Chapter 138: 138. A Grieving Loss
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
138. A Grieving Loss
Attie, of course, knew what a Soul Armature was. She wasn’t in shock because he had hidden that fact from her or her people.
She was worried about her strategy because much of it hinged on "gaining his trust using my body."
And now it seemed that the demon was just an incorporeal soul in an armor. That means he couldn’t possibly enjoy her body. That wasn’t good!
How else am I going to gain his trust?! Attie stared at the Soul Armature who was trying to grab Mia’s pigtail braid.
Why else would you want me around? The question hit her hard. If not for my body, then what? Because I’m cute? Even when you already have adorable little Mia, that poised beauty Tisdale and even that bold and sexy Undine? … What am I compared to all of them?
Was it really for that new trading route? Attie lingered on that possibility. Then what should I do if that was the case? Comply fully or take this chance to barter for more benefits for my people?
"Attie? Attie!"
The girl was too deep in her thoughts to hear Mia so Mia had to sit closer to Attie and pat her on the cheeks with her hammerhead shark plushie to rouse her.
"Sorry, Mia. I spaced out."
"Are you upset about something?" Mia stuffed the plushie into Attie's arms. "Don’t worry. Just cuddle Sharkie, then rub your cheeks on its belly and everything will feel alright again!"
Of course, that was what Mia had always done to calm herself down.
Attie cuddled the plushie gratefully after listening to Mia’s childish yet earnest words. A bright smile lit up Attie’s face as she mimicked the original owner’s action and rubbed her cheeks against the belly. Strange enough, she did feel a surge of relief.
"Thank you, Mia."
Her words came from the bottom of her heart. No matter how diabolical that demon was to Attie, Mia was an entirely different thing. She was like an angel.
Why was an angel travelling with a wretched demon like him? This was just two extremes meeting each other.
When my showdown with that demon comes, I’m not going to involve Mia in it. In fact, I’m going to rescue her from him, too! Attie added another mission to her own goal.
She did not even realize that within the short amount of time, instead of her gaining Mia’s trust, the situation had already been reversed.
"… Attie, are you missing your mom and dad?" Mia noticed her friend’s eyebrows furrowing again. She reached out her fingers and massaged Attie’s brows in the hopes that it could remove whatever that is plaguing her mind.
"N-no," Attie shook her head. "I don’t have a family of my own. I grew up alone…"
"Wha--?" Mia cried out before she could control herself, a concerned expression appeared on her face instantly. Then, out of sympathy, the girl threw her arms around Attie’s shoulders and gave her a tight squeeze.
"Don’t you worry, Attie! You’ve got me, Big Sister Dale and Mr. Hope from now on. We’re your family!" She said cheerfully, loosening up the tie of a small satchel to reveal nicely-baked cookies and colorful fruits.
She handed the confections to Attie. They were bought by Baiyi when he was looking for a carriage to take them home.
"Take a bite! It’s so good!" Mia said as she handed one cookie to Attie, her other hand quickly grabbing another one for herself.
Attie accepted the offer and started nibbling it like Mia did. The cookies were bought from a generic motel somewhere close to the border so it wasn’t exactly the best. But to Attie, who had once tasted the finest food the Steppe had to offer when she was still the King, the cookies somehow had an extra kick to it…
Very soon, Tisdale joined them too. She recounted stories, details and knowledge about the Southern Lands to Attie as Attie told her stories about the Steppe. The girls soon filled the carriage with an ambience of camaraderie as their jaunty laughter hung in the air…
Baiyi was completely oblivious to all of it.
He had been participating in a lengthy conference within the Void about their next move, especially about Attie.
A few days earlier, while they were still travelling towards the Northern Gate, he had checked on the state of the mark within Attie’s body while she was asleep. He found out that the mark had somehow became dormat. It no longer supplemented the same strength and battle prowess she once had.
Attie was, to put it plainly, completely squishy. Her skin could easily be injured by paper.
Baiyi had also asked her about the mark on a separate occasion. The girl had complied and answered without putting up a fight. It seemed like she had submitted to her fate…
… Not that Baiyi believed that act of submission completely. He just didn’t care. What’s a mere girl from the Steppe going to do to me? As long as she was giving information, he was good.
