Chapter 4: Chapter Four – Penitent One

 

“You Sister-Poxing Roblin!  Get back here with my sword!”

Gonzo, our main attacker and owner of two swords, even though he often used only one, just had his beloved second sword stolen from him when we were swarmed by a mixed group of goblins and moblins.  There was a roblin mixed in with the bunch, and of course roblins do as roblins do...

For as whimsically twisted as Gonzo is, he was at least cool headed enough to realize that he was responsible for holding the line with Duster the skeleton and myself so that Teresa wasn’t injured during the assault.

I am not really a front line fighter, nor do I care to be.  I had chosen the mace originally as my main weapon because the reality of this world hadn’t yet sunk in, and that choice put me there.   But the Red Hawks who picked me up, found a way to let me be an opportunist attacker in my party role until I could undergo a class change into being their full support.

“Did you see which way it went?” He yelled furiously.

“West.” I answered, having seen the little shit weave through the mob of goblins.

“I’m going to shove it up his arse pointy-end first with it once I find him and tear it out of his hands!”

I swung Relenna’s Regret in a wide arc before me scoring a few deep cuts that left some nasty damage on the mobs in front of me.

“Gonz, baby, I’m gonna do that!” Teresa suddenly proclaimed.

“Is it time for our combination attack?”

“Yep, let me know when you’re ready.”

“Give me just a second to prepare it!”

Gonzo let out a sharp whistle suddenly.

“Grimlock, I summon the endless night of the boneyard to send these bodies to you as eternal servants in your glory!" Teresa began chanting and an ominous energy began to gather around her.  Gonzo began to do the same.  I had no fucking idea what was about to happen, but I didn’t think it would be anything good. “Field of Darkness!”

Gonzo followed up with his “Enchant Curse!" skill fully vocalized, causing his blade became darkened.

Then a consecutive spell came from Teresa “Darkfire!”  Immediately followed by Gonzo yelling “Shadow Stab!”

“ “Combined attack, Reapers of the Night!” ” 

In what was a planned amalgamation of some spooky theatrics, there was first a spell which created a field of darkness a few meters outwards from the central point of Teresa.  This was followed by Gonzo enchanting curse upon his weapon, his remaining short sword, which had a debilitating effect on any monster struck by it.  It was then followed up by Teresa’s Dark Fire spell, which was some kind of bluish-purple tinted light that was, in all honesty, cool as hell to witness within the field of darkness.  The flames weren’t meant to attack, but instead to create shadows.  It was then followed up by Gonzo who had a unique ability called Shadow Stalk. This allowed him to quite literally leap from shadow to shadow quickly and nearly undetected.  Being a unique ability it was innate.  It was his shadow stab which caused damage as he would pop up behind each of the attacking goblins and stab them from behind in a vital spot.

There were about nine goblins who had entrapped us before those two began their so-called combined attack.  It took about half a minute before every goblin was dead. The Dark Field Skill could last about five minutes in length, but could be recalled at any time by Teresa.  Less than a minute later, from the start, it had been.

In front of us on the ground creating a pool of mixing ichor, was nothing but bodies which had ceased to be.

Now, I’m a rational adult.  I’ve lived twenty-nine years as I’ve continually mentioned before.  But even I wanted some crazy unholy skill to do add to the mix for something as stupidly edgy and fun as that looked.

If a scythe wasn’t such an unwieldy weapon, it would make a great addition.

Now, it was a bad idea, and I am aware of the concepts of cringe and shamefulness, but I did plan on having a look through the available skills later, just in case I could find something that might spice it up a bit more.

After all, I remember a certain time-travelling RPG featuring a quiet spiky-haired protagonist that had three-character ultimate combination attacks, so why shouldn’t I join in the fun?  Gonzo and Teresa will likely be with me for a while, and diving in the dungeon can often be boring at times.  Getting to do something like that can be an excellent diversion!

