"S-Stay away from me!!" [???]
A large serpent-like creature slowly reveals itself from the shadows of the large trees around it. It measured roughly 20 meters in length and had several large legs protruding from its serpentine body.
It hissed as it eyed its prey in front of it, the mere hiss sending reverberations through the air towards its target- a man around his mid twenties, wearing a slightly rusted, but still reliable plate armor. He had tripped earlier from a tree's roots while running away from the beast, sending his helmet flying away from him and his sword thrown somewhere in the thick bushes.
He frantically looked around to see if there is anything, something that he can do to survive but to no avail. The serpent slowly leaned in towards him and opened its big mouth, preparing to devour him all.
"Is this the end?" He thought to himself.
But just as life flashes right before his eyes the serpent was suddenly engulfed in flames.
Probably out of reflex, he started scurrying away from the heat and had forgotten his fear from the beast that was about to make him its meal. And right behind me, he hears footsteps.
"Are you okay? Sorry I was late, I'm not really good at directions and detection magic, you see." [???]
He turns around to see a man with an awkward smile as he scratches the back of his head.
At first glance, you'd judge him to be nothing short of a simple civilian due to his ragged clothes and a simple leather tunic as an armor. However this man not only seemed to be taller than himself but was also more muscular despite not being a knight. And lastly, the greatest giveaway of this man's status was the great sword he casually held with his right arm.
It was easily as tall as the man holding it, maybe even bigger. And the blade shone brighter than any gemstone that it practically screams it is made out of some rare precious metal. And not to mention, the hilt that was adorned with a glistening golden thread, he could feel a slight magic essence coming from it.
Before he could utter a word- the man suddenly grabs him and throws him away towards a bush, cushioning his impact. He immediately stood up expecting a sight to behold in front of him but as he stood, a large object abruptly stopped him from doing so as it came barreling towards him at an unexpected speed.
It impacted the large tree behind him, not only splattering the object into hundreds of pieces but also sending bluish goo all over the place. And as the tree was large enough, it did receive some damage but not enough to break. He looked at the scattered pieces and judged that it was most likely the serpent's head, and that goo was its blood.
"Ah! Oh hey are you alright? I'm sorry, he just lunged at me so I swiped his head off with my left hand." [???]
The knight would normally shrug his words off if it weren't for the man, who had stretched his left hand towards him, had the blue blood of the serpent on his hand.
He took the man's hand and stood up, he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by several shouts coming from behind the trees.
"Ray! Knight Ray! Are you alive?" [???]
"Captain James..." [Knight Ray]
"Oh, Ray!" [Captain James]
The captain smiled and looked at the tired, beaten, and dirty knight before scanning his surroundings. His eyes lands on the beheaded serpent and then on the tree that had its blue blood splattered all over.
"Well I guess you guys took care of the basilisk already. But it's unfortunate that we can't harvest its fangs or eyes anymore." [Captain James]
"I didn't do anything, it was the-" [Knight Ray]
"Ah shut up, it's fine even if you didn't manage to land a hit on it. You were still one of the brave knights who volunteered in the subjugation quest even when our supposed strongest knights decided to abandon this quest." [Captain James]
He paused a bit and put his right arm over Ray.
"And besides, you'd be coming home with a hefty amount of coins. Plus, we finished this quest without any casualties despite fighting a basilisk, fighting it usually requires a hundred knights and we'd still suffer a high mortality rate, you know?" [Captain James]
James looks at the other person with them and smiles at him.
"And it's all thanks to hero Raymond. We didn't even have to do anything." [Captain James]
"No, it's thanks to you knights that I was about able to do my job. If you guys didn't help me with detection magic, I'd have lost the basilisk after all." [Raymond]
"You give us too much credit. You're still the one who killed it in the end." [Captain James]
"Anyway we've spent a long enough time here already, knights! Butcher the serpent and take whatever can be used. As for the rest of its body, burn it to ashes. We don't want its blood corroding other animals in the area." [Captain James]
After giving out orders he looks at Raymond again."
"After this. Should we head back and report to the king, hero?" [Captain James]
"Yes, we should." [Raymond]
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"Everyone, at ease." [???]
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A domineering voice echoed throughout the large room. The man from whom the voice came, sat down on a large golden throne with two red rubies sitting at each tip from the sides. And once his entire body touched the object, everyone suddenly felt an immense surge of magic emanating from the person who just sat.
He wore red and gold clothing that lustered in the light, and contrast to his clothes, his mantle was dyed with nothing but jet black. He had a long white beard that had a yellowish jewel tied at its end, his hair was black and so was his yes.
The room remained completely silent until one of the knights who was kneeling in front of him spoke.
"Your excellency, my king Eleazar IX, I have come to report that the subjugation team have slayed the basilisk." [Captain James]
"Mmm. I heard that my knights did not do anything and it was the hero who did all the work?" [King Eleazar IX]
"Y-Yes your majesty... it is unfortunate but we simply did not have the powe-" [Captain James]
"That is fine by me. I had a choice of letting it free and have it wreck havoc somewhere else, or I sacrifice my knights to take it down. That is why I did not send my finest knights and only put it up as volunteer work." [King Eleazar IX]
He strokes his beard and looks over Raymond, who was still kneeling and was facing the ground."
