~ Chapter 109: How she was viewed by others ~

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 Somehow or another, I ended up meeting the refugee Prince and Princess of the Akutan Empire as well as found the most important alchemic ingredient of them all: the orange!

To top it off, there was one other ingredient I managed to get my hands on, which was a Drop of Royal Human Blood, and you couldn’t get any more royal than the ancient Akutan Imperial Family. Not to mention the fact that Princess Ildea was also a possible blood bag donator.

The other ingredients I required for making the [Lumenos, Lumenya, and Nocturnia’s tears Potion], which was the cure for the [God’s Demise Poison], were: the Elf Queen’s Tears of Joy, Baby Tooth of a Relliar Royalty, Celestium-Zaradin alloy dust infused with ancient dwarf magic, and the Bone Powder from the Horn of a Skeletal Wyrm.

I already had the orange from which I could extract orange juice. The powdered scales of Superior Draconians of the High Flame, High Ice, High Light, High Darkness, High Earth, and the High Authority could be obtained from me, Seryanna, his Majesty, and if needed be from other dragons or dragonesses out there. Cure-All Plant leaves and Enchanted Water were at my disposal 32/7.

The tooth, the alloy dust, and the queen’s tears could probably be obtained by his Majesty if he sent out a delegation to their countries of origin. I remember wishing that they would somehow someway manage to obtain those crucial ingredients because the next time I got to see Queen Elliessara, I had to make sure I had the cure with me.

She did not have much time left to live, but since the God-like told me that it was alright to go at a leisure pace towards the Dragon Continent, I could only guess that her Majesty wasn’t in any imminent danger of turning into a rampaging Lich. From what I could see, if I did happen to just rush over to her side, I would have ended up skipping on meeting new friends and even finding Coshun.

All of these events fell on the top of my hand with a clockwork precision and at a speed I could barely keep up with.

“What will the two of you do now?” I asked Amadeus.

The boy looked up at me and then back to his little sister. His worry and fears could be read on his face. There was no way he could continue to provide like this for her, and the fact that they were of Akutan blood and rather different in terms of looks from the humans on this part of the continent made them a target for discrimination. They both had handsome features which made them a target for the black market slave hunters like those from the Black Company.

True, it was illegal to sell slaves of noble and royal blood, but this was only if the authorities never found out. The only way that could happen was if there were Akutan spies or foreign diplomats in Ten Swords who could identify them and then send a report of them back to the Empire.

To be fair, I did not think it was that difficult to hide someone for a long period of time or even their whole lives in this sort of low-tech country. Besides, the spies and diplomats would also have to recognize the two as royals in order for them to make a move. If their owner ordered them to tell a lie instead of the truth, then that was it.

Then again, there was a much more terrible fate that could await them in these slums even if they never ended up as slaves. The prowling eyes of the people living here saw them as a cheap workforce and as underlings for criminals. There were also those who looked at them in far more sinister ways.

“We’ll probably try to find a job and... survive.” Amadeus replied with a wry smile.

“But as long as we have each other, we’ll be able to go through everything. I am healthy now, so no challenge is too small, and no heaven is too high.” Drumora declared as she cast a confident gaze at her brother.

These siblings had gone through thick and thin, so it was normal for the two of them to think that they would continue living like this until they found their place in the world.

“Oh, I hope you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.” Kalderan narrowed his eyes at me the very moment he saw me rubbing my chin.

I showed him a mischievous smile and then turned towards the two children and asked them “What would you say if I extended towards you the opportunity to travel together with us?”

Amadeus didn’t hesitate even for one second to reply “We’d take it!”

“Hm? Drumora, you feel that same way?” I asked her.

With a short nod, she replied “Yes, we gave you our precious orange, the symbol of our Imperial Family. You also proved to be quite generous and kind, so traveling together with you won’t make us feel uneasy.”

“But you’ve just met us, how could you trust us like this?” asked Kalderan as he furrowed his brow.

