Chapter 5: The Strongest Man, The Half-Fiend and the Strongest Village Part 3

Foreword: Not particularly much to say here this time so without further adieu, onto the author killing off the protagonists!

Story Start: Fremy held Neneriel in her arms for a minute. Fremy turned to finally notice Adlet who had been watching them the whole time with a grin on his face. Neneriel noticed this as well and both Adlet and Neneriel said in sync to Fremy, "so who is this?"

Adlet walked up to shake Neneriel's hand and said, "I am Adlet, Fremy's…" Adlet paused a second trying to figure out exactly what title he should use for their relationship then continued, "boyfriend, yeah that sounds right! May I ask how you got to know Fremy?"

Neneriel smiled and said, "so Fremy is big sis's name, good to know! That must make you two the two braves that came into town, I knew big sis was a brave!"

Adlet said in surprise, "wait how did you not know her name?"

Fremy sighed and said, "I am not the most social person Adlet, I didn't give my name out much when I was being hunted by Piena."

Neneriel smiled, "that is just like big sis, I need to get back to the Tavern but I would be happy to talk if you will go that way with me!"

Adlet hopped onto the wagon and set on towards the inn, "sure, I want to hear about how you and Fremy met!"

Neneriel said, "where are my manners, I am Neneriel Nikola. To keep the story somewhat short. I was an orphan in my village when the fiends came. They abandoned me to the fiends to slow them down. Before that time came big sis came. I gave her some food and when I told her my situation she explained to me what was actually going on. I refused to leave my village so Fremy knocked me out!" Neneriel said this with a smile.

Adlet looked at Fremy pointedly, Fremy avoided his gaze.

Neneriel continued, "I learned that what happened after was that a group of knights from Piena were led to my village by the criminal they were hunting, I understood what big sis had done and I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her. What is more when they took me back to Piena I ran into a very kind woman who took me into her family. We moved as far away from the chaos as we could and settled on this town. I now have a real big sister and a mother and father who are very loving and kind. All of it is thanks to Fremy, I never thought I would see her again but when I heard of you two, I had a gut feeling."

Fremy looked at Neneriel with a sad smile on her face, "I am glad you found a family,but is this okay? Are you okay with me? Now that you know who I am, what I have done, what I am." Fremy pointed at her pink eye.

Neneriel looked down and for a moment seemed lost in intense thought before looking up and saying, "doesn't matter! Whether you are human or fiend doesn't matter, humans nearly sacrificed me to the fiends and thus they can be no better than the monsters. Also humans took me in and gave me a new home so they can also be much better than the monsters, therefore it doesn't matter if they are human or not, it matters who they are because they can be kind or a monster. I would lie if I said the pink eye isn't strange big sis, but you went out of your way to save me, so I can't see you as a monster."

Fremy smiled and said, "thank you, Neneriel." Fremy had gotten better at keeping herself from tearing up and just in case she looked around outside the wagon to hide her face from Neneriel.

Adlet added, "that is a pretty mature thought for a kid, then again that isn't a bad thing."

The three arrived at the tavern, as they did Neneriel remarked as she hopped down from the wagon, "you know Adlet you are quite famous in my family, not for being a brave thing."

Adlet was a bit surprised, "what do you mean…" however the door of the tavern opened to greet Neneriel was a young girl of probably sixteen or seventeen years, she had brown hair and light brown eyes. She wore simple working clothes you would see in any busy tavern. If there wasn't such an age gap you might have even thought that she was Neneriel's sibling.

The girl called out, "Neneriel what took you so long, your break ended fifteen minutes ago!"

Neneriel replied, "sorry Lucia, I got lost for a bit."

Lucia replied with an annoyed look, "how many times have I told you to call me sis!"

Fremy said, "sis, so she is your sister Neneriel?"

Lucia looked up and saw Fremy on the wagon but before she said anything her eye caught Adlet and she said, "Adlet Mayer? It is, that is you Adlet!"

Fremy looked pointedly at Adlet, "how do you know her Adlet?"

Adlet knew where this was going and didn't like it, "well, you see…"

Lucia cheerfully interrupted, "he kidnapped me!"

Fremy glared daggers at Adlet as he frantically tried to explain, "her father is a legendary mercenary, I kidnapped her as bait so that I could fight him. I had to so I could become the strongest in the world. I didn't do anything to her I swear, I didn't even tie her up!"

Fremy continued to give Adlet a cold stare until Lucia said, "it is true, he didn't do anything. He kidnapped me then I basically just waited at his hideout until my father showed up, you should have seen some of Adlet's wild training techniques. I never thought he would actually survive the fight with my father, nor did I think he would exhaust him in the process and cause my dad to pass out. Even after that it was a shock to the whole family that you became a brave, dad was shouting about the injustices of the world and how we would all surely die if you had been chosen. That was a big factor in us moving from Piena."

Fremy sighed and relented her glare.

Neneriel said, "ohh I haven't introduced you, sis, this is big sis Fremy Speeddraw, big sis Fremy, this is Lucia Nikola."

Lucia walked up to Fremy, "so this is the famed big sis I heard so much about." Lucia extended a hand to Fremy and continued to speak, "I thank you for being one of the braves who risked their lives to save the world but far more importantly, I thank you on the behalf of my family for saving my sister. Fiend or otherwise you will always be able to count on my family."

