"Nylon's back?"

One of the beastmen behind the wooden wall spoke.

"Open the door! Watch out for any intruders while doing so! There's Nylon and a guest! No one else!"

His loud voice boomed on the other side, making the beastmen at the door rush in hurry out of the village.

Four guards armed to the teeth with various weapons stayed on guard while Nylon and Orion walked past them.

Once both of them went inside, the guards returned one by one, and closed the door.

"Welcome to Logran, Orion. Sorry if the welcome was a little rough."

Orion shook his head.

"Don't worry. Knowing that Dylan's living in a heavily protected village doesn't surprise me. But now I wonder, such thing shouldn't be possible with the humans around."

A little hesitant, Nylon thought if it was a right idea to just reveal the answer.

'He's a trustworthy person, or so I want to think. Doesn't he has ties with them anyway now?'

He strained his eyes a little, before relaxing.

"We've been supported by Turric for many years. They did us this favor, while we help them during the toughest of invasions. By that, I meant Dylan. He's the one that was supposed to help, but they never requested our help anyway."

"Recently, around ten years ago, Albriar also began to send supplies to us. They wanted us to send the overflow of people we had, and in return, they would trade various goods to thank us. We've continued this relationship with them after we've heard that our fellow beastmen were treated with respect."

While explaining this to Orion, they walked further inside the village.

'It's very similar to Auro in its layout. Any beastman village we've stayed look almost the same. It might be in their blood to arrange districts this clearly.'

While listening to Nylon, he also observed the buildings. The clear resemblance in architecture, the houses, shops, everything looked like Auro, while being personalized by the individuals.

'But there's more people than in Auro. Weren't beastmen villages forbidden of having more than a few hundred people? Why does it feel like this place is closer to a town at this point?'

So many beastmen were walking around. Some talking to one another, some shopping, others simply enjoying their time outside.

As if Nylon read his mind, he began to explain that too.

"What you see, is what happens when the humans protect us from others. They gave us our freedom back. We don't have to abide by rules made by them, and any of our member can go to Albriar and live comfortably. That's how it became."

"I do get why Florian did not tell me about this. I haven't said anything about me being related to the beastmen. Between Auro and Logran, he's doing his best to erase the grief between the factions."

While Orion was thinking that many things were changing even without his input, he felt great. Him, who only wanted to be a simple aid and not the main focus of the changes.

Though, what he didn't realized, was that his destined fight with Elliot would be the event that would change everything definitively the lives of everyone on Triazils.

"L-Look, Nylon has returned."

"Oh, Nylon is back?!"

"Go talk to him!"

Three young beastmen girls were talking between each other, as Nylon and Orion were walking past them. To avoid being bothered, Nylon looked at them, and waved in their direction.

"O-Oh!"

"Hi."

"Welcome back."

The three of them looked a little flushed, but waved back at him nonetheless and greeted him.

"You are quite popular it seems. I wouldn't have expected that from an assassin."

"That's what being the son of the 'Savior' brings. I've also never wronged my neighbors. But you're one to talk. Two flowers in each arms is quite a feat."

Orion took it with a smile, as both were really precious to him.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

As both talked a little bit more on the way, they soon arrived at their destination. A green wooden house, typical of a beastman.

'Dylan's house...'

Hesitation took over him for a split second. He clenched his fist and looked straight at the front door.

'It's not like me to hesitate. But I don't know what to say to him now that I'm here.'

He made up his mind in silence, and followed Nylon inside.

"I've returned."

Nylon's voice wasn't particularly loud, but it was enough for the residents to hear, thanks to their improved hearing.

"Dylan! Nylon's back!"

The soft voice of a woman traveled the rooms of the house, and another voice, older and calmer, so familiar to Orion, answered.

"I heard, you don't have to shout. I'm not senile yet."

Sounds of footsteps echoed in the next room, until a middle age beastman appeared to welcome he's son back.

"How was the situation in Turric? Did something happ-"

Dylan froze on the spot after seeing the guest.

"Hi..."

~

Somewhere in the plains between Albriar and Juvern.

"My Lord, we've been walking at an incredible pace. Don't you think it would be best to rest at the moment?"

Tom, Florian's aid, looked toward his Lord with a worried look.

"You might be right. But look at our men, do they look tired in your opinion?"

They both looked behind them, at the few hundred people that decided to follow their Lord.

Fixed gazes, determined footsteps, and an unchangeable resolve to save others. That was the result of Florian's speech.

These soldiers weren't going to capture cities, they went to save people. Citizens who had no one to depend on anymore, who had no way to survive without a leader.

