At the same time that Ignis was talking to the members of Diei Noctis, Nihil had just reached the next town over. Not many people were around since it was the small hours of the morning, but he still called up to the guard at the top of the wall. He needed a quiet place he could freely enter and exit for the day.
Due to being unskilled at illusion magic, he unfortunately couldn’t change his appearance, but he did deactivate the belt that was hiding his tail, and pulled his face deep into his cloak’s hood. This way he hoped he could fool the Royal Guard if they came by asking if a ‘human’ with golden eyes had been spotted in the area.
“Do you know if there’s an inn open at this time of night?” Nihil asked the guard as he passed through the sally port.
“You’re in luck, I’m just about to finish my shift for tonight, and my partner often wakes up early to cook dinner for me. He claims it’s to prepare breakfast for his customers, but he could just buy the bread from the bakery rather than making it from scratch himself.” The guard laughed with an appreciative smile. “If you wait for a bit, I can bring you with me. Regan’s inn is one of the smaller ones in this town, but the service is top notch. I promise that I’m not just biased because I’m his boyfriend.”
Smiling, Nihil agreed to wait for a while, and in another half an hour they were already at the doors of Regan’s inn.
“Aki! Welcome back. How was your shift?” Reagan greeted, having clearly been waiting for the guard.
“I’m home Regan.” Aki responded, his love practically dripping from his voice.
Not wanting to be a third wheel, Nihil chose this timing to step out from behind Aki and remind them both of his presence.
“Oh yeah, this is Nihil, and he was hoping to rent a room from you so that he could crash today.” Aki blushed and introduced the man to Regan.
“Hi.” Nihil greeted. “I’m sorry to impose at such an hour, but I got separated from my merchant caravan. As such I’ve been travelling non-stop for a couple of days now, so I would really appreciate a comfortable room to sleep in undisturbed.”
Nihil hoped that this story would be enough to guarantee that no one would try to enter whichever room he was given.
“Of course! I’ll get your room set up right away. In the meantime, why don’t you help yourself to some breakfast. You must be hungry by now, and Aki can show you where everything is. I always make plenty of food, so eat as much as you’d like.” Regan quickly jumped into action upon seeing Nihil’s weary face and drooping tail.
With a small smile, Nihil commented to Aki. ”Your partner seems like a caring man.”
“He’s the best boyfriend anyone could ask for.” Aki shamelessly gushed as he led Nihil inside towards the kitchen. “Actually, he doesn’t know this, but the reason I’ve been taking so many night shifts like this recently, is because they pay more and this way I can save up for a ring. I’m planning on asking for his hand next month.”
“Ah! I hope it all works out for you guys.” Nihil replied with a gentle smile. “Though, if his expression when he looks at you is any indication, there won’t be any problem.”
At those words, Aki blushed happily. He had been keeping his plans a secret from everyone, so he had desperately wanted to tell someone and Nihil came along just as the guard was about to burst.
Thinking to himself, Nihil suddenly flipped his hand out in front of him, and produced two necklaces that dangled from his hands.
“These are just something that I made a while ago and never got rid of. It was just an experiment, but you guys can have them if you’d like.” Nihil explained.
The necklaces both had half a ring attached to a delicate silver chain. The ring was made of a dark blue and gold flecked lapis lazuli magic stone, and the two halves fitted together perfectly. The chains were long enough that the rings could comfortably fit together even when both were being worn.
“A long time ago I was messing around with a storage ring and accidentally broke it. Naturally this caused everything inside to materialise and the ring stopped working.” Nihil started explaining one of his recently recovered memories around mouthfulls of food. “However that got me thinking if it was possible for a broken storage ring to continue working.
“Well, anyway, one thing led to another, and I eventually developed that ring. However, since it doesn’t have much practical use, I never really thought about it again.”
“What? You mean that this is a fully functioning storage ring!?” Aki asked incredulously.
“Yep. Though both halves have to be held together for it to work.” Nihil replied just before he ate the last bite of his breakfast. “There’re only around ten square metres inside, but each half is constantly seeking it’s pair and so even inserting your mental energy into one half tells you the direction of the other.”
“They have that kind of function too!?” Aki exclaimed, understandably shocked. “Are you sure you’re OK with just handing them over to us?”
Nihil may have explained all this as if it was extremely basic, and had almost no actual use. However, the opposite was actually true. In the first place, 10 square metres of space was actually on the larger side for storage rings. Never mind the fact that it was thought to be impossible for a broken storage ring to continue working with no problems. And on top all that they had a tracking function that was said to be one of the more complicated inscription patterns that only the best enchanters could engrave.
However, even with all these points, to Nihil they truly were a pair of items that held no real value to him. He’d only kept ahold of them for as long as he had because he hadn’t known what they were and a vague sense of nostalgia had prevented him from directly throwing them away.
“Of course. I wouldn’t have brought them out if I wasn’t certain that they would be of more use to you two. The colour mix even matches Regan’s eyes.” Nihil replied with no regrets.
“Thank you so much!” Aki exclaimed as he threw his arms around the man’s shoulders in gratitude.