Fremy slowly reached her hand out and shook Lucia's hand which Lucia gave a firm and strong handshake that swung Fremy's hand around.

Lucia looked at Adlet and said, "you on the other hand are on pretty thin ice, I don't think dad will kill ya the moment he sees you thanks to mom's intervention and assertion that he isn't allowed to go out and kill braves regardless if they were criminals. However if you don't want him to be a problem for you whenever you come to this town, you will have to talk to him. If you are the strongest man in the world then surely you can make up with one man."

Adlet said, annoyed, "I am the strongest in the world, that is a fact!" Fremy nodded her head to this which caught both the Nikolas off guard. Adlet sighed and said, "I can at least try, I have nothing against the man. He was simply a step I had to tredd on to obtain the strength I sought and have now."

Lucia said, "well do you want to come insid..." she is interrupted by an annoyed voice that was approaching them and had called out "Lucia, Neneriel, what are you two doing you still have work!"

A figure emerged from the doorway, an older man who visually resembled Adlet's master, Atro Spiker. The only differences between Atro and this man were that his facial hair was far shorter, he was a head shorter than Atro and he somehow had a face that looked innately harsher than Atro's face.

He looked around and noticed Fremy and Adlet and said, "so the strongest brat and the handicapped fiend." He snorted and began to walk away from the group out into the street, saying over his shoulder, "get back inside girls, I need you to work so I can go run an errand so Lucia you have to hold down the bar tavern." He stopped walking for a moment and said, "Adlet I won't deny you entry but keep your legless pet on a leesh, if your monster causes any trouble I will have your head."

Adlet calls out to him as he walks away, "Gariss, she isn't a monster, she won't start anything I promise."

Neneriel smiled and said to Fremy, "don't mind him, he seems rude but old man Gariss is a good man regardless how rude he seems. Anyway we have to move this conversation inside, I can show you the kitchen Fremy!" Neneriel helped Fremy off the wagon and wheeled her inside. Neneriel was the cook of the tavern and was excited to show Fremy her culinary progress since she had fed Fremy last they had met.

Lucia said, "we should go in as well, I want you to tell me all about your adventures as a brave and how you and Fremy got together, I have to know!"

Adlet sighed and went inside.

The interior of the tavern was a simple building but it was decorated with a variety of skins and ornamental weapons on the walls. It was past noon at this point so it wasn't particularly packed; there were less than a dozen people inside Including Adlet, Fremy and the staff.

Adlet and Lucia talked for a while though Adlet was reluctant to share he was worn down by Lucia's persistence. Adlet was reminded why he had a hard time dealing with excitable people.

After some time a large man approached Adlet when Lucia had stepped away to talk to some other patrons.

Adlet recognised the man as Nikola Nikola, the legendary mercenary and father of Lucia. He was a large man with rippling muscles, he was probably moving into his fiftys yet he still looked healthy and fit to take lives at any time. Adlet had seen him watching as Fremy was wheeled to the back and as Adlet and Lucia were talking. The man took a seat in front of Adlet and said, "Adlet Mayer. You have some balls showing up here after what you pulled with me back in Piena. Even more so, you're just leasureally chatting with my daughters and that girl of yours. The sight of you makes my blood boil and the thought that you somehow became a brave makes me want to snap someone's neck."

Fremy and Neneriel appeared from the back and were talking as Neneriel wheeled Fremy to a table with a plate of food. Fremy took a bite and asked, "how did your cooking improve so quickly? It is amazing!"

Neneriel gave a proud, smug, smile, "I have been trying really hard and my mom was super helpful. She kindly asked all the wives in the village to share their recipes with me, when I asked they didn't seem to want to do it but for some reason when mom asked they were more than happy to do it. It was almost as if they expected someone to break their legs or something if they didn't comply, but they couldn't have been scared of dad, he was out of town. Maybe there was a curse going on before they shared their recipes, three different women fell and broke their leg, but after they shared their recipes it didn't happen again, weird."

Fremy gave Neneriel a fake smile and thought to herself, that the woman she calls mother is terrifying.

Nikola and Adlet watched this for a moment from a distance and then Nikola said in a soft voice that was widely different from his normal aggravated tone, "so that is the girl you spent three months carrying on your back, I never thought a rat like you could find something they would hold so dear, that kind of thing takes determination, you have my respect." Before Adlet could say anything Nikola switched immediately back to his normal tone this time yelling at Adlet, "now as I was saying you need to leave this village and never come back, you're not wanted here, you're an eyesore."

As he shouted a group of figures mostly wearing travel cloaks entered the tavern, there were about twelve among their group.

Adlet saw the large group enter and was able to react to the precise volley of needles flung at every person in the tavern. Adlet managed to dive behind the table, Nikola, Neneriel, Lucia, even Fremy and everyone else in the tavern, had collapsed, paralyzed on the floor.

To Be Continued in Chapter 6: The Strongest Man and the Strongest Path Forward

Afterword: Why did you end off here instead of continuing? Couple reasons, I was a little past my self enforced deadlines for no better reasons than procrastination so I wanted to wrap it up and get it posted, I also am not sure how long the next scene would take and if it would make the chapter too long if I added into this one, remains to be seen.

Why is the Afterword really short this time? Because I can't think about anything to talk about involving the present story, except maybe the fact I never realised how plain Neneriel and Lucia's character designs were until I started writing this chapter.

Till Next Time!