Intricacies of the Spell Scroll

Our captors are back from their quick expedition, or should I say captor; singular, as it seems Elzara didn’t go back with Captain Lipton.

Did they have a falling out? I doubt it. I’m guessing Elzara is staying in Glimmerholm to kill the king and rule over the entire forest with an iron fist.

Either way, I’m still not sure how we can make it back. I don’t even know where we currently are.

Captain Lipton overlooks us at our cell. Now that I have night vision, I can clearly tell that he can’t see us. I guess Elzara didn’t cast the spell on him.

I slowly creep up next to Princess Rhiannon and whisper to her what I had noticed.

“Princess. You see him, don’t you?”

“Yes, clearly.” She whispers back.

“Can’t you hit him with your swords? I don’t think he sees us.”

“Hmm… I’ll try.”

Princess Rhiannon silently commands her swords to float carefully through the metal bars and strike Captain Lipton from behind. He’ll never see it coming! Literally.

The swords wind up to strike him but for some reason, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, he managed to parry both strikes with a single blow from his own sword.

What the hell?! That was honestly impressive.

“Tch. So you could see after all.” I commented.

“Not at all, Naoki Kusunoki. I see nothing but darkness.”

“How did you know then?” I inquired.

“I have been fighting my entire life. I guess you could call it instincts.”

Had he been on our side, I would’ve called him awesome. This is just another proof that he is a formidable enemy.

Captain Lipton started walking around the place while lighting the rest of the candles with a parchment paper. I didn’t understand it at first but soon enough, it clicked.

He’s using a spell scroll. With a chant, the paper glowed in the dark and out comes a ball of fire in front of him.

“How’re you doing that?! I’ve never seen a human use magic before and yet here you are.” Princess Rhiannon exclaimed, a hint of anger in her voice.

“Didn’t you know, princess? That’s a spell scroll. Everyone can use it to cast spells regardless if they have magic or not.”

Most of my knowledge about this is from video games and fiction from my previous world. For all I know, it works differently in this world and I’m getting ahead of myself.

The metal bars of our prison cell reverberates as Captain Lipton punches it out of the blue. Shocked, it ended up taking my attention from the princess.

“How do you know of this?! Only a select few knows the existence of these.”

Oops… I guess spell scrolls are just about to be invented in this world. That’s kind of disappointing; having been transported to the earlier years of a fantasy world. Don’t tell me there aren’t any flying cities in this world.

Also, I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen him show this much emotion. It’s not a good thing though. He might just snap me in half. How should I proceed with this?

“Um, well… I have heard the same concept from one of my researchers back in my kingdom.” I lied as naturally as I breathed. I’m honestly getting kind of worried.

He stared at me, discerning if I’m lying or not.

After a while, he let it go and went back to lighting up the rest of the candles. At this point, the entire room is lit enough that I can discern anything that’s in here if I focus hard enough.

Lipton sits on a chair overseeing our cell. He seems heavy enough that the chair might break down at any second but it never does.

“You still haven’t answered my question, human! How are you able to use magic?!” Princess Rhiannon asked once more.

“I can’t use magic. Never could, never will. What you saw me do earlier is all thanks to your people.”

“What do you mean by that?”

I had the same exact question as the princess. From what I can remember in some of the video games I played, spell scrolls are inherently a human invention, so what does he mean by what he said.

“The elves we took, at least some of them, were made to create these spell scrolls. It functions in a way that even without magic, the user can use spells just by chanting the written words on the paper.”

So it does work the same way. In video games, these spell scrolls usually came through when you needed them the most, though if it’s being made through forced means like slave labor, then I’d clearly oppose it.

Lipton continues to speak.

“We plan on selling these scrolls to the general public soon for either everyday use or for adventurers.”

“That’s going to be a lot of money. What will you use the money on?” I asked curiously.

I never pegged Lipton as a business guy. He seems like someone who got everything he has through sheer brute force. I wonder if he has a boss he answers to.

“The money is being used to fund the repair of the Blackwood Kingdom. After the war ravaged our lands, the people suffered tremendously.”

“What of your king? Is he not spearheading the revitalization projects of your kingdom?” Princess Rhiannon interjected.

“The aristocrats, along with the royal family, had run away with the royal treasury leaving the people to fend for themselves.”

That sounds awful, but it doesn’t justify enslaving another race just to help themselves.

“Why you, then? Why lead your men to do such abhorrent acts?