I’ve also become aware of a new feature of my Divine Treasury skill.  I can simply touch the armor of one of these goblins and it would strip the body clean.  Again, goblins had no real use alchemically, save for the brain, and no one really wants to go goblin-brain hunting, not even the guy with a unique item box.

And for the record, I checked.  I couldn’t just collect their brain through the skull, though if they were decapitated, I could collect the head alone. It was worth considering, since I imagine Gonzo wouldn’t be too unsettled by decapitating dead goblins.  He just gave off that feel of the kind of twisted guy who could go with the flow of that kind of thing.

Maybe some kind of Dullahan motif?

He’s here to reap the heads of goblins for Dullahob?

I… should put these thoughts away for now.

After taking everything of value, we continued west towards the rogue Roblin who pilfered his other short sword.  It was ambush after ambush, and between ambushes I found myself healing Duster the skeleton who for being an undead and mindless skeleton, was probably a better front line fighter than all of us.

The skeleton made very few wasteful movements, and I thought about buying a second spear to give it to use so I might pick up a few tricks from observation that I could practice with later on.

I’m a progressive thinker when it comes to taking measures to live healthily until tomorrow.  After all, I now have a wife I need to look after.

As an aside, goblins here aren’t only male.  There are female goblins as well.  They are all ugly as hell though, so it doesn’t matter.  Maybe there’s some fucked up noble that might get off on the idea, but they are repulsive for me to look at.

It was sometime in our fourth hour of diving in the dungeon, having skipped the first floor entirely in favor of gaining experience points for me rapidly on the second that we finally found the sneaky cockroach.  He was cornered in a room, with no other exit, so I took a moment to see if Teresa would humor me.

“Would it be possible to let Duster kill that one?”

“No way!  I wanna stab it in the ass with the pointy end of the sword the little shit stole!”  Gonzo complained.

“Is there a reason for asking that?”  Teresa indeed humored me.

“I want to see the skills it would have using my spear instead of the low quality swords you have it using instead.  My spear has the Goblinbane trait, so it might do something cool like cause it to blow up into chunks of meat.”

Gonzo was angry until he heard that last part.

“Explode into chunks of roblin meat?”

I nodded. 

“Yeah, like just boom!  A corpse explosion, a bloodbag bursting.  Something pretty neat like that.” I fabricated.

“That does sound a bit more interesting than just browning up my sword.   Alright, Reese, why not let ‘em?”

I offered my spear out to the skeleton, telling him in normal speech to take it and aim for a clean strong pierce into the body of that stupid roblin.  The skeleton dropped it’s sword entirely uninterested in it now and took hold of Relenna’s Regret.  The spear began to glow wildly in it’s hands, and Duster immediately seemed to have a far more wicked and menacing aura than before.  His jaw began to open and close, while an unsettling clacking noise filled the room with each step.

I should say before this, that Duster fought with whatever low-quality metal swords it was given, usually taken from drops, and its other hand when not using a shield was used to rake enemies with its bony fingers.

But right now, the Duster holding the spear with both hands was actually terrifying.

It took slow deliberate steps as if stalking its prey, and as it got closer to the roblin who tried to dash around it, the roblin found out quickly that it didn’t have the room to outdistance the spear.

It was swept backwards and launched into the wall of the dungeon it was cornered against.

Roblins are cowardly to the extreme.  They exist mainly to rob dungeon divers and to lead parties into ambushes by the other three types that reside on the floor.  Because it was a coward, even though it clutched Gonzo’s short sword, it didn’t have the wherewithal to use it.  It only knew how to flee.

Sweep after sweep by the spear, and smack after smack of it’s body against the dungeon wall, I could swear the summoned skeleton was actually enjoying toying with it’s prey.  The clacking never stopped and both Gonzo and Teresa were watching on with pure interest at the sight of their companion doling out the torment.

