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Here I am in the familiar white world. I meditated for a long time sacrificing my sleep because I needed to meet with the both of them. Thankfully they answered my call. Both of them can be quite fickle-minded to be honest.
“You should be sleeping right now,” said Kirin.
“I needed an audience with the both of you. Please indulge in my request,” I said to both Kirin and Byakko as I bowed to them.
“Speak your mind,” said Byakko as he sat on his favourite rock.
“Byakko-sama, were you aware that mother survived the Demon War?,” I asked him.
He put his paw on his chin as he needed some time to gather his thoughts.
“Sorry kid. From what I remembered, there was some sort of explosion where I was separated from your mother. I called out to her through our mental link but she did not answer. Perhaps she was unconscious. I thought she had died but it would seemed that she survived the war, based on her diary. I won’t blame her for not looking for me as she did not know where I was. The bastard demon who took me went to hide in the Demon realm. A coward demon who thought himself worthy to wield me. Bah,” spat Byakko.
“I see. I am not blaming you, Byakko-sama. You need not worry. What am I requesting is that the both of you to lend me your full strength in this war,” I said while glaring at them.
“Careful boy, your anger is spilling out from you. Control yourself,” warned Kirin.
“Sorry, but that might be difficult. To discover that the Queen had a hand in murdering my mother just fills me with uncontrolled anger,” I explained to them while gripping my fingers tightly.
“Let the boy be, Kirin. Even I am furious that this Queen murdered my previous host. By your grace, I wish to see it through with him in seeing the Queen dead,” said Byakko as he lowered his head to Kirin.
Wow, that was surprising. To think that Byakko would actually bow his head to Kirin. I certainly did not expect that to ever happen. But I do understand his position. Kirin is technically the rightful celestial that chose me first. Byakko just happened to tag along, but recently the both of them were getting more accustomed to one another. Thankfully they no longer bicker among themselves unlike the first time they met after a long time.
Kirin sighed and looked at the both of us.
“Boy, during this war, the both of us will certainly be supporting you. However, we are not at liberty to lend you our full powers. Your body as of right now is not capable of handling the full force of our powers. I would say not even half of our full strength,” explained Kirin.
“Is it because I had not learned any Higher State Of Mind?” I asked.
“That is one of the factor. Another is that your body had not grown accustomed to our powers yet. As you wield us more, your body will be able to tap more of our powers. Take note on that. There is a reason why I kept insisting that you use wield me more. But.. I’ll grant an exception this time. Feel free to use either of us. I won’t say a word,” he said.
To think the tsundere Kirin actually gave his permission? It felt as though we were all growing up. Kind of strange to be saying that when these two mythical beings existed beyond time.
I gave my last bow to them as the world was starting to fade. I should get some sleep before the big day. Tomorrow will be the day that I will be meeting the Queen face to face.
***
I opened my eyes. Gosh, my head is hammering. Where am I? Oh right, I’m crashing at Lily’s place. Why were we drinking so much for? Sigh, I better freshen myself before I end up puking.
I knocked on the washroom door, just in case. Someone replied from the inside asking me to come in. Huh? I am certain this is the washroom and not Lily’s room. I might be hammered but I am still aware on which room is which.
I opened the door to peek in and saw Lily wearing a tank top, an underwear and a towel covering her shoulder. It looks like she is washing away her blond dye which was used to conceal her silver hair. I might still be a little drunk but I can see why onii-chan is so enamoured with her. She is voluptuous and slim in all the right places. Not too muscular or thin either. No wonder he slept with her. I might have considered it too if she suddenly pushed me down. Wait, what am I saying? I must be drunk right now. I sighed unconsciously as I walked closer to the sink.
“Did you say something?” asked Lily as she swung her hair aside to look at me.
Why is there sparkling effects? And why is she looking so beautiful? Something is wrong with me right now!
“Marry me”
Huh? Who said that? Wait, I said it! Oh gosh what is going on with me? I can’t think properly now because my head is spinning. Oh crap I am going to puke!
I rushed to the bowl to puke out the excess alcohol and some undigested food. Lily came over to rub my back.
“How are you fine? I remember you drank more than me,” I asked while feeling horrible.
“Well, elves have higher alcohol tolerance in general. And our wine have much higher alcohol percentage than the beers we were drinking,” she explained.
I wanted to ask more but I ended up puking again. Ugh, I feel miserable. Not even onii-chan saw me like this before. Who knew vomiting will be this exhausting. But at least I feel much better after removing the alcohol from my body.
“You good? I’ll make you some tea then. Please flush your vomit away before coming out,” said Lily.
“D.. don’t tell onii-chan,” I pleaded to her.
“I won’t, don’t worry,” she chuckled as she headed out.
***
Ahh.. nothing hits better than a warm tea after a hangover. Not that I wish to relieve it again. Onii-chan should be meeting the Queen right about now. Yet here I am recovering from a hangover. What a horrible little sister I am.
I sighed loudly. Lily was watering her plants on her balcony. What a luxury room she has. The Elemental guild certainly did not held back in constructing their building ensuring that it was spacious and fancy looking. I might regret a little in not choosing the Elemental guild. But if that were the case, I would had never discovered a method to improve myself further. The book that was given to me was a Godsend but I can see why it was a sacred book. Who knew that there were so many powerful spells that the Light guild declared as forbidden. Understandably in the wrong hands, we will be an incredibly difficult opponent to fight against. Even I was surprised that I managed to beat onii-chan in the sparring. I know I caught him off-guard and he was certainly not using his full power but still, I felt happy that I accomplished so much in just five days. I should have seek out the Paladin Lord much earlier for his advice.
