We ate the terrible food that the pirate cook made for us and slept afterwards. Rastair had been very insistent that we couldn't have her bed despite no one asking.
Although she offered me a spot...
Stupid giant woman.
I refused, of course. We slept on the floor in our sleeping bag.
Isabella seemed much more affectionate and cuddly than normal, too.
I would have enjoyed it more, except that my new condition made it a problem. Still...I didn't mind the warmth. It was fairly cold and I didn't feel like using heat magic to keep warm.
The day and night cycle seemed similar to Ignitus or Avernia, but the timespan of a year was far different.
Avernia had a 327 day year.
Ignitus had a 344 day year.
Both worlds had about twelve months in a year with varying numbers of days
Delvandal was a pile of garbage with 539 days in a year, and 18 months.
This wouldn't be a problem, except that the seasons were at different times every year because of it.
WHAT KIND OF IDIOT CAME UP WITH THAT!? AND THIS IS NORMAL TO THESE CRAZY BASTARDS!!!
I awoke the next day on our way to port 'I forgot the name because I don't care anymore', and checked my status menu.
I wanted to look at the cursed passive again to see if I could change it in any way...
I got a message on my status menu.
{Woah! Access denied! Sorry, Mizzy! You can't touch this one. Did you really think I wouldn't assume you could do that? TRY AGAIN, ASSHOLE!!!}
I was so angry that I was seeing red.
And while I had my status menu up, I noticed I wasn't in a party anymore.
Actually...where was Isabella...?
I got up and looked around.
It was still very early in the morning and the sun had yet to fully rise, so I walked over to the master bedroom where Rastair was sleeping.
She was sprawled out on the bed and snoring loudly with drool coming from her mouth...in her underwear...
She was mumbling something in her sleep, but I didn't care to listen.
I walked out onto the main deck then saw Isabella leaning over the side of the ship and watching the sky.
"No...this is wrong... I don't want things to be this way. I'm having a hard enough time dealing with just him right now... Not to mention, we just lost everything again... We're both trying not to think about it," Isabella said to herself. She paused for a moment and spoke again. "But he's suffering. I need to be there for him too... Even if it's difficult. I cannot stand by and let him suffer in silence."
As I stood there and watched her, I felt grief come over me.
I knew that I wasn't easy to deal with right now...
Suddenly, she looked around and saw me.
"AH! MIZIK!" Isabella said with a surprised expression.
"Hey...Isabella..." I said.
She ran over to me immediately.
"Umm...Mizik! Sorry, I was just...talking to myself..." She said.
"Am I a burden?" I asked neutrally.
She looked at me with her eyes wide.
"No! Of course not! You're my husband and I love you more than anything!" Isabella said.
"Even if I bring chaos and destruction everywhere I go?"
"That isn't your fault and you know it!"
"Isabella...why did you leave the party? Aren't we supposed to stick together always?" I asked.
"I...umm... I'm sorry, Mizik. There seems to be something wrong with my status menu after fighting Cassandra. I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I couldn't leave you! Never!" Isabella said.
Despite being my wife for many years, I honestly still couldn't tell when she was lying. Not that she ever lied to me, that is. Even so, Isabella was a skilled actress.
Actually, I wanted to kick myself for thinking it was a possibility that she was lying to me.
"Sorry. I won't doubt you, Isabella. Please stay here. Even if I'm different, I'm still Mizik. This is just going to take some getting used to..."
"That's okay, Mizik. I'll always be here for you."
I nodded and sent her a party invite.
She immediately declined it and turned away from me.
"I need to figure out what's going on with my status menu. Until then, I won't be in your party. Still, I'll be by your side, Mizik," she said.
You know I can just fix it, right? Fine...have it your way... I don't have the energy for this.
I knew that Isabella was aware of my ability to modify the status menu. For some reason, she didn't want me to. Regardless, I would have to tolerate this. At least until she came to her senses and asked me to fix it.
I walked away and got back in my sleeping bag.
I don't want to be up and around... There's no need...
I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.
* * *
Soon after my talk with Isabella, I began to notice her keeping her distance at times.
When I asked her why, she said that she was just wary of the new world and needed to keep alert.
You have nearly unbreakable defense. Is anyone in this world even a threat to you in the first place!?
