Chapter 71 colorless

Author notes:

This chapter is dedicated to Matt.

Thank you for your support! <3

Btw (This applies to all the dedications.) If there’s anyone or anything you want me to add to these dedications let me know.

Chapter 71 The King.

I’m the rain caressing your heads.
I pat on your every roof and window.
Every mortal, animal and plant longs for me.
Yet, everyone drinks me without consent.

Mayan, the Ocean Fairy.

{28} Koshavi (February) the 29th

After a day of travel in the cold forest Lezere and Berthold find us an animal trail, which soon leads to a wider road. We pick one direction at random and spend the next few days on the road, hoping to reach a settlement eventually.

I spend the few days of travel studying and learning a few more basic cantrips of the elements I didn’t cover. I also learn more cantrips of all the other elements, trying my best to recall whatever I can remember from the hag’s library, and come up with ideas for things I might need. Now that I have a grimoire containing all that knowledge, it’s time to fill my arsenal with more spells.

I use the amulet’s mana to practice, and master the few new basic cantrips I learn.

After a few days of traveling by the rainy road, we can see a city downhill by the river. This patch of the forest is cut down in favor of the lumber mills on the river’s bank. Although the winter is cold, there isn’t any snow, so I assume the climate here is warmer than Axero.

We keep advancing toward the city in the heavy downpour. The sky growls and a flash of lightning soon follows. We’ll still need an hour of walking in this rain in order to reach that town. But a warm inn and beds await us there. Finally I’ll be able to take a proper bath!

A gory sight stops me in my tracks. A man impaled by a spear. The tip of the spear pokes out of his mouth, while the shaft is stabbed between his legs, half-buried under the mud. The rain drip down his naked body and a large wet plank is nailed to his chest with the words:

I thought I’m smarter than the King

“A bad way to go…” Salik shakes his head.

We keep walking, there isn’t much we can do. After a fifteen minutes’ walk, we encounter another one. This time it’s a woman. Anything from her waist down is missing and half of her intestines hangs in the open. The plank hanging from her breasts says:

I thought my jar was too good for the King

“A bad way to go…” Salik comments again as we keep moving.

We reach the third one approximately five minutes away from the town’s gates. This poor man had his hands, feet, and testicles cut off. A rope ties him up to a pole by his shoulders, and it seems as if he had bled to death in the rain. The plank hanging from his neck says:

I thought I could steal from the king

These are all fresh! These bodies aren’t here for more than a few days… and if there are three of them it means he executes people every week… Ok “King” I’m taking over your country! The hag wants me to rule over people, and you’re not good to your people anyway. Might as well do some good while accomplishing my task… How convenient for the both of us, huh?

“A bad…”

“A bad way to go. We know! Can you please stop saying that?!” Kolag interrupts Salik with an angry echo, his hand is shaking on the handle of his claymore.

Salik backs off with his hands raised.

“Please tell me we’re taking that bastard down!” Kolag approaches me, leaving Salik alone.

“We do. But we have to be smart about this, I’m not rushing blindly into this. And Kolag. If we see an execution right when we enter the city, do me a favor and hold your urge to hack people!”

He grunts angrily but doesn’t argue.

“Ok people!” I say trying to raise my voice over the rain. “I want us to get in there and find information about this so called ‘King’. I need to know who he is, and what his capabilities are. Anything you hear or see about him, true or false, I want to know about it!”

They nod. Sharla gives a long look at the town behind me, then shifts into a gorgeous-looking blond on par with any of Kynator’s daughters. She smirks and winks at me.

Five minutes later we reach the town’s gates. The wooden wall above the gate has a few spears with humanoid heads mounted on them. Multiple wooden cages hang from the walls near the gates. I spot naked women inside the cages, huddling against the cold rain. Is this a city? Or a bandit camp? It can’t be a bandit camp, there wouldn’t be lumber mills if it was and it's way too large to be a camp…

“Who are you people?” A group of about ten guards appears from within a large guard house at the side of the gate. I assume they used it to take shelter from the rain, but it also prevented us from spotting them before we got too close.

