Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 37. Gotta blast
Once Gray and Soku make it back to their cottage, they’re met by Edward and Rosemary. Edward waves to them while Rosemary jolts up to give Gray a great big hug, while Gray stands completely still, with a grim look on his face.
Rosemary: “Did anything happen when you were with Julius?”
Gray: “Not really, I just kinda sat around.”
Gray, now using more of a monotone voice, is better able to hide his lie, though Soku sighs due to her knowledge of the truth. Gray looks out of the kitchen window to see Peter practicing with his rope dart right beside the Silver Chariot, which he’s currently rebuilding.
Gray {That’s the Silver Chariot? It’s been stripped down, wonder if he’ll let me name it Christine instead of the Silver Chariot.}
Rosemary: “Are you hungry? I can make breakfast, it’s still pretty early.”
Gray: “Yeah sure, but Ima go rest in my room until then.”
Rosemary tilts her head, a bit saddened by Gray’s lack of a want to be with her, but she’s reassured by a hug given by him.
Gray: “Sorry, I’m just a bit tired…but y’know, I love pancakes!”
Rosemary tilts her head back up to see a joyful smile on Gray’s face, chuckling as he skips up the stairs to their room. Once he enters their room, he takes a deep breath, sits down, crosses his legs, and places his fist into his palm. He closes his eyes, seeping into his mind. In a black void that stretches across the land, spanning miles upon miles until he reaches a light in the darkness. Gray slowly floats towards it, and once he touches it, his astral form shoots out of Ryo’s body, all the way into the Walgonian Capital, right in the king's office.
Gordon, who’s currently doing paperwork, is unable to see Gray, but Ryo, who was just resting his eyes, can see him clear as day. Gray locks eyes with him and Ryo is confused to see him, yet happy at the same time.
Inside the rather small room filled with papers, the art of past kings, and a place for Gordan's bow, are only two men running the country. Due to Lincoln's hate for being at the top, Ryo was forced to take what should have been his role as Gordon's assistant, and Gordon took another role Lincoln wanted no part in, king. For the past eight months, Gordan and Ryo have crumbled the society of nobles that had once had control over the country and have spent time rigorously looking for people to take their place.
A spot for more assistants, the next commander of Waglonia’s knights, and most importantly, the next true king, which they want to be voted in by the people. But setting this all up with only a few people to help takes time, so the fact that they had just rushed into it may have not been the greatest of ideas, and Gray understands this. Though even if he knows that they’re stretched thin, he needs to stretch it a bit farther to possibly save a city in another country, which may be a fool's dream.
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Ryo stands up, snapping Gordon out of his work, and with a bit of focus, he’s able to see Gray as well, floating in the air.
Ryo: “Gray? How did you make it here? You’ve progressed so much!”
Gray: “Honestly, I don’t know. But I do know why I’m here -”
Gray’s echoey voice and body begin to pulse in and out, showing he’s stretched as well, being so far away from Ryo and Gordan. Ryo fixes this by putting his hand into Gray’s astral form, using a bit of his astral mastery, and solidifying Gray’s form.
Gordon: “Now, why are you here?”
Gray: “It’s the Sect, and the Montgomery Company, as well as this group calling themselves the Revolutionaries. Something’s happening, they’re planning something, something I fear is coming soon.”
Gordon looks at Ryo with a frantic look in his eye, quickly calling for another person to enter the room.
Gordon: “JONG! GET IN HERE!”
Whilst Gordon waits for Jong, a confused Ryo tries to snuff out his confusion.
Ryo: “The Montgomery Company? What do they have to do with anything.”
Gray: “Apparently it’s like a thieves guild, a mob, a bunch of criminals working with everyone.”
Ryo’s surprised, just like everyone who isn’t knowledgeable about the underground of the world would be.
Jong stumbles into the room, giving Gray a look at his friend he hasn’t seen in months, and it’s horrifying.
After his traumatic loss in his district during the raid on Walgonia’s capital, he was the only man left alive in his platoon. He was found unconscious and heavily injured, but it’s progressed to the point of terror. His eyes are slowly turning black, his hair is thin, his skin is pale, his veins are black, his skin is peeling, and his voice is dry, but he remains the same in his heart.
Jong: “Yeah!? Need me!?”
Gordon: “Alright, Gray, Jong cannot see you, so we’ll inform him.”
Jong: “Gray’s here? OH! He’s in that ghost form! HEY GRAY!”
Gordon: “Calm down Jong. Now, we cannot send a fleet of our men hundreds of miles away, and we cannot send Ryo or Lincoln without getting confirmation from King Cornelius, and due to his lack of any sense, he won’t respond. due to the Gdds Confirmation Act, we’d essentially be waging war. Ryo will inform Lincoln, but Jong, I want you to take a small platoon of men and send them out to assist Gray.”
Jong: “Finally! A job! Here that ghost Gray!? I’m coming to see yah!”
Gordon: “Jong, you won’t be going, you’re too sick. I don’t want you working as commander let alone going out, I’m sorry but you’ll have to stay here.”
For a moment, the old man's happiness was brushed away, leaving Jong a bit embarrassed and somber. But he’s no child, he’s a man who’s been through so much, so he’s mature enough to let it brush off his shoulders. He nods his head and lets Gordon finish what he was saying.
Gordon: “Now, tell those men that they’ll be assisting Gray and his allies to defend Constal and possibly the Valatrositce capital from various powerful parties. The Sect of Anarchy, and a group of Revolutionaries…what Gray who are they?”
Gray: “Um…A Dark Elf, A Arch-Gorilla Demi-Human, Oh, and Crimson Zhao!”
Ryo and Gordon are shocked by the idea of having to face Crimson Zhao, a man who rivals even the strongest of the Gods of War.
Gordon: “And… prepare your men for the possibility of confronting…Crimson Zhao.”
Jong: “WHAT! AH HELL! THAT’S A DEATH WISH! YOU GOTTA SEND ME!”
Ryo: “I’m sorry Jong, but I assume you know you won’t be able to do much, not to be rude.”
Jong: “I’m not stupid I know that! But a captain goes down with his ship! I’ve led my men to death before…and I’ve lived both times. I won’t sit out the third.”
Gordon: “Jong…I won’t kill you. Inform your men as quickly as possible, arm them, send them off, and stay here!”
Ryo: “Gray, anything else?”
Gray: “Nope, that’s it.”
Ryo waves goodbye, removes his hand from his astral form, and lets him return to his body. Jong then quickly leaves the room, running off to get prepared.
End of Chapter Thirty-seven