Chapter 40 – Hero VS Kingdom (2)
Under Artpe"s unexpected edict, the townspeople made preparations to leave. They were close to tears. Since they had given up most of their fortunes to Artpe(there wasn"t much aside from Obsidian of Greed), so they only had to pack some clothes.
"We"ll sleep here tonight, and we"ll head out immediately tomorrow. I want all of you to take care of the children until then."
"Understood, magician-nim."
"Ho-ooh. I know magician-nim isn"t wrong, but the prospect of building a new house is frustrating….."
It would have been better if they had grounds to dismiss Artpe"s claims as total nonsense. However, Artpe had brought back the children even when he wasn"t given much as a reward. This was why they decided to pin their trust upon him..
This was why they continued their preparation for their big migration even as they shed tears. Their hearts burned as if they had eaten mustard. Still, it was better to be worked like a dog than actually being dead.
"I"ll see you tomorrow, oppa!"
"Good night, noona!"
"Hoo-uhng, ooh-uh-uhng. Mommy."
Of course, Artpe knew their pain. How could he not?
He watched the townspeople people break up as they shuttled the crying children away.
"If they do band together to grow in size, there"s a chance they"ll be able to escape the influence of the demons. Of course, when that occurs they"ll try to find other ways to acquire more children….,…"
Artpe and Maetel"s role was to stop this business from getting any larger. He would overlooked most calamities. However, he had to get in on this or it might swallow the whole human world.
"This is the hero"s walk of life. If not for heroes, others wouldn"t be able to sense such enormous crisis, and they wouldn"t know how to overcome it. It isn"t as if the human world doesn"t have strong people. However, the trouble makers are hidden until the heroes can find them. It is like a game of hide and seek."
When the hero finds them, they proudly reveal themselves as if to say "I"m ready now!"
They were sons of b.i.t.c.hes amongst sons of b.i.t.c.hes.
"Do you think this is happening in other regions, Artpe?"
"I hope not, but it is possible. This is why this is so annoying."
At Artpe"s reply, Maetel"s eyes turned menacing. Since this was a problem where his safety wasn"t involved, he had expected her to laugh off most of his words. She had a very forgiving nature, yet her face was filled with rage right now.
"We have to beat them up. Everyone who tries to make children into monsters are bad!"
It seemed her mental att.i.tude had gone through a fundamental change after what she experienced within the Dungeon. Artpe was bitter and happy about it at the same time. Still, he had to calm her down right now.
"You shouldn"t work yourself up too much, Maetel… You"ll see much worse in the future."
Maetel didn"t reply to his words. She extended her hand to firmly grip his sleeve. He extended a hand to stroke her head. At that moment, another girl grabbed his other sleeve.
It was none other than Sienna.
"Oppa. Oppa should come to our house and sleep."
"Yes, magician-nim. Our humble…. It is a very humble house, but if you don"t mind, we will take you in for the night."
Maetel sent a guarded look towards the two girls. The hand that had been petting her head suddenly turned into a light blow to her head with his knuckles.
"Ouch."
While Maetel gripped her head in pain, Artpe grabbed Sienna"s offered hand as he gave his reply.
"We"ll impose ourselves on you guys for a day. As it happens, I have something I have to give you."
"Really? Yes!"
Sienna let out an innocent laugh as she rejoiced.
Artpe couldn"t help but laugh alongside with her.
He would have to sweet talk another girl with a plausible story.
This was how he came to reside in the two girl"s house for a night. They had lost their parents, so the two girls lived in a very small and old house. It was in disrepair. It would actually be much less work to build a new hut than repair this one.
After he unpacked his gear, Artpe called for Sienna. He gave her a small crystal ball. It was none other than the Crystal Ball of Blessing.
"Here, take it. This is yours."
"Oppa, you bought it for me!?"
Sienna hadn"t figured out the exact use of the Crystal Ball of Blessing yet. However she was sensitive to Mana after she became an Evil Reflector. This was why she was aware that a very complex structure of Mana was contained within the Crystal Ball of Blessing.
"Oppa, isn"t this really expensive?"
"I"m not giving it to you for free. You have to repay me later with a lot of interests. It"ll be a compound interest."
"Yes, I understand!"
Since she didn"t know how scary compound interest was, Sienna let out a naive smile as she replied. She took the crystal from him. Soon, she had a slightly peculiar expression on her face.
"Oppa, it feels as if it is exploring inside me."
"It is a subst.i.tute for the priests, and it"ll decide your future path. It"ll make a record of you in this world. You"ll know when it adapts to you."
"Y…yes."
After awakening as an Evil Reflector, she had already learned the Mana Control. Of course, he expected her to receive the Magician Cla.s.s without much problem
However….
[Sienna]
[Level ? 1]
[Evil Reflector]
[Warrior Priestess]
Sienna found out her Cla.s.s, and when he saw it, Artpe"s eyes turned round. Maetel and Aena didn"t know what was going on so they looked on absentmindedly. The only thing different was the fact that the crystal ball was know glinting.
It would probably be of help in advancing in her high rank Cla.s.s….. No, that wasn"t important right now!
"Oppa, what happened······?"
"I"m not sure either."
If she wasn"t a magician, who on this land was actually suited to become a mage! Moroever, she had escaped her humanity to become a new race that didn"t exist in history, yet she was a priestess!
