Morgan Dread, as well as the few exhausted soldiers, were about to apprehend the attacker when they heard his words and noticed that he had dropped his only weapon.
Struck with shock and confusion, the soldiers and Morgan could not react in time and the child covered in mud, blood, twigs and leaves reached the Baron and hugged his legs in a tight embrace.
However, Kai fainted on the spot before they could react, falling to the ground. Only then did the baron react.
"Kai?"
"Sh*t. It really is you Kai! What happened? Why are you covered in so much blood? Kai? Answer me!" The Baron was busy fiddling with Kai's limb body.
Meanwhile, the other soldiers began to investigate the dead bodies around and noticed that most of the wounds on their bodies were created by the same weapon, a small dagger. And after retrieving the dagger that the young lord had discarded, they checked the wounds and were shocked to discover that it was this weapon which had caused the death of so many enemy soldiers.
What was more, was that these soldiers' bodies were clearly dragged here from elsewhere, placed along the way purposefully.
They even noticed the commanders in black and were even more shocked. Unlike Kai who did not know the power system in this world, these soldiers knew it.
Soldiers like them and those who were fighting on the battlefield were just regular soldiers who were trained in weapon combat. Meanwhile, those in the commander position generally had an external Art, like the Baron, or were knights trained in mana.
This meant that the young lord had killed two such enemies in rapid succession.
After a few minutes of ensuring that their findings were correct, the heavy armoured cavalry soldiers approached the Baron and hesitated before speaking.
"My Lord. That blood is not the young lord's. All the bodies in front of us have been killed by or gravely wounded by the young lord's dagger, and the blood on his body is likely from that. He had most likely only fainted due to exhaustion. Even if that is not the case, our first priority is to return to the castle and find a doctor for the young lord. Jason should have secured the castle for us by now."
"No. Jason cannot be trusted as of now. I sent him to take care of the castle. Kai had been in the castle the whole time. If he had actually done what I told him, he would have met Kai and prevented him from leaving. Either Jason is dead or he is a traitor. Either way, if we see Jason and his soldiers alive, kill them all." The Baron said with anger gushing from his red eyes.
"We return to the castle immediately." The Baron stated in an unshakable tone as the group of just under 20 soldiers began marching through the woods around the dead bodies.
…
Kai's clone on the other hand was headed in a completely different direction. He had already buried Gus; Bob's father and knew that the kid had no one left. However, he did not reveal who he was or anything about his father, just saying that the village was destroyed and very dangerous at the moment.
Thankfully, Bob knew of another village further West of here and using the sun as a compass, the two began their journey west. According to Bob's father; Gus, the village was only a 2-day journey by carriage from here. On foot thought, it would take at least a week.
"So, mister… Do you have a name?" Bob asked.
"…"
"No name or are you not allowed to say?"
"No name" the clone replied.
"Alright then, how about I give you a name?"
"…"
"How about Superman?"
"No"
"How about Nightshade?"
"No"
…
Inside the Tulia Barony, a female figure in a loose white cloak was standing at the gates of the estate with a little girl by her side. The little girl was also wearing a similarly loose white cloak.
"Listen to me, Lucy. Stay with this big sister from now on. Once you become strong enough to protect your father, you will be able to return alright?"
"But I don't want to leave father! And I haven't even met Kai in the whole past year! It has been so long!"
The Tulia Baron's face twisted into an odd expression of fury and helplessness before he took in a deep breath and sighed.
"Do not worry about Kai. He is fine. When you return, he will be here for you alright?"
"… Okay!" Lucy bobbed her little head up and down, accepting this situation.
"Alright. I will be off now. I already know you have failed me, Baron. Therefore, Lucy will only be allowed to return when he reached Rank 3."
"…" The Tulia Baron was stupefied, mortified, and anxious upon hearing these words, fearing for his daughter's life. However, he did not make a move and simply let the mage leave. She was, after all, a Rank 2 Mage in her own right, a powerhouse here in the rural land of the kingdom.
The two white-cloaked figures sat in a carriage and the driver whipped the two horses into action as the carriage began to move.
"Big sister. What is your name?" Lucy asked, her large emerald eyes glistening under the winter sunlight.
"Freya. But you can call me teacher from now on." The iced beauty said while looking out the window, the winter scenes slowly passing by on the carriage as they moved along, their destination only known to Freya.