Chapter 3: Humans against demons, humans against humans

Ve nodded, as did Sat. Gio, on the other hand, remained silent, but did not nod.

"In that case..." he motioned the servant to come closer, with him also the young woman in chains "'She is Glilia Rateori, one of the seven generals of the demon army. However, it is not from the demons that you must protect us, but from the humans of the kingdom of Trante. The latter have declared war on the kingdom of Vaddago, the kingdom of demons, which borders ours. For that reason, the king of the kingdom of Trante has also declared war on us, for not agreeing to help him in this foolish and futile war of his."

"If that is the case... Why is she, a demoness, in chains? As well as kept on a leash?" Gio, who was angrily raising his tone of voice, was interrupted by the king.

"She betrayed her own people, that's why. We were told she had been sent here as an ambassador, with the purpose of proposing an alliance and thus making a common front against the kingdom of Trante. However... She tried to assassinate me. The wounds on her body were inflicted by the torture we subjected her to in order to make her confess. We learnt that she had been paid handsomely by who-knows-who from the kingdom of Trante, to kill me and place the blame on her own kingdom, so that we would instead make common cause with the kingdom of Trante, instead of the kingdom of Vaddago."

Sat, Gio and Ve were speechless, almost shocked, the young blond man especially. That being said, the king continued his speech, after having the demoness taken away.

"Coming to the point, as I have already told you, you, our heroes, will help us resist the attacks of the kingdom of Trante, but.... Not all three of you." he turned to Sat "You, as the one chosen by me personally as the third hero, will set out on a journey with Dricea, the last of the ancestral golems, in search of her creator, so that she may be reunited with him, as also done by each of her predecessors. All clear?"

"No... No, of course not!" Sat blurted out, he didn't care that he was facing the king, after all he was the ruler of a kingdom unknown to him until then. "How could it all be clear to me?! I mean, fuck! You brought us here without even asking us!" he also turned towards everyone else "Who gave you permission to do this to us?! Who the fuck?!" his eyes grew moist and he began to cry "Who?! Who the fuck did?! Who... Who?" he stopped, said no more, nor did anyone else, but, having now nothing left to lose but his own life, of which he cared little or nothing at the moment, due to the fact that he was not even thinking straight, he raised his arm and threw a fist at the king "You bastard!!!"

Nothing happened, the punch did not reach its target. The robot girl had stopped him "Try again and..." seeing him cry as he did, in the same way as someone who had lost everything, Dricea interrupted her own speech. It did not make her sorry, or pity him, she felt nothing, at least towards him. She therefore merely lowered his arm, only to tell him a second time, "Enough crying, my hero." so instead of shaking his arm, she took his hand, leading him with her outside the throne room, but not before apologising to the king for his behaviour.

Outside the throne room, in the corridor, the two of them walked for a few minutes, until they reached Sat's room again, where Dricea made him sit on the bed.

"Had you not been one of the three heroes, they would have executed you, in fact, I would have done it myself."

"What the fuck do you want, you shitty robot?" he pulled the air up through his nostrils, he was still whimpering "Leave me alone, go away."

"You want me to leave, are you sure about that?" she replied, in her usual expressionless, slightly metallic voice.

"Yes, very sure. Go away, you make me sick.... You and all your other idiot cronies. If it hadn't been for Gio and Ve... I don't know what I would have done either. Maybe... I would have even killed myself by now."

"In that case, I would have stopped you."

"Why? Let's hear it."

"Don't pretend you didn't understand, my hero." after which, he opened one of the windows of his room "I will sing for you, as I did a few hours ago. See that you listen to me, for only then will you feel better." he leapt out of the window, reaching the same tower on which he had previously stood, then began to sing.

Within seconds, the robot girl's singing calmed Sat's soul, and he lay down on the bed, closing his eyes, still moist and reddened "Excuse me, Gio, Ve... But... I don't think I'll be able to last long.... In this new world.