Oathtaker | Chapter 8 - A Good-ish Idea

  Mark had briefed her in regards to the overall situation, how a bunch of rebels are underground and if they aren't dealt with they'd be a big problem or something along those lines it sounded urgent with how serious he looked all things considered and she lost interest mid way and was more enamored with the idea of blowing up their Mana Quartz Generators anyways.

  Trying to use her Mana sparingly, Shizuki used conventional stealth methods while balancing with a more powerful stealth spell as she sneaked around, Mark told her that she's dealing with far more dangerous people than just Chimeras, so she needed to be careful otherwise they'll be in a worse spot. As for Mark in question she'll be gleefully asking him for more information on this later as she's no doubt curious.

  As she was setting a glyph on the generator that she can detonate later using her blood, she noticed a faint glitter above her causing her to look up and found a series of golden chains wrapped around the foundations above, and she can also see Mark dangling above adding more chains as he did so as though his body was generating those golden chains.

  ‘So that's his Gestalt huh, Golden chains.’ She thought, for a brief moment, she could see embers emerging from the Chains as though the chains were heated and were burning through the timber.

  ‘Superheated Chains, neat.’ She thought about looking around and using her own Gestalt, made a quick dash from one generator to another but as she sprinted past she felt something hard slam against her neck as though someone had clotheslined her mid sprint causing her to hit the ground but before she could figure out what was happening someone grabbed her by the collar and yanked her upwards as it revealed to be 17, due to the Number 17 on his face with the first thing that came to Shizuki’s mind was ‘who the hell brands their face like that?’ and looked like someone with very bad life choices for breakfast.

  “So that’s where you took off,” He taunted as a handful of his soldiers followed after him. “Keep searching, the Royal Mutt shouldn’t be far off.” He turned to the soldiers who all scattered.

  ‘Guess Stealth is out of the window,’ She thought to herself as another soldier approached her from behind and placed a gag around her mouth as the two other soldiers grabbed her by the arm as she tried to escape from their grip and pinned her to the ground.

  “I think I changed my mind, I think we’ll just have to start without–” He said as but before he could finish his sentence, she spotted Mark descending from above his chains glowing red hot as they wrapped themselves around his. The moment they made contact, Kain let out a hiss of pain as Mark used the chains to hang him up a scaffolding as Shizuki watched him dangle and suffocate while the chains burned through his neck.

  “Steaths out of the window, we’re taking them out now.” Mark told her as she nodded as she took the gag off her mouth and they both heard a snap and a thud, they both turned to find the decapitated corpse of 17 implying that not only was he hanged but also decapitated from the heated chains.

  “That’s pretty grim.” She muttered in a low voice.

  “He deserved worse,” She heard him mutter, his voice laced with venom that it was something she didn’t expect. For a brief moment she could see a hint of rage in his voice but he shook his head and turned toward her.

  “Forget the other generators, head for the exit.” He said as he manifested a larger and longer chain in his hands as he threw them upwards as they linked with the other, but Shizuki stayed. If his earlier comment on that was anything to go by he clearly is aiming to bring this down regardless of what happens to him.

  “There they are!” One of the Soldiers shouted as Shizuki aimed her staff at the soldier as she fired a series of Baltix spells to provide cover forcing the soldiers to put up defensive positions.

  “I'll give you cover, I have a plan.” Shizuki said as she proceeded to multi cast and cast Fhall forming a defensive barrier around them.

  “You just trapped us in here you know,” Mark said as he threw the chain above connecting it with the other chains supporting the ceiling above them.

  “I figured out a way out of here, but I'm not leaving you behind.” Shizuki said as she proceeded to cast multiple Baltix each one homed into a flanking spot of the Soldiers in hopes of either injuring them or killing them if needed.

  “Fine,” Mark grumbled under his breath as the barrier began to crack under the pressure of the Soldier’s equivalent of their own Baltix as it was clearly stronger and hit a lot harder. “Get ready to run on three!”

  “Three!” He shouted followed by shout and grunt as Shizuki immediately deactivated the barrier and tackled Mark as she activated her Gestalt at full power causing bluish white, compared to the more subdued darker colored wings from before as they both found themselves hurdling through the corridor as Shizuki activated the markings she placed on Mana Quartz generator as from the corner of her eyes she can see the Mana Generators used to keep the entire underground camp warm erupted in small contained explosions that were enough to serve as distractions but potentially wound or disable the soldiers adjacent to the Generators which would be followed by the sounds of the explosions going off.

  The two ended up finding themselves flying out of a massive cavern just in time as her Gestalt finally wavered as they hit the ground, the first thing she felt her head was resting on something hard and in the dim lighting of the forest underneath them she placed a hand on the surface she found herself in and found it firm.

  “Igtus,” She said, casting a small sphere of light shining the area they were in and she found herself on top of the slightly disoriented Mark Grauwolfe and the surface that she was gripping earlier was no doubt his impressively firm chest.

