◆ Military Camp of the First Duke, Count Gaston's POV. ◆
The field camp turned out to be much closer than expected, and in the morning sunlight, it looked rather shabby.
Patches and burn holes marred the tents. Many servants flaunted blood-soaked bandages, and the knights' ar...
2025-08-27 06:28:08 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Military Camp of the First Duke, First Duke's POV. ◆
He dreamed of a storm. Why?
…
A whistle jolted the Duke awake. He didn't even have time to think about punishing the whistler before thunder crashed against his ears with deafening force. The pavilion ripped ...
2025-08-27 02:17:52 +0000 UTC View PostIn the lamplight he seemed even paler, his face utterly bloodless. His robes were torn. The First had always been ascetic in his dress, but never to the point of looking like a beggar.
"Perhaps some tea?"
"No need," he replied, barely parting his lips. "I see you're not surprised that...
2025-08-26 17:03:06 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Grand Temple, First Prince's POV. ◆
Faith and Dogma. That was what allowed the first theocrats to carry fragments of true history through the millennia.
At least… its remnants.
Generation after generation, they simply survived. The Empire meticulously erased all traces: no...
2025-08-26 08:31:22 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Eagle's Cliff, Alchemist's Apprentice Keo's POV. ◆
"Sample number forty-five shows the greatest effectiveness. All colonies have died," Keo concluded and touched the protruding pin of the magoscope. Cores had to be conserved.
The device went dark. In the laboratory, instead...
2025-08-25 19:50:36 +0000 UTC View Post"What filth. And how do you live side by side with this?" my grandfather muttered, gazing at the Black Forest from the height of a griffon's flight.
Rounded tendrils twined tightly together in a grotesque embrace, stretching for kilometers ahead, filling the entire space between two ...
2025-08-25 06:30:54 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Bunker, Archmage Wind O'Conol's POV. ◆
The palace woven from smoke wavered and dissolved, making the Archmage scowl. He drew on the mouthpiece and exhaled a smoke ring. With a few gestures, the ring unraveled midair and merged into the palace, stabilizing its form.<...
◆ Border of Marquis Short's Lands, Major Kurt's POV. ◆
A hoof slammed into the wet earth, slid, and trembled unsteadily before skidding downward. The chimera swayed, digging in with its second clawed paw. Muscles strained, searching for a foothold. Its bald, bumpy back arched as th...
"We're leaving," the mercenary said after brief deliberation.
His men reluctantly lowered their weapons. One of the guild thugs gave a discreet cough and whispered to the leader:
"Boss, but the Bull family will pay a fortune for that girl…"
A fist sent the unwanted advi...
2025-08-24 14:08:55 +0000 UTC View PostAt first glance at the estate, I felt a sense of déjà vu. Of course, it wasn't an exact copy of the one that had blown up in the suburbs of Eagle's Cliff, but it was obvious they had shared the same architect. The same massive greenery all around, with perfectly round bushes and meticulo...
2025-08-23 17:14:26 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Former Count, Karl Condor's POV. ◆
"Halt, traveler. By order of the Secon—"
The mercenary never finished. He toppled with a slit throat. His comrades didn't have time to react before steel spikes tore through their bodies.
Silence.
The former Cou...
2025-08-23 12:39:17 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Capital, Countess Erin von Klaus's POV. ◆
The boar's long, brown bristles stuck out in every direction, making it resemble a two-meter hedgehog. Its beady eyes squinted, scanning the capital's street for danger.
Moist nostrils drew in unfamiliar scents. Its tiny brai...
2025-08-23 08:50:54 +0000 UTC View Post ◆ Capital, Count Karl von Condor's POV. ◆
Less than a week remained until the prince's arrival… and everything was going perfectly.
Karl had little experience in conspiracies, preferring to solve things directly, yet he discovered it was even easier than he'd...
2025-08-22 13:30:55 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Ancestral Castle of Marquis Short, Marquis Laslo's POV. ◆
The cold embrace of a dead body pleasantly refreshed the bed on a hot day. The embrace of death—rather poetic, isn't it? Laslo stretched with satisfaction and pushed the corpse's arms off his chest.
Alas, po...
2025-08-22 10:03:11 +0000 UTC View PostSunlight played on the golden saucer, but the cheese lying on it did not look any more appetizing. Most aristocrats would have considered the bluish mold growing on it a sign of refinement, but for me, mold on food was a mark of spoilage. And alas, no golden dishware could change that.
