Yeah. I'm starting to realize just how weak my apprentice is. She can't even do three sets of upside-down crunches. Well, it's better than not being able to do two like she was a couple days ago. We were in the Nuam proving ground, overcast clouds above blocked out the sun, it would be raining soon. Despite that, we were still training. Rather, me and Alisson were training our apprentices. Alisson gives me pointers when we're alone, and told me that I was as much learning how to be a master as Ashlynde was learning how to be useful.
Ashlynde hung upside down in front of me, wheezing.
"Ninety-seven…"
I counted, my arms crossed as she sputtered, her skin shining with sweat.
"Ninety-seven…"
"Wh-what!"
She gasped.
"That one didn't count. You need to lift yourself all the way." I replied, unamused.
"B-but master!" She sputtered, "My bra is starting to slip off!"
I eyed her top, it was true. I sighed. "You don't have any boobs so you shouldn't be embarrassed about that. Instead, worry about getting some abs, then you might look more appealing to at least some males."
Ashlynde went loose halfway through her rep, gasping for breath. "I never knew…that my master was such a pervert…"
"Excuse me apprentice?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I NEVER KNEW THAT MY MASTER WAS SUCH A PERVERT!"
"Don't say it louder idiot!"
I smacked her upside the head and she fell over into the sandy proving ground floor with a yelp.
"This is going splendidly, truly, it is…"
Alisson muttered. He was standing a ways off, before a collapsed Marenix, who hadn't even done half the crunches Ashlynde had.
"It's been days and I haven't even laid a finger on a weapon! Master-!" Ashylnde pouted at me. "Why are we just doing drills and footwork!"
I sighed. "You'll understand later. The basics come first for a reason."
Alisson gave me this same treatment when I was first his apprentice. I grew antsy as well, like Ashlynde. Alisson however entertained me a duel which I lost so badly I was put into a coma. I'd like to humble my brat of an apprentice at some point, but beating them up right now would accomplish nothing – We need to temper them first.
Ashlynde opened her mouth, probably to whine, but was cut off by a familiar voice from behind me.
"Celis!" Oda shouted to get our attention, before muttering under her breath inaudibly, "I see you're training with someone more your speed…" She closed in and continued, "Celis – It's Ukuri, she's…we'll she's not going to last much longer." Oda said grimly as she paced toward us on the proving ground.
The hell? Was she really that sick? I feel like I would've known about it if that was the case. I furrowed my brow at Oda, but she continued, "She wants to see you…She's in our old dorm room right now, come on."
Oda turned and whisked her hand, not waiting for my response.
"And why exactly should she be there if she's in such a bad condition?" Alisson questioned suddenly, stepping forward and crossing his arms.
Oda sighed. "That's just where she holds a lot of sentiment. I don't think you'd understand, Alisson, you were never in an apprentice team like us if I'm remembering correctly."
Alisson flashed a look at me, and I frowned at her. She's not even trying anymore. No Nekomata would address Alisson like that.
"Is it really so important that I should stop training right here and now?"
Oda slowly turned at me, looking between me and Alisson. "You're not a kid anymore, right Celis? You don't need your master's permission to see a friend before she dies."
I grit my teeth, suppressing a scowl. Alisson flashed another protective look at me.
Will you-
I'll be fine.
I blew a burst of air through my nose and broke forward, much to Oda's delight. "Fine, I'll come. Ashlynde, you can have the rest of the day off."
"W-what!?" I heard her yelp in confusion behind me.
We had been running them ragged all day and night since their apprenticeships had begun without rest, her surprise at being given a break made me feel a little bad about it.
"I do need to settle our equipment for the day after tomorrow. Marenix, you're free as well." Alisson adjusted his collar, eyeing me.
As we walked away, Oda asked me, "Who were those two kids you were with? They looked weak…you're his apprentice already so who are they?"
I guess Oda didn't get the memo. She doesn't know I'm no longer an apprentice and that I'm now a 51st with my own apprentice. There were tons of prominent nobles and people at the party…I don't know how she didn't hear. I sighed.
"Just some kids who Alisson thought to give a few pointers to out of the goodness of his heart."
"Ah, I see…"
…
We walked down the halls of one of the dormitories for apprentices – The one me, Oda, and Ukuri stayed in when we were a team. It was only a year ago that I was walking through these halls with starry eyes, not knowing anything about the world.
Me and Oda walked in silence. It looks like she didn't have any small talk prepared in advance this time.
The sky outside was cloudy and overcast – It would be raining soon. Only gray poured through the windows, which progressively darkened over time. We soon reached our room, to which Oda motioned for me to enter first. I took a deep breath and opened the door. It was indeed our old room. On one of the beds lay a girl with cyan hair, her eyes gently closed and her skin pale. I walked up to the bed as I heard Oda shut the door behind me. The room was dark, with the curtains drawn, only a small light of gray lit the area.
It was then that I realized that Ukuri was dead. I laid a hand on her forehead, frowning. A certain smell pricked my nose – It was not Ukuri's corpse, it was something else. A familiar smell. One of a certain poison.
So that's how it is.
"Celis…Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for someone like me to just walk up to the Alisson Vi Nuam…"
I shifted Ukuri's hair gently. "It's only dangerous if you're an enemy."
"…What if I told you that your master…He killed your brother, Rickard. Is Alisson then not an enemy?"
I shut my eyes. "My brother died along with the rest of my family when the Regadonian Keep was razed. That was almost three decades ago. Alisson had nothing to do with it."
"Celis, really…You don't have to play dumb anymore."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I stared into Ukuri's face while Oda crept closer to my backside. I'm sorry Ukuri. I should've known.
