CHAPTER 22: WHO IS IT THAT WE MUST PROTECT? (1)

"Teles!! Teles!"

"Urgh…"

"Hey!! I told you to release him!!"

There is such commotion right now you wouldn't be able to identify who is speaking. Still, I know I heard Telestal's voice among Emilia and Sarah's loud noise. I guess he is out of danger.

Suddenly, the sounds of trumpets resound and people start to calm down and silence establishes itself when the trumpets stop.

"What is happening?"

A man's voice then rings to my ears.

"My king, this is…" The knight who is pinning me down gets away from me and without waiting another minute, Sarah grabs me and lifts me back up.

"You don't have to be so rough." My arms hurt a lot more as time passes. This is getting suffocating.

"I have asked you a question."

The guy doesn't seem to mind me and looks at the knight who was on me.

"My king." The guy kneels and takes a posture of respect for the king. "This man here is the hero who was training under sir Telestal. However, just now, he tried to harm him, which is why I was restraining him."

"I see. Is that true, hero Will Otun?" The way you say my name with no consideration is irritating. Anyway…

"Look at him instead of asking me."

As I say that, they all turn to him, and like I was hoping, his wound has stopped bleeding. His face is brighter as well. Even his breathing has calmed down a little.

"W-what is-"

"I was just trying to stop the bleeding. But I guess I should apologize. My methods can be rough sometimes."

"Hm…it would be better to go to my castle then. The other heroes are already there as well anyway."

The king doesn't even wait for anybody to answer and just turns around. Only now do I notice there is a horse decorated with gold waiting for him. After he gets up on it, four knights walk ahead of him and they all start moving.

The whole army that is at the gate also starts moving. Soldiers walk past us like we are nothing anymore and when I try to walk as well, Sarah takes my arm and puts it on her shoulder.

"I don't need this, seriously."

"Did I ask?"

"Sigh…What to do with you."

"You know you can't resist me when I am serious anyway."

"Right."

We start walking and soon after, Ian comes and takes my other arm.

"You as well?"

"What? You got a problem?"

"Not really." What's with them now? I can walk on my own.

I look to my left and I see Telestal being carried by a knight in a piggyback mode. It will be really funny to talk about this later.

"Thank you. We were surely able to survive thanks to your sacrifice." Ian says something weird out of nowhere. I knew it. This is annoying.

I shake him and Sarah off and start walking on my own. Because of you guys, my arms will hurt even more. I better use the dance of fire as soon as we reach the castle.

"What are you doing?! You are hurt! You can't mov-"

"Stop it." Sarah is trying to make a scene and people are starting to look at us again.

"Stop what? You need help, dammit!"

"Listen and listen carefully. I am the one who chooses my path. It is not your own. My hardships are my own and my weaknesses are mine to bear."

"W-what are you saying? This is not the time to-"

"Then what? You want us to leave you alone?" It seems Ian has understood.

"That would be better, yes."

"I see."

"What?! What do you see?! There is nothing to see!"

"Let's go."

Ian walks ahead, and Sarah keeps staring at me.

"Come. You guys will talk it out at the castle."

Emilia finally appears and pushes her forward. Leaving me behind, alone. That's how it should be. You cannot be sure that you reached the real top if you were helped along the way. That's what he said, and that's what I will follow.

***

After some minutes, we reach the supposed castle. It is actually encased in the mountain. There are barracks around it so I guess half of the soldiers I can't see have entered them. Along the way, I noticed that there doesn't seem to be people in the city. All doors were closed and windows were shut down as well. But what is the weirdest for me is that dome of light that is covering the city. Certainly, this is magic. If they can use magic, why do they need us?

When I enter the castle, Ian, Sarah, and the other heroes are waiting in the courtyard. All of them are here. Even David. When I arrive, he immediately smiles and so do other people.

"Hey, look who is still alive!! Isn't it the worst worm there could be!"

"Ahaha! Yeah! He always looks so lame." This girl…Eleonor. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen her in a while. She looks as ugly as always. Oh well, it is not my problem.

Now that there are not many people around, I can finally try to remove the ice on my arms. I am starting to feel dizzy from the pain.

"Hey, Ian! Tell me! Did you save his lame ass before he got killed?! Was he even useful?!" David's voice is as tiring as always.

Anyway, I take the first stance of the dance of fire and flames gather around then envelop me.

"Oh…You want to fight me, huh?! Now that you were given a bit of power, you think you can talk back to me?!" David somehow mistakes what I am doing and he starts shining brightly. "But compared to your tiny flames, my skill is way better! It takes the power of the sun directly!"

He pounces on me but Sarah and Emilia and another knight appear, stopping him.

"That's enough. This is not the time or place to fight." Emilia speaks with a very harsh tone.

"Yeah, a coward like you who didn't even try to help has no right to approach him." And so does Sarah.

"Tch! Fucking nobodies trying to stop me."

Surprisingly, he stops and goes back to his group. I didn't know he was that kind of a pushover. Surely, Emilia intimidates him. The said Emilia then turns to me and she looks just as angry.

"You should stop your skill as well. It is prohibited to use them in the castle."

"Just give a few more seconds." There isn't much ice left on my arms.

As Emilia sees that, her expression softens and she even opens her eyes in surprise for a second.

"Y-you were melting that ice?"

"Yeah, why else would I do this now?"

"O-oh…I see."

She turns around all confused and while she leaves the knight, Sarah comes to me without a care for the people looking. Well, I say people but it is essentially David and Co.

When she reaches me, the ice is all melted down so I stop the dance of fire and retakes a normal posture. My arms hurt even more somehow. The ice was surely numbing a pain a little bit but now, I can feel the burning sensation of getting my arms frozen over. Plus, with the blood not being able to flow, they have turned blue, almost indigo. This is going to be hard to he…

"Heal." While I am trying to find a way, Sarah has already started using her skill.

"Did you not hear what I said earlier?"

"I told you. You can't resist me when I am serious."

"Sigh…" I can feel the looks of people on us. David doesn't seem like he is going to leave it at that.

"Hey! Why don't you say anything when she is using her skill here?!" Of course.

"Do I have to remind you that she received a special permission to use that skill alone from the king?"

"Tch." I don't remember this guy being like this.

"What happened to him? He isn't the kind to forget things." I look at Sarah but she just smiles. David was called god's favorites along with her so why does it look like he has lost his spark somehow?

"Let's talk about it later, okay?" Sarah seems happy about it though.

"Okay."

When she is done, a soldier comes from the entrance of the castle and as she sees him, Emilia looks at us, her eyes telling us to follow him inside. We all obey and go inside. The castle is filled with pillars made of marble. You guys have spent a lot to build this thing. I guess you really have a wealthy country.

We are brought to a big door that opens as we arrive. Once inside, the king is there, sitting at the end of the room, under the light of one of those high-class glasses like the one you would see in a church on earth. They really have spent too much money on this.

There are priests on each side as well, with one which seems particularly intriguing. Her eyes, her face…Everything about her seems to emanate some sort of mysterious power. Could it be that I can finally see magic?