Житие Мое / Life of Mine: Глава 5

Chapter 5

Camrad_RIP 10.05.23 в 18:17

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Camrad_RIP 10.05.23 в 18:17

I spent the rest of my vacation time at Bionkin writing my first-ever report. I was careful to keep up with my notes, and I didn't dare lie, but I suspected that the truth would seem like the biggest lie of all. And then what? I wasn't about to spend my days in prison for particularly dangerous mages - it was said to be disgusting. On the other hand, there didn't seem to be much reason to go on the run, either.

Camrad_RIP 10.05.23 в 18:18

A normal person, let alone a white mage, would have had a heart attack from such an experience, but all that tormented me was hopeless irritation. It pissed me off that the oversight had figured out my other self so quickly. I should have said no! Do not confess anything, say, I - not me, the bike - mine, and the dog - not mine, but then no one knows how things would have turned out, but this hurt only my self-esteem. I'll get over it. But the strange pliability of the unknown mage brought up the idea of a trap.

Camrad_RIP 10.05.23 в 18:24

Anyway, Captain Behr received the report from me in time, and he didn't even give me a moral lecture. And that was frightening - the policeman could not be unaware of the nature of black mages; the lack of a harsh response disorients us and creates a feeling of permissiveness, practically guaranteeing a relapse. I wondered if they were trying to provoke me into a crime. I decided to act out of spite - not to give in to anything. I would be quiet, polite, and modest, at least until I graduated - it would only take a year. I had plenty of money now, no questions asked about my Acquisition, and nothing else prevented me from concentrating entirely on alchemy. That's all I wanted to do, isn't it? As a bonus, I got four typewritten pages of instructions on "How to Keep a Zombie". It stated that zombies should be periodically given a special mineral broth. It was time to visit my favorite office and steal the necessary chemicals from Johan.

Camrad_RIP 10.05.23 в 19:11

If I'd known what this would entail, I would have given the zombies up to the authorities for experiments.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:10

At the Biokin office, I was met by a discreetly sobbing Bella, a blue-eyed brunette. So what are they up to again? The model seems to be working. Carl and Johan are dancing around it day and night, and my presence is not required. And she wouldn't get wet over a fermenting vat.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:10

I decided to distance myself from the secretary's problems (I had no idea what to do with crying women), but I couldn't. Her sobs were bugging me in every corner of the enormous office and were driving into my brain like red-hot nails. I guessed who was having fun, and for half an hour, I meditated, trying to ward off outside influences. For some otherworldly creature to teach me how to live! It did not work: the place in my being where the Rustle had settled was not yet accessible to conscious influence (after all, I had only been a mage for a year), and the crying even intensified, obscuring all other sounds.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:13

Should I take a break? It was less than two weeks until the end of the conditional quarantine, so if I could lock myself in my apartment and just drink, I'd be fine. But there was a menacing glow of purple under my eyelids, and it occurred to me there was no point in me doing this nonsense because of some stupid girl. I sighed and went to pay attention to my neighbors. Damn.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:15

The girl sat there, carefully covering her tear-red eyes with the palm of her hand.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:17

"What happened?" I muttered, trying to sound friendly.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:21

She didn't answer, turning her face to the window.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:21

"Maybe I can help you?"

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:24

"No..."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:24

"How do you know? Do black magicians often offer you help?"

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:24

It sounded convincing.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:25

She got to talking quickly. As it turned out, the girl was worried about her fiancé, a guy named Uther. I'd seen him around the office a couple of times. He works as a delivery guy. He was a typical uninitiated black one, unruly and rambunctious but with a sense of humor, which was rare for our kin. Bella's mother was against the black son-in-law. And she demanded that he be "cured" by some doctor she knew, not even an empath, to "fix his temper". The guy was really noisy and prickly, but the girl liked him, and being too stubborn was not a vice. Uther agreed (I couldn't believe it), they went to the clinic together, and Bella watched him sleep after the treatment, all calm. Only it's been two days. Yesterday he was supposed to go home, but he's nowhere. The clinic did not let the girl in and does not want to answer any questions. What to do?!

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:31

"What did they mean by treatment?" I got concerned.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:32

The charming secretary didn't know anything about magic. She began to recall the explanations she'd been given, giving up terms like "cutting a contour" and "asserting an axis". I listened carefully, gradually becoming aware of an unpleasant thing. She could say goodbye to her Uther. After the poor girl, biting her lip carefully, outlined the shape of the sign that was present in the "procedure room," all my doubts disappeared.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:34

"So, in fact, they used the Shackles of Deliverance on an uninitiated mage," I summarized. "Your boyfriend's already dead."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:34

Her eyes widened in indignation.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:35

"There's nothing you can do about it, baby. That's life. He's already dead, and the fact that he's breathing is no indication. Any mage will tell you the same thing."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:36

"No, they wouldn't..."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:36

"And that's another question, how they went about it. What kind of healer doesn't know the basics? Did you ask him for his license?"