Lily came back into the living room after she was done watering her plants. She no longer has her ridiculously long ponytail but her silver hair with greenish tips were certainly enchanting. I checked my long hair that I had kept for the past four years. It has grown really long now. I should cut it to prevent it from distracting me during combat.
“Lily, may I borrow a scissors? Would like to cut my hair before we headed out,” I asked her.
“Oh sure, let me help instead. What style are you looking for?” asked Lily.
“Someone is in a good mood. A war is about to start but here you are smiling. Did something happen between you and Zen yesterday?” I asked her without showing any hint of jealousy.
“Hm? Oh, nothing happened yesterday. Nothing at all. I guess I am happy that the war is finally happening after years of planning. You can say I am happy for Zen, to be honest,” she explained while she started laying some papers on the floor.
“You are probably the only one who is in such good mood for wanting a war to happen. Something did happen yesterday, isn’t it?” I asked her while I set the chair in the middle of the papers and sat down.
“If you followed Zen after he left the city, you will understand why I feel this way. He had nowhere to go and he has no family except for you, which is in this city. But he was exiled for just being the son of the war hero. Yet waging war was always the last thing on his mind. Hopefully we can win this war and he can finally start to call City Of Pines as his home. And… he also gave me his old cloak,” she explained and started cutting my hair.
“You really think a lot about him. And here I am still wondering why the both of you are not together. He even gave you his cloak rather than her little sister” I said.
“It’s.. complicated. And he said it was protect myself as I expose a lot of skins during combat” she confessed.
“The both of you had literally slept together. What else do you need to seal the deal? And I do agree, you certainly expose a lot of your areas that is supposed to be protected. No wonder he gave it to you instead,” I said while chuckling.
“Actually, it was more like I was the one who pushed him down. He did struggle to free himself at first but he eventually gave in. I don’t know what had gotten over me that night. I’m sorry that it happened, Rose,” she apologised to me while giving me a hug from behind.
“Lily, it’s alright. I’m glad it was you and not some other elf woman. To me, you are like an older sister that I never had. I can’t hate you no matter how hard I tried,” I told her honestly.
“Aww Rose, you’re my little sister too,” she said as she patted my head.
“Which is why, should anything happened to me, promise me that you will take care of my brother,” I asked her.
“Rose, what are you insinuating? I sense something else” she questioned me.
“What I’m trying to say is, date my brother, marry him and take care of him. You have my full support and permission,” I pleaded to her.
“Then, what about you? Your own feelings?” asked Lily.
“I’ll find someone else, don’t worry. You’re the best person for him and I want the both of you to be happy,” I turned to look at her and smiled.
She kept quiet and continued cutting my hair. A moment later, she grabbed a mirror and showed me her hair-cutting skills. Wow, how did she cut it so well? It looked as though I just came out of a barbershop.
Lily gave me a hug while I was still sitting down.
“I promise you that I will take care of him should anything happen to you. But I cannot promise you that I will date him. In the end, it is up to your brother to decide who he wants to date with,” said Lily.
“Besides, I am not sure whether I want to date him anymore. I never realised that he often mumble out weird things that makes no sense. Even his sleep talk makes no sense. Hahaha,” laughed Lily.
“You are the only one that ever heard him sleep talk. Accept your fate and date him. Haha!” I laughed as well.
“No! I’m changing my mind now! Hahaha” shouted Lily as she laughed.
“Moving back to the topic, what do you mean I show a lot of skin? All the right places are protected,” she said while she checked her clothing.
“Lily, your exposed abdomen and your thighs are a clear examples of them. How had you not noticed the amount of stares that you get from guys who kept looking at your stomach area?!” I explained to her.
“B.. but.. I can move easier like this. And I did not know that humans were so infatuated with the stomach area. Ohh! That would explain why Zen kept looking at it! Why didn’t I realised it sooner?” she smacked her own head.
I started laughing excessively at what she just said. Lily had always acted human so it did not cross my mind that elves have a different way of thinking as compared to us. She joined my laughter when I could not stop laughing.
A firework went off which halted our laughter. That was our cue to begin the evacuation. There will be a festival today that many people is certain to be attending. Perfect for us to guide them out of the city without them realising it. The Queen and her soldiers will certainly be busy preparing for war than to bother the festival. Let’s rescue as many civilians as we can before cannon balls starts flying. I hope onii-chan had made it safely out of the castle by now.
***
It is in the wee hours of the morning. Before I headed to see the Queen, there was someone that I needed to meet-up first. The meeting place was in a secluded area away from prying eyes. Someone in a brown cloak was already there. I walked closer to this person and carefully handed some paper to him. We never look into each other’s eyes directly. He carefully read through the report with a cigarette in his mouth. A couple of minutes later, he gave a huge sigh.
“Who could have thought the little kid that I let into the city nine years ago would end up inciting a war,” said Earl.
“I have my reasons. At first it was because of the Queen’s involvement with the demons, but now it just got personal,” I told him.
“Your report looks solid. And you said that two out of the four great powers vouched on this? Damn, this is way above my pay check,” he lighted another cigarette.
“Who would have known that the Queen is in cohort with the Demons. I never signed up for this,” he gave a huge sigh once more and took a puff.
I didn’t reply him as there was nothing much to say. Earl was the only soldier that I trusted with this information. Perhaps the other guildmasters and other adventurers have more direct contact with soldiers as compared to me.
