King Elran Crow, ruler of the human kingdom of Rakhan, finally spoke...

"Take my life. But let my people stay until the war is over."

...and asked me this out of nowhere. Or maybe it was the right moment to make this request.

As Roan's story goes on, it further strengthen the Beastmen's case to cast these humans away.

But...

"I want to hear the rest. I'll make my decision after everything that happened have been recounted."

"T-then, I will continue..." Roan was a bit shaken by his king's sudden request.

"No. I want to hear it from the king. I want to hear his side of the story."

"But Lord Frosthorn, it is my duty to do the recounting. My king cannot be troubled by..."

His objection was cut short by King Elran's gesture. He stepped forward, and stood in front of me. His soldiers tried to follow to his side, but they too are stopped by the king.

"As you can see, Great Guardian, my subjects obey every command that I give them. My will extended to every single one of them. They will follow me, no matter the order is. Even when the order is to 'abandon everything and run to the forest.'"

This statement further angered the Beastmen present in the gathering.

"I shall begin."

"As the battle started, it was clear that we outmatch their forces. We were able to easily defend Rakhan against their initial assault. Then the Demon King sent wave after wave of his minions, but we stood our ground, not letting a single demon to take a step inside the city. We were winning against his vast army. But it didn't take long until we were overwhelmed..."

...

"After 10 days and nights of endless battle, our formation started to crumble. At the 13th night, they penetrated our walls and entered the city. Fortunately, we were able to evacuate the civilians out of the city long before the battle started and ordered them to head to the forest to find shelter.

"We continued fighting until we were pushed to our final stronghold. The royal castle acted us our fortress on our final efforts against the demons. But we were sure to be annihilated soon..."

...

Hmm. That's the second time.

"That's when I ordered my men to retreat. During the confusion, we fled the battlefield and marched straight here."

There was a sudden silence that enveloped the whole place. Everyone was eagerly listening to the king's story, that every brief pause that he takes seems deafeningly silent.

"My soldiers are ready to die in battle. They knew that fighting this war might get themselves killed. But they fought nonetheless. And at that moment, the fight that seems to be likely their last, they were ready to die fighting. But I am not.

"I was not ready to die. But now I am."

That is how he ended his story. With humility, and sincerity.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Yes. That is all," he answered as if he was waiting for his punishment.

I was expecting the Beastmen to react violently. What he said can be taken as a confession to his sin. Are they moved by his act of selflessness? I don't know.

What I know is how composed and collected he is after everything that he said. His last words were sincere, but...

"You were lying..." I said with a low voice.

"What?" The king seemed surprised and he wanted to confirm what I said. So...

"YOU WERE LYING!!"

I screamed as loudly as everyone around me can take, so that everyone can hear it clearly without going deaf, or fainting, or possibly dying. And also to show my dominance over everyone within this forest.

"HOW DARE YOU LIE TO ME?! TO ME, THE GREAT THORN FROSTHORN!!

I growled at the king, who was lying on the ground and possibly stunned, since he was the one closest to me. His soldiers and the Lyrian mages rushed to his side, and pointed their weapons towards me. I can see the fear in their eyes, but it didn't prevent them from protecting their king.

"IT SEEMS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH RESPECT FOR ME! TO MY AUTHORITY! TO TRY AND LIE IN FRONT OF ME, DID YOU THINK YOU CAN FOOL ME?!"

I think I intimidated him enough to get the whole truth. Huh?

"My king, please wake up! Please!" Roan was frantically healing his king, but he's still unconscious.

I may have went a bit too far. Hmph, I might as well heal him. It would be faster that way.

When I tried to reach him, the Rakhan soldiers raised their weapons higher to stop me. Then...

*Chink!*

An arrow went straight to my hand. Well, no arrow can penetrate my scale so it doesn't really matter. But I'm curious to who would dare shoot an arrow towards me.

I looked out to where the arrow came from and saw a hooded figure, who looks like riding a horse, fairly far away from where we are now. He got skill to hit me from that distance.

He rushed towards me and jumped off of his horse and drew another arrow from his quill and readied himself to shoot me. But now, he was aiming at my eye. His eyes were blazing with determination...

"G-get away from my father! Y-you! You giant, giant beast..."

...then suddenly changed to fear. He might have been surprised by my size, since it was the first thing he commented on.

"Princess Lara, please stand back, it's not safe!"

Princess? So he's a she?

"No! Y-you want the truth?! I'll tell you..! Just, just please, don't hurt my father."

Wait, was my scream that loud? How did she hear what was happening here from where she was earlier?

To be continued...