In an instant, everyone in this place stood up straight and began to applaud, no, I could almost see the smiles of joy on their faces, except for my companions, they are just watching with curious looks.
I don't understand what's going on with Kamila, I don't know why a couple of hours ago she ran off instead of giving me an answer, Why she's doing this now?, I don't even feel like understanding it, it's just, maybe it's because I feel guilty.
"Hehehehe, well, well, Sir Quasimodo... Right?, Is that your name?", Firenze asks me while approaching with a smile. I sighed to myself. Although I stopped having a hump a long time ago, and with time I gained confidence, I guess I am Quasimodo after all.
Also, I didn't have a hump when I was a child, it was just that, I walked with my head bowed a little, just that, yes, just that.
"Sir, it's not that, actually..."
"That's right, my name is Quasimodo, nice to meet you Sir Firenze...", I interrupted the speech of Caero who was about to reveal my real name, I didn't do it for something special, I simply wanted that to be my name from now on.
"Well, Sir Quasimodo, hahahah, is that a good name, Hmph, I mean, it looks like a name of a strong man's man who doesn't give up in the face of adversities", Firenze smiles showing his white teeth, "I like it!, we all go to start with the practice."
Still with Kamila hugging me tightly I watched as Firenze entered an adjoining room.
"Hmph, Kamila, Could you?", I said and heard a slight whisper, almost imperceptible, a little sharp in some sense but also full of... Hope?
Kamila pulled away from my chest, she flashed me a smile on her beautiful face, her maid's outfit is completely disheveled and her shiny golden hair looks a bit wiry.
"My lord, I'm sorry, I...," Kamila paused before pulling away a bit, "I'm just not used to it..."
I smiled, I don't know what Kamila wants, but, I can just wait.
"Quasi, hahaha, I didn't know you had this on your hands, I really admire you...", Huanca patted me on the shoulder while smiling, he seems to be a bit envious....
Huanca's maid is a teenager between fifteen years old or a little older with a pretty face, red hair and a lively smile.
Before Huanca can direct an accusatory glance at her maid, Firenze enters through the next door bringing with him four glittering golden crystals.
"These are the tears of god, for the heroes summoned from another world, these tears can awaken your special abilities, god will grant you an ability, and according to that ability we can choose how to train you or if you can directly move around the realm doing some missions."
Firenze said with a smile handing a tear of god to each of us present.
"Have you ever seen something so... Shiny? ", Firenze jokes lightly as he places the god tear on the palm of my hand.
"Hmph...", I slightly move my head to the right to look at Kamila, she seems to be thinking about something and not paying attention to me so I just look at the small bright yellow tear on my palm.
"Swallow it...," Firenze says with a smile before walking back to his desk.
"Wait what?", Poki says as he stares at the tear with a raised eyebrow, "Are you sure this won't make my stomach hurt?", Poki doubt, however, Caero takes the lead swallowing the tear, and then I throw it down my throat as well.
"Hey...", Poki looks at Caero with a complicated face, "This..."
...
The world slowly fades away for me.
Warm, How to say it?, I can't know, How to feel it?, it's peculiar, warm, a little warm, but not too much.
A perfect mixture of sensations that numb my sensory receptors, this, this makes my body feel like it's floating in the clouds.
How to express it?, ha, I still don't know.
It's like the feeling of being held in mom's gentle arms, the warm embrace while some tears trickle down my rosy cheeks.
A feeling of love, a feeling of peace, a feeling of joy, and a feeling of fear, and yet none of it can eclipse the intrusive thoughts in my head.
"It's you, Why did you let that happen?, Hmph, it seems we won't have an answer for the time being."
"Why did you let it all end up like that?, hahahah, I think it was a mistake for the mages to summon you here."
I licked my lips slightly, not at all perturbed by these voices.
"So, What else?", I said in my mind, my eyes seeming not to work and only an absolute black filling my vision.
There was a slight silence, harmonic, like silence in a forest in the middle of the night.
"Why don't you try to do something to me?, you just say useless words, Don't you think?, what is in the past must stay in the past", I said with a slight smile, and yet, it seemed that I was trying to convince myself more than whatever it was that was talking to me.
Whatever the case, my dark vision soon cleared slightly, I found myself sitting, a completely terrifying face in front of me, his white hair bristling, with every strand of it marking its own path, frenetic wrinkles on his forehead, accusing eyes, slightly thick eyelashes and a pointed nose, all with his dry lips and the most massive acne I've ever seen in my life.