“I guess I’ll be taking my leave then. I will be bringing along a few of the soldiers that I trust to lead the civilians out of the city. Hopefully none of them are demons. You can count on us to act when someone is acting way more suspicious than they should,” said Earl as he began to walk away.
“Thanks Earl, I knew I can count on you,” I said to him.
“Send the Queen my regards,” he waved while walking away disappearing into the crowd.
Now that that’s done, time to meet the Queen. Hope I am prepared for this. I will need all my sneaking skills to go in and out undetected.
***
“My Queen, we have reports that some soldiers had gone missing or disappeared. A number of them are not at their designated post. We also have reports about civilians going missing. It was as though they had vanished overnight. Should we call upon the adventurer’s guild for help in the possibility of a monster inside the city?” asked a soldier giving his report.
“No need. Someone is planning something and I will personally find it out myself. Whoever it is, I will personally execute him. Dismissed, soldier,” ordered the Queen as she waved him away.
The soldier left the throne room. The Queen stood up and walked towards a highly decorated soldier in full body armour. This soldier must be the Captain of the soldiers and her most trusted side-kick. She whispered something to him and he walked off. There is about four soldiers left stationed in the throne room now. Should I wait for them to leave during their shift to ambush the Queen?
She sat back on her throne. She suddenly started looking around. Is she.. sniffing the air?
“Guards, be ready. Someone is here with us,” said the Queen.
Awfully sus. For the Queen to have such pinpoint smelling abilities, she must be a Demon. I doubt even dogs are capable of smelling me hiding in the shadows. The thing is, what demon is she? Is it the same as what Sladar saw on the ship or some other worldly demon? Let’s see.
I appeared in the middle of the throne room after cancelling my Conceal spell and deactivated Concentration. The guards freaked out at first but stood ready with their spears. I have no intention in fighting them. My purpose today is to just talk with the Queen.
“Well well, look who it is. I knew I smelled someone in the room with us. Who knew you would voluntary pay me a visit, Zen Hawthorn?” she said.
“Who knew the Queen had such powerful smelling abilities. Almost as though you are not a human,” I insinuated to her.
She knew it was me even with my face mask.
“Nonsense, elves always had powerful smelling ability on top of hearing and sight. Did you not know about it?” she explained herself while mocking me.
“How odd, I’ve spent two years with many of them yet none of them have your smelling capability. I wonder who are you trying to bullshit here? Me, or the soldiers?” I asked her.
The Queen started laughing with a hand on her face. Was it really that funny?
“State your business, Hawthorn. I do not believe you are here to talk about this. For you to risk yourself coming here, I am certain it is not because you want to be my slave, are you? O, the things that we can do together. And you’ve gotten even more handsome over the years,” she said as she licked her teeth.
Is this really something a Queen should be doing? I am surprised the soldiers here are still willing to serve her. Perhaps some of them here are demons in disguised. I removed my face mask. No reason to keep it on any longer.
“I am here, to declare war upon the City Of Pines and more importantly, upon you,” I said while glaring at her.
Silence engulfs the throne room. It was the Queen who broke the silence with her evil laughter. What a villain.
“You? Declaring war upon the City Of Pines? You… alone? AHAHAHA!! Oh, my stomach,” she said while continuing with her laughter.
“Ah, Mister Zen. And here I thought you were planning to assassinate me or something. To think you would be making a joke instead. Your father will be rolling in his grave knowing that his son became a court jester,” she said.
“I don’t know about my father, but I am certain you know about what happened to my mother,” I said.
“Your mother?” she asked.
“Jane Gladiolus was my mother,” I spat the words at her.
She gave a thought with a hand on her chin. I guess she murdered so many that she no longer knew who she killed.
“Ahh.. that brute of a woman. Now I remember. It’s been so many years now. To think that brute is your mother,” she said.
“What did you do with her? Knowing you, you would had her executed on the spot,” I said.
“Executed? Now, why would I do such a thing? She barged into the throne room and demanded me to stop the extermination of the Hawthorns. She even had the guts to approach me with a weapon. My captain was the one who removed her head before she even reached these very steps,” she pointed towards the bottom of the stairs.
“And what did you do with her body?” I gritted my teeth as I asked.
“Her body? Most probably crushed and turned to fertiliser or something. Her skull on the other hand, I thought you would had noticed when you passed through the castle gate. Those skulls hanging above the gate belonged to traitors who attempted to murder the Queen. If only I knew that she was your mother then I would had personally hung her skull in my throne room instead,” she said as she started to chuckle.
I closed my eyes. Every cell in my body is demanding me to kill this bitch of a woman right now. While that might be what I want, giving her a quick death is not something she deserves. I want to enjoy torturing her when this war is over. Another reason is because her captain is hiding somewhere in this throne room. He came back and thought I wouldn’t notice. But his battle aura was a dead giveaway. This captain is no ordinary human. Fairly certain he is a demon in disguised. No human can emit that kind of aura. The captain is strong, very strong. I guess my mother was caught off-guard and perhaps not fully healed to fight with this captain.
I said what I needed to say. Time for me to escape from here before I get caught.
“To any soldier listening here who do not wish to die, I would suggest that you escape from the city while you still can. This war is to bring the Queen down. Your death is unnecessary. And it is pointless for you to die for a demon,” I said loudly for all the soldiers to hear.
Mummers can be heard. I am certain there are many soldiers outside of the throne door behind me, all of them waiting for the Queen’s order.