... 2025-08-21 19:59:32 +0000 UTC View PostThere were still a few kilometers left to Renvel when camps and fires began to appear along the roadside. With every hundred meters they grew more frequent, until the entire space along the road was crowded with tents and pavilions. Shady-looking figures sat by the fires, cooking stew or c...
2025-08-21 08:09:26 +0000 UTC View Post"The weather has truly turned foul. Gentlemen, would you be so kind as to draw the curtains?" asked Nerd, without rising from his bed.
I obliged, and the bright flashes of lightning ceased to illuminate our little gathering. Not a single servant was present, given the delicacy of the...
2025-08-20 21:29:16 +0000 UTC View PostI cast a suspicious glance at my grandfather.
A man who always worried over the king suddenly wanted to hide something from him? Had he been replaced?
He leaned toward me and hissed furiously.
"Thank the One you didn't think to write directly to the King. For once in your li...
"Told you it would work." I patted the stunned healer on the shoulder and jumped down from the griffon.
He probably didn't hear me. My own ears were still ringing despite careful prep for the blast.
I stepped to the crater and peered in. Smoke rose from the earth, hiding the bo...
2025-08-19 06:28:08 +0000 UTC View Post"The Second Prince is dead?" Erin asks incredulously after I finish my story.
"Definitely. They drove an obsidian dagger into his temple, to the hilt. Not even an archmage would survive that."
"No, are you sure? Absolutely sure?" she repeats, agitated.
"I saw his body as ...
2025-08-18 17:32:01 +0000 UTC View Post
"Two-thirds of our men are wounded, many of them more than once. The severe cases… there are a lot. Gangrene. Fever. Some won't live until morning."
I let my gaze slide across the rows of wounded lying right on the floor of a peasant's house. The hearth blazed hot, yet green mold ...
2025-08-18 08:49:10 +0000 UTC View Post"How did this happen? How is it that out of the three top members of the delegation, two never returned?" the King asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
Count Condor shook his head.
"Unknown so far. The new Commonwealth envoy and Count Klaus Nerd are already sailing here from t...
2025-08-17 16:05:37 +0000 UTC View PostWow, the translation of Volume Five has come to an end, and I’ve finally cleared my Patreon backlog!
To celebrate, I’m trying to figure out how to set up discounts...
See you in Volume Six this evening... Or, if the celebration gets a little too wild - tomorrow morning!
Hug...
I sensed the spear's approach more with my side than with my Gift. No wonder — the green runts often used bone for spearheads. Not out of choice, of course. If they had the chance, they'd happily be using iron.
But bone was free. Readily available. And it wasn't deflected by steel-...
2025-08-17 06:35:05 +0000 UTC View Post— Thump-thump, thump-thump. —
Only the pounding of hearts and the low hum of the portal broke the absolute silence.
The figure stood motionless, face of stone, waiting for my reaction.
I unleashed a powerful wave of anti-magic, stripping everything bare, until ...
2025-08-16 12:07:58 +0000 UTC View PostThe dungeons of the local "inquisition" failed to impress. Nor did the local "inquisitor," though he tried. For a whole hour, he pulled various tools from his satchel and described in detail how they worked. But alas, a signal sounded through the room, the "inquisitor" left, and when he returned,...
2025-08-16 11:01:53 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Inner Sea, Frigate Espluar, Asha’s POV. ◆
"Ship on the horizon! A big one!" The clear voice of the sailor in the crow's nest easily carried over the roar of waves and the sound of something spilling overboard.
"Shut up, I feel awful already," Asha snapped, wiping her...
2025-08-15 08:38:29 +0000 UTC View Post◆ Dungeons beneath the Academy — Magister and Rector of the Academy, Igni's POV. ◆
The dull thud of a staff echoed through the stone walls of the underground passages.
Damp, despite the many enchantments, the walls stretched for many kilometers. The Academy was like a block of c...
2025-08-15 08:35:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe worst awakening I'd ever had.
In general, I had no objection to being woken by a girl straddling me… but not when she pressed a dagger to my throat.
I didn't waste a second trying to get a good look at my guest, especially since she wore a hood. That could wait. First, I tried ...
2025-08-15 06:47:24 +0000 UTC View PostSeagulls wheeled above the port, their piercing cries annoying the dockworkers. The salty wind blew in my face, and clouds on the horizon foretold an imminent change in the weather. Far too sudden, in my opinion: just a few minutes ago the sky had been clear, but nothing surprised me anymore.
... 2025-08-14 18:01:08 +0000 UTC View Post