Chapter 32 | Jeromy 2

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Lue Quin, the second elven prince of Grethenia, had rarely left the royal palace since he was born. He was taught from a young age about the great nation of Grethenia and its elven people. Prince Lue couldn't understand a lot of what the teachers taught. Why were human slaves needed? What happened to the Old Gods? Why did they live where they were? Why were guards always following him in his home? Even at the age of five, Lue was haunted by these questions and the feeling that the adults weren’t telling him much of anything.

They did answer his questions in a way but it was never satisfactory for him. Perhaps he didn’t know which questions to ask. This deferred from math and magic where formulas always had a right or wrong solution.

He looked up to his older brother, Prince Shol and heir to the throne. Brother was always looking out for him and taught him many things that were too hard for himself. Since his parents didn’t pay much attention to him, he came to rely on his brother for a lot of things. When the adults were mean to him, Prince Shol was always there to tell them off.

Only his brother was there and was one of the few people in his life who didn’t tell him to ‘man up’ or to not cry. When he cried in his brother’s arms, it was always comforting. But Lue thought he should be strong in his own way. He wanted to become more capable so he won’t be a burden for his brother.

Lately, brother has been very busy and allowed him to attend the King’s meetings since he didn’t want to neglect his little brother. They were talking about a lot of things Lue didn’t understand. People were hard to understand in general. But one thing was clear from those meetings, the kingdom was in trouble. The word ‘earth ship’ was tossed around. They were obviously careful of their language around the second prince. Lue didn’t know what ‘earth ship’ meant so he asked his brother later on.

“I will tell you when you are older,” Prince Shol said. His brother was keeping things from him now. It was something Lue didn’t feel was anything important enough to hide yet his brother acted like it was. What was an ‘earth ship?’ What was an ‘earth?’ Why was brother being distant to him now?

Although he didn’t intend to, he got his answer one day as he wandered into the catacombs underneath the massive palace. To be more precise, he fell in. While playing in the courtyard, his tiny body simply fell in the hole that opened up from the ground. He fell for quite a while and tumbled further into the darkness.

If he wasn’t wearing his enchanted pendant with a body enforcement spell, he would’ve died or broken all his bones. The palace was his home for his entire life and this was the first time he saw that anything was underneath it besides the basement. The guards saw him fall in, he was sure his brother would get him soon if he stayed where he was.

However, being in the dark was scary and was unsettling. He had to do something! Lue figured that leaving a trail of staked stones would be enough for him not to get lost and for the others to find him. As Lue walked further into the cave, the deeper he went into the darkness. He casted a light orb spell which lit the area around him. Lue then tripped on something. He righted himself and held the ball of light in front of him and saw it was. It was a humanoid skeleton.

Lue screamed and ran in the opposite direction. He ran on instinct and wanted to leave but he couldn’t find his way back. Lue wanted to calm down so he could get his bearings again but then he leaned against something strange. It wasn’t like the cave wall, it was metallic. The cold surface was unnaturally smooth in texture and very dense. Around the area of the metal wall, he stepped on something.

When he picked it up and inspected it, Lue discovered it was a piece of Old-World technology. It was just like the one his brother showed him a while back, an electronic device. Something then grabbed him out of the darkness.

His mouth was covered and discovered his brother as he turned to face him along with an escort of knights.

“Lue! Do you not know what a dangerous thing you just did?!” Prince Shol scolded his little brother in a quiet voice.

“I am sorry. I—Mhn!” As Lue was speaking, his brother covered his mouth again.

“Do not speak so loudly,” Shol whispered.

“Why not?” Lue spoke quietly back to him.

A sound of clashing metal then resonated in the cave for just a moment. Lue was terrified.

“What was that?”

“We must leave.” It was natural that he was lectured and scolded when he returned to the palace. He was also yelled at by his father, surprisingly. To have his father talk to him personally, what he did must’ve been serious. It was an incident that was never directly spoken about again. It was a taboo topic and when Lue brought it up with his brother, he was told to not ask again. Soon, the guards that were with him at the time were also threatened into silence and it was as if it never happened.

His parents and now his brother. They were keeping things from him. It was as if growing up made people more unsympathetic. Brother had been putting more distance between them lately. When Lue brought his troubles to the servants, his troubles were cast aside in favor of this strength the adults would say he would need as part of royalty. Was it always so unforgiving to be a part of royalty? He never asked for this life.

The piece of Old-World technology he found in the cave was basically a brick of metal. He didn’t know how it worked but also knew it won’t ever function because electricity didn’t exist here. Placing it on his nightstand, he would stare at it as he laid on his bed as a symbol of everything everyone was keeping from him. He had a secret of his own now.

***

Mounted on horses and wagons, Jeromy’s caravan moved through the elevated highway at a steady pace. They were traveling through the Elven Forest revered for its beauty and hazards. It was a rain forest with trees as wide as their height. Its diversity with countless species and natural geography would put a tear in an adventurer’s eye. The elves were well-known environmentalists and always worked to preserve the natural order of the world. However, this quality of theirs also made them a huge pain in the ass.

