The Empire

The preparations were finally done; the groups were ready to set out again towards the borders of The Empire. All of the traces of battle were erased and anything that might hint at their involvement in the battle was taken care of. The injured soldiers were treated by the doctors and the healers of The Resistance, and some who couldn't continue the journey were going to be sent back after they recovered completely at The Resistance's hideout. Of course, proper measures were taken in order to shut all of those people's mouths, not to reveal the location of the hideout or the nobles' involvement in the fight.

Alaric carefully placed his magic books in a safe spot inside the carriage, mindful that nothing could ever scratch them even the slightest. His attendant had tagged along and was sitting inside his master's carriage as if it were normal.

Looking at the guards, Alaric's expression crumbled into a guilt-stricken one, yet again. His attendant, sitting opposite him and picking his nose with his pinky, asked lightly,

"What's wrong, young master?"

His tone wasn't of a servant questioning their master, but no one cared about that at the moment.

"I think, it's pretty unjust..." Alaric shook his head, frustrated, and continued to talk even without being asked for, something he rarely does, "Those people died because of such a silly mistake. There was no meaning to their fight, do you understand what I mean? We did nothing wrong and had nothing to do with the whole situation, but got caught up in the flow and lost so many people. Not only that but their death won't be even known to the others. We had to secretly bury them here, somewhere that neither their family nor their friends can visit again, and have to pretend as if nothing happened when it's not been a single day since their passing. It's so frustrating, so sad!"

"...."

Upon hearing those words, the blue-haired Ian had a taken-aback kind of expression for a second before a curl sneaked up to Ian's lips, forming a faint smile.

"Isn't this how the world operates?" He shrugged his shoulders, "Has there ever been anything just in life for us to seek justice in everything that unfolds? Plus, those people knew what kind of ending they might face once they enrolled as a knight and became a guard. Their families too, are long prepared for the worst news."

"....Your words aren't kind at all."

Alaric pursed his lips in annoyance.

"But they are the truth."

"I didn't need to hear the truth!"

"Then what??"

Ian peeked to the side, looking at his tiny wolf child as if seeking help, but the kid was also giving him a similar look at Alaric.

'Hey!'

What's wrong with these people?

"All of you, have a nice trip!"

A loud voice from the outside diverted their attention. The boss of The Revolutionary Army was waving at them, bidding farewell. Ian's eyes locked with the woman's for a second, causing the woman's expression to alter for a brief moment. Ian couldn't help but remember the conversation he had with this woman not long before and the agreement they reached. He had known this woman for a long time. Rosalyn was as reasonable and considerate as strong she was. She wouldn't turn down an offer that would benefit her and her followers, even if it was requested by someone immensely suspicious.

'She must've started her investigations by now, trying to dig up my past with every means necessary.'

However, she wouldn't be able to find anything useful about a servant, a purchased slave.

'Anyway, another safe route secured! Good work, me!'

Ian praised himself in his mind, proud of managing to strike a deal with Ms. Rosalyn. On top of that, he succeded in persuading Evelyn as well, to some extent. The girl seemed pretty excited about the start of the new business that Ian told her about.

"Hmm, Ian, do you perhaps know that man?"

Alaric was pointing at a black-haired man climbing on his horseback. Upon the mention of his name, as if having planted ears inside the carriage, Raven snapped his head to the side, looking directly into Alaric's eyes. The noble's pointed finger trembled and he hurriedly hid behind the door.

"H-he is kinda scary. Was he like that all the time?"

Ian was also hiding behind the curtains of the carriage.

"I think he's scary as well."

"Right?!"

Exclaiming, Alaric pulled the curtains to cover the window so that the black-haired boy wouldn't see them inside.

"I think he might have anger issues!" Alaric announced half-confidently.

"What's anger issues?"

The wolf pup curled around Ian's feet before crawling up his leg and lying on his lap. Ian patted Lior's head as he causally conversed with his master.

"Umm... How to put it..." Alaric contemplated briefly. "Like, one often gets angry, can't control the anger, can't think properly when in anger, and doesn't know what to do when you are furious? Something like that."

"Hmm..."

Ian pondered over the meaning of the phrase and compared it with Raven.

"If such a thing is called anger issues... then I must have hunger issues."

It appears often, is hard to control, and prevents him from thinking straight.

"...."

Alaric's eyes narrowed to two lines.

"...Please don't say that in front of the others."

"Huh, why?"

"Just don't."

"...."

Ian felt like he was suddenly being mocked by this master of his.

The carriage rode smoothly, leaving the hideout behind and nearing the borders of The Empire. Alaric was busy reading books the whole while, attempting to cast spells from time to time, while Ian stared at thin air, sometimes smiling to himself as if remembering something funny. When the carriage closed the distance with the borders, Ian sat straight and turned to his master.

