Loss of a loved one

Larian exited the Red Mountain through the way he entered.

Carrying the corpse had attracted a lot of attention, even the guards by the entrance caused a commotion because Larian's entire figure was red. The blood had spread across his bandages and the guards nearly mistook him as an enemy from Horken Mountain.

Luckily Keith was there to settle the misunderstandings.

Unfortunately, Larian could not leave in peace, the general wanted a word with him.

"I see that you have found the man you were looking for Merc. But why is Kranon dead in your hands? Sergeant Keith, report."

"Yes, General Thork. This esteemed figure assisted us in killing an entire army of Horken Mountain. Commander Horsen has been killed by this man."

General Thork's right eyebrow rose, he doubted the small squadron he sent could single-handedly win an army.

"How much did this man Contribute?"

Keith was a little nervous as he answered truthfully.

"E-entirely by himself. He went in alone and killed the commander and hundreds of men. The remaining few directly surrendered."

This time the General's eyes opened wide.

"He faced Commander Horsen and his army alone?"

The General looked at Larian in a different light.

"When your squadron finishes tabulating the amount of heads he killed, give this man his reward."

Keith acknowledged General Thork's command. Facing Larian Thork bowed slightly.

"I apologize, there is no reward we could give for slaying a commander. The recruitment notice only states that we will reward based on the number of kills. Usually, fights of the commander's caliber are settled among us Gyths, is there anything you'd like as a compromise?"

Larian shook his head.

"I didn't come for a reward, I came for Kranon and now he is dead. I have to bring him back to his family."

"It's alright. You can leave his body with us, we have a management for settling such matters. A vehicle will be prepared to bring him back to Peal's place. You can follow if you wish."

"However, is there anything we could provide you?"

Larian thought about it.

'A weapon? No, the guns are still in their elementary stages. It would be useless to get one now. An armor? The red armor Horsen wore might be good, but it's in pieces. And anything premade might be too bulky for me since the Gyths are way bigger than me. Maybe the material used to make it would be good.'

"The material Horsen's armor is made of. If I could get a set amount sent to Old Peal's shop, it might be good. He has a daughter that specializes in making armor. I hope to have one made there."

"Rubysilver? It's a rarity, but doable. Very well the reward for Slaying a commander will be the rubysilver. I will have the men sort it out and send it your way."

Thork was quick to find the right person he needed. In a matter of minutes, a carriage had arrived to pick Larian up.

"This… it's a car?"

The driver looked at Larian in surprise.

"You know of cars? A recent inventor called Sherry the Grand Architect has blessed us with these new creations. It's a very recent product that she invented for this festival. Because of it, the Orsen Mountain was able to win the northern and eastern battles."

'Sherry the Grand Architect huh? I might pay her a visit when I have the time. Does this mean because of my victory, the Orsen mountain directly won on all three lanes? I wonder who was sent to the other 2 lanes.'

There was still the final day of the Festival the next day, but Larian wasn't interested in joining the political fight.

"Sir, you may enter the vehicle. The body will be sent as per military protocol, I'm sure the sirs and madam of the deceased know what to do and where to go to find him."

Entering the vehicle he realized the insides were quite cozy.

'Leather seats and rubber wheels. It looks like an early prototype of cars. How did they invent electricity and engines? Someone probably found a suitable replacement like magic.'

On the ride back, the driver offered Larian a fresh set of bandages to change out of. Unwrapping himself, Larian found the stone bits on his skin stuck to the bandages.

Under the stone exterior, a small portion of human skin could be seen.

'My burns can actually be healed?'

Wiping himself clean and applying the fresh bandages, Larian looked presentable not covered in blood.

By the time Larian reached Orsen Mountain the sun was already setting.

"Thank you. You can go back now."

The Driver gave a small salute as he drove off.

Larian was in front of Old Peal's Place.

"Wew… Shit. How do I do this? At least I'm not carrying a dead body."

Finding courage from within, Larian knocked on the door.

"Who's that? Don't you know the store is closed this late. You-"

Kait came to answer the door. Finding Larian standing by the door she was surprised.

"Back so soon? You just left this morning! What happened?"

Larian tried to speak but the words were stuck in his throat.

"I.. its your brother…"

Kait's expression was initially confused, but a realization slowly set in.

"Your brother… Kranon. He died in the Orkan Festival…"

"..."

