….One Week Later
A week had passed since the ceremony.
Arthur had done everything he could do for most of the families he ruined – most of them.
He had given the families money, though he knew that money alone wouldn't be able to fill the hole he had put in their hearts. He himself knew that much from his own experience.
Those were the rape victims.
The families of the people the spirit that had possessed him murdered, however were given no compensation.
There was something in him that just couldn't do it.
He had taken many lives on the battlefield, even on the first time he killed someone the only thing he felt was a lingering feeling of guilt, but even then that was only when he thought deeply of the lives he had taken.
Emotionally he was unchanged.
Plagiarism was something he couldn't do anything about.
So the only thing left was the smuggling.
The warehouses where he kept the drugs, today, on this day he decided to do something about it.
And for this very reason he had taken Celestine with him, not for her help, so he could help her.
"Adjust your aim like this."
He said, standing next to her.
She corrected herself.
"Now, use a flame spell."
"Flame?"
Celestine inquired.
"Fire or whatever."
Celestine showed a smirk before turning her attention back to the target.
Then, she began chanting.
"Ember of creation, spark with the flames that created the world, heed my call. Gather in my palms, and erupt in an inferno – Flame Burst!"
The temperature around her increased. An orange ball of flame formed in her hand.
"Now shoot."
Celestine shot her hand forward.
The ball of fire did not leave her though, instead it shot out as a concentrated blast of flames.
The flames made contact with the red barrel.
*Boom
An explosion rang out in the air as it exploded.
Shortly after, smoke billowed from it.
They were burning drugs. Arthur had decided that there was no better way to do this than now.
He had emptied all the warehouses, hired a mage to set a teleportation point in all the warehouses to this exact point and brought all the drugs here.
Though, there were kept in piles and were a good distance away from each other.
Saying they were a lot would be underestimating the supply.
"That's not too bad."
He complimented her as he watched the results.
Celestine grinned as she turned to him.
Arthur barely glanced at her way before flicking her forehead.
"It hurts."
She complained as she rubbed her forehead.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, there's a reason I said 'not too bad'. Even though it was an advanced spell you spent 10 seconds with the chant, two seconds before the spell worked and three seconds before you actually shot it."
He said.
He was actually timing her from the moment she started the chant.
"You were timing it?"
She questioned.
"I didn't have anything better to do."
He admitted before continuing.
"Look at this."
Arthur turned towards another pile some distance away from them.
'Flame Burst.'
A controlled wave of blue flames erupted from his palm. This one was much larger than the one that Celestine had used.
*Boom
It shot up in flames, everything was burned away. Shortly after, smoke billowed into the air.
"Was that good?"
Arthur questioned her.
For him it didn't feel so good, it certainly felt like it took more time than he usually did.
Even for the advanced spells with the most and complicated nodes it mostly only took him half a second to use.
However, it had taken him half a second to use this spell as well.
"It was.... almost instantaneous."
She muttered.
"Almost."
He emphasized on the word.
'I'm used to doing it instantaneously.'
The effects of the spirit were becoming clearer, he had already suspected this when he regained himself at the cemetery.
It had done a lot more than wasted three years of his life, it had also taken his power.
"Still, it was amazing."
"It's not much, with enough practice you'll be able to do this as well. Without a doubt you'll be better than me."
He patted her head.
"Maybe."
She replied.
Arthur didn't respond, instead he directed her on burning the remaining piles.
Hours passed like this, they burned the stashes with Arthur guiding her on her use of the fire element.
"We're done for today."
Arthur said as the last of the stash burned.
The sun had left the sky by now, in its place was the visage of a half-moon.
Celestine let out a deep breath. From heat to toe she was soaked in her own sweat given that she had only been using flame burst for the past few hours.
The short rests she had taken were for meditation, using it to absorb mana into her body.
Her mana reserves were on their last legs, anymore and she would collapse from overexertion.
As soon as he said that she fell onto the ground, her legs going limp.
"You did well."
He complimented as he raised her.
"Thanks."
She murmured, her breath ragged and labored.
Arthur stood there, taking in the sight.
'If I have to guess I would say my I'll have some trouble at my workplace.'
His reputation was well-known within his workplace. Celestine had told him about his reputation, and even then he had already guessed as much.
A rapist.
That was the only thing he was known as.
His reputation as the 'war hero' was unknown by most of the population. Only a few knew about him, that included people who had participated in the war, higher nobles, the elders and the king himself.
No one else knew that he was the person whom had propelled the empire to its victory.
That was what he was currently aware of, he knew of no more people who knew his identity apart from Adrian.
Though, that was only what he knew.
"Brother."
He heard his sister's voice.
"Hmm?"
He replied as he watched the smoke go up.
"You're resuming tomorrow.... As a professor, aren't you?"
She asked.
Arthur paused.
"....I know, Adrian told me."
He finally replied.
He felt Celestine tense up as he spoke those words.
"Are you going to be okay with your identity there?"
Arthur didn't know how to respond, precisely because he didn't have the answer to that question.
"I'll be fine."
He answered.
"You don't have to worry about how I'll feel, you have to worry about yourself."
He added.
"But-"
Celestine was about to put up an argument.
"Let's go."
He interrupted her.
'Ugoku Raijin.'
They vanished.
Both of them reappeared in her room in a flash, almost as if they hadn't moved at all. For Celestine, it was shocking.
She had forgotten how the spell worked.
"What was that?"
She murmured.
For some reason her head was spinning, almost as if she had spun around.
Arthur didn't answer her, instead he gazed at the room.
"This isn't...."
He let the words slip out by mistake, he hadn't intended for anyone to hear it.
It was just that her room was almost unrecognizable.
The plushies.
The dolls.
Everything was gone.
"My room? I've changed over the years...."
She said, noticing his gaze. Her head had stopped spinning.
Arthur was left with an indescribable feeling in his heart at her words.
He didn't know what to call it.