Arc 3 - Chapter 25: Pre-Registration (3/3)

When Bart, Sivina and Ana looked around and saw that they were surrounded by about a hundred and seventy roarons, they huddled close to Yu. Half of the roarons were children, but suddenly being surrounded by so many half-lions was enough to make them nervous.

"I have some news for you. The leader of this country has given the little lady a city. The city is north of here, and we will leave for it the day after tomorrow."

His words were followed by murmurs among the roarons. Every voice was different, criticizing the decision. One of the roaron females shouted out what everyone wanted to say.

"You told us we were going into the city here!"

"Don't say stupid things."

Yu put his hand to his face. Why did demi-lions have to be so stupid?

"What do you want us to do when the lord of the land gives us a city? Should we refuse to take it, saying, 'No, we told the roarons we will enter this city'? Don't worry, as I told you before, you would have to wait a long time to get in here. Where we are going, the governor of the city will be a young lady, so you will be accepted into the city in a short time."

The roarons had to agree with him. It was better to stay in a house of their own than in a house belonging to someone else, and any objections would only be objections for the sake of objections.

"In three days' time, we will leave before dawn and be in front of Andromedia at dawn, from where we will travel to our new city of Virgo. Get ready."

Their journey to Virgo would be shorter and easier than their journey from İlonya to Andromedia.

"If that's what the lady wants, we'll go along with it."

Morga and all the roarons agreed to this. Whether they wanted to or not, their magical pact with Yu gave them no right to say no.

"Who are those you brought with you? Are they the lady's servants?" asked Morga.

"Sort of. Sivina Ecues is Yurine's first knight. You can think of her as the commander of the armies. And Ana Rosegreen is a priestess from the Virgo Cathedral. And he's Bart, one of the young lady's servant."

If Virgo Cathedral were considered as a country, Yurine would be its president, Yu its prime minister, and by the same logic Sivina could be made chief of general staff or minister of national defense.

"Now start getting ready."

Clapping his hands, he told them to disperse. The roarons did not need much time to prepare. They had very few personal belongings and would not have been late even if preparations had started the night before.

But they dispersed as if they had too much to do.

"Bart, you can feed and water the animals here. You two come with me."

Together the three of them passed the tents of the roarons and entered a lightly wooded area at the end of the camp.

"What are we going to do here?" Sivina asked.

"Sivina, I feel something ominous."

Ana, a mage, unsurprisingly sensed the dark aura. Yu began to push aside the snow that had accumulated on the ground with his foot and clear the ground. When the snow was cleared, a wooden lid appeared on the ground.

"Yurine's spoils of war."

When he lifted the lid, black swords appeared. Seeing those swords made Yu feel uneasy, but he still kept the sword Kigaro had given him and planned to use it one day.

"What are these?"

"Like I said, Yurine's spoils of war. After we killed the demons we took their swords."

"Do they belong to demons!" Ana took Sivina's arm and turned her head, refusing to look at the swords.

"Ah... Unlike Sivina, Ana was an ordinary peasant girl. She must have been superstitious."

It was similar to the reaction he got when he told her they had encountered demons. Demons really frightened the people of this world.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Because you're a knight and I'm hoping you know about swords. Are these things that can be used? Or can we make a lot of money selling them?"

Selling swords belonging to demons, the enemies of the gods, in the Mora and other theocratic countries would have been difficult and dangerous, but worth the risk if they could fetch a high price.

Instead of approaching the swords, Sivina examined them from a distance.

"Having these here could get us into trouble."

"But I think they are too valuable to throw away."

Sivina replied after some thought.

"There are churches in Elhaven, but they are not so dominant there. You can sell swords more easily in Elhaven."

Elhaven was Sivina's homeland. It was located in the south of the map, on the island of El, far from the mainland, and the countries within the island were often at war with each other.

"So we can sell it there. Hmm..." Yu put his left hand to his chin and thought. "But Elhaven is too far away."

"You don't have to be there to sell. Usually in late spring and early summer traders from Elhaven come to Rolderhelm and İlonya. You can contact the merchants from Elhaven and sell them."

"How much do you think they're worth?"

"Maybe a thousand gold coins, maybe a little more. If it really belongs to demons, rare things like this will definitely go for a thousand gold coins. It would be more expensive if you sold them directly in Elhaven, but it's a matter of proof. You might have to get it confirmed by mages, any mage like Ana will sense the darkness in them."

"I was hoping it would be more expensive."

"When we get to Virgo, I'll have to look for merchants to contact. A thousand gold pieces is good money."

He closed the lid of the pit where the swords were hidden and camouflaged the surrounding snow by pushing it over the lid with his foot. It would not be nice for intruders to find them.

As they walked towards their car after showing the swords, Yu thought it was time to talk about something he had wanted to talk about for a long time.

Actually, he was going to bring it up on the way here, but he didn't talk about it in the carriage because they were both embarrassed.

"Sivina, how is your training with Ana going?"

"Sword training?"

"Is there anything else you're training her on?"

"N-no." Both girls bowed as they passed between the tents. "It's going well, Ana is a good student."

"I can fight average enemies," Ana said.

"Good."

When they crossed the field of tents and reached the square, Yu stopped walking. As he stopped, Sivina and Ana stopped walking too.

Yu cleared his throat and braced himself, what he was about to say was about to start a difficult process.

"Do you want to train one more person, Sivina?"

"Who?"

"Me."

The three of them waited without saying anything as the wind hit them. Sivina just stared at Yu's face, then looked him up and down.

But her particular focus was on Yu's shoulder. Even though she couldn't see the curse because his clothes covered him, she knew there was a black stain there.

"What's your answer?"

When Sivina continued to stare straight at Yu without answering, Yu raised his hand and waved it. Sivina took his hand, lowered it and looked at his face.

"You?"

"It's Yu. Kigaro gave me a sword, I want to know how to use it."

"But you... Your illness... Your shoulder..."

Yu already knew they would be worried about this, but he was determined. He would get what he wanted, even if they cited his illness.

"And what will Yurine say about this?"

"It will be a surprise for her too."

He had not yet told Yurine that he wanted to learn how to use a sword. He planned to tell her when he started training.

"Your situation..." Sivina's gaze was on Yu's shoulder. She swallowed and tried to speak of the curse, like a nightmare, but Yu stopped her from speaking.

"Don't worry about my condition, I'm very serious."

"But there is no mana in your body," Ana said.

"So?"

"Mr. Valarfin, knights train from childhood. Ana is a mage and has mana in her body, so she can approach them with the training she started last year, but the same is not true for you. Unless you can strengthen yourself with mana, you can only reach an average level among the common soldiers in this country."

What she said was not unknown to Yu. He had thought it all through and knew that average was the best he could achieve.

"I still want to, please train me with Ana from now on."

"But-"

"That's an order. You will make me an average warrior."

As his superior, he asserted his authority and gave orders she could not refuse. Yu Valarfin did not want to remain helpless forever.

"One day we will meet again with Sorrow and Joy. When that time comes, I will be the only one who will able to fight."