'Interesting… Fascinating! Amusing even, hahaha!'
A deep man's voice rang out inside Neoma's head. The human quickly looked around, checking to see whether anyone else heard what he had.
His heart was beating fast as he tried to think of all possibilities. However, before he could start coming up with all sorts of nonsense, he attempted to communicate with the person who spoke up in his mind.
'Who are you…'
Neoma asked as his eyebrows furrowed slightly. He didn't have to wait for long to receive a response from the same voice.
'Woah! So you could actually hear me! Hm… Does that mean you're a saint of some other god? No, you can't be. None of the gods have cast their gaze on you. Including me.'
The man took a pause before continuing.
'I am the God of Fire. You did pray to me directly, asking me to watch over this oath.'
He introduced Himself.
However, the man didn't sound very god-like. The way He spoke, His tone, the way He structured His sentences was very simple. And most importantly, unlike any other gods, He showed emotion. He laughed and the laugh seemed genuine. His words were full of life and emotion.
'You seem to be quite surprised to be able to hear me. I will not lie, I am too. Even Kyros isn't able to hear me. Well, nothing can be done about that. I could only make him a blessed of mine since he's just an elf.'
Just as the man finished speaking, the ring of fire surrounding Neoma disappeared, leaving no traces behind. The floorboards were clean and there were no burn marks.
The youth just continued to stand there in one spot. He was unable to move due to the shock.
Even if the God of Fire didn't sound like a god, it was impossible to not feel His divinity. Neoma could feel the weight of His words. When His voice rang inside his mind, he could feel as if every single cell in his body began to tremble. Neoma had never felt such enormous pressure from anyone before.
"Neoma… Are you okay?"
Juno asked as he approached the human, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. His voice sounded cold and emotionless; however, his eyes showed that he was concerned for his student.
Neoma slowly turned his head and looked up at his mentor. He had a neutral expression on his face, but the atmosphere around him was tense. Juno became concerned about the human after he continued to stand there, just blankly staring into nothingness.
After hearing his mentor's voice and feeling his hand on his shoulder, Neoma was brought out of the shock and back to reality.
He slowly nodded his head and a smile formed on his lips.
"I'm alright, sir."
Neoma reassured his mentor. Juno pulled his hand away and nodded; however, he wasn't entirely convinced. After spending days training with Neoma, he could tell whenever he was feeling okay or if something happened to him.
Kyros sighed softly as he looked around the ballroom, glancing at all of the other guests.
"Since Neoma made an oath under the gaze of the God of Fire, there is no reason to doubt him any longer. If he does harm anyone, he will get heavily punished or even killed by the god. At this point, there is no need to even have surveillance assigned to him."
Kyros paused for a second before continuing. Everyone was watching him, waiting for his word.
"If anyone has any complaints, or wishes to bring up an issue or a problem they see with my decision, please bring it up now. If nothing gets brought up now, then we won't be holding any more Grand balls to discuss whether Neoma will or will not stay here."
Another deep sigh escaped past the king's lips.
Fachnan didn't dare to bring anything up anymore. He knew that he couldn't say anything and all of his efforts were useless. However, something good came out of this as well.
'That idiot. Can't harm the king's followers and anyone precious to him, huh. You have no idea how stupid that oath was. Hmph. But this is actually the best for me.'
The Administrator of Justice continued to mock the human inwardly, while Neoma, not having any idea about Fachnan's mockery of him, bowed towards the king.
"Thank You for Your Kindness, Your Majesty."
The student thanked Kyros with Juno following after him.
"Let's go. We're done for today."
Juno told Neoma as he sighed softly. The boy slowly nodded in response and with his mentor left the grand ballroom.
....
18th of Junious, 1503
Current time: 22:21:43
Neoma laid in his bed, dressed in white silky pajamas. A small sigh escaped past his lips as he pulled the covers over himself, his head sinking into the soft fluffy pillows.
'What an exhausting day…'
He thought as he closed his eyes. He tried to fall asleep, his entire body in pain and his muscles aching from the exercise of the previous night and day.
Neoma realised that the oath made to the God of Fire was both a good and a bad thing. He knew that the oath can now be used against him and it will limit him quite a bit. However, this will at least get the nobles and administrators off of his neck.
Knock, knock, knock.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard someone knocking on his door. Neoma brought his hands up to his face and gently rubbed his eyes, a small sigh escaping past his lips.
"Come in!"
The human called out and slowly sat up, leaning against the headboard. The door opened and a red haired elf walked in. He had tan skin and maroon coloured eyes.
Once Neoma realised who it was, his eyes widened from shock.
"Orion?"
He couldn't help but say his name out of surprise.
Neoma tensed up, thinking that his father, Fachnan, sent his son to deal with him.
'No, if that was the case, then he wouldn't have knocked on the door.'
He relaxed his body; however, he was still nervous. He was ready to jump out of the bed and escape at any minute. He knew that even if Orion didn't come here to kill him, he was a villain of the story nonetheless. Well, a minor villain, to be exact.
"What are you doing here?"
Neoma asked as he subconsciously lifted the covers higher, covering his chest. Even if he was wearing pyjamas, they were partly see-through because of the material they were made out of, making the youth slightly uncomfortable with Orion just walking inside the bedroom.
At first, Orion didn't say anything. He just closed the door behind himself and began to walk towards the bed. Once he had approached the human, Neoma could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest.
A small nervous giggle escaped past his lips.
"Why is the ranked as number 4 cadet visiting my bedroom so late at night?"
Neoma asked as he leaned back against the headboard in an attempt to get further away from Orion. The silence was creeping him out. He didn't have a good feeling about this.
However, Orion didn't say anything yet. He continued to stay silent until he bowed down in front of Neoma.
"Huh?"
The human looked towards the red haired elf with a confused expression on his face.
"I'm sorry."
"What?"
Neoma became even more confused with each word the elf had spoken.
"I'm sorry. If I wouldn't have said anything and just kept my mouth shut that day, none of this would've happened to you."
Orion apologised as he continued to bow to the human who was sitting in his bed.
After a few more seconds of silence, Neoma spoke up.
"What do you mean by that?"
He couldn't help but ask as his eyes quickly scanned the red haired elf. He was still being cautious around him.
'He doesn't seem to have any weapons on him.'
He thought before hearing Orion's response. He was still bowing to the human.
"If it weren't for me talking badly about Kyros, there wouldn't be a reason both you and I had to fight. Because of this… The Grand Ball was held ahead of schedule. My father was the one who asked for it to be rescheduled. The way he attacked you there and then you even had to make an oath… I'm sorry. You had to experience all of this because of me."
Neoma was left speechless.
'Huh? Why did he feel about it? Did someone threaten him and force him?'
The human thought before he quickly shook his head.
"It's alright. It's not entirely your fault. Even if we hadn't fought, the Grand Ball would've happened and the nobles would've found fault in the king's decision to keep me. You shouldn't bow like this to me…
"I'm not mad at you nor do I blame you for any of this."
Neoma replied with a gentle smile on his lips.