Book 2- Chapter 9- Break
“…..” represent dialogue. *….* represent thoughts
Nu-Ru POV
“Is everyone alright?”
I stood just at the outskirts of the forest, looking down on the town where we chose to rendezvous point. I peered around until I finally spotted the carriage that would take us home.
I turned back to the forest where Shae was helping the others.
I was a bit surprised that my altering memory worked. I feared that I might have caused some brain damage or made them brain dead. It was rather easy as well. All I had to do was come up with the memory and then put them into their subconscious.
It worked without any problem and now they were reminiscing the battle that I fabricated. I quietly listened in as we made our way towards the carriage, making sure there weren’t any inconsistency.
Requa: “Man that was a tough battle. Too bad I was a meat shield.”
Huas: “Now, now don’t be too hard on yourself. Everyone did their part.”
Requa: “Yeah but still the way Rumo and Traus worked together and cut one of its arm off was amazing. I need to build up some muscle, you guys are leaving me behind.”
Traus: “…”
The memory I fabricated took place just after all of them were knocked out. If I were to make one before it, it would have lead to inconsistency on how we beat the wilaer. Of course coming up with the memory and making it believable was a challenge in it’s own right.
Eventually I decided with the simplest outline for the memory. Since they were knocked out I could easily had us moved them to safety. The possibility of them questioning that was plausible but it was gamble that I was willingly to take. After moving them to safety I came up with a strategy of how to defeat the wilaer. The rest was just padding, ultimately leading up to defeat of the wilaer. I also made it where they would collapse from exhaustion and that was there the memory ended which coincide with them being unconscious from the first encounter.
It was late evening time, around 6pm according by the digital clock. The mission ended much faster than I had originally expected, but not that I was complaining. Shae and I helped the heavily injured first before packing up the remaining equipment.
Rumo: “Please wait. Before we finally leave, there’s something I must first discuss with Nu-Ru.”
Just as we finished and were about to board, Rumo called out.
“Yes?”
I stepped back and faced him. In truth I panicked a bit internally. Did he figured something out, did he somehow realized that those memories were fake, was there some inconsistency?
We stood facing one another for several seconds before Rumo slowly moved his hands towards his weapons. The first thought that ran through my head that he knew. He quickly unsheathed his swords just as I prepared a spell.
Rumo: “I am sorry.”
Rumo was on his knee, kneeling with his sword in his hand stabbing the ground. I was a bit confused at first, I had thought he was trying to pick a fight.
“Wait. Sorry? For what?”
Rumo: “For everything. My treatment of you, and my attitude as well. Please indulge with me for one moment.”
Rumo held his head low. I looked to the other to figure out what exactly was he was going on about. eventually I resigned and allowed him to continue.
Rumo: “First allow me to apologies for my rude behavior towards you as a mage and a person. My dislike towards them is rooted in my firm belief that a man is warrior not a coward that relies on some mystical force for power. When I first meet you, I did not like. I didn’t know what it was but you rubbed me the wrong way. The more time we spent together, the more I was agitated. Now I’ve come to known that I was jealous of you.”
“Jealous?”
Rumo: “You had this aura around you. A natural born leader with power to support your authority. Before you came along, that was what I was trying to achieve. A leader who was confident in his ability and had the support of others. As the other members slowly accepted you, I tried to fight back. And for that I am sorry.”
“Rumo, please stand up.”
He did as he was told and we stood face to face with one another.
“You may see it that way but there are still qualities that I am still lacking. I’m not a great leader as you think I am. I am merely doing everything I can to help my allies. Although your attitude towards me was rude and did offend me, I do not blame you. I hope that we can put aside our differences and be friends.”
I extended out my hand. It seemed that Rumo didn’t expect me to forgive so easily as he was slightly dazed. I unsheathed his sword and firmly grasped my hand into a shake. For the first time ever, I saw him smile. It was at that moment that we recognize one another. The others joined in with claps in celebration.
We quietly wrapped up and were on our way. Shae and I took over the driving as the others were completely exhausted. For the rest of the trip, it was all silent. The others dozed off in the carriage.
