Drakengard Anomaly: The Tale of an Angel and an Intoner

Another day in Cagliamola and another day having to put up with Rose's snoring, maybe the merchants have some earplugs to sell. 

I sat on my bed and stamped my feet on the floor, cracking it a little, damn. This strength will become a problem in the future, won't it?

Looking to the side, I saw Rose waking up in her bed next to mine.

"Good morning!" I said while smiling.

"Good morning idiot!" Rose replied, smiling too. 

I sighed; well it looks like that's my nickname now.

"Let's get some breakfast." I said, getting ready for the day.

-XXXXXX-

As we went down to the tavern of the inn, we saw the monk I bribed yesterday! He looked horrified at me; I just nodded and smiled. Leaving that aside, Rose and I sat at the table and ordered our food.

"So what are we going to do today?" Rose asked curiously.

Well, I thought about going to the markets, but I would like to go alone, I want to surprise Rose and I would like to find a house to live in. 

I haven't given up on finding a way back home, but I can't do that living in an inn, I need a place to prepare myself and to come back if I need to.

"You know what, how about we part ways for today; I've just been dragging you all over town, why don't you go have some fun?" I said to Rose, giving her a small bag with some coins. 

"Are you sure?" Rose asked hesitantly, looking between the bag and me.

"Sure, go have some fun, you deserve it! We'll meet here at dusk ok?" I replied, putting my hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes.

Rose nodded and smiled, accepting the coin bag; we left the inn right after and went our separate ways. I hope she enjoys it, now which way is the market?

-Streets of Cagliamola-

I walked through the city streets thinking about what to do. Looking left and right, I saw so many people. I never left that brothel, I just attended client after client, now I'm nervous, and I don't know where to start.

A delicious smell entered my nose as I walked the smell of roasted meat. There was a small stall on the side of the street with a man roasting meat on a skewer.

My mouth watered with the sight; well I know what I'm going to do first.

"Hello, sir!" I said, stopping in front of the stall.

"Good morning miss! How can I help?" The man said, stopping roasting the meat and smiling at me.

I opened the bag and looked at the coins, noticing a problem. I didn't have the slightest idea of the value of each one. You know what; I'll find it out now!

"How many can I get with this?" I said to the man while holding out a silver coin.

The man smiled from ear to ear.

-XXXXXX-

I left the tent smiling from ear to ear too. I held a meat skewer in my mouth and one in each hand, now that I've the opportunity, I'll try the best food that this world can offer, meat, chicken, cheeses, and cakes. Hm… Cakes, I never tasted one, I wonder what it tastes like.

Another delicious smell attacked my nose. Looking at the street to my left, my eyes widened upon seeing a street full of stalls selling various types of food, I quickly ate the meat and ran towards the street.

-XXXXXX-

I rested on a bench in the street with a slice of cake in my hand, I was sure the cake would be delicious, but I believed that there was something better out there.

I finished my food and looked across the street, seeing a store with a mannequin about my size in front of it. The mannequin wore a beautiful black dress and I wanted it. Without thinking twice, I entered the store.

However, as soon as I walked in, I felt watched. Looking back, I didn't see anyone strange, just people passing by.

-Markets-

The market streets were full of shops and stalls with a cacophony of merchants advertising their wares and people haggling attacking my ears. All this noise bothered me; well I can't do anything about it.

I passed several stalls with the merchants trying to draw my attention to their wares. 

One of them offered me jewelry, but for the low price, he charged me the jewelry must be fake. 

Another tried to sell me miracle medicines that promised to cure any illness; I believe I have a greater chance of getting sick taking this supposed medicine.

Lastly, one of them tried to sell me products that promised to increase my performance in bed, not to mention, of course, the toys he displayed in his store. 

I hurried past him before he could remember what I looked like; I wasn't interested in this store's products! I sure as hell wasn't!

I finally arrived at the place I was looking for. This merchant's shop was on an empty street, a wooden counter with crates in the back with piles and more piles of books. 

Now where was the merchant?

"Help me!" A muffled voice spoke.

"Is anyone here?" I asked, looking around.

"Down here!" The voice spoke again, but louder. 

I looked inside the shop where I saw a pile of books on the floor with a hand coming out of it.

"I'm on my way!" I screamed, jumping over the counter and taking the books off the person.

A short old man was underneath the books, bald and with a long beard almost touching the ground; he wore blue robes, looking like an RPG wizard.

"Thank you, young man!" The old man smiled offering a handshake.

"No need to thank me." I replied, accepting it and smiling too.

"Very well, young man, my name is Faust; may I know your name?" The old man spoke, stepping behind the counter.

