Sigh…
We rode through the forest for almost three days, barely having conversed with the girls in this time period only nodding or answering some questions with a yes or no, most of them came from Haruka. Most of her questions were to confirm if I was to truly continue on with my declaration of handling my former classmates. Perhaps she was intending to try and make me reconsider it but I have already spoken and I will not back down, not for now at least.
I can see that she is trying her best, but my uncaring behavior is discouraging her even more. Truth be told I didn't want to do this, honestly my only care is to get all of this over with but I cannot. Call me a hypocrite, or whatever you wish, but that won't change the end result. They will die or suffer as I did.
Why? Simple, because I can. Too vague of an answer right? But it makes perfect sense to me. I never liked them, not a single one of them. Their haughty attitude towards me when I was back on earth, their clear discrimination of a lesser one and their outright hostility. Pampered children that knew not the struggle of the poor, always thinking themselves higher than anyone around them. Damning anyone that is below their standards to be forever in their shadow.
None was a close friend of mine, and none was going to be, if I had grown older I would have eventually slaved under them, working for them, pleasing them, just for a chance at survival. Yet now in this new world everyone was handed another hand, yet even though mine was shitty from the start I managed to do something with it, though painful and agonizing I turned the tables around, now I am going back to set the rules once again. Perhaps giving them a taste of their own medicine, showing them how it is to be weak. They were the cause and reason for my current state, though it was but a mere stroke of luck that I managed to turn out the way I am.
Arrogant? Ungrateful and hypocrite? Yes I am, and I will not deny it. This originated from my inferiority complex towards them. Too blunt huh? Yes, I never thought myself to be like them, they had everything while I had nothing. I lived, grew and struggled alone. Even before all of this started I was always alone. Grew up in a poor house without a mother to care for me, nor a father to have by my side. I don't hate my father for having raised me and provided for me, it's just that I didn't like seeing him slave away under the looks of those above him.
Perhaps this was the reason for my hostile attitude towards the elite, and probably is the reason behind my attitude towards the ones from the divine. Frankly, I hate being looked down on, though I was powerless, weak and poor, still being looked down on is the most hatful thing in this world. To think of one to being worth less than pebbles on the road is not something that I can accept, and perhaps it is the reason for why I struggle.
Why do I fight? Frankly speaking I have not the vaguest clue, yet I know one thing, if I didn't I will be damned. Why had I struggled against the odds and fought within hell? The answer is both simple and complex at the same time…I fought because I had to. I saw the damned, I saw their suffering and the only thing that differentiated me from them, that changed my fate from theirs was luck. I got invited to the palace of bones and was offered a chance that they didn't get, I was given a way that the damned didn't get, and even then I went deeper within hell to see their struggle. To learn their pain and suffering to know that many had and will pass through this fate…
I want to be set free from this, but there are two things that are making me unable to escape, the first and is the most simple, is the vow I took. My very existence is threatened by it, but I gained power thanks to it…I became versatile able to use different combat arts tactics and mechanisms that the souls within me had learned when they were alive, they gave me their knowledge for their freedom, something I know how expensive is. Freedom cannot be treated lightly, and I know it for a fact, I fought devils gods and great beings for it…so I understand their sacrifice.
The second thing is the most complex. The fixed points in time and the inevitability of fate. I was foreseen to be the one that brings down the divine seal and to release the ones from this hell, I can very well choose not to, but I still fear that the fact that I chose not to, will force my hands into doing this. Fate is inescapable. However one is not believing in it, the end result will always be the same…fate does not entail everyone's actions, if it was then it is a shackle and a bind. Fate is the end result…always has been and always will be. Yet whatever happens from the start to finish is all possible within a man's power to change.
Simply put, a man is fated to be rich in their lives, yet the way he acquires this richness is not decided by fate, it is decided by the struggle and way this man proceeds within his lifespan. You can be rich or poor. Only the way you handle the situation will differentiate you from one another. So is life, you cannot choose the hand you are dealt but even a pair of Duse can be a winner if you know how to bluff.
The ride was going to take more days to reach the destination where we are heading through, yet the black dragon's nest is not so far from where we are.
But before I get there, there is something I need to take care of.
"Stop the carriage." I said
And it did, almost instantly.
"What is it?" said Haruka who looked a bit startled at my sudden command to the driver.
"We are being followed, it was the case the moment we left the city, the one following us did not stop tire or sleep…I wonder who they may be."
The other two girls looked at each other as if in fright.
"Why are you acting so scared?" I asked them and to be honest this is the first time I said these many words in a day towards any of these two girls.
"W-well…I think we should be scared shouldn't we? I mean we are being followed, this means that we are being targeted…"
"You seem to be missing something" I said "So far you gained 10% of my base stats, this means that you have 10% of my power, and I truly believe that that is more than enough to help you against any normal enemy that you will be facing or that dares stand against you…stop acting like cowards…"
These words left the girls almost mouth agape as I left.
I even heard them summoning their status screens to verify the truth behind my words. I wonder why they didn't do it earlier…perhaps they were so occupied by the sudden occurrences that they forgot.
Once outside the caravan I spoke, though I wanted to speak loudly something fun happened
"WHOMEVER IS THERE?! SHOW YOURSELF! I HAVE NO TIME FOR GAMES, IF YOU KEEP FOLLOWING US WITHOUT REASON THEN CONCIDER YOUR LIFE FORFEIT!"
You have learned a new ability
Mana Imbued voice
Increases the range and volume of your voice to reach far distances.
Can boost morals or instill fear in certain situations.
Level 1/5
Current traveling distance
1 Kilometer radius
The trees shook from the strength of the voice and most wild life fled from scene.
It took but a moment for a cloaked person to show up. It was a woman probably, she looked a bit exhausted, with her showing legs filled with scratches and bruises, probably from having followed us all this distance…
"What are you doing here?" I asked, now knowing who this person was even before she removed the hood on her head.
"I-I am sorry my lord…" said the woman after kneeling down.
Her hood removed showing her golden locks and her pointy ears, it was the same elf of that day…
"Why did you follow us?" I asked.
"I need your help my lord…"
"No." I said and turned around to go back on the carriage.
"If you follow us, you die. You hear me?" I said before I got back on the carriage.
I don't host an orphanage and I have enough trouble with just these girls, I am not making a harem nor am I interested in one…less woman mean less trouble and less trouble means a clearer head. Something that I got when I ascended but couldn't really manage to enjoy…sigh
The girl was left standing there, and soon felt her presence fading. She probably gave up on following us. Even better.