"…Unless you mean to tell me that you didn't know that your master killed Rickard Aud Regadonia not months ago…"
I looked up into the ceiling. "There's a lot of heretics in this world. It could've been anyone."
Oda suddenly broke out into a laugh. "That's right Celis…Anyone!" She grabbed me from behind, restraining my arms. "It won't take me long to cut a hole right into your spine from here, Celis…"
I let her speak.
"…If you want to live, you need to pick your words very carefully, Celis, and answer me truthfully…" She spoke with a small smile, like in some sadistic sense this act of holding my life in her hands gave her pleasure. "Rickard Aud Regadonia. Did you see your master kill him?"
"No."
Oda clicked her tongue. "Do you have any idea who Alisson fought and killed!? Rickard was a powerful man! Their fight should've split the very earth apart! You're telling me you didn't see anything!?"
"I didn't."
Oda growled. "You must've seen Alisson fight all those months being his little dog – You're going to tell me everything about it, his weaknesses, trump cards, everything!"
Her grip on my tightened. Even after her declaration of intent to kill me, she must not think I'm too dangerous because she didn't even have her dagger drawn to do it.
"I don't know. He never really did anything special, and he never lost or had any short comings."
I felt Oda's grip shake. "You're useless! Useless until the very end! You've always just been an empty-headed idiot! Blindly following Sidonia! Your entire family was killed and yet-! You're nothing like Rickard!"
"Is that a bad thing?"
Oda fell silent. "You're useless. You won't be able to do anything to save your life…"
After a moment of silence, Oda continued. "So I'll just put you out of your ignorant existence now…and avenge Rickard." She whispered into my ear.
"You're going to kill me, just like this?"
"That's right." Oda leaned into my ear. "Are you going to plead for your life? I'll hear you out, really, I will. Say it. Beg for that one thing you want…"
"Y-yeah…" I muttered. "There's one thing I want…"
"And that is…?" Oda smiled sadistically.
I flipped Oda over my shoulder and swung her into the wall. The wall cracked and exploded, bits of debris flying through the room. I grabbed hold of Oda's throat and slammed her weak body into the floor with the same force. Within the blink of an eye, Oda was on the floor, at my mercy. Blood fell from her mouth, her internal organs were probably damaged, and she might've been paralyzed due to the blows to her spine.
Her body is so frail and weak. It's really a shame Ukuri was killed by a rat like you.
Oda could only sputter as my grip on her neck tightened.
"You're going to die. For being a heretic. For poisoning Ukuri. For even thinking to hurt my mate."
Her hazy eyes widened and she sputtered in my grip.
"I killed the kind of the beast that secretes the poison you used on Ukuri while I was in the north. I know its smell." I took a deep breath. "You might not be stupid, Oda, but you aren't smart either."
I rose a hand over her face and tightened my fingers audibly into a fist. "I'll make sure you suffer and die."
Oda trembled in my grip, and mouthed breathlessly, "W-wait-!"
I threw my fist down. It crashed with explosive force, shaking the floor. Oda's eyes were clamped tight, and her chest rose, hyperventilating. I could smell a faint trace of ammonia from her. She was still alive, because my fist hadn't hit her.
It hit the ground right near Oda's cheek, where the stone floor now bore a crater the shape of my fist.
"…But why would I give you the mercy of a quick death?" I asked her rhetorically.
I took a deep inhale, and at shouted at the top of my voice,
"Inquisitors!"
I looked down at her with a smile. Her eyes were wide, and she was shivering.
If she wasn't a conniving heretic who had answered to Rickard and killed Ukuri, she would've looked like a terrified girl, worthy of pity and mercy. Letting go of her, I stood up.
"I'm sure the inquisitors will love to have you. You can tell them all the weaknesses you think Alisson has."
Apparently, Oda wasn't paralyzed because she started to try to inch away toward the door. She had trouble breathing all the while, her lungs were probably popped or something. I slammed my foot down on her shin with just enough force to stop her from getting away, and then, I waited.
All the while Oda started to cry and beg between breaths. She even activated her Opensen. I don't know if it was the first time she ever used it – As they tended to come out in moments of extreme emotion – Or if it was some last ditch attempt to fight back. Her tails raced up to attack me. I grabbed onto one and twisted it, hearing a crunch as Oda squealed in pain. The other I grabbed, examining for a moment, before bending it and hearing it snap; I dropped it to the floor, it lay there lifelessly, bent.
It was a useful ability we had, but one that could easily just become a weakness. Looking over at her tails, I remember when I saw Alisson restrained; how I saw his tails ripped from his body. I heard the sound that they made in doing so. I looked over at the two feline ears now on her head. I remembered another time when Alisson's ears were grabbed crushed, and then pulled from his head.
They recovered of course, and now no one will ever know that he suffered like that. Oda should be grateful she only feels this level of pain.
She eventually passed out; her body probably couldn't have sustained the pain she was in from my first two blows. Weakling.
The inquisitors soon arrived thereafter. They would always come should you call from anywhere in the city. One of them stepped into the room, their massive frame and gray clad attire eating up all the light from the outside. They wore alien helmets and didn't say a word the whole time. I lifted my foot off of Oda's shin and pointed at her.
"Odariss Fael is a heretic. She threatened my life after luring me here. She also poisoned apprentice Ukuri Sauzban. She intended to use me as a pawn to assassinate Alisson Vi Nuam and to extract information from me. I'm sure she has much knowledge about the heresy in the city. I swear the truthfulness of this statement by my rank as a 51st and as the former apprentice of Alisson Vi Nuam."
With that, I sentenced Oda to untold weeks of torture before an eventual execution. I flashed a look of scorn at her as the inquisitor silently lifted her limp body.
I don't know if Oda was so stupid as to not realize how many lies I told, or if I was really just that convincing.
***