The king held his sword towards me. "What do you think you're doing?!" He roared.
"He attacked me. It's only fair to defend myself... right?" I answered nonchalantly.
"Besides, your Majesty, I was the one who drove away the most powerful of the enemies."
"I suppose that is true..." He muttered quietly, "Then I shall thank you for saving this kingdom. However, what is it you want? I can't imagine that attacking the castle is your objective."
I shook my head and grinned. "Of course not. What I want is for you to bring me the best mages you have within the castle. Give me 10 minutes with them, that's all I ask."
"That's it? That's all you want?" He asked, a surprised look on his usually calm face.
"Sir! You can't... possibly be giving him... a reward?!" A voice yelled. Dimitrius was slowly rising off his feet and had malice in his eyes. I decided to play with it a little. I activated {Fire Fist}, and my hand blazed to life with violet flames that flickered dangerously. Dimitrius' face paled of colour as he looked at them.
"W-W-What is that?! Purple flames?!" He cried out.
"Yeah... want a closer look?" I said calmly as I stepped towards him. "Feel free to touch them too... if you think I don't deserve this reward, that is."
He shook his head frantically, and I dispersed the flames with a satisfied smile.
I looked at the king and nodded my head, "I think we got off on the wrong foot... wouldn't you agree? I believe the circumstances are quite... unique... and so it's natural that everyone is on edge, yes?" I said, trying to ease the tension that, despite me not wanting to, I had created.
"I suppose you would be right there," the King replied, "I will get you the mages, and you will undergo the loyalty oath. Is that acceptable?"
"I can't do the loyalty oath. Because I've already done it before." I answered honestly.
The King's brows raised in shock. "You have?! When?"
"I was a member of the RMMT. I have already sworn fealty to the Laexanad Empire."
The king let a small smile play across his lips. "I see. So you were a soldier. And I have treated you most unkindly... my apologies." I wasn't expecting what happened after that. The king knelt on one knee and presented himself to me. I stood in shock as I watched the literal ruler of the entire human empire kneel before me as if I were the leader or something.
"Sir! You mustn't do that for me," I said with a wavering tone. I'd never expected the King to have such respect for any of his soldiers.
"It is only right." He countered as he stood up, "You have protected our kingdom during your service. It is only right that I show my gratitude and respect for you..." He trailed off as a man dressed in a suit whispered something in his ear.
"Is something the matter?" I asked carefully.
The king cleared his throat and stood straight. "I hereby announce that Lough Freed is to have access to any and all training facilities within the castle and be of high enough status to request the aid of any and all mages within the confines of this castle. You are to show respect to your general!"
Everyone looked surprised and began murmuring again. Some looked absolutely dumbfounded.
"Silence!" The King shouted before continuing, "You will show respect to one of our very own Neofelis Soldiers!"
I grinned. Who would have thought my previous status would help me out now?
Well, it's not like you came here acting like you were a soldier. Orebrul stated with a laugh.
True. But still, I didn't know that I still existed in the records.
Did they wipe you off the system or something?
I heard they did. When the rise of artefacts started coming around, there was no need for melee, non-magical, based soldiers. So they wiped off my achievements and lumped me in with the 'useless' people.
Shits tough, man. I feel for you. He said back, and I could feel his sympathy leak into me.
Thanks... I appreciate that. I responded.
Everyone started to move towards me after the announcement of my status, but guards blocked their path, and I was escorted outside into a large garden with the King and Queen. The garden was huge. Stretching at least 500 yards in width and over 700 yards in length, I couldn't believe my eyes. This was nearly as big as a military base. Flowers littered the floor, and marble archways created a clear path that went down the centre and branched off to the sides every 100 yards or so.
"We apologise for the commotion... and the threats," Queen Laexanad said. She gave me a small bow, and I returned the gesture, only I bowed lower since she was royalty.
"It's quite alright," I replied, "It was some much needed stress relief."
"Stress relief?" She asked, confused as to why such a mess was a 'relief' to me.
"The truth is, that I was quite happy to hear my status was read out as a Neofelis Soldier once again... it has been some time," I replied.
"Some time... then I can assume you are not a current solider," The King answered for his Wife.
I shook my head and responded, "No... I was dismissed after the Human-Serpentine War nearly 5 years ago."
"But why? You have all this power..." The King retorted but I held up a hand.
"This power... is recent... I gained this artefact nearly 8 months ago," I said calmly.
"I see. I don't think I have to ask to know what happened to you, do I?"
I shrugged, "Suppose if it's that obvious then it's a common issue."
