Boreas POV
"Mari, Jett, wake up! We need to go!"
"...What...? What are you talking about?" Mari asked as she woke up
"The demon lord attacked our village."
"Oh, shit, let's go."
"Get ready quick, I'll wake Kai up and we'll go, everyone should be safe but I don't know if that demon lord is going to keep his word."
Quickly dressed and grabbing my gear, I rushed out of the house, my mind racing with possible routes my parents might take to escape the impending danger. They wouldn’t seek help from the nearby villages, thinking that they'd been attacked too. The safest bet would be the capital, where they could find protection and resources to deal with the threat.
I calculated the path they would most likely take, considering their knowledge of the land and the urgency of their situation. The road to the capital was long and perilous, but it was their best chance. I had to intercept them before any possible demons did. Just because the demon lord only wanted to target the village, doesn't mean that those demons were going to listen, they were nowhere near intelligent. This was the stereotypical demon that people feared.
After a bit, we created this aerial platform to get on and boosted us all the way on the route, and it took us almost a day till we reached everyone, who were all looking tired as if they all hadn't slept. A few tried to back away when Kai appeared but I reassured them that he was with me and once they knew that I was there, most, sat or fell to the ground and relaxed.
"Mom, Dad...you're okay...where are the school's mages?"
"They stayed behind to try and delay the demons." Dad replied as he came over to hug me with mom, "How did you know?"
"Doesn't really matter now, does it? Why didn't you call for help, the school has mages who know teleportation."
"Our call crystals broke when we tried to call you back in the village. The demons were smart, they knew the sword saint went to visit you, where is he?"
"I left the school during the night, we didn't really inform them of anything, Mari only called to inform them of our absence a couple of hours ago."
"I'll call the mages since we already got the location, they should be here within the hour." Mari said as she got his call crystals out
The teleportation mages were only up a while ago, and they're usually not on this route, it's the longest, but the safest route, but the fact that it's long means that most never traveled through here, but we should be able to set a meeting spot to get us to safety.
"Kai, Jett, just heal and check up on everyone."
"Is...is that a dragon?" Mom asked
"Uh yeah, I'll introduce Jett to you later...is everyone fine?"
"We're fine, just a little tired...a few demons broke us and tried to chase us, we luckily have Rob to fend them off and got light injuries."
"I doubt the school can provide us a house after healing us, so can you do some paperwork to have us meet with the proper authorities for our village's reconstruction and report the incident."
"Don't worry about housing, I got friends in high places, if they can't, I'll fork over the money myself. I can even get in contact with the empress and her uncle even if I want to."
"You didn't try to flirt with the queen, did you?" Dad asked
"I would never."
"Did she reject you?"
"If I did flirt with her, she'll fall for me within seconds, for now, just keep my dragon a secret when reinforcement comes, I'll make sure that you're all safe."
"You do have an affectionate side to you after all."
"Oh, shut up."
"I thought we were having a moment."
"We were, but you ruined it now."
"Wow, isn't it like Father's Day in the other world? Show me more appreciation."
"What are you even talking about?!"
"Huh, who knew you could be affectionate?" Laurel remarked, "Luckily you called me as you left the island, that alarm sent to security about a student and his group leaving scared some people.
'Do you have any idea on how many people said that to me today?"
"How'd you know about the attack?"
"The demon lord told me."
"Wasn't he trying to recruit you?"
"I know."
Currently, we're on the mainland as we helped the villagers pack their stuff into the beach house where Isabella and I were staying earlier, there were also a couple of houses owned by the royal family nearby, and the village was to stay there and work as the staff for now, it's one of the safest place they can be. I sort of explained my dreams to Laurel and she nodded along.
"So...Kai, what does he think about this?" Laurel asked
"He said it's a horrible incident and he can sympathize. He said that human raids on the demons were bloody, but not this wild, and it never happened in his lifetime, but he still hates war, something about him only picking up the blade for the sake of ending it once and for all, he wants the peace that comes with that."
"Seems like the demon lord wants to end it all too, since I don't think there's a recorded incident of him sending a direct attack like this."
"I know the academy sent some investigators on behalf of the empire...but we need to focus on the prophet, my girlfriend said she's currently missing, and the fact that she has contact with the demon lord is not something I like one bit, I don't care if she's a neutral faction in all of this, I rather not give the big guy any edge."
"What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know, I doubt this is what Craven warned me about...no way he'd go out of his way to warn me of just the loss of my village when it's specifically targetted at me...I know we lost some mages, but it's not the worst kind of loss I can face...can you promise me something?"
"What is it?"
"If I were to face a loss so bad that I'd go mad, I want you to try your best to kill me."
"...What are you talking about?"
"If I were to lose someone close to me, I'd lash out, and I'll be merciless...I'm already messed up as is, if I get any more messed up, kill me, I'll be no better than the demon lord."
"Why me?" she asked
"Simple, you're the only one in the world who I can trust to follow through with the request."
