The Liberomancer [Isekai Progression LitRPG]

The sudden shift in tone was something I was not prepared for. He had gone from being nice and gracious to being furious in the span of what seemed like a sentence. "I- I don't follow. Lie in what regard?"

"Where you come from," he said with a cold hiss. "I know for a fact that you are hiding your country of origin. I know for a fact that you appeared here in Arconia without going through the traditional means such as through the gate and without declaring yourself. No one can become Rank 3 that quickly without external help. I know for a fact that it is impossible for a person to make two original Rank Three grimoires one after another. I know that you are lying about who you are and where you're from. I do not know what you are hiding, but you have not been truthful with me or with the Liberomancer's Guild." He then relaxed a little. "I have kept my eye on you for a while, wondering what it was that you were up to. I could not openly move against you given your title and a lack of concrete evidence. But, I do not wish to be deceived any longer."

He sighed and sank in his chair. He had always seemed energetic whenever I had spoken to him, but I could see the weight of everything going on right now written across his reptilian features. "Whatever crime that you have been accused of - or did commit, I do not think that there is anything that cannot be forgiven. Or that a person - human or lizardman - should be condemned for life for a single action. As governor, you have saved my son's life which is a debt I intend to repay, and I can assist you in getting a pardon, or ensuring that you have a life free from whatever shackles bound you in the past. But, I want the truth and I'm tired of beating around the bush. You have my word that in light of your recent actions, clemency will be granted. However, I want an actual answer. Answer me!"

There was a finality to his last words- this was an order. If I wanted to, I probably could weasel my way out of this situation, or deflect it- I doubt that he, even as governor, would want people thinking he had attacked or gone against the 'hero' who had saved his son.

However, I had already told Drake about several things- his head injury might've caused him to forget it, but I doubted that given what I'd heard regarding his injuries.

And so, Lance was the second person I told the truth to. It was far better that he heard the actual story than think I had assassinated someone in some other country.

However, this clearly had not been what he had been expecting to hear as an answer.

He probably wanted to hear some sort of story of odd political intrigue or maybe of me sleeping with some princess and being chased out of a country, but the only thing he could muster up when I had finished telling him the actual story was, "Could you please repeat all of that?"

I ended up telling him the whole story three times over with him asking questions in the middle to make sure it was consistent before he said, "...and this is the truth?"

"You can ask your son - I had told him the same thing I told you, asking him to tell my family if they ever found a way here," I said. "Coming to that, have you ever heard of something like this happening before? I've been looking for a way back to my own world, but nothing of the sort has appeared. I can't find such a story in any song or legend. I couldn't ask about it directly, but now that the cat is out of the bag so to speak…"

"I have never heard of such a thing happening," he said. "...they did not have grimoires in your world?"

"No, no magic either," I told him. "So it beats me as to how I ended up here in the first place."

I wasn't sure whether Lance believed me or not, more likely that not he didn't and thought that I was hiding something else, but he didn't seem to want to waste any more time on this and said, "Alright then, I uh… thank you again for your service."

He probably wanted to say something else, but he likely found himself at a loss for words- something I bet rarely happened to him.

I left, but before I headed home there were some things I wanted to check up on.

For one, I wanted to know whether or not Jiah Pei made it out alive - and after inquiring a bit I was told that yes, he had.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Secondly, I wanted to see if I could visit Drake myself. He was being kept in what had been made into a sort of private ward for him; and I asked his guards if I could be allowed to see him. I was initially told that he wanted no visitors, but a flourish of my sash, my title, and asking politely if they were sure given who I was made them reconsider this.

One of them went inside, likely to ask Drake, and then came back out saying I could go visit him.

Drake was not alone in the room, there was Zeke along with him. The two brothers noticed me immediately upon walking in.

"Good morning," I said tiredly. I really wanted to go home and get some sleep, but I just felt like I had to check in on him if I could.

I owed him that much.

