Glimpse of Eternity [A Reincarnation Isekai Fantasy]

It had been two weeks since Reivan and his squad arrived in Florris, and things were going well for the most part.

The village elderman made good on his promise and put up the battlemages in a spare house nearby. It was well-furnished and relatively spacious, specifically reserved for battlemages who stopped by. That also meant it wasn't used all the time. And it showed.

But with the combined aid of a few very nice villagers and six young sorcerers, the place looked about as new as it could get. There weren't any problems, in any case, because none of the trainee battlemages had personalities shitty enough to complain—not that there was anything to complain about because the lodging provided truly was nice, if not a bit dusty.

Two weeks of living there had been enough to drive off whatever remained of that inconvenience.

As for food, the villagers happily pitched in to provide ingredients for their meals. The elderman's daughter, Verbena, came by to cook for them every day even though she didn't need to. Nonetheless, all the young battlemages appreciated the kindness. Especially the boys.

It went without saying that Aldimir had tried to hit on her numerous times since, and it was getting quite alarming because it seemed to be working—as far as Reivan could tell, that is. She did not seem to find his approach unwanted. Any day now, this poor village girl was going to have her purity taken by a city boy she'd never see again. There’d probably be a song about it, warning future generations not to fall for some passing mage’s honey-coated words.

Well, that wasn’t any of Reivan’s business anyway.

It wasn’t like Aldimir was forcing himself on her. They just talked. He said something stupid, she’d laugh, then he’d grin and tell her some corny line about how she was the most beautiful sight he’d ever laid eyes on when she smiled—and the second most beautiful when she wasn’t laughing. Then she’d look away all shy, saying how he was surely just joking, even though she was obviously quite happy about the praise.

All things considered, Reivan really wished they didn’t flirt before breakfast was prepared.

Anyway, she was an adult so she should be held accountable for the consequences of jumping into bed with sleazy men. It would also be terribly uncouth of him to hinder his fellow man’s romantic endeavors. Even if his current persona was not his own, he would not break the bro code unless the woman was someone he cared for or the man in question was stooping to unsavory means.

Besides, who could say that Verbena wasn't the woman who would change Aldimir for the better? Probably not, but there was merit in allowing her to take a shot.

“Good morning.” Reivan greeted the room as he came back inside the house, sweaty and shirtless from the early-morning exercise routine he’d taken up recently—one that didn’t involve equipment because the village had no such things.

Looking around, the aforementioned man-whore was in the middle of talking to Verbena, who in turn, was cooking for them all. Kantor was sitting quietly nearby, his eyes aglow with the blue luminescence caused by the use of a scrying spell.

‘How diligent of him. Meanwhile, a certain person is being diligent in the wrong thing.’

As for the others, Mira wouldn’t be getting up until around lunchtime, as is the way of her people. Both Inaria and Alini took up late-night watch shifts, so they were likely getting some much-needed sleep at the moment. So for now, it would just be the three boys.

Needless to say, this arrangement was because all three of them wanted to be present when the eye candy came over to help prepare their meals. Even Kantor had shyly nodded along. And Reivan would have been lying if he said that he didn't like looking at pretty girls.

It was just looking, after all. Nothing wrong with that.

“Good morning, Mr. Salwyn,” Verbena called out, her eyes momentarily running down his exposed upper body before shyly looking away. “Breakfast is just about ready. It’ll be done by the time you finish washing yourself.”

'See? Looking is perfectly fine. That goes both ways~!'

Aldimir, who was right beside her, frowned at him before shooing him away when she wasn’t looking.

Reivan resisted the urge to roll his eyes because the village girl among them might misunderstand. “Thank you, Ms. Craywin. I’ve grown to like your cooking and will probably be troubled when I have to go back to eating ordinary food.”

She giggled, demurely covering her mouth. “I’m sure you’ll make do.”

“I dread it already."

"Well, you can always stay here... We've plenty of young women of marriageable age."

"...I'll consider it." Reivan awkwardly cleared his throat, being reminded that he had two fiancees and a troupe of concubines waiting for him in Aizen. "Well, I’ll head up now. Aldim, don’t bother her too much. If breakfast still isn’t ready by the time I get down, I’ll use my authority as vice-captain to make you eat nothing but crud for three days.”

