Chapter 58: CH 57 – An Expedited Death (Part 2)

DONG. DONG. DONG.

A bell hanging in the tower of the villa rang out. Its ringing emanated out through the entirety of the Town of Ascot. Additional bells sounded in the circular city in response. And then more bells sounded from the fields stretched out to the horizon.

It was an announcement. The funeral procession was starting.

The sun hung high in the clear blue sky, and birds fluttered through the air. A light breeze swung gently through the air and felt cool against the day's warmth.

What a beautiful day.

I leaned against the ballasted marble railing and looked toward the four roads leading into the city. Several carriages and people on horseback sped toward the town from all four directions. Many more that had arrived earlier were entering through the gates.

It was remarkable how many people came to pay their respects to my grandmother.

I wonder where they all traveled from and who they all are.

A silence came over the town as the bells completed their ringing.

"Luca, come, it's time." Micah patted my shoulder.

I pushed away from the ballasted marble railing and turned around. The rest of my family was waiting for me. Nirre, Blake, Remlend, Denise, and even Jasper were present. Admittedly, Jasper did not look like he would partake in the ceremony and would likely be walked back into the villa before the procession started.

Everyone was dressed in black, with Mother and Micah being the only two with any color in their clothing. Mother had red roses intertwined in her hair, and Micah had a boutonniere of a small red rose on his chest.

I sighed. In my original life, Micah was not alive for this funeral. Mother was the only one who held responsibilities back then, and she looked much worse for wear. The dual death had taken its toll. However, on this timeline, my grandma's death, while tragic, was not unexpected. Preparations had been made. Everyone was ready for it.

Micah joined Mother at the front of the procession, each atop their own horse. Behind them, Grandmother's casket lay open atop a wide carriage without a top, with Ben as its driver.

I joined Elda and Jarvis to sit behind the casket on the carriage. The twins sat on either side of me. I looked down at grandma's body. She looked to be at rest and about to attend a party of a lifetime. She was dressed in a rich maroon dress, and her neck, fingers, and ears were decked out in jewelry.

A few roses had been dropped into the carriage beside the casket already. As I recalled from my original life, by the end of the procession, the carriage was filled with roses surrounding grandma's body.

DONG. DONG. DONG.

The bells rang again, and the procession began its slow pace down the hill from the villa. It moved on the main road that spiraled through the Town of Ascot.

This time the bells did not stop ringing. More tiny bells rang from the hands of the onlookers paying their respects to grandmother and the family.

As the procession moved between the white buildings, a few important-looking individuals came toward Mother and Micah. They bowed and provided them with a scroll each. Micah and Mother accepted them and tucked them into the attached bags on either side of their horses.

Roses were handed by less-important-looking onlookers to Elda and Jarvis to toss into the carriage.

Being in the middle, I didn't have any duties of my own and was free to observe the crowds. In my original life, I was so overcome with grief that I had sobbed the whole way, grieving not just grandmother's passing, but Micah's too.

Just who are all those people giving the scrolls?

Micah and Mother accepted a scroll each from two lanky, robed individuals. The two wore masks with weird painted-on faces; one looked cartoonishly happy, and the other overly surprised.

However, those were hardly the most unusual of the funeral guests. I squinted at the individuals that bowed toward Micah and Mother, hoping that the Random Character Checker would pop up and quench my curiosity for at least one of them. Still, the darn thing refused to show up.

"Peep!"

I glanced at the sound, but it was just a regular bird, not Leona.

Leona had decided not to sit atop my head for the funeral procession. She, in her wisdom, felt it wasn't proper. However, where she went on her own, I did not know.

Well, she is a phoenix. I'm sure she can take care of herself for a few hours.

After what took the sun to lower slightly in the sky, the procession rounded down and made its way through the large gates, and out of the walled fortress.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

The ringing never ended. It only subsided, sounding from far behind us.

There were no more well-wishers on the road here. Still, the procession of Mother, Micah, the carriage, and several guards continued forward, with green fields of vegetables on either side.

We entered a side road that moved into a grove of apple trees. A faint sweet scent of fallen apples emanated from our surroundings, overtaking the roses lying in the carriage.

Mother turned and motioned for the guards to spread out. This final part of the journey was for the family, with Ben, the only non-family member in attendance.

The two horses and carriage continued through the orchard, reaching a rocky formation. Mother jumped off her horse and placed a key rune against it. The rocks dissipated as if they were merely an illusion to reveal an opening into a cave going down.

"Children, come down from the carriage," Mother called out. "Micah, please stay with them."

She had made it clear that only she, Ben, and grandmother were the only three allowed further entry. This was how it went in my original life, except then, I was left in charge of staying with the twins.

"Where are they going?" Elda whispered.

The carriage had disappeared into the cave.

"Who knows…" I said.

Perhaps they were going down to see Azgralos, the dragon. It wasn't like I could tell how far the underground caves and the dragon's domain stretched out. Or there was something else below that was beyond my imagination's limits.

 

***

 

I didn't remember much about what happened in my original life after the funeral. Back then, I was exhausted and depressed and simply shut myself off in my room to be alone.

