Not (Just) A Mage Lord Isekai-Chapter 37 - Lying In Ruins

Despite being right on the border of my domain, we decided to set camp early, planning to resume our journey in the morning.

It was a quiet but productive night. While Calbern fussed over Fang and Tresla made shapes with her smoke rings, I concentrated on my Astral form, slowly pushing mana through my channels, continuously saturating my body. As I went, I continued updating my model in Memory Palace. Every day, the balance would change, and I’d have to tweak how much of each type of mana I was ‘pushing’.

All in all, I was happy with my progress. Even if I took as long as a typical ensouled for my fifth slot, I’d be close to Nexxa’s record.

As Calbern and Tresla turned in, I continued my efforts to expand my Astral form. It only took a marginal amount of attention, and I could at least keep my eyes open, especially with Eagle Eyes assisting.

In the dark, I could almost picture what we would build. Roads that stretched between peaks, with aqueducts bringing fresh water to the heart of my domain. Airships, built on the back of magic and machines.

And in the morning light…

My domain still looked like a pile of rags that’d been set on fire then smothered with clods of dirt. There was a lot of stone, and ruins everywhere.

As my old man would say, nothing but potential. And two dollars and potential would get you a cup of coffee.

It didn’t dissuade me though. It might not be the most fertile land, but stone and ore had their uses. When I thought of how much land was left unused in the vale where the town lay to the west, I just shook my head.

Getting wrapped up with how my domain looked wasn’t gonna help nothing.

I didn't know what I had to work with. Number of people, resources in the mountains and valleys, what might be located in the ruins, the local seasons… I only had information that was nearly a hundred years out of date. The previous Magus Dominus hadn’t seen fit to update anything. He’d sent in his essence tax and that had been it.

He’d been an arrogant and isolationist sort.

Didn’t matter.

Much like when fixing a car, I'd see what was wrong before I started making changes. For all I knew, the village I was approaching was thriving. The Frost Riven didn't come out this far any more. None of the clans did, from what Vaserra had said. The former Magus Dominus had only died a couple years ago, though his apparent association with Sarpit didn't instill a great deal of hope. Friends of a feather and all that.

I did note a gentle scent of something pleasant as we crossed one mountain ridge. When we moved to investigate, we found a glade of wild flowers. Tresla kneeled down, picking one up and gently sniffing at it. "Inertia would know for sure, but I think these are used in some of the soaps exported by Terra Vista."

It was a small thing, but at least it was something. However, it was a reminder of how close Terra Vista was. I wasn’t exactly excited at the thought that their Final Refrain might spread to my domain. If I was lucky, they’d focus their attention on the Hundred Kingdoms, who actually had the strength to deal with them.

Unfortunately, the flower was the sole potential resource we passed. To make matters worse, the rough mountain trails we were following only got rougher the closer we got to the village.

Several of the stone bridges that once spanned the gaps had even been knocked down in their entirety. Which explained why the clans had stopped visiting.

"This is recent," Calbern said as he inspected the third broken bridge we'd come across. "This debris shows very little wear, despite the harsh storms that are supposed to pass through here. A year or two. Possibly less."

"Maybe they didn't trust their neighbors to leave them alone once they lost their Magus Dominus's protection," I suggested, though not very hopefully. Destroying infrastructure was generally a desperate move, from what I’d read.

"An impeccable decision, if so, master Perth. With such a remote location, I would suspect finding a suitable Magus Dominus would be quite a challenge. They may not have expected a replacement for some time," Calbern said, pushing to his feet as he considered the gap.

He held up his hand, then kicked one of the pieces of rubble to the side, testing the upturned lip with his foot, before nodding to himself.

The fact I climbed back into Fang even after he nodded surprised me. That he took a run up to the bridge before driving up the ramp shaped lip, sending us soaring across the gap, didn't.

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It left my stomach doing flops even as Tresla screamed in delight. Being a passenger when going off jumps was so much worse than being the one driving. Especially with Fang’s lack of suspension. Still, we'd lost enough time going around the previous two, that I felt letting Calbern take the risk was worth it. As we slowed to properly navigate the broken trail, I called out, "Maybe we should build ramps at each gap until we can replace the bridges."

"An excellent idea, master Perth!" Calbern called back with an unusual degree of enthusiasm. I was mostly just glad he finally seemed to be over his embarrassment.

If I'd known all it would take was a jump over a yawning abyss or two… well, I would've encouraged him to do a few. Preferably without me.

After our jump across the canyon, our route got even more twisted, going up and down ridges following barely intact roads.

We didn't make it to the village before nightfall, but that was probably for the best. Fang was an excellent ride, but it didn't exactly have ‘we come in peace’ vibes. More like, we're here to eat you, and your children too.