The Queen’s eye bend downwards after I mentioned the word demon. Did she think that she can keep up this farce for so long?
“You made this personal for killing my mother. Wait here while I tear apart your precious walls and castle. I will personally come back here to take your head along with your precious captain,” I declared to her.
“And you think I am going to let you escape again? How arrogant of you to come in here and spout nonsense. Guards! Off with his head!” she shouted.
Just then, a soldier opened the main door and shouted.
“Armies! Armies are approaching from the East and South!” shouted the soldier.
That is my cue. Thanks for opening the door for me. I instantly activated Concentration casted a spell. Now that I am a Dark Wanderer, a new and final spell was taught to me. In the East, adventurers learn a different path. The West focuses on strength while the East focuses on skill. Since the Queen decided not to knight me to become a Dark Knight, I was knighted in the East and became a Dark Wanderer instead. Aside from Dark Slash that was taught to me, the other spell was Illusion. With the buff from imperfect Concentration, I can cast Illusion on anyone who is looking directly at me.
The Illusion spell I casted was to trick everyone’s vision that it was going dark. Then I casted Conceal so I can hide myself in plain sight. As this is a defensive spell, it is perfect for me to sneak away. Not useful during combat unless before the start of the fight.
The captain rushed out of hiding and ran towards me at full speed like a ninja. His speed was ridiculous for someone wearing full metal armour. But too bad, Conceal spell finished before he swung his sword at me. Now I can run away while everyone’s vision was still seeing darkness. Hopefully the captain is also affected by it otherwise I would have a tough time escaping.
***
Phew, I was able to sneak out the same way that I came in. So glad my rope is still here. I had surveyed the castle based on the layout plan that Peter had provided me. There was a few windows that was in the blindside of the guards which was perfect for me to sneak out. After that, all I had to do was stay in the shadows. But my time is limited. I doubt that captain would just let me sneak out of the castle so easily. By now he would be rushing towards the castle gate. Too bad though, I won’t be going out through the gate. I will be taking the waterways out of the castle instead. To think the elves were able to build something like a personal submarine made of wood where you can breath underwater and propel yourself forward. They really are living in the future.
***
I reached my destination. Glad that I was able to sneak out successfully. I can hear the sound effect of me achieving my Sneak level to 100. It certainly put a smile on my face. I am outside of the city now. Using the waterways and sewers, it was easy to go in and out without the soldiers discovering. Not to mention I was submerged the whole time. But of course my clothing smells badly now. I made sure to keep all my important clothing in a waterproof bag made of some snake monster’s leather.
Someone reached a hand towards me just when I wanted to pull myself out of the water. Who is this person? The sun was shining behind him and I could only see his silhouette. That’s odd. I told very little people on where I will be right after I escaped from the castle. After a moment of looking at his hair style, I knew who this was and reached out my hand to him.
“Fancy seeing you here, Rick. Did the Dark Lord told you where I will emerge?” I said.
“Indeed. He told me about this super secret task that can only be assigned to me. He also said that my very naughty pupil decided to start a war in the City Of Pines. Who knew the little kid from that time would be so daring,” said Rick.
“Haha.. never assume you know the person until they show their true colours. So, what did the Dark Lord assigned you to do? ” I smiled at him.
“He told me to ensure that you are safe throughout this war. Should I need to, I will need to be your meat shield as well,” he told me.
“What? Don’t throw your life away on me. Besides, I can handle myself. Don’t you worry,” I said.
“Oh I certainly know. I saw you fighting in the tournament. To think you were able to defeat both Daisy and Rose at the same time. Someone is getting cocky,” said Rick.
“I doubt I can do that anymore. They are both strong now. Not to mention Rose just kicked my ass recently. Heh heh,” I said.
I started walking towards East while Rick followed me behind. I need to meet-up with Peter to update him that everything was according to plan. Hopefully the guild members and defected soldiers are helping us to evacuate as much civilians as possible before the war starts. I am certain the Queen and her soldiers are busy preparing themselves for war to even bother to check on the civilians.
“Soo.. are you dating Daisy or Rose?” asked Rick.
“Why? Why is everybody asking me this?!” I shouted to the heavens.
“I.. I’m just curious. That is all. No need to be so dramatic about it,” said Rick.
“Sigh, you’re interested in either of them?” I asked him.
“Well.. both of them are gorgeous and not to mention Rose had grown up significantly ever since I last saw her. Daisy was stunning when she beat Rose last year. To think I did not heard about her before. Any men will be looking for an opportunity to mingle with either of them,” he confessed.
“Rick, under no circumstances will you bring up Daisy or Rose anymore during the course of this war unless it is necessary. If you bring them up again to talk about dating or ploughing them then you will feel my wrath, do you hear me?” I glared at Rick with red eyes.
“O.. of course sir! I won’t mention them ever again!” said Rick as he cowered in fear.
“Geez, someone sure is enjoying himself with two beauties,” he continued.
“What was that?” I squinted at him.
“N.. Nothing! Let’s go faster!” Rick gestured me to walk faster.
It is going to take a long walk to the East. Unless there is a caravan that is coincidentally heading towards that direction, it will take me a day or two to reach Peter. From where I am, I am not able to see the army approaching towards the city yet. Only from the height of the wall surrounding the City Of Pines that you can view the armies approaching from both sides. Let’s not delay further, Peter awaits. No wait, might need to delay a little to wash myself first. Can’t present myself with such filthy smell.
