Eberrune is a nation with foggy coasts, dense forests, and their most notable trait is naval dominance and shipbuilding. It is a nation that houses most of the Tidepath system bearers, and it is led by one of the twelve rulers, Viscountess Helene Eberrune.
The people of Eberrune are known for their peaceful nature, although it is not always like that. In the capital of the nation, Mistwatch, a young man named Edmund Hawthorne was on his way home from the library.
He wore sandals, a pair of shorts, and a vest. His damp short red hair stuck to his forehead. He wore two earrings on his left ear, and he also had two piercings on his right eyebrow. His lazy grayish eyes were focused on the book he was reading. With his looks, one would have expected him to be a delinquent, but reality was often deceitful.
The young man was a historian and also a scholar who provided research and system knowledge. He was a well-known figure in Mistwatch. Currently, he had his interest piqued by the Conspiracy and their behavioral patterns.
He was searching throughout history to find a pattern. He was also convinced that the Conspiracy were not some mindless entities that they had been at odds with for thousands of years.
Although these beings that they called the Conspiracy were a mystery, low-ranking Conspirers appeared to be created directly from darkness. They boasted monstrous forms, nightmares, or twisted animal-like shapes; they possessed simple predatory abilities; high lethality, and they were the reasons behind the mass killings. They were merely foot soldiers—dangerous but unintelligent.
They seemed to draw power from darkness, manifesting as shadow manipulation, soul devouring, illusions, and fear projection. These were the abilities the low-ranking Conspiracy possessed.
Researchers had found out that they entered our world through gaps in dimensional spaces, but to Ed, that was some bullshit to cover up the real nature of these creatures. Nothing about the existence of these creatures made sense. Even after thousands of years, most of the information the human race possessed was merely recorded from speculation.
The reason he had his interest piqued by these creatures was because of the incident that had supposedly happened in Vanderholt. His trusted source of information said that a high-ranking Conspirer descended in Ardenthall, the capital of Vanderholt.
Rumor had it the Conspirer had killed a noble man, although he highly doubted the man's words. The topic had really piqued his interest. What if there were Conspirers capable of eradicating mankind all on their own? In the era they were living in, the Conspiracy rarely attacked. Especially in the past few years, the number of recorded Conspiracy attacks per nation had fallen to fifty a year.
Which brought about the question: what are they planning? Looking at the rates of the attacks and the locations, their attack pattern showed that the attacks were planned.
Although the church and the leaders of the nations pushed an agenda telling the masses that humans were finally eradicating the Conspiracy, for a respected scholar, Ed lived in the outskirts of Mistwatch. So the walk back home was a good hour. He lived with his girlfriend, Clara Montfort, a Tidepath System bearer and a noble related to the crown, and also his childhood best friend.
Ed closed his book because of the fog and began jogging to his place. The architectural design of Mistwatch was beautiful. The buildings were built out of limestone and had an aquatic design. The streets were made from cobblestone, and a few cars and trucks would pass, heading in the direction of the city gates. They were probably headed for the factories near the coast. The street lamps were on, helping citizens navigate through the fog.
It was quiet at this time of the night; only a few people were on the streets. Jogging past an alleyway, Ed abruptly stopped, having picked up on a peculiar scent. Sniffing the air twice for confirmation, he deduced it was the metallic smell of blood.
Going back towards the dim alleyway, he stopped at the entrance and observed. In the darkness, he saw a towering humanoid silhouette, yet something about it felt off, like it wasn't completely human. His instincts screamed danger, yet his curiosity refused to let him go without satisfaction.
He took a step forward, a move that he knew was definitely stupid, yet he couldn't stop himself.
"Hey, are you alright?"
He called to the owner of the silhouette, and then something eerie happened. He suddenly felt naked, as if something was peering directly at his soul. The feeling was unsettling, and that is when he saw a frightening scene. The towering silhouette, hidden in the darkness, began shrinking while moving towards him. He could hear the sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing, and a pained growl coming from the thing approaching him.
After a few seconds, he found himself face to face with a naked woman. Although the darkness made it hard to see, he could make out her perfect features. But the one definitive feature that he noticed were her eyes—they were like miniature suns glowing in the dark.
Ed was trying by all means to suppress the terror he felt. Cold sweat rolled down his back, and he swallowed hard. The thing moved closer to the point where he could feel its cool breath on his face, and then it opened its mouth.
"Forget about me, are you alright?"
Its soft, soothing voice shocked him even more. He was a thousand percent sure this thing in front of him was a Conspirer, and yet it had not ripped him to shreds… yet.
He hurriedly took a few steps back. It tilted its head a bit, observing him. Then it raised its hand and turned it with curiosity. It then flexed its fingers. Ed stared at the scene, horrified. This had to be a high-ranking Conspirer. Unfortunately for him, he was not a system bearer, and there was literally nothing he could do. He stood petrified, waiting for his death.
[Clara always told me to come back home early… I should have listened.]
The Conspirer finished inspecting itself and then turned its attention back to him. Its curious gaze unsettled him.
"Where am I?"
It asked, looking around curiously.
"You are in the outskirts of Mistwatch, the capital of Eberrune," Ed, hoping to save his skin, replied quickly.
The Conspirer tilted its head again and asked in a manner he would have found cute if a human female had done it:
"Eberrune?"
"Who am I?" it added, pointing to itself.
"Huh?" The question baffled him. What was this situation? Was it playing games with him? Or did it truly not know its identity? From the rumors, these things murdered humans on sight, yet he had been in the presence of one for more than ten minutes.
"I—I don't know."
Unsure of what to do, he took off his t-shirt and gave it to the Conspirer, but it just looked at the shirt curiously without taking it. He moved closer and spoke softly:
"Here, cover up."
He helped it wear the t-shirt. Now came the hard part.
[Should I call the inquisitors and let them deal with her?]
For a short while, he stood not knowing how to proceed. He looked at it, his mind racing, yet he could not leave it unattended. So he decided to take it to his place and observe it. He also had a very powerful system user at home.
"Come with me, that is, if you want to."
He offered it a hand. It looked at his hand for a while before nodding and grabbing it. Its hand was soft like a newborn's. He quietly headed out of the alleyway and continued home with a monster.
…
The apartment was quiet—too quiet. The only sound was the faint hum of the refrigerator and the distant murmur of the neighbors next door.
Three figures stood frozen in the living room.
Ed, with tired eyes and his hands shoved deep into his pockets, leaned against the wall near the doorway. His jaw was set, as if bracing for a storm.
Across from him, a young woman, one of the two women in the apartment with him, glared at him with a fire that could have burned through steel. Her arms were crossed tightly, her body angled just slightly away from him, as though even the air between them was tainted.
Her eyes seemed to scream: "ARE YOU INSANE."
He kept his gaze on the floor, not daring to meet her eyes. He could feel the intensity from her gaze, and frankly, he was finding it hard to breathe.
The other woman, standing by the window, didn't seem to share that anger. Her gaze drifted across the apartment—the half-open books on the table, the coat draped carelessly over a chair, the faint scent of old coffee in the air. She had very curious eyes, like those of a child when encountering something new.
"I can explain."