Lord's Decree

Mikail's face was painted with anxiousness, sitting at the corner as he mutter words to himself while swaying back and forth. The sudden outburst of cheering as people lifted him in the air earlier was a traumatic experience for him.

As Sauron entertained the children, Notoria laughed while listening to Ars as he told her what happened to Mikail earlier, leading him to his current state. She was definitely delighted to be able to cook much food now, and the cook book she bought from the general store earlier made her learn so many things.

After she was done preparing the dish she was cooking, she quickly went over to Mikail who was sitting in the corner. She attempted to persuade him to eat, but Mikail was too traumatized to even listen to her. Notoria became annoyed and pouted, "If I can't get through to you with words, then I'll have to resort with force!"

She lifted Mikail's bangs, leaving his forehead exposed before she gave it a kiss. "Mwa!~"

Mikail jolted back to his senses with her kiss alone. His face turned red in embarrassment. Stammering, he exclaimed, "Wh-wh-why did you do that!" as he covered his face, not wanting to show it.

"What? Can't your lover do that?" she asked with a pleading face. "L-Lover?! Well... not really," he replied, scratching the back of his head.

Notoria smiled and lets out a mischievous chuckle as she gave a dangerously cute wink. "You don't have to eat here. Just wait for me in the bedroom, and I'll bring it to you," she said.

Flustered, Mikail's mind began to make up different scenarios, his face turned even redder and blood started dripping from his nose.

"Hmm? Is something the matter, kid?" Sauron asked. He felt like Ars was bothered by something as he noticed that he appeared troubled that he had been staring at his food for a while.

Ars was taken aback by Sauron's question. He shook his head in response before he resumed eating silently.

Notoria tried to ease the tension by asking Ars to tell more what happened earlier outside. Ars was about to say something but a loud shout interrupted their conversation.

It sounded like someone was outside the church demanding for Ars to come out, according to one of the men outside who spoke on behalf of the village lord's decree.

Notoria quickly stood up and went to open the door. She was confronted by a group of knights whose attire resembled that of Winthrope's.

Seeing this brought her a sense of ease. She smiled and gestured to welcome the Winthrope knights inside while offering them a beverage as a sign of hospitality but the knights declined her invitation.

Notoria became suspicious of the knights, as the way they acted seemed odd to her. As she looked into the knights' lifeless eyes, Notoria thought that something was amiss.

"Thank you for your consideration, but we were only ordered here to see Ars."

Notoria couldn't help but think to herself, 'Ordered? But Lord Sauron never mentioned anything about their arrival.' Her mind was preoccupied as she contemplated deeply, trying to make sense of the situation.

Despite their growing impatience, the knights maintained their composure, perhaps due to the presence of multiple guards and villagers observing their behavior.

Notoria was startled when Ars came at the front door and took a peek, "What's happening, sis?" he asked, causing her to jump slightly.

Ars' body slightly trembled at the sight, and Notoria, who was still in shock, noticed his face contorting with anger and fists tightly clenched.

"Um, Ars? These knights are looking for you, I don't know why though."

As Ars directed an intense glare towards the knights, they began to sweat and stammer under his intimidating gaze. One of them spoke up and said, "By the decree of the lord of Stonehaven village, his majesty demands your presence, Ars Goetia!" Despite the knights' attempt to appear authoritative, Ars gave off a large smile.

"Gghk!..." one of the knights reacted.

Recognizing the fear in the knights' demeanor, Ars slowly approached them and asked, "Is that so? Then must we hurry?"

"R-right..."

As he left, Ars turned to Notoria and said, "I will be back by night, sis. You don't have to worry," before waving goodbye.

Confused, Notoria replied, "Huh...? Ah, okay."

Ars complied with the knights' without putting up a fight as he followed them without uttering any words or question.

Notoria was left in confusion and concern, unsure of what was happening or what fate may befall her brother. As she watched Ars leave with the knights, her face was visibly in worry. She eventually turned around and went back inside.

"What happened?" Sauron asks.

"It's nothing," Notoria replied, shaking her head and not wanting to cause worry about her brother. She turned her attention to preparing the food.

"Did you perhaps order Ars to go on a mission with the knights?" she continued.

"Hmm. Not at this time, no," Sauron replied. "Is something the matter, young lady?"

Notoria shook her head in response and continued to prepare.

...

Despite his stomach growling, Ars avoided the knights' gaze as they looked at him.

'It wasn't me.'

As the night fell once again, Ars lets out a sigh. It seemed that trouble always came during this time, and the current situation was only adding to his boredom. The knights had prohibited him from riding a horse, which was making his already sore legs ache even more.

To make things much worse, no one had even made a single sound, not even a cough the entire time. The knights were too stoic and silent, making the journey feel like an eternity.

'I'd just die in boredome here,' Ars thought to himself. He glanced around his surroundings, taking note of the dark forest that surrounded the path they were on.

