was reached, the mark would disappear. If it wasn’t reached within a year, the mark would become a slave seal and I’d be compelled to seek out the Mirage.

“I’ll be seeing you again.” She smirked at me, picking up the parchment with the contract on it, which doubled the means of her to extract her currency.

There was no need to meet again since we had this unique connection. Well, she didn’t need to have a mark like me. She held the contract. Unless I paid the correct amount or that paper was ripped up, then the contract would hold. This contract felt a bit one-sided to me, but since Erika was the one to create it, I trusted that it fit the standards of this world.

I watched as she left the room. I wasn’t particularly worried about repaying the debt. I was confident I could remove the mark with ease. The easiest way would be to simply cut off my arm and destroy the tissue. That said, I was confident that I could pay her back without issue. Despite their belief, I wasn’t a mere mortal, and I had come up with dozens of ways to make money quickly.

What I was lacking was time to understand this world.  If I started a fight with this woman, I had no clue what the consequences would be. It was better to temporarily satiate her and go from there.

“What is a sentinel anyway?” I asked once I was sure she was gone.

“You don’t know?” Tyler seemed shocked, then he shook his head. “Figures… a commoner, ah!”

Erika stomped her foot on top of Tyler’s causing him to cry out. “Look what you did! You put Sir Spirit into a lot of debt because of your selfishness!”

“What are you talking about?” He demanded, jumping on one foot. “I saved your lives!”

“That’s debatable!” She crossed her arms, turning her back to him.

He looked at her helplessly, before glowering at me. “You should know the effort I put into finding someone to help. It was luck I was able to find someone as skilled as a sentinel.”

“Sentinels are the watchmen of the emperor. They’re his personal authority force. They are prestiged, which makes them a level lower than a provincial lord.” Erika whispered to me.

Tyler snorted. “They have the weight and the authority of the emperor at their call. If they wanted to pull down a provincial lord, they could with the emperor’s permission. Although they are only prestiged, they have strange mutations and deviated evolutionary paths that make them difficult to deal with and aid them in whatever orders the emperor gives them.”

“Why would a sentinel be all the way out in Stormberg?” Erika asked.

“Probably for the same reason the provost sent you out, the mysterious tribulation. The emperor was probably hoping to find some answers herself. It doesn’t matter, I only managed to catch her just as she was leaving, and she required compensation worth wasting her time. By the way, I had no choice but to borrow money from our family. Father says that once we’re free, we must report to him immediately.”

At Tyler’s words, Erika stiffened considerably, a displeased expression on her face. She looked like she was ready to argue with him, but he was already shaking his head.

“Him…” Her eyes widened as if she just realized something. “Where are we?”

“We’re in the Blanch mansion.”

“You…”

“We had to come back here eventually, and it was the only place I could bring the sentinel.” Her brother spoke up as if he was used to her words. “There is no point in arguing any longer. What is done is done.”

Her eyes grew wet, and she looked like she might cry, but Tyler stared at her firmly. Eventually, her shoulders dropped in acceptance.

“Fine, Spirit, we will provide you room for the night…”

“As to that…” Tyler scratched his cheek.

“What? You’d have us kick our friends to the curb?” Erika spoke icily.

“Friends… we traveled together, but the Blanche home isn’t ours anyway. Father still has the final say here. He wouldn’t even allow my comrade in arms or the girl Mara in. Do you want to explain Spirit’s presence to him?”

She thought about it for a second and then shook, giving me a sad look. “I’m sorry, Spirit.”

“It’s fine.” I shook my head. “You’ve already done enough.”

She seemed to take it negatively and winced slightly. Only she knew that I was much stronger than I looked. Perhaps she was hoping her family could rope me in, but as soon as we escaped from the trial, I was bound to owe 100,000 kilowatts by her brother. Worst of all, she couldn’t explain it properly without revealing what we went through, and we had both decided it was better to keep such things a secret. She knew she had done me no favors, and had caused me quite a bit of trouble after I saved her.

However, I wasn’t the kind of person who held grudges. There was a reason I was able to walk away from the gang and even get my life together in college. I had seen too many others caught up on every slight they ever received and it usually caused them death. Besides, I could tell that Erika was a good person, and while her brother was a bit of an elitist, I could tell his heart was in the right place too. After all, he had gone out of his way to make sure I was included in the rescue when he had no reason to increase his burden.

