"My first kill? It sure was hard but after that, I did it naturally, like drinking water" A boy casually explained
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"I don't know why **** is so against killing but I'm sure you are with me, Killing is necessary to survive in this world, how many people have you killed in order to arrive here?"
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"Damn! You sure have killed a lot, Sorry I don't mean to insult you! I'm surprised to hear that, were all your kills necessary? What am I saying? You arrived from another kingdom so it wouldn't have been easy crossing the border without having to kill" The boy said as he thought about the situation
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"I know you don't care! I wouldn't care either! Random people against my own life is an unfair comparison, I would obviously choose my life every time" The boy said as he laughed
…
"How many people have I killed? Why are you asking me that?" Droe asked confused
"Nothing reason... It's just something that came up randomly" Teras said as he spectated Tom's training
"While I was an adventurer I killed some people but not too many to feel guilt over them, plus most of the kills I have are self-defense"
"I will tell you something I haven't told to many. About six months ago I woke up with a shattered memory but I have killed many people, I have killed exactly seven people in total, an escape from the grand Jack's arena, a bandit, a friend corrupted by an evil spirit, and my three party members including the child one of the members was carrying, the four people had no right to die but I killed them nonetheless" Teras said with a cold voice as he emotionlessly watched Tom
"Enyo told me that your party members didn't die because of you but because of a guy that attacked you, I know that you feel responsible but you are lucky you even made it alive in the first place so why worry about what happened? Plus my indirect kills are many more than yours, I'm afraid Tom learns about this but this village originally had many more people that lived there and were relatively rich but one day a group of bandits attacked us" Droe looked sad while telling his story to Teras but he continued
He felt like Teras deserved to know
"My job back then was to defend the village but because I was too afraid to lose my wife and kid I hid, I hid along them leading to our break of formation that otherwise would have worked and the destruction of half of our village, I was to blame so in response my wife felt responsible and gave her life to them, it was a brutal execution and I couldn't do anything to stop it since my wife was the one that approved it. Moral of the story? I was weak mentally and couldn't help not only my family but the whole village, you see? I'm much more worse than you but I still live with myself every day because I have a reason to, and now you have one too, Your goal is to bring peace to everyone! Make sure you cling tight to that goal because this will be the only thing keeping you sane"
Usually, Droe didn't speak much but after his story, Teras felt a bit stronger, a bit readier to face the world, a bit more... Human
"Did you see my special move? It's like yours! A spinning kick but instead of using my feet I used my sword!" Tom said as he brought his body as low as he could while extending his arm as much as he could
This way he could reach maximum range while keeping a good distance
"That's nice but you are leaving yourself way too open! What if the enemy just squashes your head like a bug?" Teras asked with a smile
Tom rubbed his head confused
"I guess you are right! I have to come with another special move!" Tom said as he returned to his training
"If he becomes a knight can you promise me that you will look after him?" Droe asked with a serious expression on his face
"If I'm still alive I wouldn't mind..."
"You will be alive to see him become a knight! I'm sure of it, the only problem is that you might be so high ranked that Tom wouldn't even have the chance to see you for a couple of years!" Droe said as he cracked a laugh
"What makes you think I will become so great?" Teras asked
"Your dream of course! Strong people tend to help others, so if you help the whole world then that makes you one of the strongest right?"
Teras felt a bit happy hearing that from Droe but suspended that emotion by asking a question
"It's not my dream Droe... It's my duty" Teras corrected Droe calmly
"Now that I think about it Tokkou isn't doing something like that already?"
"Tokkou? I mean yeah the Grand Jack is a pillar of hope for this generation but I wouldn't call him a savior, or someone that helps the world, he is more like a people's person when it comes to certain communities and a government's dog in others" Droe explained to Tears
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
'I guess that makes sense, but most of the people I have met idolize him so I guess people in the Heart kingdom are found of him while others aren't, quite fascinating' Teras thought as he stared at the trees
"Can I ask you another weird question?"
"It's not the first time you've asked weird questions Teras" Droe said with a smile
"How can I rescue Enyo?"
That question set off Droe, it was beyond random
"What do you mean to rescue her?"
"Can't you see? She is trapped here, she feels like she needs to protect this village or else she will get punished, she also doesn't work with her party anymore and she seems sad, I don't know how to explain it properly but I can feel it" Teras said as he looked into Droe's eyes
"Maybe she doesn't want to be saved, she is a strong person so she probably chooses to stay like this, and honestly, I haven't seen her happier than now, you are bringing her more joy than she likes to admit so why don't you tease her about it! I'm sure she will deny it but you will easily tell how she truly feels"
'She doesn't want to be saved...'
