Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Braugart Forest

The man descended the wooden steps and knocked on the door at the bottom. A latch opened from the other side of the door. An iron plate slid to the side, revealing a small gap.

"Who's that, then?" a pair of eyes glared at him from between the gap.

"It's me. Oslo. I need to talk with Brett."

"Take off your hood," the man glared at Oslo, who obeyed his words. "Alright. Get in."

The door opened to a room filled with men. One look at them and you knew that were not nice people. At the other end of the room was a square table laden with ale, roasted capon and boiled potatoes.

Sitting there was a bear-like man with a beard. He had his arm around a woman who showed a bit too much cleavage. Sitting at the other end of the table was a thin man with a scowl, sharpening a dagger with a waterstone.

The two of men were spies that had been planted there by Vorzenny. Brett Alison, real name Enzo D'amico. The other one, who was called John, was a Scout from another battalion. They had been working together for two years as leaders of a local mercenary company and had garnered some renown.

"Brett. A situation came up. I need your help," Oslo approached him with hurried steps.

"You. What are you doing here? This isn't the time for our regular meeting," the man put down the flagon of ale in his hand and leaned forward, causing the Deacon to flinch and stepped back.

"I need to…ask for the help of your…band of men," Oslo spoke, halting between each sentence.

"Hrm. What's so urgent that you'd break the rule that we set?!"

"Archdeacon Lowen had ordered me to kill Duchess Steelheart."

"The Lady in White?" news travelled fast in Calendia, especially from those pilgrims who found that Grottenstadt offered little fun to be had, and could only resort aside from gossiping in taverns. "What for?"

"He had been humiliated by her and her men," he gnawed on his lips nervously. "If I cannot do it, he threatened to let me go."

"Ah, that old priest who smelled of old paper and ink. A bureaucratic man who had never seen blood," John's nose twinged with disinterest. "That's not our problem."

"It is your problem! I - if I can't do his bidding, I will be removed from my post and you'll lose two years of hard work!!"

"Watch your mouth, Oslo! We don't work for you!"

The sudden hostility caused Oslo to shrink away. "S-she's also the one who killed Vorzenny's Hero!" he squeezed his words using what is left from his bravery.

A light came to Brett's eyes upon hearing those word. He did not care what would happen to the traitor, but his last sentence had given the bearish man an idea.

"The little man has a point," Brett jabbed his finger at the direction of the traitorous Deacon. "We can't be sure that the next one will be as easy as this coward…" Brett called out to his partner in crime. "What say you, John?"

The man did not immediately reply as he chewed and swallowed a piece of grilled capon after dipping it in a gravy made out of its berries and its own juice. "I don't know if you're saying that because you've never been in a battlefield with an Unrestrained Candidate before, Deacon…but Unrestrained Candidates, even a new one, is not someone you can simply take care of."

"There is a saying in Al-Khemiya," The man sucked the grease from his fingers loudly. "It takes a thousand men to fight a war, and only one Unrestrained to win it. And I heard that the wench had other Unrestrained Candidates with him."

"Yes. There are two. One is a Dark Elf, and the other a Beastfolk."

"Three with her, then. She also brought a handful of soldiers to Grottenstadt," John spoke.

"They don't matter. It's the Unrestrained Candidates I'm concerned about."

"It's too risky."

"…John, let's talk in private for a bit."

The man pushed his woman back and walked with his friend to a secluded corner.

"This is our chance, Rossi!" Brett started with gusto. "We've been Unrestained Candidates for a few years now. Two or three newborn Unrestrained Candidate is nothing as long as we got our men with us!"

"I don't know, Enzo. Isn't this going to jeopardize our mission?"

"It is a risk we have to take. Look, did we not kill a Zagriva, whose skin you now wear, just three months ago? And did we not take care of a rival group of a hundred men two months before that and took their treasures for ourselves?" he brought his arm around John's neck. "Are you satisfied? Being stuck here while all our juniors back home are distinguishing themselves. By the time we return to our homeland, they'll be our superiors!" Brett spat. He had been proud of being chosen to infiltrate behind enemy lines, getting information for his Kingdom. But as of late, he had been resentful of hearing news of those who once had to salute him getting up the ranks. And he knew that his partner felt the same.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"If we manage to take down the one who killed our Hero and bring proof back home, they won't punish us. They'll instead greet us with a parade. Getting our own Noble titles aren't out of question either!"

"Do you have a plan?"

"I don't, but I know that you are thinking it right now."

John grinned.

When they returned to the table, Brett acknowledged the request, but not before asking for due recompense.

He began. "Generally, you need at least twenty men of at least level fifty, armed to the teeth, to take down an Unrestrained Candidate on a straightforward battle. You know what I mean?" he tapped the table with his fingers.

"I – I know."

The Deacon brought out a sewn leather pouch from his inner robe and put them down on the table. Just the fact that the pouch was heavy enough to make the creaky table lean towards the Deacon was sufficient to know that the coin was substantial.