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Here I am in the familiar white world. I meditated for a long time sacrificing my sleep because I needed to meet with the both of them. Thankfully they answered my call. Both of them can be quite fickle-minded to be honest.
“You should be sleeping right now,” said Kirin.
“I needed an audience with the both of you. Please indulge in my request,” I said to both Kirin and Byakko as I bowed to them.
“Speak your mind,” said Byakko as he sat on his favourite rock.
“Byakko-sama, were you aware that mother survived the Demon War?,” I asked him.
He put his paw on his chin as he needed some time to gather his thoughts.
“Sorry kid. From what I remembered, there was some sort of explosion where I was separated from your mother. I called out to her through our mental link but she did not answer. Perhaps she was unconscious. I thought she had died but it would seemed that she survived the war, based on her diary. I won’t blame her for not looking for me as she did not know where I was. The bastard demon who took me went to hide in the Demon realm. A coward demon who thought himself worthy to wield me. Bah,” spat Byakko.
“I see. I am not blaming you, Byakko-sama. You need not worry. What am I requesting is that the both of you to lend me your full strength in this war,” I said while glaring at them.
“Careful boy, your anger is spilling out from you. Control yourself,” warned Kirin.
“Sorry, but that might be difficult. To discover that the Queen had a hand in murdering my mother just fills me with uncontrolled anger,” I explained to them while gripping my fingers tightly.
“Let the boy be, Kirin. Even I am furious that this Queen murdered my previous host. By your grace, I wish to see it through with him in seeing the Queen dead,” said Byakko as he lowered his head to Kirin.
Wow, that was surprising. To think that Byakko would actually bow his head to Kirin. I certainly did not expect that to ever happen. But I do understand his position. Kirin is technically the rightful celestial that chose me first. Byakko just happened to tag along, but recently the both of them were getting more accustomed to one another. Thankfully they no longer bicker among themselves unlike the first time they met after a long time.
Kirin sighed and looked at the both of us.
“Boy, during this war, the both of us will certainly be supporting you. However, we are not at liberty to lend you our full powers. Your body as of right now is not capable of handling the full force of our powers. I would say not even half of our full strength,” explained Kirin.
“Is it because I had not learned any Higher State Of Mind?” I asked.
“That is one of the factor. Another is that your body had not grown accustomed to our powers yet. As you wield us more, your body will be able to tap more of our powers. Take note on that. There is a reason why I kept insisting that you use wield me more. But.. I’ll grant an exception this time. Feel free to use either of us. I won’t say a word,” he said.
To think the tsundere Kirin actually gave his permission? It felt as though we were all growing up. Kind of strange to be saying that when these two mythical beings existed beyond time.
I gave my last bow to them as the world was starting to fade. I should get some sleep before the big day. Tomorrow will be the day that I will be meeting the Queen face to face.
***
I opened my eyes. Gosh, my head is hammering. Where am I? Oh right, I’m crashing at Lily’s place. Why were we drinking so much for? Sigh, I better freshen myself before I end up puking.
I knocked on the washroom door, just in case. Someone replied from the inside asking me to come in. Huh? I am certain this is the washroom and not Lily’s room. I might be hammered but I am still aware on which room is which.
I opened the door to peek in and saw Lily wearing a tank top, an underwear and a towel covering her shoulder. It looks like she is washing away her blond dye which was used to conceal her silver hair. I might still be a little drunk but I can see why onii-chan is so enamoured with her. She is voluptuous and slim in all the right places. Not too muscular or thin either. No wonder he slept with her. I might have considered it too if she suddenly pushed me down. Wait, what am I saying? I must be drunk right now. I sighed unconsciously as I walked closer to the sink.
“Did you say something?” asked Lily as she swung her hair aside to look at me.
Why is there sparkling effects? And why is she looking so beautiful? Something is wrong with me right now!
“Marry me”
Huh? Who said that? Wait, I said it! Oh gosh what is going on with me? I can’t think properly now because my head is spinning. Oh crap I am going to puke!
I rushed to the bowl to puke out the excess alcohol and some undigested food. Lily came over to rub my back.
“How are you fine? I remember you drank more than me,” I asked while feeling horrible.
“Well, elves have higher alcohol tolerance in general. And our wine have much higher alcohol percentage than the beers we were drinking,” she explained.
I wanted to ask more but I ended up puking again. Ugh, I feel miserable. Not even onii-chan saw me like this before. Who knew vomiting will be this exhausting. But at least I feel much better after removing the alcohol from my body.
“You good? I’ll make you some tea then. Please flush your vomit away before coming out,” said Lily.
“D.. don’t tell onii-chan,” I pleaded to her.
“I won’t, don’t worry,” she chuckled as she headed out.
***
Ahh.. nothing hits better than a warm tea after a hangover. Not that I wish to relieve it again. Onii-chan should be meeting the Queen right about now. Yet here I am recovering from a hangover. What a horrible little sister I am.
I sighed loudly. Lily was watering her plants on her balcony. What a luxury room she has. The Elemental guild certainly did not held back in constructing their building ensuring that it was spacious and fancy looking. I might regret a little in not choosing the Elemental guild. But if that were the case, I would had never discovered a method to improve myself further. The book that was given to me was a Godsend but I can see why it was a sacred book. Who knew that there were so many powerful spells that the Light guild declared as forbidden. Understandably in the wrong hands, we will be an incredibly difficult opponent to fight against. Even I was surprised that I managed to beat onii-chan in the sparring. I know I caught him off-guard and he was certainly not using his full power but still, I felt happy that I accomplished so much in just five days. I should have seek out the Paladin Lord much earlier for his advice.
