Secret Agent Chapter 087 - Setting Off | Setting Off (Patreon)

Anastasia caught the knife.

The explosion had been frightening, but as soon as it started to dissipate she ran, ran through the heat to a point behind the demon.

She could see it clearly.

It was entirely unharmed by Princess Ruby’s explosion spell.

That was a different kind of frightening.

But it failed to detect her.

Of course it did.

That was her purpose.

That was her role in the party.

Bradley threw the knife.

It glinted in the sunlight, but not just that.

It glinted with the divine light of [Holy Strike].

The effect of the skill would last approximately one second after Anastasia caught the knife.

After that, the skill would fade.

It wasn’t meant to be a skill any but the [Hero] could use.

In that brief window of opportunity, Anastasia would have to catch the knife and strike…

Easy.

She leapt from the ground, caught the knife, and in one smooth motion slashed through housefly demon.

And then she struck it three more times, slicing it to tiny pieces before the [Holy Strike] skill faded, and Elizabeth’s knife was once more just a normal knife.

She carefully observed the pieces of the demon as they fell.

They were… weird.

The exterior looked exactly like a normal housefly. If it hadn’t been for the talisman, she couldn’t have told the difference.

But once sliced, the insides of the fly were black, but sparkling, and bits glinted in the light as though parts were made of crystal.

She checked her talisman. She had tucked it into her shirt after realizing it glowed of all things, and it had stopped at some point. Probably with her first slash.

The demon was defeated.

She felt… good.

She had done it.

She had done what she was supposed to do.

She wasn’t a failure. She wasn’t worthless. She wouldn’t be disposed of.

She was the [Hero’s] assassin.

She was okay.

***

The [Party] regrouped and Ruby kept her barriers up as they held their post-game meeting.

Bradley had little but praise to say about everyone’s performance. Everything had gone mostly to plan. Well, Ruby’s explosion had been a fair bit bigger than Bradley had expected, but that was okay. A little collateral damage was only to be expected, fighting demons.

He wasn’t going to lose any sleep over the damage to the forest, especially since nobody had gotten hurt.

That was the important thing.

Still, this particular demon hadn’t even tried to attack them.

It had just… kinda been there.

Maria, on the other hand, had been somewhat dissatisfied.

“That’s really not how [Holy Strike] is supposed to be used,” she complained.

Anny flinched when she heard that. Rosimund nodded and hummed. Liz and Su… shrugged.

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” Su asked, rhetorically.

“Yes, it did,” Bradley said firmly. “Anny did great. And it was unharmed from the explosion, right?”

“Yes,” she said quietly, almost timidly. She looked upward at the taller, red-haired woman—Ruby.

“Do not worry on my behalf,” Ruby said graciously and waved her hand dismissively. “Rank has no place in the [Hero’s Party]. If my spell didn’t work, then it didn’t work.”

Bradley caught Maria pursing her lips at that, but Anny relaxed.

“Thank you, Ruby,” Bradley said pointedly.

“In any case, this is something of a problem,” the Second Princess continued. “I find it hard to believe a mere housefly survived an explosion of that scale. But the evidence is clear.”

Anny, emboldened, offered more information. “The insides of the demon were strange. They glittered, and were dark. Not like normal insects.”

Bradley brought his hand up to stroke his chin, and his gauntlet smacked into his helmet, the clatter ringing in his ears.

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat and recomposed himself. “Thinking about it logically, the demon could have had fire or magic resistance. We know that a physical attack empowered with [Holy Strike] worked, so it might have been vulnerable to physical attacks, or perhaps not, and [Holy Strike] was necessary.”

Liz looked at him approvingly.

Though Bradley didn’t know it, her estimation of him and his wisdom was rising again.

He turned his gaze to Rosimund, who frowned.

“None of the records indicated that demons were invulnerable to all but [Holy Strike],” he said. “Other [Parties] reported slaying demons without it.”

“But you could have just slain the demon yourself, Bradley!” Maria said insistently.

“Maybe,” Bradley conceded, “but fighting an evasive demon of that size would have been tricky. Especially a flying one. If only I had an AOE of my own…”

He had tried flying sword slashes one day, but it never worked, even with [Holy Strike]. [The Sword] had reportedly been able to do something like that, but Bradley couldn’t…

Maybe he needed to buckle down and grind his [Swordsmanship] skill some more.

“Actually, Bradley, I have an idea about that…” Ruby said with a cunning smile. “[Holy Strike] is a skill that empowers your next attack, no? Would you not be able to apply that skill to a magical attack, also?”

Bradley nodded. “That’s true… But I don’t have any magical attacks.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you saying you’ll teach me some?”

Rosimund closed his eyes and exhaled slowly through his nose. Maria frowned. Liz and Su and Anny just looked inquisitive, not knowing where the Princess was going with this.

“Perhaps, but I mediate my magic with the help of contracted spirits.” Ruby waved an arm grandly and summoned forth her four contracted spirits. Salamander, the fire lizard. Syliphy, the wind sprite which took the form of a transparent bird. Dina, the water sprite that appeared as a floating orb of swirling water covered in ripples. And Granerok, a constellation of stones that orbited each other chaotically. There was a pulse of mana as Ruby rewarded them for manifesting at her command, and then she dismissed them. “However, you possess the [Universal Affinity] skill, so you need not contract with spirits yourself.”

