18 LIGHT: PART II

***

Early that next day.

Athena witnessed something unforgivable. She did not expect what she was seeing and ended up doing nothing. She had no choice since she was trying to hide her identity, and if she interfered, she had no choice but to reveal who she was.

"When?" She whispered to Serfred who stood by her side and did nothing as well as they were witnessing such horrors in front of them.

"Since before the war, the noble lords near the Northern Regions would come and visit from time to time to gather some people. For what purpose they need the people, I don't know. Considering that those who have left, have never returned."

Athena clenched his hands into a fit, she was furious as she could do nothing but watch. Serfred was the only able man who can fit, and she is unaware if she can cast any magic apart from what she'd done. 'B*stard, how could you treat them like animals.'

The group of noblemen along with their men roamed the streets as they checked if there were any valuable goods.

Athena was already aware of the fact most of the women are hiding in Diana's home. They normally hide there to avoid the noble from finding them, since Diana's home is quite far away from the village center, thus the noble really don't bother and go that far.

However, the horror Athena witnessed turned into an intense feeling of fear, shock and disgust as she witnessed more of the noble's disgusting behaviors.

One of the noblemen brought along a child, he may be around the age of 10 or more. She watched as the noble's child disgustingly mistreated an elderly woman by throwing the food on the ground.

"You should have beg more, maybe I would have given it nicer." The noble child laughed as he continued to bite on his food and spit it in front of the elderly woman.

"Young Master, we better not stray away from the Master."

"Don't worry, none of them can lift a finger against me. Have you forgotten, I just became a Magic Swordsman."

The servant didn't know whether he should praise the child or tell him off for his arrogance. In the end, he said nothing as the child continued to mistreat the elderly woman like a dog.

Not long, the church member arrived at the sign after hearing what was happening.

"What is the meaning of this?" Father Roland yelled in terror at what he witnessed. He was too late and the people would have been turned into the noble man's slaves.

"Damn it, a priest has arrived." One of the noblemen cursed as they had no choice but to let go of the people they had already gathered and forget what they planned to do.

Another noble acted all innocent as he approached Father Roland and the others. "Great servants of God, I and my men came to help the people. We gather the people to inspect if any of them need our assistance."

'Assistance my…' Father Roland did not continue what he was thinking for as a man of God, he must not say such foul language. What made the situation even worse was the fact that on his way he noticed Athena hiding from the shadows and had witnessed everything. "I see, if you have anything to offer, please do visit the church, and we will do everything from here."

"Very well, I shall have one of my men visit the church and bring some help for the people."

One of the nobles prompted the servants to release the people and prepare to leave. However, they have forgotten about the child and were left with his servants.

Now that the coast was clear, Athena headed to where the child was.

"Are you enjoying what you're doing?"

The boy was startled as he turned and started laughing after seeing the person next to him. Since Athena was hiding from her cape, the fact is it was dirty and like a rage. The child did not show any fear at all but instead acted like a proud and arrogant noble. "Who are you to question what I'm doing?"

"I'm warning you, you better follow your father and the others before I lose control of my senses."

The servant who was also a mage was surprised to sense the strong aura the girl was emitting. He was certain the woman was far more powerful than him so he worries for his young master's life. He hastily went over and said, "Master, we better go. Don't forget, you still have your lesson. Didn't you want to be the greatest Magic Swordsman?"

"Ah, I almost forgot. These people wasted my time for nothing… Let's go."

Athena watched the servants and the young noble boy as they left. The servant would peek at her from time to time. But, she ignored him and helped the elderly lady instead.

"Are you alright?"

"I am, it's my fault for even asking for their help."

"It's fine,"

After all the commotion, Athena asked the Elder Chief to gather the people. She wishes to speak to them urgently after what happened.

"Why did none of you say something about this?"

The people only looked at each other. Diana, Father Roland, Serfred, all felt guilty as they weren't honest with the girl about the village situation.

The Elder Chief went closer to the girl as he guilty bowed to her, "Child, forgive us. We didn't tell you because we have already bought too much work for you. Such matters should be handled by us, we know you came to help us, but…"

Athena interrupted him from speaking and cried with great pain in her heart, "How can you let yourself be treated worse than an animal. Didn't I tell you I came here to help you… So, if you are experiencing any problem which you can't solve you must tell me. I may be weak at this moment, but I'll get stronger. And, so will you... "

Back in her world, she has seen the effects of war in the middle east. Her family has a great charitable foundation and they always visit the people from time to time. Unlike her world, the rich will never act arrogant in front of those who are in need, and for her to witness such disgusting behavior. She felt so much pain that she couldn't just stand and watch it happen again.

"Remember this, this is your land, your home, everything belongs to you, especially your life. Don't let others use your life as if it means nothing. You only get one life, once you lose it, you can't beg anyone and regret for not fighting for it."

"I want you all to promise me that from this day forward, if any of you as a member of this village, is experiencing any sort of problem. Please, don't hesitate to ask for help. We can never prosper if we continue to hide from each other, change must come from you all first. Your willingness to change and trust me, is the key to a better life."

Despite the people can't see her face since she was hiding from her cape, they were aware that she was crying. They felt awful and continued to stay silent.

"Don't let your light be taken away from you, for once you shine brighter, the more beautiful the world will be around you."

Athena didn't say anything more, as she stepped away from everyone to calm herself down. Serfred didn't even follow, for he too felt guilty for hiding something important from the girl. He has sworn an oath to her yet, he failed to be honest with her.

"Everyone, as Tina said, we must change in order to have a better future. So, let's all work hard and make sure, the next time those nobles come. They won't be able to look down upon us anymore." Diana declared as she hoped her words will shed from light to the villagers.

"Diana is right. The church door is always open, you are all welcome to visit if you need any help. We may not be able to support you all, but if we work together, I'm sure everything will be alright."

Serfred sought the opportunity to go away and look for the girl. He found the girl by a tree and was talking to herself.

"I think they'll hate me now." Athena sighs as she realizes she was a bit harsh towards them.

"My Lady, don't worry, the villagers know what you said was not to harm them, but for them to be better."

Athena was started as she turned to face Serfred, "Hmm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be…"

" It is I who should be sorry, I am your knight yet I did not tell you a thing."

Athena didn't say anything more, she thought it's better to not speak of it again and move on.