“I’m not bothering her!” Aldimir snorted, before turning to Verbena with a smile. He even went so far as to grab her hand. “Am I?”

She shook her head, not making any attempts to pull her hand away.

Triumphant, Aldimir smugly grinned at Reivan. “See, Win? It’s fine.”

"Good for you." Reivan didn’t bother to resist the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes this time, shrugging before heading upstairs where all of their private quarters were. The door closest to the stairs belonged to their captain, who immediately declared ownership of it for the reason that a captain needed to be closer to the stairs so they could respond to situations much quicker.

Obviously, she was just a lazy bum who wanted to shorten the distance between her room and places like the bathroom and dining room, which were both on the ground floor. She slept so deeply that there was no way she was responding to any emergency.

Anyway, Reivan’s designated room was the one right in front of hers.

“Whoo. Finally…” Reivan ducked inside the decently sized one-person bedroom and sat on his bed. With deft use of his foot, he hooked a nearby stool closer and took the small bucket that lay atop it.

A simple flick of his wand filled it with water that would vanish by itself in an hour or two.

‘What I’d do for a shower… Or a bath! A big bath with maids helping me wash myself when I clearly don’t need any help…’

While reminiscing about the life he’d once lived, Reivan wiped off his sweat with a damp towel. Once that was done, he donned a fresh white shirt and threw his dirty laundry into a nearby basket that would likely be washed by a village girl other than Verbena. When he climbed down the stairs again, Kantor was still scrying in the same position as earlier and breakfast was thankfully ready. Verbena the eye candy was gone though, which was a bit unfortunate, but Aldimir’s bored expression was entertaining enough by itself.

“Looks good,” Reivan remarked as he looked at the spread on the table.

“Of course. Vena gave her all for this, you know?”

“Nicknames already? Neat.”

Aldimir smirked. “It’s going really well, Win. I can feel it. Village girls really aren’t as easy as those in the city, but as a wise man once said, any tree can be cut down if you keep swinging!”

“I can see that.” Reivan sat down and started eating by himself. Their squad rarely ate together these days. “Which wise man said that, by the way?"

"I did. Just now."

"Fuck, I set myself up for that one..." He sighed before giving Aldimir a pat on the shoulder. "Good job, I guess?”

“Uh-huh. You know, you could help out by not strutting around and tempting her with your naked body.”

“I wasn't naked. Never was.”

“Oh? So we're getting into semantics. Fine. Half naked, then. She kept asking questions about what you do and why you look like that! It really threw me off my game!”

Reivan snorted, tearing into a soft piece of bread with some creamy butter slathered on it. Uncouth as it was, he chose to snark even with food in his mouth. “Maybe try not to flirt in the room where everybody passes through on their way outside or to the second floor. What, you want me to fly to my room and get inside through the window?”

Aldimir raised a brow. “Could you?”

“Uh…” Licking his lips in contemplation and also to clean the butter off it, Reivan gave it some thought before shrugging. “I probably could. There’s a tall tree close enough to my room’s window to climb. Or if I go fast enough, I could use it as a ramp for my hoverboard.”

“Really? Thank you very much. You really are my best friend.”

“I’m not gonna do it, just so we're clear. That's too much of a pain in the ass.”

“Then wear a shirt, at least.”

“Don’t wanna. I get extra sweaty, so it’s extra laundry.”

Aldimir bit his lip, hesitating on something before sighing. “I’ll do your laundry for a week. Just keep your damned shirt on when she’s here.”

“Wow.” Reivan stopped eating for a moment to gaze at him in mild admiration. “You’re a dedicated bastard, I’ll give you that.”

“Can you blame me?”

Thinking back to Verbena’s stunning looks and amazing personality—which was, in turn, complimented by her actual personality—Reivan could not, in fact, blame him.

Ignoring the idiot, the disguised prince of Aizen gulped down his mouthful of hot stew and called out to the other person in the room. “Kantor. You should take a break, bud. Have some breakfast. You're already thin enough as it is.”

