Chapter 15: Chapter 10: Aftermath

The bandit dropped his sword and clawed at his throat, where a blade had made it's new home, as his blood dyed the dirt red. He collapsed a moment later.

"Gareth?" I asked cancelling my spell. And sure enough Gareth stood a ways back, with his arm extended like he had just thrown something.

The bandit's death must have been all Elise could take, as she passed out standing. I reached her before she could collide with the floor, and carried her in a traditional princess carry.

In the meantime Gareth had jogged his way over to us.

"Glad to see yer still standin' lad."

"Wait, hold on, I saw you get hit by that arrow. How are you-"

"Still kickin'? A simple arrow ain't enough to stop me lad."

"Hey we need to retreat now! The coast is clear but it won't stay that way for long!" Alex shouted out from aways away.

"Alright! Come on old man let's get out of here while we still can."

I turned to walk away before I heard some voices behind me.

"Hey there's some over there!"

"Get 'em!"

Turning around I saw a group of bandits rushing right at us.

Gareth sighed before picking up the blade that he had thrown earlier. "Take the lass an' get outta 'ere. I'll buy ye some time."

"What? No I can't leave you here!" 

"Please lad. Ye 'an I both know what happens if they ain't dealt with."

"...Don't you dare die on me old man."

"A couple o' bandits ain't gonna be enough to beat me." Gareth winked then turned to face off against the ten-ish bandits coming our way. I too turned away and ran towards Alex. She understood the situation and only nodded at me before rushing ahead.

And so Alex, Elise, and I managed to escape the bandit's attack with our lives.

"Shit!" Alex punched the tree again. And then again. And again.

"That tree didn't do anything you know."

"Shut it!" Alex sent a nasty glare at me, which under normal circumstances may have made me a bit scared, but right here and right now it just pissed me off.

After running all night Alex and I found a river. We decided we had run far enough and would rest there. We cleaned the blood from ourselves and Elise in the river, but our clothes were still stained. It would soon be night again, yet Alex still hadn't calmed down at all.

"How about, instead of beating up the local plant life, you help me figure out what the fuck we are supposed to do? I can't be the only one trying to guarantee our safety."

"How dare you?! I just lost my entire squad, all of my men, and soon my life, yet you tell me to calm down?!" Alex screamed out, her spiddle landing on my face.

"Look I get it, I really do, but we have bigger problems than the past to worry about. If you can't act your role then I will." I said as I wiped my face down.

I saw the tears forming in the edge of her eyes. I saw the look of hopelessness and despair on her face, and I could feel just how angry she was, but I couldn't let that jeopardize our safety. We currently had no way to provide ourself with food, clean water, or any form of shelter and based on the clouds overhead it was going to rain soon.

Elise had been in an odd state since she woke up. She barely spoke two words after realizing the bandit attack wasn't just a terrible nightmare. Currently she was wearing my shirt, which I had managed to get most of the blood out of, which left me topless. I couldn't let her wear her clothes that had been marred by the blood of those bastards, so I gave her my shirt, which covered all of her torso all the way down to her mid thigh. She sat holding her knees to her chest and hadn't really moved much.

"Do what you want. I am not your Commander, and soon I will be no one's. I don't deserve it anymore..." Alex said to me before walking off in the direction of the nearby river.

Yes once word got out about Alex losing her squad to some bandits, even if they had coordinated their attack with a rat from the inside, she would be stripped of her title, and most likely sentenced to a public execution. I didn't really understand that last part, something about failing the people, but hey it wasn't my kingdom to run. Not yet anyways. 

I too felt like punching the tree that had barely been left standing by the time Alex was done with it but decided against it. If I too lost myself to anger then we were all as good as dead.

'Fuck... Pyra, any ideas?'

(I'm sorry... I don't know anything about hunting or anything like that...) 

'That's fine. System, any ideas?'

[Suggestion: Find food, water, and shelter within the next hour]

'Yeah, no shit.'

With only a vague idea on what to do, I set off in the opposite direction of the river.

Around an hour later I found what I was looking for.

Growl

'Dire Wolves.'

They were the ideal source of food. Although their meat was bland it would be more than enough to hold us over until we got to Yale.

Dire wolves were big enough that a single Fireball wouldn't blow their entire body to bits, but weren't big enough to cause any problems for me now.

After killing the four Dire Wolves, coating my topless form in their blood, I quickly realized there was a slight problem.

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'How the hell am I supposed to bring these back by myself?'