“Because there’s less of a chance for something bad to happen to us while traveling with you than by staying in these slums. At least like this, we will have a small chance at a better future.” Drumora explained.

“What she said.” nodded Amadeus.

“In that case, welcome to our group, Amadeus and Drumora!” I told them with a big smile on my face.

“Yes, happy to be here!” they both answered at the same.

“I swear, if someone starts chanting that idiotic song about being the very best and whatnot, I’m going to flip!” Kalderan grumbled.

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna catch them all!” I showed him a thumbs up.

“Princes and Princesses aren’t collectibles!” he rebuked, and I laughed.

Since we could not allow our new companions to stay in this shabby place anymore, I decided that it would be for the best if we brought them over to our inn, where they could get a decent meal and have a good bath. If they didn’t let us use the bathtub, I would just take out the one I had within my inventory.

We did not have any clothes for children, so Drumora wore something we got for Ildea, while Kalderan lent some of his stuff to Amadeus. I was bit too big to lend my own clothes, but I did give them both some leather armors that had size-adjustment enchant on them as well as a dagger for self-defense. The look on their faces when they heard what sort of items they received was priceless.

I was starting to enjoy the feeling I got from shocking everyone left and right, maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to go around smashing everyone’s common sense? Especially if it was not something I did too often?

Unfortunately, it appeared as though anything I did on this continent ended up being something out of the ordinary for them, from my most basic of skills to the simplest of herbs I pulled out of [Black Hole].

Maybe I just did not have a good sense of value anymore. I knew that I had an important political role now, but I could not say I was well aware of how much my stuff or services were worth.

Our next stop was going to be in Grinjar Trade City, so that was a good place as any to start checking out the market value of some of my stuff. All I had to do was just go around browsing for various things and then trade one or two items from my junk collection.

We left for Mathias Town early in the morning when breakfast was still being served. The food there was not that great anyway, so we all agreed it would be best if I cooked something from the stuff Kalderan hunted last time. Ildea and Risha were both quite eager to help me out, while Coshun chose to train to with the gun wielding Russian.

It was interesting to see the big dragon hold back against him, especially since the stats and level difference between them was quite huge. He didn’t mind it though, and for the duration of our breakfast and a bit more afterwards, they kept talking about strategies and things to use when fighting opponents as different in combat style as each other.

From time to time, I also saw Ildea walk up to Coshun and start up a casual conversation with him. She mostly asked how the dragon royalty was and how everyone was treating him. It came as a surprise to her when she heard that he was an adopted son. It never occurred to her there would be a royal out there who would do something like that.

Coshun was then forced to explain the value of our scales and how the Golden Scale was incredibly rare and for most draconians signified the right to lead. In Albeyater, this right was reserved only to the Royal Family for now, since they were the only ones who had it, but Embryger had quite a few of them among the nobles and even some commoners.

The color of a scale was determined by the mentality and soul of the Unawakened individual, while their bloodline had little to no influence at all. The Seyendraugher family was just lucky to have all of its members born with a natural desire to lead, which made them manifest that golden scale.

Upon arriving in Grinjar Trade City, we found ourselves stuck in a long line of carriages and merchants that gathered from all the corners of the Ten Swords Kingdom. This in itself told us of how important this place was, which also meant that the market here was perfect for me to find out what the most reasonable prices of various wares and goods were. There would be no lack in traders who wished to sell their stuff here.

There were no incidents that happened while we waited in line, but this gave everyone else a chance to talk and know each other better. I remained quiet for the most part as I chose to spend this time playing with Tamara. Using my skill [The Pope], I was able to create a small weak beam of light that focused in one spot, in other words, a pointing laser.

The moment Tamara saw it, her ears perked up, her tail waved in the air, her pupils shrunk, and her whiskers twitched. The hunt was on, and I was having a lot of fun sending her left and right to chase after that bright red dot.

