8 Chapter 8: Bad Influence

"Now, where were you hiding that?"

Knight-Commander Marguerite let out a whistle as she continued to stare at her hand. If she was a little bit late in covering it with mana, then she was sure she would have already lost a good chunk of her hand.

She then looked at the small boy that was biting it; a hint of mana, seeping from his jaws. Quite interesting, Marguerite thought. Throughout her years of existence, she had probably not seen anything or anyone use mana like that.

She had seen some who use their mana to strengthen themselves — but it was more similar to the process she was doing now, blanketing one's self in mana. What the boy was doing was different, she couldn't quite explain how, but it was.

"Weird," Marguerite then breathed out as she looked at Ragnar's almost growling face, "The mana I sense in you is fucking pathetic, even smaller than Red's tiny little cock… you might miss it if you blink."

"..." Redvers's eyes twitched from Marguerite's words.

"But then the mana you're emitting now is clearly even more abundant than the pathetic amount of mana I sense in you. Now this is weirder than Red's patchy balls."

"Y… your language, Knight Commander," Redvers could no longer help himself as Marguerite once again entered him into the conversation, "The… the kid could hear it."

"Fuck if I care. Only peasants care about something like that," Marguerite then let out a tiny scoff as she looked Ragnar straight in the eyes,

"I changed my mind."

"!!!"

Ragnar's eyes turned wide as he felt a certain breeze filling his mouth. And with a snap of Marguerite's fingers, he was suddenly blown away; his back, hitting the carriage.

"Someone as interesting as this brat would be a waste on that creepy revolting orphanage," Marguerite then said as she wiped Ragnar's saliva on Redvers's armor, "Take him to the other little brats so he could actually be fucking useful. I'm too busy to be handling this chick personally."

"Is… the war actually going to happen?" Redvers spoke quietly as Marguerite started to walk away.

"It already is," Marguerite scoffed as she heard Redvers's words, "Has been since your mother has been sucking on her granny's ancient titties."

"...What about the massacre in the kid's village?" Redvers completely ignored Marguerite's quips, "Shouldn't we investigate?"

"No, our resources are already as thin as they are. We can't win them all, champ."

"But the demihumans—"

"Do you really think the demihumans could do something like that?" Marguerite sighed as she shook her head, "Most of them are peaceful, not to mention outside the walls."

"But the child said–"

"Don't be fucking racist," Marguerite stared Redvers straight in the eyes, "And why would you listen to the words of a child that survived a fucking massacre? He's a cute little bundle of trauma is what he is. Anything that comes out of his mouth is a fantasy."

"But–"

"I'm busy."

And before Redvers could say anything else, he was slightly blown away as a thunder suddenly erupted in the air; a skirt of wind, suddenly forming around Knight-Commander Marguerite as she leaped into the air.

The people that were unfortunate enough to be carrying something near her, were all slightly blown away along with their things.

"..." Redvers could only sigh and blink a couple of times as he watched Marguerite's silhouette disappearing deeper into the town, before landing at the tower that's in the very center of the military settlement.

He then slowly turned towards Ragnar… only to see that he was no longer there.

"...Fuck."

***

"Oi, watch it!"

"This little cunt!"

Ragnar could hear the sound of his own heart thumping as he ran away; pushing people off as he did so — and since he still could not quite control his newfound strength, the people that were unfortunately in his path were all thrown away a meter or two.

He had no idea what was happening; anywhere he went, there was noise. He couldn't even remember any of his mother's lessons as his mind was clouded and drowned by the voices of the people that littered his vision.

And very soon, when it got too loud, Ragnar crouched and placed his palms on the ground — he always did so when he still couldn't see. He then turned his head towards the people, only to see all of them staring at him.

After all, how could they not… when a child covered in dried blood suddenly started pushing people away in the very center of the market?

"..." And seeing their stares, Ragnar could not help but furrow his eyebrows. Did… they want to kill them too as they did with his mother?"

"Are… you alright, child?"

A woman from the crowd then very slowly approached him; her eyes, filled with nothing but warmth. For Ragnar, however, the images of the villagers laughing at his mother's corpse started to overlap with the woman's face.

His hand soon started to tremble as it turned into a fist — shaving off a part of the paved ground.

"Stop, don't approach him!"

Luckily for the woman, Redvers suddenly appeared and stood between them,

"Please return to your business! There's nothing to see here!" Redvers yelled as he gestured to the crowd to disperse.

'That was close', Redvers thought. This feral child might have bitten off the woman's hand if he was a second late — and unlike with the Knight-Commander, things here would have surely turned bloody.

"Why'd you suddenly run, kid?" Redvers wiped the sweat from his face before it could reach his beard. He was about to scold him, but then realized that Ragnar's hand was trembling.

"Look," Redvers sighed as he too, crouched to the ground; his voice, meekly quiet as he talked to Ragnar, "You're safe here. No one's going to hurt you…

…We're the good guys, okay?"

And as soon as Ragnar heard those words, his hand instantly stopped trembling. His eyes, also quickly looking Redvers straight in the eyes.

"You're… the good guys?" Ragnar whispered, "Even… the old woman?"

"Well… I– I guess?" Redvers almost snorted as he couldn't control his chuckle, "Don't… don't mind the way she talks. She's just like that because she's one of the strongest Mage Knight in the kingdom."

"The… strongest?" Rangar's eyes turned wide.

"Pretty much, she's stronger than the general," Redvers shrugged as he stood up.

"If… If I talk like that, I can become the strongest?"

"Well, she can afford to talk like that because she's strong. If people like us talk like that, we'll be beaten to death," Redvers laughed, "Come on, let me take you to the other children."

"..." Ragnar turned his head down for a few seconds, before finally nodding… and suddenly holding Redvers's hand.

"..." Redvers almost pulled his hand away by instinct. He wanted to say something but chose not to in the end as he remembered Marguerite's words — the kid was and is scared.

Unbeknownst to Redvers, however, Ragnar was just lost in thought. He was just used to holding his mother's hand whenever she tells him to follow her since he couldn't see.

His mother… His mother also cursed when the people started to chase them.

So… strong people curse?

The thought looped in Ragnar's mind as they continued to walk. He only glanced to look at the people walking around them, and soon, they entered some sort of compound that was guarded by some people.

The guards saluted Redvers, who just stepped inside seemingly ignoring them. There were many large buildings in the area, but they didn't stop until they reached some sort of house that was smaller than most of the infrastructure.

"This is the canteen," Redvers stated as he let go of Ragnar's hand, "The other kids should be eating right now, so let's go ahead and introduce you. Don't be shy — first impressions matter, okay?"

"..."

"Most of them are bigger than you and have been training for months, but they're good kids."

"...Okay," Ragnar nodded.

"Okay," Redvers was about to open the door, but before he could do so…

…Ragnar suddenly kicked the door open.

Redvers could really only watch with his hand still slightly raised as Ragnar stepped inside the building.

"..." Ragnar halted his steps as he saw a group of youth scattered inside at separate tables. And of course, as to be expected, everyone was looking at him; some of them with their mouths half opened, some of them chewing.

Ragnar's head started to tremble as he took in a small gulp; his heart, beating loudly as he started to feel a sense of anxiety. But after a few seconds, he took a deep breath.

"G… greetings," an awkward smirk then slowly started to crawl on his face as he looked at the youths one by one,

"My name is Ragnar…

…you disgusting fucking little brats."

"..." Redvers could really only blink as he suddenly hesitated to go inside.

Just where…

…did the cowering child from moments ago go?