Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

As dessert wrapped up, I had to hold back a laugh as Lily got up from the cushion and put on a very performative stretch. I noticed she was intentionally showing off her claws, and yawning just happened to show off all her teeth before she vanished into the shadows.

This scene did not go unnoticed, as the noise in the hall went quiet for a moment, as nearly every eye in the room landed on Lily, then on me.

The only person who didn’t look terrified was Liane, who must have seen it like I did, because she was holding back a laugh.

The dinner didn’t end there, however, as everyone was brought out more drinks and started to walk between the tables, all getting together in their groups again. Lestillia, however, did not leave the table, instead just looking out at the rest.

“They are afraid of you. How curious,” they said.

I laughed. “They are probably afraid of Lily, not me.”

Lestillia shook their head. “No. They fear you. I can see it in their faces, the way they look to this table. You are an incredible curiosity, Lord Ashmoon.”

“Please, just Trevor,” I said out of reflex, completely forgetting the instructions of Milo.

“I also suspect my placement at this table was by design, as most tend to fear me also,” Lestillia said with a bitter laugh.

“Why?” I asked curiously.

“My nation has a reputation for being ruthless, with some powerful magic, and our gods are neutral at best, though here some see it as evil. I don’t agree,” Lestillia explained quietly.

“You’re a mage? I’ve loved seeing magic in action since I hit the road. There’s something special about it,” I said.

Liane let out a snort of laughter. “That’s all he got out of that.”

“And it’s becoming clearer why they fear you, even if you do not say, or know,” Lestillia commented, looking back at the crowd.

The King and Queen both stood, causing the entire room to fall silent.

Marcus stepped forward. “Thank you all for attending. Please enjoy yourselves. Snacks and drinks will be provided throughout the evening, but remember my warnings. These are not idle threats.”

They then left the room, with Kathrine, Luis, and Elijah following.

“In answer to your question, yes, I am a mage, but we’ll have to continue this conversation later. It’s been an absolute pleasure meeting you, and you have piqued my curiosity, so hopefully we’ll meet again.”

Moments later, they were also gone through a side door.

The volume in the room grew around me now that the royals had left, with everyone happily chatting and drinking. I was saved fairly quickly as the man who came to me with the invitation arrived again.

“Lord Ashmoon, if you’d like to follow me, I will lead the way for you,” he said, bowing.

Looking back to make sure Crisplet and Liane were with me, I gave him a nod, following him towards the rear door.

As I took a step through the door, there was a small sound of metal on metal. Turning around, I saw what appeared to be a small metal dart on the floor. Curious, I went to pick it up when a second dart hit the back of my hand, piercing deep but without much pain.

Notification:

You have suffered 1 damage.Poison attempt failed: Poison immunity.Recoiling my hand, I didn’t think twice, looking in the direction it came from, which was up high, almost as if from the beams or one of the high windows.

“Lily, someone tried to attack me!” I yelled, pointing in the direction I thought it came from.

What happened next happened in a blur. The pressure that filled the room was unlike anything I had felt, which was saying something because I actually felt it, like ice-cold water had been dumped down my back with someone standing on my shoulders. Everyone else, however, did not fare so well. Nearly the entire room dropped to their knees or straight to the ground in a crumpled heap. The only people still on their feet were three Royal Guards, one of whom was Liam.

Lily didn’t wait, vanishing a moment later, but the pressure never lifted.

“Don’t kill them, Lily. We’ll get answers first.”

This request was for naught, as the moment the words came out of my mouth, a body dressed in brown fell from the beams above, landing in the crowd, where it appeared to have a seizure, just as Lily arrived.

Liam and the two other guards who kept their composure ran forward towards the person, but I suspected it was too late. Lily was too fast.

“Lily, could you check for others? Try to keep them alive,” I asked, knowing she could hear me through the scarf.

While all this was going on, Liane was back to her feet, daggers out, pushing me back through the door, while Crisplet was larger than I was, his flame nearly black with the crown looking like jagged molten teeth.

Lily’s pressure lessened slightly. I assumed she was branching out her search as I was pushed through the door, with Liane shutting it before grabbing my hand.

“It’s poisoned,” I got out just as she was about to grab it, stopping a second later.

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I pulled it out myself. Again, there was really no pain as the thin piece of metal was removed and dropped to the floor.

I barely got a moment to think when a door burst open from the end of the hall, as Kathrine, Elijah, and the King appeared.

“What happened?” Marcus’s voice boomed.

“Trevor was attacked. Poison dart,” Liane said, still pushing me back away from the door, which was currently smoking.

Shouts were coming from the other side of the door, but they were too muffled to make out. Only the sound of heavy footsteps as Marcus was running up the hall, still in his ceremonial armour.

There was a thud as a body dressed in brown clothes with a strange-looking cloak that was difficult to look at fell to the floor, Lily appearing a moment later, standing between me and the body.

There was still shouting on the opposite side of the door, now a clearer voice coming through.

“Crisplet, please let us pass.” I could have sworn it was the sound of Liam.

Marcus arrived at the body. “Is this the assassin?”

Kathrine ran past both of us, heading for the door leading back to the hall, while Elijah had his own sword out, following her.

“Uh, I think so, yes. I saw someone fall from the beams,” I said, looking behind me.