He flinched in surprise from suddenly being called out while focused on something else, but stood up as the light in his eyes faded. “It’s okay, I’m not that hungry…”

“Did you lose your appetite because of this guy’s incessant skirt chasing?” he pointed at Aldimir with a grin. "Sorry about that. He was dropped as a child so a bunch of blood in his head went to his crotch instead. Permanently."

“No, I’ve grown used to him already, so it doesn’t really bother me.”

“I see. You poor thing. Make sure you don’t become like him, okay?”

“Of course. I would never.”

“You guys…?” Aldimir chuckled awkwardly. "I'm still here, y'know?"

“Oh, right,” Kantor continued unabated. “The Vladeken are doing it again…”

Reivan clicked his tongue, throwing a glance at his unfinished breakfast. “They always do it when I’m halfway finished eating…”

Aldimir raised a brow, his arms crossed. “We can just wait until after, no?”

“No, no. We’ll make more work for ourselves the more we delay. And we'll also waste their efforts... Poor little guys have it rough enough as it is.”

With a sigh, Reivan walked to the side where he’d propped up his hoverboard and picked it up, carrying it under his arm with bread in his mouth.

“I’ll come too. Just let me get mine.” Kantor hastily ran up the steps.

“Maybe I’ll sit this one out… or not.” Aldimir raised both hands in surrender when he saw Reivan’s glare. “Should we take the guns with us this time too?”

The villagers were all kind and good people, giving them food and just generally being pleasant. But they were even kind enough to lend them a few firearms, which in truth, weren’t all that useful seeing as they weren’t killing things and they knew spells that did so much more.

Still, Reivan remembered the relative helplessness of fighting people equipped with sorceron cloaks and spellbane bullets while he only had magic—it was the complete and utter opposite of fun.

“Can’t hurt to bring ‘em,” he said through a mouthful of bread. “Better to have more options in case something happens.”

“Okay. Also, dude, you gotta stop talking when your mouth’s stuffed.”

Reivan responded in the most reasonable way someone could respond when Aldimir of all people tried to give advice on proper behavior—by flipping him off.

Once they all had their affairs in order, the three young men hopped on their boards and ventured into the great unknown—that wasn’t really all that unknown because this wasn’t the first time doing this.

With one of the greatest innovations to personal travel ever to come out of the Spirit Tower’s think tank, Reivan and the others sailed across the three-foot fence surrounding the village and zoomed through the sea of trees outside. If everyone had one of these, nobody would ever be late to anything. Too bad they were extremely expensive to produce, finicky to handle, and required a passable level of control over magic power since they couldn’t be powered by stardust and the power of friendship.

“Hey, whose turn was it, again?” Aldimir asked as he lagged behind their trio, being the least proficient at using hoverboards. Given the lack of anything to hold on to while flying, he looked very unsteady. Two weeks, it seems, was not enough practice to be truly proficient.

“I did it last time,” Reivan reminded them. "So it's either you or Kantor."

Kantor groaned, hesitantly raising his hand. “It’s my turn…Inaria hasn’t taken a turn yet though. Which is incredibly unfair… Just because they're women they make us do all the leg work...”

“Well, why don’t you tell her that to her face?” Aldimir teasingly smirked, though only Reivan caught it by coincidence when he checked the surroundings.

Kantor remained silent, which served as enough of an answer.

“It’s not like she’s been intentionally skimping.” Reivan chuckled, inherently feeling the need to defend her. “She just got lucky. Nothing really happens when it’s her turn to keep watch. Same with Alini and her. I think we’ve just been especially lucky that the Vladeken keeps doing shit in the early mornings. It's probably karma because we took up morning duty with ulterior motives.”

The three steadily made their way to the flower field the Vladeken wanted to set roots in, all while trying to escape reality by conversing or complaining about this or that. Chatting was all well and good, but while the Vladeken’s presence warded off most monsters, they still couldn’t let their guards down. Things had a tendency to go wrong precisely when you least expected it. Reivan felt it was his responsibility to remain vigilant all throughout. It would also match the real Clover’s earnest personality.