I notice another group of guards on top of the wooden walls, aiming their crossbows at us. “State your business!” The sky booms with thunder, and my dress and coat are drenched by the heavy rain. The clouds hide the sun so well that even the afternoon seem like the middle of the night.

“We’re travelers, passing through. Can you point us to the nearest inn?” I ask, keeping my voice calm. There is no point in making up tall stories here.

“Who’s leading your caravan? Or do you really expect me to believe all of you people follow this little girl?”

Of course, I should’ve thought about it… I do look like I’m too young to lead a caravan or something… and I guess there aren’t many female leaders… That’s a good idea actually, from now we’ll hide who’s truly leading this group… I glance at Salik. I figure he had experience with things like this.

Salik nods at me and steps forward. “That would be me sir. Any problems?”

“Yes. You need to pay the gate tax. That would be a silver per head! Your women are to be sent to our inspector.”

“Inspector? What kind of inspections?” Salik questions, furrowing his thick eyebrows.

“No questions. Or your head will be hanging from the wall tomorrow! If your women resist they’re welcome to join the ones over there.” The guard points at the wooden cages hanging from the walls with an evil grin etched on his face.

What on Lukam have we walked into?!

"How about we pay more taxes to avoid inspections?" Salik plays with his coin purse suggestively.

The guards exchange a few nervous glances with one another, a few steps forward hesitantly but before he can say anything the lead yells. "Did you just try to bribe us?!"

"You must've misheard me kind sir." Salik apologizes.

The guard nods to himself. "Good, because that'll be a crime against the king. You do not want to commit crimes against the king. Females to the right."

I step out of the group to the right. “That’s alright, we’ll meet you at the inn once they’re done with whatever this inspection is.” I intervene before Salik might start trouble. Worst case scenario I could always blow up some heads.

“Can I stay for the inspection?” Salik dares another question. “One of our girls can’t be left alone…”

“One more question from you and I won’t be so nice anymore. Don't make me repeat myself, anyone here with a pair of jugs leave your group!” the guards point their spears at us. Sharla and Lezere join me. Sharla shrieks and hugs me tightly, and the guards laugh, pushing us ahead.

They lead us into the city, toward a large wooden building. The muddy streets look mostly deserted in the heavy rain. I can spot a few people huddling in their coats, sitting below an extended roof of one of the houses. From the their torn winter clothes, I doubt these people even have a place to sleep.

The guards hurry us into the building. Once we’re inside, they close the door behind us and bar it.

It’s a large hall, with multiple mattresses spread on the floor. Half are occupied by women. I can count about fifty of them. Some of the women are awake, talking in low voices or huddling together.

Lezere sits on an empty mattress with a low growl. While Sharla lets go of me and gives me a questioning look.

“Go make friends, see if you can find what this is about…” I mutter under my breath, I know she has an increased hearing.

She nods. Her face and features blur and go through slight unnoticeable changes under her hood. She loses her dazzling beauty in favor of a plainer look, I’m pretty sure her chest lost a few centimeters as well. She takes off her hood and finds her way to the nearest group of women.

Let’s see what we got ourselves into first…

I take a seat near Lezere. Like Loyal, this brutish woman had followed me unquestionably. Why? What are her reasons for doing that? It was one thing when we were back at the tower, bound by necessity, and another when the hag was the one who recruited her. Sharla mentioned something about orcs needing a tribe… that it’s like love for humans… or just socializing?

“Lezere, why do you follow me?” I ask in Toml’a, reverting to my native tongue.

“Who else am I going to follow? You’re my chief!” She takes out her axe and sharpens it slowly, unsettling the few women who notice her actions.

“Why do you consider me your chief?” How does that work exactly?

