Chapter 6 - The General Enters Enemies

  On the road, ed wherever we could, avoiding all inns and lodges along the way. There could be Wolves' spies. Naturally, they would be o for anyone approag the Duchy of Evenhart. Even though this was my family's Duchy, the Wolves were iial nobles with a small fa of lower nobles who would rise when Nikous became Duke. They would likely be o if a child and a peared at an inn. Even though my fad gender were unknown, I was still a strange child entering a territory where people wao kill someone my age.

  We were in a forest he coast, and I could sometimes hear the sound of the sea. My mother was cooking over the campfire. I discovered she was very good at it. I asked her how she met my father, and she told me she was a soldier who saved him on a battlefield.

  I found it strange when she said "soldier."

  That expins the sometimes frightening demeanor she has...

  She was also a mage who used the pnt element and had skill with a sword. Hugo told me she was somewhat famous otlefields and always received marriage proposals from the soldiers she saved from death, but she turhem all down.

  I hope no fool dares to propose tain.

  “It’s almost ready, Nate. You’ll fill your belly soon,” she said as I practiced some movements with a wooden sword. Hugo usually went off to buy supplies, but this time he was sending a letter via bird to my family, who would be waiting for me in the Evenhart territory.

  What will they be like? I... never had a family before. I don’t even know what to do or how to behave. It took me a while to get used to having a mother, let alone gaining a big family...

  “Worried?” she asked, still fag the pot.

  A part of me ughed, thinking she always had the best advice at the right time.

  “How do you know?” I had to ask.

  Could she be an oracle like the ones in my old world?

  “Because I’m your mother,” Katherine said while stirring the pot.

  Apparently, mothers are more powerful than oracles.

  I sighed and sat against a log. There was no use lying to her. Katherine is my mother, and she is the only person I ask for advice because she is the only being I know who genuinely wants the best for me.

  “I’m nervous, Mom. I’m more nervous than I’ve ever been... I’m afraid to meet these people. I don’t know if I’m ready for this kind of thing; I just want to be Nathan, the son of Katherine... not Nathan, an Evenhart.”

  Katheri up and sat o me.

  “I’m nervous too…”

  She folded her legs.

  “But do you know what calms me?” she asked.

  A part of me wao learn how to deal with this nervousness; I wasn’t even this nervous in battles. I learo be mentally prepared to fight an enemy, but no oaught me how to deal with a family.

  “What?” I asked sincerely.

  My mother pulled me closer and id my head on her p.

  "Being with my son, that's what calms me. Knowing that you are well... having someone else to care about took away all the selfishness and pride I once had. For you, I would dig a tunnel with my hands from here to the Evenhart mansion if necessary," she said while her warm hands gently stroked my head. That gesture was enough to make me uand that I would gh anything for her. If she would dig with her hands, I would dig with my feet, with my mouth, and even with my head if nothing else was left. I would dig to the depths of this world to e out the other side if it meant saving her. I would dig until my hands vanished, scraped raw from plunging them into the earth if I had to do it for her.

  I didn’t reject that affe because she was my mother. She was the only person with whom I could rex in that position without fearing someone would take advantage and slit my throat.

  "Thank you so much, Mom. Know that I... I love you."

  "I love you too, Nate. I love you more than anything in this world. You are my only family; I have no one else. But don't worry, you are all I need."

  I do too, Mom. I also have no one else... and never did.

  ***

  That night, Hugo still hadn't returned. He had informed us that since we were on the borders of the Evenhart Duchy, he might take loo e back as he would make crazy routes to shake off anyone who might be tailing him. He ordered that if he took more than two days, we should go without him, even if it meant leaving him behind. Hugo alone could catch up to us or lead the pursuers in a pletely different dire from our route. My mother knew how to drive a carriage… I did too, thanks to my experien my previous world, but I preferred to pretend I didn’t. If necessary, I would take a horse and carry her myself, but I didn’t know the route or which pces to avoid.

  Fortunately, my mother had military training in her past and said she had lived in these nds as a peasant before her mana awakened, giving her an opportunity to be useful and earn money by being a mage. She doesn’t like to talk about her past, but I know she spent much of her life hungry with her mother. I still don’t uand how, but I think she chose to join the military to help my grandmother… but unfortunately, she died. My mother became a cold person because of that at the time.

  As she told me about her past, I saw my former self. Like her, I joihe military because I had nothing and saw a ce to rise. But in the midst of her journey, before being a ‘General Icarus,’ she fell in love with my father and had me. She became a mother, and that ged her pletely… I wonder what would have happened if I had been a father in that world? I became a General and then started my crazy jouro defeat Olympus. If I had bee a father during that time, would I have pursued my reveo the end?

