~ Chapter 111: The loyalty of Sergei Ruva ~

[Alkelios’ point of view]

There was nothing more peaceful than waking up to the gentle rays of the sun as they washed over your face, with a small bird chirping at the window and a few butterflies flying off by chance at just the right moment. Well, all of that would have been absolutely lovely if not for the fact that I had a dragon’s stinky foot right up in my face!

We had to book two big rooms at the inn, one for the girls and one for the boys, because Ildea and Risha gave me a weird look when I suggested to get the huge one where nobles usually stayed. Meanwhile, Drumora didn’t seem to mind either way since she trusted us. What we didn’t expect were for the beds to be so flimsy and weak while the space was far smaller than advertised. I barely had any space to place my King size bed in there. As a result, we all shared it. Needless to say, the big lizard in our group took up most of the space, while poor Amadeus got squeezed off in a corner by Kalderan.

There were a few times when the thought of changing to my half-dragon form crossed my mind, but that would have been too cruel for the little Akutan prince. Besides, if I messed up my Magic Energy control or unleashed my Gold Scale Authority, all the beasts in a 10 km range would have started to act up.

Well, it can’t get any worse than this... I thought, but then, as if some sort of malicious entity heard me, Coshun let out a loud, long, stinky fart.

POOT! 

“Oh, for the love of... OXYGEN! I NEED OXYGEN!” I rushed out to the window, scaring off the bird and the butterflies away, or rather, I just happened to save them from the deadly gas looming over.

“Ugh...” Kalderan started to groan in his sleep while Amadeus’ face turned from pale to blue.

“Woken by a royal dragon fart... that’s a new one.” I said and then let out a sigh.

When I glanced down at the street, however, I happened to see someone peeking around the corner with his head and body covered with a black cloak. That guy was the textbook definition of the word ‘suspicious’. He didn’t seem to have noticed me, or maybe he thought that I couldn’t give how far away from the inn he was, but he was definitely looking this way.

Is there a guest here he’s spying on? I don’t think I saw anyone note-worthy... I thought and then looked back in my room and immediately narrowed my eyes at the group.

It was as if big arrows were pointing at them and telling me the reason why anyone would try to spy over here. One of them was a dragon prince, the adopted son of the King and Queen of Albeyater. Next to him was a Human Hero and then in the corner of the bed looking pale as a sheet was the exiled prince of the most powerful human nation, the Akutan Empire. Next to our room was the current runaway princess of this nation, Ildea, together with Drumora, the sister of that Akutan Prince, while their only defenders was a nekatar who could only keep them safe from bugs and rats and an adventurer woman who had no place to go. Then there was me, I could feel the arrows stabbing into my back when I thought back at my current status in this world: Draketerus Duke, Queen Albeyater’s only hope, Hero of the Albeyater Civil War, Gold-Scaled half-dragon, Human Hero Powerhouse with a mini-nuke at his disposal.

“OK, I’ll retract my words, there’s plenty of targets to choose from here...” I let out a sigh and then looked back at that spy, but he appeared to have skittered off somewhere.

Whether he was here because of someone in my group or not, I didn’t really care, honestly. We were powerful so as to not care about any petty annoyances. If they dared to send any assassins, they had better send someone capable of fighting on equal grounds with several Breakthrough-ers or Awakened as the humans of this world called them.

“I should check up on the girls after I wash my face.” I said and then let out a yawn.

About one hour later, we were all downstairs, eating our breakfast and going over our plans for today. I did not feel like mentioning the suspicious fellow for now because I didn’t want to put them on the edge. Besides, chances were that guy wasn’t here because of us but rather for some other inconspicuous important or rich individual.

We stepped out of the inn as soon as we were done with our meal and not even half an hour later, we were already leaving Olfango Village behind. The only ones who happened to be one step ahead of us were the merchants and the bodyguards who had business to attend to in the Ten Swords Capital or were on a tight schedule. After a good night sleep, which in this world happened to be a lot longer than it was back on Earth, they were all in tip top shape and ready to face off all the monsters and villains who happened to cross their path.

There were also other travelers who happened to be neither a merchant nor an adventurer accompanying the latter. They were all ordinary people just like the rest of us, who were most likely either on their way to visit some relatives or simply traveling around, visiting the country. Well, whatever the case was, the potential for our group to be attacked in broad daylight was a little higher. An area with good traffic also meant that from time to time there would be individuals who thought themselves to be safe even if they didn’t bring an escort and thus would end being attacked by bandits and the like.