Larian looked at Kait. Her face blinked repeatedly as if she couldn't believe Larian.

"B-b-big bro… He's d-dead…?"

Kait stuttered and her voice broke as she spoke. Tears were welling up her eyes almost instantly. Her face turned sad as she cried on the spot.

Larian didn't know what to say.

Kait stood there crying, her head dropped and rested on her arms. Through her fingers the tears flowed through. She began to hiccup while her tears fell continuously like a steady rain.

Old Peal heard the commotion and came to the front. Seeing the scene he didn't speak. He came close to Kait and brought her back into the store to comfort her.

For some reason, tears welled in Larian's eyes as well. He didn't know who Kranon was or what kind of person he was like when he lived. But he understood the pain of losing a loved one too closely in his heart.

Since he also lost someone dear to him recently.

'No one has to endure this sorrow alone. At least she's got good company, I'm sure Old Peal will know how to comfort her.'

Surprisingly Old Peal came back to the door.

"What are you doing? Come in."

Larian, quite stunned, followed Old Peal.

'I feel like I shouldn't be here.'

Old Peal brought Larian past the dining room where Old Peal usually rested, inside he could hear Kait sobbing quietly inside.

Moving to another room, there was a simple bed with a simple table by the side.

'This looks like Old Peal's room.'

Old Peal grabbed two seats and placed them next to the table.

"Sit."

Larian could see marks on the chair from how tightly Old Peal had gripped them with his prosthetic arms.

"Tell me everything from the start. Everyone you met, everything that you saw. Don't miss any details."

The room was dark because of the setting sun, but under the shadow of Old Peal's eyes, Larian swore he saw a single tear rolling down his cheeks.

Under the somber expression, Larian could sense a familiar feeling.

Intense anger and wrath.

Whatever Old Peal was doing, he was doing a great job of containing his emotions.

Larian was serious as he explained how he rushed to the Red Mountain and what happened during his time there. He didn't skimp out on the fine details of what he was capable of, such as his powers.

Old Peal remained silent during the whole time. By the time Larian finished his explanation, Old Peal still didn't speak.

"..."

"..."

"The man who killed my son… Where is he"

"Commander Horsen of the Horken Mountain, he died in battle."

Old Peal finally breathed a sigh of relief as the anger in his heart was quelled. When he finally calmed his breath, sadness came to fill the void.

Old Peal's prosthetic creaked as he squeezed with all his might. Larian couldn't see the expression of Old Peal now, but he was sure if he switched on the lights now he would find a sight Old Peal might not want him to see.

Larian left Old Peal's room to give him space. He left the shop so that the family could mourn in peace.

'The shop was unusually dark tonight.'

Looking at the moon that had risen in the sky Larian sat by the pavement. It was already late at night.

Larian thought back to his master. Larain understood that the family had tried their best to hold their only son back and even come up with ambitious projects like the Armour in the hope of helping him.

But to find all your efforts not playing an effect to prevent the death of a loved one was a difficult thing to accept.

'Avenging Kranon was doable. But Shinon the Blade Hero is an entirely different level.'

'I swore one and and swear it again. Until I die I won't let Master Shiro's death be in vain. I will bring Shinon down and avenge Master.'

Larian fell asleep on the pavement that night.

He awoke to the sound of the door of the shop opening.

"What are you doing here lad? Why are you not sleeping inside?"

"It's alright, I wanted to give you guys space. I know it's a difficult time, at times like this comforting words from a stranger you met for barely a week is not going to help then a good night of silence."

"That's what you think of us? Lad I got to say, I'm disappointed."

Larian didn't understand how Old Peal was so calm. He should still be sad and angry over his sons death but instead, he came to find Larian.

"You risked your life just to bring my son back to me. It doesn't matter if I've known you for a week or even an hour. You helped a lot already by avenging Kranon. If this can't be called friends I don't know what is."

"Never mind that, we are going to the Monastery. It's where Kranon body would be being kept."

Larian noticed Kait in the back, the duo was wearing a darker set of clothes than usual.

Throughout the walk, the trio barely talked. It felt awkward to start a conversation since Kait was usually the talkative one.

"Hang on here. I'll have to go to the post office to send some mail to the people who Kranon is familair with. You guys stay here."

Now Larian was left alone with Kait.

Larian struggled to find something appropriate topic to speak to Kait.

