My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror - Chapter 271 (Patreon)

Once they got back to the school, Damien and Sylph each took a turn in the shower to heal their wounds from the fight before spending the rest of the day relaxing. Henry set off that night to scour Kingsfront’s grounds for any signs of goats – which Damien suspected he was actually bothering Yui, but that wasn’t his problem.

The following morning, after getting ready for the day, the two of them paused at the door.

“You’ve got the first half of the day,” Damien reminded Sylph. “What are we doing.”

Sylph thought for a few moments. Her nose scrunched and she crossed her arms. “I – well, this is awkward. I had a bunch of ideas, but I can’t remember a single one of them. I feel like we’ve kind of done most of the things we normally do.”

“Eating food and fighting?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“That’s true,” Damien muttered. “Man, we’re kind of boring. But what else is there even to do?”

“If I knew, do you think we’d be sitting here talking about it?”

“Fair point.”

They both leaned against the wall, thinking.

“Do we need another door? Or another kitchen?” Sylph asked.

“Probably not. Maybe some other form of appliance?”

Sylph started to nod, then paused. “Wait, that’s no good. We’d have to drag anything we bought all the way back to Blackmist. I was about to suggest trying out seeing what we can get with our contribution points, but that’ll wait until we actually get back.”

“Oh, yeah. Better to save that one then,” Damien said, rubbing his chin. “Hm. What about finding someone to spar against?”

“Not exactly a date.”

“Also a good point.”

“We could go hunt the Corruption?” Sylph offered weakly.

“That’s even less of a date than my suggestion was.”

“I mean, it would just be the two of us.”

“That is true,” Damien admitted. “But it kind of feels like a chore, no? Let’s put a pin in it. Not the worst idea we’ve had.”

Sylph nodded. “But certainly not the best. There’s always watching other people spar, but that just feels like a more boring version of sparring ourselves.”

“What about breakfast?” Damien asked.

“That’s food.”

Damien shrugged. “Are you telling me you don’t want waffles?”

“No,” Sylph replied. “Breakfast it is.”

And so it was. Sylph picked out a local restaurant and the two of them sat down in the small veranda outside the building. Damien, as usual, ordered pancakes, while Sylph ordered waffles. The two of them spent the next several hours at the table, going over what they’d done over the past month or so.

Damien’s explanation was considerably shorter than Sylph’s, as the main things he’d done were improving skills he already had. Henry forbade him from telling Sylph anything about his new Full Manifestation until he could show her himself, which meant Damien ran out fairly quickly.

Sylph had a little more to talk about, as her classes were actually fairly useful. Her sensing capabilities had increased by leaps and bounds from her artifact seeking class, not to mention the massive growth she’d earned in her control over her Corrupted abilities. She finished the story off with the full retelling of Yui’s request, which ended in both of them doubled over, snickering.

“Planes, it sounds like you really went through it. I can’t believe you just… stalked a bunch of nobles.”

“Not like there were many other ways to do it without getting myself more involved than I really wanted to be,” Sylph said with a grimace. “At least it seems to have worked out. Somehow.”

“Carson does seem like a good match for her, although who knows how he’ll hold up against public scrutiny,” Damien said. “Yui won’t be able to hide things for long. For both of their sake, I hope things work out. It just won’t be easy.”

“Not many things that are worth it are.”

Damien blinked. “That sounded pretty deep. Quoting someone?”

Sylph blushed. “Uh, it might have been in one of Henry’s books.”

Damien rolled his eyes. “Are they actually that good? I’m starting to wonder if I’m missing out.”

“They’re entertaining, I guess. I don’t know. I just never really got a chance to read things like that when I was younger. It’s a nice change of pace every once and a while. I certainly wouldn’t say they’re something I’d go around bragging I read to most people.”

“Maybe I’ll ask Henry for a recommendation at some point,” Damien said. “Then again, I’ll probably regret it.”

“Probably.”

She glanced down at their plates, then up at the growing lunch crowd gathering around them. The sun had risen and traveled through the sky while they’d talked, and it was already starting to push into midday.

“I think we’re just about at halfway through the day,” Sylph observed. “That means it’s time to swap.”

“Ah, crap,” Damien said. “I – uh, food was my only idea.”