The children who saw her were amused, while the adults found it unsightly. To me, it was just a moment of bonding with my feline friend. To be honest, she did give off the feeling of being more of a cat than a person, which was strange.

When I was back in Albeyater, and I heard people talking about the relliars, I often imagined anthropomorphic humans with the characteristic of animals, not animals with the characteristic of humans.

I also happened to see another relliar slave standing in line with his master, but he didn’t give me the impression of a cat, and he wasn’t interested in the red dot in the slightest, which made me wonder if Tamara was by chance a very special kitty?

In the end, we managed to enter Grinjar Trade City without any problems, but it was already noon by now, so we went and grabbed something to eat at a tavern. We had to sit down at a more secluded table because we wanted to eat together with our slaves. Coshun offered to skip on this meal and so did Tamara. They did not want to cause us any trouble, but I would have none of that.

Ildea refused the idea as well, while Risha had a dangerous air around her. She was smiling at the waiter while she was tapping with her fingers on the hilt of her dagger.

I guess we were lucky the small argument didn’t escalate to something worse.

Even so, I had to admit that the stares of the people around us did feel a bit uncomfortable, and I was beginning to think that maybe eating out in the open like this wasn’t such a brilliant idea after all. I was honestly worried that they might try to pick a fight with them when I wasn’t watching. Coshun wasn’t someone I was worried about in this matter, he was a powerful dragon warrior who served on the battlefield and was even recognized by that stubborn old Brekkar Draketerus, however, Tamara was just a poor kitten who could easily fall prey to some nasty individuals. After all, one just had to use a pointing laser or a ball of yarn to catch her attention.

This being said, Kladeran noticed my worry and gave me a nudge in the ribs with his elbow.

“Guha~!” I coughed.

“Is something the matter?” Ildea asked a bit worryingly.

“No, the air just ran out of my lungs on its own, that’s all.” I replied and then glared at the man who was pretending like nothing happened.

Maybe this was his way of saying that I was stressing over the sky falling.

I could rebuke him, though. I was indeed worrying for all of their safety and deep in my heart, I didn’t really think they could take care of themselves without me being there to help them out.

While thinking about this, I realized something rather shocking.

Oh, by the gods! I’m acting like an overbearing grandpa with them! I thought and tried my best to hide my shock from them.

Indeed, I was the strongest among them, but this didn’t mean that they were children who didn’t know how to fight or were easy to get themselves killed. Some of them had managed to survive quite well long before I showed up in their lives. I wasn’t some sort of god that brought them salvation, I was more like... erm... a worrywart bigger brother?

Yeah, that was probably the best way to describe myself right now. I was worried about them, I was afraid to lose them when I knew I could protect them. It wasn’t easy to simply admit that even someone weak could survive in this world, but then again... maybe this was just something similar like that fear I had about my own humanity.

Thinking about that, I decided that it would be best to come clean with them. They were my friends, and they had the right to know if I was worried about something, especially if it concerned their well-being.

“Actually, I had something to tell you... You see... for a while now I’ve been having some rather strange worries.” I confessed.

“What do you mean by strange worries? I’m sorry, my friend, but I don’t swing that way.” Kalderan said.

I narrowed my eyes at him and tossed glaring daggers at him.

“I wasn’t talking about that, besides, I’m a married man, remember?” I pointed at my ring.

“Relax, I was joking.” Kalderan laughed.

“Sigh... well, leaving that aside, the worries I hold are related to your safety. I just... well... I am very powerful when compared to the rest of you, so you see... I feel like I might lose you if I don’t go an extra mile to protect you.” I told them.

“Lose us?” Ildea raised an eyebrow while Coshun narrowed his eyes at me.

“Boy, you told me at one point that you participated in a great war, didn’t you?” the draconian prince asked.

“Yes, it was a defensive battle against a the rebellious Draejan Andrakaryus Doesya.” I replied with a nod.

“Did it take place on a large battlefield where thousands and thousands of draconians fought against each other?”

