Lento finished explaining what happened, and all of them were stunned, staying like that for a while and processing what Lento explained. Lento feels like he failed to make a new identity for himself, but before he can come clean about what happened, the leader, Karuwa, grumbles, scratches his chin and closes his eyes.
“So let me get this straight… you were sleeping in the woods because you were on a journey, a slime attacked you while you were asleep, and when you got it off you, a fire salamander came and ate the slime. Not only that, but when you tried to hide from the salamander, a great water elemental nearby detected a fire salamander trespassed and they then battled each other, the water elemental died and put out the forest fire by its body exploding into a water bomb, and the fire salamander then walked away…?”
Lento paused for a while and then nodded profusely with a blank face. In all his years of researching monsters as a side activity apart from his pursuit in magic and the arcane, this is the hypothesis he could come up with, knowing the nature of the two creatures. Lento began to doubt himself, the story might seem ridiculous to them, but then the young human boy had a realization.
“… old man Bolos was right after all… so there was a fire salamander here… the forest fire was pretty big, there’s no way it would extinguish in such a short time if it weren’t for the water elemental!” Abel said, completely believing Lento and Bolos. The others had the same realization after Abel spoke, except for his big sister.
“I- I refuse to accept that old man’s words! But…” Aria said, but then she glanced again at Lento and she immediately pouted and faced away from the whole group, “If he says so… then it must be true…”.
The group seemed dumbfounded and shocked to see Aria’s reaction and opinion. They have never seen Aria act this way, especially if it’s about old man Bolos’ words, and yet here she is, agreeing.
“… You… are Aria, right? Not a shapeshifter?” Karuwa said with a raised eyebrow, incredibly weirded out by her.
“H- huh?! What’s that supposed to mean, you big idiot? You want to pick a fight with me?!” Aria said to Karuwa with a face as red as a tomato, incredibly embarrassed and angry at Karuwa.
Abel sighed, knowing that they would fight again in this mission. Abel and Delila then tried to break the fight between Aria and Karuwa, with Aria grabbing Karuwa by the collar and Karuwa stepping back and saying he doesn’t mean it like that and apologizing constantly, completely forgetting about Lento. Lento stayed still and continued to look at the group, feeling a sense of familiarity. This is it, this is what he has been searching for almost his entire life, a natural friendship and comradery that he once lost. Lento can’t help but smile, even if faintly, thinking that this decision might not be so bad after all.
The group then noticed that Lento was looking at them with a faint smile. Aria’s face gets redder as she is embarrassed that he is smiling at them, thinking that he found the infighting funny. Karuwa cleared his throat then walked to Lento and offered a hand for Lento to get up from sitting on the ground and also shake his hand.
“… Sorry you had to see that, friend. Come to think about it, we haven’t asked you for your name.” Karuwa said with a friendly tone and a faint smile. The others are also curious about Lento’s name.
Lento was already prepared for this moment, so he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled. When he opened his eyes, with a happy and huge smile, looking forward to this new life he has gotten himself into, “My name is Ren!”
…
…
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In the grand throne room, dark and silent, King Ranndun is seen sitting uncomfortably on his throne by his lonesome without the royal knights present, looking pale and restless. The knights that informed him of the disappearance of The Grand Magus had led Ranndun to employ his finest scouts and knights to search for Lento and he gets even more restless as time goes on with no news of Lento’s sighting even to the point of biting his nails to cope with this dreadful situation that he finds himself in.
“DRAT!” Ranndun shouted as he smashed his fist on his throne chair’s arm out of frustration.
Is this how much you want to refuse my proposal, Lento? I’m doing this so that the good people in this kingdom would not get butchered by those barbarians! I am… trying to prevent casualties...! Why don’t you see what I see… Lento.
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50 years ago…
“Father! Father! Who is that person? Why are the people so excited to see him? They’re even throwing flowers and gifts at him!” Young Ranndun whose age is 7 asked curiously, looking from the throne room’s window at a peculiar, lone man who is walking toward the kingdom with crowds of people happily celebrating his arrival.
“Son. That man is a hero.” The king responds with a smile, “Not only a hero to this kingdom but also Mythria. A hero we did not expect to show up,” The king added to young Ranndun while he patted Ranndun’s head, looking at the hero from the same window as his son’s. “He is living proof that we should not put our faith in the deities’ prophecy, he single-handedly defies it.”
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“Huh? What does that mean, father?” Asks the dumbfounded young Ranndun.
“Hahaha! You will know when you get older, Ranndun. Now, come. We must properly greet the hero.”
“Okay!”
The king heads to his throne and his son follows. As the king sits on his grand, decorated throne, his son stands next to his father’s throne, excitedly waiting for the arrival of the hero. The throne room’s door finally opens, revealing a single decorated knight who immediately bows to the king as soon as he enters the room.
“O’ Glorious King Lodun! I present to you, the hero who had brought salvation upon our Kingdom and Mithria! Lento Astoria Vargas!”
The side guards in the throne room then open the grand door to the throne room, revealing the hero, Lento Astoria Vargas, with his modest, battle-worn robe and his chipped, damaged wooden staff. He then enters the throne room, walks graciously to the center of the room, gets on his knee, and bows to the king with his right hand on his left chest and his wooden staff on his left hand as his support, his blazing-red eyes look at the king with respect.