Larian looked up into the sky and thought about Shiro, about her death.

"It was a rainy day quite unlike today."

"...?"

"I remembered the smell of blood, mud and burnt flesh. The rain just never stopped that entire night… My Master had died that evening."

"She fought a great enemy and succeeded in killing it. She protected me and died for it. At the time my flesh was burnt to a crisp. I was missing my arms and my legs were disabled by the fire. I had to crawl with my Master on her back."

"It was a long journey. I crawled through the darkness with only a sliver of moonlight to guide my path. By the time I reached the place called home, the sun was already starting to rise. the next day"

Larian looked down as if to reminisce in his memories.

"My master was one of the most important figures in my life. I've known her for quite a short while, but she taught me to live and fight, something I desperately lacked in my life. My heart still aches whenever I think of her. She's the reason I am traveling at all."

"And I'll probably keep traveling until the end of my life if I have to. To gather enough strength to give my Master redemption for those that had wronged her in the past."

Larian looked Kait straight into her eyes as he spoke.

"I'll keep fighting no matter what. Because I know it's what she would have wanted me to do."

Larian patted Kait on her shoulders.

"So I hope you'll stay strong, even through this. I'm sure Kranon would have understood how much you loved him. Anyone can tell how much effort and time you've put into your designs."

Kait stared at Larian for a moment. He didn't give the impression of a man who talked about his past or his feelings to her.

Kait gave a hollow sigh as if to exhale the bottled-up feelings and smiled slightly.

"Thank you. I might've needed that."

Kait pulled away her glasses to rub her face of any stains that might've been there.

Finally regaining her bearings, she sighed again.

"Kranon has always been a prideful person. When he was little he would beat up the stronger kids in the mountains. He gained notoriety because of that and eventually he would see himself as a powerful warrior."

"The Gyth people would always sing his praises as the son of Papa Peal. Since Pa had survived the past festival 25 years ago, Kranon thought he could do the same. But Pa had always warned him of the dangers of the festival and how he had survived simply due to luck."

"The things Pa described, it scared me. He talked of men who would tower over others in the battlefield. Their ruthlessness and scheming minds would spell the death of hundreds. It was what I wanted to replicate in the armor I designed."

'There were probably powerhouses with the same strength as me is the other lanes. If you think about it, among the hundreds I killed it truly didn't matter if they were skilled among their peers or not. Under an unstoppable attack, they all died. Old Peal understands this truth of war in a world where magic exists.'

"Pa had always emphasized that there was no glory or dignity in these fights. He talked of friends he lost and the fear when he had woken up amidst the field of corpses and blood in the battlefield."

"He had hoped to scare Kranon to not participate, but Kranon only saw it as a challenge to overcome the fame of Pa."

The end of Kait's mouth curled downwards, she was quite upset.

"The worst part is, Pa didn't grow famous because of his strength. He was famous for overcoming the limitation of his trait which was thought to be impossible. That's why there was no point to prove even if he went, he was already way stronger than Pa. But it wasn't enough for him."

"He was selfish. He wanted the fame of doing the impossible. Like the impossible odds of a Suppressed Trait surviving in the battlefield. There was no point…"

Seeing Kait about to cry, Larian patted her on the back.

"He might've sought fame, but he died trying to protect those around him. He joined because of pride but stayed because of camaraderie. I could tell, he fought to the bitter end."

Kait lashed back.

"And?! Did anyone else live? If he died a meaningless death, what was the point! All that he left for us is this sorrow."

"..."

Larian was a loss for words.

'Turns out I still have no social skills. I can't even say the right things to comfort her. Complimenting her brother doesn't seem to do it. Is there anything to divert this conversation elsewhere?'

"... If it makes you feel better, maybe I can help you in finishing the armour you designed. Maybe then you'd know the efforts you put would have amounted to something."

Kait's angry expression softened as doubt settled in.

"What would a swordsman know about Gyth Armorweave? You didn't even understand half the thing you saw from what I showed you."

In Larian's head he sighed in relief because he managed to distract Kait from being angry at her brother.

"You need a large magic source right? I might have something that can fuel your designs. I just hope it's detachable."

"What? Are you talking about monster cores? I already told you those were too expensive, it's why no one believes that this would work."

Larian shook his head and pointed to his chest.

"I meant my core."

