She was a healer and had helped many. I admired her since I was little, and when she passed she left me this necklace — which meant I was next. I began helping the village as much as I could. When the demons attacked I was terrified — "terrified" is an understatement — but as the son of the village chief, I had to do something. The most I could do was bolster defenses and heal, so I made an effort to do so. In the end, I became the one who rescued others, and my brother was nearly killed because of me. But when I saw you, I saw in you my hope that I could become a hero.
The Ice Lord looked at the child and saw eyes like his — eyes he recognized. That dream, that feeling… Despite your fear at the time you still stepped forward. The girl looked at him. "You have the makings of a hero, but not yet. You must be patient. You're still young."
"Didn't you say I have what it takes?"
"Yes, but the word 'hero' carries a heavy burden and constant testing."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the burden of saving people and the test of sacrifice. A hero may sacrifice their life so that others may live. We do not save to be remembered; we save so that future generations may live. That is something you cannot understand now."
"If that is the price, I'm ready."
"Are you still determined?"
"Yes."
The Ice Lord took the girl's hand, then broke it. The girl screamed in shock, clutching at her arm. "My hand — it's cut!" The illusion of ice faded; the illusion disappeared. It became clear that the Ice Lord had used a mirage to show her.
"Girl, this is what being a hero means. Hear your own scream now, and the pain you felt even though it wasn't real. We endure this every day. It is a price we pay and bear. You are still too young for this, so forget this dream. Be a healer, like your mother — that's better for you." When the girl realized it had been an illusion she cried and ran toward her house, fleeing from that bitter truth.
"That was certainly a poor way to tell her." Volak said, "If you're listening — unintentionally, I learned; I thought you had truly broken her hand. You would have attacked and hit me then, wouldn't you?"
"My apologies."
"No need — it worked. But proverbs don't matter with those eyes; I know them from an old friend."
"A friend? May I know his name?"
"Ryoga."
Volak shuddered. "You mean the most dangerous hero is your friend?"
"Yes. He and I were best friends, brothers even. He had those eyes. I can name every sacrifice he made for the kingdom, but I don't know why he joined the demons of Roz and bore those eyes. I didn't want her to see the real world — she's a child."
At that moment the demon entered the cave and descended into the pit in search of the legendary beast. When he went down he was stunned by the monster's size — he nearly died from the shock of seeing it. "What is this? The beasts of the old covenant are enormous. If I take a sample from it I could feed the demon tribe for thousands of frons. I must stop thinking about my stomach — now I'll place the control stone and this monster will be bound to the demons." The demon placed the stone, but the stone withered.
"What? Did it destroy the stone? Is its power that great?"
"Yes. This stone is of tremendous power. Do you know how many years it took me to find it?"
"Hey, do you hear me?"
"Ah — yes. You won't wake; instead, the old covenant will put you to rest. Your life will be comfortable — asleep all these centuries while I remain a second-ranked soldier the whole time."
"That doesn't matter. I will succeed in my mission no matter what. I will find that Dimas, even if I have to face you personally. Do you hear me? You are asleep — otherwise you would be dead by now." The demon sighed. "So the backup plan: if I cannot control it, I will take the risk and lead a bait for it to play with until I finish my mission. And it's good that a knight among the Seven Knights is there."
He prepared a hut for the Ice Lord to sleep in. The Ice Lord slept, then woke to the smell of something burning. Something was in his bed: charred food. Rose stood beside him. "Ice Lord, I prepared this food for you specially."
"It's obvious. Didn't your father make something? Didn't you want to eat with him and talk? No — you will eat my food and then talk to him."
"Listen, Roz — I'm sure your father has more human food and will be faster because —" The Ice Lord fed Roz the food he had prepared while talking. She said, "No — now tell me, what do you think of my food?"
"Do you want to know? Now, yes." He looked — truly, inside the Ice Lord there was something very bad. "Forgive me, my god, for this lie."
"Now about what happened yesterday — becoming a hero — is your request still the same?" The Ice Lord left the food with a serious expression. "Are you still thinking about it even after you tested the feeling?"
"Yes. Thanks to that feeling I passed through a terrible experience, but after thinking a bit I found you were right, so I trained to endure that pain."
"What do you mean you trained on that pain?"
"I endured that pain with an even greater pain."
"What is that?"
"It's a secret, kid. Want to join my team?"
"No!"
"Why are you mean? Even my clumsy brother was sent to go check the village and Iris; they rode Sora the spectral eagle."
"How sweet — you say Sora is sweet?"
"Of course — don't touch his feathers." The Ice Lord laughed. "Trust me, Sora always seeks what entertains him, and if he can't find it he makes something up."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean your dear brother is on his way back and will be hanging from Sora's talons so he won't die, because Sora will not cling to him — he will release his claws and your brother must hold on. And what about Iris? Sora likes girls, so he won't do anything to her. That's Sora's bad side."
"My foolish brother — I know. Why are you asleep? Why didn't you do your patrol?"
"I am the commander."
"That's not an excuse — that's what he said."
Back with the demon: "Sir, I placed the stone — no, it shattered."
"What do you mean the stone that can contain immense power was destroyed?"
"Yes. How strong are the beasts of the old covenant?"
"We don't know. Also, their size is enormous."
"So what's the plan?"
"The simplest thing is we attack. But sir, we would violate the contract."
"Don't worry — we won't be the ones to face it."
"Then who will?"
"The Ice Lord. He is the strongest and best of the knights; he will deal with the beast and we will finish the mission. Sir, you are a genius as always. Prepare the soldiers and await orders. Sir, I have prepared a surprise for you — I hope you like it."
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The chapter will be released on Thursday night instead of the morning due to the author's circumstances.
So instead of being released at 7 a.m. on Thursday, it will be released at 10 p.m.
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Starting from the next chapter, there will be improvements to the previous ones. I won't be adding unnecessary words just to increase the word count anymore. So please tell me which chapters you felt weren't very good.