  I don’t know… all I know is that when I discovered the truth, I had to kill Athena. That was all I thought about. I had to kill that bitch… and in the end, I did.

  ***

  Three days passed, and Hugo had pletely disappeared. We had no way to unicate with him and no idea what had happened.

  My mother decided to ighe two-day deadline Hugo had given and during this time, she didn’t sleep even once, always keeping guard in the rain.

  “Nate, let’s wait one more day as pnned. If Hugo doesn’t e back by tomorrow, we’ll have to leave without him,” my mother said, worried.

  Because of this, I had to stay ihe carriage all the time, keeping hidden with the windows closed. I was nervous about the situation and didn’t want to leave my mother outside defenseless. Luckily, we had some equipment and even a bow. I was he type to use a bow, but I could manage if necessary. Katheriayed outside with it in hand, watg the surroundings. We couldn’t let anyone from a distance see a child out in the open in that pce; they would quickly make the e that it could be me. So, I had no choice but to stay hidden.

  The problem was that my family’s desperate move to find me spread the hat they had ried before, and Nikous, with his spies, became more alert because of it. Both he and my aunt were reag the limits of their patience, and they couldn’t predict the oute of an internal war.

  The only way for Nikous to proceed with his pn is by killing me and my mother, leaving my aunt in a dead end and f her to betroth my cousin. My aunt always had a safeguard, knowing there was another heir somewhere, so she had more pieces in this chess game... The problem is that, with the Duchy currently divided, even the nobles are prevented from trading among themselves. No one wants ttheher side and they are suspicious of betrayals and 'acts,' creating animosity and increasingly plig the region's funing. It was as if they were slowly putting a noose around their necks. This whole time without a decision reventing the Duchy from funing and moving forward.

  It’s always like this, the calm before the storm is worse thaorm itself.

  I say this, and ironically, it’s raining outside with a strong storm ing.

  I hope this isn’t some kind of joke from fate.

  “Son, we’re going to have to sleep in shifts. I’m sorry, but if we don’t do this, I won’t have the energy for a long trip tomorrow,” my mother told me, worried. She was outside in the rain, always alert to any noise.

  “Don’t worry, Mom. We’re in this together,” I said to her, seeing her worried expression disappear and repced by a smile.

  “When night falls, I’ll take the first shift, and you take the sed. After that, we’ll leave early in the m, no matter how hard it’s raining,” my mother told me, and I just nodded.

  The rain was increasing, and we didn’t even light a campfire. We ate some dry rations and tinued waiting through the day. She positioned us among the trees to protect the horses. Luckily, we had some tents, and she mao set them up for the horses to shelter from the raiayed ihe carriage... or rather, just me. My mother covered herself with a cloak and hid among the trees until nightfall.

  “Nate...” she called, and as soon as I heard her, I woke up o.

  “Did something happen?” I asked, looking to see if she was hurt.

  “Everything’s fine, just... it’s my turn to sleep. I’m sorry to ask you this, son, but I o rest a bit so we leave at dawn.”

  I felt a little embarrassed for sleeping too long a my mother rest. She made me promise to wake her in three hours and gave me an hss.

  I po let her sleep the whole night; she deserved it.

  I was hidden in the carriage with a bow and a hidden k was very dark in that forest, and the rain was falling intensely. I could hear the waves crashing in the background, and the sound was frightening, like the pounding of monsters.

  This world has real magical creatures... not that my old world didn’t, but they were rare. Here, they are more numerous and with different levels of power. I know they assured me that this route doesn’t have the stro ones... but even so, I’m tense.

  The powerful magical creatures usually stay in the wild regions scattered across our ti, but even so... I don’t know if I could kill something strong with this little knife.

  Not knowing magic is limiting me. My mother doesn’t have much offensive power with her magic... and I haven’t seen what Hugo do. We didn’t have time to ‘py’ or train enough for me to have the opportunity to ask questions.

  Until my Mana Gem awakens, I’ll be useless... I’m already in a child’s body, which makes things difficult, and I ’t even use magical powers... I’m a plete burden. At least I hope this wait is worth it; I want to have at least one powerful element. I know it’s random... but I need something offehe rarest mages in the world use 2 or 3 elements and their fusions... If I have at least one good element, I won’t even mind not having another.

  ‘CRASH!’