Tyler accepted his sister’s request and the pair guided me out the front of their mansion. Calling it a mansion wasn’t exactly right, as it was more like a compound. There was one main house, but there were also multiple side houses that served numerous purposes from housing servants and private guards to growing crops. I was only able to get a glimpse as we were escorted past the guards to the walled-off exterior. An ominous wall ran along the street, cutting off the Blanche household from the rest of Stormberg.

“Erika!” A voice cried out, and Mara came bounding out from under what appeared to be a patio café.

Erika lifted her arms and Mara immediately hugged her. For a moment, it looked like both girls would burst into tears, but they managed to refrain. However, they managed to pull away slightly, and based on their expressions, any regrets I had from entering that subworld were gone. I had done it for Mara, and I would never regret keeping a smile on her face.

“Mara…” Erika stroked Mara’s cheek. “We returned.”

Of course, Mara barely looked in my direction. I had been by her side this entire time. Although I had hidden myself, I had been watching her up until this point. It was only a few moments ago I finally merged my two bodies back together. Although separating was useful, I rather preferred my body to remain whole. I didn’t anticipate doing that again unless I had no choice.

“Spirit brought you back safe?” Mara asked with wide eyes.

She shuddered slightly, glancing over at me briefly before nodding. “Yeah, he did.”

Although that was all she said, Mara’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked back and forth between me and Erika. It didn’t help that Erika blushed slightly under her appraisal.

Tyler raised an eyebrow. He looked somewhat unhappy that I was getting credit where he felt he had done all the work, but the knight he had left outside to guard Mara approached him and made his report. While he was giving the knight orders to find an inn and standby, Erika took the opportunity to pull Mara aside and speak in whispers, but I was still able to hear them.

“Spirit is an amazing person,” Erika whispered, causing Mara to stiffen. “I wish you luck.”

Mara relaxed slightly and then nodded. “I will succeed!”

I frowned slightly. I didn’t understand what they were talking about. Was there some kind of conversation between them that I had missed before?

“I’m sorry that I won’t be able to help you any longer,” Erika spoke this time loud enough for everyone to hear. “We won’t be staying in Stormberg long, and I’m not sure if we’ll get a chance to see each other later.”

“Th-this is goodbye?” Mara’s expression shook.

I worried that she’d break down, but other than a few tears running down her cheeks, she seemed to remain strong.

“If you need anything in the next week, just contact the Blanche family and let them know.” Erika sniffed as she bid her farewell. “You can also look me up at the academy if you ever make it to the capital.”

“I will! I hope to go there eventually.” Mara declared, her lips quivering.

“That’s good.” Erika nodded. “You have the potential to do much with your life. Don’t let the families pull you into their rubbish.”

When she was done saying goodbye to Mara, she turned to me, but then she immediately grew shy, biting her lip.

“You said the Capala mansion is down that way?” I asked.

“Huh?” She blinked and then blushed harder. “Y-yes… if you just head down that street, you should see it.”

I nodded. “Then, we’ll be going.”

I grabbed Mara and turned away.

“Eh?” She blinked as the two of us left like that.

“Sister!” Tyler cried out when she suddenly ran at me and threw her arms around my back.

“I won’t forget about you!” She declared, her voice muffled in my back as I felt tears staining my shirt. “Please, don’t forget me.”

This sudden scene left a lot of people on the street looking out way. Tyler looked completely aghast. I coughed awkwardly.

“I won’t,” I mumbled until she squeezed me tighter. “I’ll visit, I promise.”

“You promise?” She muttered.

“I promise,” I responded awkwardly.

She finally let go, taking a step back. “Okay then. I’ll be waiting.”

Mara glanced at Erika, who gave a helpless shrug. With that, the pair of us walked away as Erika returned to her brother.

“What was that all about?” he hissed, but she didn’t answer.

Meanwhile, I was dealing with my issues.

“Why are you pinching me?” I asked.

“Big brother is imagining it,” Mara responded, while her hand was still twisting.

Like that, we parted from the Blanche siblings. It was time to make contact with Mara’s extended family.