"You can call me Alan, just Alan." I answered, jumping the counter again and returning to the street.

"Nice to meet you Alan, but let's cut to the chase, how can I help you?" Faust said, rubbing his hands together and smiling at me.

"I'm looking for books" As soon as I said that, Faust looked around his shop and then gave me a look as if to say 'Really? Did you come to a bookstore looking for books?' 

Perhaps I should be more specific.

"I look for books to teach someone to read and write, and books on the history of Midgard as well." I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"Of course, I have these books here. Are they for you?" Faust asked while looking for the books in his store.

"No, they are for a friend." I replied, leaning my elbow on the counter, and watching Faust curiously.

"Must be a special friend then?" Faust asked, placing four books on the counter.

"You could say so." I shrugged, looking at the books.

Leafing through it, I recognized the literacy and history books, but there was one that I didn't recognize. 

A gray book, that looked like a literacy book, but I didn't recognize the letters, they looked like squiggles, letters made of straight lines with little circles at their ends.

"Hey, what's this book about?" I asked Faust, showing him the book in question.

"This book teaches the chaos language and angelic alphabet. You see, we humble commoners speak the ancient languages of before the Great Cataclysm, languages like Portuguese, French, and Spanish, while the chaos language and angelic alphabet is the language spoken by wizards and nobles. It emerged after the Great Cataclysm; let's just say the upper class doesn't want the plebs to know about their secrets."

I see... Wait?!? That old man just called me a plebe! I'll show him who the plebe is! 

"I'll take all the books!" I screamed, slamming a handful of coins on the counter.

Faust gave me another smile and I realized that I had fallen into a trap.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, come back anytime!" Faust said, giving me the books and pocketing the coins.

Well, at least I got the books; I turned around to put the books in my backpack.

"By the way what time do you open tomorrow?" However, when I turned back Faust's shop was no longer there. 

I looked around but didn't find Faust; there was just a space where his shop was.

"Noir did you see where Faust ended up?" I asked the book inside my backpack.

"Unfortunately I didn't see it, Lord Alan. But there was something strange about that gentleman, perhaps his sudden disappearance was for the best." Noir replied from inside my backpack.

"Maybe, but I wonder if I'll see him again he was nice." I answered, scratching my head and looking around again.

Well, in the end, it doesn't matter. Now let's go to my second goal, finding a place to live. 

I went back to the busiest streets but couldn't get rid of the feeling of being watched, it must be my impression, after all, unlike Tokyo, and this city is full of people.

-Inn-

Today was an interesting day, I said to myself as I walked back to the inn. I tried new types of food and bought new clothes, sadly, the sun was setting on the horizon and the shops were closing.

Closing to the inn, I saw Alan waiting for me at the entrance, he waved upon noticing me and I waved back.

"So Alan how was your day?" I asked him as I approached.

"Very productive, by the way, could you come with me? I have a surprise for you." Alan said, smiling playfully.

"You have a surprise for me? Where is it?" I can't lie, I'm excited about it.

"Yes I have, but I need you to come with me." Alan replied in the same playful tone.

"Right, lead the way!" I answered, jumping slightly.

We walked for some time, leaving the commercial district behind and arriving in a residential one.

"Are we there yet?" I asked annoyed.

"Just wait a few more minutes." Alan replied mysteriously.

I sighed, I hate walking.

"We're here!" Alan screamed, running ahead and stopping with open arms in front of a house.

It was an average wooden house, not too big or too small, with a ground floor and some windows.

"Alan, what is that?" I asked confused, pointing at the house.

"It's our home." Alan said, approaching me, putting his hands on my shoulders, and looking me in the eyes 

My eyes widened because I couldn't believe it! Did I hear that right? Our home, do I deserve this?

"Come on, what's the problem? You may come in." Alan said, unlocking the door.

I stopped at the doorframe. One step and I would go in, however, is it okay for me to do it? 

I looked back at Alan; he smiled and nodded at me. Looking back at the door, I stepped forward.

"It's our home." I said.

"It's our home." Alan replied.

-Streets of Cagliamola-

It has been a few months since Rose and I lived here, over time we know Cagliamola's inhabitants better. 

Walking down the street, I waved at some of these inhabitants as I passed. I saw Maria inside her sewing shop, Antonio cleaning his bakery, and Faust carrying some books.

I just left my job. I did all kinds of heavy duty thanks to my super strength like working on construction sites and carrying heavy materials. 

I gained certain fame in the city thanks to that, but it wasn't just my strength that increased, my senses got better too, I saw better, heard better, and smelled better.