Teras didn't know how to feel about this, even though Droe said that he was making her happy Tears still felt like something was wrong
"I will head back to the house for now" Teras said as he waved goodbye to everyone
On his way back he played with his mana vessels by creating mini-explosions with his fingers
~Meanwhile in the Spade kingdom~
"So you approve the tournament?" Tokkou asked the king
"I said I will highly consider it, allowing a demon to be a card possessor after all these years is something new to me, no matter what the reason may be our race will still get the recognition it deserves and we will also have a chance to redeem ourselves to the world, but the problem is this, you aren't telling me anything about the rumors" The king said as he drank some kind of traditional liquor
"I told you rumors are just rumors, The Joker couldn't have caused this big disaster near the capital of the Heart kingdom, I visited the sight myself, it was like a ranker flame user burned everything" Tokkou said in a casual tone while drinking some water
As soon as Tokkou said that the king of Spade slightly smiled
"So that's how it is? You want to blame the demon race behind this fire! I should have known that!"
"What? No..." Before Tokkou could explain that this wasn't the case, what the king said made so much sense that he was silenced
"I can see why you would think that and I'm sorry I made you feel like this, but I assure you this is nothing but misconceptions and crazy coincidences, you can trust the government!" Tokkou said as he lay back in his seat
"Grand Jack I'm giving you a last chance to leave, You have disrespected me and my race to our face and in our home, normally I would have attacked you but I'm not fool enough to start a war, So please do the world a favor" The king of Spades said as he glared into Tokkou's eyes
But the one that felt true fear was the King, he couldn't comprehend that Tokkou didn't feel even an inch of fear
'Is he that confident he can win a one versus fifty?' The king thought as he looked around the building
"I'm sorry you feel this way and sure, I will do you the favor to keep you alive after threatening government higher-ups, plus I will make sure you believe me for real next time" Tokkou said with a scary smile before flying back to the Royal Capital
There instead of visiting his favorite tea shop or his favorite cigarette shop to buy cigarettes, Tokkou went straight into the throne room where the king was located
"Did you bring the boy?" The high king asked with excitement in his voice
"No, I came with a demand!" Tokkou said in a serious tone
"Demand? What that may be?" Midas asked him confused
"It's about time the world learns he is alive..."
These words were something that the high king never expected to hear
"Are you insane? So you expect us to announce to the whole world that the global threat is alive? And especially in an era where adventurers are popping left and right, I'm not planning to cut this generation's thirst for adventuring just because the Joker exists" Midas said as he laughed off what Tokkou said
"I'm not laughing Midas, The king of Spades thought I was planning to blame the fire on him when I suggested the tournament plus there are three survivors from the attack, What happens if someone proves somehow that the Joker is truly alive?"
While Tokkou said that he thought of Teras's new dagger, the dagger that was specifically designed for the Joker by the Joker
"We can simply kill the people that know of him right? It shouldn't be so hard"
"I don't plan on killing Teras, Uncle Jem, or Rex, these are people I met and respect, especially the hot shot, Teras, a kid worthy enough to become a ranker if trained properly" Tokkou said to the king
"Don't make me laugh Tokkou! Did you get attached to a kid? What are you? Some kind of protective father to him? We are talking about the world's economy and peace, we can't go around risking that on your feelings" Midas angrily said as he stood up
"Do you think the world will be scared if you tell them that the Joker which is currently below ranker level alive and roaming the earth that people will be scared? Let me handle it and you will see that what I will do will only better the situation we are in!" Tokkou said with a convincing smile
"He is right darling, I'm probably thinking what he is thinking right now right?" The high queen said as she emerged from the roof with her pure white wings
"Reveal the Joker, while putting a bounty on his head, with a great price like becoming the king of the kingdom you were given birth to, wouldn't that only make this explosion of adventurers even more intense?" Tokkou asked with a smile full of D E T E R M I N A T I O N
The king remained silent, the queen on the other hand smiled and clapped upon hearing Tokkou's idea
After that discussion the news spread like wildfire, from the newspaper or from ear to ear, no information was speared faster than that
The whole world was aware of Joker's existence in the span of four hours
The news also spread to a small village near the capital of the Heart kingdom
"Have you heard the news? The Joker is alive and he also has a big bounty! That's crazy, I wonder if a card possessor can beat him now that he is weaker than a ranker" Droe wondered while sitting outside Enyo's house
He was reading a newspaper that was handed for free from a government's messenger
"Oh wait here it also says he was the one that caused the fire here, Wait! Don't tell me the person that killed your party was..."
Before Droe could finish what he was saying Enyo replied
"Yeah, Teras survived a fight against the Joker at a way weaker level than he is now, so that should convince you that the Joker isn't so strong now"
"NO WAY! YOU FOUGHT THE JOKER?" Tom yelled
He was way too surprised to hear that
"I did, this dagger is his, I managed to cut his hand and steal it from him" Teras said with a weak voice as he stared at the dagger
"That's sooooo coooool! I bet everyone is going to get jealous when they learn you have that!" Tom said as he started rubbing the dagger
"I guess..." Teras responded
"Hey kid I heard that the high king and high queen were interested in you so before I get to the Royal capital I need you to write a letter to them, make sure it's formal and include every detail in your fight against the Joker"
Enyo said as she was getting her back ready for the travel
The day of the final fight was arriving soon with Teras having the physical and mental advantage but who will actually win?