Dentelia. That word gave Hector adrenaline. He knew what it meant: he was going to see and meet 50 times more women than in his old life.All this was for him like another reality, he was moving from a desolate and cold world to a world plagued by conflicts over people"s genders. It seemed so childish and meaningless to him that it gave him a headache. From where it comes, conflicts came from lack of food or for medical equipment.
Dentelia, a country with 80% of women... It reminded Hector of something bad. It was sad to say that, but in his world, women were a rare "commodity" for which small groups fought each other with flame throwers.
As his memories came to his mind, he blew with exasperation and tried to get up after sitting on the ground for several hours.
[Take it easy.] Balam ordered. [When I told you that you seem to have recovered slightly, it"s really slightly. Don"t kill yourself by walking, that would be stupid.]
[Thank you for the advice, really and very helpful.] he replied ironically by taking support on the wall of the house to start walking. [Looks like I can at least stand up... and walk a little.]
[Hector.] said the demon in a cold, calm voice.
[Yes?]
Hector immediately felt that Balam wanted to talk to him about something serious; he swallowed his saliva and turned to where he thought he saw a dark, translucent ma.s.s.
[I want to talk to you about something, but coming from a demon maybe my words will sound like lies to your ears... but I promise you my words won"t be lies.]
[Well... So... Go ahead.] replied Hector with apprehension.
[We can both change this world, whether, for good or evil, I leave you the choice.] he began with a fleeting tone. [You could lead a much better life than you have before and be happy as you have never been before, you could be rich, have a great charisma, be able to change destiny and maybe even come back to your Old World to see Noah and Ana one last time, if you feel the urge.]
[Huh? See them again? In what way? From what you explained to me, once a dimension is crossed, it"s complicated even for demons to go back.]
[Yes, that"s what I told you. It"s complicated to go back even for demons, but if you ever find me a body and enough creative energy, I could succeed with your help in creating a portal to bring your old comrades back into this world.]
The young man put his hand in front of his mouth and leaned his head. It all seemed easier than he thought it would be. Lie or not, all this was suspicious, but he decided to give the demon a chance, who seemed to have had trouble finding his words.
[It seems too easy to me... what do you mean by creative energy?]
[Creative energy is the energy that gives birth, in other words, it"s s.e.xual energy. And think again, it"s not easy; to create a body based on s.e.xual energy, it"s not the energy of a single s.e.xual act that I need. But a large quant.i.ty of this energy.]
[Which means...?]
[Hmm... Well... A lot. More than 200... maybe 300... or even 400 or more s.e.xual acts, depending on the quant.i.ty and quality of the creative energy you manage to create! B-but I could be wrong ! It depends of course on the woman you would do this with, on what she does to please you. And if she has feelings for you, it can alter the results, but there is also the way you give pleasure to the woman that matters a lot. The more you do for a woman, the better.] Balam explained without taking a break. [Here, I could explain all this to you in depth later... I also have access to knowledge that no one else will be able to give you and if you accept, I"ll tell you about the other two demons who bonded with you by dying during your Transfer-]
[I accept... I accept.] he said with an embarra.s.sed smile.
The demon stopped talking for a moment, as if he was trying to hide his joy, before letting go of a long sigh of relief. The demon"s reactions were currently reminiscent of a five-year-old child"s, which caused Hector to laugh.
The sun had been rising for some time and it was after hearing the first songs of the birds that Hector decided to walk towards the village center using the walls of the houses. The poor building was mostly charred, their foundations only remnants of the flame pa.s.sage, others had been more or less spared, with only the wooden frame that had collapsed or even, sometimes, just a few broken windows. Of course, there were buildings unharmed, but Hector could not take his gaze off the ones that were destroyed. Among them, inns had been ransacked, a bank had been robbed of its money, some coins on the ground, covered with a thin layer of ash.
In some places there were soldier bodies lying on the ground for eternal sleep, their faces pale, their eyes empty; one of them held a drawing of great precision. He and his family could easily be recognized in the drawing: a wife, a son and a daughter.
Hector hesitated for a moment to take the picture and give it to the family of this soldier, but he simply closed his eyes.
