An Outing (6)

With the intent to put together the broken pieces, Cyrus said,

"In the world there are many more people just like the one you have killed today. Without care for others, they take and they take all they please so long as the one they are taking from is weaker than they are.

"Such is the world we live in, such is the truth of reality. The weak suffer and the strong prosper.

"But of course, it does not have to be that way. Us humans can come together, as weak as we are, and congregate. Create grand institutions to carve order from the chaos of reality, just like the Empire that we find ourselves in.

"But the work of the Empire is not done, it is clear that in your case while many citizens enjoy peace and prosperity there are still many who do not.

"Such work, must be continued by the weak once more as they gather together and use all they can to make sure that future generations will not suffer.

"To make sure that while you may have suffered, those that come after will not have to.

"How you go about doing that? Well, that is up to you. I will teach you for a month, you and your siblings, as well as shelter you for that month. I will teach you whatever you wish, be it with the pen or with the sword.

"After that I will arrange for you your first place of work, and after that, my dues are done. Whether you sink or swim, fail or succeed, or whether you become a corpse like the man before you...it will be up to your own efforts."

'Though even if I do say that, I am sure my other half will still meddle if you stumble...but that is best not said right now. They need to be able to pull themselves out of this mess, lest they fall into depravity and depression forever.'

Pulling a page out of his other half's book, something that both parts of Cyrus seemed to be doing quite often as of late, the masked Cyrus tussled the dirty and messy short brown hair of the girl.

"Now, you can think hard on those words later when you have a good meal. Lead your siblings and follow me, I will take you to a place to stay."

Though the girl was still lingering somewhat in her odd state of rapture, having just killed a man for the first time, Cyrus cared not and brought the children together again.

'Although it does feel weird calling them so, when they are but a few years younger than myself. It just goes to show how much I have received and the harshness of where I was born, as even when I was their age I could have easily devised a plan to take on all of those men.'

Setting aside his thoughts and taking off his mask, Cyrus lead the children towards the inner sanctum. He hurried, for he felt that the two figures in the distance had been watching his every move the entire time. Though he was curious what they thought of the new decor he had created, he did not wish to ask them that in person.

---

The closer that they got to the inner sanctum the more Cyrus noticed that the usually uncaring passerby started to pay more and more attention to him. He also noticed that they were not exactly focused on him but the children behind him, obviously taking note of the poverty that was self evident on them.

For they wore what could be called at best rags, that had clearly only been washed by hand every once in awhile. Their shoes were made of straw, something that only the most lowly of citizens would wear. And finally their hair was a mess and rather course, obvious to all that it was not maintained with any kind of flax or oil.

The inner sanctum was that kind of place, one of the rich elite whether or not Cyrus acknowledged such a fact. The only ones who were not of this status were those who were privileged in some other way, such as up and coming mages.

Leading the children, some of the passerby even felt confident enough to spit on the ground that they walked or scowl at them.

With each incident Cyrus felt the walls of the castle crumble and the golden shine to quickly lose its luster.

Yet nothing would be as devastating as the destruction that would be wrought by the man who had just stopped in front of Cyrus.

His nose had a high ridge, his chin jutting forth, and his brows deep and bushy with superiority practically oozing from his body.

He had black hair and brown eyes, nothing too unusual as the Empire was a very diverse place, but his clothes were somewhat unique.

He wore a deep magenta scholar's robe, one of the most expensive of its kind. His age was also young, meaning he must have been a prodigy in his own right.

"King of beggars, why have you come so far into the city leading these plebs? This area is not one to frolic and play in. Should I applaud you for being so unremarkable that you somehow made it past the golden gates unnoticed?"

The man arrogantly prattled on even more, but Cyrus had long started to ignore the man's drivel.

Instead Cyrus said to the kids,

"At times, we must turn the other cheek even when insults come our way."

And so he led the kids onwards, not bothering with the petty words coming from whoever the man was.

The scholar did not take being ignored too kindly. As the group passed him by, he spotted the jars of ashes that the children were carrying and using his massive intellect he was able to figure out its use.

"Oh I see, you lot are a funeral procession of sorts? I wonder what cretin died to leave such disgusting looking ashes, good riddance. I am sure that in life they looked no better...I am glad that they died, so I am spared from burning my eyes on their unholy visage."

The scholar's vile and distasteful words struck deep within the hearts of the children, for their most beloved were the ones that they carried.

Still they tried their best to follow the words of the one who had saved them, whose very word had become their one and only gospel.

Cyrus, however, had stopped moving.

With a sigh he turned towards the scholar and said to the children,

"It is a sign of inflated pride to be angry and move to action when you are personally insulted. But it is a sign of cowardice if you fail to be angry and move to action when another is personally insulted, especially when they themselves are defenseless."

Then without another word he used his Vita magic to close the gab between him and the scholar, knocking out yet another man cold onto the ground this day. Except for this particular individual, as much as he might loathe him, he made sure to bend down and heal any after effects his blow might have endured. Well, the after effects that he could spot at least with his somewhat okay healing knowledge.

Looking at the onlookers who had a disapproving look on their face from the violence that Cyrus had employed, the castle had long fallen off the hill and into the pits of tartarus.

'This is a good lesson to learn now rather than later, that everything you read is not to be taken as the literal truth. It is important to personally experience all that you can, so you can see what reality has to say with your own eyes.'

Finally seeing the truth of the Empire...he was deeply disappointed but also motivated more now than ever.

---

"So, you rescued some random kids and decided to load them off onto me?" asked a lean bald man, with many scars dotting his face.

He looked at Cyrus with a neutral expression, whilst flicking several knives into the air with but one hand.

"Correct" replied a serious Cyrus.

The man looked long and hard at each of the children and then at Cyrus, he was silent for a moment before he finally broke the tension by saying,

"Well, well, well. It seems the brat has finally learned what it is to do a good deed. And of course you come to me, the most reliable Venator to have ever lived!"

The man, whose arrogance and occupation revealed that he could be none other than Fauve, nodded to himself in agreement of his own words as he stroked his nonexistent beard.

"Though I do understand you had a bit of a nasty experience when you tried to take them back with you, ah humanity. How quickly we forgot our own roots the moment we obtain a bit of luxury...well enough of the dreary stuff, let us get these kiddos to a room so that they can finally rest.

"From what you have told me, it seems that they have been through a lot in a short amount of time. Though I may have almost forgotten having spent so much time with a crazy guy like you, but most kiddos are not made of steel."