Our group was far too diverse and far too big to become a target, so we traveled without such worries. Well, even if someone tried something stupid, it would just end up being as a good target practice for the few of us who still needed to refine their skills, such as Coshun and Kalderan. That new type of attack of his, with those strange bullets, was rather impressive, and I couldn’t help but wonder how far he could take it if he had the chance and resources to do so.

About two hours into our journey, after we passed by a crossway that led to some nearby points of interest, we were stopped by an old man who looked like the spitting image of a modern butler. The man wore a black tuxedo outfit, held his chest high, and a firm look on his face. His silver hair was combed backwards, and the black gloves he wore denoted a refined and elegant character, but so did the way he carried himself. Each step was like a presentation of his entire being, each movement was refined to the point that little to no unnecessary motions were required. The gaze in his eyes was that of someone of high status.

Although everything about him screamed butler to me, it wasn’t impossible that it may have screamed esteemed noble to others.

“Your Highness Ildeanussi Vermida Kor, how delightful to see you are still alive and kicking. It appears that the rumors of your early passing were gravely exaggerated.” he said the moment he laid eyes on the Princess.

Seeing this, Coshun already took a step forward to protect her.

“An idiotic lizard is trying to defend you? How surprising, although, not as if his act of braveness will mean anything after today.” he declared with a scoff as he snapped his fingers and thirty or so men and women appeared from within the shadows.

All of them were wearing the same type of black leather armor with a black cloak to hide them better in the night. At their waist, they carried a dagger, a sword, and some type of bottles, probably poisons or stimulants of some sort. The gaze in their eyes varied from individual to individual, some were looking at us with contempt, others with a sneer, while some with an exaggerated boredom, almost as if they were here just to take out the trash.

It didn’t surprise me, I already knew they were lurking around, hiding in the bushes for a while now, but I was curious to see what they were planning to do. Initially, I thought they were a bunch of a well-trained bandits or maybe thieves who were passing by. At this point, however, I was starting to think that rather than the latter, they were most likely assassins.

Sooner or later, they were expected to make an appearance before us. The question was which royal in this group were they targeting?

“Sergei... Ruva... I thought you were dead.” Ildea said after a moment of shock.

Ah, so it’s her. I thought.

“Dead?” the butler raised an eyebrow and then laughed “No, foolish Princess, I merely pretended to be dead in order for you to make a run for it through some of the most wretched parts of this Ten Swords Kingdom. I was honestly expecting you to die in the slums or to be sold as a slave by now, but who could have guessed that you would encounter this merry bunch who dared to protect you and even trust your feeble words?” he asked with a smirk.

“Y-You d-did what?” Ildea asked as she looked at him with big eyes.

The innocence and maybe lack of experience of the Princess was still visible through this simple reaction of hers. Instead of accepting this sudden change and try to make the best out of it, she was having trouble with her first step, which was getting over the shock. Then again, we couldn’t expect such things from her, she was, in the end, just a human, and this matter could be seen or even thought of as something rather inhuman if done on the first run without any explanation beforehand whatsoever.

Seeing this situation, I decided to step in and asked this butler “So, you betrayed her for what? Money, fame, women, a better retirement plan?”

“Probably none and probably all.” he replied with a smile on his lips.

“Alkelios, Sergei... he is my butler, the man who helped me escape, but... this... I don’t know why...” Ildea said as she turned her head to me and when I looked into her eyes, I saw her soft tears flowing down her cheeks.

There were a lot of emotions tormenting her on the inside right now. There was the betrayal of someone whom she thought had died for her, who was loyal to her up to the very last moment. She believed in his sacrifice, and she planned to honor it in some way or form later on when she could. Living for the one who sacrificed their own future for you was a powerful drive, but to find out that it was all a sham could become one of the most terrible of pains a human could come to bear.

There was also the confusion of the situation, seeing the many assassins brought over by the one she once thought was loyal to her, she began to fear for our safety. We did show that were capable of great feats of strengths, but the human mind needed time to adjust to such sudden changes. Even Kalderan was still having a hard time adjusting to my broken common sense, so I couldn’t expect of this little Princess to just snap her fingers and just do it.