“Yes... There were a lot of Breakthrough-ers as well. If I didn’t give my wife and my friends my weapons and armors, I fear that they would have died by their sword.” I replied with a nod and lowered my head.

“I see now.” Coshun said and then leaned back against his chair while crossing his arms at his chest.

“See what?” Ildea asked.

“The rest of you never participated in a grand-scale battle, have you?” he asked them.

“No.” was the overall reply.

“I didn’t, but I’ve seen records of the battles from various wars.” Kalderan said, and I had a feeling he was referring to the documentaries of Earth’s World Wars.

“Reading about it and participating in it are two very different things. That experience can change a dragon or a man. It can turn friends into foes and enemies into allies. War has many faces, but for the most part, the most painful thing about it is when you realize that you weren’t able to defend and protect your loved ones. A lot of us simply can’t recover from something like that... it haunts us.” he said.

“Are you saying that...” I looked up at him.

“Alkelios, from what I’ve seen so far, you aren’t a man born on the battlefield. You aren’t someone who was hardened through fire and steel, you made yourself tough in order to survive the blows aimed at you. I may not know your past or what lurks in your heart, but my instincts as someone who also participated in a similar big battle and had to witness the loss of loved ones, I can tell you that the fear of losing anyone else you hold dear is strong and at times... it can be overwhelming.” Coshun spoke in a tone of voice that held a deep wisdom and also a note of sadness.

Just like he said, I was indeed overwhelmed at times by the fear of losing those around me, maybe it even drove me a little over the edge. I wasn’t ashamed to say that this was probably my greatest weakness as well, however, I didn’t know how to handle it. The people who came from Earth weren’t warriors or fighters, we didn’t know what to do in these situations.

If not for the whole transportation to another world, right now I would have been worrying about my exams at University or what new game to play. Wars, battles, the very thought of losing someone dear to you because they got attacked and killed by someone was as much of a foreign idea as it was peace among all nations on this planet.

“Overwhelming, huh?” I said in a low voice as I looked down at the table.

Kalderan nudged me again with his elbow and then said “You worry too much, you idiot.”

“Maybe...” I replied.

“Alkelios, it’s commendable that you care so much about us.” Ildea said as she placed her hand over mine “However, you should understand that you are indeed in a league of your own when it comes to combat power. We aren’t foolish enough as to challenge someone of your caliber, but we won’t back away from those we consider to be just as strong or a bit weaker than us.”

“Nya~ Fish not care about when fish becomes Tamara’s food! Fishy just be fishy and let the world take care of the rest!” Tamara said, and for some weird reason, I felt as though her words made the most sense.

Instead of worrying about who I was right now and what I could do best on my own, I was worrying about how I could sacrifice myself to make others feel better, but in doing so, I might end up hurting them because I hurt myself for them. It was such a weird thought for me, but in a way, it made sense. I mean, it wasn’t as if I wasn’t going to jump in to protect them from now on, but maybe having a bit more faith in them wasn’t such a bad thing, after all?

“Thank you, everyone.” I showed them a smile.

“Heh, even the mightiest of warriors could easily fall prey to the matters of the heart!” Coshun declared.

“Yeah, and I have a feeling that if my wife was here, she would have said the same thing or maybe something similar... She’s always good at encouraging me and helping me see the light where I stumble around like an idiot in the darkness.” I said.

“She sounds wonderful, I hope to meet her someday.” said Ildea.

Meanwhile, Amadeus and Drumora didn’t say a single word about this. My first thought was that they might have been a bit too young and inexperienced to understand what we were talking about or maybe they simply didn’t know or didn’t want to say anything.

“Thank you...” I told them in a small voice.

It was good to have friends who cared so much about you. It was both a relief and a gift, which for the most part, maybe I didn’t know how to treasure it properly. So far, friendship was something confirmed to me through a skill, but... when you didn’t have something like a skill to connect you to them, when you didn’t rely on it, how could one determine if the other party was indeed a friend or just a sheep in wolf’s clothing.