Lily came back into the living room after she was done watering her plants. She no longer has her ridiculously long ponytail but her silver hair with greenish tips were certainly enchanting. I checked my long hair that I had kept for the past four years. It has grown really long now. I should cut it to prevent it from distracting me during combat.
“Lily, may I borrow a scissors? Would like to cut my hair before we headed out,” I asked her.
“Oh sure, let me help instead. What style are you looking for?” asked Lily.
“Someone is in a good mood. A war is about to start but here you are smiling. Did something happen between you and Zen yesterday?” I asked her without showing any hint of jealousy.
“Hm? Oh, nothing happened yesterday. Nothing at all. I guess I am happy that the war is finally happening after years of planning. You can say I am happy for Zen, to be honest,” she explained while she started laying some papers on the floor.
“You are probably the only one who is in such good mood for wanting a war to happen. Something did happen yesterday, isn’t it?” I asked her while I set the chair in the middle of the papers and sat down.
“If you followed Zen after he left the city, you will understand why I feel this way. He had nowhere to go and he has no family except for you, which is in this city. But he was exiled for just being the son of the war hero. Yet waging war was always the last thing on his mind. Hopefully we can win this war and he can finally start to call City Of Pines as his home. And… he also gave me his old cloak,” she explained and started cutting my hair.
“You really think a lot about him. And here I am still wondering why the both of you are not together. He even gave you his cloak rather than her little sister” I said.
“It’s.. complicated. And he said it was protect myself as I expose a lot of skins during combat” she confessed.
“The both of you had literally slept together. What else do you need to seal the deal? And I do agree, you certainly expose a lot of your areas that is supposed to be protected. No wonder he gave it to you instead,” I said while chuckling.
“Actually, it was more like I was the one who pushed him down. He did struggle to free himself at first but he eventually gave in. I don’t know what had gotten over me that night. I’m sorry that it happened, Rose,” she apologised to me while giving me a hug from behind.
“Lily, it’s alright. I’m glad it was you and not some other elf woman. To me, you are like an older sister that I never had. I can’t hate you no matter how hard I tried,” I told her honestly.
“Aww Rose, you’re my little sister too,” she said as she patted my head.
“Which is why, should anything happened to me, promise me that you will take care of my brother,” I asked her.
“Rose, what are you insinuating? I sense something else” she questioned me.
“What I’m trying to say is, date my brother, marry him and take care of him. You have my full support and permission,” I pleaded to her.
“Then, what about you? Your own feelings?” asked Lily.
“I’ll find someone else, don’t worry. You’re the best person for him and I want the both of you to be happy,” I turned to look at her and smiled.
She kept quiet and continued cutting my hair. A moment later, she grabbed a mirror and showed me her hair-cutting skills. Wow, how did she cut it so well? It looked as though I just came out of a barbershop.
Lily gave me a hug while I was still sitting down.
“I promise you that I will take care of him should anything happen to you. But I cannot promise you that I will date him. In the end, it is up to your brother to decide who he wants to date with,” said Lily.
“Besides, I am not sure whether I want to date him anymore. I never realised that he often mumble out weird things that makes no sense. Even his sleep talk makes no sense. Hahaha,” laughed Lily.
“You are the only one that ever heard him sleep talk. Accept your fate and date him. Haha!” I laughed as well.
“No! I’m changing my mind now! Hahaha” shouted Lily as she laughed.
“Moving back to the topic, what do you mean I show a lot of skin? All the right places are protected,” she said while she checked her clothing.
“Lily, your exposed abdomen and your thighs are a clear examples of them. How had you not noticed the amount of stares that you get from guys who kept looking at your stomach area?!” I explained to her.
“B.. but.. I can move easier like this. And I did not know that humans were so infatuated with the stomach area. Ohh! That would explain why Zen kept looking at it! Why didn’t I realised it sooner?” she smacked her own head.
I started laughing excessively at what she just said. Lily had always acted human so it did not cross my mind that elves have a different way of thinking as compared to us. She joined my laughter when I could not stop laughing.
A firework went off which halted our laughter. That was our cue to begin the evacuation. There will be a festival today that many people is certain to be attending. Perfect for us to guide them out of the city without them realising it. The Queen and her soldiers will certainly be busy preparing for war than to bother the festival. Let’s rescue as many civilians as we can before cannon balls starts flying. I hope onii-chan had made it safely out of the castle by now.
***
It is in the wee hours of the morning. Before I headed to see the Queen, there was someone that I needed to meet-up first. The meeting place was in a secluded area away from prying eyes. Someone in a brown cloak was already there. I walked closer to this person and carefully handed some paper to him. We never look into each other’s eyes directly. He carefully read through the report with a cigarette in his mouth. A couple of minutes later, he gave a huge sigh.
“Who could have thought the little kid that I let into the city nine years ago would end up inciting a war,” said Earl.
“I have my reasons. At first it was because of the Queen’s involvement with the demons, but now it just got personal,” I told him.
“Your report looks solid. And you said that two out of the four great powers vouched on this? Damn, this is way above my pay check,” he lighted another cigarette.
“Who would have known that the Queen is in cohort with the Demons. I never signed up for this,” he gave a huge sigh once more and took a puff.
I didn’t reply him as there was nothing much to say. Earl was the only soldier that I trusted with this information. Perhaps the other guildmasters and other adventurers have more direct contact with soldiers as compared to me.
