In a steamy hot room, I sat on a wooden stool while Sebastian the butler scrubbed my back. Ripping my knees nervously, I was thinking what I should tell Sofie as the butler interrupted my thoughts.
“I … we are visiting the town my sister is staying in a few days.” Well, that wasn’t new for me, but it did still surprise me mentioned it so late. “Am I allowed to visit her?”
“Oh, surely. Why don’t you bring her over and I make us three a a nice meal?” I asked nicely and stood up from the stool.
“We do not want to bother you with such things.” He explained as if it was an issue for me, which it certainly wasn’t. In fact, I was looking forwards for it the whole time.
“Oh no, it’s no problem. I would love to get to know her.” I explained which made him stand still for quite some time while I dressed myself and kept an eye on him.
“I … will ask her then.” He told me quietly and bowed respectfully.
“Do that … I wonder what I shall make…” I mused with a smile on my face and exited the room shortly afterwards, before stopping in my tracks right away. The hallway should be dark already, and yet it was faintly illuminated by a green source of light.
“Is it Saturday already? Don’t tell me I missed our board game day.” I asked wide eyed and shocked. I shouldn’t have missed it, but on the other hand we were travelling every day which made time fly by quickly.
“It’s Friday.” Lucky me. “I wanted to talk about Sofie.” That came a bit unexpected, but alright.
“Hmm … she’s a nice girl? Thanks for the talk.” I said and walked past her straight away.
“You know very well how much it pains her to see anyone die.” Yeah, I was aware. It got on my nerves, but was also quite wholesome.
“She’s even worse than you in that regard … but she chose this herself.” I mumbled quietly. I didn’t like it when she cried either, but I didn’t think there was anything I could do. Death was a natural occurrence after all.
“But we can do something, can’t we?” Irminsul asked, hopeful that I would join in whatever she had planned.
“She is your apostle.” I whispered as we were close to the living quarters.
“Will you help?” She asked a final time which made me sigh quietly.
“Sure.” I answered, opened the door to my right only to find Louis and Ellie cuddling in their sleep. Quietly closing the door once more, I followed Irminsuls finger to another door and opened it.
“Hey Sofie.” I asked Full of pity for the girl sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Lucy … and Irminsul? What are you doing here?” She asked, still saddened by the death of the adventurers she knew.
“We are both here to support you.” Irminsul admitted, floating through the room effortlessly while I took a chair and sat down opposite of Sofie. Crossing my legs over each other, I smiled gently and took her warm hands into mine, thankfully still warm from the washing as well.
“I … why … why does everyone around me has to die? First …” Oh, my! In my mind, I kept begging she wouldn’t tell me how her old planet got destroyed by invaders and only a select few survived. But luckily, she didn’t do so. “… and then this? Why couldn’t I save them? Why can’t you resurrect them?”
“I can only resurrect you, my dear. Reverting death is simply not meant to happen. It is a natural part of living.”
“But …” Sofie muttered weakly.
“Sofie, you have to concentrate on the lives you can save. The whole nation is putting their faith in you.” In hindsight, my words were a bit too manipulative which earned me a disapproving glare from Irminsul. I couldn’t help myself but to use their weaknesses for my own benefit. If she would fight for the kingdom more, it would only play into my hands because I would be the kingdom if I wanted.
“Sofie, I firmly believe you are not made for this. You are too soft in my opinion, even though that is also why I like you. But you are in this situation now and without you, even more will die. In two days, a dragon will attack a town called Blautal.” With a wide open mouth, I stared at the goddess full of confusion. That town was exactly where the sister of my butler lived. Was that a coincidence? Or did she want to tell me that I was being observed by other gods who didn’t approve of my methods to confirm the character of my subordinates? I knew Irminsul very well and she wasn’t capable of throwing away pawns for the sake of success, so it wasn’t her doing. Or was it just a pure coincidence? There weren’t that many other towns around the border after all.
“What? A dragon?” Sofie exclaimed in surprise.
“A far stronger one than the one you defeated in the dungeon. And if you do not take action, hundreds of lives will be lost.” Irminsul stated, looking at me oddly. I understood her intent to forge them through fire very well though.
“It’s too dangerous.” But I also had to weigh the costs and benefits against each other. We wouldn’t be able to move the army that quickly. We were lucky enough if we could get the four idiots there in time.
“Lucy, you have to –“ I didn’t like to be told what I had to do. Glancing over towards the goddess, I noticed that she looked almost sorry.
“In what function are you here, Irminsul? As my friend?” I thus interrupted her, wary of her motives.
“As an emissary from the council of gods.” She admitted quietly and I closed my eyes in resignation. There was no way I would approve of fighting this dragon after she revealed that.
