“Wake up, we are nearly there.” I was shaken in the carriage by Paul who sat opposite of me.
“Where is there?” I asked still drowsy.
“The capital city. Your future has been decided.” The elf commented right next to me while playing with a knife.
“My …” I wanted to speak up in protest, but the last weeks showed me that the elf had no interest in even listening to those. “you … you aren’t going to train me?” The elf whose name I still didn´t know looked at me as if I was dirt.
“Why should I?” She asked and squinted her eyes.
“Well, you taught Paul how to fight …” I muttered. She was the best fighter I had ever seen, and I really wanted to save the world from my old friend. To do the things I couldn’t do yet.
“I saved Paul out of my own volition. He is my problem, you aren´t. I´m not some babysitter.” She said dryly and looked out of the window, already bored off the conversation.
“I´m not a baby.” I stated.
“Immature, sheltered, call it however you want.” She said dryly while snipping against the crude window annoyed.
“Then teach me how to fight.” I demanded and noticed in amazement how we passed the first few houses. They were two storeys high, and … it didn´t end. We were in a city, the first one I visited since coming to this world.
“Paul, did you say anything to her in that direction?” She asked dryly, still unwilling to teach me anything.
“No.” He muttered and grabbed his chin in wonder.
“Great, because we definitely don’t have the time to train a rookie after losing so much of our forces …” She mumbled while looking at me strangely.
“You sent them to die.” I said and pointed at her angrily. In a sense, I was divided between blaming myself and blaming my old friend … I never asked her to save me though and sometimes even wished I would have perished alongside my family.
“They all knew what could happen. Have you seen anyone deserting? No? That’s because they all know that they are the ones holding this world together.” She said and looked outside the window once more. The carriage came to a sudden halt a few seconds afterwards.
“The military-“ I said, but she didn´t even listen to me anymore. She opened the door and jumped out of the carriage, closing the door behind her again in the process.
“We aren’t the military. We are her personal forces, ready to follow her into death and beyond.” Paul said while closing his eyes.
“Why? Wha-“ Why were they following her, even though she wasn’t nice at all to the others. I really wanted to know that, but the constable interrupted me even before I could voice anything in that direction.
“We all have our personal reasons. For some it is money, for others its fame … we are the black knights, a mercenary group capable of achieving anything. We are t-“ The door opened once again and the elf climbed into the carriage once more, a newspaper in hand.
“War broke out in the northern plains. The elves and humans have barricaded themselves behind the river, stopping the advance of the demons … there are apparently hundreds of skirmishes daily, but neither side has the upper hand yet. We can be considered lucky that the elves weren’t as dumb as the humans were and actually funded their military properly.”
“We aren’t dumb …” I muttered.
“The elven king died six three years ago due to an illness, and yet they still managed to foresee that the adventurers won´t hold a candle against the demons in the long run.”
“… these adventurers protected my village for years together with my father.” I protested. They were good people and I seriously didn’t want to see their reputation be dragged into the mud.
“These fools cannot even hold a sword properly. They treat life as if it was all about levelling up and increasing their stats.” The elf said with disdain in her voice.
“Because it is all about that? My father could throw heavy boulders … that’s not something a normal human can achieve.” I pointed out. Everything had been made easier due to the system and apparently magic was one of these things as well.
“So what? That damned system took everything away from me!” The elf said in anger which made me frown quite a bit. How could a system take anything away from a person?
“Boss, it´s time.” The constable interrupted our heated conversation and handed me a black bag which I took in confusion. “Over your head with that.”
Reluctantly, I put the bag over my head after both stared at me for several seconds. After that, the only thing I could do was to listen to the sounds of the carriage as it rumbled along streets. After hours of travel, it finally stopped and the door opened. The elf stepped out of the carriage and closed the door behind her, leaving me with Paul alone. We remained silent for the whole time and rather waited for the elf to come back than to start a rather awkward conversation.