There was a small watchtower under the shade of a massive oak tree near the edge of the road that was in passable condition. It was even stocked with some non-perishable supplies, though there were enough leaves and other loose debris it was easy to tell it'd been a while since anyone had been inside.

When we went up to the top, I was just able to see a trail of smoke rising from the sky in the general direction of the village.

"We're almost there, master Perth," Calbern said, stepping up next to me.

"Been a long road, Calbern," I said, staring at that little wisp of smoke, wondering what it meant. It seemed too small to be more than a single campfire. Was that all that was left of the village? Would we be the only people who lived in my domain?

"Faster than expected though," Calbern said, his eyes shifting to Fang. "And with more than one surprise along the way."

"That's the nature of a journey, isn't it though?"

"Quite right, master Perth. Quite right," Calbern said, squeezing my shoulder. "You have come far, and I do not solely mean the miles we have crossed."

And there it was. Another perfect opportunity to explain the truth. With Tresla down on Fang, torturing another poor piece of drake leather, we wouldn't be interrupted either.

"I… listen…" I said, gripping the edge of the stone tower. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"I am always here to listen, master Perth," Calbern said, his posture perfect, his gaze fixed in the distance as he searched the sky.

“Master Perth,” I said, muttering the words to myself. "That’s not… do you remember the morning after my awakening?"

"Quite well."

"Well, the night before there was… I’m not…" I trailed off, my knuckles going white as my grip on the edge tightened. Unable to look at him, I instead focused on the wisp of smoke in the distance. “Sosa helped me perform a ritual…”

"Ah. That is your concern,” Calbern said after several seconds of silence, inclining his head in my direction. “Please continue, master Perth. I am listening."

Despite his prompting to continue, I hesitated, looking towards Calbern. He was staring into the distance, his eyes unfocused, his breathing deeper than usual.

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“It… didn’t go as planned,” I said, still not able to bring myself to say the words. To tell him that I’d killed the man he loved. That I was an impostor.

Calbern simply nodded.

Finally, I gathered myself. "The ritual summoned a soul from another world. It was meant to take the soul and feed their magic into… It failed."

“You always did give too much heed to your brothers,” Calbern said, his hand squeezing my shoulder. "I had suspected something of the sort. Evarl Aranor indicated you had engaged in an illegal soul ritual. Though he did not explain the details, he mentioned that the ritual would… change you.”

His hand dropped away, a small smile on his face as his posture returned to its normal impeccable position. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes after that, both of us staring into the distance.

“I… am glad that you’ve learned from the experience,” Calbern finally said, nodding slightly. “Your progress since… while I was disappointed you had so little faith in yourself, I am proud that it has opened your eyes.”

His approving smile made me look to my feet.

"I…" I honestly didn't know how to respond to that.

After nearly a minute of silence, Calbern cleared his throat before saying, "It is… honestly something of a relief that you have chosen to share this with me.”

"I… it wasn’t much of a success," I said, staring at the back of my hands. "All those memories… a soul doesn’t just disappear. It fights back. Even when its unconscious and unaware. And if I’d lost… Everything the consumed soul knew is inherited by the survivor, but their soul is gone. It’s a wicked thing."

"It is," Calbern agreed, not bothering to hide the tear that fell. Then he turned and fixed me with those too steady eyes. "It gnawed at me, that what it took to fix my mistakes was such a terrible ritual. To know that you were not… I do not know his name, but I tell you true, the one who was lost would be proud to know what you have done with their memories." He clapped me on the shoulder then, and said in a clear voice. "As am I. I am proud to serve you. And I thank you for trusting me with the truth."

“I…”

The truth…

When he released my shoulder, we both turned back to staring out at the sky.

Several minutes later, I said, "Percival."

"Percival?" Calbern asked, turning towards me.

"Percival was the name of the soul summoned that night," I explained, feeling a degree lighter. “One I feel far more kinship with these days than Perth.”

Calbern tilted his head forward a degree, as he said softly, “Master Percival? Magus Dominus Percival?”

“You can just call me Perry,” I said, uncomfortable with him saying my old name while not knowing it was me.

"Master Perry, then," Calbern said, nodding decisively.

"Just Perry's fine."

"As you say, master Perry," Calbern replied, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"You can be a right bastard sometimes, you know that," I shot back, a smile sneaking its way onto my own face despite myself.

"I'll have you know, I can indeed," Calbern said, smirk fixed firmly in place. Both of us stood there, staring at my domain in silence for several long moments. Then Calbern twitched his eyebrows every so slightly as he added with his ever perfect enunciation, “Master Perry."