"It's you....", however, I just said that, I know this person, or at least I know this head.
I remember, I was twelve years old, I was trying to escape Poki and Huayta before they grabbed me like a punching bag again, I wandered into the depths of the janitor's house next to the school,
I didn't think it would end up that way, I mean, there was nothing strange about that house besides the bowls of garbage around the kitchen, the spoons under every plate table or in every corner, and a simply unpleasant smell.
"Who is Miss Bet?", I said with half-closed eyes observing that withered skin, tired eyes and simply what looks like a horror decoration., "You are Miss Bet, Remember?', before I could continue speaking the head opened wide revealing her sharp, completely crooked teeth, not uniform at all, a yellowish color with some food between them.
My eyes widen enormously before it all ends.
...
I open my eyes and quickly sit up, my breathing hitching and sweat running down my body a sign of my state.
"My lord", Kamila quickly reaches over to help steady me, the various thoughts filling my head soon fading into a frenzy of euphoria.
"Are you..." I said as I looked at Kamila's lovely face to my right, she smiles gently as she wipes the sweat from my forehead with a towel.
"My lord... you," Kamila squints her eyes, concern written all over her face, "Are you okay?", she bites her lips.
"Yes, I think so...", I didn't fully answer Kamila's question, that's because I started to feel something else inside me, something powerful.
It's as if my perception has increased, I can clearly hear the sounds of people fighting outside, or see in detail the dust on the table several meters away.
"My lord, is something wrong?", Kamila asks, I turn my head to look at her, her golden eyes glowing slightly, every part, every detail in the sea hidden within her pupils is visible, every inch of her skin, every hair, every strand,.
"You are beautiful...", I said it, I guinely felt that, I didn't say it out of attraction or because I wanted something deeper with her, it is simply my appreciation, I really think she is very beautiful.
Kamila tilts her head quickly, a red blush even visible on her neck.
"Blessed are those who are capable of living in solitude, but even happier are those who simply live their lives", I said, remembering what my grandfather said, one of my hands grabbing one of Kamila's loose locks.
At first glance, they look like small, delicate lines of shiny gold, feeling each of those strands slide through the pores of my hands, a deep feeling of nostalgia invades me.
Kamila doesn't say anything, she just comes a little closer to me, I could have her all to myself right now.
However, I have a little feeling that if I do something I shouldn't, this little girl will cut my throat.
Even if it wasn't, Is this what I really want?
Probably not, I'm not that kind of traditional-man who is looking for a wife and wants a calm life.
"What happened, I mean, How did I get to this room?", I asked.
After a few minutes I figured it out, somehow I had passed out after a few minutes of swallowing that tear of god whatever that thing is, I was quickly taken to my room and a "doctor" of the kingdom looked at my body, he said there were no problems and that I just needed to rest, then, Kamila accompanied me during the whole time I was asleep or unconscious in the strict sense of the word.
I couldn't ask Kamila why she was doing all this, not at this time.
"By the way, Sir Firenze said that as soon as you recover go to the training camp to start training, it has been decreed that three kingdoms including Arlott will enter a tournament", a tournament in which the heroes summoned by each kingdom will participate, this tournament will serve to measure the strength of the heroes of each kingdom and thus avoid war."
Kamila said with a frown.
"It's complicated, we must not waste more time", having said this I prepared to get up and sy visit the training camp as soon as possible, not for the kingdom, but because, I want to escape from Arlott.
...
The training camp is a bit empty, there are few people training, apparently, according to Kamila, the warriors or people and soldiers of the kingdom who train here right now are preparing to reinforce the borders.
With the sword that Kamila gave me sheathed in a sheath hanging on my back I walk calmly, here several people are fighting, I can recognize most of them.
Poki is in a fight against Huanca, Poki's body is slightly covered with blue flames, the halberd in his hand seems to be glowing like molten iron, one of his thrusts is enough for Huanca to use a green shield and block Poki's attack.
A slight noise is heard as the two collide, at a glance it can be felt that the two have surpassed the limits of human strength.
On the other hand, Caero is fighting against giraffe, giraffe is a teenager of more than two meters, I don't remember his name, so I just call him giraffe, as they all did at school.