As I pondered upon the proposition, I released the barriers I put up. The mysterious boy went around, freeing all the people and breaking any shackles. The hunting dogs were trying to attack me, so I put them all to sleep with a spell.
As people gathered around the bonfire in the middle of the camp, I decided. I looked over to the mysterious boy.
"What's your name?"
"Garth."
"Well then Garth, I accept your proposition."
I hovered in the air to get the people's attention.
"Hello, people of all races. My name is Alexander, and this over here is Garth." I pointed over to Garth as he flew up to join me.
"We are seventh-rank warriors." The crowd began to murmur at this. It wasn't every day you would see warriors of such caliber.
"As you can see, we freed you from these slavers. Garth, me, and whoever else decides to come along will go further into the forest. We will establish a little village and live peacefully away from the Empire.
I know most of you aren't from here. These slavers most likely captured you when you were stranded or visiting. If you enter the Empire, you will be enslaved once again, if not killed. Some of you might be fine, but you're welcome to come if you'd prefer not to take that risk.
You will also die if you try and go deeper into the forest. Strong monsters inhabit these woods. You are welcome to try it alone, but if you want a chance to survive, you will want to come with Garth and me.
You can get your supplies here, but leave the animals and the leader's coach. We will leave at dawn."
I lowered myself down before heading to the leader's coach. Garth walked alongside me.
"Nice to be working with you, Alexander," Garth said enthusiastically
"I can't say the same, Garth."
"Why did you say we were both seventh-ranked warriors? You are at least an eight-rank."
"It's better if we can conceal our strength. I learned that the hard way."
I moved into the coach. There wasn't much—supplies, money, and some of the leader's equipment—nothing too good. The coach had a bed and a couch decorated lavishly with gold trim and scarlet cushions.
"Guess evil does pay," remarked Garth
"Well, it didn't work out too well for them," I replied.
"Yeah, thanks to you. I was going to deal with them if you didn't. I was following them for a while. I wanted to wait until we were at a port city to free the people though."
Garth's comment made me furrow my brows. 'How long was he following and why didn't I notice him?' I needed to watch him closely for now.
There was a closet in the coach. I checked to see if there was anything to use. The bull daemon was over twice my size, but I could use magic to reweave the fabric. The clothes were nothing I was looking for, but something did catch my eye.
A little box was at the bottom of the closet. I picked it up and sat down on the couch to open it. Garth was looking elsewhere but seemed to sense I had found something interesting.
"What is that?" Garth was standing right over me.
I opened the box as he watched eagerly. Inside were some papers and two chunks of metal.
"What is it? I can't see." Garth squinted at the contents of the box. Remembering that not everyone had my ability to see in the dark, I lit up the room.
The two metals were Mythril and Orichalcum. Both would be great for my nanomachines. While smaller than the chunk of adamantine I had obtained, it was still beneficial. I stowed them in my shadow storage before checking out the papers.
I handed half over to Garth to check out.
"These are contracts and deeds." Garth was the faster reader. I hadn't practiced reading while in the dungeon. It was also written in the daemon's language. I only briefly learned it during my Duchy education.
"Look over the rest of these." I handed my papers over to Garth as well. We had no use for them now, but the deeds might be helpful if we ever go to the city.
After finishing exploring the coach, I moved over to the dogs. I lifted the sleeping magic, and they quickly roused. These were battle dogs, as big as me and able to use magic. The leader was a grey wolf-hound, while the rest were different breeds.
I made my way over to the Alpha, which must have looked quite comical to a bystander. Garth was holding back a stifled laugh. I was five foot ten inches, or whatever the equivalent, on Arclen; I was not short. The hound was that much bigger.
I unleashed increasing amounts of my mana until the Alpha finally bowed to me. It recognized my strength and was willing to submit. The grey wolf-hound was a fifth-ranked magic beast. It would be a great asset.
I established a telepathic link with the leader. I couldn't speak to the magic beasts directly. But I could communicate my point through straightforward directions and images. Next, I made my way over to the warhorses. Ten feet tall and as powerful as the dogs, they would also be significant assets.
Choosing the leader horse as my steed, I got on and waited for dawn to break. Garth got on the horse next to me. I tried to sleep on the saddle, but Garth had other plans.
"So what's your story, Alex?"
"It's Alexander. And you don't need to know."
"Someone as powerful and young as you must have some story. You even accepted my proposal when you could just go home."
"I can't go home."
"I'm sure with your strength, you could go anywhere in the world."
"Just keep to yourself."
"If we're going to be working together, I need to be able to trust you."
"Is that so, mister, 'I ran away from home and am doing this for fun'?"
"Hey, you might not believe it, but I'm not lying."
"Okay, sure." I snorted, ending the conversation—at least briefly—until Garth chimed up again.
"I'm just curious, okay? You could be doing anything, yet you agreed to my ridiculous proposition."
"So, you recognize it was ridiculous." I chuckled.
"Well, yeah, no one in their right mind would accept. So why did you?"
"I can't go home."
"Why?"
"Just shut up?"
"Not until you tell me."
"No." I shut my eyes, trying to block Garth out.
"Come on." Garth whined.
"It's the fault of you damn daemons."
I hadn't realized earlier, but Garth was a daemon. He had small horns that barely poked through his jet-black hair.
"Hey, that's racist."
"No, my grudge is against the Daitya empire, not daemons."
"You said daemons."
I didn't have a response.
"So what did the empire did to you?"
"Destroyed my home. Razed the city. Killed thousands. Killed my best friend."
Garth looked confused. "How? The Daitya empire hasn't even been to the other continents,"
"Shows what you know." I huffed.
"What happened."
"Just shut up. Your family probably had a hand in it. Aren't you some high-ranking heir?"
"I'll have you know I ran away."
"Oh shut up."
"Just tell me why you can't go home."
I opened my eyes and peered into the night sky. The stars still sparkled brilliantly.
"I am the reason."
"The reason for wha---? Oh. I'm so sorry. How?" The stars seemed to dim.
"Anomalies aren't allowed to exist."
Garth was still trying to understand my answer, but I didn't elaborate.
I'd been trying to avoid thinking about it. My childhood best friend, who I had grown up with, was killed in the fight at the Duchy. The thousands of others killed were all because of me.
When I fought against the pig daemon, Charlie stepped in as I was taking a beating. He was only a fourth-ranked swordsman and second-ranked magician, but he stepped in to save me.
I watched him get ripped to shreds in front of my face. I was the cause behind the attack. The reason behind my friend's death. The murder of all the innocent people who died in the destruction.
All their blood was on my hands.