Esper From The Ring Of Frozen Dragon

Chapter 6 Planning for defense

Kidnagan opened the window and let Aretha keep crying. Not a word came out of Kidnagan's mouth as an expression of apology or regret.

A few moments later, two women arrived. They both guided Aretha to take a bath. One person took a wooden bathtub while the other stretched a partition board so that Aretha was comfortable not being seen by Kidnagan. With magic that could bring warm water, the two of them bathed Aretha.

Not as scary as imagined, Aretha was actually treated so well by the two women. Not only was she dressed in a beautiful gown, her brownish-black hair was gently combed, and her face was made up to show a beautiful impression worthy of the princess of Aslup City.

"Follow me," Kidnagan ordered.

Not knowing what fate awaited, Aretha seemed to resist walking to the eastern region of the city. She was traumatized to see the place used as a battlefield because her father and brother were killed there.

The large number of farm animals that were now in the open land was one of the measures to sterilize the city. After Aslup City lost its original inhabitants, Saber's followers were now ordered to collect the treasures in people's houses as well as herd the livestock to the open fields.

Aretha looked around. The land that was badly damaged yesterday had now been leveled again. The ground only showed the grass that was lost due to the battle. Aretha just realized that the Saber groups were not a group of humans who only enjoyed fighting. Aretha suspected that Saber might indeed want to establish a new kingdom by conquering large cities.

"Stare at my back if this place is too scary for you," Kidnagan said.

The two people continued to walk until they entered Saber's 'walking house' on the other side of the river. Aretha could only look down because there were five executives as well as Saber. They sat around a round table as if they had been waiting for Kidnagan's arrival for a long time.

"Sit beside me," Kidnagan ordered Aretha.

The five executives smiled even though they did not seem to like seeing Aretha join the meeting this time. Moreover, Aretha was the daughter of the landlord who was assassinated yesterday. Some of them certainly did not want Aretha to know about the group's internal discussions.

"So, what are you up to, Saber?" asked Kidnagan.

Saber laughed because Kidnagan seemed to know the minds of all the executives. "If you already know about Kinjang City's plans for us, the discussion will be shorter."

"I have heard that they are going to retake Aslup City. Then, is there no movement from the royal capital?"

"There is no news from the royal capital. The leaders of Kinjang City are confident in the 2000 4th level mages and 500 5th level mages they managed to gather in one night." Saber straightened his seat and looked at Kidnagan. "Are 15,000 troops whose lowest strength is a tier 3 mage capable of being annihilated by you?"

"If my order's minimum armor strength point has been met, it won't trouble me."

Saber laughed. "There is still a week, your armor should be finished," he said. "Tonight I'll rush the troops to perform the 'ritual of judgment'. Our troops should be able to help you."

"Don't trouble me."

Saber laughed again. The response was certainly encouraging considering Kidnagan looked like he didn't need to think about what was going to happen.

Kidnagan left with Aretha.

Inwardly, Aretha felt so afraid of the man in front of her. This was the first time she had seen someone who seemed to be born without fear. Moreover, the conversation that was spoken seemed to show that Kidnagan already knew everything. Now in her heart Aretha really did not know at all what her future destiny would be. Having a master as terrifying as Kidnagan would certainly have a bad impact on the way she died.

Aretha could not think clearly until her footsteps unconsciously stopped at another building like a kitchen, but it could also be considered a luxury restaurant because there were several dining tables.

"Order the dishes on the menu." Kidnagan sat down and motioned for Aretha to sit opposite.

A woman came in and placed a plate of assorted fruit pieces as a starter before the order was ready to be served. This made Aretha feel like she was in another kingdom as almost every aspect of life was different from her culture. Aretha did not expect that a group of bandits could live more luxuriously than nobles.

Kidnagan cleared his throat. "Aretha, there is something you need to know. Right now, my decision not to kill you is the talk of the town. Staying close to me is a wise choice for your survival."

"Yes, my lord," Aretha replied. "But... my lord, I...."

Kidnagan looked at Aretha. "If you're confused by the behavior I'm exhibiting, you should understand this...."

Kidnagan briefly recounted that he could hear the wishes Aretha had made while in the palace. Kidnagan did not let Aretha die because Aretha was the owner of a unique power that could unlock his lost memories even if only a little.

Aretha was stunned. She didn't think that the male voice that echoed in her head while chanting in the palace hideout was Kidnagan's voice. What Aretha couldn't believe was that she was freed from death just by muttering her name at the end of the prayer. "Is that you, my lord?"

"Yes," Kidnagan replied. "I wish to learn that power in order to recover my memories."

Aretha was a little nervous because she did not understand what power Kidnagan was talking about. Aretha had no idea at all that there were special powers within her. "I hope I can help you, my lord." Aretha was careful in answering Kidnagan's question for fear of ending up disappointed.

"You can definitely help me if you have the will."

***

Night had fallen. The screams that seemed to echo each other from the direction of the camp made Aretha pale. The screams sounded like the screams of hell dwellers who were being brutally tortured.

"We're moving to a normal house," Kidnagan said.

Aretha got out of bed and walked after Kidnagan. The two of them walked far enough to stop at the westernmost part. They spent the night in a simple house outside the fort.

"My lord, what exactly happened?" Aretha finally got the courage to ask.

"Those are the screams of the mages performing the 'judgment ritual'."

Kidnagan explained that the judgment ritual was performed by the mages who had overused magic in recent days. Broadly speaking, a mage's power is based on a contractual agreement with intelligent beings from another dimension called Holy Beings.

In order to use real magic power, the mage needs to pay for any kind of magic power obtained from the Holy Beings. Pain and fatigue that are not felt by the mage are actually transferred to the body of the Holy Being. When performing the judgment ritual, the Holy Being will return all the pain to the mage, including the pain of taking life.

If mages always perform the ritual, the Holy Being will lend mages more power than before.

Other than Saber's group, there was no mage who understood that the judgment ritual would increase magic power. Kidnagan was the one who rediscovered the ritual. It was the theory that Kidnagan put forward several years ago that made Saber and his followers have higher power than other mages.

Armed with only a little knowledge that magic is a borrowed power that requires collateral, Kidnagan was able to turn mages into the equivalent of esper. Even more terrifying, Saber and the five Executives who were now at the 5th level, could also be considered as mages who had broken the limit and were at the 6th level.

Hearing that statement, Aretha's hair on the neck stood on end. This was the first time she had heard that Holy Beings did not only act as sellers of magic power. It was very different from the usual understanding of mages. This answered the oddity of Aslup City being defeated by a small number of mages, but the battle was over in a matter of hours.