“Are you hungry again?”

“Not really,” Damien said, sinking down in his chair. “Shoot. I got so caught up talking that I forgot to think of something myself.”

They sat for a few more moments, once again stuck brainstorming.

“What about the menagerie?” Sylph said, breaking the silence.

“Menagerie?” Damien asked.

“It’s a collection of a bunch of rare monsters,” Sylph said. “Kingsfront has mages try to capture rarer and less dangerous species of them and they contain them in runed cages so they can be studied.”

“If they’re not dangerous, why are they in runed cages?”

“Maybe I should change that to less dangerous,” Sylph corrected. “Are you really worried about the strength of a monster when we’re going up against the Void and the Corruption?”

“No,” Damien said. “Just curious. Works for me. Lead the way.”

They rose and headed out of the restaurant, Sylph at the lead.

“It occurs to me that you ended up deciding what we do during my half of the day, and I chose what we did during your half,” Damien said with a chuckle. “Did you just forget about the menagerie when it was your turn?”

“All works out in the end, I guess,” Sylph said. “And yeah. I only overheard some students talking about it a few weeks back, but I remember where it was. It just wasn’t on my mind, I guess.”

Sylph led him up to a large, open roofed building with a small line at the front. Two bored looking mages sat at the front, where a small line of students had formed. Damien and Sylph joined it, and it didn’t take long before they were granted entrance.

The menagerie was considerably larger than it had appeared. It had five floors in total, but four of them were underground. Monsters of every type, many of which Damien had only read of in books, sat within large cages.

They spent the rest of the day wandering through the large zoo. By the time it was done, Damien was equal parts exhausted and more relaxed than he had been in weeks. He didn’t have to ask Sylph to know that she felt the same.

The two of them returned to her room and flopped into bed, spent but satisfied.

***

“Is there anything else you need to get done in Kingsfront?” Damien asked the next morning. “I’m thinking about moving on to Blackmist shortly. I want to get things set up for Xil and Alina, and Whisp is pretty unpredictable.”

“Not really,” Sylph replied. “I’ve done what Yui asked of me and I’ve learned most of what I think I’m going to from the class I was enrolled in, considering they kicked me out of it.”

“You’ll come back to Blackmist with me, then?”

“What else did you think I would do?” Sylph snickered. “Get completely attached to Kingsfront and stay here? I’ll give it to them – they’ve got some good teachers, but nothing is going to replace that asshole, Delph.”

“Can’t agree more,” Damien said. “Just never tell him that. His ego is big enough already. Kat wasn’t a bad replacement, but she lacked a bit of his…”

“Pent up hatred and complete disregard for human life?”

“Yeah, that. Also his addiction to pranks, but I think that was a welcome change,” Damien said with a shudder.

Sylph nodded. “If I ever see another stuffed animal, I’m going to put a dagger through it.”

“I still have flashbacks whenever I step on a soft carpet.”

“Let’s not bring that back up. I’ve only barely managed to scrub it from my mind.”

“Yeah, I’m regretting it already. I suppose we should tell Yui before we head off, right?”

“Probably for the best. She might end up sending Gaves after us if we don’t,” Sylph said, checking one of her daggers and sliding it into hits sheathe at her hip. “I’m ready when you are. I didn’t bring much.”

“Not even a toothbrush?”

Sylph’s cheeks reddened. “No. I remembered that.”

Henry slipped out of Damien’s shadow with a yawn. “Are we going yet? You’ve been standing around here for ages.”

“It’s been a minute or two at most,” Damien said defensively. “And what’s your hurry?”

“What? No hurry,” Henry said. “By the way, did you know that Kingsfront did have goats? It took me a while to find them.”

“Did?” Damien’s eyes narrowed.

“Hey, we’re leaving, right? No harm done.”

“Might be better to move quickly,” Damien said wearily. “I’ll let Yui know. It’ll be faster than you going as well. Give me a moment.”

He peered out of the window and Warp Stepped up, grabbing onto the windowsill ledge and knocking on it. A moment later, Yui’s face appeared behind the glass, her eyes narrow. She opened the window, letting Damien in.

“You really need to find a better way to visit. I’ve got a door, you know.”

