Celtine too felt satisfied with how the rat faced merchant got scared of Emp even though she would have preferred to torture him and chop his head off. She contented herself with that for now.

Svaenaha was the most affected as it should have been expected. She was extremely happy about how her day went from a nightmare of worry to something so unexpected and exciting. She was made by the trader to wear an expensive outfit suitable to serve a high n.o.ble and sent to follow Emp right away. The clothes were offered freely by the trader as part of the deal, they were elegant but their green shade didn't really match the color of her skin. At least the back was left open to let her fins flow out like they should. Svaenaha didn't say anything at all before they were out of the building, too nervous that something might go wrong at the very last moment. She opened her mouth again the moment they walked out.

"You really bought me. I'm feeling really nervous, I don't know you at all and now I have to call you master. That's sort of scary but also sort of exciting in a new adventure kind of way. I haven't felt so restless since I became the property of master, I mean, mister Gnash. Will you really help me meet Erin and Leonni again? How did you scare him so much?"

Emp tried to calm her down with a few gestures and a calm voice.

"If you ask too many questions at once, I can't answer them all."

"Sorry, I'm just... Too nervous right now. I was really scared about who might buy me in the end but now it's really happening and I don't know how to deal with it. I don't know what to expect or whether I should be scared or happy. Will it be like before, worse or better? I don't talk so much usually, I'm sorry, I'm just..."

She stopped herself from saying the rest by toying with her fingers because she was conscious she said this exact thing more than twice already.

"It's all going to be fine. We'll go bring Celtine to the school were I'm staying first and then, I think I have enough time to take you to Dark-glint before night falls."

"Really?" She asked in a mix of eagerness and uncertainty. "I thought you said it was far away. I can swim fast but not that fast. I can only swim as fast as a horse can run. If it takes two weeks for a caravan to reach, it would still take me more than two days, maybe up to four if something gets in the way."

She seemed apologetic, maybe even afraid that he'd be disappointed. She didn't want to make him regret buying her on the very first day, she had been taught that a satisfied master was a kind master after all.

Emp never intended to use her ability to fly to go there however.

"It's fine, we will not be flying there, we'll be running and I'll carry you there in no time."

The girl didn't seem to understand how this could be possible but Celtine wrote her a message she showed with confidence.

< master="" is="" really="" fast.="" if="" he="" says="" he="" can="" do="" it,="" you="" should="" believe="" him.="">

"Are you some sort of legendary warrior? Is this why the slave trader was scared of your name?" She asked after reading the message.

"You're my slave now so you just have to check your card to know my family name. After that though, and that's an order, don't tell my name to anyone unless I say it's fine. Also, you're allowed to fly, errr, swim I mean, you're allowed to swim now. I don't mind it."

She gave him a big smile and without slowing down at all, her feet just left the ground with a tiny push and she started hovering beside him. Her long flowing fins undulated slowly and she leaned forward strongly but she didn't make use of her arms or legs at all to move herself. Her legs just followed the rest of her body from behind and she still fiddled with her fingers beside him.

Emp guessed she could probably use them to go faster but at this simple walking speed, they were pretty useless, just like the arms of someone walking normally. The way she just floated at his side was really intriguing to him.

It really wasn't like flying at all, there was no flapping of wings or gusts of wind around her, she was just sliding through the air magically. Aside from her own movements and how she leaned more or less forward, there was no change in her height at all, she was truly just floating as if on an invisible surface, pushed by the lazily moving frilly fins on her back.

Her current movements reminded him strongly of the spell of lightning Penny used to fight him the first time they dueled.

It didn't show at all but Celtine probably felt jealous right now of how that girl could fly while she was still pinned to the ground. Emp lightly tapped her ankle to encourage her, he'd eventually restore her wings, she just needed to wait for his days in school to be over and then he'd go look for the trials of Truth and Life.

While Emp was curiously observing her flight, she used her right hand to manifest her hunting card and looked at her t.i.tles.

When she saw < slave="" of="" emperor="" muracier=""> she made some sort of yelp of surprise and spun on herself like a drill five times over before kicking the air behind her with a wave of her legs and swam in front of him.

"Are you for real! Are you an actual one or just a cousin or some far off relative?"

