“Hrm. Absolutely bizarre. I always believed something alike to talent was only attributed at birth. But to be blessed with it by the Gods themselves!” Sir Leonard joyfully thought aloud in front of Viran.

Viran could only shake his head slightly at the fervent thoughts of his wizened teacher, after all he kept on spouting lies made by the Emperor. Perhaps only the Emperor and himself knew the truth about the Laws of Heaven that even the Gods they worshipped abided by, Viran did not know. All he knew was that things would change considerably as time went on. Viran’s mind especially still wandered continuously over Ry’s sympathetic words and Viran’s unfortunate circumstances. After all not every child within the Empire was blessed by the Heavens, Viran being one of them. Were it any other era Viran would be considered a national treasure for his talent, yet in this era it seemed that he would be called a Devil by his peers and considered trash among them.

“Hahh.” Viran could only wistfully sigh as he imagined the city Verita once more in his mind.

“Don’t you think I’m a Devil, Sir Leonard?” Viran asked his teacher that sat across from him suddenly.

“Hrm? I doubt you’re a Devil. Well no, I think it’s impossible actually.” Sir Leonard’s words were unexpectedly resolute and Viran could feel his heart warming in front of those touching words.

“Heh. Why so confident? Maybe I’ll just kill you now!” Viran playfully said as he pointed a pencil straight towards Sir Leonard’s neck.

“Hrm. Well after you try to kill me I’ll simply teach you about the last era again. Let’s see~ perhaps recounting each Harbinger Disaster in order would suffice until we get back to the estate? By then we’ll have your books back and, hrm, we’ll be able to learn much more.” Sir Leonard jokingly said as he swept the pencil pointed at him away.

However, Sir Leonard’s face suddenly stiffens as his gaze catches sight of Lord Idicium’s prestigious carriage.

“Hrm, but it is weird how Craynor rejected you. Perhaps your Father suggested it to him?” Sir Leonard’s words were rough, yet seemed plausible enough.

“I already hate to hear him being called my Father… Yet if he did I may actually try to kill him.” Viran suddenly said, prompting a curious look from Sir Leonard.

“You must not say such things Viran, hrm. It’s dangerous.” Sir Leonard said with a stern look on his face. Though despite his teacher attempting to be harsh on him, Viran only showed a bright smile in the face of the gentle aura Sir Leonard always gave off.

As the wheels of the carriage turned repeatedly, Viran couldn’t help but wonder what Sir Renault was up to. They hadn’t been gone for long, but the ride back would usher in the changing of seasons. It would be spring soon, and Viran was excited.

----------------------------------------

Wakeford came into sight immediately, except a bad premonition once more crept into the bottom of Viran’s heart. It was because of none other than his Father, Lord Idicium. Throughout the entire journey that carriage has stayed alongside Viran’s and now they have followed him all the way back to his estate. Instead of preparing for the upcoming war, his Father was there with him.

Exiting out the carriage Viran looked at the village that he hadn’t seen for a long time, Wakeford. Such a sight left him feeling nostalgic for the entire year he had spent within the quant village and estate, yet his nostalgia when he noticed something wrong with the village.

An old shack used to sit by the road, a decrepit shack of an already deceased family. That very same shack was no longer standing upright, and was instead a pile of wooden debris now. Viran could feel his heart squeeze with tension, the shack that Renault once lived in was no longer there. Renault hadn’t been seen by Viran for so long, and he needed to know whether his precious teacher was safe. Only that was impossible for Viran, both Gregory and Lord Idicium were there with him at the estate.

“Shit.” Viran darkly muttered, completely disregarding his Noble upbringing.

As Viran looked out at the village, Lord Idicium could feel his heart shatter repeatedly within those few moments. He couldn’t help but question just what he was about to do, to throw out his barely ten year old son into the world was what he had the most trouble doing. Lord Idicium may put up the facade of apathy in front of his only true son, but throwing him out into the wild world was something that he hesitated on doing. Even on the orders of his precious God Craynor.

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“Hrm. Something is different. The Knights look nervous…” Sir Leonard whispered lightly towards Viran.

“I agree, Renault’s shack is also demolished as well.” Viran responded in a quiet tone, so as to not be heard by any third party.

“Viran.” Sir Leonard suddenly said. “Hrm, no matter what happens. Don’t do anything stupid.”

The boy looked towards his old teacher and understood what he meant completely, he understood because he had thought of this day coming for months, he had thought of it happening purely because he hated the idea of it. Were Renault’s presence to be exposed, it could only mean one thing.

