WW Chapter 55: Final Goodbyes (Patreon)

“So the bitch that tried to get you thrown into her personal torture dungeon is Georg’s ex-fiancée?” Boyd asked, his eyebrows rising high enough to get lost in his hairline.

“Yes, he’s told you that four times now,” Leah threw a piece of gravel at the large soldier. “It shouldn’t be so hard to understand that a person who used to be a noble was engaged.”

“Is it a secret that the Count is his older brother?” Cord asked, looking at Ezra.

“I have no idea,” he shrugged. “He didn’t seem embarrassed or anything by it, and the way that he commanded Amy, Petr, and Troy to follow along seemed like they all knew.”

The group of four continued talking back and forth, laughing a bit now that Boyd had declared that Ezra had eaten enough crow. Now, they just wanted to hear about how he’d gotten into trouble in the first place.

“So where exactly did you go with your girlfriend?” Boyd asked, leaning forward with a lecherous grin.

“I mean it when I say that Tilly isn’t my girlfriend,” Ezra said. “We’re just old friends. And I said I had to do what I could to help her before I ship out later today. She asked if I knew any sorcerers, which I don’t, but that old cleric I mentioned from my trial? Mabel? She’s an acolyte capable of casting spells, so I said she might be able to help. Came here to talk to Georg, who knows her, and he took us over there. So we went to the chapel—”

Boyd perked up at that, but before his eyebrows could raise or his mouth could open, Leah had thrown another piece of gravel right between the larger man’s eyes. He recoiled with a loud laugh, unable to make the obvious joke about Ezra and Tilly making their way to the chapel.

“So we went to the chapel,” Ezra repeated, a smile on his face, “and Georg introduced us. In the end, I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to share about what Mabel said, but she said that she’ll either teach Tilly or find her a teacher, whether she chooses to be a cleric or a sorcerer.”

“Sheiiiiit,” Boyd breathed, the curse more of a declaration of admiration than anything else. Cord looked rather unimpressed, while Leah cocked her head to the side.

“Do you know if that’s going to work?” Leah asked, her voice even.

“I was told to come back in a couple hours, see what I could do to help Tilly get back home when she’s done with an initial test or whatever. I figured that’ll be right around the time that Chloe wants us out of here, so I’ll see if I can convince her to let me come back and tell you what the results are, if you’d like them. Or, if I can’t manage to do that, I bet you could ask Georg about it and he wouldn’t hide any of the information from you.”

“Ask me what?” Georg interrupted, leaning over Ezra. “Why you all aren’t part of drills today?”

“No,” Ezra said, smiling up at Georg. “Just for information on what happened with Tilly and Mabel, since I don’t know if Chloe will give me an opportunity to return here and give an update before she has us leave.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Georg agreed. “She’s already been back for a few minutes, and is stocking up on supplies and getting a quick bath in before you get on the road. If you’d like,” he said, looking at Ezra’s three fellow elite recruits, “I can tell you what happens with that situation once I know more, instead of hoping that Ezra’s able to get back here.”

Leah especially nodded at that, though Boyd seemed just as interested in the idea of sorcery as the smallest of the four elite recruits. Once Georg had received that answer, he turned back to Ezra.

“If I was you, I would make sure that everything is packed up right now. If you can get a bath in before you get on the road, that might not be a bad idea either, keep from getting any sores or rashes on the road ahead.”

“Yes, sir,” he answered.

He snapped off a salute, and Georg nodded before stepping forward and taking Ezra into a quick, strong hug.

“I’m glad I was able to help you out before you were gone, kid,” Georg said. “You saved my life, and, unfortunately for me, by the next time I see you, you’re going to be more powerfully politically connected than I am, and you’re already so much stronger than me too. Even so, if you’re willing, I’d like to keep counting you as a friend. Next time you’re in the area, swing by, search me out. I’ll make sure I make time for you, if you’re not too good for me.”

“I never will be. You helped save me too. And thanks for dealing with me,” Ezra said back, chuckling wryly. “I make stupid decisions more frequently than I’d like to admit, and having you as my lieutenant helped a lot. If I’d just been a rank-and-file soldier and had had to deal with people like William all the time, I would’ve been even more of an insufferable dickhead.”

“You’re still working on it,” Georg laughed. “And that’s all right. You’re already handsome and talented, might as well be a bit of a prick while you’re at it, not be perfect just yet.”

Ezra shook his head, glaring at the other man as he stepped back and nodded.

“Thanks again for bailing me out of trouble. Even though, apparently, you could’ve done that much earlier by just saying that the Duke was going to be taking over my contract. Why didn’t you, by the way?”

Instead of giving an immediate answer, Georg let out a long, slow breath, his cheeks puffing out as he exhaled. Finally, after a handful of seconds, Georg shook his head.