Emp didn't stop walking but he didn't b.u.mp into her because she used her hands and arms to "swim" backwards at the same speed he walked. He answered as best he could without actually saying it. Anyone could be listening on the streets of the city after all.

"I'm the only son of the main branch as far as I know. I can't say more now because like I said, it's a secret. Do not let it slip."

"Right, understood master! I'll keep my mouth shut!"

She moved her body like a belly dancer and pushed herself back to his side. She was obviously excited about his name and was now swimming with a lot more bounce in her steps... Or bobbing in her swim?

"That's either the best possible thing or the worst possible thing." She said.

"How so?" Emp asked, curious.

"You have a very scary name for most cursed-bloods. I heard that your family is like a legend they use to scare all the young cursed-bloods from most tribes in the north. That's an important name here in the Steelwood empire but everyone around it hate that name. Now I'm belonging to a family known for cutting us down, I'm not sure if this is a great opportunity or the worst possible situation."

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"Why do you seem so cheerful then?"

"You're carrying a cursed-blood on your shoulders." Svaenaha answered with a huge smile.

Celtine tapped the top of his head like one would pet a dog as if to show off and he didn't complain. There was no harm in letting her have fun and he didn't feel offended in the least.

"I told you it didn't matter to me earlier."

"You did but it didn't have the same impact as it does now that I know who you are." She pointed out.

Emp thought she was probably right. Anyone could say they didn't hate the cursed-bloods but a Muracier saying it wasn't on the same magnitude. Emp could compare it to the review of a restaurant. If someone he didn't know said he liked to eat there, it wouldn't have much effect but if someone from the royal family or even better, the imperial family said the same, everyone would want to eat there at least once.

Since the Muraciers usually disliked the cursed-bloods because they fought against them so often, one saying the opposite could have a huge impact. He had not reflected on this before but the moment that the general population discovered his existence, everything he thought and said would leave huge marks everywhere.

It sounded really frustrating already. He was extremely glad that Blackbull was making all those efforts to teach him things properly before this happened.

Their group reached the school yard and Emp dropped Celtine on the path.

"Can you go back to our room alone while I carry her to the village?"

His servant nodded lightly as an answer and waved them goodbye as Emp turned back around. Svaenaha waved back at Celtine with energy as she kept up with Emp.

"Bye Celtine! I hope we'll see each other again! I'm happy to know you!"

Celtine would take a while to get back to the room but Emp didn't want to bring the vaelian girl everywhere around school as he might have to explain who she was and loose time. He didn't know how long it would take to run there and back exactly so he wanted to start the run quick. Leaving Celtine on the path close to the entrance was the most efficient way to do this.

He talked some more with Svaenaha on his way to the city gate.

"I'm pretty sure you'll see her again sooner rather than later. Both of you are my slaves after all, it would be strange to never see her."

"I guess that's true. I thought I lost my two good friends but maybe I gained one instead?"

"I hope so, I don't really know you yet but I hope you'll get along with everyone."

"I'll try my best but won't they all dislike me because I'm not human?"

"I think they'll be fine with it, they were fine with Celtine. As long as you can get on Marcy's good side, I'm sure everyone will like you."

"Who's Marcy?"

"One of my two mothers, she's the smith in Dark-glint and everyone there looks up to her."

"Got it, master's mom. Will she be the one to watch over me while Erin and Leo are there?"

Leo? Emp didn't know Leonni had a nickname, he might have heard it before but didn't pay attention. Then again, he never used the nickname of anyone unless everyone else used it. He wondered if Svaenaha had one too, her name was rather long to say after all. He kept the question in his head for now and answered hers instead.

"No, I'll be the one to watch over you as long as the sisters wish to stay in Dark-glint."

The vaelian clearly didn't understand what he meant and pointed back to the school already far behind them.

"But weren't you coming back here after?"

"Yes but I can be in two places at once. Thanks to the blessing I have, I'm both here with you and in the caravan. I'm the guy they accused of kidnapping his wife."

"That's amazing!" Was her first reaction, quickly followed by; "I'm so sorry Erin and Leo caused you trouble!"

"It's fine, I've forgiven them already."

"Great! So, you'll come back here but you'll also be with them in that village at the same time?"

"Yes, my wife will be there too."