She clacks her teeth twice. “There are three types of wolves. Those who are strong, and those who follow. You are strong, I follow. The third have directions and wisdom, they are rare. And the rest are sheep and rabbits.” She sneers with contempt.

“Then why follow me? What makes my ambitions, my goals, so important to you? Why did you choose me?”

She stops sharpening her axe and looks me in the eyes. “You do not let mercy and foolishness stop you from ending those who need to be killed. And you do not let pride and fear rule over you. You do not throw your life away for others needlessly like so many humans do.” She raises her chin upward, giving me a view of her muscular neck. “You are wise, and strong, a grand chieftess, a shaman and chief in one body, a worthy chief to follow!”

I sigh. “Trust me… Fear is a common thing in my heart”

“Kaka… In mine too, but you do not let it rule over you. If you did, you’d be dead instead of Adir and Nolan, and I’d have to follow a foolish chief who rules over others with fear.” She exposes her teeth in a snarl. “A foolish chief leads a tribe to ruin.”

I raise an eyebrow. “But would you still follow a foolish chief?”

She clacks her teeth. I am getting the impression that it means to be some form of annoyance, or maybe contemplation? “Only if I have no other chief to follow.”

“Who taught you to think like that? Why not have your own ambitions to follow?” What am I doing? Do I want her to turn on me? No. But I need to understand how she thinks, asking questions won’t change her…

“No one, just how the world is.” She shrugs and goes back to sharpening her axe.

Or at least how orcs are… “Hmmm… Lezere, what do you think about me and Kolag?”

“Kaka… you make a good pair. If you manage to get him out of his turtle shell, you’ll have some fearsome pups.”

“What about you? Would you like to have someone to settle down with one day?”

“Grrrrr... Orcs don’t settle down. We’re wolves, we hunt.”

“I mean, having a man to share your life with.”

She shrugs and puffs on her axe, blowing away some invisible dust. “Only a strong wolf to make fearsome pups. We do not settle down like humans, we fuck, have a litter of pups, and the tribe raises all the pups together.”

I nod. A litter of pups… it seems like orcs give birth to multiple babies at once. Makes sense how they keep their population going with all their deaths… These are silly questions to begin with, did I really think I could have a girl talk about boys with Lezere of all people? I guess I just missed her...

Lezere’s brown eyes focus on me but her hands don’t stop moving the sharpening stone on her axe. “What are we going to do now chief?”

“Now, we’re getting more people to follow me.”

She looks around at the women in the room with a sneer. “Not this group of scared bunnies I hope?”

I can't help but snicker. “Eventually them too. But currently I’m looking for fighting men and women, yes. Or at least those who possess talents…”

Lezere leans her head backward, looking at the ceiling. “Enlarging the pack, that’s a good idea... chief? If someone in the clan proves to be a weakling, send them to me, I’ll make them into wolves!”

It's good to have her with me again... I missed this! “If I need them to be wolves, I’ll be sure to send them to you.”

Sharla comes back and takes a seat on my other side. “The King’s name is King Luard. He’s currently looking for a new wife. He executed the last one two days ago, I believe we saw the unfortunate girl on the road. Soldiers in his territory arrest women and bring them here. The royal inspector is going to pick a woman to entertain the King in a few days. If he likes her, he’ll make her his wife. If he doesn’t, she’ll be executed and he’ll try the next woman the next day until he picks himself a wife.”

Right… a corrupt apprentice mage doing whatever he wants… or an escaped apprentice too lost in his own hedonism… I’m glad I can kill him with a clean conscious…

I cross my hands. “What about the King himself? Any idea what he’s capable of?”

“The women mentioned King Luard is a powerful sorcerer of ice. These women are pretty superstitious. For them, a sorcerer means an all-powerful being close to a god. In fact, some of them treat him as a minor deity of sorts, the kind of deity people make sacrifices to in order to make sure it won’t be angry at them.” Her apathetic voice doesn’t give out any emotion. She doesn’t give me the impression she’s feeling sorry for any of these women, nor does she look down on them, despite her words. This is simply a state of reality to her.