I stopped in front of Rose's workplace, a flower shop owned by Miss Agatha, an old woman full of energy and with wandering hands. I lost count of how many times she tried to grope me.

"See you tomorrow Miss Agatha!" Rose said to the old woman after leaving the shop.

"So let's go home?" Rose smiled, stopping in front of me.

"Let's go." I replied, smiling too.

I looked back as we walked home and saw two men following us; they did this for a long time. 

At first, it was just the impression of someone following me, then the feeling of someone looking at me through the window of our house.

I once pretended to go to work and watched Rose at the flower shop and in the distance, I saw a man spying on her too. 

I need to do something about it, however, beating up two supposedly innocent men in the middle of the street would tarnish my good reputation in the city and I couldn't let go of the feeling that something bad was going to happen today.

We got home, and I prepared lunch with Rose helping me, we've been cooking together for a while now after Rose asked me to teach her one day, and she is good at it.

We put our plates on the kitchen table and ate our food, and then I dealt with another one of Rose's habits that bothered me, but I'm too polite to complain about it, her total lack of table manners.

Rose put as much food into her mouth as possible and chewed it with her mouth open, sending saliva and food scraps everywhere, without speaking, of course, the chewing noise. 

"What?" Rose asked stopping chewing and looking at me confused.

"It's nothing." I replied with a disgusted face.

Rose shrugged and went back to eating, a piece of meat fell from her plate to the floor and she simply picked it up and ate it.

 I breathed deeply, it's best to ignore it and focus on my food.

I taught Rose to read and write during the afternoon, and at her request, taught her basic math and bought some children's storybooks for her to read and practice. 

At night, while Rose slept, I studied the chaos language, the angelic alphabet, and the history of Midgard.

There was a bookcase full of books about Midgard and its people and magical creatures in our room; money well spent in my opinion, unfortunately, I didn't find any books about magic, which didn't surprise me too much; I doubt the Lords will let anyone learn magic without their permission. 

A funny thing is that I hid Noir and Rubrum among the books on the shelf, I saw them from here, Noir wasn't explicit, but I noticed that he liked to stay out of the backpack.

Well, it's time for bed; I blew out the candle on the table and went to sleep.

-Cagliamola, night-

The streets of Cagliamola were silent that night, everyone slept inside their houses, except for a group of men. 

One of these men had an injured arm, but even so, he broke the lock of a house's front door.

The man pushed the door slightly forward and made room for another man to enter.

This other man wore dark leather clothes, a black mask that covered his nose and mouth, and a hood on his head.

The masked man walked through the living room of the house, looking around; he stopped in front of the door of a room, opening the door a little, he saw a girl sleeping in her bed. That was his target, the girl should be taken alive and the boy must die.

The man slowly opened the door and entered the room. Taking a thief's knife from his pocket, the man approached the sleeping boy, but before he could get any closer, something grabbed the man's head.

"What?!?" The man screamed confused.

His head was ripped from his body before he reacted, the skin tore exposing the muscles, and the muscles tore exposing the spine, and the spine took more work to break, so the thing twisted the man's head like a bottle cap, separating the head from the body. 

The headless body spurted blood across the room like a fountain, before hitting the ground with a wet thud splattering even more blood everywhere.

A black and red colored hand held the severed head; this Dark Hand came out of a book on a bookshelf. 

The boy in the bed moved and quickly got up, showing that he wasn't sleeping at all. 

The book came off the bookshelf and floated in front of the boy, dropping the man's head at his feet as proof of a job well done.

"Lord Alan here is the head of one of the worms that dared to try to harm you." The book said politely with a tinge of rage.

Alan stepped back in disgust at the head so brutally ripped off.

"Good job Noir!" Alan said a little disturbed as Noir bowed down.

-Rose and Alan's House-

I breathed slowly, trying to control the urge to vomit. I know I've killed two men before but it's still not easy to see people dying so brutally. 

At least Noir did his part, It was a good idea to ask him to protect us every night; he's been doing it ever since I realized someone followed us daily.

"Lord Alan, there is a group of people outside; they appear to be this worm's accomplices." Noir said, looking outside our bedroom.

Well, there's no other option now, I picked up my metal bat from under my bed and prepared myself mentally, this won't end well; tonight I might have to kill again.

I heard a noise beside me it was Rose waking up. No! Please no! I don't want her to see this! 

I hoped to finish it all without fuss, but it seemed like there was no other way, I prepared myself to explain the situation.

"Alan, what was that noise?" Rose asked, standing up and looking around. 

She went silent with wide eyes and open mouth, looking at a headless body and Noir floating beside me. 