"But what will Erin and Leo do there?"

"I don't know. I might try to hire them for errands or something. Maybe my wife will want their help for housework or they'll turn out to be really good at fighting and I'll want to keep them around. If none of that works then they'll have to find something on their own because I don't have as much work to give to others as a merchant does."

"Do you think they'll be able to fulfill any sort of task for you? I wish they could but they're clumsy and disasters keep happening around them. I know I'm just a slave and it's not my place to say anything but could you please watch over them? I'm willing to beg for it in any way I can. I'm just a slave but if my two friends could work for someone like you it would truly make me happy and I'd be able to stay close to them."

"I'll do my best to help them but in the end, it all depends on them. I can't make efforts for them and I can't keep them prisoner just to make sure they're safe. Do you understand?"

She nodded with the same sort of look Erin always had when talking about the work they were willing to do and followed Emp to the gate.

On the way, he came around to asking her how the other two usually called her and she answered that Erin and Leonni usually used Svae instead of her full name. She also told him that he was welcome to just use that too and he agreed right away.

Once outside, Emp asked her to climb on his back. She still didn't understand how running there would be faster than just swimming but after he insisted, she latched onto him anyway.

With her legs crossed around his waist and her arms around his neck, she was like a big backpack with the advantage that she weighted nothing at all. It wasn't like how a kid didn't weight much or how Celtine was so light he barely felt she was there, Svaenaha truly had no weight. She was like air.

He told her to hold on properly and started with a slow jog to get the proper feel for the distances. It was the first time he used the blessing of s.p.a.ce to run this sort of distance and he didn't want to collide with a tree or just run out of the road because he was going too fast. If only the road wasn't so narrow and didn't have all those sharp turns at every steps, he'd be able to go much faster still. (1)

"I'm feeling sick, what's happening? Where did the city go?" Svae said not even a minute after they started the trip.

Emp didn't want her to feel bad so he stopped to let her take a breath.

"Was I going too fast?"

"It didn't feel like you were going fast at all but everything around us keeps changing like it's wobbling and leaving on its own. I've never felt anything like that. Did we even really go somewhere at all? The way you were running, we should have barely moved from the gate but now we're surrounded by woods! That's really an incredible speed, Celtine wasn't lying at all. It's strange that I don't feel the air slamming against me. At that speed, I should receive the sharp slap of the wind all the time but its not. That's really disconcerting."

"Celtine said the same sort of thing the first few times I raised her on my shoulders I guess it's a normal feeling. We did move a bit but we still have a long long way to go, we just started. Maybe you should just close your eyes? It might make it less jarring. Don't bother with the scenery, it will move too fast for you to see anyway."

"Alright then, I'll close my eyes. I'll tell you if I feel too bad. How long do you think it will take?"

"I don't know at all. Last time it took me days but I was going on horseback with a bunch of knights and my wife Calla in a carriage. I'm curious to see how fast I can make it there."

"I think I'm fine again so we can go now."

Emp started running again but this time, Svae knew what to expect and didn't get as sick as before. She was oddly quiet compared to what Emp had seen up to now but maybe she was just afraid she'd feel ill again if she did.

Emp kept his jogging pace but had to take a few breaks along the way because he ended up getting tired despite his good stamina. To pa.s.s the other two villages on the way and catch up with the caravan, it took him about four hours.

When he finally saw the long column of people, he called out to Svae.

"Here it is, the caravan that left two weeks ago. Erin and Leonni are around here."

"Then we've arrived?! It felt like a really long time but I can't complain since you caught up with people that left two weeks ago in less than a day."

Emp nodded but denied her words.

"We caught up but we're not stopping here. I'll bring you all the way to Dark-glint and you'll stay with my mom until they get there."

"Huh? Why?"

"I'd like to surprise them in Dark-glint but also, I don't want to explain your presence to the caravan leader. It will be faster for me to drop you there instead. Anyway, they've almost reached the village, they should get there tomorrow."

The girl was disappointed but didn't complain and let Emp run around the caravan.

Shortly after, they reached the village and Emp stopped at the gate. He knew the two guards well and they recognized him right away. One had been a guard for a really long time and the other was Calla's brother. The two guys jumped in surprise when Emp seemingly appeared right in front of them.

