"Normal speech"
'Thought'
(Silent magic)
[Normal magic]
{Change of location, time or POV}
Hey guys, I am really sorry for the slight delay this month, but I had to deal with a nasty stomach bug. So yeah, that happened.
Now without further ado, let's begin!
If you wish to read the next 15 chapters some cool art!
- Chapter 51: A diverging Path
- Chapter 52: Sneak Attack
- Chapter 53: To be King
- Chapter 54: Friends
- Chapter 55: King vs Knight
- Chapter 56: Two Dreamers
- Chapter 57: Past, Present, and Future
- Intermission IV: Hopes and Dreams for this Cruel World
- Chapter 58: One-Hundred Twenty Thousand Reasons
- Chapter 59: The Calm before the Storm
- Chapter 60: War of Ice, Fire, Lightning, and Air
- Chapter 61: The Eclipse over the Dragon Lord
- Chapter 62: That Lie we call Reality
- Chapter 63: Just Myself and nothing more
- Chapter 64: Recruitment
- Chapter 65: End of Vacation
And many other things, consider joining the P atreon!
Link: p atreon (dott) com / zerosenpaiwriter
Beta Reader: Skarborr (I wonder if Lin is looking for a proofreader…)
Chapter 50: Guardian Angels
Angelica strolled down the hallway at a furious pace, still trying to maintain a dignified façade but that was secondary at the moment. She couldn't care less what the vipers at court would say.
This was a matter of the utmost importance, that despicable man truly had done it this time! She had to intervene personally to stop that madness!
As those memories came back to her mind she finally found the girl she was searching for. Clarice, the redhead she had been friends with since childhood and her current partner in crime in the mission their fathers gave them.
As daughters of the lesser nobility their houses were expected to swear loyalty to one of the great houses. Only that since their territory was moderately small and didn't contain any important commerce hub or fields, they were often ignored if not mistreated by the higher nobility. So much so that their specific houses decided to swear themselves to the protection of the fortress city E-Rantel's mayor. In short, they submitted to someone who wasn't even a noble to begin with, something that caused endless mockery among nobility. Of course, no one had laughed at them since Marquis Satoru destroyed the entirety of the Noble Faction.
To this day she didn't know if their houses had been spared because of their unimportance in the grand scheme of things or because said Marquis had dealings going on with the fortress city.
Either way, once the dust settled their fathers immediately decided to align themselves with the new Marquis due to their territories bordering on each other. They had no idea if not doing so would have angered the new Marquis or not, and they weren't idle to find out seeing what happened last time.
Much to their surprise they were not ignored this time around and instead orders arrived to send representatives of their houses to the capital.
So, both Angelica and Clarice were chosen in the place of their older brothers to represent their houses in the capital and follow whatever order they received from their sworn lord.
Angie had been quite surprised to find out that the one really giving them orders was not even the Marquis himself, but his lover, or at least she thought Miss Hilma was the mighty magic caster's lover.
A commoner whose influence surpassed most high nobles, a preposterous notion for said nobles, but a true one nonetheless.
She was cold, calculating and intimidating. Angie did not dare to imagine what the marquis would be like if he found such a woman enticing enough to make her his lover.
To tell the truth, she had been prepared since she arrived in the city to throw away her dignity and become one of the magic caster's concubines. It wasn't unheard of for higher nobles to take daughters of lower nobles as concubines, even if it was frowned upon, though she had no doubt no one would have said anything if that was the marquis' case.
She instead had been assigned the task of befriending, guarding and spying the second princess, Marquis Satoru's betrothed, alongside her childhood friend Clarice.
Befriending the poor lonely girl had not been a problem, she could have even called it an easy task. The poor thing was so socially starved that any kind gestures could have been mistaken for a sign of friendship.
Guarding her had been quite a lot more challenging unfortunately.
The girl's naivety may have been the reason why Angelica and Clarice had managed to become her confidants so easily, but it was also the reason why they found themselves in such a mess right now.
Which brought her to her current predicament.
"So, what has gotten you in such a foul mood?"
Her redheaded friend asked as she closed the door behind their personal shared room.
