Red Lion

Leon and his entourage had been riding for two days as they finally reached Yakul. From afar he could see the guards of Yakul moving frantically as they seemed to have noticed the incoming group. Well, it was expected of his status as the hated card mage.

Leon and his men entered the village and he saw a couple of men standing on the road. He descended from his horse, followed by his men. The men who were waiting for him quickly approached him.

"Greeting milord. For what matter do we have the honor of your visit?" They bowed to Leon and he saw behind them at the crowds that were standing quite far from them, the hate stare.

"Who is the chief of this village?" As Leon asked, the question was not answered immediately as the men in front of them were looking at each other, as if they were waiting for someone among them to step up.

An old man that Leon appraised to be in his late 50s/early 60s then step forward and introduce himself. "I am the chief of this village. My name is Harit."

Leon examined his appearances. White hair, quite chubby on the cheek and neck, yet not so much at the belly. His eyes showed how nervous he was facing Leon.

"Mr. Harit, the reason I came today was because of news I heard a few days ago." As Leon spoke about a piece of certain news, he could see that it was not just Harit that had the nervousness and scare in his eyes, but also the others who were with him.

"There were reports of a bandit invasion a few nights ago." Continued Leon.

"Yes, that's correct milord. As you can see, our gate has new woods as we had just replaced it." Confirmed Harit. From the tone of his voice, he seemed relaxed compared to before.

[He thought I did not know about the card mage. Fine, I'll play his game a little.]

"What did happen?"

"The bandits burned it, milord, as they tried to break through into our village. The gate was the first one that we could fix, however, some of the villager's houses were still in process." Harit pointed to some houses to show proof of his story.

Leon saw the houses that had black burn marks on its roof and walls. There were three of them and one was in the middle of reconstruction.

"How many casualties on that day?"

"There were many men that got hurt. As for the ones who lost their lives, there was a family of four, all except the father died that day." Harit eyes showed remorse, and from it, Leon could see the truth of his statement.

"My condolences then." He knew it would be the perfect time to ask about the card mage and so he continued, "I heard there was also a card mage involved."

The genuine shock on Harit and the others' faces confirmed Leon's question immediately. He could see how scared and nervous they were, with everyone bowing their head, did not want to face Leon.

"At ease gentlemen. I am not here to blame anyone. I only need info regarding the card mage." Still afraid of Leon, Harit and his group started discussing. One of them then left the place and ran as quickly as he can.

Before Leon was able to ask why one of them ran, Harit quickly said to him, "I'm sorry milord, we are unable to give you any answer regarding the card mage. However, we'll bring you the one who can."

Leon told his men to be at ease as they almost chased the one that ran. He saw the truthfulness in Harit's words and so he choose to wait. After a minute passed, the person who ran came back, and behind him was a man that seemed to be in his 50s. He had a large build, yet he looked young for someone of his age, with not much gray hair.

The man was followed by a girl with black hair. Leon saw how she could be in her early teens. A woman was also following them but was quickly halted by the one who ran to call them. Leon quickly assumed that the woman was the wife of the big man and the mother of the girl.

"This is Mr. Granger and his daughter Ecuti. They were the ones that carried the card mage and his companion to this village as well as taking them away." Explained Harit.

As Mr. Granger and Ecuti approached Leon, they gave him a bow. Unlike Harit and his group, Leon did not feel any fear from Mr. Granger. He still felt it from his daughter though as she hid behind her father.

"So you are Mr. Granger?"

"Yes, milord." Answered Mr. Granger.

"Mr. Harit here said that you were the one who brought the card mage here." Asked Leon to the point.

"Yes, milord. At that time, I was unaware that he is a card mage." Answered Mr. Granger quickly and without hesitation.

"And you were the one who took him away?"

"Yes, milord. Along with my daughter here." The way Mr. Granger answered the questions was making Leon impressed with him. Most people usually cower in fear when in presence of a card mage and spit hesitantly any info from their mouth, but Mr. Granger confidently answered the questions.

"So, where did the card mage go?"

"That, I do not know about milord. We left them in the middle of the big road." Leon sensed a lie in Mr. Granger's statement.

"In the middle of the big road?"

"Yes, milord." Leon still felt the confidence in Mr. Granger's voice, but it was not the same as before.

"Which part of the big road?"

"The one leading to Mount Silver milord." Leon was impressed by how Mr. Granger lied to him. Without missing a beat he answered question after question, making it hard for a novice to detect the lie.

Leon looked at Ecuti and stared at her. She was conscious of it and tried to avoid eye contact. He then approached her. As he was too tall, he was unable to see Ecuti's face. Leon kneeled in front of her, making their face level.