Among these emotions, there were probably a lot more, such as why he betrayed her, why was this happening to her, and also when was it going to end? These questions brought with them both pain and joy to her, and they battled within her heart like two vast countries at war.

“Ildea... trust us, we’ll get you through this and help you reach the Ten Swords Capital.” I told her with a soft smile.

Right then, I couldn’t think of anything better to say, and whether these were the right words or not for her would remain to be seen. If it was the latter, I just wished I could find the chance to fix my mistake.

“Alkelios, let me take care of that annoying sheep.” Coshun told me.

When I turned to look at him, I could see a rare determination in his eyes. His hand was already grasping the hilt of his sword, and not far from him, Kalderan was already preparing his SMG.

“Rip him to shreds.” I told him.

“Yes!” he nodded and then took a step forward and unsheathed his sword.

“Risha, take care of the kids and Ildea.” I told her as I took a step forward, standing side by side with the dragon prince.

“I won’t let any of them touch a single hair on their heads!” she declared proudly as she unsheathed her sword.

Tamara hid behind Ildea, while Amadeus held his sister close to him.

“Well, somehow, someway, you always managed to get us into trouble.” Kalderan grumbled as he tossed me a glare.

“If you were that unhappy about it, you wouldn’t be smiling right now.” I told him.

“...” his reply came in the form of pulling off the safety on his SMG-s.

“It appears the bunch of you have decided to take a gamble with your petty little lives and just toss them away for an irresponsible and worthless little Princess. Well, it matters not, just another dead body next to hers, and it will be her fault anyway that all of you will end up skewered through the tips of our swords!” he declared with the flair of a gentleman that just walked out of a fancy high society club.

Meanwhile, Coshun was just itching to jump in and stab his sword through his guts, while I was already cracking my knuckles and picking my targets from all these thirty sacks of meat who were thinking of us as easy targets.

“Your end shall come swiftly, but it won’t be painlessly!” Sergei declared and then unsheathed his saber.

“Fancy little metal stick you have there... Here’s mine!” Coshun shouted as he unsheathed his Beginner Legendary two-handed sword, but none of our foes seemed to have realized just what sort of a monster this thing was compared to their metal toothpicks.

The assassins separated into two groups, Kalderan dashed towards the one on the right, and I dashed towards the one on the left. Unlike the others, I was the only one barehanded, so these numbskulls were already seeing me as someone easy to kill... well, until the first one of them landed in my strike zone.

My first punch smashed his right shoulder, then I grabbed him by the face and slammed him into the nearby tree. I punched him in the stomach, causing him to puke out his insides, right before I crushed his legs with a powerful stomp. The sound of bones cracking was loud and terrifying, but just then, Kalderan pulled the trigger on his guns. At the same time, Coshun’s sword dropped down on that butler’s head, but... he missed.

“Oh? That was unexpected.” Sergei said as he took out a pair of daggers and entered in a combat pose.

The Dragon Prince did not give a reply to his words and instead focused solely on taking down the prey before him.

“You’ll die for that!” one of the assassins shouted at me when I was looking at my friends.

“Huh?” I blinked and turned my attention to him.

My instincts kicked in, causing my heart rate to go up as my blood rushed through my veins, fueling my body with energy. Through my magic channels, the Magic Energy inside me strengthened every cell and the status points that represented Strength and Dexterity showed their use. At the moment, my points were in the absurd range. Honestly though, I couldn’t even be bothered now to take them into account. Except for that weird dark apparition, there was probably no other enemy who could face me right now.

The world around me turned slow, like a stop-motion movie with insane graphical details, or maybe a very good 3D picture. I saw the enemy who was attacking me, a human of this world. He probably trained really hard to advance his skills to this point and without the [Hero] skill, he was able to become someone who could easily kill Risha, Ildea, Drumora, Tamara, and Amadeus.

The thing was, that at this very moment, when I turned my gaze to see what they were doing, I noticed that the kitten was looking in my direction. Her beady eyes were locked onto me, ears perked up, and I had the strange feeling that even when I was enhanced and moving faster than a normal eye could see, she could still follow my movements.

Maybe I’m just imagining things? I thought and then turned my attention to the assassin.

