>>Hael
I landed in the City Council's building
"The master is here!!" The workers there, mostly idiotic nobles, were relieved to see me and came running over when they saw me.
"Master, please-" The one who tried to come onto me as soon as I landed had his mouth shut up by me with magic.
"Move," I was annoyed. These fools can't even maintain a single barrier. I already took half of their job to help them out and yet they fail at the only thing they are supposed to do.
I made my way to the magic device they were using and saw that the core was damaged. It wasn't getting the right amount of mana to maintain the barrier and so in the end it broke.
I grabbed it and threw it out. Then I placed my hand in the device that covered about the space of a single-seater couch.
An artificial core can only do so much, it should be changed every six months considering the amount of miasma.
Magic seeped out of my palm and I made a temporary mana ball. It's something rarely anyone can do, but it will work. I poured my magic in then, then took my hand out.
"I'll have my mages come and take turns with the barrier maintenance," I glared at the workers who followed me to the function room, "You have two days to get a new core, ONE that works perfectly,"
All of them nodded their heads in fear
***
>>Amber
I moved with Ahin
"The barrier is broken?" I said, "How?! It was working fine till yesterday!" He walked slowly with me, his sword in his hand and his eyes scouting the area constantly for danger. But gladly, the mages had done most of the work by now.
"Yea," He answered. His eyes not stopping even for a moment, "It was malfunctioning for a while now. We did receive a report but no one paid it much heed since the council thought if anything happened, the mage Master would take care of it."
"Ah,"
A buzzing sound came from above, and all of us, including the people around us, looked up to see a light blue shield encircle the city and then disappear.
"The barrier got restored," Ahin said
"So, it seems," I replied, "I just hope Rika is okay." We looked at each other, "She's just a kid and in chaos, anything could happen."
I didn't mean to worry Ahin, but my words upset him. He didn't say anything about it, but I could see it on his face. He even stopped walking and I stopped with him.
Damn
I should have kept my mouth shut.
I wanted to say something to console him but right then we both heard someone.
"Brothaaaaa!!" Rika's voice made us both look in her direction with a relieved face. She was running towards us
Ahin's face relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief and in turn it made me calm down too. He started walking towards her but a few steps in and she had approached us. She opened her arms for Ahin and he picked her up and hugged her
"Thank God," He held tightly, "I thought I lost you."
I watched them with a soft smile.
"Me too," She hugged back her brother tightly, "I thought I was going to die."
Her words made Ahin's dread come back and he pulled her apart, "What?" He looked at her, "Were you attacked?"
"Yea," she nodded her head, her hands clutching his collar on either side for support, "There were so many wolves." The color drained from Ahin's face, "They all attacked me at once too."
"O-oh," Rika was right in front of her, safe and sound, the scratches she had on her were most likely from a fall, yet it scared Ahin
"But no worries!" She grinned, "Mister Hael saved me!!"
He and I both paused.
Hael saved her?
"The Master mage saved you?" Ahin was in disbelief
"Yea!!!" She exclaimed, "And he was so cool!" She let his collars go and almost fell back but Ahin caught her, "He swooped all the monsters away with his fire and they disappeared!!!" Her hands flailed around in the air as her eyes shone, "Then a knight came and brought me to you."
Hael must be killing all the corrupted beats by burning them to ashes.
I didn't take him for a loyal worker... But then again, he had never failed in his studies even as a servant. He's always been diligent.
"Well," Ahin patted her head, "That's good." He then removed his arms from under her that were supporting her weight and put her down.
'Civilians, please move towards the City Square.' An announcement came in, 'All civilians, please move towards the City Square. We have made a safe zone.'
Ahin looked at me, "Can you take Rika with you?" He asked.
'Civilians, please move towards the City Square.' The announcement continued, 'All civilians, please move towards the City Square. We have made a safe zone.'
"Of course." I replied and immediately held out my hand for her. She jogged over to me and took my hand, "Where are you going?" I asked him as I tightened my hand over Rika's
"I have a duty." He smiled at us, "I'll be back once the threat has been completely eliminated." He glanced at the sky, "The mages have done most of the work, so I'll be back soon."
Oh, right
"Be safe," I smiled back
"Come back fast!!" Rika waved at him and he waved at her as he turned to leave.
***
The square was full of people. A Lot of mages were on the outlook and many knights were bringing people to safety
Rika seemed excited about something, she kept patting the pocket of her dress.
"Hey," She moved my arm with her hand that I held in mine
"Yes?" I looked at her.
"You know the mage master, right?" She was excited,
"Uh-yes, in a way," I had no idea why she was asking but I couldn't lie about it.
Her smile widened, "Can you please take me to meet him then?"
"You want to meet him, why?"
