It had been three weeks since I had been transported to this world. I was still getting used to a lot of things, but thanks to my time in the military I was used to living in poor conditions, and sleeping outside was nothing to me. In this world, even though I had already been through some terrible situations, I felt a freedom that I had only fantasized about.
Together with Elena and Bastion, I set off from the small town of Varillio towards the city of Calerion.
The roads in the kingdom were by no means safe, anybody moving between them was taking a risk. Merchants usually travelled in caravans, with adventurers paid to defend them from monsters and bandits. A lot of travellers would be able to hop on these caravans and attain safe passage for a small fee.
"
The woman to my left directed this at the three ogres standing in front of us. We were caught completely off guard. Bastion was hit by one of the ogres when we stopped to rest, and was now laying on the ground. It seemed he was out like a light.
The spell had the effect of blinding the target, and dealing a small amount of damage. On an enemy of this level, the damage was incredibly low, but the three ogres were momentarily stunned, and I was able to take this opportunity.
Using the new equipment I had been given, I leapt forward and sliced the arm of one of the ogres off in one clean blow. It felt like my endurance was better than it had ever been. I was moving at a speed that surprised me, and not even being winded by all of this to top it off.
I landed behind the ogre, and without missing a beat managed to turn myself and slice his head off. Blood sprayed in a large area and the ogre fell to the ground.
This wasn't something I could pull off again. I had the feeling
Elena was still a novice mage, and didn't have a wide array of attack magic yet. Outside of
The ogres were visibly upset at the death of their comrade, and looked at me with murderous intent in their eyes. I would think this is a good thing that meant they might make a mistake, but I'm not naive. Ogres use their strength to fight, not skill and technique. No matter how good I feel right now, these ogres are much stronger than I am. If it weren't for this sword of mine I probably wouldn't have been able to hurt one, much less decapitate it.
The first ogre began running towards me at a full sprint. I managed to dive away just in time, only to see the second ogre charging towards Elena.
This is bad. I might be able to dodge these two, but there's no way she can. Mages are back liners, their agility and strength will improve with levels, but it's a minor change compared to what a swordsman would gain.
Elena would die from one blow.
I moved fast, as fast as my legs would possibly take me. I managed to evade the swinging right fist of the ogre between me and Elena, and push through.
I wasn't going to make it in time.
Suddenly, I felt something moving towards us at a high speed.
A blur darted past me and slammed into the head of the ogre attacking Elena, causing the monster to lose it's balance. I took advantage of the opportunity.
As soon as I got close enough, I swung my sword. The blow connected and left a large gash in the ogres chest. As the ogre fell to the ground, the blur I had seen was clear to me now.
A wolf.
It had black hair with a grey stripe along his head, with one blue eye and one crimson red. Truly a beautiful creature.
Was it here to help? Or was it just attacking anything it saw?
As I was thinking this, the wolf charged towards me. When it was a few paces in front of me, it jumped. I raised my sword to defend myself, but I was completely outclassed. There was nothing I could do to stop this monster coming towards me.
Wait.
Is this wolf not aiming for me?
I thought these words right as the wolf's teeth connected with the neck of the ogre behind me. The battle was over so fast I could barely tell what happened. Three ogres surrounded me dead on the floor, as the wolf in front of me sat down.
Slowly, a bright light enveloped the beast. A few seconds, kneeling before me was a man who had only a moment ago been a giant wolf. He still had that grey streak in his hair, but he didn't look much older than 20.
"I'm glad I could make it in time, friend of the future king of beasts."
"Huh"
"Huh"
The words came from both me and Elena, who were both equally confused.
"The man on the ground over there is the heir to the throne of Lycania. One of only four unicorns in existence. I am a demihuman. You may think of my specific species as a werewolf."
I thought he was a servant of the Sargonya kingdom. These new things just keep popping up.
"I imagine you're quite confused. Let us go to my village, you can rest and recover there."
After transforming back into his animal form, the werewolf grabbed Bastion with his mouth by the collar of his shirt and gently threw him over his back. We walked for about an hour until we reached our destination.
As it turns out, the road we had been travelling on ran along the border of Lycania. We ended up in the border town of Basken, which was a diverse town sitting directly on the border of the two nations.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Apparently there was still a lot of tension between demihumans and humanity from skirmishes in the past. Though the relationships had improved a lot over the past hundred years, if you were a human in a demihuman nation or a demihuman in a human nation, you would be looked at with judgemental eyes.
This place was different. It was basically split right down the middle, half the people living here were lycan, and half were human. Demihuman refers to all species that became human or partially human through another species. Usually they're caused by evolution from their animal counterparts, such as the foxmen, the only traits they retain are the fox like tail and ears, along with a few of the more keen senses. Sometimes they're developed by magical interference with animals, like the lizardmen who were originally created by a magical experiment that went out of control, or the werewolves whose origins are a curse they were able to overcome. This was all explained to me by the werewolf who saved us, Lumis.
The sight we saw as we entered town of Basken was truly something to be marveled at. Honestly, it felt almost like I was at some kind of convention for people who dressed up like animals. The difference was that this was real. It was truly awe inspiring.
It seemed like the town had been alerted of Bastion's visit prior to our arrival, and a crowd seemed to have gathered in the town square. I think they may have been expecting a speech, but Bastion was still unconscious and needed to rest for a bit. Upon seeing this, Lumis moved to the front of the group and began to speak.
"His Highness has arrived, but is currently resting and unable to give ceremony. I understand you all are excited to see his majesty, and I assure you that he will make his presence known soon!"
