In a room decorated with the most luxurious furniture found in the state, a middle-aged man sat behind a desk filled with documents, holding a letter in his hands. As his amber eyes scanned the letter's contents, his face grew more and more flabbergasted.
"What is he thinking..."
A young girl sitting at a chair next to the table restlessly peeked at the letter in her father's hands, doing her best to know what was written on it.
"Father, is there a problem?"
"Ah... Well..." A chuckle escaped the man's lips. "I can't understand that brother of yours at all. Seems like he wants to do something strange."
The letter that was tossed aside landed on top of the pile of papers.
"Let's wait and see what he'll do."
"Uh..."
Elaria brushed back her long, golden strands of hair and leaned closer to take a look at the letter. Her expression grew odd after reading through it.
"Running away...? What exactly is he thinking..." Elaria gave a tilt to her head, "He told you to take care of your health, especially your heart? What does he mean?"
"Hmm? I don't know. Just ignore it."
"...."
The girl played with her silky curly hair for a while with eyes glued to the letter's contents, deep in thought. After a few minutes, Elaria shot up to her feet with a quick movement and turned around, disregarding her chair that got yanked backward and her father's frozen expression, strolling to the door.
"I'll call the physician."
"What?"
"He is right. You should get checked from time to time just to be sure."
"What? Why should I get checked? I'm pretty fine! Elaria? Wait!"
The young girl ran down the hall, completely ignoring her father's shouts.
- - - - - - -
"Here, this is what I promised to you." Ian threw a packet to the woman across the room. "Or rather, the first part of it."
"Hmmm?"
The boss of The Revolutionary Army caught the packet mid-air and tore it open almost immediately. Ian opened his mouth to explain more when someone nudged on his side.
"When did you make a promise to her? Why?"
Ian ignored his master's whispers and continued on with his words.
"I can show you even more. You only need to take action yourself and follow my hints."
"Hmm..."
The woman crossed her legs, leisurely reading through the documents that were handed to her. They were sitting in a room at The Resistance's hideout, the same place they were once allowed to spend the night at. Alaric was stuck to Ian's side while Kieran stood behind him, holding his sword tight like a guard. Eleen was nowhere to be seen, probably busy conversing with The Resistance's healers somewhere.
"Priests keep disappearing... right behind The Emperor's backyard, at that. Interesting, pretty interesting." The Boss chuckled, her grip almost crumpling the papers. "And judging by your report, there is even more?"
"According to what we've discovered thus far, yet." The bluehead pulled on the hood of his cloak that had slipped backward slightly. "I don't intend on continuing the investigation. It's your job from now on, of course, only if you are interested."
"And why should I trust you?" The woman lowered the papers she was holding and peeked at the blue-haired youth from atop them.
"Why not?" Ian folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. "What do you have to lose here?"
"Well, a lot of things. The Empire won't leave a single one of my men alive if they find our location, you know."
"Do you doubt I might reveal your hideout?"
The woman leaned a little bit closer, "On what basis can I assume you are unrelated to The Empire?"
"On what basis can you assume I'm related to them?"
"Hah! The first one shall be the fact that you are not a servant at all, yet you keep pretending to be one."
"Hm? But I am? I'm a total slave, purchased by money. I've even brought my master with me!"
Upon being mentioned, Alaric flinched and moved back, preferring to only watch the heated conversation from the sidelines. Upon sensing a threatening aura from behind, he shivered even more, not knowing what he was supposed to do.
'For god's sake Kieran, do you want to give me a heart attack?'
Ian was in a similar situation to Alaric. No, probably even more frightened than him.
"If I wanted to reveal your identity or hideout, I could've done it long ago while I was in The Empire."
"Why go after the small fries when you could catch the big fish?"
"Did you just call yourself a big fish? Pffft!" Ian wiped the nonexistent tears from his eyes. "Quite confident in yourself, huh?"
"Stop avoiding answers. Prove to me if you have a reason to believe in you."
