Promise

Before the grotesque fingers of the Specter could touch them, Lanse quickly jumped backward. Making sure Guin was safe, he stood against the abomination. Holding his wooden sword firmly, Lanse took on a defensive form. Although his feet were shaky, and his body and mind urging him to run away, Lanse didn't move a single inch, determined to protect the little girl behind him. Besides, if a deity-like beast couldn't outrun the Specter, why would mere children be able to?

The hideous creature crept closer and closer until it was finally within Lanse's attack range. Without hesitation, he brought his sword down in a vertical slash. Closing his eyes, he utilized all the power his undeveloped physique could give to make the slash stronger. Lanse clenched his teeth waiting for a terrible impact, but it never came.

Slowly opening one of his eyes, he looked around in search of his opponent. Alas, the specter was gone as if it had never been there before. Rays of scattered sunlight returned on the luscious forest grounds while the eerie silence was replaced by the crooning of the local birds. The vile fog had receded, leaving no trace of it behind. Then, he checked his wooden sword. It was in perfect condition, no chips, no damage from impact with an abomination, nothing at all… Taken aback, Lanse found himself confused about the situation.

'What just happened? Am I dreaming?'

Of course, his questions answered themselves when his gaze laid upon the majestic corpse of the Ivory Cervid in front of him. But, his first question still remained. Where did the specter go?

'Did I defeat it?'

However improbable, Lanse felt a bit of pride when that thought came to mind. After being lost in self-monologue for a while, he finally remembered about Guin.

"Guin! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Are you?"

The little girl in question looked anything but scared and confused, as if this whole ordeal was her regular weekday… Shrugging off the dirt from her dress, she smiled at Lanse who looked even more muddled.

"Umm… I'll take that as a No."

Guin quickly took Lanse's hand and ran off the way they came, leaving the Ivory corpse behind. The whole way, Lanse spoke no words and just obediently followed the little girl. He even wondered whether Guin was the reason the specter disappeared into thin air. But, before his inquiries were done, they were right back at the small clearing, their personal hideout.

"So, was it fun?"

"Fun? If you call being at death's door fun, Sure."

Chuckling at Lanse's remark and the expression on his face, Guin held out her hand. In her palm, she was holding a strange orb that shimmered with a golden hue.

"Here, a gift for you."

Lanse looked at the shiny gift, unable to figure out what the object was. Guin was of no help either as she just stayed smiling, waiting for the boy to reach out and claim his gift. Eventually, curiosity got the better of him and Lanse grabbed the shiny orb, only for it to disappear as soon as he touched it.

"Wha- Did I break it?"

"Haha, no way. It just went inside you."

As soon as he heard it, a repulsive expression suddenly took hold of Lanse's face.

"Huh? What do you mean by that? Get it out!"

Lanse began to shake and rub all over his body trying so vigorously to get the shiny orb out even though he did not know where it went exactly. Looking at the scene, he almost looked as if he was performing a weird ritual dance which resulted in Guin laughing out loud.

"Don't worry. It's a good thing for you. You'll find out later. Stop that for now. You're making me laugh too much, haha."

"Well, this isn't funny to me."

Finally halting his weird ritual, Lanse sat down on the grassy floor. Guin followed suit, sitting right beside her friend. A few moments of silence passed before Guin spoke: "So, umm… Thanks for coming today. It was fun."

"Of course, why wouldn't I come? This is my hideout in the first place to begin with."

"That's true, haha."

"When are you going back?"

"Umm, now?"

Lanse didn't reply and just nodded, inviting the awkward silence again.

"Wanna make a promise?"

"What promise?"

"So, there's this academy in the capital city where everyone can enter as long as they have talent. And, I'm sure you got what it takes to get a scholarship there. Besides, you got my little gift too."

"Well, that's one hell of a promise. I still don't even know what your gift is about."

"You'll find out later, hehe. I'll be waiting for you at the academy. So, do your best and come meet me!"

Guin suddenly stood up and walked in front of Lanse, holding out her pinky finger to fortify the promise. Lingering for a moment, Lanse also held up his hand to complete the pinky promise, but he missed… or was it Guin who moved? No. It was Lanse who suddenly grew more than a meter taller.

"This isn't real…"

Indeed, it wasn't. Lanse wondered whether it was a dream or some kind of weird afterlife, but he soon abandoned those thoughts and focused on the little girl in front of him. Despite her friend suddenly turning giant, the little girl seemed to not mind at all, still holding out her pinky for a promise.

"Come on! My arm's getting tired!"

Kneeling down on the ground, Lanse held out his pinky finger and made the promise.

'This is awkward. I guess I'm dead after all. Since I'm seeing flashbacks and stuff.'

"No, you're not."

All her childish expressions disappeared as she gave a cold stare to Lanse.

'Huh?'

"You're not dead… not yet, Lanse."

"How do you?"

Interrupting his questions, Guin continued with a mature voice exuding a serious tone: "Open your eyes, Lanse. And. Keep. Your. Promise."

A bright light swallowed his entire field of view just like on the battlefield, and suddenly Lanse found himself on a hospital bed. He was awake, breathing heavily and his body soaked with sweat. The sound of his accelerated heartbeats overwhelmed the silence of the empty room he was in. Lanse hurriedly lifted his shirt and checked his chest. And there it was, a relatively huge scar resembling the claws that almost killed him just a few hou… some time ago. 

'Well, I don't know how much time I was unconscious for. But, judging by my body hair, it couldn't have been more than a week.'

Lanse got up from the bed and continued checking the room of every nook and cranny for any clue on where he was. Despite the relatively large size of the room, he was the only patient inside it. A slight hope lit up in his weary heart, but he quickly dismissed it. After all, how could anyone else be alive? He watched them all perish at the end…

'So, this is the end of Rox Mercenary Corps…'

After lingering for a moment in silence paying respect to his fallen comrades, Lanse walked up to the door to investigate his whereabouts further. He gently opened the door to avoid making noise and slowly made his way through the long hall.

From the pristine look of the majestic hall, with exquisite decorations such as chandeliers and artistic paintings of heroes and demons of the old age, Lanse was sure he was in the abode of a noble. A high ranking noble at that.

The giant family crest placed in the lobby area of the mansion only reinforced that fact. The crest took the form of an ivory shield with an emblem of the radiant sun at the centre, the symbol of the Lucentia family.

While Lanse was busy staring at the family crest in awe, an attendant suddenly appeared beside him with a monotonous smile on her face.

"Hello, sir. You must be Mercenary Lanse."

The sudden greetings of the attendant activated all the alert bells in Lanse as he jumped back and assumed a defensive stance.

'What the hell? I didn't even notice her walking up to me.'

"Oh, my apologies, sir. I must have spooked you. How rude I was! Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Marilyn Moore, the personal attendant of the current hero."

Marilyn performed a curtesy and waited for Lanse to introduce himself.

Snapping out of his fight or flight reaction, Lanse quickly composed himself and slightly bowed.

"Yes, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Lanse, the leader of the Rox Mercenary Corps… which is no more. So, I'm just a regular mercenary now."

"Oh my, I'm so sorry to hear that. Now that you're up, shall we go greet my lady? She has been expecting you."

"My lady?"

"Yes, the current hero."

"Huh? The hero is a woman?"