"Excuse me, miss," she said very nervously. "He cannot lean on the glass.
I stared at her, as if she were a goddess who had just descended from the sky itself. She had silver hair with light pink layers at the tip of her locks. Her ears gave her away, she was an elf.
He had a slim but detailed body. He wore elegant medieval clothes, surely expensive.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Nimue complained, a little annoyed by the wake-up call.
The Elf looked at me with a big smile and looked towards the window.
"Does D-want to buy something?" — He asked.
I would like to buy a gift for Dorian and Lyana for having taken me in these three years and for saving my life... But he didn't have any money.
"Oh, no... I was just watching," I said, hiding my lie. Well, what lie? He had not lied at any time.
- Okay... Let me know if you need any advice," he said. Just as I was about to walk through the door I spoke.
"What's your name?" I asked.
She stopped in her tracks and turned. He tilted his head in a confused way.
"Why do you want to know?" — He asked.
I had to invent something. I looked back at the window as I thought about what to answer. After a few seconds I did:
"So I can call you if I need help with something," I said. "About jewelry, of course," I added, with a nervous smile.
The Elf turned red as a tomato. He tried to cover his face with both hands, but it was inevitable to see his embarrassment.
"You can call me "Miss" or "Damsel" — she said with a nervous laugh.
Her attitude was very similar to that of a ten-year-old girl, which was quite disconcerting me.
I looked at Nimue. The latter, leaning against the wall closest to the store and staring blankly at the dirty floor of the streets, looked at me suddenly when she noticed that I was watching her.
"What," he snapped.
"Nothing," I replied. - I just watched what you were doing.
"Weren't you looking at the window?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"I was, but I'm done." He looked back at the silver-and-pink-haired Elf. She kept smiling and looking at us impatiently. I was anxious for us to buy something, but right now we couldn't.
— I'm very sorry, but there's nothing that interests us.
The Elf stopped smiling and looked down at the ground.
— It's okay. He said. - Have a nice day. He added, composing himself and smiling again, but this time, weakly.
"Thank you," I said before we got going again.
I didn't understand why he didn't want to tell me his name, maybe in this world it was rude or it was a taboo subject to say your name to strangers.
— Nimue — Nombré.
"What," he said.
"Is it rude to give your name to unknown people?" I asked.
Nimue shrugged.
— It depends on the religion you belong to. For example, at the—" Nimue came up to me, whispering in my ear —... Kiros rarity seems like a sin to say your name to a stranger, this is why you think that with that information you can curse them with dedicated spells.
— Ya veo... — Mumuré.
Walking down the street, we came across a scene that would make more than one's hair stand on end. Almost at the end of the closed street was the second great square of Druunor. Just before reaching the square, three royal guards were cornering a small child. Her face sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't identify her. Nimue and I approached them, walking around like normal citizens and pretending that nothing was happening. I tried to focus my eyes so I could recognize the child.
"Let's stop here for a moment," I said. "I need to see one thing.
Nimue noticed what I was observing and stopped me suddenly.
"You'd better not get involved in that," she said nervously.
"I'm not going to get between them but..." that child sounds like something to me.
A guard moved slightly to the right, which allowed me to see the boy more closely. After thinking about it a couple of times and thinking about it several times I came to the conclusion, that was the boy who, together with his mother, asked for food and prayed for Kiros.
- I know that child. I said.
Nimue looked at me with a surprised face. "Do you know an orphan?" He asked
"He's not an orphan... His mother..." I blanked for a moment. "Where is your mother?" And... Why do you think the guards are there?
Nimue was silent for a moment, but seeing the situation she decided to respond.
"You think he doesn't have parents," he replied. "That's why they're there. He added.
My mind wanted to think that what they were doing was helping him find his parents, but after what Dorian explained to me... All those hopes were dashed.
"I have to intervene. I said.
Nimue grabbed my arm tightly.
- Don't talk stupid things. Do you want to be killed? He asked, trying to scare me.
"They're not going to kill me for wanting to clarify things," I said.
Nimue shook her head.
"You don't really know how the royal guards work, do you?"
I yanked Nimue's hand away, letting go completely. I began to walk determinedly towards where the dens were.
Nimue didn't try to stop me again, she didn't even give a hopeless cry to try to keep me from going. It was clear that deep down he was sweating.
- Excuse me! I exclaimed, standing right behind the three guards. None of the three paid attention to me, they were focused on theirs.
"Don't make this worse, come with us," one said.
"We're not going to do anything to you, trust us," said another.
"We are the good guys, Kiros will protect you from any evil," said the last of them.
I cleared my throat forcefully to try to get the attention of the guards, but it didn't help either.
— 0Wy! —Exclam.