Artpe was so taken aback by this that he wanted to run out of the house. However, his Read All Creation ability hadn"t malfunctioned. Instead, her record as a Warrior Priestess was show clearly in front of his eyes. There was no double Sienna was a Warrior Priestess!
Sienna firmly grabbed Artpe"s clothes as she asked him a question.
"Oppa, does this mean I have to enter into a temple?"
"You must never do that."
At Sienna"s naive question, Artpe gave an immediate answer. Even if a Warrior Priestess was an occupation welcomed by everyone, she wasn"t human anymore. There was no way she would be able to enter into the very close-minded temples. If Artpe thought about their temperament, it would be fortunate if Sienna wasn"t dissected for study.
Priests weren"t priests, because they had a good heart. Priests followed a specific way of training that had been pa.s.sed down through time. People had researched a way to suck up to selfish G.o.ds in an attempt to obtain a boon from them. This was how the they awakened to the holy power to become priests!
This was why she was in a impossible situation.
"Her Mana has progressed in a special direction. It"s a holy power that directly opposes evil…. It is a likely hypothesis."
The name of her race was Evil Reflector, and the name was quite explicit. It also outlined the direction of her development. She had been optimized to fight against the demon race. She was so amazing that it wouldn"t have been strange if she had been chosen as hero.
He wonder what would happen if she was given the opportunity to grow up. She was born from an experiment that had tried to turn her into a demon. She would now stand in the front line in defeating the Demon race. It was the biggest way to screw over the Demon King. Moreover, it would allow Artpe"s original goal to……
"······Sienna."
Artpe felt a small amount of self-hatred as he bit his lips. However, he had already handed over the Crystal Ball of Blessing to her, so he was being hypocritical by wavering between his decision. He kept eye contact with Sienna as he spoke.
"You probably lived a normal life until now. If this incident hadn"t occurred, you would have continued to live a normal life. However, the direction of your life has changed in no uncertain terms. In the process, you gained considerable amount of power and potential. Now that you have that power it"ll be hard for you to lead a normal life."
At the very least, it wouldn"t be possible until the disturbance caused by the Demon King could be put to sleep. Sienna was a very bright child, so she fully understood what Artpe was talking about.
"Yes. Thank you, oppa. I also want to live a different life. I want to become stronger like oppa. I don"t want to be abused by bad people any longer."
It was truly courageous words. Artpe wonder if what she experienced here had hardened her heart.
Maybe, her mental state was affected when she was changed into a new race. He just had to hope that he had led her down a better path than becoming a demon..
"The problem is the power you possess is different from theirs. The power is unique and alien. This is the reason why I gave you the Crystal Ball of Blessing. People are afraid of those that are different from them. You"ll probably be unable to display your full power out in the open."
"Oppa, what should I do?"
She went to the heart of the matter. As Sienna asked her question, it seemed she had an idea what the answer would be. This was why there was a look of antic.i.p.ation on her face.
This was why kids these days were scary. Artpe had this though as he turned to look at Maetel. It looked as if Maetel really didn"t like the current situation. In the end, she nodded with a sullen expression on her face.
She didn"t want someone else to get between Artpe and her. However, Maetel knew Sienna couldn"t be left behind now. Since her feelings were so transparent, it was a bit amusing to see it.
Artpe smirked as he turned to look at Sienna.
Then he suggested a way forward for her.
"······do you want to join our party?"
"Yes!"
As if she had been waiting for this question, she let out a bright smile as she gave her answer. Artpe had asked the question, but he was taken aback by her embarra.s.singly frank answer.
"······your whole life depends on this decision. Are you sure you ok making such a decision so easily?"
"Yes!"
"You can"t!"
At that moment, Aena interjected herself into the conversation as she screeched. She had finally been able to recover her younger sister, yet she was now worried that Sienna would go to a distant place. However, Sienna had antic.i.p.ated her unni"s objection, so she spoke with a bright smile on her face.
"Unni, don"t worry too much about it. I"m all right. As time pa.s.ses, I"ll feel much better."
"Sienna······."
"If you are with me, I"m sure it"ll become difficult for you. You saw it, unni. I"m not normal anymore."
As her words ended, a white magical energy was emitted at the tip of Siennna"s fingers. Artpe could clearly see a light that was similar to holy power. Moreover, the amount of magical energy possessed by her was disparate from her status as a level 1.
"I…I…"
"Unni. You can do this alone too, right?"
Aena"s expression darkened, but Sienna"s expression remained clear. There was a thread of resoluteness that could be seen in her bright smile. Aena realized Sienna wasn"t trying to convince her of anything. She was just notifying Aena of what would be happening.
Sienna had always been a fierce girl that spoke her mind.
"We won"t be apart forever. I"ll come back. I promise. So you have to wait for me. Ok?"
"Sienna…. Are you really going to come back to me?"
In the end, Aena declared her defeat. Sienna let out a bright laughter as she tightly hugged Aena.
"Yes, I promise."
"Sienna······!"
"This is quite a nice sight, so I"m sorry to have to say this. We are going to travel together until this Quest ends."
"Ah. That"s right."
Artpe poured vinegar on the situation. The two sisters had embarra.s.sed expressions on their faces. Maetel giggled.
The night came to an end in a town that"ll be gone tomorrow.