It was night time when we finally reached the wall.
Rumo: “Thank you for your help everyone. I’ll inform Prince Alphonso about everything. I’ll also inform the faculty that we won’t be attending the academy tomorrow so everyone get their rest.”
No one argued with Rumo and happily accepted the break. Shae and I quickly headed back to our dorm together. Bamen and Bamun had prepared dinner but I skipped out and went straight to bed. I didn’t bother changing and simply jumped onto the bed.
Fatigue slowly enveloped my body as my conscious was slipping to sleep.
Sirva: “Master, my report.”
My eyes were still shut I could make out Sirva voice.
“Wait until tomorrow. I’m tired right now.”
Sirva: “As you command.”
With a small ‘whoosh’ she was gone from the room. Without any more distraction I finally drifted off into sleep.
…
I slowly opened my eyes as I forgot to close the blinds. The room was fully illuminated, causing me to squint for a minute or two.
Sirva: “Good morning master.”
Standing next to bed was Sirva.
“Good morning Sirva. Why are you here again?”
Sirva: “Forgive my interruption but I’m here for the latest report…”
I was still a bit sleepy so I just lazily nodded to whatever Sirva just said. Most weren’t that important so I just skipped over it and reminded myself to ask in more details later until.
Sirva: “I cannot find the king anywhere.”
Instantly my eyes opened and I was fully awake. The king was gone.
“Are you sure?”
Sirva: “Yes. I have search all around the palace but the king is nowhere to be seen.”
*How can the king be gone? He’s the freaking king!*
Trying to calm myself I came up with several ideas as to possibly why their king would be missing. Of course all of it meant nothing in the grand scheme of things so I continued to listen in.
Sirva: “I have even spied on all the maid, politicians, and nobles to make sure that the information is credible. From what I have gathered the one dealing with most of the issue relating to the Empire is…”
“The prince.”
Sirva nodded as correct.
“But for the prince to take over…He’s still the king. Even if he his is bedridden, for all the power and influence to go to the prince…”
The more we investigate the more questions pile up. And the more the suspicion is drawn to the prince. But the lack of proof was the greatest hinderance. If the prince is guilty then the shift of power is quite ingenious. A growing prince helping his father run the country. No one would really question his motives.
*Right now all we can do is look for anything that might lead us to the king.*
Sirva: “There’s also one more thing to report.”
*Even more bad news?*
I kept the thought to myself and allowed her to continue.
Sirva: “Recently there seems to be an third force, outside of Empire within the palace. Compared to the others, this one is very powerful.”
“A third party? The Black Order?”
Sirva: “Forgive me but whoever this individual is, she’s capable of evading my recon. By your command I shall find them.”
“No. Right now we have too little information. Continue your searches, prioritize the king and the prince but be extra careful of this new force. We need to be extra careful of how we go about things without drawing suspicion.”
Sirva: “As you command.”
Her body shifted and contorted into shadows and was gone. I let out a heavy sigh and made my way down. Brooding about it all by myself wouldn’t help me. Hopefully Shae could figure just what the heck was going on.
When I got down, breakfast was already prepared. Shae wasn’t at the table so I started eating first while waiting for her. I had finished up by the time Shae made her way down.
“Morning Sunshine.”
Shae.Alpha: “Morning.”
She was still a drowsy as well as she wobbled all the way to her seat. I decided to stay quiet until she was finally awake before finally telling her.
Even now it surprised me just how much she eats, even though she was an android. Typically she would eat around an extra serving than me but this time she ate around two extra serving. After she finally finished I decided it was time to inform her.
She finally woke up when I got serious. The discussion was short but Shae reached the same conclusion as mine.
“What do you think of this?”
Shae.Alpha: “This is certainly suspicious but something is going on, I think we may need to change our approach. Even if something is going on, we might need to prepare for the worst. If we need to, a fight. ”
“Although I agree with you, we don’t strictly know if it might lead to that. If so we should prepare to prevent it rather than anticipating it.”
Shae.Alpha: “We’ve waited long enough. If we continued to wait any further then it would be too late.”