"Hi Gilbert!"

"Emp! You're back! How did you get here so suddenly and where's my little sis?"

He was really happy to see Emp again but at the same time, he immediately started worrying about the absence of his sister. Emp rea.s.sured him right away.

"Everyone should get here tomorrow, the caravan isn't far behind. I just wanted to bring this girl in advance for a surprise. I'll drop her in Marcy's house and then I'm going back."

The new guard produced a sigh of relief and then asked something else.

"So who is she then? Is it normal that's she's blue?"

"Don't you see the fins? She's a vaelian." The other guard commented.

Gilbert's face scrunched up, he clearly didn't know what was a vaelian.

"I'll tell you all about it once we all actually reach the village." Emp told him. "We're even bringing the new mage with us, you can tell that to Bor."

"Great, maybe that'll cheer him up a bit."

Since they were there, Emp let go of Svae and she floated back to his side. She quickly presented herself with a wave of her hand.

"Hi, I'm Svaenaha."

"I'm Gilbert, Emp's brother in law."

"And I'm Richard."

Svae and the other two were about to talk some more but Emp interrupted everyone.

"I'd like to explain everything and present everyone properly but it will have to wait for another day, I need to get going already."

"Right, then I guess I'll see you soon? You know it's weird to come back from a months long trip and just pa.s.s right by your bro, right?"

"Technically, I'm not back yet. I promise I'll talk to you properly once I am. You'll have to tell me exactly what I missed and what it's like to be a guard at the gate."

"It's boring!" Gilbert threw at his back while Emp left toward Marcy's house with long steps.

Svae followed him by floating at his side and looked curiously as he chuckled. She wanted to ask a lot of questions about what just happened but since her new master was in a hurry and they just spent four hours running, she kept all of them for herself and looked at her surroundings instead.

She wasn't born in Bêtéclair but she was pretty much raised there as a slave so she had barely ever seen anything outside of its walls. She was too young back then to remember anything from her life before Bêtéclair, she didn't remember seeing anything like the village here before. She was used to the many towers of the city and its verticality. Here, everything was s.p.a.ced out and low to the ground. It wasn't really fun for someone like her who could fly easily.

Soon, they reached the smithy. Emp knew that Marcy was working because he could feel the heat form outside and hear the roar of the flames. She wasn't currently hammering anything but it might not be long before she did.

Emp signaled Svae to follow him and he stepped inside the forge. After making sure that she wouldn't hurt herself if he made a noise now, he called his mother from the door with a loud voice to make sure she heard him.

"Mom, I'm here!"

Marcy stopped her work and looked up with a smile.

"My boy! Finally ya're back. Ya were taking yar sweet time weren't ya?"

They walked up to each other and shared a long hug. Emp had really missed her even though he hadn't been away for too long. He was happy that she seemed to be just as well as when he left.

Svae stayed back in silence while Emp told Marcy how happy he was to see her again. She didn't want to interrupt their reunion.

"I missed ya too my boy, ya missed out on a lot of work. Before we get to that though, did ya two have a fun trip?"

"I feel like we did but I'll tell you more about it tomorrow when Calla and I really gets back."

Marcy freed herself from the hug to show him a frown.

"What does that even mean?"

"The caravan we got into hasn't arrived yet, it'll only do tomorrow. I just came in advance to tell you we're almost there and ask you to watch over that girl until we get here."

Marcy hadn't noticed Svaenaha before he pointed out her presence but now she was surprised to see a vealian in her workshop and curious to know why she was here.

"Sorry, I didn't see ya there. Who are ya?"

"Hi, my name is Svaenaha and I'm master Emp's slave since this morning."

"Ya bought another slave? What for?"

"It's a funny story but the gist of it is that I wanted to help a few girls including Svae here and I wanted to surprise them. I need you to keep her here until the caravan comes into the village tomorrow and then her two friends will be surprised to see her here."

"So ya're saying that ya bought a slave just for a surprise? Girl, how much did he pay for ya?"

"Master paid six dragons and a half for me." Svae declared proudly.

"Ya paid more than six hundred crowns for a single slave just for a surprise!" Marcy almost yelled in consternation.

She squeezed his shoulders strongly while he explained himself.

