Lion of Dikar

Dusk fell into Dikar, a town castle located a couple of miles from Olf City. Torches were lit in the inner wall as well as outside the wall, which still has a number of houses, where some were left with ruins or in the middle of reconstruction.

Dikar used to be owned by a duke, which was the cousin of the late king. Currently, the duke along with his family had been massacred in the siege by the card mages, and so the ownership of the castle along with the lands surrounding it had fallen as well into the hand of the card mages.

In the dining room of the castle, a man in his early 20's sat at the far end of the dining table. He was alone as no other person sat at the table. There were many foods on the table though, such as roast fowl, soups, pies, etc. The man gobbled down a piece of each and every dish that was served to him.

"…as for the Olf City siege, Lady Anzu had prepared to deploy her army by tomorrow morning." An old man stood beside the man, providing him with up-to-date news of business related to the card mage's activity.

"Which means she would be passing by here and make this castle her base of operations?" The man took a bite of the roast bird thigh and chewed it as he asked the old man.

"Yes, Lord Leon. She asked for things to be prepared." Answered the old man while bowing. Leon looked at the old man who seem to be afraid that Leon will indulge in wrath after hearing the 'request'.

"Relax, Durbin. I'm not angry at you. That damn Anzu…always acting as she wants. Spoiled brat." Leon raised his right hand and one of the maids that stood next to the wall quickly came to him. She carried a basin filled with clean water. As she stood beside Leon holding the basin, he dipped his hand into the water and started to clean his hand.

After he finished cleaning his hand. He took the napkin on the table and wiped his hand followed by wiping his mouth. He then gave the napkin back to the maid.

"Thank you, Jolyn." The maid only bowed and did not say anything. Leon realized that she was shivering, along with the other maids and butlers in the room. It was not because of cold though, but because of hunger, as a shortage of food plagued the area after most of the farmers were slain at the siege. It was almost a year since the takeover, yet the situation had not returned back to normal.

Leon stood from his chair and gave an order to the rest of the people in the room. "I'll be in my room. You guys can finish this meal."

As he said it, his maid and butler quickly rushed toward the table, except for Durbin. They all grabbed the leftover and everyone tried to take as much as they can. Some quickly took a bite of anything they could grab first, while still collecting as many as they can.

"Lord Leon, can we bring this for our family?" Shouted one of the butlers asking his permission.

"Yeah, do whatever you want." Leon looked at them and thought how they did not look like humans and more like hungry animals. He then turned his view to Durbin.

"You didn't eat?" Asked Leon to him.

"No, milord. We haven't finished with the matter at hand." Said Durbin referencing the coming of Yuna to Dikar.

"Eat first old man. You can't think with an empty stomach. Besides, I'm in no mood to discuss Yuna's plan." Leon then looked again at the maids and butlers who were still scavenging the food on the dining table.

"Hey! Leave some for Durbin!" The maids and butlers quickly stopped what they were doing. It seemed they realized that there was not much left on the table that could be given to Durbin. Leon saw some of them even look each other in the eyes, asking what should they do.

A butler then pulled out a piece of bread from his pocket. Another maid quickly followed by pulling out a slice of dry meat. Then it was also followed by other maids and butlers. They all put what they can on a plate, and by the time they all had given back something, the plate itself was stacked in a high pile.

Leon looked at Durbin and gave him the gesture for him to take his food. Durbin hesitantly moved toward the table. He stopped in front of the plate and stared at it. His right hand then reached for it, taking a piece of bread and followed by his left hand which took a couple of pieces of grapes.

"This is enough for me. Share the rest equally. We are not animals." Said Durbin to the other maids and butlers. They seemed to feel ashamed as some of them quickly bowed their head. Durbin then turned to face Leon. He showed him the bread and grapes to him. "This would be enough for me, milord."

Leon sighed at what Durbin said and turned as he said, "Up to you then. I'll be in my chamber! No one to disturb me!"

Leon took a few steps before he turned and faced the maids. "Except for Lea and Ginny. Come to my room tonight."

Two maids, one with red hair and the other with brown hair, were surprised when they heard their name was called. The one with the red hair even quickly covered her mouth as she was chewing on some piece of the bird meat. She quickly swallowed and confirmed to Leon, following the brown hair one, "Yes, milord!"

Leon turned his back again and he left the room. He could hear some commotion as the door behind him closed, one of them was the sound of cry of Lea from what he could assume.

Well, it was not surprising for Leon as he knew that she has little brothers and sisters living in one of the houses at the inner wall. She might want to return and bring the food to them, however for Leon, he wanted her that night.

[This would be her first time as well. I guess I'll give her some reward after, so she can do it at ease next time.]

Leon walked past the hallway that led to his room. The lighting there was quite dim with candles as its source, very different than the dining which has more lighting, like the chandelier and the fireplace. He looked through the window toward beyond the wall. It was not as bright as the inside of the hallway, with a few people living there.

Leon reminisced of when he took part in the siege of Dikar. He was just arrived in this world and learned a few things about it, then he was forced to take part in the deadliest event he ever saw with his own eyes. He wished he did not take part that day, however, it was either other people's doom or his.

In the end, he did not contribute much to it anyway, still, he could not do anything as the other card mages executed the duke and his family. Even he saw firsthand how Anzu played around with the youngest son of the duke before she dealt with him in a manner that was sickening for Leon.

Leon looked at the three moons that shined brightly. Their light shone on the field surrounding the castle. From afar, he swore he saw a pair running at it. It was not too clear; however, they were holding hands and they seemed happy. Looking at it, somehow made a smile on Leon's face.

[I wonder…how long I'll be living this boring life…]

He then continued going to his room.

