30 The Return

In the distance, towering white walls reached out towards the sky, and the Main Gate of Solares came into view. Once at the gates of Solares, they forced the bandits to sit on the ground. Emille and Jerrick both lay on the ground and shared a waterskin, gulping it down. Gerard stood with no sign of fatigue.

*This exhaustion immunity really comes in handy.*

[Be careful, though. These adventurers know your true form, but if anyone else witnessed it, they'd question why you're not covered in sweat and panting like the other two.]

*That's true.*

"We finally made it!" Emille rolled over and slowly pushed himself off the ground.

He pulled Jerrick up as well, and the others came to stand by them.

Two guards from the gate cautiously approached.

"Business?" One of the guards hovered his hand over his sword's sheath.

"We've got prisoners here with valuable information that the Captain of the Guard may want to hear." Gerard gestured to the bandits.

"Identification, please." The other guard took several steps closer and held out his hand.

"I am Jerrick of the Red Lotus Adventurers, and this is my team." Jerrick handed him a card, and so did the others.

"And him?" The guard looked at Gerard.

"Uh, I don't have identification," Gerard whispered in Jerrick's ear.

"He's a wanderer. I can vouch for him, and we'll get his identification sorted in the city."

"That's not really-"

Jerrick set three gold coins in the hand of the guard from a position that the other guard wouldn't notice.

"It's okay, right?"

"Of course! What's his name, so we can at least put him on the list of entrants?" The other guard brought a board with a stack of parchment and an inkwell.

"I'm Gerard, Gerard Blythe."

After looking over the cards and hearing Gerard's name, the guard scribbled down some information, and both guards stepped to the side.

"Welcome to Solares, Red Lotus Adventurers and Gerard!"

"Well, that wasn't so bad." Jerrick patted Gerard on the back.

They pulled on the prisoners' restraints and hoisted them up off the ground, strolling through the gates into the city with renewed vigour.

Now that Gerard had a fair chance to view the city, he admired the thought put into the layout of the streets, all leading to a potential central area. The houses were uniformly crafted from similar materials in similar styles, and people wandered around without getting lost.

Again, Gerard saw the wonders of elven and dwarven men and women casually wandering the streets alongside the humans.

*I wonder how those dwarven brothers are doing.*

[You'll be able to see them again one day.]

They arrived at a large building. Similar to the one the guards took him to in his previous life, but in another section of the city.

"Please wait here." Jerrick smiled uneasily.

Emille and Jerrick led the bandits inside.

"Hey, Delilah?" Gerard watched the doors closed behind them.

"Yes?"

"Why did Jerrick seem nervous?"

"His uncle is the captain of the guard here. But I won't talk about his family problems; that's up to him to share."

"I see. I thought he grew up in the countryside."

"He did, but many members of his family are from and still live in Solares."

"I guess we just need to wait, then."

---

A large man stormed out of the building with Jerrick and Emille behind him. Gerard remembered him clearly, although a little younger; this man led the guards into the institute after Gerard massacred the researchers.

"This is the man?" The captain of the guard pointed at Gerard.

"Y-yes." Jerrick stuttered.

*Jerrick's nature has completely changed!*

"Right, come with me!"

The captain grabbed Gerard's arm with a vice-like grip and dragged him inside the building. Worried about Gerard, Rose, Quinne and Delilah followed.

Inside the building, in a cosy office, the captain set Gerard down in a chair.

"Um, what's happening?"

"I want to know who you are, stranger. You capture bandits with the highest bounties in the country, know of a researcher with plans to become a lich, and can take down several wyverns on your own. Who, or what, are you?" He sat his face close enough that Gerard felt the breath from the captain's nose touch his face.

Gerard sighed. He provided the captain with the information he gave the adventurers. He spoke about his alleged curse, his past as a wandering battlemage in his quest to defeat evil, and how he's searching for a way to lift his curse.

After recounting all of the events of his time with the Red Lotus adventurers up until reaching Solares, Gerard sighed.

"And that's it?" The captain asked.

"Yes," Gerard replied.

"And you all testify that this is the truth, under the name of our mother, Amathea?" He looked at Gerard's companions in the room.

*That stupid goddess has her claws so tightly dug into these people.*

[I still don't understand why you hate her so much. She's divinity.]

*Maybe because I have to hide my true self unless I want to risk all of humanity hunting me down. Again.*

"Yes." The adventurers responded.

The captain sighed before smiling.

"Well, that's a load off my back. If you were our enemy, I don't know how much havoc you'd wreak in this city before we could take you down. We might even need that budding hero everyone has been talking about lately. I'm Thorkin, Jerry's uncle."

"Jerry?" Gerard looked at Jerrick and attempted to stifle a laugh.

"Mhm. Been whooping Jerry's ass since he was a teenage boy."

"I see."

*I don't think I'll ever be able to look at him the same way again.*

"We've wasted enough time here, then. I take it that you want to see the fruits of your labour and watch us take down this Addis from the institute?"

"I would, yes."

"Then follow me."

Thorkin left his office, and everyone followed him out of the building.

---

Jerrick, Gerard, and Thorkin sat in a regal office with an older man watching them from the other side of a desk. The head researcher that Gerard murdered in the past. His hair, instead of entirely grey, was still half brown, and his beard was much shorter than Gerard remembered.