"Don't worry so much just for a few red dragons, you don't even know the full story yet. I promise you that it will be worth it, Calla agreed with me too. Also, that was a good deal, the slaver wanted me to pay ten dragons at first but I only paid six. She can fly, use a bow and do most ch.o.r.es, I'm sure she will end up being useful, she's a vaelian after all."

Marcy shook her head but still let go of his shoulders.

"Fine, we'll see about that. It's yar money anyway. Ya'll tell me the whole thing tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, I promise, I'm sure you will laugh at what happened. So, can you keep her tonight? You can lend her my room, I don't mind. You have nothing against her being here aside from your complaints about how I'm spending my money right?"

"No I don't mind her being here. And yes I will let her sleep in your room."

"Thanks mom, I'll come back tomorrow with Calla and the caravan, I'm bringing a mage and two trouble makers as well."

"Ya're already going back?"

"Yeah, I got to run all the way back to Bêtéclair before dark."

"Ya slag! I told ya to not do anything dangerous!"

"It's not dangerous, I'm just running, here and back, it only took me four hours to come here so I should be fine."

Marcy groaned in annoyance and turned towards Svae.

"Ya, sit there and don't touch anything."

"Yes ma'am."

Svae did as she was told and sat down properly on the chair she was pointed towards with a straight back and a little smile.

Marcy snorted and Emp sneaked a kiss on her cheek while she wasn't looking before he ran out of the room and back towards Bêtéclair.

"Emp ya slag! That's unfair!"

Emp didn't know what was unfair and he didn't really have the time to back and check. He told Gilbert he'd see him tomorrow and made his way back to school as swiftly as he could. He rarely had the occasion to run so much that his legs would hurt so he took it as an opportunity to train and spent a lot of his energy on his way back.

*-*-*-*

"This is the place we're stopping at? It's tiny compared to Bêtéclair."

"It's a village, of course it's going to be small if you compare it to the capital of the kingdom."

Erin and Martin where having such a conversation while the Caravan was slowly pouring into the village.

It was taking longer than expected because apparently, another caravan coming from Red-water arrived at the same time from the other gate. Now, the two caravan leaders and Bor needed to negotiate the s.p.a.ce available inside the village.

It wasn't the first time such a thing happened even though it wasn't that common so despite having trouble finding a way to fit everyone in, they would all eventually be let inside.

When it was their turn to drive their wagon through the gate, Gilbert waved at them with a big smile and called out to them.

"Calla, you're finally back! Welcome home you two! Come here."

Calla got down from the wagon and received a hug from her brother stiffly. She was more at ease with her mother and her sisters.

Erin and Leo where a bit confused by the scene so Emp explained briefly.

"He's Calla's brother."

"Hooo." The two said in understanding.

After he was done giving his sister a welcoming hug, he turned towards the others with a smile just as welcoming.

"I'd like to talk to you all but I'm working and we can't block the road, there are still people that need to come in so I'll see you two later. Bor wants to speak to the new mage, Manley needs to talk to you about your house and mom asked me to tell Calla to go see her when she gets here."

"Alright, thank you Gilbert. We'll see you later."

They pa.s.sed the gate to not obstruct the flow and Emp instructed Martin to bring his wagon behind the forge, pointing out the way to get there. It would be safer back there for now than with the rest of the caravan.

Calla was about to leave to go see her mom because she was very eager to reunite with her after so long but Emp held her close and whispered into her hear.

"Would you mind staying with us a minute longer? I have a surprise for those two and I'm sure you'll want to see it."

Calla found herself interested right away and decided to stay.

The five of them rode the wagon up to the forge and after they had stopped the horses, everyone jumped down. Emp led everyone to the door and like yesterday, the heat and noise inside let him know that Marcy was working. He turned back to the two sister before entering and warned them about the place and his mother.

"My mom is inside and she doesn't like it when something is messy. A forge isn't a place to play so don't touch anything or you'll get her angry alright?"

"We got it, don't touch anything. That's something we can do easy." Erin said with confidence.

Even though she was saying that, Emp could remember two times they didn't manage even that just from the top of his head.

He shook his head and pulled the door open.

"Hi! I'm back for good this time."

