Saito slowly opened his eyes and the first thing to greet this eyes were two huge mounts. He immediately jumped down from the bed. 'This feeling of déjà vu....' he thought. Nirashi was sitting on the bed with that same smile she always have.
He then regained his senses and stood up. Looking around, he was not in the fort for sure. Because this room was a tad bit too luxurious. "Look who's awake." a male voice said. Saito turned around to look at who said that. Herjar was sitting on the window with an apple in his hand.
"How long was I out?" Saito asked as he checked his condition. His black costume was still on and only his helmet was missing. "Long enough for us to get involved in a war." Herjar said indefinitely as he took s bite.
"Huh? War? What war? What happened when I was asleep? Seriously! How long was I out?" Saito asked. "Three straight days. You were sleeping like a child for three days and nights, that fox..... Spirit stood guard near you and haven't left your side all this time." Herjar answered without even looking at him and continued gazing out the window while eating his apple. "OK, but what do you mean by war? What happened? Did someone attack?" Saito asked while getting up.
Herjar let out a sigh and got off the window and stood with his back against the wall and his hands folded. "Thing is, Goblinia and the Orc Valley have been fighting against each other for generations and there were lot of battles with victory and a lot with defeat and this time it's Vik who's gonna lead the Goblinia's forces to fight against the Orcs and which means we will also be marching along with him." Herjar explained.
"Does that mean we are in Goblinia right now? How did we get here?" Saito asked another one. "You passed out after that guy inside you left so it's normal you don't know what happened, that guy inside you summoned four guys and those guys slaughtered the demons like they were nothing and then suddenly one of the 9 demon Lords of Hell came and started shitting about some fight he had with the one inside you then a lot of powerhouses came and even the nature goddess made her appearance personally which never really happened and then the demon left, the goddess left, the powerhouses left and we were about to leave but the wood elves came looking for trouble so Rou and a few others taught them a lesson, oh yea! Vik's father also came and he brought a few thousand Wyvern riders with him and then queen of Sylivians came and had a little chat with Vik's father then we left, the End." Herjar narrated everything in one breath which made Saito's mouth agape.
"Wait, that much happened and I don't remember a thing?" Saito said. "I can't really help in that area, I never really had another person or spirit who can rival a god or demon Lord inside me." Herjar said indifferently.
"Herjar..... I'm-" he stopped him before he could finish. "Save it, I'll hear it from you when you really feel like it, till then we should just forget about this and be focused on the situation right now." Herjar said, professionally.
'Godfreakingdamnit! How can you look cool while saying that!' Saito thought. "Alright, if that's how you feel then I'll tell when I feel like it." Saito said with his hands up. Herjar smiled and didn't say anything and just looked out the window, enjoying whatever he seems to be seeing.
"Hey, what's wrong? You look different." Saito got up from the bed and asked. Nirashi became a katana again. Saito took it and looked at him while holding it in his hand. "Nah, I was just thinking....." Herjar voice sounded a bit off. Saito could feel that something was bugging him.
"Come on, that's not like you at all! What happened? Spit it out." Saito said. "It's nothing, I was just thinking that if we are going to join this war with Gobilina, we will be facing the battlefield....." Herjar said with a saddened voice.
"So? Oh it's not like we haven't faced any battle or anything, what's bugging you? There must be something right?" Saito asked as he moved next to him and stood with the wall at his back. Herjar hesitated. It seemed like he didn't want to say it.
Saito sighed. "Look, I won't press on if you don't want to say it but I can't bear to look at you like this, this doesn't feel like you at all, I'll hear when you feel like it so don't bottle it up alright?" Saito turned to leave the room as he finished saying that.
"Cheshoni." Herjar suddenly said. Saito stopped and turned around. This name... He won't forget this name easily. Ex-girlfriend of Herjar. "What about her? We are not going to face her during the fight are we?" Saito asked. "No, it's just going back to battlefield might remind me of her, that's why I'm afraid." Herjar said. Saito was shocked. Hearing words like "scared" coming from Herjar sounded unreal to him.
"What do you mean?" Saito asked him. Herjar let out a sigh and got ready to tell his tale. "Twenty years ago, humans and dark elves had a huge war that ended with countless death and injured. During that war, I and Cheshoni were sometimes fighting on the vanguard and sometimes going on assassination missions behind the lines, we always stick together and complete our mission successfully, the war might not have ended with our win but we were lucky enough to survive it, going back to a bigger battlefield might make me lose focus and I might make mistakes..... I don't know what I should do...." Herjar said.