“We are changing our course tomorrow.” I stood up in dissatisfaction and turned away towards the door as Sofie gripped the hem of my shirt.
“You can’t! There are people in need.” So what? Was I willing to risk that Aska got onto this planet for a single town? Definitely not.
“We cannot save everyone. It’s far too dangerous to fight a dragon at this point.” I explained, looking down on her with pity and a hint of annoyance.
“But … the council of gods has decided. And you are the saint! You have to listen to them!” Sofie shouted out in desperation, but it did exactly nothing. Even if they decided that, I wouldn’t follow through with it.
“Irminsul never said it’s an order to go there. She merely told us what was happening … right?” I asked the goddess with a smile on my lips. She could only nod in return, knowing that I would react even more drastic if she didn’t.
“But …” She muttered quietly, already close to tears once more while I finally freed my shirt from her grasp.
“I’m sorry Sofie. But I cannot allow you to go.” I told her, knowing that my decision weighed on her mind. I didn’t succeed in doing what I wanted with this conversation, but I didn’t see it as my fault. If Irminsul hadn’t mentioned it in front of Sofie, everything would have been alright.
“I …” Sofie whispered quietly, but I didn’t listen to her. Strolling out of the room, I closed it behind me and balled my hands into fists.
Irminsul and I were friends. Nothing could change that … but it didn’t mean I was willing to do everything for her. And as such, I quickly opened another door to find Luna and Hannah sleeping next to each other and made myself comfortable in between them.
Closing my eyes, I quickly fell asleep and actually started to dream … of a world in peace … not really though. Even though I wasn’t actually in my soul realm, I still dreamt about that book on the altar and the slowly opening door right next to it, allowing Aska to control me. I was having a nightmare in which I witnessed how I murdered my own friends under his command. Mine and their blood painted the room I was in red and I had a mental breakdown after another. It was no wonder that I woke up in a panic, bird chirping in front of the open window.
“Everything alright?” Hannah asked, already dressing in her usual battle gear while Luna was nowhere in sight.
“Imagine yourself in front of a room. You have no clue what’s inside … would you open the door?” I asked interested.
“I would smash it into pieces, surprise everyone inside and do what has to be done.” Well, Hannah would open it … in a rather special way.
“I see … let’s get going then.” I mumbled, stood up from the straw and strapped the leather protectors onto my elbows and knees. Strolling out of the room, Hannah and I thanked the priest who bought us breakfast and directly walked outside to join up with the rest of the army. It took us only a little while to organise everything and get ready once more before I realised that Louis was unnaturally quiet the whole time.
“Is anything wrong?” I asked and frowned heavily, scanning the whole army for anything amiss.
“I …” And then, I realised. The four idiots were never active during these early hours, but they were still visible.
“Where is Ellie?” Or anyone else for that matter. But my guess was that he didn’t know what happened to them.
“She … left in the middle of the night.” Louis admitted and looked to the ground.
“And you didn’t think about stopping her?” I was so close to exploding on the spot. If we weren’t in public, I surely would have done something at this point.
“She asked me to tell you that you don’t have to worry about them.” Closing my eyes, I breathed in loudly and turned around to whistle loudly. Luna immediately came towards me with a questioning look on her face, followed by Hannah who could already guess what had happened.
“Luna, take the eastern route towards the border fortress and avoid confronting the demons as much as possible. Also, make sure that Louis here stays out of the chain of command.” I told her and wanted to turn to Hannah as Luna spoke up.
“Okay … but why?” She asked confused.
“Because deserting is apparently trendy right now.” I said a bit harshly, but I was truly fed up with their shit. Grabbing Hannah’s hem, I quickly walked away from the two teenagers and didn’t suppress my twitching eyelid afterwards.
“The council of gods has apparently decided to notify us along with the idiots of a dragon attack on a useless town.” I growled furiously and kicked a nearby stone towards the churches walls.
“That’s … worrying.” It was way more than that. It meant that the majority of gods had decided to take action … and this time against me.
“I’ll try to catch up with them but it’s going to be tough.” I explained, gripping the handle of my sword tightly.
“Especially when they use magic. I’ll try to speed us up.” Well, her help would be very much appreciated, but I needed her somewhere else.
“No you won’t. It’s pretty obvious the gods want to separate the strongest from the rest.” I explained. They must have realised we had a fair chance of defeating the demon king and decided to throw a few stones onto our path.
“… I’ll watch out for Luna.” Hannah explained, looking over to my best friend before she nodded. It was at that point where I knew she was safe from harm.
“Thank you. And where is that goddamn butler when I need him?” I growled and looked around angrily.
“Probably with the horses. I’ll take care of the rest. Good luck.”