"It's better to hide those books for now."

"Hide?"

Ian pulled up a small hidden closet constructed under the chairs of the carriage and placed the books into the secret space under the astonished gaze of Alaric.

"You've borrowed them from those people, so it might be dangerous if seen by the border guards. Although, I doubt they'd recognize anything."

"Ah!"

Just when Ian was done with his task, the carriage slowed down to a halt.

"Who goes there?"

The galloping of horses became near and a group of uniform-wearing soldiers blocked the road.

"We were invited to the esteemed emperor's birthday banquet."

Barnett Blicra stepped down his carriage and bowed a little bit. He was bowing to someone lower level than him, but the others treated it as only natural. They were of The Empire while this noble was not, so it was obvious who had to bow down to whom!

"We have to inspect everything before entry is granted."

"Yes, sure, please go ahead."

No one here could stop these people from searching their whole luggage. They of The Empire, of course.

. . . . . . .

The rest of their travel was uneventful and enjoyable. The Empire was a safe and rich nation. Its people were kind and welcoming, treating their guests with the utmost importance and care. They didn't encounter a single thief or bandit, nor any beasts. The roads were paved even, cities were built at regular distances, the waters were clean and the food was fresh. Everything seemed different there compared to their own country.

"These were all stolen from us," was what Barnett once said, keeping his voice as low as possible so that no one besides him and his friends would hear. His face was pained when he said that, painted with the anger of the victim and bitterness of the weak. These food and riches belonged to his country, he explained to Alaric who had a clueless face. "They are all taken away from their righteous owners and spent to build this land," he emphasized. "Though, I can't blame these people. They have done nothing wrong at all. I'm just jealous," he chuckled, saying that he wished to see his people being this happy and comfortable in their lives as well.

Ian had watched their conversation unfold from a distance, his thoughts wandering around, sometimes focused on the future of this nation and at other times, shifting to his plans. In some brief breaks, he would wonder about the true cause of Alaric's personality change if he wasn't thinking about Raven's identity, dwelling in past memories.

-Master, I think you should give it a try. Didn't Raven say he would leave us once we arrived at the Empiral Castle? You will regret it if you lose this chance, I'm sure of it! Plus, you also plan on sneaking out of the castle, don't you?

Even this little child was giving him advice. How shameful. However, Lior was right. This was the time he took a risk. Even if his guess was wrong, nothing extraordinary would happen except for him being ashamed to death.

'Let's have a final conversation with that youngster before finalizing my plans.'

The results of that meeting could change a lot of things.

- - - - - - -

"I thought about your suggestion."

Alaric said while strolling over to his bed, preparing to sleep.

"My suggestion?"

"Yeah, about the magic Academy you mentioned. I thought whether I should give it a try or not."

"So?"

"I don't know."

Ian paused his actions and gave his master a tired glare.

"Don't look at me like that! I really don't know! I have no idea what's good to do and what's not... I... I think it's good to have a mentor and some teachers to help me learn magic well and systematically, but on the other hand, I don't really want to enroll in an Academy at this age... I've already graduated, you know, I don't want to go through the same shit again."

'Where have you graduated from... You were a shut-in all your life!'

Ian held back his words, not tiring himself out by questioning his master, knowing that Alaric would only reply with random, incomprehensible, nonsense.

"Then don't go if you don't want to."

Alaric sat on the bed, hugging the coat he just took off.

"Will I learn magic if I don't enroll in the academy?"

"Well, your family is rich. They can hire a mentor for you."

"Uh..."

The golden-haired boy's eyes widened in realization as if only remembering his status as a noble just now.

"Haha, being a rich kid is nice, I guess."

Giggling foolishly, he lay down in his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Mister Ranger said we will go to the Imperial Castle tomorrow morning and start attending meetings and banquets from noon. We made it barely on time."

Alaric started a random conversation out of nowhere like he always did.

"Yeah."

They were currently staying at an inn in the capital of The Empire. The birthday party was tomorrow night and the small banquets and meetings would start early in the morning. The convoy had to make their entry before then and prepare for the party. The schedule was tight, especially for those who received a late invitation.

"I hope everything goes well."

The young man muttered again, not letting Ian leave the room with the packaged luggage. Alaric has been getting more and more talkative over time. He was normal around other people, barely even answering the questions asked of him, but he would start sudden and meaningless conversations wherever alone with his blue-haired attendant, leaving the self-proclaimed regressor confused over his intentions.

"But I wanted to avoid the protagonist so bad."

He muttered again, half-dazedly.

'Is he talking to me or just blabbering to himself?'

Ian didn't know if to leave or to stay. At this point, he didn't even question the strange stuff Alaric would say from time to time, not that he's ever questioned any of them up till now.

