Idol

After Teras's work was done Tom and Teras walked together toward the village to get Enyo's monthly supply

"Didn't the villagers ban you from coming into the village?" Tom asked

"So? I have to take resources or I will die, I won't let their child-like hate stop me from getting the basic ingredients that are forced to give Enyo for the protection and many benefits that come when people live near a card possessor" Teras explained

"That doesn't change the fact that they are going to chase you out of town" Tom replied

After some time of walking Tom returned to a topic he talked about earlier with Teras but was discontinued because of Droes's interference

"So when are you going to teach me how to fight?"

"I told you to stop asking me about that, I'm a student too I can't go out of my way to teach something to someone when I haven't mastered it myself" Teras replied with an annoyed look

"Please Teras, I want to be as cool as you were when you fought the other kid's dad and almost beat him up! I want to do the same when I get older!" Tom said with an excited smile on his face

"I said no, your father should be the one that teaches you how to fight, not me!"

"But my father doesn't want me to fight, he doesn't want to fight back either, he says fighting back will only bring us more pain..." Tom said as he looked at the ground

"He seemed willing enough to fight me for a misunderstanding"

"You are different, you are not a villager, if a bandit attacks us Father will easily fight them but if it is someone from the village he doesn't do anything"

"That's weird" Teras said

"Not really... The last time father fought against them they banned him from coming into the town and killed mother... The only reason he can go in is to sell his wood incredibly cheap to them for supplies..." Tom said as he stared at the ground

"That's horrible..."

"I know it is but there is nothing I can do, I wanted to learn how to be as strong as you or father so nothing like that could happen to me but he refuses to help so my fate is to become a lumberjack just like him, unless you help me..." Tom said as he stared at Teras's eyes

He was in desperate need of help from him

"Enyo could teach you too, she is a far better fighter than I will ever be..." Teras said

What happened back in the forest continued to haunt him and made him underappreciate himself

The hands of the dead kept dragging him behind

"Enyo doesn't have what you have thought..."

"What do you mean?" Teras asked confused

"The D E T E R M I N A T I O N in your eyes, I have never seen such eyes in my life, I know I haven't traveled and I am young but I don't think I will ever see eyes like yours again..." Tom said with a serious look on his face

'This kid... He really looks up to me, doesn't he? If that's the case then I have to stand tall... Is this how Tokkou feels? Tom told me that everyone idolizes him so maybe how he acts isn't the real him, he always smiles and tries to help everyone, maybe the real Tokkou isn't like that but even if he isn't like that he still puts this image of the perfect man, strong, sympathetic, generous, if he can act like that so he stands up to his expectations then I should do the same, not for me but for others... I have to be stronger for others, that's my motive to improve...' Teras thought as he stopped walking for a moment

"Don't worry... I will teach you or rather I can allow you to learn from me by observing me"

"Observing you? How will this work?" Tom asked confused but he was excited about Teras's agreement

"You will watch me fight Pecus and you will take notes, what did I do? How did I approach him for an attack? You know all these questions will slowly create and improve your fighting sense and make you develop your own style of fighting, that's what I did as long as I can remember myself..." Teras threw a little joke only he understood

"I see..." Tom replied as he stroke his imaginary beard

…

After a long walk, Teras and Tom reached the village but it was clear many villagers were against Teras entering the village

"What are you doing here? We told you not to come back again!" A villager said

"Yeah don't worry I didn't come for you! I just came to pick up Enyo's supplies and I will be leaving!" Teras said as he continued to peacefully walk through the streets

"Stop right there criminal! You have guts coming here after assaulting a kid that was just 16 years old, you have to pay back with your blood so face me now or never return!" A man in armor yelled

"And who are you?" Teras asked

"I'm Jack'O Drot protector of the city, the REAL protector not like Enyo! The so-called goddess of war!" Jack said as he pointed his spear at Teras

Teras sighed

"Was this kid really 16?"

"Of course! You should have known better than to mess with a kid!" Jack said

"But he is older than me, I'm 14ish, plus he attacked an even younger child of like 11 years old, doesn't that sound much more of a problem than what I did?" Teras asked the man

He paused for a moment and thought of what Teras said before acting again like a white knight

"That doesn't justify what an outsider did to our community! YOU WILL PAY!" He yelled as he charged at Teras

BLINK

"I think I spotted another vigilante in my town!" Enyo said as she teleported to the village

"E-E-Enyo?" Jack said as he stopped attacking

"I thought I told you not to disturb people! Plus you can't really kill someone over kids' fight, can you? Just let my pupil get my supplies and leave, he isn't asking for anything else... Hopefully..." Her last word was very silent

"Excuse me, ma'am!" Jack said as he quickly fled the scene

. . .