School for the next couple of days was not good for me, my head was a mess. Knowing the Demon Lord was targeting me, the village's destruction played over and over in my mind. His threats were not something that scared me, but it's continuously echoing in my head because I knew that warning meant someone, not something, would be taken away next. The weight of it all bore down on me, making it hard to focus on anything else.
I couldn’t afford to lose my bravado, my facade. I had a reputation to uphold, and showing any sign of weakness would only raise questions I wasn’t ready to answer. One day, Mari just slammed my door shut and isolated the two of us.
"What's going on?" she asked, "And don't try to hide it, I know you way too well and we share many moments that I would describe as way too close."
"It's nothing. Just the usual stress of keeping everyone in line and making sure the festival goes smoothly."
"Don't give me that. This is different. You're actually shaken for once. It's...weird. I've grown to find your unusual attitude quite endearing."
"I know...it's just that after what just happened, I'm freaking out a bit."
"What about your lovely girlfriend."
"I can't show her this side of me...she'll be more than happy to help, but I want her to focus on your job, I can deal with this kind of thing."
"But you clearly can't. And it's pathetic that you're acting like this. Where's that arrogant bastard who always thinks he's got everything under control?"
"I-" I started, but she cut me off.
"Don't you dare 'I' me. This isn't just about you anymore, and if you can't see that, you're a bigger idiot than I thought. You've faced worse in your past life, right? So why are you scared now?"
"Because-"
"Because what? Because this time it's personal? Get over yourself. You're not the only one with something to lose. We all have people we care about, and we all have to face our fears. You're acting like you're the only one who matters. Shit, they're my family too, I lost my first, and you guys are my second, and you're my...I don't know what you are. In the past, you lost your first family and found your second, the goddess took you away from that family, and you dealt with that, bringing that attitude back."
"But I'm still not even over-"
"No buts," she snapped. "You think you're special? That your pain is more important than anyone else's? Grow up. You're supposed to be the one who holds it all together, remember? So stop acting like a scared little boy and start acting like the leader you're supposed to be. I get it. It's terrifying to think about losing the people you care about. But letting that fear control you? That's what's going to get them hurt. You need to pull yourself together, not just for your sake, but for all of ours."
"...Aren't you sleeping in my bed because of nightmares?"
"Shut up, and you're the protagonist here, so just take my whatever this is and get back to your normal annoying self...or else."
"So...that's it?"
"Yep, that's it, and don't expect a kiss from me, it's not time yet, maybe increase my spending money after the festival, I'd consider it."
"Sure."
Boreas POV
"Mari, Jett, wake up! We need to go!"
"...What...? What are you talking about?" Mari asked as she woke up
"The demon lord attacked our village."
"Oh, shit, let's go."
"Get ready quick, I'll wake Kai up and we'll go, everyone should be safe but I don't know if that demon lord is going to keep his word."
Quickly dressed and grabbing my gear, I rushed out of the house, my mind racing with possible routes my parents might take to escape the impending danger. They wouldn’t seek help from the nearby villages, thinking that they'd been attacked too. The safest bet would be the capital, where they could find protection and resources to deal with the threat.
I calculated the path they would most likely take, considering their knowledge of the land and the urgency of their situation. The road to the capital was long and perilous, but it was their best chance. I had to intercept them before any possible demons did. Just because the demon lord only wanted to target the village, doesn't mean that those demons were going to listen, they were nowhere near intelligent. This was the stereotypical demon that people feared.
After a bit, we created this aerial platform to get on and boosted us all the way on the route, and it took us almost a day till we reached everyone, who were all looking tired as if they all hadn't slept. A few tried to back away when Kai appeared but I reassured them that he was with me and once they knew that I was there, most, sat or fell to the ground and relaxed.
"Mom, Dad...you're okay...where are the school's mages?"
"They stayed behind to try and delay the demons." Dad replied as he came over to hug me with mom, "How did you know?"
"Doesn't really matter now, does it? Why didn't you call for help, the school has mages who know teleportation."
"Our call crystals broke when we tried to call you back in the village. The demons were smart, they knew the sword saint went to visit you, where is he?"
"I left the school during the night, we didn't really inform them of anything, Mari only called to inform them of our absence a couple of hours ago."
"I'll call the mages since we already got the location, they should be here within the hour." Mari said as she got his call crystals out
The teleportation mages were only up a while ago, and they're usually not on this route, it's the longest, but the safest route, but the fact that it's long means that most never traveled through here, but we should be able to set a meeting spot to get us to safety.
"Kai, Jett, just heal and check up on everyone."
"Is...is that a dragon?" Mom asked
"Uh yeah, I'll introduce Jett to you later...is everyone fine?"
"We're fine, just a little tired...a few demons broke us and tried to chase us, we luckily have Rob to fend them off and got light injuries."
"I doubt the school can provide us a house after healing us, so can you do some paperwork to have us meet with the proper authorities for our village's reconstruction and report the incident."
