I didn't have any weapons with me, I left my dagger in the medics' room earlier. This meant that I had to fight these crazy people with my bare hands. "This is the plan you guys and Hendrik have prepared for us? How stupid, huh," I said and pointed at them. Max grinned. "I don't think I've ever fought you before, you've always been dying when I attacked you. This time I won't let you live, especially since you already know our intentions!" he said. "How arrogant, Mr. Velman. Let's see who gets beaten up!" Delilah let out a stifled exclamation, a look of emotion on her face, and I was grateful for it. I was sure I hadn't done anything, though, when I felt my body being pushed forward. Then, without warning, Delilah and I were pulled by an invisible hand. The rocks and roots that came out scraped my body and my hair felt like it was going to fall out of my scalp. I couldn't see who was doing it! Really! It felt like I was being slammed into the ground so hard that my bones cracked
I was skeptical that someone of the Prime Minister's stature wouldn't have a personal medic, but Elliot tended to our wounds alone, without help from anyone else. "It's cracked." He muttered as he grabbed my left hand, then looked at the box of medical fluid and turned to me. "I don't have a cast," he said. Delilah then showed me her arm, she had a bandage on her temple with a bruised face. "Can you put my cast on him?" she asked. I quickly refused, my eyes as sharp as they could be. "Don't be absurd, you just got hurt this afternoon," I said. "It's nothing to worry about, after I drink the mandrake extract it will heal itself," I continued to Elliot. "You don't seem to feel any pain, do you?" he said as he treated my head that had been sucked into a tree. It hurt, but it was unremarkable. I can still take it well without screaming when I am given antiseptic. Besides, I was more surprised that I would meet Elliot, by chance anyway! After we fell down earlier, he took us to his
"Guests are not allowed to loiter in this area!"As soon as I stepped out of the tent, a soldier confronted me. His square, scarred face added to the horror, and I just bowed politely. "I have an appointment with Mr. Prime Minister," I said. "Mr. Prime Minister has returned to his duties. Visiting hours for guests are over. Please come back in." The soldier shooed me away as he was about to close the tent and pushed me. I was quickly outside the tent area. If I didn't talk to Elliot now, when would I? This was the right time for me to talk about my relationship with Adellia. "Please tell Mr. Prime Minister that Joe has something very important to talk about," I insisted. The soldier gave me an annoyed look. "What is it?" he asked. "Just tell him. It's very important, please!" I even had to clasp my hands in front of my chest. The soldier clucked and went into one of the largest tents. Not long after, he came out. "Come in."My first impression of this tent was that it smelled v
"Why didn't you wake me up? I intended to sleep for only an hour, no more!" Delilah exclaimed as soon as we left the Prime Minister's quarters. I saw that it was still six in the morning, usually the sun was already brightly lit when I was still in the barracks. However, here, even the atmosphere was still as tense and dark as the night. I rubbed my eyes quickly as I fought off sleepiness. After spilling my guts to Elliot, I quickly returned to the tent and fell asleep on the sofa soundly, before Delilah frantically shook my body to wake me up. We didn't have time to greet Elliot, as it turned out that the Prime Minister was busy and couldn't be disturbed. So, we immediately decided to return to the military headquarters after being glared at by five of Elliot's aides. "I overslept too, you were very sleepy," I added, not wanting to take the blame. "We're not going to tell the Prime Minister about the kidnapping plan, are we going to tell Cedric?" said Delilah. "Bad idea. He'll
I wondered what use it was for the military to teach us how to distinguish and save ourselves from mines and bombs, since what we were facing was more dangerous than that. It would have been useful if I'd been stationed to fight ordinary humans, but I was fighting people with magical powers! Seriously! Not yet fully landed on the ground, dozens of soldiers had already been injured by the explosion, including me and Willem along with the hysterically neighing pegasus. "Formation!" Rasen shouted, then some of the soldiers gathered and cast a spell that formed a magical shield around us. It was just in time for another explosion to strike in rapid succession. Red rays blazed until I had to close my eyes, after which the clouds darkened more than ever. It's different from being overcast when it's about to rain, I don't understand but it's terrifying. I haven't seen the enemy anywhere, but they can corner hundreds of us in a single attack. "Will, put your feet up," Frans said as he c
I realized I was asleep, but I didn't want to wake up because my eyelids felt so heavy. The soft pillow and mattress and the warm blanket were more than enough for me now. I wanted to sleep a little longer. I can't remember what I've been doing lately, I don't think I've been that active, but my body feels so tired. It would be wonderful if I could sleep well and wake up when I want. But I couldn't because I could hear the loud voices of people talking. I desperately wanted to get up, silence them, and go back to sleep, but I was too weak to move. A voice came closer and I felt a shard of light break through my still closed self. I began to smell drugs, which I never liked. Then I felt someone sitting on my bed. "In the end, he too will fall." It was a woman's voice, was she talking about me? "He's human after all," a male voice answered. "It's a good thing he was saved, look at all that burnt skin. If he was a normal person, he would have died. Ah, but I guess Joe keeps a lot
I packed the things that didn't really need to be packed, except for a set of casual clothes and the fire dragon scales I had hidden in my bag. I strapped the sword to my back and made sure nothing was left behind. "Are you really on duty at the palace?" asked Willem, who and Frans had been watching me from the tent door. "Yes, an order from the military commander and the prime minister," I replied briefly. "When do you leave?" said Frans. Then he handed me a bottle the size of my index finger filled with black water. "This is a potion from Officer Regal, he gave it to us the other day to speed up recovery. I have plenty left," he continued. I took the bottle and put it in my bag. "In a moment, thank you, yeah. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you guys until the end," I said. For some reason, I suddenly felt melancholy, my eyes burning with tears. Actually, this was exactly what I wanted. I never wanted to come to the conflict zone, let alone fight witches or clans that could breathe
The journey in the air was a bit bumpy as Peace hadn't fully recovered. Several times, the Pegasus whimpered in pain and we had to slow down our flight. While doing so, I looked down at the residential area.From up here, I could see that almost all of the settlements were leveled to the ground, with fires still burning in some places. I had to be clever in directing Peace to avoid the routes that Cedric had forbidden.I was given a brief briefing on avoiding certain areas suspected of being dangerous, where rebels were believed to be located. I myself started to feel anxious flying alone in the dark night. I was somewhat traumatized by someone kicking Peace like before or anyone from Swaltz Clan teleporting without me realizing it.Actually, I could guess Cedric and Elliot's true motive for moving me to the kingdom. They did it solely for Adellia because she is my friend; if they wanted to protect the king, they would have sent important figures like Rasen.On one hand, I felt burden