"Hahaha!" Tom laughed loudly when he witnessed all that

Teras on the other hand was beyond confused about what happened

"Don't worry about him! People like that try to act like the defender of the village but they are simply impostors, anyway, move your ass, the supplies won't grow legs, and walk to my house on their own!" Enyo said as she pushed Teras toward the town hall

"You come back! Your father is looking for you!" Enyo said as she took Tom with her

Teras was left alone in that small town, surrounded by people that dislike him but it was alright since he was understanding of their feelings

'If people feel like they are an unprotected kid in their own home and have to depend on an outsider like Enyo then that only brings out a feeling of hatred even though they may be the kindest people, that's how Zak felt when we first arrived at Yuta village but after he threw his pride away he accepted us as their only way of making it out alive and keep their town....' While Teras thought about that he remembered what the Joker told him

I didn't have time to burn the village like you did to this forest...

These words still hunt Teras, thinking all the people he fought so hard to protect were wiped away was depressing but it was a fact he accepted long ago

…

After some time he made it! Teras was sitting in front of the major of the town and asked for the supplies he deserved

"I'm sorry but this week's crops didn't go well so we couldn't afford to put together the full amount of food for you!" The major said

"I know you are lying, just give us everything we deserve before we cause a problem..." Teras said with a cold voice

"Why would I lie to you? We appreciate the help you give us so we wouldn't try to screw you off by not giving you your share, we simply couldn't this week!"

'I'm sick of this...' Teras thought as he slammed the desk

"I know you attacked us that one night, I can tell because Enyo realized it first and managed to save two of your asses but I'm not as kind as her, I will not hesitate to do whatever I want to you in order to respect us as we respect you, so please stop with those half-assed excuses and give me the rest, lately I discovered a way to create explosions from a long range so you can expect explosions to rain on your roofs every night!"

"Enyo is protecting us, she wouldn't let something like that happen..." The major said with a smirk on his face

"How would you know? You only curse and kick out Enyo from this town so how do you know she hasn't already abandoned you?"

"She..." The major stopped talking and got up from his chair and bowed down on his knees

'What?' Teras thought as he saw that

"Please! We can't afford to feed our own people! Enyo started to be easier on us and demanded less, I understand that now that you are two people you require more food but we can't make it out! Please just take what we gave you now and we promise that the next week we will give you what you want!" The major said as his head faced the ground

'I get it... I was the bad guy here, not them...' Teras thought as he watched him

There was no way they could lie in Teras's head, not after seeing that

"I apologize, you can keep the supplies for this week, Enyo and I will manage..." Teras said as he quickly left the town hall and the city afterward

He quickly headed to Enyo's home, he felt like he needed to talk this out with Enyo

"Hey Enyo why didn't you tell me about the problem the villagers had?" Teras asked her while glaring at her eyes

"Took you long to realize that you are not the only one that has problems in this world..." Enyo said as she stood up to face Teras

"If you opened your eyes you could see that everyone struggles with something, but drowned in your own pain you were so occupied on making sure you made it to the surface without realizing how many people you dragged deeper into this ocean of pain everyone is swimming on" Enyo told him as she looked deep into his eyes

"Y-You could at least tell me what they were going through..." Teras replied as he backed down a little

"That's the easy way Teras, the only way was for you to open your eyes and see the world around you and not focus entirely on yourself, that's what it means to be an adventurer and a human being, caring for each other even despite the war we fight between ourselves!" Enyo continued to lecture Teras who at this point was completely destroyed by the way of his thinking

"You know how much I hate myself Teras? I killed a royal to fulfill my wish and what happened in result? I can't provide economic power to the town I guard and I'm forced to take their own crops, do you understand how bad this is?"

"You could always earn money by using your power for good right?" Teras asked

"I can only do freelance work, do you know how much people pay for these kinds of jobs? Unless they are illegal the maximum amount of money I can get is 50 bronze coins, that's barely the money to buy our weekly supply, the adventurers' guild can't pay me no matter how many missions I complete and the kingdoms can't pay me either, so unless I do something illegally I can't get enough money to supply myself, do you understand now Teras? That's why I send you to take the supplies, I don't have the guts to face them, and this feeling of hatred they feel for me is understandable you know why? Because no matter how much they hate me, I hate myself the most"

Enyo revealed everything to Teras in the most brutal and real way possible, she didn't hold back even a bit, she wanted to pass the message to Teras and see how cruel the world and the people in it can be

"Then let me do it, let me complete guild missions to gain money for them" Teras said

"You don't know these people Teras, don't act foolishly like Tokkou, you don't have to save everyone that crosses your path, sometimes you need to let people suffer to avoid your own suffering"

When Enyo said that Teras realized the goal he wanted to complete, the path to follow after today, a reason to push himself to the next day

"I will prove you wrong! Even if the world is as cruel as you say, I will make sure to free everyone from their curse by doing whatever I can, I will help everyone I can and I will pull out of this ocean of pain everyone I can reach, and if I die doing that then that means I died doing something good!"

Teras said with D E T E R M I N A T I O N in his eyes

For a moment Enyo saw the ghost of the king behind Teras, the ghost of the grand king, the man that saved her and everyone in this world with his fearless and knightly spirit...