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:38

She was visibly frightened and shook her head uncertainly:

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:38

"No, Madame Melones has medical school..."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:38

"School doesn't matter. A healer's license is what's important. Magic is a part of the human being, like the liver or the heart. An initiated mage, after training, can separate his Source. It is like a third hand for him, so it can be cut off. Unpleasant, but not fatal. For an uninitiated person, an attempt to remove the Source is like a hammer to the chest, the mind and personality are left with only debris, and the fact that the body is still breathing is pure physiology. A body without a soul does not live long."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:41

Bella seemed to be starting to make sense of what had happened.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:41

"Yeah, baby, they killed him. I don't know if they did it consciously or not. It was like being stabbed, only there was no blood. If his relatives haven't already reported him to the police, I'd recommend doing it right away before these charlatans kill someone else."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:43

She went very pale and fidgeted, grabbing now for her purse or the phone.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:44

"Go ahead. I'll warn Polak." My generosity knew no bounds. "They've got the central office on Park Road. Tell their headman I sent you.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:44

She sobbed a couple more times, took off and ran away.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:46

Blessed be the silence!

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:46

I returned to my desk, rubbed my cup familiarly, warmed my coffee, and prepared to get acquainted with the shape the shit-can had taken in my absence. The pleasure was spoiled by the waves of approval emitted by Rustle. Look at him, an undead with morals. If I had known how I would have killed him. By the way, I need to read the literature. Maybe there is a way.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:50

I couldn't imagine how the brainless creature could find the black mage's only vulnerability. If Rustle had bothered me with visions of flaming cities and walking corpses, I would have only chuckled merrily. But I've been told since I was a little kid that people ought to be helped. Usually, I had more or less ignored unnatural impulses, pretending not to notice anything, but Rustle had ruthlessly poked me in the contradiction between my white upbringing and my black nature. Nightmare.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:52

It's bad enough to be a black one raised in a white family.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:53

I never saw Bella again. The next day she took her things from the office and disappeared forever. Quarter told me that the girl had become an ascetic and was studying to become a healer. A useful thing to do!

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:54

However, my forced humanism had consequences.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:55

Watchdogs responded to the girl's inarticulate mutterings with unexpected vigor. By the time the storm troop burst into the dubious clinic, the ill-fated Uther was already dead and ready for cremation, and there were two other blacks, and children, waiting in line for "treatment. The police rounded up everyone from the director to the technician, but most of the professionals were peaceful herbalists who had no idea that the landlady was entertaining illegal hexes. The tabloids ran headlines like "Inquisition Reborn" and "Police Mayhem," but that didn't stop the charges from being filed. The authorities announced that the clinic would be closed and demolished as a building desecrated by sacrifice.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:57

"Just think, I was there," the atypically serious Quater twirled a glass nearly full in his hands, "and I saw that woman."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:58

"You wanted a healing?" I sneered.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 18:59

"Bite your tongue!" Ron was angry. "It's good for you to say - your folks are far away, and mine nag me every day. My mother was girlfriend with that Meloness; they're organizing a support club there now."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:00

"Who? Bella or Uther?"

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:00

"You wouldn't understand," he brushed me off. "She was... well... typical white!"

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:01

"White is not synonymous with good," I admonished.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:02

"I know," Quarter grimaced, "but I didn't think it was that bad."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:03

"Get an apartment!" I sincerely advised it. "There's nothing like living without neighbors."

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:03

Especially when you have the opportunity to get rid of them.

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:06

Uther was buried on the first day of the school year, and not one, not one lousy newspaper wrote a single line about the event! It was an outrage!

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:07

Rustle and I were indignant in unison, and the results were scary. I don't know what he was going to do, but I went to the university and asked all the black mages whose names I could remember (there were quite a few) directly if they knew that the white one had killed the black one. And guess what? Absolutely everyone showed a keen interest in the case. That was the first time I heard the strange word "Artificer". The oldest teachers gritted it out with such hatred that I was ready to believe it was a real magical war, and by nightfall, someone had painted a sign on the walls of the main building that read, "Nintark Not Forgotten"! I wonder where that is?

Camrad_RIP 12.05.23 в 19:11