"I want to thank him for saving me." She gave me a toothy smile.
"That's his duty, you don't need to specially thank him."
She shook her head, "No, I want to, he saved my life." She hummed, "Mom said to always thank people who do something great for you. And saving a life is a great thing!"
Her words touched my heart.
Awww
She's such a sweet kid
I sighed
But, I don't know how to take her to Hael. Would he even want to meet her? The magic tower doesn't allow civilians in, not unless they have a special invitation.
"Rika," I couldn't think of an excuse to give her,
"Yea!?"
"I don't really know if I can help you meet with Hael,"
Her smile dropped, "You can't?" Her shoulders drooped too, "But aren't you friends,"
"Well," I shook my head awkwardly, "No, not really,"
"How sad," A voice came from behind us, "We're not friends, My Lady?" We both shot our heads around to see Hael walking towards us.
"Hael!"
"Mister!!" Rika was excited, "You're here," She let go of my hand as Hael stopped in front of us.
"Am I not your friend?" Hael leaned his face in and I was put in an awkward position.
"Um," My gaze wandered, "We're not?"
He straightened up, "Hmmm, that doesn't sit right with me."
"Um," Rika stepped forward and tugged at Hael's pants, "Mister Hael," Hael looked down at her, "I have something to say."
"Then say it," He replied.
This rude jerk!!
"Thank you for saving me," Rika wasn't bothered though, she was too excited and happy, "I'm alive and unhurt because of you," She passed him a toothy smile that seemed to make Hael a little awkward, "I have something to give you!" She reached out for her dress's pocket, got something out and then presented her closed fist to Hael, "Please accept this."
He stared at her first. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he was thinking about something, and he looked a little confused.
In the end though, he moved his hand and showed her his palm. She put her fist on his palm and opened it
!!!
The star-shaped plush rolled on Hael's hand
"It's a gift," Rika said, "I'm giving you my treasure."
I watched as Hael's eyes went wide in surprise.
"You're what?" It was the first time I had seen him this confused and in disbelief, "You're giving me this? Why?" His voice was of normal volume, but it held a hint of something else
"Because I want to thank you," Rika smiled.
He frowned
"So, in the end this plush doesn't mean much to you," He said
"No!" She replied, "It means the world to me."
"Then why give it to me?"
"To show you how much I'm grateful," She smile didn't fade but at the same time, Hael's eyes grew more confused.
"Rika!" Ahin's voice came from afar and we all looked at him, "Let's go," He called her over.
She looked at Hael, "Bye bye, Mister," She waved at him, "Please treasure my gift," She then looked at me and waved. I waved back at her and then she ran to her brother. I watched her and softly waved at Ahin as well, who still seemed busy.
He must have been assigned to some other part of the city, so he came to take Rika with him.
As they walked away, I turned to look at Hael, he was staring at the star plush on his palm.
...
I watched him stand there with a frown on his face, staring at the star in his hand. He was having trouble understanding why that little girl would give him something she treasured.
"Are you okay?" I asked,
"..."
"Hael, when things perplex you, you can talk about them."
Listening to my words made him look up at me
"Why would someone treasure something made by their mother?" He asked a question that caught me off guard.
"Well," I thought about what to say to him, "Mothers are the ones that give unconditional love, maybe that's why."
He stared at me with a poke face, "That is neither the case with you or me."
It was a jab in my heart. I get it, in this life, my misery started because of my mother. It wasn't her fault but I guess that's one way to look at it. But my mother in the modern world is a different-
Wait
Did he just talk about his mother?
"What about your mother?" I asked.
My heart skipped a beat. If I think about it I never heard anything about Hael's past
Before he came to me. What was he? Where did he live? How the hell did he end up as a slave?
He didn't answer, he simply turned his head and looked down at the star plush. I watched him and thought.
Is he going to throw it away?
Hmmm
Doesn't look like it. But he acted like he wasn't interested in that thing at all, he was so rude last time too.
A frown appeared on his face again, I observed him keenly. He softly folded his fingers, as if trying not to hurt the gift he had received. It was odd, I didn't think he'd be so gentle with it.
"Do you like it?" I couldn't help but ask.
He didn't look at me, his eyes remained on his half closed fist that still showed a bit of the plush, "I don't know, I've never received a gift before." His words made my heart sting.
He's never gotten a gift before?
...
That information made me feel despondent, because that was simply such a sad thing.
He softly brought plush to his pocket and very gently tucked it away in safety.
After that, he looked a little satisfied and it was like the realization dawned on me
I felt like an idiot for never understanding it before.
Hael doesn't understand compassion or empathy because he's not familiar with it. It was a realization that perhaps Hael was the way he was, because he had never learned otherwise.