"Your name is Ecuti correct?" Ecuti answered by giving Leon a nod.

"Your father had given me answers to my questions; however, I would like to hear from you as well." Ecuti showed a shocked expression as she was told that.

"So, on the day you and your father met the card mage, what did you do before that?"

Ecuti did not answer immediately and turned to look at her father. Mr. Granger gave the gesture for her to keep on telling the story. She then turned to Leon and said, "We were on our way home from the town of Ushka. We just sold some of our harvest products, while also buying other products from there."

Leon did not respond to Ecuti's answer and it made her confused as she did not know what she needed to do next.

"Who did he go with?"

"Ah, yes, um, his companion is a female swordsman."

"A female swordsman. That's interesting. By the way, I forgot one important question, what were their names?"

"Ahli and Sharon milord."

[Ahli, a weird name for someone who came from our world.]

Leon went silent again and it made Ecuti become confused again, shifting her view between her father and Leon. Mr. Granger gave her the gesture that asked her to stay calm, which then was done by Ecuti.

"Very well, then." Leon suddenly stood and it surprised everyone that was present there.

"I had enough info regarding the card mage." He saw everyone was glad about his statement, and therefore he continued with a sly smile. "Which is why I'm taking you, Miss Ecuti."

His decision was a surprise for everyone, especially Mr. Granger as he quickly covered his daughter.

"What does this mean milord? Why are you taking my daughter?"

"Because you lied to me." Leon's stare quickly changed into an icy look, piercing Mr. Granger's eyes.

"There was no fault at all with the logic of your info, yet that nonexistence is the one proof that you were lying to me." Leon pointed at Mr. Granger and he saw he had lost his confidence.

"You were confident with your answer. Overly confident I would say. In this kind of situation, people would be hesitant once in a while even though how brave they were." Leon grabbed Ecuti's arm and took her away from her father.

"Father!" Mr. Granger tried to take her back, but Leon's men moved forward and aimed their spears and swords at him, making him unable to reach her.

"They went to Shar! That's what they said! Please, return my daughter!" The moment Mr. Granger begged; Leon knew he had him in his hand.

"Oh really? Unfortunately, I can't believe your words anymore. So, this is what's going to happen. I'm taking your daughter until you bring the card mage to Dikar. With that, I'll believe you." Leon turned and started to drag Ecuti toward his horse. She struggled to release herself from him, however, his grip was strong.

"Damn you card mage!" In an unexpected turn of events, Mr. Granger fought the guards and was able to defeat them. More guards were coming at him, but it was halted by Leon.

"You got nerve old man. I applaud you for that." His left hand touched the deck box. "However, are you sure you want to go this path? CARTA, activate the system."

<DESIGNATED SYSTEM: NOMEPKO>

<STANDARD BASIC PROTOCOL: 60 Cards>

7 Cards flew out of the deck box and landed on Leon's hand. He chose 1 of them and it moved in front of him.

<Starting Life: 1 Basic Monster>

<Card Mage, you are ready to fight>

<TURN 1>

"Rugal, I choose you." As he said that, the card turned and from it came out a red cub with stripes of black at the bottom of its feet and back. A cub might not be intimidating enough, but as for Rugal, its size however was as big as a horse.

Most of the villagers went to panic and ran as they saw it. Some who stayed were trembling in fear watching the summoned beast. Mr. Granger himself could be seen to have fallen to fear, yet, he persisted in not backing away from this fight, because of her daughter.

"You sure have some guts, old man." Leon took a card from his hand and throw it at Rugal. As it touches it, a fire symbol appeared integrating into its body.

<TURN 2>

"Okay, one last chance old man!"

Mr. Granger did not yield and still standing in front of Leon and Rugal. Leon sighed to see how foolish he was.

"Fine then. As you wish."

He raised his hand going to give a command when suddenly Ecuti jumped in front of Rugal.

"Stop it. Take me! Leave my father alone!" She then turned to face her father. "I'll be fine father, please find brother Ahli. He will surely save me."

Ecuti turned and walked toward Leon's side. Mr. Granger who saw that could only call her name. "Ecuti!"

With her on her side, Leon turned off the system, and Rugal along with the other cards retracted into the deck box.

"Okay, old man. You heard your daughter. I'll be waiting." After he said that, Leon shifted his view to Ecuti and gave his hand to her. "Shall we?"

Ecuti held his hand and Leon carried her to his horse. He and his entourage then left the village. He saw Ecuti start to cry as they were quite far from the village.