Well, hey again. Nigto Zed is back, or well, for now I am known as John Scot. Anyway, I’ll continue where I left off from my side of the story. Ok, after my repair and history lesson from both Queen Lira and Kragg, I was led to a massive building near where the Chief met with me in the center of some kind of plaza. It was back to normal for the people of Oblivion as I saw many of them chatting away in their free time. Even with that, I still had escorts following me around which includes the Queen herself.

As we walked towards the building, anyone that notices us either bows their head until we pass or chants “Be thou our savior, O Hero of Vanguards.” While doing some kind of salute by raising their right hand to the center of their chest; it being closed into a fist. Being embarrassed at the attention being given to me, I redirected my gaze up and saw the sky through the massive hole on the dome that covered the city turning black as the sun sets.

Upon arrival to the building which I was informed to be an inn (I don’t why they made an inn, them being extremely isolated and all of them also having their own homes in this city. It was weird and confusing) They guided me to a massive room that I can certainly say to be the finest room that the inn or maybe perhaps even the whole city could provide. The wooded furniture inside were all masterpieces, I can see the effort put into it. I can only imagine the grueling hours spend on just carving the smallest detail that’s fully showcased for all to see.

There, Queen Lira told me that for the duration of my stay (how ever long it would be), the room would be mine and mine alone, she also said that servants would attend my every need and wishes which was another thing that kinda made me feel bad. Sure being attended to by people would be awesome but the habits that my family forged in me doesn’t actually allow me to be feel comfortable doing nothing and being attended to.

Though before I can say anything, the Queen revealed something; even if I or any SiegeFrames have bodies like this (being a made of steel and all) our race can still sleep. And so I quickly tried doing so, I indeed felt exhausted mentally and was kinda worried that I may not be able to calm down and take a mental rest from all the sudden happenings in my second life. And seeing that the sun has already set, I indulged myself, after a quick prayer that is.

I didn’t gave any time for myself to fully examine the room, I just went to the bed and flopped myself there, then uttered a quiet prayer (remember I’m religious). I then tried to close my eyes (shut off the visual input from my sensors actually); to which I was able to do in my surprise and let myself drift away into dream land.

Asleep I was bothered by the things that transpired in my first day as a reincarnated person, I can even call it a nightmare but to my relief they were kinda blurry, it was like I was watching a low resolution movie. I think that’s a coping mechanism for me to handle such a stress inducing things that happened in a short span of time, though that left a bad taste in my mouth, it was like something inside me was trying to just be indifferent to the things that I witnessed and I’m having non of it, because if I do become indifferent about those things, then it’s the end of my humanity.

And so the next morning, the moment that I regain my consciousness, I replayed my memories of the pain and the anguish that I witness and felt, to my relief the indifference went away. At around the same time that I woke up, I noticed two thin looking SiegeFrames; their armor having more curves than edges, inside my room. They’re standing by the door of my room, they are also wearing typical maid clothes that you see in anime, and with that I deduced that they are female SiegeFrames and I can only guess my servants here in my stay.

The moment that they noticed me stir from the bed (which was strangely able to support my weight and not let me sink into the bed frame) they greeted me with a “Good Morning, Great John .” Which made me become embarrassed. I probably looked like a mess but they still referred to me as ‘Great’. After greeting me, they then handed me a set of cloths that looked too elegant to be worn.

Not really needing anything else and wanting to have some privacy, I politely asked the maids to leave, they complied but before doing so, they told me that the Chief: Koor wanted me to meet him on the plaza where everyone would be gathered, they said that its about the thing that he was supposed to talk to about me yesterday.

Remembering that indeed, there was something that the Chief said that he would like to discuss, I gave them confirmation that I got the message. As soon as they left me alone, I heave a sigh as I understood that I would never be able to get comfortable with the notion of being served by others. Deciding to discuss that matter later to the Chief and Queen Lira, I walked towards a mirror in a stand, it was large enough to reflect my full body, and that’s the first time I saw how I truly looked.

I looked like a mix between a knight and a robot complete with angled armor plates, hydraulic pumps on my biceps, the sides of my abdomen and thighs. Servo motors on my joints and instead of eyes, I have a visor. All in all, I looked like a prototype model from a sci-fi anime that would be revealed to be some kind of special something, though I don’t hate it. The truth is I actually imagined something like this when I was being asked by the prompts as my soul was being transferred to this body.