"Don't worry about housing, I got friends in high places, if they can't, I'll fork over the money myself. I can even get in contact with the empress and her uncle even if I want to."
"You didn't try to flirt with the queen, did you?" Dad asked
"I would never."
"Did she reject you?"
"If I did flirt with her, she'll fall for me within seconds, for now, just keep my dragon a secret when reinforcement comes, I'll make sure that you're all safe."
"You do have an affectionate side to you after all."
"Oh, shut up."
"I thought we were having a moment."
"We were, but you ruined it now."
"Wow, isn't it like Father's Day in the other world? Show me more appreciation."
"What are you even talking about?!"
"Huh, who knew you could be affectionate?" Laurel remarked, "Luckily you called me as you left the island, that alarm sent to security about a student and his group leaving scared some people.
'Do you have any idea on how many people said that to me today?"
"How'd you know about the attack?"
"The demon lord told me."
"Wasn't he trying to recruit you?"
"I know."
Currently, we're on the mainland as we helped the villagers pack their stuff into the beach house where Isabella and I were staying earlier, there were also a couple of houses owned by the royal family nearby, and the village was to stay there and work as the staff for now, it's one of the safest place they can be. I sort of explained my dreams to Laurel and she nodded along.
"So...Kai, what does he think about this?" Laurel asked
"He said it's a horrible incident and he can sympathize. He said that human raids on the demons were bloody, but not this wild, and it never happened in his lifetime, but he still hates war, something about him only picking up the blade for the sake of ending it once and for all, he wants the peace that comes with that."
"Seems like the demon lord wants to end it all too, since I don't think there's a recorded incident of him sending a direct attack like this."
"I know the academy sent some investigators on behalf of the empire...but we need to focus on the prophet, my girlfriend said she's currently missing, and the fact that she has contact with the demon lord is not something I like one bit, I don't care if she's a neutral faction in all of this, I rather not give the big guy any edge."
"What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know, I doubt this is what Craven warned me about...no way he'd go out of his way to warn me of just the loss of my village when it's specifically targetted at me...I know we lost some mages, but it's not the worst kind of loss I can face...can you promise me something?"
"What is it?"
"If I were to face a loss so bad that I'd go mad, I want you to try your best to kill me."
"...What are you talking about?"
"If I were to lose someone close to me, I'd lash out, and I'll be merciless...I'm already messed up as is, if I get any more messed up, kill me, I'll be no better than the demon lord."
"Why me?" she asked
"Simple, you're the only one in the world who I can trust to follow through with the request."
School for the next couple of days was not good for me, my head was a mess. Knowing the Demon Lord was targeting me, the village's destruction played over and over in my mind. His threats were not something that scared me, but it's continuously echoing in my head because I knew that warning meant someone, not something, would be taken away next. The weight of it all bore down on me, making it hard to focus on anything else.
I couldn’t afford to lose my bravado, my facade. I had a reputation to uphold, and showing any sign of weakness would only raise questions I wasn’t ready to answer. One day, Mari just slammed my door shut and isolated the two of us.
"What's going on?" she asked, "And don't try to hide it, I know you way too well and we share many moments that I would describe as way too close."
"It's nothing. Just the usual stress of keeping everyone in line and making sure the festival goes smoothly."
"Don't give me that. This is different. You're actually shaken for once. It's...weird. I've grown to find your unusual attitude quite endearing."
"I know...it's just that after what just happened, I'm freaking out a bit."
"What about your lovely girlfriend."
"I can't show her this side of me...she'll be more than happy to help, but I want her to focus on your job, I can deal with this kind of thing."
"But you clearly can't. And it's pathetic that you're acting like this. Where's that arrogant bastard who always thinks he's got everything under control?"
"I-" I started, but she cut me off.
"Don't you dare 'I' me. This isn't just about you anymore, and if you can't see that, you're a bigger idiot than I thought. You've faced worse in your past life, right? So why are you scared now?"
"Because-"
"Because what? Because this time it's personal? Get over yourself. You're not the only one with something to lose. We all have people we care about, and we all have to face our fears. You're acting like you're the only one who matters. Shit, they're my family too, I lost my first, and you guys are my second, and you're my...I don't know what you are. In the past, you lost your first family and found your second, the goddess took you away from that family, and you dealt with that, bringing that attitude back."
"But I'm still not even over-"
"No buts," she snapped. "You think you're special? That your pain is more important than anyone else's? Grow up. You're supposed to be the one who holds it all together, remember? So stop acting like a scared little boy and start acting like the leader you're supposed to be. I get it. It's terrifying to think about losing the people you care about. But letting that fear control you? That's what's going to get them hurt. You need to pull yourself together, not just for your sake, but for all of ours."
"...Aren't you sleeping in my bed because of nightmares?"
"Shut up, and you're the protagonist here, so just take my whatever this is and get back to your normal annoying self...or else."
"So...that's it?"
"Yep, that's it, and don't expect a kiss from me, it's not time yet, maybe increase my spending money after the festival, I'd consider it."
"Sure."
