A week had passed since that black Dome appeared near the village. People were still worried about what it was. But nothing happened anymore, so no one was continued too scared.
Of course, my whole family and I were very worried about it, but there was nothing to be done.
My dad wanted to go to the border to see what had happened, but my mom wouldn't let him do that and asked him to wait. For some reason, she was sure they would get some news about it.
But I honestly wasn't confident about it happening. I don't think we should have seen that magic, it was probably something secret or something.
"A letter arrived from the capital." But while I was in my room, I heard Lari's voice. She yelled loud enough that every one a few feet away could hear her.
'A letter from the capital...' I already knew the reason behind this letter, it seems my mother was right.
So I waited a little longer and left the bedroom. When I got to the living room, my mom, dad, and Lari were reading that letter together, it was a little funny scene to see, the three of them so close.
And to think that in the past, Lari didn't like being so "Invasive."
But even though it was a little funny, I couldn't laugh at this situation. My dad and mom were shaking a little while grinding their teeth as they read that letter.
As for Lari, she was also reading, but she didn't look serious but scared. Seeing this, I decided to approach them.
"Listen, what happened? Why are you all like this?" I asked as I approached.
"Noah." Seeing me, Lari came to me with tears in her eyes and hugged me.
"What is it, did something happen to Lisandra?" With this reaction, I thought something serious had happened to her, but I seemed to be wrong.
"That's not it." My dad said as he put a hand to his face looking desolate.
"So what happened? Tell me." I was starting to get impatient so I ended up yelling at him.
"Noah, come here." My mom called me and then asked me to sit beside her with my dad. When I did, she hugged both of us, each with one of her arms.
"…" I couldn't say anything, I was very confused.
"Listen, Noah." After she released me, she turned to me and grabbed my shoulders: "Looks like Southlein has declared war against Beastled." She didn't even try to say it in any softer way, she got right to the point.
"…" I didn't know what to say. Why would Southlein do this? Wasn't Beastled a friendly country? I know they're friendly because I've seen a lot of beastmen while I was in the capital.
Okay, I didn't see that many... But they were there.
"What happened?" I decided to ask.
"Beastled attacked first, remember what happened a week ago?"
"Was that black dome the work of Beastled? I suspected." I put a hand to my chin and started to think.
If that happened a week ago, why did they just decide to declare war now?
"Looks like they declared war a week ago, only the letter took a while to get here. Things are a mess in the capital." My father said as he lowered his head and covered it with his hands: "Why did this shit happen?"
"Have you received any news about Lisandra?"
"No, but it looks like the school has closed, so she must be hidden inside the inn. It seems that most residents are hidden in their homes right now."
"But what to do from now on? Where will the battle take place? What did the king ask us to do?" I asked them both.
"Well, we didn't get any orders. At most, they told us, 'Stay safe until the war is over.' My mom said as she sighed.
"So they don't care about us, basically this..."
"This is normal, they will only care about the cities and territories of influential nobles." My dad got up and then walked to the door.
"What do you think you're going to do?" My mother also got up and took his arm.
"What do you think we should do?"
"..."
"We are not going to fight this war, I refuse to work for the country and you must know why." My dad looked seriously at my mom: "Don't tell me you're thinking of accepting their proposal?"
"..."
"You're not going to do that, you'll have to kill me if you want to go fight with them, got it?" My dad approached my mom and looked her in the eye, I don't think I ever saw my dad challenge my mom like that.
"Fine, I won't."
"Excellent." My dad turned to leave again.
"But what do you intend to do?" My mother stopped him again.
"What am I going to do? Am I going to let everyone in the village know what's going on, or do you think we should hide it?"
"The border is not far from here, I'm afraid we will be involved in this conflict." My dad ground his teeth in frustration: "Why did that son of a bitch king do a shit like that?"
I had no idea which king my father was talking about, whether was the king of our country or the king of Beastled.
But if I were to guess, I think he hates them both.
####
My dad left the house and caused a big commotion outside.
When people learned about the war that had started, most of them seemed worried and others despaired of the news.
Some of them said, "Let's get out of here, we're too close to the border."
They weren't wrong, so my dad couldn't try to argue with that. But at least my dad tried to calm them down, telling them that here they would be safe and that they didn't need to worry.
Even my dad own didn't believe it, I could see from his expression.
"Mother, do you think the war will reach here?"
"The war will affect the whole country, so I think it will get this far." My mom smiled at me.
"I understand. But I think anything can be done at the moment, right? We can only wait to see the war unfold."
"Exactly, but don't be so worried." My mom placed her hand on my head and smiled at me trying to look like she was calm.
'Your hand is shaking a little.'
Time passed and it was night at the moment. From what my dad had said, some people had decided to move in tomorrow morning.
They would head to the nearest town.
My dad even tried to stop them, but they didn't change their minds. With that, the villagers had dwindled.
Now we were at the dinner table. Me, Lari, my father, and my mother.
"About the negotiation I had, I think it will have to be canceled, right?"
"I think that's the case, that merchant won't waste time sending us meat right now."
"Yes, why did this have to happen right now?" My dad looked sad.
"I also don't know exactly what happened to make this war happen, the king didn't give much explanation. Do you think I should go to the capital to find out what's going on?"
"It will be difficult to find someone to take you there right now."
"Don't worry, I'll go alone using a horse."
"Are you sure? Won't the king try to force you into his army?"
"He wouldn't do that." My mom smiled at my dad.
"Alright, I'll continue managing things here, I need to set up some protections around the village. I also need to get some people to stand guard in case any Beastled soldiers come near."
"Do it. If I go alone I'll get there faster."
"If possible, try to find some way to resolve this conflict, knowing that king, I'm sure it wasn't for a very big reason."
"Do you think I can interfere in the conflict between two countries? You're kidding, right?"
"If it's you, I don't doubt it's possible."
After this conversation that I decided not to get involved in, the two kissed lovingly while still at the table. Lari looked at me waiting for me to do something, but I just stared at her and then started ignoring her.
She looked pretty shaken up.
####
The next day, the people who wanted to leave said goodbye.
Most of those who left were from the village that had been attacked and was united with ours, but some people who already lived here also decided to leave. I confess that I was a little irritated with them.
Even though they've been here for years, they didn't trust my parents? I couldn't believe it.
But I couldn't stop them, I just said goodbye to them along with my parents and they followed the main road carrying their bags. Since they had no carriage or means of transport, they had to carry everything with their own hands.
After a while, they had disappeared on the horizon, and then it was my mother's turn to say goodbye.
She grabbed one of the horses and a bag with some supplies and then said goodbye. Making some calculations, maybe she will arrive in the capital in 4 or 5 days.
And now that it was just me and my father here to take care of everything, we began to put into practice our plans to protect the village.