Angelica scoffed, rage still filling her at the scene she had witnessed not even an hour ago.
"It's that pompous bastard… the pile of garbage thinks that only because he can swing a scrap of metal half decently then he can do what he wants!"
She grinded her teeth.
"What did he do this time?"
Clarice already took out a magical boiler and began to fill it with water.
"The bastard was kissing her, like usual, and then his hands began to wonder and try to undo the laces of her dress."
She growled out making the older girl spun around in alarm, the boiler fell out of her hands creating a puddle of water at her feet.
"You stopped them, didn't you?! Gods, please tell me you stopped them!"
She cried out in alarm as she began to shake Angelica, uncaring of the mess she just made.
"Of course, I stopped them! I faked just passing by and stopping them, the girl was embarrassed to no end, but I at least managed to prompt her to leave!"
Angelica said as she pushed away her friend's hands.
Clarice sat down, a hand over her eyes as she released a deep sigh of desperation.
"I can't believe he really went all in… we will have our heads on a spike by morning if he manages to get his hands on her, you know that right?"
She said in a whisper.
Angelica didn't doubt her words considering who they were working for. If they were lucky, it would be only their heads, in the unluckiest of cases their family name might disappear from history like many others already did. Gone in the wind, from dusk to dawn.
And all of this because of that pig! It truly disgusted her how that boy thinking himself a man was using the fragile heart of a naïve princess to push forth whatever his agenda was… what was he even thinking? If he seduced the second princess he risked his entire House on a bet that the new marquis would not kill every last one of them!
If the crown interfered, they might even be on the doorsteps of a civil war!
She truly had no idea what to think of this anymore.
"I feel sick."
She muttered as she felt bile rumble in her belly.
"I averted it this time, but I can't pull another stunt like that anytime soon."
Angelica continued.
"Yes, I know."
The redhead agreed.
They had tried anything, but no matter what, the princess would not get over this infatuation of hers.
"I heard the boy is an avid spender at the brothels downtown…"
Angelica said as a plan began to hatch in her mind… it went against all she had been taught and all she believed, but desperate times called for desperate measures…
The two noble girls' gazes met and Angelica could see immediate understanding in her friend's eyes.
"Hubris killed the proud stag."
Clarice whispered.
"Never heard that one before."
Countered Angelica.
"That's because I made it up right now… and I call dibs as well."
Her friend grinned mischievously.
"Then I should make mine as well… what about… lust robbed the desperate pig blind?"
Clarice scoffed at her words.
"You are terrible at this… as usual…"
She mocked.
"Shut up."
Angelica pouted as she crossed her arms.
"We should go speak with the boss then… if we want to pull this off and put this matter out of our minds once and for all, we will need her help."
Silence descended in the room, both of them knew what would come next.
"So, which one of us-"
Angelica began but was immediately interrupted by Clarice.
"I will do it."
She said solemnly.
"I don't really care much for that little brat, unlike you, I only interact with her because I must and if this will be what it takes to ensure our success I will do so."
She continued before Angelica could even protest.
"You know that this will hurt your family reputation, this will not be a silent matter."
The blond whispered harshly.
"That is what we are aiming for though… that pompous prick will leave the city with his reputation in tatters, and we will have achieved our goal… I will be fine, I am sure the marquis will arrange a good match for me afterwards, no matter how bad my reputation might be… who knows he might take me as a concubine, that would not be half bad either… kukuku…"
Clarice chuckled at her own joke making even Angelica smile a little at her friend's silliness.
They had a plan, now it was to set up the trap.
{Feo Jera}
{Satoru's P.O.V.}
The magic caster was quite disappointed at what he saw when they finally reached the capital of the Dwarven Kingdom. He expected a great city spanning miles, with incredible architecture like the one he visited and raided in Yggdrasil with his friends.
Instead, the city was just a little larger than Feo Raidho, structures were pretty much the same and the only thing worthy of note was the fortification which was far better equipped than the previous city.
They were granted entry and have been immediately brought to the Commander in Chief's office. Apparently the Quagoa they met in the tunnels were quite a big deal. Satoru was starting to reconsider his visit.