"It wasn't a rare occurrence to be killed for an artefact. As much as it is a tragedy, I can't say I'm surprised." He replied with a sigh. I nodded, having already experienced it.
"When the rise of artefacts started to come around," I began as the three of us started walking down the length of the garden, the wind making my long hair flow gently, "They retired most of the army. Since I never recieved or discovered one, I was told that I had a choice between being discharged or taking on a useless role as a servant."
The King and Queen shared a look of pity before continuing to listen to what I was saying.
"I was annoyed... no, I was pissed off, that they would reduce my accomplishments to being either resigned or made into a servant. So I left, told them to go fuck themselves and never looked back." I pause for a moment, sighing with a wry smile, "Though I suppose it didn't work out how I inteded since all I could think about was my time in service, and now it's come back with this conversation."
I was grateful for their silence and patience with my story. So far, the only people who knew of my past were Orebrul, Jess and Darius, now along with the KIng and Queen.
After what felt like a long time, the King cleared his throat and spoke. "I see. I apologise for the disrespect you have endured. It is shameful, and while I try my best to change the views people have, even as a King there's only so much I can achieve."
I shook my head and smiled a bit more warmly, gently waving my hand in reassurance. "Don't worry, I'm mostly over it and have had a lot of time to think and ponder what I used to be compared to who I am now."
"That's very mature of you... how old are you again?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow. I scratched my neck, a bit embarrassed by the compliment he gave me before answering his question, "I'm nineteen, sir."
"Well you're a very kind and mature young man, Lough Freed," the Queen said with a kind and gentle smile, her green eyes shining with a kind of warmth that only a ruler who truly cared about their people had. I bowed to them and prepared to salute them like I would have done back in the military, but I stopped and thought about our conversation. It was a fact that I had served, yes, that much was irrefutable. However, that didn't need to define me as it had done for so long now. I lowered my hand and kept it simple with a bow. "I will forever be grateful for your kind words, you have no idea how much they mean to me. That said, I would like to be as bold as to ask for a favour."
Their response was shockingly quick as they both said "Whatever you need."
My surprise must have been evident since they chuckled a bit before gesturing me to ask my favour. "Could you please keep my status a secret and... erase it from the records? Completely."
"Why would you want that, though?" The King asked as he stroked his beard in thought, "of course it's possible, but you have plenty of resources available to you from it, surely you wouldn't want to waste this chance, right?"
I thought carefully about his words and while yes, this was the opportunity of a lifetime, I wanted to be rid of everything concerning my past. I was becoming a new person now, and I didn't want my past to keep cropping up every single time I tried doing something remotely formal within the human empire. Of course, it would be impossible to erase people's memories of me, but the majority of people who knew me back then have likely forgot, or are dead. After some more brief thought, I shook my head and replied with a grateful smile, "Thank you for the opportunity, I'm glad that you are as kind as I had heard during my service. However, I must decline and keep my request the same."
The King let out a sigh and, with a calm smile, he relented. "Very well, I will acceot your request, and please, don't hesitate to call upon us if you need assistance with anything, and you may call us King Henry and Queen Delilah, though I imagine you won't since you've been addressing us as 'Sir' and 'Madam' the whole time. Finally..." Him and his wife both bowed deeply to me, so much so that I thought they would fall over any second, "Thank you, for you incredible service, and for remaining an ally of the Laexanad Empire."
Once again, I pleaded with them not to bow so lowly to me, considering that even my status as a elite soldier was nothing compared to being a King or Queen. The very thought of being on a first name basis with them made my head spin. They decided the best way to show me proper gratitude was with a handshake, and this time, I accepted it happily.
As soon as my hand connected with the Queen's hand, I felt a surge of knowledge from the restoration path flow into my head. I tried not to let it show how happy I was at getting a new skill. That said, when I shook the King's hand, I tried copying a skill but felt a wall blocking me.
Uh, Orebrul, why can't I copy a skill? I asked with a small frown, though I tried not to show it too much.
His skill must be insanely powerful, you did notice that his crown and sword are artefacts, right? He responded with a thoughtful hum that felt a little weird in my head.
Well yeah, but are they really that strong?
The crown of the Laexanad Empire has been around for as long as I've been alive and longer, though I don't recognise the sword...
Wow. Well whatever, I got a new restoration skill anyway.
After saying our goodbyes, I departed from the castle and left for the university. I had missed classes, and I wanted to spend some more time with Jess and Darius now that I was back.
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New Skill
○ Healing Hands
Path: Restoration
Type: Healing
Desc: Your compassion for others allows you to give them warmth and safety, healing others injuries with your mana.
Note: This spell only works on other people, not on yourself.