So far, I didn’t have any reason to suspect them as being the latter. I went on the basis of believing and trusting in them until proven otherwise.

Then again, even if they back stabbed me, wasn’t true friendship proven when you were able to forgive them and gave them a second chance? At the very least this was what all the games, movies, anime, and manga were trying to teach me back on Earth, but in this world, it felt as though such high morals would only end up getting you killed. If they back stabbed you with a very sharp knife, chances were you would never have the chance to forgive them in the first place. But what if their betrayal was manifested as injury or harm brought to the ones you loved? Could you still forgive them even then?

Such useless thoughts crossed my mind as I looked down at the ground. 

Coshun said that I made myself tough in order to survive the blows aimed at me or my loved ones. Maybe it was because of this fact that I have found myself in this pathetically confused state, but just as I was starting to fall deeper and deeper into that sense of dread and impotence, someone placed their hand on my left shoulder and met me with a gentle smile.

“Nya~ You think too much!” Tamara told me as she twitched her whiskers.

Maybe I really do... I thought.

As I let go of all those useless thoughts, I felt a sense of relief and ease, which made me smile.

“You might be powerful, Alkelios, but sometimes, I get the feeling that deep inside you are no different than a child who is still learning about the world around him.” Risha told me.

This was probably a very harsh truth that I didn’t want to admit. In a way, maybe all of us Earthlings were like that. We were brought up in a different world, with different morals, and somehow, we ended up believing that the world would tell us what to do and help us with our problems every time. True, the world would lend its hand, but what I realized now, after my mind cleared up, I was also responsible of trying my best to work things out.

“Most likely.” I laughed.

After we had our meal, we decided to go for a stroll through the city to check out the various stores here and see if there was anything good to buy. We needed some essentials for Amadeus and Drumora, since so far, they lived a very modest and poor life with little to no room for self-indulgence. On another note, they were both well aware of both the prices and the quality of the luxury items on the market. When it came to armors and stuff like that, I could just make some for them, but I just couldn’t bear to see them not having any clothes to choose from.

Ildea bought for herself during our recent stops a bunch of clothes, Risha as well. Tamara was made to wear clothes and acted as a dress up doll for the two women in our group, while Coshun borrowed a bunch of draconian clothes I had, since they were all enchanted with size readjustment magic. Kalderan had his own stuff, and I wasn’t even going to mention the amount of clothes and armors I had stacked up in my [Black Hole], although, in any case, I could always just give some of them to the two, since they had size readjustment enchant.

That afternoon, our luck seemed to be smiling upon us as we found several stores opened, and we more or less bought everything we needed. The merchants had nothing to complain about even when they saw the big ol’ Coshun entering their store. As long we paid for the stuff, everything else were details.

The city itself wasn’t that spectacular in my opinion, the streets were dirty, the smell from the horse manure annoyed all of us, and the people weren’t the best to have around. From time to time, I caught the more sleazebag-looking individuals tossing dirty looks at Ildea, Risha, or Drumora. While I was replying with a glare, when it came to the human princess, Coshun seemed to be a bit more protective as he added a bit of killing intent to his glare, a reaction which I personally found to be rather interesting.

At one point, I decided to visit one of the local stores that sold armors and weapons. I was curious about whether or not there was anything inspiring among his wares. I long since given up on the prospect of finding a good or better item than what I had on me, but when it came to models and types of weapons and armor, there was still a lot I could learn.

From this store, I bought a pair of shoulder protectors I found interesting, and a dagger with a double edge and a slightly curved form. Both of them didn’t cost me more than 17 silvers, as they weren’t enchanted and weren’t recommended for anything other than training or hunting weak monsters.

When we left that store, however, a drunkard bumped into Amadeus. 

“Bah, stinkin’ Akutan brat... To the dayuks to with that empire! They makin’ life of everyone here and there more miserable than it already is!” he spat at him, but I pulled the boy out of the way before he was hit.