At some point, I think the will of the creature actually broke, because it no longer held onto Gonzo’s sword.  It only seemed like it was making one last calculated move to dash.  It was surely battered, beaten, and broken already, but the life hadn’t gone out of its eyes entirely.

But it only took a second for it to happen.

As if the fun was over for Duster, moving at a supernatural speed, the skeleton’s arms pulled back and the spear aimed dead center at the roblin’s body.  It thrust forward at a ridiculous speed, and pierced the roblin directly in the center of it’s torso.

As if blessed by hatred and darkness, what looked like a visible wave of night coiled around Duster and then moved like a snake along its body, down its arms, and along the spear.  Relenna’s Regret glowed a crimson red and it was injected into the already pierced roblin.

“BOOM!”

Though I’ve never seen it before, I imagine that’s what a person strapped with dynamite would look like after it detonates.  Chunks of flesh, viscera, bone, and gore almighty erupted from the exploded roblin.  Duster was given a fresh coat of bloody paint, and if we weren’t as far back as we were, it would have been the same for us.

“Grimlock’s Balls!”

“Poxin’ Hells!”

Needless to say the two were excited.  I on the other hand, hoped never to witness something like that ever again.  But it wasn’t over entirely just yet.  A part of the Roblin was still intact.  Duster had leaned over to pick it up, and it was the head of the little creature.  Part of its skull was shattered and brain was visible.  Duster brought the head to it’s mouth and began to bite and pull the brain out of it’s little skull, and was chewing it with gusto!

It never let go of the spear, but once the brain was gone, it threw the head away as if it was nothing but trash.

It chewed and chewed and chewed.  It chewed some more, and then eventually swallowed.  When it did, something crazy happened.  There was like a aura of darkness surrounding it now.

It walked back over to me and offered me the spear back first, then it picked up the sword it had dropped.  It had left Gonzo’s sword back with the exploded mess, and Gonzo had to go retrieve his blade which was covered in things like intestines and who knows what else.

Teresa on the other hand was distracted.

“Gonz… I got… something.”

“What is it babe?”

“It’s… some kind of thing Duster needs to do.”

“What, like a quest?”

She nodded slowly for him, then addressed me in turn.  “It has to do with your spear, Randell.  Duster… needs to eat the brains of certain monsters on this floor.”

“What do you mean?” came my reply.

“I mean… it needs to eat the four named, and then Red Cap.”

“Red Cap?  Isn’t that the named version of Goblin Leader?” I asked.  

The Red Hawks had already looked up information pertaining to the named boss monster on this floor, just in case we had bad luck and ran into it.  We didn’t, but how much worse would it have been if we had?

“According to what I’m understanding here, the one it just obliterated was Roblin Hood.  There’s also The Mobfather, Nilbog, and Hobwitch.  It needs to consume some part of it, but… it’s tied into your spear, Randell.”

“So, it has to do what it just did now to the other three named?”

“That appears to be the case.” She answered.

“What’s the reward for completing that quest?”

“I don't know.  Just that this quest is exclusive to Duster.”

“Is there a time limit to complete it?” I asked.

“Nothing like that.”

“Well, I’m… okay with that.  Duster, if you come across a named, make a motion to let me know you need the spear, okay?”

Duster clacked his jaw as if confirming.

“This is some crazy stuff, Reese!”  Gonzo said, thrilled.

“Yeah, it really is.” She agreed.

“What is Duster, originally?” I dared to ask.

“Duster was my husband.”  Teresa answered far too casually.

“He’s also my older brother.”  Gonzo added as if it was a perfectly normal thing to reveal immediately after.

I…

I wanted to ask if they were kidding with me.

But… they weren’t.

They were both dead-ass serious.

Duster the undead summoned skeleton is at the eternal mercy of his still-living wife, and he has to realize that his younger brother is now taking over the job of banging her?  I felt the need to sit down for a minute, but the room we were in was a hell-scape of gore and roblin bits, so that wasn’t about to sit well with me either.  If that wasn’t the kicker, then how bad was the other summon they didn’t want to mention?