Ice… a water mage. Good to know. “So you’re saying that if I display magic here, people will treat me as a goddess?”

“More like an arch priest, or high nobility. Someone who’s better than the average person. These people have gods. They worship the twelve, and they have another god in addition to the twelve. Here it’s called the thirteen.” She explains in an emotionless tone.

I raise an eyebrow. “You can gather this much from a five minutes’ conversation?”

She smirks and snorts. “I hear a lot, and I can keep track of multiple conversations in this room. For example, the girl seven meters behind you is jealous of your red hair and plans to cut it off tonight when you sleep… want me to dissuade her from that notion?”

“Yes, thank you.” I smile at her.

“Gladly…” She heads toward the group of teen girls who huddle together and giggle on the mattresses behind us.

“I don’t like that snake.” Lezere whispers in Toml’a after Sharla leaves.

“You know she can hear you right? She speaks Toml’a like a native.”

“Grrrr… I don’t care. I told it to her face yesterday. She speaks A’arkalu like a wolf, she is a color shifting snake.”

“I’m sure she loves you too…” I reply sarcastically.

Lezere snorts. “She doesn’t love me at all.”

I curl some of my hair around my finger, eyeing Sharla seem to be making a friendly conversation with the group of teenagers. “I know, that was sarcasm. You don’t have to get along with everyone, but she’s good for our group… For the pack. Not every enemy we have will face us out on an open battlefield. Some may choose an indirect method, and she’s the best when it comes to that type of fighting.”

The half-orc lets out a grunt and lays down on her mattress. “Kittens rats and snakes, cowards all of them!”

“Cowards are a part of the world. And even cowards have their means of fighting. If we dismiss a coward for being a coward, that coward might just poison your drink.”

Lezere shudders. “Graaa! I’m going to sleep!”

“Good night!” I pick the mattress near her. I wish I had brought one of my books, or maybe not, it’d probably get damaged. I want to meditate, but I know that would attract unwanted attention. I guess I can practice some mana pattern mixing to improve my focus capability…

Sharla takes a seat near me again, covering her head with her hood. “She won’t get close to you tonight.”

I eye the girl who averts her gaze with a deep blush. “So, you can hear all the conversations in this hall and separate between them?”

Sharla smiles, full of herself. “Pretty much, and a few conversations outside of this room as well.”

“Show off!”

She switches to Toml’a, her tone and accent change to the one used in my homeland. “Just letting you know my value. I may be a color shifting snake, but I’m a damn useful one!”

“If you heard that, you also heard I know your value all too well.” I sigh, twirling my hair around my finger. “And believe me, seeing you as nothing but a useful tool will be easier for me. But I’d much rather see you as a friend, and your worth as a tool doesn’t matter much to me. Even if you were useless, you have all the worth in the world as my friend.”

“If it will be easier for you to see me as a tool why won’t you?”

“Because it’s wrong and lonely…”

“Then it’s not easier for you.” She concludes with a shrug.

“Maybe not…” I admit. She has a point there…

“We’re taking this King down aren’t we?” She asks with an excited grin.

Is she excited? Or is this an act? How do you know what’s real with her? Is the real her always just emotionless? “Yes.”

“Good! I’ll find my way into his bed chambers tonight, wrap him around my little finger, and give you the best kind of information.” Her features under the hood shift into a dazzling beauty again, I notice that her chest and hips grow by a couple of centimeters as well.

The thought of sending her as a bride had crossed my mind, but I don’t want to risk her. Hearing Sharla offering herself for the job shakes me. I can’t afford to have friends, that’s her job! She’s damn good at it! She can get into this King’s mind and bed without any problems if she wanted!

Yes, she can, but she might die… She might… it’s a risk she’ll have to take… Besides, I bet she’ll feel safer on a mission, much safer than me keeping her close. If I keep her close it means I plan to feed on her, out there she should feel safer…

“How do you know he’ll pick you?”