The guards' phrases stopped. They stopped paying attention to the child so they could give it to me. They turned and looked at me with contempt.
- What the fuck do you want. One of them said.
"Those are not manners for speaking to citizens, Arak," said the other guard.
- He blows it on me. What do you want? He asked me.
I swallowed hard when I heard his voice. He generated tremendous respect, so much so that all my confidence disappeared completely. Do all the men here have such a sensual voice?
"That kid over there," I pointed with my index finger. - He has a mother.
The guards raised one eyebrow at a time, as if they were programmed machines.
The guard who, by his way of being, was surely the one who believed himself to be "Leader", looked to both sides hesitantly.
"Well, I don't see any women around here," he said. "Well, women, yes, but not their mother." He added.
My legs began to shake. My heart was racing like a race car warming up engines and burning wheels. I had a bad feeling.
"Please let him go," I said, surrendered.
"He's an orphan, we must help him," He smiled that appeared to be true and trustworthy, but it was false. A farce.
"You're going to kill." "Let go."
The guard's smile disappeared instantly, and along with his, that of his companions.
The guards on the sides of the "Leader" brought their hands to the sheath of their swords, prepared to split my body in half. Their reaction seemed strange to me, as if they were confident until a moment that no one knew anything about what they were doing.
"You're wrong. He said seriously. "Please, I'd like you to join us for a moment." The guard asked unkindly.
"I'm not going to do it. I said, standing firm.
The guards were slowly pulling their swords from their sheaths.
With a slow step, they approached me to try to capture me. I looked through the dens, and could see that the boy had run away.
Mission accomplished. Now, don't let these bastards catch me.
Just as they were about to grab my arm, another lair appeared out of nowhere. It came from the great square and you could tell that it was coming urgently.
"Arak! He exclaimed. "The general calls you." He said.
The guards stopped and watched their partner.
"What does that need?" He asked disdainfully.
"A public execution is going to take place!" It requires your help to do so. He said.
The guard sighed and gestured to the guards to stop acting.
— Good. He said. "Tell him I'm going there right now."
Everyone began to move towards the square, but not before giving me a murderous look.
When they disappeared from our sight, Nimue came up to me and put her hand on my shoulder.
"They're not kind at all," I said.
Nimue nodded.
"They think they are the guardian angels of Kiros. It is thought that, if they behave like his highness, they will one day reach the throne. Nimue said.
I stared at the alley where the boy had gone before. I had that desire or that obligation to go in search of him, but after thinking twice, I decided not to.
"Let's go and see the execution," Nimue offered.
"You weren't going home?" I asked.
"I never miss an execution. Even though she's starting to lose her grace..." Nimue was thoughtful for a moment.
"It's not that I want to see one..." I said while in my mind possible scenarios were generated about what an execution would be like in the middle of the square.
"Well, here you stay," he said, entering the great square.
Again, like a few minutes ago in the tavern, I ran after her and kept up with her.
"I knew you were coming," Nimue blurted out.
The sunlight, now brighter than there were a few hours ago, hit me directly in the eyes, so much so that I even felt great pain. I covered my eyes for a few seconds and slowly uncovered them to get used to the light. When I could see clearly, I began to look at the entire square. It was full of life. People giving pieces of bread to the birds and others walking in a calm and pleasant way while talking or simply observing the environment. In the middle of the entire square was a large fountain which was decorated with a large statue several meters high of what appeared to be the king of Druunor.
"Is that the king?" I asked, pointing to the statue.
"No. That's the current king's father," he said. "If they have something in common, it's that they are both," he snapped.
Whenever Nimue appointed someone who was related to royalty, they responded with great contempt.
After walking for a while we could witness how a huge pile of people was piling up on the other side of the Fountain.
"I think it's there," I said.
Nimue was like a lone wolf. No matter what you said or asked her, she would do whatever came out of her balls.
Without saying anything, he approached the crowd and got into everyone as if nothing had happened.
"I understand that that cape makes her horns not noticeable, but don't people notice them when they bump into her?" I asked myself.
I approached the crowd, but I stayed behind, I didn't try to get in the middle of anyone. In short, it's not that I wanted to see it, far from it.
People seemed to be used to talking louder than usual, my hatreds were beginning to feel uncomfortable, and I had only been here for two minutes.
I looked around for any sign of the royal guard but saw nothing. Something caught my attention and it was the number of people who had dressed in red robes with a hood that did not allow their faces to be seen completely. "Maybe those are the executors," I thought. It made perfect sense if you analyzed it well
It was about ten minutes, if he had not miscounted, before the guards began to appear, and, shortly after their appearance, they arrived with the one who was to be executed.