“Won’t be a concern pretty soon,” Damien said with a shrug. “Sylph and I are heading back to Blackmist. We’ve pretty much finished up everything we needed to do here.”

“Can’t say I didn’t see that coming,” Yui said. “Although I do have to wonder what you actually needed to get done here. Did you actually do anything other than spar and go on a few dates?”

“No comment,” Damien replied. “Don’t complain too much. Where’s Carson?”

“In his room. It’s not like he’s going to stay in mine constantly. That would be weird,” Yui said. “Not everybody lives in a hole in the wall, Damien.”

Damien shrugged. “I like our hole in the wall. It’s comfy. Nonetheless, I trust you don’t need anything else before we head off?”

“Not that I can think of. It won’t be long before we run into each other again either way,” Yui said. “Given the whole situation with the Corruption, I’d imagine things will start going downhill pretty quickly, and the schools are going to have to band together to deal with it.”

“Probably,” Damien said, his mood darkening. “Hopefully, our next meeting is under better conditions than that.”

“I hope so too,” Yui said, but she didn’t sound too convinced. “Good luck with whatever it is that you’re going to do at Blackmist. Try not to injure too many people.”

Damien stepped out of the window, then paused and glanced back at the princess. “Why is it that everyone assumes I’m just going to attack people everywhere I go?”

“Have you gone anywhere without attacking people?”

“I will once again elect not to provide a comment,” Damien said. He slipped out of the window and dropped, Warp Stepping once he spotted Sylph’s window.

“All done,” Damien said. “Shall we?”

***

They left Kingsfront through the portal courtyard and arrived in Blackmist’s obsidian arrival grounds after a gut-wrenching trip. Damien took a moment to make sure the contents of the previous night’s meal didn’t escape his stomach, then straightened back up.

It was strange to be back at Blackmist. Nothing had changed about the campus, of course, but it still felt slightly foreign. A thin stream of students and teachers came and went from the portals, and he and Sylph quickly set off to avoid blocking the path.

Damien was tempted to check their room out, but instead, he extended his senses as far as he could, feeling for Whisp. It was difficult to find a specific person in such a crowded area, but the dean was strong enough that she wasn’t a difficult target.

He wasn’t particularly surprised when his senses brushed across hers just a few minutes down the road – in a tavern.

“Found Whisp?” Sylph asked when he opened his eyes. “She’s in the Rusty Cauldron.”

“Damn, you’re a lot faster than I am at this,” Damien said.

“I did take an entire class on it. I’d hope I’m a little better. Human is pretty good at helping me as well.” They set off down the road, making for the tavern.

“Ah, lucky. Henry is completely useless with that kind of thing now,” Damien said. Henry gave an undignified grunt from his shadows.

“And whose fault is that?” Henry queried. “Because I can think of a single little meddling human spark inside me, and I don’t think I was the original owner.”

Stop complaining. We both know you’re better off with it than without it.

Henry gave him the mental equivalent of an eyeroll and fell silent. Damien and Sylph arrived at the entrance of the Rusty Cauldron, pausing before a pair of large wooden double doors.

Old carvings ran along the wood, but they looked to be purely decorative. At some point, they’d probably been colored as well, but everything had faded away in sunlight and age. The smell of spirits was so strong that it singed the hairs in Damien’s nose.

He grimaced as he pushed the doors open. “When was the last time you think students came here?”

“Probably when they failed one of their exams,” Sylph replied. “I don’t understand why anyone would voluntarily impair themselves.”

“Maybe you can ask Whisp,” Damien suggested. His senses pulled his gaze up to the second floor of the old building. A stairwell led up to a shut door, where a waiter in a ruffled suit leaned against the wall, reading a book.

Damien and Sylph ascended the stairs, drawing an annoyed glance from him as they reached the top.

“Are you old enough to be here?” he asked.

“Social visit,” Damien explained, nodding to the door. “We’re here to see Whisp.”

“She’s not here,” the waiter said promptly. “Go check her offices.”

“I’m quite certain she is,” Damien replied. “I can sense her in the room on the other side of that door. Don’t worry, I’m sure she already knows we’re here. I’d imagine she told you to tell people she isn’t.”

The waiter glanced from Damien to the door, then sighed. “I’ll see if she’s willing to talk.”