Coshun glared at the drunkard once, and he pissed himself.

With a cry of fear, the man ran away from us. It was a rather pathetic sight to behold, but there were always resentful folk like him both here and on the Dragon Continent, individuals who tried to put the blame of their own misfortunes on others. I should know because I was one of them too until a certain silver-scaled dragoness punched me back to reality.

I do hope that Kataryna’s doing well. Maybe she made new friends while I was gone? I thought for a moment before turning my focus back to Amadeus.

“Are you alright?” I asked him.

The boy looked towards the drunkard that was scampering off in the distance with a long-lost gaze. That man’s words must have touched the boy’s heart. Those were some rather horrible words to tell a child but allowing them to affect you or not was his choice.

“Alkelios...” Amadeus said and then looked up at me.

“Yes?” I asked.

“What do you think of the Akutan Empire?”

“What part of it?”

The boy looked down for a moment as he thought about how to answer me and then replied “The people... from the commoners and Human Heroes to the nobles and... the way they treat those around them?”

“Hm. That’s a difficult question to answer.” I said and then looked back at Ildea and Coshun, who were also interested in my words. After all, they were all royal in one way or another. They too wanted to know what my opinion was. “I know far too little about the Akutan Empire to declare anything with absolute certainty, but from what I heard and what I know, neither that place nor this Ten Sword Kingdom seem to be a good place to live in. The Albeyater Kingdom, by comparison is far more comfortable to live in. There are a lot of people there and the cities aren’t that smelly. I can spread my wings without needing to worry about standing out or being looked at with a hateful gaze. I can also say that the idea of slavery isn’t one that I personally approve of.” I looked down at Tamara, who was looking at me with perked up ears “Those like me, Human Heroes, were born and raised in a world where such things were seen as a drawback on society. The world we live in, however, can be seen by us a mere fragment of our world’s past.” I explained.

“I feel like you told me something really important, but you still didn’t tell me how you see the citizens of Akutan Empire. Are they an enemy to you or a friend?” Amadeus asked.

“Neither. They are mere citizens of a distant country I have no connection with. I can’t hate someone I never met just because they belong to a different country. If that was true, because of the past between the country I was born in and that of Kalderan, I should have hated him and think as though he was the most vile and hateful man on the planet.” I replied.

“True...” Kalderan nodded.

“You don’t want to uphold the honor of your ancestors?” Coshun asked.

“Our Ancestors don’t live for us. They had their own lives during which they followed their own choices and desires just like we do in the present. If we choose to hate someone because of what their parents or grandparents did, then we are no better than them at that time. The sins of the father are the child’s to bare, this... this is a foolish saying that destroyed families, caused wars, and led only to the death of innocents.” I answered.

“Wise words you speak, but reality isn’t as gentle as that. To forget about your hate isn’t something so easy to do.” said Ildea.

Looking right into her eyes, I told her “Whether you hate someone or love them is as easy as flipping a switch, or in your words, it’s as easy as taking out your sword from its scabbard. If you end up using it to attack or to protect is a choice you alone can make and no one else. Ildea, right now, I have the power to conquer this country and more. I also have the power to bring it to ruin and kill everyone here, but that is my choice to make. I choose how to wield my power not my parents or my grandparents. Even if my wife was here and begged me to do it, in the end, it would still be my choice.”

My words may have been a bit too deep or maybe too harsh, but it was something a lot of people I knew back on Earth were aware of. True, acting upon it sometimes wasn’t that easy because humans tended to get overwhelmed quite easily by their emotions. Hate, fear, desperation, these were all vital emotions that could force anyone to pull the trigger of their gun. But even then, the finger that pressed on that piece of metal was his, not mine or anyone else.