"Bahaha! Come this way! Grab a beer!" A cheerful voice sounded from my right.

When we returned to the walled-off town in a separate carriage that was prepared to take us back, the sun was on the edge of the horizon, and hanging lanterns were lit across town streets. Rather than be in mourning, the Town of Ascot erupted into a celebration of the life that Ruth Arankagul had lived. Grilled meat, baked sweets, and liquor wafted from all sides. It felt like the Summer Festival had gone on an extra day with ever more vigor than before.

I wonder if Leona had flown off and gotten herself something to eat from one of these stalls. Of course, she doesn't have any money, but perhaps no one would mind a small yellow bird having a few bites?

I grimaced.

Leona wasn't one to take only a few bites. She was the type to eat enough to fill the stomachs of two grown men.

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"Ben, could you put out a word on finding my bird?" I requested. "The little yellow one? And make sure that she is well fed."

Ben nodded.

"Certainly, young master Luca." He whistled, and two booth stall owners ran over to him. He said something to them, and the two ran off in separate directions.

"Hup! Hup Hup!" A woman's voice called out, and music erupted from a small court of people that danced through the street. I didn't recognize the people or most of the instruments in their hands. I presumed the group to be from some other foreign region.

However, I did recognize the woman who led the group with a bright white tambourine. She was one of the individuals who bowed to Micah and presented him with a scroll during the funeral procession.

Long wavy black hair and large round gold earrings fluttered around her face as she danced with her crew.

Just who was she? Why was she one of the individuals to present Micah with a scroll?

To my annoyance, the Random Character Checker did not appear, however.

I might as well just ask.

"Micah, who is that woman?" I pointed her out to him.

"Oh her?" Micah smiled. "That's Mirela Southwell. She is originally from Renova, but as that country had fallen under the Daylan Dynasty's control years back, she and her people have been traveling the continent."

"Why did she bow to you and give you a scroll?" I asked the question I had actually wanted the answer to.

"A group of ever-traveling people is quite useful to have in one's network," Micah replied. "And the Arankaguls have always been happy to reciprocate by providing help when needed in return."

"What do they need help with?"

Micah smiled. "They want to return to their original home, is all."

I blinked.

Just what were my grandmother and now Micah involved in? That sounded like a potential revolution was brewing.

"And you can help with that?" I asked.

However, Micah didn't answer as he was distracted by another individual who came to converse with him. It was one of the lanky, mask-wearing people I had seen during the funeral procession.

Having taken on the Frey Merchant Guild in my original life, I was aware of some of my family's dealings. However, there was much I never learned.

After our parents had passed, the Frey Merchant Guild was inherited by me. As for the Arankagul villa and the Town of Ascot, those responsibilities fell on my younger brother, Jarvis. And when he died, the duties were never passed on to me. Within days of his death, the Frey Merchant Guild met its end, and I was out in the street trying desperately to survive on my own.

I watched Mirela continue to dance through the street with her people.

[ Level 1 Random Character Check in progress for Mirela Southwell ]

My eyes fell on the familiar blue screen.

Oh, so now it decides to show up? Maybe it'll tell something interesting about her that Micah didn't disclose.

[ Level 1 Random Character Check in progress for Mirela Southwell ]

[ Age: 34 ]

[ Mirela Southwell is 34 years old, born on the first moon of Year 746 of the Adovorian Calendar. ]

Tch.

So this Randon Checker can give completely useless information as well?

 

***

 

"It's Copper Euphoria," Jarvis said.

"What?" I glanced up at him, breaking out of my thoughts.

The carriage rocked slightly. Outside the window, the green farmlands passed us by with the morning sun shining on the horizon. The Town of Ascot grew smaller and smaller as we moved farther away.

Leona was sleeping on a pillow beside me. She never told me where she went, but there was no need to ask. It was evident by how puffed out and happy she looked that she had indulged all night at the Celebration of Life, as the townspeople called it. Ben had sent out word about Leona, and stall owners were more than happy to feed her unending appetite.

What a lucky bird, having a bottomless pit for a stomach.

Mother and Micah had stayed behind to handle the inpour of duties that fell upon them, while the twins and I returned home. It was only the three of us and Leona in the carriage, with the servants traveling separately.

"The tests for Jasper's medicine and food," Jarvis explained. "I had the results come back this morning. My second theory was disproved, so it must be Copper Euphoria."

"You don't look entirely certain," I commented.

Jarvis' eyebrows furrowed together.

"He doesn't have quite all the right symptoms of Copper Euphoria, but it's the most likely explanation," he said. "I can have medicine prepared for him when we get home."

"Well, even if he doesn't like the treatment, it's better doing something than nothing," I said.

In my original life, Jasper had died. If there was a possibility of saving him from this illness, even if the treatment was as unpleasant as Jasper described, it was still preferable to him dying.

"That's not correct," Elda chimed in, lifting her head of curled red hair from the book she had borrowed from grandma's library. "Sometimes doing something is worse than doing nothing at all."

I frowned.

What could be worse than dying?