4.2

Let’s all do our best

Hiro exited to the empty street and made his way along. This place would continue to be devoid of people until the big clock stroke thrice. Then, everyone would come out and start their day. It was not like there was a curfew or rules of any kind, the townsfolks were just… disciplined for a lack of better word.

In the courtyard, he could see Willow practicing. Near her was Conrad, who was just standing there, watching. This time, the girl noticed him right away.

“Ah, Hiro!”

“Good morning, Willow, how are you doing?”

“It’s alright, I am just training, that’s all… Well, I have also asked Mr. Conrad to help me with my training”

“I noticed”

The young man looked at Conrad who was still standing there looking at where Willow was a few moments ago. It took him a bit more to turn to Hiro and a tiny bit more to mutter the word ‘Hello’. Hiro waved at him.

“Um, Hiro, can I talk with you for a bit?” Asked Willow.

“Of course”

Behind them, Conrad finally extended his arm to wave back at Hiro. But by then, their conversation had started, the vagabond retracted his arms and not knowing what to do, continued to stand there and stared into nothing. As someone who was always on the road, staying in a place this long was puzzling. It reminded him of a home long gone.

Hiro and Willow sat down on a long bench. The young man edged inside and told Suiren to take a rest, although it was not like she needed one.

“It sure is cold here” Hiro said “I am starting to regret wearing this”

“Well, you can have my coat”

“No, no! I just said that to open the conversation or something. Just a generic comment”

“Ohhh, I see”

Hiro nodded and looked at Willow. The girl had picked the closer seat even though that mean her scar would fully be visible. Guess such a thing couldn’t be hidden anyway so why try.

“That scar, is it possible to remove it?”

Momo-chan: [Wait, you are asking that now!]

“Of course, I just asked for it to remain” Willow hesitated, then continued “There is something I want to confess”

“What is it?”

“We have made a promise, to try our best but now I have realised how wrong I was”

“In making that promise?”

“No, in believing that I was upholding it. I misled myself into believing of my own capability. Even though my skill in the arcane has always been atrocious, I always told myself that I have mastered the way of sword. And so, I neglected seeking self-improvement, instead blaming it on my lack of experience”

“Is that why you decided to keep the scar, as a reminder?”

“Yes, you really are smart Hiro”

As usual, Willow’s praise while sincere somehow rang hollow for the young man. Like being complimented by a kid with serious disability. The girl continued to mumble.

“Mother will be furious to see this though”

That was more of a self-reminder, so Hiro decided not to pipe in. But he could notice her shaking slightly and not from the cold. The young man put his arm around the girl’s shoulders, his hand on her head gently. Willow was surprised, she soon rested her head on his shoulder. The shaking was gone now.

“I see that you are trying to fix that now” Hiro tried to compliment her.

“Thanks, but I still have a long way to go. I still have to say sorry to you though”

“About that promise? It’s still too early for that”

“No, for hiding something from you, my real purpose here. It’s about the process of choosing a Herald”

“Eh?” Hiro already knew about this but he feigned ignorant.

“Of course, the first requirement in becoming a Herald is that the summoned must be willing. Then, that person must display enough prowess, willpower and potential to harness mana. Only after proving themselves to the Divines would a person be appointed Herald”

Sound like Hiro was out then, due to the malfunction, both he and Malcolm couldn’t harness mana. Conrad was not even a summoned. Willow continued.

“That title, Herald is very powerful. A person of that stature would wield power only second to the Divines. When you were summoned, we didn’t know your exact location. And so, children of the Divine Gottfried were sent out along with their own entourage to six potential locations, I of course wasn’t chosen”

“Wait, how many siblings do you have?”

“There are seven of us, I am the youngest. Still, our big brother remains. The final group consists of only Victor since no one wanted to go with him”

“He sure isn’t liked”

“Well, Victor does have a band of loyalists, but they remained to protect the capital. In the end, I begged to go with him because I wanted to take advantage of this situation”

“How?”

“This is a secret so please don’t tell anyone”

“I promise”

“My father is dying, he doesn’t have much time left” This Hiro had heard this before “Mother is working on a way to save him but even if it succeeds, he won’t be able to keep on being the Divine, a replacement will be needed”

“Like a Herald?”

“No, whatever happens to him it won’t be long. A Herald will still be too new to lead this world, to be granted the power of God so this option was crossed out. A potential candidate maybe among the Remnants”

“Who are they?”