  “Talk about a reversal of earlier,” She said as she checked on his vitals if he’s alright. Fortunately he seemed unconscious for a brief moment as he finally began to wake up and looked at her.

  “What happened?” He asked slightly confused as they both found themselves alone in the forest but it was already dark implying it had been hours since they got lost in the labyrinth and this also meant there were search parties looking for them.

  “Well we managed to escape but it's nighttime now so chances are there'll be a search party for us.” She said with a smile. “How are we gonna explain why we just went up and vanished though?”

  “Don’t look at me, I didn’t think far ahead.” Mark responded with a quiet tone as he had a rather distant look as Shzuki glanced at the now collapsed cave not far from their position and the chances of them escaping is unlikely but even now there was this unsatisfied look on Mark’s face. As though the result was rather bittersweet, then she remembered his words earlier in the caves when he mentioned killing them.

  ‘He deserved worse.’

  Whoever 17 was to him, it was possible that he had done something horrible that a death like that wasn’t enough to satisfy him and while they did survive chances are he would have preferred a different outcome for them.

  “Are you okay?” She asked, looking at him worriedly.

  “I’m always alright,” He said with a faint smile, there was something nostalgic about that smile. Because that smile reminded her of someone, someone she left behind five years ago.

  He glanced to the distance and spotted a handful of lights flickering from the distance coming from a combination of Mana Lanterns and Flashlights.

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  “So, any idea for a cover story? You're better with words than I am anyways?” Mark said quietly as it got nearer.

  “That doesn't sound like a compliment,” She whispered, glancing at him as the lights went nearer as she stopped using the Igtus spell, leaving nothing but the distant lights in the distance that are getting nearer by the second. “I have a dumb idea and I'm really sorry in advance.”

  “Why what are you–”

  She didn't let him finish his sentence as she leaned or rather almost tackled him as she proceeded to cup his face, closed her eyes and kissed him on the lips. Admittedly this wasn't her first kiss, it was from someone full of himself when she was 12 and left her with regret, nor was this her second as she has had a few lovers between then and now.

  Admittedly he wasn't too bad, she can taste a bit of what seems to be grapes and she can sense that he's more on the inexperienced side.

  ‘Huh, he can casually kill someone without hesitation yet it's clear he's still green…that's kind of cute…’ She thought for a brief moment as she pulled away and looked at him to catch a breath as her crimson orbs met his sapphire ones that almost glowed in the moonlight. Admittedly she wanted another go since it wasn't too–

  “Shizuki!”

  Her blood froze a bit as she turned around, she found a young woman in the same Kristoph Ranger College Uniform like hers and looked at her with a mixture of relief but also annoyance as if to say ‘We spent hours to find you doing what?!’ and she was very much upset.

  “H-Hey Sis…” Shizuki said with an awkward wave, her other hand still caressing Mark’s cheek. “Funny seeing you here…”

  [The Reluctant Reincarnation]

  All things considered this was not the worst thing her older sister caught her. But this definitely is up in that list of things her older sister Victoria Marraine de Revalante should never catch her doing.

  “You meant to tell me you and your classmate vanished in the middle of class to fool around?” She said with a rather unimpressed look on her face while Shizuki sat in the Faculty room that evening all the while Professor Lowell looked more pale and terrified as he sat down while a handful of two more faculty who helped locate her and Mark, granted it was his fault for not noticing two of his students vanished and it took the prodding of her and Mark's friends to realise that they were missing from the start.

  “I didn’t know time flew by.” She shrugged confidently, it was an age old excuse she had. While she may be reckless, she is brilliant so if she is focused on something she sees things through even if it takes too much time. Everyone, or in Shizuki’s age group, calls it ‘Readying Up’ which doesn’t make sense but she goes along with it.

  “By the way, where’s Mark?” She glanced at the seat where she assumed where he should be sitting and was getting a scolding.

  “He's being handled by other people,” Victoria said, crossing her arms as she glanced at the other Faculty who understood the look she was giving them and left the room leaving only the two of them there.

  “He's under arrest.” Victoria said with a low voice.

  “What!?” Shizuki raised her tone in shock only for Victoria to let out a sigh.

  “Turns out his documentation is all forged and then the Constables found he was carrying Eastern Imperial Army paraphernalia.” Victoria said in a low voice. “The discovery of which elevated his status as an Illegal Entrant to Espionage now since they'll likely assume he's working with them.”

  “That's not true, Mark and I discovered a small group of them when we got lost, that's why we were missing.” Shizuki said realizing that Mark is in a far more dangerous situation given the Revalante Constabulary Force is known for being corrupt has a tendency for racial discrimination, preferring Humans and Elves first due to the first settlers of Revalante were in fact Humans and Elves, Dwarves second albeit begrudgingly as it was their technology and engineering what turned the city into the technological marvel that it is, and Beastmen last as even in the early days of the Noxsolis Empire they were regarded as a Slave Race.

  Unfortunately since Mark is a Wolf beastman and an alleged spy, there was no doubt that they will likely torture him senseless on false charges. Worse is that they may not even believe him if he was telling the truth on the grounds that he is lying.