Saito massaged his forehead. "Are you actually retarded?". "Eh?" Saito's question left him confused. "Do you actually think we or I would let you die on a battlefield? Are you messing with me? The hell is wrong with you? There's me, Vik, Minos and we probably won't be fighting the battle alone so add a few thousand Goblins, do you still think you will die?" Saito said, annoyed. "Anything might happen in a battlefield and we can't do anything about it, when that time comes I want you to-" before he could finish, a fist delivered a heavy punch on his pretty face.
"Talk shit again and I will headbutt you with the helmet on." Saito said. "Eh?" Herjar got confused once again. Saito grabbed his shoulders. "I don't care if you get beaten, torn apart or even get gang raped! I will still stand beside you so don't you dare give me that "I will die this time so help me write a will" bullshit! Talk like that one more time and I "will" fucking hit you with the helmet and this shit is hard as platinum." Saito said with a serious face. Herjar suddenly remembered something from his past.
"Don't you dare give me that bullshit! No matter what, I will stand beside you till the end." These words were said by his best friend who died during the war twenty years ago.
"Hahaha! I really can't act cool with you around can I?" Herjar regained his vigor and joked. "Of course! I can't let you steal the stage with me around, I'm the damn protagonist!" Saito self-bragged with a grin on his face. "Yeah yeah, whatever." Herjar waved his hand off. Both of them then laughed heartily.
"Oh yeah, Vik said get him when you wake up, Lily and Minos are with him." Herjar said. "Alright, let's go meet up with them." Saito replied. Both of them were about to head out but the door suddenly opened.
"You guys finally finished flirting with each other? Our ears are bleeding after hearing that man to man talk of yours." Minos said. Vik and our little NEKO LOLI Lily followed in with a bright grin on her face. Of course there was another addition to the group. A goblin like elf girl with height same as Lily with a princess like get up stood near Lily and smiled while looking at them. She looked like a cute doll.
"Let me guess, she's Vik's little sister." Saito said. "Right in the center! She is! Never thought she would look even more beautiful than this guy." Minos joked like he always does. "Oii, I'm still here you know?" Vik retorted. "Oh! Sorry, there was two guys having a relationship-deepening talk so I forgot you existed." Minos joked again. "Yeah, go screw yourself." Vik retorted with his hands folded.
Vik's little sister was smiling all the while. She walked into the room with elegance in every step. "Please excuse my childish brother, he's always like this." She said with that smile plastered all the while, nothing changed. "I don't mind it, we been through a lot so I don't really mind and Minos is practically a brother to him." Saito said as he looked towards the two of them, who were arguing like kids while Lily was trying her best to stop them.
"Well brother never really acted this freely before which shows how much comfortable he must feel when he's with you all." She said with a satisfied expression. Saito just smiled in return and didn't say anything. It's true that he was all prince like when they first met him. But he opened up to them over time and became free when he's with them. He was like a bird, no strings attached and be free.
"Oh my, where are my manners." She suddenly said. Saito looked at her confusedly. "I am big brother Vikkendi's little sister, Nerin, princess of Goblinia, pleasure to meet you." She introduced herself with her smile. Her face looked like the brightest star in the night sky. Leading those who were lost in darkness to light.
"Saito Araya, Samurai, just a normal low rank Mercenary." Saito said. "Normal low rank you say.... But from what heard, your sword skills are so amazing that you even beat my brother in a one on one fight! I'm really looking forward to see how you fight." She said with twinkling eyes. "Is that....so? Well I don't really think my skills are that good though....." Saito modestly said. "No, you are strong because not anyone could defeat my brother without even breaking a sweat and I also heard you defeated the "Battle Axe Rou" in a duel as well! He's stronger than my brother and even more experienced! My brother may win with his sword techniques, but his strength is still lacking." She sighed.
"Don't look down on her, she's called "The Sword Goddess of Goblinia", look down on her and you will regret it later so don't say I didn't warn you beforehand." Vik said as he finished arguing.
"Oh yeah, father asked me to bring you all when he wakes up, so shall we go?' Nerin asked. "Yes, I don't want to make him wait long." Vik said as he turned around to leave. "He must be in the throne hall with mother." She said. "Alright, look after little Lily while we are gone." Vik said. "Gladly, I was sad that I don't have any friends my age so her being with me make me very happy." She said as she looked at Lily with a smile. Lily smiled back at her. Vik then led the three men towards the throne hall.
The four of them walked around the Palace and finally reached the throne hall. The door to the hall had six human sized Hobgoblins with fully covered in Iron armor guarding it. "You guys must have seen some of them before at the fort when my father came with the Wyvern riders, they are the "Goblin Royal Guards", elites of the Goblinia military force." Vik explained.
The Hobgoblins bowed their head and hit their left chest with their right hand as salute when Vik came towards them. "You guys ready? Here we go." Vik said. The three of them nodded their head.
The Hobgoblins opened the door.