Many years later, and the two still wore the pendants around their necks even in their old age, before eventually passing them on to their adopted son and his wife. The pair of necklaces made their way down through the family just like this, and it never occurred to anyone to try to sell them despite receiving countless exorbitant offers.
Back in the present and Nihil and Aki continued chatting for a while before Regan came back, letting his customer know that the room was ready. Nodding his head tiredly, Nihil followed Regan to his temporary room, and locked the door behind him. Regan put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door so that his housekeeper didn’t accidentally try to enter and disturb his sleeping guest.
As soon as he was alone, Nihil made sure that Regan had left. He then swiped his hand down, creating a gate in the room. The destination was just outside of the town he was currently in. He’d previously set up a pin before calling out to Aki. This pin meant that people would be less likely to approach the area unless they had a specific reason to go there. It was just a subtle suggestion so it didn’t last long, but it was still active for the time being.
Once he was outside the town, Nihil turned into a phantom that seemed to flicker in and out of sight as he rapidly created and ran through gates to areas he could see before him.
In this way, Nihil was able to cover the entire width of the country in just a couple of hours. When he arrived at the rocky plain, Nihil slowed his speed down as the likelihood of bumping into the Royal Guard and other travellers would increase from then on. Not that it was at all guaranteed by any means.
The border between Avalon and Sheol was indicated by a helpful gorge that ran the length of the plains. Apparently it used to be a river that ran into the sea, but the spring had long since dried up, just leaving a deep gully behind.
There was a base for the Royal Guards at the entrance of every bridge that crossed the valley. This way they could monitor who was entering and exiting the country to some degree. They also had regular patrols to even monitor the areas without a bridge. They did this to try to limit the movement of any fugitives.
Luckily Nihil was a mage. He’d also recovered some of his mental strength while he’d been eating and relaxing. It wasn’t much compared to his usual amount, but it was plenty to just make the trip into Sheol and back.
Hiding from a group of guards that happened to walk along the cliff just as he approached, Nihil dropped behind an outcrop of rocks.
“Everything OK?” A laid-back voice spoke up when her partner suddenly started lagging behind.
“Yeah … it must have been my imagination.” He responded while staring directly at the same outcrop that Nihil was hiding behind.
“Come on, there are brownies waiting for us when we get back.” The first woman replied excitedly. It wasn’t often they got treats like this, and she was slightly concerned that they’d all be gone by the time they returned to base.
The two figures quickly disappeared at the woman’s words. Breathing a sigh of relief, Nihil slowly peered over the stones and concentrated his sights on Sheol’s side of the gully. It was a good few kms away, but Nihil’s sight-line was mostly uninterrupted, so he could easily make out the other side.
Double checking that no one was around to see him, Nihil then swiped his hand to create another gate. On the horizon, a corresponding dark line appeared in the air. Without hesitation, Nihil stepped through and instantly emerged in Sheol.
Looking back at the ravine, Nihil travelled further into Sheol until he could no longer see any sign of it. He then continued moving for another few kms until he found a promising stone hill just before the plain gave way to sand dunes.
Circling the hill, Nihil decided on the best spot, and then started making a cave for Diei Noctis to stay in until they could all meet up again. Using magic he was able to make it surprisingly comfortable for them, as he carved out stone beds, tables and chairs. He also took the time to make a stone toilet with a lid to contain the smell. The hole was deep enough that it would take a long time to completely fill up, even when taking into account their large party size.
In a separate room, Nihil also left a large water storage gem and a storage ring with food and cured meats inside. It was just a normal storage ring so the food could still rot, but it was much cooler inside the ring than in the cave, so it would last longer inside. Unfortunately a fire would only serve to draw attention to them, so he didn’t bother with a chimney or a fire pit. They would have to make do with cold food for a while.
Once everything was set up, Nihil materialised another gate that opened up directly into his room at Regan’s inn. Since he still had a while before he absolutely had to get back to the adventurers, he decided to crash out for an hour or two before sneaking out again.
* * *
When Nihil next opened his eyes, he quickly got dressed and connected a gate to the group’s camp from the previous evening. He wasn’t sure if they would still be at the same camp, but it would at least be closer to them than outside the town he was currently in. Also, if they did happen to be at the same spot, he trusted Ignis to be able to move the group away in time to prevent any injuries.
Just as everyone was sitting down to eat lunch around the fire pit, Ignis suddenly called out. “Archer and Alexis, I’d move from that spot if I were you.”
Something about his tone made the two people jump away from their seats before asking any questions – despite the laid-back way of phrasing things. As soon as the area was cleared, questions were no longer necessary as a black oval appeared, disintegrating the tree stumps they had used to sit on. Nihil casually stepped out from that oval and it immediately vanished from behind his figure.
Seeing the state the stumps were in, everyone shared a collective gulp and thanked Ignis for his timely warning.
“That saves me some time.” Nihil commented under his breath, glad that they had stayed put. “I take it Ignis has caught everyone up?”
Seeing everyone’s surprised expressions Nihil was almost worried that Ignis hadn’t explained things to them yet.
