A Sinner’s Chance - Chapter 189

Once we got back to the estate and explained what we found to the others my time was spent split between the trade route to the Forest of Darkness and scouring the documents we’d gotten from the Progenitor Lab, while still trying to make mine and Kaliel’s soul compatible with the Status Plate once more. However, no matter how much we tried, understanding the structure of the soul, and therefore what needed to be manipulated and how to do so safely still eluded us.

Other than this single problem however, everything else was proceeding smoothly. The trade route had gotten approval from the kingdom and the list of supplies that I’d asked Renae to procure was nearly complete. In addition, due to the increase in stress and frustration, Ellie was seeking me out more often to relieve it and forget about her troubles, the white crest becoming more complete day by day.

Today was a strange day where I didn’t have anything in particular that required my attention. The construction of the tunnel from the cavern to the Forest of Darkness had yet to get underway, as we were in the process of hiring earth mages to work on it along with regular construction workers. Currently, the blueprints for the new area weren’t even completed, but since I had very little architectural experience or knowledge I chose to leave it to those who did.

Usually this free time would be spent with Kaliel and Ellie, trying to progress in any way possible, however, Kaliel was attending some event as Kalista, and Ellie was trying to restore the damaged parts of the documents, she had a Skill to do so, but it was lengthy and required great concentration, and even than it wasn’t guaranteed to work, so she was locked up and had forbid anyone from disturbing her, trying to increase the odds at any chance.

Since I was free to do as I pleased I decided to wander about the town for a bit, however, just as I was about to leave, a servant approached me with a letter that had been delivered by falcon. It was addressed to Arya and myself, and judging from the method of delivery and the paper used, it was probably from the Yin-Yang Village. Part of me couldn’t help but feel that there was some massive problem, and that the first day of rest I’d had in a while was going to be interrupted, however, my fears were misplaced as the letter was actually quite good news.

Ilya was pregnant, it seemed Arya was to be a big sister. It was still in the early stages, and as Elven pregnancies lasted quite a while it would be some time before the child was actually born but they had wanted to inform Arya and I about the news. I was happy to hear such news and I was sure that Arya would be too, so I contacted her through the Communication Jewelry, and invited her out for a day in the town. It was unusual for me to invite any of the girls anywhere so she quickly agreed, though I had the feeling I had interrupted someone else’s plan, but since such joyous news had come our way it would be a shame to not celebrate in some way.

It felt as if it had been ages since I had gone out into a town with the sole intention to waste money and enjoy myself and it was quite invigorating. Even Velen hadn’t had such a miserable work life balance, mostly because he was part of a military force with rules for things like leave and recreation. Then again, Velen wasn’t spending every night having sex with at least one woman, so despite his more regular lifestyle he had definitely been more stressed than I currently was. That said, a different form of stress relief was novel and refreshing, especially when conjoined with the excitement of Arya who found out she was going to have a younger sibling.

We spent the day at our leisure, only beginning to head back to the estate as dusk began to settle in. On the way back, passing through the myriad of buildings I’d been familiar with since my childhood, I had a sudden epiphany regarding mine and Kaliel’s issue. It wasn’t much to go on, but we’d been working with very little anyways. The pink-haired woman I’d met during my Awakening Ceremony, she was the one responsible for hooking me into the Status Plate at first, and while the words were somewhat hazy, I recalled the Statue had said something about my kind, perhaps rather than a non-human, it had simply detected that my soul was incompatible, and the pink-haired woman had fixed that, she’d also granted me the Skill that had eventually become Seshat’s Library, so she surely had some ability to manipulate the soul, and I couldn’t believe that I had forgotten that. I’d need to talk to Ellie about it, but I was probably going to head to the Divine City of Luxuria sooner than I originally planned, unless Ellie’s restoration efforts happened to stumble upon the knowledge we needed.

I headed straight towards Ellie’s room once Arya and I separated, only to find her asleep hunched over the desk she’d had brought in. Several pages were laying across the desk, and a quill was still in her hand. I could only smile warmly as I made my way over and scooped her up before placing her in the bed. I wondered if the Skill she had been using was really intensive for it to tire her out so much, but since she hadn’t awoken when I moved her I would wait until she woke up before asking.

I did however glance over the documents that she had been working on, several had more complete words and sentences than when I’d first brought them to her so it seemed she had some success. Looking over the new information there wasn’t really anything that would help our predicament, however, I did find a section about myself, one rather detailed. Most of it was things I knew or had figured out, however, there was a single piece of information that caused my brow to furrow. I didn’t want to accept what had been written, yet, not only was the evidence overwhelming, it touched upon one of the few doubts I had about my abilities.

AN: Christmas day approaches me quickly, so it is only fitting that I give at least one gift to all of those who were along for the story. There will be at least a single post daily until the end of December, which will catch us up to all I’ve written.

The story will be on hiatus at the start of the year for an unknown amount of time as the amount of time I have to write has been reduced to almost nothing.