Chapter 4: 1-3

Mm hm.  I see.  It looks like from what this guy is saying that the kingdom might be going to war soon.  Good thing I've spent the last four years doing my best to learn the language.  Hopefully this means that I'll get a turn.  The king has spent long enough getting good at using me so I'd like to see how we do in a real battle.  Then again this king may not be the type to go to the front lines.  

I do hope we go, though.  I'd like to go out and see more of the world, especially now that my vision is even better than it was since the last time I was outside of this castle.  I managed to get it to the point where I can see almost twice as far and clearly as I did five years ago.  Of course, I didn't want the king to know how much I was improving so I worked really hard and finally figured out how to adjust what we share and how much.  So now when someone picks me up from now on I can just let them only have about the same amount of my kind of vision as the king got when he first grabbed me.

Now, as for why I think we'll be going to war soon from what this guy is saying.  He's some kind of diplomatic envoy or something and he's been saying almost nothing except threats and insults the entire time.  I think he might have bribed some guards or something, too, because I can see that he has a few throwing knives in his sleeves and at his back.  They aren't even that hard to find for anyone who would even try and search him.  I'm pretty sure he wants the king to declare war right before he tries to assassinate him.  I haven't figured out his exit strategy if that really is the case but everything else adds up so far.

Oh, hey.  Way to go, king.  You noticed that something seemed off as well, huh?  He's reaching for my handle so he probably wants to use my vision.  I'd offer you the full range and clarity if only you had been a true wielder, king.  You should be fine with what you normally use, though.  Ah, yup.  He definitely can see the hidden weapons on this guy now.  So, are we going to fight him?  No, you're going to call the guards, huh?  Well, maybe this guy will attack anyway.  Or not.  He's just allowing himself to be escorted out.  

Such a disappointment.  I kind of expected it, though.  So, now what?  I see.  I guess you really should figure out how he managed to get the weapons in here, first.  I want to know if we're going to war or not, though.  Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see how your own diplomats do when you send them over to check things out.  Please say that you'll at least increase how much you do your training since that's about the only excitement I get around here.

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Woohoo!  This is kind of fun.  Okay, sure, I'm a little unwieldy whilst on a horse but the speed we're going at makes the blur of everything I can see through the king's eyes look exciting.  I won't apologize for being as heavy or strangely shaped as I am.  Just keep me resting against your shoulder like this if you need to carry me more comfortably.  Oh, I can see the enemy force ahead in you vision!

I was a little worried over this past month that the war might be averted and I would never have a chance to shine but it looks like whoever the enemy country is had already started sending their forces.  The king actually decided to lead his army out here to defend his lands.  He's such a great guy.  I'm really glad he's holding me the whole time so I can see what's going on in the distance, too.  

It looks like our forces are about equal right now as the king leads our side to meet theirs.  Yesterday I got to be there and listen while they made their strategies and everything in a large tent for the commanders but they were using a lot of words that I still hadn't learned and I wasn't being held during the whole thing so I couldn't even see what was on the map they kept pointing at.  Well, it's not like I could do anything about it all anyway since I'm still hiding my true nature but it would have been nice to try and learn some war strategies in case my future wielders need to know about it.

So I can only assume that most of whatever is happening from this point on is part of the strategy.  Like the king staying at the front where he's easiest to attack while we get closer to the enemy forces.  Hmm.  I hope someone doesn't snipe him down and end my chance for a turn before anything actually starts.  The king is starting to shout out something to the enemy forces while out side is setting up.  It's something along the lines of them being in the wrong and invading without even declaring war and all that along with a demand that they turn around and leave.  Personally I think they'd have to be pretty stupid to leave right after making it this far without even doing anything but I suppose there's some kind of politics that I don't really care about to think about as well.

The enemy command is shouting back something about us being the ones to declare war and attack their diplomat and stuff.  Wait, is he talking about that guy that the king sent away?  I'm absolutely certain he at least made it to out of the castle alive.  My vision may not be quite large enough to see the entire castle but I did put some focus on him before he left and saw him heading out to the end of where I could see in the direction of the exit while under plenty of watchful gazes. 

The king starts to shout back how their diplomat was safely returned under the watchful eyes of several other countries' diplomats as well meaning that other countries may also take offense if they continue their invasion.  Well, I cant see the enemy commander's face from here even using the king's vision but I'd have to imagine from the silence that he's now feeling a little nervous.  I do hope that he attacks anyway.  Oh, good, he's calling the king a liar and yelling out for his forces to charge.

As the king yells for his army to meet the enemy charge, I'm feeling pretty excited about finally getting to experience some real combat.  The king is leading the charge of this side so we should at least get to fight a few people.  The king looks up as he starts slowing his horse down to let the army surge ahead of him and I can see a spectacular sight of flashy lights and explosions and such happening overhead through his eyes.  I can only assume that's the magical stuff for warfare since I doubt they have fancy fireworks like that much less force fields.  

The king hops off his horse and someone else mounts up to take it back.  The king is now using my vision to help him navigate around and get to the front lines.  Yes!  Let's go!  We're finally at the front lines and I get swung towards an enemy.  I am extremely sharp, so armor and bones mean little before my blade.  I didn't know that I would actually be able to feel it all as I slice through people, though.  I make a minor adjustment as I slice down to make sure that I can cut as cleanly as possible and feel the blood wash across my blade as it cuts the enemy soldier in two from shoulder to hip.  

