Chapter 3: Legacy III

  Alliyana Aurellia’s Perspective

  Spring.

  Thawn, technically.

  I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling as sunlight filtered through the high windows of Crownlight’s Research Hall. It touched my face, warm but still edged with winter. The kind of warmth that hasn’t fully committed yet.

  Behind me, someone sighed.

  I glanced over my shoulder.

  A room full of alchemists and barrier trainees were hunched over borrowed copies of Physical Chemistry. Brows furrowed. Lips moving silently. A few looked personally betrayed by mathematics.

  A young Hunter trainee raised his hand like he was reporting a crime.

  “Yes?” I said.

  He hesitated. “Lady Alliyana… what is this for?”

  I tilted my head.

  He gestured vaguely at the diagrams. “There’s no combat application for any of this.”

  There it was.

  I folded my hands in my lap. “Not everything is about combat.”

  Silence.

  “This,” I continued, tapping the page nearest me, “is necessary for research.”

  He looked unconvinced. I could tell he’d been dozing. His eyes had that unfocused glaze of someone who had tried very hard to look attentive.

  Youth is energetic. It is also impatient.

  Barrier and Light magic are rare. Smaller zones are rarer still. Which makes them valuable for delicate manipulation. Alexa is busy turning recruits into soldiers. That leaves me with whoever I can drag in here.

  Introducing spectroscopy this early would sound absurd in another world.

  Here, it is simply convenient.

  Light magic replaces prisms. Replaces lenses. Replaces precision optics. We do not need glass to separate wavelengths. We just need control.

  The door burst open.

  I turned.

  Agnes strode in, nearly tripping over her own excitement.

  “It’s here!” she announced, slightly louder than necessary.

  Several trainees flinched.

  She and two craftsmen maneuvered a polished wooden device onto the central table. Compact. Clean. Thoughtfully constructed.

  I stood and walked over.

  “It’s smaller than I expected,” I said.

  “It’s a modified version,” Agnes replied quickly. “The craftsmen improved the focusing chamber and narrowed the wavelength channel. They said your original design wasted light density.”

  That did not surprise me.

  Zepharim’s Trade Guild branch has sent over craftsmen, alchemists, researchers—brilliant people. When given a foundation, they build upward immediately.

  Auresta is catching up. Slowly. Crownlight opening to commoners was a necessary shift.

  Agnes is one such result.

  Tall. Focused. Perpetually carrying more books than required.

  I reached into my satchel and removed two vials.

  Agnes leaned forward. “We’ve only catalogued simple compounds so far. What are those?”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I just want to confirm something.”

  I placed the first sample into the device and leaned toward the lens.

  Light gathered at my fingertips. I narrowed the wavelength. Swept.

  Behind me, Agnes’ voice rose.

  “Why do you have Fire Shrub extract and— is that demonic poison?”

  I smiled slightly as I adjusted the frequency.

  This question has lingered since the first time I bit into demonic meat.

  Why are the side effects so… specific?

  Fire Shrubs in the northern Zepharim desert resemble Ephedra. Structurally simple. Stimulant properties. Sympathomimetic.

  The light passed through the sample. A clean absorption pattern emerged.

  I noted the peaks.

  “Swap them,” I said.

  Agnes carefully replaced the vial.

  I leaned in again.

  The pattern shifted.

  Similar.

  But not identical.

  There were additional absorption features. Subtle distortions.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Not conclusive.

  But enough.

  Agnes’ voice came from too close.

  “And?”

  I blinked.

  Her face was inches from mine.

  She froze.

  Turned bright red.

  Stepped back immediately.

  Cleared her throat. “What did you find?”

  I straightened and smiled faintly. “I admire your enthusiasm.”

  She looked mortified.

  “The spectral patterns are similar,” I said. “Demonic poison appears structurally related to Fire Shrub extract. Likely L-phenylalanine analogues. It explains why demonic poison mimics catecholamine effects. Tachycardia. Vasoconstriction.”

  She blinked.

  “I have a tendency to ramble,” I added.

  “You really are a genius,” Agnes said quietly. “I can’t keep up.”

  “There’s a difference between decades of expertise and genius,” I replied.

  She tilted her head.

  I clapped my hands once.

  “That’s enough for today. Read up to chapter six. Especially the sections on photon absorption.”

  A collective groan followed.

  I began walking toward the exit. “Agnes, feel free to use the spectroscope.”

  “Yes, Lady Alliyana.”

  I had nearly reached the door when I heard—

  “Wait!”

  I turned.

  Agnes stood there stiffly, right hand hidden behind her back. Her posture was far too tense for someone who had just delivered laboratory equipment.

  “Well?” I asked.

