HP: Sacred Gear Chat Group (2) - Chapter 29 (Patreon)

Chapter 29 - Ancano

[ Rias Gremory: Do you hate me? ]

[ Irene Belserion: I think he does! ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): Stop that, Irene! No, I do not hate you, Rias! ]

[ Irene Belserion: Stop what? I am just sharing my honest opinion. This is a public chat, after all. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): You are just trying to pour more oil on the fire! I know your character! It amuses you! ]

[ Irene Belserion: I would never do that! I can’t believe that is the opinion you have of me! ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): … ]

[ Yamato: He doesn’t hate you, Rias. It happens to me a lot too! He just got too excited about an idea and went ahead with it! ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): That’s exactly it! ]

[ Rias Gremory: You promised to meet up with me once you were back from Roxy’s and Ghislaine’s World, but you kept pushing it further back because you were busy. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): I was! You already know that my Grandfather made me his heir and put me through a ton of different tutoring lessons. ]

[ Rias Gremory: Yet you weren’t busy enough to run off to another World for a month again. ]

[ Irene Belserion: Or come to my World to save me from my suffering. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): Stop playing the blame Game, you two. This is a random World, and the other travel mode is still on Cooldown! And I honestly didn’t think about inviting you, Rias! It just slipped my mind in the excitement. ]

[ Rias Gremory: But you still took Ghislaine with you. I will remember that! ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): …Fine. ]

[ Rias Gremory: Just wait! ]

[ Roxy Migurdia: What kind of World is it? ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): Somewhat similar to yours. It has Swords and Magic too. But the Region we came out in is far colder and has a ton of Snow. Dragons are a central theme right now, since they seem to be invading the World. ]

[ Yamato: So, a Winter Island? Sounds like a ton of excitement. I love beating up some Dragons! It always makes me feel happy. ]

[ Roxy Migurdia: Didn’t you mention your Father could turn into a Dragon with one of those Devil Fruits? ]

[ Yamato: Exactly! ]

[ Rias Gremory: It sounds like Skyrim… ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): Because it is. ]

[ Rias Gremory: Hmpfh! ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): You really won’t forget that… ]

[ Roxy Migurdia: Skyrim? What is that? ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): Uhh, that’s a bit complicated to explain if you have no concept of it. But think of it as a Region used in a Story, but also the name of a volume where part of the Story takes place. And that Story, in this case, turned out to be a real, existing World. ]

[ Roxy Migurdia: I understand the Concept. Do you have any plans like you did in my World? ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): That’s complicated. Since our arrival in this World was determined by chance, I couldn’t exactly prepare for this World specifically. There is quite a bit more Information than I got on your World. The Lore in general goes quite deep, and it has also been a while since I ‘read’ the Story. I have a few ideas, but those are more general, like collecting any Word Walls I can find to possibly reverse-engineer the branch of Magic the Dragons of this World are using. Or visiting some Dwemer Ruins, the remains of a race of advanced people who combined some form of Magic with Engineering. But most of their Knowledge vanished along with them. ]

[ Rias Gremory: Don’t forget the College. Your best chance to get their Magical Knowledge. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): I am already here, and I got permission to copy their Library. ]

[ Rias Gremory: What about the White Phial? ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): That is a great Idea. Help me out here. Where can I find it? ]

[ Rias Gremory: See? And you left me behind again! Let me check the Wiki Page. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): You wouldn’t be able to do that if you were here right now. ]

[ Rias Gremory: Details. We could have added someone else to the Chat Group, maybe my shut-in Bishop, who wouldn’t enjoy a visit to another World. Anyways, the White Phial is in a Forsaken Cave, far almost straight South of Winterhold. You came out at Mount Anthor, right? ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): I believe so? ]

[ Rias Gremory: It’s further South of there, slightly West. Or North-East of the Nightingale Inn. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): Alright… Wait, isn’t it broken? ]

[ Rias Gremory: According to the Game, yes. It needs some powdered mammoth tusk, some unmelting snow from the Throat of the World, which may be a bit troublesome to get since it is at the peak of the Throat of the World, which is blocked by a storm, and a briarheart to use its Magic to bind the Materials. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): The Briarheart is easy. I already got one from a trade with the College. I also got the mammoth tusk, but it’s unpowdered. I will have to see about that unmelting Snow. It sounds like a unique material to collect in general. But wasn’t the Game’s repair method just a quick fix that didn’t restore its original function? ]