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This is awesome!  The guy we cut down falls apart as his internal organs start spilling out across the ground.  The king immediately moves to the next guy and uses me to separate the guy's head from the rest of his body.  We can see someone trying to come up from behind but since my vision is omnidirectional it's not very effective and the king spins around while dropping a little low to cut across the guys midsection.  The king looks up and I can see surprise on the guy's face as his intestines and a few other things that are probably important start pouring out of the gash across his waste.  Some blood flies out as well and splashes on the king.

I'm really proud of the king, actually.  He's brought me to a battle and he's doing such a good job so I decide to give him a slight rewards by letting him have a little bit more of my vision.  Of course, I don't want to overload his senses or anything so rather than give him more of my range I just let what I'm already sharing with him get closer to the clarity that I have with it.  I only let him have a it a little bit better but considering that I can tell he narrowed his eyes when it happened I know he can tell the difference.  

I get swung down again against someone else who has a shield but a simple shield like that isn't enough to stop me.  There's a little more resistance than normal but I still manage to cut through the shield and lop the soldier's arm off.  As he starts screaming in pain and disbelief, the king silences him by stabbing me through his throat.  That was fun!  So, who's next king?  Oh, are we done?  Too bad. 

The king looks around a little and sees that our forces are moving forward and pushing the enemy back so he grunts a little and turns to wade back through our own forces.  I guess my job is over for now.  It was short but at least I finally got to see some use so I won't complain too much for now.  If we aren't going to be fighting anymore, though, then I guess the king won't need the slightly better vision I was letting him use so I start to slowly dial it back to how it usually is.  The king spends the next few minutes trying to move against the direction of his own army and make it to the back while I slowly bring the vision he has to a slightly more blurry state so that he doesn't notice the changes immediately and we finally get to where his commanders have set up some chairs and a table.

The king announces his return and wellbeing as he approaches them and they all stand up to give him a proper greeting while looking at the blood the king is covered in.  The king closes his eyes for a moment and since I can only see what he sees then I can only use my own vision to tell what's going on around us until the king opens his eyes again.  He holds me in front of him and looks me over for a little while before finally taking a seat and calling out for a washcloth.

The king listens to the reports of the commanders while he cleans his face with the washcloth and then starts to wipe me clean before cleaning himself the rest of the way.  What great guy!  He even takes the effort to provide me with more after battle care than even himself.  I always think it but it's just too bad that he doesn't quite qualify to be my true wielder.  However he is at least my first wielder so I'll make sure to remember him being in that special spot for the rest of my immortal life.  Maybe I should actually take some time to really get to know more about him so that some day far in the future I can tell another wielder about him if they ever ask.

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We went out to the front a few more times over the next few days before someone finally managed to capture or kill the enemy commanders.  After the first two days it seemed like few people realized who exactly the king was whenever he headed out personally since they all started screaming out some other title for him that I didn't recognize and many tried to run away with terrified faces.  Each time we went out and the king used me to cut down a few people I'd give him my little reward of slightly sharper vision from me.  There was one point where he decided to try and stay in the midst of battle for an extended time and we both ended up getting splattered in so much blood that when he looked us both over briefly during a momentary pause in the fighting I could only see a few spots that hadn't been painted the red and brown of blood.  I let him cut a few more people and gave him a little bonus by letting him have full clarity of within the range of my vision that he shared.

That reward might have been a little too much for him because he suddenly grabbed his head and started cutting his way through the enemies back in the other direction to make it back to his own forces.  Sorry about that.  It did seem he was slightly pleased with the reward, though, since he started gloating about how I made him stronger the more we fought even if it was only temporary.  I guess being able to see everything around him in full detail made him feel really strong but someday I hope there will be a way to give an actual strength to a wielder.

Now that we've won and are headed back I do have to wonder if we've won the war or merely the battle.  Well, I guess I'll find out when we get back and they start talking a bunch near me.  This was a good experience as far as I'm concerned and I can be happy with how I finally got used for the next few years if need be.  If we are entering some peaceful times then I guess I can use it to really try and push myself to learn the language better as well as make some mental noted about this king.  He's been a great first wielder and I want to make sure I'll remember him even if nobody else does.

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War Demon King Jared Arcius.  That is seriously a badass name and title.  Apparently that's what he's now being called due to what he did during that war that we just won last year.  It did remind me of a little problem I had forgotten about.  I still haven't figured out what I want my own name to be.  That said, I'm not in a huge hurry right now since there's nobody I could even tell if I figured it out.

It seems that several surrounding countries have become quite impressed with this king, though.  There's suddenly a bunch of marriage offers coming in from all over the place.  I've learned that I was actually a coronation gift to the king and he ascended the throne before he was supposed to due to the previous king dying form some accident or another.  So now that he's a king without a wife or heir there are a bunch of people pushing him to get to work on that as quickly as possible.  I just hope some country doesn't try to send a bedroom assassin as a wife.

Either way I've been trying to pay more attention to things about the king but nobody really talks about his personal life in a public setting like where I sit so it's a little difficult.  There's also the fact that even though I now know enough of the language to understand what's being said it's not like I have mastered it so there's still constantly things that I miss.  I do know there are other languages in this world as well.  I really hope I won't have to learn more languages for my future wielders.  

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