“I guess I’ll be taking my leave then. I will be bringing along a few of the soldiers that I trust to lead the civilians out of the city. Hopefully none of them are demons. You can count on us to act when someone is acting way more suspicious than they should,” said Earl as he began to walk away.
“Thanks Earl, I knew I can count on you,” I said to him.
“Send the Queen my regards,” he waved while walking away disappearing into the crowd.
Now that that’s done, time to meet the Queen. Hope I am prepared for this. I will need all my sneaking skills to go in and out undetected.
***
“My Queen, we have reports that some soldiers had gone missing or disappeared. A number of them are not at their designated post. We also have reports about civilians going missing. It was as though they had vanished overnight. Should we call upon the adventurer’s guild for help in the possibility of a monster inside the city?” asked a soldier giving his report.
“No need. Someone is planning something and I will personally find it out myself. Whoever it is, I will personally execute him. Dismissed, soldier,” ordered the Queen as she waved him away.
The soldier left the throne room. The Queen stood up and walked towards a highly decorated soldier in full body armour. This soldier must be the Captain of the soldiers and her most trusted side-kick. She whispered something to him and he walked off. There is about four soldiers left stationed in the throne room now. Should I wait for them to leave during their shift to ambush the Queen?
She sat back on her throne. She suddenly started looking around. Is she.. sniffing the air?
“Guards, be ready. Someone is here with us,” said the Queen.
Awfully sus. For the Queen to have such pinpoint smelling abilities, she must be a Demon. I doubt even dogs are capable of smelling me hiding in the shadows. The thing is, what demon is she? Is it the same as what Sladar saw on the ship or some other worldly demon? Let’s see.
I appeared in the middle of the throne room after cancelling my Conceal spell and deactivated Concentration. The guards freaked out at first but stood ready with their spears. I have no intention in fighting them. My purpose today is to just talk with the Queen.
“Well well, look who it is. I knew I smelled someone in the room with us. Who knew you would voluntary pay me a visit, Zen Hawthorn?” she said.
“Who knew the Queen had such powerful smelling abilities. Almost as though you are not a human,” I insinuated to her.
She knew it was me even with my face mask.
“Nonsense, elves always had powerful smelling ability on top of hearing and sight. Did you not know about it?” she explained herself while mocking me.
“How odd, I’ve spent two years with many of them yet none of them have your smelling capability. I wonder who are you trying to bullshit here? Me, or the soldiers?” I asked her.
The Queen started laughing with a hand on her face. Was it really that funny?
“State your business, Hawthorn. I do not believe you are here to talk about this. For you to risk yourself coming here, I am certain it is not because you want to be my slave, are you? O, the things that we can do together. And you’ve gotten even more handsome over the years,” she said as she licked her teeth.
Is this really something a Queen should be doing? I am surprised the soldiers here are still willing to serve her. Perhaps some of them here are demons in disguised. I removed my face mask. No reason to keep it on any longer.
“I am here, to declare war upon the City Of Pines and more importantly, upon you,” I said while glaring at her.
Silence engulfs the throne room. It was the Queen who broke the silence with her evil laughter. What a villain.
“You? Declaring war upon the City Of Pines? You… alone? AHAHAHA!! Oh, my stomach,” she said while continuing with her laughter.
“Ah, Mister Zen. And here I thought you were planning to assassinate me or something. To think you would be making a joke instead. Your father will be rolling in his grave knowing that his son became a court jester,” she said.
“I don’t know about my father, but I am certain you know about what happened to my mother,” I said.
“Your mother?” she asked.
“Jane Gladiolus was my mother,” I spat the words at her.
She gave a thought with a hand on her chin. I guess she murdered so many that she no longer knew who she killed.
“Ahh.. that brute of a woman. Now I remember. It’s been so many years now. To think that brute is your mother,” she said.
“What did you do with her? Knowing you, you would had her executed on the spot,” I said.
“Executed? Now, why would I do such a thing? She barged into the throne room and demanded me to stop the extermination of the Hawthorns. She even had the guts to approach me with a weapon. My captain was the one who removed her head before she even reached these very steps,” she pointed towards the bottom of the stairs.
“And what did you do with her body?” I gritted my teeth as I asked.
“Her body? Most probably crushed and turned to fertiliser or something. Her skull on the other hand, I thought you would had noticed when you passed through the castle gate. Those skulls hanging above the gate belonged to traitors who attempted to murder the Queen. If only I knew that she was your mother then I would had personally hung her skull in my throne room instead,” she said as she started to chuckle.
I closed my eyes. Every cell in my body is demanding me to kill this bitch of a woman right now. While that might be what I want, giving her a quick death is not something she deserves. I want to enjoy torturing her when this war is over. Another reason is because her captain is hiding somewhere in this throne room. He came back and thought I wouldn’t notice. But his battle aura was a dead giveaway. This captain is no ordinary human. Fairly certain he is a demon in disguised. No human can emit that kind of aura. The captain is strong, very strong. I guess my mother was caught off-guard and perhaps not fully healed to fight with this captain.
I said what I needed to say. Time for me to escape from here before I get caught.
“To any soldier listening here who do not wish to die, I would suggest that you escape from the city while you still can. This war is to bring the Queen down. Your death is unnecessary. And it is pointless for you to die for a demon,” I said loudly for all the soldiers to hear.
Mummers can be heard. I am certain there are many soldiers outside of the throne door behind me, all of them waiting for the Queen’s order.