He continued to move forward towards the center of the city, hoping to find someone well-meaning, but even in the middle of the village, there was no one there.
[It"s empty...]
[If I were you, I would be on my guard, I detect movement on the left path, coming from the forest. A large group, probably on horseback.] a.n.a.lyzed Balam, urging Hector to hide.
The young man made no more noise. He had to be careful and antic.i.p.ate his every move, he couldn"t talk, so negotiating was impossible, he couldn"t run, so running away wasn"t even an option. In other words, he had to rely on Balam and his own will to survive if he wanted to get out of this situation.
A swarm of birds flew away near the edge of the village before Hector heard many hoof sounds. His muscles contracted under the adrenaline and it was the knot in his stomach that he walked along the houses to try to observe the group of people while trying not to be seen.
It was a squadron mainly made up of women as might be expected, however, some men were present among the knight"s group. Most of them were human, but there seemed to be a few other races that made up the squadron. They all have badges on their chest, one of which was bigger than the others. The badge of Dentelia"s army: a flower of Lily.
Several of them had got off their horses to inspect the bodies of the few soldiers who were lying on the ground.
[They"re on our side, you can go.] Balam said in a rea.s.suring voice.
Hector did so and advanced towards the knight"s group along the wall, as he was having more and more difficulty walking. Several of these riders were guarding beside the one who was inspecting the area; this was the case of a Dark Elf with yellow eyes and white hair with a ponytail who, after seeing Hector, ran towards him with a determined look and tackled him on the ground on his stomach, without a shred of hesitation. The young man instantly coughed blood and for a moment the pain made him think he was going to pa.s.s out.
"I have found an individual!" shouted the dark elf after making an arm key to Hector who had no strength to resist.
Many of the knights came to see what was happening.
A woman in her thirties came to take a closer look at Hector, who was having trouble breathing. Her clothing and armor were different from the other members of the squadron. She quickly observed the young man before staring at the elf with an annoyed look.
"Selena, I"ve already told you to be more careful, this slit-throat brat... I don"t know how he survives with this wound, but if you keep twisting his arm and stopping him from breathing, he"ll probably die." explained the woman in a jaded tone while staring with at Hector with a disturbing look.
"Y-Yes... excuse me. I rushed without thinking...] replied the dark elf, lowering her head to show her approval to her superior. [Excuse me for my harshness." she told Hector by helping him to get up.
The elf"s chief began to circle around putting her hand on her chin; her blue eyes, whose dark circles distorted her face, were half closed as if she was ready to fall asleep at any moment.
"Aaaah... f.u.c.k... I have a lack of sleep..." she grumbled with anger. "Gregory!!!!! Argh-" she shouted, half choking by her own saliva. "s.h.i.t..."
Everyone was surprised by the cry of their leader, some of the riders had startled, while others had given a little cry.
Hector standing against a wall and threatened by a sword held by Selena, the dark elf, was watching the show, amused.
"Um... Yes, Captain?" asked a man with a well-trimmed beard, and whose equipment was slightly different from the others; he had just left one of the houses he was inspecting.
"I need you for something, Gregory..."
"Uh... what...?" asked the soldier with apprehension.
"This brat, his face looks familiar, but it"s impossible for me to find his name! Not even his last name! " she stopped for a moment for breathing. "Krane? Claine? I don"t know, I don"t know anymore. Help me. I"m going to go crazy. ยป
"Yes, I see that..." Gregory replied, staring at his superior with a worried look. "First of all, start by breathing, it"s an idea."
The man walked up to Hector, stared at the young man for a moment and after realizing who was in front of him, his face first expressed a shock, then a joy.
[Gregoire Saranel, a friend of your father"s, don"t forget that you"re not Hector, but Krein.] alerted Balam with anxiety.
"The few soldiers who survived the attack told me that they saw you beaten up... everyone thinks you died in the capital... Ah! Yes. Your whole family is safe and some of the inhabitants have managed to escape." he took a short break where a warm smile appeared on his face. "I can"t wait to see your mother"s reaction when she sees you again." he said in an amused tone, forcing Selena to lower her sword.