The words of the commander in Feo Raidho came back to his mind, but then again, he thought it would have been such a waste to go through the trouble of coming all the way here and then going away without doing anything at all.
But apparently things were quite more dire than he initially thought. It would not be a problem for him but his wasn't the only life in danger here. His group was composed of green combatants for the most part, the only ones really carrying their weight were Gazef, Leinas and Lin, everyone else was pretty much someone he would not let fight by themselves. The previous events showed him what would be the end result of that.
He was still calm though, if it came down to it, he could always use his [Mass Greater Teleportation] to get back outside the mountain. He would have to fake using a magic item to hide his high tier magic capability, but he was more than able to act by now. He had been doing it for the last few years after all.
"Stop it Lakyus."
He was taken out of his train of thought by the blonde princess who was admonishing her friend for her current inspection of every weapon and armor available at the moment. No matter if dwarves were currently using them or not.
"But aren't you curious Renner? These are all new weapons and armors I never saw before! There are even runecraft pieces here!"
The excitable girl rebutted with a pout at her friend's exasperated tone.
"Augh… you are embarrassing me… please accept this fool's apology good sirs."
The princess said before forcing down her taller friend's head into a bow before the dwarves standing guard.
Said guards just limited themselves to a chuckle at the scene and waving them away.
Satoru himself could not stop his own chuckling from escaping his mouth. This scene was reminiscent of so many of his memories, some in which he was the one getting scolded and some where he did the scolding.
All in all, he was happy the young sword enthusiast was seemingly getting over her near-death experience. No doubt Renner had something to do with it, counting she had been by Lakyus' side non-stop these last days. 'She is really a good friend' he could not help but think.
It was quite unreal to imagine that the princess was a completely socially distanced person just a couple years ago. Seeing how she managed to get out of her shell and become her own person warmed the undead non-existent heart. He liked to think that he had played a fair part in her development so far, and he was proud of observing how she was coming along.
Was this how a father would feel seeing his child grow? Maybe that was a bit extreme… he liked to think of himself more like a cool uncle type of guy.
She still gave him her devilish smile from time to time, and her mind was still something fierce, but that was part of what she was after all. Seeing her act more like her age was already quite the bonus compared to how she was at the beginning.
Those cold and deep eyes still came out from time to time, but that wasn't her standard expression anymore.
He felt the ghost of a smile grace his face, not that his body had the appropriate parts to smile anymore, but the phantom sensation of it still lingered. He heard from Ulbert that war veterans who lost limbs sometimes felt something called phantom pain for their lost limbs, maybe it was something similar for him when he tried to make any facial expressions.
"The princess seems to be enjoying herself."
He heard the gruff voice of Gazef speak from next to him.
"I surely hope so, after all the trouble we went through to get here."
The magic caster joked.
"She had always been a quiet child, not really speaking if not prompted to, that has been so for as long as I could remember, until she met you…"
If he didn't know otherwise, Satoru would think Gazef could read minds.
"You are giving me a bit too much credit Gazef, I only tried to be her friend, she was the one making the decision of taking my hand and changing for the better."
He answered humbly, not that what he said wasn't true. Truly, he just treated her like a normal child should be treated and nothing more.
"Be it as it may, I am still grateful, I am sure the King feels the same, she has really been a boon to the kingdom ever since you two started working together."
The Warrior Captain continued. Well, Satoru really did nothing at all, he just went along with whatever Renner or Hilma said… but he would not deny it directly, he would just let people assume what they wanted to assume, as always.
"I see, for all I enjoy talking with you, I can't help but feel like you are reaching a point with this."
The undead said, eliciting a sigh from the strongest swordsman in the kingdom.
"Let us go back to the kingdom, this place is far too dangerous, war is brewing and nothing good could come from this… I don't doubt our ability to protect the princess, but this is just an unnecessary risk."
Gazef finally said what seemed to have been on his mind all this time.
Satoru hummed, he knew the warrior had a fair point and maybe it was really the best choice, after all there would be no point in setting up a commercial deal with a doomed nation. But still… he might be able to make out something from this.