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----------------------------------------- A few hours later
After walking around the city for a while on my way back to university, I marvelled at just how much of the city I had never seen. Despite my conversation with the King and Queen about not living in my past, it was hard not to feel like I hadn't been a well respected soldier when I had never seen the majority of the capital city of my own empire.
'What I would've given to come here when I was younger' I thought as I turned the corner and entered the gates to the university campus grounds.
Out of nowhere, a person bumped into me, dragging me out of my thoughts, something I'm was grateful for at that moment. Thankfully, the person I had bumped into was Darius, but before I could even say anything, his arms wrapped around me tightly, making sure I wasn't allowed to breathe.
"Darius... you're gonna... kill me!" I grunted out as I hugged him back, awkward as it was since I literally couldn't move. Before too long, he let me go and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry, it's just I haven't seen you since... well, you know..." He trailed off, but he didn't need to say it. I watched as his expression turned from relieved to see me, to a look of pure terror as he noticed my missing arm. It surprised me more that he didn't notice earlier when I arrived back in Nova, then again, that was during the attack. The battle that had occurred not even half a day ago was fresh in many people's minds, especially since it was done by a single group, and the leaders of said group were ridiculously strong.
"It's okay, it doesn't hurt, so you don't need to worry. I was just coming to find you anyway," I replied, holding up my stump of an arm as we walked together into the main university building. "I just finished meeting with the King and Queen. It was interesting to say the least." I stated with a huff as I recall my meeting wih the rulers of this empire.
"Oh yeah? Go on, tell me then," He shot back with a grin, his look still a bit solemn as he glanced at my absent arm, and he waved his hand in an exaggerated motion, meant to mock royalty. I slapped his hand away with a smirk and a roll of my eyes before recounting my entire conversation and what happened between.
Finally, after finishing my story, he let out a long whistle and nodded his head. "I see. So basically, you had a palace's level of resources available and you... turned it down?" He paused for a bit before gripping my shoulders and looking me in the eyes, his gaze serious despite the question that followed, "Are you an idiot?"
I pursed my lips and pushed his head away with my finger against his forehead, "You're secretly a money-hungry grub aren't you?"
"Secretly? Let it be known that I, Darius Black, am indeed a money-hungry grub, as the mighty Lough Freed described me as just now!" He retorted as he struck a silly pose, his eyes gleaming with what I can only describe as the very embodiment of monetary greed.
"Idiot." I muttered with a small laugh as he kept rambling on about the stock market, taxes and how he would commit tax evasion in the near future. I simply listened to his rambles, happy that I could just hear his voice and have him close to me. It'd been months since I had seen him and as soon as I did, it was during an attack that left most of an entire district destroyed and did damage to several others.
Thankfully, the district that was decimated by the fight between me and the apostles wasn't a residency district, so no one lived there. That wasn't to say people weren't hurt or dead, but it could've been a lot worse. I hated that mindset, but it was the truth, and I doubted anyone else besides me and perhaps Principle Raymond could've put up even half a decent fight against those monsters.
"Hey Darius," I began, dragging myself out of my thoughts and back to slightly more pressing issues, "What happened after I left for the castle?"
Darius went silent and his expression turned serious as he calmly and carefully explained it all. "Basically, the guild sent out a load of hunters to help. They managed to get rid of a lot of those weird cultist guys, but we lost a lot of people." He paused, studying my calm reaction closesly before carrying on, "Jess and I headed back here to check with students and teachers, thankfully none were hurt too bad. Kane came back to the uni for a bit to run admin with Principle Raymond before leaving the city to go and look for the attackers. Other than that, classes have been suspended for now and things are being rebuilt in the city as we speak, which I think is an impressive turnaround."
I hummed, agreeing with him that starting to rebuild already was impressive and took a lot of dedication and community to start this early. Nothing about his retelling alarmed me too much, though I was a little sad that classes were suspended since I was looking forward to learning more about artefacts history and where I can find some.
"Thanks, I'm sure I'll be called in by the Principal at some point anyway. He'll likely want to see me since the last time he saw me, I nearly got killed by... that thing." I shuddered as I remembered the God of Lightning almost killing me, though I left out the part where that was an actual God. I wasn't sure when I would tell them both that the Gods themselves wanted me dead, but I would need to do it soon, otherwise it would probably hurt them more that I lied to them.
"You go and do that, then go see my sister, she's been... how do I put this... not herself, since you disappeared." He said quietly, almost a little ashamed, I sensed. Worry churned in my stomach as I nodded and gave him a tight hug before heading off to see Principal Raymond.