CONSEQUENCES

Ahli felt he had to wake from a long sleep as he felt the sunshine reach his face. He slowly opened his eyes and he saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He looked to the side; a window is beside the bed. Through it, he saw the golden color of the sun filling the sky.

Ahli tried to raise his body, yet he felt a sudden pain and had no choice but to lay down again. He looked at his whole body, bandages wrapped at almost his upper part body. It did look fresh, which made him unsure how long had he been unconscious.

[Apparently, I was able to survive another day.]

When the door to the room was suddenly opened, it made Ahli startle. From behind the door, he saw Ecuti entering the room, carrying a basin. When she looked at Ahli, she was surprised and quickly asked him, "Brother Ahli? You've awakened?"

Before Ahli was able to answer her, she quickly turned her back and left the room, calling the entire house. "Mother! Father! Brother Ahli has awakened!"

Ahli heard how the whole house soon got a little crowded with sounds of footsteps rushing. Not long, from behind the door, he saw Mr. and Mrs. Granger, popping their head to the view, entering the room slowly. They had that worried expression on their face. Ahli thought maybe because he had been unconscious.

"How do you feel Ahli?" Asked Mr. Granger, standing at the end of the bed, facing Ahli. Mrs. Granger stood beside him, partially at his back. She had a worried expression that felt different.

"I'm still feeling a little bit weak. However, I think I'm fine." Answered Ahli.

"By the way, where's Sharon?" Asked Ahli in turn.

There was a slight pause between Mr. and Mrs. Granger, followed by them looking at each other. It was then Mr. Granger who answered Ahli's question.

"She had business to attend to at the village chief house. She should be coming back soon. I've asked Ecuti to notify her immediately about your condition."

Not a second passed since Mr. Granger finished the sentence, Ahli could hear the front door of the house slammed and the sound of footsteps rushing toward his room. The door was wide opened by Sharon, who seemed to be quite out of breath, a rarity for her.

"AHLI!" She rushed to his bedside. Ahli could see how worried she was, judging from her expression. Both of her hands held his right hand and pulled it to her forehead as she kneeled at the side of the bed. "Thank god…"

"Hey, I won't die that easy you know." Said Ahli half-jokingly, trying to cut the tension.

What he saw afterward was so not expected by him. Sharon stood and her expression had changed from happy to angry.

[Oh shit, was the joke not go through? Or, was it because I defy her order and use the system? It can't be that right? I technically used it for protecting some people and it worked.]

Ahli waited for Sharon to speak, yet she was still in her angry expression, not saying anything. She then took a deep breath while closing her eyes. When she opened it, the angry expression had gone, showing a calmer Sharon.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, could you give us a moment?"

"Yeah, sure. Take your time, we'll be in our living room." With Mr. Granger agreeing, both he and Mrs. Granger left the room. He closed the door as they leave, leaving Ahli alone with Sharon.

Sharon looked to the door for a while, waiting for the Grangers to be far enough from the room. She then stood and looked outside the window, checking the situation outside.

Seeing her strange behavior, Ahli felt quite comfortable as if there was something terribly wrong.

"Hey, Sharon, what's wrong? You've been acting weird."

The question was answered with a cold stare from her. She sat at the bedside, facing a laying Ahli.

"Ahli?" The moment she spoke, Ahli felt something had truly gone wrong. Her voice did not feel like it usually do. It was more of a mix of anger and sorrow.

"Why did you defy my order?"

There it came, the question that Ahli predicted might be asked by Sharon. He could not answer it immediately as suddenly he felt choked by Sharon's stare.

"I…I'm sorry. I had to." By gathering his courage, Ahli was able to speak up.

"But, if I haven't done anything, Mrs. Granger and Ecuti would be in harm." Said Ahli justifying himself.

"True, because of you they were in no harm, and they would not be in no harm as well if you did not leave the house." Rebutted Sharon.

Ahli could not believe it; Sharon was looking for his mistakes. He was so upset with what Sharon said to him, that he pushed his upper body so he could sit on the bed, facing Sharon.