Luckily the elf came back after half an hour, carrying something that clinked loudly. Afterwards, the carriage travelled another three hours through the city in a magnitude of senseless manoeuvres to hide their way. Well, I only noticed as we turned right three times in rapid succession, so it could be said that I was truly lost. In the first place, I didn´t know a thing about this city, so asking me to trace back my way was impossible.
At last, the constable pulled the bag off my head again and smiled brightly.
“Hey, Sofie … you are a good girl. The dark clouds around your heart aren’t fitting for you, okay?” He had been rather kind towards me the whole time, but he kind of stepped out of the line with this sentence.
“… I don’t know what you mean.” I said slowly, even though I knew exactly what he meant.
“Don’t try to take revenge. I´m doing that … and I can tell you that it is not a life worth living.” He admitted, turning his friendly smile into a rather bitter one.
“Someone needs to stop these demons.” I said as bitter as he was and heard how Paul exhaled loudly.
“… I wish we could have spared you from that fate. But please, listen to my advice just this once. Never let hate cloud your heart, okay?” He asked, apparently genuinely concerned about me.
“… I´ll try.” I said and jumped out of the carriage. The elf was already waiting for me outside, the clinking bag in one hand and a letter in another. Together, we walked to a large stone building in the middle of what looked like a school. Teenagers in uniform were scurrying around and eyed the sole carriage suspiciously as we strolled away from it.
The elf, still wearing that black hooded cape opened the door for me. I walked inside and was immediately greeted by a friendly receptionist behind a counter.
“Hello. How may I help you two?” She asked while furrowing her brows. These kinds of visitors weren’t that common after all.
“The dean.” It wasn’t even a whole sentence the elf said, but the effects were still there. The receptionist nodded immediately and guided us through a stone stairwell upstairs.
“This is it.” She said and knocked against the wooden door, only to step to the side as the elf grabbed the handle and opened it immediately.
“Long time no see.” She said, walked towards a nearby chair and sat down on it one leg over the other. I didn´t want to be that unfriendly, especially as I noticed the unfriendly expression of the dean, a rather old, white haired man.
“I don’t owe you anything.” He directly said as if they were some debt collector.
“Is that so?” The elf said and slid over the letter towards him. He immediately opened it and bit his lower lip in resignation before shredding the letter in anger.
“What do you want?” The dean gnashed his teeth in resignation to his fate.
“Teach her everything about magic … and whatever else she is interested in.” The elf said dryly.
“How old is she?” He asked, but the elf didn´t answer right away and only shrugged her shoulders.
“I´m eight.” I said.
“She is too young to be allowed into the academy.” The dean mentioned.
“Make it work. Here, that’s hers.” He placed the bag she was holding with her right hand onto the table and opened it. Even from where I was, I could see that it was filled to the brim with gold coins, a type of coin I never saw before in my life. “Give it to her as pocket money.”
“… is that all?” He asked bitterly.
“Hmm, pretty much.” The elf stood up from the chair again and started to stroll out of the room. “Oh, Sofie, if you ever find yourself bin trouble again, feel free to write a letter to this address … I wouldn´t advice it though ... it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg.” She said and handed me a piece of paper which I definitely couldn’t read. English was the human language here as well, but it was apparently written completely differently. Reluctantly, I took the piece of paper and stuffed it into a pocket of my trousers.
The elf immediately strode forwards once more and left us with only a few words.
“Dean, we have an eye on you.”
I could only smile wryly as the dean nearly despaired as the elf headed away from the room without saying goodbye to me. But neither did Paul, so maybe they would visit me from time to time? It is not that I wanted to see the elf again, but the constable was a nice person.
Well, years went by without hearing a single word from them, so they must have been incredibly busy, or simply didn´t want to visit me at all. Whatever it was, I had to admit that they gave me a second … or third chance to live my life to the fullest inside the royal academy, a place that boasted with knowledge about magic. Magic I would use to do good in the world.
Solely good.