Even if I was this powerful, one wrong move was enough to end my life. I knew this, Coshun knew this, Kalderan knew this, every single warrior who stood on the battlefield with his weapon ready in his hands and his life on the line knew this. So, I extended my hand, and in that fraction of a fraction of a second, I cast an [Air Scythe] and then unleashed it upon my unsuspecting foe.

When I felt as though time resumed its normal course, I had already stepped aside, and my magic attack flew past the assassin and slashed in half four big trees behind him. The human’s body was also cut into pieces, the impulse from his initial jump just sent them forward with a bursting spray of blood before they scattered on the ground where I once stood.

I slowly raised my gaze and looked at the remaining assassins in front of me as the huge trunks slid off and fell on the ground with a loud thud.

“This... How is this possible?” one of them said as he stopped, and panic already seemed to settle in.

“Hey, the info didn’t say our target would have such an insane bodyguard?” another asked.

“Hm? But I am not the only one, you know?” I told them with a smile as I pointed to the side at Kalderan.

Right now, the SMG’s barrel was aimed at the stomach of an assassin, loaded with that special bullet of his. He pulled the trigger and then right after the loud BANG, a fountain of blood gushed out from that man’s back. Kalderan did not stop here and immediately jumped to the left, avoiding the attack of another assassin, but at the same time, he pointed his other SMG back and pulled the trigger, several normal bullets made contact with the target, and a puddle of blood formed at his feet.

The other assassins were shocked when they saw this, but since his presence wasn’t as overwhelming as mine, they kept attacking him. The bullets flew out of his guns and his targets fell on the ground. Compared to how he was when I first met him, right now, Kalderan was stronger.

“See... We’re not such easy pickings, after all.” I said with a smile as I drew my sword and then, as the smile faded from my lips, I let the sharp blade cut through my opponent.

Assassins were murderers who traded the lives of others for gold. They had neither remorse nor pity when it came to whom they were meant to slay, so having pity for them could be seen closer to a sin than a weakness. After all, they wouldn’t hesitate to put a blade on Seryanna’s neck or any of my dragon friends. Thinking about this riled up the dragon blood inside me, and I dashed forward, letting my blade taste their blood. Although, it would have been so much better if the stupid skill wasn’t name [Super Chihuahua Style]! Just imagining a little dog that was all bark and no bite wielding a sword and slashing his opponents up made me tear up inside.

When the last of my foes fell on his knees and his blood stained the ground, I turned around to look at what was happening on the rest of this battlefield. On one side, Coshun was exchanging blows with that butler, but instead of using all of his dragon might to overwhelm him and push him into the ground, he was chipping away at his strength, forcing him to realize that there was no way to defeat him. In other words, Coshun was mocking this Sergei fellow. As for Kalderan, he was properly using these assassins to better polish his own skills and try out some new things. It didn’t seem like he realized just how strong he became.

“Alkelios...” Ildea spoke with a whisper as she looked up at me. If not for my enhanced hearing, I may not have heard her at all.

“You should be looking at him, right now. He’s fighting for you.” I told her as I pointed at the dragon who was countering every single attack that butler was dishing out.

The sparks that appeared when their swords clashed flew in the air, but it was clear that the weapon Coshun was wielding was far more powerful than his. Actually, I was surprised by the fact that he hadn’t already cut those puny daggers in half by now, maybe he was trying to accomplish something with this, but what?

As we watched the battle, Sergei finally realized that there were no more assassins to back him up. His two daggers were now in tatters and the suit he presented himself in was ripped here and there. There might have been some internal injury as well, seeing how there was a small thread of blood flowing from the right corner of his mouth. The gaze in his eyes still held the ardor for battle, the need to win, but I couldn’t really see the hate and savagery that should have been present in a remorseless killer.

That’s weird… I thought as I furrowed my brow.

I was sort of expecting him to be someone like that, a monster who betrayed Ildea just to see her suffer, but this lack of hate in his attacks, this lack of killing intent made his behavior seem… off.

Coshun must have felt this as well because he set his blade aside and looking right into his eyes, he asked him “Why do you want to kill Ildea?”

“Kuh!” Sergei spat to the side the blood that had gathered in his mouth and then running a quick glance between him and the princess, he replied “For the sake of this Ten Swords Kingdom’s future... her existence is not necessary.” he narrowed his eyes as he stared back at Coshun.