  I was imagining a lot of fun sarios using magi my mind when I was startled by a loud noise.

  What was that?

  I look around with the bow in hand, ready for anything that might dare move in this darkness. I hear some smaller impaoises and even a scream. Getting down from the carriage, I go to my mother.

  “Mom...” I murmur, but as soon as I enter, I see she’s in a deep sleep.

  She’s very tired... and this whole situation is my fault.

  ‘CRASH!’

  I hear the noise again, this time a bit quieter. I mao distinguish where it came from. Climbing up the tree, I head to the highest brand hang on. I look and see only darkness; even the sea is pitch bck. I only know it's there because of the sound of the waves.

  The rain tio fall steadily, and I focus, trying to dis the distant darkness. Something quickly illumihat darkowards the waves.

  “Fire?” I ask myself, not believing what I saw.

  A fire mage? Could it be the Wolves? It has to be them. If not, what would a mage be doihe coast? Hugo said no civilian would dare ehis forest.

  I ponder my options. The noise is definitely ing from the dire of the sea, and we’re only a few kilometers away from it.

  What if Hugo had been captured and brought them to a nearby location? Could that fire be some sort of signal from him to us? He does use the fire element... could this be their way of warning us to leave?

  Looking towards the carriage where my mother is sleeping, I decide.

  I’ll check it out aurn; regardless of what it is, we’ll leave. Whether it’s a ce or not, we’ll depart when I return.

  I go to where my mother is sleeping and pce the bow near her.

  This thing is useless to me;

  I’d rather hold a bde and throw it if necessary. Slowly, I gather myself and take two more khat are nearby, leaving her with just one for prote in case of an emergency.

  I close the carriage and move slowly, croug towards my objective.

  Unfortunately, I received almost no stealth training, being a war general... there isn’t much stealth when you o fa army ing furiously to kill you in an open field.

  With two knives in hand and another sheathed, I move slowly, looking around. I use my short stature to my advantage, croug and hidier as I move through the bushes. I see and hear nothing besides the sound of rain and sometimes the sea.

  As I approach the sea, I hear the strong noise of the waves even more. In that darkness, the moonlight illuminates a bit, and I see the e light again, then quickly disappearing. I hurry carefully and throw myself to the ground, lying down when I realize I’ve reached the edge of a cliff. Carefully, I crawl to peek over.

  “A ship...” I murmur, seeing what looks like a pletely wrecked ship. It hit the rocks and is pletely unusable.

  Did anyone survive?

  I look to the right, and the e light appears and disappears again. I see a small beach full of debris and some people.

  “Make that thing stop!” shouted one of the men on the beach to another.

  They were wearing remnants of armor in a style different from what I was used to seeing people wear iy. Their armor, even their helmets, were different. While helmets usually covered the face, theirs had an open face area.

  Is this some kind of armor typical of another Ducal House? It doesn’t make sense; I learhat everyone practically uses the same armor pattern in the human kingdom.

  I try to observe the men more closely, moving frantically on the beach while hitting something.

  They are Asian! What are Asians doing here? Are there Asians in this world?

  At that moment, my mind exploded, uanding the reality of my situation, and I asked myself a question.

  Wait... are there Asians... on this ti?

  I ask this to myself, as the tration of humans os in the kingdom of Teresia, which has the pattern of my old people that Athena described as ‘Europeans.’ There was only one possibility for what these humans were, as iher two kingdoms there were only half-humans. What was right there on the beach were...

  “True humans...” I murmur, looking at them and then at the wrecked ship where everything starts to make sense.

  “Bring the now!” shouted one of them to another.

  True humans here? How? They are our sworn enemies! What are these guys doing here?

  I look at what’s left of the wrecked ship on the rocks and then observe the beach with its debris.

  They were brought here by some act! Now... they’re trapped in our kingdom!

  I remember my time as a soldier and the things I know an enemy soldier do in fn nd in this kind of situation.

  Anything! They will do anything to escape. They will invade houses of people living in the forest and kill them, they will do whatever they think is necessary. They will steal, kill, loot, and even assault women... these guys know they are ierritory and that death is almost certain for them. They will do anything to survive.

  I ch my fists just imagining what these soldiers would do to the on people living their lives in the tryside. In my time as a General, I olerated my men doing anything against i people. My focus was always on the kings and those in and. The people living below are used as meat shields by their leaders; they don’t deserve to die for those who wouldn’t die for them. This was one of the reasons that made me bee an Emperor. I didn’t like the way the kings ruled... so I decided to rule myself.

