Mr. Gaspar led Felix to his office... which was very large, and not far away from the central watchtower. Between this, and the fact that the Queen knew his name personally, it did not take much mental effort on Felix's part to guess that Mr. Gaspar was of a very high rank.

Felix was led inside. Mr. Gaspar had a very nice desk covered in all sorts of maps and papers, a cushy chair, and most importantly, he had bookshelves, filled with books. Except perhaps for the spell manuals that the military had, books were exceptionally rare, as the printing press had not been invented yet in this world. Felix smartly waited standing, while Mr. Gaspar sat down.

"Be seated." Mr. Gaspar said. Felix sat down.

"Do you know who I am?" Mr. Gaspar asked.

"No, sir, but I assume you're of a very high rank." Felix responded.

Mr. Gaspar laughed. "I'm the general in charge of Fort Basil. I answer directly to His Royal Majesty, King Richard. It's not your fault though, I'm not wearing my ranking insignia right now." he said, brushing aside Felix's ignorance.

"Thank you for your understanding, sir." Felix said.

"Right, right. Well. The Queen has tasked me with booting you out, with severance, and getting you back to your farm. So I suppose I will do just that. You're in Environmental Engineering, right?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Felix responded.

"Standard severance for your rank and unit is 2 gold coins. Not too bad, that's about a year's pay for your average peasant, so I would say you're making out quite handsomely for scarcely 2 or 3 weeks of your time that we've taken. Any complaints about that?' He asked.

"There is one thing, sir. Before the dinner tonight, I was informed that the Battle of the Crimson Plains was lost on purpose. Is that correct, sir?" Felix asked.

"Hmm. Yes, it was unfortunately necessary in order to lure in the demons to attacking us. What of it?" Mr. Gaspar asked, looking at Felix.

"Well, sir, my father was in that army. Do you know if his remains will be able to be returned?" Felix asked.

Mr. Gaspar shook his head. "Unfortunately not. The demons, as you're aware, are the race of fire. Upon winning such a major battle, it is common practice for them to burn the corpses of their enemies as an offering to the great spirit of fire, and the corpses of their own race to return them to the fire. Basically, any time they win a battle, little if anything can be recovered." he explained.

"So my father is just... gone then?" Felix asked.

"I'm afraid so." Mr Gaspar said, nodding.

"Do I at least get compensation for you sending my father to his death?" Felix asked, trying his best to remain polite.

Mr. Gaspar snorted. "Your compensation is that you are alive right now. He died so you could live. Every breath you take is the military's compensation for that matter. If we didn't take the plan of action where we sacrificed that army, the demon army would have continued to grow to the point it could overwhelm our defenses here. By pretending to be weak, we baited them to try for a cheaper and faster victory by making it look like they could easily take us with their current forces. So if we hadn't sacrificed them, you and everyone else in the kingdom would have been killed or enslaved probably two years from now instead. I think we've done our part in that regard. Now, is there anything else?" Mr. Gaspar asked.

"No, sir." Felix said.

"Good. Here is your severance, then." Mr. Gaspar said, and he placed two gold coins on the front edge of his desk. Felix picked them up, and placed them in his coin pouch.

"Remind me where it is you're from, exactly?" Mr. Gaspar asked Felix.

"Gurnkey, sir." Felix responded.

"Ah, I'm familiar with it. That's that village on the road to Fort Cumin. Well, that's not an issue. I need to send some physical ledgers and reports to Fort Cumin anyway, for the quartermasters and the accountants to pore over, as they so love doing. Do you have any belongings in your unit you need to retrieve?" he asked.

"No, sir. The important things, I keep on me, and unfortunately I lost my backpack in my ordeal with that demon mage, and it had yet to be replaced." Felix responded.

"Good. Don't worry about rations or whatnot, they will be provided. Let's go." he said, rising to his feet. Felix stood as well.

Mr. Gaspar led Felix to an area nearby the gates, where wagons and horses were kept, and led Felix to one of them, which was empty. "Get in." he commanded Felix. Felix clambered into the wagon.

"Sit tight, while I make arrangements." he said, and he walked away. Felix did as instructed, and waited patiently. About a half hour later, a few men came to his wagon, and began loading it up with rations, water, and paperwork, while ignoring Felix. One of them tossed him a blanket, but that was the entirety of their interaction. After a couple of hours, the sun was already down, and they finished loading the wagon. Before they turned to leave, one of the men addressed Felix.

"Boss says you'll be leaving at first light, and not to leave that wagon. Everything will be arranged for you." he said, and walked away. And so, Felix was left alone in the wagon, with nothing but a bunch of paperwork and rice for company. Well, and Arboro, who he directed his attention to in his spell space.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"You were right about how things turned out." Felix said.

"Of course I was. You humans never change." Arboro said.

"Have you spent a lot of time with humans?" Felix asked.

"In my youth, I spent a couple thousand years among the other races, but mostly humans. Your kind hasn't changed at all." she sighed. "So? What will you do now?" she asked.

"Well, I guess I'll follow my original plan. Grow strong, silently." Felix said.

Arboro sighed again. "You never learn, do you?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Felix asked in return.

"Do you think you are an island unto the world? Humans cannot live in such isolation, whether they wish to or not. I had thought this lesson would have been taught to you by now, but I see now that I will have to spell it out for you myself. Tell me, were you able to live your quiet life on your farm before, in peace?" Arboro asked.

"Well, no, but that's only because I was drafted..." Felix responded.

"Right. You were. And when you were drafted, were you able to live a background existence then, either?" Arboro asked.

"Well, no, I practically got shoved into the demon's hands..." Felix said.

