Mid Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Zan

Father and I both looked at the heavily injured halfie in front of us, each wearing wildly different expressions. I gave it a look of indifference, but father gave a look of spite.

"Have you asked him anything yet?" Father didn't even bother hiding his aggression towards the halfie.

"All I asked was if the tower was the one funding the rebellion."

"And his answer?"

"He said they were, but he could be lying.."

Fathers face changed completely. His eyes lit up with excitement, "How perfect." He looked at the horrified halfie with a greedy smile.

"Hm? Oh right! What did the elders end up saying?"

"Ah yes, sorry I forgot to mention it. The other dragons can't move until we get some concrete evidence about this whole.. situation. Until then, we are on our own."

"Wait, then couldn't this guy work as concrete evidence?"

"He could, yes. It all depends on if he actually knows the information or if he’s just trying to lie his way out of it by throwing his comrades under the bus."

-It would truly be perfect if he can work as evidence..- Although I felt confident that I could cleanse the rebellion myself, I didn't want to act on it since I believed my confidence was coming from naivety. "Well, do you want to talk to him here? Should I move him? What do you want to do.."

"Ah, I need to think about that actually. I will likely have to bring him back to Bahamut but until I figure that all out.. just go play with Ilios or something until I finish here…” He paused for a minute to look Ilios up and down, “That is Ilios right?"

"Of course, who else would it be?"

"I was just.. checking." Father was still struggling to believe the reality of what happened to us.

After he turned back around, I put on a playful smile and looked back at Ilios. "Hehe.."

Ilios knew exactly what I was going to do.

*Crack*

Shattering the ground, I leapt after Ilios.

But it was futile, as soon as I got close, he just disappeared.

"You got that much faster?!" I was blown away by how much faster Ilios had gotten, but now a gleam of competitiveness appeared in my eyes.

"Woof!" Ilios gave a happy hop.

"Oh, you think you can win this time huh.." Picking up speed, I disappeared from where I was and appeared behind Ilios. "Maybe next time!"

Getting cocky, I slowed down at the last second which gave Ilios plenty of time to escape.

"Woof!" He ran away a couple kilometers in a few seconds before stopping.

Adrenaline filling up my mind and body, I got ready for the real chase. "Don't get too comfortable!"

- Oliver Kaelallan ~

"Haah.. what are we going to do.."

"I'm sure they will be fine.. don't worry.." Helen was sitting next to me in the bed comforting me during a break.

The morning had been jam packed with paperwork and complicated political issues revolving around the mana suction, but more than that, there was a very serious problem that arose.

"You saw the look in his eyes didn't you.." I felt awful seeing Osto's look when I explained the whole situation to him.

"He will be fine.. it's not like he hasn't been mad at us before."

"That look was.. different.." His eyes last night were.. dangerous.

"He was just upset because we didn’t stop Vasilias from.. doing something dumb.."

"Haah.. I mean think about it this way. What if we left Sarah or Lewis to babysit Lucy for a few days and we come back to find out she went off and got herself killed.."

"..." Helens complexion darkened as she couldn't refute.

"All we can do is hope that they're alright…” The room filled with silence before I decided to change the subject. “Did you ever check on the shelter?"

"Ah yes.. it was a complete mess. The vault was open and the ground was shattered, most of the artifacts within the vault were broken too.."

"Ah.. I didn't think about that. Did the mana suction really suck the mana out of those artifacts too?"

"Y..yea.. even some of the magic weapons."

Although I grimaced thinking about the huge expenses that just popped up, it was the least of our worries currently. "Well, what all did he end up taking?"

"Just the core and a greatsword.."

"HE DIDN'T BRING AN AR- Ack.." When I tried to yell, a serious pain swelled my head. It felt as if my brain was being squeezed.

Helens face filled with fear and worry as she put her hand on my chest and forehead, "please just relax.. We’ve talked about this. You can't move much or yell until you get better… I don't want it to get any worse than it already is so.. Please be careful.."

I paused for a moment realizing how bad I made her feel. "I'm sorry.. I might be in a little pain but I'm sure it'll heal with enough time. We just need to be patient.”

“Haah.. r..right.” She took a deep breath to try and calm herself.

“Well, as I was saying, he didn't bring any artifacts?"

"No, not that I noticed at least.. At least he brought a sword though.. it's better than nothing.."

"I guess, but that still doesn't make sense."

“I know.. When I took him into the vault before, he never even bat an eyelash towards the stronger artifacts, maybe he doesn't know how to use them yet..”

“He’s 10.. That should be expected.”

“Sure he’s 10 but he’s also a dragon.”

“...” Figuring that dwelling on the issue wouldn't do us any good, I just remained silent.

"I think it's better for you to just rest the rest of the day. I will take care of all of the work just.. promise me you'll get better."

"Of course sweetie, I promise.."

Helen gave me a light kiss before she left the room, turning off the light artifact on the wall as she left.

I was left in silence again with only my thoughts to occupy my time.

-We can only just believe that he will survive, even if the chances are slim.- But in my mind, I already believed in him.

In the time that I talked with Vasilias, it was obvious that he wasn't an ordinary child.

Whenever I would talk with him, I felt like I had to talk up to him. It was as if I was talking to a sage with a mountain of knowledge I'd never understand. The feeling was far beyond what I felt when I talked to Osto too.

Vasilias would always wear this unbreakable confidence and even though he’s just a kid, I always took his words seriously no matter how outlandish they might be, not because he’s a dragon, but because my instinct told me he was right..

-If he really does manage to win it'll open a massive opportunity…- After thinking about the various possibilities of whether Vasilias would win or not, I figured it was worth the risk to advance some old plans and take advantage of the opportunity.

-I guess its time that I should prepare the military for a trip to the Kingdom of Zan..-