When I was in the Seculiar Forest, I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do when I returned to the capital. Because of the danger of the [Itsy Bitsy BOOM!] spell, I had to be extra careful on where I was going to use it and how. In a moment of anger, I could easily ruin the lives of thousands and scar the world in ways unimaginable. The amount of power that this one spell held was not something to be toyed with it. Every time I used it, I always thought well and hard if it was worth it or not.

Back then, when I destroyed the insect army, I was well aware that there was no other way of stopping it before reaching the Seculiar Forest, where I could lose track of its many soldiers. If that place was a lush plain, I may have hesitated up to the last moment, and maybe only after careful consideration fired it. Since the desert was wide and mostly barren, I felt more at ease with setting off such an attack.

When I was at the capital and threatened everyone with it, it was a show for the most part, but even then... to ignite this attack, to kill so many draconians, I couldn’t do it unless I relieved myself of the act of living as well...

It was a good thing it never came to that.

That was why I believed that my words were not simple philosophy. I was put through the test during those moments, when I chose to pull the trigger and when I chose not to pull it. My hands may have been stained with the blood of countless souls, but at the very least, for the most part, I wanted to be certain that what I did was of my own choice.

Once the deed was done, blaming it on someone else or on the situation itself was no less than running away from one’s own guilt and responsibility.

“I see... I don’t know what to say...” Ildea said as she looked away.

“Just hope that you won’t ever be placed in a situation where you will be forced to give the order to kill countless people among which there could be as many innocents as criminals. Such decisions are never easy... and they tend to haunt you for the rest of your life.” Coshun told her as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Seeing the two of them like that felt... natural, in a way?

We walked away from the store with the intent of looking around the city for another hour or two until it got dark outside. With days and nights being a lot longer in this world, it always felt rather weird for me. Earth’s puny 24 hours felt incredibly insufficient right now, and it made me wonder how anyone could achieve anything in so little time? Unless you were well organized and had your objectives for the day set, you didn’t really have any time to spare.

A little while before we reached the inn, we saw four of the Kingdom’s Knight walking towards us in their shiny armors wearing a smug look on their faces. Since we did not want any altercation with them, we stopped in our tracks and moved out of their path. They would need only the smallest of reasons to start a fight with us.

Their armors reminded me a lot of the old Templar armors I saw in games, but the weapons they wielded were roman short swords. They had no enchant on them, but they appeared to be quite well made.

When I looked back, I saw that Ildea was not feeling too comfortable with them walking up towards us like this.

I hoped that they didn’t intent on messing with us, but in any case, they definitely didn’t pose a threat to any of us. How should I say this... they were weak, very weak?

But alas, my hope didn’t come true, maybe because, secretly, I did want to get to know their opinion on the current situation at the palace. Thus, the group of knights stopped right in the middle of the street while one of them took out a scroll and began to read from it.

“A royal decree has been given that the tax for Imported Goods will rise by one copper coin and that of the annual harvest by one silver coin. Those who fail to meet their quota shall be put under a slave contract with their master being this very Kingdom until they can pay back their due.” the knight spoke in a clear and loud voice.

Once he was done talking, the people around us began to whisper and murmur, but then one of the knights said something strange.

“You know, I really wish the princess didn’t run off... It’s so annoying to look for that kid. Why even mobilize the army when we all know that she just got lost and killed somewhere in the woods?”

“It’s still the Royal Princess, Sir.” his fellow knight reminded him.

“Who do you think cares? Not even the King bothered to find out of if she’s alive or not. Besides, right now, there’s no one left at the Kor Palace who is loyal to either her or the Queen. His Majesty will certainly sell out our Kingdom to Akutan or maybe one of those new nations in the North. With a bit of luck, maybe we will not be forced to fight against the dragons across the ocean. I still get chills just thinking about my grandfather’s stories about the last war.” he said as he spat on the ground.

When he turned around, our eyes met, but he just tossed us a glare.

“What are you looking at?” he asked as he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Me?” I pointed at myself.

His eyes then moved from me to Ildea, who was hiding behind Coshun.

“Are you a bunch of Queen Sympathizers?” he asked us.