I accepted the fact I would only be able to take two, and tossed them both over either shoulder. I had killed each wolf with a headshot to preserve the most amount of edible meat.

After a slightly longer walk I made it back to the camp.

Upon reaching it I saw Alex still wasn't there. It was nearing nightfall which meant she should be returning soon.

I saw Elise was still in her seated position with her knees to her chest, but once she saw me she immediately stood up.

"D-Damian? You're bleeding..."

She walked over to me and started casting her healing magic on my chest.

I let the wolves slide off my shoulders as I gently grabbed her hands. Despite being extremely careful she still jumped a little.

"Hey I'm okay. I'm not hurt." I saw a tear fall from her eye, followed by another, then another.

Despite spending all of my time spent getting into women's pants not once did I think to learn to console them when things went wrong. No, instead I would leave them at the drop of a hat.

But I wouldn't do that here. I may not know how to heal her, but I would never stop trying.

I brought Elise into my embrace, patting her back to soothe her as I always did.

After a moment I felt her hands wrap around my back, brushing against the wound from the arrow that never got healed, and she tightened her grip around me.

"I was so scared... I saw all that blood, all that death. I watched as people died when I could have saved them... They're dead because of me."

"No Elise, you can't blame yourself for that. It wasn't your fault." I kept repeating that last sentence to her, trying to drive into her thick skull. Each time I said it she shook harder and the tears fell faster as she denied the words.

It took the better part of an hour for her to admit that their deaths weren't her fault, and to calm down afterwards. Even so, I knew she didn't truly feel that way. Good girls can be such a pain sometimes, yet she was my pain, and I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Night had almost completely fallen by this point and Alex still hadn't returned.

"I'm going to make a fire, then look for Alex, okay?" I asked Elise, who had once again sat with her knees to her chest. She nodded and I went off to find firewood. A few minutes later I found enough for a small fire, made a shoddy pile, and lit it with my magic. I then took a stick I had wrapped in the cloth that covered my eye and put the tip into the fire. After it caught fire I had a crude torch. It wasn't much but it would be enough to find Alex.

Typically I would have used my fire magic but I didn't want to waste even a single MP point when there were other options.

I assured Elise I would be right back, Alex in tow, and walked in the direction Alex had left in. After ten minutes or so of walking I found a clearing where the river resided.

And there I saw Alex sitting on a large rock twiddling with her sword.

"Alex. It's dark out so come back to camp. I made a fire and found some food. Still don't have anything for water but we can figure something out.

Alex didn't react to my words, and instead continued playing the the edge of her sword. I normally would have waited a bit longer for a response, or maybe even cracked a joke, but my patience had all but run out.

"Alex!" 

After I shouted her name Alex finally looked at me. Her form was illuminated by the moonlight making it look as if her golden eyes were glowing.

"What's the point? The men I have spent these past year's with are now dead, and I will soon join them. Unless I can bring them the culprits head..."

'Huh? I don't remember reading about that anywhere... And wait is she referring to me?'

The system confirmed that there was no way to escape the public execution. Unless at least ten men survived the attack. Something about, turning the tides in an unfair battle or something.

"Cut the shit Alex. You and I both know I had no part in this."

"Do we now? As far as I see it you have a very good chance of being amongst the demon races. A perfect fire affinity, being undaunted by death, even now you have a clear head after the 'surprise' attack. Perhaps you've been planning this ever since Elise saved your pitiful life."

Alex jumped down from her rock, sword in hand, and slowly approached me.

"Alex, I'm obviously being framed. If your mind wasn't so clouded you would see that too."

Alex stopped dead in her tracks and... proceeded to sprint at me full speed ahead. Thing was, I could follow her movements now even without the use of Martial Arts Mastery or Mana Enhancement. 

I watched as her blade drew closer to my neck. I felt the sting from my danger sense telling me I needed to get away. I heard Pyra screaming at me to move. Yet I didn't. I didn't move. I didn't flinch. I didn't so much as blink. Because I knew.

I glared into one of her eyes with my own. I saw it, the lack of conviction.

Just as the blade came into contact with my neck it stopped moving.

I knew she couldn't kill me. Her Title wouldn't allow her to.

[Title: Righteous Knight]

Only those born with a perfect sense of right and wrong may earn this title. A Righteous Knight will always strive to do the right thing and help others, lest they fall from grace.

All stats are increased by 50% when facing an opponent aligned with 'evil'

Ability to judge character with a look

Inability to do anything aligned with 'Evil' without backlash

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