In a steamy hot room, I sat on a wooden stool while Sebastian the butler scrubbed my back. Ripping my knees nervously, I was thinking what I should tell Sofie as the butler interrupted my thoughts.
“I … we are visiting the town my sister is staying in a few days.” Well, that wasn’t new for me, but it did still surprise me mentioned it so late. “Am I allowed to visit her?”
“Oh, surely. Why don’t you bring her over and I make us three a a nice meal?” I asked nicely and stood up from the stool.
“We do not want to bother you with such things.” He explained as if it was an issue for me, which it certainly wasn’t. In fact, I was looking forwards for it the whole time.
“Oh no, it’s no problem. I would love to get to know her.” I explained which made him stand still for quite some time while I dressed myself and kept an eye on him.
“I … will ask her then.” He told me quietly and bowed respectfully.
“Do that … I wonder what I shall make…” I mused with a smile on my face and exited the room shortly afterwards, before stopping in my tracks right away. The hallway should be dark already, and yet it was faintly illuminated by a green source of light.
“Is it Saturday already? Don’t tell me I missed our board game day.” I asked wide eyed and shocked. I shouldn’t have missed it, but on the other hand we were travelling every day which made time fly by quickly.
“It’s Friday.” Lucky me. “I wanted to talk about Sofie.” That came a bit unexpected, but alright.
“Hmm … she’s a nice girl? Thanks for the talk.” I said and walked past her straight away.
“You know very well how much it pains her to see anyone die.” Yeah, I was aware. It got on my nerves, but was also quite wholesome.
“She’s even worse than you in that regard … but she chose this herself.” I mumbled quietly. I didn’t like it when she cried either, but I didn’t think there was anything I could do. Death was a natural occurrence after all.
“But we can do something, can’t we?” Irminsul asked, hopeful that I would join in whatever she had planned.
“She is your apostle.” I whispered as we were close to the living quarters.
“Will you help?” She asked a final time which made me sigh quietly.
“Sure.” I answered, opened the door to my right only to find Louis and Ellie cuddling in their sleep. Quietly closing the door once more, I followed Irminsuls finger to another door and opened it.
“Hey Sofie.” I asked Full of pity for the girl sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Lucy … and Irminsul? What are you doing here?” She asked, still saddened by the death of the adventurers she knew.
“We are both here to support you.” Irminsul admitted, floating through the room effortlessly while I took a chair and sat down opposite of Sofie. Crossing my legs over each other, I smiled gently and took her warm hands into mine, thankfully still warm from the washing as well.
“I … why … why does everyone around me has to die? First …” Oh, my! In my mind, I kept begging she wouldn’t tell me how her old planet got destroyed by invaders and only a select few survived. But luckily, she didn’t do so. “… and then this? Why couldn’t I save them? Why can’t you resurrect them?”
“I can only resurrect you, my dear. Reverting death is simply not meant to happen. It is a natural part of living.”
“But …” Sofie muttered weakly.
“Sofie, you have to concentrate on the lives you can save. The whole nation is putting their faith in you.” In hindsight, my words were a bit too manipulative which earned me a disapproving glare from Irminsul. I couldn’t help myself but to use their weaknesses for my own benefit. If she would fight for the kingdom more, it would only play into my hands because I would be the kingdom if I wanted.
“Sofie, I firmly believe you are not made for this. You are too soft in my opinion, even though that is also why I like you. But you are in this situation now and without you, even more will die. In two days, a dragon will attack a town called Blautal.” With a wide open mouth, I stared at the goddess full of confusion. That town was exactly where the sister of my butler lived. Was that a coincidence? Or did she want to tell me that I was being observed by other gods who didn’t approve of my methods to confirm the character of my subordinates? I knew Irminsul very well and she wasn’t capable of throwing away pawns for the sake of success, so it wasn’t her doing. Or was it just a pure coincidence? There weren’t that many other towns around the border after all.
“What? A dragon?” Sofie exclaimed in surprise.
“A far stronger one than the one you defeated in the dungeon. And if you do not take action, hundreds of lives will be lost.” Irminsul stated, looking at me oddly. I understood her intent to forge them through fire very well though.
“It’s too dangerous.” But I also had to weigh the costs and benefits against each other. We wouldn’t be able to move the army that quickly. We were lucky enough if we could get the four idiots there in time.
“Lucy, you have to –“ I didn’t like to be told what I had to do. Glancing over towards the goddess, I noticed that she looked almost sorry.
“In what function are you here, Irminsul? As my friend?” I thus interrupted her, wary of her motives.
“As an emissary from the council of gods.” She admitted quietly and I closed my eyes in resignation. There was no way I would approve of fighting this dragon after she revealed that.
