Rescue

Before I left for the nearby town, I needed to do something. It was something mom asked me to, but I didn't want to admit in front of her.

And so, I went into the village again, and after a few hours of long walk, I finally reached the gate, or what it used to be.

"I see. So they left, huh? Now this is troublesome."

It seemed that the people had already realized that they cant live on their own. As such, they chose to leave. It was pretty decisive of them, or either that they were naive.

SIGH...

I heaved a sigh as I just had to trouble myself by following them. Honestly, why am I even doing as mom asked? Even though I already refused her request, why am I even giving myself extra trouble?

Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I wanted to do it, so I'll do it. I'll say it again; How troublesome.

...

'I see, they were headed north.' I thought as I saw the tracks on the ground.

It seems they were trying to migrate to the town north, Oaken Town. It was a town with decent size and had quite the number of soldiers, but they didn't know that that town should be deserted now. If I remember, the warriors and mages in that town was completely wiped out from the plague. And the town, left with no one to defend it, had been deserted.

"Well, I guess I have to at least warn them."

And so, following their trails, I pursued.

...

"RUUN!!"

"AAAAHHH!"

"MOMMY!!"

A series of cries reached my ears from ahead. It seems they met with monsters already huh?

With increased urgency, I sprinted as I then saw a Murder Troll King trying to devour a middle aged woman. And near its feet was corpses of what used to be people.

"Tch. Another one?"

I clicked my tongue as I dashed through and quickly reached the back of the Troll King. I then slashed with Arkenvalle that I had materialized earlier, and then followed with another slash that sunk deep beneath its wrists, severing the tendons inside.

The woman was released as she fell, but I noticed she wasn't breathing. She was already dead.

GROOAAAH!!!

The Troll King roared in rage as it clenched its only functional arm as rushed towards me without any traces of sanity. It was completely mad.

I scoffed at the creature as I rushed to it head on and evaded its wild swing with minimal movements, and I used Severing Blade to slash at it from its shoulder, trying to bisect its entire right arm.

My sword lit a dark purple light as it penetrated its hide, but couldn't cut through its bones. However, it rendered its only functional hand useless.

GRRROOOHHH!!!!

It roared again, but now it was because of pain. It was an opening, so I didn't miss it and dashed for momentum and slashed at its neck with a Spellblade, along with all the momentum I built up.

"Divine Execution!"

My sword lit up with a flash, and the next instant, its severed head fell into the ground.

"...*INHALE*...*SIGH*..."

I heaved a sigh as I then looked towards the remaining people. Their suppose to be leader, was nowhere in sight, and the only survivors, and it was just 7 children.

It was really tragic.

...

"Lancell...?" A voice asked from the group. It was a familiar voice.

"So you were still alive. I'm glad, Lina."

"Is it really you...?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I've never been anyone else."

"..." Lina fell silent. She lowered her head as I saw her grit her teeth. I couldn't read minds, but I knew this look on her face. It was the face of someone regretting something.

As silence between us continued, a sudden voiced called out from the group. It was Rayle. It seems he managed to survive.

"Lancell?! Lancell! You're alive! And you're so strong too! Can I do that too?! Can I?!"

Rayle was as annoying as ever, so I denied.

"No. You can't. You're weak."

"But I'm asking how to be strong! I wanna fight too! It seems fun!"

"Rayle! Stop that now!" A voice I didn't recognize shouted at Rayle. It was one of the eldest in the group, a brown haired average looking girl. She seemed a year older than me.

"Lancell saved our lives, so stop bothering him!" She added. It seems she was the most rational one in the group.

She turned towards me and lowered her head as she offered her gratitude.

"Thank you Lancell, for saving us. This might be shameless, but I want to ask you to protect us until we reach Oaken town. Will you do it?"

'Not bad, she's pretty strong willed too.' I praised her in my mind, however...

"Even if you reach it there, that place is crawling with Murder Trolls."

"W-What...? Then..."

"That's right. No one can help you there."

Everyone present heard our exchange as despair filled their expressions. They then surrounded me as they pleaded...

"Lancell! What do we do?! We don't have anything left!"

"Lancell! Please save us!"

"Lancell..."

Lancell...

Lancell... Lancell...Lancell... They kept calling out my name as they asked me to help them. However...

"No."

My answer made everyone lose hope. I then added.

"I'm only taking Lina with me."

Lina suddenly raised her head as she heard me. She wanted to say something, but couldn't. Perhaps she was scared that I might take back my decision. She, most likely, didn't want to die.

However, my words were like oil to fire, as it brought jealousy and everyone started hating Lina. They begged me to take them instead, or take them along, or whatever selfish desire they had, but it was all useless. I won't carry any baggage, and I plan on training Lina till she stops being baggage.

All them kept yapping until Rayle made a real request.

"Lancell, you said you won't save us, right? Then just teach me how to fight. I wanna fight those monsters too!"

I raised my brows as I then asked. "And why would you fight?"

"Duh! It's because I don't wanna be weak! Isn't that a given!"

His words gave everyone else an idea as I knew they were gonna make a similar request. Just to make sure I was around to protect them even for a while, so I told Rayle.

"Just to tell you, I won't save you if you get in danger." I said with a smile.

Rayle then grinned, and answered.

"Oh come on! I'm the one who chose to fight! So even if I die, I'll die with dignity!"

At first I thought Rayle was kidding, but when I looked at his eyes, I realized he was the real deal.

Within his eyes was innocence. It was pure and untainted desire to fight and grow stronger, it was similar to the Berserk Path, which indiscriminately fought and killed people and beasts alike, but it was difference as it had clarity in it. It was the eyes of a true walker of the Martial Path, a path of honourable knights and warriors. And a really strong and difficult Path to Tread.

"Alright."

"Really?! Yes!! I can't wait to train!"

"But your training will be bloody, you know."

"I don't care! I wanna fight those monsters too! And I have to get stronger."

'No doubt, he's a real talent. The wall to the Second Step should be a breeze to him.'

I smiled as I turned to look at the people in the surroundings.

I offered. "Well, is anyone else interested in getting killed?"

Everyone else flinched at my words, and they soon lowered their head. And when I thought that was it, a voice came from the side.

"I want to fight too." It was the strong willed girl earlier. It seems she was now aware of their situation and realized they couldn't rely on me.

"I see. Alright, follow me. ." I said.

And then we started to walk.

...

As we walked, the strong willed girl, who was apparently named Siri, asked.

"Where are we going?"

"To Oaken Town."

"Didn't you say it was abandoned?"

"Yes, but not destroyed. Also, going back into that ruin of a village would take longer than proceeding."

That's right. We were now heading to Oaken Town, as the group from before followed us. I didn't stop them, but I wasn't gonna help them either.

'The thing I hate most is relying too much on others, after all.'

I hated the notion of reliance. It was different from camaraderie as mutual reliance had its own benefits, but one sided reliance was a taboo for me. People should walk with their feet, and I will. As for people who followed or walked with me, they were welcome, as long as they could keep up.

"Hey! Lancell! Can I ask what sort of training did you do to get this strong? You were really cool before!"

"Training? It was mostly just fighting monsters."

"So you've been fighting for three weeks! That's awesome! So? Where'd you learn how to fight?"

"Not telling."

"Oh come on! Not again!"

Rayle would often start conversations like this one, and answering all his questions was really annoying. Seriously, is this how Randel felt when I barged into his office? Nope, probably not. I hope.

And so, as we kept walking, a few hours later, we finally reached Oaken Town.