The scene inside was eerily similar to how he left it the previous day. It was as if they never went to sleep at all. Svae was still sat on the chair in the back and Marcy was watching over the flame until she heard him walk in. Before she could say anything to him, the two sisters and Svaenaha saw each other.

Erin's first reaction was surprise but it quickly changed into joy along with her smaller sister.

"Svae?"

"It's Svae!"

Both of them ran towards her through the forge even though Emp just told them to be careful and Svae got up from her seat to receive them.

"Erin! Leo! I'm so happy to see you again!"

The three of them joined into a big hug right away and Leo even started crying.

Calla clutched on his arm seeing the scene and placed a kiss on his cheek. He was right, that surprise did please her a lot, she would have been saddened of missing it.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you we were leaving!" Sobbed Leo into Svae's arms.

"We just forgot to tell you, we didn't mean it. I'm really sorry too, we missed you a lot." Erin told her friend.

"I know, I know, it's fine, I missed you so much too."

While the three girls were enjoying their reunion, Marcy walked up to Emp to talk.

"So this is what ya meant yesterday? Who are those two?"

"Honestly, just some random girls that tagged along with us because Calla was too kind and because of a misunderstanding. They don't know who I really am either but they'll stay for a while I guess."

"That's not really a satisfying explanation."

"I know but it's really a long story and we just came back. I still have to deal with those three, show Martin our new mage around and go see Manley about the house."

"Fine, I get it, just tell me later. Ya already delayed the explanation for a whole day so don't make me wait too much."

Emp nodded to answer her and Martin inserted himself in the conversation from the side.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but, how did you do that? Is that really the vaelian they spoke about? Isn't she supposed to be in Bêtéclair right now?"

"I bought her yesterday and brought her here in advance to surprise the sisters. It's not the result of some insane spell, I'm just really fast."

Martin made an ugly face full of disbelief but didn't say anymore because he discovered that Marcy's glare was ten thousand times more scary than Emp's.

The reunited girls deeper in the room were getting at the same question however.

"I'm super happy you are here Svae but how did you get here?"

"We took super long to get here and you arrived before us!"

"Also, you're... You know, a slave. What are you doing here? Did the slaver come too?"

"Yeah, why are you here?"

"You won't believe what happened! Since you left without telling me, I got super worried for you and I went around everywhere asking for your whereabouts."

"We're really sorry, we didn't mean to make you worry."

"I know now but before yesterday, I was really scared for you two. I thought something might have happened to you. Then, yesterday, I met this man." She pointed at Emp and the two girls looked very confused.

"It's impossible, he was chasing us in the woods yesterday."

"Yeah, how could he be in town?"

"He was though, he told me that you were both fine and just left with the caravan, then he bought me from the slaver and brought me here!"

"Really?" The sisters looked half confused and half happy, with the confusion slightly winning.

"Yeah, look." Svae showed off her shoulder seal to the two girls.

"It's not the rat anymore." Leo commented.

The two sisters turned towards Emp for some sort of explanation.

"It's true, I bought her yesterday and brought her here in advance to surprise you two. I won't tell you how I did it however."

They both groaned in disappointment.

"Why?"

"Because you haven't won our game yet and also, I don't trust you two with my secrets."

They didn't contest his words but Leo still tried to guess the answer.

"You're super fast, did you run there and back while we were trying to escape?"

She was very close from the truth but it wasn't exactly it.

"What do you mean escape?" Svae asked, reflecting the question Emp could read into the angry frown of his mom.

Why did she immediately think he did something wrong?

"We were playing hide and seek but Emp's too good we can never escape." Erin complained.

That answer appeased both Marcy and Svae.

"I said I'd teach them things if they could beat me. Now you'll have as much time as you want to try to beat me since your best friend is here too. You don't have to hurry back there to see her."

"That's right! Since Emp is your master that means you're staying here too!" Leo cheered loudly and hugged her friend again.

Svae laughed happily and rocked the small girl left and right.

"That's right, since master is here, I'll be with you two all the time."

Emp let them all rejoice of this outcome for a while and shared a parting kiss with Calla when she left to go see her family. When Marcy started getting annoyed of the crowd in her workshop, Emp dragged everyone outside to proceed with the rest of his long day.

*-*-*-*

(1) The road isn't narrow and full of turns, he's just perceiving it wrong because of the blessing.