45 Messenger From The Capital Part 1
A few months went by since I arrived home. Word was that the royal knights pushed back the other three armies and wiped them out completely. It seemed that the information we got from the commander had come in handy in the kingdom making a swift decision. What I found strange was that the kingdom had no plans to attack back. When I asked my father about this. He told me that normally only armies of that size would be used for probing. If it was going to be a full scale invasion, the number of soldiers crossing the borders could range in the tens of millions. This alone made me realize just how populated this world truly was. But what surprised me was the lack of towns and villages as a whole. The number of people my father was talking about could fill many countries back on Earth, while in this world, it’s nothing more than the size of a major city’s worth of people.
Luckily things worked out, and the Gravos kingdom was spared from a full on invasion. However, I did wonder why, if we have so many soldiers, why they are not shoring up the borders? But I guess that is a question I will leave for when I join the academy. If I get to join that is.
As for the village elder, he never came back. Now that both my father and I were here. I will say this… After everything that I learned from my father that day when the two met. It made me wonder why, if they were so strong, they could be held back so easily during the time when I was on the verge of being lynched. But after going through all my memories and everything that I have been told so far, the assumption that I have come up with is that, first, my mother is weak physically unless she can cast magic. If I am not wrong, the ladies who held her back did so before she was even able to cast a spell. My Mother, unlike me, still had to write her spells in the air. As for my father, he is strong, very strong, but if caught off guard, he will definitely end up being restrained, as long as he was really outnumbered. Which he was on that day. But this was just my own assumption. When I asked my father, he snorted and said he did not wish to talk about it. I could tell by the tone of his voice that his anger was self directed. I think he was disappointed in himself.
With everything settled, I have just been relaxing and enjoying some quality family time. I had originally planned to set out on my journey. But now that things have changed, I will be sitting around waiting to see if anything comes of the report that Silminian was to give to the king.
Currently, I was lying on a stone wall staring up at the blue sky with a long piece of grass sticking out of my mouth. I was wearing a white blouse type shirt and a pair of blue shorts made of a cotton type material. My tail hung over the side of the wall swaying back and forth while my wings spread out to my sides. I was trying to see what shapes I could see in the clouds. It was something I remembered doing when I was young back on Earth. I used to have fun trying to find different animals in the clouds. But now, all I could see were runic equations. I think my brain might have something wrong with it. “I really should take more breaks from studying magic….”
“Excuse me!” A crisp, clear, noble yet soft voice entered my ears. I raised my head to see a cute young girl around my age, maybe a year younger than myself standing there. Behind her were a bunch of knights wearing shiny metal armor with swords at their sides. What surprised me was that none of these strangers gave me any bad feelings. None of them showed any contempt for a demi human like myself. I probably thought of this before but was I even considered a demi human anymore? I mean, would humans need to be called demi dragons because they were inferior to the might of a dragon? No matter how I look at it, it was all still racist, so I will just stop thinking about it, at least until it pops into my mind once again.
The girl had long golden hair and purple gem like eyes. I could tell from how she was dressed that she was probably a noble of some kind. But what confused me was why would they send a young girl was my first thought, but then it dawned on me that she may be lost. “If you are trying to get to the capital, you have to follow the road down the plateau and head to the northwest along the road all the way, as long as you do not take any other turns you will be on the right track.” I learned the way to the capital from the merchants. Luckily it was handy knowledge.
“Huh?” The young girl seemed to be confused by my words. I stared at her for a minute before looking up at the guards to find one or the snickering, which made me realize that I might have been wrong.
“You’re not lost?” I asked.
“Why would I be lost!? I am here to see you! My name is Adel. You are Lady Faith, are you not?” The young girl answered. She quickly adjusted her attitude after her initial outburst. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Adel. My name is indeed Faith. Is there something I can do for you?” I think I was finally understanding that my first assumption was correct. But why would they send a young girl…?
“Yes, I bring word from the King.” Hearing this, I couldn’t help but feel slightly excited. I mean, I had been waiting for this day since the end of the war.
“Then please, this way. My home may be small, but it is very cozy.” I motioned with my hand and began walking towards the house. Adel smiled and followed at my side. I could see her sizing me up and I, her. “So Adel, may I ask why they sent a young girl instead of a normal messenger?”
“Oh, that’s because the king wanted you to feel as comfortable as possible, so he did not wish to send a scary old man. But Lady Faith, I have heard that you have really outdone yourself. You not only repelled one of the invading forces on your own but also led Sir Silminian and his men to victory as well. You are truly amazing.” When Adel smiled, she had two small dimples that formed. It was very cute.
“I see, then I should thank the king for thinking of me. And Adel, I already call you by your name, so there is no need to call me lady. It makes me sound old.”
“Pfft….” I heard a sound coming from behind me. I turned to see a knight who was a bit smaller than the others covering his mouth. He looked much too young to be a knight, but I guess in this world, age was only a matter if you were capable of doing the job or not. I rolled my eyes at him and went back to talking to Adel.
“Then Faith,” Adel said in a low voice, but the smile on her face twitched. I think the knight’s laugh irked her.
We walked into the house, in which only one guard came in with Adel, and of all of them, it was the younger knight who laughed that followed after us. “Mother, we have a visitor. It’s the people from the capital.”
“Oh?” My mother came out of the kitchen. When I looked over at her, her eyes were wide but quickly went back to normal. I cocked my head to the side, wondering why but when I looked at Adel, things seemed to be normal. “Welcome to our home. I am Lilith Cyrilia. I have already sent a message to my husband, who will be home shortly. My daughter in law Rachel will be out shortly with some tea.”
“You are too kind, Lady Lilith. My name is Adel. I do apologize for taking so long to come here, but the king and his advisors have been terribly busy with reforming things after the invasion.” Adel was speaking as if they had already sent a message to the house. Was this how all nobles talked?
“It is fine. To be honest, it would not matter if anyone did come as it was something we should have done.” My mother was speaking very differently than normal. It made me wonder if she drank bad milk…. It was just this morning that she was yelling about how ungrateful the king was and how long did it take to come say a word of gratitude after my daughter put her life on the line to defend this unappreciative kingdom. So seeing her act so cordial made me wonder if my mother had her body switched with another….
“Lady Lilith, I think you look down on your daughter’s achievements. If the kingdom were to ignore such a genius, then there would be something very wrong with this kingdom.”