“Wake up, we are nearly there.” I was shaken in the carriage by Paul who sat opposite of me.
“Where is there?” I asked still drowsy.
“The capital city. Your future has been decided.” The elf commented right next to me while playing with a knife.
“My …” I wanted to speak up in protest, but the last weeks showed me that the elf had no interest in even listening to those. “you … you aren’t going to train me?” The elf whose name I still didn´t know looked at me as if I was dirt.
“Why should I?” She asked and squinted her eyes.
“Well, you taught Paul how to fight …” I muttered. She was the best fighter I had ever seen, and I really wanted to save the world from my old friend. To do the things I couldn’t do yet.
“I saved Paul out of my own volition. He is my problem, you aren´t. I´m not some babysitter.” She said dryly and looked out of the window, already bored off the conversation.
“I´m not a baby.” I stated.
“Immature, sheltered, call it however you want.” She said dryly while snipping against the crude window annoyed.
“Then teach me how to fight.” I demanded and noticed in amazement how we passed the first few houses. They were two storeys high, and … it didn´t end. We were in a city, the first one I visited since coming to this world.
“Paul, did you say anything to her in that direction?” She asked dryly, still unwilling to teach me anything.
“No.” He muttered and grabbed his chin in wonder.
“Great, because we definitely don’t have the time to train a rookie after losing so much of our forces …” She mumbled while looking at me strangely.
“You sent them to die.” I said and pointed at her angrily. In a sense, I was divided between blaming myself and blaming my old friend … I never asked her to save me though and sometimes even wished I would have perished alongside my family.
“They all knew what could happen. Have you seen anyone deserting? No? That’s because they all know that they are the ones holding this world together.” She said and looked outside the window once more. The carriage came to a sudden halt a few seconds afterwards.
“The military-“ I said, but she didn´t even listen to me anymore. She opened the door and jumped out of the carriage, closing the door behind her again in the process.
“We aren’t the military. We are her personal forces, ready to follow her into death and beyond.” Paul said while closing his eyes.
“Why? Wha-“ Why were they following her, even though she wasn’t nice at all to the others. I really wanted to know that, but the constable interrupted me even before I could voice anything in that direction.
“We all have our personal reasons. For some it is money, for others its fame … we are the black knights, a mercenary group capable of achieving anything. We are t-“ The door opened once again and the elf climbed into the carriage once more, a newspaper in hand.
“War broke out in the northern plains. The elves and humans have barricaded themselves behind the river, stopping the advance of the demons … there are apparently hundreds of skirmishes daily, but neither side has the upper hand yet. We can be considered lucky that the elves weren’t as dumb as the humans were and actually funded their military properly.”
“We aren’t dumb …” I muttered.
“The elven king died six three years ago due to an illness, and yet they still managed to foresee that the adventurers won´t hold a candle against the demons in the long run.”
“… these adventurers protected my village for years together with my father.” I protested. They were good people and I seriously didn’t want to see their reputation be dragged into the mud.
“These fools cannot even hold a sword properly. They treat life as if it was all about levelling up and increasing their stats.” The elf said with disdain in her voice.
“Because it is all about that? My father could throw heavy boulders … that’s not something a normal human can achieve.” I pointed out. Everything had been made easier due to the system and apparently magic was one of these things as well.
“So what? That damned system took everything away from me!” The elf said in anger which made me frown quite a bit. How could a system take anything away from a person?
“Boss, it´s time.” The constable interrupted our heated conversation and handed me a black bag which I took in confusion. “Over your head with that.”
Reluctantly, I put the bag over my head after both stared at me for several seconds. After that, the only thing I could do was to listen to the sounds of the carriage as it rumbled along streets. After hours of travel, it finally stopped and the door opened. The elf stepped out of the carriage and closed the door behind her, leaving me with Paul alone. We remained silent for the whole time and rather waited for the elf to come back than to start a rather awkward conversation.
