Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control?-Chapter 151 – Border & Night

Chapter 151 – Border & Night

“So, what are the details?” Flick asked.

“Well… we can start with the merchant.” Said Luna.

The two groups had met back up after being split apart for a bit longer than either side would’ve liked. Now they were nearing the border, and Flick wanted some answers.”

“You three pay attention as well.” Syrus turned to three children who were waddling behind them. “That man has the ability to see people’s attributes. I don’t know exactly what the limits or restrictions are or how it is actually used, but that is one of his abilities.”

“See our attributes…” Flick paused for a moment. She spent a few moments processing what she just heard. Yes, such an ability was dangerous even for her. Though simply being known for having the Space attribute wasn’t enough for anyone to guess she was the Blinker. Flick would rather that information not be public anyway. She, like the majority of people in places like Cancole and the Nevald Kingdom, liked to keep their attributes close to their chest. Still, she understood there was more to the story for Syrus to ask to send her and the child away.

Flick’s eyes glanced at Syrus, waiting for more information.

[Luna, are you ready to do this?] (Syrus)

[We discussed it, so I am as ready as I will ever be. I will ensure nothing unnecessary slips.] (Luna)

Anlesa had a long debate while Flick was away, debating how much to tell her. They, of course, wanted details to be a secret, but they had to explain something to keep her happy. Telling her the merchant’s abilities was the easy part, but the reason why they were worried was complicated, as it would lead to all of the church stuff.

Still, they didn’t want to just give her nothing on that topic. Being a little bit honest in some areas could be beneficial for trust, though there were clear risks with that. They needed to find a balance, but they all had varying opinions on that matter.

Keeping Flick around wasn’t just for her to teach Luna but also to have an extra helper to go through the demon territory.

“I don’t know the man; therefore, I do not trust him to keep his mouth shut.” Luna answered, “And there are attributes in this group some important people would be better off not knowing about.”

“Oh, I wonder who?” Flick asked sarcastically.

“If you want to investigate and get on the church’s watchlist, be my guest, but it won’t be a worthwhile award.”

“Oh, really?” Flick pushed. The appeal of something rare was getting to her.

Then Luna went in for the punch. “Does better aiming sound that interesting to you?”

“Better… aiming?” Flick paused.

“Yes, isn’t that right, Jerry?” Syrus turned to Jerry, nodding for him to continue.

Flick turned to him as well.

“Yeah… my attribute allows me to aim whatever I throw better so it hits a target.” Jerry gave his answer.

“What the fuck..?” She flicked back and forth between Anlesa and Jerry. “Why?. Seriously? You have to be tooting my lip with that one.”

“Oh, do I bloody well wish I was,” Luna swore. She really did wish that, for many more reasons than one. “But the church has its favourite things, and to collect them, it would gladly destroy everything in its path and torture whatever to claim them.”

At Anlesa’s words, the children’s faces squirmed with varying intensity as they remembered their experiences. This pain on their faces wasn’t unnoticed by Flick.

“Why... did you tell me all that information?” She asked.

“I will tell you that later.” Syrus answered, “That is enough for this topic for now.”

Flick allowed the conversation to die so it could be picked up later; for now, reaching the demon territory was more important.

After a few hours, they had reached the point where they would ‘officially’ cross into demon territory.

[What a lovely border.] (Luna)

[It is surprisingly dead?] (Syrus)

[It's dead because it is a border between… hostiles… nations?] Said Eva. She hadn’t seen the border between hostile nations before, but she assumed it would be mostly dead from the conflict.

[That depends on the relationship between the nations because even with hostile ones, there are many ways for the borders to interact.] Syrus answered. [For two nations that would be actively at war, you could expect the land currently contested to be damaged, especially if formations are set up and large spells are utilised. You don’t really get this result when armies fight, but when there is a zone, the nation could just keep firing high-powered spells at each other as a deterrence. You can also have the opposite, where the land is overflowing with life, as neither side is willing to build or maintain anything too close to the border, not to disrupt into full-blown conflict. Though you can have another reverse where both sides try to make the border as appealing as possible on their side as to show off.]

Syrus had first-hand experience of some of those examples and heard about others during her time as a mercenary.

[Wow…] Eva was fascinated by so many options for something that initially appeared simple. [That’s awful, but… unique how small differences can change what a border can be like.]

“Any guards around?” Flick asked Syrus; she followed her lead since this whole thing was her trip.

[Syrus?] (Eva)

[I don’t see any. Luna, do you notice anything?] (Syrus)

[Nope.] She replied, and she then answered Flick. “If we don’t see any guards around, then there will be none around.”