***

Morning came and the sound at the door woke Leon from his sleep. He lazily pushed his body upward, from between Lea and Ginny who were still sleeping naked at his side. Leon crawled over the brown hair girl to get out of his bed. Their body was touching and it made her wriggle.

"Go back to sleep again Ginny." Whispered Leon to her followed by a kiss. As his feet touched the floor, he quickly looked around for his clothes. It was then he heard again the knock on the door.

"I heard you." With him replying to the knock, it stopped. He then found his trousers and put them on. He walked toward the door after and opened it to find Durbin at the other side.

"Morning milord. I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep." Said Durbin while bowing to Leon. "An urgent matter had appeared."

"Is it about Anzu? What else does that bitch want this time?" Leon turned to look for the rest of his clothes. Durbin himself excused himself by entering the room.

"It's not about Lady Anzu. It's about something else." Said Durbin with a tone that showed how careful he was in delivering the news this time.

"What is it?" Leon found his tunic on the floor next to the bed, beside it was some part of the clothes that were worn by the maids. He took it and wore it immediately.

"The patrolling soldiers yesterday caught a questionable individual. After long torture and investigation, that individual had spoken about a particular card mage."

As Durbin explained the situation, Leon was putting on his shoes and tied their laces. As he was done with it, he stood and grabbed the belt on the table at the front of the bed. It also has a deck box attached to it.

"Was it one of us?" Asked Leon.

"No, milord. It was none of us, based on the description by the individual." As Durbin said it, Leon got intrigued with the individual that the soldier caught.

"Is the person in the throne room now?" Asked Leon again.

"Yes, milord." Leon quickly took his fancy cloak and wore it. It covered the left side of his upper body.

"Okay, I'll be meeting him. In the meantime, prepare some food for Lea to bring home. That should please her heart better."

Durbin replied with a bow, confirming Leon's order. Leon himself before leaving the room approached the bed and disclosed the drapes of the canopy. He saw how both Lea and Ginny had awoken from their sleep, sitting on the bed, covering themselves with the sheets that were used as blankets.

Without caring whether they listened to the conversation or not, Leon quickly kissed each of them on their cheek, followed by him saying, "Thank you for the night."

He then left them still on his bed, walked past Durbin who had bowed to him, and left the room.

As he reached the throne room, he saw a man tied with his hands at the back, kneeling in front of the throne. Leon sat as he saw the man seemed to be paying close attention to him since he entered the room, observing him.

"What's your name stranger?" Asked Leon immediately.

"Brian, son of Dorough." Answered the stranger immediately as well.

From the way he answered, Leon could see how confident Brian was, as if he knew he had the upper hand.

"I was notified that you had an encounter with a card mage. I would like to know more in detail about it." Ordered Leon to Brian.

"Will you guarantee my safety if I do?" The guard almost reacted violently toward Brian's request, if it wasn't for Leon raising his hand to halt them.

"I will. Now, tell me what you know."

Brian thought to himself as he stared at Leon, gauging the weight of truth of his words. He looked around at the guards before he looked again at Leon.

"It was 5 days ago, at the village of Yakul. I and my group were sieging it when we encountered a card mage that prevented us progress further." Said Brian. "He killed 5 of my friends with his spells."

[Nothing weird so far…]

"He did it, however, without summoning any monsters." Leon was surprised to hear it; however, he hid it well with his poker face.

The reason it was so surprising for him was because he knew that all the card mages member has a system that uses monster as its core. Therefore, a system without monsters would be something new and surely meant that new mages were entering this world unnoticed by the others.

"Interesting. Tell me more about this mage." As Leon finished his sentence, he saw Durbin enter the room. He raised his eyebrows, signaling to Durbin regarding the request he made to him in the room before, which was answered by Durbin with a short nod, notifying Leon that it was taken care of.

"He used fire-based magic. Young. Maybe as old as you." As Brian spilled out more information, Durbin positioned himself behind Leon.

"I don't care about his appearances. I need to know how he executed his spells. Don't you have any details about it?"

"I'm sorry. That's all I could tell you." Leon saw the smug on Brian's face. He seemed to think that he had off the hook because of the info. Leon always hated a person like this, and in reply, he said, "Okay, then. Guard, lock him in the dungeon."

The guards came at Brian, which himself seemed not to expect that Leon would still detain him. They grabbed him and pulled him away from the throne, as he struggled to release himself.

"Hey! This is not how you promised! I gave you the info!"

"You still hurt innocent people. I'm detaining you for it." Countered Leon.

Brian kept on struggling as the guards took him further from Leon. In what seemed to be his last effort, he shouted. "HE SAID PAID FIRE MANA!"

Hearing his shout made Leon raise his hand and the guards immediately stopped taking Brian, even though they still held him in place.

"Every time he cast a spell, he said he paid fire mana, either it was one, two, three, etc."

Leon racked his brain listening to that piece of information, as he was not familiar at all with any card game that has fire mana. It made him become more interested in it however.

"Thank you for the information. Take him." With that one command, the guards carried Brian again.

"HEY! HEY! DAMN YOU LIAR!" Brian swore and shouted as he was dragged outside the throne room. Leon himself did not care anymore about what was happening to him, and went face to face with Durbin.

"Prepare some soldiers. We're going to Yakul."

"But, milord, Lady Anzu could come anytime soon." Reminded Durbin about the other important matter.

"In that case, you're in charge as I go to Yakul."

Durbin had no other words to say as he bowed and immediately left the room. Leon himself still wondered what kind of card mage would he find in Yakul.

[If he is not another sociopath, he might be an answer for me to leave this world.]