No one would be able to refuse their help, while those found to be on the side of Julian, Kiel, and Leonis, would be imprisoned depending on their involvement to the lamias.

In fact, Florian had found the perfect punishment for these people. Anyone found having hurt a lamia will be sent to Lahro directly to be judged by them.

But right now, they were marching toward the first city to 'capture', Juvern.

"We've left Albriar nine days ago, and from what I can tell, we're very close to Juvern. We've taken very little breaks, and managed to double our marching speed. I have never seen our army like this."

Tom thought that they would be tired rather quickly, moreso after fighting a war, but he was proven wrong.

"This might be a more impressive than we thought."

Pointing his finger in front of him, Tom looked in the distance.

"Is that!"

Behind a forest patch, the walls of a city appeared in the distance.

"Seems like we've arrived."

He stopped, making his army also come to a halt. This was time to give another speech.

"Listen well! We have arrived to Juvern! I want all of you to remain calm, and check each one of the citizens, while I make my way to secure Julian's daughter."

"I want you to capture anyone involved with the lamias'. Seal the entrances, and allow no one to leave."

"Once the citizens are in the know that their Lord died, I will have them acknowledge me as their new Lord. And for that to succeed, I request that no act of violence is being done. No civilian blood must be spilled, even for the criminals. We are not required to judge them!"

"Keep your dignity, ignore your indignation. Now tell me, why are we here?"

His voice fell in the ears of all of his soldiers. They had fire in their eyes, trusting fully their Lord. This was not blind trust, it was admiration.

Florian never betrayed their expectations. So it was no wonder they would follow him until their end.

In unison, they repeated his words.

"Checking the citizens, and arresting the ones involved with the lamias!"

Florian nodded.

"What do I want from you?"

"No blood spilled!"

Satisfied, he turned around.

"Alright! All of you, forward!"

'This is so tiring.'

With a tired smile, he marched toward Juvern with the army.

...

An hour later.

Juvern was an old city. It had a lot of old buildings made of grey bricks. It looked incredibly beautiful, as it was the only architecture of the city. A remainder of the past era of castles.

The mark of an era that was conserved thanks to the incompetence of the Lords of Juvern.

The army entered the city, to the confusion of Juvern's citizens. They quickly learned the truth, that their Lord had died.

To Florian and his men's surprise, no one seemed to mourn the loss. Except the few people that tried to attack them.

They were quickly subdued, and brought in the middle of the town.

While the soldiers took care of the citizens, who followed without causing a scene, Florian entered Julian's house carefully.

'It's too quiet.'

The house was dark, and there was no signs of life in the various rooms of the house.

Florian made his way through the house, until he noticed one of the rooms being sealed. Wooden boards were nailed on the door to avoid it being opened.

'What in the-'

His instincts told him that this was most likely the right place. Without wasting a second, he broke the planks with his elbows, and tried to open the door.

'Tch! Locked.'

There was nothing he could do without the key. Or so he thought.

'I don't have the time to look for it.'

He channeled his magic, and roundhouse kicked the handle, successfully destroying the lock.

The door opened by itself, and revealed a room with barred windows.

And in the middle of the room, a little girl on death's doorstep.

Florian rushed to the little girl, and observed her features.

'She's... way too thin. How many days has she missed eating? What about water?'

He looked intently around, and noticed another room, which looked like a bathroom.

'If there's a sink, she most likely drank from it.'

The unresponsive girl needed to be saved this instant, so he took her in his arms, and walked out of the door.

'Guh!'

Only now did he notice an horrible stench coming from the room at the end of the corridor.

'I don't need check that room to understand what this is, or what happened. When her mother died, Julian lost his mind and locked the poor girl away. The fact that the stench of rot is so pronounced, only confirms my doubts.'

'What a horrible place. Let's get out of here.'

Quickly tracing back outside, he exited with the daughter of Julian successfully.

'What is wrong with this world, if children like her are treated this poorly?'

While gritting his teeth, he returned to his men. With the help of a few kind hearted citizens who shared some food and drinks, they managed to force some nutrients inside the girls system. Enough to make her recover consciousness.

'Where... father?'

She tried to lift her slender arm.

'...'

Florian stared at her, until her eyes devoid of emotions pierced his soul.

'I...'

For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to tell her.

"Your father... is gone."

The little girl smiled with difficulty.

"Haha... just like... mother. I was... left behind."

After speaking those words, she fell unconscious once again.

Florian could only clench his fists in pain, but deep down, he was glad to have rescued the girl before it was too late.