After that, she began sleeping in a separate sleeping bag.
I was starting to feel like she was wary of me, so I approached her.
"Isabella. I need to talk to you," I said.
Currently, it was nighttime. We were still about two days out from our destination.
We were standing on the deck again.
"Sure! What is it, Mizik?" Isabella said with a gentle smile.
"You're avoiding me lately. Why is that?"
"Ehm...I'm just concerned about you, is all... It's complicated. Please just trust me, Mizik."
"I fully believe that I can trust you, Isabella. Even if I'm like this..."
"Thank you. I know that we don't have a clear goal in mind right now, but once we reach the mainland, I'll see if we can find a place for you to purify that curse."
"If you can't do it, it'll probably take the power of a god to fix it at the very least."
Despite our recent issues, Isabella had still tried multiple times to rid me of my curse.
"Maybe you should get some sleep, Mizik. I'll be back in a little while. I just need to clear my head. So much happened and I need time to process it," Isabella said.
For some reason, I felt something strange from her for a second.
With The Archmage Aspect, I could see different forms of magic in the air and sense this sort of thing.
Delvandal, as questionable as it might have been, was a fountain of magic power unlike any we had ever felt before. Even when we were on Avernia.
For some reason, Isabella's magic had been fluctuating lately. As much as I wanted to help her, however, she just kept avoiding me.
Something wasn't right. It was like she had some other kind of magic all of a sudden.
But I only ever caught brief glances at it.
I couldn't pinpoint it, exactly...
I was starting to worry that Cassandra had managed to infect her with the Corruption after all...
That was a terrifying thought.
If Isabella turned on me...that would be it.
I couldn't promise that I could actually beat her in real combat. And that was before taking into account that I wouldn't be able to harm her anyway. My emotions wouldn't allow it.
Still...I held out the small hope that she was perfectly fine and just trying to cope with losing Ignitus.
"Fine...I'll go back to bed. I miss sleeping together, though..." I said.
"I know. Just trust me, Mizik."
I gave her a nod and went on my way.
For the next couple of days, things continued like this.
* * *
As we reached the shore in a dinghy, Rastair spoke kindly to us.
"Alright, you two. Get going. If you need anything else, or you feel like granting your old pal Rastair Immortality... Just look for my ship! Also...don't tell anyone how I've been acting, please...?" She said.
"Of course, Rastair. We'll be in touch," Isabella said.
After that, we climbed out of the dinghy and stood on the shore.
The two of us walked in silence as we made our way to the port city nearby. While we were on the move, The Leviathan made a hasty getaway.
I silently wondered if we would see Rastair again someday. That woman was weird, but also very dependable. I still wondered why a Pirate Queen had such a weak crew on a filthy old ship...
Nevertheless, we entered the city and tried to blend in. Unfortunately, our clothing was quite strange and we attracted a few gazes.
We were wearing Ignitian Enforcer uniforms, after all...
Isabella's hair color wasn't an issue here, however. People had all sorts of hair colors here.
I silently wondered if strange hair colors were the result of magic, but decided not to concern myself with it.
As we walked, a man approached us and leaned on the side of a building in our path.
"Well hello, beautiful! You ever feel like ditching this loser for a real man? What's a lovely lady from Elysium doing out here?" He said.
I was about to pull out Vengeance and threaten him, but Isabella calmly stepped forward and grabbed the man by the throat.
I could have sworn I felt that strange magic again.
She squeezed with both of her hands as he gasped for air.
"Don't. You. DARE. Insult. Mizik!" She growled.
I would have stopped her, but I didn't care to at the moment. I was enjoying watching him suffocate and gasp for air.
I felt myself almost smile.
Eventually, she crushed his throat and threw him into an alleyway where he lay still.
Several people saw the ordeal, including some guards.
No one approached us, though.
A moment later, Isabella looked around and placed her hand over her eyes.
"What was I...doing just then...?" She mumbled.
"A man hit on you and insulted me. You killed him through strangulation," I said.
Isabella looked at me and then at the body.
She smiled gently at me.
"Sorry! I don't know my own strength at times, darling! I mean...my love!" She said nervously.
"It's fine. I don't have the desire to stop you right now..." I said.