I didn't see any bandages on his head where the spear had struck him, but then again, magic could heal without leaving a single scar. Even if the other healers were preoccupied elsewhere, it was highly likely Zeke, Lance, or even Drake himself had some sort of skill or spell for scars.

"Good morning!" Drake called out. "Come take a seat here - I wanted to thank you in person."

"No need," I said. As I walked over, Zeke got up and gave me a tiny bow.

"Thank you for what you did for my younger brother-"

"Whoa there, seriously you're embarrassing me, there's no need for this kind of ceremony-"

"-only there most certainly is," Zeke said.

"So you're fine now?" I asked Drake.

"A bit sore, but I'll get better," Drake said. "Main thing is that we managed to win, am I right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Listen… about what I had told you earlier… I just wanted to let you know that it was all true." I didn't know if he had treated it as a joke before, but I needed him to understand that I had been fully serious. Otherwise it could cause me problems in the future - granted, it could end up causing me problems anyway, but it would be worse if Lance thought I was lying.

Drake nodded. "I mean, I did consider initially that it was just some yarn to make me forget the stress of battle, but I saw your expression and tone - plus you wouldn't lie about something like that right before a battle."

"Make up what?" Zeke asked.

"I'll explain later," I told him. "If Drake doesn't want to do it now - but it's not important. I just came by to make sure Drake was fine." Something then occurred to me. "Also, Zeke, sorry - this is a strange thing to ask- but do you happen to have another copy of the grimoire that you gave me that gave [Ansoon's Blessing]?"

"Why?" Zeke asked.

I pulled out what remained of the grimoire.

Both Zeke and Drake recoiled at the sight - given how valuable grimoires were, any one would've reacted that way to seeing one being destroyed. Grimoires were the lifeblood of Liberomancers. To see so much work and effort go up in flames - it was a true tragedy, and for anyone to let this happen to a grimoire was nearly unforgivable.

It would have been one thing to see your work destroyed if it had been assimilated by someone - that was the purpose of making a grimoire in the first place after all.

But this was little better than burning it out in the open, even if it had been completely unintentional on my part.

"I uh, wasn't able to keep it somewhere safe before the fight," I told him. "It ended up taking a spear or claw or something. Of course, I'll pay for the second copy, but I just wanted to know if there was another one on hand…"

"Master Stefan, I mean, Stefan," Drake said. "Did this happen while you were trying to rescue me?"

In truth I had no idea - did someone manage to strike it while on the wall, or while I was down there for a brief period of time rescuing Drake? Would I have noticed it before if I hadn't dove after Drake?

If I told them that it had happened due to rescuing Drake, they would have definitely gotten me a replacement - I might not have even needed to pay for the replacement.

If I admitted that it might be my fault, they might decline that request. And [Ansoon's Blessing] was in my opinion, too useful to pass up.

But, I felt like I couldn't in good faith do something like that. "I… really don't know. The battle was so chaotic, it could've been at any time."

Zeke sighed. "The author of that lives in the capital - if you don't mind going on a short journey, I can set things up for you to reserve a grimoire from her. I don't have any other copies right now, but you could ask the Liberomancer's Guild if there's someone else in the city who happens to have one."

"That would be appreciated," I said. "Yeah… sorry about getting it damaged like that."

Zeke shook his head. "You shouldn't have brought it with you to the wall in the first place. I'm almost done reading the one you gave me, and I had the foresight not to take it with me to battle."

"I know, I know," I said. "I just- there was free time on the walls and I read parts of it while on them." I really needed to be more careful with these things in the future, especially if I ended up getting a one-of-a-kind sort of grimoire like one that would help you fly. I hadn't forgotten about that, and would hold Zeke to his word of helping me get it, but I would deal with all of that later. I yawned. "Sorry, I really need to get some rest, and I'm sure you need it more than me."

Drake laughed. "Right, I think we've all earned a good night's- or even a good week's rest for now."

'Amen to that,' I thought.

I was not religious, but I could certainly agree with that sentiment!

There was however, one thing I wanted to ask about before going back home.