I was about to open my mouth to ask again, but then I kept it shut.

I didn’t need to know.

I completely felt like I didn’t need to know about it at all.

But what did happen was that I felt a great sympathy to the skeleton summon, and somehow as wrapped up in evil magic as the skeleton was, it was probably more still more of a normal human than either of those two.

Probably.

We moved to the room just outside and I took out today’s lunch from the Divine Treasury.  Seeing as how I stayed in the Blue Robin guild and for a few coins more I could have them pack me a meal to take with into the dungeon, which would be completely maintained while stored, I had them make a couple more and had these guys take a break with me.

Duster stood on guard, wholly uninterested in the cooked meal.  Gonzo and Teresa however were already salivating and with fifteen minutes well spent being fed and recharged, I packed everything away again and we continued to grind on the floor.

I was making good progress on my way to the fourth level of experience.  There were no changes to Relenna’s Regret, the spear she had discarded her feelings into, after what Duster the skeleton had done while using it.  It was still the same strangely strong spear that was the bane of all Goblinkind.

We continued for another four hours, thinning out as many ambushes as we could, but there were no signs of any of the other named monsters.  We decided to call it a day when I swear, even Duster looked exhausted.

Just for good measure I gave the walking pile of bones a good long heal, hoping even a skeleton could enjoy the feel of a nice pair of tits or a juicy snatch he might never know again.  I was against it when it was a Bat-bat, but somehow, Duster, being a summon, felt like less of a monster now that I actually got to know something about the edgelord couple’s undead companion.

We backtracked to the magic circle between the first and second floors since it was closer to where we currently were.  I may have neglected to mention it, but it’s not like we were the only ones on the second floor in all this time.

It was common to run into other parties, and we had, often indicating where we had come from, sharing information so we’re not travelling routes that have already been freshly cleared.  The smallest sized party we encountered was a four-person, and the largest was an eight-person.  

The guild card serves an important function as it’s infused with a special kind of magic.  As if the dungeon somehow knows, those within the same party share experience provided they are on the same floor.  There are only two exceptions to this:  death, or if one of the party members are not inside the boss room at the moment of the kill.

There’s no bussing the boss from outside.

Maybe it’s something like the honor of the dungeon.  If a diver wants to move to the next floor they absolutely have to prove their ability, even if it’s just the courage to step into the room while the rest of the party they belong to actually handles the combat.

There are full porter classes that have next to no combat skill at all, and probably couldn’t survive on the third or fourth floor on their own who have gone as low as the fortieth floor just by tagging along and being the party’s support.  Setting up camp, cooking food, handling monster dismantling…

It’s not a bad gig, really.  As long as you don’t get one of those stereotypical abusive parties that look down on the class.  It’s actually the porters who happen to have a strong union within the Dungeoneering Guild.  Porters are a class that needs to sacrifice the most trust, after all, if a party wipes, they are essentially dead because of a lack of combat skills.

Supposedly there was a legendary porter named Sebastian who was said to possess a combat ability that was at a heroic level.  But then again, that person was also the porter for the hero party at the time, so it should be expected I guess?

I suppose this is also a good point to stop and talk about dungeon ecology.

Dungeons are living beings.  I suppose if you had to compare it to something, it’s like a sentient tree.  I don’t mean a Treant, but rather something like a Yggdrasil.  Dungeons at the lowest point have something called a Core.  It’s like the brain or spirit of the dungeon.  If something damages the core, the dungeon itself is at risk of collapsing.  At the very least, the magic or essence that is in charge of re-spawning the monster or the loot in treasure chests, the cleanup of corpses, and the occasionally shifting layout all dissipates.  It just becomes a hollow cave and if it can’t naturally support the structures resting on top of it…

It craters.

