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Let all your things be done with charity.
( 1 Corinthians 16 : 14 )
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"Haaa," Ze yawned.
He was lazily sitting on the cozy elven sofa.
They were both back in the king's grandiose office, in the same positions as they were in the morning. The king was sitting in his chair, buried in his work, with many bundles of papers on his desk.
Ze sat lazily on the sofa, munching on the sweets the servants had brought.
But the atmosphere between them was less tense than it had been in the morning.
Especially since he had brought Callista and healed her. It would take her two to three days to wake up from her sleep. And Fran had arranged for servants to take care of her as an esteemed guest, so there was no problem.
Now, they were both back in the office, with Ze having nothing to do and Fran buried in a mountain of work caused by a certain someone.
With nothing to do, Ze's eyes were clouded with boredom.
"Man, aren't you going to get married? You're getting older by the second," Ze started a conversation to relieve his boredom.
Fran, understanding what he was asking, feigned ignorance.
"What do you mean? In elven standards, I have a couple of years to think about marriage," Fran said, the fear he had from the morning display now extinguished.
Ze lazily lifted his head and looked at Fran with half-closed eyes. Boredom was consuming him.
"Man, this guy. I give up. I'll pretend I don't know anything about it. Your elven virgin," Ze said as he went back to his lazy position.
Fran remained silent, not replying to Ze's taunting remarks.
Ze didn't want to argue, but his boredom overtook his better judgment. So, he began to blabber.
"But let me say this, if you love a woman, you need to be strong.
Strong enough to deserve her love.
Strong enough to protect that love.
Strong enough to love only her.
Strong enough to love her until death.
And finally,
Strong enough to let her go," Ze looked at the well-designed ceiling as he asked, "do you understand?"
Fran, who was listening to his ramblings, a philosophy created by boredom, thought in silence. Then a question popped into his head.
"What about you?" he redirected the question back to Ze.
Ze lifted his hand up in the air as if reaching for the heavens beyond, trying to grasp something.
"I am not strong enough."
That was his answer.
Even though he was strong enough to fight gods, he wasn't strong enough to love.
"It's hard once you love someone. You know, human love is just a fleeting illusion created by the hormones produced by the brain. But there are some idiots like me who continue loving until their death. Aren't we all just stupid? So stupidly in love,"
Ze, blinded by boredom and bound by sleepiness, uttered whatever came to his mind.
Fran, a wise king and multiple times older than the boy who was rambling, understood the deep meaning behind those words uttered out of boredom.
"I will try to be strong," Fran said with conviction.
Ze looked at him, his half-closed, lazy eyes meeting Fran's golden eyes as he sat up.
"At least you understand," he laid back as an idea popped up. "Hey, I have an idea. Since you like her and I already want to kill that bastard, if I kill him, won't the path to your love life be clear?"
Ze, with his superb idea, looked at Fran with a bright smile, but Fran could only feel a chill down his spine.
"But I don't want to see her in pain. Even if I don't have her, I don't want to be the reason for her sadness. I'll be happy as long as she is happy," Fran put an end to Ze's idea.
"Man, you spout lines like you're the second male lead in a romance drama. What a load of bullshit! That bitch already has two more wives and three children, and here you are still an old virgin," Ze fired bullets at Fran's resolve.
"I can't argue with that. It's his duty. He have to leave descendants for the Flameheart," Fran replied with his bullet-proof vest.
"Ah, fuck. You're a good guy. If it were me, I wouldn't care if I had to kill all of humanity to make her love only me. No two-timing," Ze rambled on with his plans to impress his lover.
Fran, with his hair standing on end, silently prayed that it wouldn't come to the destruction of races.
"Hey, Fran, are you listening?" Ze called out to him.
"Oh yes," Fran snapped out of his delusions.
"I asked if you have anything interesting to do. I'm extremely bored. I killed monsters in the north, so it was kind of fun to train my body, but before I left, I killed a drake and got a dragon, so there's nothing more there. Now I'm bored," Ze rambled on about the things he did in the north.
'Rest in peace.' Fran offered a silent prayer for the dead monsters.
"Hey Fran!" Ze shouted.
"Ah," Fran snapped out of his prayer for the dead.
"Do you have anything fun to do?" Ze asked, his half-closed eyes filled with boredom.
"There is some paperwork, would you like to do it?" Fran asked, showing his tower of paper piles.
"No, you do it. I am not good at it anyway. Damn it, I was supposed to make a cool entry like I did this morning and thrash his people & co., but it is already evening, darn it," Ze shouted, reliving his anger.
'Rest in peace.'
Fran offered another silent prayer to the people who would be unlucky enough to meet this monster. Fran then pulled out a report.