"I concur with you on that, we will leave this mess for others to clean up, still… I would like to have a couple days to speak with the Regency Council and maybe negotiate some runecraft smiths coming back with us… we spent all this time and resources coming here after all, it would be a shame to just leave empty handed."
He offered, the Warrior Captain seemed to think about his words for a couple seconds before shrugging with a defeated expression on his face.
"I guess so, you might not have the arrogance of the average magic caster Satoru, although you still are one of the shrewdest businessmen I ever encountered."
He admitted.
"I will take that as a compliment."
The masked caster joked.
"Make sure to look over the princess, I know she will much prefer your constant presence over mine."
He said before walking away.
Satoru looked away from his retreating form, his gaze returning to the two blond friends. They seemed to have stopped arguing and were now laughing about something.
There was nothing more innocent than the laugh of a child. Untainted by the corruption of the world, such a rare thing, he would have gladly put it under a glass bell if it was possible to immortalize it for all time to come.
Speaking of children, he wondered where his two apprentices went, but before he could try and look for them the door leading to the Commander in Chief office opened and one of the dwarves who escorted him here approached him.
"Lord Satoru, the Commander would like to have a word with you."
The caster nodded in response and gestured toward the two girls. Renner noticed him immediately and ran straight to him followed by Lakyus.
Normally he would not include children in this type of talk, but by now he knew what he was dealing with, and Renner was more than capable to act as a representative of her own country, sharp of a mind as she had he didn't have any doubts about her capabilities. He might have been a Marquis, but the princess still outranked him, and it would have been not right on his part to act as an ambassador for Re-Estize.
Also, this allowed him to avoid any responsibility toward what was about to go down inside that room. He felt like this was a hard blow to his pride as a man, to hide under a child's skirts wasn't the bravest thing he had done, but what could he say? Desperate times called for desperate means.
"The Commander in Chief would like to have a word."
He explained to the two children as he proceeded through the door. It was quite awkward that he had to crouch down every time he went through a door but what could he do? These doors were thought out for dwarves after all.
"Welcome, representative of the Re-Estize Kingdom."
The gruff voice who welcomed them belonged to a well dressed dwarf, his long black beard covered most of his face but, contrary to the majority of the dwarves they met before, his was well trimmed and taken care of, probably some show of status
"Please have a seat."
He invited them, gesturing for the sofa in front of his desk. Satoru silently casted a reinforce spell to avoid his weight crushing the expensive looking furniture before sitting down on it.
"I hoped to welcome you in a better moment but, as you probably experienced, this is not the best time for visiting our kingdom."
The Commander in Chief directly went to the heart of the matter, not that there was any need to avoid it in the first place.
"We gathered as much commander, do not fret, we will leave in a short time, we understand this is not the right moment for a prolonged visit or diplomatic mission."
The masked undead stated much to the surprised reaction of both blondes. On his right Renner looked at him like she was trying to figure him out, while on his left Lakyus seemed just shocked at the revelation that they would be leaving soon.
"I am glad you understand… forgive my rudeness, let me introduce myself properly, my name is Gaul Fellhammer, Commander in Chief of the dwarven army, according to my subordinate you are Lord Satoru, noble from the Re-Estize Kingdom, while your companions are princess Renner, from Re-Estize and…"
The dwarf gazed toward the children.
"She is the princess, I am her knight, Lakyus, also the daughter and heir of a noble house."
The blonde swordswoman proceeded to introduce herself with all the grace of a lady and the harshness of a knight combined.
"A pleasure, Princess Renner, Lady Lakyus."
The dwarf gave a bow toward both.
"If I may be so rude, I would like to inquire about the reason for your visit."
He proceeded to ask as his black eyes focused on Satoru once more.
"It is no problem, I have been fascinated with your runecraft smithing ever since I saw some magnificent pieces of it, as I am the primary producer of magic items in my kingdom I thought this would be an opportunity to employ some of your smiths to come and work for me."
As there was no reason to conceal his motives, Satoru just put his cards on the table, they were meant to leave in a few days anyway, at this point he might entice someone to leave with him or just leave empty handed.
