"Bandits!" The coachman shouted at the top of his lungs, urging the hired guards, mostly adventurers and mercenaries, along with a couple of other adorned passengers. They encircled the other passive passengers, some converging in front if Lieren and Sezukumu.
"Stay back!" One of the guards, a well-built man wearing a set of steel-plated armor ordered to Sezukumu in an authoritarian voice. Sezukumu just raised a brow, standing back laxly with as he put his hands up, leaving the situation to the people in charge as he whistled a carefree tune to himself.
Lieren's face paled as he saw a dozen people, all wearing bandanas and/or masks to hide their faces and conceal their identities. The bandits, as the coachman yelled, mostly carried light weapons, daggers, rapiers, and throwing knives. A couple of them had ranged weaponry, two having bows, one having what looked like a lasso or a whip on their belt, and another carrying what Lieren recognized as a chakram.
Lieren gulped heavily, his heart pounding, and his mind muffled. The surrounding noises, ambient and natural, seemed to disappear, replaced by an unrecognizable muffle of a mixture of sounds, all unfamiliar, all unidentifiable. Lieren's vision started swimming, and he found it hard to focus on what's in front of him. The world turned muddy, confusing, and out of his reach. Distance and perception seemed to blend together in the worst way possible, greatly confusing the already confused mind of Lieren.
Death was close.
"Hey!" Burning heat spread from Lieren's cheeks, snapping him out of his trance.
Rubbing his numb cheek, Lieren whipped his head to the person beside him. The creepy man squatted next to Lieren, an odd expression on his face.
"What's up with you…still sick or somethin'?" He asked, unaware of Lieren's anxiety
"Y-Yeah. I'm fine." Lieren desperately tried to sound like he was.
Sezukumu wasn't buying any of it. "Sure, kid. If you say it enough, it'll come true. That's the way life works…" Sezukumu sat beside Lieren, resting his bum on the hard ground.
A loud clang broke the two's silence, and they both looked towards the source.
A man clad in light clothing dyed black, a bandit, is stuck in a deadlock with the adventurer in steel-plated armor. Sparks flew as their blades met, both of them glaring at each other. There was a tint of savagery in their eyes, almost like an instinctual need for blood.
Then, the two broke off. As they did, the bandit stomped his feet below him, and the ground below the adventurer started shifting, then shot out as earthen manacles.
"…?!" The adventurer let out a surprised gasp, trying to yank his legs and use his broadsword to destroy the manacles. However, the earthen shackles remained intact, scratched but not damaged. The adventurer let out a dissatisfied click of the tongue.
Another adventurer, a woman, lean and short, wearing revealing clothing that showed her stomach and thighs, dashed forward, shouting at the trapped adventurer. "I've got you, Brad!" She stretched her hand, and a magic circle—with dozens of runes etched in it—materialize midair.
From beside Lieren, Sezukumu, also watching, though less interestedly, from what Lieren could tell, whistled an impressed tune.
"Aren't you gonna help? I mean, being a knight and all…" Lieren suggested to the creepy man, squinting his eyes. The man's seemingly random behavior left a bad impression on Lieren.
I mean, he's part of the Knight's Order, isn't he? Lady Kronesta even said so. He should—no, HAVE to be powerful. There was also that weird movement that he did and his odd stare; it's hard to consider him as anything but shady. He has power, but he wouldn't use it, at least, not without a cause. But there is one, a reason to fight, to protect people. Civilians are in danger! I'm in danger! Shouldn't he, at the very least, TRY to contribute to the fight. I mean, he is assigned here to by my guard, so that should be expected.
Sezukumu, noticing Lieren's judging glare, let out a low chuckle, just quiet enough that nobody besides Lieren could hear with all the chaos around.
"W-What?" Lieren asked, dumbfounded by the man's odd behavior. Lieren already suspected that the man had a couple of screws loose, but had the common decency of a regular person, albeit warped.
"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" The creepy man asked in that casual tone of his.
"Doesn't everybody?" Lieren answered, confused as to why the man would ask such an obvious question.
Is he testing me?
"Maybe. For some people, I'm a lunatic. For others, I'm a loony that lives life on the edge. While a couple few, for some reason, consider me as their saviour—the Protector of the Isles, they call me. Though I cared not much for it." The man leaned forward, and Lieren flinched. His feline eyes seemed to bore into the boy's. "However, for you, one of the few handful of people still alive after employing my services, you may refer to me as your aegis."
A bead of sweat flowed down Lieren's cheek. Lieren was feeling nervous, for some reason. "My…aegis?" The boy held a confused expression on his face.
"Yes, your aegis. You may refer to me as such, since all the other positions have been taken. You, and only you, may call me as such." The man stood up, his green eyes alit with madness.
"I am your protector. I am your savior. I am that which shall protect you from harm. I am that which shall defend you from all that is malicious. My body is your shield. My soul is your weapon. This being, this existence, this life, all of these, I offer, with utmost welcome." The man kneeled, and to Lieren's eyes, his' seemed to be burning, alight with the reverence and servitude of a man of honor, pride and respect—a knight.
"Now, I ask of thee. What am I?"
Lieren paused. The answer was obvious, so obvious. It was practically on his face, his body, and his soul. Everything that Lierebeis was screaming at him. To say what needs to said.
The boy, confused by himself, heaved a heavy breath…and let it out.
"You are, without doubt, without shame, and without question—my aegis."
As the words rolled off Lieren's tongue, bright green runes floated off the ground, surrounding the two of them. The runes linked together, chaining and combining, connecting into a ligature of bright green runes, stretching from Lieren's chest and into the man in front of him, Haraki Sezukumu's own.
The rune below the man's eyes, and the tattoo encircling his wrist, glowed bright green. Lieren could feel and invisible chain, stretching from deep within himself, into Haraki, empowering the man, and forming a bond between the two of them.
Haraki, looking taller and mightier all of a sudden, stood up, his gaze traced on the bandits. He gave Lieren a reassuring smile.
"Let's make this quick."