“Bullshit!” roared the dragon as he slammed his sword in the ground.

Coshun’s affinity to Earth Magic was quite high, and he was a dragon to boot too. Thus, when he was in a moment of high tension like this, when his emotions took over for a sparse moment, his Magic Energy would have the tendency to go a bit… haywire. In this case, it flowed into the ground and reacted according to his emotions. Thus, when his sword touched the ground, it cracked and split open like a watermelon dropped on the floor, while the pebbles and rocks nearby started to rise up in the air and circle him.

This sudden lack of control appeared even among the most well-trained individuals, and to me, this only showed that either Sergei managed to touch one of Coshun’s sore spots or this draconian Prince felt more for the human Princess than he let on.

“Well, I do not expect a mongrel such as you to understand the delicacy of high society, but there are times when nobility must do things that only nobility should.” he declared with an eerie calm in the tone of his voice as he arranged his disheveled clothes.

“Nobility? Do you even know in whose presence you are, you blundering idiotic butler?” Coshun glared at him.

“Pardon?” Sergei simply raised an eyebrow at him and then swept his gaze through us and declared “Peasants and commoners. Her Highness here is the only one whose blood is worthy and at the same time is what makes her unnecessary.”

“Sergei... what do you mean by that?” Ildea asked but was held back by Risha when she tried to step forward.

“Isn’t it obvious, your Highness? Your father has no more desire to keep you around. A Princess can’t become a King, at most she can only be traded off to a foreign nation for some political backing, but right now... there is no country in the world, no kingdom under the Sun, and no Empire blessed by the Moons that would even consider in a million years to acquire you. Thus, your usefulness for this Ten Swords Kingdom is...” before his words were finished, Coshun swiped his sword and Sergei’s left arm flew off. “AAARGH!” he screamed in pain as he fell on a knee.

“First of all... Shut up.” Coshun said as he glared back at him.

I took a glance at Ildea, and I saw that she was watching him carefully, his every move, his every word. Although I was expecting her to have jump in and try to stop him for further hurting the butler, she didn’t.

“Let’s make something clear, you insect. In this group before you, there are more people of High Society than you could have imagined. I am the Adopted First Prince of Albeyater! Those two kids next to Ildea are Prince Amadeus and Princess Drumora of the Akutan Empire, and that man who defeated your assassins faster than you could blink is none other than Alkelios Yatagai, the Duke of Draketerus! Someone like you who has neither title nor achievements in his miser life says that we, nobles of so many distinguished nations, have no idea what nobility means and what it entitles? How dare you insult us!” he declared as he took a step closer to him, growling in his face.

“Albeyater... but that’s...” he was about to say a Dragon Kingdom, but Coshun suddenly stepped on his right leg, breaking it with a loud snap, but the man didn’t scream, he held the pain in.

“You know, there’s a difference between acting arrogantly and making yourself look arrogant. Your words are spoken with spite and hurt when spat out of your mouth, but they don’t hold a drop of hate or disgust. You failed at this, but don’t think that we don’t understand what the absolute loyalty of a follower means to you. Just tell her the truth, and I’ll make your death swift. You won’t be betraying her, you would be protecting her.” he told her.

So this was what he was after? Ah... I didn’t notice it... I thought and then looked at Ildea.

She was covering her mouth with her hands as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Looking at her from afar, I couldn’t really picture what she was going through. The emotions that were raging in her heart were not something I could casually imagine, but if I were to try to, I would guess that she was conflicted by the fact that her once loyal follower was forced into turning his blade against her. At the same time, if he was indeed loyal to her, why was he trying to kill her?

Maybe he himself doesn’t understand the meaning behind his own loyalty. It’s not a concept that’s easy to grasp, however, it’s one that can be easily stained by thoughtless actions, words, or even glances. Honestly... if I am to look at this pathetic man laying on the ground under Coshun’s foot, rather than thinking that he’s a loyal man to the Princess, I would say he’s loyal to whoever wears a crown on his head in this Kingdom. He’s not a loyal retainer, he’s a loyal pawn. I thought and then let out a heavy sigh.

My thoughts in this matter had no value as far as I was concerned, but maybe Amadeus and Drumora understood Coshun’s values in this. Taking a look at them, I could tell that they agreed with his actions at the very least.

