Chapter 10: Grant’s Resolve and the Fire Left Behind

Ben stood at the gate, the knights beside him watched the crowd of people slowly depart from the town. The adventurers and knights who decided to stay and defend the town, stood in the town center and showed little to no emotion. They knew what they decided to do and they were determined to do so, all their eyes looked at a man in blue armor. The knight in blue armor on the podium yelled with enthusiasm as the crowd roared with strength, their fists rose each time the man prompted a rally.

"We will not falter! We will not lose against these monsters! This village shall stand tall! Do not fear! For the Knight Order is with you! We stand by our words to protect our people, our swords and shields are not decoration. They are the symbol of strength and honor!"

Ben left the gathering and walked towards the woodcutter’s shack on the hill. Where he saw Grant in leather armor and was building large sharpened logs, creating indention to attach them to one another. Seeing Grant’s cold and silent demeanor, Ben took his time to walk up to Grant.

Grant looked up at Ben and took a short deep breath, before he turned his head back to the logs. Having his back facing towards Ben.

Grant: “You should leave now… they’ll be coming by noon.

Ben: “.... what monsters are there in the forest? The knight order is here, so it shouldn't be a problem right?"

(Aren't humans the most dangerous in this world? Usually humanity is the most advanced in fantasy world due to their numbers and talent for politics and murder.)

Grant looked up and his eyes had a hint of sadness as his mind gathered it’s thoughts. Having decided on what to talk about, Grant started to describe the ranks of the monsters based on adventurer’s guild code.

S rank- Monsters that have the potential to decimate a city

A rank - Monsters who can face an army

B rank- monsters who are strong

C rank- monsters with some form of intelligence

D rank- simply monsters

Horde Rank- Weak monsters with grouping capability

Grant: “We’ll be facing an army of horde rank monsters that is led by a C rank monster. The horde rank monsters will be stronger under that creature’s leadership… I suggest you leave. It’s not your duty to fight… yet, one day you’ll gain a purpose to help, but today is not the day… you’re far too weak and we are strangers to say the least.” Grant looked away from Ben again and continued his work in silence.

(I keep seeing Grant's back.)

Ben simply nodded and walked off, approaching the packed carriage. He waved at Grant who simply stood upon the plains overwatching the carriage from a fair distance. Ben knew that nothing would change if he tried to help, he spent the week within the village knowing each and every villager’s strength. They were kind, strong, and helpful during his time in the village. The strongest was Grant, aura control was the strongest out of all the villagers, above average than the average adventurers.

Yet, Ben’s heart felt heavy as his mind wondered upon Grant’s words (far too weak… strangers to say the least.)

************

In a castle within the Kingdom of Vincol~

A large chamber with a bed adorned with beautiful white flora designs and reflective jewels that dazzled like the night skies sparkled within the bright rays that came through the large window. A young princess sat on a regal chair near the window, watching the birds chirp and the flowers flourish. Her looks are as beautiful as a princess would be in fairytales, refined, elegant, and purity at its best. Her hair was a waterfall braid look, hairs that form the line near the nape of the neck and wavy brunette hair going down the path, forming a waterfall like image. Her eyes closed as she thought about something, until a knock on the door disturbed her thoughts.

A knight entered the room, his face with a stern look. His footsteps silent but foreboding as he knelt in front of the princess with a grim expression.

“Princess Kalo…. grim news on the forefront…” The knight stopped his voice when he heard Princess Kalo’s voice.

Kalo: “Indeed… The kingdom of Lanners has become corrupt, from the inside and out. Their auras are augmented by the demons that lie within the dark shadows of the people…” The princess slowly rose from her seat, the knight continued to keep his head down.

Kalo:“Order General Selis, move his troops to the forefront and engage the enemies of Lanners. Switch out General Lanyard for his recuperation, his orders are to ensure the villager’s retreat and providing a supply line for General Selis. Our forces will retreat to the mountain’s passage.”

The knight nodded as a silent maid who followed the princess’s words had already written them down on paper and passed them to the knight. The knight left with speed and determination.

The princess simply looked back at the skies, the clouds were turning grey. The air turned moist and the flowers stopped sparkling brightly.

Kalo:“A summer shower...it would seem… the evil god…”

Princess Kalo, a simple girl at the age of 18 took hold of the throne from the sudden illness of her parents, the king and the queen. Her brothers were still too young and unfit for ruling, so she took it upon herself to temporarily hold the kingdom of Vincol together. Using her power as royalty and alongside with the love of the people. She managed to silence the troublesome nobles on the side since by her side was her trusted uncle General Selis and his disciple General Zhoyn, they were able to control matters to their own hands through the merits and honor they had gained during the past wars with the demonkind. The news of the king and queen were kept secret for the illness was unexpected and cruel; it’s origin unknown. Symptoms created dark auras on the head, the doctors and the researchers had no clue about the auras that not even the grand mages of the court could identify the curse, most of the details were left out, concluding to the populace that Princess Kalo would take the throne as a representative of the king's power.

The maid at her side looked worried.

“Celes… are you ok?” the maid beside her asked.

Kalo (Celes): “Lilianne.. the days that I’ve been seeing in my head have been getting worse… this doesn’t bode well for our kingdom.

Lilianne: “Is there any light? Is there any hope within your visions?”

Kalo: “... you do know that my visions aren’t absolute…”

Lilianne: “Well… if it's the same as your matchmaking courses during the noble’s party then I’ll make an exception for those mistakes.

Kalo: “I just hope that this time we won’t have to lose too many people. We’re already on the losing side without knowing about the source of these creatures…” she sighed as she sat down next to the window once again.

(If only… the saviors were still here…)

Lilianne simply gave a small smile at Celes and offered a cup of tea. The tea lightly tickled Kalo’s nose, it’s fragrance was calming, and weight-lifting.

“Smells nice…”