"I see… for all the art of Runecraft has been a dying art ever since the death of our last king, I can see the Regency Council opposing the idea strongly… Runecraft is the signature pride and secret of our kingdom, to just give it away like this… and also there would be the fear of slavery being imposed on my people once they leave the safety of our lands."
Gaul rebutted his idea and Satoru couldn't blame him much for it, his were fair arguments after all, and while he might not share them, he knows the people the caster will have to deal with to achieve his goal.
"How dare you accuse Satoru of such a heinous thing!? As if he would enslave anyone! He is one of the greatest people there are and-"
The one who rose to his defense was actually Lakyus, who stood up from her spot with a blazing inferno of outrage in her eyes. After his initial surprise passed, he immediately stopped her by forcing her back down on the sofa with just his left hand.
"Control yourself Lakyus."
He said calmly, he felt a little touched by her words but he was not about to jeopardize everything for just an assumption or a veiled insult.
"For all I do not agree with her methods, my companion is right, Lord Fellhammer, Marquis Satoru has single handedly stopped almost all slave trafficking in the Re-Estize Kingdom, be it human or otherwise, he is currently in the process of passing a law that would make the practice illegal in the entire kingdom."
The third princess explained far more calmly than her friend.
That was only partly true though, he merely expressed his hate for the practice every time the subject came up and from there Hilma and Renner had been the ones pushing the subject at court, with his support of course. Not that he was complaining, he never tried to have any discussions about it due to not knowing how to petition a law in the first place, or if such a thing was even possible.
In his 22nd century mind it was simply outrageous even to think about changing a law, but here… well, he still had to get used to being one of the most influential nobles at court.
"I apologize for any insult given, this was certainly not my intention, but still, many in the Council will have this worry in the back of their minds."
The commander didn't seem to have gotten upset at Lakyus' outburst.
"That is fair I guess, though, I can offer safe passage away from this kingdom for all those who decide to come and work for me, I think that, due to the current situation, some would be interested in such an offer."
The dwarf sighed at his words.
"Yes, I can see your point Lord Satoru, the Lord Commander of Feo Raidho had me informed on his worries and the encounter of a Quagoa exploration group only corroborates such a thing, I will bring this up alongside your offer in the next Council meeting, but I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you."
Gaul explained. Satoru must admit that it was quite jarring to have such direct talk when it came to politics, the Re-Estize court was the epitome of subterfuge and falsehood, as probably was the court of Baharuth. And yet, as he began to mingle with non-human species all talks had been direct to the point. Was it a only-human trait to try and deceive others with words? He was starting to believe so… maybe he should have tried to find another race to mingle with all those years ago if that was the case.
"Lord Gaul, why are the Quagoa trying to conquer the Dwarven Kingdom?"
The sudden question came from Lakyus and managed to seemingly take aback all the occupants of the room. The simple question was asked with such sheer curiosity that no one had the courage to mock its simplicity.
"I mean, I understand that they feed on precious metals to grow stronger at a young age and so having access to mines and other ore veins is important, but they already have control over the majority of it, why waste power, numbers and resources to completely annihilate you when they already have enough as it is."
The young swordswoman elaborated her question, that was quite a good point indeed if Satoru could say so himself.
"Quagoa are not known for their particular cunning, but their low level of technology makes them weak and they know that, so they mostly conquer us to enslave us and use our knowledge for themselves… as an example, we dwarves can dig out ores at a far better pace than them thanks to our tools and we are able to construct solid tunnels that won't easily collapse, something they are incapable of doing."
The dwarf explained.
"Then why just not stop the conflict instead of wasting lives and get all of that through an armistice instead of enslavement? They clearly have the upper hand."
She asked.
"Quagoa are not a race you can reason with… you are either stronger than them or you suffer under them."
That was something Satoru could clearly see since he arrived in this new world. Strength was the common denominator for how races interacted with each other. He also knew that Lakyus was pretty sensible to the subject, but she seemed to be going somewhere with this, so he would let her do as she wished.
The fact that what she was saying reminded him of Touch-Me speeches word by word had of course nothing to do with his silence.
"I see, you are right, now that they have the upper hand it is quite hard to negotiate anything other than an unconditional surrender, they have never known anything aside from that after all."