All of Jeromy’s men had a horse, a sword, a rifle, and a full set of aramid armor. The untamed regions of the Grethenian Kingdom were home to many high-ranking monsters, monster dens, and dungeons. Since travel within the elven territories was limited due to this, anyone who needed a ride grabbed their belongings, horses or wagons and followed them. They never planned to take along so many people.

Many of Jeromy’s reinforcements from the Association were elves themselves. It was better this way. The elven people were notoriously xenophobic. The Guild Master wouldn’t have agreed to this expedition if the party were all humans despite Jeromy’s diplomatic history with them. Jeromy and Selina spent the days in Riverside and Viennera recruiting and got an additional twenty men for their efforts. This increased Jeromy’s total force for this expedition to just under two hundred.

After an unusually long journey, they reached the elven capital city of Emered. Everyone was tired from the journey and some rest would do them some good. The most notable thing about the city was the giant palace in the middle with seven high towers that could reach the clouds. The featured color of the city was the green color for their moon, Grevin.

Grevin was the green moon in the sky, it was orbiting above the city right now. The palace towers were seemingly reaching out for it. Along with the green palace, the city was covered in vegetation and they painted what they could. What stopped the city from being completely green were the plants, ironically.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The forest was cleared a distance away from the city walls, it seemed the elves still had the sense to clear the forest for their defense. They were stubborn about their trees. Last time he was here it wasn’t cut this far out.

The large group of travelers approached the closed gates and were stopped by the guards who looked down on them from the top of the walls. Jeromy found the elves’ behavior odd. They cut more of their precious forest and they had the city gates closed to even their rural inhabitants.

“Jeromy!”

A familiar voice called out to him from above as he unmounted. The elf jumped down thirty meters down to greet his old friend. They grasped their hands tightly with each other and gave a quick hug.

“Jeromy, how have you been?” He asked with his upbeat voice.

“Hamei, I’ve been better,” Jeromy said with a slight smile. “How’re the wife and kids?”

Hamei kept his smile on as he spoke, “My girl turned six this week and Haila has been great. We are expecting another child soon.”

“Congratulations. I hope they feel a bit safer with a mage in the family.”

They stared at each other a bit and silently agreed. “Well, what are you doing here with such a large group?”

“Um—Most of the commoners here were incidental. Patrick here can tell you who’s with us. I came here because I have an audience with the King.”

“Ah! They told me someone like you was coming today. You will actually be meeting with the prince and his brother today,” Hamei said as he signaled to his comrades above. They were opening the gates.

“Huh? Did the King have other plans?”

“No, Prince Shol requested personally to meet with you instead of his father.” Upon hearing this, it sounded unusual but Jeromy almost expected something like this to happen when it came to him.

“Do you think he’s qualified to talk foreign policy?”

“Yes, I believe so. You should have more faith in the royalty this generation, despite being only fourteen, he has done a good job handling the situation with the Empire.”

Jeromy was skeptical, the Quin family always had a mixed history of decision-making but he had to admit that Prince Shol was the least terrible of them all. After everyone was inspected and passed into the city, they closed the gates. The scenery was as if they never left the forest. Plants and trees covered literally every building.

With him and most of his party being human, they got a lot of stares but not as much as last time he was here. Since the Association was around, they probably got used to seeing humans around here. The elves were humans in almost every way except for their colorfully dyed hair, pointy ears, and clear skin. Their faces, especially the eyes were different. Their women were very attractive with their inherited youthful looks.

Jeromy and his party made their way to the Association buildings in the city within a sectioned off district. They settled their things in their quarters to rest the next few days before going to their destination. He wasn’t due to meet the princes for the next few hours so he would like to explore the city. Just when he was about to set out from the inn, he was stopped by one of his lieutenants.

“Captain! I need to talk to you for a second,” said Patrick.

The ‘talk’ was neither a discussion or the length of a second. Suddenly, they were both in the inn courtyard with Patrick doing some sort of exotic stretching technique as Jeromy just stood there with his arms folded.

“Rick, what is this about?” Jeromy asked, clearly irritated.

“I want a rematch,” Patrick said smugly. He looked so confident that Jeromy broke into a small chuckled at that.

“Fine, if that is what you want,” Jeromy said as he drew his sword. Patrick drew his in return. A small crowd was gathering at the inn to see. Some were looking through the windows on the second floor as others came out to spectate. “I’ve already beaten you back in Viennera and I don’t suppose you’ll be going back on your word since you’re here with me on this mission. So, why a rematch so soon?”

“There are some people in Grethenia who don’t know your abilities and I wish to show them. Let them be witnesses to this match. Also, what happened in Viennera was a cheap shot! I won’t let you off with that!”

Was that why he was sulking throughout the trip here? Jeromy thought.

He figured it was time to instill some much-needed discipline among his ranks. Selina was looking at him with her hand resting on her forehead. Her hand hid most of her face from him as if to say: ‘you’re embarrassing.’ Huh? Was she blaming him?

“Let’s make this a little more interesting. Whoever loses treats the other to lunch,” Patrick suggested.

“Huh? I expected you to be more confident to bet more on the line. How about your month’s salary?” Emphasis on the word, ‘your.’