"There is a mission that was supposed to happen, it's a raid. How about it?" Fran said nonchalantly, thinking it wouldn't be of interest.
"What!" Ze rose with bright, gleaming eyes as he heard about a raid. "Who are we raiding?"
"Well, it's an auction raid," Fran said.
"Details," Ze asked, excited like a kid in a candy shop.
Fran scanned through the document, checking the details. He frowned as he read through.
"We have been receiving reports of several kidnappings and many villages being attacked. Some groups have been kidnapping children and women from different races. Orcs and male War-beasts for labor, and female elves, humans, and War-beasts for slaves. So, we had planned to raid the auction to free them, but they changed the location at the last minute. Even though we found where it is, we can't ambush them because many lives would be lost in the fight if we did," Fran concluded the report as he closed it, feeling guilty. His conscience tormented him about leaving people to suffer.
"Where is it?" Ze asked with his eyes closed.
Fran looked up as he put the report back.
"It's happening in a small town called Lore. If we were to move heavy forces, they would notice," Fran tried to explain why they couldn't do it.
"I am not going to attack, but to sell," Ze said with his eyes still closed.
Fran understood.
"If you go to this place and present this, they will guide you," Fran said as he pulled out a map and a crest with a griffin.
"Okay," Ze put the map and the crest inside his ever-expanding pocket.
Ze took the report to read it before leaving. He slowly opened his eyes, which were blood red instead of his normal deep blue. Those red eyes scanned the document for every detail, not missing a single one.
His eyes soon stopped and looked at Fran, who stiffened under his gaze.
"There is still time left for the auction," he said, turning away.
Ze stopped near the table to pick up the rest of the cookies and pocketed them. He opened the door but before he left, he said a single word.
"Prepare."
Fran had a bad premonition as he heard the word. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he was sure there was going to be a bloodbath, and how many would live to see tomorrow was a question he didn't know the answer to.
'I pray for those poor souls to rest in peace.'
Fran prayed for the souls that would not see the light of tomorrow.
...
Ze, who left the room, looked to both sides of the corridor. Not a single soul was present. When he came in the morning too, not a single elf was present.
"Are the Elves practicing assassination techniques?" Ze thought to himself.
{Nala, meet me at the garden,} Ze sent his transmission to Nala.
He walked through the bright corridor, lit by light crystals, and reached the huge door of the elven palace. Two shiny knights were guarding it.
"Hey, why is there no one to guard your king?" Ze asked the shiny knight.
"Our king is strong, and there are also many shadows protecting the king," the guard proudly replied.
Ze then expanded his senses to check the knight's words. There were indeed dozens of people guarding the king from the shadows. He had not sensed them because he only cared about the things within a twenty-foot radius of himself, but that didn't mean he was weak to long-range attacks.
Ze gave him a thumbs up for their great security service. They had stayed out of his range the whole time.
He then opened the door and exited the elven palace of white marble and grand trees. This time he reached the garden without getting lost, and there was no crowd of elves. The sun was still shining as it had yet to set.
Nala sat among the different-colored flowers, their multiple colours blending harmoniously. Her blue scales glistened in the soft evening light. Ze approached her and noticed the sleeping Ignit resting on her head.
(_ _).゜zｚＺ
"He played too much with a water spirit," Ze smiled as he gently lifted the small flame. Ignit snuggled into his palm, sensing a familiar warmth. Ze brought him close to his chest, and the darkness of his attire enveloped the cute flame, creating a cozy embrace. Ze sensed Ignit sleeping comfortably within the darkness and smiled.
"I hope he wasn't much trouble," Ze transmitted his thoughts.
"Not much," Nala replied telepathically.
Ze tapped his foot, and spells surrounded them, preparing for teleportation. The space around them shifted with a glowing spell, and they arrived silently in the room where Callista was.
"Kyaaa!" the elf girl shouted in surprise. She was the same one who had complained to the knight. It seemed they had assigned her to take care of Callista. Ze, unfazed by the frightened elf, transmitted his message.
"She is the one you need to protect," Ze communicated to Nala.
"Okay," Nala understood his intentions.
Ze approached the bed and extended his hand towards his chest. The darkness slowly extended and created a small bedding near Callista. Ze gently placed the sleeping Ignit in his makeshift bed.
"Sleep well," Ze said with a fatherly care.
He then turned to the silent elf girl, who was still in shock. Placing his finger on his lips as a gesture for her to remain quiet and not disturb the sleeping flame, Ze glared at her with his eyes and issued a single order telepathically.
"Take good care of them."
With those words, he vanished without making a sound.
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