“Before, this land was and it’s people were ruled by the False Shepherds. The god then summoned people from your world to deal with them. It was a daunting task and many dropped out, those who remained formed the Inquisition. They liberated the people, toppled the False Shepherds and created Eden. After the new order was established their leaders accepted the powers of God and ascended into the Divines. The rest split up and went on their own way, those people are known as the Remnants!”

Despite being rather sombre not too long ago, Willow had become rather excited talking about history. Still, it was somewhat soothing to see the girl being happy in her element.

“So one of them will be the next Divine?”

“I don’t think so. The Remnants, while still able to evoke authority within the system, have more or less decided to settle down and as far as I know, none of them work in our current government body. The possibility for one of them being chosen is there but unlikely”

The probability for that while low must be sufficient enough for Willow to mention.

“The next in line will be chosen directly by only the retiring Divine. If he… father can’t choose, then the one to succeed him will be picked among the Children of the Divines. That’s the rule but in actuality, the only offspring of the Divines are me and my siblings”

“So does that mean only your father decided to have children?”

“Well, apparently the Divine Silas has a daughter, but she doesn’t inherit his power”

“So Children of the Divines here is also a title, not just means children of the Divines?”

“Yes, as long as they inherit a part of their parent’s power. But I was born with recessive trait so even though I am technically a candidate, there is no chance for me to be chosen. Unless I find a way to consolidate myself among a group that soon wield immense power and influence in Eden”

“The Heralds”

“I… When I grew up, father is already weakened. For as early as I could remember, his condition had been declining. But even so, he still spent time with me, trained me, eased me to sleep whenever thunder struck. I want to prove that all of his efforts weren’t just a waste, I want to honour him”

“You want to succeed him”

“Yes”

“Then why are you telling me this?”

Was it because Willow no longer saw him as someone worth appealing to, the young man and the voice wondered.

“Because I realised how inadequate I was”

“Was? So you still want to keep going on trying to be the next Divine”

“Yes, there is still time till then, time I intend to hone myself”

“So that was why asked Conrad for help. But being a Divine, I don’t think that would be just be fighting”

“I know… for that, I intend to ask… Victor”

That two syllables, the doctor name, Willow said with utmost difficulty. As if the girl still hadn’t accepted that fact. Nevertheless, she was determined to get that done.

“Anyway, I want to say all of this because I want to come clean with you, Hiro. I don’t want to hide anything from you. Especially, after you helped me to realise my own shortcoming”

So that was why, Malcolm spilled the bean. And here Hiro thought that couldn’t happen. Perhaps he had overestimated his understanding of that youth.

Oh well, at least it had the desired effect, that was all he cares about.

“From the sound of it, you will have a lot of trainings to come”

“Ha ha, I will try my best, I promise! Now I should go back to training”

Willow sat up gazed straights into Hiro’s eyes, her clear blue irises as clear as the sky. The young man wondered why he hadn’t taken notice of them before. Before the girl left, however, the young man still had one last thing to ask.

“Is that why you called me Herald, because you expected to me to be one?”

“Yes, so I tried to appeal you. I tried to use you, Hiro, I’m sorry”

“It’s fine… At least that meant you believed on me”

It was something he only had the taste of once and that was already four years ago, from a girl he once loved dearly. Still, it was nice while it lasted, to be bel…

“I still believe” Willow said with certainty, her blue eyes looked at Hiro lovingly

“Eh?” Needless to say, the young man was taken aback by this.

“I still think you could be Herald. No, I am sure you would be one if you want to, Hiro”

“You don’t need to console me, I know I already failed to even meet a basic requirement”

“That maybe true, but I still believe you can do it, Hiro”

The girl walked away, leaving behind a dumbfounded young man. Willow was a zealot, but her words were still genuine. And they left Hiro an explosion of emotions.

“Hey, wait!”

Hiro called out and ran after the girl.

“What’s wrong, Hiro?”

“Well, I can’t have you be the only one trying here. Didn’t I also promise you that”

“Then you are…”

“I will join your training. While I haven’t even touched a sword, I could at least try. Let me join your morning sessions”

Willow seemed surprised at first, she then broke into a smile and nods “Of course!”

“Let’s do our best!”

Hiro thrusted his arm into the air, something he had never done before and soon regretted it. This was mighty embarrassing. Even the voice was also suffering from second hand embarrassment.

Willow, however, had no qualm about expressing herself in such an outward way. The girl also joined him.

“Yeah, lets!”

Behind them was Conrad who was still standing where he was. At least he was looking at them now instead of nothing. The vagabond also raised his arm in unison as a sign of agreement and encouragement but by then, Hiro and Willow had finished with that. And so, Conrad slowly retreated his arm without anyone noticing.