“Vyn, Are you listening?”
I looked up and saw both Kale and Peter looking at me.
“I’m sorry… My mind wandered off for a moment. What were we talking about?”
“We were just discussing which job to take on next. I know the orphanage couldn’t pay us a lot… so if you want Vyn, we can take on a bigger one this time.”
“Actually… I was hoping we can take on a few smaller jobs. If possible, one that won’t require me to use too much magic.”
“Why? Is something wrong?”
Peter looked at me with worried eyes.
For the past week I stayed cooped up in my room, and practiced magic with no rest. I tried every one of the spells that I could remember Faye casting. In the end, I found out that some spells were easy to learn and some were really hard.
Faye continued to sleep during the week and has yet to wake up.
Rene on the other hand, woke up one day after me. When I asked her what happened that night during the fight with Mr. Bozzelli, she couldn’t remember the details. I had no choice but to wait until Faye woke up to find out.
“It’s not a big problem… Just a bit of mana exhaustion.”
“Alright, then let’s take it easy until you’re back in good condition.”
As I was leaving to go back to the inn to practice my magic, Kale stopped me.
“Wait Vyn, do you have some time right now?”
I told him I did.
Kale took me to a restaurant near the office. It wasn’t very packed, but I could tell it was one of Kale’s favorites when he started chatting with the owner.
“Sorry about that, the owner’s a friend of my dad… I’ve known him since I moved to Sonia when I was 5.”
”You moved here with just your dad?”
”Yeah…”
Kale had a sad look in his eyes.
“When my mom died my dad couldn’t bear to live in Dresia anymore. He wanted to bring my brother and I here, where he had grown up. But if we both left, the Winter’s family would no longer have an heir. So my brother chose to stay in Dresia. I never really knew my mother because she was bedridden when I was born… but Xalen used to tell me stories of when she was healthy.”
“…Have you seen him since?”
“…Only from afar…The last time he was here was about a year ago for Princess Kerina’s 15th birthday. I saw him on his way to the castle.”
“You must miss him.”
”…”
I knew how much Xalen cared for Kale from reading the story.
The Xalen I read about was a cold and ruthless character. He was always on the frontlines when going into battle, and would show no mercy towards his enemy. Even his marriage wasn’t for love, but for power. The only time I felt like he was human, was actually when he betrayed Sonia. He didn’t make that decision with his mind but with his heart.
It made me wonder how the story would change if Kale went to see him before his death.
‘Not that I’m gonna leave him to die…’
Since I knew exactly how it would happen, I was confident that I could save him.
”Well enough about me. I wanted to ask you something...”
Kale looked hesitant. Usually he was confident and bold, but right now he was nervously shaking his leg.
“…?”
I tilted my head.
Kale leaned forward, and motioned to come closer.
He covered his mouth with his hand, so I turned and gave him my ear.
“Are you... a holy knight?”
”???”
He whispered softly, but I heard him clearly.
I could tell my speechless expression made him feel a little embarrassed. He leaned back against the chair and talked in a normal volume.
”Ahem The sword that you used that night was a holy sword, no?”
”!!!”
’It is?!’
I opened my mouth at a loss for words.
A holy sword wasn’t something that could be made with magic. It also wasn’t something a normal person would ever see in their lifetime. They were sacred weapons that a god or goddess of this world could make only one of, and appoint it to one of their great holy knights.
Kale raised one eyebrow.
“It’s not? I was sure it was. How else can it cancel out sword aura just from touching it?”
”I assure you I’m not a holy knight…”
“What was that then?”
”It’s a…type of magic.”
”Oh?”
Kale’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
I was nervous he was going to ask me more questions about it, so I attempted to change the subject.
“But what made you so nervous?”
Kale flinched.
”I thought maybe you were a holy knight of Theia… as you could probably tell from my clothes, I follow the same god as the people of Dresia. Oro, the god of war.
I took a close look at Kale’s black and red mercenary outfit. It was definitely not something you’d normally see in Sonia.
“Although the two have peaceful relations now, it hasn’t been that long since they were enemies.”
I nodded in agreement.
In the story, there were a few important characters from the church and they were all very strong believers in their own god. In this world’s history, the church of Theia and the church of Oro didn’t have such a peaceful relationship like it was today. This change only came after the alliance between Sonia and Dresia, which was just 10 years ago. It was also a year after Xalen became grand duke.
Whewww
Kale let out a relieved sigh and smiled brightly.
“Looks like I was worried for nothing! Now back to that white sword-“
”Kyaaaaa!”
Kale and I quickly turned our heads, towards the scream upstairs.
“Dad!!”
Without a word, Kale jumped from his seat and ran upstairs. I quickly got up and followed behind him.
I could see a man on the floor as three men stood over him. They were aggressively kicking and stepping on him.
“Taylor!”
Kale yelled and ran towards them. Suddenly, the three men turned their necks unnaturally towards Kale. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they were drooling from their mouths.
”Grhhhh”
”Hrghhh”
”Mnngh”
They made strange noises as they flew towards Kale to attack him.
Kale easily avoided the first attack by moving to the side, and countered with a strong punch in the stomach. He knew it was a perfect shot and expected the man to fall down. He only realized something was wrong when the man opened his mouth in an attempt to bite him.
“Kale, duck!”
’Magic missile!’
I created a ball of light that flew towards the man’s head. It sent him flying across the room.
CRASH!
”KYAAA!!”
”AHH!!”
The customers downstairs screamed in panic as the building shook.
“What’s wrong with them?!”
Kale yelled as he pulled out his spear. He swiftly sliced through the ankles of the other two men.
He wanted to stop them without killing them.
However, the men stood back up on their half cut ankles. Even as blood spilled out onto the floor, they continued to walk towards us.
To make matters worse, even the one I sent flying was getting back up.
”Do they not feel any pain?!”
Kale yelled as he blocked the opened mouths of two men with the staff of his spear.
‘Don’t feel pain…? Ah!’
“Rene, help Kale!”
”Got it, Master!”
Rene jumped out of my shirt and climbed over Kale’s back. She opened her mouth wide, and started to absorb the dark magic surrounding the men. I also held out my hand toward the man I had sent flying.
‘Dispel!’
”Hngh..!”
Dispel was one of the more difficult spells that I had practiced. I had only succeeded this spell once.
’Please…!’
Wind around us grew stronger as I poured more mana into the spell. I could see the black mana around the man slowly dispersing. When it was completely gone, the man lost consciousness and fell forward.
ThudI could see that the other two men had also lost their consciousness. Rene came running back to my shoulder, and I patted her on the head.
”Good Job”
”Hehe!”
Kale ran past me.
“Is Taylor ok? Ria, how did this happen?”
Kale knelt in front of a hurt old man who was unconscious from getting beaten up. Next to him on the ground was a sobbing girl.
“I-I don’t know…they attacked him out of nowhere!”
She lunged into Kale’s arms as she sobbed even harder.
Kale patted her back softly.
I walked over slowly.
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah, thanks for your help Vyn… He’s my dad’s friend that I mentioned… Ha… why did this happen...”
The girl tugged on Kale’s shirt.
“Oh right… This is Taylor’s daughter. Her name’s-“
“Miriam.”
The girl stood up and looked me in the eyes.
I didn’t notice it before but her hair was a dark purple and her eyes were bright pink. They sparkled like jewels as her tears flowed down.
“Thank you for saving us.”
“…You’re welcome.”
That night I laid in bed excited about using magic successfully in a battle for the first time.
As well as my sudden meeting with Miriam,
Sixth of the Black Order.
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