There is a story about an old city which had suffered the same fate.  Thankfully it’s not Zoma Capital City, and that the people in charge have already made sure the Dungeoneering guild lets all new divers know that should they somehow survive and make it to the bottom, however far down it is, under no circumstances are they allowed to damage the core.  The penalty is to be hunted down for the rest of their lives.  No corner of the world would be safe.

I’m still not yet level four, and of the information that is freely available to the dungeon divers provided by the guild, the dungeon past the fiftieth floor is only for those who truly have the mettle.

Those who can overcome the Crisis the dungeon levies on them.

Back at the guild, I empty out the loot we obtained today, and receive the proceeds earned from the materials which were brought in yesterday.  

Duster is currently unsummoned.  He is currently a smooth flat round bone with a sharpened tip.  Teresa when summoning him, yeah, him, I guess, since he was her husband while alive, cuts her arm with the piece of Duster and the mixture of her blood and whatever summoning skill she uses causes him to dig up from the ground wherever the bone drops.  I don’t know where the bone goes though.  If it’s a part of the skeleton at some point or if it simply returns to her somehow once Duster is well… dusted?  But she has two bones.  One is Duster, and the other… looks like a chicken bone.  It’s kept attached to a necklace around her neck, and from time to time I do see her reach up and hold it… stroking it gently and carefully when she’s not aware I’m watching her.

Neither Gonzo or Teresa had said anything about it, and I didn’t press for any further details about it either, only that I was curious if it was the bone which summoned her other skeleton.

All she did was confirm that it was.

Taking a moment to borrow a private party room to divide the day’s earnings, I carefully emptied the coins out onto the table and we divided it all equally between us.  I made sure there was no issue with that, since those two were in fact doing a significant portion of the heavy lifting in carrying me up the lower levels again, and if they felt entitled to more, I was willing to renegotiate.

Having an enhanced item box meant they had the opportunity to earn a lot more money each dive they ever normally would have being choosey with what drops and proofs of subjugation they brought back, so they were satisfied with how we divided it.  The remaining one percent of funds was spent on food, since after working hard, we deserved to eat good!

I parted with them for the day, and returned to the Blue Robin Inn.  Finding the inn’s daughter all but waiting for me suspiciously, she approached and asked if I was going to be needing the usual today.

I was.

“Hanging in there, Mister Randell?”

Her name was Rennifel, and was in the know that I was the survivor of my recent party wipe.

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“Yeah.  Slowly working my way back up.”

“Found yourself a woman to ease the loss?”

Oh, was she curious?  She seemed to be about my age in appearance, so it wasn’t unthinkable that she knew what men and women did behind closed doors.  Seeing how this world is, she might actually know more about what goes on there firsthand than I do. 

“Was it that obvious?”

“You used to only ask for the hot bath three times a week, but you’ve been asking every day since you came back alone.  There’s not many reasons to do so other than to make it more pleasant for a woman, am I right?”

“You aren’t wrong.  But I’d take a bath every day if it was economical to do so."

"What do you consider economical?"

"About a silver coin a week.” I bargained.

“I’d be willing to do it for that price.  Once a day guaranteed.  You’d prefer it right after you get back from the dungeon and before your meeting with the lady, right?”

I did the math quickly.  I gave her two copper coins whenever I wanted a bath.  Sometimes three if I really wanted a nice hot one, and the thought of getting them on the regular once a day, assuming it was the best quality, nice and hot, at three coins a day seven days a week added up to two silver and one copper.

Just under half price is nice, but I wanted the best.  Not just to not smell funky to Kokoro, but to help me relax as well.

“One silver and five copper for a hot bath every day.”

“…really?”

I nodded.

“It’s a deal!” she squealed happily.

We shook hands on it and I took out the agreed upon amount.  I had enough to see Kokoro today for a few hours, one silver coin wasn’t going to net me longer than the three large silver I had in reserve.  If I want to get her out of there, I’m going to need to be able to visit and save money, so I need to consider how much time I will be seeing her for on the nights I go there.