Tilting my head to the left, I asked “Is it wrong in this Kingdom to follow the Queen and King?” I asked.

“The King yes, but we have orders to treat as hostile any Sympathizer of the Queen. There are rumors that they are hiding the Princess. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, do you?” he asked with a smirk.

“Oh, I just heard from a little birdie that the ones harboring her are powerful enough to give Brekkar Draketerus, the Breakthrough-er general of the dragons from the last war, a hard time. I wonder, can you four handle someone like that? But do take this just as a mere curiosity of a wary traveler who is just a bit worried for his own safety.” I told him with a smile.

The man looked at me and then at my group. When his eyes fell on our armors and weapons, he realized that we were all powerful adventurers who weren’t to be messed with.

The knight knew that he could not take us all on, so with a gulp, he asked “Are you the one the birdie was talking about?”

“No, Sir.” I shook my head “We are, as I said, a bunch of tired travelers who were just looking around the town for a decent place to stay. Might you know of such an establishment?” I asked him with a smile.

“Huh? Why would I? Look for it yourself!” he growled at me, but he moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword.

“Sir, what should we do?” one of the other knights asked.

The knight looked straight at me for a long moment, while I continued to smile without releasing any killing intent, but I didn’t try to hide the pressure of my strength. My body showed no openings, and he could see that, or rather... he felt it.

A weak animal always felt in danger when faced with a dangerous predator.

“Let us go. There’s nothing to see here.” he muttered and then walked past us.

Once they were gone, I let out a sigh and turned to look back at my companions. Everyone was looking worriedly at Ildea. She was holding her right shoulder with her left hand and looking down at the ground with a pained expression on her face. Her body was trembling a little, and her right hand was clenched in a fist.

“Are you alright?” Coshun asked her in a gentle tone of voice.

Ildea did not answer.

“You shouldn’t worry about what they said.” Kalderan scoffed.

“...”

“He’s right... They are a bunch of weaklings.” Coshun added.

“But... I’m weak too...” she looked up at him and there were a pair of tears in her eyes.

The dragon gulped and didn’t know what to say at first, but then, with a slow and careful movement, he wiped off her tears.

Furrowing his brow, he then spoke in a soft tone of voice “No... you are strong. If physical strength is what you desire, I have plenty.”

“Why do you say that? Mother is in danger, I have no more subjects, and no one even dares to swear fealty to me... I’m a princess without a crown, a Queen without a Kingdom.” she said and looked down.

“You know, Ildea?” he told her “In Albeyater and most of the dragon kingdoms, the Queen is the one who holds the reins of the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the King gives the orders to the army, but without his Queen’s approval, he cannot march towards new battles and is forced to stay on the defensive. Ildea, you are strong. You survived an assassination attempt and still wish to head back to the capital to save your mother. If you were weak, you would have fled the country by now.”

There was nothing else I could add to these words. I completely agreed with him, and the others did as well. All that was left to do was to wait for Ildea to either reject them or accept them as the truth and allow herself to wield that inner strength she always possessed. How she wielded it, though, that remained to be seen.

Ildea didn’t reply, but we could see that Coshun words got to her.

It felt a bit awkward to just stand there in the middle of the street and do nothing, so we decided to return to the inn for the time being. Ildea needed to sort out her feelings, and the children needed a break from all this walking. Drumora did recover quite fast, but this was no reason to drag her around window shopping all day long.

Once we got back to the inn, we reserved a table at the tavern at the first floor and then spent most of our time there until we were tired enough to head off to sleep. The following day, we would wake up early in the morning and then set off for Ten Swords Capital. Our journey there was going to take maybe a week at most, but I had the feeling that a wind of change was blowing through this country. If the King of Ten Swords Kingdom proved to be a nasty fellow, maybe by disposing of him and earning the Queen’s favor, we could also gain an ally for Albeyater Kingdom? That would definitely be solving two problems in one go.