The Amber Sword

Between the light and the shadows, Romaine sat by the fire, her face red from the heat.

For a while now, she had been excitedly watching as the sparks float up to the ceiling along with the hot air, the sparkling beads dancing up and down as if in excitement.

It had been an hour since the collapse of the tunnels, and it took the Wizards at least half of that time to make an air channel, allowing her to lit a fire. She sat beside the fire and pierced the Moss with metal skewers. Who knows why she brought such utensils, from flints to a sewing kit. But Brendel knew from the beginning that the tiny leather bag could contain high volumes of stuff, including those that allowed her to sizzle the Moss to such a tasty looking degree.

The skewered moss was used to make the Witches’ clairvoyance potion(+2 perception for 10 minutes). It had the appearance of a grey moss, but Romaine insisted that it was mushroom.

And if the young lady said it was, then it would never be anything else besides mushrooms.

Ciel could not tell his Lord’s fiance that she was burning off two pieces of gold coins and could only act like he did not see a thing. Or else he would be forced to have some of those. I don’t think I have a physical constitution that can resist poison better than my Lord. So thank you very much but I will reject your offer.

Like many others, Ciel had a question in his mind. He had long announced his relationship status, and yet the two of them did not have the air of a couple with them. This aroused the curiosity of many as most nobles in Vaunte were married at the age of 15. There was practically no one by the age of twenty who has yet begun his own family. All besides Brendel.

And of course, Ciel had sometimes wondered if his Lord had a problem with the ‘thing’ in between his groin. And if there ever was, he should be able to cure it with his knowledge as a Highland Wizard in the field of ancient medicinal herbs. But Ciel never had the guts to tell that to his Lord’s face. He intuitively felt that if he ever did, his Lord would definitely punish him for it.

During this period, no matter if he was still a virgin or not, he was already known to be Romaine’s fiance: But the duration of Brendel’s engagement had gone past a full year. He may not see it as a problem, most had raised their eyebrows about it. Maybe I should find a chance to confirm with my Lord whether or not he really had a problem down ‘there’. Even he would not like it if trouble was aroused because of it.

The smell of the burnt Graveyard Moss drifted in the air, and it closely resembled that of a burnt shoe. Everyone acted as if they did not find the smell disgustingly awful, as if everything was normal. Ciel held up a piece of map and was staring at the crumbled section of the cave. It seemed like magic was not as effective as he thought. That was because the problem did not lie in digging out a path, but preventing the sand from falling down.

I don’t think I can support a body nearing 50 meters in size. Thankfully the people outside have already informed Medissa. We should only bid for time until the Silver Princess arrives with the Transgender Vampire.

It was right at this moment, Romaine felt the ground beneath her tremble.

She looked around curiously, locking eyes with Ciel and finding that the others did not notice the phenomena. Ciel, on another hand, noticed her gaze and could not help but tremble. He brazenly walked up and ask, “Is something going on?”

Romaine tilted her head, her eyes shining with curiosity as if she was asking, Did you hear the tremors? Ciel was no esper and could obviously not understand what was going through her mind. As he looked at her in a daze, she asked another question, “Is Brendel alright?"

"He’s still underneath. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Nothing is going to happen to him." Ciel replied respectfully, afraid that he caused anything that might have affected her mood and lead to her treat him a meal of Graveyard Moss. But it seemed like she really valued the ‘mushrooms’ and is probably reserving them for Brendel.

“Then there is nothing else for me to ask. Thank you very much.”

Ciel wiped away cold sweat, praying silently in his heart that his Lord would have the ability to resist the poison. If not, he doubted that his Lord would have a good night’s sleep today.

If Romaine offers him these Graveyard Moss, will he eat it? Or will not?

At that thought, he suppressed a giggle that hurt his insides.

Unbeknownst to him, after their conversation, Romaine went back and focused on the campfire sparks. She sat in a polite manner and across the flames, there was another girl. That girl seemed to be only several years older than Romaine, but her mellow expression seemed to treat Romaine as a kid. Romaine handed her a skewer of Graveyard Moss, but she politely declined, “I’m sorry kid, but I do not fancy this sort of thing.”