"Right. So what makes you think you will ever be free to lead such a hidden, solitary life? Humans must always give to human society at large, whether it's through their time, their labor, taxes, social benefits, or a large myriad of other things. If you don't give unto human society, human society will come and take from you. And I think you should have learned by now that you will not enjoy what happens when it takes from you, as you've nearly lost your life twice already, with that demon mage, and with that dinner that you only got out of because that queen was already satisfied with her..." Arboro paused here for a moment. "Entertainment." she said, spitting out the word in disgust. "You cannot afford to be isolated. You need to make social connections, to give to human society something of your choosing, and to have others who will be willing to stand up for you should someone try to take from you again. You cannot, and will not be so lucky as in these last two incidents which you narrowly survived." she said.

"I've just been unlucky. Not that I think it's your business, Arboro, but I led a very solitary life in my last life just fine, thank you." Felix countered.

"Indeed? And remind me, how old were you when you died?" Arboro asked.

"Thirty." Felix responded.

"And how did you die, exactly?" Arboro asked.

"T-that's... I don't want to talk about it." Felix said, as he tried to turn his attention away from Arboro.

"OH NO YOU DON'T." Arboro yelled loudly, as she bit his spell space, forcing his attention back immediately. "I'm stuck with you now. I WILL ensure you live to the best of my ability. And let me tell you, since I'm attached to your soul, if I REALLY want to, I can simply peek into your memories. I have not done so out of respect, but if I think I have to in order to keep you alive, I will. So you can tell me what happened in your own words, or I can go find out for myself!" Aroboro said, snarling.

"My past life is none of your business you damn lizard!" Felix yelled angrily.

"It IS my business. I'm part of your soul now, whether you like it or not. And also, look around! You have nobody! You have no friends! No family! No one except for me! Is this truly how you wish to live your life?" Arboro asked.

"If I want to live that way, that is my decision!" Felix said angrily.

"Felix, that isn't living! There's no point to it. No purpose. Think about it logically for a moment. Let's say that here and now, you got a ridiculous amount of power. You got the blessings and artifacts of the 8 elements, and a ton of spells constructed. You could single-handedly take on the entire kingdom, no the entire world. What would you do with that power?" Arboro asked.

Felix was stumped. "I... I don't know. I'm not the type who would wish to be king or anything. I wouldn't kill anyone or anything." Felix said.

"So then for what purpose are you gathering power? WHY do you want to be strong?" Arboro asked.

"Well, so I can do what I want, free of the orders or influence of others." Felix said.

"And again, what is it you even want to do?" Arboro asked.

"W-well I... that's..." Felix stammered.

"You know what I think? I think that your obsession with magical strength is really just a distraction. You're distracting yourself from your issues. If you're thinking about what spell to construct next, then you don't need to think about the reason you're constructing it in the first place!" Arboro said.

"T-that's..." Felix stammered.

"You know what most people want power for? To protect their loved ones! To help their fellow man! To help their friends! To be able to find lovers! But YOU. Not you! You've only been seeking power for the sake of power! Can even you tell me you see a positive end at the end of that path, as deluded as you are?" Arboro asked him.

Felix was silent.

"So now, I will ask you one more time before I excavate the answer myself! How did you die in your last life?" she asked, and waited for a response.

Felix sighed and took a moment to collect himself. "I died of a heart attack. At the age of 30." He said glumly.

Arboro nodded. "Go on." she said.

"I was a lazy slouch, and very unhealthy. I never left my house. I was indoors all day. I might even go months without leaving it. I was overweight. I got a job I could do without leaving home. An accounting job. I got paid when I did work, so if I didn't do any, nothing happened, they just wouldn't pay me anything." Felix said.

"And were you happy in this life? Was it truly so enjoyable that you want to spend this life in the same way?" Arboro asked him.

"No. I was miserable. No one checked in on me for months. I think it had been 8 months since I last spoke to a family member when I died. And before that, I think it was 3 months since I last left the house and spoke to a store clerk." Felix said.

"If you were so miserable, why did you live like that?" Arboro asked him.

Felix was silent for a moment, but then continued. "I was afraid." he admitted. "Afraid to get hurt. Growing up I was always bullied. I didn't go to college or anything because I was so sick of people. I never had a girlfriend. I died a kissless, hugless, hand-holdless virgin." Felix said. "It's funny, actually. There was a rumor in my old world that said if you made it to 30 as a virgin, you would become a wizard. I guess it was true." he said mockingly. He continued "Eventually, I came to hate everyone. I grew to hate other guys who were successful because I was jealous. I grew to hate women, because they were all over guys who had it all, while they ignored me. I hated... no. I hate everyone. Why do they get to be happy, while I don't get to?" he asked.

"And do you want to keep going like that? Or do you want things to change? Do you want friends, and a lover? Do you want to be happy?" Arboro asked him.

"Of course I do! Who wouldn't want that?" Felix asked angrily.

"Then do what I tell you to do. Abandon your plan to be a loner on your farm, and do something better. Do you have any family anywhere left?" Arboro asked.

"Well... yes, actually. There's another branch of my family in the north of the kingdom. My father told me about them before." Felix said.

"Then go be with them. I'm sure they'll take you in, and you can build a new life from there." Arboro said.

"But... what if I get hurt again?" Felix asked.

"Felix, you're already at rock bottom. You're alone in the world and every week someone barges in your life trying to kill you or take something from you. You're already going to get hurt. If it's going to happen either way, why don't you at least get hurt in the way that has a chance of making you happy?" Arboro asked him.

Felix was silent for a bit. "Okay." he said, eventually. "I'll trust you, Arboro." he said meekly.

"Good. Now get some sleep, Felix." she told him.

"Okay." he said, again meekly.

And so, he went to sleep in the back of the wagon.