Chapter 6 - Our Stay in Konan (1)
Hana:
It was something completely unexpected. In the depth of night, as I was still sleeping, sudden sounds of explosions and screams resounded around the village. Mom and all the adults quickly rushed outside to see what it was and from the little opening in the walls I could see it. I saw a pillar of flames rise out from within the forest, followed shortly by the crackle and sizzle of roaring blue thunder.
What came afterwards was a world of silence, then a flash of light erupted from behind the village. Then everything was silent again, and the dark came back to reclaim the night. Misty and my other Gale Wolves were covering their ears and cuddled around me.
“M-mom…?” I called out as I slowly broke free from their hold and got up.
“What is it Han- Hana!!”
I didn’t know why mom suddenly shouted, but it didn’t take long to figure out why. In the next instant, I felt a cold hard hand wrap around my arm, and pulled me into the swirling darkness. My brain couldn’t keep up with the things going on around me since I had just woken up and the next thing I knew, I was in the forest.
“W-what…”
As I slowly turned my head up to see who was grabbing onto me, my heart almost jumped out of my chest and a chill rushed down my spine. What was staring at my were two deep crimson eyes that belonged to a skeletal monster. It’s skinless face showed a wicked smile full of razor sharp teeth.
“Hana!? Fuck!!” Suddenly a familiar voice drew my attention away from the monster's face.
It was the Princess, whom we had thrown out earlier, scorning them as they left. It was a face I feared ever since she came and took dad away, but at this time I couldn’t help but feel somewhat relieved. That lasted only a moment though, because I was suddenly being pulled away again.
“Oh, no you don’t! Lend me your strength, Ancient Dragon, to face my foes [Heritage of Lux]! [Zero’s Seal:Unleashed]!”
A magnificent sight I’ve never seen before played out right before my eyes. A beautiful, translucent white light had surrounded the Princess, forming glorious translucent dragon wings behind her. A similar light covered her sword as it transformed into an ever more extravagant and luminous shape.
“Are you hurt Hana?” She asked with her brilliant back facing me.
“Y-yeah…” I barely managed to squeak out in fear and awe.
Despite the bloodbath that went on before me, I couldn’t manage to look away. With his subordinates defeated, the monster’s master and his lieutenant joined in the fight. Luckily the Princess’s companion was there to back her up, forcing them to retreat. The clash had uprooted many trees and vegetation around the forest clearing.
“Are you okay Hana, not hurt anywhere are you?” While I was still shaking in fear, the mage with copper hair, Renna came and asked me.
I didn’t know what to say at first. I mean how was I supposed to respond to them, them who we had kicked out scornfully yet still worried about a lowly peasant like me. They who had fought to defend our village when we ignored their warnings. The only thing I could do was to beg and ask for forgiveness, for wronging them.
“N-no I’m okay, but… I’m so sorry for not believing you Princess Lux… *sniff* e-even though we threw you guys out of the village and… *sniff* and even said you were trying to kill us, you still protected me! P-please spare everyone in the village… *sniff* i-if you must, kill me inst-”
Tears began welling up in my eyes, hoping that the Princess would forgive mom and everyone in the village, but I didn’t expect the answer Renna gave me.
“Wowowow, hold on a minute! Kill you? Well in this world I guess that’s normal… ah! I mean, we would never do that sort of thing. Especially not Lux, he- ah, she loves children.”
“Hey! I can’t help it that they’re cute!” The Princess’s blushing face and comment was something I never would’ve even imagine would come out of Princess Lucy’s mouth.
It seems that it truly was wrong of us to think that such a nice person would be that merciless Princess Lucy. Princess Lux is way better in comparison, but I wonder why someone from the Royal Family would act so differently than the rest.
“Phew… luckily he decided to back off, we might not have won with our current state. For now, let’s take Hana back to the village, her mother must be worried.”
“Huff. It’s as Armon says, let’s go, though maybe I shouldn’t enter the village? Hahaha…”
Princess Lux gave a dry laugh with that statement, but I couldn't let this misunderstanding go on anymore. I have to explain things to mom and the others, we can’t keep treating such a nice person so badly.
“P-princess, I- no we, really owe you… p-please, if you’ll will it, allow our tiny village to house you even if only for tonight… It’s the least we could do.”
“Ah, w-well, I suppose…”
She gave an awkward smile, but I was happy with her response. Princess’s companions also seem to quite like the idea.
“Not like we have any choice either.”
“Yep, I’d rather not be outside.”
With that, they escorted me back to the village, all the while I was bathing in the Princess’s radiance.
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Lily:
When we finally got back to the village, a huge ruckus was going on inside, and just as we got to the entrance, we came face-to-face with what looked like an angry mob. All the women, even some elderly, were holding onto a torch with Hana’s mother leading them. The grim expressions they were wearing only disappeared when she saw Hana.