“Tch. Lazy. Where are the guards?” Lord Idicium asked with the entirety of his voice seeped in anger.

Of course the sight that Viran had grown accustomed to was no longer there, the guards that stood in front of the demolished gate during every hour. The gate itself was devoid of any signs of guards.

“Stand back.” Lord Idicium said towards Gregory, though Viran stepped back as well regardless.

As Lord Idicium walked through the demolished gate his sight pierced through the entirety of the estate, and shock filled his face within the same instance.

The estate itself was fine, but in the still infant garden that had only bloomed with the coming of spring there laid a body. The bloodied pool around his body only grew larger as time went on, and the sounds of steel biting steel was heard clearly by the group.

“Stay here.” Lord Idicium’s words were simple yet strict. Lord Idicium’s orders weren’t things that Viran wanted to abide by as the worst possible scenario flooded his head, a terrible premonition.

Never for a second did Viran ever consider listening to his Father and the warm feeling of mana courses through his body as he blasts off after the sounds of steel. His own Father reaches out to stop him, but his hands grab nothing but air as the Knights stand aside not knowing what to do.

“Viran don’t!” Sir Leonard calls out after Viran only to realize the futility of it. It was clear that Viran was not in the mood or place to listen to them.

Viran wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but he could faintly guess just what was happening. He wasn’t even sure what he could possibly do when he arrived, but that was all a question for later.

Behind him Viran could hear the yelling of Knights and his own Father, but still Viran ignored them. He was quite lucky that they weren’t throwing out spells to get him, but that was the full extent of his luck. Only a second later he would see a wide splash of blood cover the dirt ground on the floor as a body slumped down to the ground, never to move again. His tanned skin immediately began to turn pale as the body rested there motionless, the tanned hand itself was still gripped onto a chipped sword. The Knights surrounding the body were wounded in multiple places with their own equipment broken in places as well, and within the distance Viran could see Elder Nichols standing there motionless.

But none of that mattered to Viran, and so he slid on his knees to reach Renault’s corpse. A heavy gash showed itself across the neck of his venerable teacher and warm blood still sprayed from that wound, his own eyes were clouded in a red mist as they hung half open. The aged white hair that hung from his head was sticky with his own blood as a pool formed underneath the body and it only took a few moments before Viran could feel the warm sensation stick to his knees completely.

The boy hadn’t made a single sound, his hands only stood still in the blood.

“Renault?” Lord Idicium said in shock before turning to the weaponless Sava. “What happened here?”

Sava looked from Sir Leonard then to the dying corpse before affirming what he knew to be fact.

“I was always suspicious why Viran would go out into the village so often, so I decided to look around. I found Renault in the old shack down by the river, and when I struck first to detain him the shack was broken completely. The old man ran towards the forest to hide… But our own Knights were already on their way back from hunting the rat hordes and he was forced to run towards the Estate.” Sava’s eyes shone a different light as he told the story. “He died here after refusing to be detained.”

Viran barely listened to the story as he stared at the cold corpse in front of him, Lord Idicium however listened as closely as he could. Sir Leonard only looked at the corpse and towards Elder Nichols as he deliberated to himself in thought.

“How did he know where Viran was? How did no one know he was staying in the village?” Lord Idicium’s fierce gaze finally left the corpse as it was put firmly onto Elder Nichols standing nearby.

Elder Nichols didn’t shake once underneath the firm gaze. Without a second to think, he told a lie that he had already planned on a year ago.

“Sir Leonard brought Renault here.” Elder Nichols said, shocking everyone but the man himself.

“That’s!” Viran hurriedly yelled in his defense before the fierce gaze of Lord Idicium caused him to quiet down.

“Why did you allow a man like Renault to live alongside you all.” Lord Idicium asked.

“Sir Leonard told us that you sent him here, that he was an old expert that didn’t want to be exposed. He helped the village with repairing our tools and farming, while we merely kept his presence a secret from everyone. You have my apologies for this transgression, Lord Idicium.”

Elder Nichols lied as easily as he breathed, something Viran obviously took note of. But before Viran could stand in defense of his remaining teacher, he himself confirms the lie itself.

“Hrm, it’s all true. I brought Renault here to teach Viran, and I manipulated the villagers.” Sir Leonard fell to his knees as he pressed his head at the feet of his Lord. “I have made a serious transgression, and I accept complete responsibility.”

Viran could only look on, as he patted his blood soaked hands onto the dirt underneath.