The bite in the tone of the older blonde was quite clear, as was the burning fire in her eyes.
"Lakyus…"
He heard Renner whisper from his other side, she seemed quite pissed, did she understand what her friend was getting at with this.
"Are you trying to insinuate something with this Lady Lakyus?"
The Commander in Chief squinted his eyes at the swordswoman who didn't back down.
"There is no insinuation here, only facts… ever since I met the Quagoa I wanted to know how it was possible for such a backlog race could live for centuries along an extremely developed one without managing to advance… the soldiers the Lord Commander assigned us were courteous enough to elaborate on the known history of the Dwarven Kingdom and Quagoa Clans."
The girl paused, Satoru's attention was completely focused on them and the newly formed tension in the room.
"At the pique of its power, the Dwarven Kingdom had complete control over the mountains, they did as they pleased because they had the upper hand and numerical advantage over the other races… the Quagoa were few and divided at the time, but their natural ability to find ores was just what the kingdom needed to expand its wealth… you could have tried to start peaceful relations, offered knowledge and technology in exchange for their services… but you did not, why should you after all? You had the upper hand, you could do what you wanted."
The harsh words of Lakyus echoed in the large room. Satoru saw Renner snap her head toward her friend as if she was about to interfere, but he placed one of his gloved hands over her shoulder to stop her.
This was far too interesting of a development, and he wanted to know where this confrontation would go. He had no idea Lakyus had done her homework, or that she was so interested in this.
Even if this ended up with him losing any possibility of acquiring runecraft smiths, it would be an acceptable loss in his book.
He never thought that the day would ever come when he met someone capable of making him feel like Touch-Me and Ulbert had a child. The nostalgia every sentence brought to him was just overwhelming. He could even hear their voices if he concentrated enough, one sentence spoken by the boisterous paladin while the following spoken by the cackling baphomet, a perfect mix of two genres that he thought could never coincide till this moment.
"You hunted them, captured them, and enslaved them like animals! Forcing them to use their natural gift to work for your own benefit without considering the repercussions… and after the fall of two hundred years ago, the Quagoa found themselves free again…. And now that the tables have turned, can you sincerely tell me that you don't understand why they never tried to reach a compromise with you?"
The blonde noble concluded her eyes never leaving those of the dwarf in front of them.
"So you think we deserve what we got!"
The dwarf stood up abruptly, fury in his eyes as he glared down at Lakyus who stood up as well. Satoru was ready to interfere if the thing escalated to physical violence but otherwise, he had no intention of getting in the way. The mess was already done after all, there was no point in trying to apologize at this point. And if he was fair, he really didn't disagree with Lakyus. People reap what they sow.
"No, you have no fault for your ancestors' doings, and yet you will leave with the consequences of their actions."
The blond noble stated clearly.
"So, what is your point child… what do you think is the right way of fighting an opponent that has no intention of stopping until they obliterate you."
The commander seemed to have calmed down but the fire in his eyes did not reduce in the slightest.
Silence permeated the room as Lakyus stood silent, seemingly unable to give an answer.
"You speak about fairness and kindness, but you know nothing of war… war is just destruction, there is no fairness to be found nor there is kindness to be given."
Gaul spat the words as if he had venom in his mouth.
"Then why choose war in the first place?"
That simple answer seemed to have hit something deep inside the dwarf as his snarl disappeared.
"Someone has to choose to start a war, do they not? And why do they do it? Because they think they can win easily and gain something valuable with little loss, right?"
Those questions were asked as though Lakyus herself was trying to find an answer to them.
"If your ancestors tried to negotiate with the Quagoa, wouldn't they have tried to do the same to you right now? Would there even be a war going on right now? If the weak were not constantly subjugated through violence and slavery, wouldn't they do the same to those weaker than them?"
'That is Touch-Me alright, every last word…' Satoru felt that sentiment rose from within his core.
"That is just wishful thinking… someone will choose violence sooner or later… it is just how the world works."
Gaul rebutted but his words lacked the fire of determination and righteous fury they possessed before.
"How can you be sure of that?! Did you try even once?!"
Lakyus questioned vehemently as her determination seemingly doubled down on her words.