  “We have to help him,” Shizuki immediately said, earning a worried look. “We have to do something.”

  “We can’t just use our name and power to get what we want, we have to still follow due process.” Victoria answered with a frown. “I know you’re worried but Grandmother will get even more upset when she finds out you used our influence. People already know you’re adopted. What do you think they’ll say if you used that to bail out a potential Illegal Entrant?”

  “Then I’ll use my own means to save him,” Shizuki responded as she stood up and sprinted out of the room and began to exit the campus and head to the nearest Constabulary Station.

  She knows that better than Victoria on being conscious of public opinion. How she’s just charity after finding her after the Empire fell and that she should be lucky she got adopted into Nobility thanks to the kindness of the current La Signora of Revalante. But at the same time she is given this choice and she will make sure to use it to help others.

  She summoned her Spear-staff Forget-me-not as she began to cast multiple platforms letting her climb up higher into the sky and once she was high enough began to use her Gestalt once more as she glided through the air trying to find that particular station but as she got closer she noticed Headmistress Freia Robin walking towards the Station as well with one of her Assistants, still in her usual attire for the day.

  “Headmistress Robin?” Shizuki asked, genuinely confused as this was the first time she saw her off campus and here of all places.

  “Hello you must be the younger Marraine sister, it's quite nice to see you tonight.” She said politely with a smile as though they ran into each other in a grocery by chance and not in some Law Enforcement Facility.

  “What are…you doing here?” Shizuki asked, genuinely confused as she followed her inside.

  “I heard one of my students ran afoul of the law pertaining to what should be a minor inconvenience to the Faculty.” She said entering the facility as they were greeted by multiple surprised constables as a result, which to be fair, is shocking to find the Headmistress of the Kristoph Ranger College and the adopted daughter of the City’s leading family together and a rather rare sight.

  “Why go this far though?” She asked permission as the Constable guided them to the holding where Mark was being held.

  “Curiosity, he seems to be a promising young man and I refuse to believe he did anything wrong.” She said calmly walking through the halls with a calm look but she could see this hidden glint of worry in her eyes but immediately disappeared.

  ‘Does she…know something about Mark more than I do?’ she thought as she followed as the door leading to Mark’s interrogation room opened up almost instantly letting them hear their conversation and from what they could hear that was not a pleasant conversation.

  “I told you! I'm not –”

  "Quiet Beastman, your kind is always the same.” The Constable said as they entered with the constable pressing Mark’s head against the table while another Constable glared at him. “Always–”

  “Always what Constable?” Headmistress Freia spoke as everyone in that room felt an immense pressure emanating from her causing the two Human constables to take a step back as they were now afraid of her while Shizuki hurried to Mark’s side as she helped him stand up and helped him stand up.

  To be quite honest, Shizuki was also terrified as this was the first time that she had seen Headmistress Freia look angry, almost furious even. Then she immediately remembered a conversation she had with Victoria in the past that she is at her most dangerous when she is angry as the last time she saw Freia this angry was the time a now retired Professor openly mocked Emperor Ioshua Noxsolis Orthros, it was no secret that she adored and was loyal to the late Emperor so mocking him in front of her was no doubt a death sentence and challenged him to a duel over it.

  The Professor retired after that, though from Victoria’s reaction it was clear that she did more than just defeat him in a duel.

  “I had heard of rumors of the Constabulary having a certain…preference over certain races.” She said as the very building around them began to shudder as though an Earthquake was about to happen and it was from that moment Shizuki knew she was going to perhaps witness a similar incident from that time.

  “Tell me Chief Constable Julius Hawthorne, what is the motto of the Revalante Constabulary Force?” Headmistress Freia said calmly and for a brief moment one of them, likely Chief Constable Hawthorne, started gripping his neck as though unable to breathe.

  “Justice…and…Equality…” Chief Constable Hawthorne said as he struggled for air. “...For all…”

  “Now answer my next question,” Headmistress Freia asked as she noticed her hand began to unclench as though she was the one controlling it. “Is this how you handle Justice? Or is this what the others call selective justice?”

  Chief Constable Hawthorne could not answer, for a brief moment Headmistress Freia glanced at Mark who gave this look but then Freia sighed as she loosened her fist as though letting go of something. This immediately caused Chief Constable Hawthorne and the other Constable to drop to the ground gasping for breath.

  “I will let this pass for now since this is an urgent matter,” She said with a wave as Shizuki helped Mark who looked like he had a notable limp on his walk likely from the beating he got from those constables.

  “I’ll handle it from here Miss Shizuki Marraine,” Headmistress Freia said as she held Mark by the arm and helped him walk as they exited . “For now I advise you to deal with your family, I heard your Grandmother had just arrived.”

  “Oh no,” Shizuki muttered in a low voice. “You mean Grandma is here and–”

  “Was immediately informed of your little stunt,” She said, helping the limping Mark walk away. “I’d get ready to deal with her next.”