She lifts her breasts and adjusts her dress. “I already heard the guards, he likes blonds with big tits. When he’ll see these, he’ll lose his mind. I’ve been doing this for years, remember?” She takes a seductive pose, laying down the mattress on her side, and leaning her head on her hand. “Don’t you worry, ma flower! He won’t see any other girl!” Her language switches to Sinteo again, and her accent sounds similar to the women around us.

“Did you already learn their accent? Or knew it beforehand?” I can’t help my curiosity.

“Knew it beforehand. I speak fifteen languages in forty different accents.” Her voice isn’t boasting or gloating, she’s merely stating a fact.

“That’s impressive! Would be nice if you taught me some of these languages, though I don’t care much for the accents…”

She sits up and wraps her hand around my shoulders. She tugs me toward her, and whispers in my ear in a seductive manner. “No problem, lassie. Do I have your ok to seduce our dear King?”

“You have my ok, but be careful! I don’t want to lose you. I hate losing people, and Jerro will lose his mind if you die…”

She drops the accent and turns my head to look at her. Her head is way too close, and her blue human eyes stare directly into mine. She grins, switching the language back to Toml’a. “I’m glad you aren’t trying to keep me close to you like an overprotective mother. That would suck!”

I ignore the intimacy and how close she is. “I figure you can take care of yourself. You’re two times my age, you’ve probably gone through plenty.”

“That’s right!” She has a bright smile on her beautiful face. “I’m glad we agree on something. You’re quite smart for your age.” She pats my head and ruffles my hair in a patronizing manner.

“Thanks. Try not to die.” I ignore the patronizing act. I want to tie her to me in more ways than just an order by the hag. And if letting her get all intimate or patronizing to get under my skin is a way to do it, then so be it.

“You can go to sleep. I’ll watch over you, I’ll make sure none of the scared bunnies here get any weird ideas…” She reassures me.

“Thanks…”

I practice some mana patterning before I fall asleep on the uncomfortable straw mattress.

*~*~*

Interlude 71.1

Kolag.

“We can’t just sit here! We have to rescue them!” Kolag exclaims angrily.

“Yeah but how?” Berthold asks. We can’t just get in there, did you see all those guards?”

He’s right. Kolag ponders how it should be done. Killing the guards is obviously not a good solution, and sneaking can’t be done.

Salik shakes his head. “Kids, patience. The ladies are more than capable of handling themselves.”

“Ah can get in. no prob. They have a nice balco on da second floor.” Ryon notes.

“You may be able to get in kid. But how would you get them out?” Salik asks. “Lezere stands out like a goblin in a ball.”

“Orc not goblin.” Ryon corrects. “She has big jugs, ah beat her, then we snake. Ah get them outa there no prob.”

“There’s no need for that.” Jerro’s apathetic voice stops them. “They’ll be released soon. We should make ourselves comfortable for now. There are various ways this can go down…” The dark haired man massages his temples and winces. “I don’t like all of them hmmm… Old man.” He addresses Salik. Kolag ponders why he calls a man in his 30s old. “Can you go out and get acquainted with the thugs in the temple of Tonisha? We might need the help of adventurers and mercenaries.”

Salik nods. “Sure can, kid.” He leaves without a question.

“You. Rogue.” Jerro addresses Ryon. “Sneak into that building. Give this to Sharlafyn.” He hands him a note. “Make sure no one sees you, it’s very important.”

“Who Sharlafyn?” Ryon frown.

“The blond woman with the biggest jugs.” Jerro answers as if he’s speaking about the weather.

“No prob. Ah gona go now.” Ryon leaves with a wide grin on his face.

Jerro continues. “Hunter. I need you to kill two men in this city. You will be…”

“Who put you in charge, exactly?” Berthold asks with his hands crossed on his chest.

“The Queen did, back in the spider nest. When she’s absent, command falls to me unless she states otherwise.” The man replies coldly.