"Are you crazy?! That would kill you. A hundred of you wouldn't even be enough to fuel the armour. Let alone a part of you. Extracting a part of a person's core might have been possible in the past due to records of Soul Bound weapons, but in the modern age who needs such a thing?"

"Really? A hundred human cores is not enough to fuel the armour?"

'I'm sure my magic is multiple times greater than most mages I know, but a hundred times might just be a stretch just to move an armor.'

"Urgh… It was just an expression. I probably need something that can provide around 10 Human's worth of magic constantly pumping into the armour for it to function. But no one would hire 10 mages just to move the armour when there are better alternatives."

"Wew… you scared me. Then it should be possible."

Kait looked annoyed, she assumed Larian wasn't paying attention to what she said and was slightly disappointed.

"Were you even listening? I need 10 people's worth of constant input to even move the armour."

'It might be faster to just show rather than explain.'

Larian grabbed Kait by her hands and allowed the magic within him to unchain and flow.

"W-what are you!... What the…"

Kait magic was guided into Larian core. The core seem to stretch all around his body, it was so huge. Bigger than anything she's ever seen.

"Your core… its so abnormal… I-is your entire body a core? Your fingers and everything, its all producing magic on its own!"

Kait let go of Larian's hand and broke the connection.

"Your Magic output is so much! Is this a part of breaking your Suppression Trait?"

For some reason Larian felt slightly disappointment but it wasn't important and he didn't show it on his face.

"No breaking the suppression just amplifies it, the formation of this core is something else. But now you believe you don't you? Even with a piece of my hand I could fuel your project."

"I am Not. going to sever your arm for something like this. But I'll build it. With your output I think whatever I implement might be possible."

Using the topic as a driving point, Larian and Kait discussed the possibilities of the armour for a while.

Old Peal finally came out of the post office.

"You two are getting comfortable, ey?"

Larian realised what Peal was implying and quickly backed away.

"No- not at all. We were just discussing making an armor!"

Old Peal squinted his eyes as if to doubt but chose not to pursue it.

"Anyways let's go. We have to see Kranon now."

The atmosphere went back to being sombre, but there was a change now. Kait wasn't looking as depressed as before, her hollow expression had some life to them as she walked.

Arriving at the monastery, Larian was quite surprised.

'This looks just like a church, even the cross is similar. Is religion here identity to the one on earth? I should look into it when I have the time later.'

Old Peal seemed to know the way as he walked through the halls into the backrooms.

In the room, multiple bodies lay in order with a tablet in front of each of them. They were all covered by a layer of white cloth.

Reading through each tablet Peal found Kranon's body. Removing the cloth, the trio saw the cold lifeless body of Kranon. To Larian, it looked the same besides the paleness.

Kait broke into tears as she cried softly. Old Peal handled it better as he simply sighed.

"I told you, didn't I? There was nothing glorified worth earning from the festival. I warned you but you didn't listen."

Larian could hear a slight creak in Peal's prestetic grip.

Kait went close to Kranon's body, she touched his cold hands as she cried.

"You idiot…. Remember that time when you protected me from the bullies in school? I looked up to you and loved you as a sister… our family was perfect the way it was… Why did you chose not to stay with us?"

'It seems that they have a lot to reminisce about. I should probably leave them to it.'

Larian chose not to stay and left the two to mourn.

Exiting the room, he went past the halls and looked into different rooms of the monastery.

Walking back to the halls he entered the chapel. Seating along the long rows of chairs he sat and listened to the Priest preaching.

Larian was not a religious person on earth so he didn't really understand if the teachings were the same as the one on earth but that didn't matter.

What mattered was that Larian recognised the god the main religion of this world worships.

A grey cloak draped over the cross. A symbol of the person who lives over the grey fog in the afterlife.

'I wished for you to grant me a happy ending. But instead you dropped me in this world and robbed me of the happiness I found here.'

Larian desire to rebel against the world was still lingering restlessly in his heart.

The coincidences of a dragon appearing in the outskirts of a city so popular like Trier was too suspicious.

And it just appeared a few months after he transmigrated into this world. As an author of this world he could only be suspicious of the coincidences.

Looking at the grey robes draped on the cross, Larian felt his determination grow stronger.

'I need to finish my business here in Orkan soon. If the god of this world is really watching me, I'd have to expedite my plans.'