She saw the man's head upon looking at the floor, making her crawl back onto the bed in a panic.

I realized that she was going to scream, but before she could do that, I ran towards her and put my hand over her mouth.

"HHHMMM!" Rose tried to scream as she struggled.

"Rose, calm down! I'll explain what happened, but I need you to calm down! Got it?!? "I muttered with my face close to her.

She nodded frantically.

"Right, someone followed us for days, on the streets, at our jobs, at our house. So I asked Noir there to protect us at night." I said, pointing at Noir as he bowed slightly.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Rose." Noir said politely.

"HHHMMM!" Rose tried to scream again.

"SSSHHH!" I replied with a finger in front of my lips.

"Yes, this is Noir a floating talking magic book, I also have another magic book called Rubrum, which I still don't know what it does as it doesn't talk much. Both books were with me all this time, now I need you to stay in silence. I'll take my hand off your mouth and you will not scream do you understand?"

She nodded again.

"Nice." I took my hand away from Rose's mouth and she stood up with shaking legs.

Her bare feet stepped on the body's blood making her face contort in disgust, meanwhile, I went to the bookshelf and grabbed Rubrum, hoping that my plan would work.

"Rubrum I don't know if you can understand me, but I need you to protect Rose while I solve this problem. Can I count on you?" A few seconds of silence passed and for a moment, I considered how stupid it was to talk to a book.

"Yes." A female childish voice whispered. 

With Rubrum in my left hand, I picked up the knife on the floor and handed them both to Rose.

"Rose do me a favor and take this knife and book to defend yourself, I don't know what's going to happen out there, so under no circumstances let go of this book, do you understand?!?" I exclaimed to the scared girl.

Rose nodded quickly, accepting the knife and book.

"Let's go Noir!" I said to the grimoire before running outside.

"Yes, Lord Alan." Noir replied, floating after me.

-Outside-

The group of men outside waited nervously.

"What's taking so long?" One of them asked.

"It can't be that hard to kill a guy and bring out a girl!" Another complained.

"What the hell, I'm going in too!" One of them lost his patience and entered the house. 

A few seconds of silence passed with the men outside looking into the darkness of the house, suddenly, a scream echoed through the night.

"What in the…" One of the men spoke scared.

Then the man who entered the house flew out the door, all his teeth broken and nose crushed with blood leaking like a river. A person with a floating book beside him came out of the house right after.

"Hello there!" The person said in an emotionless voice.

-Front of the house-

Well, there were five people, not counting the one on the ground. 

"Noir what else can you do and how many of those hands can you create?" I asked the grimoire beside me.

"I can cast magic shots, and create two hands, Lord Alan. Unfortunately, my powers haven't fully returned."

It's better than nothing I guess.

"Hello gentlemen! It's a good night, don't you think? However, there's a problem, you tried to hurt a friend of mine and I can't let that go unpunished. But before we start how about you tell me who hired you all?"

"Kill him!" One of the men screamed, pointing a knife at me before all of them ran toward us.

"Noir!" I screamed to the book.

"As you wish Lord Alan." Noir replied, firing magic shots towards the closest man.

The projectiles pierced him as if he had been machine-gunned, tearing chunks of flesh and leaving large bloody holes behind, his body fell to the ground with an audible noise. 

This made the other four men stop in fright.

"He knows how to use magic!" Another one screamed.

Well, the intimidation worked but I can't shoot spell after spell, there is a limit as per Noir's explanation. For example, let's say I have a mana bar, each spell spends a specific amount of mana, when that bar is empty I can't cast any more spells and I've to wait for it to refill.

Not to mention, of course, the physical exhaustion this causes to Noir and me, magic uses our energy and I've never used magic before.

"That's right, I can use magic! So who will be next?" I said, opening both arms and stepping forward.

The four men stood in front of me, two on the left and right. The ones on the left were further ahead and the two on the right were further back, the two who stood further ahead charged at me. 

What a bunch of idiots.

Both of them drew their knives, and I raised my bat.

"Noir, you take the one on the right!" I screamed to the book.

"As you wish." Noir replied politely, floating away.

The man on the left swung his knife towards me, aiming at my belly. I jumped back, dodging the first blow, and crouched down, dodging another one aimed at my neck. I swung my bat toward his jaw when I got up, creating another disturbing image.

I ripped off the man's jaw and he screamed in excruciating pain, the scream echoed through the night and I quickly swung my bat at his head shutting him up. 

I heard the sound of the skull cracking and saw the man's eyes popping out of his head. You need to hold the vomit, Alan! You need to hold the vomit! 

I saw him repeatedly hitting the head of the other man against the floor using one of his Dark Hands.