Disappointed grumbles were heard all around as the crowd slowly but surely dispersed, and Lumis led us to our quarters.
It seemed that Bastion really was royalty, and an appropriate lodging had been prepared for him. No doubt the lord of the mansion we were staying in had been panicked to death making sure everything for his stay was perfect on such short notice, as he looked extremely nervous as we approached.
"Welcome to my estate, sir. Allow my servants to escort you to your individual rooms while we await the awakening of his majesty."
I'm still not used to being talked to like this, but everybody in this world seems to follow a hierarchy. It seems really awkward that the king of beasts has been treating me as his master, but I'm sure there's a reason for it.
There was a common area in the hallway between our three rooms, and myself and Elena had made ourselves comfortable on the couches while we waited for Bastion to wake up.
"You didn't tell me he was royalty"
"I didn't know"
She didn't see how surprised I was when I heard?
"I mean either way, that seems like a rather big fact for him to just forget to mention"
"I'm sure he has a good reason for it, what's strange is that he practically raised Princess Lilyana. What's a prince doing in servitude to another nation?"
"PRINCESS LILYANA?"
Well I mean, I guess that is a bit of a bomb to drop if you don't know about it. I'm probably gonna have to drop a few more to clear things up, I want to be open with the people in my party.
"Yeah, that's how I met him in the first place. I have some things to tell you, but I need you to promise you won't overreact to it."
"I would never do something like that, I'm a lady of a very prideful and esteemed family after all."
So I took the next 15 minutes explaining the things that happened since I arrived in this world. As soon as I finished, I heard a door open not far from me.
"Bastion!"
Elena was busy panicking on the couch after what I told her, so I decided to let her be for a while.
"Where am I?"
"We're in Basken, a werewolf named Lumis saved our lives and brought us here"
"Oh"
"Oh? How is oh the only response you have for this? Prince Bastion, future king of Lycania."
Hearing this, Bastion chuckled lightly.
"Ahh yes, there is that"
He seems really light hearted about this whole thing.
"Why are you in servitude to Sargonya when you're the heir to this country?"
"I've never been in servitude to Sargonya. I was only in servitude to Princess Lilyana, who happened to be the third princess of Sargonya."
"Why?"
His usual servant demeanor had changed to that of an equal, and now he gave off the air of royalty.
"I am a unicorn Klein. I instinctively read the hearts of people and judge them based on my reading. That being said, I am much older than I look. Though I have the appearance of a middle aged man, I am actually three hundred years old. Lilyana had a very pure heart, and I did my best to guide her in hopes that she would achieve her goals."
But she died in the end, she never achieved the goals she wanted to.
"Did she achieve those goals?"
Her death was my fault. I should have died in her place.
"I believe she did. Before we departed for those dark lands she confided in me about a vision she'd had. Lilyana was a powerful mage, but she was also a seer. She had seen a man from another world being summoned, with two paths laid in front of him. One path led to peace and joy, and the other led to certain destruction. She told me that if she was able to get you out at the cost of her own life, it would be her pleasure to pay."
"I'm not worth as much as you two are claiming I am."
"You'd be surprised what you're worth, Master Klein"
He said this with as much confidence as a man can exude.
"If she had just killed me, she would still be alive"
"Princess Lilyana took the gamble of her own life to save yours. All of her faith was given to you. You need to stop looking down on yourself and think about the ways that you can pay back her trust."
...
He's right. I've been wallowing in self pity over the woman who gave everything for a dream. I need to move on from this, and make sure that her sacrifice wasn't in vain.
"I understand."
We continued to talk for the next hour or so about various things. It turns out that Lycania and Sargonya are part of the alliance of six that dreadful queen had been talking about.
We stayed in the town of Basken for about a week, and met all manner of different people and demihumans. Honestly, this entire world is filled with magic, but this place felt more magical than anything I had seen so far. I may come to live here if I'm still alive when my journey ends. Unfortunately, most of our current time here was spent sitting in meetings to support Bastion, so we didn't get to enjoy the sights.
It seems that Lycania was seeking diplomatic aid from a small merchant country on their western border that was not part of the alliance, and they had been out in search of Bastion for about a month to occupy his position. It seemed like the unicorn and I needed to part ways for now.
"You've seen how fast I can run, Master Klein. Should you ever find yourself in the situation where you need me, use this and I will drop everything to move to your side. I have sworn to protect you, and I will do my best to fulfill that oath."
He handed me a small object, it was about the size of my pinky finger and black, with a small lip nozzle.
It was a whistle.
"Bastion, I wish there was some way I could repay you for everything you've done. If it weren't for you I wouldn't be standing here right now."
"If you truly wish to repay me for the things I've done for you, live the way she would have wanted. That is all I can ask"
"Thank you for everything."
The mythical beast standing before my eyes just smiled, and we parted ways. I don't know when the next time I see him is, but I'll keep this whistle close.
"WAIT"
A woman called out to us as we were preparing to leave the town.
"What is it?"
She was at a full sprint running up to us. She appeared to be a foxman, or foxgirl, or foxperson. I'm not one to be politically correct but she was clearly not a man. Her beautiful orange hair flowed in the wind, and although she was fairly short it was incredibly clear she was an adult. She wore a suit of light armor that seemed to accentuate the curves of her body, and while I pride myself in my ability to maintain eye contact, the first thing that caught my eye on this woman was her abundant cleavage. On her hip was a short sword, and on her back was a large shield.
"You guys are adventurers, right?"
"Yeah, why"
The response came from Elena.
"Please take me with you!"