“I...” Sergei clenched his fist and then looked into Ildea’s eyes. “I follow the orders of the Crown. I swore to protect you, Princess, but right now, as long as you are still alive, the Crown’s existence is being threatened.” he declared and then looked at me “You will not be able to stop his Majesty. The powers behind him are far too vast for you to understand even if you are a spy of Albeyater!” he then took a dagger and was about to stab it in his chest, but Coshun grabbed his blade and threw it away.

“You coward...” he growled at him.

He was about to cut off his other hand, but Ildea stepped forward and said as a river of tears flowed down her cheeks. “Sergei... I always thought of you as a friend and a loyal follower to the Crown, but I also thought that you were a smart man who knew whom to follow. Today... you disappointed me.”

It seemed as though Ildea understood how this man viewed his loyalty towards the one who ordered her death, she accepted him as he was, but this didn’t mean that his actions and words today didn’t hurt her.

To be honest, I was thinking that we could just go ahead and kill the King, since forcing him to step down wouldn’t mean that his ambitions would be laid to rest. The thing was that as a Duke of Albeyater, which was technically an enemy Kingdom, committing regicide when I was trying to think of a way to stop this useless war between humans and dragons was well… not the wisest of choices.

I did not really understand how politics worked all that well here, and it wasn’t as if there was anyone in our group with a vast experience in the field. This matter was quite delicate, but I knew that if forced with no other choice, I would do it. However, how could I say something like ‘We can free Sergei from his order by killing your father, Ildea.’.

In the end, mad or not, that man was her father.

But while I was pondering about a solution, Ildea made the decision.

Closing her eyes, she said “Do it.”

“I am loyal only... to the Crown.” Sergei spoke his final words with a calm and warm smile on his lips, then Coshun’s blade cut off his head, sparing him of any needless suffering.

As the blood of this so-called loyal man stained the ground, Ildea opened her eyes and looked at his lifeless body. She clenched her fists hard and tried to swallow her tears, but she simply couldn’t. It was too hard, too painful for her, and so they flowed down her cheeks, washing the ground. An act of kindness or maybe forgiveness to give the soul of the deceased a warm farewell.

As for the other souls of the other assassins, they could become ghosts or get dragged to Hell for all we cared.

“It has been done, and… I’m sorry...” Coshun said as he wiped the blood off his blade and avoided her gaze.

“No, you don’t need to be.” Ildea shook her head and looked with visible pain in her eyes at the body of the man whom she once thought to be one of her most loyal retainers. “In this life, Sergei had his own values. For him, the one who wore that piece of metal we call a crown was the one who stood above them all. He swore his loyalty to my father. As long as that man never gave the order, Sergei would have never thought about trying to kill me. This simply means that father may be beyond redemption.” she wiped her tears with her sleeve and then looked up at Coshun “Thank you for protecting me.”

Beyond redemption, but… one thing is to give the order to kill your follower turned rogue and another to kill your flesh and blood father. Can she do it? I wondered as I looked at the human princess who was struggling to keep her a hold of her tears.

“It was my pleasure.” the dragon showed her a wry smile and scratched his right cheek.

At this time, Kalderan approached me and asked “Do you think this was the right choice?”

I looked down at his weapons which took the lives of so many people already and replied “This isn’t Earth anymore... The countries are at war and within the countries themselves the law of the jungle exists to be followed and obeyed. Earth doesn’t even realize how lucky it is to have something like the UN.”

“The United Nations, huh? Yeah, that would have been helpful, but if they already had something like that, us Human Heroes wouldn’t have been sent here by that God-like entity. As it stands, we may be the only salvation and hope for a better future, but whether or not we can adapt to this world that has such vastly different beliefs and morals is still something I’m a bit skeptic about. So far, we introduced communism, fascism, and democracy to them.” he let out a heavy sigh and then looked up “I wonder if nuclear bunkers are good real estate in this world?” he tossed out that weird line, and I tried just showed him a wry smile.

“Earth had a lot to suffer because of the extremes of those ideologies, but... if their existence proves to be necessary and is deemed so by the gods of this world, then we might soon end up with a Continental War at the very least, although, I don’t think a regular nuclear bunker is good enough when considering the devastating power of Magic Energy.”