The rage was still boiling within me. I wanted to see more bloodshed...
We walked for a little while longer and approached a guard.
"Excuse me, sir...is there a place for adventurers here?" Isabella asked hopefully.
"Umm...we have a guild... It's..." He said.
He gave us instructions to the guild without any issues.
After we began making our way to the adventurers guild, I started to take notice of something.
I had been seeing the occasional person dressed in what looked to be standard adventurer armor...but the females were choosing to wear armor that...offered little protection.
It may have been that they wanted to have freedom of movement, but the women here showed enough skin to look like prostitutes.
Regardless, Isabella stuck close to me and eventually, we arrived at the adventurers guild.
We arrived and quickly figured out that this place was far different than what we were used to.
For starters, there was no central organization for explorers and mercenaries that would be defined as adventurers.
Instead, there were several guilds all going by different names with their own members for doing requests.
Sort of like the concept of adventuring companies in Avernia, except on a much grander scale.
This particular guild was supposedly one of the larger ones in this country.
It was called 'The Dark Knights'.
We entered the guild and walked up to the front counter.
A young man was standing there.
"Hello, are you bringing us a request?" He asked.
"No. My husband and I were wondering if you had any spots available in your guild. We're a bit low on money and would like to secure a position. If at all possible, of course!" Isabella said.
"Sure," The man said as he checked a stack of papers. He handed us two applications and smiled.
"Thank you, sir!" Isabella said.
"Right. There is an entry fee, though. Can you at least pay that?" He asked.
"We have absolutely no money at all right now. What sort of currency do you have?" Isabella asked.
"Umm...gold coins? Like every other country, ma'am."
"Right! Sorry, I forgot... Silly me! We'll just go fill out these request forms then..." Isabella said.
This place also had a bar with tables and chairs all over the place.
Several men eyed Isabella as we sat down and looked over the applications.
She seemed confused.
"Umm..."
"We don't know this world's written language," I said.
At that point, I saw Isabella place her head in her hands.
I heard her silently weeping.
I placed my arm around her and she cried on my chest.
"Everything is gone... This really is happening, isn't it!?" She said.
I simply said nothing.
There was nothing I could say at all.
"Mizik...please tell Bravery to get off of my case... I can't take it anymore... I feel like I'm bottling up my emotions and going crazy..." She said as she pulled away from me.
Vengeance. I need your help.
[If Isabella is being driven mad by Bravery's demands, I can force her to be more lenient. Isabella has shown great valor on the battlefield and has proven herself many times over. I will communicate.]
Just then, I felt a ringing sensation.
And suddenly Isabella seemed to relax.
"Thank you, Vengeance. I feel like I can breathe now. Bravery has been suffocating me lately..." Isabella said.
Currently, I had no idea what we were going to do.
We needed money to apply to the guild and we couldn't write in this world's language.
Perhaps...I could use my magic?
"Isabella."
"Yes?"
"Do you still have the money your father gave us a long time ago?"
"I do. That much gold could still be worth something. Although, the coins are engraved with Avernian script."
"Let me see a few of them. Maybe I can use alchemy to change them? If possible, I could also use magic to modify our writing..." I said as I looked over towards the counter.
"That sounds so amazing, Mizik! You're so incredible! I love you!"
I glanced over at her, quickly and she was looking away.
You don't normally talk like that. What's going on here...?
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Sorry...the loss of our home is just getting to me... Just ignore me," Isabella said as she looked back over to me and smiled weakly.
Regardless, we left the guild and took the money from the man Isabella strangled. I converted all of our coins to match it and we paid for the application.
I also used magic to mimic this world's language.
We put our applications in and were accepted. After that, they gave us ranks.
The ranking system went as followed: E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS.
There was no such thing as status magic, so ranks were given based on skill, experience, and internal magical power.
They were beyond astounded at how strong we were and immediately gave us both S rank.
Since we had yet to take any jobs, it wasn't possible for us to receive SS or SSS rank.
We asked the guild master to keep it a secret and he was very compliant with us.
We considered visiting a temple to see if the curse could be cleansed, but I decided against it.
If Isabella couldn't purify the curse, I doubted any regular priest would be able to either.
After that, we went to a nearby Inn to rent a room.