Rennifel the Blue Robin Inn’s daughter with a promising nose for business opportunities got started right away with my desired bath.  

“Outside of breakfast and dinner I’m free, so if there are any other things you need, I’d be happy to do more business with you.”

“Then, if I need anything, I’ll come find you.”

“Enjoy your hot bath, Mister Randell.”

She waved and left me alone in my room.

There were soaps and perfumes and oils to mix in with the bath waters.  They weren’t prohibitively expensive, but they weren’t as cheap and widely available here as they were on Earth.  Those were the domain of alchemy, and if I wanted some, I needed to visit an Alchemist.

I settled for just letting my body soak and doing my best to rinsing and wiping off as much of the sweat coating my body as possible, especially my armpits and crotch.  I didn’t want to take too long, I had a certain window I had to make to be sure I was the first into her arms today.  I just hoped she was recovered and that I wouldn’t leave her sore again.  

Dressed up in the last of Jung’s nice apparel, I thought about Rennifel’s offer.  Laundry.  I hated doing laundry!  I didn’t even know how to use a laundry machine back on Earth either.  I’d either bring my clothes over to my mom’s and do some handyman stuff around the house for her in exchange, or take it to a laundromat that had a drop-off service and pay extra.

Well, it was a matter for later.

Feeling as nice and clean as I could considering the memory of the blood-soaked skeleton Duster after unleashing unholy retribution on the poor roblin earlier, I was ready to visit the brothel and see my new bride.  Arriving early as instructed, I met with the receptionist who I troubled yesterday, but she seemed to be ready to deal with me without being exasperated today.

“Randell, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re right on time.  Please go right to her room.”

“Uh… don’t I need to pay upfront first?”

“The Madame is upstairs and waiting for you inside already.  It seems she wishes to talk with you about something.”

Oh boy.  Please don’t be anything bad.

“Right.  Thanks.”

I left the receptionist, and went directly upstairs to the room Kokoro resided in.  Knocking on the door, it was quickly opened by the Madame herself.

“Right on time, boy.  Come inside, close the door behind you.”

I did as she asked.

My wife… that is, Kokoro was sitting in a seiza position on her bed, and was completely naked.  The tattoo she now had on her left breast over her heart was in plain view, as was every other part of her.

“Take off your shirt, boy.”

“Uh.”

“Please do it, Dell.”  A soft spoken request came immediately from my wife.

“Right.”  I undid the buttons and opened up my shirt to reveal the same tattoo on my own chest over my own heart.

“What in the name of the Dungeon Mother is she thinking?”  The Madam said out loud, to us, herself, or no one in particular.

“Is uh… something wrong?”

“I came to inspect her body, for your sake since you appear to favor her.  What I’d like to know is why the mark of Alurian, the same mark no less now that I can compare them, is on your bodies!  Were you hiding your soulbond to each other from me purposely?  Pus and Pox!  I’m not trying to incur divine wrath here!”

She stepped in front of Kokoro and reached out, speaking some strange words which caused a golden light to reveal a hidden mark parallel to her visible tattoo on her other breast.

“What’s that?” I asked the Madame.

“Penance.” She replied.

“Penance?”

“Alurian altered her fate, boy.  Do you think the Goddess just does that for anyone without asking something in return?  This establishment is a sanctuary of Alurian!  The mark enforces the penitent ones to serve their penance here!  There’s… nothing I can do!”

“I’m sorry, can you please explain the penance thing a bit more?"

"This girl was supposed to have another fate entirely.  She chose to abandon it, and there was a price to be paid for the Goddess to allow it.  While Alurian is merciful, the mercy of the Pillars isn’t free!  Her servitude is demanded in exchange for the changing of her fate!”

“So, you’re saying she has no choice but to work here, right?”