“We are changing our course tomorrow.” I stood up in dissatisfaction and turned away towards the door as Sofie gripped the hem of my shirt.
“You can’t! There are people in need.” So what? Was I willing to risk that Aska got onto this planet for a single town? Definitely not.
“We cannot save everyone. It’s far too dangerous to fight a dragon at this point.” I explained, looking down on her with pity and a hint of annoyance.
“But … the council of gods has decided. And you are the saint! You have to listen to them!” Sofie shouted out in desperation, but it did exactly nothing. Even if they decided that, I wouldn’t follow through with it.
“Irminsul never said it’s an order to go there. She merely told us what was happening … right?” I asked the goddess with a smile on my lips. She could only nod in return, knowing that I would react even more drastic if she didn’t.
“But …” She muttered quietly, already close to tears once more while I finally freed my shirt from her grasp.
“I’m sorry Sofie. But I cannot allow you to go.” I told her, knowing that my decision weighed on her mind. I didn’t succeed in doing what I wanted with this conversation, but I didn’t see it as my fault. If Irminsul hadn’t mentioned it in front of Sofie, everything would have been alright.
“I …” Sofie whispered quietly, but I didn’t listen to her. Strolling out of the room, I closed it behind me and balled my hands into fists.
Irminsul and I were friends. Nothing could change that … but it didn’t mean I was willing to do everything for her. And as such, I quickly opened another door to find Luna and Hannah sleeping next to each other and made myself comfortable in between them.
Closing my eyes, I quickly fell asleep and actually started to dream … of a world in peace … not really though. Even though I wasn’t actually in my soul realm, I still dreamt about that book on the altar and the slowly opening door right next to it, allowing Aska to control me. I was having a nightmare in which I witnessed how I murdered my own friends under his command. Mine and their blood painted the room I was in red and I had a mental breakdown after another. It was no wonder that I woke up in a panic, bird chirping in front of the open window.
“Everything alright?” Hannah asked, already dressing in her usual battle gear while Luna was nowhere in sight.
“Imagine yourself in front of a room. You have no clue what’s inside … would you open the door?” I asked interested.
“I would smash it into pieces, surprise everyone inside and do what has to be done.” Well, Hannah would open it … in a rather special way.
“I see … let’s get going then.” I mumbled, stood up from the straw and strapped the leather protectors onto my elbows and knees. Strolling out of the room, Hannah and I thanked the priest who bought us breakfast and directly walked outside to join up with the rest of the army. It took us only a little while to organise everything and get ready once more before I realised that Louis was unnaturally quiet the whole time.
“Is anything wrong?” I asked and frowned heavily, scanning the whole army for anything amiss.
“I …” And then, I realised. The four idiots were never active during these early hours, but they were still visible.
“Where is Ellie?” Or anyone else for that matter. But my guess was that he didn’t know what happened to them.
“She … left in the middle of the night.” Louis admitted and looked to the ground.
“And you didn’t think about stopping her?” I was so close to exploding on the spot. If we weren’t in public, I surely would have done something at this point.
“She asked me to tell you that you don’t have to worry about them.” Closing my eyes, I breathed in loudly and turned around to whistle loudly. Luna immediately came towards me with a questioning look on her face, followed by Hannah who could already guess what had happened.
“Luna, take the eastern route towards the border fortress and avoid confronting the demons as much as possible. Also, make sure that Louis here stays out of the chain of command.” I told her and wanted to turn to Hannah as Luna spoke up.
“Okay … but why?” She asked confused.
“Because deserting is apparently trendy right now.” I said a bit harshly, but I was truly fed up with their shit. Grabbing Hannah’s hem, I quickly walked away from the two teenagers and didn’t suppress my twitching eyelid afterwards.
“The council of gods has apparently decided to notify us along with the idiots of a dragon attack on a useless town.” I growled furiously and kicked a nearby stone towards the churches walls.
“That’s … worrying.” It was way more than that. It meant that the majority of gods had decided to take action … and this time against me.
“I’ll try to catch up with them but it’s going to be tough.” I explained, gripping the handle of my sword tightly.
“Especially when they use magic. I’ll try to speed us up.” Well, her help would be very much appreciated, but I needed her somewhere else.
“No you won’t. It’s pretty obvious the gods want to separate the strongest from the rest.” I explained. They must have realised we had a fair chance of defeating the demon king and decided to throw a few stones onto our path.
“… I’ll watch out for Luna.” Hannah explained, looking over to my best friend before she nodded. It was at that point where I knew she was safe from harm.
“Thank you. And where is that goddamn butler when I need him?” I growled and looked around angrily.
“Probably with the horses. I’ll take care of the rest. Good luck.”