"You can go back now," Brett reached over to grab his payment with a sideways smile. "Leave the rest to us."

"Here you are, Duchess. As promised, Holy Water, courtesy of the Maiden of Water."

Connie looked at the large container made of gold containing the Holy Water. Matilda and two members of the Church Knights brought it over to her proverbial doorstep.

"Wonderful. Send my thanks to Allenca," Connie ordered one of his men to bring it inside.

Matilda saw the eagerness in Connie's eyes when she gazed at the container and excused herself quickly. Though not as gifted in the art of spellcrafting as the promising children of her age, the young girl had learnt the ways to detect others' emotions and conducted herself accordingly, earning her the trust of many people, including Archdeacon Babblebrook and the Maiden herself.

Connie found Akula trying her hardest to meditate in the garden and spoke. "Rejoice, Akula. Tomorrow is the day! Today, do not eat anything at all!"

Akula's meditation was immediately ruined by a loud growl of her stomach.

The next evening, Connie took them to Braugart Forest. About an hour ride from Grottenstadt. She found it while foraging for plants a few days ago. It was near a river a kilometer away from the main path. The area had been swept clean of monsters by the Silence, led by Arryn.

"This is a good night."

Connie said, gazing at the moon with a bright smile. Her golden locks glistening under the soft moon light.

They had left the men back in town, bringing with them only a few members of the Silence of the female persuasion.

They had set up a cauldron which was bubbling merrily above a bonfire. The ingredients for a carefully curated meal had also been laid over a wooden table.

Akula shifted uneasily by the river, looking at her own reflection in the water. She looked tired and gaunt, despite having only fasted for a few days. Her stomach grumbled angrily every few minutes.

"Nervous?" Illumca approached her from the side.

"A bit," the Centaur answered. "Is this what it felt like when you did it?"

"I was just recently reborn at the time. There was…no time for nervousness. My advice is…don't fight it."

Connie walked up to them. "Ready?"

"Y-yeah. Let's do this."

"Then, kneel here. Get comfortable, I don't know how long it would last."

After she did as she bid, Connie noticed her nervousness and placed a hand on her forearm, squeezing it firmly. "You'll do fine," she let out a small chuckle. "Now, get your head down a bit so that I can reach your forehead."

Suddenly, Akula felt the warmth of Connie's forehead against hers and almost let out a yelp. Connie patted the back of her neck twice to calm her down.

"Close your eyes. And do not fight it. Once inside, be careful. This memory might be a bit…intense."

Connie chanted the Memory Bestowal Spell and a bright light shone where their foreheads met. Akula felt a sensation of weightlessness before she was suddenly yanked by an invincible hand into the darkness.

When she was finished, Connie withdrew her forehead and took one last look at Akula before rinsing her hands in the river.

"When you performed Memory Bestowal to me, you were not this cautious," Illumca asked.

"Mm…the memories that were given to you and Martell belonged to those who view me in very favorable light. The one that I gave to Akula, though…was one that belonged to one of my greatest opponents. And it was handed to me in a very…strenuous condition."

"Why did you give something like that to Akula?!"

"It was…a promise," Connie said, with a melancholic smile. "A promise to the one who was once a bosom friend and one of my greatest enemies. Alright, let's not dwell on that. Let's begin cooking!"

Near the forest entrance, two Dark Elves who were standing by glanced at the smoke visible through the gaps between the trees. They were tasked to make sure that the Obfuscation Formation, a spell formation used to plant suggestion to living beings that they should not approach the location, was safe.

Strange to see a Noble actually cooking. Among those I've seen, none of them even knew how to butcher a deer. One said with a cock of her head.

Have you seen her dress a hog before? It was so clean I'd have thought she had done it thousands of times.

The first Dark Elf's head suddenly shot to the direction of the main path. Someone's probing the Obfuscation Formation.

Hearing that, the other Dark Elf did not waste any time to ask question. The two headed to the edge of the Formation, where they could see a gathering of fully armed men by the entrance of about seventy strong. A woman in a green robe was waving her arms, her palms glowing.

The Formation is being breached!

Without saying a word, the two of them shot an arrow at the woman. However, it was deflected by an invisible wall. Then, a small-fairy like creature appeared on the woman's shoulder. its head was almost as large as its body and the eyes were two hazy emeralds.

A Summoner?!

Then, the Obfuscation Formation broke.

"There!" One of the men spotted them. Immediately arrows were shot at their position.

There are too many of them! We can't hold them alone!

Let's retreat to the east! That's where Arryn's posted!

Down on the ground, Brett and John led their men on a chase of the black-clad figures.

"You're spot on, John! How the fuck did you manage to know that they're going to be here tonight?"

"It's not that hard! The Duchess's men were vigilant, but we've planted our roots here for two years, and I've made some friends that will do anything for a handful of Coins! We can bribe an Archdeacon's right hand man, how could we not bribe a maid?!" John guffawed.

"Great!! Today we are going to take the Steelheart broad's head and live like Lords!!"