Chapter 12: Grim Revelation

“Micah Fugger,” the Madam’s voice suddenly called, “my husband is many things… but a liar is not one of them. If he says he had no knowledge of it, then he didn’t.”

Her interruption seemed to calm the tension that was building. Graham looked ready to attack Micah for his audacious assumptions, and Micah, while aware he was being rude, clearly wanted to show his displeasure at a ’family head’ allowing his son to go this far.

Besides the fact that Finn was their own son, if his soul wasn’t as strong as it was, the danger he would have posed to residents of the city if fully corroded could have led to the death of hundreds, if not thousands of innocents.

“The deed has already been done. What remains is the aftermath,” the Madam continued, trying to defuse the escalating situation. “I will not have you clash over who bears the fault while my son remains within dangerous territory.”

That seemed to calm Graham down immediately. His son came first before any pride or insult.

“He will live… Though, not without debts. Soul debts, that is.” Micah also calmed, trying to reassure the Madam, but also explaining the reality of things to her. “By the time he wakes up he’ll—”

“—Madam, I’d advise that you should simply be at his side. That’s all you can do for now. Perhaps hearing your voice can help him in the battle for control…” Isis abruptly cut in, stopping Micah from continuing his earlier talk.

He looked about to head into the specifics of the debts Finn could be wracked with if he woke up. For all his suave, there were times like this when he lacked tact. Isis usually came to the rescue in such situations.

Micah recognized after the fact, and promptly shut his mouth, taking a step back. He allowed Isis to take over as she consoled the madam who kneeled by Finn’s side, whispering soothing words.

A silent exchange of glances passed between him and Graham, and they left the two ladies to a separate room silently.

“Speak.” Graham said before the door was even shut.

“Before that. Did you truly have no knowledge of Finn’s assimilation attempts?”

“Do not test me, Ossuarist—”

“Just answer the question… sir.”

Graham’s gaze burned fiercely, but he eventually acquiesced, shaking his head slightly.

“That is troublesome then…” Micah frowned with a more troubled expression than any he had shown all day, “That would mean that within this city, there is someone — a Revenant, powerful and connected enough to provide Finn with soul masses, while also wily enough that they can slip under your notice…”

Graham grunted. “I personally doubt it. But the situation proves otherwise. The only revenant of note in this city was the one you killed — Lionel. And even he was barely worth mentioning. All four noble houses knew of his movements in the undergrounds. We simply allowed his presence for situations like Finn’s.”

Micah snorted. “No offense, but respectfully, that was such a stupid idea. You all would rather a Revenant handle any of your children that are revealed to have talent for soul magic than for them to join the Ossuary?!”

“He was only allowed to live for information!” Graham snapped. “We cannot publicly align with the Ossuary, the Queen forbids it! So he was simply a ’behind-the-scenes’ measure for that

possible situation! Though I never expected I’d be the first to use him…”

Micah shook his head, but didn’t engage further. “Well, look how that turned out. You know he’ll definitely have to join the Ossuary now, don’t you?”

The pushback he expected from Graham didn’t come. Instead, the family head focused on something else. “You seem very sure he will awaken.” He was more concerned with this fact.

Micah sighed. “I’m… eighty, no—ninety percent sure he will. Your son… his talent for soul magic… it’s on the level of a Sepulchre House Scion.”

Graham Slade’s pupils constricted in shock.

The Sepulchre Houses. Despite the fact Aethelos was a country where soul mages were not as publicly known, he had still heard of the Sepulchre Houses.

Old blood Ossuary families that dated back to the furthest recorded history of the common era. He didn’t know how true, but they were said to possess soul masses of Archons — the greatest rank of magic any Arcanist could ever reach. It was such a terrifying thing to think of considering that the only Archons in the current age were the rulers of the three continents that made up their world — Aethelos, Feraxia, and Mechanus.

So, was Micah saying Finn’s soul was as strong as Ossuarist Scions that had the bloodline of those whose souls had the potential to suppress chaotic Archon soul masses?

“…And how do you know this? Are you sure you aren’t mistaken…?” Graham should have been happy at the revelation, as it meant his son was very sure to come out of his current state alive and well, but his worry at the other implication slipped out first.

“There’s no mistaking it. Your son has not yet learned to hide the presence of his soul masses… at least not consciously,” Micah thought back to Isis’ failure to discern the number of soul masses within Finn. “So all the soul masses within him are glaringly obvious to someone like me. That, and the fact your son is still wrestling for control…”

Graham swallowed visibly. This was another development that was totally out of his expectations. Talent like that was surely going to cause waves. Even without knowing the nitty-gritty specifics of the Ossuarist world, his power and influence as a fairly powerful Arcanist and noble himself made him know just how much people in power hated being challenged.

“If that is so, then you should never have told me this. There is no way I will allow my son tread the path of an Ossuarist.”

“It’s too late, Graham.” Micah deadpanned. “Your son cannot live a normal life any longer. I held back from saying this earlier in the living room, but your son is wracked with so many soul debts that I fear for his mental state when he wakes.”

Graham stilled. “What do you mean…”

“He’s lost his sense of sight, sense of hearing, smell, he can’t feel pain or any kind of touch at all… Coupled with the conflicting wills of twenty chaotic soul masses, by the time your son wakes up, he’d be battling with mania, trapped in the darkness of his own mind without a single window to the outside world for reprieve.”

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