“Hana!!”
“Mom!”
Mother and daughter quickly embraced each other as if they had been separated for years.
“What happen? Are you alright? Did they do something to you!?” Her glare stabbed needles into us as our eyes met.
Hana’s mother sure is one scary woman, I even saw Armon and Ken flinch. Well, before we could even retort back, Hana already spoke up for us.
“Mom! Please… stop… d-don’t be so mean to them… I-I would’ve died if they hadn’t saved me. They protected the village too!”
“What do you mean…?”
“They weren’t lying, the Holy Leon Kingdom did send troops. Princess Lux and her friends repelled them, we… we should be thanking them!”
“...”
For a while, silence permeated, and the villagers just stared at each other. Finally they seemed to have come to some sort of agreement as Hana’s mother spoke to us.
“Come inside. Follow Jean, he’ll take you to the Chief’s house.”
“F-follow me…”
A boy who seems to be about the same age as Hana came out of the crowd after hearing Hana’s mother spoke his name. He looked nervous, scared to be exact, as he came forward and saw Ken.
“I’ll come talk to you after I take Hana to bed.”
“M-mom…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll hear you out… let’s get you back to Misty and the others first.”
With that the crowd dispersed and left us alone with Jean, the brown haired boy. Apparently he is the Chief’s son, but Hana’s mom seems to be calling the shots since the Chief’s wife doesn’t seem to be around and the Chief was drafted. We were led to the biggest house in the village and made to wait in a room with a wooden table and some chairs.
“Sorry we don’t have anything but… ah, h-here’s some water.”
After handing us each a bowl of water, Jean quickly exited the room.
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“Well, the reception was better than last time right?” I said with a smile on my face to the stiff Ken.
“Ah, well yeah… but they’re still staring at me with caution. Huff… but I guess this is better.”
“But Hana really got attached to you, huh?”
“Yeah, Armon’s right. She clung to you the whole way back. She was staring at you with sparkly eyes too.”
“Well, I’m glad I got through to someone, but not the way it happened… that is far too dangerous.”
“Come to think of it, we still haven’t checked our stats after the level up have we?”
“Ah, now that you mentioned it. We did rush back here in a hurry without checking… so, who’s going first?” I held onto my chin while saying so.
“As I was the one who brought up the topic, and because you two already went first before, allow me. Share Status!” Armond said with a smile on his face.
Status Name Rai DragonHeart Level 10 Form Human Age 117 Race Thunder Dragon Gender Male Blessing Protection of Ancestral Thunder Dragon Raijin Title Prince of the Thunder Dragon Tribe Health 2,750/2,750 Mana 3,300/3,300 Attack 275(+500) Defense 275(+500) Magic 303 Resist 275(+500) Speed 180(+200) Stat Points 50 Bonus [Thunder Eye] [Protection of Raijin] [Dragon Blood] [Thunder Monarch] [Nature’s Senses] [World Language] [World Traveler] [Dragon God Candidate]
“...” All of us had our mouths gaping in shock at the absurd numbers.
“H-hey Lily, were dragon level ups this… uh how do I say this… absurd, in your story?”
“N-no, no they weren’t. What the heck! This is way more than 5 to every stats per level up!” I can understand Armon’s question, but this is too much even for me.
“Holy cow… your weapon will be useless to you in a few more levels… and this isn’t even in dragon form, which is… twice as strong…”
“Wait there’s something new… [Dragon God Candidate]? What the f, I can even become a Dragon God?”
“W-well, considering you only being level 10 but already having the stats of a level 50… wait, then is mine and Ken’s going to be as absurd!?”
“Shh! Guys… we don’t want to attract others’ attention.”
“Ah, right. Okay then, phew~ let’s check mine next. Share Status!”
Status Name Renna Miller Level 10 Class Elementalist Age 19 Race Human Gender Female Blessing Blessing of the God of Fire Ignius Title Embodiment of Ifrit Health 550/550 Mana 825/825 Attack 28 Defense 28(+300) Magic 110(+550) Resist 55(+600) Speed 55(+200) Stat Points 350 Bonus [Staff of Igneel, Ignis] [Legendary Archmage Robe, Zeon] [Child of Flames] [Embodiment of Ifrit] [Prodigy] [World Language] [World Traveler] [Supreme Goddess Candidate]
“Hah… of course it’s nothing compared to Rai’s… but aside from my attack and defense, the stats gained is higher than normal… even my attack and defense are slightly above a normal level 10 mage, which should only be like 14.”
“But, we do get that 350 stat points, so we have more freedom to alter our stats than Armon, even if he does have more stat points then he should too. Hmm… Share Status!”