"What is even the point? We are in no position to negotiate, we are the ones on the brink of losing here."
The commander sat back down on his chair seemingly exhausted.
"And what if you were the winner in this war? Once you have defeated your enemy, would you be able to offer them a hand instead of shoving your blade down their throats and starting the whole cycle all over again?"
The blonde asked as she walked forward until the two of them were almost face to face.
"If you can promise that you will try, I will be glad to fight this war to my last breath."
Satoru didn't doubt the dead-seriousness of that statement. There was just something in her tone that was completely convincing even going against all logic, even going against the fact that she was barely a teenager.
"You are truly mad."
The commander's voice was weak, but it could still be heard in the now silent room.
"You are not the first one to say so, and that is not the worst thing I have been called… so if it makes you happy, continue to think so, I will happily die as mad as I am right now."
That said, she left the room followed immediately by Renner who didn't say a single word during the whole exchange.
"I apologize for her demeanor, she can be quite enthusiastic… I understand if you want us to leave immediately, I at least would like to rest for just a night before leaving if that is accepta-"
The magic caster began to say as soon as the door closed behind the two blondes, but he was interrupted by Gaul mid-sentence.
"One audience, I will grant you one audience with the Regency Council, wait until tomorrow for a date."
The Commander in Chief released a deep sigh as if he was releasing the tension accumulated in months just in one go.
"Let us put an end to this madness once and for all."
Satoru wasn't sure of what just happened but he felt like his job just got extremely more complicated than it was before. But no matter, those were just words, right? They would still leave in just a few days, right?
'I think I am starting to hate babysitting…' children truly were troublesome.
{Lin's P.O.V.}
The bored explorer sighed as she reread the pages of her first short story. She had no idea why she did it, maybe it was boredom, maybe just curiosity, but she had followed the advice of the magic caster and began to put her own invented stories on paper. And let's just say that it was far easier said than done.
Her words lacked substance, she could not just take the same emotions she imagined the story having and transmigrate them into written text. It just was never as she wanted it to be no matter how many times she rewrote the same phrases…
It was madly infuriating but so intriguing at the same time! It had been just such a long time since she had failed at something, the thrill of the challenge made her blood warm up like few things could nowadays, while the painful stung of failure made it boil in anger she could not even remember ever experiencing.
And yet, she could not stop writing!
She didn't know how many times she had cursed the magic caster by now, but she was not about to stop anytime soon apparently.
With a heavy sigh she completely crossed over an entire page with her pen, it just wouldn't do.
"Miss Lin!"
Her concentration was broken by a certain loud voice, a fact which caused her no short amount of annoyance.
"What do you want, sore loser?"
She closed her book praying for a little patience or else she might just kill the annoying excuse of a warrior before her.
"Try to kill me!"
Of all the things she expected to hear from her mouth, this wasn't one of them.
"Excuse me?"
This was the first time since she had met the young swordswoman that she managed to make her mask slip for just a moment.
The child blushed from her cheeks to the root of her hair.
"I-I mean! I must get over this! I can't freeze up every time I am fighting a strong opponent! Or every time I feel like my life is in danger!"
She explained much to the older woman's astonishment which was soon covered up by growing amusement.
"Well, well, color me surprised, you aren't that pathetic after all… but you know that if you ask me that… I will actually come at you with the intent of ending your life, do you?"
With every word she began to release her bloodlust as the girl's muscles visibly tensed but her gaze never flickered away from her own. Green stared at black with seemingly unyielding determination. Lin just smiled down at her.
"I-I will do it! If I can't keep my word then I have no right to try and change this world!"
Lin had no idea what the child was going on about, but she didn't care much either, it was about time to release some of the suppressed anger she had accumulated writing these last days.
'Well then child, let us see what your determination is worth' she thought amusingly as this same scene reminded her of so many who came before her with the same exact eyes.
A.N.
Oh my, are we done yet? Apparently yes. Thank god! I can't count how many times I had to rewrite that part! Well, this has been the Lakyus show so far, so let us see what others can do before we go forward into the more hectic part of this arc.
Let me know your thoughts in a comment / review as always!
Till next time! Stay safe!