"And besides, I called upon the hero to take care of it. However- I am not saying that I will forsake your rewards, you captain and your subordinates, after all.. you lot still took the quest even when nobody else did." [King Eleazar IX]
He waves his hands towards one of his retainers and they immediately leave.
"And as we had agreed upon. You all will be given 50 silver coins each for your work- is what you'd normally get, however by request of the hero before we left, his rewards shall be given to all of you too. Therefore a total of 100 silver coins each, for you fifteen brave knights." [King Eleazar IX]
James and Ray's eyes lit up as they realized they had just made a fortune. In their kingdom, Rigondrion, being a knight or a soldier is volunteer work. There is no conscription, only during war times. And a lower rank knight's annual salary comes at around 24 silver coins. It was enough for an average citizen to have a peaceful life in a small house with all their needs taken care of, obviously this does not account debt. So needless to say, 100 silver coins was a lot for them. But in perspective, it seemed low considering they risked their lives on a quest.
The king's retainers return, carrying a box filled with pouches that had the coins in them. They handed over the contents to the knights who gleefully received the pouches.
James and Ray look at Raymond with big smiles, seemingly saying thank you to him. In return Raymond returned a smile and a slight bow.
"Now that you have your rewards, you are all dismissed. Except you hero- no, Raymond." [King Eleazar IX]
The group of knights stood up and gave one last bow to the king, before leaving they waved Raymond goodbye.
"And everyone else, leave us." [King Eleazar IX]
Everyone in the room, the retainers, the guard knights, and others gave a bow and left the room.
The king sighed and stood up.
"Raymond my friend! How long has it been? I thought I wouldn't see you again despite just living outside the city's walls!" [King Eleazar IX]
"Well I'm sorry about that, I was just busy, you know?" [Raymond]
"Busy my ass! You've retired as a hero years ago! If it weren't for the basilisk then I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to meet again." [King Eleazar IX]
"Ah really, I was busy. I have a child to take care of." [Raymond]
"Ah right, you did." [King Eleazar IX]
After a short pause, Eleazar spoke again.
"White hair, pale skin, and red eyes." [King Eleazar IX]
This had seemed to catch Raymond's attention as he shot a quick glare towards the king.
"Woah calm down, I was just reminding you of your last duty." [King Eleazar IX]
"After all, you're the only one who can do it." [King Eleazar IX]
"Is there really no other way..." [Raymond]
"I'm afraid not. May I remind you of the prophecy four years ago. 'white hair, pale skin, red eyes', that was the description of the demon king that will appear any time this year. That is what the prophets of the kingdom have said. And you have to kill it." [King Eleazar IX]
"We've hold it on pause for too long, Raymond. And now we're nearing judgement day." [King Eleazar IX]
He looks at Raymond who was now once again looking at the ground.
"Raymond. The lives of countless people is on your hands. Even if I muster up all the strongest adventurers and knights, we will not be able to defeat the demon king without the help of the hero. The tragedy of Alagos was a prime example of that." [King Eleazar IX]
"Aghh, I'm too old for this hero shit." [Raymond]
He scratches the back of his head and looks at Eleazar.
"But fine, it's not like anyone can do this anyway." [Raymond]
"Thank you, Raymond. Then I leave that matter to you." [King Eleazar IX]
"You owe me some drinks for this." [Raymond]
Eleazar just laughs followed by Raymond, they spend some more time joking with each other and reminiscing about their past.
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"Ugh that bastard, he really thought he can hold his liquor against me. What will the people think if they see their king drunk like that? He's giving me a headache." [Raymond]
He looks up to the sky, towards the setting sun. Even though they started the subjugation quest in the morning, it's almost night time now as Raymond apparently spent a lot of time with his friend in the castle.
"It's getting late, Elena's probably waiting for me. I don't remember if we had food at home, maybe I should buy something before I head back." [Raymond]
"Hey! Raymond!" [???]
A raspy old voice calls out to him.
"Huh? Ah! If it isn't the old man butcher, you called me just on time. I was looking for something to buy." [Raymond]
"Don't call me an old man! My name is Bob!" [Bob]
Bob angrily retorts back.
"I was just kidding, just kidding. Anyway you have some meat left, right?" [Raymond]
"Scraps again? Obviously I do." [Bob]
Bob packs the leftover meat from his shop and wraps it in some dirty cloth. He hands over the package to Raymond.
Raymond checks the content of the bag and sees a whole meat inside.
"Hey I think you misplaced this, I can't afford this, you know?" [Raymond]
"Ah that's fine, I'm a bit worried about your daughter that you might not be feeding her well. After all she.." [Bob]
"I know, I know. Thanks, I'll let her know." [Raymond]
"You don't need to. Just do your job, hero." [Bob]
Raymond turns around and doesn't look back as he heads straight to his home.
His house is located just right at the outskirts of the city, Certinya, the capital of Rigondrion kingdom. A relatively far walk from the main city but for Raymond, it was just a short stroll.
He arrives just a few minutes later and arrives at his home. It was a small house enough for two people to live in. The outside appearance looked rugged with a few planks hanging loose, the house was in dire need of repairs but due to Raymond's low income, he couldn't afford it.
He slowly approached the door, but before he did, the door opens.
"White hair, pale skin, and red eyes.." [Raymond]
"Welcome home, papa!" [???]
"Elena!" [Raymond]
"That's right, Elena, my daughter. The demon king that I have to kill." [Raymond]