"I see..." Leonhard, the head researcher, scratched his chin through his beard.

"I thought to make an arrest, but seeing as you and I are both pillars of the city, I've come to tell you first."

"These accusations you've made on one of our own are not unfounded, I assume, Thorkin."

"They are not. I assure you that this individual, known as Addis, has hired bandits to acquire undead for research and humans for experimentation."

"And you say he has a secret laboratory in this very building?"

"Yes," Gerard spoke up without thinking.

"Then show me where it is, young man."

*Young? Oh, right, I do look younger than him, even though he's actually younger than me.*

"Of course!" Gerard stood up and exited the office.

They walked past several rooms with researchers testing out spells, reading incantations, and a vast library where dozens of robed men and women read silently.

Gerard led them to the entranceway and retraced his steps to the hallway that once allowed him to feel a sense of freedom.

"Be ready. It's here." Gerard started to move towards the wall.

Leonhard brushed past him, placed his hands on the wall, and shattered it, revealing Addis, currently sticking a metal rod into the stomach of a muzzled ghoul. Addis quickly turned around and raised an arm.

*Bind!* Gerard reached out his hand, and Addis froze in place.

"By the laws of this world, provided to me as an archmage, I strip you of your magic. Abolishment!" Leonhard braced his arms before pushing his hands out in a spiral motion.

A semi-invisible stream slowly wove through the air, surrounded Addis, and disappeared inside him.

*Now, that's a spell I'd like to learn.*

[With Absolute Attainment, the chance to learn a spell by watching it being cast decreases the more complex the spell is. If you were the target of the spell, you would have twice the chance to learn it, but since Abolishment destroys a person's connection to mana, it would be pointless.]

*That's unfortunate. Maybe I could use Transference to steal the spell.*

[You don't have enough of a mana pool to steal Abolishment.]

*Figures...*

"What? What have you done?!" Addis broke into tears.

"For your crimes against humanity, I am giving you to the city guard to atone for your sins. As punishment for breaking several of our rules, I have permanently stripped you of your magic."

"No! I was so close! Just a few more years! I could have achieved immortality! I'll kill you, old man!" Addis pulled the pole from the ghoul and lunged forward.

With a singular motion, Jerrick and Thorkin stepped forward, and two fists struck Addis' lower abdomen. Coughing and vomiting, Addis passed out from the pain.

"Thank you, all of you, for finding this piece of scum in our institute."

Thorkin nodded before picking up Addis and leaving the room. Jerrick followed quickly behind him.

*I wanted to dissect that pathetic excuse for a human.*

Gerard clenched his fists, holding back the urge to kill everyone to spend time with a helpless Addis.

"We'll meet again, Gerard. I think you should spend some time here. If anyone has the resources to help you with your curse, it's Leonhard." Jerrick gave him a salute with only two fingers.

Jerrick's friendly voice snapped Gerard out of his state of bloodlust.

"Bye, Gerard!" Delilah waved goodbye.

"Don't die before I have a chance to fight you." Emille struck Gerard's chest with a powerful blow, forcing him to step back.

*Idiot. I can't heal from that...*

"I'll try to come to terms with what you are while we're apart." Quinne smiled sadly.

Rose remained out of sight, but Gerard felt she wished him goodbye in her own way. Gerard listened as the footsteps of the adventurers quietened and eventually disappeared.

"Turn undead!" Leonhard sat his hand over the ghoul, and it turned into dust.

*Isn't that more powerful than Delilah's spell?"

[I believe so. Leonhard seems to be a much stronger magic user than most.]

*Noted.*

"Hey, Leonhard..."

"Call me Head Researcher. Only those close to me call me Leonhard." Leonhard wandered out of the room and up the hallway.

"Okay, Head Researcher. Was what Jerrick said about you being able to help me true?" Gerard quickly clambered after him.

*Even though it's not a curse, there might be something here that can allow me to become human again.*

"I haven't delved into research about curses of undeath, but this building has the largest collection of magical research in the world."

The two of them turned down one hallway after another.

"So, can I look at the research?"

"Only researchers have access to our libraries; I'm sorry."

"Then what if I become a researcher?"

They reached Leonhard's office, and the doors opened like automatic doors from Gerard's world.

"I have to apologise again. The examination to join our institute is very thorough, and it would soon come to be known that you're an undead creature."

"I see."

"I know! Just a second."

The old man rummaged through the drawers of a desk until he pulled out a sizeable coin-shaped item. An intricate pattern had been engraved on the front, which constantly shifted into different patterns.

"This is my seal. It will allow you to enter the libraries within this building. If anyone questions your presence, show them this, and they'll probably leave in a hurry."

"Why?"

"It shows you're my guest. Insulting you would insult me, which could come with harsh punishments."

"Are you sure?"

"Thanks to you, Addis' crimes were discovered, and a future monstrosity was never born."

"Thank you, Head Researcher."

"Now, get out of here. You saw where our libraries were, and I'm a busy man." He handed the seal to Gerard.

After a quick incantation, Gerard opened his eyes to find himself outside of the office with the doors closed.

*I didn't even catch that spell. How he didn't kill me last time will forever remain a mystery.*

[To the library?]

*To the library.*