Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 155: The Hero Summoning Ritual(Part 3)

"Incredible...it’s only been five days, but his progress has been absolutely astounding. It’s beyond remarkable, it’s completely unnatural. So, this is what those who are summoned from another world are capable of. It’s hard to say for sure, but I’d estimate that he’s already on the level of a First-Class Knight, or at least close to it," Alphonse thought to himself with a gleam in his eyes, as he observed Akila training.

It was the 21st of June, 1919, and Akila had been training relentlessly over the five days since his summoning, blissfully unaware of the fact that he was being deceived.

Alphonse had several Teleport Spells in his possession, which he’d been using to sneak into some of the cities, towns and villages to gather supplies and information.

He’d gotten an instruction manual for Dual Bladers for Akila to use in his training, along with several Grimmoires of various Attack and Support Magic Classes.

Of course, since there were no Grimmoires available for Arcane Magic Classes, he had to hope that going through Grimmoires of several different Magic Classes would give Akila an idea of how Magic works and figure out how to master his Phase Shift Magic.

But while Akila was progressing rapidly with mastering his Combat Template, progress with his Magic Class was a lot more slow and steady. He’d figured out how to use it, but was a long way away from actually mastering it.

While sneaking into one of the towns, Alphonse had come across a useful bit of information, that a flu outbreak was currently going around in Ruby Village.

While Antidote and Remedy Spells were effective in curing most illnesses, they were less effective against viral infections.

And that bit of information gave Alphonse an idea, a plan to lend more credibility to his fake sob story...

"Okay, why don’t you take a break for now? You’ve been pushing yourself hard, you shouldn’t overdo it!"

"Huh? Yeah, that’s true...but I’m still good to go, really! I’ve got plenty of energy to spare!" Responded Akila, flexing his muscles with a smile.

"I’m sure you do, but regardless, you should take a break. I actually need a bit of help...I need to gather more supplies, but the Knights have been more vigilant lately, and considering that I can’t fight, I was hoping to ask you to-..."

"Oh, I get it, don’t worry, I gotcha! I’ll join you as a bodyguard, I’ll-...wait, I’m not going to stand out in this world, am I? Like, are there people around who look like me?"

"Hm? What do you mean? You don’t look particularly unusual to me," Responded Alphonse with a confused look on his face.

"Okay, good, I was wondering if there were only white people in this nation, but I guess not," Grinned Akila sheepishly.

"Huh? White? I’m not sure I understand."

"What do you mean? You’re white."

"I am? I mean, I suppose I am a bit on the pale side, but I wouldn’t call this white...it’s more a slightly pinkish, light brown, I’d say."

"Well, yeah, now that you mention it...huh, yeah, I guess white people aren’t actually white. And now that I think about it, black people aren’t really black either, they’re technically dark brown."

"I’m sorry, but from what I gathered based on what you said, does this mean your old world classified people based on their skin tones?" Responded Alphonse in bemusement.

"...when you put it that way, it sounds really messed up. Does that mean racism isn’t a thing in this world?"

"Racism? Do you mean people with different complexions are considered to be different races? We do have races in this world, but all the people in this nation are simply considered human. There are three other races, Elves, Animoids and Demons, they’re all fundamentally and biologically different to us humans, so it wouldn’t make sense to classify them as the same. I can’t quite comprehend classification based on skin tones, though."

"I mean, it’s a bit more complicated than that, like culturally and stuff-...well, I’m not exactly an expert on the subject, so yeah."

"Uh, I see...anyway, let’s get going, shall we?"

"Sure, sounds good, lead the way, Al!"

...

"Th-this is...this is awful. I thought you said the people put on fake smiles and stuff, but they all look miserable," Frowned Akila, looking around as they strolled through Ruby Village.

"That’s mainly in the big cities and some of the towns. The villages have fewer Knights and supporters of the Queen in them, so the people don’t need to put on such facades in these places. Also, keep your voice down, we must keep a low profile and avoid standing out," Whispered Alphonse, while thinking to himself, "Excellent, I made the right call bringing him here. The atmosphere in this place is so gloomy thanks to the flu going around, if he had any doubts or suspicions about me, surely those are gone now."

"These people look so sick and worn out, they’re clearly miserable," Muttered Akila, clenching his fists.

"Yes, this is the current state of the nation. Meanwhile, the Queen’s supporters live in lavish luxury, wanting for nothing, while the everyday civilians suffer in squalor. And it’s only getting worse with each passing day."

"There’s no way we can let this slide...we should free the people of this village, let’s attack the Knights and-..." freēwēbηovel.c૦m

"No! I-I mean, no, that would be short-sighted...we certainly could attack and kill those in charge of this village, but that wouldn’t solve anything. The Queen will simply make life for the villagers even more difficult, perhaps even execute them, just to set an example. That’s how she and her followers operate, they mercilessly crush the smallest hint of opposition as soon as it arises."

"Those bastards...!"

"I know how you feel, believe me. I wish I could help these people, but we need to be careful and strategic with out moves. Short-term gains are pointless, I learned that the hard way. No, we must deal serious blows against them if we are to make real, lasting change...we need to target the main enforcers of the Queen’s regime.

There aren’t that many of them, and if we manage to eliminate them, the rest will fall apart on their own. But, frankly, at your current level, you wouldn’t stand a chance against them. So, I ask you to be patient...you aren’t strong enough yet. But based on what I’ve seen, you will be, soon enough. Until then, we must avoid drawing any attention to ourselves," Stated Alphonse, feigning a look of frustration on his face.

"I-...okay. It doesn’t feel right ignoring people who so clearly, desperately need help, but I can’t deny that you have a point."

"Excellent, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve fully gained his trust. This is going well, much better than I could have hoped for..."

Meanwhile, in the Capital...

"Oh? Interesting, this might be just the lead we were looking for," Remarked Jules, as she went through a few documents that one of her subordinates had brought to her.

"Yes, ma’am, we found these in a compartment in the hidden basement of the main Plore mansion here in the Capital. The documents detail an old mansion belonging to the Plores that was abandoned about a century ago. Some of the text is too worn out to read, so we don’t know the exact location, but we do know that it’s somewhere in the Flourite Forest."

"Huh, it apparently also has a hidden basement, that was used to store their documents, as well as Magic Items, including a few relics from the Age of Ancient Magic. The Plores certainly do like their hidden basements, don’t they?" Remarked Jules in bemusement.

"What should we do, Commander? Should we organize a team to attack the mansion?"

"Yeah. At this point, we’ve swept through every village, town and city in the nation, along with the Quartz Ruins, but we turned up nothing. I’ve got a strong feeling that we’re finally on his trail, assuming he hasn’t managed to sneak out of the nation, somehow. Alright, then...we’ll form a small force and head to the Flourite Forest as soon as possible. Alphonse Plore has evaded us for long enough, that ends now."