"They don’t seem to be able to see you." Romaine glanced at Ciel. She was not an idiot. In fact, she was considerably smart. Ever since she escaped from the refugee camp, Brendel understood this. However, in the eyes of many, she was an odd merchant that was easy to get along with.

She, like Brendel, held many secrets. Amandina knew that, and she could more or less guess what it was.

“That’s because you’re the only one capable of seeing me, and even the successor of Tuman’s legacy can’t.”

"Do you mean Brendel?" Romaine asked.

"His name is Brendel? Thanks for informing me about it."

"If you bear ill will towards him, I will not continue to speak with you anymore," Romaine announced sternly.

The mysterious girl was at a loss of words.

“I just wanted to give him my thanks as I heard a lot of things from the outside world from hi,. Besides, he brought you here and for that, I cannot thank him enough.”

"So why am I the only one who can see you?" Romaine asked curiously.

"That’s because the same blood flows between us" The girl answered with her head tilted as she studied Romaine. She really liked this girl before her.

Romaine furrowed her eyebrows, thinking hard about the words that the mysterious girl said, "The same blood flows in us? You mean that you’re my mother?"

The young girl cracked a bitter smile.

"Of course not. I’m your grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother’s..." The girl paused as she found herself picking up Romaine’s ridiculous behaviors and is speaking gibberish. She shook her head, feeling defeated, "It’s no time for jokes now. Have you figured a little about the power you possess? I believe you’ve mastered it a little."

"I do," Romaine nodded, " that dwarf told me it’s my innate abilities as a sorceress.”

“?!”

The girl eyed Romaine, “ You’re not a sorceress, but a witch. Your birthright is that of one. Your constellation is the daughter of the Harpist, but that would change today. Your constellation will be the Witch King!"

“Romaine does not understand what you’re talking about, but the dwarf told me that I’m a sorceress,” the merchant girl thought for another while, “And it sounds cooler than becoming a Witch.”

"..."

She was called the first Queen of Witches, The Progenitor of The Thirteen Witch’ bloodlines as well as being the spouse of the Darkness Dragon. During her time alive, there were almost none who was her opponent. It was not until today that she felt so defeated.

If any one of my subordinates were to say whatever you did just now back when I was still alive, I’ll most definitely cast her straight into a maze to make her suffer for all eternity.

However, her temper is better than how it was back then, and there was no chance that she would lay a hand on her own descendant in this situation. What was most fortunate was that she got to meet a true successor before her passing. This was indeed a blessing.

So the Queen of Witches had no choice but to coax her, “Relax. You’ll still get to keep your powers as a sorceress even if you inherited my Legacy." When she spoke those words, she really wanted to knock herself on the walls. She was obviously a witch, so why was she so adamant that she’s a sorceress? And there was no room to convince her at that...

Doesn’t she know that the sorceress were the nemesis of the witches? If it weren’t for me trying to keep my composure, I would have cried out loud long time ago!

It was the dream of thousands to receive the inheritance of the Queen of Witches, but now she had to lie to a young girl to have her do so... That’s truly a shame on her name as the Queen of Witches!

Romaine thought deeply about the matter at hand.

As a merchant, she was always the calculative one. Finally, she deemed that there were no losses in the deal and accepted it.

"Good," the Queen of Witches said powerlessly, her excitement upon meeting her descendant after several millennia was gone. She placed a finger upon Romaine’s forehead, and the girl immediately felt a flood of knowledge rush into her brain.

“I’m nearly spent and I can’t help you any more than that. But the knowledge I gave you would definitely come in handy sometime in the future." She sighed before continuing, " It may be fate that you’re also a Witch of Fate, and this knowledge will surely help you grow in the future. But remember, I also gave you an emblem to open the Witch Kingdom’s treasury. And with that emblem, you will one day rule over all the Thirteen Bloodlines. That emblem is of great importance, got it?”

Romaine was still dizzy from the experience. She held up her head and nodded.

The girl saw the sight before here and could not help but sigh. Her only descendant left was such an unreliable kid. It may be a disaster to give her the inheritance. But even so, she had made the choice and was unwilling to stay here any longer, fearful that Romaine will come up with something that might choke her to death once more.

She retracted her finger and vanished from the cavern.