“Your highn—I mean, Ruby, the plan was for the [Hero] to meet with [The Friendly] and attempt to raise his [Skill] level by meeting the Great Spirits,” Rosimund interjected.

“As you have already explained, Rosimund,” she said. “But this encounter changes things, no? Or shall we rely on the same tactic every time a demonic housefly approaches us?”

Rosimund had no answer to that.

“Bradley.” She turned to face him directly, looking him in the eye through the gap in his own helmet. “I would recommend a visit to the Magic Academy of Forti. My mentor, Grand Mage Hefferweizen, would welcome you warmly, and I’m sure you could learn a few of these… eyowee spells, yourself. And if you empowered them with [Holy Strike]…”

Bradley hummed as he thought. And then…

He decided decisively.

“We’ll make a detour,” he pronounced. “Ruby, how far away is the Magic Academy?”

Rosimund sighed and moved to the carriage, where he wrote a letter on a piece of parchment.

Ruby smiled widely. “It is one week by carriage from here, but it is along the way. It would add six days to our journey in travel time, plus however long we stayed there.”

Ruby didn’t let herself grow distracted thinking of how nice it would be to see Uncle Heff again, or her research colleagues, or how interesting experimenting on a [Hero] would be…

She had to lock down these negotiations, first.

“Rosimund?” she called. The [Guide’s] hand was a blur as he scribbled out a letter—his report on their encounter and on their change of plans.

He finished, stoppered his bottle of ink, and handed the still wet letter to Elizabeth.

“The [Hero] has decided, has he not?” he said with some small exasperation. “Elizabeth, would you mind running that over to the gate guards?”

Elizabeth shared a look with Anastasia, who nodded and leapt gracefully to the top of the carriage to take over [Scouting]. Then she took the letter and ran over to the gate, which was slightly scorched. The wind of her passage dried the ink as she went.

Ruby smiled.

Excellent.

Uncle Heff would surely be surprised to see her again so soon, and with the [Hero] in tow.

“So, Ruby, you can teach me some magic on the way, right?” Bradley asked.

Ruby’s eyes flicked to Maria, the [Saintess], who pouted.

“Of course, Bradley. And I daresay Maria could learn some more, too.”

“Great!” Bradley said brightly. “As soon as Liz is ready, let’s get going!”

Shortly after noon that day, the [Hero] set off on his [Journey], having already slain one demon, and leaving the city of Fortinium behind him astir from the explosion.

***

Zack Adder organized the immediate response. Everyone was brought out of the dilapidated orphanage building, which he suspected might collapse if there were more explosions, and all the cooking fires were put out. The children were assembled to make sure none were missing, and they sheltered on the opposite side of the building from where the explosion had been.

On the other side of the fence, thugs and other rough looking men had scurried out from other buildings and ran in two directions. The majority ran towards the explosion. A few, however, particularly notable for the quality of their weapons and clothing, ran to the south.

Zack made note of this.

Other than that…

They waited. Sister Paula turned lunch into a picnic, and shortly after the children settled down, Roxy showed up.

“Jack, are you here?” she called from the gate.

“Sister Roxy!”

“Sister Roxy’s here!”

“Sister Roxy, hi!”

The children immediately grew excited and started bouncing up and down seeking her attention.

“I’m over here!” Zack called in response and then walked around the side of the building, so she could see him.

“Oh, good! Hi, kids!” Roxy waved with both hands at the other children. Today she was dressed up in a fashionable dress with a deep neckline and a tight waist, though the hem reached low enough to cover her ankles, falling just an inch above the ground as she stood.

“Do you know what happened?” Zack asked.

Roxy shrugged and shook her head. “No, but the guards were sounding the all clear, so I guess whatever it was, it’s over. Hey, did you hear? The Church summoned a [Hero]! They consecrated him and a [Saintess] earlier this morning!”

Sister Paula, who had approached to wrangle the kids, let her eyes go wide with shock. “A [Hero] and a [Saintess]? That’s like something out of a fairy tale…”

“Mhmm,” Zack grunted.

“Anyway, Jack, you owe me lunch! Sorry kids, but we’ll be back after lunch!”

“But we already ate!”

“Stay and play with us!”

“Sister Roxy! Stay, stay!”

Zack ignored the younger children and looked to Henrietta. Before evacuating, she had grabbed her art supplies and had spent the meantime working on the information cards.

“How close are you to done, Henrietta?”

“A few more cards left,” she replied, not looking up. She was working on producing five each of the cards for Spotted Blue Buttons and Pilgrim’s Balm leaf, as well as a few test cards with lines of the ink and different paints she was using, for testing the laminate.

“We’ll be back soon, Sister Paula. And then we’d like to take Henrietta to the apothecary again, to make some more cards.”

“Alright,” she nodded. Then she eyed the orphanage. “Do you think it’s safe to go back inside?”

“Yes, if there’s not going to be any more explosions.” Zack frowned at the building. Just when was the Church going to come and repair the building? It probably needed to be inspected for safety, too.

“Jaaaack,” Roxy whined. He turned back to her, and suddenly she was all smiles. “So? Where are you taking me?”

She wanted him to pick the spot?

Typical.

He thought fast on his feet.

“Have you ever had a cheeseburger?”

“A what? Never heard of that.”

“Oh, they’re good. There’s a stall on Kingsroad selling them…”

“Sounds good to me!”

And so the secret agent and the actress set off.