[ Rias Gremory: Yes, it can only make one kind of Potion after that. Not very good ones. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): Hmm, I was hoping for more. I wonder if a Reparo would work. ]

[ Rias Gremory: We can always ask Lord Beelzebub for help. The White Phial sounds like something he would take an interest in. ]

[ Irene Belserion: And it would force him to meet up with you. ]

[ Rias Gremory: That too. ]

[ Alistair Davis (Admin): I see what I can do… ]

———

Rias is right. A fully functional White Phial would be an amazing object to possess. An Artifact clearly inspired by the Holy Grail, it can replicate any liquid that has been put into it.

The Alchemy Jug I got from my Gacha, which fills up with a non-magical liquid once a day, just can’t compare to it.

Just imagine it. Any Magical Liquid placed into it can be replicated. I would only need to buy Phenex Tears or the Wizarding World version of Phoenix Tears once, and I could multiply them infinitely.

Or a Potion that is difficult or time-consuming to brew, like Polyjuice Potion, Veritaserum, or even Felix Felicis. Maybe there is still a drop of the Elixir of Life somewhere?

Basilisk Venom? And whatever else I might encounter in the Multiverse in the future!

“Who are you supposed to be?” I heard Tracey’s voice come from outside my room in the Hall of Attainment.

A pompous voice that already gave me a headache just from hearing it proclaimed, “I am Ancano, Thalmor Emissary and councilor to the Arch-Mage of the College.”

Damn, I really don’t want to deal with that guy. How unlucky can we be? We’ve only been here for a day!

“That sounds great for you?” Astoria, who also seemed to be there, replied politely.

“Quite.” He said it with a hint of annoyance, clearly picking up on the fact that they had no idea what he was even talking about. “I heard about you. There are some things I wish to be informed about.”

“Like what?” Tracey asked, sounding clearly confused.

“Now that you have been admitted as members of the College, I shall expect a complete account of whatever arrangement you have seen fit to make with the Arch-Mage. There is, however, another matter of considerably greater interest. I have received reports concerning a most peculiar form of magic—one apparently capable of rendering the spells of others utterly ineffective. Naturally, such a development cannot be permitted to remain shrouded in secrecy.” He didn’t even pretend to be subtle. He outright asked them to hand over everything. “For the sake of maintaining the College’s continued and harmonious relations with the Thalmor, I expect a full disclosure of this magic: its principles, its workings, its limitations, and, of course, whatever means are required to reproduce it. You will provide everything.”

“Uhh, no?” Tracey said, sounding uncertain, and that was the moment I decided to step out of my room to see how this could escalate. She immediately perked up when she saw me. “Alistair, this guy is…”

“Ancano, of the Thalmor,” I finished for her.

“And who are you supposed to be? Another new member of the College?” the High Elf supremacist asked dismissively.

“I am the person who knows the magic you are after,” I calmly replied.

“Ah, good!” His eyes lit up. “As an emissary of the Thalmor, I expect you to hand over all information related to such a dangerous spell! Be it spellbooks, research data, or whatever else you have on it. For the good of Tamriel, such magic is better kept in the right hands.”

“Just to be sure, am I pronouncing your name right? Ancano?”

“You are.”

“Thanks. It would have been embarrassing if I said it wrong. Alright then!” I nodded, maintaining my politeness. “Would you kindly fuck off, Ancano?”

And I did what I had always wanted to do in the games, but had never had the right dialogue option for.

Who does that arrogant Elf think he is? Even the Arch-Mage couldn’t offer me anything that caught my interest enough to trade Disturb Magic for it. He wasn’t willing to hand over his teleportation spell or the secret wards of the College.

While it may have been a stupid thing to do, the look on his face made it totally worth it.

He couldn’t believe that I had just said that to him. “H-How dare you!? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?”

Astoria and Tracey could barely keep their faces straight.

I could literally see his anger rising as some kind of lightning spell formed in his hand. But I had been ready for that from the moment I stepped out of my room, and his spell dispersed harmlessly before he could fire it.

Of course, that wasn’t all I did. A decently powerful gust of wind came from my hand, blowing him off his feet and sending him crashing onto his butt.