“Confident about that?”

“Very, the border is more of a conceptual zone that the church pushes up until they reach what is considered the retaliatory line. Once they get near that, the demons will swarm and destroy any and all constructs until they stop. Then that is the new border, and the process repeats, but the demons don’t usually even come close to what humans write up as borders.”

“Seems a little foolish, aren’t they at war with the demons?” Flick asked since Luna was speaking as if she was an expert on the topic, which she was.

“Because the church is the one at war while being the only humans that know they aren’t actually in one. The demons don’t normally fight humans unless they send a full-on army for whatever reason… likely due to them finding fighting humans boring otherwise.” Luna’s demon knowledge had increased with their encounters with one and Syrus' knowledge on the topic. “Due to this lack of threat… the church doesn’t actually need to defend the border that strongly; only enough people need to be around to appear as if they are defending it.”

“So, they have people standing around doing nothing for a paycheck? Sounds like a lovely job.”

“Sounds like a boring job; I don't think you would enjoy that.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Based on your current work.”

“Touché.”

Luna added, “While they don’t do much, they are supposed to inform the church if demons do come closer to the border, but more importantly, alert if a monster appears.”

“Isn’t monster territory further north?” Flick asked.

“Yes, but monsters can travel long distances without issue, and since demons don’t travel around the outer edges of their territory, it is possible for monsters to sneak through and reach human settlements. It has happened a number of times.”

Flicked asked aloud, not seeking any answers. “Wow, what must they eat to travel that far? My muscles get worn out just by being on the job–its muscles must be mighty resilient.”

Still, her question left Anlesa with only one conclusion. “...I will take it that you have never seen a monster.”

“No, I haven’t; I’ve only heard about them. Why?”

“Because if you had, you would never ask those questions.”

“Oh, really?” She tried to smugly smile.

“Yes,” Luna responded, completely deadpan.

Flick sighed, “You are no fun.”

“Not when monsters are involved.”

“I assume you have faced them before?” Flick asked, a little curious.

“Yes, I have. Not a good experience, and I’ve seen too many people lost to them. It is not a good sight, seeing a person die to a monster.”

“I.” Flicked and decided to end it. “I will take your word for it.”

Without trouble, they made it past the border zone. As they noticed before, the land was nearly pure rubble and rock, and life on the land seemed nonexistent.

[Syrus… so based on those examples from before… What do you think is the likely answer for this location? (Eva)

[I am unsure. I would say the land was simply just rocky, and the spells were fired at each other, but as Luna said, fighting doesn’t happen often.] (Syrus)

[Life here was destroyed by a war ages ago, in a conflict that happened about two hundred years ago.] (Luna)

[Any details on what happened?] (Syrus)

[Disappointedly, no. It is possible that either side is responsible for it.] (Luna)

Now, on the side of the demon territory, they travelled for a while before setting up camp again. The children were the first to sleep, as they were exhausted from all the walking and the midday surprise and weren’t mentally or physically over the traumatic experiences.

Sitting by the fire, Flick asked, “So, are you going to answer the question from earlier?”

“About why I told you?”

“Yeah. That.”

“It was for a few reasons, but one was because I knew it would be a safety net.”

Flick didn’t immediately respond. “I am not sure how I should feel about that safety net comment.”

“Well, I did so you wouldn’t harm the kids,” Luna answered without concern.

“How would I harm them?”

Luna replied, “There are many ways, but the most concerning was if you brought them to the church.”

“Oh, really?” Flick said, with a certain level of deviousness in her tone.

“I already told you I caused a scene, and I do know your secret.” Luna shut her up.

Flick leaned back. “So you know my secret; that’s your safety net?”

“No, my safety net is that you know the church's secrets now.”

“Huh?” A confused hiccup came from Flick.

“Jerry has an important attribute to the church called Guidance, and they don’t want anyone knowing that information.”

“They don’t want anyone knowing the boy's attributes...?”

“No, they don’t want people to know the church is after people with that attribute.”

Luna let out a small chuckle. “It’s a small difference, but one that can have serious ramifications if the wrong people know you know.”

“So… the church…”

“Yep, if you bring the boy in unless in the meantime you have climbed the entire ladder, you will have just painted a target on your own back.”

“You are so insane…”

“I am perfectly normal if you must insist.” Luna finished drinking from one of their spare waterskins. “You were so much more jittery and nervous in our first meeting.”

“Can you blame me for that? I had a complete stranger know who I was. Then after that, you stopped me from escaping with damn ease.”

“I can teach you how to do that, as I said I would.”

“You are a crazy one…”

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