“Everything else aside, I think it’s probably better that Aaron be a little bit more on his guard around everybody who isn’t his immediate subordinate, other nobles especially. I’m not going to get into all of the specifics on that right now, and I might’ve done my brother wrong, but the politics are getting more complicated. There’s something going on in the higher echelons while we were on campaign that I heard about that I wanted to verify this way. You’ll probably hear more than I have once you make some friends in the Duke’s army.”

“That’s not much of an answer,” Ezra said.

“No, it’s not,” Georg said. “Good luck on your trip.”

Ezra made a gesture at Georg as he turned and said goodbye to his three friends. Then, with a timeline now pushing him to be quick, he rushed off to pack up his things and try to, hopefully, get a little bit better of a shower in with the little time he had remaining.

***

Water was still dripping from his hair down his forehead as Ezra hurriedly buttoned his uniform coat across his chest. His pack, spear, and shield all lay beside the path, ready for Chloe’s arrival, and, once he was fully dressed, Ezra started running his hands through his hair to shake most of the water out.

His fingers caught in the wavy locks, and he considered, not for the first time, cutting his hair shorter. The cool water flicked down his face and his neck, and again, not for the first time, Ezra thanked Jormun for teaching him how to use aura to strengthen his body for things other than just fighting.

The old ghost had provided small pieces of insight into the way that Chloe was using her aura to run faster as Ezra had taken his bath. Little thoughts of pulling ambient aura from ahead to propel him onward flicked through his mind as he split his attention between looking at his surroundings and quietly meditating.

He stood there for only a minute or two before Chloe walked towards him. The Pseudo-Knight’s short blonde hair was wet, but had obviously been given more care than Ezra’s own. It bore the straight lines in the wet locks that testified to a comb’s attention, and her green eyes met Ezra’s.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked. “Because I’ve taken care of everything that I need to. I want to get going sooner rather than later. There’s an inn that I think we can get to before it gets too late, if you’re up to it.”

“There’s one stop we need to make,” Ezra said. “I’m not sure if there’ll be more than 20 or 30 minutes of delay all told by doing this, but after that, I’m completely ready.”

Chloe shrugged and gestured with an open hand for him to lead the way.

Ezra nodded, pulling his pack onto his shoulders and cinching it to lay tight against his back. His shield was strapped to the pack, and he held his spear in his right hand as he started walking purposefully forward.

“So what can I expect going forward? And how was the fight against the Blades?” Ezra asked as soon as they were outside of the boundaries of the headquarters.

“We can talk once we’re out of the slums,” Chloe said, fiddling with a small medal on her left breast. As he glanced at it, he could see that it bore the coat of arms of what he could only assume was Brayton.

“Any reason for that?”

“You never know who’s listening,” she said casually. “I doubt that there’s anybody lurking anywhere nearby that could pose a threat to the Duke’s interests, but it’s much easier to be sure of that when we’re in the wilderness and there’s nobody around.”

Ezra had nothing to say to that, and nodded once before refocusing on leading the pair towards the chapel. They walked in a companionable silence until arriving at the doors, which hung slightly ajar. Ezra had to fight to keep his fear in check at that, and he knocked twice on the door as he peeked his head in and called out, “Mabel? Tilly?”

Fortunately, his fears didn’t bear any hold on reality, and Tilly poked her head out from around the corner less than ten seconds later. A broad smile adorned her face, and she hustled towards Ezra.

Even before he could say anything, while still a handful of meters separated them, she called out, “She says I can do it! That I can choose which one! That I can feel mana!”

Ezra blinked a couple times after that, taking a short moment to understand. Then, with a smile on his face, he stepped forward and took her into a hug.

“Congratulations! That’s so great. What... what does she say you have to do?”

“Stick around here and help out with a couple of her chores for three hours a day in exchange for six hours a day of teaching,” she said. “However, I’m allowed to get more training if I choose to stay here. I’m thinking I might just move into the clerics’ quarters for the time being, if they’ll let me. At least for tonight, Mabel said that I can stick around, and I think I might be able to turn that to my advantage. Tomorrow, I’ll figure out if I need to get back to The Dragon’s Toenail or not.”

“That’s awesome,” Ezra said, smiling. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Me too,” Tilly said with a smile.

Then, she looked past Ezra and saw Chloe. Only then did she realize that he was wearing his pack, and her face fell. After looking down for a second, she raised her face, and her eyes met his, a faint sheen of tears making her eyes look especially large.

“It’s time?” she asked, her voice soft and breathy.

“Yeah.”

“Are you gonna remember to write this time? Because if you don’t, I’ll cast a spell on you.”

“You won’t have to,” Ezra said, smiling as he took her into another hug.

This time, she kept her hands in front of her and stood there, twisting her fingers into the wool of his uniform front. After a few seconds of silence, she pushed him away, smiled a teary smile up at him, and let out a slow breath.

“Be safe.”

“You too.”

And then, just like that, Ezra said goodbye and walked out onto the next city, unsure when he’d be able to come back.