Once the three of them got back to the city, Aldrich and Psyche left to report back to Sir Alastair. Levi decided to just go home and lie down. He'd had enough adventuring for a little while.
But halfway towards the inn, he was interrupted by a messenger. He was being summoned by the king.
Just him. Alone. He was a bit nervous, especially since Aldrich wasn't with him.
['King' or not. He's still just a human. Abaddon remarked. There's little to be scared of.]
"I'm not scared." Levi replied quickly. "Also didn't he beat you back when you weren't just a voice in my head."
[There were three of them actually. Abaddon shot back, annoyed. I may have underestimated them, a lapse in judgement that won't be repeated.]
His loss seemed to be a very sore subject for him. This was the first time Levi had heard of two others apart from the King though. But when he asked Abaddon about them he just told Levi he'd forgotten everything about them.
The royal castle looked as amazing as it always did. The messenger led him all the way to the doors to the throne room before stepping aside, gesturing for him to enter.
Levi took a deep breath before pushing through the heavy doors. At the end of the room sat the king on his throne as always. Buy beside him stood Veliona, from the look on her face she seemed to be arguing with her father about something.
And from the look on the King's face, he wasn't hearing of it.
"But father-..." Veliona's voice trailed off when she heard the doors swing open. Her face immediately brightened up when she saw who had entered.
"Levi!" She exclaimed, then covered her mouth. She hadn't meant to speak so loudly. She left her father's side and hurried down the stairs to meet the boy. "If you are back, that means Aldrich is here as well?"
Levi nodded. "He's at the Order of the Rose's headquarters."
Veliona's eyes brightened. "Perfect. If I get a knight to accompany me then my father can't say no."
Levi wanted to ask what she meant but she had already hurried past him and was out the doors in a few seconds. He wondered how she could move so fast in a dress.
The king sighed and beckoned Levi to come closer. Levi did, inching forward till the king seemed satisfied.
The king smiled at him. "Welcome back, young Levi. I assume that means your mission went smoothly?"
Levi answered with a nod and affirming grunt.
"Did you meet anyone interesting on the way?" The king questioned.
"Don't beat around the bush. Just ask what you want to know, human." The words came out of Levi's mouth but they weren't his.
They were Abaddon's. Usually only Levi heard his outbursts but it seemed to be becoming easier for him to take control.
The smile faded from the King's face, replaced with a much more serious expression. "You talked with Kazuki while you were there."
"How did you know that?" Levi asked, startled.
"We are connected, him and I." The king explained, and then added. "To a certain degree."
Levi kept silent, it seemed an explanation was coming.
"As your dragon friend has probably told you by now, I am... a bit older than I look. To put it in simple terms, I am functionally immortal. Years ago I shared that immortality with Kazuki."
So that was why he couldn't die, Levi realised.
"You see, when I met Sir Kazuki as a child he was already suffering from a severe case of melancholy. Understandably so, given his childhood. I linked us together not only to suppress his Virtue, if even for a little while, but also to share my immortality."
"Do you understand why exactly I am telling you this?" The king looked Levi straight in the eyes, his eyebrows furrowed deeply. "Because under no circumstances should he be allowed to die."
×
Aldrich pushed open the doors to his father's office. His father sat in almost the same position as he had been in when he had last seen him.
Alastair placed down the documents he had been reading once he saw the two boys enter. "I take it the mission was successful."
Pysche saluted. "Yes sir. And there were little to no casualties, minus the had guys of course."
Alastair raised an eyebrow, surprised. He turned to Aldrich as if for confirmation.
Aldrich nodded, corroborating Pysche's story. The only ones who had died had been Syd's father and the snake after all. He wondered if they had to add Sir Kazuki being responsible for all of it.
Alastair let out a little sigh of relief. "Good job you two."
Pysche saluted again before asking to be excused and leaving Aldrich alone with his father.
There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Alastiar broke it.
"I'm impressed. Really."
Aldrich's face lit up.
"But your training is still far from over."
Aldrich groaned.
Alastair smiled, a small smile but a smile nonetheless. "That said, you've earned a break for now. A short one."
A win was a win, Aldrich told himself as he exited his father's office. A break, he wondered what to do with the time off.
His fantasising was cut short by a loud commotion and then a girl hurtling towards him. A girl who happened to be the princess of the kingdom.
"V- Veliona, what are you doing here?" He asked, surprised. He gave a small, obligatory bow even though she had asked him to not do so many times before.
Behind her a young woman came to a stop, breathing heavily as if she had been chasing someone. "Princess, this is... highly improper. If you would have just waited for a few minutes like I had asked, I would have sent someone to summon Sir Aldrich."
Veliona rolled her eyes. "Oh come now Arissa. Is it not my royal imperative to overview all parts of this city?"
Arissa did not look convinced. "Even so, you need guards..."
"Guards?" Veliona laughed. "We're in the middle of a building filled with royal knights, I think we'll be fine."
Arissa sighed and gave up. Veliona turned her attention back to Aldrich.
"I'm so glad you're back." She said, a sly smile spreading across her face. "I need you to do me a tiny favour."
×
"Apart from... obvious reasons," Levi began. "Why can't he die, exactly? Not that I... ever, actually considered killing him."
The king looked a bit tired as he began to explain. "Sir Kazuki is.. special. He has been special since birth. But being special is not always a good thing.
Most are not blessed with a virtue until way later in life. But he, he was born with it. And a frighteningly powerful one at that."
He paused to take a quick breath. "A large amount of energy has been accumulating inside his body since his Virtue first manifested. An inconceivable amount. And it only continues to grow. That aura of heat round him is only that which has managed to seep out of his body.
Theoretically, If he were to die, all of that energy would collapse in on itself. And create an implosion, the likes of which has never been seen."
The king could tell from Levi's drifting eyes that he wasn't quite getting it. "To put it simply, if his heart were ever to stop everyone from here to Quelkriste, maybe farther, would die. Quite literally erased from the face of the earth. And even I would not have enough power to save all of them."
Levi nodded slowly. That sounded really bad.
The king sighed, sinking back into his throne a little. "It is imperative that he stays alive. No matter what."
Levi nodded again, but more resolutely this time. He had never been planning to actually kill the knight, even if he could.
[Fascinating. Abaddon commented.]
"And one more thing." The king added. "He cannot come to know the source of his immortality. Please refrain from ever mentioning this to him."
"O- ofcourse." Levi answered.
The king stared at him for a few more seconds, as if discerning whether the boy understood everything or not.
"Okay, great." Finally his serious expression relented into his usualy, more carefree one. "Now, I'm hungry. Are you hungry? Let's get some lunch, shall we."