“What you’re suggesting is getting ready for an all out battle. Although I agree to a certain degree, we need to avoid drawing too much attention.”
And once again we were at an impasse. Although we generally agreed on the same issue, our methods were polar opposite of one another. If we don’t come to an agreement, this might bite us in the end.
Shae.Alpha: “Arguing and thinking about all of this right now isn’t helping. How about we take a break and calm our minds before coming up with a plan.”
“Alright, what do you have in mind? Meditation, sparring?”
Shae.Alpha: “No. Let’s go on a date.”
“Huh?”
……
Shae.Alpha: “Hurry up!”
We were in the business district, ring of the middle class area. Rows and rows of stores lined side by side, selling all forms of merchandise. When she first suggested the idea, I almost immediately turned down the idea. However, one way or another she convinced me to join her.
She even dressed up in sub-par clothes for our little date while I chosed out some plain clothes.
*Wonder why she wanted to go on a date so much…maybe she secretly likes me. …That would be way too cliche. This isn’t some light novel but then again we aren’t exactly on earth right now. Ahhh!*
The whole situation was confusing me and driving me mad. Perhaps I was just embarrass and was trying to rationalize the whole situation.
Shae.Alpha: “Quit your daydreaming, come on!”
Shae appeared and grabbed onto my and dragged me away while taking me out of my thoughts. She was surprisingly close, clinging to my arm.
“Hey, don’t you think you’re a bit too close?”
Shae.Alpha: “This is how couples typically act. Don’t tell me you never had a girlfriend.”
She started to form a somewhat pity look but I quickly dismissed it.
“I’m not that much of a greenhorn. I’ve had a girlfriend once…for about two weeks.”
Shae.Alpha: “Well consider this practice for when you get another one. Come on, just relax and let’s have some fun!”
For most of the day, from early afternoon to early evening we spent the time just having fun. Most sold miscellaneous items but we still dropped by to look at them nonetheless. We spent most of the time searching for some clothes, more for Shae then I. We mostly relied on our school uniform and other article of clothings.
At most it was a nice way to try and diversify our looks, even if it was only a little bit. Shae took up the most time, always trying out different articles of clothings. Most were cumbersome, big fluffy dresses or tunics.
We did buy some things, namely Shae for some clothes. I on the other hand bought mostly accessories along with some interesting books. By the time we were finished we it was around lunch time. There were a variety of different stores, but we ultimately decided on the cheapest one.
Shae.Alpha: “So did you had fun on our date?”
“It was…enjoyable really.”
Shae.Alpha: “See I told you! You are all work, you need to relax once in awhile. Though I would enjoy this even more if something wasn’t bugging me.”
Shae.Alpha: “That being?”
“The others. It’s been awhile since they called in. Could something have happened to them.”
Shae.Alpha: “Well allow me to put you at ease. I gave them a call and they’ve been reporting to me.”
“What?! Why?!”
Shae’s response caused my to raise my voice in surprised. I quieted down before drawing more attention.
Shae.Alpha: “To answer your question, it’s because you’ve been overworking ever since we came to this world. We have it tough at it is. Micromanaging everyone’s progress is going to kill you. So I talked to the others and they’ve been reporting into me. Also we made a decision where we would only call in if it’s an absolute emergency.”
“You could have at least told me.”
Shae.Alpha: “I could but you already have enough shit piled on. I don’t want to add more weight to the already dying horse. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. If anything I’m grateful that you cared so much to do so. Let’s leave that aside for now, we’re still on our ‘date.’ Remember.”
We casually chatted while making jokes every once in awhile while waiting for our food. I felt at ease even though the trouble still lingered in my mind. We continued to chat while eating until some form of disturbance took place in the same restaurant.
XXX: “You stupid demi-human! Look what you’ve done!”
Waitress: I’m so…rry…We’ll cl…ean it u…p.”
I looked over to see what seemed like a man from the noble faction dealing with one of the demi-human waitress. On the floor was a shattered wine bottle and it was clear where the content of it was spilled over.
XXX: “You swine, this can’t be simply cleaned out. Why I ought to!”
