The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 389 - Determination

              Milliendra found it weird seeing Zaos and Aleni packing all their things. Still, fortunately, she didn't ask many questions as to why they were leaving. She wasn't at the age at which she would be able to understand that she would never return to that place… no, for quite a while, she won't be able to return to that country.

        They had many animals that they raised for meat, and those would slow them down, but Zaos was planning to sell them at the next village for a cheaper price than the market. Once everything was ready, and they could leave, Zaos was the one who stopped to look at the house once more… it was another home that he was leaving behind. He was doing so for the best of the reasons, but it was tough…

            Around noon, Zaos and the others arrived at the next village, and the people there frowned when they saw how packed the wagon was. It was evident that Zaos was moving, and that was a pity considering that his merchandise was the best and pretty cheap. Some girls even shed some tears since they lost the chance of catching someone who had a lot of money and good looks.

"Hey, chief," Zaos said. "I guess this is a goodbye. Today I will sell my things for an even better price since it will be the last time."

"I am thankful for that… still, it doesn't surprise me," the chief said. "I heard that many people are leaving their villages and going south or moving away from the borders."

"Is that so… what are your plans?" Zaos asked.

"I was born here and I will die here," the chief said. "Hopefully, king Dalyor won't massacre us for the problems the Ashiris kingdom have caused to his own kingdom."

"Well, he won't have many nights of good sleep if he decides to do something like that," Zaos said.

          He may hire as many assassins as he wants. Still, suppose he annexes this country to his territory. In that case, he will only give an eternal motive for the country's inhabitants to always rebel. Zaos wanted to think that Dalyor wasn't that stupid… but it has been a while since he saw him, so it was hard to say what he would do.

"I see that your daughter still is scared of me," the chief said while forcing a smile. "I hope that you can find a better place to raise such a pure eyed kid."

"I hope so too," Zaos said. "Best regards, chief."

            Aleni finished the business they had while he was talking, so it was time to leave. In the back of the wagon, Milliendra saw the village slowly disappearing on the horizon. However, she still saw many kids playing together. While she was shy of strangers, it seemed that she still was quite curious about what it was to play with other kids. By realizing what she was thinking, Zaos strengthened his resolve to make her free of that curse.

        The trip to the capital took a week, and along the way, even without trying to gather Intel, Zaos confirmed what Aleni said and Many other things. The royal family of the Ashsiris kingdom was starting to raise the taxes in order to prolong the war, and they were even sending many kids to the front lines without any previous training. While with their magic weapons, anyone could become lethal, they certainly were going too far…

          While that was troubling, even for Zaos, who wasn't a citizen of that country, it wasn't something he could think of for too long. Instead of that, he focused on improving the magic gloves that he made previously. After doing some alterations, Milliendra was able to use them and prevent her aura from making other people feel fear. However, even though both gloves have magic stones, they could only last for ten hours in her hands…

"When she was born, she could only drain a few points of mana per hour, but now she can drain two hundred points per hour…" Zaos thought while biting his nails in exasperation.

            The first idea succeeded, but Zaos didn't feel accomplished at all. Even though Milliendra felt really excited about being able to carry things bigger and heavier than herself.

"You will scare Milliendra if you keep frowning like that," Aleni said. "Thanks to you, I can hug her as much as I want without feeling anything, so you should feel happier about that."

          Zaos approached Aleni and then touched her forehead, she didn't have a fever, so it was weird for her to be so considerate.

"Did you eat something bad?" Zaos asked. "It is weird of you to be so nice when Millie is sleeping."

"You are really annoying…" Aleni said and then sighed. "Anyway, you solved one of Millie's problems. With this, for a while, people won't fear her. You might be able to explain to the king about her situation and then find a way to help her by using both kingdoms."

            Zaos considered that. However, he didn't know what he should say regarding Ameria's death. He cut her wrists, after all. If he says anything about that, it might be revealed that Ameria chose to die like that because she didn't want her daughter to be the cause of her death. Considering the history of the royal family with the demon god, would Dalyor look after Milliendra no matter what? Perhaps Drannor would, still, it was hard to say if he would pay attention to anything that Zaos would say.

"It is too risky," Zaos said. "We have no idea if we will get the cooperation that we will need and if we spread the information of what Millie can do, there is no telling who will target her. It wouldn't surprise me if the population decides that her death is absolutely necessary for the good of the world."

            Zaos was determined to protect her from everything and everyone. He was also determined to put her safety at risk by making bets about other people that might help them. As far as he was concerned, he would wage war against the whole world to protect someone innocent that was burdened with the tragic history of that world....