Done admiring my looks and trying not to be a narcissist, I grabbed the clothes that was left for me and put them on. Even with the faint sense of touch that I have, I was able to tell that the clothes were finely made from a soft fabric. After looking at myself one more time and thinking that I look weird; I finally stepped out of the room and found the same SiegeFrame maids waiting for me by the door, to be honest I was slightly startled.

The two maid then escorted me towards the plaza and when I saw that it was packed with SiegeFrames, that’s when I remembered that they did say that ‘everyone’ would be there. Even with the massive number of SiegeFrames occupying the plaza, the moment that they saw me, the sea of metal people parted and made a way to let me pass through along with the servants assigned to me.

The line that was created from the dispersing led to the large black monolith at the center of the whole plaza. There again the Chief Koor stood regally like how he did yesterday. Beside him, Queen Lira was there, now wearing a more fabulous blue dress than what she had yesterday. Even with both of them standing next to each other, its still hard for me to accept that those two are a married couple (lucky them).

After a minute of walking towards where Chief Koor and Queen Lira (I still don’t know why Koor’s a Chief while Lira is a Queen, like it doesn’t make sense, they’re mismatched), I finally reached them, the Chief then motioned me to face the crowd to which I did. And with that, a massive wave of stage fright. I am not really used to being center of attention, back before being reincarnated one can easily lose me in a crowd of people if they’re not paying a lot of attention to me, and that person would also have a hard time spotting me again.

As the nervousness gripped me, Chief Koor started to speak. “Citizen of Oblivion! As ye have witness yesterday, the Creator has send us the Hero of Vanguards in which his arrival was promised unto us along with the freedom to walk upon the surface devoid of fear of hate and destruction that we have asked in prayer in earnest. Here in this moment, I present unto thee, my brothers and sisters: The Hero of Vanguards; John Scot!” Came the words of the leading authority here in this hidden city. A roar of applause and chants (the one that they use to greet me) sounded In the whole town, it was so loud that I felt my armor resonating with their shout and that’s considering that I have faint senses.

Now more anxious that before, I took a glance at the Queen just a few steps behind me but she just smiled at me with an encouraging smile. If I have a mouth and a throat, I would have took a big gulp of my own saliva. Not really sure how to respond, I waved at the massive crowd of metal people which only made them roar more. Now I know the intensity of the sound an idol is forced to absorb when they rile up their fans (to be honest, not really a fan of it).

After that, the Chief raised his right hand as a gesture to quiet down, and almost like a synchronized clockwork, everybody quieted down almost at the same time, showing their respect and devotion to their Chief. Once the whole city has quieted down, the Queen stepped forward and continued on where her husband left off.

“And so, as to how the Seraph has instructed us, we shall now recite the prophecy of the coming of the Hero of Vanguards, and carve it unto the monolith that has stood and became the symbol of our unyielding hearts and spirits. Let it be known unto all who treads in Oblivion that we, the SiegeFrames shall come to the aid of the Hero and be eternally loyal to his cause.” Came the declaration of Queen Lira, though not long after she finished, she opened her mouth again and spoke, now accompanied by all of the present SiegeFrames.

“O man and woman of Gaia, hear thou the voice of your Father and Creator. The time of darkness and destruction is nigh at hand and the Devil King would soon rise from his slumber. Hear ye the Cries of your Father and repent of thy transgression. For those who will come and humble themselves, they would be protected by the Warrior of the Lord whom He has sent; a Warrior with a body of steel and a soul of a man. He would be the shield of the weak and his blade would pierce the wicked, his eyes sharp as that of hawks and his strength like that of a score of men. He will emerge from the earth from where his brethren rested. Hear ye this words, for he will come and his coming is nigh at hand, be thou ready to receive him O his mighty brethren, lead him in thy ways and prepare him for battle. This is the prophesies of the coming of the Hero of the Vanguards and see to it that this may be fulfilled.”

As they started to recite the prophecy I noticed that the monolith behind us started to glow a white shine, so I turned around and saw that the monolith’s four faces where the engraved text that I saw before are the ones giving out the light, though the glow were not normal lights they’re the characters that corresponds to the words of the prophecy that are being said by the people. The glowing characters are literally carving themselves into the monolith by burning its surface, though I was not familiar with the characters, I was still able to read them clearly.