“Way to spoil my dream of getting rich fast.” he chuckled and then his expression turned grim “Akutan Empire, Democratic Union of Shiva, Majin Socialist Republic, Majin Kingdom, Navimska Reich, Fascist Kingdom of Nocturn, and Ten Swords Kingdom, seven nations with not so friendly relationships with each other on a piece of land the size of Asia. If war breaks loose, there will be nowhere to hide… Maybe instead of nations we should start calling them the Seven Deadly Sins?” wondered Kalderan and then scoffed “I hope not...”

“Can’t tell if that’s a bad joke or not, but I wouldn’t go so far as calling them Seven Deadly Sins.” I told him and then walked up to one of the assassins. I pulled off his mask. “White male around 30 years old with cracked lips and possible signs of self-poisoning... Yellow stains on his eyes, so he might have been suffering from some type of liver disease. Fighting skills... Not even worth comparing to an average soldier of Albeyater, yet they might be considered top grade assassins over here. What do you think?” I asked Kalderan as I looked back at him.

“These idiots are assassins alright, and yes, they are skilled.” he nodded in reply after sending a kick to the side of the body of one of them. “Meeting me now was just their bad luck. Half a year ago, I would have been an easy kill for any of them.”

“Alkelios, if you don’t mind...” Ildea called out to me “I would like to bury Sergei.”

“Hm? Are you sure?” I asked her.

“Yes. He just followed orders... If Coshun didn’t pull the truth out of him, I might have never gotten the chance to hear about my father’s order or realize the struggle Sergei was going through. He was a proud man bound by his own principles and moral code.”

Personally, I didn’t think it was respectful or smart to simply go out on a killing spree just because the crazy ruler of the country ordered you to do so, especially if both your goals and vision of a better country didn’t align with his. Personally, I had respect for the Queen and King of Albeyater for their vision of the future in which dragons, humans, and all the other sapient species managed to somehow coexist without bringing harm to one another. The fact that they approved of my marriage with Seryanna and even helped me in this matter was enough proof for me.

At the time when I suggested that deal to his Majesty, he could have easily killed me or even captured me to force me to make the cure for him. That meeting could have went bad in so many ways, but thanks to my Luck, such a thing never came to pass, and instead of an enemy, I found an ally in the Royalty of Albeyater.

When thinking about my own experiences with both nobility and royalty as well as these oaths that bound one’s life to the will of their master, I could not help but think about Seryanna and all of my other dragon friends. Unlike Sergei, who was lying in the dust, if there ever was a time when the ruler of Albeyater proved to be an incompetent madman who wished them harm and more specifically to turn against those they held dear, then they would unsheathe their swords and point the end at their so-called ‘master’. Well, unless his wife smacked some sense into him first, Albeyater was a matriarchy, after all, but the same went for her too.

Politics would always be complicated since their rules were judged and followed by those who made them in the first place. That was why, for me, these visions, these ideals regarding loyalty seemed so different and yet at the same time incredibly similar to one another.

Letting out a sigh, I then said “Princess Ildea, while I don’t agree with the acts of betrayal of this man nor can I agree to his principles, I can at the very least accept the fact that he has a different point of view of the world when compared to my own. I will let you do as you please. Whether you forgive him or try to understand him or even if you wish to turn his body into charcoal to feed it to the monsters, it’s all up to you, and I shall respect that.”

“Thank you, Alkelios, I appreciate your kindness.” she said with a small bow as she walked up to the body of the old man. “Coshun, would you mind giving me a hand?” she asked.

“Would it be right for me to do so?” he asked, a bit conflicted.

“I want to believe that Sergei never intended to betray me, but the oaths he made, the words of promise he spoke, the pledges that he chained himself with, they were the ones that forced him to reach this point in which living was no longer an option for him. You didn’t kill him, Coshun, you freed him.” she told him with a soft smile on her lips.

While the two went to dig a hole for that man, I gathered the bodies of the dead assassins, looted them for every coin they had in their pockets and then set them ablaze. The burial for the deceased went on without a word. Sergei’s tomb was left without a mark. Considering the fact that he was already decapitated, the chances of him returning as a zombie were slim and close to none.

Once this whole thing was over, I let out a heavy sigh and told everyone to start moving. We would need to reach a campsite soon, we were all tired and this situation laid heavy on our hearts, but at the very least, we now had a better picture of what could be waiting for Ildea at the capital... blood, curses, betrayal, and tears.