“Yes.  There’s little even Alurian can do to remove this mark of the penitent until it’s been served.  To do so otherwise... there would have to be a significant payment of faith.”

“Right.  That’s what I’m here to do for her.”

“You’re shouldering her fate?”

“Yes.”

“Pox blight a Pillar…!” She swore.

“That reminds me, I was curious as to what I would have to do to buy out her contract here.”

“Did you not listen to a word I said just now, boy?”

“I did.  You said she has to work here still.  She’s got some kind of penance thing, but that’s not a big deal, right?  I just have to serve it in her place…”

“How ignorant are you, boy?  The mark of the penitent keeps her here.  Her service is to this establishment until the mark is lifted.”

“Huh?  So I can’t buy out her contract?”

“You can, but it’s not a matter of coin, boy.  I told you it’s a matter of payment of faith!  I don’t even know where to begin explaining it.  The contract is between her and Alurian, it's not on some sheet of parchment I have hidden away.”

“Then, I can ask one of the priests at the temple to help me do something about it then.  I’m on good terms with Priest Northay…  They should know what to do, right?”

“Priest Northay?  He’s still moving around in his old age?” She chuffed, amused.

“Yeah.  He looked about ten years younger after I underwent my class change.”

“Look, boy.  That kind of mark on her body… that’s not a simple one at all.”

The madam pulled out her own breast from her dress and spoke what sounded like the same words to Kokoro before her hidden marking appeared.  Then a similar mark appeared on the visible skin the Madame showed me, only it was much smaller in size, less vibrant in color, and far less intricate a pattern.

“I have been serving my own penance for about a decade now and mine wasn’t anywhere near as complicated as that one when I first received it.  I’m still half a decade away before being released from my own servitude.  Do you understand now, boy?  She’s going to be in service here for…”

I felt my heart drop for a moment.

“…for the foreseeable future.  The fate she went against… I don’t even dare to guess!”

“So, wait.  Is that Alurian’s doing then?  Does that mean I can ask her to reverse it?”

“That is Alurian’s mercy, boy!  A penance simply comes to be when one defies the fates.   It’s Alurian’s mercy that she is able to bestow that mark in order to let her serve that penance here, in this sanctuary acting as her faithful follower.”

“You make it sound like this is a temple to Alurian.”

“It’s not a temple, boy.  It’s a sanctuary.  She is here to pay off the debt of changing a fate the likes of which I cannot even fathom by acting as the faithful of Alurian.  She exists now to serve whether she wants to or not until the Mark of the Penitent fades from her flesh.  Do you understand yet?  She will probably be chained here her whole life!  You’re soulbound to what is damn near a life-long penitent one!”

“Right, there was something like that as well.” I recalled.

“You know something?”

“Ah… well, sort of?”

“Do you know what the fate she defied was?” The Madame inquired of me.

“Uh… can you um… spirit swear?”

“Pillars crumble… yes, boy.” came a grumbling reply.  She took Kokoro’s hand and my own and we were all quickly bound into a spirit swear together.

“I don’t know how much I should say, but I do know what her fate was supposed to be and that I asked to shoulder it in her place in exchange for the chance that we could be bound together.”

“Well, out with it then!” She rushed me.  All the while now, Kokoro had remained quietly listening.

“Satori Kokoro was to be the Saintess of Alurian.”

“BLIGHT!”  The Madame began to swear heavily. “A Pillars-be-poxed blighting apostle!  That was the fate she denied?”

“That’s what I gleaned from when I underwent my class change.  That’s also when I received that box that gave us the matching tattoos.”

“Those aren’t tattoos, boy!  A tattoo will eventually come off.  Even if you tear the skin from her bosom and then heal it back afterwards, that mark will never leave her body.  Not until her soul exits her body.  That is proof that you two are forever mortally bound to each other!”

“Yeah.  We are each other’s strength.  That was mentioned as well.”

“You.  Did you meet with a messenger during your class change?”