“I was but a lowly grunt in the army. With our leaders and officers gone, I had to step up. A few of us who remained went on adventuring quests in nearby kingdoms doing odd jobs and hunt quests to earn money at first, but it was never enough. Until…”

Lipton stops talking, as if he’s being careful about the next words he’s going to say.

“Until what?” I asked.

“Until one day, I had this dream… A voice reached out to me and told me of a way to get rid of all my problems. The voice told me to accept a particular fetch quest in a dungeon leading me to obtain the cursed sword, Tyrfing. Along the way, I caught wind of the Blackwood aristocrats and their plan to make considerable money. We killed all of them and took what they had, and all of that happening has led us to the present.”

That’s a lot to digest.

First of all, the people of Blackwood has suffered a lot, including Lipton and his men.

Secondly, he made mention of a voice in his dream, similar to mine. I remember the voice telling me to seek out the Knights of the Sacred Flame and also the fox who made me its champion. Just what were those two? Are they the same entity?

Lastly, the plan of the caught Blackwood aristocrats. It seems the idea to capture elves to then force them to make spell scrolls wasn’t an original concept by Lipton. How did those aristocrats even conceive of this idea anyway? Could it be that there are other reincarnated people in this world or perhaps it’s just sheer luck.

There’s also another thing that’s on my mind. Why is he telling us all of this? If he’s going to sell off the princess or use her to make spell scrolls then, why even bother? Wouldn’t that just give her time to think of a plan? Or does he revel in other people’s despair?

Either way, it doesn’t bode well for me and the princess.

Wait… What is going to happen to me anyway?

“Captain. I do have a question, if it’s alright to ask.”

“Go on.”

“Why am I here? What will happen to me?”

“You weren’t supposed to be here in the first place. Only the princess was supposed to be transported into this holding cell. Elzara really wanted you dead but I’m indifferent. As long as you don’t interfere with us, I’m fine with letting you go.”

That’s not going to happen.

“I see. I will stay with the princess then.”

“Very well. Don’t say you weren’t warned.” Lipton stood up from his chair and left the room.

Just as he opened the door, he decided to part with a message before leaving.

“That spell scroll that I just used, it was recently made by a certain princess.”

What…?

Before I could react, the princess rushed towards the captain, only to be stopped by the metal bars. She shook the metal bars to no avail as tears fell down her face, all the while crying.

“She’s alive?! She’s alive! My sister’s alive!”

It must have been a liberating feeling for her. To finally have a lead on someone she’s been searching for for a long time.

I stand up and join her at her side. With my right hand on her shoulder, I comfort her.

“That’s good news, princess.”

She let go of the metal bars and, to my surprise, she gives me a hug.

It was already chilly in the room but as soon as our bodies touch, we both started to warm up.

Woah. This isn’t good. The princess is really, really close to me… She smells nice.

After a few seconds passed, she pushed me back, finally realizing what she had done.

“Forgive me! I got excited.”

I didn’t really mind. I know that it’s a big moment for her—there’s no need to limit herself.

“I don’t mind, princess. You should just act how you want to.”

“I can’t do that… I am a princess. I must act the part!”

So she says but the stories Arin had told me about her and from my own experience with her, she didn’t seemed princess-like, let alone ladylike but I’m not about to say that to her.

“Then at least promise me to act however you want to when you’re with me.”

“Huh?! What’s up with you all of a sudden?!” Princess Rhiannon blushes a little.

“It gets tiring, doesn’t it? Always having to put up a wall whenever you’re talking to someone. I just want you to be your true self.”

It feels like a cheesy thing to say to someone but that’s what I truly feel.

Princess Rhiannon grew quiet. After a couple of seconds, she takes a step towards me.

“T-then…” She went for a hug—her head resting on my chest.

My eyes widen. What the hell?! I thought she was going to choke me out but instead she went for a hug, not that I’m complaining though.

“Thank you, Naoki…” She melted on my chest. I feel like melting too.

After a while, she gently let go—an obvious contrast to how she was acting earlier.

“Princess… What do we do now?”

Now that we’ve confirmed that Princess Thalia is alive, there’s confusion on what we’ll be doing. Do we make our way back Eldergrove or look for Princess Thalia?

“I don’t know yet. I would like to get out of this prison first and find out where we are.”

That makes complete sense. It’d be best to find our current location first before we make any drastic actions.

We waited and waited for countless hours but nobody came to be questioned. In that span of time, me and the princess ended up talking with each other about our personal lives.

I’ve lost count of the hours but finally, someone entered the room.