Fortunately, his worries ended up being for naught, because a few minutes later, Reivan and the two other young men came upon an expansive field of many-colored flowers. Some of the village’s much-renowned bees were there in scattered buzzing dots, probably doing whatever it was that bees did to flowers.

Somewhat ruining this beautiful view were about a dozen earthen hovels that strangely resembled igloos. A few more were being erected by short child-like entities that they had come to know were the Vladeken.

“Ugh, there they are…” Aldimir grimaced, not in disgust, but rather, as if he was being forced to swallow something bitter. “Kantor, get it over with so we can go back… And, like, try to be nice to them when you do it…”

Kantor frowned in confusion. “How do I even do that nicely…? What we're doing is the opposite of nice.”

“I don’t know… Just try.”

Now, Reivan had seen an illustration of the creatures on his first night in the village. And so too did the other members of their party that arrived the morning after. But as they say, seeing something once was better than reading about them a hundred times. The Vladeken were indeed child-like humanoids and only reached up to one’s knees. They also had beady red eyes, no ears, no nose, and no mouths just like illustrated. Also, they were utterly incapable of making any sounds.

But nobody told them just how expressive the Vladeken were despite their faces missing quite a few vital parts.

Groups of Vladeken were diligently forming circles and doing some sort of vibrant dance, the base of an earthen hovel slowly forming in the middle. While the adults worked, smaller Vladeken happily chased each other around, some of them making flower crowns or helping what seemed to be elderly Vladeken walk from place to place. Reivan also spotted a few of them holding small bundles of leaves that likely contained babies.

It was a thriving, happy community of harmless woodland creatures.

Kantor hovered forward with his wand held up, immediately attracting the attention of the Vladeken.

In utter silence, the dwarfish creatures who saw the intruders coming wildly flailed their arms and communicated with their kind in some imperceivable way that didn't involve verbal sounds. They pointed at Kantor, their fingers trembling and horror in their eyes, as dozens of other Vladeken fled out of the few finished homes. Many threw fearful glances at the trio, paralyzed or outright fainting. Most, however, fled as fast as they physically could in the opposite direction.

Some, like the children or elderly, often fell behind or tripped, falling face-first into the grass. Too weak or too afraid to get up, they trembled and awaited what fate would become of them when the big scary humans reached them.

Fortunately for the pitiful ones, a few other Vladeken came to try and pull them away. Some even spread their arms protectively while standing between the battlemages and the weak, intending to sacrifice their lives for the downtrodden. One especially heroic Vladeken even threw mud at Kantor with a furious glare, though the projectile barely even flew a few strides forward before flopping to the ground with a wet slap.

“I…” Aldimir, his face sour, took a blanket out and tried to cover his face with it. “I feel like shit.”

“You and me both.” Reivan sighed, agreeing wholeheartedly. When he accidentally made eye contact with Vladeken holding a baby, it fell to its knees and peed itself. Hastily, Reivan looked away and tried very hard not to meet any more gazes or do anything else to terrorize the poor creatures more than needed. “Kantor, not to put pressure on you, but kindly hurry up so we can go back.”

“I know," he whined. "I don’t like this either, you know!”

‘Nobody does.’

Reivan and Aldimir went from hovel to hovel, tearing each of them down with ease. They didn’t even need to use spells. Just ramming their hoverboards into mud buildings was enough to collapse the primitive structures. As for the unfinished hovels, experience had already taught them that those would collapse on their own if the Vladeken left them incomplete for a minute or two.

“P-Please go away… I don’t want to hurt you guys… I’m so sorry for this… I'm so sorry...” Kantor, hesitantly and slowly, herded the swarm of Vladeken away from the flower fields while muttering apologies the woodland creatures would never understand. From his wand, bright tongues of fire erupted with every swish, terrifying the Vladeken more than they already were.

According to the village elderman, the Vladeken’s greatest fear was magic. It was second only to their fear of fire. There was nothing these forest dwellers feared more than a good hot flame. It absolutely terrified them and they ran away with even more fervor.

Heartbreaking didn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how it felt like to see the few heroic Vladeken who’d been ready to undergo anything for their fellows run away, abandoning those they had intended to save earlier. There was an exponential increase in incidents where Vladeken peed themselves too, some even peed while running away. Even that one valiant Vladeken who threw mud turned tail, though not without frequent glares dripping with hatred thrown at them in regular intervals.