Luckily the elf came back after half an hour, carrying something that clinked loudly. Afterwards, the carriage travelled another three hours through the city in a magnitude of senseless manoeuvres to hide their way. Well, I only noticed as we turned right three times in rapid succession, so it could be said that I was truly lost. In the first place, I didn´t know a thing about this city, so asking me to trace back my way was impossible.
At last, the constable pulled the bag off my head again and smiled brightly.
“Hey, Sofie … you are a good girl. The dark clouds around your heart aren’t fitting for you, okay?” He had been rather kind towards me the whole time, but he kind of stepped out of the line with this sentence.
“… I don’t know what you mean.” I said slowly, even though I knew exactly what he meant.
“Don’t try to take revenge. I´m doing that … and I can tell you that it is not a life worth living.” He admitted, turning his friendly smile into a rather bitter one.
“Someone needs to stop these demons.” I said as bitter as he was and heard how Paul exhaled loudly.
“… I wish we could have spared you from that fate. But please, listen to my advice just this once. Never let hate cloud your heart, okay?” He asked, apparently genuinely concerned about me.
“… I´ll try.” I said and jumped out of the carriage. The elf was already waiting for me outside, the clinking bag in one hand and a letter in another. Together, we walked to a large stone building in the middle of what looked like a school. Teenagers in uniform were scurrying around and eyed the sole carriage suspiciously as we strolled away from it.
The elf, still wearing that black hooded cape opened the door for me. I walked inside and was immediately greeted by a friendly receptionist behind a counter.
“Hello. How may I help you two?” She asked while furrowing her brows. These kinds of visitors weren’t that common after all.
“The dean.” It wasn’t even a whole sentence the elf said, but the effects were still there. The receptionist nodded immediately and guided us through a stone stairwell upstairs.
“This is it.” She said and knocked against the wooden door, only to step to the side as the elf grabbed the handle and opened it immediately.
“Long time no see.” She said, walked towards a nearby chair and sat down on it one leg over the other. I didn´t want to be that unfriendly, especially as I noticed the unfriendly expression of the dean, a rather old, white haired man.
“I don’t owe you anything.” He directly said as if they were some debt collector.
“Is that so?” The elf said and slid over the letter towards him. He immediately opened it and bit his lower lip in resignation before shredding the letter in anger.
“What do you want?” The dean gnashed his teeth in resignation to his fate.
“Teach her everything about magic … and whatever else she is interested in.” The elf said dryly.
“How old is she?” He asked, but the elf didn´t answer right away and only shrugged her shoulders.
“I´m eight.” I said.
“She is too young to be allowed into the academy.” The dean mentioned.
“Make it work. Here, that’s hers.” He placed the bag she was holding with her right hand onto the table and opened it. Even from where I was, I could see that it was filled to the brim with gold coins, a type of coin I never saw before in my life. “Give it to her as pocket money.”
“… is that all?” He asked bitterly.
“Hmm, pretty much.” The elf stood up from the chair again and started to stroll out of the room. “Oh, Sofie, if you ever find yourself bin trouble again, feel free to write a letter to this address … I wouldn´t advice it though ... it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg.” She said and handed me a piece of paper which I definitely couldn’t read. English was the human language here as well, but it was apparently written completely differently. Reluctantly, I took the piece of paper and stuffed it into a pocket of my trousers.
The elf immediately strode forwards once more and left us with only a few words.
“Dean, we have an eye on you.”
I could only smile wryly as the dean nearly despaired as the elf headed away from the room without saying goodbye to me. But neither did Paul, so maybe they would visit me from time to time? It is not that I wanted to see the elf again, but the constable was a nice person.
Well, years went by without hearing a single word from them, so they must have been incredibly busy, or simply didn´t want to visit me at all. Whatever it was, I had to admit that they gave me a second … or third chance to live my life to the fullest inside the royal academy, a place that boasted with knowledge about magic. Magic I would use to do good in the world.
Solely good.