It was obvious that things weren’t going well for the waitress. The other customers were watching from the sidelines while other waitresses were scared of interfering. Before anything serious happened, I stepped in.
“Now, now. No need to get furious over some clothes.”
Everyone turned their attentions towards me as I stepped in.
XXX: “You stupid brat! This isn’t just an any typical clothes. This costed me three gold pieces not to mention that wine there costed me a gold piece. If you think –.”
Before he could continued any further I quickly threw four pieces of gold at him.
“That should be enough to cover everything right?”
The man stared in disbelief at me, no doubt wondering why a person would waste four gold pieces on a demi-human. It looked like he was about to argue again but quickly shut up and left.
Waitress: “Um..m Thank you!”
The waitress quickly thanked me when I turned towards her. I waved her away before returning back to my seat.
Shae.Alpha: “You’re awfully charitable, throwing away that much gold. What happened to be ‘inconspicuous’?”
“Are you saying that I should have just ignored it?”
Shae.Alpha: “I never said that. All I’m saying is that you’ve been a bit nosy when it comes to the demi-humans. Jumping in whenever one is in trouble even though you were the most vocal about blending in.”
“…”
Shae.Alpha: “Let me guess it has something to do with tragic~ past or something cliche like that?”
“You don’t have to make sound that dramatic.”
Shae.Alpha: “Well unless you actually tell me about it, all I can do is assume. I understand that somethings are better kept hidden but right now, we need to complete trust in one another.”
“…”
Shae.Alpha: “I’m asking you to tell me your entire past and for me to completely understand but I do earn the right to at least know what exactly is wrong.”
“…What exactly do you want to know?”
Shae.Alpha: “Well that’s up to you really? I won’t judge you any differently then I have. We’re friends.”
“As you can obviously guess, I experience a form of discrimination when I was still a kid. It wasn’t because I was a different race or because believed in a radical ideal. It…it was a moral affair. Whenever I see someone getting bullied for no good reason, I get enraged. Truth be told, that was one of the reason why I joined Drakos in forming Crimson Strife.”
Shae.Alpha: “Huh, really?”
“When I guess you wouldn’t know the full story. When the idea of making a guild was in our mind, one of the reason for suggesting it was to go against PKer’s, (Player Killers.) In Eternia, I had the power to actually do something. The same could be said here. If I simply ignore those that acts on those innocent, then I might as well be the one oppressing them.”
Shae.Alpha: “…… When you put it like that, then I guess I can see where you’re coming from.”
“Do you want to hear more?”
Shae.Alpha: “I get the picture. Like I said, I don’t expect you to tell me everything. When you’re finally ready to open up, I’ll be here.”
“Thanks. And thank you for the date suggestion. It was…fun.”
My voice trailed off as her my thanks. I looked back to the town and my mind wandered on a single thought. *Was this what they wanted. Did they create this empire knowing it would be like this?*
I questioned myself on the matter of the Empire. Although the Holy Knight Guild was our guild’s rival we were friends to certain extent. I knew the guild masters well enough to know their personality. But whenever I look around at the empire they created, the poor treatment and discrimination. I wondered if something went a wry.
Of course they were dead and I couldn’t ask them even if I wanted to. For the rest of the day, we simply continued on our date. It was late afternoon that we finally decided to head home. On our way out of the district area I accidently bumped into someone. What appeared to be a round object dropped.
“I’m sorry here you go.”
Immediately acting I picked up the object and handed the item to the person. A large black coat covered the individual body, even part of the face.
XXX: “Thank you.”
The voice was feminine, making me conclude that the individual was a female. I handed her the object as it disappeared into her cloak. When she turned to thank me, I could only see a portion of her face. I instantly took a step back as I felt a small chill running down my spine when I made eye contact with her. It could have been my eyes or the dark setting, but her eyes was eerie. Almost completely blank and void.
I didn’t get to see more of it as she quickly left, leaving me to wonder our encounter. All that night I could stop thinking about her and her eyes. There was also another feeling, an odd feeling of what’s to come next.
Rebirth Online World 