"If I didn't do it, the bandits would kill the neighbors as well." Again, he gave the fact to Sharon, trying to justify his action.

"All the other members of the Sheridans died that night, leaving only Mr. Sheridan who joined the gate battle. They were the house that you could see from the porch of this house."

The news that Sharon broke out was hard to be believed by Ahli. Was he too late? was his action truly futile? He started to question his justification itself.

"Which is why he was the most vocal among all the people who wanted to behead you." Again, what Sharon said surprised him.

"The villagers were demanding that you be killed before you wake up. However, because of Mr. Granger, you lived." Listening to that fact, made Ahli started to shiver.

He never expected that the action he thought was for good, had made people hate him. It surely was a reality, not the romanticized fantasy where the hero could do whatever and came out to be right.

"Also, the promise was until you regain your conscience, we were allowed to stay at this village. And now you have awakened, means that we'll be going this day."

Ahli was not just shocked to hear the absurd demand but also was angry at it.

"I haven't regained my ability to walk. How could they?" Shouted Ahli as he could not comprehend the injustice.

"They don't want any relation whatsoever with any card mage, even if he or she was the one that helped them." Sharon sighed as it seemed that was the final news he had to deliver to Ahli. "Especially, the good one."

Sharon stood, turning her body. She walked toward the door while saying, "We'll be leaving after lunch. Mr. Granger had agreed to take us quite far from this village."

Ahli could not accept it, he still couldn't. If good was not perceived as truly good, then what would be the point of doing a good deed.

"SHARON!" He called Sharon that was about to leave the room. She stopped, yet she did not turn to face him.

Ahli would like to argue again, however, he finally realized that the decision would not be revoked, no matter what he does.

"Nothing…"

Ahli lowered his head and many things just stormed inside his mind. Sharon left the room, leaving Ahli in that state.

***

After lunchtime, Ahli prepared to leave the village. Mr. Granger helped him walk, carrying him toward the door. As he passed the door, he was surprised to see many of the villagers were already in front of the house, waiting for him. From their facial expression, they were surely pissed off at him.

Ahli tried to avoid eye contact with them as Mr. Granger helped him walk toward the carriage. It was then in another surprise turn of events, Sharon suddenly came to his side, helping him walk. Seeing that, made Ahli feel grateful that Sharon was not that angry at him anymore. Until she said to him.

"Now you do understand how much of a burden the title of card mage? Because it will become heavier from now onward."

Ahli perceived it as Sharon's warning, and also a message that she still could not 100% forgive his recklessness. His heart started to feel heavy again as they were getting closer to the carriage.

As they reach the carriage, Ahli climbed the stairs at the back, when a helping hand appeared from inside. It was Ecuti's. She had waited for Ahli inside the carriage with a smile, the only thing that made Ahli feel better amidst all of the negative turmoil.

As Ahli was entering the carriage, a tomato was thrown at him with a shout heard, "GO AWAY YOU CARD MAGE PIG!"

Luckily for Ahli, Mr. Granger caught the tomato before hitting him. As he lowered his hand, he said, "Did not we agree for this young man to leave this place quietly?"

From the tone of his voice, there was anger, and it made the other villagers intimidated. As no one dared to defy him, Mr. Granger gave the tomato to one of the villagers that stood near him. He then proceeded to walk to the front of the carriage.

"Brother Ahli, it's okay. Come on. Have a seat." If not because of Ecuti's word, Ahli might still be staring at the crowd there. He followed her instruction and sat in the middle of the carriage. This time it was empty, not packed, unlike the first time they rode it.

After Sharon entered the carriage as well and sat, Mr. Granger looked into the inside and asked, "Everyone has sat? We're going then."

With that, Ahli felt the carriage moving, leaving the house. He looked outside how the villagers were gathering, following the carriage by walking, being cautious in case Ahli resisted. They did so until the carriage passed the village gate, which was burned in half, with the remaining structure still having burned char to it.