Marcus began to examine the body, removing their hood and mask, while my attention was drawn behind me. Kathrine had just pulled open the door, which was completely charred and smoking, with Crisplet blocking the doorway.

“Crisplet, it’s okay. Please let us pass,” Kathrine said.

This was enough for Crisplet to turn around and see Lily and myself. I attempted to push reassurance to him, which clearly got through, as he shrunk a little in size and started coming towards us. I noticed he was leaving a charred trail on the ground.

Turning back to Marcus, who was still investigating the body, pulling out a small vial, two more darts, and several daggers.

“They killed themselves,” he said simply.

This was both a relief and surprising. I was relieved to know it wasn’t Lily who killed them, though I wouldn’t have been too upset if she did. They tried to attack me. But I was surprised, because who would take their own life like that?

“One of the noble houses?” Liane asked.

“Could be, but I doubt it.” Marcus pulled the cloak.

“This cloak is not a product of our kingdom.” He then held the vial before looking at me.

“This is the poison, I suppose. We’ll have some people look into it and find the origin, unless you want to do your own research.” Marcus looked at me.

“No, it’s okay,” I shook my head.

The King then kept searching the body, pausing as he pulled back the cloth to reveal the neck, where there were red markings on the skin showing a pattern, but more concerning were the growing black patches that were appearing.

Marcus dropped the body, backing up quickly, as more black wounds appeared.

The smell was horrible, like a creature had died months ago. A black miasma began to form as everyone backed up.

“Crisplet, burn the body. Quickly,” Liane said.

There was no hesitation as a column of fire engulfed the corpse, leaving nothing but a scattering of ashes and a burnt spot on the floor. Behind us, I heard Kathrine shouting out orders, as the sounds of armour were clear from the guards.

“A second attack?” Marcus muttered.

“How did they even get into the palace?” I asked curiously.

“It seems our wards were not anywhere near as strong as they should have been. Two uninvited guests appearing.” Marcus shook his head, staring down at the corpse.

“Where are the darts they tried to hit you with?” he asked.

“Uh, the one that was in my hand is on the floor by the door, and the other one was on the other side of the door, where Crisplet was,” I said, looking back.

Marcus turned to Liam, who I hadn’t even noticed had arrived. “Go collect them both, but do not touch the metal. They are likely dangerous to touch.”

“Yes, sir,” Liam said before running off to collect the darts.

“Trevor, are you poisoned?” Marcus looked at me hard for a moment.

“No, sir. It didn’t affect me.” I could have told him I was immune, but it might be better to be a little reserved with my abilities.

Nodding, he went on. “They probably thought the job was done when they hit you and killed themselves before getting caught and interrogated. Those red markings, though, I’ve seen them before. I just don’t remember where.”

Liam returned only a moment later with one whole dart and a melted bit of metal.

“Sir, I have recovered both darts. The palace is locked down, and all guests are back in the throne room. There were two minor injuries as the body hit them when it fell, but a healer has seen to them,” Liam reported.

Marcus stopped him there. “Anyone who has been in contact with the individual, have them pulled aside for now, in case there are secondary poisons. We’ll be conducting interviews with everyone before they are allowed to leave. Have all the house staff collected and questioned as well. Finally, I want the mages to do a sweep of the entire property and get me any mage that had a hand in the wards.”

“Yes, sir,” Liam said before running off again.

“It’s going to be a long night after all. I would prefer you to stay here for now until we know the threat has passed. I have to treat this as a threat to the kingdom, as I suspect I know what will happen if you’re killed, and I would prefer to live to see another day and have a kingdom at the end,” Marcus sighed.

“That’s fine. Can I have my team come to me, though?” I asked.

“The palace is locked down, so I don’t think it will be possible. We can’t risk opening the gates and lowering the magic,” Marcus shook his head.

“Lily, can you get them and let Sylverith know as well?” I asked.

Lily tilted her head at me before looking to Crisplet, who let out a burst of sparks and puffed himself up before she vanished.

“She’ll find you if we move, right?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah.”

Marcus smiled. “Alright, follow me. We have some safe rooms.”

I was completely lost as I followed Marcus. We went through doors that were completely hidden. We went through a fireplace. And eventually we went through what appeared to be a regular wall that must have been illusion magic of some kind, because the King walked straight through the wall before we found ourselves in a small room with a couple of bookcases and several chairs.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll have you stay in here while we do our interro—” Marcus started.

He was interrupted as Sylverith walked in behind us from the same direction we came in, seemingly having no issues finding us at all, while next to me, Jen, Hari, Milo, and an empty pot were all dumped on the floor.

“Well, that was some good timing,” Sylverith said happily.

“What’s going on?” Hari demanded, getting to his feet.

I was just about to explain when Marcus beat me to it. “Someone tried to kill Trevor. We’ve locked the palace down and are doing interrogations, but it’s not safe right now.”

“What!” Hari boomed, but Sylverith spoke over him.

Sylverith gave a cold smile. “Interrogations, you say? I will come. Let’s root out this corruption, young flame. This should be fun!”

Marcus paled but didn’t refuse.

“I will leave you here. Kathrine will check on you soon, should you need anything,” Marcus said.

He turned to leave, with Sylverith following behind him. “Worry not, young ones. If there is a guilty party here, we’ll find them and have some fun.”

The smile was terrifying.