It was truly a sight to see, though not at all in a pleasant way. Absolutely heart-wrenching. What bothered Reivan was how the experience would be worse if the Vladeken could talk or make any sound at all.

‘This… This is kind of traumatizing…’

Reivan was no saint, but he was at least proud that he wasn’t a complete asshole. Maybe he did some bad things, but they were, in essence, for the good of his family or his country. That didn’t absolve him of sins and never would. But it certainly helped him sleep at night.

This? This scene right here would stay with him forever. The sheer terror these tiny insignificant beings had for him would make a mark. They looked at him like he had a hundred arms and nine heads, each with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

With the use of the sheer mass of their steel hoverboards and a few well-placed spells to snipe the hovels farther away, Reivan and Aldimir made quick work of the Vladeken’s homes. They were understandably very motivated to complete their tasks as fast as possible to get away from the pitiful Vladeken who viewed them as monsters.

By the time they were done, Kantor had also finished herding the fleeing Vladeken away from the field of flowers that was essential for Florris’ economy.

 

---

 

“Oh, welcome back, guys. Had fun?”

The three young men all felt united in wanting to cuss out their captain’s thoughtless question, but they all managed to hold it in.

“It was horrible. As usual.” Reivan answered for them all, checking his pocket watch to make sure it wasn’t time for lunch yet. “Also, isn’t it too early for you to wake up? It’s only eight in the morning.”

“Can you please not throw veiled insults at me…?” Mira chuckled sheepishly as she picked at her breakfast. “I’m still your senior, you know.”

“You only pull out that card when it benefits you.”

“When else am I supposed to with it? Pull it out when it's disadvantageous?”

“Alright, fair enough.” Reivan shrugged with a grin, turning to the other two. “Well, guys. Since we just finished unleashing a calamity on those innocent creatures, they probably won’t try again until tomorrow. Let’s all just relax and try not to let it bother us too much.”

“Right.” Aldimir propped his hoverboard up against the corner and headed for the door. “I’m heading out to catch some air. See you guys at lunch.”

“Sure.” Reivan rolled his eyes, knowing his lusty squadmate would likely head for where Verbena did her duties as a village dairymaid or look for some other pitiful village girl to bother. “Kantor?”

“I think I just wanna lie down…”

“Alright, buddy. Rest up. Don’t worry about it too much, what we did is for the greater good. Also, you did great back there.”

“Thanks, Clover.”

Kantor left, shoulders slumped, and Reivan turned to Mira when he was sure nobody else was within earshot.

“Wanna walk around? There’s apparently a nice spot overlooking a stream.”

Mira glanced up at him. “What’re we gonna do there?”

“I dunno. Catch fish? Watch ‘em do fish things? Preferably while sitting.”

“I heard about that place too. Young couples go there to make out.”

Reivan shrugged with a grin splitting his face. “I mean, we can do that too, if you want.”

She kicked him, but he dodged it right in time.

“Were the Vladeken really that bad?” Mira asked, after giving up on inflicting domestic violence on him.

“You should try it at least once. I guarantee that it’ll change your life.”

“Don’t wanna. It’s obvious enough from your expressions. I’m lucky they never act up when I’m on watch.”

Reivan snorted with a shrug. “It wasn’t them that was bad, it’s how doing what we did to them makes us feel that’s bad.”

“I see… Sounds rough.”

“I am utterly stunned by the sincere empathy hidden very deeply in your words, oh captain of mine.”

Reivan sat down right next to her and grabbed her hand from under the table, an act that she allowed as long as nobody was around. Then he brought it up to his lips and gave it a kiss.

“So? Are you coming with me to that make-out spot? You are, right?”

She frowned. “Fine… But not to make out. I’m just curious about the spot. And the fish doing fish things.”

“What about hugs?”

“No.”

“You’re so stingy, I can’t believe you.” Reivan chuckled, though he wasn’t actually all that frustrated. Checking her Favor once again, it was already at 85. Which was insane, because that was marriage level but she wasn’t even allowing him to hug her.