"Noir stop!" I screamed, not wanting to see the brutal scene anymore.

Noir stopped and tossed the man's corpse aside, the body rolled down the street repeatedly, hitting the ground like a stone bouncing off the surface of a lake, leaving several bloodstains in its path.

The two remaining men realized the situation and ran away, I breathed deeply due to the order I'd given. 

"Noir kill the one on the right and shoot the legs of the one on the left!"

"As you command."

Noir did just that, using one of his Dark Hands Noir grabbed the man on the right and squeezed him. 

I heard the man's agonized screams, breaking bones and crushing flesh, reducing him to a red paste.

Noir opened his hand and what was left of the man fell to the ground forming a red puddle of flesh. 

Only one left now.

Noir fired the magic projectiles, forming a line of holes down the street until they hit the last man in the legs, making him scream in pain.

You need to ignore the screams, Alan! You need to ignore the screams! I walked towards the fallen man, grabbed him by the leg, and dragged him towards the front of my house.

"No, please! What do you want?!? Money, information, I'll do anything?!?" The man begged, dragging his fingers across the ground.

"Anything?" I asked, taking the opportunity.

"Yes, I'll do anything!" The man replied.

"Very well! Who sent you, what do you want, and how many of you came here?"

"We were hired by the brothel bosses of Fool's March, they paid us very well to kill you and bring the girl! They wanted to know where the stolen money was! There were seven of us in total! Wait, where is Louis? Where is that bastard? He left us!"

Is he the same Louis from the inn? I didn't have time to think as Rose screamed inside our house.

"AAAHHH!"

Damn it, I kicked the man on the side of his head, knocking him unconscious, and ran towards our house with Noir beside me. 

I was exhausted from using so much magic in such a short time, but I needed to go on.

"Lord Alan, are you all right?" Noir asked worriedly.

I looked at Noir and saw double, no, triple, I also felt something running down my nose, putting my finger in the place; I saw that it was blood.

"I'm fine Noir don't worry and let's go!" I calmed the book and together we entered our house.

-Inside the House-

What was going on out there?!? It sounded like someone was being tortured.

CRUNCH!

CRACK!

"AAAHHH!"

I jumped back scared. What was happening outside? I approached the bedroom door, seeing the dark and empty living room with the front door open and something flying across the street.

Then someone whispered in my ear.

"Behind you."

I couldn't explain what happened at that moment, my body moved by itself, I turned around and saw the bedroom window open and Louis swinging a knife towards me, suddenly, a bright red barrier appeared, blocking the knife and pushing Louis back.

I swung my knife at Louis' neck, slashing his throat, blood spurted onto my face blinding me and staining my clothes, for a moment I saw the surprised look on Louis' face before he dropped dead. 

I dropped the knife with shaking hands and looked at the red book in my hands.

It was you, wasn't it? Then I realized what I did, I killed someone.

"AAAHHH!"

-Inside the Room-

I entered our room and saw Rose with her face covered in blood, hyperventilating, and with tears coming out of her eyes.

"Rose!" I screamed, approaching her.

She picked up the knife on the floor and pointed it at me.

"Calm down, it's me, Alan!" I screamed, raising both hands.

Rose slowly put the knife down still shaking.

"Can I clean your face?" I asked, taking a cloth from one of the drawers in our bedroom.

Rose nodded and I cleaned the blood on her face.

"Rose, I promise to explain everything to you, but first we need to get out of here. We will spend the rest of the night at the inn, for there will be questions about what happened here and I need to think about an excuse for all of this." I said to Rose, waving around as she nodded.

We packed our things and left the house, heading towards the inn. Rose looked around and saw the dead bodies on the street and the situation they were in, crushed and torn apart.

"Let's go." I said, extending my hand to her. 

However, Rose closed her eyes and stepped back, I don't blame her, and she knows that I did all this. She opened her eyes upon seeing that nothing happened and accepted my hand.

"Alan, are you ok?" Rose asked worriedly.

"Yes, why do you ask?" I replied confused.

"You're bleeding from your nose and mouth." I answered, pointing at my face.

I put my hand over my mouth and saw blood on my hand. How did I not taste it before? I spit a bubble of blood on the side of the street, cleaning my mouth.

"Don't worry I'm fine" I replied, smiling at her, making Rose jump back. 

I suppose my teeth are full of blood, it mustn't be a pretty sight, as if that wasn't enough, I saw triple again, but I kept my balance again. 

The sun rose on the horizon; soon everyone would see the corpses, we net to go now!

Fuck it! I just want to sleep!

END OF CHAPTER