Amazed at the showcase, I stared at the monolith until they finished (yes, I was standing like an idiot just staring at the shiny lights while the people around me perform some kind of ritual). The moment that the last words were spoken, the light shone brighter than before, and not long after that, it stopped glowing altogether. What was left behind by the lights were smoking characters now more prominent than when I first saw them.

I wasn’t given a lot of time to admire them though, because Chief Koor turned the time to me to speak. “Now that we have fulfilled the things which was asked of us o my brethren, it would be wise to lend an ear to him that has been called, hear ye the words of Great John of whom we owe a great depth which is of freedom!”

After he said that instead of cheers like how you would picture in scenes for movies and tv shows, it was dead silence that came after, all of their gaze was pointed at me (they all have visors so no eyes, probably?) waiting for whatever words I would say. Another level of nervousness stacked up above the ones I am feeling which made me wanna puke (which I can’t physically do so. It was so disorienting, feeling something but not being able to do it).

I have a bit of stage fright in myself, but that didn’t really hindered me when I did school presentations and some church work, but having this many people staring at me and also them expecting something remarkable from me; a forgettable boy, really made my psyche shake. But then my attention was diverted to a hand that rested itself on my right shoulder for a moment, tracing it back, I found its owner to be Chief Koor who gave me a encouraging nod, even without a face I was able to discern that he was trying to express a gentle expression towards me.

That gesture gave me a small boost in my shaking confidence, So with a inhale and a sigh (I don’t know if I did it physically or mentally) I steadied my shaking hands and also steeled myself, after that, I spoke the words that I felt should be said. “Everyone, I would like to clarify something.” I paused for a second trying to see what will their reactions be, nothing, and so I continued.

“I-I am just a simple boy. I am not someone great or someone worthy of your respects, a-at least not yet. I am just a 17 years old boy with a fairly normal upbringing. Me and my family were not rich and I didn’t have a very noticeable trait, heck, if someone lost sight of me in a crowd, I would bet they would have a lot of difficulty finding me.” I stopped again, I looked at everybody trying to figure out their reactions but no one spoke, so I continued on.

“W-what I am trying to say is that, I would like you all to treat me as someone normal, not someone in a pedestal of honor. I don’t want servants or loyal soldiers, what I want is to form relationships with you all, relationships that would be forged from real interactions and not one hindered because of my status as a Hero or something. A-and also do not be afraid to speak up to me if any of you find something that’s not to your liking. I w-will try my best to fix that.” I finished, those phrases drained me, if I have lungs, I think I would be panting right now. Though that was secondary for me for the moment, I was worried on what would the peoples’ reaction be. But the things I have considered in my head that would happen was dashed away because of what really happened.

Slowly, one by one, they kneeled. They kneeled! Like, I just asked them not to put me in a very high pedestal and now they’re all kneeling before me, even Chief Koor and his wife are kneeling. Utter confusion was the thing that came to me, but it didn’t stayed for long, the Chief clarified things for me. “Such humbleness! Such kindness! Oh how unworthy we are which are only lowly weapons of war. I beseech thee, O Hero of Vanguards, for this once, allow us to express our adoration in such a way if it so be that this thus be the last time we would be able to.”

Only being able to nod as affirmation (confusion still not all gone and add to that the shock of the praises he gave me), I watched them all stand up, after that, the Chief continued to speak. “According to the wishes of the Hero of Vanguards, we, your brethren, shall fulfill thy wants. However, I would like to ask thee to bear with us for a little while longer and give us time to adore thee until we are satisfied.” Came his words. Kinda not all there because of everything that’s happening, I answered with an “O-ok…” in daze.

That seemed to be what exactly he wanted to hear; the Chief turned to his people and addressed them again. “As ye my people have heard by thine own ears, the kind and humble boy of whom the Creator has send us has agreed to be given adoration by the people, though only for a limited amount of time. And so I declare unto thee my brethren, we shall make merry for two days as celebration! In those few days, we shall show Great John, the Hero of Vanguards our adoration!” With that, the SiegeFrames cheered.

Getting a hold of myself and remembering something, I tried to cut their cheering. “O-oh right, Please, all of you, just call me John. It’s embarrassing to be called great and I am not also someone fit to be called like that, so please drop it. Please, servants would be unnecessary, I will try to learn to live in this new world and do things that are new to me, A-another thing, I would like to meet someone that can teach me how to use a sword and also teach me how to fight.”