"Well..." Ian's eyes rolled up, lingering on his dear knight for a brief second before returning back to The Boss. "You trusted me enough when lending those books, and I brought him back as I promised, didn't I?"
"That agreement wasn't such a big deal. I lent you some books and promised you a place to stay for a short while, something not too hard for me to do. Plus, that swordsman isn't back here because of me, rather, he's acting like your guard."
"If you can't trust me, then I can't let my friend work for you either!"
Without giving the woman time to respond, Ian shot up to his feet and turned around. "Anyway, it's up to you to decide as I have absolutely nothing to assure you of my innocence. It's like gambling, right? You won't gain anything without accepting some risks.
"Well, you can do like you always did; attack the borders from time to time, lose some warriors, retreat, and then repeat the same thing again. Do the same procedure until all your men are either dead or too tired and hopeless to fight. Keep staying inside your safe zone until you eventually lose it all.
"Or, you can take a step forward and begin doing something serious, something that is actually a small feat in achieving your goal of a revolution. It's a risk, but you, as a leader of a group, and as someone who bears all the hope of so many people, shall be ready to put yourself in danger to grasp some new hope. Hmm? It's your choice, you are the boss after all."
"....."
in front of the woman's frozen gaze, the blue-haired servant left the room, followed closely by the black swordsman. The noble who was left alone circled around himself once in confusion before running to the others.
"Whoa! What was that?"
Alaric had to run at full speed to reach Ian and Kieran. As soon as he got close enough, he grabbed the bluehead's shirt as if it were a given.
"Hey, Ian, do you really want to join them? Why?" The boy's amber eyes wandered around, seeming brighter than usual. "But wow! You looked pretty cool back there! You felt more like a boss than The Boss!"
A hand grabbed Alaric from behind and pulled him back, separating him from Ian's captive arm.
"Don't block the way!"
"Eyyyy!"
Alaric stumbled backward while pointing at the swordsman with a finger. "What's your problem? I was talking!"
"It's called nagging, not talking. Who do you think you are to ask about his intentions?"
"Wha-"
Alaric, ready to retort, shuddered once his eyes met with the deep, blackhole-like pupils, and he hurriedly shifted around so as not to see Kieran.
"Hmph!"
Unable to answer, he huffed out a hot breath and stumped his feet. Ian couldn't help but sigh and shake his head.
"Don't be so rash on him."
Kieran's fiery glare switched from Alaric to Ian, "He doesn't know his position, neither does he know what he's allowed to say and what not."
"Hey, he's literally my master-"
"Shut it."
"...."
Ian did as he was told.
'But... Shouldn't you respect me first if you want the others to do so...?'
Strange. Strange! Ian couldn't understand these children at all!
As per The Boss's order, a room was given to the guests and they were allowed to stay in the hideout until she was done sorting out her thoughts. The room was tiny and tidy, perfect for four people to feel comfortable at.
Alaric, oddly overjoyed by the fact that there were no beds in the room, threw himself on the floor while hugging his books and began his studies. He'd stare at a page with a gaped mouth for a few minutes before spreading his hands and trying to mimic the things he read.
'He's doing pretty well... And is progressing at a surprisingly fast speed.'
Observing him allowed Ian to guess how he was able to cast such a destructive spell a while ago when fighting the monsters. He was learning spells at a fast speed and managed to cast them almost at first try. Was he a genius of some sort? Ian was left wondering.
Their meal was served after a while, not any special food and just the usual soup that the soldiers also received.
"Do you think she will accept your offer?"
"She will."
At Ian's confident reply, the swordsman closed his mouth. Instead, it was Alaric who continued on with the topic.
"But do you really want to join them?"
"No one is joining anything. We are just helping them out a bit."
"Isn't it dangerous to help out a group of rebellions?"
Kieran interrupted the two, "You can go back home if you don't feel safe."
"Eh, what's wrong with you?"
"You talk way too much."
"I-I just asked a question!"
Ian got up to his feet as soon as he was done eating and, before the argument could reach its peak, grabbed a cloak and ran to the door leaving a single sentence behind.