  She stepped forward and revealed a small red bag. Her fingers trembled slightly as she opened it. For a moment, she just stood there.

  Then she reached inside and pulled out a folded piece of paper and tucked the paper into her pocket.

  Silence stretched.

  I waited.

  After a few seconds, she quietly slid the paper back into the bag instead.

  Then she thrust the entire thing toward me.

  “For you.”

  I took it.

  It was light. I opened the bag and looked inside.

  Cookies. Homemade.

  I glanced up at her. “What’s the occasion?”

  She blinked rapidly, as if she had just rerouted her thoughts mid-sentence.

  “Th-thank you,” she said. “For the scholarship.”

  Ah.

  “You don’t owe Aurellia anything. Just graduate.”

  She nodded too quickly.

  I gave the bag a small lift in acknowledgment. “Still. Thank you.”

  Her ears were red. Youth is intense about everything.

  Outside, sunlight met me fully this time.

  I inhaled slowly.

  Crownlight’s courtyard buzzed with movement. Students, trainees, craftsmen moving in coordinated chaos.

  A few young men paused mid-conversation and stared.

  I smiled faintly. “Proceed.”

  They scrambled.

  I walked past a glass window and caught my reflection.

  I nodded once.

  It would be dishonest to deny it.

  I am indeed quite the beauty.

  Though it’s funny.

  What the Chaos God said.

  The Mind Goddess was the one who dragged me into this world. Or rather, stitched old memories into a young girl’s mind. It wasn’t reincarnation. Not in the poetic sense people prefer.

  The man from Earth died. I did not arrive here.

  This girl simply inherited what he knew. What I knew.

  Whether I was him before or her now… I feel no fracture. No dissonance. The continuity is functional. Memory and knowledge resting on a different nervous system.

  I still feel like me, whatever that even means.

  It at least explains why recall is effortless. Why information arranges itself neatly instead of fading. Transcriptions of science and mathematics are trivial.

  Convenient.

  The guards opened the gate.

  I stepped beyond Crownlight’s walls and walked home.

  The Aurellia Estate was quieter now. Most of the trainees had settled into the capital’s academy. Larger grounds. Better infrastructure. More hands to shape.

  Three Hunters were heading toward the gates when they noticed me.

  They paused.

  I lifted my hand, prepared to wave.

  They saluted instead.

  Ah.

  I lowered my hand and chuckled. “At ease.”

  They did not.

  “Assignment?” I asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  They’re stiff.

  “You’ll exhaust yourselves before the demons do. Good luck.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Close enough.

  I walked past them.

  There is little point in avoiding the military spotlight now. Too many saw the battle. Hunters. Paladins. Civilians.

  I had a brief season of anonymity. It was pleasant while it lasted. Traveling sounds nice.

  A Hunter jogged toward me from the courtyard.

  “Lady Alliyana!”

  He skidded to a stop and saluted. They are very fond of that gesture lately.

  “The Duke is requesting your presence.”

  “I assumed as much,” I said. “Thank you.”

  He looked relieved to be dismissed.

  I headed toward the Study.

  Ethan stood by the window when I entered. He had grown into a fine young Duke.

  “You’re back,” he said.

  “I tend to return,” I replied.

  He did not smile.

  “You look tense.”

  He moved toward his desk instead of answering immediately. Papers were stacked in careful disorder.

  “It’s about what’s happening outside the capital,” he said.

  “Ban?” I asked.

  “That’s part of it.”

  Of course it is.

  “Refugees from the eastern provinces and the southern shores arrived this morning,” he continued. “Demons hunting openly. Cults forming. Bandits. Drug cartels from Zepharim moving in where governance collapsed.”

  “And the defectors?” I asked.

  Ethan exhaled slowly. “Spreading conspiracies about the Church. About the farms. Ban is rumored to be leading them”

  Ah. The truth would eventually come out.

  He met my eyes.

  “They’re gaining traction.”

  Naturally.

  “What do you need from me?” I asked.

  He hesitated.

  Hunters of the North were stretched thin. The capital required stabilization. Patrol rotations were extended and veterans trained new recruits. Resources are strained.

  “I’m sorry to ask this,” he said. “But could you travel east? And along the southern shores.”

  There it is.

  “I’d be happy to.”

  He blinked. “You would?”

  “A road trip sounds refreshing.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. The sound he made was halfway between a sigh and a laugh.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ll finish the last set of books and leave shortly,” I said, turning toward the door.

  Before I stepped out, I paused.

  “The mantle of Duke suits you,” I added.

  He went still.

  Then he turned toward the window again.

  “Do you think Father would be proud?”

  “That he would.”

  No elaboration was needed.

  He didn’t answer. But his shoulders tightened, then steadied.

  That is enough.

  I closed the door behind me.