“Glory to the King of the Kingdom of Nira. I, Lento Asteria Vargas, wish to greet the king and have an audience with the king.”
“Raise your head, Lento, hero of Nira… no, hero of Mythria. It has been two months since you entered the portal to the world of Demons and it is a joyous occasion that you have come back unharmed. You have done excellently well with your journey on vanquishing the Demon Lord and his dreadful minions. It is a shame that the four heroes from the prophecy, Valka, Estima, Berun, and Naran perished in the battle. The gods had forsaken us with their prophecy and almost destroyed the land of Mythria, and then you, Lento Asteria Vargas, changed our fates with your arrival.”
At that moment, Ranndun noticed that Lento got vaguely upset, sad, and slightly shuddered when his father mentioned the four heroes and the gods’ prophecy. No one but Ranndun seemed to take notice that Lento was trying his best to stay vigilant and emotionless, but the cracks seen by Ranndun made him want to ask why Lento was making that face but doesn’t want to interrupt his father’s speech.
“For your effort and hard work, it would be an honor for me to bestow you the title of ‘Grand Magus’ and the position of counselor and advisor for my son Ranndun, the next successor of the throne. I will also grant you the kingdom’s treasures, ancient relics, the royal library, and free access to the entire kingdom, you may do as you wish in this kingdom. I know these might not be sufficient for a reward for your valiant success, but please, will you accept them.” The king bowed his head to Lento, truly thanking him with honor.
Seeing that the king bowed his head toward Lento, all who were present in the throne room immediately bowed as well, giving a moment of silence for Lento.
“… My liege. I shall accept your rewards gracefully. This is not my place to ask, but is it permissible for me to make a request, my liege?”
The king then raises his head, “Granted, what is it that you request, Lento? I shall do the best of my ability as king to grant your request.”
“I… would like to make a vow. I also want to honor the four heroes by requesting four statues of the four heroes as the symbol of this kingdom and as a remembrance of their valiant efforts. Verily, they have done their best at the clash against the Demon King.” Lento said, wearing a sorrowful face with a scent of regret as he lowered his head once more.
“I shall grant your request. Now, what vow shall you make?”
“…” With silence full of resolve, Lento rises to his feet, turns his right hand into a fist, and puts it over his heart. With a stern and strong resolve on his face, he took a deep breath.
“I, Lento Asteria Vargas, The Grand Magus, vow to never take part in wars and military affairs anymore. I vow to never use my magic as a means of destruction and pain for the people of Mythria. I wish for my vow to be respected by all people of Mythria, my liege. There is nothing more I would want to ask other than that.” Lento said with conviction in his tone and face.
The King paused for a moment and closed his eyes to reconsider this. He would open his eyes again soon after.
“Understandable, Grand Magus Lento. I shall have my secretary write and my messengers to spread your vow to all people of Mythria. Now, we have prepared a grand feast in the mead hall and a celebratory party in the courtyard, Grand Magus Lento. Please, help yourself to the finest cuisines our royal cooks have prepared just for you.” The king said with a pleased expression on his face. “Oh, before I forget. Lento, this is Ranndun, my son. I hope you will be able to advise and be there for him on his road to be the next successor to the throne.” The king said as he put his right hand on his son’s shoulder.
Lento then looked over to Ranndun and he put on a bright expression, “It is a pleasure meeting you, young master Ranndun. I shall do my best to be your advisor.”
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… Why do I have to remember all of that now…? Lento, even though you are meant for something even greater, why would you limit yourself to such an extent…? With you, we could have ruled over Mythria under one kingdom, our kingdom, and kept the peace eternally that way… no more pain, no more sacrifices, no more good lives taken…
As King Ranndun remembers the past in his mind, a small, exotic-looking bird with black and white feathers entered the throne room through a small opening in the walls, the bird then flew onto the king’s shoulder and a magic circle began to form in front of its beak.
“My king, I regret to inform you that our best scouts and knights have failed to find any trace of the Grand Magus Lento within the borders of our kingdom. We are awaiting your further order.” The bird said, using telepathic magic to communicate with the king.
What?! How could he… fine.
“Camila, first of all, send out all of our spies, including Habboro, our best spy to search for Lento. Secondly, send this to all of our scouts and knights. They shall continue to search for Grand Magus Lento in every corner of Mithria, even if it means trespassing on other kingdoms’ lands and forbidden locations in this world. They shall do it in top-secret. We should not let a single soul know about the disappearance of Grand Magus Lento to anyone outside of this castle. If any of our spies got found out, they were to execute themselves quickly before they even got the opportunity of getting captured. I shall count on you, Camila, don’t hold back with your prized detection ability.”
“Message received, my king. I shall spread this message to all of our personnel. I shall not disappoint you, my king. Glory to the King.” The small bird said as it flew back and went outside using the same small opening by the walls.
I shall get you back, Lento. If you have defied the deities’ prophecy before, I shall defy your vow and make you listen to me. I will make you realize that this is for the goodness of Mithria. You are the God that we Mithrians need.