‘Gods, just how high is her barrier of entry?’

Going by her behavior alone, it was hard to believe her Favor was that high. He might have started to think his [Supreme Insight] was showing him lies if he hadn’t performed extensive research into its intricacies.

With all that said though, the emotion was still “interest” and “trust”. Not desire or affection, which were what Elsa and Helen had. Once more intense emotions appeared, the score would go down again. If they appeared, that is.

‘Wait, am I maybe headed to the friend zone somehow? Shit.’

It wouldn’t be what Reivan planned, but he supposed that would be sufficient if he just wanted her to trust him enough to follow him to the kingdom. Maybe this was better, actually. He’d feel less guilty when he was done with her.

“Alright, great. I’m going up to change, wait here.”

Letting go of her, Reivan climbed up the stairs to get to his room, only to find an unexpected visitor inside.

Dame Mordred, knight of Aizen, was sitting pretty atop his bed with her legs dangling from the edge. With a smirk, she placed a finger against her lips, signaling for him to stay quiet and act as if she wasn’t there.

Reivan obliged, walking toward the window and pretending to admire the rustic village scenery.

“First of all, a pleasant morning to you, Your Highness.” Mordred hopped out of bed and gave him a crisp salute, perfected over centuries, though marred by the fact that she was doing it atop his bed. Luckily, she'd taken off her boots. “Just so you know, that girl has three Ascendants tailing her. Which is troubling, because part of why I came here was to abduct Mira Serandina. Three very alert silver cloaks will be hard to ambush on my own without them somehow being clumped up together—which they aren’t. I could take them and their beasties in a fight easily, but they'll probably call help. Which I can also deal with, just not while abducting someone.”

He grunted vaguely, almost as if he was just making an idle sound.

“It was a stroke of luck, how she’s now out of the Tower. My plan is to bring Valter and some other friends here. But we’ll talk about that later,” she said. “Big news came from the palace; a deal with Argonia was established. There was apparently some giant explosion, but nobody got hurt. Sounds fun. I wish I was there.”

Again, he grunted. Though he wondered what caused the explosion.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t convince the War God to try battling the Sage King on his own. But the War God did agree to team up against the Sage King. Now, their fleshing out an agreement with the Pontifex of the Orthodox church. There’s the Gladiator King too, so we can have four Transcendents on our side for the battle.”

‘God… Four Transcendents…’

It was a monumental force considering a single Ascendant could solo Modern Earth.

Continuing, Mordred sat back down on the bed. “We don’t expect the War God to succeed in persuading the Pontifex, however. But either way, because the War God agreed to split the bill for hiring the Gladiator King the normal way, the crown has decided to save the slave key for now. Obviously, its existence will be hidden.”

After another grunt that meant he had no problems, Dame Mordred nodded.

“For now, the plan is to wait. Specifically, we need to set people up in positions where we can hunt down the rest of the republic’s Ascendants. They're kind of all over the place. We need to hunt them all down because one of them must be close to Transcendence. Either it’s because of the normal way or because they have that spirit king seed ability. The method doesn’t matter, in this case. The result that neither the kingdom nor the empire wishes for is to have another Transcendent show up afterward. A valid concern, if you ask me.”

Internally, Reivan whistled in admiration. It seemed a whole lot of Ascendants were going to wound up dead very soon. Clearing his throat to get her attention, he tapped a question on the windowsill using Morse code.

“What. Me. Do. Now?”

“With all due respect, Your Highness.”

Mordred smiled kindly, and there was none of her usual impish teasing or the smirks that made you think there was something more than what she just said.

“You are far too weak. You’ll be worthless at this current juncture. There might be a place for you on the battlefield when the Treaty of Alexander is put into effect. Which now puts us back to something I’ve talked about a couple of times. The girl waiting for you downstairs. We can kidnap her and use her to lure out the Sage King or someone else important. Maybe it's a long shot, but it's something.”

Mordred smiled a wicked smile as she stood up.

“I hope you cooperate, Your Highness. Though, I suppose you are currently incapable of refusing. Which, if I may add, is the reason I chose this time for my pitch.”