The Queen’s eye bend downwards after I mentioned the word demon. Did she think that she can keep up this farce for so long?
“You made this personal for killing my mother. Wait here while I tear apart your precious walls and castle. I will personally come back here to take your head along with your precious captain,” I declared to her.
“And you think I am going to let you escape again? How arrogant of you to come in here and spout nonsense. Guards! Off with his head!” she shouted.
Just then, a soldier opened the main door and shouted.
“Armies! Armies are approaching from the East and South!” shouted the soldier.
That is my cue. Thanks for opening the door for me. I instantly activated Concentration casted a spell. Now that I am a Dark Wanderer, a new and final spell was taught to me. In the East, adventurers learn a different path. The West focuses on strength while the East focuses on skill. Since the Queen decided not to knight me to become a Dark Knight, I was knighted in the East and became a Dark Wanderer instead. Aside from Dark Slash that was taught to me, the other spell was Illusion. With the buff from imperfect Concentration, I can cast Illusion on anyone who is looking directly at me.
The Illusion spell I casted was to trick everyone’s vision that it was going dark. Then I casted Conceal so I can hide myself in plain sight. As this is a defensive spell, it is perfect for me to sneak away. Not useful during combat unless before the start of the fight.
The captain rushed out of hiding and ran towards me at full speed like a ninja. His speed was ridiculous for someone wearing full metal armour. But too bad, Conceal spell finished before he swung his sword at me. Now I can run away while everyone’s vision was still seeing darkness. Hopefully the captain is also affected by it otherwise I would have a tough time escaping.
***
Phew, I was able to sneak out the same way that I came in. So glad my rope is still here. I had surveyed the castle based on the layout plan that Peter had provided me. There was a few windows that was in the blindside of the guards which was perfect for me to sneak out. After that, all I had to do was stay in the shadows. But my time is limited. I doubt that captain would just let me sneak out of the castle so easily. By now he would be rushing towards the castle gate. Too bad though, I won’t be going out through the gate. I will be taking the waterways out of the castle instead. To think the elves were able to build something like a personal submarine made of wood where you can breath underwater and propel yourself forward. They really are living in the future.
***
I reached my destination. Glad that I was able to sneak out successfully. I can hear the sound effect of me achieving my Sneak level to 100. It certainly put a smile on my face. I am outside of the city now. Using the waterways and sewers, it was easy to go in and out without the soldiers discovering. Not to mention I was submerged the whole time. But of course my clothing smells badly now. I made sure to keep all my important clothing in a waterproof bag made of some snake monster’s leather.
Someone reached a hand towards me just when I wanted to pull myself out of the water. Who is this person? The sun was shining behind him and I could only see his silhouette. That’s odd. I told very little people on where I will be right after I escaped from the castle. After a moment of looking at his hair style, I knew who this was and reached out my hand to him.
“Fancy seeing you here, Rick. Did the Dark Lord told you where I will emerge?” I said.
“Indeed. He told me about this super secret task that can only be assigned to me. He also said that my very naughty pupil decided to start a war in the City Of Pines. Who knew the little kid from that time would be so daring,” said Rick.
“Haha.. never assume you know the person until they show their true colours. So, what did the Dark Lord assigned you to do? ” I smiled at him.
“He told me to ensure that you are safe throughout this war. Should I need to, I will need to be your meat shield as well,” he told me.
“What? Don’t throw your life away on me. Besides, I can handle myself. Don’t you worry,” I said.
“Oh I certainly know. I saw you fighting in the tournament. To think you were able to defeat both Daisy and Rose at the same time. Someone is getting cocky,” said Rick.
“I doubt I can do that anymore. They are both strong now. Not to mention Rose just kicked my ass recently. Heh heh,” I said.
I started walking towards East while Rick followed me behind. I need to meet-up with Peter to update him that everything was according to plan. Hopefully the guild members and defected soldiers are helping us to evacuate as much civilians as possible before the war starts. I am certain the Queen and her soldiers are busy preparing themselves for war to even bother to check on the civilians.
“Soo.. are you dating Daisy or Rose?” asked Rick.
“Why? Why is everybody asking me this?!” I shouted to the heavens.
“I.. I’m just curious. That is all. No need to be so dramatic about it,” said Rick.
“Sigh, you’re interested in either of them?” I asked him.
“Well.. both of them are gorgeous and not to mention Rose had grown up significantly ever since I last saw her. Daisy was stunning when she beat Rose last year. To think I did not heard about her before. Any men will be looking for an opportunity to mingle with either of them,” he confessed.
“Rick, under no circumstances will you bring up Daisy or Rose anymore during the course of this war unless it is necessary. If you bring them up again to talk about dating or ploughing them then you will feel my wrath, do you hear me?” I glared at Rick with red eyes.
“O.. of course sir! I won’t mention them ever again!” said Rick as he cowered in fear.
“Geez, someone sure is enjoying himself with two beauties,” he continued.
“What was that?” I squinted at him.
“N.. Nothing! Let’s go faster!” Rick gestured me to walk faster.
It is going to take a long walk to the East. Unless there is a caravan that is coincidentally heading towards that direction, it will take me a day or two to reach Peter. From where I am, I am not able to see the army approaching towards the city yet. Only from the height of the wall surrounding the City Of Pines that you can view the armies approaching from both sides. Let’s not delay further, Peter awaits. No wait, might need to delay a little to wash myself first. Can’t present myself with such filthy smell.