“I asked you kindly to fuck off, Ancano. Yet here you are, trying to fire your magic at me,” I said coldly, a fireball forming above my hand.

For the first time, Astoria and Tracey saw that I could also perform wandless magic.

“You attacked an ambassador at the College! I am going to have your head for that!” He angrily pointed a finger at me from his spot on the ground.

“After you attempted to attack me first. But since you already want to have my head, you must have nothing against losing your own.” A cold calmness radiated from me.

Unlike the last—and first—time I had killed an intelligent being in Mushoku Tensei, I was completely calm and ready for it. I didn’t even feel any hesitation. The Thalmor were complete scum.

“What is going on here?”

But it never came to that. Savos Aren had appeared around the corner.

You are fooling no one, old man. You clearly watched the whole drama and teleported here the moment you felt genuine killing intent radiating from me.

“This idiot attempted to steal my magic, and the moment I refused him, he tried to attack me,” I said, my fireball still in my hand.

“Arch-Mage! Good that you are here! This insolent wretch insulted me and attacked me!” Ancano complained from his spot on the ground, not realizing how much danger he had truly been in moments ago.

“I see…” Savos Aren sighed, already looking completely done with that Elf. “Could you please cancel your spell?”

“Why would I do that? I don’t care about the Thalmor.”

Well, I do, but I will be gone from this world soon enough that they shouldn’t pose too much of a threat.

“But I do,” the Arch-Mage calmly interjected. “I am ready to compensate you for the trouble.”

“But, Arch-Mage! You can’t be seri—”

“Shut up.” Savos Aren interrupted the idiot without taking his eyes off me. “How do materials worth 5,000 Septims sound?”

The ball of fire vanished from my hand.

“Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal. More Soul Gems, ores, and alchemy materials in equal amounts. But first…”

My wand was already in my hand, pointed at the High Elf, who was staring at the Arch-Mage in disbelief. Before he could even react, the stick was already aimed directly at his face.

“Obliviate!”

A flash of white later, and Ancano’s eyes went blank as I began deleting his memories related to us.

I wasn’t very experienced with the spell and still needed my wand to cast it. I had practiced it, but I had never really tested it on anything living. My experience with Legilimency and Occlumency helped, though. I probably still deleted a bit more than I should have, but I didn’t care.

Moments later, the ‘dignified’ Emissary of the Thalmor lay unconscious on the ground.

“What did you just do to him?” the Arch-Mage asked with interest, completely unbothered by the unconscious High Elf lying on the ground in front of us.

He didn’t even seem to doubt whether I had kept my word. Or maybe he simply didn’t care whether the idiot lived in the end, as long as it didn’t implicate his College.

“I removed any memories related to us.”

Savos Aren looked even more interested. “How much would you want for that spell?”

“That one isn’t as rare as Disturb Magic. Does another 5,000 Septims’ worth of materials sound reasonable?”

“Deal! Let me take this fool to his quarters.” The Arch-Mage offered, pointing a hand toward the body, but I stopped him.

“Give me a moment!”

With my wand still pointed at the unconscious Ancano, I began removing his Thalmor robes from his body.

“I see,” the other man said dryly, while Astoria and Tracey looked scandalized and turned away as I left the High Elf standing in nothing but his underclothes.

Hey, those robes are still enchanted and they’re my loot!

Once Savos Aren was gone with the idiot, both girls turned toward me.

“Since when can you use wandless magic?” Tracey asked excitedly.

“Can you teach me?” Astoria immediately followed up.

“I figured it out after learning the spells from the other world, which can all be used wandlessly,” I admitted simply. “I can give you the books. Whether you can figure it out yourselves depends entirely on you. So, what did you want from me?”

“Oh, right! Mom asked us to get you,” Tracey said after remembering why she had been waiting outside my room in the first place.

“Huh? Does she need something?” I wondered, having no idea what she could even want. The only plan we had for the next few days was to duplicate all the books in the Arcanaeum until we had copies of everything.

“She just said you’ve slept enough and that we should wake you up. She doesn’t want to handle the bulk of the work alone,” Astoria said with a grin.

Right, the others weren’t skilled enough to use the Geminio Charm. Their copies barely lasted a few hours after they had only just learned the spell.

“Fine…”

[-- End of Chapter --]