The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 382 - Trouble

The next day, Zaos woke up while facing a slightly empty bottle of honey. Milliendra liked to put honey on her bread, so he wondered if he should go today and buy more in the next village…

"I guess this is a good time," Zaos said.

            Although she was a nice and energetic kid, Milliendra didn't like to meet strangers, and even those who she had already met before, she barely kept eye contact with them. She was really shy… even though her aura wouldn't work as long as she stayed close to Zaos, it seemed that she knew instinctively that something bad might happen if she kept seeing other people. While that was true, Zaos didn't want her to live in isolation.

"Let's go to the village today," Zaos said when they were having breakfast.

            As if Zaos had said something troublesome beyond reason, Milliendra and Aleni stopped chewing their food.

"I don't wanna, daddy," Milliendra said.

"That place is so troublesome…" Aleni said and then sighed.

          While Zaos wasn't the most charismatic person out there, it seemed that those two were following a road where they wanted to end living as people who lived in isolation. Aleni didn't like that she had to greet the people of the other village since they were too friendly. According to her, smiling all the time was tiring. Milliendra liked to smile, but she didn't like people…

"What are you two going to do then? Stay inside all day?" Zaos asked.

"I am going to grab some fish!" Milliendra declared

"You can't swim and the crossbow is too dangerous," Zaos said. "I guess you don't need the honey then…"

"No… I love honey, daddy," Milliendra said with a dejected expression.

"We have to work hard for the things we want, Millie," Zaos said.

"Why don't you go alone this time?" Aleni asked. "I am sure you will love the attention…"

          Zaos rolled his eyes when he heard that tone. Here she goes again… they were close enough to be called friends. Still, sometimes, Aleni acted more like a little sister who got jealous of her older brother's attention. Now and then, Zaos moves around villages selling simple magic weapons. Since he needed to improve his skills with magitek, he needed to produce those. However, he received too much attention from the young women of those villages. Thanks to the war, the ratio of female/Male increased. So, many women of appropriate age tried to get Zaos's attention. He was tall and muscular for a merchant, and he also had the fine facial features of the elder son of a noble house. So, he was quite the catch. Unfortunately, Zaos technically wasn't available. Not because polygamy was forbidden in that country, but because he didn't want to put a stranger in Milliendra's life.

"I guess I will go alone, all by lonesome… feeling alone during the whole day, without anyone look after me…" Zaos said.

            Zaos was trying to make Milliendra take pity on him, and he almost succeeded, but then Aleni whispered something in her ear, and then she regained her resolve. Zaos clicked his tongue in annoyance and then began to prepare his things. He had created a set of crossbows that even Aleni could use in case something happened, and her skills couldn't be compared to before, so he was sure that she and Milliendra would be fine. That being said, he wanted to return before nightfall.

          Rising mood instead of using the wagon would speed up the travel, but Zaos needed to transport some things, so that wasn't possible. He was going to lose the day on that trip, so he might as well do something productive meanwhile like reading his books about magic and magitek.

"See you guys later," Zaos said and then smiled when he saw Milliendra waving both her hands.

          Milliendra had good senses for the bad or the worst, and since she was smart, she would eventually find out about her existence. So, Zaos had to hurry up in the production of the magic tool that would nullify her draining powers. He already had a few theories to apply, but he still needed to improve his skill…

            Although Zaos managed to reach the village around noon since he hurried up, it seemed that he had arrived at the worst possible time. He saw several horses around the village and a large concentration of people at the square… Some unknown individuals were armed and were threatening the villagers.

"Just my luck…" Zaos said and stopped the wagon. "Maybe I should buy the honey in another village…"

          Zaos managed to live until now in those almost two years without fighting, and he certainly didn't have any reason to fight bandits and destroy his cover. While going to another village it would make him waste another day, it couldn't be helped. However, before Zaos could turn around and escape, he saw three bandits leaving the village and running toward the horses. The idiots were heading toward him.

"Ah, this makes things more simple…" Zaos smiled. "What a bunch of dumbasses."

          Zaos didn't hear rumors about bandits since the last incident… so why do they return only now, where they connected to another group of demons? When Zaos considered that, he realized that defeating them might cause more problems than solve. Like, what if the demons that escaped regrouped and created a large group and wanted revenge? Finding Zaos wouldn't be easy… unless they do the same things as before. Use some minions to cause havoc around, and the place that the minions are defeated would be the perfect place to look for him.

"Oh, well… might as well make them hunt me, it will be easier for me to wipe them out this way," Zaos said.

              Only reacting and not acting wasn't Zaos' style.. If he could get rid of all assholes, demons, or whatever that might cause trouble to Milliendra later, he would gladly take the fight to them… with that in mind, Zaos jumped from the wagon with a magic shovel.