"Say, Ian, do you think I am normal enough?"

Just as Ian approached the door and grabbed the handle, Alaric sat up straight, shooting him a question.

"Huh?"

"I don't attract attention, right? I'm just a random nobleman attending a party and nothing more. There is no way anything might go wrong in the party, right? I won't get entangled in anything nasty as I'm merely a simple noble's son!"

"....."

Ian turned to the suddenly over-stressed young man and, trying not to question the well-being of his brain, answered him as honestly as he could.

"You won't attract any attention at all if you try not to talk during the banquet."

"...Oh!" Alaric gave a nod to his head. "I'm good at keeping silent. I can shut my mouth for a long time! And even if I talk, I won't say anything foolish."

Ian deeply doubted that statement. Everything that Alaric has talked to him about was foolish stuff.

"Don't look at me like that! Do you doubt me?"

"...."

Should he be honest? But Lior once told him that being honest about people's flaws isn't always nice, especially when dealing with sensitive people. The child has created a list of sensitive people for him and Alaric was the newest addition to it. However, no matter how hard Ian tried to control his speech, his face couldn't betray his inner thoughts.

"I-I think I might talk too much sometimes, but I'm not usually like this! I know where to shut up!"

Alaric poorly attempted to defend himself upon seeing the kind of expression his attendant was making.

"Hmm, that's alright then."

After considering it for a while, Alaric wasn't wrong. He didn't go around and talk bullshit to everyone, he just talked bullshit when he was alone with Ian, so it was alright. The others might've guessed that his personality has changed slightly and he's softened up a little bit, but Ian, who was the only witness of the noble's strangest actions and words, couldn't decline the possibility of Alaric being inflicted with a brain injury.

He didn't harp on the matter too much and, using the short silence of the nobleman, ran out of the room with the stuff in his hands.

-Master, did you see it? He was looking at me once again!

Lior jumped over Ian's shoulder, tapping his head with a paw.

-He can't see me but senses my location. How? How? I'm sure he isn't lying when he says he can't understand the situation either. Master, this Alaric is nice, I don't know how but he's really nice. I like him, master. He's actually cute! But I get scared whenever he suddenly turns to where I'm sitting and narrows his eyes at me! Master, can't you do anything about it? Master, meow!

Lior rambled on inside Ian's head, giving him a slight headache. Ian shook his head and sighed before giving the child a short reply.

-I'll think about it when I'm back.

-Uh...

The wolf raised its body and lay over the blue toft of hair, sprawling comfortably, its dangling tail slightly blocking Ian's sight as it wagged.

-We are leaving tonight~ Leaving~ So exciting~ So happy~

-...Yeah.

Entering the castle was a risk Ian didn't want to take, as he didn't have any intentions of getting killed so early in the round. Thus, he had to sneak out for a while and return when the convoy was on their back home. In addition to that, there was a person he had to verify the identity of before deciding to do anything serious, so he chose tonight for his runaway plan as it would coincide with Raven's departure.

-I examined the inn thoroughly. Alaric's room is the best location. There aren't many guards under the right side window of his room.

-Alright.

The servant placed the luggage at their designed location, checked his master's long tailored clothes for one last time, and entered the noble's room to put the clothes on the sofa as a last-time preparation for the banquet.

"Mmm..."

Sleeping in the bed, Alaric groaned and tossed around, tightly clenching his blanket with grimace on his face, soaked in sweat.

'Is he having a nightmare?'

Ian carefully approached the bed and stared at the boy for a brief second before reaching out a hand and touching Alaric's forehead with an Aether-clad finger. The frown vanished from the boy's face instantly and his muscles eased up, slumping into a deep and relaxing slumber.

'Anyway.'

The windows all over the room were half-open and a cool breeze was oozing in through the gap, shaking the curtains. Ian took a look out the window. They were on the first floor so it wasn't too high to jump.

Making as little voice as he could, Ian stood at the edge of the window before throwing his body out, swiftly landing on the ground. He didn't forget to catch the child that had cheerfully jumped down after him.

-Sneaking out~ Sneaking out~

Ian didn't pick up a horse or take anything from his master's belongings. He didn't even bring his own baggage. He didn't want to be called a thief or a runaway slave once he returned. It'd be easier to make up an explanation this way, a story of how he was suddenly met with an unfortunate situation and had to go somewhere for a little while, or such sort.

'Raven will leave early in the morning before the group departs for the castle. They probably will notice my absence until then.'

And about how he would meet up with that boy, Ian had an idea in his head. It wasn't the best option nor was it guaranteed that he would find Raven at that place if he waited for him there, however, if Raven really did show up, it would confirm Ian's guess about his identity.