'If I just slipped away and hid in the bushes, they won't probably even notice.'

'But...'

Ars raised his arms only to see them restrained by a heavy wooden board. He felt tired, and the fact that he had to keep walking the whole night made him even more exhausted.

Ars was uncertain of what their intentions were, but this wooden board attached to his arms were clearly meant to ensure their own safety.

'Huh?...'

In their path stood a figure clothed in a black cloak and mask, its piercing blue eyes was the only discernible feature of its face.

It seems that the figure's presence wasn't expected as the knights tried to intimidate them by shouting and demanding to reveal their identity.

Ars shook his head in disbelief at their foolishness, observing as one of the knights approached the cloaked figure.

The cloaked figure remained silent despite the knight's repeated questions. Growing impatient, the knight resorted to physical force and grabbed the figure's collar, delivering a harsh slap.

!

'W-What is this?'

An inexplicable dark aura suddenly emanated from the mysterious figure, unnoticed by these clueless knights. It appeared that Ars could only see it himself.

Suddenly, the figure lifted his right hand, pointing its palm at the knight's forehead with deadly precision.

Splat!

The knight's head disintegrated into thin air and its blood scattered on the ground, leaving his lifeless body to crumple to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"You have struck an indirect attack to our noble order! Your punishment shall be most grievous, mark my words!" exclaimed by the knight as they attacked.

Screams of terror pierced through the silent night as each of their heads blew. But Ars stood frozen in fear, acutely aware of the danger that lurked in the figure before him.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Ars attempted to flee, but his body felt leaden and his eyelids grew heavy. His memory of the night faded to black as he stumbled and collapsed onto the ground.

...

"Urgh..." Ars groaned as he attempted to stand up, but his head was still feeling dizzy. The stench inside the stone room was unbearable, but as he took a whiff, he realized that it wasn't his body that reeked.

As Ars regained his consciousness, he began to take a look at his surroundings, still feeling a bit disoriented. The room was dimly lit by only a small torch attached on the wall that is higher than his reach.

The faint light it emitted was enough for Ars to make out the sight of his arms, which were now restrained of metal chains. As well as his neck chain attached to the wall proportioned to the reach of his neck so he couldn't stand up.

He was locked inside a prison.

"Hey! What's the meaning of this!" Ars tried shouting but the only response that came back to him was the echo of his voice across of what seems an underground corridor.

He pulled the chains with all his might, hoping to break it. But if it did, then what's next?

The chains held strong, and the rough metal cuff dug painfully into his flesh, causing him to stop and catch his breath. The stench of the room was unbearable, and Ars felt nauseous as he tried to control his breathing.

The place was too silent and he felt so alone... Or so he thought.

Ars leaned closer as he held onto the bars. In the cell across from him, Ars narrowed his eyes in attempt to see who the dead body that's slumped against the wall clearly.

The body had not yet fully decomposed. He could discern that one half of the face had been stripped of all flesh and tissue, revealing the skull underneath.

The death appeared to be self-inflicted, as the body is seen with a chain around their neck, having hanged themselves.

This unsettling sight was accentuated by flies, which had gathered around the decaying corpse in a frenzied manner. It seems that the person had been left deliberately to decay in the prison until its flesh completely disintegrates.

'What is this...' Ars gagged.

He suppressed the urge to vomit from the sight and persistent foul odor that had been lingering in the air ever since he woke up. But the smell of the rotting corpse was too unbearable that it made him throw up.

"Bleurgh!"

The creak of the metal door slowly opening echoed through the corridor. Ars panicked as he concealed himself in the dark corner, trying to hide from whoever entered. Ars knew himself that the person just now is definitely a deranged lunatic who is responsible for everything in here.

He tightly clamped his mouth shut, but his heavy breathing fueled by fear had made it hard to conceal himself.

The echoing sound of clanging metal reverberated through the corridor as the man purposefully struck his metal stick against each metal bar he passed.

His deliberate actions resulted in a continuous, rhythmic clanging noise that echoed through the otherwise quiet passageway, drawing attention to his presence.

It was clear that the man's intention was to make his presence known and to possibly intimidate or unnerve those around him with the sound of his metal stick hitting the metal bars. Or maybe it was just a habit?

'I cannot die now, not in this way,' Ars thought to himself, desperately trying to keep his composure despite fear coursing through him.

As the clanging noise grew louder and closer, he found it increasingly difficult to maintain his cool, and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

Ars attempted to disregard the noise by shutting his eyes closed, taking slow and quiet breaths through his nose in an effort to calm himself down.

The noise suddenly stopped.

Ars slowly opened his eyes. Initially, his vision was blurred, but it gradually cleared as he blinked repeatedly.

An indescribable feeling of terror swept over him, sending shivers down his spine.

As Ars turned his gaze towards in front, he saw a head peeking outside the room beside the wall. The head had a red and enlarged eyes that seemed to be staring straight unto his soul, leaving him frozen with fear.

"God save thou."