Lost Fantasy-The Flowers of Stelis (Arc 2) [Hiatus]

Chapter 58

The ride to the Guild was conducted in a deadly silence that mimicked the lifelessness of the corpse that they carried on their wagon. Loganel and Tetsuya both remained silent through the journey, with the only audible sound being the constant noise of the wooden wheel of the wagon and the horse trotting slowly on the brick road of Rostindel.

The streets were pretty empty since it was basically dark out of not for the redness in the distant sky signaling the last slivers of sunlight shining on the world. Loganel clung on tightly to this last sliver of daylight, knowing that only when there's still the protection of the sun that the city could be spared of the bloodshed that will come with the advent of night. However, Loganel knew that it's pointless to depend on the dying light, and that he must make a decision soon.

He was seated at the back of the wagon, staring at the back of Tetsuya as he steered the horse onward toward the Adventurer's Guild. Loganel took a deep breath as his heart pounded in rhythm to the constant trot of the horse, knowing that at any second, his friend might turn on him and interrogate him.

Loganel directed his Mana towards the Ring of Demons that he wore, hoping that he'll be able to contact Mistivera. She's his only source of guidance now, and the only person he could trust to help him make his decision.

"What is it?" Her voice echoed in Loganel's head.

"I... I need help," Loganel responded. "The Paladins here caught one of the Vampires, Alved's youngest son. Now, he says he can't keep the promise he made."

"Is that so?" Her dispassion voice echoed in Loganel's mind, causing him to panic as she didn't attempt at guiding him.

"W-what should I do?"

"You're the one present," she said. "So you decide."

"I can't..." Loganel sighed. "That's why I'm asking you."

"You're supposed to become the Demon King," Mistivera responded in a calm and apathetic voice. "You can't keep asking others to make your decisions. In the future, you will be forced to make plenty of hard decisions. Let this be the first of many."

"Hard decisions..."

"Right. You have to decide whether or not you want to doom the Vampires or doom the humans."

Then, the channel of communication ended between the two, leaving Loganel puzzled as he sat there at the back of the wagon. He sighed and turned his gaze to the corpse of the Former Human.

You have it easy, Loganel thought.

The two stopped before the Adventurer's Guild, a building built with dark stone bricks. Outside the large wooden door of the building, fires blazed on torches, providing illumination to the entrance of the building. Approaching the door, Loganel discovered that the world was a pitch black as he stepped into the shade casted by the building.

Tetsuya remained silent other than telling Loganel to stay by the wagon as he entered in order to notify the Guild. His absence allowed Loganel a momentary respite, but his mind was once again bothered by the decision he had before him. Every single second that ticked by, it was as if the soul itself was in a flux. He could not decide which side should be doomed, hence why the indecision.

I need to make this decision myself, he sighed.

Not too long after, Tetsuya emerged from the Adventurer's Guild with a few men that appeared to be in their thirties. These men were quite muscular and appeared even larger when dressed in their large winter coats. Loganel tensed up for a second there, thinking that he was about to fall victim to an ambush, but it would appear that he's simply thinking too much since those men merely dragged the corpse away from their wagon and left.

Seeing the corpse taken care of, Tetsuya hopped back onto the driver's seat of the wagon and steered the horse away. Then, horse slowly trotted back the way they had came from back to the inn with the wagon wheels creaking.

"Loganel," Tetsuya suddenly said in an apathetic voice after the two had begun their journey back. Because he had his back turned to him, Loganel could not see Tetsuya's face. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Loganel responded, feeling beads of sweat forming on his back and despite the cold weather, he felt extremely hot in his winter coat and battle gear.

"Kaz wouldn't be scared like that if it weren't something real dangerous you've came across," Tetsuya continued in an eerie voice. "How did you survive that encounter?"

"..." Loganel remained silent as he lowered his head, causing his bangs to cover his face which made it impossible for Tetsuya to determine what he was thinking when he looked over his shoulders.

"Why're you silent?" Tetsuya then asked, his eyes wide open and focused on Loganel until they became dried by the winter wind. However, he didn't cared if his eyes dried. All that mattered to him at that moment was Loganel's response. "Is it something you don't want to say or can't say?"

"...It's both," Loganel muttered. "It's something that's bothering me, but I cannot say it at this time."

"Is that so..." Tetsuya turned his face back to face the road ahead. 

The streets were dark already with the only illumination being from the Mana street lights. Overhead, the sky was dark, but it seemed as if there were a red filter being imposed on it, causing the sky to be as if it was a dark shade of crimson, a color that reminded Loganel of blood.      

"We need to hurry," Tetsuya said as he looked up at the sky. "The sky is pretty ominous."

"Tetsuya," Loganel then said as the horse-drawn wagon trotted on. 

"Hm?"

"Let's say a horse-drawn wagon is out of control and charging down the road," Loganel started speaking in a low voice. "There's two roads that branched off of the one road the wagon is going. If you don't do anything, the wagon will charge into and kill ten people. If you try and alter the course of it so that it goes into the other road, the wagon will charge into and kill three innocent people. What do you do?"

"..." 

Tetsuya remained silent, and Loganel looked over at the boy's back, trying to decipher what he was thinking. Loganel stared quietly at the boy, frowning as he realized that this question even puzzled Tetsuya.

"I..." Tetsuya started speaking and sighed. "Logically, you should try and eliminate casualties," he said. "So you should try and steer the wagon onto the road with the fewer people."

"That's what you'll do..." Loganel sighed as he stared sadly at his laps.

"But," Tetsuya interrupted his dilemma. "By changing the course of the wagon, you will be the one that caused the deaths of those three people. If the wagon had killed the ten people, you had no part in it. Sure you could've try and save them, but... you would also end up killing three yourself. It's really a hard choice, and not a choice the average person could make."

"Who can make such a decision then?"

"Who?" Tetsuya remained silent as he searched his brain for people who fit that criteria. "Probably extremely determined people that desperately needs something. In other words, people such as monarchs that need the survival of certain groups."

"Monarchs, huh?" Loganel bitterly laughed at his own weakness, mocking himself. Then, a slight smile appeared on his face as he made up his decision. 

"Anything else?"

"No," Loganel smiled and shook his head. "Let's get back to the inn and leave immediately."

Author's Note:

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