“Ah. Yeah, he did.” Claude replied, coming to his senses first. “He just didn’t think to tell us that there was a possibility of being vaporised if we happened to be in the wrong place when you returned.”
“It just kinda slipped my mind.” Ignis replied somewhat sheepishly to Nihil’s sharp gaze.
Rolling his eyes, Nihil casually grabbed a bowl of soup from above the fire pit and a buttered bread roll from his void ring. The roll happened to be one of the ones Regan had cooked that morning, and a small smile flitted across his lips as he thought about the couple. The two were the first he’d come across that didn’t even seem to notice his aura, and just treated him like a normal traveller that was down on his luck.
Seeing his tail swing about expressively, the group couldn’t help but feel a little closer to the normally aloof man. Since he usually wore the belt to hide his tail, Nihil wasn’t as practised at hiding his emotions with it as he was with his face.
“So you actually had a fox tail?” Linley commented with a smile.
“Ah. I forgot to reactivate my belt.” Nihil replied with a suddenly stiff tail. “Well, whatever.”
He shrugged his shoulders and quietly sent a strand of mental energy into his belt again.
“Aw, it was cute.” Merry muttered, sad to see it go.
Nihil chose to pretend that he hadn’t heard her say anything. But that was soon proven to be difficult.
“I know, right? It never fails to betray his true thoughts.” Ignis chimed in with a laugh.
“So, who am I taking into Flumen?” Nihil rapidly changed the subject to the task at hand. Flumen was the nearby town’s name.
“That would be me.” Lucas spoke up at this point. “Is there a message board anywhere in town?”
“I’m not sure since it was still dark when I was walking around, but if there is it should be relatively easy to spot when you enter. Maybe try by the gate?” Nihil replied pensively.
After everyone was finished eating, Nihil stood up and took Lucas with him to the area by the gate to Flumen. Since the aversion magic was still working slightly, Nihil had decided to use another portal.
“Ugh, how can you use these so casually?” Lucas complained the moment he stepped through. “I feel nauseous from just one trip.”
“Huh? I thought you were a cultivator?” Nihil genuinely didn’t actually mean this in a rude way.
It was normal for mages to find the gates disorienting since there would always be sudden changes in the world’s energy between the two places. Not to mention that the gates themselves greatly affected the flow of magic in the surrounding areas. However, none of this should have been possible for a cultivator to sense, let alone have it affect them.
“Well, excuse me.” Lucas replied somewhat testily since he still felt like he was going to puke his guts.
Seeing this, Nihil decided to test something and waved his hand to stabilise the surrounding energy. The moment everything was settled, Lucas’ face relaxed and his completion got noticeably better.
“Huh? That’s odd. It almost feels as if my nausea was just a lie.” Lucas commented, confused.
“Hmm … Lucas you wouldn’t happen to be a ‘Caretaker’, would you?” Nihil asked deliberately being cryptic. Caretakers weren’t exactly well known, after all. In fact, not even Callum knew about them – though Nihil was certain that it was information the man would kill to get if he ever learnt of its existence.
“Caretaker? What’s that?” Lucas replied, but the panic and shock in his eyes wasn’t very skillfully hidden.
“OK, I’ll leave it at that then.” Nihil acquiesced easily. “Anyway, I’m supposed to be in my room right now, so I’ll wait for you here while you go and leave the message.”
“I’ll be right back then.” Lucas replied, still in shock while he stumbled towards the town gate.
He had never expected to hear that term this far away from Alfheim. However, he currently had a job to do so he quickly refocused his attention. There would be an opportunity later for him to ask Nihil about that particular subject.
When he reached the gates, Lucas passed through unhindered when the guards saw his adventurer’s emblem pinned onto his cloak. Just beyond the gates was a giant message board. On it were adverts for various missions that varied from finding lost pets, to hunting missions for specific magic beasts. There were also recruitment postings for different jobs around town.
There was so much going on that there was barely enough space for them all to fit. He did manage to spot a small section that was just big enough for his square of paper with Diei Noctis’ emblem drawn on it. The placement was in an inconspicuous corner of the board, so it was perfect for his purposes.
“Good afternoon. Is this spot here still available to place my group’s emblem on?” Lucas asked the guard stationed next to the board.
It was this guard’s job to manage and take payment for the fliers that were pinned on the board. The space was rented out to people, and when the time period payed for was over, they’d then take down the corresponding fliers. They’d also make sure that each flier was readable while trying to keep as much space free as possible.
“Yes it is. How long would you like to rent the space for?” The guard answered. As long as he got paid, he didn’t care why the man wanted to put his party’s logo on their message board.
“Thirteen days should be enough.” Lucas replied. He allowed a few extra days to allow for travel time, and just in case Stella’s group got delayed for some reason.
“That will be 39 silvers*, then please.” The man stated as he wrote down the dates in the book and took the paper out of Lucas’ hands to both pin it up, and to write a number on it.
Lucas handed over the money and then took a walk around the town before returning back to Nihil.
* A/N 1 gold = 100 silvers and 1 silver = 100 coppers
Aerone Grey 