"What did he do to earn this?" A man in front of me asked.
"I don't know, I heard that he had made a pact with the Oni tribe," said another.
"A pact?" Asked.
"About the transfer of souls or something."
All this was getting murkier and murkier since I got here.
"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" A royal soldier exclaimed, capturing the attention of everyone present. "Today is an excellent day for a good show! And what less than celebrating it with very special people..." It read, "LET'S WELCOME THE KING OF DRUUNOR, VARIC IV!"
We all began to clap with euphoria, whistles and cheers. In order not to look like a real fool, I applauded along with everyone.
I moved to the side to have a better view of that spectacle.
The king, along with a child who could perfectly be my age from my original world, climbed up next to him. He could be seen nervous, uncomfortable. The king, on the other hand, looked too calm. You could tell that he lived this almost daily, something that could not be said of his son.
I tried to find a better space so I could see who would be executed. I stood on tiptoe so I could get over someone's head, but my height wouldn't allow it. I moved to the side where there wasn't too much of a crowd and looked through the crowd. It was there that I saw who would be executed. It was the man from the tavern who was trying to harass Nimue. The people's speculations were wrong, he had not made any pact with the oni tribe, in fact, someone from that tribe had attacked him, but... Why execute him?
The king, together with his son, sat on small thrones that were located on one side of the stage and began to observe the spectacle without saying or doing anything else.
"As you know, sin is paid for with death," said the distinguished guard. "This young man here has an oni aura, resolving a pact with the tribe."
The man began to slip away in a brute way, but he did not succeed. His hands were tied.
"YOU ARE WRONG!" The gentleman exclaimed. "I was attacked by an oni, thus impregnating its part of its aura in my blood! I swear I'm innocent!" Their screams were perfectly heard due to the echo generated by the square being so large. No one reacted, an absolute silence invaded the atmosphere.
The distinguished guard snapped his fingers three times. As he did so, a red aura came out of his hand, which he placed on the head of that man.
"Let's do this for the sake of druunor," the lair said.
Wait a minute... What did he plan to do? Knock him asleep? Blow his head off? My heart began to race disproportionately. My heart asked me to stop looking, I was aware that nothing good would come out of it, but on the other hand, my brain asked me to stay watching until the end, with the morbid desire to discover what an execution of this style was like.
"FOR THE SAKE OF DRUUNOR!" The soldier shouted. After him, the rest of the soldiers present shouted at him as well.
"LONG LIVE KING VIRAC IV!" The entire audience shouted.
The distinguished guard's hand began to glow more brightly to the point of being uncomfortable to see for the eye.
The screams of agony of that man were really shocking and hopeless. I didn't want to imagine what I was feeling at that moment.
When it all seemed like it was about to end, an act that marked me for life happened.
Suddenly, green lightning that perfectly exceeded the speed of a bullet train hit each and every one of the heads of the guards present, causing them to explode into several pieces. The only survivors, the king and his son, who were saved thanks to a divine shield.
I was considerably far from that stage where all the chaos occurred, but that did not save me from being stained with blood, from a blood that was not mine, a blood spilled by an atrocity that had just been assembled.
People began to run in desperation, with fear in their bodies. They didn't want to end up the same as each and every one of the soldiers in the place. I fell on my ass to the ground, my eyes lost in nothingness watching the huge pools of blood that came out of the decapitated heads of the guards. Their bodies, already surely cooling due to the amount of blood they had lost. Still in shock, unable to get up from the ground, in an unconscious gesture I put my hands to my face to wipe away the blood I had. I ran my hand over my face, but noticed something strange, like I was getting twice as dirty as I was cleaning myself. I looked at my hands, terrified. They were stained with small points of blood, stitches that were more than enough to completely dirty me. My head began to spin. Should I have done something? Is it my fault that I died? My arms and legs were shaking along with a tingling sensation, as if I was going to lose control and the feeling of being in any comment. I looked around, taking advantage of the fact that I was not able to get up. I saw how those people in robes and hoods dominated the square and ran everywhere, grabbing the people they captured and leaving them asleep, or so I wanted to think, on the ground.
I noticed how someone touched my back roughly. At first I thought it was Nimue trying to shake me out of my emotional trance, but when I turned around, I saw that it was not her.
One of the mysterious hooded men put his hand on my shoulder and watched me for a few seconds.
"Welcome to the path of Everos," said that woman? Before knocking me unconscious. The screams ceased and silence was completely formed. It didn't hurt at all, rather, I felt like never before, as if I was floating in space. It was curious. This sensation was very similar to the one I felt when I fell asleep in my bed and arrived here.
I thought it was over for me, I thought I was dead. But maybe it was something worse than that.