  In another life, I was a street kid caught in a war situation; I know well what an enemy is capable of doing to i people. I saw it up any times...

  g the knives in my hand, I made my decision.

  I will nip this evil in the bud before they leave this bead find any i people.

  ***

  I spent a long time the men arguing on the beach as they tried to get their bearings. I couldn't risk leaving my hiding spot to warn my mother ahem disappear from my sight. It would be too dangerous, even for us.

  I chose to move closer and observe, trying to identify their equipment, their ons, and even their way of walking. your oppo before a duel is a privilege that should not be wasted. I discovered that one of them had probably ihe bone in his leg by the way he was walking; he utting too much weight oher leg. This means that if I ihe good leg, it will leave him in a worse state in a fight. This information is incredibly valuable to me since I am not in the body of a trained young adult. I am a 5-year-old child who barely has the strength to lift a sword and shield.

  I will be fag three trained soldiers... at least they seem to be injured.

  “Make sure that thing is well secured! I don’t want another surprise,” said the one eared to be their leader.

  "We've got it secured again, sir. But we won't be able to move with it," said the man with the injured leg. They were discussing something they had captured and taken into one of the ses of the ship.

  "This is going to be a problem. That damn came loose in the middle of the damn storm. Now we're stuck with this thing here," the leader said, staring at the se of the ship.

  The three of them sighed.

  "We should just kill that thing. We're not going to be able to take it with us anyway. Let's say it died at sea... if we mao get back," said the third soldier.

  The leader looked at him and punched his arm.

  "Stop talking nonsense. Are you crazy? Kill that thing? Do you think you ? We're screwed, that's what we are. Even if we return to the Empire, we'll be dead men. Do you want to report to Him that we failed? We're fucked!" the leader shouted.

  'Him'?

  "So what do we do with that thing inside?" asked the man with the injured leg.

  The leader looked at the part of the ship.

  "For all I care, I'd release that shit in this nd of 'false humans' ahe creature grow up killing them, but if we let it go, it'll e back to attack us. We'll leave it locked up to starve and try to return to the Empire," the leader pined.

  "Screw it, I'm going to take a piss! We're fucked either way. How are we going to get back to the Empire? We're probably in this damn demoniti," one of them shouted.

  I kept listening to their versation, trying to absorb any information they might give. The only thing I uood was that they had mao capture a dangerous creature aaking it to someone.

  I noticed one of them walking away, heading into the forest below.

  My ce!

  Running through the woods, I went down the hill, hiding among the trees. I o take this opportunity. It was my ce to get rid of one of them without w about the others.

  I threw myself onto the muddy ground due to the rain when I saw the man walking in the middle of the forest. He had a sword in his hand.

  "Damn pce! Damn suicide mission!" he muttered as he walked, looking around until he reached a tree.

  "Dam! Made us shipwre the middle of that infernal sea, and now we're stu some shitty region," he said, sheathing his sword and unbuttoning his pants.

  I took off my shoes and walked slowly, my calcuted steps eg softly o ground.

  In front of me was the soldier relieving himself against a solitary tree, his bae. Only the sound of rain, the crashing waves, and the soft rustling of leaves being urinated on broke the night's silence. I got even closer, holding a knife in my hands and keeping my eyes fixed on the man in the darkness.

  The faint light of a moon hidden by dark clouds briefly revealed the soldier's outline. I got so close I could feel his breath, still absorbed in his momentary relief.

  Without making a sound, I raised my hand with the knife and focused all my body. With a swift and precise movement, I jumped on the soldier as he was adjusting his pants.

  "What the—" before he could finish speaking or scream, I plunged my ko his ned applied pressure to his jugur, sileng any scream that might escape.

  For a brief moment, the soldier tried tle, but it was in vain. I applied more ford let my body weight press down. The soldier fell to his knees, his body colpsing backward into my arms as the life faded from his eyes. I carefully lowered him to the ground to avoid making noise.

  I firmed he was dead and tried to move his body, but unfortunately, my strength wasn't enough t an adult's body.

  Two soldiers left...

  I don't feel guilty, even though I somehow know that in this new life I decided to beore human. That man would have dohe same to me if he could...

  Or he would have done something to my mother... If these guys mao capture us sihey were so close... I don't even want to imagine what they would do to her.

  The fury returns to e me, but it’s pointless; I no longer have the means to burn or transform that fuel into power. Trying to use the fury is useless since I don't have Aura. I just try to trate and take a deep breath, remembering the person I have to protect. I o save my mother.

  I have to kill them!