Airsidh and Finlo handled whatever weird tests they ran on the undead Kraken’s severed limbs and they came back positive, as in our plan might actually work. It was a good thing too, while they were doing that I was getting everything set up, so that meant my work wasn’t meaningless, which was always a good feeling.

It took about 3 hours to get the oil set up and make the changes to the ballista so that it could target downwards and actually aim at the Kraken, then all that was left was to wait and see. We had 9 hours left. After eating we had 8 hours left. Somehow the bathhouse was still intact which felt like more than a little blessing, so after using that we were down to 7. Still, time ticked away and I only felt more nervous. 5… The sun was going to be setting soon. 3…

A loud bell rang and I felt manna rush through my body faster than the adrenaline, forcing a burning sensation through all of my veins as I shot out of the bed I was resting in and grabbed my sword, rushing out to the walls… But the Kraken wasn’t there… ‘Was it a false alarm?”

“BANDITS!” The guardsman yelled.

‘Are you serious… This is why you don’t put such a freaking high tax on food… Actually, this is a different area so it’s probably unrelated… Still, arn’t there way too many?’ I took a deep breath and let out a long growl as I headed up the eastern wall. Sure enough, a large number of torches were seen approaching us, and while I didn’t know how the guard figured out they were bandits. I could tell by looking at them closely. Bloodied shoddy armor and weapons, the classic unkempt look.

I turned my back to the wall and sank down staring at how much of a mess the castle was… ‘I know I like defensive battles and all… But this is a bit much isn’t it?’

My brother climbed up the wall, walking over next to me with a casual yawn as he stretched his shoulders.

“Did you have a nice nap?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, it was the best. The beds here are great I sank right into the mattress and just dozed off.”

“That’s nice… Mine felt like a rock…”

He chuckled. “That’s because you're as light as a feather. So, bandits right, how many?”

“I counted 84 torches.” The guard said confidently, staring out at them as they came out of the wound and began walking through the farmland.

I stared back down at the mess of a castle. ‘I don’t even want to defend this place anymore… It’s a piece of junk…’ I sighed. “Only one in five is carrying a torch though…”

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The guard shuddered. “So that means…”

“84 times five is 420…” I rolled my eyes. ‘That’s a fitting number’ “Well, that’s a rough estimate, so they have more than double our numbers. Normally not a problem… But our castle gate is missing… Think we can just pretend like we're leaving it open because they don’t scare us?”

They both stayed silent. ‘Seriously… Why don’t we just give this dump away and… Hold on a second…’ “Hey wait a minute…” I stood up and tugged on Air’s sleeve to get his attention. “Why don’t we just leave?”

He looked back at the same wreckage I was staring at. “Sure, the carriage is ready.”

I rolled my eyes, “No, I mean like all of us. We let the Kraken kill all of the bandits, and then–”

“When they weaken each other we come back and wipe them both out…”

“Try again?” I asked timidly after he paused, not giving a response.

He let out a small groan. “No, I like it. It’s good… Oh, I’m going to go get the horses ready, good luck convincing the commander.”

I grabbed his sleeve holding him back. “That’s Finlo’s job… And… I’d really rather not go talk to him by myself…”

He smirked. “What’s the matter? He’s not not that scary is he?”

“I don’t like getting yelled at… And if my dragon blood snaps at him I might bight his head off…”

His smile suddenly vanished for a moment, but after that moment passed it came back. “You have full control over it and you know it. You’re bluffing. Oh, and by the way. That’s not how you’re supposed to ask for help.”

‘What the… Do I have a tell?’ I let out a soft growl, following him back down the castle walls as he turned to leave. “How am I supposed to ask then?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Something more like. Please help me, big brother, it hurts my feelings when the big scary commander yells at me.”

“I’m not 7… And I don’t sound like that…”

He raised a finger in the air without turning around. “No, but you should if you want my help.”

‘You can't be serious…’

We reached the bottom of the stairs and he took a step towards the stables, away from where the commander was before turning around. “Well?”

‘He was… He was serious… Can I get away without using his help? No… I highly doubt I could beat the commander in a fight…’ I slowly looked around. There were plenty of guards around us… All of them were within earshot. “And I have to make my voice sound like that?”

He shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

‘Ugh… This is so embarrassing…’ “P-p-ple– Erhm…” I shut my eyes so I could forget about how many people were around and clenched my fists, tightening my whole body to make sure I actually projected the words loud enough to hear as raised the pitch of my voice in an exaggerated fashion. “P-please help me… Big brother… I-it… Hurts my feelings when the big scary commander yells at me…”

My whole body shuddered before I opened my eyes and relaxed, feeling my face turn bright red from the embarrassment as I cleared my throat. After it was over I thought that would be that… But his unrelenting stare made it impossible to stop feeling embarrassed. ‘He’s not going to make me do it again is he?’ “H-how was that…”

He just shook his head. “How is it that every time you try to do something super embarrassing, you end up doing something super adorable instead? Well, whatever let's go.”

“Jerk…” I muttered, following behind him.

He sighed, no doubt hearing my words. “If you can do something that makes you that uncomfortable, then talking to strangers shouldn’t be so hard right? So stop feeling so anxious around them and trust me to look after you ok?”

‘So the whole time it was just another one of his teaching moments…’ I growled. “I get the point… But that was excessive… I can’t believe you made me do that…”

He chuckled, letting me catch up to his side and rubbing my head. “Yeah, well, this skull of yours is surprisingly thick for how small it is.”

I let out another growl, staying silent until we arrived at the war room wear the comander was. ‘I guess we should at least try to resolve this without a fight…’