Patrick looked nervous and didn’t try to hide his silliness, “A—A month’s… salary?!”

“Don’t worry, I was just joking,” Jeromy laughed again at Patrick’s reaction.

Patrick had a habit of running his mouth and it was the same back at the Academy. It was in his nature to be competitive. Jeromy and Patrick both had a similar stature but Jeromy had a less tone body and was a tad shorter. Jeromy had hazel eyes and brown hair. Patrick also had brown hair with brown-red tinted eyes.

Two fit and relatively handsome officers were preparing to duel. Jeromy was quite known in the Association so everyone here had an interest in him. The elves in the city only heard rumors of Sir Jeromy’s strength as a level four mage knew not to bet against him. Many were Jeromy’s fans and were chanting which annoyed Patrick further. His sudden challenges have happened several times in the past. It always ended with Jeromy’s victory and Patrick’s face planted in the dirt. This was not spoiling anything.

This was a little different than the other times though. When the ‘friendly’ match began, Patrick suddenly drew his revolver and fired at Jeromy as he charged him. Jeromy didn’t need to activate any spell to block his attack. Standing still, Jeromy used his sword to block the bullets with quick wrist work. With each swing, a bullet got purposefully redirected. It was as if he was swatting flies from the air.

As mercenaries of the Association, they were generally better than military forces of countries and had advanced enchantments on their equipment. Jeromy’s sword was light and his clothing and armor absorbed the shots he missed.

For every hit on his body, Jeromy’s mana was steady draining, becoming more vulnerable as his shield spell was thinning. Counting the shots, Patrick had to have two bullets left in his revolver after ten shots.

Jeromy had to be careful of the revolver. Patrick brought his sword to the forefront and clashed with Jeromy. Trying to be underhanded, Patrick had his revolver in his right hand pointed to Jeromy as they were pulling away. Patrick casted a freezing spell with his revolver and was surely aiming to end things here at close range. If Jeromy was hit by this spell, he would be at a disadvantage.

But he anticipated this and had his sword push Patrick’s sword away from his body and Jeromy grabbed Patrick’s left wrist with his left hand. He spun around, Jeromy’s back faced Patrick and quickly headbutted him while using his sword to knock the revolver out of Patrick’s hand.

Jeromy pulled away from Patrick while he was disorientated and kicked the revolver to the sidelines. Selina picked it up while giving Jeromy another look. As if reading each other’s mind, her face read: ‘Why are you guys always nonsensical? Please finish this already.’

Jeromy replied with a simple, ‘alright’ with an eye roll. To Patrick, Selina had a look of disappointment to which he responded, ‘why only me?!’ and flinched slightly at her evil eye.

Jeromy began his counter attack. Patrick tried to block his attacks but Jeromy was too quick. As soon as Jeromy read Patrick’s movements, he manipulated him with quick wrist work and a quick spell sent Patrick’s sword flying.

It was so quick, no one followed what happened except for Selina. Patrick was slumped over and sat on the grass in defeat. Jeromy sheathed his sword and offered his hand to him. Patrick reflected on what transpired and shook off his daze. He accepted Jeromy’s hand and got on his feet.

“You owe me lunch,” Jeromy said with a grin.

***

Selina came to Jeromy after the match and confronted him in an empty reception room in the inn. She placed the Zero Senory spell on the room after she closed the door. “It was your fault for antagonizing Patrick with your match in Viennera. Is that a common human custom to recruit individuals?”

“I wasn’t antagonizing him. Patrick was in my graduating class at the academy and admired me. I think he enjoyed his beating,”

Jeromy proclaimed confidently as Selina stared at him confused. This was something she didn’t understand because it was more of a male trait than a human one.

“Are you alright?” Jeromy asked gently.

“I am fine. What do you mean?” Selina’s tone gave her away.

“Selina, you know what I mean.”

Selina was silent for a while with her head down, she couldn’t look at Jeromy in his eyes, “I try not to think about it. When we were in Riverside, I went to see Julie and Elise. When I saw those two familiar faces, I felt… nothing….and they were my family…”

She wasn’t showing the sadness her words described on her face. “They still are.”

“I am afraid to face my family again… I am afraid to face Yuli with me like this… Who am I?”

Jeromy bought Selina into his arms and hugged her tightly. He held her head as she drew tears from her eyes. The Truths of this world affected everyone who heard them. Upon looking through the monocle, the clouds in front of their eyes were lifted. Was it better to stay in blissful ignorance?

The people of this world were not real. Although this Truth affected everyone differently, Selina was one of the ‘positive’ results. After looking into the monocle, Selina had a crisis of identity and was still having trouble seeing who she was. The best treatment upon knowing the falsehood of their life before, was to accept the falsehood and move forward.

People who tried to look to the past and tried to reconcile with their false memories often turned depressed and suicidal. Accept the falsehood and the hope for the future. The person that was Selina Sune was no longer here in his arms. She was the next iteration and inherited Selina’s memories and personality. She tried to pretend she was no different and acted how Selina normally would.

Jeromy experienced this before and it was the worse feeling in the world. To know your life was not your own. That was why the Guardians have to be defeated. To liberate everyone from their control and tyranny.