Status Name Lux Whitefall Level 10 Class Magic Knight Age 17 Race Human Gender Female Blessing Heritage of the Ancient Light Dragon Lux Title Princess of the White Empire Health 550/550 Mana 550/550 Attack 55(+800) Defense 44(+500) Magic 55 Resist 44(+500) Speed 77(+200) Stat Points 350 Bonus [Blade of Zero, Zenith] [Whitefall Lineage Armor] [Royal Aura] [Heritage of Lux] [Dragon Blood] [Child of Light] [True Monarch] [Prodigy] [World Language] [World Traveler] [Supreme Goddess Candidate] [Dragon God Candidate]
“Hmm… your stats are more balance, but the same as Lily’s, still higher than the average level 10.”
“Yeah, and we both got [Supreme Goddess Candidate]... wonder what this thing is? Though you also have [Dragon God Candidate]? Is it due to Lux’s Blessing?”
“W-wait why ‘Goddess’ though!? I’m a guy!”
“Hah… probably because you’re Lux right now, a girl?”
“Gahh- !!” Ken quickly covered his mouth in the middle of his scream and hushed down so only we can hear each other again.
“Hehe, and you were the one who told us to not be loud.” I jokingly said to him.
“S-shut up…”
“You know, that face you’re making is pretty cute Ken.”
“Ah! W-what are you talking about?”
“Hahahaha, right Armon?”
“Y-yeah…” When I turned to look at Armon, I found out that he was blushing while staring at Ken.
“Hou?”
While some random thoughts were rolling through my mind, they were interrupted by Armon’s sudden hush.
“Someone’s coming.”
Sure enough, soon even I could hear the sounds of footsteps getting closer. We quickly deactivated out status window before we even got a chance to allocate our stat points. The person who came to the room was none other than Hana’s mother. Her expression was even more serious than the previous faces we’ve seen on her.
“You three seemed to be enjoying yourself, but anyways thank you… I heard the story from Hana, thank you for saving my daughter… and, heh… Well, I’m truly ashamed with how I treated you three earlier, especially you Princess. I’m glad you’re nothing like your sister.”
“Huh?”
“Eh…?”
This truly is a scene I never would’ve expected to see, not this soon at least. Hana’s mother was bowing down to Ken, and even apologized. From her personality so far, this sure came out of the blue.
“Ah- wah, um…Wait! You don’t have to bow down or anything! I-I just couldn’t let a little girl get hurt, that’s all… and well, that Princess Lucy or whatever, she’s definitely not my sister.”
Ken frantically held Hana’s mother and stopped her from bowing any lower. It was a funny sight to behold, knowing how much Ken respects his elders.
“Yeah, that’s right Miss Hana’s mom. You don’t have to bow like that to us. But this is shocking, I thought you would’ve said something along the line of ‘Did you brainwash my child?’ or ‘Are you tricking my daughter?’ Ah, no offense though… Wait no, what I meant was… uhh, uhhh- oww!” I quickly smacked Armon’s head to shut him up.
“Ah, sorry about that guy. He’s bad with his words, please excuse his comment.” I had to cover up for the statement that Armon just blurtted out.
“Haha… well considering what I’ve shown you three so far… it’s fine I guess, since you did save all of us in this village. Ah, but that reminds me, we still haven’t formally greeted each other. Well, I already screwed up your first impression of me but… anyways, my name is Elona and I was a former Rank A adventurer before I married and settled down here with my husband. Please excuse my earlier actions, Princess.”
Finally things started to make more sense. Why she was so aggressive towards nobles and has such a powerful personality. An adventurer is someone who goes up against giant monsters and explore dangerous dungeons among other life threatening situations.
“Ah. Well~ let bygones be bygones. Anyways, I am Lux Whitefall and I’d rather not be associated with the current Whitefalls of the Royal Family.”
“In that case, let’s start over. I am Renna Miller, a close friend of Lux here.”
“Umm, please excuse what I said earlier. And my name’s Rai Dragonheart.”
“Ah, so Lux, Renna, and Rai right? Please forgive how, uh, rough I was with you three. That’s the remnant of my adventuring days… but Princess, I mean Lux… ah, nevermind.”
“Huh?”
“No, nothing. I only wanted to apologize for my actions thus far for tonight. We can talk more in the morning, so just use the Chief’s house for tonight, or as long as you stay here. Jean doesn’t stay here by himself since his parents aren’t around. Anyways, use it how you’d like and have a good rest.”
“I-in that case, we will and good night.”
With that awkward last moment over, Elona left the house and left us to ourselves.
“Huff~ I am sleepy now that the adrenaline has worn off…”
“Yeah I am tired, let’s leave it at that for now and consider things more tomorrow.” I suggested to the yawning Armon.
“Yeah, I’m beat… physically and mentally. Let’s find ourselves each a room.”
With the whole flow of event today, none of us could stay up any longer so we decided to sleep. In the following day we could worry about our stat points and what we’ll do from now on, since we completed our first objective of finding civilization.