According to Attie, that Mark bestowed on her a power collectively known as Natural Body. It allowed her to wield the War God’s Sword while her strength and endurance increased. In exchange for all that, her body was declared the property of the War God and was not to be subjected to a mortal’s gaze nor was she allowed to indulge in 'worldly pleasure'.
In other words, that was the reason why she dressed herself in white, semi-transparent satin with very few actual opaque cloth covering just her important bits.
Seems that this War God of theirs is probably some long, lost horny mate of those few Walkers in the Void, huh? Although I don’t think those gentlemen would discard a cute lady just because she lost a sword…
Then again, what Attie recounted was really what was told in the Steppe legends. The truth might be far from it because even the barbarians themselves had little clue about the sword that they so revered. Some said it was given by the War God to protect the Steppe from destruction; some said it was the sword the War God had used while he was still human. It was then left behind after he obtained godhood. Some said it was the sword that had created Isythre and was left in the Steppe because that was the center of the realm. Long story short, the origin of the oh-so-important sword could not be traced.
If the story were to be truncated to where Attie came in. It would be how she got her hands on the sword. Yet, it was just as ludicrous as the legend. When she was herding the goats, the shepherd dog carried the War God’s Sword in its mouth to her.
Interestingly, before its rediscovery, the War God’s Sword had been missing for a long while. The last recorded owner was a khan from the Riksha clan. The khan had perished when the clan was suffering from internal conflict. Thus the sword was lost…. until Attie found it again.
The process leading up to its rediscovery compelled the barbarians to think that it was all fated and that it was heaven's mandate for Attie to own the War God’s Sword. As a result, the traditionalists were quick to accept her despite her young age. Of course, those early advocates were also the very first to turn on her once she lost the same sword that got her the throne.
That was all he could squeezed out of from her. A mix-bag of unhelpful hocus-pocus with nothing concrete. He still couldn’t solve the mystery of the War God’s Sword.
"Looks like I’ll have to find a way to simulate the power of the Mark within my own body," Baiyi decided. It’s just that he couldn’t do it anywhere or anytime he liked because the Mark was more volatile and complicated than he had expected.
It was not created using usual components like mana or combat chi. It was more like the church, which borrowed its strength from a sort of godly force.
In other words, he would need some sort of higher power.
That set the time for research to be significantly longer. Attie herself didn’t even know that there was a sort of power lying within her body. She had always thought that all of her powers came from the War God’s Sword.
Well, just let her get used to the role of being a servant, I guess. Mia and Tisdale had taken quite a liking to her , Baiyi thought to himself. I’ll just ignore her little conspiracy theories and schemes.
It looked like Attie would have to remain by Baiyi’s side for a long, long time.
The road to the Southern Gate back to Arfin was relatively smooth. The House of Dole, had long gotten the news of Undine’s safe return, already had their servants and family members waiting by the city gate.
Baiyi wasn’t very accustomed to the type of homecoming aristocrats give, so he avoided the awkward family reunion and quietly took another lane back to the Aegis Mansion.
"Arrrrrgghhhhhh!"
A cry of agony suddenly pierced through the atmosphere as soon as Baiyi stepped into the Aegis’ gate.
It shocked not only Mia but all of the Voidwalkers were also shocked at the rare occasion when the man known for being cool, calm and collected went completely out of character.
Perhaps what was a tad bit more shocking than that scream was Baiyi’s voice, deeply laced with pain, "My… flowers! My plants!"
The Soul Armature’s pet flora, which he had carefully planted in tiny animal-shaped tin cans, had all died after a long period of negligence.
He had been taking care of his green pets with utmost dedication and love. The only reason why he had left them at home in the courtyard was because he couldn’t possibly take them with him on the expedition! Tisdale was supposed to order her servants to take care of them in his stead, but…
Let’s just say that Tisdale was a bit too worried about her best friend’s misfortune back then.
The lady of the Aegis family was just about to rush over and apologize when Mia stopped her from doing so.
Then, while Baiyi was still grieving, the two girls slipped into the mansion and started rummaging through knickknacks, collecting cardboards and old clothes…
Baiyi had finally, with trembling hands, collected the carcasses of his plants. As he entered the house with his heart still in sorrow, he found Little Mia skipping towards him in a vivid-colored outfit, her neck wrapped with a necklace of petal-shaped ornaments.