"I should also ask them to lend us two horses."
"I'll accompany you!"
"No need!"
He swiftly ran away before Kieran could catch up to him.
'Miss Eleen is with them so there shouldn't be any problems, right?'
He could only hope for peace in his heart.
Pulling the hood over his head and hiding all his blue strands of hair, Ian walked in the direction where The Boss's office was located. He had previously come here without hiding anything and was sure that his blue hair was memorable enough for the warriors who fought with his help that night, but they would soon forget about him. It'd be better to be careful from now on instead of worrying about the past.
Ian entered the room after receiving a positive response upon knocking on the door. As soon as he stepped inside, familiar faces joined his view. A number of men and women were sitting around a table, discussing, with The Boss at their head.
'...It's been such a long time since the last time I've seen these people.'
Ian's steps halted at the entrance upon recognizing the faces inside.
-Master, I think I know these people, but I can't remember them clearly.
It was unknown how long has Lior been following him.
-It's natural as we haven't come around them since you grew up.
-Hmm....
It's been a couple of rounds since Ian gave up on achieving anything and focused on passing his time doing useless stuff. It was around the time when Lior was just evolving from a bundle of Aether to a creature with intelligence. Ian tried his luck a few times during that period, then gave up on everything and ran away from all his responsibilities.
"Ah, what brings you here again?"
The Boss stopped whatever she was saying and got up, approaching the newcomer. All eyes shifted his way, inspecting every inch of his being with curiosity.
"I wanted to borrow some horses."
"Some horses?" The woman tilted her head. "It's okay but why? Are you leaving?"
"Yeah. We'll be leaving early in the morning."
"Why? What's the hurry? I thought you'd stay until we reached an agreement?"
The woman grabbed Ian by his arm and pulled him inside the room. Anyone else would be angry or at least, a little bit pissed off after a mere nobody talked so boldly with them, but The Boss didn't seem bothered at all. That was a characteristic of Rosalyn that Ian really liked and respected.
"There is no agreement. Everything is up to you."
In front of everyone's widened eyes, Ian was seated next to The Boss while conversing with her in a relaxed tone.
"Didn't you want something from me instead of the information?"
-Master, these people are strong!
Of course, they were. They were the leading figures of this army, after all.
"Ah, didn't I say it before?" Ian pulled his hood closer to hide any possible hair strands that might've poked out. "Give me a place to stay. A hideout. Not here but somewhere else, personalized only for me."
A brief silence fell upon the crowd.
"What?"
Someone slammed the table as he shouted out loud, his furious glare intending to swallow up the newcomer in one go.
"Who the hell is this bastard?"
"Slow down, Lynx!"
The Boss, not bothered at all, turned back to Ian with her usually calm gaze, "I thought you didn't want to join us?"
"I don't." Ian's gaze swept past the people present in the room as a sense of deja vu washed over his feelings. This wasn't deja vu, rather, he was in a situation he'd experienced before several times. He was enjoying this unique feeling of familiarity. "I think it's too soon to talk about the payment before you make use of the things I've given you, aren't I right? I'll be back soon anyway, so make your decision and take whatever action you want by then."
Ian wanted to get up and leave as soon as he finished his sentence, but remembering that he was here not for negotiation but to ask for horses, he held back his urge.
"Who is this person, boss?"
Unlike the man named Lynx, who was fuming from anger, the woman sitting next to him was overly calm.
"Think of him as a benefactor."
"A benefactor, I see," a middle-aged man gently stroked his beard as he hummed. "He seems quite confident in himself."
-Master master, this man... I can sense Aether from him! Is he a saint?
-He has a blessing.
-Oooh!
Knowing these people, Ian was sure that if he responded to their questions or started a conversation with them, he wouldn't be able to get out of this room so easily. Without wasting any more time, he stood up from the seat he was forced to take and turned to The Boss.
"The horses, where can I get them?"
"Uh..." The woman blinked her gray eyes a few times. "Ask Alex; he'll help you."