“Ah… maybe?  I’m pretty sure I met with Alurian herself though…  Because she was pretty cooperative with me, and all she really wanted in exchange was for me to become her Chosen.” 

“You became her Apostle!?”

“Yep.  My class is actually Chosen of Alurian, but I can change what is seen on my status.  I have it set to Acolyte for now, because my level was reset when I picked the class she offered.”

“And what level are you now?”

“About a third of the way to the fourth level.”

“You just changed your class two days ago, correct?”

“Yeah, after the first night I spent with Kokoro, I went right to the temple afterwards and changed class.”

The Madame sat down on the bed like the wind was taken out of her sails.

“I… can’t do more than I already have.  I can abide by allowing you the first visitation, but…”

“I know.  I’m grateful for that alone.  She… wanted to be safe, I know that much already from Alurian.  Since you said this is a sanctuary then she’s safe here, right?”

“Yes.  She’s a penitent one.  As long as she’s here, there is no question that she’s safe, provided she serves her penance.  That’s a guarantee.”

“Then, I’ll just have to work hard on my end to make the mark fade.  I was already prepared for it to not be easy.  Alurian explained as much to me that us being together wouldn’t be an easy thing to do.  But my reward for completing what she asked of me was that I would be given Kokoro in the end.”

“You asked the goddess for me, Randell?” My new bride finally asked.

“Yeah.  For me, you’re my reason to keep going.  So I’m going to take care of your share, and you’ll give me the strength to keep going until we can both be happy.  That’s what it means to be bound together, right?  I promise you won’t regret it.”

“I don’t regret it… but… what if you come to despise me because of what I have to do here?  What the Madame said… that I will have to do this until… this mark is gone?  What if it takes all your life?”

“Let me worry about that, Kokoro.  As long as you are here to accept me when I need you, then that’s all that I desire.”

“Then… whenever you come, I will be here to receive you..." She answered humbly before redirecting a question to the head of the brothel.  "Madame, what happens if I don’t serve my penance?”

“Pain.   You will suffer an excruciating pain that won’t kill you, but can drive you to the edge of madness until you submit and serve.”

“Can… her penance be changed?  Like can she work at a temple or in another way to serve it?” I interrupted to ask.

“I said this was Alurian’s mercy, boy.  Trust me, you don’t want to know the other options.  Her intervention of this much is proof that Alurian cared about this girl probably more than anyone else in this world.”

“Alurian said she wanted me to return the artifact if Kokoro said no to the bond when I underwent my class change again at the tenth level.  Since Kokoro said yes, then I’ll just have to ask her what can be done at that time.  I’m sure the Goddess wants to help us.  I mean, I’m her Chosen now.  She at least should care about what I have to ask of her, considering I’m going to be doing her will from now and into the future for Kokoro's sake.”

“Then… until you do that, there’s nothing else that can be helped.  Is there anything else important to reveal or shall I end the spirit swear now?”

“That should just about cover it.  I only have one question after this…”

“Which is?”

“Have you finished your inspection?  Can I be with Kokoro tonight?”

She stared me down.

“Make your loving memories with her tonight.  I’m sure the Goddess will allow that much, all things considered.  It'll be my present to you two, since after tonight what help I can offer you both… is next to nothing.  She will be fit to serve again from tomorrow.”

The Madame stood up and walked towards the door, sparing a glance backwards to us as she opened it.

“Kokoro… bed him well.”

“Un.  I will!”

The door closed, and we were alone.  It was our first night after being married, and the start of our limited honeymoon.  It wouldn’t be until the next day that the true trial I agreed to undergo for the love of this girl also from Earth would begin to be known to the both of us.

How her strength was my strength and my strength was her strength.

How… in order to love each other, we had to first suffer for our sins.

Her sin for running away from her fate as the Saintess.

And my sin, for not dying together with my comrades to the Goblin Leader.

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