“The Queen? Yeah she’s not my Queen exactly. And that was for the spider nest. I’m not killing anyone for you or your God of Death. Sorry!” The boy replies crossing his hands on his chest.

“It’s very important that you do. There is a spy that might lead to the old general’s death, or your own death. If you do not kill the spy, I fear some of us may die.”

“Yeah. Look. I get all that babble about seeing the future and all. But I’m not killing anyone on the word of a rotten pea who follows the God of Death. You people are a venomous death cult! You kill people because you decide it's their time to die. Not going to happen! You are not turning me into a death cultist.”

“I agree.” Kolag joins in. “I will not allow the murder of innocent lives based on your possible predictions. You have said you have been wrong in the past.”

“These two men are not innocent,” Jerro states coldly.

“I don’t care if they’re innocent or not. I’m not killing anyone unless I have to defend myself.” Berthold insists.

“You have to defend yourself. You might die if you do not kill them.” Jerro has an apathetic expression etched on his face. "One is a spy who reports our presence to the King, if you won't kill him..."

“I don’t care! We’re safe in this inn, see?” Berthold opens his hands in a wide gesture as he gets up. He heads toward the innkeeper to take care of the tab.

Jerro buries his head in his hands and mumbles. "I should've sent the rogue to kill them... no... he'd get spotted and it'll alert the wrong kind of insignificant person. Only the hunter can snipe these targets from afar. Maybe the old general can make that shot too? But if he doesn't recruit the...

“Will Inara die?” Kolag can’t help but interrupt the odd prophet's mumbles. This man is clearly touched by Tiyadi, the God of Time and Death.

“The Queen? That is possible. But it is possible she might win the battle. If the hunter agrees to kill the man who will endanger her life, she wouldn’t be at risk. But he does not. When the Queen comes back to us, stay close to her. Don’t leave her side no matter what happens. As long as you are nearby, she will win her battle for sure.” The man states coldly. He’s not anxious for Inara’s life, it’s as if he’s merely stating facts. “I’m more worried about the old man, the hunter, and the brute. Their lives are in danger. The Queen will be hurt if one of them dies, too early for her to get hurt again. Things go wrong when she gets hurt again. I want the hunter to kill a spy, a spy that might lead to their deaths. Or maybe not. They may yet live. Too many paths, I can’t see clearly.”

“The old man, the Hunter, and the Brute? You mean Salik, Berthold and Lezere? Why won’t you use their names?” Kolag asks in confusion.

Jerro frowns and Kolag sees some semblance of emotion on his face for the first time, a hint of confusion. “The Hunter, the Brute and the Old General, yes. Names… I don’t always remember names. Only people of note. Forgive me. I can only use Sharlafyn. Names are important, names are for dead and the immortal. Names are for times and places, I can only use names at a certain time or when I talk to the grieving and the fooled.”

“That’s quite alright my good sir…” Kolag nods, he knows what it’s like not being able to use a name. At least Jerro can remember the name of the woman he loves. “Are you sure these two targets are not innocent?”

“I’m sure.” The man states with cold confidence.

"Can I kill them?"

Jerro shakes his head. "No. This will cause more problems. The Hunter can kill them from afar with an arrow, the reason for their death will remain unknown if he does. It is not the same if someone get close to them, especially to the second target."

Kolag nods. “I’ll try and talk to Berthold then.”

*~*~*

Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: formed: 1 gem replenished per five minutes.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 66
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 6 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 18 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 14 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 27 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 4 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 40/41 gems

Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray.
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s lesser shield. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body.

Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s weightless bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s lesser cure poison.

Focus capability: 12 patterns

Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries.

Wealth: 1854 gems. 1421 golden peas, 17 silver scales, 37 copper bits.

Items:
Magical necklace. Contain a 100 gems' worth of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keep the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 10/100

Companions:
Lezere of the Black Fang tribe.
Sharlafyn Nettledew.

Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 7/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10

Injuries and scars: