21. The Rune Knights
Though the moment didn't last long because the old man came near us " Thank you Elior" and tried to bow but I stopped him before he could " You don't need to, I am just doing my job. Also, I never got your name."
"My name is Grish. I am or used to be this village's chief" he answered in a sad tone.
"It is not the end, Grish-san. You can start a new life in a new place. If you want, I can help you" I tried to motivate him and also offered my help.
"Hahaha, you are right, the children are still alive. We still have a future" he said while gazing at the children reuniting with their mothers.
After a few minutes, just when everyone was starting to calm down, I sensed something, it seems like a lot of people are coming here. I grew warier and formed a sword in my hand and stood in front of the villagers.
A few moments later, a lot of people wearing armour over a blue jacket with white trousers came into view bearing a symbol of cross on their uniform, the symbol of magic council.
The one leading them was an orange headed beautiful girl in her mid twenties. She came forward and introduced herself "I am Misty Waters, commander of the Alpha unit of rune knights. We are here due to a call we received."
I lowered my sword and allowed it to disappear as I can see that she is telling the truth. I introduced myself "I am Elior from Fairy Tail. I was the one who asked Grish san there to call you." I said to her while pointing at the old man.
After that, I gave her a summary of everything that happened from the beginning and took out Rashkel's book as a proof.
"I see. I apologise on behalf of the rune knights for our negligence. We have been chasing Rashkel for a long time and in our last encounter, we injured him but unfortunately he escaped. " She said sincerely and bowed 90°asking with the rest of the knights.
Sincere or not, I felt a vein bulging on my forehead on hearing this "So you are telling me that this all happened because you guys were incompetent enough to not do your jobs properly. " and I unconsciously started releasing my magic pressure along with conquerors haki but quickly reeled them in before they could harm anyone.
But the small instance of my aura releasing had them kneeling on the ground. They are just A-class mages with Misty being the only S class. My magic power alone is at a level greater than most S class mages and along with my haki, the pressure was as strong as a wizard saint.
'Thank God that it was only focused on them and not the villagers'
The first one to recover was Misty and she again apologized while keeping her head down in shame.
"I am not the one you should be apologising to" I pointed behind me at the villagers.
She bowed towards them and repeated her apology. They were resentful but also understood that it was just their misfortune. After a few more apologies, she approached me and said "Thank you Elior for your services. The council will reward you for your services. It is not everyday that a child your age takes down a demon from the book of Zeref"
" I don't need any reward, instead I want you to help the villagers get settled somewhere else where they are safer" I replied.
"You are a kind one aren't you. But I can't accept that, what you asked is something that we would do regardless of your wish so you don't need to exchange your reward for this. "She said with a warm face.
" I see, but I don't need anything from the council right now. Just tell those guys that they owe me a favour" I replied after a few seconds, completely ignoring her comment about me being kind.